Cross-Cultural Investigation of Consumers’ Generations Attitudes Towards Purchase of Environmentally Friendly Products in Apparel Retail

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dabija Dan-Cristian

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Recent changes of the environment and in the society have altered consumers’ preferences and brought new concerns among local communities regarding environmental protection and organizations responsibility, the adoption of environmentally friendly strategies, as well as offering more sustainable products. Consumers tend to select retailers based on their focus on environmental friendly products and on various “green” strategies regarding waste disposal, package recycling, etc. This study aims to highlight Romanian and Slovak consumers’ attitudes towards purchasing of goods from retailers that strive a clear focus on environmental responsibility and environmental friendly practices in apparel, footwear and sportswear retail. By means of a quantitative research based on a questionnaire administered to consumers of international retail chains with operations in both countries, the authors highlight differences in their perceptions and attitudes for buying green apparel, footwear and sportswear. Whereas Millennials and Gen Xers consumers in Romania and Slovakia believe that international apparel, footwear and sportswear retailers are less concerned about environmentally responsible behavior and the need of selling green products, Baby Boomers are more sensitive to such aspects and carefully select retailers according to their green strategy. This research provides specific findings about attitudes of different consumers’ generations within two emerging European countries (Romania, Slovakia.

Integrating Sustainable Consumption into Environmental Education: A Case Study on Environmental Representations, Decision Making and Intention to Act

Science.gov (United States)

Hadjichambis, Andreas Ch.; Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, Demetra; Ioannou, Hara; Georgiou, Yiannis; Manoli, Constantinos C.

2015-01-01

During the last decades, current consumption patterns have been recurrently blamed for rendering both the environment and our lifestyles unsustainable. Young children are considered a critical group in the effort to make a shift towards sustainable consumption (environmentally friendly consumption). However, young people should be able to consider…

Human Behavior and Environmental Sustainability: promoting a pro-environmental behavior by harnessing the social, psychological and physical influences of the built environment

Science.gov (United States)

Abusafieh, Shaden; Razem, Maiss

2017-11-01

Recently, technological advancements in the sustainable design field have allowed us to reduce the ecological impact of the built environment, to reduce consumption of non-renewable resources, to create healthy environments and in some cases may even rehabilitate the ecosystem. Nevertheless, several studies have been carried out showing that sustainable technology does not automatically lead to environmentally friendly behaviors in its users. Various environmental problems threaten environmental sustainability and many of these problems are rooted in human behavior. Unfortunately, there is a lack in studies which take into consideration the human behavior influences within a sustainable built environment. We believe that the built environment should be used to support human goals and requirements, but at the same time we should consider it as a context in which human values and behaviors are cultivated. This research aimed to help in promoting environmental sustainability by using architectural design in changing relevant human behavior toward an environmentally friendly behavior. In order to achieve this, the research adopted Environment-centered Approach to gain more acute perspective into the relationship between the physical environment and human behavior, focusing on social, psychological and physical influences of the built environment. It appears that environmental psychology's merits have high potential in changing behavior within the built environment. The research provides a systematic approach for selecting, assessing, evaluating the behaviors to be changed and the factors that determine them. Furthermore, this approach helps in choosing the best interventions that could be applied in built environment to encourage such a sustainable behavior. This study tried to construct an agenda for further researches to find particular architectural design elements and strategies that we can harness to develop a pro-environment human behavior.

Agricultural production and sustainable development in a Brazilian region (Southwest, Sao Paulo State): motivations and barriers to adopting sustainable and ecologically friendly practices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leite, A. E.; De Castro, R.; Jabbour, C. J. C.

2014-01-01

The objective of this study is to identify the adoption level of practices associated with more sustainable agriculture and environmentally friendly practices. Additionally, the motivations for and barriers to the adoption of these practices by farmers are investigated. Data were collected through...... closed questionnaires taken by a random sample of farmers in the Southwest, Sao Paulo, Brazil, during the second half of 2013. Overall, sustainable agricultural practices recommended in the literature and analysed in this study are being not fully adopted by farmers of the studied area. The results...... showed that financial motivation is associated with farmers adopting new, more sustainable technology, whereas the lack of information on and lack of technical support for these technologies are significant barriers. Other results, research implications, limitations and suggestions for future research...

Environmentally-friendly product development: methods and tools

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Abele, Eberhard; Anderl, R; Birkhofer, Herbert

2005-01-01

... to assess a product's environmental effects. Fig. 1. Vision of Environment as a key target for product development vvi Preface Product related environmental issues are getting more and more political and public awareness. Development of environmentally friendly products has become an action item for both, politics and industry (UNFCCC 1997). Energy...

