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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.12.018 Byline: B.F. Giannetti, S.H. Bonilla, C.C. Silva, C.M.V.B. Almeida Abstract: The complexity of the environment demands a well-constructed composite environmental index (CEI) to provide a useful tool to draw attention to environmental conditions and trends for policy purposes. Among the common difficulties in constructing a proper CEI are uncertainties due to the selection of the most representative underlying variables or indicators. A degree of uncertainty accompanies experts' judgments, and to deal with vague, subjective or inconsistent information, logic other than classic is required. This study analyzes a procedure that uses different experts' opinions in constructing a CEI, with the use of paraconsistent annotated logic. For this, a sensitivity analysis of the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI 2005) was used as an example to assess the reliability of experts' opinions. The uncertainty due to the disagreement in experts' opinions clearly indicates that the forms we presently use to measure and monitor the actual environment are insufficient, that is, there is a lack of a 'science of sustainability'. Author Affiliation: LaFTA - Laboratorio de Fisico Quimica Teorica e Aplicada, LaPROMA - Laboratorio de Producao e Meio Ambiente, Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Engenharia de Producao, Universidade Paulista, R. Dr. Bacelar 1212, CEP 04026-002, Sao Paulo, Brazil Article History: Received 16 October 2007; Revised 28 November 2008; Accepted 29 December 2008

This special volume of the JCLP is mainly built upon articles presented at the 6th International Workshop Advances in Cleaner Production held in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2017. The event had provided a progressive interdisciplinary meeting for knowledge advance and information trade. Papers in this issue cover a broad range of perspectives of cleaner production strategies and practices, and a special focus was placed upon the type of contribution – practical, conceptual/practical, conceptual - and the scale of their coverage – local, regional and global. The papers provide understanding on the research intended to systematically include cleaner production in the path sustainability, and identifies the extent to which cleaner production practitioners directly and indirectly provide local, regional and global solutions. Key results of this introductory article include research on: efficient and responsive use of energy and resources; the search for reduced emissions, the role of managerial support and environmental assessments, and the implementation/analysis of closed-loop systems of materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Urban parks include different infrastructures - green areas, fitness equipment, jogging tracks and sport courts – and are key suppliers of ecosystem services in cities. Given the importance of ecosystem services to the vigor of urban ecosystems, there is a developing awareness that ecosystem services concerns ought to be integrated into urban park design. Nonetheless this integration is incomplete due to the scarcity of applicable or available tools and criteria for implementation. To address this scarcity, the present study assesses costs and supply of a subgroup of supportive and regulative ecosystem services in urban parks and examines the significance of these services under an environmental/economic perspective using emergy synthesis. Seventy-three parks in São Paulo, Brazil, are used as a case study. Results show that green areas in urban parks provide valuable services to the municipality, and that parks can be designed according to the needs of the surrounding areas. The method may be useful for different localities and environments providing practical information to urban planners and policy makers. This study provides a basis for the incorporation of ecosystem service concerns into urban park design to boost their benefits in urban centers. Highlights • A set of recommendations for São Paulo's public parks managers is provided. • A balance was found between the emergy invested and the ecosystem services production. • Results allow prioritizing actions to optimize the parks maintenance. • Results permit establishing a minimum green area for new projects in São Paulo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2017 International Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production held in São Paulo, Brazil, May 24–26, 2017, promoted an assisted discussion workshop directed by Donald Huisingh. The workshop focused on the role of the Advances in Cleaner Production Network to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Discussions with the workshop participants were oriented around five basic subjects: 1. The main objective of the Advances in Cleaner Production Network; 2. The international collaboration in research planning, implementation and in dissemination of research findings; 3. The inclusion of researchers from under-represented regions of the world; 4. The future collaboration among members and 5. The new activities to help society to “Accelerate the Transition to Equitable, Sustainable, Livable, Post-Fossil Carbon Societies.” Furthermore, the participants were asked on which specific set of Sustainable Development Goals they mostly contribute through their research, in order to draw a picture of the main scientific contributions of the Network to the SDGs enterprise. Challenges that emerged from the workshop involved the need for value-added communication and collaboration among