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Decision-Making Tools Help Integrate Sustainability into Products, Policies
To help decision makers effectively develop both products and public policy focused on sustainability, two academic fellows are developing modeling and other tools to better inform decision makers at all levels—businesses, regulators, and consumers.
Transportation currently accounts for about one-third of all U.S. fossil fuel-based emissions and just over one-quarter of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions total and is growing at a rate faster than emissions from the rest of the economy (Environmental Protection Agency, 2007). Reducing emissions from the transportation sector involves three broad approaches:
- Increasing fuel efficiency of vehicles;
- Reducing carbon content of fuels; and
- Planning and other approaches designed to reduce vehicle miles traveled.
The work of two Alcoa Foundation fellows is contributing to knowledge about the first and third of these approaches.
In the United States, Dr. Hyung-Ju Kim has developed modeling tools that will be used to evaluate vehicle design options in terms of performance and impact on GHG emission targets. Specifically, he is using advanced vehicle simulation software and vehicle cost and energy-use models to evaluate these trade-offs.
In his study, he developed scenarios for lightweighting a compact-sized vehicle with both aluminum and high-strength steel in percentages ranging from 6% to 23%. Using automotive simulations and literature estimations for cost, he then estimated improvements in fuel economy and increases in cost relative to the baseline vehicle. He also compared the increased emissions associated with producing the vehicle with the saved emissions from the lightweighting. The result is a calculation of how many years it takes to recover the extra GHG emissions required in production to create the lightweight vehicle.
"We observed a one- to four-year GHG payback for the 6% lightweighting scenario for high-strength steel and four to six years for the aluminum lightweighting scenario," said Dr. Kim. "We also observed that GHG savings for aluminum lightweighting varies strongly with where the production occurred and whether secondary aluminum can be utilized. In principle, these payback times can be shortened for aluminum-intensive vehicles by closed-loop recycling of wrought aluminum, which is not practiced today. Overall, these cost analyses demonstrate that lightweight vehicles have favorable economics for consumers."
The outcome of the research will be included in the decision-making tool called CAPA: the Computational Automotive Policy Analysis framework. CAPA is a cyber infrastructure for linking models of producer objectives, costs, vehicle design performance, and consumer preference models. This software tool will be used by automobile designers as they plan for next-generation vehicles.
Facilitating Urban Sustainability
Urban sustainability is a challenge to both established and developing countries, which have to meet social demands while reducing consumption pressure on natural resources. Decision makers are being pushed to respond faster and more effectively in forming public policy and making decisions.
Despite recent progress on public policy that integrates environmental protection with public health promotion, social justice, and economic viability, studies show there still are gaps in the implementation and monitoring of policies focused on sustainable development.
Dr. Valdir Fernandes is studying information systems and indicators that can provide decision makers with information, products, and services that are aligned with quality of life promotion and sustainable development. The project in which he is involved—Strategic Assessment of Environmental Management (MEGA)—will help bridge the existing gaps in forming, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating public policies according to sustainable development principles.
"For the research methodology, there are scheduled activities of theoretical and conceptual knowledge-building, qualitative and quantitative questionnaires, seminars, and workshops," said Dr. Fernandes. "We will be applying the methodology in a case study of the city of Santo André in Brazil."
Learn more about these and other research projects being undertaken by Alcoa Foundation fellows.  go
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