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Profesor Université du Quebec à Montreal The School of Management of UQAM
Among renewable energies, photovoltaic solar energy has a prominent place with a 25% increase in installed capacity worldwide in 2018, including the development of grid-connected photovoltaic solar power plants. These new technological tools promise to supply populations with clean energy and to fight climate change by reducing CO2 emissions, in perspective with sustainable development. Basing on a qualitative case study located in Rwanda, this article draws from the impacts of a photovoltaic solar power plant by concretely verifying to what extent its impact (evaluated in seven categories on four territorial levels) actually participates in this sustainability strategy. The article engages in an analytical discussion on the place of the solar power plant in a socio-technical Multi-Level Perspective, enriched with a Multi-Scalar approach. The study reveals three major paradoxes: (i) at the international level, the promotion of the energy transition to renewable energies (symbolized by the power plant) does not lead to systematic local electrification; (ii) although the operation of the power plant generates carbon credits from the Credit Carbon Mechanism, it does not necessarily ensure the implementation of local socio-economic development and yet this development is in principle linked to the allocation of the said credits; and (iii) due to its indirect impact on the electricity tariff, the power plant seems to limit the State’s actions with regards to the fight against poverty, which seems contradictory to the impetus aroused by the new renewable energy economy. Appropriate recommendations have been proposed.
Carole Brunet; Oumarou Savadogo; Pierre Baptiste; Michel A. Bouchard; Céline Cholez; Corinne Gendron; Nicolas Merveille. The three paradoxes of the energy transition - Assessing sustainability of large-scale solar photovoltaic through multi-level and multi-scalar perspective in Rwanda. Journal of Cleaner Production 2020, 288, 125519 .
AMA StyleCarole Brunet, Oumarou Savadogo, Pierre Baptiste, Michel A. Bouchard, Céline Cholez, Corinne Gendron, Nicolas Merveille. The three paradoxes of the energy transition - Assessing sustainability of large-scale solar photovoltaic through multi-level and multi-scalar perspective in Rwanda. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2020; 288 ():125519.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCarole Brunet; Oumarou Savadogo; Pierre Baptiste; Michel A. Bouchard; Céline Cholez; Corinne Gendron; Nicolas Merveille. 2020. "The three paradoxes of the energy transition - Assessing sustainability of large-scale solar photovoltaic through multi-level and multi-scalar perspective in Rwanda." Journal of Cleaner Production 288, no. : 125519.
Circular economy (CE) promotes better resource use by reducing waste and keeping products and materials in use and supports natural system regeneration. However, the social dimension of CE is virtually non-existent. Moreover, there is no holistic framework to select the social indicators to be used to assess the positive or negative impacts of CE strategies. Thus, this paper proposes an approach to identify key social indicators of CE through qualitative (Delphi) and quantitative (fuzzy logic) tools that objectively account for the uncertainty associated with data collection and judgement elicitation and number of attributes (indicators) by considering the vagueness of the data. The research includes a hybrid approach to explore multiple social indicators, a survey of social indicators for CE experts to arrive at a consensus regarding the social measures that are required and an analysis of the resulting survey data to converge on the key social indicators relevant to CE.. The results show that the most relevant social indicators for CE experts are consumer health and safety, followed by poverty, food security and governance. These findings suggest that indicators such as the eradication of poverty and hunger are priorities for CE experts. This could be attributed to the power of CE practices to help achieve several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets, particularly those that are most directly related to CE strategies.
Alejandro Padilla-Rivera; Breno Barros Telles Do Carmo; Gabriella Arcese; Nicolas Merveille. Social circular economy indicators: Selection through fuzzy delphi method. Sustainable Production and Consumption 2020, 26, 101 -110.
AMA StyleAlejandro Padilla-Rivera, Breno Barros Telles Do Carmo, Gabriella Arcese, Nicolas Merveille. Social circular economy indicators: Selection through fuzzy delphi method. Sustainable Production and Consumption. 2020; 26 ():101-110.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlejandro Padilla-Rivera; Breno Barros Telles Do Carmo; Gabriella Arcese; Nicolas Merveille. 2020. "Social circular economy indicators: Selection through fuzzy delphi method." Sustainable Production and Consumption 26, no. : 101-110.