members, and further progress in both theoretical and practical cleaner production approaches. Concerning the generation and sharing of new viewpoints, the main issue that emerged was the variety of positive connections that should be strengthened among potential collaborators. Improving and expanding the helpfulness of online sharing platforms and social media, mostly for managing discussion opportunities, was underlined for expanding the partnerships and in improving the networking. This paper reports and shares the results of the assisted discussions to reach our dynamically growing scientific community and to encourage, engage and empower researchers throughout the world to work in partnerships under the umbrella of the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 30 years, distance learning has rapidly spread in developed countries, and to niche markets in developing countries. In Brazil, approximately 5 million people are currently either achieving formal education or corporate training, or obtaining specific knowledge and skills on a wide range of subjects, via distance learning. Motivated by the ongoing expansion of the Brazilian federal chain of public schools, several new campuses, extra classrooms and distance teaching centers have been built, as a function of the intensive promotion of social inclusion by means of education, and specifically allocated budget. Concomitantly, a considerable number of papers discussing reduction of energy and materials consumption in university campuses have been published. Intended as a contribution to this discussion, this work evolves from a comparison of the implicit environmental cost – i.e. the use of natural resources as the prime-matter of infrastructural and operational material, and source of energy to human work-in forming management technicians in a classroom course, and in a distance learning course, obtained from the results of two case studies carried out at a Federal Institute campus in Brazil. The groups were selected for their relative closeness in proportion of attending students. Data were collected by means of measurements and interviews, and a synthesis of the use of natural resources by both modes was obtained by using the emergy accounting method, and then compared. The emergy method was also used to assess current use and underuse rates of the available infra-structural resources. Scenarios based on different numbers of students and teaching staff attending capacity for both modes, distance learning and classroom, were created and compared. Results point out that, under the current configurations, forming a management technician via distance teaching requires a 90% higher environmental support than via classroom teaching. The scenarios, however, do indicate a turning point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the potential prosperity of municipal economies, the welfare and the role of trade of these economies is an important issue in a world in which more than 50% of the population lives in urban centers. ABC Paulista groups three cities which act as production centers combining the abundance of labor and knowledge with the proximity to big consumer centers. The emergy approach recognizes the existence of deterministic principles in economic systems but emphasizes the role of resources, energy and environment. This approach was applied to ABC Paulista to evaluate municipal potential prosperity in the context of the energy resource constraints and showed that ABC municipalities are not autonomous and depend almost entirely on external resources. Indices for assess the human carrying capacity and the standards of living showed that only 2% of the population could be sustained indefinitely by the local emergy. The results lead to the idea that ABC can be seen as an “industry”, which holds the know-how and assets transforming raw materials into vehicles and chemicals that are feedback to the surrounding system. However, the analysis of ABC trade shows that both the Brazilian and the foreign markets take advantage when buying from ABC suggesting that the search for the chances of the prolongation of this specific urban settlement may require different policies and management designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The misuse of Gross Domestic Product as a measure of public wellbeing results from the idea that economic growth is always synonymous with enhanced quality of life, disregarding the fact that the economy profits from natural, social, and human capital. In order to monitor progress towards sustainability and increased well-being, governments working closely with scientists developed new metrics that go further than income and material wealth. There are several candidates for revisions of the Gross Domestic Product. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this paper identified several possible indicators that intend to adjust, supplement or substitute for Gross Domestic Product. Two main approaches were identified. The first uses Gross Domestic Product as foundation to build a complete index and includes proposals to greening Gross Domestic Product, socializing the indices and including it in a more comprehensive index. The second approach relates to efforts to redefine the indicators, with the use of environmentally oriented indicators and socially oriented measures. Challenges to measure development, welfare, and wellbeing are discussed to provide a wide-angle view of efforts to develop measures of social-economic-ecological status and progress beyond the current very narrow Gross Domestic Product. It was recognized an urgent need for guidance for the