University General - Research Publications
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ItemModular system approach for modelling socio-technical transitions towards alternative energy infrastructures in urban areas(Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand Inc. (MSSANZ), 2017-01-01)Reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) in urban energy systems requires the implementation of alternative infrastructure configurations across different geographical, technical and social scales. Furthermore, alternative configurations may improve systems resilience and democratization of service provision. However, unlike current centralised systems, which are well understood from the technical and social perspectives, there is a lack of knowledge on the socio-technical interplay across multiple intermediate scales of alternative infrastructures, defined as all the possible configurations in between off-grid and centralised infrastructure. There are various concepts in the literature describing decentralised, distributed and integrated systems using different primary energy resources and generating various energy carriers -for electricity, heating, and cooling. However, the information on alternative models is limited to the technical requirements leaving a gap in knowledge on the societal requirements. Alternative infrastructure models potentially reduce GHGE but they may require unique forms of social organisation structures to support their adoption and increase the pace towards decarbonisation. To obtain in-depth understanding of the socio-technical interplay of alternative infrastructures across scales, this paper draws on complexity theory, the concept of modularity and transitions modelling literature. This aid in the definition of the proposed conceptual framework and the Service Provision Modules (SPM). This conceptual framework serves as the basis for spatially specific modelling and simulation. The SPM may use different types of networks and can represent any type of conventional or alternative infrastructure configuration. The conceptual framework then uses the modules to construct the socio-technical layouts for the baseline and possible future configurations in a given area. The paper briefly outlines various concepts in the literature which technically define alternative energy systems, then presents a description of the conceptual framework and the definition of an SPM. Finally, the SPMs are used to represent the Australian electricity system.
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ItemA citizen science approach to obtain quantitative measurements of urban agriculture inputs and outputs in Melbourne(SOAC, 2017)There are many advocates and critics of urban agriculture’s role in a sustainable food system but little quantitative data, potentially due the difficulties in collecting it. Urban food production is an example of a distributed system intrinsically linked to urban farmers and urban lifestyles and therefore cannot be recreated in a lab. Citizen science (CS) is identified as a potential method to measure aspects of urban agriculture but has potential issues associated with maintaining participation in data collection. This paper presents the development of a citizen science methodology combining general CS project design methods with methods for engaging and retaining participants in CS projects, based on motivation, for the design of a citizen science project measuring the sustainability performance of urban food gardens in Melbourne, Australia. It was found that an additional motivation emerged that is not yet documented in existing literature and is particular to citizen science projects. Other conclusions were also drawn related to timeline management, potential cost reductions conflicting with reducing barriers to participation and diversifying recruitment methods to attract participants with more time to be involved.
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ItemWhat does a low carbon local diet look like for Melbourne?(Association for Sustainability in Business Inc., 2017)Food systems in cities are under increasing pressure. Food production is occurring further and further from the point of consumption and extreme weather events due to climate change are impacting on food supply networks. It is possible that cities will have to rely on their local regions to meet at least some of their food needs in the future. Although large amounts of food are produced on the outskirts of cities, it is not clear the extent to which the nutritional needs of inhabitants could be met sustainably. This paper aims to investigate if it is possible to feed the city of Melbourne a healthy diet from the local area (i.e. achieve direct food availability) and what that diet might look like. It tests a new methodology using linear programming to find the optimal mix of food types to produce a diet profile that meets the Australian Dietary Guidelines within theproduction capacity of the local ‘region’. Results from three region scenarios are presented – Greater Melbourne, Foodbowl and Rest of Victoria. No solution could be found that satisfied all constraints for any region, however this identified issues surrounding availability of certain food types, particularly fruit, vegetables and legumes. Systematically increasing certain constraints provided insight into how diets could be composed to meet requirements and where it might be necessary to increase production within a region or future proof food supply networks. It also highlighted conflicts between sourcing food locally and reducing carbon emissions.
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ItemFoodprint Melbourne: What does it take to feed a city?(Victorian Eco Innovation Lab, the University of Melbourne, 2016)This report explores Melbourne’s ‘foodprint’ – the environmental footprint of feeding the city. It takes a lot of land, water and energy to feed a rapidly growing city like Melbourne, and a significant amount of food waste and GHG emissions are generated as a result. As supplies of the natural resources underpinning food production become more constrained, the city will need to explore new approaches to increase the sustainability and resilience of its food supply. This report aims to provide an evidence base to support this process. The principal findings of this research are: • It takes over 475L of water per capita per day to feed Melbourne, around double the city’s household usage. • 16.3 million hectares of land is required to feed Melbourne each year, an area equivalent to 72% of the state of Victoria. • Feeding Melbourne generates over 907,537 tonnes of edible food waste, which represents a waste of 3.6 million hectares of land and 180 GL of water. • Around 4.1 million tonnes of GHG emissions are emitted in producing the city’s food, and a further 2.5 million tonnes from food waste. • Melbourne is likely to grow rapidly between now and 2050, and its foodprint will increase significantly as a result. • Melbourne’s city foodbowl could play an important role in increasing the resilience and sustainability of the city’s food supply. • The city foodbowl has significant capacity for production of fresh foods. It also has access to recycled water and organic waste streams, and could reduce the city’s dependence on distant sources of fresh foods. • Key vulnerabilities in Melbourne’s regional food supply include loss of agricultural land, water scarcity and the impacts of climate change. • Potential strategies to increase the sustainability and resilience of Melbourne’s regional food supply include increasing urban density, shifting to regenerative agriculture, increasing the use of recycled water for agriculture, reducing food waste and modifying our diets. • Multiple strategies are likely to be needed to increase the sustainability and resilience of Melbourne’s regional food supply. • Around 10% of the available recycled water from Melbourne’s water treatment plants would be enough to grow half of the vegetables that Melbourne eats. • Increasing urban density as Melbourne grows could reduce urban sprawl by about 50% over the next 20 years, saving 180,000 hectares of land in Melbourne’s foodbowl – an area equivalent to almost 5 times Victoria’s vegetable growing land.