Lecture

Sustainable Management: Improvement Opportunities and Environmental Impact

Graph Chat

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.

In course

ENV-469: Systems of environmental management

Le cours décrit les enjeux et les modalités pour la mise en place d'une démarche environnementale systémique en entreprise basée sur la norme ISO 14001 et son l'application à un cas d'étude concret choisi par le participant en collaboration avec l'enseign ...

Description

This lecture covers the assessment of opportunities for improvement in sustainable management, focusing on factors such as legal compliance, environmental aspects, and necessary costs. It also discusses the significant environmental impact of activities, products, and services, emphasizing the importance of reducing impacts and knowing them. Furthermore, it explores the implementation of improvement actions, setting goals and targets to enhance environmental performance and reduce CO2 emissions. The lecture delves into various initiatives undertaken by the company to promote sustainability, such as geothermal energy development, renewable heat utilization, and biodiversity preservation.

Official source

Related concepts (32)

Renewable heat

Renewable heat is an application of renewable energy referring to the generation of heat from renewable sources; for example, feeding radiators with water warmed by focused solar radiation rather than by a fossil fuel boiler. Renewable heat technologies include renewable biofuels, solar heating, geothermal heating, heat pumps and heat exchangers. Insulation is almost always an important factor in how renewable heating is implemented. Many colder countries consume more energy for heating than for supplying electricity.

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. Renewable resources include sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy sources are sustainable, some are not. For example, some biomass sources are considered unsustainable at current rates of exploitation. Renewable energy is often used for electricity generation, heating and cooling.

Sustainable forest management

Sustainable forest management (SFM) is the management of forests according to the principles of sustainable development. Sustainable forest management has to keep the balance between three main pillars: ecological, economic and socio-cultural. Sustainable forestry can seem contradicting to some individuals as the act of logging trees is not sustainable. However, the goal of sustainable forestry is to allow for a balance to be found between ethical forestry and maintaining biodiversity through the means of maintaining natural patterns of disturbance and regeneration.

Renewable energy commercialization

Renewable energy commercialization involves the deployment of three generations of renewable energy technologies dating back more than 100 years. First-generation technologies, which are already mature and economically competitive, include biomass, hydroelectricity, geothermal power and heat. Second-generation technologies are market-ready and are being deployed at the present time; they include solar heating, photovoltaics, wind power, solar thermal power stations, and modern forms of bioenergy.

100% renewable energy

100% renewable energy means getting all energy from renewable resources. The endeavor to use 100% renewable energy for electricity, heating, cooling and transport is motivated by climate change, pollution and other environmental issues, as well as economic and energy security concerns. Shifting the total global primary energy supply to renewable sources requires a transition of the energy system, since most of today's energy is derived from non-renewable fossil fuels.

Related lectures (40)

Circular Economy and Sustainability Strategies

Delves into sustainability strategies, circular economy, and the transition to a net-zero economy, emphasizing the role of key industries in reducing carbon emissions.

Heat Strategy for Building Heating

Covers strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency in building heating.

Recycling and Sustainable Development: Challenges and Solutions

Examines the role of recycling in sustainable development, addressing its limitations and the importance of a circular economy.

Climate Change: Understanding Impacts and Responses

Discusses climate change impacts, adaptation strategies, and the importance of collective action to address global warming.

Circular Economy: Sustainable Transition and NetZero Solutions