Dealing with China's future population decline: a proposal for replacing low birth rates with sustainable rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Shixiong; Wang, Xiuqing

2009-09-01

Decreasing population levels due to declining birth rates are becoming a potentially serious social problem in developed and rapidly developing countries. China urgently needed to reduce birth rates so that its population would decline to a sustainable level, and the family planning policy designed to achieve this goal has largely succeeded. However, continuing to pursue this policy is leading to serious, unanticipated problems such as a shift in the country's population distribution towards the elderly and increasing difficulty supporting that elderly population. Social and political changes that promoted low birth rates and the lack of effective policies to encourage higher birth rates suggest that mitigating the consequences of the predicted population decline will depend on a revised approach based on achieving sustainable birth rates.

Modeling Sustainable Food Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Thomas; Prosperi, Paolo

2016-05-01

The processes underlying environmental, economic, and social unsustainability derive in part from the food system. Building sustainable food systems has become a predominating endeavor aiming to redirect our food systems and policies towards better-adjusted goals and improved societal welfare. Food systems are complex social-ecological systems involving multiple interactions between human and natural components. Policy needs to encourage public perception of humanity and nature as interdependent and interacting. The systemic nature of these interdependencies and interactions calls for systems approaches and integrated assessment tools. Identifying and modeling the intrinsic properties of the food system that will ensure its essential outcomes are maintained or enhanced over time and across generations, will help organizations and governmental institutions to track progress towards sustainability, and set policies that encourage positive transformations. This paper proposes a conceptual model that articulates crucial vulnerability and resilience factors to global environmental and socio-economic changes, postulating specific food and nutrition security issues as priority outcomes of food systems. By acknowledging the systemic nature of sustainability, this approach allows consideration of causal factor dynamics. In a stepwise approach, a logical application is schematized for three Mediterranean countries, namely Spain, France, and Italy.

Principles of sustainable energy systems

CERN Document Server

Kreith, Frank

2013-01-01

… ""This is an ideal book for seniors and graduate students interested in learning about the sustainable energy field and its penetration. The authors provide very strong discussion on cost-benefit analysis and ROI calculations for various alternate energy systems in current use. This is a descriptive book with detailed case-based analyses of various systems and engineering applications. The text book provides real-world case studies and related problems pertaining to sustainable energy systems.""--Dr. Kuruvilla John, University of North Texas""The new edition of ""Principles of Sustainable En

Sustainable Energy Systems and Applications

CERN Document Server

Dinçer, İbrahim

2012-01-01

Sustainable Energy Systems and Applications presents analyses of sustainable energy systems and their applications, providing new understandings, methodologies, models and applications along with descriptions of several illustrative examples and case studies. This textbook aims to address key pillars in the field, such as: better efficiency, cost effectiveness, use of energy resources, environment, energy security, and sustainable development. It also includes some cutting-edge topics, such as hydrogen and fuel cells, renewable, clean combustion technologies, CO2 abatement technologies, and some potential tools for design, analysis and performance improvement. The book also: Discusses producing energy by increasing systems efficiency in generation, conversion, transportation and consumption Analyzes the conversion of fossil fuels to clean fuels for limiting  pollution and creating a better environment Sustainable Energy Systems and Applications is a research-based textbook which can be used by senior u...

Proactive sustainability strategy and corporate sustainability performance: The mediating effect of sustainability control systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Wijethilake, Chaminda

2017-07-01

This study examines to what extent corporations use sustainability control systems (SCS) to translate proactive sustainability strategy into corporate sustainability performance. The study investigates the mediating effect of SCS on the relationship between proactive sustainability strategy and corporate sustainability performance. Survey data were collected from top managers in 175 multinational and local corporations operating in Sri Lanka and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). SCS were observed to only partially mediate the relationship between proactive sustainability strategy and corporate sustainability performance. The mediating effect of SCS is further examined under three sustainability strategies; environmental and social strategies reveal a partial mediation, while the economic strategy exhibits no mediation. The study also finds that (i) a proactive sustainability strategy is positively associated with SCS and corporate sustainability performance and (ii) SCS are positively associated with corporate sustainability performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sustainable systems rating program: Marketing ``Green`` Building in Austin, Texas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1991-12-01

Four major resource issues for home construction were identified: water, energy, materials, and waste. A systems flow model was then developed that tracked the resource issues through interactive matrices in the areas of sourcing, processing, using, and disposing or recycling. This model served as the basis for a rating system used in an educational and marketing tool called the Eco-Home Guide.

Developing Sustainable Life Support System Concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Evan A.

2010-01-01

Sustainable spacecraft life support concepts may allow the development of more reliable technologies for long duration space missions. Currently, life support technologies at different levels of development are not well evaluated against each other, and evaluation methods do not account for long term reliability and sustainability of the hardware. This paper presents point-of-departure sustainability evaluation criteria for life support systems, that may allow more robust technology development, testing and comparison. An example sustainable water recovery system concept is presented.

Towards sustainable energy systems: The related role of hydrogen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hennicke, Peter; Fischedick, Manfred

2006-01-01

The role of hydrogen in long run sustainable energy scenarios for the world and for the case of Germany is analysed, based on key criteria for sustainable energy systems. The possible range of hydrogen within long-term energy scenarios is broad and uncertain depending on assumptions on used primary energy, technology mix, rate of energy efficiency increase and costs degression ('learning effects'). In any case, sustainable energy strategies must give energy efficiency highest priority combined with an accelerated market introduction of renewables ('integrated strategy'). Under these conditions hydrogen will play a major role not before 2030 using natural gas as a bridge to renewable hydrogen. Against the background of an ambitious CO 2 -reduction goal which is under discussion in Germany the potentials for efficiency increase, the necessary structural change of the power plant system (corresponding to the decision to phase out nuclear energy, the transformation of the transportation sector and the market implementation order of renewable energies ('following efficiency guidelines first for electricity generation purposes, than for heat generation and than for the transportation sector')) are analysed based on latest sustainable energy scenarios

Sustainable, Reliable Mission-Systems Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

O'Neil, Graham; Orr, James K.; Watson, Steve

2007-01-01

A mission-systems architecture, based on a highly modular infrastructure utilizing: open-standards hardware and software interfaces as the enabling technology is essential for affordable and sustainable space exploration programs. This mission-systems architecture requires (a) robust communication between heterogeneous system, (b) high reliability, (c) minimal mission-to-mission reconfiguration, (d) affordable development, system integration, and verification of systems, and (e) minimal sustaining engineering. This paper proposes such an architecture. Lessons learned from the Space Shuttle program and Earthbound complex engineered system are applied to define the model. Technology projections reaching out 5 years are mde to refine model details.

Synthetic sustained gene delivery systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwal, Ankit; Mallapragada, Surya K

2008-01-01

Gene therapy today is hampered by the need of a safe and efficient gene delivery system that can provide a sustained therapeutic effect without cytotoxicity or unwanted immune responses. Bolus gene delivery in solution results in the loss of delivered factors via lymphatic system and may cause undesired effects by the escape of bioactive molecules to distant sites. Controlled gene delivery systems, acting as localized depot of genes, provide an extended sustained release of genes, giving prolonged maintenance of the therapeutic level of encoded proteins. They also limit the DNA degradation in the nuclease rich extra-cellular environment. While attempts have been made to adapt existing controlled drug delivery technologies, more novel approaches are being investigated for controlled gene delivery. DNA encapsulated in nano/micro spheres of polymers have been administered systemically/orally to be taken up by the targeted tissues and provide sustained release once internalized. Alternatively, DNA entrapped in hydrogels or scaffolds have been injected/implanted in tissues/cavities as platforms for gene delivery. The present review examines these different modalities for sustained delivery of viral and non-viral gene-delivery vectors. Design parameters and release mechanisms of different systems made with synthetic or natural polymers are presented along with their prospective applications and opportunities for continuous development.

Sustainability rating tools for buildings and its wider application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siew Renard

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper provides a commentary on the latest research in measuring the sustainability of buildings and its wider application. The emergence of sustainability rating tools (SRTs has faced critique from scholars due to their deficiencies such as the overemphasis on environmental criteria, the negligence of uncertainty in scoring and existence of non-scientific criteria benchmarks among many others. This could have attributed to the mixed evidence in the literature on the benefits of SRTs. Future research direction is proposed to advance the state-of-the art in this field.

Managing Sustainable Information Systems Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kautz, Karlheinz

2013-01-01

Sustainable information systems development (ISD) in the context of this paper is not about products that support sustainability at large with its environmental, economic and social dimensions and little about the development of sustainable products, which are both without doubt important topics....... This paper is about a prerequisite for such products, namely, a sustainable ISD process, a process which exhibits reasonable and responsible stewardship and utilisation of the existing resources for ISD—people and information in the context of scope, time/schedule, budget/cost, quality and risk....

Sustainability and Cities as Systems of Innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johnson, Bjørn; Lehmann, Martin

Cities often constitute relevant environments for interactive learning and innovation potentially capable of tackling sustainability problems. In this paper we ask if the concept of systems of innovation can increase our understanding of city dynamics and help promoting the sustainable development...... of cities. Through a combination of the innovation system approach and the perspective of creative cities, we argue that a slightly modified concept – sustainable city systems of innovation – may be helpful in this context. To underline this, we discuss certain ‘city-traits’ of sustainability and conclude...

Sustainable recycling technologies for Solar PV off-grid system

Science.gov (United States)

Uppal, Bhavesh; Tamboli, Adish; Wubhayavedantapuram, Nandan

2017-11-01

Policy makers throughout the world have accepted climate change as a repercussion of fossil fuel exploitation. This has led the governments to integrate renewable energy streams in their national energy mix. PV off-grid Systems have been at the forefront of this transition because of their permanently increasing efficiency and cost effectiveness. These systems are expected to produce large amount of different waste streams at the end of their lifetime. It is important that these waste streams should be recycled because of the lack of available resources. Our study found that separate researches have been carried out to increase the efficiencies of recycling of individual PV system components but there is a lack of a comprehensive methodical research which details efficient and sustainable recycling processes for the entire PV off-grid system. This paper reviews the current and future recycling technologies for PV off-grid systems and presents a scheme of the most sustainable recycling technologies which have the potential for adoption. Full Recovery End-of-Life Photovoltaic (FRELP) recycling technology can offer opportunities to sustainably recycle crystalline silicon PV modules. Electro-hydrometallurgical process & Vacuum technologies can be used for recovering lead from lead acid batteries with a high recovery rate. The metals in the WEEE can be recycled by using a combination of biometallurgical technology, vacuum metallurgical technology and other advanced metallurgical technologies (utrasonical, mechano-chemical technology) while the plastic components can be effectively recycled without separation by using compatibilizers. All these advanced technologies when used in combination with each other provide sustainable recycling options for growing PV off-grid systems waste. These promising technologies still need further improvement and require proper integration techniques before implementation.

Exergy sustainability.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robinett, Rush D. III (.; ); Wilson, David Gerald; Reed, Alfred W.

2006-05-01

Exergy is the elixir of life. Exergy is that portion of energy available to do work. Elixir is defined as a substance held capable of prolonging life indefinitely, which implies sustainability of life. In terms of mathematics and engineering, exergy sustainability is defined as the continuous compensation of irreversible entropy production in an open system with an impedance and capacity-matched persistent exergy source. Irreversible and nonequilibrium thermodynamic concepts are combined with self-organizing systems theories as well as nonlinear control and stability analyses to explain this definition. In particular, this paper provides a missing link in the analysis of self-organizing systems: a tie between irreversible thermodynamics and Hamiltonian systems. As a result of this work, the concept of ''on the edge of chaos'' is formulated as a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for stability and performance of sustainable systems. This interplay between exergy rate and irreversible entropy production rate can be described as Yin and Yang control: the dialectic synthesis of opposing power flows. In addition, exergy is shown to be a fundamental driver and necessary input for sustainable systems, since exergy input in the form of power is a single point of failure for self-organizing, adaptable systems.

Health Systems Sustainability and Rare Diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrelli, Rita Maria; De Santis, Marta; Egle Gentile, Amalia; Taruscio, Domenica

2017-01-01

The paper is addressing aspects of health system sustainability for rare diseases in relation to the current economic crisis and equity concerns. It takes into account the results of the narrative review carried out in the framework of the Joint Action for Rare Diseases (Joint RD-Action) "Promoting Implementation of Recommendations on Policy, Information and Data for Rare Diseases", that identified networks as key factors for health systems sustainability for rare diseases. The legal framework of European Reference Networks and their added value is also presented. Networks play a relevant role for health systems sustainability, since they are based upon, pay special attention to and can intervene on health systems knowledge development, partnership, organizational structure, resources, leadership and governance. Moreover, sustainability of health systems can not be separated from the analysis of the context and the action on it, including fiscal equity. As a result of the financial crisis of 2008, cuts of public health-care budgets jeopardized health equity, since the least wealthy suffered from the greatest health effects. Moreover, austerity policies affected economic growth much more adversely than previously believed. Therefore, reducing public health expenditure not only is going to jeopardise citizens' health, but also to hamper fair and sustainable development.

Business system: Sustainable development and anticipatory system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vojko Potočan

2002-01-01

Full Text Available The existence and development of humankind depends mainly upon the co-ordinated operation of all areas and levels of human activity. However, in theory and in practice there is no model of operation, which would provide a harmonized and target oriented development. A partial solution is offered by sustainable development, which tries to define and carry out common goals of mankind with a harmonized implementation of human activities at all levels of its living and behaviour. Companies belong to central institutions of modern society which essentially co–create the sustainability of society. The company’s endeavour by simulation to prepare models of their goals concerning their internal and external environment. On the base of systemic treatment, we can define companies as business system, which can survive in a log-run only on the basis of sustainable development. The business system can also be supported by the application of the anticipatory systems. The anticipatory systems can be, in this sense, understood as an entity of the methodological approach, techniques and modes of work. Their characteristics have, a direct impact on the determination of goals, on the orientation of operation, and hence on the achievement of the business system results.

Stimulating transitions towards sustainable farming systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Elzen, B.; Barbier, M.; Cerf, M.; Grin, J.

2012-01-01

How can the dynamics of the agro-food sector in the long run be addressed? We argue that sustainable agro-food systems cannot be developed through a simple improvement of existing systems, but will require a transition. Therefore, we focus on how transitions to sustainability could be initiated and

Building reactor operator sustain expert system with C language integrated production system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ouyang Qin; Hu Shouyin; Wang Ruipian

2002-01-01

The development of the reactor operator sustain expert system is introduced, the capability of building reactor operator sustain expert system is discussed with C Language Integrated Production System (Clips), and a simple antitype of expert system is illustrated. The limitation of building reactor operator sustain expert system with Clips is also discussed

Sustainable recycling technologies for Solar PV off-grid system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uppal Bhavesh

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Policy makers throughout the world have accepted climate change as a repercussion of fossil fuel exploitation. This has led the governments to integrate renewable energy streams in their national energy mix. PV off-grid Systems have been at the forefront of this transition because of their permanently increasing efficiency and cost effectiveness. These systems are expected to produce large amount of different waste streams at the end of their lifetime. It is important that these waste streams should be recycled because of the lack of available resources. Our study found that separate researches have been carried out to increase the efficiencies of recycling of individual PV system components but there is a lack of a comprehensive methodical research which details efficient and sustainable recycling processes for the entire PV off-grid system. This paper reviews the current and future recycling technologies for PV off-grid systems and presents a scheme of the most sustainable recycling technologies which have the potential for adoption. Full Recovery End-of-Life Photovoltaic (FRELP recycling technology can offer opportunities to sustainably recycle crystalline silicon PV modules. Electro-hydrometallurgical process & Vacuum technologies can be used for recovering lead from lead acid batteries with a high recovery rate. The metals in the WEEE can be recycled by using a combination of biometallurgical technology, vacuum metallurgical technology and other advanced metallurgical technologies (utrasonical, mechano-chemical technology while the plastic components can be effectively recycled without separation by using compatibilizers. All these advanced technologies when used in combination with each other provide sustainable recycling options for growing PV off-grid systems waste. These promising technologies still need further improvement and require proper integration techniques before implementation.

The sustainability of the pay-as-you-go system with falling birth rates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Praag, B.M.S.; Cardoso, P.

2002-01-01

A model is presented that explains the mix between funded and unfunded pension systems. It turns out that total pension and the relative shares of the two systems may be explained and are determined by the population growth rate, technological growth, the time-preference discount rate, the relative

Sustainable Capture: Concepts for Managing Stream-Aquifer Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Davids, Jeffrey C; Mehl, Steffen W

2015-01-01

Most surface water bodies (i.e., streams, lakes, etc.) are connected to the groundwater system to some degree so that changes to surface water bodies (either diversions or importations) can change flows in aquifer systems, and pumping from an aquifer can reduce discharge to, or induce additional recharge from streams, springs, and lakes. The timescales of these interactions are often very long (decades), making sustainable management of these systems difficult if relying only on observations of system responses. Instead, management scenarios are often analyzed based on numerical modeling. In this paper we propose a framework and metrics that can be used to relate the Theis concepts of capture to sustainable measures of stream-aquifer systems. We introduce four concepts: Sustainable Capture Fractions, Sustainable Capture Thresholds, Capture Efficiency, and Sustainable Groundwater Storage that can be used as the basis for developing metrics for sustainable management of stream-aquifer systems. We demonstrate their utility on a hypothetical stream-aquifer system where pumping captures both streamflow and discharge to phreatophytes at different amounts based on pumping location. In particular, Capture Efficiency (CE) can be easily understood by both scientists and non-scientist alike, and readily identifies vulnerabilities to sustainable stream-aquifer management when its value exceeds 100%. © 2014, National Ground Water Association.

System theoretic approach to sustainable development problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Batanović Vladan

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper shows that the concepts and methodology contained in the system theory and operations research are suitable for application in the planning and control of the sustainable development. The sustainable development problems can be represented using the state space concepts, such as the transition of system, from the given initial state to the final state. It is shown that sustainable development represents a specific control problem. The peculiarity of the sustainable development is that the target is to keep the system in the prescribed feasible region of the state space. The analysis of planning and control problems of sustainable development has also shown that methods developed in the operations research area, such as multicriteria optimization, dynamic processes simulation, non-conventional treatment of uncertainty etc. are adequate, exact base, suitable for resolution of these problems.

An Analysis of the Most Adopted Rating Systems for Assessing the Environmental Impact of Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Bernardi

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Rating systems for assessing the environmental impact of buildings are technical instruments that aim to evaluate the environmental impact of buildings and construction projects. In some cases, these rating systems can also cover urban-scale projects, community projects, and infrastructures. These schemes are designed to assist project management in making the projects more sustainable by providing frameworks with precise criteria for assessing the various aspects of a building’s environmental impact. Given the growing interest in sustainable development worldwide, many rating systems for assessing the environmental impact of buildings have been established in recent years, each one with its peculiarities and fields of applicability. The present work is motivated by an interest in emphasizing such differences to better understand these rating systems and extract the main implications to building design. It also attempts to summarize in a user-friendly form the vast and fragmented assortment of information that is available today. The analysis focuses on the six main rating systems: the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM, the Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB, the Haute Qualité Environnementale (HQETM, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED, and the Sustainable Building Tool (SBTool.

Optimization of Korean energy planning for sustainability considering uncertainties in learning rates and external factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seunghyok; Koo, Jamin; Lee, Chang Jun; Yoon, En Sup

2012-01-01

During the last few decades, energy planning has focused on meeting domestic demand at lower total costs. However, global warming and the shared recognition of it have transformed the problem of energy planning into a more complex task with a greater number of issues to be considered. Since the key issue is to reduce greenhouse effects, governments around the world have begun to make investments in renewable energy systems (e.g., hydro, wind, solar, and/or biomass power). The relatively high costs of renewable energy systems and the uncertain outlook of their rate of diffusion in the market make it difficult to heavily rely on them. The uncertain variations in production cost over time are especially challenging. To handle uncertainties, the concept of the learning rate was adopted in this study so as to compute the costs of energy systems in the future and Monte Carlo simulation was performed. The aim of this study was to optimize plans of conventional and prospective renewable energy systems with respect to production cost. The production cost included capital, fixed, variable, and external costs. For the case study, the energy situation in South Korea was used. The results of the case study where the proposed methodology was applied could provide useful insights economically and strategies of sustainable energy management for ambiguous environments. -- Highlights: ► We propose energy planning method for sustainability. ► We consider uncertainties such as learning rate, fuel prices, and CO 2 prices. ► We consider the possibility of CO 2 trading. ► The proposed method is applied to South Korea case. ► The added capacities of energy systems depend on uncertainties.

75 FR 80486 - Sustainable Star, LLC; Supplemental Notice That Initial Market-Based Rate Filing Includes Request...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-22

... proceeding of Sustainable Star, LLC's application for market-based rate authority, with an accompanying rate... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. ER11-2354-000] Sustainable Star, LLC; Supplemental Notice That Initial Market- Based Rate Filing Includes Request for Blanket...

Sustainability Indicators for Coupled Human-Earth Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Motesharrei, S.; Rivas, J. R.; Kalnay, E.

2014-12-01

Over the last two centuries, the Human System went from having a small impact on the Earth System (including the Climate System) to becoming dominant, because both population and per capita consumption have grown extremely fast, especially since about 1950. We therefore argue that Human System Models must be included into Earth System Models through bidirectional couplings with feedbacks. In particular, population should be modeled endogenously, rather than exogenously as done currently in most Integrated Assessment Models. The growth of the Human System threatens to overwhelm the Carrying Capacity of the Earth System, and may be leading to catastrophic climate change and collapse. We propose a set of Ecological and Economic "Sustainability Indicators" that can employ large data-sets for developing and assessing effective mitigation and adaptation policies. Using the Human and Nature Dynamical Model (HANDY) and Coupled Human-Climate-Water Model (COWA), we carry out experiments with this set of Sustainability Indicators and show that they are applicable to various coupled systems including Population, Climate, Water, Energy, Agriculture, and Economy. Impact of nonrenewable resources and fossil fuels could also be understood using these indicators. We demonstrate interconnections of Ecological and Economic Indicators. Coupled systems often include feedbacks and can thus display counterintuitive dynamics. This makes it difficult for even experts to see coming catastrophes from just the raw data for different variables. Sustainability Indicators boil down the raw data into a set of simple numbers that cross their sustainability thresholds with a large time-lag before variables enter their catastrophic regimes. Therefore, we argue that Sustainability Indicators constitute a powerful but simple set of tools that could be directly used for making policies for sustainability.

Evaluating the Sustainability of the Spanish Social Security System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco J. Blanco-Encomienda

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Social security has remarkable relevance in the general context of Spanish economy. This system is viable if the volume of active population increases at a higher rate than the number of pensioners does and if, in addition, active population is employed by the productive system. The reports of the National Institute of Statistics about Spanish demography demonstrate how these conditions are not met as of today, because our society has one of the highest aging rates and also a remarkable increase in the dependency rate. Through various techniques of time series analysis, this paper reveals the current economic trends in Spain to demonstrate the need for structural reforms of the system so as to make it more sustainable in the long term. To achieve this, it is necessary to change the financing model to a mixed one where the capitalization method plays a significant role, and also to implement urgent measures in order to reduce the barriers to business and employment development.

Synergy between building rating systems and design methodology for intellingent and green buildings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zeiler, W.; Boxem, G.; Plesser, S.

2008-01-01

There is a strong need for more efficient and more sustainable buildings. At present it is difficult to define the performance of buildings in an objective way to efficiency and sustainability. Goal of this project is to examine and to understand differences between different building rating systems

Beyond the Certification Badge—How Infrastructure Sustainability Rating Tools Impact on Individual, Organizational, and Industry Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kerry Griffiths

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Sustainability consideration in designing, constructing, and operating civil infrastructure requires substantive action and yet progress is slow. This research examines the impact third-party infrastructure sustainability rating tools—specifically CEEQUAL, Envision, Greenroads, and Infrastructure Sustainability—have beyond individual project certification and considers their role in driving wider industry change. In this empirical study, engineering and sustainability professionals (n = 63 assess and describe their experience in using rating tools outside of formal certification and also the impact of tool use on their own practice and the practices of their home organizations. The study found that 77% of experienced users and 59% of infrastructure owners used the tools for purposes other than formal project certification. The research attests that rating tool use and indeed their very existence has a strong influence on sustainability awareness and practice within the infrastructure industry, providing interpretation of sustainability matters in ways that resonate with industry norms. The rating tools impact on individuals and their professional and personal practice, on the policies and practices of infrastructure-related organizations, and more widely on other industry stakeholders. The findings can be used to increase the value gained from sustainability rating tool use and to better understand the role such tools play in creating cultural change within the industry.

Revisiting System Paradigms from the Viewpoint of Manufacturing Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhuming Bi

2011-08-01

Full Text Available A system paradigm is an abstract representation of system; it includes system architecture used to determine the types and numbers of components and their relations in the system. The design of system paradigm relies on customers’ requirements and the characteristics of the manufacturing environment. Many system paradigms and design guidelines have been proposed for a variety of customers’ needs including functions, cost, quality, personalization, and lead time of products. However, the consideration of sustainability becomes essential to today’s manufacturing systems; a new challenge is how to evolve existing paradigms to accommodate the requirements of sustainability. In contrast to ample research activities on system paradigms in past decades, recent studies on system paradigms have been restricted, partially due to unclear research directions. Limited works can be found on conceiving new manufacturing system paradigms from the perspective of sustainability; most of the related literature concerns the new requirements of sustainability. The objectives of this work are (i to examine the requirements of manufacturing systems in a wider scope; (ii to revisit existing paradigms to clarify their limitations and bottlenecks; and eventually (iii to identify some research directions, which will lead to a solution of sustainable manufacturing. To achieve these objectives, firstly, a brief description of today’s manufacturing environment is provided. Secondly, the requirements of sustainability are discussed, and the relevant researches on system sustainability are surveyed. Thirdly, the reconfigurable system paradigm is focused, and the gaps between a reconfigurable manufacturing system and a sustainable manufacturing system are discussed. Finally, the future endeavors towards to the next-generation manufacturing system paradigms are discussed.

Review: Animal health and sustainable global livestock systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, B D; Robinson, T P; Grace, D C

2018-04-10

This paper discusses the sustainability of livestock systems, emphasising bidirectional relations with animal health. We review conventional and contrarian thinking on sustainability and argue that in the most common approaches to understanding sustainability, health aspects have been under-examined. Literature review reveals deep concerns over the sustainability of livestock systems; we recognise that interventions are required to shift to more sustainable trajectories, and explore approaches to prioritising in different systems, focusing on interventions that lead to better health. A previously proposed three-tiered categorisation of 'hot spots', 'cold spots' and 'worried well' animal health trajectories provides a mental model that, by taking into consideration the different animal health status, animal health risks, service response needs and key drivers in each system, can help identify and implement interventions. Combining sustainability concepts with animal health trajectories allows for a richer analysis, and we apply this to three case studies drawn from North Africa and the Middle East; Bangladesh; and the Eastern Cape of South Africa. We conclude that the quest for sustainability of livestock production systems from the perspective of human and animal health is elusive and difficult to reconcile with the massive anticipated growth in demand for livestock products, mainly in low- and middle-income countries, as well as the aspirations of poor livestock keepers for better lives. Nevertheless, improving the health of livestock can contribute to health sustainability both through reducing negative health impacts of livestock and increasing efficiency of production. However, the choice of the most appropriate options must be under-pinned by an understanding of agro-ecology, economy and values. We argue that a new pillar of One Health should be added to the three traditional sustainability pillars of economics, society and environment when addressing

The evaluation system of city's smart growth success rates

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yifan

2018-04-01

"Smart growth" is to pursue the best integrated perform+-ance of the Economically prosperous, socially Equitable, and Environmentally Sustainable(3E). Firstly, we establish the smart growth evaluation system(SGI) and the sustainable development evaluation system(SDI). Based on the ten principles and the definition of three E's of sustainability. B y using the Z-score method and the principal component analysis method, we evaluate and quantify indexes synthetically. Then we define the success of smart growth as the ratio of the SDI to the SGI composite score growth rate (SSG). After that we select two cities — Canberra and Durres as the objects of our model in view of the model. Based on the development plans and key data of these two cities, we can figure out the success of smart growth. And according to our model, we adjust some of the growth indicators for both cities. Then observe the results before and after adjustment, and finally verify the accuracy of the model.

SUSTAINABLE FARMS: INTEGRATION OF AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manolo Muñoz-Espinosa

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The inappropriate use of agrochemicals and technologies in farming systems can cause an accelerated deterioration of agricultural and soil pollution. Thus, agriculture and livestock are becoming an environmental problem in the world, which implies the need to assess the efficiency of agricultural production systems related to sustainability. The traditional peasant system is apparently unsustainable, while farm with an integral production approach have better opportunities for development over time as they tend to sustainability. This type of farms incorporate productive alternatives that improve as a whole, the system and the livelihood of the peasants. The trends towards sustainability of farms are mainly due to a better land use. As well as, implementing systems adapted to each soil and production type to ensure profitability and persistence, achieving the highest possible agricultural productivity. The urgency to produce food for a growing population is almost a paradigm that reinforces the imperative for maximum yield per unit area, and creates a vision of the rural world aimed at increasing profit at the expense of the attributes and core values of livelihood in rural areas. It can be concluded that the integrated farming articulate various subsystems, which working together could allow higher sustainability of agricultural production practices, environmentally friendly, safeguarding the food sovereignty of the population and improving the quality of life of farmers

Sustaining an Effective ABC-ABM System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gary COKINS

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to describe the Activity- Based Costing (ABC and Activity-Based Management (ABM system and techniques to sustain them as a permanent and repeatable production reporting system, not just for one-off analysis. A comparison is made between ABC/ABM modeling software that extracts source data and business systems that include ABC/ABM modeling features. There are presented the stages of updating, running and rerunning the ABC/ABM system. The resulting information calculated and provided by the ABC/ABM system are analyzed and interpreted in terms of a multidimensional data analysis. The article ends with the authors' conclusions about the benefits of continued operation of sustaining the ABC/ABM system.

Sustainable streets and highways : an analysis of green roads rating systems.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-01

As sustainability increasingly becomes a concern to society, it is in state transportation : agencies best interests to embrace and adopt initiatives that will both educate their : employees and the communities they serve on how transportation sys...

Sustainability concept for energy, water and environment systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Afgan, N.H.

2004-01-01

This review is aimed to introduce historical background for the sustainability concept development for energy, water and environment systems. In the assessment of global energy and water resources attention is focussed in on the resource consumption and its relevancy to the future demand. In the review of the sustainability concept development special emphasize is devoted to the definition of sustainability and its relevancy to the historical background of the sustainability idea. In order to introduce measuring of sustainability the attention is devoted to the definition of respective criteria. There have been a number of attempts to define the criterions for the assessment of the sustainability of the market products. Having those criterions as bases, it was introduced a specific application in the energy system design

Sustainability of Pension Systems in the Baltic States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Rajevska

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: The objective of the paper is to identify how the concept of sustainability is understood and ensured in the pension systems of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; and what implications it brings to the performance of pension schemes. Research Design & Methods: Analysis of various conceptual and methodological approaches to the notion of sustainability of pension systems. Comparative analysis of present pension legislation, as well as preceding stage of pension reforms,   accompanied by a number of numerical models. Findings: The understanding of sustainability is limited by narrow ‘fiscal’ meaning in Latvia, compared to more a multifaceted concept that includes the principle of social fairness and which can be traced in the logic of Estonian and Lithuanian legislators. Implications & Recommendations: In the long-term, pure financial appreciation of sustainability is misleading, low level of credibility may cripple a financially sound but socially unfair system; the perceived unfairness of redistribution can undermine the public support to, and, therefore, sustainability of pension systems. Contribution & Value Added: The originality of this work lies in studying how differences at policy formulation stage and in the very design of pension schemes influence pension system sustainability in countries with a very similar initial conditions and socio-economic environment.

Sustainable Deforestation Evaluation Model and System Dynamics Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Huirong; Lim, C. W.; Chen, Liqun; Zhou, Xinnian; Zhou, Chengjun; Lin, Yi

2014-01-01

The current study used the improved fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to construct a sustainable deforestation development evaluation system and evaluation model, which has refined a diversified system to evaluate the theory of sustainable deforestation development. Leveraging the visual image of the system dynamics causal and power flow diagram, we illustrated here that sustainable forestry development is a complex system that encompasses the interaction and dynamic development of ecology, economy, and society and has reflected the time dynamic effect of sustainable forestry development from the three combined effects. We compared experimental programs to prove the direct and indirect impacts of the ecological, economic, and social effects of the corresponding deforest techniques and fully reflected the importance of developing scientific and rational ecological harvesting and transportation technologies. Experimental and theoretical results illustrated that light cableway skidding is an ecoskidding method that is beneficial for the sustainable development of resources, the environment, the economy, and society and forecasted the broad potential applications of light cableway skidding in timber production technology. Furthermore, we discussed the sustainable development countermeasures of forest ecosystems from the aspects of causality, interaction, and harmony. PMID:25254225

Sustainable deforestation evaluation model and system dynamics analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Huirong; Lim, C W; Chen, Liqun; Zhou, Xinnian; Zhou, Chengjun; Lin, Yi

2014-01-01

The current study used the improved fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to construct a sustainable deforestation development evaluation system and evaluation model, which has refined a diversified system to evaluate the theory of sustainable deforestation development. Leveraging the visual image of the system dynamics causal and power flow diagram, we illustrated here that sustainable forestry development is a complex system that encompasses the interaction and dynamic development of ecology, economy, and society and has reflected the time dynamic effect of sustainable forestry development from the three combined effects. We compared experimental programs to prove the direct and indirect impacts of the ecological, economic, and social effects of the corresponding deforest techniques and fully reflected the importance of developing scientific and rational ecological harvesting and transportation technologies. Experimental and theoretical results illustrated that light cableway skidding is an ecoskidding method that is beneficial for the sustainable development of resources, the environment, the economy, and society and forecasted the broad potential applications of light cableway skidding in timber production technology. Furthermore, we discussed the sustainable development countermeasures of forest ecosystems from the aspects of causality, interaction, and harmony.

Sustainable Deforestation Evaluation Model and System Dynamics Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huirong Feng

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The current study used the improved fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to construct a sustainable deforestation development evaluation system and evaluation model, which has refined a diversified system to evaluate the theory of sustainable deforestation development. Leveraging the visual image of the system dynamics causal and power flow diagram, we illustrated here that sustainable forestry development is a complex system that encompasses the interaction and dynamic development of ecology, economy, and society and has reflected the time dynamic effect of sustainable forestry development from the three combined effects. We compared experimental programs to prove the direct and indirect impacts of the ecological, economic, and social effects of the corresponding deforest techniques and fully reflected the importance of developing scientific and rational ecological harvesting and transportation technologies. Experimental and theoretical results illustrated that light cableway skidding is an ecoskidding method that is beneficial for the sustainable development of resources, the environment, the economy, and society and forecasted the broad potential applications of light cableway skidding in timber production technology. Furthermore, we discussed the sustainable development countermeasures of forest ecosystems from the aspects of causality, interaction, and harmony.

Sustainability and Counteracting Factors to Profit Rate Decline

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ougaard, Morten

2014-01-01

This paper discusses sustainability implications of barriers to growth as specified in the theory of the long-term falling rate of profit but focusing on the counteracting factors (CFs) specified by Marx. These depend much on political processes and are important in state theory for understanding...... policies of national and international institutions. Fourteen partly overlapping factors are identified and grouped in five categories: increased pressure on labor, geographical expansion, resource efficiency, technological progress, and destruction or devaluation of capital. It is suggested...

Sustainable systems rating program: Marketing Green'' Building in Austin, Texas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1991-12-01

Four major resource issues for home construction were identified: water, energy, materials, and waste. A systems flow model was then developed that tracked the resource issues through interactive matrices in the areas of sourcing, processing, using, and disposing or recycling. This model served as the basis for a rating system used in an educational and marketing tool called the Eco-Home Guide.

RESULTS OF ANALYSIS OF BENCHMARKING METHODS OF INNOVATION SYSTEMS ASSESSMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH AIMS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIETY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Vylegzhanina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this work, we introduce results of comparative analysis of international ratings indexes of innovation systems for their compliance with purposes of sustainable development. Purpose of this research is defining requirements to benchmarking methods of assessing national or regional innovation systems and compare them basing on assumption, that innovation system is aligned with sustainable development concept. Analysis of goal sets and concepts, which underlie observed international composite innovation indexes, comparison of their metrics and calculation techniques, allowed us to reveal opportunities and limitations of using these methods in frames of sustainable development concept. We formulated targets of innovation development on the base of innovation priorities of sustainable socio-economic development. Using comparative analysis of indexes with these targets, we revealed two methods of assessing innovation systems, maximally connected with goals of sustainable development. Nevertheless, today no any benchmarking method, which meets need of innovation systems assessing in compliance with sustainable development concept to a sufficient extent. We suggested practical directions of developing methods, assessing innovation systems in compliance with goals of societal sustainable development.

The difference between lending interest rate and funds interest rate. Link with sustainable banking. Particularities of Romanian Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristian Gheorghe Iacob

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The article, is trying to capture the way difference between active and passive interest rates influence macroeconomic sustainable development in a country. However the theory is limited on this area and the author is intending to merge practical aspects with conceptual terms. The role of banks in an economy is very important, as all inflows and outflows are done through financial institutions. Bank sustainability is the area of study and practice that captures the contribution of banks in sustainable development of a country. Banking instruments are the means by which banks are present and act in the economy. Banking techniques are the mechanisms of banking instruments. The most important banking instruments are the loans and the deposits. So banks take deposits from different entities and use them as resource to finance other entities. A bank is considered contributing to sustainable development, if lending divisions allocates resources to investments that bring long-term welfare to the community not only for today people, but for future generations. Therefore, we can establish a correlation between banking sustainability and sustainable development through the evolution of banking instruments. Looking to detail, bank sustainability is highly affected by the local macroeconomic issues, but also from global influences.

Not planning a sustainable transport system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finnveden, Göran; Åkerman, Jonas

2014-01-01

The overall objective of the Swedish transport policy is to ensure the economically efficient and sustainable provision of transport services for people and business throughout the country. More specifically, the transport sector shall, among other things, contribute to the achievement of environmental quality objectives in which the development of the transport system plays an important role in the achievement of the objectives. The aim of this study is to analyse if current transport planning supports this policy. This is done by analysing two recent cases: the National Infrastructure Plan 2010–2021, and the planning of Bypass Stockholm, a major road investment. Our results show that the plans are in conflict with several of the environmental quality objectives. Another interesting aspect of the planning processes is that the long-term climate goals are not included in the planning processes, neither as a clear goal nor as factor that will influence future transport systems. In this way, the long-term sustainability aspects are not present in the planning. We conclude that the two cases do not contribute to a sustainable transport system. Thus, several changes must be made in the processes, including putting up clear targets for emissions. Also, the methodology for the environmental assessments needs to be further developed and discussed. - Highlights: • Two cases are studied to analyse if current planning supports a sustainable transport system. • Results show that the plans are in conflict with several of the environmental quality objectives. • Long-term climate goals are not included in the planning processes. • Current practices do not contribute to a sustainable planning processes. • Methodology and process for environmental assessments must be further developed and discussed

Not planning a sustainable transport system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Finnveden, Göran, E-mail: goran.finnveden@abe.kth.se; Åkerman, Jonas

2014-04-01

The overall objective of the Swedish transport policy is to ensure the economically efficient and sustainable provision of transport services for people and business throughout the country. More specifically, the transport sector shall, among other things, contribute to the achievement of environmental quality objectives in which the development of the transport system plays an important role in the achievement of the objectives. The aim of this study is to analyse if current transport planning supports this policy. This is done by analysing two recent cases: the National Infrastructure Plan 2010–2021, and the planning of Bypass Stockholm, a major road investment. Our results show that the plans are in conflict with several of the environmental quality objectives. Another interesting aspect of the planning processes is that the long-term climate goals are not included in the planning processes, neither as a clear goal nor as factor that will influence future transport systems. In this way, the long-term sustainability aspects are not present in the planning. We conclude that the two cases do not contribute to a sustainable transport system. Thus, several changes must be made in the processes, including putting up clear targets for emissions. Also, the methodology for the environmental assessments needs to be further developed and discussed. - Highlights: • Two cases are studied to analyse if current planning supports a sustainable transport system. • Results show that the plans are in conflict with several of the environmental quality objectives. • Long-term climate goals are not included in the planning processes. • Current practices do not contribute to a sustainable planning processes. • Methodology and process for environmental assessments must be further developed and discussed.

Green innovation and sustainable industrial systems within sustainability and company improvement perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Edi Nugroho Soebandrija, Khristian

2017-12-01

This paper comprises discussion of Green Innovation and Sustainable Industrial Systems within Sustainability and Company Improvement Perspective of beverage manufacturing company (BMC). The stakeholder theory is the grand theory for the company improvement perspective in this paper. The data processing in this paper is conducted through software which are SEM-PLS with SmartPLS 2.0 and SPSS 19. The specified objective of this paper has focus on sustainability as one of 6 variables, in lieu of those 6 variables as the big picture. The reason behind this focus on sustainability is the fact that there are assorted challenges in sustainability that is ranging from economic, environment and company perspectives. Those challenges in sustainability include the sustainable service supply chain management and its involvement of society. The overall objective is to analyze relationship hypothesis of 6 variables, 4 of them (leadership, organizational learning, innovation, and performance) are based on Malcolm Baldrige’s performance excellence concept to achieve sustainability and competitive advantage through company-competitor and customer questionnaire, and its relation to Total Quality Management (TQM) and Quality Management System (QMS). In conclusion, the spearheaded of company improvement in this paper is in term of consumer satisfaction through 99.997% quality standards. These can be achieved by ambidexterity through exploitation and exploration innovation. Furthermore, in this paper, TQM enables to obtain popularity brand index achievement that is greater than 45.9%. Subsequently, ISO22000 of food security standard encompasses quality standard of ISO9000 and HACCP. Through the ambidexterity of exploitation and exploration (Non Standard Product Inspection) NOSPI machine, the company improvement generates the achievement of 75% automation, 99.997% quality control standard and 80% of waste reduction.

