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Papermaking is a water intensive industry. The growth of paper demand will further intensify the need of fresh water resources. Papermaking involves complex processing routes. Previous investigations of water consumption in papermaking industry have focused primarily on key processes and pathways, ignoring the impacts of many intermediate and inter-related processes in paper production cycles and there underestimating the sustainability impacts. Herein, the results of a life cycle analysis of water consumption for papermaking industry in China using an extensive system boundary that includes the water embedded in intermediate processing are presented. The results show the life cycle water consumption and water saving potentials for different papermaking pathways. The advocacy of "forest pulp and paper integration" may have few practical contribution to reducing water consumption due to the low indirect water consumption of raw materials and energy for transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Pulp and paper manufacturing sector constitutes one of the largest industry segments in the world in terms of water and energy usage as well as of significant use and release of chemicals and combustion products. Since its chief feedstock –wood fiber– is renewable, this industry can play an important role in sustainable development, becoming an example of how a resource can be managed to provide a sustained supply to meet society's current and future needs. This calls for a thorough assessment of environmental costs and impacts associated to pulp and paper operations, including both direct and indirect inputs supporting the whole papermaking process as well as the main outputs, co-products and by-products. By means of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, this paper aims at assessing the environmental sustainability of the pulp and paper production so as to identify those phases across the whole supply chain that entail the highest environmental loads, thus requiring improvements. To determine the environmental impacts as accurately as possible, the manufacturing stages performed in the pulp and paper mill complex of Stora Enso Oyj Veitsiluoto Mills at Kemi, Northern Finland, were taken as a model and assessed by means of the SimaPro 8 LCA software, utilizing ReCiPe Midpoint (H) method for the impact assessment. As expected, most of the resulting impacts are caused by the industrial production phase. The production processes of pulp and paper jointly affect all the investigated impact categories with the highest shares, ranging from 50% of generated impacts on water depletion up to 88% on freshwater eutrophication. Generally, the main contributions to environmental loads come from the electricity and heat requirements and, only at a minor extent, from the use of chemicals such as the sodium hydroxide and sodium chlorate. In particular, pulp production process generates the main loads on global warming (46% of the total impacts), ozone depletion (39%), freshwater eutrophication (55%), human toxicity (46%), metal depletion (42%) and fossil depletion (46%). In the remaining investigated impact categories, namely terrestrial acidification, photochemical oxidant formation and terrestrial ecotoxicity, most of impacts derive from the use of optical brighteners and fillers in the final steps of paper production and from the intensive consumption of water in the recycling step of end-of-life affecting water depletion. Moreover, the implementation of measures for material and energy efficiency in the assessed system, such as the use of renewable energy generated in situ from black liquor and residual biomass to support the requirements of the integrated pulp and paper mills and the waste paper recycling, resulted to be crucial in lowering the environmental burdens. In particular, the partial fulfillment of electricity and heat requirements by means of a circular use of residues within the system leads to a noteworthy reduction of impacts in all the investigated impact categories, up to more than 70% in global warming and fossil depletion potentials, thus contributing to higher process sustainability compared with other averaged European systems for paper production. The obtained research results are a valuable source of management information for the decision makers, at both company and national levels, with the aim to improve the environmental performance of pulp and paper industry. Highlights • A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of papermaking in Finland was performed. • The main environmental hotspots in each process step were identified and discussed. • Energy and material efficiency solutions leads to a noteworthy reduction of impacts. • Pulp and paper industry is a benchmark model to transition towards a circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementing sustainable or green strategies in warehouse management has become increasingly important. The environmental impact can be assessed by evaluating resource usage and productivity. A proper method for assessing the sustainability of internal processes can provide a valuable tool for companies to understand what is being done correctly and what needs to be improved to comply with new guidelines. For this paper, a case study at Arvato warehousing provider for end consumer products was conducted, and a rating mechanism model for warehouses was developed. Data on energy consumption and productivity were collected from output of 13 warehouse units (modules). From the collected data, a set of KPIs, an index system, an automation categorization system, and a ranking system were created to help with decision making, problem identification, and solving. As result, this paper demonstrates the impact of different material handling systems on energy consumption and found that a higher level of automation does not always translate into operating more efficiently in terms of sustainability. Instead of reporting absolute numbers, this study created an index that displays relative values, making it much easier to identify the most efficient modules. Additionally, this study takes the automation index a step further by creating three categories of automation levels in addition to the percentage that indicates how advanced the technology in a warehouse is, allowing for the creation of groups of warehouses and the comparison of their performance. • Increased automation does not always translate into sustainable operational efficiency. • In general, warehouse units employing less technology perform worse. • Supply chain transparency can increase by grouping and scoring warehouses efficiency. • Electricity and productivity index enable measuring environmental impact. • Energy performance and productivity are related at various levels of automation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental issues have become global challenges, so seeking an economic model to reach environmental sustainability is essential. As an emerging economic model, green finance is considered the most effective tool in promoting low-carbon economic transition. China, the largest economy among developing countries, faces environmental inferiority and increasing energy demand. This paper aims to discuss the effects of green finance on the low-carbon economic transition. This paper makes the policy of green financial reform and innovation pilot zones a quasi-natural experiment. It employs difference-in-differences (DID) model to analyze the impact of green finance on the low-carbon economic transition. This paper found that the low-carbon economic transition achieved good results within experimental zones after establishing a pilot zone for green finance reform and innovation. Furthermore, the parallel trend test results, complicatedly disturbing facts mitigating provincial differences, and placebo tests are still valid. Finally, we found that low-carbon economic transition solely takes effect significantly in eastern and central areas but is not significant in western areas. The paper suggests that green finance has played an apparent role in promoting low-carbon economic transition and provides essential reference and experimental evidence for future economic transition after analyzing the pilot zone for green finance reform and innovation policy. • Green finance is a crucial tool for achieving low-carbon economic transition. • Eastern and middle regions experienced significant effects. • The study provides valuable experimental evidence for future economic transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative fuels are the subject of growing interest among both researchers and practitioners. In this aspect, to properly handle the problem of proper evaluating alternative fuels, appropriate methods, and tools are undoubtedly needed. Since the evaluation of sustainable alternative fuels similarly, like most sustainability problems, has a multi-criteria character, multi-criteria methods have the potential to be employed here. Analysis of the alternative fuels domain indicates that classical multi-criteria methods are not exactly suitable for use in cases where, instead of a single matrix for evaluating alternatives, we have a set of them collected for particular periods. Therefore, developing a dedicated approach that considers the specifics of a given problem is necessary. For this purpose, the paper proposes a new Temporal Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations II (PROMETHEE II) method for multi-criteria temporal evaluation. Hence, the presented method solves the limitations occurring in previously developed multi-criteria methods. In addition to the classical aspect of evaluating the options under consideration, the proposed method makes it possible to accurately grasp the dynamics of the outcomes and put them into an easy-to-interpret result. A practical contribution of the paper is applying the developed method to a multi-criteria temporal evaluation of sustainable consumption of alternative fuels in road transport. For this purpose, an assessment model was built based on the data for 32 European countries acquired from the European Union's statistical office (Eurostat). Preference imprecision modeling and model sensitivity analysis demonstrated the analytical potential of the developed sustainability assessment model and, simultaneously, the Temporal PROMETHEE method's superiority. The comparative analysis of the Temporal PROMETHEE II method clearly shows that the results are robust and reliable, and the developed method is suitable for evaluating various temporal sustainability problems. The research demonstrated that a model alternative fuel mix and its shape as well as progression is maintained by Scandinavian countries such as Norway and Sweden. [Display omitted] • A new temporal method for multi-criteria sustainability assessment. • Public available algorithm and code of method developed. • An evaluation of sustainable consumption of alternative fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Warehouses are major contributors to the rise of greenhouse gas emissions in supply chains. Thus, it is not surprising that the attention of academic research to green and sustainable warehousing has been growing in recent years. This attention has led to an increasing number of publications in this field, which is why a systematic literature review on the topic of green warehousing is proposed in the paper at hand. This work provides a comprehensive overview and classification of the existing research on green warehousing, summarizes and synthesizes the available knowledge on this topic, and identifies key trends. Based on the evaluation of the literature, promising ideas for future research are proposed. Citation and network analyses are carried out to evaluate the relationships among the topics covered. The results show an increasing interest in sustainability topics within the warehousing literature, where energy saving has been the most frequently studied objective, followed by environmental impact of warehouse buildings, and green warehouse management in