Browsing by Author "Sen, Burak"

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Berlin the Hyperreal and Virtual Realities of Sex in a Dark Room
(Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2017) Sen, Burak; Tüzün, Defne; Radio, Television and Cinema; 04. Faculty of Communication; 01. Kadir Has University
Berlin’s unique history as an urban epicenter for the key events of the previous centuries also witnesses an era which is known as the “Golden Twenties”. The sexually liberated atmosphere of the then Weimar Berlin is in a way being simulated inside spaces urban phenomena called the “dark room”. A popular type of accommodation in the nightlife scene of the city in 2017 which serves as an entertainment space for the people who seek to experience a sexually charged escape from the humdrumness of reality. Meanwhile the advancements for the technology of Virtual Reality are catching up with the philosophical visions for virtual realities. This thesis intends to discuss the mind’s capacity to imagine through a philosophical examination and debate on reality and whether or not there are virtual realities by opening Berlin’s dark rooms Virtual Reality technologies the history of art films and film theory to discussion. Contextualized by Jean Baudrillard the hyperreal is one of the key concepts in making clarifying and criticizing these points of discussion. Furthermore the thesis revisits ancient philosophical debates such as Plato’s allegory of the cave while making observations on the most recent examples in Virtual Reality such as Alejandro González iñárritu’s installation Carne y Arena (2017). Although this thesis intends to refrain itself from analysis on a microscopic level concepts and ideas of film theorists who worked within a psychoanalytical framework will also be revisited to be able to suggest an explanation to certain phenomena such as the dark rooms in analogy with virtual reality. The general aim will be to open points of discussion which are thought to be significant for critique of recent examples in entertainment.
Hybrid Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Shared E-Scooters: Utilization Rate as a Key Driver of Sustainability Performance
(Springer Heidelberg, 2025) Mandouri, Jafar; Onat, Nuri C.; Mohammad, Anas; Kucukvar, Murat; Sen, Burak; Al Nawaiseh, Hazem M.; Khan, Omar; 01. Kadir Has University
PurposeShared e-scooter services have emerged as transformative solutions in urban micro-mobility, offering sustainable, affordable, and accessible transportation options. This study evaluates the life cycle sustainability of shared e-scooters in comparison to conventional gasoline-powered vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and privately owned e-scooters, emphasizing utilization rate as a critical factor shaping environmental, social, and economic outcomes.Methods and dataA cradle-to-grave life cycle sustainability assessment was performed using a multi-regional input-output framework to evaluate the environmental, social, and economic impacts of shared e-scooters. Data were collected from a major service provider in Doha, Qatar, with the functional unit defined as passenger kilometers traveled. The assessment accounted for impacts across three phases, assessing 13 sustainability impact metrics. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis was conducted by individually perturbing key variables, quantifying their influence on overall life cycle impacts, and identifying the principal drivers for potential optimization.ResultsThe analysis identifies the manufacturing phase as the largest contributor to environmental impacts throughout the life cycle, accounting for an average of 27% of the total impacts. Our findings also indicate that shared e-scooters with utilization rates below 11% (case study's utilization rate) produce higher carbon emissions per kilometer than private battery electric vehicles. Additionally, operational activities, such as redistribution and collection, exacerbate the environmental burdens, making personal e-scooters a more sustainable alternative than shared e-scooters when usage levels are comparable.ConclusionsThis study provides a comprehensive life cycle sustainability perspective on shared e-scooter systems, revealing that their overall sustainability depends not only on operational efficiency but critically on design, energy sourcing, and local deployment strategies. We find that upstream processes, particularly manufacturing and battery production, dominate environmental impacts, while charging drives resource depletion, especially in water-scarce regions. Operational activities introduce trade-offs that can offset shared mobility's benefits if not well managed.Socially, shared e-scooters offer improved health outcomes and employment potential, but most socioeconomic gains are realized outside the regions where the services are used, raising questions about local value capture. Economically, lifecycle costs are competitive only under sufficient utilization, which is strongly influenced by user behavior, spatial planning, and regulatory support.ConclusionsThis study provides a comprehensive life cycle sustainability perspective on shared e-scooter systems, revealing that their overall sustainability depends not only on operational efficiency but critically on design, energy sourcing, and local deployment strategies. We find that upstream processes, particularly manufacturing and battery production, dominate environmental impacts, while charging drives resource depletion, especially in water-scarce regions. Operational activities introduce trade-offs that can offset shared mobility's benefits if not well managed.Socially, shared e-scooters offer improved health outcomes and employment potential, but most socioeconomic gains are realized outside the regions where the services are used, raising questions about local value capture. Economically, lifecycle costs are competitive only under sufficient utilization, which is strongly influenced by user behavior, spatial planning, and regulatory support.
Solar Photovoltaic Development in West Africa Will Face Million-Ton Waste Challenges, and Off-Grid Systems Will Dominate
(Amer Chemical Soc, 2025) Dong, Di; Emem, Onis; Liu, Litao; Sen, Burak; Rasmussen, Kasper; Edomah, Norbert; Liu, Gang; 01. Kadir Has University
Solar photovoltaic (PV), especially off-grid systems, is a low-hanging fruit option among various renewable energy technology choices to address universal energy access, energy security, and climate challenges for vulnerable regions like West Africa. West Africa dominates in the uptake of solar PV solutions, while little attention has been paid to the potential PV waste generation. In this study, we developed a technology-specific, prospective material flow analysis model to investigate material stocks and flows of both on-grid and off-grid solar PV systems for 15 West African countries up to 2050. We show that the cumulative solar PV waste generation ranges from 2.3 to 7.8 million tons by 2050 in West Africa under different scenarios, around 70% of which comes from off-grid PV systems. The potential secondary materials supply ranges from 213 to 704 kilotons, which have potential economic value amounting to 143-475 million dollars or material equivalent to produce 6-19 GW of solar PV capacity. These results call for urgent policy attention, technology development, and infrastructure investment for future PV waste management and highlight the significance of addressing off-grid PV waste in Africa.