Circular Economy (CE) is a growing topic among scholars, industries, and governments, and is aimed at decoupling economic growth and development from the consumption of finite resources. CE incorporates different meanings, from reduce, reuse, and recycle activities, to environmental degradation or resource scarcity, and is supported by specific indicators to attain sustainable development. However, so far, there has been no agreement to measure how effective an industry/product is in making the transition from linear to circular approaches, particularly those that affect society. This research work aims to perform a systematic literature review (n = 60) to analyze and discuss how social aspects have been considered and integrated in CE research so far. Moreover, this review provides an overview of the literature on social impact within the CE, which results in three main outputs: a knowledge map of the CE, an analysis of social aspects within CE, and the theories/frameworks used to evaluate social impact of CE. Finally, this study brings to light how CE implementation can affect society and highlights the importance of social dimension in the domains of CE and a policy-making community, which could help move CE towards a sustainable development.
Alejandro Padilla-Rivera; Sara Russo-Garrido; Nicolas Merveille. Addressing the Social Aspects of a Circular Economy: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability 2020, 12, 7912 .
AMA StyleAlejandro Padilla-Rivera, Sara Russo-Garrido, Nicolas Merveille. Addressing the Social Aspects of a Circular Economy: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (19):7912.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlejandro Padilla-Rivera; Sara Russo-Garrido; Nicolas Merveille. 2020. "Addressing the Social Aspects of a Circular Economy: A Systematic Literature Review." Sustainability 12, no. 19: 7912.
In a context of energy transition towards renewable energies, this case study situated in Madagascar allows us to verify the extent to which an on-grid photovoltaic solar power plant represents a vector for sustainable development. The article proposes a model for assessing sustainability from a qualitative multi-criteria perspective. This analysis fits into the theoretical question of the science of sustainability by challenging the theory of endogenous development. The innovation of this research is based on the use of a qualitative approach to a technological issue filling a literature gap in the major issue of the effective sustainability of renewable energy (particularly in the context of an island state). The study emphasizes that the plant can only represent a vector for sustainable development with the collaboration of the concerned parties, which implies considering the electrification needs at the local level. The article confirms that the impacts generated by the power plant can lead to conflicts between different sustainable development goals. Theoretically, the study emphasizes that the evaluation of the sustainability of solar power plants should follow a process that: (i) uses a preferably qualitative methodology likely to understand the local conditions of the communities in which they are established; (ii) identifies dissociated indicators while taking into account the context; and (iii) analyzes the possible negative interactions between the impact areas by highlighting the key areas linked to land management and the well-being of women within a poverty reduction approach.
Carole Brunet; Oumarou Savadogo; Pierre Baptiste; Michel Bouchard; Jean Rakotoary; Andry Ravoninjatovo; Céline Cholez; Corinne Gendron; Nicolas Merveille. Impacts Generated by a Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant Can Lead to Conflicts between Sustainable Development Goals: A Review of Key Lessons Learned in Madagascar. Sustainability 2020, 12, 7471 .
AMA StyleCarole Brunet, Oumarou Savadogo, Pierre Baptiste, Michel Bouchard, Jean Rakotoary, Andry Ravoninjatovo, Céline Cholez, Corinne Gendron, Nicolas Merveille. Impacts Generated by a Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant Can Lead to Conflicts between Sustainable Development Goals: A Review of Key Lessons Learned in Madagascar. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (18):7471.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCarole Brunet; Oumarou Savadogo; Pierre Baptiste; Michel Bouchard; Jean Rakotoary; Andry Ravoninjatovo; Céline Cholez; Corinne Gendron; Nicolas Merveille. 2020. "Impacts Generated by a Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant Can Lead to Conflicts between Sustainable Development Goals: A Review of Key Lessons Learned in Madagascar." Sustainability 12, no. 18: 7471.
