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Selective laser sintering technology is a method of additive manufacturing that is growing with widely application. Due to the increasing tense of energy situation, it is also timely to consider the economic and environmental issues of growth in additive manufacturing. The innovative selective laser sintering technology optimization approach proposed in this article encourages and enables the designers and users to obtain optimal sintering parameters and reduces energy consumption and cost in sintering process. This paper creates a potential approach for realizing the relationship between main sintering parameters and energy consumption and material cost. To achieve high efficiency of the process, optimization of parameters based on energy and cost consumption are investigated. A multi-objective model with optimized constraints is set up and solved by non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II. Energy consumption and material cost are treated as the two objectives, which are affected by three variables, namely scanning speed, gap distance and layer thickness. The effectiveness of the multi-objective optimization model was verified experimentally and results are fully discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reduce the environmental hazards from non-renewable energy consumption and promote sustainable social development, renewable electric energy has been developed vigorously in countries around the world as the best strategical choice of cleaner energy development. Especially in transportation sector, large quantities of electric vehicles (EVs) are considered the most promising alternative to alleviate the problems of energy crisis, environment pollution and climate warming. However, with the rapid growth of EVs, much more small-scale fast charging stations (FCSs) have limited distribution capacity to satisfy every charging demand simultaneously and are under big pressure to ensure good service capability. Based on current conditions, this paper proposes a hierarchical power control strategy (HPCS) that considers EVs demand, FCS service capability, and FCS daily load fluctuation as a whole with weighted dynamic priority (WDP) and fluctuation smoothing index (FSI). The assumed system model is based on each EV's unique demand and FCS constraints. The simulation results show that the optimal WDP is sufficiently elastic to satisfy EV's demand urgency and fast charging station operator (FCSO)'s income simultaneously. Moreover, FSI is illustrated concretely to decrease daily load fluctuation and peak load value, which is useful to reduce overall power loss. As a result, the HPCS can be realized on a 32-bit processor platform in a FCS to gain an optimal balance between EVs demands and FCSO's profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable energy statistics serve as the foundation and starting point for understanding the climate policies of any country. As the most comprehensive sources of energy data for China, China Energy Statistics Yearbooks (ESY), published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), underwent three major revisions since 2005. This paper analyzes how these three major revisions correspond to data on China's energy use from 1996 to 2012, and theirs impacts on CO 2 emissions, emission intensity and the share of non-fossil energy in total energy consumption, which are key indicators of China's climate policies. Some notable changes include CO 2 emissions for 2012, which increased by 594 Million tons – a figure equivalent to South Korea's annual emissions, which implies that China's emissions at peak level will be higher than previous estimation. Meanwhile, revised emission intensity data show a higher amount and lower decreasing rate, which means that China's achievements in decreasing emission intensity during 2005–2012 have been overestimated, while future difficulties for achieving the goal of 40–45% reduction will be greater. On the share of non-fossil fuel energy in China's total energy mix, the adjustments increased the indicator by 1.26%, reflecting the fact that China's effort in developing non-fossil energy had been underestimated. Discrepancies in reported scattered coal in different statistics versions are the main contributors to these changes. To further enhance the reliability of its energy statistics, and thereby its climate policies, China should remove incentives for misreporting through legal means, and make the technical system for data collection more comprehensive and accurate, with particular emphasis on scattered coal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evaluation of balanced regional development should consider not only the economic and ecological benefits but also regional differences. A nongrouped Gini index is constructed based on a continuous distribution function to evaluate the regionally balanced development of the economy and the environment, and the applicability of the method is analyzed given the data characteristics. Combining the difference in the regional economic base and ecological carrying capacity, a multigroup overall Gini index (MGO-Gini) with regional spatial heterogeneity is further developed, along with its decomposition structure. This work evaluates and analyses the regional balance in China’s development with regard to regional industrial output, energy consumption and pollution emissions from 2000 to 2015 using both the nongrouped and the MGO-Gini. The results show that ①the Gini index constructed in this paper can be well adapted to fat-tailed data, which is a typical feature of China’s regional economic and ecological benefits data. ②The regionally balanced development of China does not obviously promote industrial output, whereas the regional balance of energy consumption shows the same upward trend when evaluated with both the nongrouped and the MGO-Gini from 2000 to 2015. In recent years, after a period of improvement, the regional balance of pollution emissions has experienced a downward trend. There is disparity in “cleaner production efficiency” between regions of China as well as an upward trend in this disparity in recent years. ③China’s interregional balance has been enhanced in terms of energy consumption and pollution emissions considering regional spatial heterogeneity, whereas the balance of economic output has been further reduced. ④The balance in regional energy consumption plays a supporting role in balanced development among regions. The imbalance within developed areas is the main source of regional economic output and energy consumption imbalances, and the imbalance in developing areas is the main source of the regional pollution imbalance in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circulating cooling water system is widely used in industry. Traditionally, circulating cooling water system is in a parallel structure. Without reuse of cooling water, the return temperature of water is low and total flow rate of water is high. This leads to the low efficiency of cooling tower and high energy consumption of system. When the coolers are in series arrangement and water is reused, the return temperature of cooling water will increase. High return temperature of cooling water can lead to the severe fouling of coolers. The level of fouling depends on outlet temperature and velocity of water. In this paper, we proposed model where cooling water is reused and the fouling of cooler is avoided. The numerical relationship between stream velocity and return temperature is introduced. The objective is to formulate the framework with minimum flow rate and no fouling with coolers. A case study is used to show the effectiveness of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Subway construction in China has experienced a surge during the past decade. Though subway is often viewed as a clean commute mode, the construction of its stations and tunnel sections requires large quantities of energy consumption, generating multiple pollutants, among which the Green-house gas (GHG) emissions would be a major issue in the context of a worldwide plea for carbon reduction, and it has to be quantified for the interest of a comprehensive assessment with regard to the GHG emissions of subway system. This paper proposed a GHG emissions quantification model for the construction of the subway stations based on a quota. A quota-based GHG emissions quantification model is able to estimate GHG emissions during the planning stage of subway projects, providing designers with the environmental consciousness on their design choices, as well as a reference for reduction potential of GHG emissions within or among schemes. Specifically, GHG emissions in the construction of subway stations are attributed to the contribution of each sub-project, a database for the GHG emissions of those sub projects is established through their construction quota. Case study for an open-excavation station shows 69% of the GHG emissions come from the construction of main structures. In terms of emission sources, embodied