general. The green warehousing literature, however, lacks case studies and empirical data. The main contribution of this paper is an exhaustive summary of the state of knowledge on green warehousing in terms of the macro-themes addressed, the specific topics investigated and the methodological approaches, including a comprehensive and systematic classification of the relevant literature. An outline of managerial guidelines about green warehouse management and the propositions of future research ideas contribute to the further development of this emerging research field. • A literature review on green warehousing is presented. • A classification framework for the state-of-the-art is developed. • A thematic analysis highlights the key research topics on green warehousing. • Bibliometric and network analyses are used to corroborate the review results. • Future research in this field are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Green and sustainability issues are being considered extensively in industry and in the literature. Most of the green-related effects in the manufacturing sector can be modeled by the costs associated with the production machines due to their resource consumption and/or pollutant emission, as a part of the operation cost. Accordingly, taking into account the machine processing costs alongside the other production criteria is one of the main approaches to consider green issues in the production management problems. In the same way, scheduling as one of the major operational problems in the factories can benefit this point of view to involve sustainability aspects. In this paper, the aforementioned modeling approach is taken one more time to establish a formulation for a green scheduling problem in uniform parallel machine environments. Here, it is assumed that the machines have different processing cost rates, i.e. they are different with regard to sustainability. The considered problem objectives are the total green cost and the makespan which are minimized simultaneously with the aim of earning Pareto optimal solutions. To this end, the ε -constraint method is first used to convert the problem into single objective problems. Then an existing heuristic is improved to solve these problems and estimate the Pareto solutions that show the trade-offs between the green cost objective and the ordinary time objective. Moreover, having a rigorous analyze in a theorem, some useful upper bounds for the gap of the green cost of the heuristic solution from optimality is derived. Finally, conducting numerical experiments at the end of the paper, the superiority of the improved heuristic to the previous one and its effectiveness in approximating the Pareto optimal solutions is demonstrated. Graphical abstract Image 1096644 Highlights • A green scheduling model in uniform parallel machine environments is developed. • The machines are assumed to have different sustainability costs. • The aim is to minimize both the total costs and the makespan, simultaneously. • The ε-constraint method is first used to convert the problem into single objective problems. • An improved version of an existing heuristic is utilized to solve the problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Onshore and offshore wind turbines may have different environmental sustainability due to their own characteristics, and this information is important for future growth of wind power. The paper uses life cycle assessment (LCA) to estimate the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of onshore and offshore wind turbines with the nominal capacity of 2 MW, to advance our understanding of onshore and offshore wind energy and to inform policy, planning, and investment decisions for future growth of wind power. Results show that the life-cycle GHG emission intensity is 0.082 kg CO 2 -equivalent (eq)/Megajoule (MJ) for onshore wind turbine and is 0.130 kg CO 2 -eq/MJ for offshore wind turbine, respectively. Offshore wind turbine has larger life-cycle GHG emissions than onshore wind turbine, owing to the floating platform fixed in sea. Onshore and offshore wind turbines have much smaller life-cycle GHG emission intensity than coal power plants. If the installed wind turbines in 2014 displace coal, the saved GHG emissions can roughly reach 5.08 × 107 t CO 2 -eq, accounting for 0.09% of global GHG emissions in 2012. The sensitive analysis shows that the lifetime and energy production of wind turbine have large influences on the GHG emission intensity of both onshore and offshore wind turbines, implying that it is an effective way to prolong the lifetime of wind turbine and increase the energy production of wind turbine to reduce the GHG emission intensity of wind turbine. The sensitivity analysis further shows that the distance from wind turbine factory to wind farm site has more significant influence on the life-cycle GHG emission intensities of both onshore and offshore wind turbines than that from wind farm site to the recycling and landfill locations, suggesting that the wind farm site and the wind turbine factory should be as close as possible. Highlights • The paper presents a first attempt to analyse the life-cycle GHG emission of onshore and offshore wind turbines with same capacity size. • Offshore wind turbine has larger life-cycle GHG emissions than onshore wind turbine. • Onshore and offshore wind farms have much smaller life-cycle GHG emission intensity than coal power plants. • Lifetime and energy production have large influences on GHG emission intensity of onshore and offshore wind turbines. • If the installed wind turbines in 2014 displace coal, the saved GHG emissions can roughly reach 5.08 × 107 t CO 2 -eq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The governance of industrial energy use in recent times has been driven by the quest for greater energy security and sustainable industrial growth. Sustainable use of energy necessitates a rethink in the production, use and governance of energy resources that stimulates and supports transition to a more effective and efficient energy system. However, how do we ensure an effective transition in industrial energy use in the midst of gross energy poverty within a developing country context? This paper explores the motives and drivers of changes in energy use within the industrial sector. Statistical data from published reports, as well as informal interviews of stakeholders in Nigeria's industrial sector were used. Following analysis of data, four important salient phases (eras) of industrial energy transition in Nigeria's manufacturing sector was established. These distinct eras are: (1) Grid-dependent era; (2) Self-generation era; (3) Industrial energy outsourcing era; (4) Industrial energy conservation era. The study reveals that: outsourcing of industrial services; cost reduction; and business realignment motives are key drivers of transitions in Nigeria's industrial sector. This paper concludes by highlighting the implications of these changes for the future of energy and sustainable industrial growth in Nigeria. Highlights • Industrial energy transitions in Nigeria is happening but rather slow. • There is high dependence on biofuels and wastes for certain industrial processes. • Cost reduction and business realignment motives are key drivers of transitions. • Outsourcing industrial energy services is viewed as one way to drive transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additive manufacturing (AM) refers to a group of manufacturing techniques that produce components in a layer-by-layer fashion. By virtue of its capability to produce parts with complex geometry and functionally graded materials, AM has been introduced and used in multiple industrial sectors and is leading the way into the “third industrial revolution”. One of the key considerations in Additively Manufactured Products (AMP) is the issue of sustainability which attracts increasing attention as modern society becomes more aware of environmental concerns. As a response to the growing requirement for sustainability, industries and customers are inclined to assess products and services through the perspective of life cycle sustainability. The integration of life cycle sustainability and AMP is still an open question and is the primary motivation for this study. Since the eventual goal of all advanced technologies is to serve and satisfy human society, social sustainability must be an essential part of all decisions regarding AMP. Limited studies that integrate social sustainability into AMP life cycle analysis is a current research gap in the body of the literature, and thus this paper will address it. The primary merit of this paper is developing a suitable full-dimension sustainability life cycle assessment framework to obtain a fundamental understanding of the performance of AMP life cycle sustainability. The proposed framework applies a more systemic AMP life span including AMP design, AM, usage, and end-of-life (EOL) handling. An AM produced gear is used as an example to illustrate the life cycle sustainability assessment framework. The results show that the AM stage has the highest influence on economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability and the EOL stage has the highest social impact. The results also indicate that AM mass production can significantly reduce the impact of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since sustainable scheduling is arousing increasing attention from many manufacturing enterprises and energy consumption is a core problem regarding sustainability, the purpose of this paper is to develop an energy-efficient scheduling method to fulfill material delivery tasks in mixed-model assembly lines. In this research, the objective of minimizing the energy consumption is jointly integrated with the operational criterions when executing material delivery tasks. Owing to the NP-hard nature of the considered problem, a Taboo enhanced Particle Swarm Optimization (TEPSO) algorithm is developed to solve the multi-objective problem. Several improving strategies are applied to enhance the performance of the proposed TEPSO in order to obtain a stronger local search capability and faster search speed. The performance of the proposed TEPSO algorithm is evaluated by comparing with two other high-performing multi-objective optimization methods. Computational experiments are conducted in order to test and verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed TEPSO algorithm. The achievements reported in this paper might be inspiring for further studies on energy-efficient production scheduling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research addresses the critical necessity for energy-efficient solutions in port operations. The primary objective of this paper is to introduce and assess the viability of an innovative infrastructure termed Underground Reefer Container Storage (URCS) devised to mitigate the significant and increasing energy demand posed by reefer containers in ports. This study employs a discrete-event simulation (DES) model to evaluate the feasibility, environmental implications, and cost-effectiveness of three distinctive URCS infrastructure designs. These designs are compared against conventional storage methods to ascertain their capacity for minimizing energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions. The analysis reveals that the best scenario for a specific case study involves a multi-block layout comprising two underground yards, capable of accommodating 39% of the overall refrigerated container capacity at a port. This layout cuts CO 2 emissions by 61% from the 2.704 GWh/year energy used by refrigerated containers, yielding around 1.4 million USD/year cost savings. Further analyses using weighted searches to prioritize URCS container slotting led to shorter container dwell times at ports, rendering energy savings 23% higher than in similar unplanned settings. Moreover, this study presents URCS as an eco-friendly alternative for port-based reefer container storage, offering practical alignment with sustainability goals and regulations. The innovative design and its successful