A System of Systems (SoS) Approach to Sustainable Energy Planning

Science.gov (United States)

Madani, Kaveh; Hadian, Saeed

2015-04-01

The general policy of mandating fossil fuel replacement with "green" energies may not be as effective and environmental-friendly as perceived, due to the secondary impacts of renewable energies on different natural resources. An integrated systems analysis framework is essential to developing sustainable energy supply systems with minimal unintended impacts on valuable natural resources such as water, climate, and ecosystem. This presentation discusses how a system of systems (SoS) framework can be developed to quantitatively evaluate the desirability of different energy supply alternatives with respect to different sustainability criteria under uncertainty. Relative Aggregate Footprint (RAF) scores of a range of renewable and nonrenewable energy alternatives are determined using their performance values under four sustainability criteria, namely carbon footprint, water footprint, land footprint, and cost of energy production. Our results suggest that despite their lower emissions, some renewable energy sources are less promising than non-renewable energy sources from a SoS perspective that considers the trade-offs between carbon footprint of energies and their effects on water, ecosystem, and economic resources. A new framework based on the Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) is also proposed for analyzing the overall sustainability of different energy mixes for different risk of return levels with respect to the trade-offs involved. It is discussed how the proposed finance-based sustainability evaluation method can help policy makers maximize the energy portfolio's expected sustainability for a given amount of portfolio risk, or equivalently minimize risk for a given level of expected sustainability level, by revising the energy mix.

Assessing the sustainability of small wastewater systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hoffmann, Birgitte; Nielsen, Susanne Balslev; Elle, Morten

1999-01-01

The authors present a planning tool for comparing and assessing the sustainability of different wastewater systems. The core of the planning tool is an assessment method based on both technical and social elements. The point of departure is that no technique is inherently sustainable or ecological...... in itself, but that the sustainability of the total system of technologies for a particular settlement in a given location must be assessed in a holistic and transparent manner. A pilot case is used to demonstrate the structure and the results of the assessment method. The assessment method is still under...

Environmental Sustainability of Some Cropping Systems in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Results from most findings reviewed in this paper had shown that there was no one size fits cropping system that can be use for sustainability of the humid environment but the best approach was the diversification of both traditional and modern cropping systems. The transition to systems which are both sustainable and ...

Life Cycle Thinking, Measurement and Management for Food System Sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Pelletier, Nathan

2015-07-07

Food systems critically contribute to our collective sustainability outcomes. Improving food system sustainability requires life cycle thinking, measurement and management strategies. This article reviews the status quo and future prospects for bringing life cycle approaches to food system sustainability to the fore.

Full system decontamination (FSD) for sustainable dose reduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stiepani, Christoph; Sempere-Belda, Luis; Topf, Christian; Basu, Ashim

2012-09-01

Nuclear power plants experience an increase in dose rates during operation due to the build-up of the activity inventory. The activity build-up is influenced by the construction materials, past and present water chemistries, and the individual operating history of the plant. Depending on these factors the dose levels in an operating plant may reach a point in which concrete actions to reduce the overall radiation exposure become necessary. In the past dose reduction plans were performed, based on - Modification in coolant water chemistry - Substitution of Cobalt containing materials - Outage optimization program - Installation of permanent shielding - Decontamination The dose rate reduction took several years and today a stagnation of further dose rate reduction can be seen. Therefore AREVA has developed the Concept for Sustainable Dose Reduction in Operating BWRs and PWRs. This is a program of joint corrective measures to minimize dose levels rapidly and keep them low for continued operation. It can be applied in plants from all constructors and designs. The concept is based fully on the application of proven technologies, including: - Full System Decontamination with AREVA's decontamination process HP/CORD UV to minimize the activity inventory - The formation of new, very stable protective oxides on the system surfaces including injection of depleted zinc - Introduction of advanced water chemistry for maintaining the low dose levels achieved during ongoing operation The implementation of this program is particularly interesting for plants with a long operation history, especially when considering life extension. The latest application was performed successfully at the German PWR Grafenrheinfeld in 2010. In this paper the concept for sustainable dose reduction will be outlined and the site application detailed and the achieved results at PWR Grafenrheinfeld will be described. The recontamination after one cycle will be outlined in a second paper. (authors)

Towards systemic sustainable performance of TBI care systems: emergency leadership frontiers.

Science.gov (United States)

Caro, Denis H J

2010-11-10

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) continue as a twenty-first century subterranean and almost invisible scourge internationally. TBI care systems provide a safety net for survival, recovery, and reintegration into social communities from this scourge, particularly in Canada, the European Union, and the USA. This paper examines the underlying issues of systemic performance and sustainability of TBI care systems, in the light of decreasing care resources and increasing demands for services. This paper reviews the extant literature on TBI care systems, systems reengineering, and emergency leadership literature. This paper presents a seven care layer paradigm, which forms the essence of systemic performance in the care of patients with TBIs. It also identifies five key strategic drivers that hold promise for the future systemic sustainability of TBI care systems. Transformational leadership and engagement from the international emergency medical community is the key to generating positive change. The sustainability/performance care framework is relevant and pertinent for consideration internationally and in the context of other emergency medical populations.

PSSD - Planning System for Sustainable Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

PSSD - Planning System for Sustainable Development - is a part of the Baltic Sea Region's INTERREG II C program. The current report describes some theories, methods and tools developed under the PSSD project. First, the theoretical foundation of the project is described. Secondly, the role...... of indicators in sustainable development is discussed and a Web-based indicator generator is described. Thirdly, we describe a number of methods and tools, which support planning for sustainable development. Finally, some technical interface tools - especially a Web-based interface to the methods and tools...

Sustainable Transport in Romania vs. European Union. Analysis of Road Transport System from the Sustainable Transport Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clitan Andrei - Florin

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Sustainability is a term used more often lately, based on three factors: social, economic, and environmental. Sustainable transport systems increase social cohesion, reduce environmental problems and help create a more efficient economy. Sustainable transport consists in a complex system that is designed to ensure mobility needs of present generations without damaging the environment and health factors. By improving energy and material consumption, it must be capable to satisfy in optimum conditions the need for mobility for future generations. The current transportation system has not a character of sustainability.

Sustainability and deliberate transition of socio-technical systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Ole Erik; Søndergård, Bent; Stærdahl, Jens

or developing socio-technical systems in order to integrate the concept of sustainability as a driver for the deliberate and purposeful shaping and transition. The article discusses the requirements to effective governance networks and governing of governance networks. Research within innovation systems......The article suggests that deliberate planning for sustainability demands a focus on the transition of socio-technical systems in order to establish robust and more sustainable patterns of production and consumption. This implies the necessity of a new perspective for environmental planning......, transition management and technology systems combined with planning and experimental activities provides both a theoretical and empirical body of knowledge of such governance processes. The article discusses how this perspective can be used in relation to the process of developing bio-fuel systems...

Multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessment of farming systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Passel, Steven, E-mail: Steven.vanpassel@uhasselt.be [Hasselt University, Faculty of Business Economics, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Agoralaan, Building D, 3590, Diepenbeek (Belgium); University of Antwerp, Department Bioscience Engineering, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp (Belgium); Meul, Marijke [University College Ghent, Department of Biosciences and Landscape Architecture, Campus Schoonmeersen, Building C, Schoonmeersstraat 52, 9000, Gent (Belgium)

2012-01-15

Sustainability assessment is needed to build sustainable farming systems. A broad range of sustainability concepts, methodologies and applications already exists. They differ in level, focus, orientation, measurement, scale, presentation and intended end-users. In this paper we illustrate that a smart combination of existing methods with different levels of application can make sustainability assessment more profound, and that it can broaden the insights of different end-user groups. An overview of sustainability assessment tools on different levels and for different end-users shows the complementarities and the opportunities of using different methods. In a case-study, a combination of the sustainable value approach (SVA) and MOTIFS is used to perform a sustainability evaluation of farming systems in Flanders. SVA is used to evaluate sustainability at sector level, and is especially useful to support policy makers, while MOTIFS is used to support and guide farmers towards sustainability at farm level. The combined use of the two methods with complementary goals can widen the insights of both farmers and policy makers, without losing the particularities of the different approaches. To stimulate and support further research and applications, we propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We give an overview of sustainability assessment tools for agricultural systems. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer SVA and MOTIFS are used to evaluate the sustainability of dairy farming in Flanders. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Combination of methods with different levels broadens the insights of different end-user groups. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments.

Multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessment of farming systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Passel, Steven; Meul, Marijke

2012-01-01

Sustainability assessment is needed to build sustainable farming systems. A broad range of sustainability concepts, methodologies and applications already exists. They differ in level, focus, orientation, measurement, scale, presentation and intended end-users. In this paper we illustrate that a smart combination of existing methods with different levels of application can make sustainability assessment more profound, and that it can broaden the insights of different end-user groups. An overview of sustainability assessment tools on different levels and for different end-users shows the complementarities and the opportunities of using different methods. In a case-study, a combination of the sustainable value approach (SVA) and MOTIFS is used to perform a sustainability evaluation of farming systems in Flanders. SVA is used to evaluate sustainability at sector level, and is especially useful to support policy makers, while MOTIFS is used to support and guide farmers towards sustainability at farm level. The combined use of the two methods with complementary goals can widen the insights of both farmers and policy makers, without losing the particularities of the different approaches. To stimulate and support further research and applications, we propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments. - Highlights: ► We give an overview of sustainability assessment tools for agricultural systems. ► SVA and MOTIFS are used to evaluate the sustainability of dairy farming in Flanders. ► Combination of methods with different levels broadens the insights of different end-user groups. ► We propose guidelines for multilevel and multi-user sustainability assessments.

Sustainability of thermoplastic vinyl roofing membrane systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Graveline, S. P. [Sika Sanarfil, Canton, (United States)

2010-07-01

The International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB-RILEM) has developed a framework for sustainable roofing based on a series of tenets divided into three key areas: preservation of the environment, conservation of energy, and extended roof life. This paper investigated the sustainability of thermoplastic vinyl roof membranes using these guidelines and the relevant tenets for roof system selection. Several tenets provided alternatives for minimizing the burden on the environment using non-renewable raw materials, conserving energy with thermal insulation, and extending the lifespan of all roof components by using long lasting membranes. A life cycle assessment was carried out to provide a quantitative framework for assessing the sustainability of roofing materials. It was found that the PVC membrane systems had a lesser impact on the environment than other competing systems.

Designing sustainable work systems: the need for a systems approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Zink, Klaus J

2014-01-01

There is a growing discussion concerning sustainability. While this discussion was at first mainly focused on a society level--and sometimes regarding especially environmental problems, one can now see that this topic is of increasing relevance for companies worldwide and even the social dimension of this three pillar approach is gaining more and more importance. This leads to some questions: Is sustainability already a part of human factors thinking or do we have to further develop our discipline? How can we define sustainable work systems? What are the topics we have to consider? Do we need a new systems ergonomics perspective regarding whole value creation chains and a life-cycle perspective concerning products (and work systems)? How can we deal with potential contradictions about social, ecological, and economic goals? Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Understanding sustainability from an exergetic frame in complex adaptive systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aguilar Hernandez, Glem Alonso

2017-01-01

The concept of sustainability was developed from thermodynamic properties applied to complex adaptive systems. The origins of the perception about sustainable development and limitation in its application to analyze the interaction between a system and its surroundings were described. The properties of a complex adaptive system were taken as basis to determine how a system can to be affected by the resources restriction and irreversibility of the processes. The complex adaptive system was understood using the first and second law of thermodynamics, generating a conceptual framework to define the sustainability of a system. The contributions developed by exergy were shown to analyze the sustainability of systems in an economic, social and environmental context [es

Assessing and Developing the Application of LEED Green Building Rating System as a Sustainable Project Management and Market Tool in the Italian Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Walaa S. E. Ismaee

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the recent introduction of the LEED system to the Italian context in order to assess its role to promote sustainable building process in the Italian context, pointing out its potentials on one hand as well as their gaps and limitations on the other hand, and suggests means for its future development. The study discusses the application of LEED as a ‘Sustainable Project management tool’ to guide sustainable building performance. This requires investigating the following: its structure, tools, assessment criteria along with its benchmarks and references. It also discusses the application of LEED as a ‘Sustainable building Certification and market tool’. This investigates the role and value of the LEED certification in the Italian Green market. The research method is comprised of three parts. The first part is a comparative analysis of LEED categories against Italian national initiatives for sustainability. The comparison showed that most LEED categories are already mandated by national norms and directives but they may differ in their stringency creating some areas of precedence of LEED system or drawbacks. This streamlines the adaptation process of LEED system to the Italian context. The second part investigates LEED projects’ market analysis. The result showed that the shift towards a sustainable building process is occurring slowly and on a vertical scale focusing on some building sectors rather than others. Its market diffusion in the Italian context faces challenges regarding the insufficient availability of green materials and products satisfying its requirements, as well as high soft cost of sustainability tests and expertise required. The Third part presents a practical review-citing the methodology and results of a survey conducted by the researchers in mid-2012. It is composed of a web-based questionnaire and interviews among a sample of LEED professionals in Italy. The result shows that LEED systems needs

A sustainability assessment system for Chinese iron and steel firms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Long, Yunguang; Pan, Jieyi; Farooq, Sami

2016-01-01

from financial and sustainability reports of four leading Chinese iron and steel firms. The proposed sustainable assessment system is envisaged to help Chinese iron and steel firms to objectively investigate their sustainability performance, provide clear and effective information to decision makers......The environmental impact of the Chinese iron and steel industry is huge due to its high consumption of ore, coal and energy, and water and air pollution. It is important not only for China but also for the rest of the world that the Chinese iron and steel industry becomes more sustainable....... A sustainable assessment indicator system is an important tool to support that development. Currently, however, a sustainable assessment system, specifically designed to match the characteristics of Chinese iron and steel firms, is not available. In this paper such a system is proposed and evaluated using data...

A Framework for Supporting Organizational Transition Processes Towards Sustainable Energy Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Buch, Rajesh

Economic development over the last century has driven a tripling of the world's population, a twenty-fold increase in fossil fuel consumption, and a tripling of traditional biomass consumption. The associated broad income and wealth inequities are retaining over 2 billion people in poverty. Adding to this, fossil fuel combustion is impacting the environment across spatial and temporal scales and the cost of energy is outpacing all other variable costs for most industries. With 60% of world energy delivered in 2008 consumed by the commercial and industrial sector, the fragmented and disparate energy-related decision making within organizations are largely responsible for the inefficient and impacting use of energy resources. The global transition towards sustainable development will require the collective efforts of national, regional, and local governments, institutions, the private sector, and a well-informed public. The leadership role in this transition could be provided by private and public sector organizations, by way of sustainability-oriented organizations, cultures, and infrastructure. The diversity in literature exemplifies the developing nature of sustainability science, with most sustainability assessment approaches and frameworks lacking transformational characteristics, tending to focus on analytical methods. In general, some shortfalls in sustainability assessment processes include lack of: · thorough stakeholder participation in systems and stakeholder mapping, · participatory envisioning of future sustainable states, · normative aggregation of results to provide an overall measure of sustainability, and · influence within strategic decision-making processes. Specific to energy sustainability assessments, while some authors aggregate results to provide overall sustainability scores, assessments have focused solely on energy supply scenarios, while including the deficits discussed above. This paper presents a framework for supporting

Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods: What do they really certify?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wangel, Josefin, E-mail: josefin.wangel@abe.kth.se [Division of Environmental Strategies Analysis (fms), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden); Wallhagen, Marita, E-mail: marita.wallhagen@hig.se [Division of Environmental Strategies Analysis (fms), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden); Department of Building, Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Gävle, SE-801 76 Gävle (Sweden); Malmqvist, Tove, E-mail: tove.malmqvist@abe.kth.se [Division of Environmental Strategies Analysis (fms), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden); Finnveden, Göran, E-mail: goran.finnveden@abe.kth.se [Division of Environmental Strategies Analysis (fms), KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden)

2016-01-15

Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods started to emerge around a decade ago. This study analysed the content, structure, weighting and indicators of two established certification systems for sustainable urban development – BREEAM Communities and LEED for Neighborhood Development. Several limitations of these systems were identified: both have a bias for procedure and feature indicators over indicators that assess actual performance; performance demands are set according to a relative understanding of sustainable development; the focus is on internal sustainability, while upstream and downstream impacts of construction are disregarded; the number and distribution of mandatory issues do not cover essential sustainability aspects; and the disproportionately large number of non-mandatory issues makes benchmarking difficult and signals that sustainability aspects are exchangeable. Altogether, this means that an area can be certified without being sustainable. Moreover, the lack of continuous development of certification requirements in the systems means that they risk exerting a conservative effect on urban development, rather than pushing it forward. - Highlights: • BREEAM-C and LEED-ND were analysed in terms of content and structure. • Specific attention was given to the type of indicators used for showing compliance. • In both systems procedure and feature indicators dominate over performance indicators. • Several other limitations of these certification systems were also identified. • Altogether the limitations imply that a certificate does not warrant sustainability.

Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods: What do they really certify?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wangel, Josefin; Wallhagen, Marita; Malmqvist, Tove; Finnveden, Göran

2016-01-01

Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods started to emerge around a decade ago. This study analysed the content, structure, weighting and indicators of two established certification systems for sustainable urban development – BREEAM Communities and LEED for Neighborhood Development. Several limitations of these systems were identified: both have a bias for procedure and feature indicators over indicators that assess actual performance; performance demands are set according to a relative understanding of sustainable development; the focus is on internal sustainability, while upstream and downstream impacts of construction are disregarded; the number and distribution of mandatory issues do not cover essential sustainability aspects; and the disproportionately large number of non-mandatory issues makes benchmarking difficult and signals that sustainability aspects are exchangeable. Altogether, this means that an area can be certified without being sustainable. Moreover, the lack of continuous development of certification requirements in the systems means that they risk exerting a conservative effect on urban development, rather than pushing it forward. - Highlights: • BREEAM-C and LEED-ND were analysed in terms of content and structure. • Specific attention was given to the type of indicators used for showing compliance. • In both systems procedure and feature indicators dominate over performance indicators. • Several other limitations of these certification systems were also identified. • Altogether the limitations imply that a certificate does not warrant sustainability.

Effect of yogic education system and modern education system on sustained attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Rangan, R; Nagendra, H R; Bhatt, Ramachandra

2009-01-01

Sustained attention is a vital function mediated by the right frontoparietal cortex. The Six Letter Cancellation Task (SLCT) measures sustained attention. Development of sustained attention in a yoga-based education system compared to a modern one is the theme of the present study. To compare the effectiveness of the Modern Education System (MES) and the Gurukula Education System (GES) in developing sustained attention. Forty nine boys (11-13 years) were selected from two residential schools, one MES and the other GES, providing similar ambiance and daily routines. The boys were matched for age and socioeconomic status. The GES educational program is based around integrated yoga modules while the MES provides a conventional modern education program. Sustained attention was assessed using the SLCT at the start and end of an academic year. Within groups, the pre-post test differences were significant for both groups. However, the between groups result showed improvement in the GES group compared to the MES group at a P < 0.001 significance level. The study suggests that both MES and GES improve sustained attention in school boys, but GES is more effective.

Review of the energy rating of dwellings in the European Union as a mechanism for sustainable energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miguez, J.L.; Porteiro, J.; Murillo, S.; Moran, J.C.; Granada, E. [E.T.S. Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, s/n 36200 Vigo (Spain); Lopez-Gonzalez, L.M.; Vicuna, J.E. [Depto de Ingenieria Mecanica, Universidad de La Rioja, Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieria Industrial de Logrono, C/Luis de Ulloa, 20, E-26004 Logrono (La Rioja) (Spain)

2006-02-01

Reducing emissions of CO{sub 2} and other GHGs is one of the biggest environmental challenges facing the European Union as it strives for sustainable development. If that challenge is to be met, domestic energy consumption must be controlled: it currently accounts for 40% of the total, making it one of the biggest sources of emissions. EU Directives 93/76 and 2002/91 make it compulsory for energy rating systems to be set up to report on consumption in buildings. This paper looks at the various rating systems now up and running, with varying levels of success, in EU countries. However, Denmark's is the only system that can be considered as providing a full energy rating in the sense of awarding a graded score to buildings rather than a simple pass/fail rating, and proposing ways of improving the score obtained. Indeed, many regulations on energy saving in the residential sector are extremely recent, and it is too soon to assess their results. In some States they may also be modified by reforms currently being studied or processed. (author)

The role of cogeneration systems in sustainability of energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Çakir, Uğur; Çomakli, Kemal; Yüksel, Fikret

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Energy source on the world is tending to run out day by day while the energy need of humanity is increasing simultaneously. ► There are two ways to overcome this problem; one of them is renewable energy sources like solar or wind energy systems. ► The other way is like cogeneration systems. ► Cogeneration system is one of the ways to save the energy and use the energy efficiently. ► A case study is made for a hospital to present the sustainability aspects of cogeneration systems. - Abstract: Cogeneration system (CHP) is one of the ways to save the energy and use the energy efficiently. When compared to separate fossil-fired generation of heat and electricity, CHP may result in a consistent energy conservation (usually ranging from 10% to 30%) while the avoided CO 2 emissions are, as a first approximation, similar to the amount of energy saving. In terms of sustainability, one of the primary considerations is energy efficiency. Sustainable energy is considered as a kind of energy which is renewable and continuous, meaning that the use of such energy can potentially be kept up well into the future without causing harmful repercussions for future generations. In this study, environmental benefits and sustainability aspects of cogeneration systems and importance of those systems to the use of sustainable energy are underlined. To support this idea, first we have referred some scientific studies previously made on cogeneration systems and then we have used our own case study. The case study made on gas engined cogeneration system was applied for a hospital to show the sustainability aspects of cogeneration systems.

Proposal for structure of the national system for support of sustainable tourism and a methodology of rating of selected tourist services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michal Burian

2005-01-01

Full Text Available This thesis is focused on preparation of basic elements of the National System for Support of Sustainable Tourism in the Czech Republic and on development of a methodology for ranking of selected tourist services from the sustainable point of view. Its result is planned to be used as a basis for real decisions potentially taken by the Czech government in near future.The first part analyses and summarises existing approaches worldwide to sustainable tourism, potential benefits and different impacts of tourism in order to specify possible measures avoiding unwanted impacts later on. The need to change towards sutainability in tourism is based on analysis of different policies and documents and a summary of duties of the Czech government (national ones and international ones. There is also a list of the best experiences available how to promote, support and encourage development of sustainable tourism based on analysis of the World Tourism Organisation studies and recommendations, existing EMS systems like ISO, EU ecolabel or methods, approaches, criteria and indicators used by different labels.Next part defines neccessary elements for successful system functioning in the Czech Republic, based on existing and working governmental and non-governmental structures not forgetting such important activities like information, education, marketing and motivation and sets expected responsibilities and roles of different potential partners participating on the system implementation.Unfortunately, there is no one certified tourist business in Czechia according to ISO, EMAS or EU flower before end of October 2004. Main reasons are price, missing benefits and motivations for businesses. Therefore an self-assesment questionnaire for a small-scale accommodation is developed. This fits with the „easy to understand, easy to answer“. This option is missing in the country and it is understood as a prestep to more sophisticated methods of measurment. The main

The impact of risk management on internal and sustainable growth rate: Evidence from Tehran Stock Exchange

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamid Reza Vakili Fard

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Measuring the relative risk of firms has been an open discussion among researchers. There are many studies on learning how leverage may influence on growth of the firms. This article reviews the relationship between risk management, internal and sustainable growth of accepted companies in Tehran stock exchange. The survey considers three types of risks including operating, financial and compound and investigates their relationships with internal growth rate as well as sustainable growth rate. Using some regression techniques, the study has determined negative and meaningful relationships between different types of leverage on side and internal as well as sustainable growth on the other side.

An Integrated Sustainable Business and Development System: Thoughts and Opinions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel J. C. Chen

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Companies understand the importance of monitoring and managing their environmental impacts and aim to integrate, with consistent quality control, effective reduce-reuse-recycle programs and risk preventions. By building an integrated sustainable business and development system to meet certain environmental standards, many companies are eligible to be “green” certified. Companies may consider recognizing global visions on sustainability while implementing local best practices. An integrated sustainable business and development system includes talent management, sustainable supply chain, practicing strategies of leveraging resources effectively, implementing social responsibilities, initiating innovative programs of recycling, reducing, and reusing, advancing leaders’ perceptions towards sustainability, reducing innovation barriers, and engaging sustainable practices strategically.

Green roofs and the LEED green building rating system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kula, R. [Sustainable Solutions Inc., Wagoner, OK (United States)

2005-07-01

The sustainable building industry is becoming increasingly aware of the host of public and private benefits that green roofs can provide in built environments. In dense urban environments, green roofs function to reduce stormwater runoff, urban heat island effects, and particulate matter (PM) pollution. The emerging green roof industry is now poised to support the efforts of green building networks in North America. This paper discussed the general benefits of green roofs, and their recognition within the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. A case study of Mountain Equipment Co-op's Winnipeg site was presented. The building's green roof was directly responsible for earning 5 credits and contributing to the achievement of an additional 2 credits under the LEEDS certification process. Credits were earned for reduced site disturbance; landscape design to reduce heat islands; and water efficiency. The green roof at the site provided the vast majority of the building's cooling needs through an evaporative cooling trough. A photovoltaic pump was used to feed the building's irrigation system, as well as to pump ground water through cooling valances. It was concluded that the rise of sustainable building practices and the LEED Green Building Rating System will revolutionize the way new buildings are constructed.

Sustainable intensification in agricultural systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Pretty, Jules; Bharucha, Zareen Pervez

2014-12-01

Agricultural systems are amended ecosystems with a variety of properties. Modern agroecosystems have tended towards high through-flow systems, with energy supplied by fossil fuels directed out of the system (either deliberately for harvests or accidentally through side effects). In the coming decades, resource constraints over water, soil, biodiversity and land will affect agricultural systems. Sustainable agroecosystems are those tending to have a positive impact on natural, social and human capital, while unsustainable systems feed back to deplete these assets, leaving fewer for the future. Sustainable intensification (SI) is defined as a process or system where agricultural yields are increased without adverse environmental impact and without the conversion of additional non-agricultural land. The concept does not articulate or privilege any particular vision or method of agricultural production. Rather, it emphasizes ends rather than means, and does not pre-determine technologies, species mix or particular design components. The combination of the terms 'sustainable' and 'intensification' is an attempt to indicate that desirable outcomes around both more food and improved environmental goods and services could be achieved by a variety of means. Nonetheless, it remains controversial to some. This review analyses recent evidence of the impacts of SI in both developing and industrialized countries, and demonstrates that both yield and natural capital dividends can occur. The review begins with analysis of the emergence of combined agricultural-environmental systems, the environmental and social outcomes of recent agricultural revolutions, and analyses the challenges for food production this century as populations grow and consumption patterns change. Emergent criticisms are highlighted, and the positive impacts of SI on food outputs and renewable capital assets detailed. It concludes with observations on policies and incentives necessary for the wider adoption of

A Sustainable Energy System in Latvia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Lotte Holmberg

2002-01-01

This paper presents some of the problems in the Latvian energy system, the Latvian economy and how a sustainable restructuring of the energy system with renewable energy, co-generation and the production of energy technology can help solve some of the problems....

A mixed-methods study of system-level sustainability of evidence-based practices in 12 large-scale implementation initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Scudder, Ashley T; Taber-Thomas, Sarah M; Schaffner, Kristen; Pemberton, Joy R; Hunter, Leah; Herschell, Amy D

2017-12-07

In recent decades, evidence-based practices (EBPs) have been broadly promoted in community behavioural health systems in the United States of America, yet reported EBP penetration rates remain low. Determining how to systematically sustain EBPs in complex, multi-level service systems has important implications for public health. This study examined factors impacting the sustainability of parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) in large-scale initiatives in order to identify potential predictors of sustainment. A mixed-methods approach to data collection was used. Qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys examining sustainability processes and outcomes were completed by participants from 12 large-scale initiatives. Sustainment strategies fell into nine categories, including infrastructure, training, marketing, integration and building partnerships. Strategies involving integration of PCIT into existing practices and quality monitoring predicted sustainment, while financing also emerged as a key factor. The reported factors and strategies impacting sustainability varied across initiatives; however, integration into existing practices, monitoring quality and financing appear central to high levels of sustainability of PCIT in community-based systems. More detailed examination of the progression of specific activities related to these strategies may aide in identifying priorities to include in strategic planning of future large-scale initiatives. ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT02543359 ; Protocol number PRO12060529.

Controllability of complex networks for sustainable system dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Successful implementation of sustainability ideas in ecosystem management requires a basic understanding of the often non-linear and non-intuitive relationships among different dimensions of sustainability, particularly the system-wide implications of human actions. This basic un...

Assessing the Sustainability of Different Small-Scale Livestock Production Systems in the Afar Region, Ethiopia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ngufor L. Atanga

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Livestock production is a key income source in eastern Africa, and 80% of the total agricultural land is used for livestock herding. Hence, ecological and socio-economically sustainable rangeland management is crucial. Our study aimed at selecting operational economic, environmental and social sustainability indicators for three main pastoral (P, agro-pastoral (AP, and landless intensive (LI small scale livestock production systems for use in sustainability assessment in Ethiopia. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through grey literature and semi-structured interviews, assessing livestock and feed resources, production technology, land tenure, financial and gender issues. Our results suggested that feed shortages (FS are directly related to grazing pressure (G and inversely related to grass recovery rates (R. According to our indicators, AP was the most sustainable while P and LI were only conditionally sustainable production systems. 93% of 82 interviewees claimed that private land ownership was the best land tenure incentive for efficient rangeland management. Farmers perceived Prosopis juliflora expansion, sporadic rainfall, and disease infestation as the most significant causes for decreasing livestock productivity. Landless intensive farmers had the highest equality in income distribution (Gini Index: GI = 0.4, followed by P and AP (each with a GI = 0.5. Neither educational background nor income seemed to determine grazing species conservation efforts. We claimed that sustainability indicators are valuable tools to highlight shortcomings and strengths of the three main livestock production systems and help with future livestock management in Ethiopia. Selecting suitable indicators, however, is crucial as data requirements and availability can vary across livestock systems.

Public-Private Partnerships and Sustainable Regional Innovation Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lehmann, Martin; Christensen, Per; Johnson, Bjørn

-private partnerships. The role of universities if and when actively participating in ‘life outside the ivory tower’ is addressed. These partnerships are also discussed in a regional context. With point of departure in innovation theory, we combine ‘sustainable development’ with the Regional System of Innovation...... approach to propose a new concept – Sustainable Regional Innovation System – in which regional initiatives such as Public-Private(-Academic) Partnerships play an integrated role, not least in the context of ‘learning and innovation for sustainable development’. Two cases are presented to underline...... be playing in public-private partnerships for sustainable development, and the links and benefits this may provide towards universities fulfilling their first (science) and second (education) missions. In this paper, the first part is dedicated to the discussion and clarification of the concept of public...

SUSTAINABILITY IN AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS: SOCIO-ECONOMICAL INDICATORS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omar Daniel

2009-09-01

Full Text Available It is wide the discussion involving the importance of production adjustment activities in general, to the concept of sustainable development. Among the agricultural activities, the agroforestry systems have been considered sustainable, coming as alternatives to the intensive systems of agricultural production. To monitor the sustainability of agricultural activities, includings  AF,  the  literature  emphasizes  the  biophysical  indicators,  in  detriment  of  the  socio-economical ones. Seeking to define a list of socio-economical indicators that can be adapted to the several models recommendations of  AF a study was developed, supported by specialists and technicians and wide literature review. The conclusions were: the categories related  to the operation of the systems had the largest number of indicators in the socioeconômic component, with larger concentration in the endogenous operations of the system, followed by the endogenous and exogenous resources; the largest number of indicators suggested in the category operation of the system was in the descriptors health and nutrition, employment, habitation and sanity and economic analysis; in the category operation of exogenous systems, there were certain larger number of indicators for the descriptors commercialization and rural infrastructure; practically there was no difference among the number of indicators obtained for the agroforestry systems with and without the animal component.

Sustainable automotive energy system in China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Xiliang (ed.) [Tsinghua Univ. Beijing (China). China Automotive Energy Research Center

2013-06-01

The latest research available on automotive energy system analysis in China. Thorough introduction on automotive energy system in China. Provides the broad perspective to aid in planning sustainable road transport in China. Sustainable Automotive Energy System in China aims at identifying and addressing the key issues of automotive energy in China in a systematic way, covering demography, economics, technology and policy, based on systematic and in-depth, multidisciplinary and comprehensive studies. Five scenarios of China's automotive energy development are created to analyze the possible contributions in the fields of automotive energy, vehicle fuel economy improvement, electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles and the 2nd generation biofuel development. Thanks to this book, readers can gain a better understanding of the nature of China's automotive energy development and be informed about: (1) the current status of automotive energy consumption, vehicle technology development, automotive energy technology development and policy; (2) the future of automotive energy development, fuel consumption, propulsion technology penetration and automotive energy technology development, and (3) the pathways of sustainable automotive energy transformation in China, in particular, the technological and the policy-related options. This book is intended for researchers, engineers and graduates students in the low-carbon transportation and environmental protection field.

Toward Knowledge Systems for Sustainability Science

Science.gov (United States)

Zaks, D. P.; Jahn, M.

2011-12-01

Managing ecosystems for the outcomes of agricultural productivity and resilience will require fundamentally different knowledge management systems. In the industrial paradigm of the 20th century, land was considered an open, unconstrained system managed for maximum yield. While dramatic increases in yield occurred in some crops and locations, unintended but often foreseeable consequences emerged. While productivity remains a key objective, we must develop analytic systems that can identify better management options for the full range of monetized and non-monetized inputs, outputs and outcomes that are captured in the following framing question: How much valued service (e.g. food, materials, energy) can we draw from a landscape while maintaining adequate levels of other valued or necessary services (e.g. biodiversity, water, climate regulation, cultural services) including the long-term productivity of the land? This question is placed within our contemporary framing of valued services, but structured to illuminate the shifts required to achieve long-term sufficiency and planetary resilience. This framing also highlights the need for fundamentally new knowledge systems including information management infrastructures, which effectively support decision-making on landscapes. The purpose of this initiative by authors from diverse fields across government and academic science is to call attention to the need for a vision and investment in sustainability science for landscape management. Substantially enhanced capabilities are needed to compare and integrate information from diverse sources, collected over time that link choices made to meet our needs from landscapes to both short and long term consequences. To further the goal of an information infrastructure for sustainability science, three distinct but interlocking domains are best distinguished: 1) a domain of data, information and knowledge assets; 2) a domain that houses relevant models and tools in a curated

Towards a Multidisciplinary Approach on Creating Value: Sustainability through the Supply Chain and ERP Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wouter De Soete

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP is a widely used approach through manufacturing environments in a variety of sectors. With a tendency to go to specialized, smaller lot sizes in several industries (e.g., the pharmaceutical sector, companies are dealing with capacity bottlenecks if the planning rhythm wheel is not well calibrated or when production lines are not flexible enough in terms of changeover (C/O and set-up times (S/U (OEE is too small. A well-established communication system including other enterprise resources or production factors (e.g., Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP is favorable to any extent. More and more questions arise from stakeholder communities and end-users on whether or not supply chains and manufacturing environments are sustainable and safe. Departments such as Environmental Health, Safety & Sustainability (EHS & S and Product Stewardship are too often at the “blind” side of the ICT interface. When it comes to product and organizational sustainability, data seems to be lacking in order to conduct sustainability assessments proficiently. Years of intensive research and experience proved that primary data to perform sustainability assessments often are measured through equipment control sensors (e.g., flow rates, temperatures, etc. and sent to PLCs and many other systems. Nevertheless, these data measurements are in many cases simply not penetrating through the Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES because these bottom-up engineering data seems to be of little value to planning, procurement, etc. This communication paper deals with how sustainability assessments can be embedded in business operational management systems. After all, who does not want a “live Carbon Footprint” for process improvements and external sustainability reporting instead of a series of expensive resource consuming studies of 4 to 6 months digging into data logs in traditional Life Cycle Assessment (LCA? This communication paper has

Practices of corporate social responsibility and sustainable systems work in Peruvian companies issuing sustainability reports

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Angela Prialé

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Through a literature review, this exploratory study seeks to determine whether the practices related to its colaborators, who report as part of its action responsible Peruvian companies issuing sustainability reports can be considered sustainable management practices of human resources. To this end, it was used the approach of sustainable work systems as a general approach. It was found that some of the practices of responsible management of human resources that implement the analyzed companies address the human dimensions of sustainability, although not all dimensions are considered equally or similar depth.

Evaluation System sustainable building of the Federal State. Evidence of sustainability criteria for the new construction of office and administration buildings; Bewertungssystem Nachhaltiges Bauen des Bundes. Nachweis der Nachhaltigkeitskriterien fuer den Neubau von Buero- und Verwaltungsgebaeuden

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kerz, Nicolas; Rietz, Andreas [Bundesinstitut fuer Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung (BBSR), Berlin (Germany)

2011-07-01

Numerous research projects funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany) are the essential basis for the emergence of a systematic sustainability assessment. After two years of cooperation with the German Sustainable Building Council (Stuttgart, Federal Republic of Germany) a scientifically substantiated and design based process of evaluation for the construction of administrative buildings was available. On the basis of a practical testing the system of evaluating of sustainability was refined to a ''rating system for sustainable building''. The contribution under consideration reports on the structure and methodology of this evaluation system as well as on working materials and tools for planning and evaluation.

Sustainable Drainage Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miklas Scholz

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Urban water management has somewhat changed since the publication of The Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS Manual in 2007 [1], transforming from building traditional sewers to implementing SuDS, which are part of the best management practice techniques used in the USA and seen as contributing to water-sensitive urban design in Australia. Most SuDS, such as infiltration trenches, swales, green roofs, ponds, and wetlands, address water quality and quantity challenges, and enhance the local biodiversity while also being acceptable aesthetically to the public. Barriers to the implementation of SuDS include adoption problems, flood and diffuse pollution control challenges, negative public perception, and a lack of decision support tools addressing, particularly, the retrofitting of these systems while enhancing ecosystem services. [...

Embodied energy of building materials and green building rating systems : a case study for industrial halls

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lee, B.; Trcka, M.; Hensen, J.L.M.

2011-01-01

Green building rating (GBR) systems are developed to provide independent assessment standards that evaluate in a few categories about the performance and sustainability of buildings. However, same category might weight differently in each of the GBR systems. A particular system might favor certain

Opportunities and challenges for multicriteria assessment of food system sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugo F. Alrøe

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The focus of the Special Feature on "Multicriteria assessment of food system sustainability" is on the complex challenges of making and communicating overall assessments of food systems sustainability based on multiple and varied criteria. Four papers concern the choice and development of appropriate tools for making multicriteria sustainability assessments that handle built-in methodological conflicts and trade-offs between different assessment objectives. They underscore the value of linking diverse methods and tools, or nesting and stepping their deployment, to help build resilience and sustainability. They conclude that there is no one tool, one framework, or one indicator set that is appropriate for the different purposes and contexts of sustainability assessment. The process of creating the assessment framework also emerges as important: if the key stakeholders are not given a responsible and full role in the development of any assessment tool, it is less likely to be fit for their purpose and they are unlikely to take ownership or have confidence in it. Six other papers reflect on more fundamental considerations of how assessments are based in different scientific perspectives and on the role of values, motivation, and trust in relation to assessments in the development of more sustainable food systems. They recommend a radical break with the tradition of conducting multicriteria assessment from one hegemonic perspective to considering multiple perspectives. Collectively the contributions to this Special Feature identify three main challenges for improved multicriteria assessment of food system sustainability: (i how to balance different types of knowledge to avoid that the most well-known, precise, or easiest to measure dimensions of sustainability gets the most weight; (ii how to expose the values in assessment tools and choices to allow evaluation of how they relate to the ethical principles of sustainable food systems, to societal

Framing in innovation. Towards sustainable agro-food systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zwartkruis, J.V.

2013-01-01

Sustainability issues in the agro-food sector have become increasingly important, and in order to deal with these sustainability issues, innovations are deemed necessary. Only introducing new technologies is not enough, system innovations are needed in which changes in the whole socio-technical

Towards an Agent Based Framework for Modelling Smart Self-Sustainable Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igor Tomičić

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Self-sustainability is a property of a system; a system is considered to be self-sustainable if it can sustain itself without external support in an observed period of time. If this property is mapped to a human settlement in context of resources (water, energy, food, etc., it would describe a human settlement which is independent of external resources (like the national electrical grid or a central water distribution system, where such external resources are either not available, or not desirable. This article contributes to presenting the state-of-the-art overview of self-sustainability-related research. While self-sustainability as in the above described form was not a direct subject of research, there are several fields which are either related to, or could be of significant value to the self-sustainability research in this context. The extensive literature overview also showed no frameworks for modeling self sustainable systems in the context of human settlements. Herein a motivation for using agent-based modeling and simulation techniques will be given.

Communicable disease control programmes and health systems: an analytical approach to sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Shigayeva, Altynay; Coker, Richard J

2015-04-01

There is renewed concern over the sustainability of disease control programmes, and re-emergence of policy recommendations to integrate programmes with general health systems. However, the conceptualization of this issue has remarkably received little critical attention. Additionally, the study of programmatic sustainability presents methodological challenges. In this article, we propose a conceptual framework to support analyses of sustainability of communicable disease programmes. Through this work, we also aim to clarify a link between notions of integration and sustainability. As a part of development of the conceptual framework, we conducted a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed literature on concepts, definitions, analytical approaches and empirical studies on sustainability in health systems. Identified conceptual proposals for analysis of sustainability in health systems lack an explicit conceptualization of what a health system is. Drawing upon theoretical concepts originating in sustainability sciences and our review here, we conceptualize a communicable disease programme as a component of a health system which is viewed as a complex adaptive system. We propose five programmatic characteristics that may explain a potential for sustainability: leadership, capacity, interactions (notions of integration), flexibility/adaptability and performance. Though integration of elements of a programme with other system components is important, its role in sustainability is context specific and difficult to predict. The proposed framework might serve as a basis for further empirical evaluations in understanding complex interplay between programmes and broader health systems in the development of sustainable responses to communicable diseases. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2014; all rights reserved.

Sustainability and Convergence: The Future of Corporate Governance Systems?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela M. Salvioni

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In today’s world, a sustainable approach to corporate governance can be a source of competitive advantage and a long-term success factor for any firm. Sustainable governance requires that the board of directors considers economic, social and environmental expectations in an integrated way, no matter what ownership structure and formal rules of corporate governance apply to the company: this mitigates the traditional differences between insider and outsider systems of corporate governance. Previous studies failed to consider the contribution of sustainability in the process of corporate governance convergence. Therefore, the aim of this article is to fill the gap in the existing literature by means of a qualitative analysis, supporting the international debate about convergence of corporate governance systems. The article describes the evolution of outsider and insider systems in the light of the increasing importance of sustainability in the board’s decision-making and firm’s operation to satisfy the needs of all the company’s stakeholders. According to this, a qualitative content analysis developed with a directed approach completes the theoretical discussion, demonstrating that sustainability can bring de facto convergence between outsider and insider corporate governance systems. The article aims to be a theoretical starting point for future research, the findings of which could also have practical implications: the study encourages the policy makers to translate the sustainable business best practices into laws and recommendations, strengthening the mutual influence between formal and substantial convergence.