emissions account for 90.72% of the totality, of which concrete and steel components are the two major contributors. Besides, parameter on the buried depth of top slab shows that GHG emissions from each sub-projects increase with buried depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Process energy consumption and environmental impact have been considered as important performance indicators for the sustainable electrical discharge machining (EDM) process. This paper presents a sustainable manufacturing technique known as magnetic field-assisted EDM (MF-EDM) to enhance the machine characteristics for the purpose of reducing the energy consumption and environmental hazards of the conventional EDM machining Ti6Al4V. Firstly, the principles of energy consumption, machining noise impact, and MF-EDM are respectively described. Thereafter, a set of experiments is carried out to investigate the effects of the main process parameters on the electrode wear rate (E W R), energy consumption (S E C), and environmental impacts (including carbon emission and machining noise) extensively, using the Taguchi method. The results indicate that the pulse on time (ranging from 100 to 200 μs) and magnetic field intensity (ranging from 0.05 to 0.10 T) are the two most significant factors affecting the MF-EDM sustainable manufacturing performance. Furthermore, the optimal process parameters were obtained by optimizing the MF-EDM process economically and environmentally using the modified non-dominated neighbor immune algorithm (M-NNIA) method. Compared to the minimum outputs of the experimental results, the optimal solutions of the E W R , S E C , and machining noise were significantly decreased, by 18.30%, 61.43%, and 20.95%, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded from the above research that the proposed hybrid MF-EDM technique offers significant advantages and potential for applications in the sustainable manufacturing field. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • A sustainable technique, magnetic field assisted EDM, is proposed to reduce energy consumption and environmental hazards. • Electrode wear rate, energy consumption, machining noise of MF-EDM processing Ti6Al4V were completely investigated. • Optimal parameter combinations were obtained through optimizing MF-EDM process economically and environmentally by M-NNIA. [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]

Abstract Solar hot water has attracted growing level of attention due to rapid growth of energy consumption in buildings. Centralized solar hot water system has been widely used in residential buildings in China because it is suitable for multi-story and high-rise buildings. The application of phase change thermal storage in distributed solar hot water system has been widely studied. By contrast, few researches have focused on centralized solar hot water system. This paper aims to investigate the centralized solar hot water system with phase change material (PCM) as thermal energy storage. Through experiments, stainless steel ball was selected as the unit to package paraffin wax, and expanded graphite was added to enhance the heat transfer performance. According to the working temperature of solar collector, two materials with melting temperature of 55 °C and 60 °C were selected to test the properties of heat storage, heat releasing and thermal insulation of the water tank with PCM at different levels of solar irradiation. In addition, solar fraction of the system was calculated based on the maximum daily demand of users. The results showed that the PCM can complete the heat storage within 2–4.5 h at 10.8 MJ/m2, 15.1 MJ/m2 and 19.4 MJ/m2 solar irradiation. The average heat releasing rate was 78% for the 55 °C PCM and 83% for the 60 °C PCM. The average solar fraction of the system with 55 °C PCM was 75% and 80% for the system with 60 °C PCM. Similarly, control mode 1 is more appropriate to the buildings with low occupancy rate or low hot water demand. By contrast, control mode 2 is more appropriate to the buildings with high occupancy rate or large fluctuation of hot water demand. Finally, the results showed that the centralized solar hot water system with PCM performed better than that without PCM. The solar fraction was improved significantly. Meanwhile, it is more effective to use 60 °C PCM in centralized solar hot water system than 55 °C PCM. Highlights • Application of phase change thermal storage in centralized solar hot water system was investigated. • A centralized solar hot water system with PCM was developed and the performances of which were tested. • Two control modes of heat release were presented and assessed. • The results show that the solar fraction was obviously promoted with usage of PCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Union (EU) defines a target of production from renewable energy (RE) for all the EU-28 countries to be achieved by the end of 2020. Spain accepted a target of at least 20% of gross final consumption of energy (GFCoE) from renewable energy sources (RES), which is not expected to be reached. This is because, on the one hand no new RE plants have been commissioned in Spain since 2012 and, on the other, the RE auctions launched by the government in the last two years are not sufficient to cover the lack of installed capacity to reach this goal. The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of wind energy (WE) in the production of RE to meet the 2020 target in Spain. This research presents a model to assess the combination of the repowering of current wind farms (WFs) with the commissioning of new ones, and with the use of other RES like hydro, solar and solid biofuels, proposing optimal ways to develop WE in Spain until 2020. Results show the most suitable combinations of repowered and new WFs according to the different scenarios expected. The findings of this study reveal that, in the most conservative forecast, a minimum repowering level of 46% in combination with new WE installed capacity would be required to reach the target. Finally, a sensitivity analysis provides an assessment of the scenarios including the evolution of other RES, giving the resultant energy mix in accordance with the repowering level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of urbanization has had a dramatic impact on the ecological environment in China. In this paper, we first measure the urban eco-efficiency of 281 prefecture-level cities in China during 2006–2013 using the super-efficiency data envelopment analysis (SEDEA) model. We then propose a new comprehensive index system to assess urbanization. Finally, we quantitatively explore the relationship between urbanization and urban eco-efficiency based on a spatial econometric analysis. The results showed that China's average urban eco-efficiency and comprehensive level of urbanization of 281 prefecture-level cities had shown increase during 2006–2013. However, distinct spatial disparities exist among different cities. China's urbanization has significant characteristics of spatial agglomeration and spatial convergence during 2006–2013, with a high-to-low spatial distribution from eastern China to western China. Spatial effects play an important role in the changes of urban eco-efficiency in China through spatial spillover effects and regional replication and competition. Evidence from spatial econometric analysis reveals that an N-shaped relationship exists between urbanization and urban eco-efficiency, indicating that with the improvement of urbanization, urban eco-efficiency first increases, then declines and then increases again. The improvement of the level of technology and the formulation of effective environmental policies will promote the increase in urban eco-efficiency. The results provide significant references for urban ecological management and sustainable urban transformation in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Big Data driven approach has become a new trend for manufacturing optimisation. In this paper, an innovative Big Data enabled Intelligent Immune System (I 2 S) has been developed to monitor, analyse and optimise machining processes over lifecycles in order to achieve energy efficient manufacturing. There are two major functions in I 2 S: (1) an Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs)-based algorithm and statistical analysis tools are used to identify the abnormal electricity consumption patterns of manufactured components from monitored Big Data. An intelligent immune mechanism is devised to adapt to the condition changes and process dynamics of machining systems; (2) a re-scheduling algorithm is triggered if abnormal manufacturing conditions are detected thereby achieving multi-objective optimisation in terms of energy consumption and manufacturing performance. In this research, Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) machining processes and industrial case studies have been used for system validation. The novelty of I 2 S is that Big Data analytics and intelligent immune mechanisms have been integrated systematically to achieve