application provide holistic insights, paving the way for enhanced port energy management and environmental care. In addition, the implementation of URCS has the potential to reshape port procedures, yielding economic and ecological benefits. This initiative contributes to diminishing the carbon footprint of ports, aligning with global endeavors towards greener and more responsible practices. [Display omitted] • Conventional stacking at ports consumes high energy for reefer containers, risking the cold chain. • Underground reefer container storage (URCS) reduces heat exchange by storing reefers in a colder underground deposit. • Multi-level block storage is preferred in URCS, according to a multi-criteria assessment. • Simulation recommends energy savings with proper stacking in multi-level block storage. • URCS enables environmentally responsible port operations, improving standards feasibly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generation of goods and services are highly dependent on the use of natural resources. Until very recently, there was an implicit belief that the physical expansion of the economic system could be unlimited, as if the planet would have conditions and time enough to recover and continue to supply resources. This belief implies a confidence in an economic system that would provide whatever is necessary for a continuous growing production and consumption. Even believing that technology alone is not enough to solve the current environmental problems, it is certain that it can collaborate to mitigate climate change and to adaptation to changes in the environment. By bringing environmental aspects into discussions, eco-innovations can affect and transform the innovation system in order to create sustainable processes. However, the main challenge towards the transition to a more sustainable, cleaner and more equitable society is to set innovation in a new context, as until very recently it only considered the economic variables. This change means to value the social and environmental dimension of the innovation. In addition to eco-innovation, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is spreading in the industrial environment, offering promising perspectives. LCA is considered a valuable methodology in the environmental sustainability of industry. In this context, the present study addresses LCA and its relationship with the generation of eco-innovations. Drawing on contributions from literature on eco-innovation and LCA, the paper analyses available evidence on this relationship in a context of the transition towards sustainable development. To structure the debate, the paper offers a conceptual approach and an illustrative case on international researchers' and practitioners’ perceptions on the potentially positive relationship between eco-innovation and LCA. The study gathers data in the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection and in Scopus, in order to provide a picture of the distribution of documents retrieved from these databases, dealing with both eco-innovation and LCA topics. The paper concludes that the convergence of the eco-innovation and LCA studies is quite plausible, but at least in its initial phase, the literature that unites both themes is scarcely found in publications in the area of innovation, being more frequent in the area of engineering and management that usually addresses LCA studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behaviour, practices and culture constitute a powerful human factor in the energy system; in particular the interactions between technologies, practices and norms lock individuals in to certain patterns of (often inefficient) energy use. Consequently, behaviour change has gained traction amongst policymakers as a key area of intervention given the impact energy-related behaviours have on climate change. Given the increasing emphasis within policy perspectives in the European Union, it is surprising that a gap in understanding of the success factors of behaviour change initiatives remains. This paper addresses this gap by identifying and characterising behaviour change initiatives across five European countries (the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, and Spain). The paper provides insights into the success factors and commonly encountered barriers to behaviour change initiatives. Initiatives are classified into 6 broad categories (community-based interventions; information and awareness based interventions; eco-districts; show-case events; energy switching; and smart-technology focused interventions). The results suggest that there are significant knowledge gaps between what is known to work to engage individuals in behavioural change and what is currently being applied in practice. An over-reliance on education and awareness-raising projects is evident, illustrating that such projects do not sufficiently aim for sustained behavioural changes. A dearth of projects incorporating fiscal measures, regulations or legislation to drive behaviour change reflects reluctance on behalf of decision-makers to engage widely with diverse approaches to foster lifestyle change. This paper contributes understandings of the different models and delivery tools employed to change energy-related behaviours; insights into the critical success factors that underpin best practice and the barriers to action; and a ‘what works in practice’ overview of the meaningful approaches to change behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the literature on smart cities. Offering a critical synthesis of the material, it advances a Triple Helix inspired account of smart cities as future internet-based developments. In particular, as future internet-based developments covering the digital infrastructures, data management systems, renewable energies and cloud computing of a regional innovation in the Internet of Things (IoT). More specifically, as a regional innovation in the IoT that covers the morphology of urban extensions, infill and mass retrofits, which smart cities call for the development of. Focusing on the metrics of mass retrofit proposals, the paper also serves to demonstrate how the urban morphology of such regional innovations matter in the sense they tell us that being aware of the considerable energy savings and CO 2 reductions, which IoTs offer cities to be smart, is not enough. Not enough, because without knowing whether the costs and benefits under-gridding the sustainability of city-districts are shared equally, it is impossible to say if the 65% energy saving and 78% reduction in CO 2 , attributed to the data collection, information processing and smart (micro) grids of mass retrofits is socially just. The paper suggests that in order to verify this, it is necessary for smart cities to first baseline the social-demographic structure of retrofit proposals. Then draw upon the environmental profile this evaluation generates to assess whether the regional innovation creates the wealth needed to under-grid the sustainability of city-districts. Under-grid the sustainability of city-districts as the energy efficient-low carbon zones of an inclusive growth strategy seen to be socially just. Seen to be socially just, because the costs and benefits underlying the 1.5 ha ecological footprint that surfaces from this regional innovation are equally appropriated as the proceeds of a wealth creation, which contributes to the resilience of city-districts as energy efficient-low carbon zones. As energy efficient-low carbon zones, whose inclusive growth strategy also emerges as a post-carbon economy claiming to be climate neutral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on 196 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2021, this paper constructs a weight matrix of urban economic geography and uses the spatial differential model to verify the impact of smart city policies on urban green energy efficiency. The results show that the efficiency value of green energy fluctuates in Chinese cities. Different test results show that smart city policies can effectively improve urban green energy efficiency, but mainly from the time effect rather than the individual effect. It means the improvement in urban green energy efficiency comes more from the fast-growing of the Chinese economy and urban construction in this period than from the country's smart city pilot policy. In addition, from the spatial spillover effect result, China needs to design a better urban spatial development plan to improve the capacity of smart city energy services and vigorously develop intelligent technology represented by information and communication science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the path of industrial eco-efficiency (IEE) needs to be re-examined from a multi-dimensional perspective, this research opens the internal "black box" of China's industrial eco-economic system driven by sustainable development goals (SDGs) and decomposes IEE into industrial production and sustainable development stages. It further divides the industrial production stage into two parallel subsystems of water use efficiency (WUE) and energy efficiency (EE) and derives SDG6 efficiency (SDG 6 E) and SDG7 efficiency (SDG 7 E) in the sustainable development stage respectively. The paper proposes a meta two-stage parallel entropy dynamic DDF-DEA model to re-measure IEE of 30 provinces in China from 2015 to 2021, discusses the relationship between overall efficiency and stage efficiency, and by using the Tobit model explores various types of influencing factors by subregion. The results show that the modified DDF-DEA model can explore China's IEE more accurately under SDGs. China's IEE is more stable from 2015 to 2021, with the efficiency value always fluctuating between 0.59 and 0.64, the overall level is low, and there is more room for improvement. There are significant inter-provincial differences in IEE and efficiency inertia. In more than 75% of the provinces SDG 7 E constrains IEE improvement, while the dynamic evolution of IEE and its subsystem efficiency varies across regions. Environmental regulation is a common factor affecting IEE across the country and in the east, central, and west regions, whereas the level of economic development, openness to the outside world, and urbanization rate are differential factors affecting IEE across the country and in the three major regions. This study offers new perspectives for exploring the path of IEE enhancement and providing empirical references for the collaborative construction of industrial ecological civilization. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel research work on the potential benefits of using, a unique and sustainable energy source - the human-power. The paper discusses the benefits and the practicality of using human-power as a domestic energy source to power electrical and electronic devices and explores the benefit of its use in a more diverse perspective for possible change in behaviour and energy savings for improved sustainability in the society. The economic and sustainability gains of using Human-Powered Products (HPPs) are investigated. Two studies have been conducted, the first is a study which involves assessing the environmental impact of a human-powered products via Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); and the second is a case study called Home User Study (HUS), where the technology is experimentally tested. The human-powered system is used to explore the real benefits and life-cycle analysis towards assessing the sustainability of such products. The Home User Study (HUS) has been conducted to explore the in-situ use of human-powered systems using a new prototype that has been built and deployed. The study has used a monitoring device to measure the outcome of the interaction between the user and human-powered products. The results interestingly have revealed various other forms of benefits beyond renewable energy that could add extra motives for using human-powered products, such as health benefits. The paper also puts an emphasis on the opportunity of using Human-Powered Products which can be perceived as a great viable solution against counter measuring social issues such as physical inactivity and increasing sedentary behaviour. The results of the theoretical study indicate that Human-Powered Products (HPP) do not offer significant financial savings. The results of the HUS indicate that using human-powered products for health prospective outweigh the benefit gained from the prospective of energy savings and renewable energy. Based on the findings of this study, the paper suggests an approach that shows how the implementation of Human-powered systems could provide the opportunity to sustainable energy generation and energy savings, but in all cases they can be retained through a motivational drive in improving the health benefit via encouraging physical activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims at investigation of the nexus between Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and environmental sustainability in addition to exploring the long-run and short-run effects of Industry 4.0 on CO 2 emissions. For this end, energy consumption, internet and communication technology (ICT) exports, research and development (R&D), artificial intelligence (AI), ICT technology patents and bitcoin are taken as control variables of Industry 4.0 for a panel of 9 countries that contribute to 62% of the total CO 2 emissions in the world. For this purpose, the paper follows two approaches. First, the paper proposes utilization of AI and ICT technology patents, technology-related R&Ds and ICT exports as variables of I4.0 in addition to investigating the effects of economic growth, energy consumption and bitcoin. Second, to control structural changes and nonlinearity in the cointegrating relations and existence of degenerate cointegration, Fourier panel bootstrap autoregressive distributed lag model (FPBARDL) is utilized. Afterwards, FPBARDL based long, short and strong causality analyses are conducted. The empirical findings revealed positive impacts of all I4.0-related variables on emissions in the long-run. Though I4.0 related AI and ICT innovation has no direct effect in the short-run, its effects are determined through increased energy consumption towards emissions. The strong positive effects of energy consumption and positive effects of economic growth, ICT exports and R&D are observed both in the short and long-run. In addition to positive impacts of I4.0 on environment, the findings favor insufficiency of policies focusing on lowering emissions in I4.0 context.Policy recommendations include strong commitment to energy efficiency and renewable energies and trade policies with environmental concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improved energy efficiency is one of the most effective strategies for achieving energy sustainability and independence locally, regionally and globally. Industry accounts for 40% of global energy usage each year, which suggests its potentially significant impact on overall energy use. The rapid development of standards for more efficient equipment and components are pushing manufacturers towards further improvements on a component level. However, it has been shown that the largest efficiency potential is actually found in higher system levels in which components serve, such as production processes, ventilation or hydraulic systems. Even though the importance of increasing energy efficiency at a systemic level has been widely acknowledged in recent years, practical approaches are seldom discussed in the literature. This gap between aspiration and achievement calls for the development of new approaches to foster system efficiency in industrial systems. This paper presents a systems analysis and corresponding model to increase the energy efficiency of industrial processes that involve intensive usage of electric motor systems. The model originates from traditional value stream mapping. Three case studies representing three different industrial processes were conducted to develop and validate the model. In total, 31 energy efficiency measures were identified, 29 of which address actions beyond component levels. Alongside identifications of energy efficiency measures, the model promotes the creation of conditions for cross-functional worker participation. By applying this model, the knowledge and skills gained by industrial personnel working with improved energy efficiency, maintenance and production processes can be used immediately to generate improvement suggestions. The paper concludes that this model, based on a simplified energy-focused value stream mapping, could broaden the scope of energy efficiency actions, engage a larger group of workers within the organisation and increase systems efficiency. This can be further used as a practical tool for finding continuous improvement possibilities that will result in strengthened competitiveness and more cost-effective and sustainable manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Degrowth and post-growth economics has emerged as a particularly fruitful approach in the debates about the reorientation of economies in the Global North towards environmental sustainability, equality, need satisfaction and democracy. This perspective promotes a planned reduction of energy and resource use in the Global North to limit environmental pressures and global inequalities and improving well-being. Yet, the specifics of this "design" are not precisely delineated. On the one hand, there is a wide acceptance, at the abstract, most general, even definitional level, that degrowth involves planning or amounts to a planned transition. On the other hand, there is strikingly little explicit engagement with, debate on, and research into what exactly "planning beyond growth" could look like. This gap urgently needs to be addressed. By exploring the degrowth-planning nexus, this paper seeks to lay a foundation for this effort. First, it identifies in the degrowth/postgrowth literature the obstacles and the opportunities for further engagement with planning. Second, it advances an agenda-setting framework, delineating problems relative to democratic ecological planning beyond growth along three axis: elaboration, implementation and multilevel dynamics. • Laying the ground for an engagement between research on democratic planning and degrowth/postgrowth. • Identifying the obstacles to a more substantial engagement with debates on planning in the degrowth/postgrowth literature. • Delineating the key requirements and challenges for democratic planning beyond growth. • Advancing a bridging framework from the current economic institutional setting towards planning beyond growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the published research pertaining to the use of superheated steam for carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite reclamation. Superheated steam has been used for this purpose for around a decade and was initially investigated to prevent the degradation of reclaimed fibres, which occurs during the oxidative char removal step of most pyrolysis-based reclamation techniques. The review evaluates the various methodologies employed with particular focus on the physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of the reclaimed fibres, and the environmental impact of using superheated steam for carbon fibre reclamation as determined by life cycle assessment. Superheated steam studies report recovering carbon fibres with retained tensile moduli of around 90%–100% and tensile strengths of 65%–100% when compared to virgin carbon fibres, however, when optimised it is shown that carbon fibres can be recovered with no loss in stiffness and strength. Most studies are still at laboratory- or pilot-scale, however, several companies are collaborating with researchers to investigate the potential of this reclamation method on a larger scale. Early analysis on the energy use of carbon fibre reclamation using superheated steam shows that energy savings of 25% could be made by recycling CFRP waste using superheated steam and using the recovered carbon fibres to displace virgin carbon fibres rather than landfilling and incinerating this waste. • Review of the developments pertaining to superheated steam use for carbon fibre reinforced polymer reclamation. • Superheated steam reclaimed carbon fibres retain tensile strengths of 65%–100% and tensile moduli of around 90%–100%. • Review of the life cycle assessment of superheated steam-based carbon fibre reinforced polymer reclamation. • Examples of superheated steam reclamation processes entering the pilot-plant/industrial phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In machining processes, there are contradictions between high efficiency and environmentally-friendly machining. This indicated that there is a major potential for sustainable machining to both increase efficiency and protect ecological balance. For this, the employment of effective methods has become imperative to reduce resource use. In this way, the use of analysis and optimization tools to select the tool material, cutting parameters, cooling/lubrication conditions, etc., will be a benefit for minimizing waste without sacrificing efficiency. In the literature, researchers have used various methods to reveal the requirements of sustainability. However, reaching the concept of sustainable machining by using one more than technique confuses the readers. Therefore, it was deemed necessary to present and discuss the current methods, models and analyzes in a comprehensive review paper. In this context, this paper reviewed the previously published works, especially focusing on sustainability and energy consumption modeling methods in machining operations. At the end of the study, it was seen that LCA provides a systematic and quantitative view of the system and thus can act as a decision support tool. Moreover, it can give an idea to the manufacturers about the improvement of the process and the areas of innovation. However, the method has several disadvantages such as relatively expensive and specific software, obtaining inventory data, impractical to use, time-consuming and requires large amounts of data. Various mathematical models and algorithms have been developed to deal with the complex situations and offer a more practical use compared to LCA. However, it is difficult to state that clear results have been achieved thanks to these models. It was seen that in complex machining processes, only approximate results can be found with models, which leads to questioning the reliability of the models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important step towards achieving sustainability is to encourage a wide uptake of more resource-efficient consumption practices by the mainstream of society. However, consumption practices are complexly interlinked with cultural values, social status, identity and other symbolic aspects of socio-economic paradigms. Historically, design has played an important role in changing well-established cultural practices by leveraging the introduction of new technologies, or legitimising values, beliefs and social practices through its representations. In this paper, it is argued that focussing on the elaboration of meanings – or symbolic features – during the design process of sustainable innovations can enhance their wider appeal, especially by positioning them as aspirational choices that contribute to the well-being and happiness of potential users. But, in order to strategically elaborate such meanings, it becomes necessary to identify the favourable social conventions at play in a given context – i.e. the best cultural codes upon which to successfully build an innovation's relevance and desirability. Semiotic and cultural analysis methods pose great potential for supporting design in this task. In this paper, an initial methodological framework for the incorporation of these methods in the design process is proposed. The theoretical proposition is explored in the context of sustainable Product Service Systems (sustainable PSS), given the opportunities they pose for systemic disruption as radical innovations and the cultural barriers for their mainstream