Sustainability in the Higher Education System: An Opportunity to Improve Quality and Image

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela M. Salvioni

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In view of the increasing importance attributed to social responsibility and stakeholder relationship management, more universities have expanded their research topics and their educational programs through the years. High attention is dedicated to the dominant principles and values of internal and external relations, to the innovation processes designed to ensure an approach to sustainable development. However, less attention is dedicated to the sustainability governance orientation and to the development of a strong institutional culture of sustainability, which is a key success factor to improve the quality and the image. This article observes the sustainability governance orientation, through the analysis of the information on the websites of three fair groups of universities in the international Top 500-ARWU (Academic Ranking of World Universities 2015 ranking. The aim is to verify if there is a link between the degree of sustainability culture in the management and the positioning of the universities in the international ranking. In addition, the analysis is compared with self-assessment data carried out by the same universities in terms of performance sustainability through the STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System online platform. As principal consideration, we have noted that the best universities in the ranking have a management approach based on a shared vision of sustainability development of their university leaders, who play an essential role affirming and disseminating a sustainability culture. All this opens broader future implications intended to highlight the importance of management sustainability as a quality improvement factor of universities.

A sustained-arc ignition system for internal combustion engines

Science.gov (United States)

Birchenough, A. G.

1977-01-01

A sustained-arc ignition system was developed for internal combustion engines. It produces a very-long-duration ignition pulse with an energy in the order of 100 millijoules. The ignition pulse waveform can be controlled to predetermined actual ignition requirements. The design of the sustained-arc ignition system is presented in the report.

Organic versus Conventional Cropping Sustainability: A Comparative System Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tiffany L. Fess

2018-01-01

Full Text Available We are at a pivotal time in human history, as the agricultural sector undergoes consolidation coupled with increasing energy costs in the context of declining resource availability. Although organic systems are often thought of as more sustainable than conventional operations, the lack of concise and widely accepted means to measure sustainability makes coming to an agreement on this issue quite challenging. However, an accurate assessment of sustainability can be reached by dissecting the scientific underpinnings of opposing production practices and crop output between cropping systems. The purpose of this review is to provide an in-depth and comprehensive evaluation of modern global production practices and economics of organic cropping systems, as well as assess the sustainability of organic production practices through the clarification of information and analysis of recent research. Additionally, this review addresses areas where improvements can be made to help meet the needs of future organic producers, including organic-focused breeding programs and necessity of coming to a unified global stance on plant breeding technologies. By identifying management strategies that utilize practices with long-term environmental and resource efficiencies, a concerted global effort could guide the adoption of organic agriculture as a sustainable food production system.

Sustainable growth rate 2013: time for definitive intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirsch, Joshua A; Rosman, David A; Liu, Raymond W; Ding, Alexander; Manchikanti, Laxmaiah

2013-07-01

Federal healthcare spending has been a subject of intense concern as the US Congress continues to search for ways to reduce the budget deficit. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that, even though it is growing more slowly than previously projected, federal spending on Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) will reach nearly $900 billion in 2013. In 2011 the Medicare program paid $68 billion for physicians and other health professional services, 12% of total Medicare spending. Since 2002 the sustainable growth rate (SGR) correction has called for reductions to physician reimbursements; however, Congress has typically staved off these reductions, although the situation remains precarious for physicians who accept Medicare. The fiscal cliff agreement that came into focus at the end of 2012 averted a 26.5% reduction to physician reimbursements related to the SGR correction. Nonetheless, the threat of these devastating cuts continues to loom. The Administration, Congress and others have devised many options to fix this unsustainable situation. This review explores the historical development of the SGR, touches on elements of the formula itself and outlines current proposals for fixing the SGR problem. A recent CBO estimate reduces the potential cost of a 10-year fix of SGR system to $138 billion. This has provided new hope for resolution of this long-standing issue.

Global drivers, sustainable manufacturing and systems ergonomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Siemieniuch, C E; Sinclair, M A; Henshaw, M J deC

2015-11-01

This paper briefly explores the expected impact of the 'Global Drivers' (such as population demographics, food security; energy security; community security and safety), and the role of sustainability engineering in mitigating the potential effects of these Global Drivers. The message of the paper is that sustainability requires a significant input from Ergonomics/Human Factors, but the profession needs some expansion in its thinking in order to make this contribution. Creating a future sustainable world in which people experience an acceptable way of life will not happen without a large input from manufacturing industry into all the Global Drivers, both in delivering products that meet sustainability criteria (such as durability, reliability, minimised material requirement and low energy consumption), and in developing sustainable processes to deliver products for sustainability (such as minimum waste, minimum emissions and low energy consumption). Appropriate changes are already being implemented in manufacturing industry, including new business models, new jobs and new skills. Considerable high-level planning around the world is in progress and is bringing about these changes; for example, there is the US 'Advanced Manufacturing National Program' (AMNP)', the German 'Industrie 4.0' plan, the French plan 'la nouvelle France industrielle' and the UK Foresight publications on the 'Future of Manufacturing'. All of these activities recognise the central part that humans will continue to play in the new manufacturing paradigms; however, they do not discuss many of the issues that systems ergonomics professionals acknowledge. This paper discusses a number of these issues, highlighting the need for some new thinking and knowledge capture by systems ergonomics professionals. Among these are ethical issues, job content and skills issues. Towards the end, there is a summary of knowledge extensions considered necessary in order that systems ergonomists can be fully

Integrated Systems Mitigate Land Degradation and Improve Agricultural System Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Landblom, Douglas; Senturklu, Songul; Cihacek, Larry; Brevik, Eric

2017-04-01

Rain-fed agricultural production supported by exogenous inputs is not sustainable because a continuous influx of expensive inputs (fertilizer, chemicals, fossil fuel, labor, tillage, and other) is required. Alternatives to traditional management allow natural occurring dynamic soil processes to provide the necessary microbial activity that supports nutrient cycling in balance with nature. Research designed to investigate the potential for integrated systems to replace expensive inputs has shown that healthy soils rich in soil organic matter (SOM) are the foundation upon which microbial nutrient cycling can reduce and eventually replace expensive fertilizer. No-till seed placement technology effectively replaces multiple-pass cultivation conserving stored soil water in semi-arid farming systems. In multi-crop rotations, cool- and warm-season crops are grown in sequence to meet goals of the integrated farming and ranching system, and each crop in the rotation complements the subsequent crop by supplying a continuous flow of essential SOM for soil nutrient cycling. Grazing animals serve an essential role in the system's sustainability as non-mechanized animal harvesters that reduce fossil fuel consumption and labor, and animal waste contributes soil nutrients to the system. Integrated systems' complementarity has contributed to greater soil nutrient cycling and crop yields, fertilizer reduction or elimination, greater yearling steer grazing net return, reduced cow wintering costs grazing crop residues, increased wildlife sightings, and reduced environmental footprint. Therefore, integrating crop and animal systems can reverse soil quality decline and adopting non-traditional procedures has resulted in a wider array of opportunities for sustainable agriculture and profitability.

Information Systems Solutions for Environmental Sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gholami, Roya; Watson, Richard T.; Hasan, Helen

2016-01-01

We contend that too few information systems (IS) academics engage in impactful research that offers solutions to global warming despite the fact that climate change is one of the most critical challenges facing this generation. Climate change is a major threat to global sustainability in the 21st...... themselves in creating solutions for environmental problems. Moreover, information is a perquisite for assessing the state of the environment and making appropriate decisions to ameliorate identified problems. Indeed, the IS scholarly community needs to help create a sustainable society. While...

Practices of corporate social responsibility and sustainable systems work in Peruvian companies issuing sustainability reports

OpenAIRE

Prialé, María Angela; Fuchs, Rosa María; Sáenz, Manuel

2014-01-01

Through a literature review, this exploratory study seeks to determine whether the practices related to its colaborators, who report as part of its action responsible Peruvian companies issuing sustainability reports can be considered sustainable management practices of human resources. To this end, it was used the approach of sustainable work systems as a general approach. It was found that some of the practices of responsible management of human resources that implement the analyzed compani...

The macroecology of sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Burger, Joseph R.; Allen, Craig D.; Brown, James H.; Burnside, William R.; Davidson, Ana D.; Fristoe, Trevor S.; Hamilton, Marcus J.; Mercado-Silva, Norman; Nekola, Jeffrey C.; Okie, Jordan G.; Zuo, Wenyun

2012-01-01

The discipline of sustainability science has emerged in response to concerns of natural and social scientists, policymakers, and lay people about whether the Earth can continue to support human population growth and economic prosperity. Yet, sustainability science has developed largely independently from and with little reference to key ecological principles that govern life on Earth. A macroecological perspective highlights three principles that should be integral to sustainability science: 1) physical conservation laws govern the flows of energy and materials between human systems and the environment, 2) smaller systems are connected by these flows to larger systems in which they are embedded, and 3) global constraints ultimately limit flows at smaller scales. Over the past few decades, decreasing per capita rates of consumption of petroleum, phosphate, agricultural land, fresh water, fish, and wood indicate that the growing human population has surpassed the capacity of the Earth to supply enough of these essential resources to sustain even the current population and level of socioeconomic development.

Dynamic Business Networks: A Headache for Sustainable Systems Interoperability

Science.gov (United States)

Agostinho, Carlos; Jardim-Goncalves, Ricardo

Collaborative networked environments emerged with the spread of the internet, contributing to overcome past communication barriers, and identifying interoperability as an essential property. When achieved seamlessly, efficiency is increased in the entire product life cycle. Nowadays, most organizations try to attain interoperability by establishing peer-to-peer mappings with the different partners, or in optimized networks, by using international standard models as the core for information exchange. In current industrial practice, mappings are only defined once, and the morphisms that represent them, are hardcoded in the enterprise systems. This solution has been effective for static environments, where enterprise and product models are valid for decades. However, with an increasingly complex and dynamic global market, models change frequently to answer new customer requirements. This paper draws concepts from the complex systems science and proposes a framework for sustainable systems interoperability in dynamic networks, enabling different organizations to evolve at their own rate.

Sustainability of organic, integrated and conventional farming systems in Tuscany

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pacini, C.; Giesen, G.W.J.; Vazzana, C.; Wossink, G.A.A.

2002-01-01

Agricultural researchers widely recognise the importance of sustainable agricultural production systems and the need to develop appropriate methods to measure sustainability. The principal purpose of this paper is to evaluate the financial and environmental aspects of sustainability of Organic,

Sustainability Decision Support Framework for Industrial System Prioritization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ren, Jingzheng; Wei, Shunan; Goodsite, Michael Evan

2016-01-01

A multicriteria decision-making methodology for the sustainability prioritization of industrial systems is proposed. The methodology incorporates a fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process method that allows the users to assess the soft criteria using linguistic terms. A fuzzy Analytic Network Process...... method is used to calculate the weights of each criterion, which can tackle the interdependencies and interactions among the criteria. The Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation approach is used to prioritize the sustainability sequence of the alternative systems. Moreover......, a sensitivity analysis method was developed to investigate the most critical and sensitive criteria. The developed methodology was illustrated by a case study to rank the sustainability of five alternative hydrogen production technologies. The advantages of the developed methodology over the previous approaches...

Evaluation of the sustainability of contrasted pig farming systems: breeding programmes.

Science.gov (United States)

Rydhmer, L; Gourdine, J L; de Greef, K; Bonneau, M

2014-12-01

The sustainability of breeding activities in 15 pig farming systems in five European countries was evaluated. One conventional and two differentiated systems per country were studied. The Conventional systems were the standard systems in their countries. The differentiated systems were of three categories: Adapted Conventional with focus on animal welfare, meat quality or environment (five systems); Traditional with local breeds in small-scale production (three systems) and Organic (two systems). Data were collected with a questionnaire from nine breeding organisations providing animals and semen to the studied farming systems and from, on average, five farmers per farming system. The sustainability assessment of breeding activities was performed in four dimensions. The first dimension described whether the market for the product was well defined, and whether the breeding goal reflected the farming system and the farmers' demands. The second dimension described recording and selection procedures, together with genetic change in traits that were important in the system. The third dimension described genetic variation, both within and between pig breeds. The fourth dimension described the management of the breeding organisation, including communication, transparency, and technical and human resources. The results show substantial differences in the sustainability of breeding activities, both between farming systems within the same category and between different categories of farming systems. The breeding activities are assessed to be more sustainable for conventional systems than for differentiated systems in three of the four dimensions. In most differentiated farming systems, breeding goals are not related to the system, as these systems use the same genetic material as conventional systems. The breeds used in Traditional farming systems are important for genetic biodiversity, but the small scale of these systems renders them vulnerable. It is hoped that, by

Sustainable Uses of FGD Gypsum in Agricultural Systems: Introduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Dexter B; Dick, Warren A

2014-01-01

Interest in using gypsum as a management tool to improve crop yields and soil and water quality has recently increased. Abundant supply and availability of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum, a by-product of scrubbing sulfur from combustion gases at coal-fired power plants, in major agricultural producing regions within the last two decades has attributed to this interest. Currently, published data on the long-term sustainability of FGD gypsum use in agricultural systems is limited. This has led to organization of the American Society of Agronomy's Community "By-product Gypsum Uses in Agriculture" and a special collection of nine technical research articles on various issues related to FGD gypsum uses in agricultural systems. A brief review of FGD gypsum, rationale for the special collection, overviews of articles, knowledge gaps, and future research directions are presented in this introductory paper. The nine articles are focused in three general areas: (i) mercury and other trace element impacts, (ii) water quality impacts, and (iii) agronomic responses and soil physical changes. While this is not an exhaustive review of the topic, results indicate that FGD gypsum use in sustainable agricultural production systems is promising. The environmental impacts of FGD gypsum are mostly positive, with only a few negative results observed, even when applied at rates representing cumulative 80-year applications. Thus, FGD gypsum, if properly managed, seems to represent an important potential input into agricultural systems. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Visions of sustainable urban energy systems. Proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pietzsch, Ursula [HFT Stuttgart (Germany). zafh.net - Centre of Applied Research - Sustainable Energy Technology; Mikosch, Milena [Steinbeis-Zentrum, Stuttgart (Germany). Europaeischer Technologietransfer; Liesner, Lisa (eds.)

2010-09-15

Within the polycity final conference from 15th to 17th September, 2010, in Stuttgart (Federal Republic of Germany) the following lectures were held: (1) Visions of sustainable urban energy system (Ursula Eicker); (2) Words of welcome (Tanja Goenner); (3) Zero-energy Europe - We are on our way (Jean-Marie Bemtgen); (4) Polycity - Energy networks in sustainable cities An introduction (Ursula Pietzsch); (5) Energy efficient city - Successful examples in the European concerto initiative (Brigitte Bach); (6) Sustainable building and urban concepts in the Catalonian polycity project contributions to the polycity final conference 2010 (Nuria Pedrals); (7) Energy efficient buildings and renewable supply within the German polycity project (Ursula Eicker); (8) Energy efficient buildings and cities in the US (Thomas Spiegehalter); (9) Energy efficient communities - First results from an IEA collaboration project (Reinhard Jank); (10) The European energy performance of buildings directive (EPBD) - Lessons learned (Eduardo Maldonado); (11) Passive house standard in Europe - State-of-the-art and challenges (Wolfgang Feist); (12) High efficiency non-residential buildings: Concepts, implementations and experiences from the UK (Levin Lomas); (13) This is how we can save our world (Franz Alt); (14) Green buildings and renewable heating and cooling concepts in China (Yanjun Dai); (15) Sustainable urban energy solutions for Asia (Brahmanand Mohanty); (16) Description of ''Parc de l'Alba'' polygeneration system: A large-scale trigeneration system with district heating within the Spanish polycity project (Francesc Figueras Bellot); (17) Improved building automation and control systems with hardware-in-the loop solutions (Martin Becker); (18) The Italian polycity project area: Arquata (Luigi Fazari); (19) Photovoltaic system integration: In rehabilitated urban structures: Experiences and performance results from the Italian polycity project in Turin (Franco

A Sustainable, Reliable Mission-Systems Architecture that Supports a System of Systems Approach to Space Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Steve; Orr, Jim; O'Neil, Graham

2004-01-01

A mission-systems architecture based on a highly modular "systems of systems" infrastructure utilizing open-standards hardware and software interfaces as the enabling technology is absolutely essential for an affordable and sustainable space exploration program. This architecture requires (a) robust communication between heterogeneous systems, (b) high reliability, (c) minimal mission-to-mission reconfiguration, (d) affordable development, system integration, and verification of systems, and (e) minimum sustaining engineering. This paper proposes such an architecture. Lessons learned from the space shuttle program are applied to help define and refine the model.

Engineering biological systems toward a sustainable bioeconomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes, Mateus Schreiner Garcez

2015-06-01

The nature of our major global risks calls for sustainable innovations to decouple economic growth from greenhouse gases emission. The development of sustainable technologies has been negatively impacted by several factors including sugar production costs, production scale, economic crises, hydraulic fracking development and the market inability to capture externality costs. However, advances in engineering of biological systems allow bridging the gap between exponential growth of knowledge about biology and the creation of sustainable value chains for a broad range of economic sectors. Additionally, industrial symbiosis of different biobased technologies can increase competitiveness and sustainability, leading to the development of eco-industrial parks. Reliable policies for carbon pricing and revenue reinvestments in disruptive technologies and in the deployment of eco-industrial parks could boost the welfare while addressing our major global risks toward the transition from a fossil to a biobased economy.

Performance versus Values in Sustainability Transformation of Food Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugo F. Alrøe

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Questions have been raised on what role the knowledge provided by sustainability science actually plays in the transition to sustainability and what role it may play in the future. In this paper we investigate different approaches to sustainability transformation of food systems by analyzing the rationale behind transformative acts-the ground that the direct agents of change act upon- and how the type of rationale is connected to the role of research and how the agents of change are involved. To do this we employ Max Weber’s distinction between instrumental rationality and value-rationality in social action. In particular, we compare two different approaches to the role of research in sustainability transformation: (1 Performance-based approaches that measure performance and set up sustainability indicator targets and benchmarks to motivate the agents in the food system to change; (2 Values-based approaches that aim at communicating and mediating sustainability values to enable coordinated and cooperative action to transform the food system. We identify their respective strengths and weaknesses based on a cross-case analysis of four cases, and propose that the two approaches, like Weber’s two types of rationality, are complementary-because they are based on complementary observer stances—and that an optimal in-between approach therefore cannot be found. However, there are options for reflexive learning by observing one perspective-and its possible blind spots-from the vantage point of the other, so we suggest that new strategies for sustainability transformation can be found based on reflexive rationality as a third and distinct type of rationality.

Incentives and market development to establish sustainable biomass systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matteson Gary, C.

2009-01-01

Business-as-usual is not acceptable when it comes to the future for biomass-to-energy/product conversion industry. Incentives and market development need to be applied to guide the owners and operators towards the sustainable practices. Sustainability for biomass is defined to be future energy fuels and bio products that are secure, renewable, and accessible locally, affordable, and pollution free. Intensives are required to convert biomass-to-energy/product conversion systems that are not sustainable into sustainable formats. (Author)

Sustaining an Effective ABC-ABM System

OpenAIRE

Gary COKINS; Sorinel CĂPUŞNEANU

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to describe the Activity- Based Costing (ABC) and Activity-Based Management (ABM) system and techniques to sustain them as a permanent and repeatable production reporting system, not just for one-off analysis. A comparison is made between ABC/ABM modeling software that extracts source data and business systems that include ABC/ABM modeling features. There are presented the stages of updating, running and rerunning the ABC/ABM system. The resul...

The Sustainability Cycle and Loop: models for a more unified understanding of sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Hay, Laura; Duffy, Alex; Whitfield, R I

2014-01-15

In spite of the considerable research on sustainability, reports suggest that we are barely any closer to a more sustainable society. As such, there is an urgent need to improve the effectiveness of human efforts towards sustainability. A clearer and more unified understanding of sustainability among different people and sectors could help to facilitate this. This paper presents the results of an inductive literature investigation, aiming to develop models to explain the nature of sustainability in the Earth system, and how humans can effectively strive for it. The major contributions are two general and complementary models, that may be applied in any context to provide a common basis for understanding sustainability: the Sustainability Cycle (S-Cycle), and the Sustainability Loop (S-Loop). Literature spanning multiple sectors is examined from the perspective of three concepts, emerging as significant in relation to our aim. Systems are shown to provide the context for human action towards sustainability, and the nature of the Earth system and its sub-systems is explored. Activities are outlined as a fundamental target that humans need to sustain, since they produce the entities both needed and desired by society. The basic behaviour of activities operating in the Earth system is outlined. Finally, knowledge is positioned as the driver of human action towards sustainability, and the key components of knowledge involved are examined. The S-Cycle and S-Loop models are developed via a process of induction from the reviewed literature. The S-Cycle describes the operation of activities in a system from the perspective of sustainability. The sustainability of activities in a system depends upon the availability of resources, and the availability of resources depends upon the rate that activities consume and produce them. Humans may intervene in these dynamics via an iterative process of interpretation and action, described in the S-Loop model. The models are briefly

The sustainability indicators of power production systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Onat, Nevzat [Vocational School of Technical Studies, Marmara University, Istanbul 34722 (Turkey); Bayar, Haydar [Technical Education Faculty, Marmara University, Istanbul 34722 (Turkey)

2010-12-15

One of the most important elements of economical and social development is to provide uninterrupted electric energy to consumers. The increasing world population and technological developments rapidly increase the demand on electric energy. In order to meet the increasing demand for sustainable development, it is necessary to use the consumable resources of the world in the most productive manner and minimum level and to keep its negative effects on human health and environment in the lowest level as much as possible. In this study, alignment of hydrogen fuel cells, hydroelectric, wind, solar and geothermal sourced electric energy systems, in addition to fossil fueled coal, natural gas and nuclear power plants, in respect to sustainability parameters such as CO{sub 2} emission, land use, energy output, fresh water consumption and environmental and social effects is researched. Consequently, it has been determined that the wind and nuclear energy power plants have the highest sustainability indicators. The fuel cells that use hydrogen obtained by using coal and natural gas are determined as the most disadvantageous transformation technologies in respect to sustainability. This study contains an alignment related to today's technologies. Using of renewable energy resources especially in production of hydrogen, output increases to be ensured with nanotechnology applications in photovoltaic systems may change this alignment. (author)

Socio-technical strategies and behavior change to increase the adoption and sustainability of wastewater resource recovery systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Prouty, Christine; Mohebbi, Shima; Zhang, Qiong

2018-06-15

Given the increasing vulnerability of communities to the negative impacts of untreated wastewater, resource recovery (RR) systems provide a paradigm shift away from a traditional approach of waste separation and treatment towards a productive recovery of water, energy and nutrients. The aim of this research is to understand the relationships between factors that influence the adoption and sustainability of wastewater-based RR systems to inform technology implementation strategies. The study presents a theory-informed, community-influenced system dynamics (SD) model to provide decision-makers with an adaptable tool that simulates system-level responses to the strategies that are developed for the coastal town of Placencia, Belize. The modeling framework is informed by literature-based theories such as the theory of diffusion of innovations (TDI) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Various methods, including surveys, interviews, participatory observations, and a water constituents mass balance analysis are used to validate relationships and numerically populate the model. The SD model was evaluated with field data and simulated to identify strategies that will improve the adoption and sustainability of RR systems. Site demonstrations (marketing strategy) made a significant impact on the stock of adopted RR systems. The stock of sustained RR systems is driven by the sustainability rate (i.e. economic and environmental viability) which can be improved by more site demonstrations and tank options (technical strategy). These strategies, however, only contributed to incremental improvements in the system's sustainability performance. This study shows that changing community behaviors (i.e. reporting the correct number of users and reclaiming resources), represented by structural change in the SD model, is the more significant way to influence the sustainable management of the community's wastewater resources. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Embodied energy of building materials and green building rating systems : a case study for industrial halls

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lee, B.; Trcka, M.; Hensen, J.L.M.

2010-01-01

Green Building Rating (GBR) systems are developed to provide independent assessment standards that evaluate in a few categories about the performance and sustainability of buildings. However, same category might weight differently in each of the GBR systems, which are different in objectives. A

Placing Ecosystem Sustainability Within the Context of Dynamic Earth Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Because the concept of ecosystem sustainability and the practice of sustainable land management both have long-term foci, it is necessary to view these from the perspective of dynamic rather than static systems. In addition to the typical static system approach for assessing ecos...

A sustainability assessment system for Chinese iron and steel firms

OpenAIRE

Long, Yunguang; Pan, Jieyi; Farooq, Sami; Boer, Harry

2016-01-01

The environmental impact of the Chinese iron and steel industry is huge due to its high consumption of ore, coal and energy, and water and air pollution. It is important not only for China but also for the rest of the world that the Chinese iron and steel industry becomes more sustainable. A sustainable assessment indicator system is an important tool to support that development. Currently, however, a sustainable assessment system, specifically designed to match the characteristics of Chinese...

Assessing the sustainability of egg production systems in The Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

van Asselt, E D; van Bussel, L G J; van Horne, P; van der Voet, H; van der Heijden, G W A M; van der Fels-Klerx, H J

2015-08-01

Housing systems for laying hens have changed over the years due to increased public concern regarding animal welfare. In terms of sustainability, animal welfare is just one aspect that needs to be considered. Social aspects as well as environmental and economic factors need to be included as well. In this study, we assessed the sustainability of enriched cage, barn, free-range, and organic egg production systems following a predefined protocol. Indicators were selected within the social, environmental, and economic dimensions, after which parameter values and sustainability limits were set for the core indicators in order to quantify sustainability. Uncertainty in the parameter values as well as assigned weights and compensabilities of the indicators influenced the outcome of the sustainability assessment. Using equal weights for the indicators showed that, for the Dutch situation, enriched cage egg production was most sustainable, having the highest score on the environmental dimension, whereas free-range egg production gave the highest score in the social dimension (covering food safety, animal welfare, and human welfare). In the economic dimension both enriched cage egg and organic egg production had the highest sustainability score. When weights were attributed according to stakeholder outputs, individual differences were seen, but the overall scores were comparable to the sustainability scores based on equal weights. The provided method enabled a quantification of sustainability using input from stakeholders to include societal preferences in the overall assessment. Allowing for different weights and compensabilities helps policymakers in communicating with stakeholders involved and provides a weighted decision regarding future housing systems for laying hens. © 2015 Poultry Science Association Inc.

Systems and practices in sustainable consumption research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Røpke, Inge

The financial crisis in 2007-2008 and the subsequent economic crisis served as a wake-up call for sustainable consumption studies. The literature on consumption and environment had little focus on finance, but the crisis made it clear that financial issues are important also from an environmental...... perspective. Credit plays an important role as a driver of unsustainable consumption, and financial mechanisms contribute to the widening inequalities as well as the build-up of macroeconomic instability. Looking ahead, transformation of finance is just as important for sustainability as transformation...... of the provision systems for food, transport, housing, etc. that are the dominant focus of environmental studies. Intertwined with these systems, the economy includes various other systems that are decisive for the overall economic and environmental performance and for the distribution of goods and services...

Sustainable Monitoring and Surveillance Systems to Improve HIV Programs: Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Low-Beer, Daniel; Mahy, Mary; Renaud, Francoise; Calleja, Txema

2018-04-24

HIV programs have provided a major impetus for investments in surveillance data, with 5-10% of HIV program budgets recommended to support data. However there are questions concerning the sustainability of these investments. The Sustainable Development Goals have consolidated health into one goal and communicable diseases into one target (Target 3.3). Sustainable Development Goals now introduce targets focused specifically on data (Targets 17.18 and 17.19). Data are seen as one of the three systemic issues (in Goal 17) for implementing Sustainable Development Goals, alongside policies and partnerships. This paper reviews the surveillance priorities in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and highlights the shift from periodic measurement towards sustainable disaggregated, real-time, case, and patient data, which are used routinely to improve programs. Finally, the key directions in developing person-centered monitoring systems are assessed with country examples. The directions contribute to the Sustainable Development Goal focus on people-centered development applied to data. ©Daniel Low-Beer, Mary Mahy, Francoise Renaud, Txema Calleja. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 24.04.2018.

Performance versus values in sustainability transformation of food systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alrøe, Hugo F.; Sautier, Marion; Legun, Katharine

2017-01-01

Questions have been raised on what role the knowledge provided by sustainability science actually plays in the transition to sustainability and what role it may play in the future. In this paper we investigate different approaches to sustainability transformation of food systems by analyzing......-based approaches that aim at communicating and mediating sustainability values to enable coordinated and cooperative action to transform the food system. We identify their respective strengths and weaknesses based on a cross-case analysis of four cases, and propose that the two approaches, likeWeber's two types...... of rationality, are complementary-because they are based on complementary observer stances-and that an optimal in-between approach therefore cannot be found. However, there are options for reflexive learning by observing one perspective-and its possible blind spots-from the vantage point of the other, so we...

Business strategies for transitions to sustainable systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

D.A. Loorbach (Derk); J.C. Bakel (Janneke); G.M. Whiteman (Gail); J. Rotmans (Jan)

2010-01-01

textabstractThis paper develops a strategic perspective for business to contribute to the innovation of societal systems. Sustainability issues at the level of societal sectors cannot be addressed by single organizations but need to be thought of as systemic challenges in which business, government

The mediating effect of sustainability control system on reverse ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper analyses part of the viability of green supply chain management practices created for fisheries industry to implement sustainability control system adoption as mediating on reverse logistics innovation and customer environmental collaboration towards sustainability performance. It examines reverse logistics ...

White paper on geothermal sustainability; Grundlagenpapier 'Geothermal sustainability - A review with identified research needs'

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rybach, L.; Megel, T.

2006-12-15

This comprehensive appendix contained in a comprehensive annual report 2006 for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) reviews research needs identified in connection with the topic of geothermal sustainability. It is noted that excessive production often pursued - mostly for economical reasons - can lead to the depletion of heat reservoirs. Sustainable production can be achieved with lower production rates and still provide similar total energy yields. The regeneration of geothermal resources following exploitation is discussed. The need for further research into geothermal production sustainability is noted. A doublet system realised in Riehen, Switzerland, is discussed, as is an Enhanced Geothermal System EGS using circulation in fractured rock layers. Research still needed is noted.

Sustainable development of energy, water and environment systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duić, Neven; Guzović, Zvonimir; Kafarov, Vyatcheslav; Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír; Mathiessen, Brian vad; Yan, Jinyue

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► This special issue of contributions presented at the 6th SDEWES Conference. ► Buildings are becoming energy neutral. ► Process integration enables significant improvements of energy efficiency. ► The electrification of transport and measures to increase its efficiency are needed. ► Renewable energy is becoming more viable while being complicated to integrate. -- Abstract: The 6th Dubrovnik Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES Conference), attended by 418 scientists from 55 countries representing six continents. It was held in 2011 and dedicated to the improvement and dissemination of knowledge on methods, policies and technologies for increasing the sustainability of development, taking into account its economic, environmental and social pillars, as well as methods for assessing and measuring sustainability of development, regarding energy, transport, water and environment systems and their many combinations.

Sustainability Initiatives Driving Supply Chain: Climate Governance on Beef Production System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ieda Kanashiro Makiya

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Two conceptual frameworks have been analytically dominant in researching innovation dynamics in sustainability transition processes, namely technological innovation systems (TIS and the multi-level perspective (MLP. The innovation systems has been principally concerned with emerging new technologies and their potential contribution to future sustainability, whereas MLP has been more strongly oriented toward reconstructing historical processes of sectorial change. In this perspective, this study aims to analyses how global climate change and environmental pressures impact on the governance of supply chain and the ripple effects on natural resource-intensive economies. Some initiatives are taken to address regulatory issues and reconcile decision-making tools on quality assurance program on value chains. This includes a multi-level perspective (MLP as Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP and technological innovation systems (TIS as Geographic Information System (GIS used as a tracking system for monitoring sustainable practices. The paper discuss the drivers of sustainable beef production system, mainly in Legal Amazon, Brazil, and requirements from a largest retailer aligned to Brazilian public policies. This study presents three distinct strategies: (1 government and public policies to control deforestation related to beef cattle production system, (2 economic approach related to transnational supermarket chain and sustainability initiatives, (3 collective action for decision-making by multiple drivers

Multi-criteria sustainability assessment: A tool for evaluation of new energy system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afgan Naim H.

2007-01-01

Full Text Available One of perspective methods for the evaluation of quality of energy system is the multi-criteria sustainability assessment, based on the analysis and synthesis of indicators expressing different aspects of the system. Application of this methodology in the cases of information deficiency (ASPID methodology enables evaluation of various energy systems. In the paper, the multi-criteria sustainability assessment of energy systems of various energy sources is used to evaluate the energy power system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Eight different energy system options are taken into a consideration as the potential options for the capacity building within the energy power system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has included various renewable sources and fossil fuel clean technologies. Within the multi-criteria sustainability assessment method, sustainability indicators and weighting coefficients are defined and calculated, including: resource indicator, environment indicator, social indicator and economic indicator with respective weighting factors. The methodology includes the system of stochastic models of uncertainty in order to realize the assessment from various supporting systems, and to obtain respective normalization indexes by using non-numeric (ordinal, non-exact (interval, and non-complete information (NNN- information, for sources of various reliability and probability. By the analysis of multi-criteria sustainability assessment of selected options, the decision makers could be enabled to form opinion on quality of considered energy systems, and from the aspect of sustainability, make selection an optimum option of energy system. .

Sustainability assessment of a hybrid energy system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Afgan, Nain H.; Carvalho, Maria G.

2008-01-01

A hybrid energy system in the form of the Object structure is the pattern for the structure of options in the evaluation of a hybrid system. The Object structure is defined as: Hybrid Energy System {[production (solar, wind, biomass, natural gas)] [utilization(electricity, heat, hydrogen)]}. In the evaluation of hybrid energy systems only several options are selected to demonstrate the sustainability assessment method application in the promotion of the specific quality of the hybrid energy system. In this analysis the following options are taken into a consideration: 1.Solar photo-voltaic power plant (PV PP), wind turbine power plant (WTPP) biomass thermal power plant (ThSTPP) for electricity, heat and hydrogen production. 2.Solar PV PP and wind power plant (WPP) for electricity and hydrogen production. 3.Biomass thermal steam turbine power plant (BThSTPP) and WPP for heat and hydrogen production. 4.Combined cycle gas turbine power plant for electricity and hydrogen production. 5.Cogeneration of electricity and water by the hybrid system. The sustainability assessment method is used for the evaluation of quality of the selected hybrid systems. In this evaluation the following indicators are used: economic indicator, environment indicator and social indicator

Edible Insects in Sustainable Food Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Halloran, Afton; Flore, Roberto; Vantomme, Paul

This text provides an important overview of the contributions of edible insects to ecological sustainability, livelihoods, nutrition and health, food culture and food systems around the world. While insect farming for both food and feed is rapidly increasing in popularity around the world, the ro...

Harnessing the sun: Developing capacity to sustain local solar energy systems

Science.gov (United States)

Olarewaju, Olufemi

2011-12-01

Use of solar photovoltaic (PV) and other renewable sources to meet rising electricity demand by a growing world population has gained traction in many countries in recent years. In rural Sub-Saharan Africa, where 86 percent of the populace has no access to electricity, solar energy systems represent partial solutions to demand, especially in support of rural development initiatives to supply potable water, health care services and education. Unfortunately, development of human and organizational capacity to maintain solar technology has not kept pace with the rate of installation, causing many to fall into disrepair and disuse. This has stimulated interest in capacity development processes required to make solar systems sustainable. To cast light on the practical meanings and challenges of capacity development for solar energy, this study compares the experiences of two rural projects, one in Lagos State (Nigeria) that disregarded the importance of capacity development, and the other in Texas (United States) that, in contrast, made such development the centerpiece of its operations. Based largely on interviews with 60 key actors, findings underscore the crucial importance of sustained investment in capacity development to assurance of durable power supply from renewable sources.

Nutritional sustainability of pet foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, Kelly S; Carter, Rebecca A; Yount, Tracy P; Aretz, Jan; Buff, Preston R

2013-03-01

Sustainable practices meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Applying these concepts to food and feed production, nutritional sustainability is the ability of a food system to provide sufficient energy and essential nutrients required to maintain good health in a population without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their nutritional needs. Ecological, social, and economic aspects must be balanced to support the sustainability of the overall food system. The nutritional sustainability of a food system can be influenced by several factors, including the ingredient selection, nutrient composition, digestibility, and consumption rates of a diet. Carbon and water footprints vary greatly among plant- and animal-based ingredients, production strategy, and geographical location. Because the pet food industry is based largely on by-products and is tightly interlinked with livestock production and the human food system, however, it is quite unique with regard to sustainability. Often based on consumer demand rather than nutritional requirements, many commercial pet foods are formulated to provide nutrients in excess of current minimum recommendations, use ingredients that compete directly with the human food system, or are overconsumed by pets, resulting in food wastage and obesity. Pet food professionals have the opportunity to address these challenges and influence the sustainability of pet ownership through product design, manufacturing processes, public education, and policy change. A coordinated effort across the industry that includes ingredient buyers, formulators, and nutritionists may result in a more sustainable pet food system.

Sustainable nanotechnology decision support system: bridging risk management, sustainable innovation and risk governance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Subramanian, Vrishali; Semenzin, Elena; Hristozov, Danail; Zabeo, Alex; Malsch, Ineke; McAlea, Eamonn; Murphy, Finbarr; Mullins, Martin; Harmelen, Toon van; Ligthart, Tom; Linkov, Igor; Marcomini, Antonio

2016-01-01

The significant uncertainties associated with the (eco)toxicological risks of engineered nanomaterials pose challenges to the development of nano-enabled products toward greatest possible societal benefit. This paper argues for the use of risk governance approaches to manage nanotechnology risks and sustainability, and considers the links between these concepts. Further, seven risk assessment and management criteria relevant to risk governance are defined: (a) life cycle thinking, (b) triple bottom line, (c) inclusion of stakeholders, (d) risk management, (e) benefit–risk assessment, (f) consideration of uncertainty, and (g) adaptive response. These criteria are used to compare five well-developed nanotechnology frameworks: International Risk Governance Council framework, Comprehensive Environmental Assessment, Streaming Life Cycle Risk Assessment, Certifiable Nanospecific Risk Management and Monitoring System and LICARA NanoSCAN. A Sustainable Nanotechnology Decision Support System (SUNDS) is proposed to better address current nanotechnology risk assessment and management needs, and makes. Stakeholder needs were solicited for further SUNDS enhancement through a stakeholder workshop that included representatives from regulatory, industry and insurance sectors. Workshop participants expressed the need for the wider adoption of sustainability assessment methods and tools for designing greener nanomaterials.

Sustainable nanotechnology decision support system: bridging risk management, sustainable innovation and risk governance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Subramanian, Vrishali, E-mail: vrishali.subramanian@unive.it; Semenzin, Elena; Hristozov, Danail; Zabeo, Alex [University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics (Italy); Malsch, Ineke [Malsch TechnoValuation (Netherlands); McAlea, Eamonn; Murphy, Finbarr; Mullins, Martin [University of Limerick, Kemmy Business School (Ireland); Harmelen, Toon van; Ligthart, Tom [TNO (Netherlands); Linkov, Igor; Marcomini, Antonio, E-mail: marcom@unive.it [University Ca’ Foscari of Venice, Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics (Italy)

2016-04-15

The significant uncertainties associated with the (eco)toxicological risks of engineered nanomaterials pose challenges to the development of nano-enabled products toward greatest possible societal benefit. This paper argues for the use of risk governance approaches to manage nanotechnology risks and sustainability, and considers the links between these concepts. Further, seven risk assessment and management criteria relevant to risk governance are defined: (a) life cycle thinking, (b) triple bottom line, (c) inclusion of stakeholders, (d) risk management, (e) benefit–risk assessment, (f) consideration of uncertainty, and (g) adaptive response. These criteria are used to compare five well-developed nanotechnology frameworks: International Risk Governance Council framework, Comprehensive Environmental Assessment, Streaming Life Cycle Risk Assessment, Certifiable Nanospecific Risk Management and Monitoring System and LICARA NanoSCAN. A Sustainable Nanotechnology Decision Support System (SUNDS) is proposed to better address current nanotechnology risk assessment and management needs, and makes. Stakeholder needs were solicited for further SUNDS enhancement through a stakeholder workshop that included representatives from regulatory, industry and insurance sectors. Workshop participants expressed the need for the wider adoption of sustainability assessment methods and tools for designing greener nanomaterials.

Building Better Buildings: Sustainable Building Activities in California Higher Education Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Sowell, Arnold; Eichel, Amanda; Alevantis, Leon; Lovegreen, Maureen

2003-01-01

This article outlines the activities and recommendations of California's sustainable building task force, discusses sustainable building activities in California's higher education systems, and highlights key issues that California is grappling with in its implementation of sustainable building practices. (EV)

A Sustainability Assessment Framework For Waterfront Communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sally Said Eldeeb

2015-08-01

Full Text Available It is predicted that the global phenomena of Climate change will have far reaching effects and implications on different local urban systems. For incidence, global average sea levels are expected to rise between 7 and 36 cm by the 2050s, and between 9 and 69 cm by the 2080s. Waterfront communities are the first to be affected by such impacts putting them at high risk. Planning tools are needed to assist these communities and increase their adaptive and learning capacities in the face of diverse challenges to their urban sub-systems.  The research investigates a number of sustainability frameworks and assessment rating systems for neighbourhoods and communities. It investigates the sustainable evaluation criteria carried out by three assessment rating systems. First is the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, USA, the second is BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, UK, and the third is the Estidama PEARL rating system (UAE.Examples of waterfront communities which applied the previous rating systemsare analyzed in order to determine the applicability and relevance of these systems to waterfront communities in particular.  The research concludes with a proposed framework of indicators for waterfront communities. The similarities and differences between the different rating systems and featured indicators specific to waterfront planning applied in the analyzed examples, yet absent in the three rating systems, have informed the selection of indicators in the proposed assessment framework. The proposed framework could be an effective tool for the planning and development of a waterfront community in the MENA region. In order to validate the framework, theset of environmental and physical indicators were applied on the case study of Abu Qir waterfront, Alexandria, Egypt. Conclusions and recommendations  are made that would enhance the resilience of this waterfront community and provide a comprehensive

The Future of Pork Production in the World: Towards Sustainable, Welfare-Positive Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

McGlone, John J

2013-05-15

Among land animals, more pork is eaten in the world than any other meat. The earth holds about one billion pigs who deliver over 100 mmt of pork to people for consumption. Systems of pork production changed from a forest-based to pasture-based to dirt lots and finally into specially-designed buildings. The world pork industry is variable and complex not just in production methods but in economics and cultural value. A systematic analysis of pork industry sustainability was performed. Sustainable production methods are considered at three levels using three examples in this paper: production system, penning system and for a production practice. A sustainability matrix was provided for each example. In a comparison of indoor vs. outdoor systems, the food safety/zoonoses concerns make current outdoor systems unsustainable. The choice of keeping pregnant sows in group pens or individual crates is complex in that the outcome of a sustainability assessment leads to the conclusion that group penning is more sustainable in the EU and certain USA states, but the individual crate is currently more sustainable in other USA states, Asia and Latin America. A comparison of conventional physical castration with immunological castration shows that the less-common immunological castration method is more sustainable (for a number of reasons). This paper provides a method to assess the sustainability of production systems and practices that take into account the best available science, human perception and culture, animal welfare, the environment, food safety, worker health and safety, and economics (including the cost of production and solving world hunger). This tool can be used in countries and regions where the table values of a sustainability matrix change based on local conditions. The sustainability matrix can be used to assess current systems and predict improved systems of the future.

