Digital technologies are profoundly influencing all economic sectors and have potential to contribute towards a sustainable society. At the same time, the production, use and waste management of these technologies, which lie at the core of the economic sector of information and communication technology (ICT), are causing environmental impacts. Previous studies have applied life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology and life cycle thinking to assess current and future direct energy use and climate impact of the global ICT sector. These studies frequently arrive at contradictory results regarding future impacts. Calculation approaches applied differ significantly, the consideration of key aspects varies, fast-growing digital technologies are seldom included in future scenarios and uncertainty analyses are typically limited. The aim of this study is to develop guidelines for assessments of the current and future direct energy use and climate impact of the global ICT sector based on LCA methodology and life cycle thinking. The guidelines have been developed based on literature reviews, the authors’ aggregated and broad expertise in this topic and in workshops. Key aspects in influencing the current and future direct energy use and climate impact of the global ICT sector, covering its three subdomains of end-user devices, networks and data centres as well as all life cycle stages, are identified. These include, for example, the number of end-user devices, number of subscriptions and the annual electricity use of networks and data centres. The guidelines address challenges for practitioners and can contribute towards more transparent and coherent future studies.

Circular Economy has been highlighted internationally as a solution to mitigate global warming. This study examines the reuse potential of precast concrete elements in Swedish residential buildings, quantifying its impact on element flows and stock using life cycle assessment. While reuse achieves higher carbon savings than recycling, the overall impact remains modest due to limited demolition and high demand for new materials, with most precast concrete elements still embedded in the stock. Assuming all deconstructed elements are reused, savings reach up to 1 % of lifecycle emissions, with a proportional relationship observed between reuse share and embodied carbon savings. Despite aligning with IPCC recommendations for increased prefabrication, the growing precast concrete intensity in buildings with precast concrete structure reflects rising resource consumption. Further studies should assess how technological advancements affect life cycle impacts and reuse feasibility, while also exploring reuse in non-residential buildings and policy measures to strengthen circular economy strategies.

Backcasting has become a widely applied approach to address sustainability challenges when transformative changes are required. However, dispersed and contextualized knowledge of backcasting methodologies and practices needs to be systematized, codified, and synthesized to support researchers, commissioners, practitioners, and stakeholders in backcasting projects. In this paper, we address these issues by (i) concisely reviewing the evolution and current body of literature on backcasting and how this relates to other major types of futures and scenario studies and (ii) developing a design framework for researchers and practitioners that systematically covers all methodological choices with regard to key guiding questions to develop a backcasting methodology for a particular backcasting project. The developed design framework is based on four parts, characterized by the interrogatives when, which, how, and what, creating a comprehensive framework for describing a backcasting study.

Passenger cars contribute considerably to total emissions of greenhouse gasses. In this article, we develop scenarios for the Swedish passenger car fleet in 2030, achieving a 70% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as compared to 2010. The number of shared and electric cars, how they are combined, and levels of biofuel use differ between the scenarios. Transport volumes, car access, battery use, indirect emissions, and fleet development are evaluated and compared. Conclusions based on the scenarios include:

• Target-fulfillment requires a reduction in kilometers traveled by passenger cars. The reductions are 21%–47% per capita in six scenarios.
• Major changes to both removal rate and new car sales are needed, highlighting a policy challenge for the coming decade.
• Total battery capacity in the vehicle fleet increase from 1 GWh 2018 to 73–168 GWh in the six scenarios. This implies a need for careful consideration regarding resource scarcity and production capacity. A new metric, vehicle kilometers/(kWh*year), is developed and tested to explore efficiency in battery use.
• Reducing direct emissions through a high production of electric cars causes tensions in relation to the European Emissions Trading System due to the indirect emissions that arise. It is therefore important to consider indirect emissions in policymaking.

This paper explores how opportunities for reducing the total use of office space can be identified, investigates how the benefits in terms of energy savings from space efficiency measures could be calculated, and gives a first estimate of such values. A simple method to measure office space use is presented and tested at two university departments, and very low space efficiency is found. A variety of reasons for the low space efficiency are identified via interviews with property managers and heads of the concerned departments. These include the fact that the incentives for using space efficiently are small for the decision-makers, and the costs in terms of time and trouble are perceived as high. This suggests that interesting results can be achieved without large efforts. Moreover, we present a proof of concept of how to estimate the amount of energy that can be saved by reducing space use. We find a rough estimate of the potential energy savings of 2 MWh/m2 in embodied primary energy intensity (assuming that more efficient use of space leads to a decrease in new construction) and 200 kWh/m2/year in final energy intensity. Those numbers should be useful as rough estimates when looking at opportunities for saving energy by using space more efficiently.

Drawing on collective experience from ten collaborative research projects focused on the Global South, we identify three major challenges that impede the translation of research on sustainability and resilience into better-informed choices by individuals and policy-makers that in turn can support transformation to a sustainable future. The three challenges comprise: (i) converting knowledge produced during research projects into successful knowledge application; (ii) scaling up knowledge in time when research projects are short-term and potential impacts are long-term; and (iii) scaling up knowledge across space, from local research sites to larger-scale or even global impact. Some potential pathways for funding agencies to overcome these challenges include providing targeted prolonged funding for dissemination and outreach, and facilitating collaboration and coordination across different sites, research teams, and partner organizations. By systematically documenting these challenges, we hope to pave the way for further innovations in the research cycle.

Information asymmetry between building owners and suppliers of sustainable building renovations threatens to slow the energy transition. This study introduces the concept of a Digital Energy Advisor (DEA) which autonomously and transparently provides personalized guidance in an educational way about the technical, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainable buildings. The technical requirements of building a DEA are described, including model structure and input data, which connects to the barriers found in being able to realize such a tool available to the public. It is shown that while it is technically possible, data procurement costs, personal privacy via GDPR, and the intellectual property of private firms establish the limits for creating a non-profit, publicly accessible DEA. Technical and commercial pathways around the barriers are discussed, and the conclusion is that an open-source business model has the greatest potential for a public DEA.

With each IPCC report, the science basis around climate change increases extensively in terms of scope, depth, and complexity. In converting this knowledge into societal climate action, research organisations face the challenge of reforming the ways they structure themselves, generate solutions, and communicate scientific findings to stakeholders. Here we present a mission-driven approach to guide those efforts.