condition monitoring, analysis and energy efficient optimisation over manufacturing execution lifecycles. The applicability of the system has been validated by multiple industrial trials in European factories. Around 30% energy saving and over 50% productivity improvement have been achieved by adopting I 2 S in the factories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the incentives for pursuing a low-carbon electricity sector that are embedded in China's regulatory and policy framework. To do so, we first describe the industry structure and the regulatory framework. Second, we explicitly review the policies that were developed to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy. These policies range from the introduction of legal requirements to undertake particular actions to pricing mechanism and financial incentives. Based on this, we tease out the challenges faced by a sector governed by a myriad of complex arrangements, different institutions and agents who face different and often conflicting incentives for pursuing environmental and energy efficiency objectives. Finally, we provide suggestions to scientifically set up low-carbon policies and to achieve the expected goals with minimum social cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying the anomalies of wind turbine (WT) and maintaining in time will improve the reliability of wind turbine and the efficiency of energy use, however it is difficult toidentify the wind turbine's abnormal operation by the traditional threshold settings because the anomalies can be induced by multiple factors. Therefore, this paper presents an anomaly identification model for wind turbine state parameters, and the model can identify abnormal state which the fluctuation range of the condition parametersis within the SCADA alarm threshold. The main work is as follows: 1) in order to increase the accuracy of the prediction model, a novel BPNN model integrated genetic algorithm (GA) was employed to optimize the training method (called GABP method), data samples, and input parameter selection, respectively; 2) on this basis, the distribution characteristics of state parameter prediction errors were depicted by a T-location scale (TLS) distribution with the shift factor and elastic coefficient; 3)error abnormal index (EAI) is defined to quantify the abnormal level of the prediction error, which is used as an indicator of the wind turbine anomaly. The proposed method has been applied on areal 1.5 MW wind turbine, and the analysis shows that the proposed method is effective in wind turbine anomaly identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

this paper applies an epsilon-based measure DEA approach to evaluate the regional ecological energy efficiency for 30 regions in China and its three major areas for the period 2007–2015. Based on this, the temporal and spatial disparities of China's regional ecological energy efficiency are investigated. To explore the sources of China's regional ecological energy inefficiency, the overall ecological energy inefficiency is decomposed into several input-specific inefficiencies. And then, the energy saving and pollution abatement potentials of each Chinese region is calculated using the differences between the target values and the actual values of energy consumption and pollution emissions. The empirical results show that China's ecological energy efficiency is relatively low and regional differences are significant for the period 2007–2015. It can be demonstrated that the inefficiency to abate pollution is the main contributor to China's regional ecological energy inefficiency. By calculating the potentials of energy saving and pollution abatement, it can be found that the east area has the lowest potential, followed by the central area, with the west area having the highest potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current attempts for sustainable-focused smart community evaluation have failed to make significant advancements, and quantitative analysis for sustainable development is still a major challenge in China. In recent years, smart community evaluation (SCE) for sustainable development has attracted considerable attentions. Government decision-makers can make it easier to stimulate household sustainable consumption by conducting SCE. This paper develops a combined analytical framework that will assist in the process of multi-source data integration and uncertain reasoning of SCE. This framework is used to combine quantitative metrics and subjective judgment with evidential reasoning approach, and this frarmework can also take decision makers’ risk preferences into consideration using prospect theory. Four urban communities are evaluated by the proposed framework to demonstrate its applicability and effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, energy consumption reduction is playing a more and more important role in production and manufacturing, especially for energy-intensive industries. An optimal production scheduling can help reduce unnecessary energy consumption. This paper considers an identical parallel machine scheduling problem to minimize simultaneously two objectives: the total energy consumption (TEC) and the makespan. To tackle this NP-hard problem, an augmented ɛ -constraint method is applied to obtain an optimal Pareto front for small-scale instances. For medium- and large-scale instances, a constructive heuristic method with a local search strategy is proposed and the NSGA-II algorithm is applied to obtain good approximate Pareto fronts. Extensive computational experiments on randomly generated data and a real-world case study are conducted. The result shows the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wide use of machining processes has imposed a large pressure on environment due to energy consumption and related carbon emissions. The total power required in machining include power consumed by the machine before it starts cutting and power consumed to remove material from workpiece. Accurate prediction of energy consumption in machining is the basis for energy reduction. This paper investigates the prediction accuracy of the material removal power in turning processes, which could vary a lot due to different methods used for prediction. Three methods, namely the specific energy based method, cutting force based method and exponential function based method are considered together with model coefficients obtained from literature and experiments. The methods have been applied to a cylindrical turning of three types of workpiece materials (carbon steel, aluminum and ductile iron). Methods with model coefficients obtained from experiments could achieve a higher prediction accuracy than those from literature, which can be explained by the inability of the coefficients from literature to match the specific machining conditions. When the coefficients are obtained from literature, the prediction accuracy is largely dependent on the sources of coefficients and there is no definitive dominance of one approach over another. With model coefficients from experiments, the cutting force based model achieves the best accuracy, followed by the exponential function based method and specific energy based method. Furthermore, the power prediction methods can be used in process design stage to support energy consumption reduction of a machining process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficiency state identification of milling process plays an important role in energy saving efforts for manufacturing systems. However, it is very difficult to track energy efficiency state in machining processes based on traditional signal processing strategies due to the fact that energy state is usually coupled with a lot of factors like machine tool states, tool conditions, and cutting conditions. An identification method of information reasoning and Hidden Markov model for energy efficiency state is proposed in this paper. Utilizing cutting conditions, empirical models of the energy efficiency, experimental data and signal features, an expert system is established for initial probability optimization and the state is further identified by Hidden Markov model. The experiments show that energy efficiency state can be identified with this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pre-requisite to reducing the energy intensity of the building sector is to assess and understand current drivers of energy consumption. Drivers include building design characteristics, outdoor environmental conditions, as well as the operation patterns of building systems by facility managers and occupants. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where buildings consume more than 70% of the total electricity generated, a comprehensive analysis of the drivers of building energy performance has not yet been conducted. This paper proposes an empirical top-down statistical framework to comprehensively evaluate drivers of energy use for a stock of buildings. The approach is unique in its ability to capture the combined effects of technical, as well as, operation-related building parameters. A combination of data analysis techniques, including CHAID decision trees and regression models, is proposed and applied to data gathered from 713 mixed-use buildings in downtown Abu Dhabi. Results indicate that in addition to physical building parameters such as window tinting, operational parameters, including AC cleanliness, chiller condition, and thermostat temperature setting have shown significant impacts on energy consumption levels. The findings shed light on the crucial – yet often overlooked – role of facility managers and occupants in ensuring efficient energy performance in the building sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, approximately one third of the energy end-use is from the industry which makes the industrial sector ranked number one in terms of energy consumption. One way to lower the energy consumption and to enhance the energy efficiency in the industry is to combine intelligent linkage of energy consumer, distribution, storage, and energy supply. In this paper, the research is focused on the study of these combinations leading to a smart industrial consumer which can interact in a “smart grid” system. This model-based study considers the energy supply of a plastic processing company, the processing machines as well as the factory hall including a HVAC system. The energy flows of all technologies are linked and interdependent. Different energy efficiency measures are integrated, and an innovative flexible high-temperature system is introduced. The complex energy flows are shown and the end and primary energy demand as well as the CO 2 emissions are determined. The plastic processing industry mainly uses electric power for their facilities. To obtain flexibility in using machines from many different energy sources such as combined heat and power plant (CHP), heat by the burning of natural gas, or electrical grid, the electrical heating method is changed to thermal oil heating in many production machines. The study shows the energy saving potential for a typical manufacturing company located in three different locations in Germany, Canada and the USA. Based on the results of the study, the end energy demand increases due to thermal losses. Besides the primary energy demand can be reduced up to 34 percent through a flexible use of different energy sources. Furthermore, a high degree of flexibility can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-Carbon Consumption Behavior (HCCB) of urban residents is one of the main obstacles to the goals of low carbon development in China with the rapid development of the national economy. Among all the uptrend influences, the one caused by conspicuous consumption is worth more attention. In this paper, a structural equation model was applied to analyze the impact path of conspicuous consumption motivation on HCCB. Multiple group analysis was then used to test the moderating effect of individual face conscious and demographics on the impact. Our data originated from a social study of Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, China (n = 351). The results indicated four leading aspects. First, the raising habitual HCCB is mainly affected by three points, materialistic hedonism, interpersonal mediation and social status demonstration, and the influence is reduced in successively. While communication of belonging to/dissociation from a group and ostentation have little effect on habitual HCCB. The second, purchased HCCB of residents is mainly impacted positively by materialistic hedonism, and other factors have weak influence on it. The third, face consciousness has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between residents’ conspicuous consumption motivation and HCCB. People with strong face consciousness are more affected by the social status demonstration and interpersonal mediation; those with weak face consciousness are only driven by material hedonism. The last, gender, marital status, age, education level, and household monthly disposable income have significant moderating effects on the relationship. Among them, the HCCB from males, young people, married persons, highly educated people, and higher income groups is more affected by materialistic hedonism, interpersonal mediation, and social status demonstration, while from females with lower education, and lower income groups is more likely to be driven by social status demonstration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With an increasing proportion of the world's population living in urban areas, probably the greatest potential for saving energy lies in designing more efficient cities. This has been known for many years and has led to the development of a large number of mathematical models designed to optimise urban energy systems. Despite the wide variety of models available, many are specific to particular energy pathways or contain specific equations for each type of technology, making them difficult to apply to a very broad spectrum of problems. Further, many models only consider a network of conversion technologies and there are very few that can include storage and transport technologies in a flexible and general manner. This paper presents a general mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model for the simultaneous design and operation of urban energy systems. It is based on a flexible value web framework for representing integrated networks of resources and technologies. The resources represent any energy or material involved in the provision of services such as heat and electricity; whereas the technologies represent any type of technology for conversion, transport or storage of resources. It can be applied to urban energy systems problems at different temporal and spatial scales. The model is illustrated using an eco-town in central England as a case study. Demands for heat and electricity must be met by importing grid electricity, natural gas and/or two types of biomass and using a variety technologies, including domestic gas-fired boilers, domestic wood-chip boilers and various biomass-fired combined heat and power plants. The model optimises the design and operation of the integrated heat and electricity networks. The cost optimal solution indicates that all of the heat can be met using a single biomass CHP plant along with a backup boiler; electricity needs to be imported from the grid during periods of low heat demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, carbon emissions produced by coal consumption have raised concerns around the world, but the carbon emissions associated with coal production should also be considered. As China's second-largest province for coal production, it is of extreme importance around the whole country for small and medium-sized coal enterprises in Inner Mongolia to achieve low-carbon transition. In this paper, we apply the IPAT equation to analyze the relationships among environmental impact, population, affluence and technology. The results of the analysis show that technological innovation can make an environmental impact or can cause pollutant emissions of a unit GDP to decline. Technological innovation is viewed as an avenue for environmental improvement, and corporate entities are key players in the environmental improvement. This equation can also be used indirectly on the micro-scale, for example, to determine the directions of development of enterprises and encourage the enterprises to achieve low-carbon transition as soon as possible. Selecting the example of a surface coal mine in Inner Mongolia (China) under the framework of cleaner production and the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ), cleaner production options helping to reduce carbon emissions were proposed and implemented. Through the implementation of the options, carbon emissions of the coal mine were reduced by approximately 4%. Contributing cleaner production options for reducing carbon emissions mainly include increasing the efficiency of energy usage, substitution of environmentally friendly materials, optimization of process controls and changing process technologies. The results obtained in this paper can not only provide a decision-making foundation for the local governments when they invest in carbon reduction projects but also play an exemplary role for other similar enterprises to reduce carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting energy efficiency is one of the top priorities of the EU energy strategy. Manufacturing is identified there as one of the sectors holding the potential for substantial energy efficiency improvements. This paper therefore examines factors impacting firms' decisions to invest in energy efficiency and clean technologies. Drawing on the energy efficiency gap literature, the impact of three groups of factors is analysed, namely economic (firm-specific characteristics and market drivers), organisational, and regulatory. Employing probit and bivariate probit models on a panel data set for 848 Slovenian manufacturing firms over 7 years (2005–2011), the paper finds