The Future of Pork Production in the World: Towards Sustainable, Welfare-Positive Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John J. McGlone

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Among land animals, more pork is eaten in the world than any other meat. The earth holds about one billion pigs who deliver over 100 mmt of pork to people for consumption. Systems of pork production changed from a forest-based to pasture-based to dirt lots and finally into specially-designed buildings. The world pork industry is variable and complex not just in production methods but in economics and cultural value. A systematic analysis of pork industry sustainability was performed. Sustainable production methods are considered at three levels using three examples in this paper: production system, penning system and for a production practice. A sustainability matrix was provided for each example. In a comparison of indoor vs. outdoor systems, the food safety/zoonoses concerns make current outdoor systems unsustainable. The choice of keeping pregnant sows in group pens or individual crates is complex in that the outcome of a sustainability assessment leads to the conclusion that group penning is more sustainable in the EU and certain USA states, but the individual crate is currently more sustainable in other USA states, Asia and Latin America. A comparison of conventional physical castration with immunological castration shows that the less-common immunological castration method is more sustainable (for a number of reasons. This paper provides a method to assess the sustainability of production systems and practices that take into account the best available science, human perception and culture, animal welfare, the environment, food safety, worker health and safety, and economics (including the cost of production and solving world hunger. This tool can be used in countries and regions where the table values of a sustainability matrix change based on local conditions. The sustainability matrix can be used to assess current systems and predict improved systems of the future.

INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS CASE STUDY: PAPER MANUFACTURING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Emiliana Fortună

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The paper describes a framework for promoting sustainability by using indicators for sustainable production. The concept of sustainable production is described as it is viewed by various organisms actions involved in the analysis of the sustainable industrial systems.The measure of sustainability is approached considering indicators of sustainable production, addressing both their dimensions and qualitative and quantitative features.The proposed framework refines the sustainability dimension for a case study which envisages sustainability in paper manufacturing. The analysis takes into account the life cycle analysis for the considered process since the environmental impact is seen as an essential sustainability indicator. Paper recycling and reuse is associated environmental and social costs, as a preferred alternative in waste minimization hierarchy in the manufacturing of non-trees eco-friendly paper.Proactive initiatives to improve the environmental performances of production process are considered as powerful tools for improving the paper manufacturing environmental footprint.

An intelligent traceability system: Efficient tool for a supply chain sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Bougdira, Abdesselam; Ahaitouf, Abdelaziz; Akharraz, Ismail

2016-07-01

The supply chain sustainability becomes a necessity for a smooth, a rapid and a fluid economic transaction. To reach a sustainable supply chain, we propose to focus attention on products and their lifecycle. So, we consider the traceability as a major success key to ensure the supply chain sustainability. For that, we consider a supply chain design that use an intelligent products traced by an intelligent traceability system. This system identifies, restores history and properties of a product, besides it tracks, in real-time a product. This solution can, also, bring, in the product environment, appropriate adjustments to prevent any risk of threatening qualities for the product. So, it helps supply chain contributors making the sustainable adjustments and the instant benchmark of the supply chain sustainability.

Measuring Sustainability within the Veterans Administration Mental Health System Redesign Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, James H.; Krahn, Dean; Wise, Meg; Oliver, Karen Anderson

2011-01-01

Objective To examine how attributes affecting sustainability differ across VHA organizational components and by staff characteristics. Subjects Surveys of 870 change team members and 50 staff interviews within the VA’s Mental Health System Redesign initiative. Methods A one-way ANOVA with a Tukey post-hoc test examined differences in sustainability by VISN, job classification, and tenure from staff survey data of the Sustainability Index. Qualitative interviews used an iterative process to identify “a priori” and “in vivo” themes. A simple stepwise linear regression explored predictors of sustainability. Results Sustainability differed across VISN and staff tenure. Job classification differences existed for: 1) Benefits and Credibility of the change and 2) staff involvement and attitudes toward change. Sustainability barriers were: staff and institutional resistance, and non-supportive leadership. Facilitators were: commitment to veterans, strong leadership, and use of QI Tools. Sustainability predictors were outcomes tracking, regular reporting, and use of PDSA cycles. Conclusions Creating homogeneous implementation and sustainability processes across a national health system is difficult. Despite the VA’s best evidence-based implementation efforts, there was significant variance. Locally tailored interventions might better support sustainability than “one-size-fits all” approaches. Further research is needed to understand how participation in a QI collaborative affects sustainability. PMID:21971024

Integrated Systems Health Management for Sustainable Habitats (Using Sustainability Base as a Testbed)

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Rodney A.

2017-01-01

Habitation systems provide a safe place for astronauts to live and work in space and on planetary surfaces. They enable crews to live and work safely in deep space, and include integrated life support systems, radiation protection, fire safety, and systems to reduce logistics and the need for resupply missions. Innovative health management technologies are needed in order to increase the safety and mission-effectiveness for future space habitats on other planets, asteroids, or lunar surfaces. For example, off-nominal or failure conditions occurring in safety-critical life support systems may need to be addressed quickly by the habitat crew without extensive technical support from Earth due to communication delays. If the crew in the habitat must manage, plan and operate much of the mission themselves, operations support must be migrated from Earth to the habitat. Enabling monitoring, tracking, and management capabilities on-board the habitat and related EVA platforms for a small crew to use will require significant automation and decision support software.Traditional caution and warning systems are typically triggered by out-of-bounds sensor values, but can be enhanced by including machine learning and data mining techniques. These methods aim to reveal latent, unknown conditions while still retaining and improving the ability to provide highly accurate alerts for known issues. A few of these techniques will briefly described, along with performance targets for known faults and failures. Specific system health management capabilities required for habitat system elements (environmental control and life support systems, etc.) may include relevant subsystems such as water recycling systems, photovoltaic systems, electrical power systems, and environmental monitoring systems. Sustainability Base, the agency's flagship LEED-platinum certified green building acts as a living laboratory for testing advanced information and sustainable technologies that provides an

Multiple criteria decision making for sustainable energy and transportation systems. Proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ehrgott, Matthias [Auckland Univ. (New Zealand). Dept. of Engineering Science; Naujoks, Boris [Login GmbH, Schwelm (Germany).; Stewart, Theodor J. [Cape Town Univ., Rondebosch (South Africa). Dept. of Statistical Sciences; Wallenius, Jyrki (eds.) [Helsinki School of Economics (Finland). Dept. of Business Technology

2010-07-01

In the twenty-first century the sustainability of energy and transportation systems is on the top of the political agenda in many countries around the world and governments are establishing policies towards a sustainable, low emissions energy future. Environmental impacts of human economic activity necessitate the consideration of conflicting goals in decision making processes to develop sustainable systems. Any sustainable development has to reconcile conflicting economic and environmental objectives and criteria. The science of multiple criteria decision making has a lot to offer in addressing this need. Decision making with multiple (conflicting) criteria is the topic of research that is at the heart of the International Society of Multiple Criteria Decision Making. This book is based on selected papers presented at the societies 19th International Conference, held at The University of Auckland, New Zealand, from 7th to 12th January 2008 under the theme ''MCDM for Sustainable Energy and Transportation Systems''. (orig.)

Assessing Sustainability Transition in the US Electrical Power System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen McCauley

2010-02-01

Full Text Available This paper examines sustainability transition dynamics in the US electricity system, drawing on the socio-technical systems approach. We view system change as unfolding along several critical dimensions and geographical scales, including dynamics in the environment, science, civil society, discourse, and state regulatory institutions, as well as in capital and technology formations. A particular emphasis is given to the interaction of discourses, policy networks, and institutions. We trace four distinct regimes which have characterized the evolution of this discourse-network-institutional nexus over the last century. The research examines dynamics that present a challenge to the incumbent energy regime based on fossil fuels, nuclear and hydropower, and demonstrates how the actor-network supporting renewables and energy efficiency has grown stronger and more capable of moving toward a sustainability transition than at any time since the sustainable energy movement began a generation ago.

MAGIK: a Monte Carlo system for computing induced residual activation dose rates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barish, J.; Gabriel, T.A.; Alsmiller, R.G. Jr.

1979-08-01

The photon dose rate from the induced activity produced by sustained bombardment of materials by neutrons and charged particles may present a significant radiation hazard. To minimize this hazard, the material configuration must be so designed that the photon dose rate decays to an acceptable level soon after the source beam is turned off. MAGIK calculates the time-independent photon dose rates that result from activities produced by nucleon-nucleus and meson-nucleus collisions over a wide range of energies. The system has been used both for high-energy accelerator studies and for fusion reactor studies. In the MAGIK system the lengthy photon transport calculations are carried out independent of time, and the time dependence is introduced in the final program, thereby permitting study of various operating scenarios with a minimum computing cost

Sustainability certification systems as guidelines for early-phase urban design processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Lotte Bjerregaard; Bjerre, Lærke; Mansfelt, Lise

2016-01-01

The German Sustainable Building Council (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen or DGNB) has one of the most comprehensive sustainability certification systems for urban districts (UD). Their explicit aim is that the system should impact the very earliest design decisions. The Technical...

Sustainability of health information systems: a three-country qualitative study in southern Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Moucheraud, Corrina; Schwitters, Amee; Boudreaux, Chantelle; Giles, Denise; Kilmarx, Peter H; Ntolo, Ntolo; Bangani, Zwashe; St Louis, Michael E; Bossert, Thomas J

2017-01-10

Health information systems are central to strong health systems. They assist with patient and program management, quality improvement, disease surveillance, and strategic use of information. Many donors have worked to improve health information systems, particularly by supporting the introduction of electronic health information systems (EHIS), which are considered more responsive and more efficient than older, paper-based systems. As many donor-driven programs are increasing their focus on country ownership, sustainability of these investments is a key concern. This analysis explores the potential sustainability of EHIS investments in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, originally supported by the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Using a framework based on sustainability theories from the health systems literature, this analysis employs a qualitative case study methodology to highlight factors that may increase the likelihood that donor-supported initiatives will continue after the original support is modified or ends. Findings highlight commonalities around possible determinants of sustainability. The study found that there is great optimism about the potential for EHIS, but the perceived risks may result in hesitancy to transition completely and parallel use of paper-based systems. Full stakeholder engagement is likely to be crucial for sustainability, as well as integration with other activities within the health system and those funded by development partners. The literature suggests that a sustainable system has clearly-defined goals around which stakeholders can rally, but this has not been achieved in the systems studied. The study also found that technical resource constraints - affecting system usage, maintenance, upgrades and repairs - may limit EHIS sustainability even if these other pillars were addressed. The sustainability of EHIS faces many challenges, which could be addressed through systems' technical design, stakeholder

Emergy-based sustainability evaluation of wind power generation systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Jin; Chen, Bin

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Emergy is used to quantify the sustainability level of wind farms. • A GHG-based indicator is incorporated into emergetic accounting. • Possible pathways to achieve sustainable wind farm management are analyzed. - Abstract: With large-scale commercialization of wind technology, one must investigate economical and sustainable wind resource utilization. In this paper, emergy analysis is used to quantify the environmental pressure, renewability, economic efficiency, and sustainability of a typical wind power system, considering the lifetime stages from extraction and processing of raw materials and resources to the final product (electricity) via material transportation, construction and operation. Possible pathways to achieve sustainable management of wind energy supply chain were also analyzed based on scenario analysis. Results show that wind power is a promising means of substituting traditional fossil fuel-based power generation systems, with the lowest transformity of 4.49 × 10"4 sej/J, smaller environmental loading ratio of 5.84, and lower greenhouse gas emission intensity of 0.56 kg/kWh. To shed light on potential pathways to achieve sustainable and low-carbon wind energy supply chain management and make informed choices, a sensitivity analysis was done by establishing scenarios from the perspectives of material recycling and technical development. Results suggest that using new materials of lower energy intensity or recycled materials in upstream wind turbine manufacturing and construction materials are the most effective measures.

Sustainability evaluation of automatic and conventional milking systems on organic dairy farms in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oudshoorn, Frank W; Kristensen, Troels; van der Zijpp, A J

2012-01-01

Organic dairy farmers in Denmark currently are implementing automatic milking systems (AMS) to save labour costs. As organic agriculture aims at sustainable production, the introduction of a new technology such as AMS should be evaluated regarding its economic viability, environmental impact...... conventional milking systems (CMS). Sustainability indicators were quantified for economic performance of the farm, on-farm eutrophication, on-farm biodiversity, animal welfare (including health), grazing time, milk composition and labour time. Milk yield per cow per year was higher for AMS farms (9021 kg...... was not due to the use of AMS but was caused by a higher export of manure by the CMS farms. The number of veterinary treatments per cow per year was unaffected by AMS use, but culling rate was higher for the AMS farms (38%) than for the CMS farms (32%). There was no difference between the AMS and CMS farms...

Sustainable Energy, Water and Environmental Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Østergaard, Poul Alberg; Duic, Neven

2014-01-01

This issue presents research results from the 8th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems – SDEWES - held in Dubrovnik, Croatia in 2013. Topics covered here include the energy situation in the Middle East with a focus in Cyprus and Israel, energy planning me...

Assessment of the sustainability of a water resource system expansion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjeldsen, Thomas Rødding; Rosbjerg, Dan

2001-01-01

A sustainability assessment method involving risk criteria related to reliability, resilience and vulnerability, has been applied to quantify the relative sustainability of possible expansions of a water resources system in the KwaZulu-Natal province South Africa. A river basin model has been setup....... Based on initial experience the method was modified leading to more credible results. A problem with assessing sustainability using risk criteria is a favouring of supply-oriented solutions, in particular when aspects not directly related to demand and availability of water are excluded....... for the water resources system, comprising all important water users within the catchment. Measures to meet the growing water demand in the catchment are discussed. Six scenarios including both supply and demand oriented solutions are identified, modelled and compared in tenus of the sustainability criteria...

Sustainability Smarts: Best Practices for College Unions and Student Activities

Science.gov (United States)

Stringer, Elizabeth

2008-01-01

Colleges and universities around the world are enacting sustainable initiatives. Some are signing the American College and University President's Climate Committment, while others are being recognized by STARS (Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment, & Rating System). Despite what level of dedication to sustainability an institution might have, it…

Food system sustainability for health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhnlein, Harriet V

2015-09-01

To describe how Indigenous Peoples understand how to enhance use of their food systems to promote sustainability, as demonstrated in several food-based interventions. Comments contributed by partners from case studies of Indigenous Peoples and their food systems attending an international meeting were implemented with public health interventions at the community level in nine countries. The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy, where experiences from case studies of Indigenous Peoples were considered and then conducted in their home communities in rural areas. Leaders of the Indigenous Peoples' case studies, their communities and their academic partners. Reported strategies on how to improve use of local food systems in case study communities of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples' reflections on their local food systems should be encouraged and acted upon to protect and promote sustainability of the cultures and ecosystems that derive their food systems. Promoting use of local traditional food biodiversity is an essential driver of food system sustainability for Indigenous Peoples, and contributes to global consciousness for protecting food biodiversity and food system sustainability more broadly. Key lessons learned, key messages and good practices for nutrition and public health practitioners and policy makers are given.

Challenging Students' Perceptions of Sustainability Using an Earth Systems Science Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Ian F.; Zeegers, Yvonne

2015-01-01

This study investigated whether an Earth Systems-based course focused on raising postgraduate students' awareness of sustainability, from a systems-thinking perspective, would produce graduates with commitment to drive the sustainability agenda forward with a broad perspective. It investigated students' pre and post-course perceptions of…

A sustainable energy-system in Latvia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Lotte Holmberg

2003-01-01

but a negative trade-balance. With this in mind, it is important that Latvia is able to meet the challenge and use the economic development to develop a sustainable energy-system and a sounder trade-balance. A combination of energy planning, national economy and innovation processes in boiler companies will form...

A Critical Review of Environmental Management System as a Tool for Sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Galamba, Kirsten Ramskov

2012-01-01

Purpose: The aim of the article is to make a critical review of the environmental management system as a tool for sustainability in local authorities. Background: As a point of departure sustainability is outlined as an ambivalent term that has been interpreted in a number of ways, which...... for sustainability in a local authority FM-context. As a branding tool it might have some potential but there is a risk that the tool legitimizes non-sustainable practices as sustainable, which can lead to frustrations and resignation among employees willing to actually make a difference. Practical Implications...... to alienation and restrict innovative thinking in relation to solutions that could potentially contribute to a sustainable society, as it is very difficult for employees to think beyond the system in their everyday work life. One possible alternative arena for innovation towards sustainability is workshops...

A Critical Review of Environmental Management System as a Tool for Sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Galamba, Kirsten Ramskov

Purpose: The aim of the article is to make a critical review of the environmental management system as a tool for sustainability in local authorities. Background: As a point of departure sustainability is outlined as an ambivalent term that has been interpreted in a number of ways, which...... for sustainability in a local authority FM-context. As a branding tool it might have some potential but there is a risk that the tool legitimizes non-sustainable practices as sustainable, which can lead to frustrations and resignation among employees willing to actually make a difference. Practical Implications...... to alienation and restrict innovative thinking in relation to solutions that could potentially contribute to a sustainable society, as it is very difficult for employees to think beyond the system in their everyday work life. One possible alternative arena for innovation towards sustainability is workshops...

Placing ecosystem sustainability within the context of dynamic earth systems

Science.gov (United States)

Sidle, R. C.

2013-12-01

Because the concept of ecosystem sustainability and the practice of sustainable land management both have long-term foci, it is necessary to view these from the perspective of dynamic rather than static systems. In addition to the typical static system approach for assessing ecosystem sustainability, three additional perspectives are presented. These are resilient systems, systems where tipping points occur, and systems subject to episodic geophysical resetting. Ecosystem resilience accommodates both natural and anthropogenic stressors and should be considered to properly frame many ecosystem assessments. A more complex problem emerges when stressors push systems to tipping points, causing a regime shift. Both chronic anthropogenic activities (e.g., over-grazing, forest conversion, poor irrigation practices) and natural changes (e.g., climate anomalies, geochemical weathering, tectonic uplift, vegetative succession) can exhaust ecosystem resilience leading to a rapid change in state. Anthropogenic perturbations can also lower the initiation threshold and increase the magnitude and frequency of certain natural disasters, increasing the likelihood of ecosystem change. Furthermore, when major episodic geophysical events (e.g., large earthquakes, tsunami, and floods; widespread volcanic activity and landslides) exceed thresholds of ecosystem resilience they may reset the attributes of entire systems or landscapes. Large disasters can initiate a cascade of linked events, as in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, where tsunami, fires, landslides, artificial fillslope collapses, radioactive releases, and associated health effects occurred. Understanding the potential for natural change (both chronic and episodic) in ecosystems is essential not only to the environmental aspect of sustainability but also to economic and social aspects. Examples are presented for: (1) ecosystems vulnerable to tipping points (Yunnan, China) and (2) ecosystems reset by earthquakes and

Implementation of sustainability in bridge design, construction and maintenance.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-01

The focus of this research is to develop a framework for more sustainable design and construction : processes for new bridges, and sustainable maintenance practices for existing bridges. The framework : includes a green rating system for bridges. The...

Determination of Indonesian palm-oil-based bioenergy sustainability indicators using fuzzy inference system

Science.gov (United States)

Arkeman, Y.; Rizkyanti, R. A.; Hambali, E.

2017-05-01

Development of Indonesian palm-oil-based bioenergy faces an international challenge regarding to sustainability issue, indicated by the establishment of standards on sustainable bioenergy. Currently, Indonesia has sustainability standards limited to palm-oil cultivation, while other standards are lacking appropriateness for Indonesian palm-oil-based bioenergy sustainability regarding to real condition in Indonesia. Thus, Indonesia requires sustainability indicators for Indonesian palm-oil-based bioenergy to gain recognition and easiness in marketing it. Determination of sustainability indicators was accomplished through three stages, which were preliminary analysis, indicator assessment (using fuzzy inference system), and system validation. Global Bioenergy partnership (GBEP) was used as the standard for the assessment because of its general for use, internationally accepted, and it contained balanced proportion between environment, economic, and social aspects. Result showed that the number of sustainability indicators using FIS method are 21 indicators. The system developed has an accuracy of 85%.

A Comparison of Electricity Generation System Sustainability among G20 Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinchao Li

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Planning for electricity generation systems is a very important task and should take environmental and economic factors into account. This paper reviews the existing metrics and methods in evaluating energy sustainability, and we propose a sustainability assessment index system. The input indexes include generation capacity, generation cost, and land use. The output indexes include desirable and undesirable parts. The desirable outputs are total electricity generation and job creation. The undesirable outputs are external supply risk and external costs associated with the environment and health. The super-efficiency data envelopment analysis method is used to calculate the sustainability of electricity generation systems of 23 countries from 2005 to 2014. The three input indexes and three undesirable output indexes are used as the input variables. The two desirable outputs are used as the output variables. The results show that most countries’ electricity generation sustainability values have decreasing trends. In addition, nuclear and hydro generation have positive effects. Solar, wind, and fossil fuel generation have negative effects on sustainability.

Sustainable transportation according to certification systems: A viability analysis based on neighborhood size and context relevance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gouda, Amr Ah., E-mail: amr.gouda@eng.asu.edu.eg [Center for Technology and Society, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstr, 16-18, Berlin 10623 (Germany); Architecture Department, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, 1 Sarayat St., Abassia, Cairo (Egypt); Masoumi, Houshmand E. [Center for Technology and Society, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstr, 16-18, Berlin 10623 (Germany)

2017-03-15

Urban sustainability certification (USC) systems comprehensively assess and benchmark the sustainability of neighborhoods, communities, etc. However, it is important to understand what USCs mean by neighborhoods and communities in terms of definition and their certified developments' size. This study focuses on sustainable transportation and its measures in USCs in order to discern: how relevant are these measures to the varied local conditions, especially in developing countries? And whether they can generate palpable benefits vis-à-vis the certified developments' site areas. Taking descriptive analysis methods, this study focuses on four prominent USCs, namely, LEED for Neighborhood Development, BREEAM Communities, CASBEE for Urban Development, and The Pearl Community Rating System. The four USCs prescribed multiple measures for sustainable transportation, particularly in favor of active transportation and public transportation. However, the relatively small size of their citified developments and the varying transportation conditions among different contexts attenuate the viability and relevance of the advocated measures for both modes. In order to yield more benefits, USCs should underscore the integrative nature of neighborhoods and communities, and transportation within their prescribed criteria and measures. Moreover, sustainable transportation as a theme should be tailored to the local conditions rather than being adopted or adapted from global USCs. - Highlights: • Transportation measures in four prominent certification systems were investigated. • Most certified neighborhoods, communities and developments have small site areas. • Certifications are insensitive to realities of transport in developing countries. • Benefits from advocating active transport only within certified areas are minimal. • Certifications devalue the integrative nature of neighborhoods and transportation.

Sustainable transportation according to certification systems: A viability analysis based on neighborhood size and context relevance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gouda, Amr Ah.; Masoumi, Houshmand E.

2017-01-01

Urban sustainability certification (USC) systems comprehensively assess and benchmark the sustainability of neighborhoods, communities, etc. However, it is important to understand what USCs mean by neighborhoods and communities in terms of definition and their certified developments' size. This study focuses on sustainable transportation and its measures in USCs in order to discern: how relevant are these measures to the varied local conditions, especially in developing countries? And whether they can generate palpable benefits vis-à-vis the certified developments' site areas. Taking descriptive analysis methods, this study focuses on four prominent USCs, namely, LEED for Neighborhood Development, BREEAM Communities, CASBEE for Urban Development, and The Pearl Community Rating System. The four USCs prescribed multiple measures for sustainable transportation, particularly in favor of active transportation and public transportation. However, the relatively small size of their citified developments and the varying transportation conditions among different contexts attenuate the viability and relevance of the advocated measures for both modes. In order to yield more benefits, USCs should underscore the integrative nature of neighborhoods and communities, and transportation within their prescribed criteria and measures. Moreover, sustainable transportation as a theme should be tailored to the local conditions rather than being adopted or adapted from global USCs. - Highlights: • Transportation measures in four prominent certification systems were investigated. • Most certified neighborhoods, communities and developments have small site areas. • Certifications are insensitive to realities of transport in developing countries. • Benefits from advocating active transport only within certified areas are minimal. • Certifications devalue the integrative nature of neighborhoods and transportation.

Sustaining Air Force Space Systems: A Model for the Global Positioning System

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Snyder, Don; Mills, Patrick; Comanor, Katherine; Roll, Jr, Charles R

2007-01-01

... and sustainment affect the performance of space systems. In this monograph, we develop a pilot framework for analyzing these and related questions in the ground segment of the Global Positioning System and recommend steps for implementing this framework...

A Low-Cost Time-Hopping Impulse Radio System for High Data Rate Transmission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinyun Zhang

2005-03-01

Full Text Available We present an efficient, low-cost implementation of time-hopping impulse radio that fulfills the spectral mask mandated by the FCC and is suitable for high-data-rate, short-range communications. Key features are (i all-baseband implementation that obviates the need for passband components, (ii symbol-rate (not chip rate sampling, A/D conversion, and digital signal processing, (iii fast acquisition due to novel search algorithms, and (iv spectral shaping that can be adapted to accommodate different spectrum regulations and interference environments. Computer simulations show that this system can provide 110 Mbps at 7–10 m distance, as well as higher data rates at shorter distances under FCC emissions limits. Due to the spreading concept of time-hopping impulse radio, the system can sustain multiple simultaneous users, and can suppress narrowband interference effectively.

Sustainable intensification in agricultural systems

Science.gov (United States)

Pretty, Jules; Bharucha, Zareen Pervez

2014-01-01

Background Agricultural systems are amended ecosystems with a variety of properties. Modern agroecosystems have tended towards high through-flow systems, with energy supplied by fossil fuels directed out of the system (either deliberately for harvests or accidentally through side effects). In the coming decades, resource constraints over water, soil, biodiversity and land will affect agricultural systems. Sustainable agroecosystems are those tending to have a positive impact on natural, social and human capital, while unsustainable systems feed back to deplete these assets, leaving fewer for the future. Sustainable intensification (SI) is defined as a process or system where agricultural yields are increased without adverse environmental impact and without the conversion of additional non-agricultural land. The concept does not articulate or privilege any particular vision or method of agricultural production. Rather, it emphasizes ends rather than means, and does not pre-determine technologies, species mix or particular design components. The combination of the terms ‘sustainable’ and ‘intensification’ is an attempt to indicate that desirable outcomes around both more food and improved environmental goods and services could be achieved by a variety of means. Nonetheless, it remains controversial to some. Scope and Conclusions This review analyses recent evidence of the impacts of SI in both developing and industrialized countries, and demonstrates that both yield and natural capital dividends can occur. The review begins with analysis of the emergence of combined agricultural–environmental systems, the environmental and social outcomes of recent agricultural revolutions, and analyses the challenges for food production this century as populations grow and consumption patterns change. Emergent criticisms are highlighted, and the positive impacts of SI on food outputs and renewable capital assets detailed. It concludes with observations on policies and

Effect of the helicity injection rate and the Lundquist number on spheromak sustainment

Science.gov (United States)

García-Martínez, Pablo Luis; Lampugnani, Leandro Gabriel; Farengo, Ricardo

2014-12-01

The dynamics of the magnetic relaxation process during the sustainment of spheromak configurations at different helicity injection rates is studied. The three-dimensional activity is recovered using time-dependent resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations. A cylindrical flux conserver with concentric electrodes is used to model configurations driven by a magnetized coaxial gun. Magnetic helicity is injected by tangential boundary flows. Different regimes of sustainment are identified and characterized in terms of the safety factor profile. The spatial and temporal behavior of fluctuations is described. The dynamo action is shown to be in close agreement with existing experimental data. These results are relevant to the design and operation of helicity injected devices, as well as to basic understanding of the plasma relaxation mechanism in quasi-steady state.

Effect of the helicity injection rate and the Lundquist number on spheromak sustainment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

García-Martínez, Pablo Luis, E-mail: pablogm@cab.cnea.gov.ar [Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and Sede Andina—Universidad Nacional de Río Negro (UNRN), Av. Bustillo 9500, 8400 San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro (Argentina); Lampugnani, Leandro Gabriel; Farengo, Ricardo [Instituto Balseiro and Centro Atómico Bariloche (CAB-CNEA), Av. Bustillo 9500, 8400 San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro (Argentina)

2014-12-15

The dynamics of the magnetic relaxation process during the sustainment of spheromak configurations at different helicity injection rates is studied. The three-dimensional activity is recovered using time-dependent resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations. A cylindrical flux conserver with concentric electrodes is used to model configurations driven by a magnetized coaxial gun. Magnetic helicity is injected by tangential boundary flows. Different regimes of sustainment are identified and characterized in terms of the safety factor profile. The spatial and temporal behavior of fluctuations is described. The dynamo action is shown to be in close agreement with existing experimental data. These results are relevant to the design and operation of helicity injected devices, as well as to basic understanding of the plasma relaxation mechanism in quasi-steady state.

PENGARUH PROFIT MARGIN, ASSETS TURNOVER DAN LEVERAGE TERHADAP SUSTAINABLE GROWTH RATE PADA PERUSAHAAN SEKTOR JASA YANG TERDAFTAR DI BURSA EFEK INDONESIA PERIODE 2010-2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arim Nasim

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This study aims to determine the effect of Profit Margin, Assets Turnover and Leverage on Sustainable Growth Rate. The variables used are profit margin, asset turnover and leverage as independent variable and sustainable growth rate as dependent variable. This study also aims to describe the state of profit margin projected by Net Profit Margin (NPM, asset turnover proxied by Total Assets Turnover (TATO, leverage which is proxied by Debt to Equity Ratio (DER and Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR Service sector. This research was conducted on service sector companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange 2010-2012.Data obtained from website Bursa Efek Indonesia.Teknik data analysis used is multiple linear regression and use t-statistics to test the influence of each independent variable to variable Dependent partially.Previously done classical assumption test that includes data normality test, multicolinierity test, heteroskedastisitas test and autocorrelation test.Based on data normality test, multicolinierity test, heteroscedasticity test and autocorrelation test did not found any variables that deviate from the classical assumption.From the results of research Shows that profit margin positively affect sustainable growth rate, asset turnover have positive effect to sustainable growth rate, and leverage have positive effect to sustainable growth rate.

Designing a new cropping system for high productivity and sustainable water usage under climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Qingfeng; Wang, Hongfei; Yan, Peng; Pan, Junxiao; Lu, Dianjun; Cui, Zhenling; Zhang, Fusuo; Chen, Xinping

2017-02-01

The food supply is being increasingly challenged by climate change and water scarcity. However, incremental changes in traditional cropping systems have achieved only limited success in meeting these multiple challenges. In this study, we applied a systematic approach, using model simulation and data from two groups of field studies conducted in the North China Plain, to develop a new cropping system that improves yield and uses water in a sustainable manner. Due to significant warming, we identified a double-maize (M-M; Zea mays L.) cropping system that replaced the traditional winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) -summer maize system. The M-M system improved yield by 14-31% compared with the conventionally managed wheat-maize system, and achieved similar yield compared with the incrementally adapted wheat-maize system with the optimized cultivars, planting dates, planting density and water management. More importantly, water usage was lower in the M-M system than in the wheat-maize system, and the rate of water usage was sustainable (net groundwater usage was ≤150 mm yr-1). Our study indicated that systematic assessment of adaptation and cropping system scale have great potential to address the multiple food supply challenges under changing climatic conditions.

Monitoring System of Sustainable Development in Cultural and Mountain Tourism Destinations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jurigova Zuzana

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Tourism destinations are vulnerable to negative impacts of tourism development and thus require a sustainable approach. It is significant mainly in destinations with fragile environments such as cultural destinations with their historical value and mountain destinations with specific natural conditions. The aim of this paper is to propose the monitoring system for sustainable development of cultural and mountain destinations based on the critical scientific literature review. The added value of this work resides in defining specific indicators (creating monitoring system for measurement of sustainability in cultural routes and mountain destinations.

Local sustained-release delivery systems of the antibiofilm agent thiazolidinedione-8 for prevention of catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

Science.gov (United States)

Shenderovich, Julia; Feldman, Mark; Kirmayer, David; Al-Quntar, Abed; Steinberg, Doron; Lavy, Eran; Friedman, Michael

2015-05-15

Thiazolidinedione-8 (TZD-8) is an anti-quorum-sensing molecule that has the potential to effectively prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections, a major healthcare challenge. Sustained-release drug-delivery systems can enhance drugs' therapeutic potential, by maintaining their therapeutic level and reducing their side effects. Varnishes for sustained release of TZD-8 based on ethylcellulose or ammonio methacrylate copolymer type A (Eudragit(®) RL) were developed. The main factors affecting release rate were found to be film thickness and presence of a hydrophilic or swellable polymer in the matrix. The release mechanism of ethylcellulose-based systems matched the Higuchi model. Selected varnishes were retained on catheters for at least 8 days. Sustained-release delivery systems of TZD-8 were active against Candida albicans biofilms. The present study demonstrates promising results en route to developing applications for the prevention of catheter-associated infections. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Advancing Integrated Systems Modelling Framework for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony Halog

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The need for integrated methodological framework for sustainability assessment has been widely discussed and is urgent due to increasingly complex environmental system problems. These problems have impacts on ecosystems and human well-being which represent a threat to economic performance of countries and corporations. Integrated assessment crosses issues; spans spatial and temporal scales; looks forward and backward; and incorporates multi-stakeholder inputs. This study aims to develop an integrated methodology by capitalizing the complementary strengths of different methods used by industrial ecologists and biophysical economists. The computational methodology proposed here is systems perspective, integrative, and holistic approach for sustainability assessment which attempts to link basic science and technology to policy formulation. The framework adopts life cycle thinking methods—LCA, LCC, and SLCA; stakeholders analysis supported by multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA; and dynamic system modelling. Following Pareto principle, the critical sustainability criteria, indicators and metrics (i.e., hotspots can be identified and further modelled using system dynamics or agent based modelling and improved by data envelopment analysis (DEA and sustainability network theory (SNT. The framework is being applied to development of biofuel supply chain networks. The framework can provide new ways of integrating knowledge across the divides between social and natural sciences as well as between critical and problem-solving research.

Nutritional Sustainability of Pet Foods12

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, Kelly S.; Carter, Rebecca A.; Yount, Tracy P.; Aretz, Jan; Buff, Preston R.

2013-01-01

Sustainable practices meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Applying these concepts to food and feed production, nutritional sustainability is the ability of a food system to provide sufficient energy and essential nutrients required to maintain good health in a population without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their nutritional needs. Ecological, social, and economic aspects must be balanced to support the sustainability of the overall food system. The nutritional sustainability of a food system can be influenced by several factors, including the ingredient selection, nutrient composition, digestibility, and consumption rates of a diet. Carbon and water footprints vary greatly among plant- and animal-based ingredients, production strategy, and geographical location. Because the pet food industry is based largely on by-products and is tightly interlinked with livestock production and the human food system, however, it is quite unique with regard to sustainability. Often based on consumer demand rather than nutritional requirements, many commercial pet foods are formulated to provide nutrients in excess of current minimum recommendations, use ingredients that compete directly with the human food system, or are overconsumed by pets, resulting in food wastage and obesity. Pet food professionals have the opportunity to address these challenges and influence the sustainability of pet ownership through product design, manufacturing processes, public education, and policy change. A coordinated effort across the industry that includes ingredient buyers, formulators, and nutritionists may result in a more sustainable pet food system. PMID:23493530

Evaluation of rate of swelling and erosion of verapamil (VRP) sustained-release matrix tablets.

Science.gov (United States)

Khamanga, Sandile M; Walker, Roderick B

2006-01-01

Tablets manufactured in-house were compared to a marketed sustained-release product of verapamil to investigate the rate of hydration, erosion, and drug-release mechanism by measuring the wet and subsequent dry weights of the products. Swelling and erosion rates depended on the polymer and granulating fluid used, which ultimately pointed to their permeability characteristics. Erosion rate of the marketed product was highest, which suggests that the gel layer that formed around these tablets was weak as opposed to the robust and resistant layers of test products. Anomalous and near zero-order transport mechanisms were dominant in tests and commercial product, respectively.

Spatial Zonation Model of Local Irrigation System Sustainability (A Case of Subak System in Bali

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I Putu Sriartha

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This study was aimed at designing a spatial zonation model of a subak sustainability type based on the internal and external dimentions from 69 subaks in three districts in Badung regency. The internal dimention was measured based on subak capability index in implementing Tri Hita Karana (THK philosophy. The external dimention was measured by using index of four variables, namely: road density, population density, social economic facilities, and number of nonfarmer families.The data were analyzed using descriptive quantitative technique and spatial analysis using Geographical Information System (GIS software. The results found three zones of subak sustainability type, spatially follows the principle of distance decay of the growth of tourism and city center. Unsustainable - less sustainable subak zone dominates short distance zone, sustainable - less sustainable subak zone dominates transitional zone, while sustainable subak zone dominates long distance zone. To protect subak from destruction, less sustainable subaks have to be restored into sustainable ones and the sustainable subaks should be made eternal/exclusive subaks

Performance Assessment of a Hybrid Solar-Geothermal Air Conditioning System for Residential Application: Energy, Exergy, and Sustainability Analysis

OpenAIRE

Abbasi, Yasser; Baniasadi, Ehsan; Ahmadikia, Hossein

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the performance of a ground source heat pump that is coupled with a photovoltaic system to provide cooling and heating demands of a zero-energy residential building. Exergy and sustainability analyses have been conducted to evaluate the exergy destruction rate and SI of different compartments of the hybrid system. The effects of monthly thermal load variations on the performance of the hybrid system are investigated. The hybrid system consists of a vertical ground sour...

Zijm Consortium: Engineering a Sustainable Supply Chain System

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Knofius, Nils; Rahimi Ghahroodi, Sajjad; van Capelleveen, Guido Cornelis; Yazdanpanah, Vahid

2018-01-01

In this paper we address one of the current major research areas of the Zijm consortium; engineering sustainable supply chain systems by transforming traditionally linear practices to circular systems. We illustrate this field of research with a case consisting of a network of three firms Willem

Health care financing and the sustainability of health systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Liaropoulos, Lycourgos; Goranitis, Ilias

2015-09-15

The economic crisis brought an unprecedented attention to the issue of health system sustainability in the developed world. The discussion, however, has been mainly limited to "traditional" issues of cost-effectiveness, quality of care, and, lately, patient involvement. Not enough attention has yet been paid to the issue of who pays and, more importantly, to the sustainability of financing. This fundamental concept in the economics of health policy needs to be reconsidered carefully. In a globalized economy, as the share of labor decreases relative to that of capital, wage income is increasingly insufficient to cover the rising cost of care. At the same time, as the cost of Social Health Insurance through employment contributions rises with medical costs, it imperils the competitiveness of the economy. These reasons explain why spreading health care cost to all factors of production through comprehensive National Health Insurance financed by progressive taxation of income from all sources, instead of employer-employee contributions, protects health system objectives, especially during economic recessions, and ensures health system sustainability.

A SUSTAINABLE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM REQUIRES MANAGEMENT TRANSFORMATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kanellopoulos Dimitros

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In order to be the health care system sustainable , management transformations must be based on very precise diagnostic analysis that includes complete and current information. It is necessary to implement an information system that collects information in real time, that watches the parameters that significantly influence the sustainability of the system. Such an information system should point out a radiography(a scan of the system at some time under following aspects:: 1. An overview of system; 2 An overview of the economic situation; 3 A technical presentation ;4. A legal overview; 5. A social overview ; 6. A management overview .Based on these Xrays of the health system, it outlines a series of conclusions and recommendations together with a SWOT analysis that highlights the potential internal (strengths and weaknesses and external potential (opportunities and threats. Based on this analysis and recommendations, the management is going to redesign the system in order to be adapted to the changing environmental requirements. Management transformation is recommended to be by following steps. :1. The development of a new management system that would make a positive change in the health care system 2. Implementation of the new management system 3. Assessment of the changes

Assessment of Farming Systems for Sustainability of Farming Activities in the Mazandaran Province

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Moumenihelali

2016-03-01

criteria were identified as sustainability criteria for agricultural activities in the province along with Cooperative, Commercial and Peasant alternatives as the dominant farming system in the present study. Consequently, the identification of the most suitable farming system for sustainable agricultural activities in the province serves as the main objective of this research. Materials and Methods: The study adopted an applied survey approach to conduct the study in 2014 in Mazandaran. The statistical population comprised of all professionals and experts working in the field of sustainability aspects and farming systems with a deep understanding and sufficient information on the issue being selected through purposive and snowball sampling summing up to 15 subjects. A questionnaire was used to collect data. In order to determine the face and content validities, the professors’ and specialists’ comments were taken into account and to estimate the reliability, the inconsistency rate was used. To achieve the main objective, the analytic hierarchy process technique by considering 5 criteria and 33 sub-criteria on three farming types (cooperative, commercial and peasant were used. The Expert Choice software 2000 was applied for data analysis. It should be noted that the analytic hierarchy process is a multi-criteria decision-making approach being based on paired comparison which enables managers and policymakers to review various scenarios. Likewise, it is sought to consider the experts’ opinions from the most central units involved instead of focusing on the number of decision-makers. Results and Discussion: Based on the results and considering criteria prioritization reveal the fact that the ecological,policy, social dimensions compared with the economic and technical criteria remain more imperative. Therefore, the ecological, political and social dimensions are the most important aspects of agricultural activities sustainability in the province. Hence, it can be

Systems approaches for the design of sustainable agro-ecosystems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kropff, M.J.; Bouma, J.; Jones, J.W.

