Polluting production – environmentally sound alternatives; A general model of production externalities

With the determination of principal parameters of producing and pollution abatement technologies, this paper quantifies abatement and external costs at the social optimum and analyses the dynamic relationship between technological development and the above-mentioned costs. With the partial analysis of parameters, the paper presents the impacts on the level of pollution and external costs of extensive and intensive environmental protection, market demand change and product fees, and not environmental protection oriented technological development. Parametrical cost calculation makes the drawing up of two useful rules of thumb possible in connection with the rate of government in-terventions. Also, the paradox of technological development aiming at intensive environmental protection will become apparent.

Sustainable consumption: from escape strategies towards real alternatives

Better sustainability policy is supposed to lead to better sustainability performance. Nonetheless, recent research predicts further growth of the ecological footprint and stable ecological deficit in Europe and North America despite their impressive policy efforts (Lenzen et al. 2007) [1]. Similarly, individual strategies result in somewhat reduced load for committed consumers, but this reduction cannot offset the total impact of the socio-economic configuration: consumers in higher income countries tend to pollute more. Comitted consumers "offset" a part of their environmental load by carrying out green purchases. A radical change assumes a change in lifestyle (Shove, 2004) [2]. The conference paper is the first step of the study that aims at measuring the significance of attitude elements as compared to the significance of the socio-economic system on different elements of consumption and environmental aspects This paper focuses on measuring the ecological footprint impacts of consumption in different product groups as well as in different income groups of the society.