that decisions to invest in energy efficiency and in clean technologies are impacted by similar, yet not identical factors. The following factors significantly increase the likelihood of both energy efficiency and clean technology investments: share of energy costs, market share, and export orientation. Importantly, other types of investments (except for investments in the expansion of existing capacities) do not crowd-out energy efficiency or clean technology investments. On the other hand, foreign ownership and managers' expectations of future demand only impact energy efficiency investments, while clean technology investments are influenced by managers' expectations of the future business condition of the firm. Further, the economic and financial crisis reduces the likelihood of clean technology investments, but not energy efficiency investments. This is explained by the fact that investments in energy efficiency represent a cost-effective solution for the firm. The same argumentation can be used to explain why high energy costs also play an important role for investments in clean technology. In addition, the likelihood to invest is found to be importantly influenced by industry-specific characteristics, which captures the effect of industry differences in environmental regulation and other conditions. The paper adds to the existing literature in three important ways: it employs data on actual rather than intended investments; it examines investment decisions over a number of years, thereby allowing for an analysis of the impact of the recession on firms' decisions; and it examines relationships among different types of investments, accounting for a potential crowding-out effect. Based on the paper's findings, it can be concluded that the energy efficiency gap is less likely to exist in large and well-performing firms, implying that policy measures should primarily target less energy intensive, small and medium-sized enterprises. [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]

The Chinese government committed to reduce its national CO 2 emissions intensity by 40–45% until 2020 in response to climate change. This paper quantitatively evaluates the performance of CO 2 emissions reduction over the period 2005–2020 from the historical and prospective perspectives by using a combination of decomposition analysis and scenario analysis, aiming to provide suggestions about how to achieve the target in key emissions reduction fields. Unlike traditional index decomposition methods, this paper incorporates the total energy conversion efficiency effect into the model, and further decomposes it into a final energy mix effect and a final energy conversion efficiency effect by a multilevel decomposition procedure, allowing to measure the contributions of primary energy structure low-carbonization, the final energy mix electrification, and the energy conversion efficiency improvement. The results show that the carbon intensity could decline over the period 2005–2020 by 47.8%, 50.9%, 48.0%, 44.5% and 47.5% in the Business as Usual, S1, S2, S3 and S4 scenarios, respectively. This shows that the 40–45% target is very likely to be achieved. The final energy intensity effect is always the most important driving factor, causing carbon intensity to decrease by 24.0% and 22.1%, again respectively, from 2005–2012 to 2012–2020. Moreover, the energy conversion effect was another major driver during 2005–2012. The Chinese government needs to make more efforts to adjust the industrial structure, which could cause carbon intensity to decrease by 3.6% during 2012–2020, and to adjust the primary energy mix, which could cause carbon intensity to decrease by 7.1% during 2012–2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fundamental problem in the management of energy usage is the inability to clearly predict any possible energy saving opportunities. The cost of both under or overestimating potential returns on investment can be prohibitive to a decision maker. In recent years the simulation of energy usage using existing manufacturing simulation tools has increased in popularity among researchers, but it is decision makers who need to see the benefits of this discipline. This paper proposes an interactive manufacturing energy management toolkit which makes use of existing productivity simulation models for the prediction of energy usage. An interactive Microsoft ® Excel ® based toolkit is developed to control Lanner's WITNESS ® discrete-event simulation software using Microsoft ® Visual Basic ® for Applications. The toolkit has the ability to predict potential areas where energy saving opportunities can be made within a complex manufacturing line, and is accessible from management presentations and proposals. The interactivity of the toolkit provides an environment which facilitates efficient hypothesis testing. The paper includes an industrial case study where the approach was used to quantify theoretical savings from certain energy usage reduction scenarios within a complex automotive engine manufacturing line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The automobile sector is rapidly increasing its market share worldwide in recent years. It is because of various business strategies by automobile manufacturer such as more focus on small cars and fuel-efficient cars having a low market price that are targeted to capture the maximum market. But due to increasing market share of the automobile sector there are several environmental issues are also arising such as carbon emission, global warming, etc. In such a scenario, automobile manufacturers are facing dual pressure one, to save the environment and another is to maintain the performance of the firm in the long run. The performance of the firm can be judged on the basis of financial, operational and marketing capability of the firm. This paper develops an approach towards the adoption of the green initiatives at the firm, and also tries to build a relationship between the performance of the firm and sustainable development through the adoption of green initiatives. The paper would discuss various green initiatives such as green marketing, green supply chain management, green innovation, etc. which firms are adopting. The study would focus on the facts and opportunities of green initiatives for the success of the firm as well as sustainable development. The paper is based on the exploratory research, and extensive literature survey has been done to bring the findings of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant increases in industry energy efficiency are crucial for the transformation of the world's energy systems. Many production sites offer high energy savings capabilities, and if these are accompanied by short periods of economic amortization, companies should be willing to act. This case study provides a novel and extended energy assessment for plastics processing plants including primary energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy costs. The research distinguishes between the standard form of separate individual energy assessments and provides a more innovative holistic approach taking all relevant energy flows within the production system into account. Dynamic simulation offers a quick and effective way to predict the results of the possible energy saving measures highlighted in this analysis. The paper presents validated energy consumption simulations based on realistic processing conditions for two injection molding factories in different climatic zones. The results show that combining a number of separate energy saving measures can reduce the primary energy demand by around 26% for a German plant under temperate climate conditions and 20% for a Western Australian plant under Mediterranean conditions. However, when the separate energy saving measures are holistically combined the reduction in energy use significantly increases to 41% and 43% respectively. This holistic energy strategy involves incorporating better cogeneration and waste heat recovery options. For small and medium sized companies in particular major energy infrastructure investments may often be considered too expensive without examining the extended benefits from a holistic energy assessment perspective. In contrast, a holistic framework, like the one suggested in this paper could provide a number of new options for increasing energy efficiency that individually might normally not be accepted under conventional economic rate of return analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a review of the literature on energy efficiency in mining with a specific emphasis on the role of operators in energy efficiency of loading and hauling operations. The objectives are to: (i) establish the current knowledge on energy efficiency in mining, in general; (ii) establish current knowledge on the role of the operator in energy efficiency of loading and hauling operations, specifically; and (iii) make recommendations for industrial best practice and future research directions to enhance energy efficiency in mining. The papers included in