School of something
Earth and Environment
FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT
OTHER
“Improving human well-being within
environmental limits: the role of energy
services and human needs”
Lina I. Brand Correa
The conceptual framework (1)
Eudaimonic tradition of well-being
achieving a full and
meaningful life
within society
Epicurus
Aristotle
flourishing
Well-being in the public life.
Temporal and narrative elements are important in life.
Social (cultural, political, economic) and technical institutions are relevant for
well-being.
Main references: O’Neill (2006, 2008).
Implications for sustainability
-
Role of consumption (the more the better)
-
Political goals (increasing GDP)
-
Recognition of the role of different socio-technical institutions
in the achievement of well-being (e.g. the market)
-
Room for intercultural comparisons (how do different societies
satisfy their needs?)
-
Room for intertemporal factors (responsibilities)
Human Needs
Main characteristics of the human needs
approach:
Two main
contributions
1) Human needs are defined as the
conditions necessary to fully
participate in society.
2) Human needs are basic, objective,
universal.
3) Human needs are satisfied through
culturally specific “satisfiers”.
Human Needs: Doyal and Gough
Source: Gough (2015, p. 1196).
Human Needs: Max-Neef
existential categories
BEING
HAVING
SUBSISTENCE
PROTECTION
AFFECTION
UNDERSTANDING
axiological
categories
PARTICIPATION
IDLENESS
CREATION
IDENTITY
FREEDOM
Source: Adapted from Max-Neef (1991).
DOING
INTERACTING
Energy flow
Source: Adapted from Cullen and Allwood (2010).
Energy services are what people demand from energy, but the way they are
delivered varies greatly between individuals and cultures.
Efficiency improvement paths from an energy
service perspective
There are four different approaches to energy efficiency measures in the
delivery of ES, as outlined by Marshall et al. (2016):
Conversion device:
Service control:
Passive system:
Service level:
The conceptual framework (2)
Primary
Energy
Final
Energy
Useful
Energy
Energy
Services
Culturally
specific
“satisfiers”
Human
Needs
practices
systems of provision
socio-technical regimes
The empirical framework
Quantitative element:
Qualitative element:
-
-
-
Household surveys (micro data)
Data on energy use (look for ways
of translating the data into energy
services, using Cullen and
Allwood’s categories)
Data on human well-being (using
Doyal and Gough’s categories)
Regressions
Find general trends
-
Workshops
Max-Neef matrix
Energy services as satisfiers
Rural and urban communities
Explore in more detail the trends
found in the quantitative element
Highlight socio-technical
institutional elements
Case Study: Colombia
-
Good micro-data availability
Diversity (geographical and cultural)
Inequality
Goldemberg’s corner
Source: Steinberger et al. (2012)
Thank you!
References
Cullen, J. M., & Allwood, J. M. (2010). The efficient use of energy: Tracing the global flow of
energy from fuel to service. Energy Policy, 38(1), 75–81.
Day, R., Walker, G., Simcock, N., 2016. Conceptualising energy use and energy poverty using a
capabilities framework. Energy Policy 93, 255–264. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2016.03.019
Doyal, L., & Gough, I. (1991). A Theory of Human Need. London: The Macmillan Press.
Marshall, E., Steinberger, J.K., Dupont, V., Foxon, T.J., 2016. Combining energy efficiency
measure approaches and occupancy patterns in building modelling in the UK residential
context. Energy Build. 111, 98–108. doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2015.11.039
Max-Neef, M., 1991. Human Scale Development. Conception, application and further
reflections. The Apex Press, New York and London.
O’Neill, J., 2006. Citizenship, Well-Being and Sustainability: Epicurus or Aristotle? Anal. Krit. 28,
158–172.
O’Neill, J., 2008. Living Well Within Limits : Well-Being, Time and Sustainability. Think-piece SDC
Semin. “Living Well–within limits.”
Steinberger, J. K., Roberts, J. T., Peters, G. P., & Baiocchi, G. (2012). Pathways of human
development and carbon emissions embodied in trade. Nature Climate Change, 2(2), 81–85.
Eudaimonic tradition of well-being
having a positive
balance between
pleasure and pain
Epicurus
Hedonism
Well-being in the private life (atomic,
isolated individuals - in time and
space).
Episodes in life can be
compartmentalised.
Basis for utility theory (grounded on
preferences and wants).
Main references: O’Neill (2006, 2008).
achieving a full and
meaningful life
within society
Aristotle
Eudaimonia
Well-being in the public life.
Temporal and narrative elements are
important in life.
Social (cultural, political, economic)
and technical institutions are relevant
for well-being.
Day, Walker and Simcock (2016) framework
Energy Services
Source: Cullen and Allwood (2010)
Energy flows with conversion losses
Source: Cullen and Allwood (2010)
Exergy and Useful Work
Exergy: Maximum
amount of work that
can be obtained from
a system as it reaches
thermodynamic
equilibrium with its
surroundings T0 = 298.15K (25°C), pressure p0=1atm
(1.013bar) and average chemical
composition of the Earth’s three
subsystems (atmosphere, hydrosphere
and lithosphere).
Source: Domingos (2013)
Types of energy/exergy:
- Thermo-mechanical
- Chemical
- Kinetic
- Potential