adoption. This contribution, thus, not only offers a new theoretical perspective for considering the symbolic aspects of sustainable consumption as social signifier; but also provides a practical framework that incorporates a socio-cultural lens to user research in design practice. It also highlights the strategic opportunities that this field of enquiry opens for sustainable design to have a wider influence in societal transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the sustainability of urban ecosystem is becoming a key area in global sustainable development. Urban metabolism is an effective analysis tool for the study of urban ecosystem. In this regard, how to evaluate the level of urban sustainable development and identify the key factors that affect urban metabolism is critical. Many studies on urban metabolism have been explored during the past half century, but few concerns about the key factors that affect urban metabolism. Therefore, this paper fills such a gap by combining emergy and Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) methods in order to analyze the sustainable development level and identify the driving forces of emergy utilization, respectively. A typical industrial city, Shenyang in northeast China, was chosen as a case study city in this paper. Results show that renewable resource utilization in Shenyang was very limited from 2000 to 2010, while nonrenewable resources and the imported resources increased rapidly. During this period, total emergy utilization of Shenyang increased from 8.52 × 10 22 sej to 21.53 × 10 22 sej, and emergy density increased with annual increasing rate of 10.34%, demonstrating a fast development of the economy and high level of resident's consumption. LMDI method was employed to analyze the driving forces of emergy consumption from the aspects of scale, structure and intensity. Results show that the rapid increase of emergy utilization in Shenyang was mainly caused by the expansion of economic scale, while emergy intensity greatly contributed to offset total consumption, and industry structure played a marginal role, with a minor value for its growth. Based upon these results, several policy recommendations were raised, including the use of more renewable and clean energy sources, a regenerative and preventative eco-industrial development approach, and capacity-building efforts, so that the overall environment pressure on urban development can be reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legislation targeting business carbon emissions typically excludes the significant portion of the economy comprised of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As an alternative many governments have developed voluntary programs to assist SMEs to reduce emissions and increase their energy efficiency. To maximise benefits associated with such programs, this paper seeks to provide insights into key factors contributing to the design of successful voluntary energy efficiency programs for SMEs. This is achieved by comprehensively analysing the factors that impacted the uptake of energy savings measures by 202 SMEs which participated in the ClimateSmart Business Cluster Program (commencing in 2009). Expanding on previous research that has mostly focus on identifying inhibiting factors (barriers) to the uptake of energy savings measures, this paper offers a comprehensive assessment of barriers and motivating factors (motivators). A unique finding of this research is that SMEs experienced many different barriers and motivators while participating in the program, inferring great complexity to achieving the critical aim of reducing carbon emissions. Based on these findings, this paper argues that voluntary government energy efficiency programs should be flexibly designed and implemented to accommodate the many and various barriers. Motivating factors should be emphasised and barriers identified upfront so that the program can be tailored to the often idiosyncratic needs of SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of various environmental problems and challenges concerning resource allocation, the utilisation of renewable resources is increasingly important for the efficient use of raw materials. Therefore, cascading utilisation (i.e., the multiple material utilisations of renewable resources prior to their conversion into energy) and approaches that aim to further increase resource efficiency (e.g., the utilisation of by-products) can be considered guiding principles. This paper therefore introduces the Special Volume "Improved Resource Efficiency and Cascading Utilisation of Renewable Materials". Because both research aspects, resource efficiency and cascading utilisation, belong to several disciplines, the Special Volume adopts an interdisciplinary perspective and presents 16 articles, which can be divided into four subjects: Innovative Materials based on Renewable Resources and their Impact on Sustainability and Resource Efficiency, Quantitative Models for the Integrated Optimisation of Production and Distribution in Networks for Renewable Resources, Information Technology-based Collaboration in Value Generating Networks for Renewable Resources, and Consumer Behaviour towards Eco-friendly Products. The interdisciplinary perspective allows a comprehensive overview of current research on resource efficiency, which is supplemented with 15 book reviews showing the extent to which textbooks of selected disciplines already refer to resource efficiency. This introductory article highlights the relevance of the four subjects, presents summaries of all papers, and discusses future research directions. The overall contribution of the Special Volume is that it bridges the resource efficiency research of selected disciplines and that it presents several approaches for more environmentally sound production and consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing water consumption and increasing energy efficiency are emerging as two key requirements to move towards a more sustainable mining industry. However, the two targets can be in conflict as water management initiatives often lead to an increase in energy consumption. On the other hand, some water initiatives may lead to reduction in energy consumption, leading to synergy between energy and water efficiency initiatives. To maximise energy and water sustainability in mine water management, it is essential that synergy and trade-off potentials between the water and energy targets related to water initiatives are recognised. Limited research has been conducted to develop a tool or approach to consider water and energy impacts of water initiatives in a coupled manner. This paper presents a protocol to recognise water-energy synergy and trade-off potentials. The protocol is demonstrated for three case study mine sites. The results of this paper show that a particular water management option can hold a synergy potential for one mine but a trade-off potential for another mine. The rigour of the approach captures cases where water management options are predicted to be synergistic, but are in fact shown to be a trade-off according to the results. It is concluded that the use of this protocol can provide insights about synergy and trade-off potentials between water and energy targets of mine sites subject to water management options. This is an innovative approach to more holistically assess water management option impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of smart technologies can become very important and useful to solve the main population issues nowadays and provide foundations for a sustainable future. A smart approach is an opportunity for knowledge integration, necessary to solve crucial problems of contemporary societies. Today, the main challenge is to reduce the effects of global warming and ensure a balanced economic development of society. The close collaboration of all involved engineering professions is mandatory to achieve interdisciplinary synergies and can bridge challenging engineering tasks. Intense research efforts should be directed towards balanced resource utilization, efficient energy conversion technologies, integration of renewable energy systems, effective approaches to enable circular economy framework, effective process integration as well as other issues important to the population. This review editorial is primarily focused on the contributions presented at the 3rd International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Technologies held in Split, Croatia, in 2018 (SpliTech2018). The SpliTech2018 conference was a multidisciplinary event with research topics related to the main conference tracks, i.e. Smart City/Environment, Energy, Engineering Modelling and e-Health. The strategic focus of the conference was to help solve crucial issues of our times, mainly related to the sustainability and smart utilisation of limited and valuable resources. This contribution brings new ideas and discusses present issues as well as challenges that should lead towards a sustainable future based on the application of the smart technologies. The herein addressed papers bring together latest research progress into four main topic areas: (i) Green Buildings, Energy Use and Consumption, (ii) Solar Energy Utilisation, (iii) Efficiency and Waste Elimination, (iv) Smart Cities and Internet of Things. The main results of this introduction review article include a discussion of different concepts and technologies that bring further development on a broad range of topics focused on efficiency improvement, smart and sustainable resource management, cleaner production concepts and on the discussion of the various actions which would lead towards a sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot embossing is an efficient technology for the fabrication of glass micro- and nanostructures. However, the long cycle time, high energy consumption, and high nitrogen emissions in traditional hot embossing approach hinders sustainable production of glass micro-optics. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel two-stage gravity-assisted hot embossing process that enables the fabrication of high-quality glass micro-pillar arrays in a rapid, green manner. In this approach, the two-stage gravity loading unit provides accurate force on glass preform through a simple control system, and the tailor-made heating module based on Si 3 N 4 ceramic heaters requires an energy consumption of just 700 kJ per molding cycle. As a result, the proposed approach is featured by low energy consumption and high manufacturing efficiency. In this study, the effects of the embossing temperature, force, and time on the replication accuracy of a K9 glass micro-pillar array were investigated through a series of hot embossing experiments. Afterward, the form accuracy, uniformity of microstructures, and warpage of glass replicas under the optimal process parameters were evaluated separately. Finally, repeated hot embossing experiments were conducted to demonstrate the reproducibility of the hot embossing process. The experimental results show that embossing temperature had the most significant effect on the replication accuracy of glass micro-pillars. By optimizing the process parameters, the embossed glass micro-pillars could achieve transfer ratios of 99.00% and 95.14% in height and diameter, respectively. Moreover, the surface roughness of glass micro-pillars was less than 5 nm, and the warpage amplitude of glass replicas in a 3.9 × 3.9 mm area was smaller than 1 μm. The small discrepancy in geometric features of glass replica in the repeated trails reflects the satisfactory reproducibility of this hot embossing process on the micro and nano scales. The results indicate the strong industrialization potential of the proposed two-stage gravity-assisted hot embossing machine and hot embossing process for fabricating high-quality glass microstructures more cleanly and sustainably. • A novel gravity-assisted rapid high-temperature hot embossing apparatus is developed. • A novel hot embossing process is designed for fabricating high-quality glass micro-pillar arrays in a cleaner