the review were selected through searches in major abstract databases using relevant keywords, with emphasis on recent peer-reviewed work. The review identified gaps in the literature and made recommendations for future research and industry best practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming combined with low carbon transition plans is threatening the future of high energy consumption industry sectors in the European Union (EU). The need to respond to environmental challenges is demonstrated by support for international level energy policies and legal requirements, such as the Kyoto Protocol which the EU supports, and increased EU-level environmental legislation and energy policies. The effect of these initiatives is gradually transforming industrial activities in the EU. However, since not all countries have adopted these policies, evaluation of their net effect needs to take account also of side-effects such as delocalization of industry activity and the legal environmental frameworks in the countries where companies have chosen to relocate. This paper analyses EU energy policy and its impact on a particular energy intensive industry, the European ceramic tile sector. The discussion in this paper is not about the purpose of EU legislation, but about its effects on a specific industry. The effect of policy on industry is not a new topic, but the question of the unwanted effects of environmental and energy policy on European industry is becoming more relevant as the struggle to achieve a post-carbon Europe increases. In focussing on a specific set of EU legislation on a particular industry this article adds to the debate by showing the negative effects of policy mechanisms. The need for a scientific evaluation of the systemic changes required for a transition to a resource-efficient, green and competitive low-carbon economy outlined in the 7th Environment Action Programme is highlighted. It is suggested that the EU should periodically re-evaluate its Emissions Trading Scheme legislation to include specific actions and a follow up system which would prevent the best performing environmental companies from delocalizing or shutting down. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging economies like China, India, and Mexico are becoming the world's manufacturing leaders through the engagement in offshoring production activities. In achieving this status, however, they have met with difficult environmental issues. This paper features an analysis of industry-level panel data to examine the link between different offshoring tasks in China and carbon dioxide emissions. Through this analysis, the environmental effects of offshored production are addressed. Specifically an input–output model is presented, thereby quantifying offshored production tasks in China. The results show that iron and steel, nonferrous metals (IS) and chemicals (CH) generate the most carbon dioxide during production of processed goods. Additionally, electrical machinery (EM) and general machinery (GM) generate a higher amount of carbon dioxide during production of parts and components. The results also show that those industries characterized by higher energy consumption have higher carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions induced by offshoring. Given these results, it seems that any solutions geared towards reducing the energy consumption of entire manufacturing industries would be useful. Furthermore, the results of the analyses presented here indicate that China would be responsible for working with developed countries to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through cooperative environmental regulation. A globalization perspective is adopted to offer unique insight into the environmental issues faced by China. The results of this paper would provide quantified, actionable information for formulating practical industrial policies geared towards reducing carbon dioxide leakage. [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]

It is often difficult to determine the effects of policies at a sectoral level in the overlapping domains of pollution control and energy conservation, making it difficult to consider co-benefits of energy conservation and air pollution reduction and tensions. In China, the industry sector contributes much more carbon and pollution emissions than other sectors. In this paper, Baoshan District (BSD), one of the most important industrial zones in the Shanghai metropolis, is used as a case study to illustrate the situation and to provide information to assess the effectiveness of environmental sustainable development policies in industries. The policies resulting from China's Eleventh Five-year Plan (FYP) are considered at the level of BSD. In particular, the result of implementing local policies of air pollution control and energy are analysed at BSD. Three indicator systems are adopted for quantitatively and qualitatively evaluating energy saving and air pollution reduction achieved by technical, structural and management measures in industrial enterprises of BSD. Analysis made in the paper shows that the co-benefits of pollution cutting and energy conservation have been achieved at certain scopes and degrees in the industry sector in BSD, e.g. SO 2 and Particulate Matter (PM) were reduced by 35.1% and 7.7% respectively, and the energy density was cut by 26.7%. Due to existing barriers of the lack of co-planning and co-operations in the process of designing and implementing the policies, and the overlooking the leakage of emissions in the whole project area, the overall co-benefits cannot be achieved effectively in BSD. Recommendations are made for future detailed studies of this or similar districts to develop an indicator system of co-benefits to help demonstrate the advantages of joint planning and policies for co-benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental efficiency improvement has played a crucial role in the theory and practice of stimulating clean production. This paper analyzes the interaction between environmental efficiency and output efficiency, particularly whether they reinforce each other or compete with each other, on the basis of a data set of 137 firms in the textile industry in China's Jiangsu Province. In the first stage, generalized data envelopment analysis is applied to calculate efficiency measures of energy, waste water, waste gas, soot, and output efficiency taking capital, labor, water, and energy as inputs, industrial output value as desirable output, and waste water discharges, waste gas and soot emissions as undesirable outputs. In the second stage analysis, a structural equation model with latent variables is applied to analyze the interaction between the latent variable environmental efficiency, measured by the four observed environmental indicators, and output efficiency, taking also into account the endogenous variable profit. The main outcomes of the structural equation model are the following. Firstly, environmental efficiency negatively impacts on profit while profit positively impacts on environmental efficiency. In a similar vein, output efficiency is found to depress profit while profit increases output efficiency. Thirdly, environmental efficiency has a positive impact on output efficiency while there is no effect of output efficiency on environmental efficiency. Fourthly, taxes impair a firm's output efficiency. From the findings it follows that a swap of general taxes for an energy tax is likely to improve both output efficiency and energy efficiency. The latter outcome implies a win–win situation which will facilitate the further implementation and adoption of environmental policy. Finally, the paper illustrates the applicability of structural equation modeling in efficiency analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the challenge of climate change, personal carbon trading was put forward as a policy instrument to promote low carbon behavior in the household sector. To evaluate the effectiveness of this scheme, it is important to gain insight into the allowance trading and energy consumption behavior in a long emission commitment period. This paper proposes a dynamic programming model to investigate allowance trading and energy consumption. A main feature of the model is its consideration of allowance banking and borrowing activities. Ten simulated scenarios with different allowance prices, price volatility and carbon emission rates are discussed. The findings show that consumers would trade more actively when allowance price is volatile. It is also found that energy consumption and allowance trading will decrease when the carbon emission rate increases. Overall the analysis in this paper implies that personal carbon trading scheme would be an effective policy measure to change consumers' behavior. Therefore it would be valuable for decision-makers to consider the introduction and implementation of this scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changing people's behaviour in relation to energy consumption will be one of the most important challenges in the near future. We analyzed the determinants behind individuals' decisions to adopt curtailment behaviour or to purchase energy saving products. Using data from 213 university students, we explored the influence of personal capabilities and moral norms, along with trust in information on energy saving actions provided by different entities on two energy saving behaviours. The results of the statistical model emphasise how personal norms and trust in information provided by private companies, on the one hand, and family and friends, on the other, strongly influence the adoption of energy saving actions and curtailment behaviours. The paper reveals the pivotal role of private companies in developing the market demand for energy-saving products by providing credible and scientifically-based information on environmental performance. The paper also contributes to strengthening the reliability of value-belief-norm theory and emphasizes the role of trust in information as a contextual factor that influences the adoption of a pro-environmental behaviour. [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]