Analysis of Environmental Friendly Library Based on the Satisfaction and Service Quality: study at Library “X”

Science.gov (United States)

Herdiansyah, Herdis; Satriya Utama, Andre; Safruddin; Hidayat, Heri; Gema Zuliana Irawan, Angga; Immanuel Tjandra Muliawan, R.; Mutia Pratiwi, Diana

2017-10-01

One of the factor that influenced the development of science is the existence of the library, which in this case is the college libraries. Library, which is located in the college environment, aims to supply collections of literatures to support research activities as well as educational for students of the college. Conceptually, every library now starts to practice environmental principles. For example, “X” library as a central library claims to be an environmental friendly library for practicing environmental friendly management, but the X library has not inserted the satisfaction and service aspect to the users, including whether it is true that environmental friendly process is perceived by library users. Satisfaction can be seen from the comparison between expectations and reality of library users. This paper analyzes the level of library user satisfaction with library services in the campus area and the gap between expectations and reality felt by the library users. The result of the research shows that there is a disparity between the hope of library management, which is sustainable and environmentally friendly with the reality in the management of the library, so that it has not given satisfaction to the users yet. The gap value of satisfaction that has the biggest difference is in the library collection with the value of 1.57; while for the smallest gap value is in the same service to all students with a value of 0.67.

Helping people build a better world? Barriers to more environmentally friendly energy production in China: the case of Shell

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buan, Inga Fritzen

2008-03-15

China's rapid industrialization and economic expansion are causing massive environmental damage, with consequences beyond the country's borders, especially due to the use of fossil fuels' effect on climate change. Shell China can contribute to making energy production, if not clean and sustainable, then cleaner and more sustainable by making existing energy production more environmentally friendly; by diversifying and developing alternative energy sources; and by creating precedence influencing others to follow in its footsteps. The first goal of this report is to identify and analyze changes that have happened in the Shell Group since the 1990s when energy companies started their 'greening' processes. These changed happened due to stricter environmental legislation, increased civil society pressure and media scrutiny. Changes on the global and headquarters level in a company do not, however, necessitate similar developments in its national and local level operations. The second goal is thus to analyze to which degree the changes in the Shell Group have had relevance for Shell China and whether barriers in the Chinese context influence its prospects to operate in a more environmentally friendly way. (author). 64 refs

Activism: A Strong Predictor of Proactive Environmentally Friendly Buying Behavior in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahu Ergen

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The market for environmentally friendly products in Turkey is growing, and marketing experts are trying to understand the behavior of the consumers in this market with the help of variables such as demographic factors, information, attitudes, values and life styles. This study analyzes the effects of environmental activism, environmental knowledge and the perceived seriousness of environmental problems on green buying behavior. The study involved 516 Turkish consumers, over eighteen years of age. The results show that environmental activism, environmental knowledge and the perceived seriousness of environmental problems are all meaningful factors in environmentally friendly buying behavior. It was found that the most explanatory variables are environmental activism for proactive environmentally friendly buying behavior and the perceived seriousness of environmental problems for optional environmentally friendly buying behavior. The study is significant since it will offer insights for green marketing experts who especially target specific segments as activists, voluntary simplifiers or green consumers in Turkey.

Activism: A Strong Predictor of Proactive Environmentally Friendly Buying Behavior in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahu Ergen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The market for environmentally friendly products in Turkey is growing, and marketing experts are trying to understand the behavior of the consumers in this market with the help of variables such as demographic factors, information, attitudes, values and life styles. This study analyzes the effects of environmental activism, environmental knowledge and the perceived seriousness of environmental problems on green buying behavior. The study involved 516 Turkish consumers, over eighteen years of age. The results show that environmental activism, environmental knowledge and the perceived seriousness of environmental problems are all meaningful factors in environmentally friendly buying behavior. It was found that the most explanatory variables are environmental activism for proactive environmentally friendly buying behavior and the perceived seriousness of environmental problems for optional environmentally friendly buying behavior. The study is significant since it will offer insights for green marketing experts who especially target specific segments as activists, voluntary simplifiers or green consumers in Turkey.

A model for measuring the environmental sustainability of events.