development of governance regimes designed to change from short-term decision-making processes to those, which support the multi-decade planning and implementation processes that are needed to guide the transition to post fossil carbon societies. This comprehensive review covers a wide range of topics, from problems of GDP to challenges and thoughts about indicators. The review shows that if mankind is concerned with the sustainable development of the planet as a whole, then progress indicators measured only in monetary or social terms are limited and restricted to the weak or the medium sustainability model, and must be complemented by biophysical indicators. It is time to change the global knowledge of what progress really is, changing the discussion from growth to sustainable development and human well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cleaner Production concepts and practices have matured with outstanding success since their introduction in the 1980s, currently being a central part of the agenda of companies, sectors, and governments by integrating theory, applied science, and policies. This VSI of the Journal of Cleaner Production reunites contributions from the 8th and the 9th International Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production and aims at underscoring the role of Cleaner Production in contributing to sustainable development from the application of local actions to global interventions. The 62 articles that compose this VSI provide an overview of how Cleaner Production has evolved in scope, content, the range of sectors covered, and the targets to be achieved: from less pollution/waste generation to the food-energy-water nexus to the green/blue and the circular economy. The selected articles clearly show that the integration of multiple viewpoints has created a novel field of scientific collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new way of thinking about conservation is represented by the preservation of native areas and the payment for their environmental services. In the present study emergy synthesis was applied to assess the environmental performance of a coffee farm located in Coromandel, Minas Gerais, in the Brazilian Cerrado. The farm produces green coffee for exportation, and holds an area with native vegetation of 80ha, larger than that required by Brazilian legislation. The assessment of the native area within the farm was carried out in order to determine its environmental sustainability. The emergy ternary diagram was employed to interpret the results, which show that a farm with 54ha of productive area must be matched with 200ha of native vegetation for medium term sustainability. The Cerrado’s farm production is primarily for export, and an evaluation of the environment and economic changes with respect to importing countries was performed. Emergy synthesis is proposed to calculate the price of environmental services balancing trades in the international market. A discussion of the problem of assigning payments for environmental services is presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper reports the experiences of a medium size gold-plated jewelry company, located in São Paulo – Brazil, in order to reduce waste and pollution. Actions taken for this purpose are described, as well as the key factors affecting progress, the changes that have been introduced, their cost-effectiveness and the additional benefits accomplished. A waste minimization project was carried out to obtain environmental and economic benefits. The first cleaner production (CP) interventions targeting the improvement of the company''s environmental performance are also described and related to economic benefits. Local scale performance indicators were employed to evidence the economic and the material savings by kilogram of piece produced. Additionally, savings achieved included 86% reduction in volume of degreasing solution and 36% reduction in electricity consumption. The results are complemented with the use of global scale performance indicators (Material intensity, MIs, and Emergy accounting), which look at upstream impacts and evaluate the environmental performance of the system on the biosphere scale, respectively. Material savings (MIs) account for each matter flow to and from a chain of processes from raw material to the final products, and were calculated in order to estimate the changes avoided in material flows and cycles due to the reduced use of inputs by the company. The total emergy of the savings is used as a quantitative measure of the total environmental support to the flows of energy and matter involved in the process, and is calculated to assess the work of nature spared by the reduced use of materials and energy by the company. Emergy values were converted to currency. Global scale performance indicators have shown that little changes within the company reduce upstream impacts and that benefits to the environment are greater than that observed in the companies neighborhood. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Ternary diagrams are presented as graphic tools to assist environmental accounting and environmental decision-making based on emergy analysis [Odum HT. Environmental accounting – emergy environmental decision making. John Wiley & Sons; 1996. 