Sustainable infrastructure : transport , energy & water - Doing more with less by applying eco - efficiency principles

The three features in this Update address three pressing issues of sustainability: eco-efficiency of built infrastructure (p 1); the peak oil debate (p 11); and the possible impacts of climate change (p 12). Such topics are generally discussed separately but, when considered together, they suggest a future in which the need for adaptation – of technologies, societal structures, and lifestyles – will be far greater than commonly acknowledged by political and industrial leaders. In a nutshell: This feature explores the application of eco-efficiency principles to transport, energy and water infrastructure, highlighting how more may be achieved with reduced consumption of resources, and providing examples of innovations. The focus is on materials, energy, water and land associated with construction and maintenance of physical infrastructure, such as highways, power plants and transmission lines, water supply, drainage, and sewage systems – factors that are all-too-often neglected during infrastructure decisions. Greater understanding is also needed of the differences between developed and developing countries. In the latter, the resource-and capital-intensive models traditionally used in the west, involving large, centralised plant and extensive distribution systems, are often inappropriate. The answer is more likely to lie in localised, small-scale, infrastructure solutions that empower