Throughout industrial practice, the problem is that of identifying a suitable holistic approach connecting Cleaner Production, Total Site Integration, and Energy Efficiency Optimization. The combination of all the before mentioned concepts is believed to be crucial for comprehensive assessment of the energy and environmental issues within a company. Various case studies are included within this paper regarding the implementations of cleaner production principles, energy audit performance, pinch analysis and various optimisation techniques' calculations. Several energy audits of industrial processes within the dairy, ceramic, metal processing and meat processing industries, services such as laundries and of public buildings were carried out in order to find possibilities for increasing the overall energy efficiencies of industrial processes, buildings and energy systems. On the bases of the results and the knowledge obtained from the projects mentioned in the paper, a Total Site – Cleaner Production – Energy Efficiency – Optimisation approach is proposed which enables gradual research, development and integration of Cleaner production, Energy Auditing and Optimisation combined within novel optimisation methods and its concepts. The main objective of the research was the use of analysis regarding industrial practices when developing a holistic Total Site – Cleaner Production – Energy Efficiency – Optimisation approach for supporting industrial needs during the optimisation of energy demand. This novel approach consists of three phases that include within each one the traditional Total Site Integration, Cleaner Production and Energy Efficiency – Optimization methods with a proposed novel structure for addressing the energy and environmental categories within industry. This novel approach could generate greater efficiency due to combining the different methods and consequently having a higher more positive impact on the environment. The scientific added value is demonstrated through the combination of Total Site, Cleaner Production and Energy Efficiency Optimization approaches as a comprehensive unit and by the proposal of this novel procedure for the implementation of Total Site – Cleaner Production – Energy Efficiency – Optimisation approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate impact of the iron and steel industry can be mitigated through increased energy efficiency, emission efficiency, material efficiency, and product use efficiency resulting in reduced product demand. For achieving ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation targets in this sector all measures could become necessary. The current paper focuses on one of those four key measures: emission efficiency via innovative primary steelmaking technologies. After analysing their techno-economical potential until 2100 in part A of this publication, the current research broadens the evaluation scope for the crucial year 2050, based on a Multicriteria-Analysis (MCA). 12 criteria from five different categories (“technology”, “society and politics”, “economy”, “safety and vulnerability” and “ecology”) are used to assess the same four future steelmaking technologies in a systematic and holistic way in Germany, as one possible location. The technologies in focus are the blast furnace route (BF–BOF), blast furnace with carbon capture and storage (BF–CCS), hydrogen direct reduction (H–DR), and iron ore electrolysis (EW). These four technologies have been selected, as explained in part A of this paper, because they are the most commonly discussed technological options under discussion by policymakers and the iron and steel industry. The results of the current work should provide decision makers in industry and government with a long-term guidance on technological choices. In 2050 the MCA shows significantly higher preference scores for the two innovative routes H–DR and EW compared to the blast furnace based routes. The main reasons being higher scores in the economical and environmental criteria. BF–CCS shows its greatest weakness in the social acceptance and the safety and vulnerability criteria. BF–BOF has the lowest economy and ecology score of all assessed routes, which is due to the projected high cost for carbon dioxide emission and increasing prices for fossil fuels. A first indicative trend assessment from today towards 2050 shows that H–DR is the preferred MCA option from today on. Three exemplary weighting distributions (representing the perspectives of the steel industry, environmental organisations and the government), used to simulate different stakeholder angle of view, don't have a strong influence on the overall evaluation of the steelmaking routes. The results remain very similar, with the highest scores for the innovative routes (H–DR and EW). This leads to the conclusion that EW and in particular H–DR can be identified as the preferred future steelmaking technology across different perspectives. Specific innovation efforts and dedicated programs are necessary to minimize the time until marketability and to share the development burden. The similarity of the MCA results from different perspectives indicates a great opportunity to reach a political consensus and to work together towards a common future goal. Regarding the pressing time horizon a concentrated engagement for one (or few) technological choices would be highly recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dry ice blasting is a highly efficient and environmentally-friendly method for cleaning of contaminated surfaces. The method is widely used in many industries, such as automotive, machinery and food industry. Dry ice blasting is a technology that requires large amounts of compressed air which is among the most expensive forms of energy currently employed in industries. Compressed air (air of high pressure and volume) accelerates particles of dry ice during the blasting. Our paper presents a comprehensive overview of saving measures which can greatly help decrease energy intensity of the blasting. Technology of dry ice blasting comprises four key elements: a compressor (generator of compressed air), a blasting machine, transport of pellets, and a blasting nozzle. Our team successively analysed these four key aspects of the technology and designed relevant savings measures, which results in identification of minimum, theoretically attainable energy consumption. Experiments and operational tests proved that application of all available savings measures may decrease energy consumption by 87% compared to current industry standards. It is possible to evaluate current technologies for dry ice blasting in terms of performance of the blasting machine and its functional properties. So far, there has been no method for evaluation of energy parameters of the technology. This paper presents a novel quantity which helps quantify and evaluate energy consumption of dry ice blasting. Main benefit of the quantity called “specific energy consumption of dry ice blasting” is the fact that it allows to compare energy consumptions of various blasting systems. For the purposes of this paper, the novel quantity is especially used to quantify the impact of recommended savings measures. [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]