370 pp. [1]]. Beyond the unquestionable advantages of graphic interpretation over table analysis, the use of ternary diagrams or phase diagrams, widely used for physical chemistry evaluation of three component systems, permits the use of phase diagram properties to assess the dependence of the system upon renewable and non-renewable inputs, the environmental support for dilution and abatement of process emissions and the system efficiency. The prompt visualization of the emergy accounting data makes possible to compare processes and systems with and without ecosystem services, to evaluate improvements and to follow the system performance over time. With the aim of ternary diagrams, aspects such as the interaction between systems and the interactions between systems and the environment can be readily recognized and evaluated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article discusses the need to integrate scientific research with the concept of Industrial Ecology, acting as support for the development of Eco-technologies. In order to proceed with the discussion, an initial section presents the concepts. A new and more accurate position concerning the extension of Eco-technologies in the context of Industrial Ecology is proposed. Emphasis on the role of academic scientific research as a way to propose and support specific solutions for local problems. Thus, alternative solutions based on the application of non-conventional technologies, which explore the unique regional characteristics of a Brazilian region, are examined. The sharing of waste streams generated by two polluting industries, mining and leather tanning, can lead to lower environmental impact if compared with separate management of their wastes. A comprehensive bibliographic review of non-conventional technologies related to heavy metal attenuation is included. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This work presents a new and simple electrode, which may be used to achieve the electrochemical response of ground solids or insoluble samples. Ore samples from Morro Velho Mine (Brazil) were employed to exemplify the use of such electrodes. The new electrode avoids the use of binders or other agents overcoming major deterioration problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cleaner production is a lively concept in which new procedures and technologies constantly emerge introducing methods and practices to prevent damages to the environment. A broad range of cleaner production initiatives contribute to sustainable development not only through the efficient management of resources and energy, but also through the development of new and smart technologies, new ways of assisting policies development, and organizing supply chains, sectors and individual companies. The authors of this Virtual Special Issue sought to introduce first-hand knowledge and discussions identifying and highlighting the ways cleaner production can contribute to reach the United Nations sustainable development targets. The intent of the Virtual Special Issue is to provide an overview of the recent trends that cleaner production practitioners/researchers are following in the chase of the sustainable development goals, and in this context, this editorial was designed to summarize and underscore the link between cleaner production concepts and practices and the sustainable development goals. An adequate response to this challenge required scientific knowledge and reassessment of the papers ensuring that the science is responsive to the evolving needs of sustainable development. This Virtual Special Issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production is mainly dedicated to the 7th International Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production, held at Universidad de La Costa, Barranquilla, Colombia on 21–22 June 2018. Based upon the examination of the papers of this Virtual Special Issue, the authors were able to establish that there is an pressing need for research on the assessment on which/when cleaner production interventions are more effective; inter and multidisciplinary cooperation among social and technical scientists to distinguish and address the cleaner production/sustainable development goals interactions and connect cleaner production solutions and large-scale sustainability approaches. Image 1 • There is a need for evaluations on which CP practices should be applied for each case to reach the SDGs. • To distinguish the pertinent CP/SDGs interactions, inter-multidisciplinary partnerships are required. • To address CP/SDGs interactions a partnership among technical and social researchers is urgent. • There is a need to integrate CP solutions with large-scale sustainability research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nail care salons have become a profitable, familiar business around the world; however, this service business has been linked to occupational exposures and, occasionally, to air pollution. Despite these alleged links, there is currently no scientific evidence to conclude whether activities in nail salons affect the health of workers or the environment. Under this context of uncertainty, a Sustainable Service Program was conducted to prevent, eliminate, and/or reduce the creation of occupational and environmental risks in five nail salons in Hermosillo, Mexico and six nail salons in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The findings of this study indicate a need to strengthen the organizational structure of nail salons in order to address their general lack of strategic planning. The integration of occupational and environmental concepts was more feasible at the strategic level, but even with a low level of integration on the operating level, it was possible to pick some lowhanging fruits. There is nothing wrong with setting easier goals and targets at the beginning, but at some point, owners have to aim for more challenging goals. Hopefully, the program would improve after each iteration, and