3.1 Overview of the identified actions
This section provides an overview of the actions present in the Framework by focusing on five different parameters: SDGs, SDG targets, technologies, stages and actors. This includes 17 SDGs, 98 SDG targets, seven technologies, three stages and two actors.
A general overview of the 283 actions included in the compilation of actions is presented in Figure 3, where the number of actions and linkages is specified by SDG. It can be observed that SDG4 (Quality Education) has the lowest number of linkages and the lowest number of actions. However, the number of actions is not always correlated with the number of linkages. For instance, SDG11(Sustainable Cities and Communities) has the highest number of actions, but it does not have the highest number of linkages. While, SDG12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production) has the highest number of linkages and a relatively low amount of actions. For both SDG4 and SDG17 (Partnerships for the Goals) it can be seen that the number of actions is identical to the number of linkages. Because, several linkages were aggregated into the same subtopics and, as a result, have the same set of actions. For example, in SDG4, out of the eight linkages identified, seven can be found in the subtopic “expansion of energy access synergies”. Which results in a relatively low amount of actions compared to the linkages. This shows that different linkages can be very similar, and therefore be in the same subtopics and have the same proposed actions, even though, they impact different SDG targets.
In Figure 4 it can be seen that actions can impact a wide amount of SDG targets, ranging from one to 52 SDG targets, with an average of six SDG targets impacted per action. In the compilation, eight actions are able to impact 42 or more SDG targets and 22 actions only have the possibility to influence one SDG target. Therefore, 92% of all actions impact more than one SDG target, which demonstrates the interlinked nature of actions addressing the SDGs. The actions impacting only one SDG target are mainly actions addressing linkages with SDG3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), present in the subtopics “Large bodies of standing water” and “Withdrawal of water”, which address SDG targets 3.3 and 6.2, respectively. On the other hand, all the seven actions impacting more than 42 SDGs targets, can be found under the subtopic “expansion of energy access synergies”. This shows that the number of linkages and SDG targets an action can impact highly depends on the action topic and subtopic.
In order to identify the actions represented in Figure 4 that have the widest impact among the SDG targets, a list of areas where actions can influence more than 15 SDG targets was created. This can be seen in Table 1 and accounts for 20 different actions distributed in five areas. Even though each of these actions impact a high number of SDG targets, there is no quantification on the intensity of a possible impact. Therefore, Table 1 was designed to give an insight to both policymakers and project developers on actions that can impact the largest number of SDG targets in energy projects. In this way, Table 1 provides a preliminary view on possible impactful measures and areas of intervention that practitioners can implement in energy projects. However, stakeholders are encouraged to use the complete SDG-IAE Framework to define possible priorities when evaluating specific projects.
Table 1.Areas with a large numbers of SDG targets impacted
Areas
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Education and awareness regarding renewable energy solutions, energy poverty, threats to the world cultural and natural heritage, and spreading of diseases.
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Reduce water consumption within power plants: recycle water, change cooling systems and use partially or fully degraded water sources.
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Expansion of energy access: increase grid connections; promote off grid, mini grid systems and decentralised energy solutions; implement storage capacity to reduce intermittency; build knowledge about different types of local available energy sources, through the use of a Geospatial Information System (GIS); and provide digital payment methods.
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Robust financial support for energy projects.
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Stakeholder engagement.
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From the 20 actions addressed in Table 1 all of them are applicable to more than four different technologies, with the majority of them being relevant to all the seven energy sources. This shows that actions that impact a high number of SDGs targets, will most likely be applicable to different technologies. As seen in Figure 5a, 56% of all actions are applicable to all the energy sources and 37% are only applicable to one energy source. Actions that can be applied to more than one technology but not to all, two to six, are mainly actions regarding renewable energy sources and technologies that contribute to air pollution. For the actions only applicable to one specific technology, 30% refer to biomass/biofuel projects, due to the fact that 15 linkages in the Framework only target this type of energy projects. These actions, targeting biomass/biofuels projects, address the use of crops for the production of energy, and possible conflicts and impacts that may arise from it.
In Figure 5 it can be observed that the majority of the actions apply to three stages, seven technologies and one actor, project developer. However, this does not mean that the majority of the actions apply to these stages, technologies and actor simultaneously. Actions applicable to project developers are predominantly stage and technology specific, with 87% of technology specific actions and 76% of stage specific actions being proposed for only project developers. These actions can mainly be found in the planning and operation stage of a project. Actions only allocated in the planning stage tend to prevent possible trade-offs and actions only allocated in the operation stage tend to focus on mitigation of the existent trade-offs. Therefore, the most crucial phase of a project is the planning stage, since the implementation of actions in this stage can avoid future trade-offs with the SDGs in the following stages. Actions that apply to all the stages and technologies are predominantly proposed to both actors. These actions on average impact a high number of SDG targets. Another dimension present in the Framework is the existence of actions only proposed for developing countries. Which account for 12 actions and addresses linkages with SDG 17, regarding economic development, financial aid, and capacity building.
