Environmental impacts are caused by the consumption of goods and the supply of services. Not all people do cause environmental impacts to the same extend. People life their live in different styles which lead to differences in the consumption patterns.
The research project Energy, Greenhouse Gases and Way of Living investigates and analyzes the environmental impacts linked to household consumption patterns in the necessity field nourishing. This field descries the web of actors, actions and products linked to nutrition. The research work will consider the different types of lifestyles represented in Swiss households. The research work consists of the following parts:
1. The direct and indirect energy use of Swiss households will be investigated. A comparison with results from foreign countries should show the influence of different natural and social restrictions (e.g. climate, culture, political situation). Further environmental indicators will be included as far as possible and necessary for the assessment.
2. The total energy use of Swiss households is investigated and analyzed in dependence on consumption habits, income, social position, number of household members, environmental awareness and other influence factors. Possibilities will be elaborated how a change in consumption patterns could lead to energy savings. These guidelines will consider the existing restrictions given by the life-style (e.g. income, dwelling situation). The possible contribution of the proposed steps for a more ecological development will be quantified.
3. An in depth analysis will investigate the contribution of the nourishing sector to the total environmental impacts caused by the households. Different case studies will investigate the environmental impacts of the nourishing sector including production, transportation, trading and consumption of food items. The results shall be used to develop advises for the different actors within this field, leading to an ecological development.
4. Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions are used as the main indicators for an ecological development. This assumption will be checked using the Life-Cycle-Assessments (LCA) executed during the project. Further indicators will be elaborated and integrated in the analysis if necessary.
5. Different projects in the IP Society and in the SPPU cooperate for single issues. As a part of this cooperation the discussion forum Life-Cycle-Assessment is organized.
The project Energy, Greenhouse Gases and Way of Living is part of the research work for the integrated project Social Transformation Processes for a Sustainable Switzerland (IP Society). The IP Society investigates the nourishing sector as an integrated coupled social-natural system. Researchers from different disciplines, will investigate the structure of the necessity field, the link between the socio-economic and the ecological system and the possibilities for a sustainable development within this sector.
This programme aims to bring together scientific knowledge from different disciplines to find new ways and strategies for sustainable development.
Different projects are dealing with the development of the Life-Cycle-Assessment method at the chair of Environmental Sciences: Natural and Social Science Interface (UNS).
