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Brick manufacturing sector is a major contributor to air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in South Asian countries. This study investigates barriers and drivers relevant to the adoption of cleaner zig-zag kiln (ZZK) technology in Punjab, Pakistan by surveying 63 kiln owners. These survey respondents owned three different types of brick kiln i.e., ZZK, Fixed chimney bull’s trench kiln (FCBTK), and clamp type kiln (CTK). Roger’s model of innovation diffusion was adopted to access the determinants pertaining to relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability. Survey questionnaire included questions related to 35 factors (20 drivers and 15 barriers) and responses were recorded on Likert scale. These barrier and drivers covered variety of factors associated with regulatory, financial, technological, social, and environmental issues that may influence the perception and decision of kiln owners for the adoption of cleaner ZZK technology. Our results show that most important drivers pertain to economic benefits such as emissions fine reduction, decrease in fuel costs and year-round operations. Other high impact drivers relate to compatibility and similarity between ZZK and FCBTK construction and operations. Top-ranked barriers highlight the challenges associated with financial burden of retrofitting cost, higher salaries demanded by skilled workers, and maintenance issues for blower assembly. Mean scores for the determinants pertaining to the attributes of Roger’s model were computed. Our results show that both relative advantage and compatibility received highest mean scores. On the other hand, trialability and observability received lowest scores. Government, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders should focus on awareness campaigns, capacity building and training of labor, and developing financial instruments to provide loans to kiln owners for covering retrofit costs.

The industrial sector is responsible for nearly 25% of direct and more than 35% of cumulative global energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study evaluates the feasibility and comparative analysis of on-site solar photovoltaic (PV) and biomass-fed boilers based on historical energy consumption and demand to reduce dependence on grid-supplied electricity and coal-fired boiler for a rice processing industrial plant. The analysis includes energetic, economic, and GHG emissions assessments and covers (a) Solar PV systems, (b) Biomass fuels, and (c) Co-firing scenarios. Financial analysis of solar PV considers both company-owned and bank-financed systems of fixed and double axis tracking technologies. Biomass fuels include 100% wood, 100% rice husk, and a 50%–50% wood-rice husk mix. Historical energy consumption shows that annual electricity demand is 4,479 MWh, costing $537,480 and producing 2,307 tCO 2emissions. Feasibility of 1MW, company-owned fixed axis solar PV plant shows a yearly electricity production of 1,544 MWh with 0.031 $/kWh levelized cost and reducing 733 tCO 2with a payback period of 2.8 years. The base case scenario for boiler operations consists of 3,746 tons of coal burning, costing $427,075 and producing 11,840 tCO 2emissions. Rice husk fuel study shows a 19% fuel cost savings, a 1.7-year payback period, and 11,612 tCO 2GHG emission reductions. It is concluded that biomass-based rice husk fuel feedstock is the most suitable renewable energy source (RES) for this industrial facility and can reduce 82% of cumulative annual GHG emissions. Furthermore, energy efficiency improvements and off-site carbon credits provide additional opportunities to achieve net-zero GHG emissions for plant operations.

The present study predicts the energy savings, carbon emissions reduction and economic benefits for Pakistan through energy efficiency improvements for room air conditioners under different policy scenarios. The simulation model assumes that room air conditioner stock will increase from 2.7 million for year 2020 to 4.9 million for year 2030. A market average energy efficiency ratio of 2.95 is assumed for year 2020. The impact of improvement in energy efficiency ratio is analyzed for business as usual and four other different scenarios: continuous improvement (5-years and 2-years cycles) and accelerated improvement (5-years and 2-years cycles). The model dynamically incorporates the retiring of old stock and addition of new stock every year. Our results show that annual national electricity consumption for this sector is projected to increase from 7.3 TWh in 2020 to 12.6 TWh in 2030 under the business as usual scenario. The cumulative energy consumption and carbon emissions are 103.5 TWh and 63.1 MtCO 2. However, implementing energy efficiency policies can result in electricity savings of 11.6 TWh over the ten years or savings nearly 7 million barrels of oil import. Policy recommendations aimed at promoting energy labeling, minimum energy performance standards, regulatory policies, and further country-specific studies for variety of appliances are provided.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the research productivity of library and information science (LIS) authors affiliated with the 22 countries of the Arab League. It also identifies the top countries, organizations, authors, journals, natures of collaboration, and frequently used keywords in LIS research in the Arab world. Design/methodology/approach: Bibliometric methods were used to evaluate the research performance of the authors affiliated with library organizations in the Arab region. The Elsevier Scopus database was selected for data retrieval. A comprehensive search strategy was adopted to retrieve 863 publications contributed by LIS authors affiliated with the Arab countries. VOS viewer, Biblioshiny, BiblioAnalyitics, Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel were used for data visualization and analysis. Findings: This paper presents the dynamics and the state of the LIS research in the Arab region published between 1951 and 2021. The results of the study have highlighted an upward trend in the growth of the publications, especially in the past four years. The largest number of studies were published in the year 2020. The country-wise analysis ranked Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as the top LIS research producing countries with five and four researchers, respectively. The Kuwait University, the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University were the three most productive organizations. Academic libraries, social media, bibliometrics, information-seeking behavior, information literacy and knowledge management were identified as the major areas of interest for the researchers. Internet and open access were topics that had gained recent popularity, while the digital library, research data management, green librarianship, link data, cloud computing, library leadership, library automation and artificial intelligence were identified as areas requiring further attention. Furthermore, the single-author pattern was found to be the most preferred pattern. Practical implications: The findings of this study would help prospective researchers in choosing the neglected areas of research that require further investigation. They would also help policymakers in identifying factors that need more attention and allocation of research funds. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive bibliometric study that presents a holistic picture of the LIS research in the Arab region.

Brick kiln sector in South Asia contributes to nearly quarter of the global bricks production. Coal is the primary fuel used by this industry and its inefficient combustion process results in harmful pollutants contributing to deteriorating air quality, health problems in local communities, and greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of cleaner technologies and adoption pathways to achieve environment-friendly and energy-efficient production of bricks in Pakistan during 2019–2050. The study incorporates various timelines for (Zig-Zag Kilns) ZZKs and Vertical Shaft Brick Kilns (VSBKs) adoption, and the phasing out of conventional, Fixed Chimney Bull’s Trench Kiln (FCBTKs). Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) based numerical calculations are performed to simulate brick production from 2019–2050 for seven different scenarios incorporating an assimilated technology mix of FCBTKs, ZZKs, and VSBKs. Emissions of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, black carbon, methane, non-methane volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides are considered in this study. The swiftness of energy demand, and emissions reductions are greatly impacted by the elimination of the conventional FCBTKs. By adopting clearner brick manufacturing, 365.5 million tons (21.8%) of GHG emissions reduction can be achieved. The annual social cost of using FCBTKs increases from 1.02 billion $ in 2019 to 1.88 billion $ in 2050. Cumulative fuel saving potential of retrofitting to ZZKs is 157 million tons (17.7%) and it offers nearly 0.92 billion $ (51%) savings in annual social cost for year 2050. Our study finds that early adoption of ZZKs would benefit more than delayed adoption of VSBKs. However, transition to ZZK/ VSBK alone would not be sufficient to achieve net-zero carbon emissions. Carbon neutral fuels such as biomass and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) appear as an attractive option for deep decarbonization of this sector.