Science.gov (United States)

Boggia, Antonio; Massei, Gianluca; Paolotti, Luisa; Rocchi, Lucia; Schiavi, Federico

2018-01-15

Like all human activities, events can generate significant pressures on environmental resources, unless they are well-managed and monitored. Therefore, it is becoming more and more important to develop models that can measure their environmental sustainability. Although increasing attention is being paid to this sector, there is currently no standard protocol or method to assess the eco-sustainability of events. This article presents an innovative assessment procedure to measure the environmental sustainability of events. It is based on several indicators, combined by means of a multi-criteria approach and aggregated into a final index, which we called METER (Measuring Events Through Environmental Research). The METER index uses nine major operational categories, divided in sub-categories and detailed items, which cover all the main aspects concerning environmental sustainability of an event and are evaluated for all its phases, i.e. planning, organisation, implementation, post event. The index is fairly analytical, and is thus able to represent the numerous aspects to be taken into consideration in the environmental assessment of an event. At the same time, it is simple to apply and user-friendly, thanks to its graphics and effective communication of the web platform within it is implemented. Moreover, METER is based on a participatory approach using the bottom-up model and on the principle of subsidiarity. All official international documents regarding sustainable development now require subsidiarity. However, it is not being currently applied as part of any certification or with any evaluation tool. Therefore, although the index is still a prototype, it represents an innovation in the field of environmental management. A simple exemplary case is presented, about a European Spring School held at University of Perugia (Italy) in 2014, in which the application of METER showed a sustainability assessment score of 638 points out of 1000, with an excellent management

Environmentally friendly preparation of metal nanoparticles

Science.gov (United States)

The book chapter summarizes the “state of the art” in the exploitation of various environmentally-friendly synthesis approaches, reaction precursors and conditions to manufacture metal and metal oxide nanoparticles for a vast variety of purposes.

Economic and environmental packaging sustainability: A case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iván González Boubeta

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The aim of this paper is to analyze the suitability of the packaging strategy of an important Spanish agro-food company, regarding to economic and environmental sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: Three different types of packaging are analyzed to obtain a diagnostic of the initial situation. In this process, cost and carbon footprint are calculated in order to measure the economic and environmental impacts, respectively. Then, a new packaging allocation logic is proposed with the aim of improving both aspects. Findings: The results show that the carbon footprint is strongly and positively affected by the cost reduction, showing the viability of a win-win relationship between both aspects. Research limitations/implications: The strength of this win-win relationship may be conditioned by the input values considered in this case study. Conversion factors used to calculate carbon footprint vary a lot among researchers, showing the need of standardization in this topic. Practical implications: Since the existence of a positive relationship between economic and environmental sustainability has been demonstrated, organizations should find this kind of situations in themselves to satisfy their own stakeholders. Originality/value: This article shows the potential of unite waste elimination with eco-friendly activities with the aim of increasing the competitiveness of companies. This paper also contributes to the knowledge of economic and environmental sustainability and reinforces theoretical aspects, paving the way for further research on these topics.

Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections: 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) portion of the Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicators Collection contains 103 variables for 146...

Environmentally friendly road construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.I. Essawy

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Environmental pollution is a major problem in developing countries like Egypt. Reuse of waste polymers is considered an attractive solution for environmental white pollution and reducing of the costs of road pavement and maintenance. This research aims to prepare environmentally friendly hot mix asphalt (HMA for paving using some industrial wastes as polypropylene and polyester fibers. The solid materials in the mix include normal and highly porous aggregates. 5% and 10% of waste polymers by weight of the asphalt were used to prepare special binders. The samples were tested for their physical properties, chemical properties, aging, scanning electron microscopy (SEM and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA. The results revealed that the prepared HMA using 5% of waste polymer had high performance as compared to the ordinary one and the waste polymer could be used in road construction.

The importance of message framing for providing information about sustainability and environmental aspects of energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van de Velde, Liesbeth; Verbeke, Wim; Van Huylenbroeck, Guido [Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent (Belgium); Popp, Michael [Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Arkansas, 217 Agriculture Building, Fayetteville, AR 72701 (United States)

2010-10-15

With a looming energy crisis, energy conservation and attention to environmental problems are warranted. The transport sector experiences great challenges to introduce more environmental friendly renewable energy like biofuels. The majority of the Belgian people are asking for more information about this issue. Because individuals are sensitive to how information is presented, the choice of the message frame can significantly influence attitudes and behavioural intention. Because of the strengthening effect on both concern and PCE, our findings suggest that for the prevention of energy and environmental problems and the promotion of a more sustainable and environmental friendly energy consumption not the gravity of these problems and the possible disadvantages but the possibilities to overcome these problems (e.g. reduction of energy use, environmental friendly energy sources) have to be stressed. Men, higher educated people, people between 35 and 54 years old and people with the most pro-environmental attitude are less affected by the message frame, while the choice of the frame is more important when addressing women, people younger than 35 and older than 55 years, lower educated and less pro-environmental people. (author)

The importance of message framing for providing information about sustainability and environmental aspects of energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van de Velde, Liesbeth; Verbeke, Wim; Popp, Michael; Van Huylenbroeck, Guido