2001-01-01

The complexity of agricultural systems and the need to fulfil multiple objectives in sustainable agro-ecosystems call for interdisciplinary analyzes and input from a wide variety of disciplines in order to better understand the complete agronomic production system. Systems approaches have been

Optimizing the Sustainment of U.S. Army Weapon Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-17

Dale Carnegie , Fellowship, etc.) NA None of the above OPTIMIZING SUSTAINMENT OF ARMY SYSTEMS 36 Question 11: Army Civilian Education System...Darden, Dale Carnegie , Fellowship, etc.) None of the above 11. Army Civilian Education System (check all that apply) Action Officer Development Course

Evaluating the Sustainability in Complex Agri-Food Systems: The SAEMETH Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristiana Peano

2015-05-01

Full Text Available During the last few years, the definition of sustainability and the translation of its general principles into practical and operative tasks have come into the foreground of scientific research and political agendas throughout the world. The understanding and the evaluation of the environmental, social and economic performances of complex agricultural food systems is probably the real challenge, and the design of more sustainable alternatives has been recognized as necessary for a correct territorial management. This study’s primary goal is the proposition of an interpretive structure “Sustainable Agri-Food Evaluation Methodology” (SAEMETH, able to guide the evaluation of the sustainability of the various organizational forms of the small-scale agri-food supply chain. As a case study, the methodology was applied to 10 small-scale agri-food systems. The application of SAEMETH, as a monitoring tool based on qualitative indicators that are user-friendly and strongly communicative, demonstrates that it is possible to carry out sustainability evaluations of the small-scale agri-food systems through a long-term approach that is participatory, interdisciplinary and multi-institutional and that integrates a solid theoretical base with an operative framework tested in the field. SAEMETH can, in this way, generate a cyclical process that increases the probability of success in the design of sustainable alternatives and the implementation of projects and initiatives at the local/regional scale.

The Chicago Consensus on Sustainable Food Systems Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Drewnowski, Adam

2017-01-01

As participants at the Ecosystem Inception Meeting convened by the Global Dairy Platform and held in Chicago in June 2016, we have identified some concepts as central to the study of food systems science. Following the definition developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization for sustainable diets, the food supply needs to provide foods that are healthy and safe, affordable, culturally acceptable, and with low impact on the environment. Therefore, the four main domains of sustainable food systems science can be described as health, economics, society, and the environment. Food systems science needs to embrace and engage with all relevant allied disciplines that may include environmental health sciences, epidemiology, geography, history, sociology, anthropology, business, and political science. Research and training in food systems science, both domestic and international, would benefit from a set of competencies, from more extensive research networks, and from more public-private engagement. This document builds on major advances in the area of food system research, training, and practice, already achieved by individuals, institutions, foundations, and local and national governments.

The Chicago Consensus on Sustainable Food Systems Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Drewnowski

2018-04-01

Full Text Available As participants at the Ecosystem Inception Meeting convened by the Global Dairy Platform and held in Chicago in June 2016, we have identified some concepts as central to the study of food systems science. Following the definition developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization for sustainable diets, the food supply needs to provide foods that are healthy and safe, affordable, culturally acceptable, and with low impact on the environment. Therefore, the four main domains of sustainable food systems science can be described as health, economics, society, and the environment. Food systems science needs to embrace and engage with all relevant allied disciplines that may include environmental health sciences, epidemiology, geography, history, sociology, anthropology, business, and political science. Research and training in food systems science, both domestic and international, would benefit from a set of competencies, from more extensive research networks, and from more public–private engagement. This document builds on major advances in the area of food system research, training, and practice, already achieved by individuals, institutions, foundations, and local and national governments.

Assessing the global sustainability of different electricity generation systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cartelle Barros, Juan José; Lara Coira, Manuel; Cruz López, María Pilar de la; Caño Gochi, Alfredo del

2015-01-01

A model is presented for assessing the global sustainability of power plants. It uses requirement trees, value functions and the analytic hierarchy process. The model consists of 27 parameters and makes it possible to obtain a sustainability index for each conventional or renewable energy plant, throughout its life-cycle. Here the aim is to make society aware of the sustainability level for each type of power system. As a result, decision making can be done with greater objectivity in both the public and private sectors. The model can be useful for engineers, researchers and, in general, decision makers in the energy policy field. With the exception of biomass fuels, the results obtained reinforce the idea that renewable energies make a greater contribution to sustainable development than their conventional counterparts. Renewable energies have a sustainability index that varies between 0.39 and 0.80; 0 and 1 being the lowest and highest contribution to sustainability, respectively. On the other hand, conventional power plants obtained results that fall between 0.29 and 0.57. High temperature solar-thermal plants, wind farms, photovoltaic solar plants and mini-hydroelectric power plants occupy the first four places, in this order. - Highlights: • A model for assessing the integral sustainability of power plants is proposed. • Different energy alternatives are ordered according to sustainability criteria. • Except for biomass, renewable energies contribute more to sustainable development. • The model aids the decision making process in the energy policy field

Field survey of a sustainable sanitation system in a residential house.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakagawa, Naoko; Otaki, Masahiro; Miura, Shinji; Hamasuna, Hironobu; Ishizaki, Katsuyoshi

2006-01-01

Sustainable sanitation is an approach for more ecological and sustainable water resources management. In this paper, we proposed one of the new integrated waste treatment systems: an "sustainable sanitation system" that includes separation of the black water from water system by a non-flushing toilet (bio-toilet), and a gray water treatment based on a biological and ecological concept. Sustainable sanitation system also converts the domestic waste to soil conditioners and fertilizers, for farmland use. As one of the case studies, Environmentally Symbiotic Housing in which people actually live using the bio-toilet for the black water treatment and the household wastewater treatment facility for the gray water was introduced. The availability of this system was investigated by analyzing the sawdust used in the bio-toilet and the quality of the effluent in the household wastewater treatment facility. As the result, the water content of the sawdust did not exceed 60% in any of the sampling points and the BOD and COD of the effluent of the household wastewater treatment facility were below 10 and 20 mg/L respectively, due to the low loading. Compared to the pollution load on the water environment created by the conventional system, it was found that the effluent of the house has a lower load than the tertiary treatment and the volume of the water consumption is 75% of the conventional system.

Preparation and Application of Sustained-Release Potassium Ferrate(VI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuan Xu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, a composite system for the sustained release of potassium ferrate(VI (sustained-release K2FeO4 was prepared and applied for water treatment. The objective of this research was to maximize the effectiveness of K2FeO4 for water treatment by enhancing its stability using diatomite. The sustained-release K2FeO4 was characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results indicated that no new crystal phase was formed during the preparation and some K2FeO4 crystals entered the pores of the diatomite. From K2FeO4 release experiments, we found that the decomposition rate of K2FeO4 was obviously decreased, which greatly improved the contact rate between released K2FeO4 and pollutants. Via degradation of methyl orange, which was used as a model pollutant, the influential factor of K2FeO4 content within the complete sustained-release K2FeO4 system was studied. The optimal K2FeO4 content within the sustained-release K2FeO4 system was approximately 70%. In natural water samples, sustained-release K2FeO4 at a dosage of 0.06 g/L and with a reaction time of 20 minutes removed 36.84% of soluble microbial products and 17.03% of simple aromatic proteins, and these removal rates were better than those observed after traditional chlorine disinfection.

Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems - Volume II

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neven Duić

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems – JSDEWES is an international journal dedicated to the improvement and dissemination of knowledge on methods, policies and technologies for increasing the sustainability of development by de-coupling growth from natural resources and replacing them with knowledge based economy, taking into account its economic, environmental and social pillars, as well as methods for assessing and measuring sustainability of development, regarding energy, transport, water, environment and food production systems and their many combinations. In total 32 manuscripts were published in Volume II, all of them reviewed by at least two reviewers. The Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems would like to thank reviewers for their contribution to the quality of the published manuscripts.

Fuzzy Based Decision Support System for Condition Assessment and Rating of Bridges

Science.gov (United States)

Srinivas, Voggu; Sasmal, Saptarshi; Karusala, Ramanjaneyulu

2016-09-01

In this work, a knowledge based decision support system has been developed to efficiently handle the issues such as distress diagnosis, assessment of damages and condition rating of existing bridges towards developing an exclusive and robust Bridge Management System (BMS) for sustainable bridges. The Knowledge Based Expert System (KBES) diagnoses the distresses and finds the cause of distress in the bridge by processing the data which are heuristic and combined with site inspection results, laboratory test results etc. The coupling of symbolic and numeric type of data has been successfully implemented in the expert system to strengthen its decision making process. Finally, the condition rating of the bridge is carried out using the assessment results obtained from the KBES and the information received from the bridge inspector. A systematic procedure has been developed using fuzzy mathematics for condition rating of bridges by combining the fuzzy weighted average and resolution identity technique. The proposed methodologies and the decision support system will facilitate in developing a robust and exclusive BMS for a network of bridges across the country and allow the bridge engineers and decision makers to carry out maintenance of bridges in a rational and systematic way.

Sustainable waste management via incineration system: an Islamic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Sustainable waste management via incineration system: an Islamic outlook for conservation of the environment. ... Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences ... Abstract. This paper would firstly examine solid waste management currently ...

Collaborative business modeling for systemic and sustainability innovations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rohrbeck, René; Konnertz, L.; Knab, S.

2013-01-01

Sustainability innovations are characterized by a systemic nature, and require that multiple organizations act in an orchestrated fashion. To jointly identify opportunities and plan sustainability innovations, new methods and approaches are needed. In this article we describe a case study where 8...... firms have collaborated to envision and create new business models in the energy industry. After describing this collaborative business modelling (CBM) approach, we discuss its strengths and limitations and compare it to two alternative methods of strategy and innovation planning: scenario technique...

Mobile e-Commerce Recommendation System Based on Multi-Source Information Fusion for Sustainable e-Business

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Guo

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A lack of in-depth excavation of user and resources information has become the main bottleneck restricting the predictive analytics of recommendation systems in mobile commerce. This article provides a method which makes use of multi-source information to analyze consumers’ requirements for e-commerce recommendation systems. Combined with the characteristics of mobile e-commerce, this method employs an improved radial basis function (RBF network in order to determine the weights of recommendations, and an improved Dempster–Shafer theory to fuse the multi-source information. Power-spectrum estimation is then used to handle the fusion results and allow decision-making. The experimental results illustrate that the traditional method is inferior to the proposed approach in terms of recommendation accuracy, simplicity, coverage rate and recall rate. These achievements can further improve recommendation systems, and promote the sustainable development of e-business.

Sustainability certification systems as guidelines for early-phase urban design processes

OpenAIRE

Jensen, Lotte Bjerregaard; Bjerre, Lærke; Mansfelt, Lise

2016-01-01

The German Sustainable Building Council (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen or DGNB) has one of the most comprehensive sustainability certification systems for urban districts (UD). Their explicit aim is that the system should impact the very earliest design decisions. The Technical University of Denmark has tested the DGNB-UD system in two experimental design projects for similar locations to find out how it can be used in the early-phase design process. This paper describes these ...

Technical characteristic analysis of wind energy conversion systems for sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

BoroumandJazi, G.; Rismanchi, B.; Saidur, R.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Identifying the required technical characteristics of sustainable wind power system. ► Observing Weibull probability function and artificial neural networks for reliability. ► Daily/monthly generation data are used to investigate the system’s availability. - Abstract: Wind energy as a clean, environmentally friendly and cost effective renewable energy resource, is taken into consideration by many developed and developing countries as a promising means to provide electrical energy. In feasibility study stage of the wind energy systems, the sustainability analysis is one of the main issues that can assure the investors and stockholders to invest in this renewable energy. Since a system can be truly sustainable by achieving the energetic, ecological and economic sustainability, the present study will focus on the technical characteristics and performance analysis of the wind energy systems. The relations between reliability, availability, energy and exergy efficiency, risk management and the environmental impact of the wind energy systems are investigated in the context of this study. It is concluded that the wind characteristics data and the wind speed are the main effective parameters on its reliability and availability. It is also revealed that considering the system loss, exergy efficiency results of the wind energy systems are more reliable than the energy efficiencies. Due to avoid future failure of the systems, the causes of the failure are investigated and it was concluded that the structural failures caused by storms and strong winds are known as the most prevalent failures

Sustainable Water Management in Urban, Agricultural, and Natural Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tess Russo

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Sustainable water management (SWM requires allocating between competing water sector demands, and balancing the financial and social resources required to support necessary water systems. The objective of this review is to assess SWM in three sectors: urban, agricultural, and natural systems. This review explores the following questions: (1 How is SWM defined and evaluated? (2 What are the challenges associated with sustainable development in each sector? (3 What are the areas of greatest potential improvement in urban and agricultural water management systems? And (4 What role does country development status have in SWM practices? The methods for evaluating water management practices range from relatively simple indicator methods to integration of multiple models, depending on the complexity of the problem and resources of the investigators. The two key findings and recommendations for meeting SWM objectives are: (1 all forms of water must be considered usable, and reusable, water resources; and (2 increasing agricultural crop water production represents the largest opportunity for reducing total water consumption, and will be required to meet global food security needs. The level of regional development should not dictate sustainability objectives, however local infrastructure conditions and financial capabilities should inform the details of water system design and evaluation.

The storm that rocks the boat: the systemic impact of gated communities on urban sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karina Landman

2007-09-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the impact and implications of gated communities on urban sustainability. This is investigated making use of an overarching methodological framework based on the internationally accepted Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR model, developed by the OECD. Additional to the simple causal flow from drivers to responses are the dynamic relationships between these five aspects. The paper discusses each of these issues and the relationships between them as they pertain to gated communities in South Africa. Gated communities, as complex systems, necessitate the consideration of a multiplicity of feedback loops with internal rates of flow that are determined by non-linear relationships. Only in this way can the full extent of their impact and implications on urban sustainability be assessed.

Exergy and Sustainability : Insights into the Value of Exergy Analysis in Sustainability Assessment of Technological Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stougie, L.

2014-01-01

A major challenge in striving for a more sustainable society is the selection of technological systems. Given the capital intensity of industrial production plants, power generation systems and infrastructure, investment decisions create path dependencies for decades to come. It is difficult to know

Towards sustainable mobile systems configurations: Application to a tuna purse seiner.

Science.gov (United States)

García Rellán, A; Vázquez Brea, C; Bello Bugallo, P M

2018-08-01

Fishing is one of the most important marine activities. It contributes to both overfishing and marine pollution, the two main threats to the ocean environment. In this context, the aim of this work is to investigate and validate methodologies for the identification of more sustainable operating configurations for a tuna purse seiner. The proposed methodology is based on a previous one applied to secondary industrial systems, taking into account the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control focus, developed for the most potentially industrial polluting sources. The idea is to apply the same type of methodologies and concepts used for secondary industrial punctual sources, to a primary industrial mobile activity. This methodology combines two tools: "Material and Energy Flow Analysis" (a tool from industrial metabolism), and "Best Available Techniques Analysis". The first provides a way to detect "Improvable Flows" into de system, and the second provides a way to define sustainable options to improve them. Five main Improvable Flows have been identified in the selected case study, the activity of a purse seiner, most of them related with energy consumption and air emission, in different stages of the fishing activity. Thirty-one Best Available Techniques candidates for the system have been inventoried, that potentially could improve the sustainability of the activity. Seven of them are not implemented yet to the case study. The potential improvements of the system proposed by this work are related to energy efficiency, waste management, prevention and control of air emissions. This methodology demonstrates to be a good tool towards sustainable punctual systems, but also towards sustainable mobile systems such as the fishing activity in oceans, as the tuna purse seiner validated here. The practical application of the identified technologies to fishing systems will contribute to prevent and reduce marine pollution, one of the greatest threats of today's oceans

Electric Road Systems: Strategic Stepping Stone on the Way towards Sustainable Freight Transport?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jesko Schulte

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Electrification of the transport sector has been pointed out as a key factor for tackling some of today’s main challenges, such as global warming, air pollution, and eco-system degradation. While numerous studies have investigated the potential of electrifying passenger transport, less focus has been on how road freight transport could be powered in a sustainable future. This study looks at Electric Road Systems (ERS in comparison to the current diesel system. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development was used to assess whether ERS could be a stepping stone on the way towards sustainability. Strategic life-cycle assessment was applied, scanning each life-cycle phase for violations against basic sustainability principles. Resulting sustainability “hot spots” were quantified with traditional life-cycle assessment. The results show that, if powered by renewable energy, ERS have a potential to decrease the environmental impact of freight transport considerably. Environmental payback times of less than five years are achievable if freight traffic volumes are sufficiently high. However, some severe violations against sustainability principles were identified. Still, ERS could prove to be a valuable part of the solution, as they drastically decrease the need for large batteries with high cost and sustainability impact, thereby catalyzing electrification and the transition towards sustainable freight transport.

Stoked nondynamos: sustaining field in magnetically non-closed systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byington, B M; Brummell, N H; Stone, J M; Gough, D O

2014-01-01

Much effort has gone into identifying and classifying systems that might be capable of dynamo action, i.e. capable of generating and sustaining magnetic field indefinitely against dissipative effects in a conducting fluid. However, it is difficult, if not almost technically impossible, to derive a method of determining in both an absolutely conclusive and a pragmatic manner whether a system is a dynamo or not in the nonlinear regime. This problem has generally been examined only for closed systems, despite the fact that most realistic situations of interest are not strictly closed. Here we examine the even more complex problem of whether a known nondynamo closed system can be distinguished pragmatically from a true dynamo when a small input of magnetic field to the system is allowed. We call such systems ‘stoked nondynamos’ owing to the ‘stoking’ or augmentation of the magnetic field in the system. It may seem obvious that magnetic energy can be sustained in such systems since there is an external source, but crucial questions remain regarding what level is maintained and whether such nondynamo systems can be distinguished from a true dynamo. In this paper, we perform 3D nonlinear numerical simulations with time-dependent ABC forcing possessing known dynamo properties. We find that magnetic field can indeed be maintained at a significant stationary level when stoking a system that is a nondynamo when not stoked. The maintained state results generally from an eventual rough balance of the rates of input and decay of magnetic field. We find that the relevance of this state is dictated by a parameter κ representing the correlation of the resultant field with the stoking forcing function. The interesting regime is where κ is small but non-zero, as this represents a middle ground between a state where the stoking has no effect on the pre-existing nondynamo properties and a state where the effect of stoking is easily detectable. We find that in this regime, (a

Equilibrium exchange rate assessment in Serbia using the IMF external sustainability approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pažun Brankica

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The exchange rate has always been a topical issue, particularly in the last two decades, at the time of strong world economy globalisation, as well as liberalization of international flows of goods, services and factors of production, which has resulted in stronger trade and financial integration. There has been a rise in the share of trade in world GDP. Growing developing countries contribute significantly to this growth, which is evident from the data that show increase of their share in world trade , as well as their importance in international capital flows. One of the most important concepts in open macroeconomics is the equilibrium real exchange rate - ERER. Deviations of the real exchange rate are considered to be the cause of the loss of competitiveness and economic slowdown, as well as possible currency crisis (overvaluation and undervaluation. Disadvantages of traditional concepts in exchange rate assessment which are very often reflected in unsuccessful empirical results, motivate experts to seek alternative models to assist in equilibrium exchange rate analysis. This paper aims to present one of three complementary methodologies used by the International Monetary Fund, for the equilibrium real exchange rate assessment in Serbia, as well as the deviation of the real exchange rate from its (estimated equilibrium, that is external sustainability approach.

World in transition 3 towards sustainable energy systems

CERN Document Server

2014-01-01

'The publication of World in Transition: Towards Sustainable Energy Systems is timely indeed. The World Summit on Sustainable Development gave great prominence to this challenge, but failed to agree on a quantitative, time-bound target for the introduction of renewable energy sources. The German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) has now produced a report with a global focus, which is essential in view of the global impacts of climate change. The report provides a convincing long-term analysis, which is also essential. Global energy policies have to take a long-term perspective, over the

The impact of Green Information Systems on sustainable supply chain and organizational performance

OpenAIRE

Ogunyemi, T; Aktas, E

2013-01-01

This paper reports about a research in progress focusing on the impact of green information systems on sustainable supply chain performance. Green information systems, supply chains and their relation to sustainability and performance measurement are explained. The preliminary literature review resulted in a draft conceptual framework where sustainable supply chain measures focusing on economic, environmental and social aspects are combined with traditional supply chain performance measures o...

Systems Reliability Framework for Surface Water Sustainability and Risk Management

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, J. R.; Yeghiazarian, L.

2016-12-01

With microbial contamination posing a serious threat to the availability of clean water across the world, it is necessary to develop a framework that evaluates the safety and sustainability of water systems in respect to non-point source fecal microbial contamination. The concept of water safety is closely related to the concept of failure in reliability theory. In water quality problems, the event of failure can be defined as the concentration of microbial contamination exceeding a certain standard for usability of water. It is pertinent in watershed management to know the likelihood of such an event of failure occurring at a particular point in space and time. Microbial fate and transport are driven by environmental processes taking place in complex, multi-component, interdependent environmental systems that are dynamic and spatially heterogeneous, which means these processes and therefore their influences upon microbial transport must be considered stochastic and variable through space and time. A physics-based stochastic model of microbial dynamics is presented that propagates uncertainty using a unique sampling method based on artificial neural networks to produce a correlation between watershed characteristics and spatial-temporal probabilistic patterns of microbial contamination. These results are used to address the question of water safety through several sustainability metrics: reliability, vulnerability, resilience and a composite sustainability index. System reliability is described uniquely though the temporal evolution of risk along watershed points or pathways. Probabilistic resilience describes how long the system is above a certain probability of failure, and the vulnerability metric describes how the temporal evolution of risk changes throughout a hierarchy of failure levels. Additionally our approach allows for the identification of contributions in microbial contamination and uncertainty from specific pathways and sources. We expect that this

Accelerating technological change. Towards a more sustainable transport system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Vooren, A.

2014-01-01

This thesis provides insights into the mechanisms of technological change by capturing the complexity that characterises the current technological transition of the transport system into existing evolutionary models of technological change. The transition towards a more sustainable transport system

Special Issue: Enhancing Sustainable Performance in Organizational and Inter-Institutional Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Graham Winch

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Sustainability is not just for Christmas… it’s for life. Sustainable solutions, whether sought in terms of business strategies, social policies, or the exploitation of natural resources have to serve organizations and communities in the long term, sometimes very long term, as well as the short term. Static analysis is unlikely to be able to evaluate candidate solutions fully, and is more likely to focus on the short-term future to the detriment of the longer-term. Sustainable solutions are more likely to be developed from studies based on deep analysis using systems approaches, and from system dynamics (SD approaches in particular.

High-Rate Data-Capture for an Airborne Lidar System

Science.gov (United States)

Valett, Susan; Hicks, Edward; Dabney, Philip; Harding, David

2012-01-01

A high-rate data system was required to capture the data for an airborne lidar system. A data system was developed that achieved up to 22 million (64-bit) events per second sustained data rate (1408 million bits per second), as well as short bursts (less than 4 s) at higher rates. All hardware used for the system was off the shelf, but carefully selected to achieve these rates. The system was used to capture laser fire, single-photon detection, and GPS data for the Slope Imaging Multi-polarization Photo-counting Lidar (SIMPL). However, the system has applications for other laser altimeter systems (waveform-recording), mass spectroscopy, xray radiometry imaging, high-background- rate ranging lidar, and other similar areas where very high-speed data capture is needed. The data capture software was used for the SIMPL instrument that employs a micropulse, single-photon ranging measurement approach and has 16 data channels. The detected single photons are from two sources those reflected from the target and solar background photons. The instrument is non-gated, so background photons are acquired for a range window of 13 km and can comprise many times the number of target photons. The highest background rate occurs when the atmosphere is clear, the Sun is high, and the target is a highly reflective surface such as snow. Under these conditions, the total data rate for the 16 channels combined is expected to be approximately 22 million events per second. For each photon detection event, the data capture software reads the relative time of receipt, with respect to a one-per-second absolute time pulse from a GPS receiver, from an event timer card with 0.1-ns precision, and records that information to a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) storage device. The relative time of laser pulse firings must also be read and recorded with the same precision. Each of the four event timer cards handles the throughput from four of the channels. For each detection event, a flag is

Enhanced digital library system that supports sustainable knowledge

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Enhanced digital library system that supports sustainable knowledge: A focus ... This research work provides a Web-Based University library, ability to access the ... and generates pins to authorize bonafide students and staff of the University.

A novel nanoparticulate system for sustained delivery of acid-labile lansoprazole.

Science.gov (United States)

Alai, Milind Sadashiv; Lin, Wen Jen

2013-11-01

In the present study, an effort was made to develop the Eudragit RS100 based nanoparticulate system for sustained delivery of an acid-labile drug, lansoprazole (LPZ). LPZ-loaded Eudragit RS100 nanoparticles (ERSNPs) were prepared by oil-in-water emulsion-solvent evaporation method. The effects of various formulation variables such as polymer concentration, drug amount and solvent composition on physicochemical performance of nanoparticles and in vitro drug release were investigated. All nanoparticles were spherical with particle size 198.9 ± 8.6-376.9 ± 5.6 nm and zeta potential +35.1 ± 1.7 to +40.2 ± 0.8 mV. The yield of nanoparticles was unaffected by change of these three variables. However, the drug loading and encapsulation efficiency were affected by polymer concentration and drug amount. On the other hand, the particle size of nanoparticles was significantly affected by polymer concentration and internal phase composition due to influence of droplet size during emulsification process. All nanoparticles prolonged drug release for 24h which was dominated by a combination of drug diffusion and polymer chain relaxation. The fastest and the slowest release rates were observed in C2-1002-10/0 and C8-4001-10/0, respectively, based on the release rate constant (k). Thus, the developed nanoparticles possessed a potential as a nano-carrier to sustain drug delivery for treatment of acid related disorders. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Steps towards the development of a certification system for sustainable bio-energy trade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewandowski, I.; Faaij, A.P.C.

2006-01-01

It is expected that international biomass trade will significantly increase in the coming years because of the possibly lower costs of imported biomass, the better supply security through diversification and the support by energy and climate policies of various countries. Concerns about potential negative effects of large-scale biomass production and export, like deforestation or the competition between food and biomass production, have led to the demand for sustainability criteria and certification systems that can control biomass trade. Because neither such criteria and indicator sets nor certification systems for sustainable biomass trade are yet available, the objective of this study is to generate information that can help to develop them. For these purposes, existing certification systems, sets of sustainability criteria or guidelines on environmental or social sound management of resources are analyzed with the purpose to learn about the requirements, contents and organizational set ups of a certification system for sustainable biomass trade. First, an inventory of existing systems was made; second, their structures were analyzed. Key finding from the analysis of internationally applied certification systems was that they are generally led by an international panel that represents all countries and stakeholders involved in the biomass production and trade activities. In third and fourth steps different approaches to formulate standards were described and a list of more than 100 social, economic, ecological and general criteria for sustainable biomass trade was extracted from the reviewed systems. Fifth, methods to formulate indicators, that make sustainability criteria measurable, and verifiers that are used to control the performance of indicators are described. It is recommended to further develop the criteria and indicator (C and I) sets for sustainable biomass trade by involvement of the relevant stakeholders (e.g. biomass producer and consumer) and the

How the Organic Food System Supports Sustainable Diets and Translates These into Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Strassner, Carola; Cavoski, Ivana; Di Cagno, Raffaella; Kahl, Johannes; Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle; Lairon, Denis; Lampkin, Nicolas; Løes, Anne-Kristin; Matt, Darja; Niggli, Urs; Paoletti, Flavio; Pehme, Sirli; Rembiałkowska, Ewa; Schader, Christian; Stolze, Matthias

2015-01-01

Organic production and consumption provide a delineated food system that can be explored for its potential contribution to sustainable diets. While organic agriculture improves the sustainability performance on the production side, critical reflections are made on how organic consumption patterns, understood as the practice of people consuming significant amounts of organic produce, may also be taken as an example for sustainable food consumption. The consumption patterns of regular organic consumers seem to be close to the sustainable diet concept of FAO. Certain organic-related measures might therefore be useful in the sustainability assessment of diets, e.g., organic production and organic consumption. Since diets play a central role in shaping food systems and food systems shape diets, the role of organic consumption emerges as an essential topic to be addressed. This role may be based on four important organic achievements: organic agriculture and food production has a definition, well-established principles, public standards, and useful metrics. By 2015, data for organic production and consumption are recorded annually from more than 160 countries, and regulations are in force in more than 80 countries or regions. The organic food system puts the land (agri-cultura) back into the diet; it is the land from which the diet in toto is shaped. Therefore, the organic food system provides essential components of a sustainable diet.

Towards a Sustainable Spatial Organization of the Energy System: Backcasting Experiences from Austria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Markus Knoflacher

2012-02-01

Full Text Available The transition to a sustainable energy system faces more challenges than a simple replacement of fossil energy sources by renewable ones. Since current structures do not favor sustainable energy generation and use, it is indispensable to change the existing infrastructure. A fundamental change of the energy system also requires re-organizing spatial structures and their respective institutions and governance structures. Especially in Austria, urban sprawl and unsustainable settlement structures are regarded as one of the main developments leading to increased energy demand. One of the aims within the project E-Trans 2050 was to identify socio-economic constellations that are central to the further transformation of the energy system and to focus on actors and their socio-technical framework conditions. Based on a sustainable future vision for the year 2050 a backcasting workshop was conducted to identify necessary steps for the envisaged transition to a more sustainable energy system. The results shed light on the necessary changes for a transformation towards sustainability in the specific Austrian situation. Critical issues are region-specific production of energy and its use, settlement and regional structures and values and role models, which all have a determining influence on energy demand. Combining the knowledge of extensive energy use with available energy resources in spatial planning decisions is a main challenge towards a long term sustainable energy system.

How the Organic Food System Supports Sustainable Diets and Translates These into Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Strassner, Carola; Cavoski, Ivana; Di Cagno, Raffaella; Kahl, Johannes; Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle; Lairon, Denis; Lampkin, Nicolas; Løes, Anne-Kristin; Matt, Darja; Niggli, Urs; Paoletti, Flavio; Pehme, Sirli; Rembiałkowska, Ewa; Schader, Christian; Stolze, Matthias

2015-01-01

Organic production and consumption provide a delineated food system that can be explored for its potential contribution to sustainable diets. While organic agriculture improves the sustainability performance on the production side, critical reflections are made on how organic consumption patterns, understood as the practice of people consuming significant amounts of organic produce, may also be taken as an example for sustainable food consumption. The consumption patterns of regular organic consumers seem to be close to the sustainable diet concept of FAO. Certain organic-related measures might therefore be useful in the sustainability assessment of diets, e.g., organic production and organic consumption. Since diets play a central role in shaping food systems and food systems shape diets, the role of organic consumption emerges as an essential topic to be addressed. This role may be based on four important organic achievements: organic agriculture and food production has a definition, well-established principles, public standards, and useful metrics. By 2015, data for organic production and consumption are recorded annually from more than 160 countries, and regulations are in force in more than 80 countries or regions. The organic food system puts the land (agri-cultura) back into the diet; it is the land from which the diet in toto is shaped. Therefore, the organic food system provides essential components of a sustainable diet. PMID:26176912

The sustainable IT architecture resilient information systems

CERN Document Server

Bonnet, P

2009-01-01

This book focuses on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), the basis of sustainable and more agile IT systems that are able to adapt themselves to new trends and manage processes involving a third party. The discussion is based on the public Praxeme method and features a number of examples taken from large SOA projects which were used to rewrite the information systems of an insurance company; as such, decision-makers, creators of IT systems, programmers and computer scientists, as well as those who will use these new developments, will find this a useful resource

Developing Sustainable Spacecraft Water Management Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Evan A.; Klaus, David M.

2009-01-01

It is well recognized that water handling systems used in a spacecraft are prone to failure caused by biofouling and mineral scaling, which can clog mechanical systems and degrade the performance of capillary-based technologies. Long duration spaceflight applications, such as extended stays at a Lunar Outpost or during a Mars transit mission, will increasingly benefit from hardware that is generally more robust and operationally sustainable overtime. This paper presents potential design and testing considerations for improving the reliability of water handling technologies for exploration spacecraft. Our application of interest is to devise a spacecraft wastewater management system wherein fouling can be accommodated by design attributes of the management hardware, rather than implementing some means of preventing its occurrence.

Transport systems and policies for sustainable cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vučić Vukan R.

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The 20th century witnessed revolutionary developments in transportation technology with major impacts on the form and character of cities. Progress in increasing mobility has brought many benefits as well as serious problems, particularly in deterioration of livability and sustainability. Increase in auto ownership led to serious problems of chronic traffic congestion. Attempts to rebuild cities to provide full accommodation of private cars have led to serious problems of auto dependency and deterioration of cities. Experiences from recent decades have shown that urban transportation is much more complex than usually realized. Livable and sustainable cities require policies that lead to creation of a transportation system consisting of coordinated public transit and private cars, and encourages pedestrian environment and efficient, sustainable development. Great need for better understanding of the complex problems in implementing incentives and disincentives aimed at achieving intermodal balance is emphasized. Brief descriptions of cities which lead in achieving such livable conditions is followed by a summary of lessons and guidelines for the future.

Robotic Observatory System Design-Specification Considerations for Achieving Long-Term Sustainable Precision Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Wray, J. D.

2003-05-01

The robotic observatory telescope must point precisely on the target object, and then track autonomously to a fraction of the FWHM of the system PSF for durations of ten to twenty minutes or more. It must retain this precision while continuing to function at rates approaching thousands of observations per night for all its years of useful life. These stringent requirements raise new challenges unique to robotic telescope systems design. Critical design considerations are driven by the applicability of the above requirements to all systems of the robotic observatory, including telescope and instrument systems, telescope-dome enclosure systems, combined electrical and electronics systems, environmental (e.g. seeing) control systems and integrated computer control software systems. Traditional telescope design considerations include the effects of differential thermal strain, elastic flexure, plastic flexure and slack or backlash with respect to focal stability, optical alignment and angular pointing and tracking precision. Robotic observatory design must holistically encapsulate these traditional considerations within the overall objective of maximized long-term sustainable precision performance. This overall objective is accomplished through combining appropriate mechanical and dynamical system characteristics with a full-time real-time telescope mount model feedback computer control system. Important design considerations include: identifying and reducing quasi-zero-backlash; increasing size to increase precision; directly encoding axis shaft rotation; pointing and tracking operation via real-time feedback between precision mount model and axis mounted encoders; use of monolithic construction whenever appropriate for sustainable mechanical integrity; accelerating dome motion to eliminate repetitive shock; ducting internal telescope air to outside dome; and the principal design criteria: maximizing elastic repeatability while minimizing slack, plastic deformation

Glyphosate sustainability in South American cropping systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Christoffoleti, Pedro J; Galli, Antonio J B; Carvalho, Saul J P; Moreira, Murilo S; Nicolai, Marcelo; Foloni, Luiz L; Martins, Bianca A B; Ribeiro, Daniela N

2008-04-01

South America represents about 12% of the global land area, and Brazil roughly corresponds to 47% of that. The major sustainable agricultural system in South America is based on a no-tillage cropping system, which is a worldwide adopted agricultural conservation system. Societal benefits of conservation systems in agriculture include greater use of conservation tillage, which reduces soil erosion and associated loading of pesticides, nutrients and sediments into the environment. However, overreliance on glyphosate and simpler cropping systems has resulted in the selection of tolerant weed species through weed shifts (WSs) and evolution of herbicide-resistant weed (HRW) biotypes to glyphosate. It is a challenge in South America to design herbicide- and non-herbicide-based strategies that effectively delay and/or manage evolution of HRWs and WSs to weeds tolerant to glyphosate in cropping systems based on recurrent glyphosate application, such as those used with glyphosate-resistant soybeans. The objectives of this paper are (i) to provide an overview of some factors that influence WSs and HRWs to glyphosate in South America, especially in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay soybean cropped areas; (ii) to discuss the viability of using crop rotation and/or cover crops that might be integrated with forage crops in an economically and environmentally sustainable system; and (iii) to summarize the results of a survey of the perceptions of Brazilian farmers to problems with WSs and HRWs to glyphosate, and the level of adoption of good agricultural practices in order to prevent or manage it. Copyright (c) 2008 Society of Chemical Industry.

Sustainable economic production quantity models for inventory systems with shortage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taleizadeh, Ata Allah; Soleymanfar, Vahid Reza; Govindan, Kannan

2018-01-01

optimal values of inventory system variables, we solve four independent profit maximization problems for four different situations. These proposed models include a basic model in which shortages are not allowed, and when shortages are allowed, the lost sale, full backordering and partial backordering...... (EPQ). The theoretical sustainable EOQ and EPQ models are basic models that ignore many real-life conditions such as the possibility of stock-out in inventory systems. In this paper, we develop four new sustainable economic production quantity models that consider different shortage situations. To find...

Implementation of sustainable and green design and construction practices for bridges.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-01

The focus of this research is to develop a framework for more sustainable design and construction : processes for new bridges, and sustainable maintenance practices for existing bridges. The framework : includes a green rating system for bridges. The...

Sustaining Inner and Outer Worlds: A Whole-Systems Approach to Developing Sustainable Business Practices in Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradbury, Hilary

2003-01-01

Provides a rationale for applying holistic systems thinking to sustainable development Suggests student activities for four topics: (1) exploration of external organizational environment; (2) inner-directed exploration of the natural world; (3) exploration of the individual's world; and (4) personal impact on the larger system. (Contains 29…

Sustainability Strategy and Management Control Systems in Family Firms. Evidence from a Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Caputo

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate how the integration of new forms of sustainable control systems (SCSs and traditional management control systems (MCSs, and the use of these control systems affect the integration of sustainability within organizational strategy. A qualitative case study based on a longitudinal investigation of an Italian family firm operating in an environment-sensitive context, the intermodal transport industry, has been used to trace the company’s pathway to sustainability integration based on the Gond et al. framework. The paper enriches the Gond et al. conceptualization providing evidence of the external and internal factors relevant in affecting the organization’s pathway towards sustainability integration. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is the first analysis that investigates the integration of sustainability into organizational strategy in the context of family firms, from the point of view of performance management systems (PMSs.

Sustainable Water Use System of Artesian Water in Alluvial Fan

Science.gov (United States)

Kishi, K.; Tsujimura, M.; Tase, N.

2013-12-01

The traditional water use system, developed with the intelligence of the local residents, usually takes advantage of local natural resources and is considered as a sustainable system, because of its energy saving(only forces of nature). For this reason, such kind of water use system is also recommended in some strategic policies for the purpose of a symbiosis between nature and human society. Therefore, it is important to clarify the relationship between human activities and water use systems. This study aims to clarify the mechanism of traditional water use processes in alluvial fan, and in addition, to investigate the important factors which help forming a sustainable water use system from the aspects of natural conditions and human activities. The study area, an alluvial fan region named Adogawa, is located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan and is in the west of Biwa Lake which is the largest lake in Japan. In this alluvial region where the land use is mainly occupied by settlements and paddy fields, a groundwater flowing well system is called "kabata" according to local tradition. During field survey, we took samples of groundwater, river water and lake water as well as measured the potential head of groundwater. The results showed that the upper boundary of flowing water was approximately 88m amsl, which is basically the same as the results reported by Kishi and Kanno (1966). In study area, a rapid increase of water pumping for domestic water use and melting snow during last 50 years, even if the irrigation area has decreased about 30% since 1970, and this fact may cause a decrease in recharge rate to groundwater. However, the groundwater level didn't decline based on the observed results, which is probably contributed by some water conservancy projects on Biwa Lake which maintained the water level of the lake. All the water samples are characterized by Ca-HCO3 type and similar stable isotopic value of δD and δ18O. Groundwater level in irrigation season is higher

Exploring profit - Sustainability trade-offs in cropping systems using evolutionary algorithms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

DeVoil, P.; Rossing, W.A.H.; Hammer, G.L.

2006-01-01

Models that implement the bio-physical components of agro-ecosystems are ideally suited for exploring sustainability issues in cropping systems. Sustainability may be represented as a number of objectives to be maximised or minimised. However, the full decision space of these objectives is usually

Sustainable Innovation, Management Accounting and Control Systems, and International Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ernesto Lopez-Valeiras

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This study analyzes how Management Accounting and Control Systems (MACS facilitate the appropriation of the benefits of sustainable innovations in organizations. In particular, this paper examines the moderating role of different types of MACS in the relationships between sustainable innovation and international performance at an organizational level. We collected survey data from 123 Spanish and Portuguese organizations. Partial Least Square was used to analyze the data. Results show that the effect of sustainable innovations on international performance is enhanced by contemporary rather than traditional types of MACS. Overall our findings show that MACS can help managers to develop and monitor organizational activities (e.g., costumer services and distribution activities, which support the appropriation of the potential benefits from sustainable innovation. This paper responds to recent calls for in-depth studies about the organizational mechanism that may enhance the success of sustainable innovation.

New developments in recirculating aquaculture systems in Europe: a perspective on environmental sustainability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martins, C.I.; Eding, E.H.; Verdegem, M.C.J.; Heinsbroek, L.T.N.; Schneider, O.; Blancheton, J.P.; Roque dÓrbcastel, E.; Verreth, J.A.J.

2010-01-01

The dual objective of sustainable aquaculture, i.e., to produce food while sustaining natural resources is achieved only when production systems with a minimum ecological impact are used. Recirculating aquaculture systems (RASs) provide opportunities to reduce water usage and to improve waste

SUSTAIN:Urban Modeling Systems Integrating Optimization and Economics

Science.gov (United States)

The System for Urban Stormwater Treatment and Analysis INtegration (SUSTAIN) was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to support practitioners in developing cost-effective management plans for municipal storm water programs and evaluating and selecting Best Manag...

SUSTAINABILITY OF TAX SYSTEM IN ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Patricia HOMORODEAN (CSATLOS

2014-11-01

Full Text Available In the context of globalization, sustainable development is the key to the development of contemporary society and future generations. Sustainability has become a key point for the debates in the political, economic, and academic environment. Therefore, today wehave reached the point when we speak of a country or company sustainability, of environmentalor agricultural sustainability, while speaking,at the same time, of fiscal policy sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Romanian fiscal policy sustainability in terms of tax revenues. The methodology used in this research is bibliographical analysis of specialist literature and statistical analysis of data. Bibliographical analysis was used to define operating concepts: fiscal sustainability and tax revenues. Statistical analysis was used to analyze the evolution of tax revenues in Romania between2005and2013, as well as the share of tax revenues in the general consolidated budget of Romania. Statistical data were processed using Microsoft Excel and presented as evolution diagrams. The novelty and originality of the present work consist in the bibliographical study on Romanian fiscal policy sustainability, the statistical study on the evolution of tax revenues in Romania between 2005and2013, and the analysisof fiscal policy sustainability in Romania in terms of tax revenues.

