NDLI: Assessing sustainability when data availability limits real-time estimates: using near-time indicators to extend sustainability metrics

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Heberling, Matthew T. Hopton, Matthew E.
Copyright Year	2013
Abstract	The goal of this paper is to highlight the problem of time lags in data releases that are necessary for calculating sustainability metrics and its effect on making informed management decisions. We produced a methodology to assess whether a regional system is on a sustainable path and tested it in south-central Colorado. We identified key components of the system and selected four sustainability metrics that measure those components. Metrics included: (1) ecological footprint (i.e., environmental burden), (2) green net regional product (GNRP) (i.e., economic well-being), (3) emergy (i.e., energy flows), and (4) Fisher information (i.e., dynamic order). Having calculated these metrics, we identified future research recommendations and limitations. One limitation was the delay between when an event occurred and when data on the event were released. Given, the recent push in government agencies for calculating sustainability metrics, finding solutions for the time lag will be important. To address this limitation, we explore the potential of using both sustainability metrics and indicators that are available near-time to provide decision makers with better decision support. For the pilot study in Colorado, the metric calculations were 3 years behind present. Using near-time indicators that are publicly available before the metrics can be calculated might help to predict the path of the metric. As an example, we examine if specific near-time indicators are correlated with ecological balance (a component of ecological footprint) and GNRP. We use Spearman rank correlations and scatter plots to identify the relationship of the metrics and near-time indicators in an exploratory analysis. We offer research recommendations to consider.
Starting Page	739
Ending Page	748
Page Count	10
File Format	PDF
ISSN	1618954X
Journal	Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy
Volume Number	16
Issue Number	4
e-ISSN	16189558
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publisher Date	2013-11-19
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Sustainability Ecological footprint Green net regional product Data availability Data release Time lag Ecological balance Green accounting Sustainable Development Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering Industrial and Production Engineering Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology Environmental Economics
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Environmental Chemistry Environmental Engineering Economics and Econometrics Business, Management and Accounting Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

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1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
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