Screening European market potentials for small modular wastewater treatment systems – an inroad to sustainability transitions in urban water management?
Abstract:Urban water management represents a core economic sector exposed to global water-related challenges. Recently, small modular system configurations have been identified to enable a potential sustainability transition in this lasting and rather conservative sector. The identification of current market potentials of decentralised wastewater treatment is a first step to assess whether decentralised treatment technologies could potentially be deployed on a larger scale in Europe, which would allow current decentral… Show more
“…The sector is confronted with grand challenges like climate change and rapid urbanization, which render the operation and maintenance of large-scale infrastructures increasingly difficult (Sadoff et al 2015;UN-WWAP 2015;Eggimann et al 2018;OECD 2019). Small, flexible, modular water technologies are hence increasingly regarded as a promising means of flexibly alleviating water scarcity, supporting cities in becoming more resilient, and helping them to implement more sustainable urban water management practices (Wong and Brown 2009;Larsen et al 2016).…”
Section: Mapping Global Legitimation Activities For Modular Water Tecmentioning
Research in economic geography has recently been challenged to adopt more institutional and multiscalar perspectives on industrial path development. This article contributes to this debate by integrating insights from (evolutionary) economic geography as well as transition and innovation studies into a conceptual framework of how path creation in emerging industries depends on the availability of both knowledge and legitimacy. Unlike the extant literature, we argue here that not only the former but also the latter may substantially depend on nonlocal sources. Conceptually, we distinguish between multiscalar export, attraction, and absorption of legitimacy. Coupled with conventional knowledge indicators, this approach enables us to reconstruct how not only external knowledge sourcing but also multiscalar institutional dynamics contribute to a region or country's ability to leverage its potential for path creation in an emerging industry. Methodologically, we develop legitimation indicators from a global media database, which was built around the case of modular water technologies. Cross-comparing the evidence from six key countries (India, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, the UK, the US) with differing path creation constellations for this emerging industry, allows us to hypothesize how multiscalar legitimation influences a country's prospects for creating a radically new industrial path.
“…The sector is confronted with grand challenges like climate change and rapid urbanization, which render the operation and maintenance of large-scale infrastructures increasingly difficult (Sadoff et al 2015;UN-WWAP 2015;Eggimann et al 2018;OECD 2019). Small, flexible, modular water technologies are hence increasingly regarded as a promising means of flexibly alleviating water scarcity, supporting cities in becoming more resilient, and helping them to implement more sustainable urban water management practices (Wong and Brown 2009;Larsen et al 2016).…”
Section: Mapping Global Legitimation Activities For Modular Water Tecmentioning
Research in economic geography has recently been challenged to adopt more institutional and multiscalar perspectives on industrial path development. This article contributes to this debate by integrating insights from (evolutionary) economic geography as well as transition and innovation studies into a conceptual framework of how path creation in emerging industries depends on the availability of both knowledge and legitimacy. Unlike the extant literature, we argue here that not only the former but also the latter may substantially depend on nonlocal sources. Conceptually, we distinguish between multiscalar export, attraction, and absorption of legitimacy. Coupled with conventional knowledge indicators, this approach enables us to reconstruct how not only external knowledge sourcing but also multiscalar institutional dynamics contribute to a region or country's ability to leverage its potential for path creation in an emerging industry. Methodologically, we develop legitimation indicators from a global media database, which was built around the case of modular water technologies. Cross-comparing the evidence from six key countries (India, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, the UK, the US) with differing path creation constellations for this emerging industry, allows us to hypothesize how multiscalar legitimation influences a country's prospects for creating a radically new industrial path.
“…Безусловно, очистка сточных вод помогает значительно сократить загрязнение водных объектов, но такой процесс является энергозатратным и ведет к увеличению энергопотребления и соответствующим климатическим проблемам [5,6]. Актуальные управленческие подходы в области водоочистки демонстрируют необходимость найти устойчивое и дружественное решение с экологической, экономической и энергетической точек зрения [7][8][9].…”
Section: актуальность темы исследованияunclassified
“…Sewer infrastructure is almost always the costliest element of any wastewater network [39], often costing five to six times more than the secondary wastewater treatment plants themselves (e.g., [40]). Further, the expected cost of sewerage infrastructure in a given setting is hard to generalize and define a priori, which is heavily dependent upon the local topography, the spatial distribution of the sewage sources, sub-surface conditions and many other factors [41]. As such, the step-cost of moving from no sewer connections to a fully serviced area is expensive, usually much greater than the mitigation technologies themselves.…”
Section: Relative Cost Of Different Ar Sanitation Interventionsmentioning
Globally increasing antibiotic resistance (AR) will only be reversed through a suite of multidisciplinary actions (One Health), including more prudent antibiotic use and improved sanitation on international scales. Relative to sanitation, advanced technologies exist that reduce AR in waste releases, but such technologies are expensive, and a strategic approach is needed to prioritize more affordable mitigation options, especially for Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Such an approach is proposed here, which overlays the incremental cost of different sanitation options and their relative benefit in reducing AR, ultimately suggesting the “next-most-economic” options for different locations. When considering AR gene fate versus intervention costs, reducing open defecation (OD) and increasing decentralized secondary wastewater treatment, with condominial sewers, will probably have the greatest impact on reducing AR, for the least expense. However, the best option for a given country depends on the existing sewerage infrastructure. Using Southeast Asia as a case study and World Bank/WHO/UNICEF data, the approach suggests that Cambodia and East Timor should target reducing OD as a national priority. In contrast, increasing decentralized secondary treatment is well suited to Thailand, Vietnam and rural Malaysia. Our approach provides a science-informed starting point for decision-makers, for prioritising AR mitigation interventions; an approach that will evolve and refine as more data become available.
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