Sustainability of Rainwater Harvesting System in terms of Water Quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sadia Rahman

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Water is considered an everlasting free source that can be acquired naturally. Demand for processed supply water is growing higher due to an increasing population. Sustainable use of water could maintain a balance between its demand and supply. Rainwater harvesting (RWH is the most traditional and sustainable method, which could be easily used for potable and nonpotable purposes both in residential and commercial buildings. This could reduce the pressure on processed supply water which enhances the green living. This paper ensures the sustainability of this system through assessing several water-quality parameters of collected rainwater with respect to allowable limits. A number of parameters were included in the analysis: pH, fecal coliform, total coliform, total dissolved solids, turbidity, NH3–N, lead, BOD5, and so forth. The study reveals that the overall quality of water is quite satisfactory as per Bangladesh standards. RWH system offers sufficient amount of water and energy savings through lower consumption. Moreover, considering the cost for installation and maintenance expenses, the system is effective and economical.

Prototyping and farm system modelling - Partners on the road towards more sustainable farm systems?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sterk, B.; Ittersum, van M.K.; Leeuwis, C.; Wijnands, F.G.

2007-01-01

Farm system modelling and prototyping are two research methods proposed to enhance the process of developing sustainable farm systems. Farm system models provide means to formalize, expand and refine expert knowledge and to integrate this with scientific agro-ecological knowledge at the farm level.

Sostenibilidad de sistemas agrícolas Sustainability of farming systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leiva Fabio R.

1998-12-01

Full Text Available Las actividades agrícolas pueden tener impactos negativos sobre el ambiente, con efectos dentro y fuera de los predios. El presente artículo pretende contribuir al avance de la agricultura sostenible con énfasis en países en vías de desarrollo. Se revisan y analizan los conceptos de sostenibilidad y agricultura sostenible, incluyendo los diferentes puntos de vista en el debate sobre sostenibilidad'. El artículo examina los impactos ambientales debidos a las actividades agrícolas, destacando la importancia de fortalecer la investigación, con publicación de resultados, sobre la relación agricultura y medio ambiente. La complejidad de los factores que determinan la sostenibilidad agrícola exige una concepción de sistemas, integradora, participativa y holística. El uso de indicadores tiene un gran potencial en la evaluación de la sostenibilidad de sistemas productivos. La práctica de agricultura sostenible requiere tener en cuenta las condiciones ambientales, sociales y económicas en las cuales
se desenvuelve la agricultura.Farming activities have the potential to affect the farming system itself and the offfarm environment. This paper attempts to contribute to the development of sustainable agriculture with emphasis in developing countries. The concepts of sustainability and sustainable agriculture are reviewed and discussed, including the different viewpoints in the sustainability debate. Environmental impacts due to farming activities are examined emphasising the need of promoting further research and publication of findings on the links between environment and agriculture. The complexity of the factors that determine farming sustainability requires
a systematic, holistic, participative and integrated approach. Indicators are likely to contribute to the development of sustainable farming systems. Understanding environmental, social and economic circumstances is required to promote sustainability.

An Application of the Methodology for Assessment of the Sustainability of Air Transport System

Science.gov (United States)

Janic, Milan

2003-01-01

An assessment and operationalization of the concept of sustainable air transport system is recognized as an important but complex research, operational and policy task. In the scope of the academic efforts to properly address the problem, this paper aims to assess the sustainability of air transport system. It particular, the paper describes the methodology for assessment of sustainability and its potential application. The methodology consists of the indicator systems, which relate to the air transport system operational, economic, social and environmental dimension of performance. The particular indicator systems are relevant for the particular actors such users (air travellers), air transport operators, aerospace manufacturers, local communities, governmental authorities at different levels (local, national, international), international air transport associations, pressure groups and public. In the scope of application of the methodology, the specific cases are selected to estimate the particular indicators, and thus to assess the system sustainability under given conditions.

Performance of slow rate systems for treatment of domestic wastewater.

Science.gov (United States)

Tzanakakis, V E; Paranychianakis, N V; Angelakis, A N

2007-01-01

The performance of slow rate (SR) systems in terms of treatment efficiency, environmental and health risks, and land sustainability was investigated over a three-year period in a rural community close to Iraklio, Greece. Four plant species (Acacia cyanophylla, Eucalyptus camandulensis, Populus nigra and Arundo donax) were used in order to investigate the role of vegetation in the treatment of wastewater and in biomass production. Wastewater effluent was pre-treated in a septic tank before its application to land. Applied hydraulic loading rates were based on crop water requirements which were determined separately for each plant species. The evaluation of treatment performance was accomplished by measuring COD, TKN, NH3-N, NO3-N, total and reactive P, TC and FC in soil solution samples taken at different depths (15, 30 and 60 cm). SR systems showed great potential for COD, TKN and NH4-N removal which reached 89, 90 and 94%, respectively at a depth of 15 cm. An outstanding removal was also observed for TC and FC which reached 99.99%. The concentration of both P and NO3-N in soil solution increased with the passage of time, but it was lower in winter. Despite the differences in the application rates among the SR systems planted with different plant species, the treatment efficiency was not affected. Moreover, increasing the soil depth from 15 to 60 cm had no effect on the treatment efficiency of the SR systems.

Innovation Systems for Transformations towards Sustainability? Taking the Normative Dimension Seriously

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael P. Schlaile

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to complement research on transformations towards sustainability by drawing upon the innovation systems (IS framework. The IS framework already serves as a suitable and influential basis for research on processes of technological innovation and economic change. We argue that improving the capacity of an IS framework for dealing with wicked problems and the normative complexity of sustainability requires a fundamental paradigm shift because in the current IS paradigm innovations are considered as per se desirable and in mostly technological terms. Therefore, we call for IS dedicated to transformations towards sustainability by opening up for systemic innovations beyond the technological dimension and by acknowledging that stakeholders have conflicting visions, interests, norms, and expectations with regard to sustainability goals. Taking the normative dimension of transformations towards sustainability seriously thus requires more explicit and integrative research on directionality, legitimacy, responsibility, and their interrelation in IS. The article concludes by proposing suggestions for future research based on IS-related approaches that can serve as building blocks for an IS framework capable of incorporating legitimate goal-orientation for transformative innovation by and for society.

From Intuitive Programming of Robotic Systems to Business Sustainability of Manufacturing SMEs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogdan Mocan

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Economic growth and sustainable development are issues which are becoming more and more important for nowadays companies. Sustainable development strives for moderate and responsible use within the economic and production activity the limited resources of our planet. Eco-innovations, eco-efficiency and corporate social responsibility practices define much of the current industrial sustainability agenda. While important, they are insufficient in themselves to deliver the holistic changes necessary to achieve long-term social and environmental sustainability. This paper proposed a framework for designing multimodal human-robot interfaces and a demonstrator that facilitate a sustainable use of robotic systems with positive effects on SMEs business sustainability. The proposed approach is intended to bring important contributions to the development of human robot interaction in order to facilitate intuitive programming and to enable easily adapting to changes in robot tasks and applications without the need of using skilled personnel. Our research emphasize the idea that new technologies in product and process create and enable new business strategies; and we demonstrate that changing the paradigm in programming industrial robotic systems it is possible by a “business case for sustainability” to have a sustainable development of the business, in special in case of SMEs.

A Systems Model to Make, Market, and Lead Your Way towards Sustained Growth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raman Kumar Agrawalla

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Business enterprises exist in a world that is fiercely competitive, tied with huge global uncertainties. They always encounter increasing pressure on prices and margins. Hence, irrespective of their domain of operations and industry, businesses are naturally concerned about their growth, specifically sustained profitable growth, in today’s world. Marketing is a key business function to market and lead a business towards sustained profitable growth but the problem is it lacks a systems perspective in its operations, strategy, and practice. Further, given the confluence and systemic interactions of various economic, digital, and competitive forces; the challenge for different business functions—including marketing—increases tremendously. In this context, it is important for business enterprises to have a systems perspective to find their ways to growth that will be sustained. This calls for a holistic approach to assimilate and steer the business functions in any enterprise. The present conceptual paper focuses on an important business function for sustained growth in a holistic way and presents a systems model, called ‘Value Based Business Approach (VBBA-marketing’, which has potential to guide and steer companies and business enterprises to create a path for their sustained profitable growth.

The Social Dimensions of Sustainability and Change in Diversified Farming Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher M. Bacon

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Agricultural systems are embedded in wider social-ecological processes that must be considered in any complete discussion of sustainable agriculture. Just as climatic profiles will influence the future viability of crops, institutions, i.e., governance agreements, rural household and community norms, local associations, markets, and agricultural ministries, to name but a few, create the conditions that foster sustainable food systems. Because discussions of agricultural sustainability often overlook the full range of social dimensions, we propose a dual focus on a broad set of criteria, i.e., human health, labor, democratic participation, resiliency, biological and cultural diversity, equity, and ethics, to assess social outcomes, and on institutions that could support diversified farming systems (DFS. A comparative analysis of case studies from California's Central Valley, Mesoamerican coffee agroforestry systems, and European Union agricultural parks finds that DFS practices are unevenly adopted within and among these systems and interdependent with institutional environments that specifically promote diversified farming practices. Influential institutions in these cases include state policies, farmers' cooperatives/associations, and organized civic efforts to influence agroenvironmental policy, share knowledge, and shape markets for more 'sustainable' products. The Californian and Mesoamerican cases considers organic and fair trade certifications, finding that although they promote several DFS practices and generate social benefits, they are inadequate as a single strategy to promote agricultural sustainability. The complex governance and multifunctional management of Europe's peri-urban agricultural parks show unexpected potential for promoting DFS. Unless DFS are anchored in supportive institutions and evaluated against an inclusive set of social and environmental criteria, short-term investments to advance diversified agriculture could

Modeling sustainability in renewable energy supply chain systems

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Fei

This dissertation aims at modeling sustainability of renewable fuel supply chain systems against emerging challenges. In particular, the dissertation focuses on the biofuel supply chain system design, and manages to develop advanced modeling framework and corresponding solution methods in tackling challenges in sustaining biofuel supply chain systems. These challenges include: (1) to integrate "environmental thinking" into the long-term biofuel supply chain planning; (2) to adopt multimodal transportation to mitigate seasonality in biofuel supply chain operations; (3) to provide strategies in hedging against uncertainty from conversion technology; and (4) to develop methodologies in long-term sequential planning of the biofuel supply chain under uncertainties. All models are mixed integer programs, which also involves multi-objective programming method and two-stage/multistage stochastic programming methods. In particular for the long-term sequential planning under uncertainties, to reduce the computational challenges due to the exponential expansion of the scenario tree, I also developed efficient ND-Max method which is more efficient than CPLEX and Nested Decomposition method. Through result analysis of four independent studies, it is found that the proposed modeling frameworks can effectively improve the economic performance, enhance environmental benefits and reduce risks due to systems uncertainties for the biofuel supply chain systems.

Effect and Analysis of Sustainable Cell Rate using MPEG video Traffic in ATM Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sakshi Kaushal

2006-04-01

Full Text Available The broadband networks inhibit the capability to carry multiple types of traffic – voice, video and data, but these services need to be controlled according to the traffic contract negotiated at the time of the connection to maintain desired Quality of service. Such control techniques use traffic descriptors to evaluate its performance and effectiveness. In case of Variable Bit Rate (VBR services, Peak Cell Rate (PCR and its Cell Delay Variation Tolerance (CDVTPCR are mandatory descriptors. In addition to these, ATM Forum proposed Sustainable Cell Rate (SCR and its Cell delay variation tolerance (CDVTSCR. In this paper, we evaluated the impact of specific SCR and CDVTSCR values on the Usage Parameter Control (UPC performance in case of measured MPEG traffic for improving the efficiency

Biorefinery systems – potential contributors to sustainable innovation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wellisch, M.; Jungmeier, G.; Karbowski, A.; Patel, M.K.; Rogulska, M.

2010-01-01

Sustainable biorefineries have a critical role to play in our common future. The need to provide more goods using renewable resources, combined with advances in science and technology, has provided a receptive environment for biorefinery systems development. Biorefineries offer the promise of using

Sustainable development of energy, water and environment systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duić, Neven; Guzović, Zvonimir; Kafarov, Vyatcheslav

2013-01-01

The 6th Dubrovnik Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES Conference), attended by 418 scientists from 55 countries representing six continents. It was held in 2011 and dedicated to the improvement and dissemination of knowledge on methods, policies...

On sustainable operation of warehouse order picking systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Andriansyah, R.; Etman, L.F.P.; Rooda, J.E.

2009-01-01

Sustainable development calls for an efficient utilization of natural and human resources. This issue also arises for warehouse systems, where typically extensive capital investment and labor intensive work are involved. It is therefore important to assess and continuously monitor the performance of

Reorienting land degradation towards sustainable land management: linking sustainable livelihoods with ecosystem services in rangeland systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, M S; Stringer, L C; Dougill, A J; Perkins, J S; Atlhopheng, J R; Mulale, K; Favretto, N

2015-03-15

This paper identifies new ways of moving from land degradation towards sustainable land management through the development of economic mechanisms. It identifies new mechanisms to tackle land degradation based on retaining critical levels of natural capital whilst basing livelihoods on a wider range of ecosystem services. This is achieved through a case study analysis of the Kalahari rangelands in southwest Botswana. The paper first describes the socio-economic and ecological characteristics of the Kalahari rangelands and the types of land degradation taking place. It then focuses on bush encroachment as a way of exploring new economic instruments (e.g. Payments for Ecosystem Services) designed to enhance the flow of ecosystem services that support livelihoods in rangeland systems. It does this by evaluating the likely impacts of bush encroachment, one of the key forms of rangeland degradation, on a range of ecosystem services in three land tenure types (private fenced ranches, communal grazing areas and Wildlife Management Areas), before considering options for more sustainable land management in these systems. We argue that with adequate policy support, economic mechanisms could help reorient degraded rangelands towards more sustainable land management. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Steps towards the development of a certification system for sustainable Bio-energy trade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faaij, A.; Lewandoski, I.

2004-07-01

It is expected that international biomass trade will significantly increase in the coming years because of the possibly lower costs of imported biomass, the better supply security through diversification and the support by energy and climate policies of various countries. Concerns about potential negative effects of large scale biomass production and export, like deforestation or the competition between food and biomass production, have led to the demand for sustainability criteria and certification systems that can control biomass trade. Because neither such criteria and indicator sets nor certification systems for sustainable biomass trade are yet available the objective of this study is to generate information that can help to develop them. For this purposes existing certification systems, sets of sustainability criteria or guidelines on environmental or social sound management of resources are analyzed with the purpose to learn about the requirements, contents and organizational set ups of a certification system for sustainable biomass trade. First an inventory of existing systems was made; next, their structures were analyzed. Key finding from the analysis of internationally applied certification systems was that they are generally led by an international panel that represents all countries and stakeholder involved in the biomass production and trade activities. In a third and fourth step different approaches to formulate standards were described and a list of more than 100 social, economic, ecological and general criteria for sustainable biomass trade was extracted from the reviewed systems. In step five, methods to formulate indicators, that make sustainability criteria measurable, and verification tools that are used to control the performance of indicators are described. It is recommended to further develop the criteria and indicator (C and I) sets for sustainable biomass trade by involvement of the relevant stakeholder (e.g. biomass producer and consumer

Eight Areas of Competency in Decision Making for Sustainability in Metro Food Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John D. WARBACH

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Michigan State University (MSU held a focus group in Detroit, Michigan, USA in 2012 with members of the urban agriculture movement. The session included business persons involved in growing and selling food, members of the health system, community group members and city government. The purpose was to identify the full range of sectors of society involved in the food system, to identify the perceptions of the food system among the city population, test eight sustainability competency areas developed by MSU faculty as concepts and as they related to urban food systems, and to discover what kinds of decision support tools were needed to foster sustainable food systems in Detroit. The focus group session was video and audio recorded, the tapes transcribed and coded to identify common themes and responses to the competency area concepts. The competency areas presented were: ecological integrity, community well-being/social justice, economic vitality, aesthetic quality, civic responsibility, systems interdependence, critical thinking, and personal growth. Participants indicated that they considered sustainability a value that people in urban agriculture shared, but that people struggled with how to move forward toward sustainability. Focus group participants were able to identify some aspect of each of the eight competency areas that they perceived people in urban agriculture, and the broader city resident population already recognized, or engaged in without recognizing that they were doing something that could lead to more sustainable outcomes. However, participants perceived that a sustainable metropolitan food system remains a somewhat elusive goal to achieve for people engaged in pursuing urban agriculture in Detroit due to a negative perception they expressed that many of the city’s population holds for growing food in the city, and in general for goods produced in the city. Information gained from the focus group and subsequent focus groups

Environmental sustainability assessment of urban systems applying coupled urban metabolism and life cycle assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Birkved, Morten; Goldstein, Benjamin Paul

2013-01-01

environmental sustainability of large urban systems by relating the environmental sustainability performance of urban systems with global environmental burden boundaries quantifying pollution thresholds beyond which performance of global ecosystems services may be detrimentally affected....

Costing systems design for sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihaela TURTUREA

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to present an overall image of the way Accounting responds to nowadays user’s needs in relation to the quantification of the impact companies have towards the environment. Regarding this, there have been analyzed concepts like sustainable development, environmental accounting, environmental costs and there have been presented the main progress towards environmental cost identification and measurement from the perspective of Activity Based Costing system. To provide an overall image of this concepts, there have been used as research methodology methods the documentation from literature review, analysis, synthesis and comparison.

Performance of Power Systems under Sustained Random Perturbations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Humberto Verdejo

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper studies linear systems under sustained additive random perturbations. The stable operating point of an electric power system is replaced by an attracting stationary solution if the system is subjected to (small random additive perturbations. The invariant distribution of this stationary solution gives rise to several performance indices that measure how well the system copes with the randomness. These indices are introduced, showing how they can be used for the optimal tuning of system parameters in the presence of noise. Results on a four-generator two-area system are presented and discussed.

An Investigation into Energy Requirements and Conservation Techniques for Sustainable Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Robitaille, Jad

Traditionally, societies use to design their built environment in a way that was in line with the climate and the geographical location that they evolved in, thereby supporting sustainable lifestyles (i.e. thick walls with small windows in cold climates). With the industrial revolution and the heavy use and reliance on cheap fossil fuels, it can be argued that the built environment has become more focused on aesthetics and cost savings rather than on true sustainability. This, in turn, has led to energy intensive practices associated with the construction of homes, buildings, cities and megalopolises. Environmental concerns with regards to the future have pushed people, entities and industries to search for ways to decrease human's energy dependency and/or to supply the demand in ways that are deemed sustainable. Efforts to address this concern with respect to the built environment were translated into 'green buildings', sustainable building technologies and high performance buildings that can be rated and/or licensed by selected certifying bodies with varying metrics of building construction and performance. The growing number of such systems has brought real concerns: Do certified sustainable buildings really achieve the level of sustainability (i.e. performance) they were intended to? For the purpose of this study, buildings' energy consumption will be analysed, as it is one of the main drivers when taking into consideration greenhouse gas emissions. Heating and cooling in the residential and commercial/institutional sector, combined account for approximately a fifth of the secondary energy use in Canada. For this reason, this research aims at evaluating the main rating systems in Canada based on the efficacy of their rating systems' certification methodology and the weighting and comparison of energy requirements under each scheme. It has been proven through numerous studies that major energy savings can be achieved by focusing primarily on building designs

Inferring principles for sustainable development of business through analogies from ecological systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Sriram

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The literature in the field of sustainable development (SD of businesses is piecemeal and diverse. This paper identifies and integrates principles that businesses could use for transformation towards SD. This is done through analogical reasoning from the source context of ecological systems to the target contexts of business socio-economic systems and machine/technology systems. The methodologies of systems thinking and morphological analysis supplement the analogical reasoning. Based on this, twelve principles for sustainable development of business are inferred for business managers and policy makers.

Rational Phosphorus Application Facilitates the Sustainability of the Wheat/Maize/Soybean Relay Strip Intercropping System.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuanxue Chen

Full Text Available Wheat (Triticum aestivum L./maize (Zea mays L./soybean (Glycine max L. relay strip intercropping (W/M/S system is commonly used by the smallholders in the Southwest of China. However, little known is how to manage phosphorus (P to enhance P use efficiency of the W/M/S system and to mitigate P leaching that is a major source of pollution. Field experiments were carried out in 2011, 2012, and 2013 to test the impact of five P application rates on yield and P use efficiency of the W/M/S system. The study measured grain yield, shoot P uptake, apparent P recovery efficiency (PRE and soil P content. A linear-plateau model was used to determine the critical P rate that maximizes gains in the indexes of system productivity. The results show that increase in P application rates aggrandized shoot P uptake and crops yields at threshold rates of 70 and 71.5 kg P ha-1 respectively. With P application rates increasing, the W/M/S system decreased the PRE from 35.9% to 12.3% averaged over the three years. A rational P application rate, 72 kg P ha-1, or an appropriate soil Olsen-P level, 19.1 mg kg-1, drives the W/M/S system to maximize total grain yield while minimizing P surplus, as a result of the PRE up to 28.0%. We conclude that rational P application is an important approach for relay intercropping to produce high yield while mitigating P pollution and the rational P application-based integrated P fertilizer management is vital for sustainable intensification of agriculture in the Southwest of China.

Overview and Insights from ‘Systems Education for a Sustainable Planet’

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Y. Cavana

2018-02-01

Full Text Available An announcement by Bosch and Cavana, in Systems, called for new papers to provide updated perspectives about and fresh insights into developments that influence ‘systems education for a sustainable planet’. This paper’s objective is to provide an overview of the 14 papers that were published in the special issue, and present some insights and findings from their content. It does this by classifying the papers into five distinct themes, then analysing their content and the linkages between the themes. This process revealed that: (1 Specialised systems education at a tertiary level is predominantly at graduate level, using a diverse range of approaches; and (2 Delivering specialised systems education remains a challenge for programs that endeavour to provide an integrated and interdisciplinary learning experience. Barriers include current institutional structures and the need for students to be both big picture thinkers and detail-oriented technocrats; (3 Teaching systems approaches outside of specialised programs for students (both young and mature help to expose systems thinking to a wider demographic; (4 The strong links that exist between systems approaches and sustainability goals are increasingly being recognised. Systems education can help transition towards a sustainable planet, as it helps people appreciate that individual actions are not isolated events but contribute to an interconnected system that determines both the well-being of humans and the planet.

Sustainability Assessment of the Agricultural and Energy Systems of Senegal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyrke Gaudreau

2015-04-01

Full Text Available To improve decision-making, sustainability-based approaches to assessment of options and undertakings demand that we move beyond narrowly defined considerations to address the full suite of requirements for progress towards sustainability. This paper reports on a sustainability assessment exercise that originally focused on burning agricultural residues, primarily peanut shells, for cooking applications in Senegal. The scope of assessment had to be expanded to address the agricultural and energy systems of Senegal, when closer examination revealed a complex set of energy and agricultural system interactions that could undermine the anticipated positive effects of initiatives centred primarily on peanut residue cookstoves. The case highlights the need to be open to expanding the scope of assessment to address underlying and/or unexpected issues that cannot be addressed appropriately at the project scale. In particular, the case illustrates how the assessment of an energy system may serve as an entry point into a deeper exploration of the context in which the energy system is embedded. The analysis also illustrates a situation in which different paths that may be followed, each with its own degree of uncertainty, path dependence, feasibility, fairness, cultural sensitivity, trade-off acceptability and possibilities for public judgement of overall desirability.

Sustainable Water Systems for the City of Tomorrow—A Conceptual Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin (Cissy Ma

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Urban water systems are an example of complex, dynamic human–environment coupled systems which exhibit emergent behaviors that transcend individual scientific disciplines. While previous siloed approaches to water services (i.e., water resources, drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater have led to great improvements in public health protection, sustainable solutions for a growing global population facing increased resource constraints demand a paradigm shift based on holistic management to maximize the use and recovery of water, energy, nutrients, and materials. The objective of this review paper is to highlight the issues in traditional water systems including water demand and use, centralized configuration, sewer collection systems, characteristics of mixed wastewater, and to explore alternative solutions such as decentralized water systems, fit for purpose and water reuse, natural/green infrastructure, vacuum sewer collection systems, and nutrient/energy recovery. This review also emphasizes a system thinking approach for evaluating alternatives that should include sustainability indicators and metrics such as emergy to assess global system efficiency. An example paradigm shift design for urban water system is presented, not as the recommended solution for all environments, but to emphasize the framework of system-level analysis and the need to visualize water services as an organic whole. When water systems are designed to maximize the resources and optimum efficiency, they are more prevailing and sustainable than siloed management because a system is more than the sum of its parts.

Possibilities and limitations for sustainable bioenergy production systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smeets, E.M.W.

2008-01-01

The focus of this thesis is on the possibilities and limitations of sustainable bioenergy production systems. First, the potential contribution of bioenergy to the energy supply in different world regions in the year 2050 from different biomass sources (dedicated woody energy crops, residues and

Advancing a sustainable highway system : highlights of FHWA sustainability activities

Science.gov (United States)

2014-06-01

FHWA is undertaking a significant amount of work related to sustainability across a number of program areas throughout the Agency. The purpose of this report is to showcase some of the ways in which FHWA is incorporating and embedding sustainability ...

Towards sustainable innovation : analysing and dealing with systemic problems in innovation systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wieczorek, Anna

2014-01-01

Technological Innovation System (TIS) perspective became a popular tool to analyse and understand the diffusion of particular, mostly renewable, technologies and their contribution to sustainability transitions. The core of the current TIS studies comprise of the analyses of the emergent structural

Environmentally Friendly Sustainable Housing Construction ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The major steps include 5 star standards in the state of Victoria, with rebates for sustainable products including solar hot water system, photovoltaic panels, rainwater tanks, grey water tanks and insulation. In addition phasing out of incandescent light bulbs is also encouraged. A number of house energy rating tools have ...

Land system science and sustainable development of the earth system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verburg, Peter H.; Crossman, Neville; Ellis, Erle C.

2015-01-01

Land systems are the result of human interactions with the natural environment. Understanding the drivers, state, trends and impacts of different land systems on social and natural processes helps to reveal how changes in the land system affect the functioning of the socio-ecological system...... as a whole and the tradeoff these changes may represent. The Global Land Project has led advances by synthesizing land systems research across different scales and providing concepts to further understand the feedbacks between social-and environmental systems, between urban and rural environments and between...... distant world regions. Land system science has moved from a focus on observation of change and understanding the drivers of these changes to a focus on using this understanding to design sustainable transformations through stakeholder engagement and through the concept of land governance. As land use can...

Growth curves and sustained commissioning modelling of renewable energy: Investigating resource constraints for wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davidsson, Simon; Grandell, Leena; Wachtmeister, Henrik; Höök, Mikael

2014-01-01

Several recent studies have proposed fast transitions to energy systems based on renewable energy technology. Many of them dismiss potential physical constraints and issues with natural resource supply, and do not consider the growth rates of the individual technologies needed or how the energy systems are to be sustained over longer time frames. A case study is presented modelling potential growth rates of the wind energy required to reach installed capacities proposed in other studies, taking into account the expected service life of wind turbines. A sustained commissioning model is proposed as a theoretical foundation for analysing reasonable growth patterns for technologies that can be sustained in the future. The annual installation and related resource requirements to reach proposed wind capacity are quantified and it is concluded that these factors should be considered when assessing the feasibility, and even the sustainability, of fast energy transitions. Even a sustained commissioning scenario would require significant resource flows, for the transition as well as for sustaining the system, indefinitely. Recent studies that claim there are no potential natural resource barriers or other physical constraints to fast transitions to renewable energy appear inadequate in ruling out these concerns. - Highlights: • Growth rates and service life is important when evaluating energy transitions. • A sustained commissioning model is suggested for analysing renewable energy. • Natural resource requirements for renewable energy are connected to growth rates. • Arguments by recent studies ruling out physical constraints appear inadequate

Hybrid photovoltaic system control for enhancing sustainable energy. Economic aspects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leva, Sonia; Roscia, Mariacristina; Zaninelli, Dario

2005-01-01

The paper introduces hybrid photovoltaic/diesel generation systems for supplying remote power plant taking into account the enhancement of sustainable energy on the economic point of view. In particular, a new monitoring and control device is presented in order to carry out the optimum energy flows and a cost evaluation is performed on a real plant showing the effect and weight of the economical sustainability and economical saving. (authors)

SUSTAINABILITY OF TURKISH GREY CATTLE IN ORGANIC SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hülya HANOĞLU

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Beef consumption has significantly increased in the last fifty years as a response to the increase in population size, whereas the sustainability of production systems has begun to be questioned. Because the residues left in the animal feed additives used in conventional food production constitute major health problems in consumers. Therefore, an interest in organic farming methods based on natural grazing and feed production without the use of chemicals is increasing. One of the most important examples of organic beef production in Turkey is the project carried out in the villages of Ayvacık district in Çanakkale. This region has an ecological structure which does not allow an extensive production of culture cattle. The most important advantages of the Turkish grey cattle living in the pastures in the region covered with bushes are that they have less needs of shelter, they do not need supplementary feeding throughout the year and labor costs for their production for beef are low. Breeders in this region maintained a market price for their products by shifting to organic system and thus allowed the sustainable production of the Turkish grey cattle. In this study, Ayvacık Organic Beef Production Project which sets an example for the sustainability of Turkish grey cattle production by featuring its surplus values was evaluated.

Intelligent decision support systems for sustainable computing paradigms and applications

CERN Document Server

Abraham, Ajith; Siarry, Patrick; Sheng, Michael

2017-01-01

This unique book dicusses the latest research, innovative ideas, challenges and computational intelligence (CI) solutions in sustainable computing. It presents novel, in-depth fundamental research on achieving a sustainable lifestyle for society, either from a methodological or from an application perspective. Sustainable computing has expanded to become a significant research area covering the fields of computer science and engineering, electrical engineering and other engineering disciplines, and there has been an increase in the amount of literature on aspects sustainable computing such as energy efficiency and natural resources conservation that emphasizes the role of ICT (information and communications technology) in achieving system design and operation objectives. The energy impact/design of more efficient IT infrastructures is a key challenge in realizing new computing paradigms. The book explores the uses of computational intelligence (CI) techniques for intelligent decision support that can be explo...

Sustainable Dry Land Management Model on Corn Agribusiness System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yulia Pujiharti

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The study aimed at building model of dry land management. Dynamic System Analysis was used to build model and Powersim 2.51 version for simulating. The parameter used in model were fertilizer (urea, SP-36, ACL, productivity (corn, cassava, mungbean, soil nutrient (N, P, K, crop nutrient requirements (corn, cassava, mungbean, mucuna, price (corn, cassava, mungbeans corn flour, feed, urea, SP-36, KCl, food security credit, area planted of (maize, cassava, mungbean, area harvested of (maize, cassava, mungbean, (corn, cassava, mungbean production, wages and farmer income. Sustainable indicator for ecology aspect was soil fertility level, economic aspects were productivity and farmer income, and social aspects were job possibility and traditions. The simulation result indicated that sustainable dry land management can improve soil fertility and increase farmer revenue, became sustainable farming system and farmer society. On the other hand, conventional dry land management decreased soil fertility and yield, caused farmer earnings to decrease and a farm activity could not be continued. Fertilizer distribution did not fulfill farmer requirement, which caused fertilizer scarcity. Food security credit increased fertilizer application. Corn was processed to corn flour or feed to give value added.

Implications of sustainability assessment for electricity system design: The case of the Ontario Power Authority's integrated power system plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winfield, Mark; Gibson, Robert B.; Markvart, Tanya; Gaudreau, Kyrke; Taylor, Jennifer

2010-01-01

This paper explores the results and implications of an illustrative application of a sustainability assessment framework in the design and evaluation of a major integrated power system plan. The paper examines the integrated power system plan developed by the Ontario Power Authority in 2007. The basic framework rests on a generic set of evaluation criteria reflecting basic requirements for progress towards sustainability that was adopted, reinterpreted and applied by the Authority in support of its proposed plan. In response to evident deficiencies in the Authority's work, the authors and colleagues undertook a re-examination using a more fully elaborated sustainability assessment framework, specified for application to power system planning. The results point to a plan and plan components substantially different from those proposed by the Authority. More generally, the results highlight three advantages of applying such a sustainability assessment framework: comprehensive coverage of key requirements for progress towards sustainability while ensuring careful attention to the context and concerns of the sector; emphasis on identifying plan options that avoid major trade-offs among the sustainability criteria and recognition of interactions among the social, ecological, economic and technological realms favouring options that offer multiple, mutually reinforcing and lasting benefits.

Sustainable Transportation Systems Research Group: Ongoing and Past Activities

OpenAIRE

Gkritza, Konstantina "Nadia"; Hurtado, Davis Chacon; Gkartzonikas, Christos; Ke, Yue; Losada, Lisa L

2017-01-01

This presentation describes the ongoing and past activities of the Sustainable Transportation Systems Research (STSR) group at Purdue University (https://engineering.purdue.edu/STSRG). The STSR group aims to achieve green, safe, efficient, and equitable transportation systems by studying and modeling transportation externalities, using state of the art statistical, econometric, and economic analysis tools.

A sustainable manufacturing system design: A fuzzy multi-objective optimization model.

Science.gov (United States)

Nujoom, Reda; Mohammed, Ahmed; Wang, Qian

2017-08-10

In the past decade, there has been a growing concern about the environmental protection in public society as governments almost all over the world have initiated certain rules and regulations to promote energy saving and minimize the production of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions in many manufacturing industries. The development of sustainable manufacturing systems is considered as one of the effective solutions to minimize the environmental impact. Lean approach is also considered as a proper method for achieving sustainability as it can reduce manufacturing wastes and increase the system efficiency and productivity. However, the lean approach does not include environmental waste of such as energy consumption and CO 2 emissions when designing a lean manufacturing system. This paper addresses these issues by evaluating a sustainable manufacturing system design considering a measurement of energy consumption and CO 2 emissions using different sources of energy (oil as direct energy source to generate thermal energy and oil or solar as indirect energy source to generate electricity). To this aim, a multi-objective mathematical model is developed incorporating the economic and ecological constraints aimed for minimization of the total cost, energy consumption, and CO 2 emissions for a manufacturing system design. For the real world scenario, the uncertainty in a number of input parameters was handled through the development of a fuzzy multi-objective model. The study also addresses decision-making in the number of machines, the number of air-conditioning units, and the number of bulbs involved in each process of a manufacturing system in conjunction with a quantity of material flow for processed products. A real case study was used for examining the validation and applicability of the developed sustainable manufacturing system model using the fuzzy multi-objective approach.

Sustainability evaluation of different systems for sea cucumber ( Apostichopus japonicus) farming based on emergy theory

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Guodong; Dong, Shuanglin; Tian, Xiangli; Gao, Qinfeng; Wang, Fang

2015-06-01

Emergy analysis is effective for analyzing ecological economic systems. However, the accuracy of the approach is affected by the diversity of economic level, meteorological and hydrological parameters in different regions. The present study evaluated the economic benefits, environmental impact, and sustainability of indoor, semi-intensive and extensive farming systems of sea cucumber ( Apostichopus japonicus) in the same region. The results showed that A. japonicus indoor farming system was high in input and output (yield) whereas pond extensive farming system was low in input and output. The output/input ratio of indoor farming system was lower than that of pond extensive farming system, and the output/input ratio of semi-intensive farming system fell in between them. The environmental loading ratio of A. japonicus extensive farming system was lower than that of indoor farming system. In addition, the emergy yield and emergy exchange ratios, and emergy sustainability and emergy indexes for sustainable development were higher in extensive farming system than those in indoor farming system. These results indicated that the current extensive farming system exerted fewer negative influences on the environment, made more efficient use of available resources, and met more sustainable development requirements than the indoor farming system. A. japonicus farming systems showed more emergy benefits than fish farming systems. The pond farming systems of A. japonicus exploited more free local environmental resources for production, caused less potential pressure on the local environment, and achieved higher sustainability than indoor farming system.

Sustainable Optimization for Wastewater Treatment System Using PSF-HS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zong Woo Geem

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The sustainability in a river with respect to water quality is critical because it is highly related with environmental pollution, economic expenditure, and public health. This study proposes a sustainability problem of wastewater treatment system for river ecosystem conservation which helps the healthy survival of the aquatic biota and human beings. This study optimizes the design of a wastewater treatment system using the parameter-setting-free harmony search algorithm, which does not require the existing tedious value-setting process for algorithm parameters. The real-scale system has three different options of wastewater treatment, such as filtration, nitrification, and diverted irrigation (fertilization, as well as two existing treatment processes (settling and biological oxidation. The objective of this system design is to minimize life cycle costs, including initial construction costs of those treatment options, while satisfying minimal dissolved oxygen requirements in the river, maximal nitrate-nitrogen concentration in groundwater, and a minimal nitrogen requirement for crop farming. Results show that the proposed technique could successfully find solutions without requiring a tedious setting process.

Reducing and Sustaining Duplicate Medical Record Creation by Usability Testing and System Redesign.

Science.gov (United States)

Khunlertkit, Adjhaporn; Dorissaint, Leonard; Chen, Allen; Paine, Lori; Pronovost, Peter J

2017-10-25

Duplicate medical record creation is a common and consequential health care systems error often caused by poor search system usability and inappropriate user training. We conducted two phases of scenario-based usability testing with patient registrars working in areas at risk of generating duplicate medical records. Phase 1 evaluated the existing search system, which led to system redesigns. Phase 2 tested the redesigned system to mitigate potential errors before health system-wide implementation. To evaluate system effectiveness, we compared the monthly potential duplicate medical record rates for preimplementation and postimplementation months. The existing system could not effectively handle a misspelling, which led to failed search and duplicate medical record creation. Using the existing system, 96% of registrars found commonly spelled patient names whereas only 69% successfully found complicated names. Registrars lacked knowledge and usage of a phonetic matching function to assist in misspelling. The new system consistently captured the correct patient regardless of misspelling, but search returned more potential matches, resulting in, on average, 4 seconds longer to select common names. Potential monthly duplicate medical record rate reduced by 38%, from 4% to 2.3% after implementation of the new system, and has sustained at an average of 2.5% for 2 years. Usability testing was an effective method to reveal problems and aid system redesign to deliver a more user friendly system, hence reducing the potential for medical record duplication. Greater standards for usability would ensure that these improvements can be realized before rather than after exposing patients to risks.

Tall-Building Projects Sustainability Indicator (TPSI: A New Design and Environmental Assessment Tool for Tall Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hasim Altan

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the features of Tall-building Projects Sustainability Indicator (TPSI—a “Sustainability Rating System” that specializes in tall-building projects. The system comprises two components; the “Technical Manual” in the form of a booklet and the “Calculator” in the form of an Excel tool. It can be used as a “design tool” and/or as a “checklist” to compare and to improve the sustainable performance of tall-building design schemes. At the same time, the system can be used to evaluate the sustainability of existing tall-building projects. The first version of the TPSI rating system (TPSI 2012 Version was released as an online tool (GreenLight and thoroughly examined and validated by multiple parties.

How to ensure sustainable interoperability in heterogeneous distributed systems through architectural approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Pape-Haugaard, Louise; Frank, Lars

2011-01-01

A major obstacle in ensuring ubiquitous information is the utilization of heterogeneous systems in eHealth. The objective in this paper is to illustrate how an architecture for distributed eHealth databases can be designed without lacking the characteristic features of traditional sustainable databases. The approach is firstly to explain traditional architecture in central and homogeneous distributed database computing, followed by a possible approach to use an architectural framework to obtain sustainability across disparate systems i.e. heterogeneous databases, concluded with a discussion. It is seen that through a method of using relaxed ACID properties on a service-oriented architecture it is possible to achieve data consistency which is essential when ensuring sustainable interoperability.

How the organic food system supports sustainable diets and translates these into practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carola eStrassner

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Organic production and consumption provide a delineated food system that can be explored for its potential contribution to sustainable diets. While organic agriculture improves the sustainability performance on the production side, critical reflections are made on how organic consumption patterns, understood as the practice of people consuming significant amounts of organic produce, may also be taken as an example for sustainable food consumption. The consumption patterns of regular organic consumers seem to be close to the sustainable diet concept of FAO. Certain organic-related measures might therefore be useful in the sustainability assessment of diets, e.g. organic production and organic consumption. Since diets play a central role in shaping food systems and food systems shape diets, the role of organic consumption emerges as an essential topic to be addressed. This role may be based on four important organic achievements: organic agriculture and food production has a definition, well-established principles, public standards and useful metrics. By 2015 data for organic production and consumption is recorded annually from more than 160 countries, and regulations are in force in more than 80 countries or regions. The organic fo

Selecting Sustainability Indicators for Small to Medium Sized Urban Water Systems Using Fuzzy-ELECTRE.

Science.gov (United States)

Chhipi-Shrestha, Gyan; Hewage, Kasun; Sadiq, Rehan

2017-03-01

  Urban water systems (UWSs) are challenged by the sustainability perspective. Certain limitations of the sustainability of centralized UWSs and decentralized household level wastewater treatments can be overcome by managing UWSs at an intermediate scale, referred to as small to medium sized UWSs (SMUWSs). SMUWSs are different from large UWSs, mainly in terms of smaller infrastructure, data limitation, smaller service area, and institutional limitations. Moreover, sustainability assessment systems to evaluate the sustainability of an entire UWS are very limited and confined only to large UWSs. This research addressed the gap and has developed a set of 38 applied sustainability performance indicators (SPIs) by using fuzzy-Elimination and Choice Translating Reality (ELECTRE) I outranking method to assess the sustainability of SMUWSs. The developed set of SPIs can be applied to existing and new SMUWSs and also provides a flexibility to include additional SPIs in the future based on the same selection criteria.

A Review of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems Considering the Climate Change and Urbanization Impacts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qianqian Zhou

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Climate change and urbanization are converging to challenge city drainage infrastructure due to their adverse impacts on precipitation extremes and the environment of urban areas. Sustainable drainage systems have gained growing public interest in recent years, as a result of its positive effects on water quality and quantity issues and additional recreational amenities perceived in the urban landscape. This paper reviews recent progress in sustainable drainage development based on literature across different disciplinary fields. After presenting the key elements and criteria of sustainable drainage design, various devices and examples of sustainable drainage systems are introduced. The state-of-the-art model approaches and decision-aid tools for assessing the sustainable alternatives are discussed and compared. The paper further explores some limitations and difficulties in the application of the innovative solutions and suggests an integrated and trans-disciplinary approach for sustainable drainage design.