each nail salon would offer a more sustainable service. The Sustainable Service Program changed the way the participating salons operated, but without a doubt, this would not have been possible to implement without the partnership between nail salons, the University of Sonora, and the Paulista University. The scientific value of this article is the confirmation of a Sustainable Service Program as an effective tool for preventing, eliminating, and/or reducing risks at Small and Medium Enterprises. Notwithstanding the differences in economic circumstances in both countries, findings highlighted the benefits in participating nail salons, providing information on which to base future research on Sustainable Service Program applied to Small and Medium Enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production is built primarily upon articles submitted for the 4th International Workshop Advances in Cleaner Production held in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2013. The 54 articles underscore the urgent need for changing from unsustainable production and societal patterns to sustainable ones. They provide many new approaches to help industries, governments and society to speed up the transition to sustainable patterns. The authors focus on defining and solving problems with special emphasis upon sustainability strategies: raw material replacement, renewable energy, technological developments, product, and policy changes. The central roles of improved corporate management for sustainable societal transitions are explored, with an emphasis upon stakeholder empowerment in promoting implementation of new cleaner technologies within companies, industrial sectors, supply chains and countries. Some authors improved assessment tools for environmental accounting at the biospheric scale. Some authors underscored the need for cooperation among governments, industrial sectors and companies to accelerate the integration of Cleaner Production into policies and practice. Multiple examples of successful integration of CP in national and local policy structures, exemplified how focused work in key industrial sectors is delivering multiplier benefits within and among companies and in the community, at large. The authors documented numerous benefits of holistic integration of local, regional, national and global efforts to accelerate the transition to sustainable development and societal well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This special volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production is comprised of articles presented at the 3rd International Workshop Advances in Cleaner Production held in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2011. The content underscores the recognition of the pressing and inescapable need for making changes from unsustainable to sustainable production and consumption patterns. The 48 articles from 15 countries provide different, but complimentary approaches to help industrial and societal sectors in advancing on their paths towards sustainability. Initiatives and challenges are included, which systematically address problems affecting raw material changes, technological modifications, product and policy changes. The findings range from proposals for alternative uses of wastes, substitution of raw materials for environmentally friendlier substances, optimization of industrial processes by source reductions of wastes and emissions and documented economic and environmental advantages of a wide array of initiatives. The roles of operational and managerial practices are also stressed, highlighting the role of diverse stakeholders as promoters of implementation and internalization of innovative cleaner technologies within companies. Systemic assessment tools are employed and experimented with in order to more effectively evaluate the environmental performance of systems on the biosphere scale. The methodological procedures and proposals presented can help in the design and management of production systems, for governmental and corporate policy development, for implementing and monitoring CP Programs, prevention and mitigation strategies, and evaluation of the outcomes of CP initiatives in the production and service sectors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In a recent paper, “A combined tool for environmental scientists and decision makers: ternary diagrams and emergy accounting.” [Giannetti BF, Barrella FA, Almeida CMVB. A combined tool for environmental scientists and decision makers: ternary diagrams and emergy accounting. J Clean Prod, in press] Ternary diagrams were proposed as a graphical tool to assist emergy analysis. The graphical representation of the emergy accounting data makes it possible to compare processes and systems with and without ecosystem services, to evaluate improvements and to follow the system performance over time. The graphic tool is versatile and adaptable to represent products, processes, systems, countries, and different periods of time. The use and the versatility of ternary diagrams for assisting in performing emergy analyses are illustrated by means of five examples taken from the literature, which are presented and discussed. It is shown that emergetic ternary diagram''s properties assist the assessment of the system efficiency, its dependence upon renewable and non-renewable inputs and the environmental support for dilution and abatement of process emissions. With the aid of ternary diagrams, details such as the interaction between systems and between systems and the environment are recognized and evaluated. Such a tool for graphical analysis allows a transparent presentation of the results and can serve as an interface between emergy scientists and decision makers, provided the meaning of each line in the diagram is carefully explained and understood. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The sustainability of the development of water resources is a pressing challenge. Natural forces, economic pressure and increasing population determine a significant growth in water use and pollution not supported by highly inefficient water supply practices. In this framework, the Italian water services with fragmented management, highly deficient collection and treatment of wastewater - and existing and potential problems in water supply in some areas of the country – explains the reasoning of the drastic restructuring introduced by Law 36/1994 (Act n. 36 on Water Resources, 1994). The impossibility of avoiding natural monopoly and the necessity to industrialize the whole sector determined the imposition of a "for the market" competition in order to exploit possible economies of scale and scope. In this work, a group of Italian water utility companies is used to assess the sustainable efficiency of the Italian water sector, using the mathematical/linear programming of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) on a set of key variables including, water losses (never considered in the previous studies) to assess technical and environmental efficiency. This well-known technique allows evaluating the systems' efficiency not only by calculating the efficiency of each unit, but also helping policymakers by suggesting corrective policies and measures which could make the inefficient units efficient. This approach can be useful for policymakers to direct decisions towards a more sustainable and efficient water sector. • The sustainability and the efficiency of water resources are crucial challenges. • Water losses play a key role in the evaluation of the performance of water-based firms. • Owned public firms have the highest efficiency scores. • Firms located in northern Italy are more efficient than those operating in the rest of the Country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology change is a well-known strategy used by Cleaner Production (CP) practitioners, and it refers to modifications in the process and/or equipment to increase production efficiency and reduce waste and emissions. These changes can range from small, low-cost options to the replacement of processes that involve large capital investments. The improvements and advantages of the new alternatives must be evaluated in a way to measure and assure its real benefits. This work presents an emergy evaluation of a fasteners manufacturing company planning to replace the zinc-coating process by a water-based organo-metallic coating process. Accounting for the use of resources and the environmental services to dilute the Cr (VI) in the effluent, the study shows that the effluent treatment is efficient and that the emergy invested by the environment to dilute the Cr (VI) released is lower than 0.1% of the emergy used in the coating process. The case study is an example of the application and evaluation of CP options (good operational practices, material and raw material changes, technological modifications, and product change) and is presented to motivate product manufacturers to prioritize environmental performance assessments to their products and services equally as well as to save manufacturers substantial time and efforts during their first attempts to implement CP actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unprecedented scale of packaging waste in global soft drinks supply chains is attracting increasing attention due to its environmental, social and economic impacts. The selection of the most feasible packaging options is one of the key approaches towards reducing resources depletion and packaging disposal. From an environmental point of view, selection requires knowledge of all product life stages including the type and the amount of materials used and the manufacturing practices such as recycling and reuse. In this context, decision makers in industry are looking for assessment methods that address the problem as a whole and not only as a sum of parts for selecting the most appropriate and reliable option. This paper introduces environmental accounting based on emergy as a tool to assist materials selection. This tool can help decision makers in industry providing information on the environmental cost of each decision. Emergy has low cost compared to other methods that require extensive information databases and commercial software. To exemplify the application of the emergy as a tool for material selection, options for the production of soft drinks are compared. The results obtained for the Brazilian case make it possible to select refillable glass bottles as the best option according to the resources available in the country; establishing the best production model for the selected option and determining when and if a recycling stage should be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production was built principally upon articles submitted for the 5th International Workshop Advances in Cleaner Production held in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2015. The 43 articles emphasize the imperative need for shifting from unsustainable production and societal patterns to sustainable ones. They provide many new technological and/or management related approaches to help industries, governments, and society to speed up the transition to sustainable patterns. Efforts on defining and solving problems with the special accent