manner. • Effects of process parameters on the replication accuracy of glass micro-pillar arrays are evaluated. • Form deviation, uniformity of microstructures as well as warpage of glass replica are analyzed. • The reproducibility in replicating geometric features in the novel hot embossing process is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy intensive industries can be classified into those that process metal, glass, ceramics, paper, cement, and bulk chemicals. They are associated with significantly high proportions of carbon emissions, consume a lot of energy and raw materials, and cause energy wastage as a result of heat escaping from furnaces, reheating of products, and rejection of parts. In alignment with UN sustainable development goals of industry, innovation, infrastructure and responsible consumption and production, it is important to ensure that the energy consumption of EIIs are monitored and reduced such that their energy efficiency can be improved. Towards this aim, it is possible to employ the concepts of digitalisation and smart manufacturing to identify the critical areas of improvement and establish enablers that can help improve the energy efficiency. The aim of this research is to review the current state of digitalisation in energy-intensive industries and propose a framework to support the realisation of sustainable smart manufacturing in Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs). The key objectives of the work are (i) the investigation of process mining and simulation modelling to support sustainability, (ii) embedding intelligence in EIIs to improve energy and material efficiency and (iii) proposing a framework to enable the digital transformation of EIIs. The proposed five-layer framework employs data acquisition, process management, simulation & modelling, artificial intelligence, and data visualisation to identify and forecast energy consumption. A detailed description of the various phases of the framework and how they can be used to support sustainability and smart manufacturing is demonstrated using business process data obtained from a machining industry. In the demonstrated case study, the process management layer utilises Disco for process mining, the simulation layer utilises Matlab SimEvent for discrete-event simulation, the artificial intelligence layer utilises Matlab for energy prediction and the visualisation layer utilises grafana to dashboard the e-KPIs. The findings of the research indicate that the proposed digital life-cyle framework helps EIIs realise sustainable smart manufacturing through better understanding of the energy-intensive processes. The study also provided a better understanding of the integration of process mining and simulation & modelling within the context of EIIs. [Display omitted] • Framework to support the digital life cycle management of Energy Intensive Industries. • Investigate the interplay between process mining and simulation modelling to support sustainability. • Intelligence needs to be embedded to improve energy efficiency and material efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for global energy sustainability. It is affected by a country's policies, resources, financing opportunities, the attention given to it, and the degree to which other pressing issues, such as poverty and access to power, are addressed in each country. This paper used 28 indicators to assess a country's energy sustainability. These indicators ranged from CO 2 per capita emissions to the share of electricity production from wind. The indicators were adjusted so that the lower values were more sustainable. 31 countries were selected. Kohonen's self-organizing maps were used to present this 28-dimensional model in a 2D map. This algorithm is a type of artificial neural network trained by unsupervised learning. Eight clusters of countries were found through the analysis using the four-light traffic panel, where green is the most sustainable, followed by blue, yellow, and red. The closeness on the map does not guarantee that two countries will be in the same cluster. Three color matches and closeness were the criteria for the creation of clusters. The energy transition from the map's lower to upper sides is plainly visible. Red clusters make up the lower side, while green clusters make up the top. One blue cluster and two yellow clusters are located between them. The algorithm converged in the 133rd iteration; the quantization error reached 0 and the topological error reached a value of 25. This method can be used to visualize how far or close a country is to the best achievers. It shows which parameters can or should be improved and what the world trend is. If there is a trend, cost-effective solutions are frequently present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A key factor deciding the capacity to increase the sustainability of final products is the energy efficiency. The energy embodied in a product is an aggregation of all of the energy embodied in the products' components and subsystems, expended through its manufacturing processes and logistical activities. Currently, accurate estimation of this energy metric is hindered due to the unavailability of energy use data traceable to individual processes and equipment associated with the product's assembly. In this paper, we propose using minimally-required energy to compute energy efficiency of a product assembly process. Based on the proposed approach, efficiency metrics established on the process, product, material and equipment characteristics have been presented at the assembly activity and equipment level. A case study has been presented for a hybrid laser welding process to demonstrate the computational methods used to arrive at these efficiency metrics. Major contributions of this paper are the metrics development and exemplifying the metrics through an actual assembly process (hybrid laser welding) case study. We will explain how these metrics can provide industries with a capability to identify opportunities to improve their sustainability performance across their assembly processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract Regarding to energy efficiency retrofit investment to numerous buildings, which buildings should be invested and which of the retrofit measures should be implemented for investable buildings are challenging tasks. The current literature have studied on choosing energy efficiency retrofit measures in single building, relatively little attention has been paid to the retrofit investment decision-making in multiple buildings. In addition, the existing studies almost put the retrofit cost as an objective that need to be minimized, and the retrofit capital budget is not taken into consideration. This paper proposes a decision-making optimization framework for energy efficiency retrofit investment in numerous buildings under financing budgetary restraint. A multi-objective optimization model with the economic goals being the net present value and time of return, and the environmental goals being the energy saving and emission reduction is presented, and then the intelligent optimization method combing particle swarm optimization and genetic algorithm is designed to search the retrofit investment strategy. The obtained investment strategy could determine which of the buildings should be invested to retrofit, and the combination of retrofitting measures for every investable building. An empirical study is conducted on 27 buildings of non-governmental organization in the state of Delaware in the United States, and the results indicate that the validity of the proposed framework. The findings indicate that the framework is an effective approach to assist the sustainability goal at regional level. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • A decision-making optimization framework for energy efficiency retrofit is proposed. • Retrofit investment in numerous buildings under the capital restraint is studied. • An intelligent optimization method is designed to obtain the investment strategy. • An empirical study is conducted on 27 NGO buildings in the state of Delaware of USA. • The results could well balance economic and environmental goals of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Environmental sustainability in manufacturing is nowadays an urgent and remarkable issue and the main concerns are related to more efficient use of materials and energy. In sheet metal forming processes there is still a lack of knowledge in this field mainly due to the need of a proper modelling of sustainability issues and factors to be taken into account. The aim of this paper is mainly to underline the state of the art from a forming point of view about the sustainability contributions offered in any phase of a product life cycle. Actually, a lack in terms of comprehensive contributions is present in the technical literature, thus, the authors try to give a sort of holistic vision aimed to provide basic guidelines in order to help in identifying the possible solutions with regard to all the phases of a forming product life cycle. The main attention was paid to sheet metal forming technologies. The paper gives an overview of the main topics concerning sheet metal forming problems related to energy and resource efficiency with the aim to stress the principal contributions which may derive from such processes to environmental performances of manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract As the world's largest energy consumer, China has set the dual goal of controlling both its total energy consumption and intensity in the 13th Five-Year Plan. As one of the most economically active types of regional units in China, urban agglomerations, composed of adjacent cities with close trade interlinks, play a vital role in energy consumption. Existing studies have provided empirical evidence of industrial transfer as a consequence of urban agglomerations, while a few have focused on whether such industrial transfers could promote the dual goal of controlling both total volume of energy consumption and intensity of all the cities within an urban agglomeration. To bring clarity to this issue, this paper attempts to measure industrial transfer and its impact on total energy consumption and intensity of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration by developing a multi-regional input-output model. The results indicate there is mutual industrial transfer between any two cities within the urban agglomeration. Consequently, total energy consumption has increased by 6258.78 thousand tons of standard coal equivalent while energy intensity has declined by 0.19 tons coal equivalent/thousand Yuan. Finally, a few policy recommendations about dual control of total energy consumption and intensity for urban agglomerations have been proposed. Our study enhances understanding of the critical role of industrial transfer in executing dual control of total energy consumption and energy intensity of urban agglomerations, thus assisting policymakers in finding ways to achieve sustainable urban transitions. Highlights • Industrial transfer between cities within an urban agglomeration is defined. • Industrial transfer calculation method based on input output analysis is proposed. • Impacts of industrial transfer on energy consumption and intensity are measured. • Policies for dual control of total energy consumption and intensity are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The sustainability of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is a significant challenge faced by developing countries, especially China. Evaluating the sustainability status of China's water-energy-food, and improving its sustainable use, may provide good physical conditions to support China's future development. This paper applied the Pressure, State, and Response (PSR) model to select evaluation indexes. A combination weighting method was used to combine two objective weighting methods to determine index weights. The study constructed the classical field, the limited field, and the matter-element to be evaluated. This allowed the establishment of an