Circular Economy (CE) is a growing topic among scholars, industry and government aiming at decoupling economic growth and development from the consumption of finite resources. CE incorporates different meanings, from reduce, reuse and recycle activities to environmental degradation or resource scarcity, and supported by specific indicators to attain sustainable development. However, so far, there has been no agreement to measure how effective an industry/product is in making the transition from linear to circular approaches, particularly those affected the society. This research work aims to perform a systematic literature review (n=60) to analyze and discuss how social aspects have been considered and integrated in the CE research so far. Moreover, this review provides and overview of the literature on social impact within CE, that resulted in three main outputs: a knowledge map of the CE, an analysis of social aspects within CE, and the theories/frameworks used to evaluate social impact of CE. Finally, this study brings to light how CE implementation can affect society and highlights the importance of social dimension in the domains of CE and policy-making community, which could help moving CE towards a sustainable development.
Alejandro Padilla-Rivera; Sara Russo-Garrido; Nicolas Merveille. Addressing the Social Aspects of Circular Economy: A Systematic Literature Review. 2020, 1 .
AMA StyleAlejandro Padilla-Rivera, Sara Russo-Garrido, Nicolas Merveille. Addressing the Social Aspects of Circular Economy: A Systematic Literature Review. . 2020; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlejandro Padilla-Rivera; Sara Russo-Garrido; Nicolas Merveille. 2020. "Addressing the Social Aspects of Circular Economy: A Systematic Literature Review." , no. : 1.
In recent years, information technologies have attained remarkable advantages in promoting the development of sustainability in agriculture. However, challenges still exist in technology implementation, which mainly involves biased points of view, initially higher costs, uncertainty, lack of transparency, and trust. To tackle these challenges, recent research attempts to introduce blockchain technology, combined with ICT, to promote sustainable e-agriculture. Blockchain technology, due to its distributed network system, is believed to enable a more transparent supply chain and rebuild trust between members. Therefore, blockchain-enabled e-agriculture is widely considered as the next step towards sustainable agriculture. Realistically, implementing blockchain technology still offers some key issues, and a new perspective about sustainable data management systems is needed. In this paper, data demands from all related parties who care about sustainability achievements in the agricultural sector are taken into consideration. The paper proposes an overall system approach to insert blockchain technology into the current agri-food supply chain. It provides interesting insights about how to achieve sustainability, by creating a new value mechanism among blockchain network members.
Luona Song; Xiaojuan Wang; Nicolas Merveille. Research on Blockchain for Sustainable E-Agriculture. 2020 IEEE Technology & Engineering Management Conference (TEMSCON) 2020, 1 -5.
AMA StyleLuona Song, Xiaojuan Wang, Nicolas Merveille. Research on Blockchain for Sustainable E-Agriculture. 2020 IEEE Technology & Engineering Management Conference (TEMSCON). 2020; ():1-5.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLuona Song; Xiaojuan Wang; Nicolas Merveille. 2020. "Research on Blockchain for Sustainable E-Agriculture." 2020 IEEE Technology & Engineering Management Conference (TEMSCON) , no. : 1-5.
Decreasing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the residential sector is critical to the low-carbon transition. Applying information and communication technologies to power systems makes it possible to reduce GHG emissions in the residential sector, for example through the development of smart homes. Smart homes are more energy efficient and thus, they may be prone to the rebound effect (RE), (i.e., an increase in demand following the introduction of more efficient technology). Moreover, because the electricity's environmental impacts, cost and demand all vary over time, the potential for RE may also fluctuate. Accounting for these temporal aspects could therefore provide more insights into how and why potential RE may occur in smart homes, especially with regard to households' behaviours. In this study, an agent-based model is used to simulate standard and smart home electricity consumption. Life cycle assessment and environmentally extended input-output tables are used to calculate the households' electricity consumption and RE GHG emissions during the simulations. Results show that, while indirect RE in smart homes is low (about 5% in the simulations), the choice of metric used for smart electricity management is key to maximize the GHG emissions reductions of smart homes. When smart homes perform load shifting based on an economic rather than environmental signal, RE increases by almost five-fold. Moreover, certain periods, such as weekdays or the winter season, lead to more significant RE. Thus, considering factors that decrease RE could enable smart homes to reach their full potential contribution to sustainability.