upon a sustainable solution for the use of raw materials and energy, technological advances, product and policy changes are presented and deeply discussed. Improved corporate management for sustainable societal transitions is discussed, highlighting consumer empowerment in sponsoring implementation of innovative cleaner technologies within companies, industrial sectors, supply chains and countries. Multiple examples are provided relating the successful combination of cleaner production in policy structures, illustrating on how the focused work in production sectors is delivering multiplier benefits and creating conditions to facilitate a “leapfrogged” path toward SD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search for sustainability and the growing apprehension with environmental degradation are increasingly attracting researchers from around the world, and bringing the need for developing indicators that include the economy, society and environment. This study compares the emergy indices with 10 known indicators taken from the literature: Gross Domestic Product, Gross Domestic Product per capita, Human Development Index, Happiness Index, Life Expectancy, Democracy Index, Ecological Footprint, Surplus Biocapacity, Wellbeing Index and Environmental Sustainability Index 2002. Correlations are made using the Spearman coefficients to verify correlations between the fractions of renewable natural resources, non-renewable natural resources, resources from the economy and the emergy indices with the known indicators, and indexes emerged with the literature indicators. The analysis of the results is made by illustrative matrices and graphs. The results suggest that the combination of socio-economic and biophysical indicators is essential to provide a better understanding of the limits of economic growth and while ensuring sustainable societal well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In an era of accelerating change around the globe, the roles of the Higher Educational institutions are an increasingly important part of the debate on the evolution of human society and its position in the biosphere. Emergy synthesis is a methodology that can concomitantly evaluate the integration of sustainability principles into curricula, and the campuses' operations to function with minimal environmental impact. Because of the importance of higher education in mankind's sustainable management of the biosphere, accurate estimates of the emergy of the human knowledge contributing to economic and social activities were performed to quantify the environmental, economic, and social costs and benefits of alternative policies. This study applies emergy synthesis to assess the engineering programme at Paulista University. Results were compared with those obtained from the Pharmacy and Business programmes, and used to visualize the entire system (information and resources), their relationships with the environment, and to evaluate subsystems in order to assist in decision-making for introducing SD concepts into curricula, and establishing targets for greening the campus. Energy and material flows used for construction and use of the campus were evaluated along with the information provided to students. The emergy investment to introduce two courses into the Engineering Programme was quantified and provided valuable information to guide senior university managers in the planning of new curricula that include sustainable development concepts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Human health and environmental concerns are not usually considered at the same time. Tin-lead solders are still widely used in several countries, including Brazil, by manufacturers of electronic assemblies. One of the options to reduce or eliminate lead from the manufacturing environment is its replacement with lead-free alloys. This paper applies emergy synthesis and the DALY indicator (Disability Adjusted Life Years) to assess the impact of manufacturing soft solder using tin, lead and other metals on the environment and on human health. The results are presented together with the company's financial results and the results calculated from the Brazilian statistical value of life. The calculation of emergy per unit showed that more resources are used to produce one ton of lead-free solders than to produce one ton of tin-lead solders, with and without the use of consumer waste recovered through a reverse logistics system. The assessment of air emissions during solder production shows that the benefits of the lead-free solution are limited to the stages of manufacturing and assembling. The tin-lead solder appears as the best option in terms of resource use efficiency and with respect to emissions into the atmosphere when the mining stage is included. A discussion on the influence of the system's boundaries on the decision-making process for materials substitution is presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The life of a product begins with the initial product design concepts; the costs and potential impacts of a product are heavily influenced by the final design, the production processes, the economic and environmental costs of all raw materials. Additionally, both of these factors are very much affected by how the products are managed during and after consumer usage. Thus, there is an urgent need for a tool to facilitate the integration and assessment of environmental and economic demands into the product planning and development processes. The introduction of environmental accounting based on emergy as a tool to assist in product design is proposed. This complementary tool may be inserted