ORWARE: an aid to environmental technology chain assessment

Abstract

This article discusses the ORWARE tool, a model originally developed for environmental systems analysis of waste management systems, and shows its prospect as a tool for environmental technology chain assessment. Different concepts of technology assessment are presented to put ORWARE into context in the discussion that has been going for more than two decades since the establishment of the US Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA). An even-handed assessment is important in different ways such as reproducibility, reliability, credibility, etc. Conventional technology assessment (TA) relied on the judgements and intuition of the assessors. A computer-based tool such as ORWARE provides a basis for transparency and a structured management of input and output data that cover ecological and economic parameters. This permits consistent and coherent technology assessments. Using quantitative analysis as in ORWARE makes comparison and addition of values across chain of technologies easier. We illustrate the application of the model in environmental technology chain assessment through a study of alternative technical systems linking waste management to vehicle fuel production and use. The principles of material and substance flow modelling, life cycle perspective, and graphical modelling featured in ORWARE offer a generic structure for environmentally focused TA of chains and networks of technical processes. #

Technology assessment of thermal treatment technologies using ORWARE

“…In recent research projects, the model has been further developed with a focus on energy related waste management issues [15]. As a new area of application, its potential as an aid to the environmental technology chain assessment (ETCA) tool has been illustrated by Assefa et al [16].…”

“…When ORWARE was coined an environmental technology chain assessment (ETCA) tool for the first time in Assefa et al [16], there was only one study used to illustrate the claim. No economic assessment was made and, thus, the term ETCA.…”

R&D Project Selection Incorporating Customer-Perceived Value and Technology Potential: The Case of the Automobile Industry

“…For example, Pretorius and de Wet [21] suggested a framework to investigate the impact of manufacturing technology on corporate productivity and competitiveness based on three dimensions-hierarchy, fundamental functions, and business cycle. Assefa et al [22] developed a technology valuation method considering technological and economic aspects. Kalbar et al [23] measured the value of technology in terms of the technology life cycle, robustness, sustainability, and so on.…”

“…Then, in aggregating the values for several criteria, previous studies have adopted a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model, which helps a decision-maker to choose the most desirable options (R&D projects in our case) based on conflicting criteria. The MCDM models frequently applied include AHP [3], analytic network process (ANP) [24], the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) [22], data envelopment analysis (DEA) [25], fuzzy-set theory [4,5], and decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) [26]. Sometimes, these techniques are integrated to better support decision-making (e.g., [27,28]).…”

Prospects for Increased Energy Recovery from Horse Manure—A Case Study of Management Practices, Environmental Impact and Costs

“…The model has been used repeatedly for evaluation of waste management policy and strategies [20,[36][37][38][39]. In the anaerobic digestion submodel, the amount of biogas generated is dependent on the composition of different organic compounds such as fat, proteins, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and rapidly degradable carbohydrates, and the retention time (HRT).…”