Julien Walzberg; Thomas Dandres; Nicolas Merveille; Mohamed Cheriet; Réjean Samson. Should we fear the rebound effect in smart homes? Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2020, 125, 109798 .
AMA StyleJulien Walzberg, Thomas Dandres, Nicolas Merveille, Mohamed Cheriet, Réjean Samson. Should we fear the rebound effect in smart homes? Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 2020; 125 ():109798.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJulien Walzberg; Thomas Dandres; Nicolas Merveille; Mohamed Cheriet; Réjean Samson. 2020. "Should we fear the rebound effect in smart homes?" Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 125, no. : 109798.
The inclusion of temporal aspects in the environmental assessment of complex socio-technical systems is crucial. For power systems, such considerations allow computing the environmental impacts related to demand-side management strategies which could not be assessed with static data, such as temporal shifts of part of the demand from one period of the day to another. Several life cycle assessment (LCA) studies have included temporal aspects, but mostly regarding the system's production function. The consumption side of a socio-technical system, however, is also prone to fluctuate in time and its misrepresentation may lead to additional errors. In this study, the residential power demand of a set of Canadians' homes was modeled with a stochastic approach. Then, three different LCA approaches are compared: the use of an average or a marginal electricity mix and a combination of the two. The influence of the temporal granularity of data (yearly average or hourly data) on LCA results was also investigated. The case study of a simple demand-side management strategy illustrates the method. Results show that the assumption of a constant demand leads to errors regarding environmental impacts assessment, which may be as high as 136% depending on the period of the year assessed. Moreover, the wrong assumption regarding the nature of power demand leads to sub-optimal results for demand-side strategy: the use of an average electricity mix slightly increases greenhouse gas emissions, whereas applying a marginal mix decreases emissions by 10%.
Julien Walzberg; Thomas Dandres; Nicolas Merveille; Mohamed Cheriet; Réjean Samson. Accounting for fluctuating demand in the life cycle assessments of residential electricity consumption and demand-side management strategies. Journal of Cleaner Production 2019, 240, 118251 .
AMA StyleJulien Walzberg, Thomas Dandres, Nicolas Merveille, Mohamed Cheriet, Réjean Samson. Accounting for fluctuating demand in the life cycle assessments of residential electricity consumption and demand-side management strategies. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019; 240 ():118251.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJulien Walzberg; Thomas Dandres; Nicolas Merveille; Mohamed Cheriet; Réjean Samson. 2019. "Accounting for fluctuating demand in the life cycle assessments of residential electricity consumption and demand-side management strategies." Journal of Cleaner Production 240, no. : 118251.
Julien Walzberg; Thomas Dandres; Nicolas Merveille; Mohamed Cheriet; Rejean Samson. Environmental Assessment of Fluctuating Residential Electricity Demand. 2019 IEEE Sustainability through ICT Summit (StICT) 2019, 1 .
AMA StyleJulien Walzberg, Thomas Dandres, Nicolas Merveille, Mohamed Cheriet, Rejean Samson. Environmental Assessment of Fluctuating Residential Electricity Demand. 2019 IEEE Sustainability through ICT Summit (StICT). 2019; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJulien Walzberg; Thomas Dandres; Nicolas Merveille; Mohamed Cheriet; Rejean Samson. 2019. "Environmental Assessment of Fluctuating Residential Electricity Demand." 2019 IEEE Sustainability through ICT Summit (StICT) , no. : 1.