into the conventional design methodology to facilitate in the selection of materials and processes as well as in the actual design of the products. To illustrate the application of the proposed method for material selection, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles and aluminum cans for beverage packaging are compared. Despite the exceptional condition of aluminum recycling in Brazil, results show that the best option for beverage packages is the PET bottles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The electrochemical behaviour of potentiodynamically formed thin anodic films of polycrystalline tin in aqueous sodium bicarbonate solutions (pH≈8.3) were studied using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Different equivalent circuits corresponding to various potential regions were employed to account for the electrochemical processes taking place under each condition. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The agribusiness contributes significantly to the Brazilian domestic production, and the search for environmentally friendly systems, exploring the maximum possible use of renewable resources and reducing the use of non-renewable ones, affects the agribusiness' productivity and competitivity. An agribusiness producing corn, eggs, pork and milk was evaluated using emergy accounting. The effects of the (des)integration of the production processes on the efficiency and environmental sustainability of the system were assessed using seven scenarios. The first is the existing integrated system and the others are scenarios in which one of the productive subsystems is removed. Efficiency is measured by the global productivity relative to the amount of protein produced. The most environmentally advantageous scenario, in terms of sustainability and productivity, is the one in which pork production is increased and egg production is ceased. This result suggests that increasing integration per se cannot assure gains in environmental sustainability. The integrated management of the residues of the poultry and pig production as organic fertilizer resulted an advantage for the seven scenarios. The scenarios presented should help to evaluate organizational innovations and to identify trade-offs that could influence the environmental performance of agricultural integrated systems. (Des) Integrating different agricultural production systems Unlabelled Image • The benefits of integration in a crop-livestock system was evaluated through emergy synthesis. • Efficiency evaluation of the (des)-integration of corn, eggs, pork and milk production was calculated. • Seven scenarios studied: the integrated existing system and scenarios in which one of the productive subsystems is removed. • The trade-offs between the sustainability and productivity were highlighted and discussed. • The increase of systems/processes to be integrated does not guarantee the best environmental performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Milk is one of the most important food in the world, being consumed in natura or supporting the dairy industry. In Brazil, specifically, the milk supply chain corresponds to about 20% of its agro-industrial gross domestic product; however, the productivity of most domestic milk production systems are still characterized as low. In view of this, the Brazilian government supports training programs to increase milk productivity and economic returns, however, sustainability issues are usually left in the background. This work uses emergy environmental accounting to study the sustainability of milk production systems in the southern region of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, aiming at two specific goals: (i) verifying their individual environmental performance based on emergy indices, and (ii) exploring alternatives for the development of milk production under a regional perspective. Results from a cluster analysis evidenced the existence of five main milk production systems in the region (G1–G5), including differences in productivity, handling, feed diet, infrastructure, and administrative control. Emergy indicators point to the G3 system (small-scale, family-managed) as the best performer concerning renewability (28%), yield (EYR 1.72), investment (EIR 1.39), environmental load (ELR 2.46), and sustainability (ESI 0.70); however, the G2 system should be promoted when equally considering ESI and efficiency for a decision. Under a regional perspective, increasing milk productivity will also increase a system's dependence on fossil-based resources, which results in an uneven emergy matching and in a less efficient use of emergy. On the other hand, pursuing the increase of sustainability for milk production by optimizing the regional EIR would result in an expansion of the G3 system in 96% of all milking areas and the production would decrease by about 57%. Such trade-off claims for different policies in accordance with societal objectives in different periods. Besides diagnosing and ranking the milk production systems according to their environmental performance, this work also provides important subsidies for decision-makers regarding a strategic plan towards a sustainable milk production under a regional perspective. • Emergy synthesis is applied to five different milk production systems in Brazil. • A trade-off exist between milk productivity and its environmental performance. • Emergy is used to support a regional strategic planning towards sustainable milk production. • Results provide important subsidies for public policies in a scenario without fossil energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]