improved matter-element extension model to evaluate the sustainability of the water-energy-food nexus; the model was then used to quantitatively evaluate the sustainability of China's water-energy-food nexus. The simulation results indicated that in 2005, the sustainability of China's water-energy-food was at a relatively low efficiency rank. By 2015, the sustainability of China's water-energy-food had reached a general efficiency rank. The results suggested that the sustainability of China's water-energy-food system significantly improved between 2005 and 2015; however, the improved sustainability remained at a general status (The general status means that the sustainability of water-energy-food nexus in China can meet the basic development needs, but it is far from the optimal state and needs further adjustment and improvement). Thus, China should improve its current utilization patterns for the three resources and consider them as a whole. This would help realize synergistic resource use and enhance their sustainability. Highlights • The sustainability of WEF nexus is a severe challenge faced by developing country. • An improved matter-element extension model to evaluate sustainability of WEF nexus. • The sustainability of China's WEF system significantly improved from 2005 to 2015. • China should improve its utilization patterns for the WEF and consider it as whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The more efficient use of energy is a policy issue worldwide. Smart use of technology and management of information is becoming crucial for increasing energy efficiency. The 7th Framework Program of the European Union supported international research to fulfill the potential of Information and Communications Technologies for Energy Efficiency. Using Social Network Analysis, this paper analyzes this research network and explores the links and influences in the cross-country knowledge flows generated. The analysis identifies some important differences in the position that countries hold on the network. Results highlight the importance of countries acting as hubs and gatekeepers in the promotion of research and the improvement of energy efficiency. Highlights • The network of the 7th Framework Programme on Information and Communication Technologies for energy efficiency is studied. • Countries with a central position in the research network benefit from energy efficiency gains. • A fast access to knowledge does not guarantee efficiency improvements. • Climate-resilient countries tend to have more adaptation in terms of efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to develop an optimal real-life energy-efficient design for a production plant within the concept of the circular economy. The problem is to install a Heat Recovery System (HRS) that utilizes the hot oil used by the compressors to heat the water for the central heating system. To achieve the desired level of energy efficiency this design problem must be formulated from both the optimization and sustainability points of view. Additionally, this design problem must also consider the investment cost. In line with this purpose, this paper formulates this design problem as an optimization problem employing a mathematical programming approach as a single objective, and as a multi-objective optimization problem through a goal programming approach. Besides, this paper uses the return on investment as a key performance indicator, since it deals with a real-life design problem with an investment cost. The related design problem is solved with the single objective and multi-objective versions of the developed mathematical programming model via a commercial solver to identify different design alternatives and hence giving the decision-maker to make a selection option. Finally, the capability of the developed mathematical programming model is tested on a set of randomly generated problems. The obtained results indicate that the developed mathematical programming model is a successful decision support system since its single and multi-objective versions are capable of identifying energy-efficient production designs within the context of the real-life problem on hand and the circular economy. • A real-life energy-efficient design problem for a production plant is undertaken. • A heat recovery system is proposed within the concept of a circular economy. • The problem is modelled from both the optimization and sustainability aspects. • The problem is formulated as multi-objective models using goal programming. • The models are solved to minimize investment costs and maximize energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction is nowadays considered an extremely energy intensive industry and one of the main sources of environmental pollution in the world. Therefore, the research and the development of novel energy-saving manufacturing processes and sustainable construction materials is more than ever urgent and challenging. This paper aims at identifying the industrial process for the production of novel geopolymers to be used as a greener substitute for cement, especially the Portland one, widely used for structural applications to significantly reduce the environmental impact of the construction industry. Here, the materials sustainability and the manufacturing process are improved by valorising and reusing wastes, deriving from the pulp-paper industry, as raw materials. This industry generates a great quantity of wastes that represent a real concern both for their environmental impact and cost of disposal. The new industrial process was evaluated after scaling up the laboratory procedure to an industrial dimension. Consequently, each small-scale process was deeply analysed (raw materials involved and processes) and transposed into a massive-production. The most relevant processes that show an elevated environmental impact were identified and the energy consumption of the whole process has been assessed resulting, for the analysed geopolymeric product, an embodied energy of 645 MJ/ton, being about one sixth of the OPC. Moreover, a preliminary economic analysis has been conducted in terms of raw materials involved in the proposed industrial process revealing a decreasing cost per ton increasing the waste recycling. All considered, the main conclusions are that the industrial scale up of the proposed geopolymeric product, assessed for the first time in literature along with the related proposed considerations, could be highly competitive to the Portland production involving greener processes with a much lower energy consumption and a greater financial saving by improving the wastes quantity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the Norwegian method for Cleaner Production (CP) as well as results and experiences from its use over more than 12 years.Quantifiable results in terms of reduced wastes and emissions and improved material and energy efficiencies have been documented by many authors. Many countries as a strategy for improving environmental performance have also adopted the CP concept.This paper focuses on the intangible benefits and human factors derived from CP projects, how the present CP model may be improved and present ideas on how the CP concept can be expanded to more directly address the needs of developing countries. Improvements to the present CP model should include means for ensuring sustainability of the local CP centre and its activities and financial mechanisms to facilitate affordable environmental investments.The expansion of the basic CP concept should include modules that more directly address the challenges of creating job opportunities, eradicating poverty, protecting public health and improving safety. CP should no longer be viewed as a stand-alone option but be integrated in all business development activities to improve quality of life.The authors also encourage the development of a holistic view to include “greening of the supply chain”, recycling of materials and applying an LCA philosophy in product development.To speed up the adaptation of CP in the many very small enterprises that exist, an integrated approach to quality systems, CP and environmental management systems is proposed. Some of these ideas were recently implemented in the planning of a CP programme in Uganda.CP as a stand-alone option will not create a sustainable society, but expanding the concept in a similar fashion to that proposed in this article, is believed to be an important step in the right direction, provided that sufficient funding is available over an extended period. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cities are mainly responsible for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere and thus for climate change. The European Union (EU) set up a series of strategies and policies to facilitate the elaboration of climate change mitigation and adaptation of urban plans. To do this, it is necessary to measure the city's GHG emission level. The Urban Carbon Footprint (UCF) and its derivation, the Relative Carbon Footprint (RCF), represent the most appropriate tools for obtaining this important information. The present paper applies these indicators to a small city (150 000 inhabitants) located in Southern Italy, a novelty for academic studies, which usually concentrate on megacities. The study focuses only on CO 2 emissions, as these represent 90% of the total GHGs released in urban areas. The findings showed that in 2015 the total UCF was equal to 288 ktCO 2 , specifically deriving from electricity and natural gas consumption. Moreover, Residential, Industry and Tertiary are the most carbon-intensive economic sectors. The RCF was equal to 0.30; the city emission levels were lower than the national average. Therefore, the municipality represents a typical “net-consumer” community, dominated by homes with territorial emissions due to consumption and characterized by a low number of industries and an average income per capita that is 50% lower than the national one. Starting from these results, the study proposed an urban action plan according to the EU mitigation and adaptation policies. This plan could help the local government improve its environmental sustainability, even if more public city-level data is required for a more comprehensive analysis. Finally, it would be more appropriate for all actions to be aligned under a unique policy process to seize the opportunity to link the various local intervention policies from different fields, taking into account their existing funding, tools, processes, and resources. Capitalizing on the adaptation/mitigation connection will allow municipalities to leverage their climate change action efforts and accelerate progress toward their climate and energy goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on an analysis of the energy mix profile and energy efficiency of the Brazilian dairy industry. It investigates dairies’ energy mix and energy efficiency and identifies some actions for a cleaner energy mix. Primary data from 37 dairy cheese-making establishments distributed among the Brazilian regions were obtained from online surveys. The results indicate that woodfuel plays a critical role, being the most used fuel in thermal energy generation, while diesel is dominant in electric generation. It also emphasizes that only 51% of the dairy establishments utilize electric energy generators. Other alternative biomass sources are still incipient in the sector, restricted to just 9.5% of the cases for thermal energy generation and no cases for electricity. Regarding the energy efficiency analysis, the results suggest dairies are more scale efficient than pure technical efficient. However, the dairies present a low energy efficiency level. There is no evidence that inefficiencies are differently distributed according to their size. These findings are important for government agencies, industry associations, scientists, universities and research institutes. High inefficiencies, regarding the use of electricity and thermal energy, are a key issue in sustainable bioenergy production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) has recently become an