Sustainable System for Residual Hazards Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kevin M. Kostelnik; James H. Clarke; Jerry L. Harbour

2004-01-01

Hazardous, radioactive and other toxic substances have routinely been generated and subsequently disposed of in the shallow subsurface throughout the world. Many of today's waste management techniques do not eliminate the problem, but rather only concentrate or contain the hazardous contaminants. Residual hazards result from the presence of hazardous and/or contaminated material that remains on-site following active operations or the completion of remedial actions. Residual hazards pose continued risk to humans and the environment and represent a significant and chronic problem that require continuous long-term management (i.e. >1000 years). To protect human health and safeguard the natural environment, a sustainable system is required for the proper management of residual hazards. A sustainable system for the management of residual hazards will require the integration of engineered, institutional and land-use controls to isolate residual contaminants and thus minimize the associated hazards. Engineered controls are physical modifications to the natural setting and ecosystem, including the site, facility, and/or the residual materials themselves, in order to reduce or eliminate the potential for exposure to contaminants of concern (COCs). Institutional controls are processes, instruments, and mechanisms designed to influence human behavior and activity. System failure can involve hazardous material escaping from the confinement because of system degradation (i.e., chronic or acute degradation) or by external intrusion of the biosphere into the contaminated material because of the loss of institutional control. An ongoing analysis of contemporary and historic sites suggests that the significance of the loss of institutional controls is a critical pathway because decisions made during the operations/remedial action phase, as well as decisions made throughout the residual hazards management period, are key to the long-term success of the prescribed system. In fact

Sustain ability and sustainable development indicators case study: Egypt electric power supply system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rashad, S.M.

2007-01-01

This paper addresses sustain ability criteria and the associated indicators allowing ope rationalization of the sustain ability concept in general and specially in the context of electricity supply. The criteria and indicators cover economic, environmental and social aspects. Egypt has rapidly growing population and per capita demand. As a signatory of the framework convention on climate change, Egypt is making all efforts to comply with the strategy of Egypt to meet the challenge of the increasing demand management, integrating it into national decision making and improving environmental performance continuously: for the electricity sector, this can be summarized in improvement of power system efficiency by all available means. On the other hand energy conservation and demand side management programs are ongoing, also the environmental consideration has become one of the major issues in calculating the feasibility of any new addition to the system. This paper deals with the review of the Macro Indicators based on total greenhouse emissions provide a measure of overall performance. Then propose the Primary Indicators. A set of performance indicators is developed against which implementation of the national strategy measures aimed at reducing green house gas emissions can be evaluated. Some selected results from environmental analysis are given. In the study about 20 indicators are used as a measure of the overall performance relative to targets and benchmarks for past and future projections up to year 2020. The potential performance indicators for energy sector include: fossil fuel consumption (primary energy), greenhouse gas emissions from energy sector, energy related greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy delivered, energy related greenhouse gas emission per unit GDP, and energy related greenhouse gas emission per capita. The selected indicators are used to measure progress towards sustainable development in the country

Pilot Study of a Plug Load Management System: Preparing for Sustainability Base

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA Ames Research Center’s Sustainability Base is a new 50,000 sq. ft. high-performance office building targeting a LEED Platinum rating. Plug loads are expected to...

The Lebanese electricity system in the context of sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Fadel, R.H.; Hammond, G.P.; Harajli, H.A.; Jones, C.I.; Kabakian, V.K.; Winnett, A.B.

2010-01-01

The Lebanese electricity system has been evaluated in terms of its sustainability. An integrated approach was adopted to assess the life-cycle technical, environmental, energy and economic attributes of the system. The findings show that the Lebanese electricity system is characterized by a weak performance in all analysed aspects related to the sustainability of energy systems. Specifically, the system lacks adequacy and security leading to a supply-demand deficit and poor diversity. It gives rise to significant environmental emissions (including green-house gases), and produces large economic inefficiencies. The costs and benefits of optimising the performance of the centralised electricity system are presented, indicating substantial net benefits (together with considerable benefits in reduced environmental impacts across the life-cycle assessment categories, including carbon emissions) from improving the transmission and distribution networks, upgrading existing conventional plants to their design standards, and shifting towards the use of natural gas. The expected levelised cost of various energy sources in Lebanon also indicates that renewable energy sources are competitive alternatives at the present time.

Accelerating the transition to sustainable energy systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jefferson, Michael

2008-01-01

The slow pace of transition to sustainable energy systems is the result of several factors running in parallel. The starting points are very low. Even 30% per annum increases in rated capacity (for wind energy or solar PV, for example) take many years to make a big impact at the global level. Policy initiatives are for the most part ineffectual in relation to the urgency and scale of what is required, and often fail to address the fundamental causes of this slow progress. This reflects a 'top-down' approach-often accompanied by unrealistic targets and simultaneously undermined by a lack of consistency across policies, which reflect a 'utopian social engineering mentality', made worse because: 'The Planner's response to failure of previous interventions (is) to do more intensive and comprehensive interventions' as William Easterly has put it. In short, there is little or no accountability. This approach has failed to harness the sympathy, imagination, self-interest, or sound options of energy users-although it may attract developers, including those not hitherto noted for renewable energy projects or environmental concern. Targets are usually too short term and clearly unrealistic, especially where fossil fuel use is rising very rapidly, and renewable energy use expands modestly. Government subsidies for traditional energy forms continue. Insufficient attention is paid to what individuals might achieve in energy efficiency and renewable energy terms if permitted to have, or retain (in industrialized countries, where the burden of taxation is often inhibiting), the wherewithal to make the necessary investments. Subsidy systems often promote renewable energy schemes that are misdirected and buoyed up by grossly exaggerated claims. One or two mature renewable energy technologies are pushed nationally with insufficient regard for their costs, contribution to electricity generation, transportation fuels' needs, or carbon emission avoidance. Investors are rewarded

From Sustainability-as-usual to Sustainability Excellence in Local Bioenergy Business

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heli Kasurinen

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Bioenergy business operators can significantly contribute to the sustainability of bioenergy systems. While research has addressed the maturity of corporate responsibility for sustainability, the maturity levels of bioenergy business have not been determined. The objectives of this research were to characterise the maturity levels of bioenergy corporate responsibility for sustainability and outline an approach by which companies can operate at the most mature sustainability excellence level. Literature, three workshops attended by bioenergy experts and a case study on biobutanol production in Brazil were used to develop the maturity model and approach. The results characterise the profitability, acceptability, and sustainability orientation maturity levels through sustainability questions and methods, and list the components of a systemic, holistic approach. Although the shift of business mindset from sustainability-as-usual to sustainability excellence is challenging, a systemic approach is necessary to broadly identify sustainability questions and a multitude of methods by which they can be answered.

Design and assessment of long-term sustainable transport system scenarios

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nijkamp, P.; Rienstra, S.A.; Vleugel, J.M. [Systems and Control Group, Faculty of Mechanical and Marine Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands)

1995-03-01

Current trends in transport indicate that the system is moving away from a sustainable development because of a sky-rocketing mobility growth and a modal shift towards the most polluting modes. These trends are reinforced by several underlying factors, which may be found in the spatial, institutional, economic and social/psychological fields. It may be concluded that major changes in technology, public policy as well as in the behaviour of individuals are necessary to make the transport system more compatible with environmental sustainability. This provokes the need for assessing a set of future images for transport in relation to the environment. In this paper expert scenarios are constructed on the basis of the recently developed `spider model`. Based on a set of distinct characteristics of a transport system, represented by eight axes in the above mentioned fields, an evaluation framework is constructed, which visualizes the main discussed driving forces. Scenarios can be constructed by connecting points on the successive axes, which may lead to entirely different transport systems. An expected and desired scenario are constructed next, by means of opinions of Dutch transport experts, which have been investigated by means of a nation-wide survey. The expected scenario indicates that many current trends will continue, while the transport system is largely the same as the current one. The desired scenario on the other hand, gives a more collective system, in which also many new modes are operating. The conclusion is that expected trends may not lead to a sustainable transport system, but that the desired road will be very hard to follow. 5 figs., 2 tabs., 27 refs.

EMPIRICAL STUDY REGARDING SUSTAINABILITY OF ROMANIAN PENSION SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oprean Delia

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This paper is part of a broad, applied scientific research, based on popular empirical procedures (such as natural observation. Positivistic and constructive research methodology used was based on the consensual-inductive system (Locke, which is why we studied the different views of specialists on sustainability of pensions in Romania, necessary to formulate the problem of generating relevant information. Research strategies used were the comparative and longitudinal ones, as we analyzed the time evolution of qualitative indicators VUAN (unitary value of net asset specific to pension funds Pillar II and Pillar III of Romania, concomitant with the number of participants in these funds, as to determine their direct relationship with the need for sustainability in this area. The hypotheses regarding causal relationship efficiency – participants - sustainability and needed measures for pension reform were built in this paper inductively (by analyzing the sustainability issues of pensions in time, causally (by explaining the cause and effect phenomenon studied, deductively, logically and subjectively (due to the existence and perpetuation of conflict premise between generations and social inequality between employees and pensioners. The qualitative approach of the phenomenon studied by collecting information (using mediated data collection technique has allowed the relevant findings and practical solutions necessary for all those involved in this concerted action of pensions, which affects us all.

The effects of sustained manual pressure stimulation according to Vojta Therapy on heart rate variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Opavsky, Jaroslav; Slachtova, Martina; Kutin, Miroslav; Hok, Pavel; Uhlir, Petr; Opavska, Hana; Hlustik, Petr

2018-05-23

The physiotherapeutic technique of Vojta reflex locomotion is often accompanied by various autonomic activity changes and unpleasant sensations. It is unknown whether these effects are specific to Vojta Therapy. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare changes in cardiac autonomic control after Vojta reflex locomotion stimulation and after an appropriate sham stimulation. A total of 28 young healthy adults (20.4 - 25.7 years) were enrolled in this single-blind randomized cross-over study. Participants underwent two modes of 20-minute sustained manual pressure stimulation on the surface of the foot on two separate visits. One mode used manual pressure on the lateral heel, i.e., in a zone employed in the Vojta Therapy (active stimulation). The other mode used pressure on the lateral ankle (control), in an area not included among the active zones used by Vojta Therapy and whose activation does not evoke manifestations of reflex locomotion. Autonomic nervous system activity was evaluated using spectral analysis of heart rate variability before and after the intervention. The active stimulation was perceived as more unpleasant than the control stimulation. Heart rate variability parameters demonstrated almost identical autonomic responses after both stimulation types, showing either modest increase in parasympathetic activity, or increased heart rate variability with similar contribution of parasympathetic and sympathetic activity. The results demonstrate changes of cardiac autonomic control in both active and control stimulation, without evidence for a significant difference between the two.

Approach to an Affordable and Sustainable Space Transportation System

Science.gov (United States)

McCleskey, Caey M.; Rhodes, R. E.; Robinson, J. W.; Henderson, E. M.

2012-01-01

This paper describes an approach and a general procedure for creating space transportation architectural concepts that are at once affordable and sustainable. Previous papers by the authors and other members of the Space Propulsion Synergy Team (SPST) focused on a functional system breakdown structure for an architecture and definition of high-payoff design techniques with a technology integration strategy. This paper follows up by using a structured process that derives architectural solutions focused on achieving life cycle affordability and sustainability. Further, the paper includes an example concept that integrates key design techniques discussed in previous papers. !

Wetland harvesting systems -- developing alternatives for sustainable operation

Science.gov (United States)

Robert B. Rummer; Bryce J. Stokes; Alvin Schilling

1997-01-01

Wetland forests represent some of the most productive forest lands in the Southeast. They are also an environmentally sensitive ecotype which presents unique problems for forest operations. Sustaining active management in these areas will require systems which can operate on weak soil conditions without adversely affecting soil properties or stand regeneration. The...

Sustainability Efficiency Factor: Measuring Sustainability in Advanced Energy Systems through Exergy, Exergoeconomic, Life Cycle, and Economic Analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Boldon, Lauren

The Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems defines sustainability or industrial ecology as "the wise use of resources through critical attention to policy, social, economic, technological, and ecological management of natural and human engineered capital so as to promote innovations that assure a higher degree of human needs fulfilment, or life support, across all regions of the world, while at the same time ensuring intergenerational equity" (Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems 1998). Developing and integrating sustainable energy systems to meet growing energy demands is a daunting task. Although the technology to utilize renewable energies is well understood, there are limited locations which are ideally suited for renewable energy development. Even in areas with significant wind or solar availability, backup or redundant energy supplies are still required during periods of low renewable generation. This is precisely why it would be difficult to make the switch directly from fossil fuel to renewable energy generation. A transition period in which a base-load generation supports renewables is required, and nuclear energy suits this need well with its limited life cycle emissions and fuel price stability. Sustainability is achieved by balancing environmental, economic, and social considerations, such that energy is produced without detriment to future generations through loss of resources, harm to the environment, etcetera. In essence, the goal is to provide future generations with the same opportunities to produce energy that the current generation has. This research explores sustainability metrics as they apply to a small modular reactor (SMR)-hydrogen production plant coupled with wind energy and storage technologies to develop a new quantitative sustainability metric, the Sustainability Efficiency Factor (SEF), for comparison of energy systems. The SEF incorporates the three fundamental aspects of sustainability and provides SMR or nuclear hybrid energy system

Sustainability in CALL Learning Environments: A Systemic Functional Grammar Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter McDonald

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This research aims to define a sustainable resource in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL. In order for a CALL resource to be sustainable it must work within existing educational curricula. This feature is a necessary prerequisite of sustainability because, despite the potential for educational change that digitalization has offered since the nineteen nineties, curricula in traditional educational institutions have not fundamentally changed, even as we move from a pre-digital society towards a digital society. Curricula have failed to incorporate CALL resources because no agreed-upon pedagogical language enables teachers to discuss CALL classroom practices. Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG can help to provide this language and bridge the gap between the needs of the curriculum and the potentiality of CALL-based resources. This paper will outline how SFG principles can be used to create a pedagogical language for CALL and it will give practical examples of how this language can be used to create sustainable resources in classroom contexts.

Energy efficiency and sustainability of complex biogas systems: A 3-level emergetic evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Shaoqing; Chen, Bin

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The metabolism of complex biogas system increased from 2000 to 2008. • System renewability has been increased due to biogas utilization. • Electricity, diesels and infrastructure were the most efficient supplies. • All processes were challenged by high transformity and low sustainability. - Abstract: Biogas engineering and the biogas-linked agricultural industries as a whole has been used as both a developmental strategy for rural new emergy and an important part of renewable agriculture revolution in China. In this paper, we proposed a 3-level emergetic evaluation framework to investigate the energy efficiency and sustainability of a complex biogas system (CBS) in South China, comprising agro-industries such as planting, aquaculture, breeding and biogas. The framework is capable of tracking dynamical behaviors of the whole complex system (Level I), transformation processes (Level II) and resource components (Level III) simultaneously. Two new indicators, emergy contribution rate (ECR) and emergy supply efficiency (ESE) were developed to address the contribution and efficiency of resource components within each agro-industrial process. Our findings suggested the metabolism of the CBS were increased from 2000 to 2008, in which planting production was the biggest process in terms of total emergy input, while breeding was the most productive one with its highest total emergy yield. The CBS was under an industry transaction process stimulated by biogas construction, while the traditional agricultural activities still play an important role. For economic input, a trend towards a more renewable regime was found behind the total increase over time. With different preferences for renewable or non-renewable resources, planting and aquaculture production were proved natural donation-reliant, while breeding and biogas were economic input-dependent. Among all the economic inputs, electricity, diesels and infrastructure were the most efficient components

Integrated Metrics for Improving the Life Cycle Approach to Assessing Product System Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wesley Ingwersen

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Life cycle approaches are critical for identifying and reducing environmental burdens of products. While these methods can indicate potential environmental impacts of a product, current Life Cycle Assessment (LCA methods fail to integrate the multiple impacts of a system into unified measures of social, economic or environmental performance related to sustainability. Integrated metrics that combine multiple aspects of system performance based on a common scientific or economic principle have proven to be valuable for sustainability evaluation. In this work, we propose methods of adapting four integrated metrics for use with LCAs of product systems: ecological footprint, emergy, green net value added, and Fisher information. These metrics provide information on the full product system in land, energy, monetary equivalents, and as a unitless information index; each bundled with one or more indicators for reporting. When used together and for relative comparison, integrated metrics provide a broader coverage of sustainability aspects from multiple theoretical perspectives that is more likely to illuminate potential issues than individual impact indicators. These integrated metrics are recommended for use in combination with traditional indicators used in LCA. Future work will test and demonstrate the value of using these integrated metrics and combinations to assess product system sustainability.

Repeal of the Sustainable Growth Rate: an overview for surgeons.

Science.gov (United States)

Sangji, Naveen F

2014-10-01

The Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula is used to control Medicare spending on physician services. Under the current SGR formula, physicians face an almost 24% cut to the Medicare fee schedule on April 1, 2015. The US House Way & Means and Energy & Commerce Committees and the Senate Finance Committee released jointly proposed legislation to permanently repeal the SGR, and transition Medicare physician payment to a value-based payment method. This review summarizes the key components of the proposed legislation, and discusses some of the political challenges ahead. House Committees on Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means, and the Senate Committee on Finance staff write-ups. Physician Medicare reimbursement will move from a volume-based model to a value-based model over the next decade. Surgeons should remain engaged with the political process to ensure repeal of the SGR. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mapping one year’s design processes at an architecture firm specialized in sustainable architecture - How do sustainability certification systems affect design processes?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Landgren, Mathilde; Jensen, Lotte Bjerregaard; Heller, Alfred

2016-01-01

The current study mapped how a Danish architecture firm integrated sustainability in their projects over a year. All the projects concerned were aimed at being sustainable within the framework of the DGNB certification system. The focus of DGNB is equally divided between environmental, economic...

On sustainability assessment of technical systems. Experience from systems analysis with the ORWARE and Ecoeffect tools

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Assefa, Getachew [Royal Inst. of Technology, Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

2006-06-15

Engineering research and development work is undergoing a reorientation from focusing on specific parts of different systems to a broader perspective of systems level, albeit at a slower pace. This reorientation should be further developed and enhanced with the aim of organizing and structuring our technical systems in meeting sustainability requirements in face of global ecological threats that have far-reaching social and economic implications, which can no longer be captured using conventional approach of research. Until a list of universally acceptable, clear, and measurable indicators of sustainable development is developed, the work with sustainability metrics should continue to evolve as a relative measure of ecological, economic, and social performance of human activities in general, and technical systems in particular. This work can be done by comparing the relative performance of alternative technologies of providing the same well-defined function or service; or by characterizing technologies that enjoy different levels of societal priorities using relevant performance indicators. In both cases, concepts and methods of industrial ecology play a vital role. This thesis is about the development and application of a systematic approach for the assessment of the performance of technical systems from the perspective of systems analysis, sustainability, sustainability assessment, and industrial ecology. The systematic approach developed and characterized in this thesis advocates for a simultaneous assessment of the ecological, economic, and social dimensions of performance of technologies in avoiding sub-optimization and problem shifting between dimensions. It gives a holistic picture by taking a life cycle perspective of all important aspects. The systematic assessment of technical systems provides an even-handed assessment resulting in a cumulative knowledge. A modular structure of the approach makes it flexible enough in terms of comparing a number of

Towards evaluation and prediction of building sustainability using life cycle behaviour simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marzouk Mohamed

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Nowadays researchers and practitioners are oriented towards questioning how effective are the different building life cycle activities contribution to preserving the environment and fulfilling the need for equilibrium. Terminologies such as Building sustainability and Green Buildings have long been adopted yet the evaluation of such has been driven through the use of rating systems. LEED of the United States, BREEAM of the United Kingdom, and Pearl of the United Arab Emirates are namely good examples of these rating systems. This paper introduces a new approach for evaluation of building life cycle sustainability through simulation of activities interaction and studying its behaviour. The effort focuses on comprehending impact and effect of suitability related activities over the whole building life cycle or period of time. The methodology includes gathering a pool of parameters through benchmarking of five selected rating systems, analytical factorization for the gathered parameters is used to elect the most influencing parameters. Followed by simulation modelling using System dynamics to capture the interaction of the considered parameters. The resulting behaviour obtained from simulation is studied and used in designing a tool for prediction of sustainability.

Sustained Attention Ability Affects Simple Picture Naming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suzanne R. Jongman

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Sustained attention has previously been shown as a requirement for language production. However, this is mostly evident for difficult conditions, such as a dual-task situation. The current study provides corroborating evidence that this relationship holds even for simple picture naming. Sustained attention ability, indexed both by participants’ reaction times and individuals’ hit rate (the proportion of correctly detected targets on a digit discrimination task, correlated with picture naming latencies. Individuals with poor sustained attention were consistently slower and their RT distributions were more positively skewed when naming pictures compared to individuals with better sustained attention. Additionally, the need to sustain attention was manipulated by changing the speed of stimulus presentation. Research has suggested that fast event rates tax sustained attention resources to a larger degree than slow event rates. However, in this study the fast event rate did not result in increased difficulty, neither for the picture naming task nor for the sustained attention task. Instead, the results point to a speed-accuracy trade-off in the sustained attention task (lower accuracy but faster responses in the fast than in the slow event rate, and to a benefit for faster rates in the picture naming task (shorter naming latencies with no difference in accuracy. Performance on both tasks was largely comparable, supporting previous findings that sustained attention is called upon during language production.

Potential of sustainable biomass production systems in Texas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanderson, M.A.; Hussey, M.A.; Wiselogel, A.E.

1992-01-01

Biomass production for liquid fuels feedstock from systems based on warm-season perennial grasses (WSPG) offers a sustainable alternative for forage-livestock producers in Texas. Such systems also would enhance diversity and flexibility in current production systems. Research is needed to incorporate biomass production for liquid fuels, chemicals, and electrical power into current forage-livestock management systems. Our research objectives were to (i) document the potential of several WSPG in diverse Texas environments for biomass feedstock production, (ii) conduct fundamental research on morphological development of WSPG to enhance management for biomass feedstock production, (iii) examine current on-farm production systems for opportunities to incorporate biomass production, and (iv) determine feedstock quality and stability during storage

Environmental impacts and sustainability of egg production systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Xin, H; Gates, R S; Green, A R; Mitloehner, F M; Moore, P A; Wathes, C M

2011-01-01

As part of a systemic assessment toward social sustainability of egg production, we have reviewed current knowledge about the environmental impacts of egg production systems and identified topics requiring further research. Currently, we know that 1) high-rise cage houses generally have poorer air quality and emit more ammonia than manure belt (MB) cage houses; 2) manure removal frequency in MB houses greatly affects ammonia emissions; 3) emissions from manure storage are largely affected by storage conditions, including ventilation rate, manure moisture content, air temperature, and stacking profile; 4) more baseline data on air emissions from high-rise and MB houses are being collected in the United States to complement earlier measurements; 5) noncage houses generally have poorer air quality (ammonia and dust levels) than cage houses; 6) noncage houses tend to be colder during cold weather due to a lower stocking density than caged houses, leading to greater feed and fuel energy use; 7) hens in noncage houses are less efficient in resource (feed, energy, and land) utilization, leading to a greater carbon footprint; 8) excessive application of hen manure to cropland can lead to nutrient runoff to water bodies; 9) hen manure on open (free) range may be subject to runoff during rainfall, although quantitative data are lacking; 10) mitigation technologies exist to reduce generation and emission of noxious gases and dust; however, work is needed to evaluate their economic feasibility and optimize design; and 11) dietary modification shows promise for mitigating emissions. Further research is needed on 1) indoor air quality, barn emissions, thermal conditions, and energy use in alternative hen housing systems (1-story floor, aviary, and enriched cage systems), along with conventional housing systems under different production conditions; 2) environmental footprint for different US egg production systems through life cycle assessment; 3) practical means to mitigate air

Forage based animal production systems and sustainability, an invited keynote

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul Shakoor Chaudhry

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Forages are essential for the successful operation of animal production systems. This is more relevant to ruminants which are heavily dependant upon forages for their health and production in a cost-effective and sustainable manner. While forages are an economical source of nutrients for animal production, they also help conserve the soil integrity, water supply and air quality. Although the role of these forages for animal production could vary depending upon the regional preferences for the animal and forage species, climate and resources, their importance in the success of ruminant production is acknowledged. However with the increasing global human population and urbanisation, the sustainability of forage based animal production systems is sometimes questioned due to the interrelationship between animal production and the environment. It is therefore vital to examine the suitability of these systems for their place in the future to supply quality food which is safe for human consumption and available at a competitive price to the growing human population. Grassland and forage crops are recognised for their contribution to the environment, recreation and efficiency of meat and milk production,. To maintain sustainability, it is crucial that such farming systems remain profitable and environmentally friendly while producing nutritious foods of high economical value. Thus, it is pertinent to improve the nutritive value of grasses and other forage plants in order to enhance animal production to obtain quality food. It is also vital to develop new forages which are efficiently utilised and wasted less by involving efficient animals. A combination of forage legumes, fresh or conserved grasses, crop residues and other feeds could help develop an animal production system which is economically efficient, beneficial and viable. Also, it is crucial to use efficient animals, improved forage conservation methods, better manure handling, and minimum

Some Danish experience with product-service systems and their potentials and barriers to sustainable development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard

2003-01-01

This paper is one of the first attempts to scan the Danish experience with product-service systems and analyse the experiences with respect to potentials and barriers to sustainable development, i.e. reduced resource consumption and reduced environmental impact. The scan shows a variety of product-service-systems......: some have been around for many years and have not be set up for sustainability purposes, while others are rather new and are attempts to contribute to a more sustainable development. Some of the systems identified are so to say born as product-service-systems (like food catering), while others have...... been developed from being a product system into being a product-service-systems in order to support the marketing of more environmental friendly products....

Sustainability of a Compartmentalized Host-Parasite Replicator System under Periodic Washout-Mixing Cycles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taro Furubayashi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The emergence and dominance of parasitic replicators are among the major hurdles for the proliferation of primitive replicators. Compartmentalization of replicators is proposed to relieve the parasite dominance; however, it remains unclear under what conditions simple compartmentalization uncoupled with internal reaction secures the long-term survival of a population of primitive replicators against incessant parasite emergence. Here, we investigate the sustainability of a compartmentalized host-parasite replicator (CHPR system undergoing periodic washout-mixing cycles, by constructing a mathematical model and performing extensive simulations. We describe sustainable landscapes of the CHPR system in the parameter space and elucidate the mechanism of phase transitions between sustainable and extinct regions. Our findings revealed that a large population size of compartments, a high mixing intensity, and a modest amount of nutrients are important factors for the robust survival of replicators. We also found two distinctive sustainable phases with different mixing intensities. These results suggest that a population of simple host–parasite replicators assumed before the origin of life can be sustained by a simple compartmentalization with periodic washout-mixing processes.

Sustainable design of fuel cell systems and components. Paper no. IGEC-1-148

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frank, D.

2005-01-01

'Full text:' Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technology are touted as the major future enabler for a renewable energy future. This is particularly true for vehicular applications were there are few competitive alternatives. However, without zero-emission production of hydrogen, this will not be a very sustainable solution. Hydrogen generation from biomass, solar, hydro or wind energy will allow this realization. In addition, we need to evaluate the whole life cycle of a fuel cell system in order to make sure that it is truly 'green'. Hydrogenics has in place corporate initiatives to ensure that sustainability is part of the corporate objectives and philosophy. A sustainable future ensures that this generation does not prevent future generations from a similar (or better) standard of living. Fuel cell recyclability and reusability will be a major factor in ensuring a renewable, sustainable future. This is accomplished using sustainable design methodology whereby fuel cell system components are analyzed for their total life cycle impact. This concept of 'cradle to grave' product design responsibility is applied to Hydrogenics fuel cell products and is discussed in this paper. (author)

Supplementary physicians' fees: a sustainable system?

Science.gov (United States)

Calcoen, Piet; van de Ven, Wynand P M M

2018-01-25

In Belgium and France, physicians can charge a supplementary fee on top of the tariff set by the mandatory basic health insurance scheme. In both countries, the supplementary fee system is under pressure because of financial sustainability concerns and a lack of added value for the patient. Expenditure on supplementary fees is increasing much faster than total health expenditure. So far, measures taken to curb this trend have not been successful. For certain categories of physicians, supplementary fees represent one-third of total income. For patients, however, the added value of supplementary fees is not that clear. Supplementary fees can buy comfort and access to physicians who refuse to treat patients who are not willing to pay supplementary fees. Perceived quality of care plays an important role in patients' willingness to pay supplementary fees. Today, there is no evidence that physicians who charge supplementary fees provide better quality of care than physicians who do not. However, linking supplementary fees to objectively proven quality of care and limiting access to top quality care to patients able and willing to pay supplementary fees might not be socially acceptable in many countries. Our conclusion is that supplementary physicians' fees are not sustainable.

KNOWLEDGE BASED ECONOMY VS. SUSTAINABLE AGRO-FOOD SYSTEMS; BEST PRACTICES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen Beatrice PĂUNA

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Knowledge based economy, found in more than one fields, started – considering agriculture – from a transition premise towards sustainable agro-food systems. The conceptual boundaries between the two major paradigms on sustainable development of agriculture, namely the agro-industrial paradigm and the integrated territorial paradigm, is used nowadays for teaching and research purpose, as a comparison basis with an ideal case, mostly because we only have hybrid models which tend to coexist, always improving the food and goods production, also promoting innovative agro-food systems. This paper highlights the idea that the establishment of an institutional and legal framework, will have a catalytic role acting as an engine of economic growth and boosting the development of agricultural systems by mobilizing entrepreneurs in agriculture and related areas. In this regard, we present best practices of economic actors engaged in meta network of agriculture clusters.

Sustainable energy systems: Limitations and challenges based on exergy analysis

OpenAIRE

Woudstra, N.

2012-01-01

General There is a general understanding that the so-called “developed countries” have to change their way of life including their energy supply into a more sustainable way. But even in the case of unanimity with regard to the direction, there are still many opinions about the way to follow. This thesis discusses problems and possibilities of more sustainable energy systems first of all for the energy supply of the Netherlands. The “trias energetica” is used to distinguish the steps that have...

Sustainable integrated farming system: A solution for national food security and sovereignty

Science.gov (United States)

Ansar, M.; Fathurrahman

2018-05-01

This paper provides a comprehensive review of literature related to food security. The world food crisis is a threat to all countries, including Indonesia. The problem of food security in Indonesia is still happening, particularly, aspects of production and increasingly unbalanced food availability. Due to the increasing rate of population growth, land functional shift, degradation of land resources and water, as well as environmental pollution and climate change. Food production has not been able to meet the needs of the population continuously. Therefore, the food policy paradigm applied in Indonesia must change from food security to food independence. Thus, Indonesia is not dependent on other countries. Food diversification is one of the best policies to be implemented in achieving food independence and anticipating the food crisis. Food diversification utilizes land optimally by developing an integrated farming system. The integrated farming system is an efficient and environmentally agricultural system. It is able to utilize sustainable agriculture development, followed by the development of participatory technology (Participatory Technology Development) which refers to the local wisdom of the community.

Aquaponic System: A sustainable production form in Family Farming and periurban area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renan Borro Celestrino

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Aquaponics is a food culture system that involves the integration of hydroponics and aquaculture with recirculation of water and nutrients. Due to its sustainable characteristics, it presents alternatives for the production of animal protein and olerícolas in an integrated way, less impacting the ecosystem. For the development of this essay, a methodological structure of an applied nature and of a scientific character with a qualitative-quantitative approach was adopted, it is a descriptive and experimental research. The data were collected through field research in triangulation with the bibliographic reference. Taking into account the sustainability and practicality of the aquaponic system, the purpose of this work was to survey the cost for the small-scale implementation of the system for family agriculture and peri-urban areas, as well as to present the step-by-step driving the system. The practical experiment consisted of 27 kilos of fish fed with ration referring to 2% of its live weight, the residues nourished 144 seedlings of the Crespa Lettuce. The aquaponic system for family and peri-urban agriculture tends to be a sustainable alternative, presenting low implantation costs, the practicality of management and healthier production due to the organic nutrition of the plants and the non-use of chemicals in the system.

The global sustainability project and the LLNL China energy systems model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harris, N; Lamont, A; Stewart, J; Woodrow, C.

1999-01-01

The sustainability of our modern way of life is becoming a major concern of both our domestic and international policy. The Rio conference on the environment and the recent Kyoto conference on global climate change are two indications of the importance of solving global environmental problem. Energy is a key component in global sustainability since obtaining and using it has major environmental effects. If our energy systems are to be sustainable in the long run, they must be structured using technologies that have a minimal impact on our environment and resources. At the same time, they must meet practical economic requirements: they must be reasonably economical, they must meet the needs of society and they must be tailored to the resources that are available in a particular region or country. Because economic considerations and government policies both determine the development of the energy system, economic and systems modeling can help us better understand ways that new technologies and policies can be used to obtain a more sustainable system. The Global Sustainability Project has developed both economic modeling software and models to help us better understand these issues and has applied them to the analysis of energy and environmental problems in China. In the past year, the models and data developed by the project have been used to support other projects investigating the interaction of technologies and the environment. The project this year has focused on software development to improve our modeling tools and on the refinement and application of the China Energy System model. The major thrust of the software development has been improvements in the METANet economic software system. We have modified its solution algorithm to improve speed and accuracy of the solutions and to make it compatible with the SuperCode modeling system. It is planned to eventually merge the two systems to take advantage of the faster, more flexible solution algorithms of Super

How to consistently make your product, technology or system more environmentally-sustainable?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laurent, Alexis; Cosme, Nuno Miguel Dias; Molin, Christine

Human activities are currently uns ustainable, causing many damages to ecosystems, human health and natural resources. In this setting, the development of new products and technologies has been increasingly required to relate to sustainability and ensure that such development goes hand -in-hand w...... of the system. We rely on state-of -the-art science in the food sector, the aquaculture sector and the energy sector to showcase and illustrate the potential of LCA to undertake the environmental sustainability challenge and support product/technology/system development....

Sustainability assessment of heat exchanger units for spray dryers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caglayan, Hasan; Caliskan, Hakan

2017-01-01

In this study, the sustainability assessment is performed to the system known as heat exchanger unit with spray dryer. The five-different dead state temperatures (0-5-10-15-20 °C) are considered. It is found that the heat exchanger has the highest energy efficiency (63.32%), while the overall system has the lowest one (5.56%). So, the combination of the spray dryer with the heat exchanger is more effective. On the other hand, the overall exergy efficiency of the system is lower than the heat exchanger and spray dryer for all of the dead state (environmental) temperatures. The exergy efficiency of the heat exchanger is inversely proportional to the dead state temperature, and the maximum rate is found as 49.65% at 0 °C. Furthermore, the exergy efficiencies of the spray dryer and overall system are directly proportional to the dead state temperatures, and the corresponding maximum rates are found to be 26.41% and 24.32% at 20 °C, respectively. Also, the exergy destruction is directly proportional to the dead state temperatures. The minimum and maximum exergy destruction rates are found at the dead state temperatures of 0 °C and 20 °C, respectively. Furthermore, the most sustainable system is found as the heat exchanger unit. - Highlights: • Thermodynamic analyses of industrial heat exchangers and spray dryers. • Sustainability of heat exchangers for spray dryers. • Dead state temperature effects on exergy efficiencies of heat exchangers and spray dryers.

Sustainability Assessment of Power Generation Systems by Applying Exergy Analysis and LCA Methods

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stougie, L.; van der Kooi, H.J.; Valero Delgado, A.

2015-01-01

The selection of power generation systems is important when striving for a more sustainable society. However, the results of environmental, economic and social sustainability assessments are subject to new insights into the calculation methods and to changing needs, economic conditions and societal

Stochastic interest rates in the analysis of energy investments: Implications on economic performance and sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tolis, Athanasios; Tatsiopoulos, Ilias; Doukelis, Aggelos

2010-01-01

A systematic impact assessment of stochastic interest and inflation rates on the analysis of energy investments is presented. A real-options algorithm has been created for this task. Constant interest rates incorporating high risk premium have been extensively used for economic calculations, within the framework of traditional direct cash flow methods, thus favouring immediate, irreversible investments in the expense of, sometimes, insubstantially low anticipated yields. In this article, not only incomes and expenses but also interest and inflation rates are considered stochastically evolving according to specific probabilistic models. The numerical experiments indicated that the stochastic interest rate forecasts fluctuate in such low levels that may signal delayed investment entry in favour of higher expected yields. The implementation of stochastically evolving interest rates in energy investment analysis may have a controversial effect on sustainability. Displacements of inefficient plants may be significantly delayed, thus prolonging high CO 2 emission rates. Under the current CO 2 allowance prices or their medium-term forecasts, this situation may not be improved and flexible policy interventions may be necessitated. (author)

Model of environmental management system for environmentally sustainable universities training in Colombia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rivas Marin, Maria Isabel

2011-01-01

Sustainable campuses have become one of the main objectives of the Agendas University as a result of the impacts generated by the activities developed there and affect the environment. Given this, there are environmental management systems which are the set of practices, procedures, processes and resources needed to meet environmental regulations on business and are focused on reducing the impacts on the environment and the efficiency of processes. College- level companies still being considered, these systems do not work efficiently, it is necessary and urgent that the adequacy of a model environmental management system and that, through education and research, will help society to achieve the transition to sustainable lifestyles.

Assessment of the Technological Changes Impact on the Sustainability of State Security System of Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olexandr Yemelyanov

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Currently, the governments of many countries are facing with a lack of funds for financing programs for social protection of population. Among the causes of this problem, we can indicate the high unemployment rate, which, among other things, is due to implementation of labor-saving technologies. The purpose of this work is to study the impact of technological changes on the sustainability of the state social security system in Ukraine. The general approaches to the assessment of the stability of the state social security system are described. The simulation of the effect of economically efficient technological changes on the company’s income and expenses was carried out. Some patterns of such changes are established. The group of productive technological changes types is presented. The model is developed, and an indicator of the impact estimation of efficiently effective technological changes on the stability of the state social security system is proposed. The analysis of the main indicators of the state social security system functioning of Ukraine is carried out. The dynamics of indicators characterizing the labor market of Ukraine is analyzed. The influence of changes in labor productivity on costs and profits by industries of Ukraine is estimated. The evaluation of the impact of economically efficient technological changes in the industries of Ukraine on the stability of its state social security system is carried out. The different state authorities can use the obtained results for developing measures to manage the sustainability of the state social security system.

Overall Bike Effectiveness as a Sustainability Metric for Bike Sharing Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernardo Nugroho Yahya

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Bike sharing systems (BSS have been widely accepted as an urban transport scheme in many cities around the world. The concept is recently expanded and followed by many cities to offer citizen a “green” and flexible transportation scheme in urban areas. Many works focus on the issues of bike availability while the bike performance, i.e., life cycle issues and its sustainability, for better management has been abandoned. As a consequence, mismanagement of BSS would lead to cost inefficiency and, the worst case, end with operation termination. This study proposes a design science approach by developing an Overall Bike Effectiveness (OBE framework. By incorporating the concept of overall equipment analysis (OEE, the proposed framework is used to measure the bike utilization. Accordingly, the OBE is extended into Theoretical OBE to measure the sustainability of the early-stage of BSS. The framework has been verified and evaluated using a real dataset of BSS. The proposed method provides valuable results for benchmarking, life cycle analysis, system expansion and strategy planning toward sustainability. The paper concludes with a discussion to show the impact of the proposed approach into the real practices of BSS including an outlook toward sustainability of BSS.

Agrifood systems and the microbial safety of fresh produce: Trade-offs in the wake of increased sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen-the, Christophe; Bardin, Marc; Berard, Annette; Berge, Odile; Brillard, Julien; Broussolle, Véronique

2016-01-01

Fresh produce has been a growing cause of food borne outbreaks world-wide prompting the need for safer production practices. Yet fresh produce agrifood systems are diverse and under constraints for more sustainability. We analyze how measures taken to guarantee safety interact with other objectives for sustainability, in light of the diversity of fresh produce agrifood systems. The review is based on the publications at the interface between fresh produce safety and sustainability, with sustainability defined by low environmental impacts, food and nutrition security and healthy life. The paths for more sustainable fresh produce are diverse. They include an increased use of ecosystem services to e.g. favor predators of pests, or to reduce impact of floods, to reduce soil erosion, or to purify run-off waters. In contrast, they also include production systems isolated from the environment. From a socio-economical view, sustainability may imply maintaining small tenures with a higher risk of pathogen contamination. We analyzed the consequences for produce safety by focusing on risks of contamination by water, soil, environment and live stocks. Climate change may increase the constraints and recent knowledge on interactions between produce and human pathogens may bring new solutions. Existing technologies may suffice to resolve some conflicts between ensuring safety of fresh produce and moving towards more sustainability. However, socio-economic constraints of some agri-food systems may prevent their implementation. In addition, current strategies to preserve produce safety are not adapted to systems relying on ecological principles and knowledge is lacking to develop the new risk management approaches that would be needed. - Highlights: • Measures taken to improve safety were assessed for their impact on sustainability. • Fresh produce safety improvements may come at the expense of sustainability. • Environment, food security and human health constituted the

Agrifood systems and the microbial safety of fresh produce: Trade-offs in the wake of increased sustainability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nguyen-the, Christophe, E-mail: christophe.nguyen-the@avignon.inra.fr [UMR408 SQPOV «Sécurité et Qualité des Produits d' Origine Végétale», INRA, Avignon Université, 84000 Avignon (France); Bardin, Marc, E-mail: marc.bardin@avignon.inra.fr [INRA, UR0407 Plant Pathology, F-84143 Montfavet (France); Berard, Annette, E-mail: annette.berard@avignon.inra.fr [EMMAH, INRA, Avignon Université, 84000 Avignon (France); Berge, Odile, E-mail: odile.berge@avignon.inra.fr [INRA, UR0407 Plant Pathology, F-84143 Montfavet (France); Brillard, Julien, E-mail: julien.brillard@univ-montp2.fr [UMR408 SQPOV «Sécurité et Qualité des Produits d' Origine Végétale», INRA, Avignon Université, 84000 Avignon (France); Broussolle, Véronique, E-mail: veronique.broussolle@avignon.inra.fr [UMR408 SQPOV «Sécurité et Qualité des Produits d' Origine Végétale», INRA, Avignon Université, 84000 Avignon (France); and others

2016-08-15

Fresh produce has been a growing cause of food borne outbreaks world-wide prompting the need for safer production practices. Yet fresh produce agrifood systems are diverse and under constraints for more sustainability. We analyze how measures taken to guarantee safety interact with other objectives for sustainability, in light of the diversity of fresh produce agrifood systems. The review is based on the publications at the interface between fresh produce safety and sustainability, with sustainability defined by low environmental impacts, food and nutrition security and healthy life. The paths for more sustainable fresh produce are diverse. They include an increased use of ecosystem services to e.g. favor predators of pests, or to reduce impact of floods, to reduce soil erosion, or to purify run-off waters. In contrast, they also include production systems isolated from the environment. From a socio-economical view, sustainability may imply maintaining small tenures with a higher risk of pathogen contamination. We analyzed the consequences for produce safety by focusing on risks of contamination by water, soil, environment and live stocks. Climate change may increase the constraints and recent knowledge on interactions between produce and human pathogens may bring new solutions. Existing technologies may suffice to resolve some conflicts between ensuring safety of fresh produce and moving towards more sustainability. However, socio-economic constraints of some agri-food systems may prevent their implementation. In addition, current strategies to preserve produce safety are not adapted to systems relying on ecological principles and knowledge is lacking to develop the new risk management approaches that would be needed. - Highlights: • Measures taken to improve safety were assessed for their impact on sustainability. • Fresh produce safety improvements may come at the expense of sustainability. • Environment, food security and human health constituted the

Sustained subconjunctival protein delivery using a thermosetting gel delivery system.