To truly reduce environmental impacts in sustainable consumption, lifestyle assessments should be performed for all areas of protection and because human behaviours drive lifestyles, they must be accurately accounted for. Life cycle analysis (LCA) computes environmental impacts across several indicators and throughout the life cycle stages of a product or a service. However, its capacity to grasp human behaviours and their changes is limited. This is especially true when one wishes to assess the potential benefits of behavioural policies based on people’s irrationality such as nudges. This article describes a methodology for the environmental assessment of systems and policies that aim to change human behaviours. To that end, agent-based modeling (ABM) and LCA are combined. While ABM simulates human behaviours and their changes, LCA assess environmental impacts. The methodology is applied to a case study of standard and smart homes use phases. Results show that attitudinal factors such as conformity to others cause significant effects—up to approximately 30% of environmental benefits in the experiments—and should therefore be accounted for. When performing peak shaving (a shift in time of part of the electricity load), the use of a photovoltaic (PV) battery system increases the reductions in climate change impact by up to roughly 25%. However, peak shaving may also lead to environmental trade-offs depending on the metric used. These results show the relevance of combining LCA and ABM when evaluating systems or policies that change people’s behaviours (e.g., nudges). The proposed methodology could enable the assessment of complex systems in sustainable consumption. Evaluating other such systems (e.g., mobility or diet) also constitutes a possible application of the developed approach.
Julien Walzberg; Thomas Dandres; Nicolas Merveille; Mohamed Cheriet; Réjean Samson. Assessing behavioural change with agent-based life cycle assessment: Application to smart homes. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2019, 111, 365 -376.
AMA StyleJulien Walzberg, Thomas Dandres, Nicolas Merveille, Mohamed Cheriet, Réjean Samson. Assessing behavioural change with agent-based life cycle assessment: Application to smart homes. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 2019; 111 ():365-376.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJulien Walzberg; Thomas Dandres; Nicolas Merveille; Mohamed Cheriet; Réjean Samson. 2019. "Assessing behavioural change with agent-based life cycle assessment: Application to smart homes." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 111, no. : 365-376.
We address the issue of sustainability transformation in Ecological Economics through the lens of social movements We link environmental resistance movements and alternative movements We investigate the similarities and differences between these two kind of movements We advocate for a more politicized, social-movement oriented and place-based approach to sustainability transformations We contribute to the development of a more political and emancipatory conception of sustainability
Jérôme Pelenc; Grégoire Wallenborn; Julien Milanesi; Léa Sébastien; Julien Vastenaekels; Fany Lajarthe; Jérôme Ballet; Manuel Cervera-Marzal; Aurélie Carimentrand; Nicolas Merveille; Bruno Frère. Alternative and Resistance Movements: The Two Faces of Sustainability Transformations? Ecological Economics 2019, 159, 373 -378.
AMA StyleJérôme Pelenc, Grégoire Wallenborn, Julien Milanesi, Léa Sébastien, Julien Vastenaekels, Fany Lajarthe, Jérôme Ballet, Manuel Cervera-Marzal, Aurélie Carimentrand, Nicolas Merveille, Bruno Frère. Alternative and Resistance Movements: The Two Faces of Sustainability Transformations? Ecological Economics. 2019; 159 ():373-378.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJérôme Pelenc; Grégoire Wallenborn; Julien Milanesi; Léa Sébastien; Julien Vastenaekels; Fany Lajarthe; Jérôme Ballet; Manuel Cervera-Marzal; Aurélie Carimentrand; Nicolas Merveille; Bruno Frère. 2019. "Alternative and Resistance Movements: The Two Faces of Sustainability Transformations?" Ecological Economics 159, no. : 373-378.
Le présent article s'intéresse au vertige identitaire des professions d'ingénieur, et à la science-fiction en tant que voie possible d'ouverture épistémologique face à la crise. Bien qu'elle participe à (...)
Marie-Luc Arpin; Corinne Gendron; Nicolas Merveille; Jean-Pierre Revéret. Science-fiction et innovations scientifiques : la mise à l’épreuve de la pensée de l’ingénieur. Technologie et innovation 2019, 4, 1 .
AMA StyleMarie-Luc Arpin, Corinne Gendron, Nicolas Merveille, Jean-Pierre Revéret. Science-fiction et innovations scientifiques : la mise à l’épreuve de la pensée de l’ingénieur. Technologie et innovation. 2019; 4 (4):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMarie-Luc Arpin; Corinne Gendron; Nicolas Merveille; Jean-Pierre Revéret. 2019. "Science-fiction et innovations scientifiques : la mise à l’épreuve de la pensée de l’ingénieur." Technologie et innovation 4, no. 4: 1.