attractive alternative in pavement engineering due to its potential for significant reduction in energy consumption and carbon footprint of asphalt industry; however, concerns have been raised regarding durability of material and potential to moisture damage due to lower mixing and compaction temperatures. Furthermore, steel slag which is mostly disposed in landfills as waste material could be an appealing option as substitute of natural aggregates for asphalt concrete (AC) production because of its adequate affinity with asphalt binder. The aim of this study is therefore, to assess whether the integration of basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steel slag into Sasobit WMA technology would indicate satisfactory performance in terms of moisture susceptibility. This paper also examines if BOF slag WMA mixture can provide acceptable mechanical performance to be used as a more sustainable approach for pavement construction. To capture short-term moisture damage resistance of BOF slag WMA, specimens prepared with two Sasobit dosages were subjected to two different testing methods. Modified Lottman test and boiling water test using an image analysis technique were performed to compare moisture susceptibility and stripping resistance of BOF slag WMA and HMA (hot mix asphalt) samples with conventional mixtures. Dynamic creep test, Hamburg wheel-track device and resilient modulus test were then conducted on specimens to evaluate mechanical behavior of BOF slag WMA in comparison with BOF slag HMA and another type of WMA mixture prepared with natural aggregates. Findings showed that BOF slag WMA provided significant resistance to short-term moisture damage and therefore, could be considered as durable bituminous mixture when compared to conventional asphalt mixtures. Furthermore, BOF steel slag HMA/WMA exhibited superior mechanical behaviors compared to limestone HMA/WMA mixtures, implying that steel slag could be an effective alternative as pavement material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to green product development by identifying the green products with the highest potential for growth in a country. To address our aim, we use the concept of product proximity and product space and, borrowing from the results of recent studies on complexity economics, we advance that the green products with the highest potential for growth among all green products in a given country are those being in close proximity to the products a country produces with high Relative Comparative Advantage (RCA). We test this hypothesis performing a regression analysis. We build the product space for 141 different countries for the years between 2005 and 2013 and for each country we compute the maximum proximity of each green product to the products with high RCA (i.e., the proximity of the product source of competitive advantage closest to the green product considered). Results confirm that green products with high maximum proximity to the products with high RCA had the highest growth. So doing, we contribute to the literature by providing a new application of the product space as a policy making tool for green development. We also provide several applications of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues relating to the illumination of historical minor centers have taken on increasing significance in debates on urban rehabilitation. Interventions must ensure balance with the surrounding environment whilst implementing high-efficiency, energy-environment systems, and enhance architectural structures. The research presented in this paper aims to identify appropriate strategies and effective criteria for lighting design in historical centers. The methodology developed is based on transcalar analysis and has been applied to a village in the Abruzzo Region (Italy). The methodology involved surveys carried out in the urban context together with up-to-date and detailed analyses aimed at highlighting the criticalities and potentialities of the village in the case study. This allowed the elaboration of intervention strategies applied to two different areas: one within the historical nucleus of the village and the other in a peripheral area. This research has contributed to enriching the current debate on so-called “inland areas”, including developing new ways to benefit from the special characteristics of these areas and implementing more sustainable action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An industrial park is characterized as a cluster of industries designed to meet compatible demands of different economic organizations within one location, which is pivotal to drive the regional economic growth of developing countries. The concentrated industrial activities inevitably result in substantial resource consumption and corresponding environmental emissions. Environmental auditing, which is used for the checking and verification of environmental performance, is an effective tool for investigating environmental emissions and resource consumption status and alleviation potential in industrial parks. As one of the environmental auditing technologies, emergy analysis, which provides a systematic approach in identifying the balance between socioeconomic development and natural environment, is employed in this paper. Specifically, a ternary emergetic environmental performance auditing framework was proposed to evaluate the behavior (preliminary work), ecological-economic efficiency (Level 1), environmental impact (Level 2), and mitigation effect (Level 3) of a typical industrial park in Beijing. The result showed that the concerned industrial park mainly depends on labor and service inputs and has a relatively high economic efficiency. However, the large dependence on purchased emergy exerted great pressure on the resource and environment, and affect the stability of the industrial park. The proposed framework may help reveal the value that free environmental services and resources offer to a specific system and thus can be complementary to the existing environmental performance auditing tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the energy shortage and environmental pollution, the development and utilization of biomass energy has aroused increasing attention all over the world. The crop straw cogeneration (CSC) of heat and power is an efficient renewable energy utilization technology in rural area, which is a practical solution to energy saving and pollution control. Circular economy, characterized by resource conservation, recycling and environment harmony, greatly enriches the connotation of energy projects, which is of guidance implications for the development of CSC. In this paper, the CSC project site selection is conducted under the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework from the perspective of circular economy. A complete criteria system considering the sustainability indicators is established to reflect the characteristics of CSC projects for the first time. Furthermore, due to the complexity and the lack of ready-made experience in the CSC site selection, the intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs) are improved and applied by creating a novel IFSs distance formula to provide clear expression for the hesitation degrees of the experts. Finally, taking Changchun City, Jilin Province as an example, the improved TOmada de Decisao Interativa Multicriterio (TODIM) method is applied to obtain the optimal location. A 2 (Nongan) is the best choice among the four given alternatives, and comparative analysis shows that the improved TODIM method is better than the other methods. This study improves the application of intuitionistic fuzzy sets in site selection of energy projects and brings new insight for the decision-making from the perspective from circular economy. [Display omitted] • A criteria system is established from the circular economy perspective. • A new formula based on membership, non-membership and hesitation is defined. • A site selection framework is proposed based on the improved TODIM method. • Economic factors and social needs are dominant for CSC site selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geotextiles have become a popular solution in environmental engineering. They may be manufactured from synthetic or biodegradable materials. The main functions of geotextiles are: separation, filtration, drainage, sealing, anti-erosion protection, and improving plant vegetation conditions. The synthetic ones are produced mainly from fossil fuels. One of the ways to reduce the consumption of energy from non-renewable sources and to limit environmental pollution is to replace petrochemical materials with natural products. Unfortunately, only 2% of the geosynthetics are produced from renewable resources. However, it is estimated that natural fibers and biopolymers might successfully replace synthetic materials even in 50% of all applications. A wide range of geotextiles produced from such natural fibers as jute, flax, coconut fiber, palm fiber, sisal, nettle, straw, cotton, and wool are currently available on the market but they are not widely used in environmental engineering. The paper presents the current state of knowledge and technological developments in their production and application. The study also points to the existing deficiencies and opportunities in the development of the manufacturing technology of natural fibers and biodegradable polymers. Image 1 • The demand for commonly applied geotextiles is soaring. Unfortunately, only 2% is produced from renewable resources. • Natural fibers and biopolymers might successfully replace synthetic materials even in 50% of all applications. • The paper presents the current state of knowledge and technological developments in the production and application of natural fibers (flax, jute, hemp, coconut, cotton, wool) and biodegradable polymers (PLA, PHA, PCL, PHB, PBS, CA). • Polylactide (PLA) is currently one of the cheapest biopolymers that is most commonly recommended for engineering solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydropower is considered as one of the most convenient and popular renewable energy technologies and its capacity is growing rapidly throughout the world. Its rapid deployment also comes up with various environmental issues which cannot be neglected at a glance. Previous studies had imposed questions about its sustainable nature and now it becomes important to think about the sustainability of hydropower projects so that the technology would grow effectively in future. This paper reviews the status of research on environmental assessment of hydropower projects. The factors which affect the environmental impacts associated with hydropower generation are also explored. It is found that environmental impact assessment of hydropower projects must be performed considering all aspects and factors which affects the environmental impacts associated with hydropower projects. Most of the previous studies are focused on the estimation of GHG emissions so it is necessary to give emphasis on other environmental impacts like acidification, land use, energy consumption etc. and also consider biomass decomposition in submerged land. In fact it is not worthy to predict the sustainability of hydropower projects without considering almost all biophysical impacts associated with them. The paper also compares large and small hydro considering all sustainability assessment factors. Small hydropower projects are considered as a good alternative to control the problems associated with large hydropower projects but still many studies found that so many issues are associated with small hydro as well which cannot be neglected completely. Image 1 • Factors that influence the environmental impacts of a hydropower plant are summarized. • Current status of research related to sustainability assessment of hydropower projects is discussed. • Comparison among Large and Small Hydropower in respect of sustainability is provided. • Improvements required in the future research in order to obtain more realistic and useful results are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]