Sustainable space for a sustainable Earth? Circular economy insights from the space sector

Paladini, Stefanía; Saha, Krishnendu; Pierron, Xavier

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112511

Cited by 20 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…(2021), Rocca et al. (2020) and Paladini et al. (2021) who claimed that the integration of different I4.0 technologies enables a better study of their role in CE transformation.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How do different Industry 4.0 technologies support certain Circular Economy practices?

Lei

Cai

Cui

et al. 2022

IMDS

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PurposeUncovering the relationship between Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and circular economy (CE) practices is critical not only for implementing CE but also for leveraging I4.0 to achieve sustainable development goals. However, the potential connection between them – especially how different I4.0 technologies may influence various CE practices – remains inadequately researched. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively explore the impacts of various I4.0 technologies on CE practices.Design/methodology/approachA mixed method consisting of a systematic literature review, content analysis, and social network analysis was adopted. First, 266 articles were selected and mined for contents of I4.0 technologies and CE practices; 27 I4.0 technologies and 21 CE practices were identified. Second, 62 articles were found that prove the positive influence of I4.0 technologies on CE practices, and 124 relationships were identified. Third, based on evidence supporting the link between I4.0 technologies and CE practices, a two-mode network and two one-mode networks were constructed, and their network density and degree centrality indicators were analyzed.FindingsI4.0 technologies have a low application scope and degree for promoting CE. The adoption of a single I4.0 technology has limited effect on CE practices, and wider benefits can be realized through integrating I4.0 technologies. The Internet of Things (IoT), additive manufacturing, big data and analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) are among the top technologies promoting CE implementation and reduction and recycling were identified as the main mechanism. The integration of these technologies is the most popular and effective. Twelve CE practices were identified to be the most widely implemented and supported by I4.0 technologies.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, only journal articles, reviews, and online publications written in English were selected, excluding articles published in other languages. Therefore, the results obtained only represent a specific group of scholars, which may be fragmented to a certain extent. Second, because the extraction of the impact of I4.0 on CE mainly relies on a manual literature review, this paper only provides the statistics of the number of publications involving relationships, while lacking the weight measurement of relationships.Originality/valueA comprehensive, quantitative, and visual analysis method was employed to unveil the current implementation levels of I4.0 technologies and CE practices. Further, it was explored how different I4.0 technologies can affect various CE aspects, how different I4.0 technologies are integrated to promote CE realization, and how various CE practices are implemented simultaneously by I4.0 technologies.

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“…(2021), Rocca et al. (2020) and Paladini et al. (2021) who claimed that the integration of different I4.0 technologies enables a better study of their role in CE transformation.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2021), Rocca et al. (2020) and Paladini et al. (2021) who claimed that the integration of different I4.0 technologies enables a better study of their role in CE transformation.IoT, AM, BD(A), and AI are generally considered as the I4.0 technologies that can most promote the realization of CE.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do different Industry 4.0 technologies support certain Circular Economy practices?

Lei

Cai

Cui

et al. 2022

IMDS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Island states tourism indicators (Nesticò & Maselli, 2020) of Table 2 and the spaceship earth philosophy recently applied to understand circular economy‐based sustainability (Paladini et al, 2021) are pertinent to this analytical framework, and it is not by coincidence that circular economy features prominently as one of the macro‐indicators of Table 3.…”

Section: A Conceptual Model For Sustainable Space Tourismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A similar kind of close-loop system (or, following Tamponnet & Savage, 1994, CES-closed ecological systems) will also operate in the space tourism industry, and some examples of the way this could happen already exist (as the water purifying system ESA-MELiSSA in use on the ISS. Paladini et al, 2021;Poughon et al, 2009). This is not without risks: close-loop systems are vulnerable (hence the need to recycle and re-input) and constitute a fragile and sensitive (alien in the case of space) ecosystem.…”

Section: Sustainability Dimensions: From Single Indicators To Macro-i...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The quest for sustainability in lower orbit: Conceptual models for space tourism

Paladini

Saha

2023

Journal of Tourism Research

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“…The MELiSSA program is the oldest and most advanced circular BLSS currently in development. At the same time, it serves as a pioneer for the terrestrial circular economy as it provides state-of-the-art technology that can also be applied on Earth ( Paladini et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Bioregenerative Life Support Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of Nitrogen Recycling Strategies for Bioregenerative Life Support Systems in Space

et al. 2021

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To enable long-distance space travel, the development of a highly efficient and robust system to recover nutrients from waste streams is imperative. The inability of the current physicochemical-based environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) on the ISS to produce food in situ and to recover water and oxygen at high enough efficiencies results in the need for frequent resupply missions from Earth. Therefore, alternative strategies like biologically-based technologies called bioregenerative life support systems (BLSSs) are in development. These systems aim to combine biological and physicochemical processes, which enable in situ water, oxygen, and food production (through the highly efficient recovery of minerals from waste streams). Hence, minimalizing the need for external consumables. One of the BLSS initiatives is the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative (MELiSSA). It has been designed as a five-compartment bioengineered system able to produce fresh food and oxygen and to recycle water. As such, it could sustain the needs of a human crew for long-term space exploration missions. A prerequisite for the self-sufficient nature of MELiSSA is the highly efficient recovery of valuable minerals from waste streams. The produced nutrients can be used as a fertilizer for food production. In this review, we discuss the need to shift from the ECLSS to a BLSS, provide a summary of past and current BLSS programs and their unique approaches to nitrogen recovery and processing of urine waste streams. In addition, compartment III of the MELiSSA loop, which is responsible for nitrogen recovery, is reviewed in-depth. Finally, past, current, and future related ground and space demonstration and the space-related challenges for this technology are considered.

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Sustainable space for a sustainable Earth? Circular economy insights from the space sector

Cited by 20 publications

References 60 publications

How do different Industry 4.0 technologies support certain Circular Economy practices?

How do different Industry 4.0 technologies support certain Circular Economy practices?

The quest for sustainability in lower orbit: Conceptual models for space tourism

Development of Nitrogen Recycling Strategies for Bioregenerative Life Support Systems in Space

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