3.2 Case of application
As a proof of concept to test and exemplify the possible outputs of the Framework, the VARGA Project was selected. The VARGA Project is located at the Avedøre Wastewater Treatment Plant, Denmark (WWTP) [8]. This project will transform the WWTP into a waste resource recovery facility (WRRF), which will create biogas, through anaerobic digestion, and biological fertiliser from both sludge and source-sorted organic waste [8].
As explained in the methodology section, the Framework was filled in twice, with the data provided by VARGA’s project manager, for both biomass/biofuels and waste to energy (Annex C). While filling in the questionnaire, it was understood that there is a risk of bias, from the Framework user. Which can significantly alter the linkages and actions proposed. To mitigate this risk, the Framework should be filled in by different stakeholders, ideally in a workshop setting, to ensure that several perspectives are taken into consideration. After the analysis of the Framework’s results, several linkages were dismissed using the built-in user defined priority function. This feature allows users to rank the different linkages on a scale from 0 (Not Applicable) to 5 (Top Priority). Forty-three synergies and 13 trade-offs were identified as applicable to the project, with linkages regarding incineration, biomass production through agriculture and provision of clean cooking fuels being classified as “0 = Not Applicable”.
The aim of the VARGA project is to incorporate the notion of circular economy through the utilisation of nutrients and the production of energy from urban waste and wastewater. The project has six main characteristics that differentiate it from others: optimised carbon harvesting, minimisation of nitrous oxide, valuation chain of organic waste, recycling phosphorus and nitrogen nutrients, release of raw materials, and source optimisation of organic waste biopulp in anaerobic digestion and upgrading of biogas [8]. Therefore, the most important synergy of this project is the increase of energy, water and natural resource efficiency. The two most relevant trade-offs are the vulnerability extreme weather events, and the disturbance of marine ecosystems.
The area where the plant is located may be under the threat of climate change and extreme weather events, which has trade-offs with SDG7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG13 (Climate Action). To limit this, the actions in Table 2 were proposed. During the meeting with the project manager, it was understood that possible trade-offs associated with extreme weather events were already analysed. The actions proposed in the Framework to mitigate these trade-offs were already implemented in the project. A climate risk assessment and a 100-year simulation of sea level rise were conducted for the WWTP.
Table 2. Actions to mitigate extreme weather events in the VARGA project
Trade-offs
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Proposed action
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Stage
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Actor
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7.1, 13.1
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Conduct a risk assessment and management plan
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Planning
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Project developer
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Monitor climate change impacts
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Building, operation
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Policymaker, project developer
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Prepare an emergency plan
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Planning, building, operation
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Project developer
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Implement flood protection measures
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Planning, building, operation
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Project developer
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Analyse if decentralised power production is feasible and if it reduces risks
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Planning
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Policymaker, project developer
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The project has another relevant trade-off regarding ecosystem disturbance. The release of wastewater, which have nutrients imbalances, to the aquatic system can lead to the disturbance of marine ecosystems. The actions suggested to mitigate this trade-off can be seen in Table 3. The recycling of phosphorus and nitrogen which in high concentration in wastewater can cause eutrophication [9] will be ensured by the plant and the nutrients will be reused in the agriculture sector [8]. This action mitigates the trade-offs present in Table 3 and the synergies presented in Table 4, since the recovery of nutrients is also a possible action to enhance the natural resource efficiency.
Table 3. Actions to mitigate the disturbance of marine ecosystems caused by the VARGA project
Trade-offs
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Proposed action
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Stage
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Actor
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6.6, 14.1, 14.2, 14.5, 15.1, 15.3
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Monitor nutrients content in waste waters
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Planning; Building, operation
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Policymaker, project developer
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Recycle excess amount of nutrients for agriculture fertilisers
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Planning, building, operation
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Policymaker, project developer
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Map and track upstream of wastewater treatment plants to define requirement for point source of environmental pollutant emissions
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Planning, building, operation
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Policymaker, project developer
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Implement licensing system or certification scheme to ensure mitigation measures
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Planning, building, operation
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Policymaker
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Monitor ecosystem impacts
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Building, operation
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Policymaker, project developer
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This project is considered a state-of-the-art project both in terms of water, energy and natural resources efficiency which influences SDG6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG7, SDG8 (Decent work and Economic Growth), SDG9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), SDG12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG13. This is due to the implementation of highly efficient energy technologies, the recovery of nutrients from wastewaters and production of fertilisers.
Table 4. Actions to enhance the water, energy and natural resource efficiency of VARGA
Synergies
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Proposed action
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Stage
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Actor
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6.4, 7.3, 8.4, 9.4, 12.1, 12.2, 13.2
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Use energy efficient technologies
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Planning, building, operation
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Policymaker, project developer
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Analyse all sources of tradable resources
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Planning, building, operation
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Policymaker, project developer
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Recover heat
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Planning, operation
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Policymaker, project developer
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Recover nutrients
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Planning, operation
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Policymaker, project developer
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Provide funding to scale up innovations
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Planning, building, operation
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Policymaker, project developer
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