Science.gov (United States)

Rieke, Erin R; Amaral, Juan; Becerra, S Patricia; Lutz, Robert J

2010-02-01

An effective treatment modality for posterior eye diseases would provide prolonged delivery of therapeutic agents, including macromolecules, to eye tissues using a safe and minimally invasive method. The goal of this study was to assess the ability of a thermosetting gel to deliver a fluorescently labeled protein, Alexa 647 ovalbumin, to the choroid and retina of rats following a single subconjunctival injection of the gel. Additional experiments were performed to compare in vitro to in vivo ovalbumin release rates from the gel. The ovalbumin content of the eye tissues was monitored by spectrophotometric assays of tissue extracts of Alexa 647 ovalbumin from dissected sclera, choroid, and retina at time points ranging from 2 h to 14 days. At the same time points, fluorescence microscopy images of tissue samples were also obtained. Measurement of intact ovalbumin was verified by LDS-PAGE analysis of the tissue extract solutions. In vitro release of Alexa 488 ovalbumin into 37 degrees C PBS solutions from ovalbumin-loaded gel pellets was also monitored over time by spectrophotometric assay. In vivo ovalbumin release rates were determined by measurement of residual ovalbumin extracted from gel pellets removed from rat eyes at various time intervals. Our results indicate that ovalbumin concentrations can be maintained at measurable levels in the sclera, choroid, and retina of rats for up to 14 days using the thermosetting gel delivery system. The concentration of ovalbumin exhibited a gradient that decreased from sclera to choroid and to retina. The in vitro release rate profiles were similar to the in vivo release profiles. Our findings suggest that the thermosetting gel system may be a feasible method for safe and convenient sustained delivery of proteins to choroidal and retinal tissue in the posterior segments of the eye.

Biorefinery Sustainability Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

J. S. M. Silva, Carla; Prunescu, Remus Mihail; Gernaey, Krist

2017-01-01

This chapter deals with sustainability analysis of biorefinery systems in terms of environmental and socio-economic indicators . Life cycle analysis has methodological issues related to the functional unit (FU), allocation , land use and biogenic carbon neutrality of the reference system and of t......This chapter deals with sustainability analysis of biorefinery systems in terms of environmental and socio-economic indicators . Life cycle analysis has methodological issues related to the functional unit (FU), allocation , land use and biogenic carbon neutrality of the reference system...... and of the biorefinery-based system. Socio-economic criteria and indicators used in sustainability frameworks assessment are presented and discussed. There is not one single methodology that can aptly cover the synergies of environmental, economic, social and governance issues required to assess the sustainable...

Evaluating sustainability of truck weight regulations: A system dynamics view

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pei Liu

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Targeting the problem of overload trucking in Highway Transportation of iron ore from Caofeidian to Tangshan (HTCT, this paper aims to assess long-term effects of alternative Truck Weight Regulation (TWR policies on sustainability of HTCT. Design/methodology/approach: A system dynamics model was established for policy evaluation. The model, composed of six interrelating modules, is able to simulate policies effects on trucking issues such as freight flow, truck traffic flow, pavement performance, highway transport capacity and trucking time, and further on the Cumulative Economic Cost (CEC including transport cost and time cost of freight owners and the Cumulative Social Cost (CSC including pavement maintenance cost, green house gas emission cost, air pollutants emission cost and traffic accidents cost, so the effects of TWR policies on sustainability of HTCT could be evaluated. Findings: According to different values of overload ratio which a TWR policy allows, alternative TWR policies are classified into three types, which are The Rigid Policy (TRP, The Moderate Policy (TMP and The Tolerant Policy (TTP. Results show that the best policy for sustainability of HTCT depends on the importance of CSC which is expected by the local government. To be specific, (1 if CSC is considered much less important than CEC, the local government should continue implementing the current TTP with the maximum overload ratio; (2 if CSC is considered much more important than CEC, then TRP is recommended; and (3 if CSC is considered slightly more important than CES, TMP with overload ratio of 80% is the best. Practical implications: Conclusions of this paper may help the local government design appropriate TWR policies to achieve sustainability of HTCT. Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first effort to evaluate TWR policies on sustainability of regional freight transportation based on system dynamics modeling.

Performance and sustainability of two alternative rabbit breeding systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Theau.Clément

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate 2 alternative breeding systems that differ from the current system in terms of reproduction rhythm, age of females at first insemination and the age of kits at weaning and at slaughter. We measured the performance of 332 females and their offspring over 4 consecutive cycles, as well as the sustainability of the systems. We compared an intensive (group I: reproduction rhythm [RR]=35 d; first insemination [AI1]=20.6 wk of age; weaning age [WA]=32 d; slaughter age [WS]=63 d an extensive (group E: RR=49 d; AI1=16.6 wk; WA=30 d; WS=70 d and a semi-intensive system (group S: RR=42 d; AI1=19.6 wk; WA=35 d; WS=70 d considered as the control system. Sustainability was evaluated using a multicriteria assessment method that takes 14 economic, environmental and social criteria into account, for which 3 to 5 indicators were expressed as the relative score [–1; –0.5; 0; +0.5; +1] for alternative systems compared to the control system. The productivity measured at 28 d (3.5, 4.2 and 4.6 kg/AI, for groups I, S and E, respectively, at 63 d post-partum (30, 38 and 42 kg/female for 4 cycles, respectively, and the total body energy measured 3 d after the 1st and at the 4th insemination (45.4, 46.8 and 49.5 MJ, respectively, were significantly increased when the reproductive rhythm decreased (P<0.001. Before and after weaning, kit mortality decreased when the reproduction rhythm decreased (11.4, 7.3, and 1.9% and 18.3, 15.3 and 10.6% for groups I, S and E, respectively, P<0.05. Carcass quality (weight and dressing percentage was lower in I than in the S and E groups (P<0.001. On this basis, the yearly productivity per doe at weaning could be estimated at 79, 83, and 78 kg for groups I, S and E, respectively. Consequently, the productivity per reproductive cycle increases with the extensification of the breeding system. Nevertheless, compared with the current French system (S, simultaneous changes in several breeding

A systemic approach to the discussion of sustainability of nuclear energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aegerter, Irene

2001-01-01

In 1998 the four Swiss Scientific Academies formed a working group to study sustainability of electricity production. Having been a member of this group since the beginning I witnessed the evolution of the discussion that led to a consensus. The group found the criteria of sustainability to be special for nuclear energy. While the resource uranium is not needed for any other purpose and thus the use of uranium is sustainable, the possible harm to future generations by nuclear reactors is difficult to evaluate: the potential damage can be large but the probability of its occurrence is very small. Therefore some people judge nuclear power as an environmentally friendly source of electricity production and an important contribution towards a sustainable energy future whereas others look at the potential damage and value nuclear power as not sustainable. The discussion of alternatives then reveals that it is definitely not sustainable to replace nuclear power by fossil fuels. This was a consensus reached by the members of the working group, which consists of the pro and anti nuclear camp. Sustainable energy production is a complex topic and not easy to tackle with our everyday methods. The group decided to solve the problem with a systemic approach to get to know the hidden and indirect effects of electricity production and usage. A system approach brings a new concept into the often blocked discussion of proponents and antinuclear people. In order to assure that a holistic evaluation results which reaches a high degree of consensus, several subgroups were formed representing divergent views on the issues analysed. These groups do not communicate their findings while work on their cross impact matrices (CIMs) is under way. The results are compared and discrepancies are discussed. Usually this shows that once the wording of the variables is corrected and their interpretations are shared by the parties involved, consensus concerning evaluations is achieved

Modeling of Supersonic Combustion Systems for Sustained Hypersonic Flight

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen M. Neill

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Through Computational Fluid Dynamics and validation, an optimal scramjet combustor has been designed based on twin-strut Hydrogen injection to sustain flight at a desired speed of Mach 8. An investigation undertaken into the efficacy of supersonic combustion through various means of injection saw promising results for Hydrogen-based systems, whereby strut-style injectors were selected over transverse injectors based on their pressure recovery performance and combustive efficiency. The final configuration of twin-strut injectors provided robust combustion and a stable region of net thrust (1873 kN in the nozzle. Using fixed combustor inlet parameters and injection equivalence ratio, the finalized injection method advanced to the early stages of two-dimensional (2-D and three-dimensional (3-D scramjet engine integration. The overall investigation provided a feasible supersonic combustion system, such that Mach 8 sustained cruise could be achieved by the aircraft concept in a computational design domain.

Index of sustainability of the water resource for the definition of technological sustainable and competitives strategies in the Microbasin la Centella

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martha Constanza Daza; Aldemar Reyes Trujillo; Wilmar Loaiza Ceron; Martha Patricia Fajardo Vasquez

2012-01-01

The Index of Sustainable Water Resource Management in Agriculture (ISRHA) implemented in the watershed Centella (Dagua, Cauca Valley) assesses the sustainability of water resource management in agriculture, using pressure gauges, for State and Response factor analysis: biophysical, technological, socioeconomic and political-institutional. Each factor is composed of indicators which are evaluated based on parameters established by of ISRHA. The results of applying sustainability index shows a half the three study areas (watersheds La Virgen, Centella and Aguas Calientes), which were rated average to good in the proposed scale (1 to 5), identifying weaknesses and strengths in relation to the factors considered, which allows us to suggest some strategies for sustainability of and competitive for water resources in agricultural production systems in the watershed.

An Indicator-Based Framework to Evaluate Sustainability of Farming Systems: Review of Applications in Tuscany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Concetta Vazzana

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Agricultural researchers widely recognise the importance of sustainable agricultural production systems and the need to develop appropriate methods to measure sustainability at the farm level. Policymakers need accounting and evaluation tools to be able to assess the potential of sustainable production practices and to provide appropriate agro-environmental policy measures. Farmers are in search of sustainable management tools to cope with regulations and enhance efficiency. This study proposes an indicator-based framework to evaluate sustainability of farming systems. Main features of the indicators’ framework are the relevance given to different spatial scales (farm, site and field, production and pedo-climatic factors, and a holistic view of the agro-ecosystem. The framework has been conceived to tackle different purposes ranging from detailed scientific analyses to farm-level management systems and cross-compliance. Agro-environmental indicators can be calculated, simulated with models or directly measured with different levels of detail proportionally to the aims of the evaluation exercise. The framework is organised in a number of environmental and production systems and sub-systems. For each system environmental critical points are identified with corresponding agro-environmental indicators and processing methods. A review of applications of the framework in Tuscany, Italy, since 1991 is presented. Applications range from prototyping farming systems, to integrated farm ecological-economic modelling, comparisons between organic, integrated and conventional farming systems, farm eco-management voluntary audit schemes and cross-compliance. Strengths and weaknesses of the framework are discussed against generic requirements of information systems and operational issues.

Shilling attack detection for recommender systems based on credibility of group users and rating time series.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Wei; Wen, Junhao; Qu, Qiang; Zeng, Jun; Cheng, Tian

2018-01-01

Recommender systems are vulnerable to shilling attacks. Forged user-generated content data, such as user ratings and reviews, are used by attackers to manipulate recommendation rankings. Shilling attack detection in recommender systems is of great significance to maintain the fairness and sustainability of recommender systems. The current studies have problems in terms of the poor universality of algorithms, difficulty in selection of user profile attributes, and lack of an optimization mechanism. In this paper, a shilling behaviour detection structure based on abnormal group user findings and rating time series analysis is proposed. This paper adds to the current understanding in the field by studying the credibility evaluation model in-depth based on the rating prediction model to derive proximity-based predictions. A method for detecting suspicious ratings based on suspicious time windows and target item analysis is proposed. Suspicious rating time segments are determined by constructing a time series, and data streams of the rating items are examined and suspicious rating segments are checked. To analyse features of shilling attacks by a group user's credibility, an abnormal group user discovery method based on time series and time window is proposed. Standard testing datasets are used to verify the effect of the proposed method.

Evaluation of the sustainability of contrasted pig farming systems: breeding programmes

OpenAIRE

Rydhmer, L; Gourdine, Jean-Luc; de Greef, K; Bonneau, Michel

2014-01-01

The sustainability of breeding activities in 15 pig farming systems in five European countries was evaluated. One conventional and two differentiated systems per country were studied. The Conventional systems were the standard systems in their countries. The differentiated systems were of three categories: Adapted Conventional with focus on animal welfare, meat quality or environment (five systems); Traditional with local breeds in small-scale production (three systems) and Organic (two syste...

Sustainable Transition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Ole Erik; Søndergård, Bent

2014-01-01

of agendas/vision, technologies, actors and institutions in the emergent design of an urban mobility system based on an electric car sharing system. Why. Designing for sustainability is a fundamental challenge for future design practices; designers have to obtain an ability to contribute to sustainable...

Applicability and methodology of determining sustainable yield in groundwater systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kalf, Frans R. P.; Woolley, Donald R.

2005-03-01

There is currently a need for a review of the definition and methodology of determining sustainable yield. The reasons are: (1) current definitions and concepts are ambiguous and non-physically based so cannot be used for quantitative application, (2) there is a need to eliminate varying interpretations and misinterpretations and provide a sound basis for application, (3) the notion that all groundwater systems either are or can be made to be sustainable is invalid, (4) often there are an excessive number of factors bound up in the definition that are not easily quantifiable, (5) there is often confusion between production facility optimal yield and basin sustainable yield, (6) in many semi-arid and arid environments groundwater systems cannot be sensibly developed using a sustained yield policy particularly where ecological constraints are applied. Derivation of sustainable yield using conservation of mass principles leads to expressions for basin sustainable, partial (non-sustainable) mining and total (non-sustainable) mining yields that can be readily determined using numerical modelling methods and selected on the basis of applied constraints. For some cases there has to be recognition that the groundwater resource is not renewable and its use cannot therefore be sustainable. In these cases, its destiny should be the best equitable use. sostenible. Las razones son: (1) los conceptos y definiciones actuales son ambiguos y sin base física de modo que no pueden usarse para aplicación cuantitativa, (2) existe necesidad de eliminar interpretaciones variables y mal interpretaciones y aportar bases sanas para aplicación, (3) la noción de que todos los sistemas de aguas subterráneas son o pueden ser sostenibles no esvalida, (4) frecuentemente existen un numero excesivo de factores ligados a la definición de producción sostenible los cuales no son fácil de cuantificar, (5) frecuentemente existe confusión entre la producción optima de un establecimiento y la

Sustainability science: accounting for nonlinear dynamics in policy and social-ecological systems

Science.gov (United States)

Resilience is an emergent property of complex systems. Understanding resilience is critical for sustainability science, as linked social-ecological systems and the policy process that governs them are characterized by non-linear dynamics. Non-linear dynamics in these systems mean...

The Battle Command Sustainment Support System: Initial Analysis Report

Science.gov (United States)

2016-09-01

products including jet fuels, distillate fuels, residual fuels, automotive gasoline , specified bulk lubricating oils, aircraft engine oils, fuel...contained within this report. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Mission command Software Tactical applications (TacApps) Command post ...computing environment (CPCE) Command post client Battle command sustainment support System (BCS3) Logistics

Operationalizing sustainability in urban coastal systems: a system dynamics analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mavrommati, Georgia; Bithas, Kostas; Panayiotidis, Panayiotis

2013-12-15

We propose a system dynamics approach for Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) in urban coastal systems. A systematic analysis based on theoretical considerations, policy analysis and experts' knowledge is followed in order to define the concept of ESD. The principles underlying ESD feed the development of a System Dynamics Model (SDM) that connects the pollutant loads produced by urban systems' socioeconomic activities with the ecological condition of the coastal ecosystem that it is delineated in operational terms through key biological elements defined by the EU Water Framework Directive. The receiving waters of the Athens Metropolitan area, which bears the elements of typical high population density Mediterranean coastal city but which currently has also new dynamics induced by the ongoing financial crisis, are used as an experimental system for testing a system dynamics approach to apply the concept of ESD. Systems' thinking is employed to represent the complex relationships among the components of the system. Interconnections and dependencies that determine the potentials for achieving ESD are revealed. The proposed system dynamics analysis can facilitate decision makers to define paths of development that comply with the principles of ESD. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Systems, Society, Sustainability and the Geosciences: A Workshop to Create New Curricular Materials to Integrate Geosciences into the Teaching of Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Gosselin, D. C.; Manduca, C. A.; Oches, E. A.; MacGregor, J.; Kirk, K. B.

2012-12-01

Sustainability is emerging as a central theme for teaching about the environment, whether it be from the perspective of science, economics, or society. The Systems, Society, Sustainability and the Geosciences workshop provided 48 undergraduate faculty from 46 institutions a forum to discuss the challenges and possibilities for integrating geoscience concepts with a range of other disciplines to teach about the fundamentals of sustainability. Participants from community college to doctorate-granting universities had expertise that included geosciences, agriculture, biological sciences, business, chemistry, economics, ethnic studies, engineering, environmental studies, environmental education, geography, history, industrial technology, landscape design, philosophy, physics, and political science. The workshop modeled a range of teaching strategies that encouraged participants to network and collaborate, share successful strategies and materials for teaching sustainability, and identify opportunities for the development of new curricular materials that will have a major impact on the integration of geosciences into the teaching of sustainability. The workshop design provided participants an opportunity to reflect upon their teaching, learning, and curriculum. Throughout the workshop, participants recorded their individual and collective ideas in a common online workspace to which all had access. A preliminary synthesis of this information indicates that the concept of sustainability is a strong organizing principle for modern, liberal education requiring systems thinking, synthesis and contributions from all disciplines. Sustainability is inherently interdisciplinary and provides a framework for educational collaboration between and among geoscientists, natural/physical scientists, social scientists, humanists, engineers, etc.. This interdisciplinary framework is intellectually exciting and productive for educating students at all levels of higher education

A water management decision support system contributing to sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Horváth, Klaudia; van Esch, Bart; Baayen, Jorn; Pothof, Ivo; Talsma, Jan; van Heeringen, Klaas-Jan

2017-04-01

Deltares and Eindhoven University of Technology are developing a new decision support system (DSS) for regional water authorities. In order to maintain water levels in the Dutch polder system, water should be drained and pumped out from the polders to the sea. The time and amount of pumping depends on the current sea level, the water level in the polder, the weather forecast and the electricity price forecast and possibly local renewable power production. This is a multivariable optimisation problem, where the goal is to keep the water level in the polder within certain bounds. By optimizing the operation of the pumps the energy usage and costs can be reduced, hence the operation of the regional water authorities can be more sustainable, while also anticipating on increasing share of renewables in the energy mix in a cost-effective way. The decision support system, based on Delft-FEWS as operational data-integration platform, is running an optimization model built in RTC-Tools 2, which is performing real-time optimization in order to calculate the pumping strategy. It is taking into account the present and future circumstances. As being the core of the real time decision support system, RTC-Tools 2 fulfils the key requirements to a DSS: it is fast, robust and always finds the optimal solution. These properties are associated with convex optimization. In such problems the global optimum can always be found. The challenge in the development is to maintain the convex formulation of all the non-linear components in the system, i.e. open channels, hydraulic structures, and pumps. The system is introduced through 4 pilot projects, one of which is a pilot of the Dutch Water Authority Rivierenland. This is a typical Dutch polder system: several polders are drained to the main water system, the Linge. The water from the Linge can be released to the main rivers that are subject to tidal fluctuations. In case of low tide, water can be released via the gates. In case of high

Fit for the Future? A New Approach in the Debate about What Makes Healthcare Systems Really Sustainable

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Fischer

2014-12-01

Full Text Available As healthcare systems face enormous challenges, sustainability is seen as a crucial requirement for making them fit for the future. However, there is no consensus with regard to either the definition of the term or the factors that characterize a “sustainable healthcare system”. Therefore, the aim of this article is twofold. First, it gives examples of the existing literature about sustainable healthcare systems and analyzes this literature with regard to its understanding of sustainability and the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches. The article then identifies crucial factors for sustainable healthcare systems, and the result, a conceptual framework consisting of five distinct and interacting factors, can be seen as a starting point for further research.

The role of Carbon Capture and Storage in a future sustainable energy system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Henrik; Mathiesen, Brian Vad

2012-01-01

systems, the number of utilisation hours of power and CHP plants will have to decrease substantially due to the energy efficiency measures in combination with the inclusion of renewable energy power inputs from wind and similar resources. Consequently, no power or CHP plants exist in future sustainable......This paper presents the results of adding a CCS(Carbon Capture and Storage) plant including an underground CO2 storage to a well described and well documented vision of converting the present Danish fossil based energy system into a future sustainable energy system made by the Danish Society...... huge construction costs with the expectation of long lifetimes. Consequently, the CCS has to operate as part of large-scale power or CHP plants with high utilisation hours for the CCS investment to come even close to being feasible. However, seen in the light of transforming to sustainable energy...

CONSTRUCTING A GENERAL SUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS THEORY

Science.gov (United States)

Sustainability atracts enormous interest in the minds of the public and the scientific and engineering community because it holds the promise of a long-term solution to environmental problems. Sustainability, however, is mathematically loosely defined. There is no widely accepted...

Thermal Storage Systems Assessment for Energy Sustainability in Housing Units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tania I. Lagunes Vega

2016-04-01

Full Text Available In order to achieve greater enhancements in energy sustainability for housing, the function and efficiency of two different passive cooling systems were studied: encapsulated water in recycled bottles of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET and polystyrene plates, in comparison with standard concrete slab systems, which are customarily used in housing. Experiments were placed over a tile surface, in which temperature changes were monitored for a period of 20 days from 08:00 to 20:00. The efficiency of passive thermal storage systems was endorsed through statistical analysis using the “SPSS” software. This resulted in a 17% energy saving, thus promoting energy sustainability in housing units, which reduces the use of electrical appliances required to stabilize conditions to achieve optimum thermal comfort for the human body inside a house, therefore, reducing electrical power consumption, CO2 emissions to the atmosphere and generating savings. Due to the complexity of a system with temperature changes, a fractal analysis was performed for each experimental system, using the “Benoit” software (V.1.3 with self-compatible tools of rescaled range (R/S and a wavelets method, showing that the thermal fluctuations on the tiles with the thermal storage system adapt to the rescaled range analysis and the regular tiles adapt to the wavelets method.

THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET AS A SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Lopes

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Central theme in society these days, the diet went through several phases during the evolution of the human being. Currently human’s advanced civilizational, deplete resources, develops forms of reproduction and rapid growth of animals, genetically alter plants to make them more resilient and artificially prolongs life. All these factors lead to an overload in nature and revolve to a group of environmentalists and animal rights. Sustainability is part of everyday life of political and social discourse as the fundamental way to our relationship with the environment. Sustainable food systems are those that are able to survive over time, promoting sustainable use of resources and a balance in the economic, social and environmental aspects. Changing diet to the Mediterranean Diet would bring benefits: on the health level, with better nutrition and increased use of some processed products; economic, by encouraging the consumption of local and national production of products; social, with the creation of jobs in agriculture; and environmental, using organic production and the reduction of transportation needs. The Mediterranean Diet encourages a more balanced and healthy eating style, with great positive impact on the environment. With the globalization phenomena is was gradually lost, but is now being revived due to the awakening to health and ecological problems.

Renewable energy for sustainable electrical energy system in India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mallah, Subhash; Bansal, N.K.

2010-01-01

Present trends of electrical energy supply and demand are not sustainable because of the huge gap between demand and supply in foreseeable future in India. The path towards sustainability is exploitation of energy conservation and aggressive use of renewable energy systems. Potential of renewable energy technologies that can be effectively harnessed would depend on future technology developments and breakthrough in cost reduction. This requires adequate policy guidelines and interventions in the Indian power sector. Detailed MARKAL simulations, for power sector in India, show that full exploitation of energy conservation potential and an aggressive implementation of renewable energy technologies lead to sustainable development. Coal and other fossil fuel (gas and oil) allocations stagnated after the year 2015 and remain constant up to 2040. After the year 2040, the requirement for coal and gas goes down and carbon emissions decrease steeply. By the year 2045, 25% electrical energy can be supplied by renewable energy and the CO 2 emissions can be reduced by 72% as compared to the base case scenario. (author)

Externality or sustainability economics?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M. van den

2010-01-01

In an effort to develop 'sustainability economics' Baumgaertner and Quaas (2010) neglect the central concept of environmental economics-'environmental externality'. This note proposes a possible connection between the concepts of environmental externality and sustainability. In addition, attention is asked for other aspects of 'sustainability economics', namely the distinction weak/strong sustainability, spatial sustainability and sustainable trade, distinctive sustainability policy, and the ideas of early 'sustainability economists'. I argue that both sustainability and externalities reflect a systems perspective and propose that effective sustainability solutions require that more attention is given to system feedbacks, notably other-regarding preferences and social interactions, and energy and environmental rebound. The case of climate change and policy is used to illustrate particular statements. As a conclusion, a list of 20 insights and suggestions for research is offered. (author)

The Integration of Sustainable Transport into Future Renewable Energy Systems in China

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Wen

use are largely lost in the current fossil fuel dominated energy systems. Sustainable transport development requires solutions from an overall renewable energy system in which integration of large-scale intermittent renewable energy needs assistance. Technologies of alternative vehicle fuels...... in transport may play a role in furthering such integration. The objective of this research is to make a contribution to the development of methodologies to identify and develop future sustainable transport systems as well as to apply such methodologies to the case of China. In particular, the methodological...... development focuses on 1) identifying suitable transport technologies and strategies based on renewable energy and 2) evaluating such technologies from the perspective of overall renewable energy system integration. For this purpose, a methodological framework involving the research fields of both...

Bretton Woods Fixed Exchange Rate System versus Floating Exchange Rate System

OpenAIRE

Geza, Paula; Giurca Vasilescu, Laura

2011-01-01

One of the most important issues of monetary policy is to find out whether the state should intervene among the exchange rates, taking into account the fact that changes in the exchange rates represent a significant transmission channel of the effects generated by the monetary policy. Taking into consideration the failure of fixed exchange rate regimes and the recent improvement of financial markets, the return in the near future to such a regime – as for example the Bretton Woods system –...

Sustainability Experiments in the Agri-Food System: Uncovering the Factors of New Governance and Collaboration Success

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marianne Hubeau

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In recent years, research, society and industry recognize the need to transform the agri-food system towards sustainability. Within this process, sustainability experiments play a crucial role in transforming the structure, culture and practices. In literature, much attention is given to new business models, even if the transformation of conventional firms toward sustainability may offer opportunities to accelerate the transformation. Further acceleration could be achieved through collaboration of multiple actors across the agri-food system, but this calls for a systems approach. Therefore, we developed and applied a new sustainability experiment systems approach (SESA consisting of an analytical framework that allows a reflective evaluation and cross-case analysis of multi-actor governance networks based on business and learning evaluation criteria. We performed a cross-case analysis of four agri-food sustainability experiments in Flanders to test and validate SESA. Hereby, the key factors of the success of collaboration and its performance were identified at the beginning of a sustainability experiment. Some of the key factors identified were risk sharing and the drivers to participate. We are convinced that these results may be used as an analytical tool for researchers, a tool to support and design new initiatives for policymakers, and a reflective tool for participating actors.

Dimensions of sustainability in social systems: implications for energy and public policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choucri, N.

1995-01-01

Many fundamental dilemmas and obstacles to achieving sustainable development are being explored in both academic and policy-making circles. Central to sustainability are the provision and use of energy - for all societies and at all levels of development. This paper presents the essential foundations of an integrated view of sustainable development and illustrates their applicability to energy requirements in developing countries. The essential foundations are framed in terms of interactions among four dimensions of complexity: (i) ecology, (ii) economy, (iii) institutions, and (iv) decision. Jointly, these provide the bounds for modeling the dynamics of sustainability for social systems. Special attention is given here to the dual domains of institutions and decision, with reference to both national policy and corporate strategy at all levels of development. (author) 3 figs., tabs., 11 refs

Evaluation of sustainability of organic, integrated and conventional farming systems: a farm and field-scale analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pacini, G.C.; Wossink, G.A.A.; Vazzana, C.; Huirne, R.B.M.

2003-01-01

Agricultural researchers widely recognise the importance of sustainable agricultural production systems and the need to develop appropriate methods to measure sustainability. The principal purpose of this paper is to evaluate the financial and environmental aspects of sustainability of organic,

System of Strategic Priorities and Indicators of Ecologically Sustainable Subsoil Use

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lebedev Yuriy

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The system of strategic priorities and indicators of ecologically sustainable subsoil use is based on a fundamental basis - biotic regulation and it has a systematic character defined by conceptual, ideological, political and economic levels of management. It also possesses strict priorities and is based on interrelated ecological, economic and social factors, it reflects space-time dynamics of development and subsoil use. The indicators of ecologically sustainable subsoil use are indicators that characterize the change of natural, social and economic environment at different times; they provide qualitative and quantitative characteristic of subsoil use problem. The majority of existing sets of indicators of sustainable subsoil use doesn’t give a complete picture, is weakly connected with each other and no priorities are distinguished among them.

Toward cropping systems that enhance productivity and sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, R. James

2006-01-01

The defining features of any cropping system are (i) the crop rotation and (ii) the kind or intensity of tillage. The trend worldwide starting in the late 20th century has been (i) to specialize competitively in the production of two, three, a single, or closely related crops such as different market classes of wheat and barley, and (ii) to use direct seeding, also known as no-till, to cut costs and save soil, time, and fuel. The availability of glyphosate- and insect-resistant varieties of soybeans, corn, cotton, and canola has helped greatly to address weed and insect pest pressures favored by direct seeding these crops. However, little has been done through genetics and breeding to address diseases caused by residue- and soil-inhabiting pathogens that remain major obstacles to wider adoption of these potentially more productive and sustainable systems. Instead, the gains have been due largely to innovations in management, including enhancement of root defense by antibiotic-producing rhizosphere-inhabiting bacteria inhibitory to root pathogens. Historically, new varieties have facilitated wider adoption of new management, and changes in management have facilitated wider adoption of new varieties. Although actual yields may be lower in direct-seed compared with conventional cropping systems, largely due to diseases, the yield potential is higher because of more available water and increases in soil organic matter. Achieving the full production potential of these more-sustainable cropping systems must now await the development of varieties adapted to or resistant to the hazards shown to account for the yield depressions associated with direct seeding. PMID:17130454

Sustainability Assessment Using a Unit-based Sustainability ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A sustainability assessment study was performed with three teaching departments at Rhodes University – Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, Anthropology, and Accounting. The assessment used a Unit-based Sustainability Assessment Tool (USAT) and was guided by systems thinking and the ontological framework ...

Human development and sustainability of energy systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-07-01

This seminar on human development and sustainability was jointly organized by the French agency of environment and energy mastery (Ademe) and Enerdata company. This document summarises the content of the different presentations and of the minutes of the discussions that took place at the end of each topic. The different themes discussed were: 1 - Political and methodological issues related to sustainability (sustainability concept in government policy, sustainability and back-casting: lessons from EST); 2 - towards a socially viable world: thematic discussions (demography and peoples' migration; time budget and life style change - equal sex access to instruction and labour - geopolitical regional and inter-regional universal cultural acceptability; welfare, poverty and social link and economics); 3 - building up an environmentally sustainable energy world, keeping resources for future generations and preventing geopolitical ruptures (CO{sub 2} emissions; nuclear issues; land-use, noise, and other industrial risks). The memorandum on sustainability issues in view of very long term energy studies is reprinted in the appendix. The transparencies of seven presentations are attached to this document. (J.S.)

Human development and sustainability of energy systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-07-01

This seminar on human development and sustainability was jointly organized by the French agency of environment and energy mastery (Ademe) and Enerdata company. This document summarises the content of the different presentations and of the minutes of the discussions that took place at the end of each topic. The different themes discussed were: 1 - Political and methodological issues related to sustainability (sustainability concept in government policy, sustainability and back-casting: lessons from EST); 2 - towards a socially viable world: thematic discussions (demography and peoples' migration; time budget and life style change - equal sex access to instruction and labour - geopolitical regional and inter-regional universal cultural acceptability; welfare, poverty and social link and economics); 3 - building up an environmentally sustainable energy world, keeping resources for future generations and preventing geopolitical ruptures (CO{sub 2} emissions; nuclear issues; land-use, noise, and other industrial risks). The memorandum on sustainability issues in view of very long term energy studies is reprinted in the appendix. The transparencies of seven presentations are attached to this document. (J.S.)

Ecological network analysis for economic systems: growth and development and implications for sustainable development.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jiali; Ulanowicz, Robert E

2014-01-01

The quantification of growth and development is an important issue in economics, because these phenomena are closely related to sustainability. We address growth and development from a network perspective in which economic systems are represented as flow networks and analyzed using ecological network analysis (ENA). The Beijing economic system is used as a case study and 11 input-output (I-O) tables for 1985-2010 are converted into currency networks. ENA is used to calculate system-level indices to quantify the growth and development of Beijing. The contributions of each direct flow toward growth and development in 2010 are calculated and their implications for sustainable development are discussed. The results show that during 1985-2010, growth was the main attribute of the Beijing economic system. Although the system grew exponentially, its development fluctuated within only a small range. The results suggest that system ascendency should be increased in order to favor more sustainable development. Ascendency can be augmented in two ways: (1) strengthen those pathways with positive contributions to increasing ascendency and (2) weaken those with negative effects.

Earth's Systems as Models of Ethical Behavior: The Basis for an Ethic of Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Lutz, T. M.

2014-12-01

The enormous advances in scientific understanding of the earth in the last 400 years led to a remarkable flourishing of humanity, but it also resulted in the disruption of critical systems on which we depend. Around the world, soil is lost faster than it forms; groundwater is withdrawn faster than it recharges; biodiversity and biocapacity are crashing; fossil fuels are 87% of our primary energy sources despite their many problems, including steadily rising emissions of CO2. Since 1600, science has honed an ethic of objectivity that insists that facts and values - scientific work and its real world outcomes - remain separate. As a result, our economy and society applaud as loudly when our graduates land jobs that further damage earth systems as when they seek to preserve them. Geoethics aims at the idea that balancing human action with the capacity of planetary systems is the primary "good." Without healthy systems, we cannot thrive. Period. Ethical systems developed to mediate human relations are inadequate to find this balance: they implicitly acknowledge a rationality that places the highest value on short-term growth and efficiency, not on living sustainably in the long run. The best paragon of sustainability is the co-evolution of life and other systems on our planet over 3.5 billion years. This presentation explores the contributions of Gregory Bateson and other scientists to understanding systems in cybernetic terms. Bateson suggested that "What we believe ourselves to be should be compatible with what we believe of the world around us." In other words, the path to a sustainable geoethics begins by re-internalizing lessons that humans alone in the biotic community seem to have forgotten. What are the "rules" by which systems sustain themselves? What do self-sustaining systems "value?" How can we help ourselves and our students learn them? I suggest that paying attention to the process of learning itself is an effective first step, and describe the use of a

A sustainable bioenergy system - a pilot study in the Oerebro district

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magnusson, Leif

1997-06-01

This project describes how biofuel can be used in a region to achieve a more sustainable energy system. The intention is to compile data from different sources to study how available biofuel resources can be used to balance the demand in a region and to correspond with established environmental goals. In the introductory pilot study, located in the Oerebro region, biofuel resources and the energy balance for the urban district heating system are reported. Examples are also given of emissions from a Salix chain and an oil chain when 1 GWh of heat is delivered to a district heating customer. The result shows that when burning in separate co-generation boilers, the Salix chain has 75 % lower particle emissions, 80 % lower NO x emissions and 95 % lower sulphur emissions. The pilot study is linked to a degree project that has mapped energy balances for different biofuels. The energy balances describe how much fossil fuel is required to produce and deliver different biofuel assortments, i.e., a measure of the sustainability of the actual fuel supply. Conclusions from the introductory part of the study suggest that the main study should be concentrated to a description between modern energy systems and a future system of a more sustainable nature in 2020. The aim of this study should be to identify: which bioenergy resources will be available in the region and how they should be used to replace the fossil fuel presently used for production of heat and electricity and: how the environmental load is altered when changing to an energy system based on bio fuel

System Merits or Failures? Policies for Transition to Sustainable P and N Systems in The Netherlands and Finland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Hoppe

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Nitrogen (N and phosphorus (P cycles are absolutely vital in maintaining sustainable food systems. Human activities disturb the natural balance of these cycles by creating enormous additional nutrient fluxes, causing eutrophication of waterways and pollution in land systems. To tackle this problem, sustainable nutrient management is required. This paper addresses sustainable nutrient management in two countries: The Netherlands and Finland. We adopt a critical perspective on resource politics, especially towards opportunistic policy strategies for the pollutant management of N and P. Two research questions are considered. First, what are the key systemic and policy failures that occurred in the N and P systems in the Netherlands and Finland between 1970 and 2015? And second, which lessons can be drawn when addressing the policy responses in the two countries to cope with these failures? The cases are analyzed within Weber and Rohracher’s framework that addresses “failures” preventing sustainable transitions. The results show that a number of failures occurred, besides market failures (over-exploitation of the commons, externalization of costs: lack of directionality, policy coordination, institutions, capabilities, infrastructure, demand articulation, and reflexivity. Policy responses in both countries resulted in ponderous policy frameworks that were adequate to tackle nutrient problems from the industrial sector and municipalities. However, both countries provided only a moderate response in terms of system-wide integrated policy frameworks to cope with sectoral-transcending issues. The agricultural use of N and P, in contrast to detergents, has not been subjected to strong regulatory measures.

Analyzing the Drivers of Advanced Sustainable Manufacturing System Using AHP Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Madan Shankar

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A number of current manufacturing sectors are striving hard to introduce innovative long-term strategies into their operations. As a result, many scholarly studies have found it fruitful to investigate advanced manufacturing strategies such as agile, computer-integrated, and cellular manufacturing. Through the example of downstream cases, manufacturing sectors have learned that financial benefits garnered through automated technologies cannot be counted on as a sole measure to ensure their success in today’s competitive and fluctuating marketplaces. The objective of this study is to integrate those advanced techniques with sustainable operations, to promote advanced sustainable manufacturing so those manufacturing sectors can thrive even in uncertain markets. To establish this connection, this study analyzes the drivers of advanced sustainable manufacturing through a proposed framework validated through a case study in India. Common drivers are collected from the literature, calibrated with opinions from experts, and analyzed through an analytical hierarchy process (AHP, which is a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM approach. This study reveals that quality is the primary driver that pressures manufacturing sectors to adopt advanced sustainable manufacturing. Manufacturers can easily note the top ranked driver and adopt it to soundly implement advanced sustainable manufacturing. In addition, some key future scopes are explored along with possible recommendations for effective implementation of advanced sustainable manufacturing systems.

Engineering Sustainability: A Technical Approach to Sustainability

OpenAIRE

Rosen, Marc A.

2012-01-01

Sustainability is a critically important goal for human activity and development. Sustainability in the area of engineering is of great importance to any plans for overall sustainability given 1) the pervasiveness of engineering activities in societies, 2) their importance in economic development and living standards, and 3) the significant impacts that engineering processes and systems have had, and continue to have, on the environment. Many factors that need to be considered and appropriate...

The Feasibility of "oscar" as AN Information System for Sustainable Rehabilitation of Built Heritage

Science.gov (United States)

Farmer, C.; Rouillard, C.

2017-08-01

This paper aims to examine the feasibility of the Online Sustainable Conservation Assistance Resource (OSCAR) as an information system and framework to help find appropriate ways to improve the sustainable performance of heritage buildings in North America. The paper reviews the need for holistic comprehensive authoritative information in the field of sustainable conservation, how OSCAR addresses this gap, the OSCAR workflow, and how it was used in two case studies. It was found that OSCAR has potential to become a practical educational tool and design aide to address the sustainable performance of heritage buildings. The paper contributes to the discourse on sustainable conservation by examining resources and tools which address the need for holistic retrofit approaches. The findings will be useful to educators and professionals in the fields of sustainable design and heritage conservation.

An Investigation of Customer Accounting Systems as a Source of Sustainable Competitive Advantage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Morten; Kumar, V.; Plenborg, Thomas

2016-01-01

This study examines whether using customer accounting systems for resource allocation purposes is a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Based on a longitudinal data set comparing the performance of firms that adopt customer accounting and their industry benchmarks, we find that financial...... accounting systems is a source of temporary rather than sustainable competitive advantage. The results are robust to other strategic events around the time of adoption, different matching of peers, and the influence of other factors that could be expected to influence firm performance. We discuss...

The Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply: A unique public-private partnership for conducting research on the sustainability of animal housing systems using a multistakeholder approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Mench, J A; Swanson, J C; Arnot, C

2016-03-01

The growing emphasis on ensuring the sustainability of animal agriculture is providing an impetus for the adoption of new approaches to structuring and conducting research. Sustainability is a complex topic involving many considerations related to the economic, social, and environmental impacts of production systems. Successfully addressing this topic requires multidisciplinary research as well as a high degree of communication with food system stakeholders to ensure that the research results contribute to informed decision making. In this paper, we provide an overview of a public-private partnership, the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply (CSES), which was formed to support research evaluating the sustainability of laying hen housing systems. Because of increasing public concerns about the behavioral restriction imposed on laying hens housed in conventional cages, the U.S. egg industry is faced with a need to transition to alternative systems. However, before the CSES project, there was limited information available about how this transition might affect trade-offs related to the sustainability of egg production. The goal of the CSES project was to provide this information by conducting holistic research on a commercial farm that had 3 different hen housing systems. The CSES members represented a variety of stakeholders, including food retailers and distributors, egg producers, universities, and governmental (USDA ARS) and nongovernmental organizations. The CSES was facilitated by a not-for-profit intermediary, the Center for Food Integrity, which was also responsible for communicating the research results to food system stakeholders, including via quantitative and qualitative consumer research. In this paper, we describe the structural aspects of the CSES that were responsible for the successful completion and dissemination of the research as well as the insights that were gained regarding multidisciplinary and multi-institutional collaboration, conducting

Dynamics of sustained use and abandonment of clean cooking systems: study protocol for community-based system dynamics modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Praveen; Chalise, Nishesh; Yadama, Gautam N