The building sector is considered as the biggest single contributor to world energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, a good understanding of the nature and structure of energy use in buildings is crucial for establishing the adequate future energy and climate change policies. Availability of the updated data is becoming increasingly important in order to allow a rigorous analysis. In this paper, recent data on the world energy consumption in both residential and commercial buildings are reported. Past situation, current status and future trends are discussed and analyzed for selected countries. A breakdown of buildings energy consumption is realized in order to determine the influencing key parameters. A whole section of this paper is dedicated to give an overview of measures and policies adopted by different countries, allowing the monitoring, management and reduction of the energy consumption in buildings. Critical aspects of these policies are discussed based on the feedback of the early adopters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This stream of the special volume addresses advances being made towards, and challenges for sustainable production and consumption. The article presents a variety of papers that document leading examples of recent developments in understanding and knowledge, before assessing gaps within current progress and posing questions and challenges for future research and practice. An overview framework is constructed to categorise the papers, and to illustrate key actors and factors for sustainable production and consumption. The themes covered include specific examples of progress in areas such as sustainable production, covering topics such as eco-efficiency, waste management and the use of renewable resources, as well as sustainable consumption and the role of consumers. Supporting actions and themes are included, showing recent advances in design and innovation for sustainability and the role of assessment and benchmarking. Finally, contributions that consider how to connect production with consumption, and upscaling and bridging, are examined. The article concludes by proposing that continued progress is reliant on further connecting production and consumption, and ensuring that consumer and user perspectives are integrated into innovation and design processes so as to overcome hindering factors such as rebound effects. A call for further progress is issued on what needs to be done to go beyond ‘good examples’ and on what actions and strategies are able to share and spread success stories of sustainable production and consumptions to different contexts and settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficiency is a complex topic to integrate into higher education curricula, with limited success internationally or in Australia. This paper discusses one of the successful initiatives within the Energy Efficiency Training Program , which was jointly managed and implemented by the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage and Department of Education and Communities. The state government initiative aimed to increase the knowledge and skills of the New South Wales workforce, help business to identify and implement energy efficiency projects, and provide professional development for the training providers. Key sectors targeted included property, construction, manufacturing and services. The Program was externally evaluated over the three years 2011–2013 and a range of insights were gained through these facilitated reflective opportunities, confirming and building upon literature on the topic to date. This paper presents lessons learned from the engineering part of the program (‘the project’), spanning government agencies, academic institutions, and academia. The paper begins with a contextual summary, followed by a synthesis of key learnings and implications for future training initiatives. It is intended that sharing these lessons will contribute to literature in the field, and assist other organisations in Australia and overseas planning similar initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from food transportation include emissions from energy consumption and refrigerant leakage into the environment. The hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perflourocarbons (PFCs) generated by refrigerant leakage markedly increase global warming (GW). The issue of emissions from temperature-controlled food delivery is important for carriers. This paper aims to estimate GHG emissions from the Traditional Multi-Vehicle Distribution (TMVD) and Multi-Temperature Joint Distribution (MTJD) systems by formulating mathematical models that consider delivery scheduling for time-dependent demand of multi-temperature foods. Furthermore, this paper analyzes and compares the emissions from each source in the two systems to explore the influence of delivery scheduling on emissions. The results indicate that, as compared to the TMVD system, the MTJD system yields less total emissions by lowering fuel consumption even when it generates more GHG due to refrigerant leakage and electric power consumption for freezers, which accounts for an extremely low percentage of total emissions. This paper suggests carriers should use the MTJD system to reduce routing distances and emissions simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When new energy efficient products are struggling with their commercialisation and diffusion into widespread applications you would typically expect policy-makers and green lead-users to guide the way. This paper examines the case of the hot water circulator pump industry in Europe, where parts of the industry envisioned and worked for a voluntary energy label, bringing technological innovation, new business and energy savings of approx. 85% for each new circulator pump. The case study explores the complexities of innovation processes where technology, market, actors and policy co-evolve over time to transform an existing socio-technical regime. The paper highlights the importance of policies to reduce barriers towards innovation and energy efficiency and shows that it is not always policy-makers that establish the crucial policies that change the innovation dynamics for the benefit of the environment and the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The statement that in the full world, increasing the ultimate efficiency, expressed as service / throughput , is the necessary condition for humanity to achieve high levels of well-being within ecological limits is honoured as Daly's Proposition in this paper. The purpose of this paper is to make Daly's Proposition effective guidance for policymaking related to sustainable development. For this aim, this paper puts forward the indicator Ecological Well-being Performance, which is composed of the Human Development Index and the Ecological Footprint, to measure the ultimate efficiency. Furthermore, by means of matrix analysis and factor decomposition analysis, the respective pathways for countries at different stages of development to make the sustainable development transition were discussed. The G20 countries were taken as the cases to conduct the research. The empirical results show that improvements in well-being and increases in throughput level are not necessarily positively related. The relationship between the two depends on how countries control throughput levels and improve the Ecological Well-being Performance, which also explains different performances on the sustainable development transition. In a simple way, this contribution provides new methods and criteria to track and evaluate national performance on sustainable development by referring to Daly's original theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, several technologies and management strategies are proposed for upgrading wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in order to improve sludge stabilization or minimize sludge production. In order to make sure that this leads to overall improvements, their techno-economic and environmental performance has to be carefully evaluated. In response to this, the techno-economic and environmental performance was assessed for a considered model reference WWTP upgraded with separate treatment and disposal for primary and secondary sludge to provide guidance to research, policy and investment efforts. This paper departs in an experimental campaign carried out within the EU project “ROUTES” and describes an assessment of an upgrade of a WWTP, involving wet oxidation of primary sludge and thermophilic anaerobic digestion (integrated with thermal hydrolysis pre-treatment) for secondary sludge. The reference plant and the upgrade implied different disposal routes for the resulting sludges: incineration for the stabilized sludge deriving from the reference WWTP; agricultural land application for the secondary stabilized sludge from the upgraded plant and landfilling for the solid residue deriving from the wet oxidation process (as non-hazardous waste). The mass balance carried out for both reference and upgraded WWTPs showed a reduction of total sludge production (up to 45%) for the upgraded WWTP. The additional energy demand of the upgraded solution (+22.4 Wh/(PE d), PE: population equivalent) was partially balanced by the electric energy produced by combined heat and power unit installed in the upgraded WWTP (−18.08 Wh/(PE d)). The integrated assessment showed that the upgraded solution, although resulting in an increase of WWTP technical complexity, may contribute to environmental and economic advantages. The paper provides guidance in terms of which aspects need a more thorough evaluation when this upgrade is considered in real cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]