Information and communication technologies are believed to contribute to reduce environmental impacts in other economic sectors. Smart homes aim to this purpose through improved resource management, but actual environmental benefits are uncertain. Indeed, an increase in efficiency may lead to an increase in consumption and thus in environmental impacts, a phenomenon called rebound effect. Here we describe an agent-based approach which simulates human behaviors during the use phase of smart homes and allows computation of environmental impacts including those due to rebound effect. In our simulation, smart homes reduce environmental impact by 2%. However, rebound dims between 6% to 24% of the smart homes' environmental benefits depending on impact category. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis indicates that weather and electricity mix variability should be considered when designing policies related to smart homes technology. Life cycle assessment by this method accounts for user behaviors, which is necessary when studying some complex systems found in sustainable consumption. Evaluate the environmental performance of a smart-city and study different rebound mechanisms are possible applications of the developed approach.
Julien Walzberg; Thomas Dandres; Réjean Samson; Nicolas Merveille; Mohamed Cheriet. An agent-based model to evaluate smart homes sustainability potential. 2017 IEEE 28th Annual International Symposium on Personal, Indoor, and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC) 2017, 1 -7.
AMA StyleJulien Walzberg, Thomas Dandres, Réjean Samson, Nicolas Merveille, Mohamed Cheriet. An agent-based model to evaluate smart homes sustainability potential. 2017 IEEE 28th Annual International Symposium on Personal, Indoor, and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC). 2017; ():1-7.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJulien Walzberg; Thomas Dandres; Réjean Samson; Nicolas Merveille; Mohamed Cheriet. 2017. "An agent-based model to evaluate smart homes sustainability potential." 2017 IEEE 28th Annual International Symposium on Personal, Indoor, and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC) , no. : 1-7.
Au Pérou, l’insuffisance de l’investissement dans les activités de recherche scientifique complique l’exercice d’évaluation et de prospective des impacts générés par les projets d’aménagement. Pour la dernière décennie, la Defensoria del Pueblo a constaté l’accroissement du nombre des conflits sociaux engendrés, en grande partie, par une méconnaissance des dynamiques territoriales de la part des autorités publiques ainsi que des acteurs privés. Partant d’une étude de cas en région Ancash dans les Andes centrales péruvienne, l’auteur propose une lecture originale de l’évaluation des impacts sociaux générés par le secteur minier. L’idée transversale de l’article est de compléter la logique de mesure par l’impératif d’évaluation où les variables latentes (non chiffrable) jouent un rôle de premier plan dans l’appréciation des effets et des conséquences induits par un méga-projet.
Nicolas Merveille. Apprécier les impacts sociaux des activités minières au Pérou : une étude de cas à l’échelle de la région Ancash. Cahiers des Amériques latines 2014, 53 -69.
AMA StyleNicolas Merveille. Apprécier les impacts sociaux des activités minières au Pérou : une étude de cas à l’échelle de la région Ancash. Cahiers des Amériques latines. 2014; (76):53-69.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNicolas Merveille. 2014. "Apprécier les impacts sociaux des activités minières au Pérou : une étude de cas à l’échelle de la région Ancash." Cahiers des Amériques latines , no. 76: 53-69.
Nicolas Merveille. La nature sur mesure. Revue du MAUSS 2013, 42, 191 .
AMA StyleNicolas Merveille. La nature sur mesure. Revue du MAUSS. 2013; 42 (2):191.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNicolas Merveille. 2013. "La nature sur mesure." Revue du MAUSS 42, no. 2: 191.
Nicolas Merveille. La relation au temps chez Jacques Weber. Rendre possible 2013, 109 -114.
AMA StyleNicolas Merveille. La relation au temps chez Jacques Weber. Rendre possible. 2013; ():109-114.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNicolas Merveille. 2013. "La relation au temps chez Jacques Weber." Rendre possible , no. : 109-114.