2010-01-01

With a looming energy crisis, energy conservation and attention to environmental problems are warranted. The transport sector experiences great challenges to introduce more environmental friendly renewable energy like biofuels. The majority of the Belgian people are asking for more information about this issue. Because individuals are sensitive to how information is presented, the choice of the message frame can significantly influence attitudes and behavioural intention. Because of the strengthening effect on both concern and PCE, our findings suggest that for the prevention of energy and environmental problems and the promotion of a more sustainable and environmental friendly energy consumption not the gravity of these problems and the possible disadvantages but the possibilities to overcome these problems (e.g. reduction of energy use, environmental friendly energy sources) have to be stressed. Men, higher educated people, people between 35 and 54 years old and people with the most pro-environmental attitude are less affected by the message frame, while the choice of the frame is more important when addressing women, people younger than 35 and older than 55 years, lower educated and less pro-environmental people.

Environmental friendly energy transport media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wan Nik, W.B.

2002-01-01

Rational self-interest and good environmental citizenship are forcing the development of renewable and environmentally, acceptable working fluids. Fluids that are at least equivalent in performance plus biodegradable have been formulated in Europe and USA rising vegetable oils as base stocks and as innovative additive packages. While much of the research has been made in the field of alternative environmentally, friendly energy, transport media, the thermal stability of vegetable based stock is still a challenging area. This work concentrates more in improving the oxidation stability of the vegetable based stocks. Oven and oil bath test methods were employed in this study. This paper tabled mineral and vegetable oil physical test results and presents thermal stability of oil blends. (Author)

Why Acting Environmentally-Friendly Feels Good : Exploring the Role of Self-Image

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Venhoeven, Leonie A.; Bolderdijk, Jan Willem; Steg, Linda

2016-01-01

Recent research suggests that engagement in environmentally-friendly behavior can feel good. Current explanations for such a link do not focus on the nature of environmentally-friendly behavior itself, but rather propose well-being is more or less a side-benefit; behaviors that benefit environmental

Fungal treatment: a prospective process for eco-friendly bioremediation of wastewater sludge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molla, A. H.; Fakhru'l-Razi, A.

2009-01-01

None of the conventional techniques is safe and environmental friendly for wastewaters/sludge disposal. A sustainable, safe and environmental friendly biological technique is a great apprehension to the relevant scientists. Since the fungal treatment was exercised to evaluate its potentially for sustainable bioseparation and bioremediation of wastewater. Bioseparation and bioremediation of wastewater sludge by fungal inoculation implied the decreasing of bio solids, total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and specific resistance to filtration (SRF) of wastewater. (Author)

Solar power for energy sustainability and environmental friendliness of Curtin University Sarawak

Science.gov (United States)

Palanichamy, C.; Goh, Alvin

2016-03-01

The demand on electrical energy is rapidly increasing. Everything around us requires electrical energy either during its production or usage stage. Sustainability has become the main concern nowadays as the availability of fossil fuels is limited. As renewable energy is the path-way to energy sustainability and environmental friendly environment, this paper proposes a solar power system for Curtin University Sarawak to reduce its electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The proposed 208 kW solar system saves an energy consumption of more than 380,000 kWh per year, and a CO2 offset by 285 Tons per year

Solar power for energy sustainability and environmental friendliness of Curtin University Sarawak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palanichamy, C; Goh, Alvin

2016-01-01

The demand on electrical energy is rapidly increasing. Everything around us requires electrical energy either during its production or usage stage. Sustainability has become the main concern nowadays as the availability of fossil fuels is limited. As renewable energy is the path-way to energy sustainability and environmental friendly environment, this paper proposes a solar power system for Curtin University Sarawak to reduce its electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The proposed 208 kW solar system saves an energy consumption of more than 380,000 kWh per year, and a CO 2 offset by 285 Tons per year (paper)

French adolescents' environmental friendly behaviour

OpenAIRE

Schleyer-Lindenmann, Alexandra

2012-01-01

International audience; Environmental friendly behavior and attitudes have been studied in social sciences since the 1970 with the awakening of an « ecological consciousness ». Psychology has been actively taking part in these studies since then (Maloney & Ward, 1973, Oskamp, 2000, Schmuck & Schultz, 2002). Bronfenbrenner (1979) in his nested system approach, sees the person as seen as a developing entity, in constant interaction with different developing environments. We therefore propose to...

Transport-related lifestyle and environmentally-friendly travel mode choices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thøgersen, John

2018-01-01

. Finally, a multivariate GLM analysis reveals that three behavioral tendencies of importance for transport-related environmental impacts vary significantly and substantially between lifestyle segments: vehicle ownership, everyday travel-mode choice and environmentally-friendly transport innovativeness...

Environmental Engineering Approaches toward Sustainable Management of Spider Mites.

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Takeshi

2012-10-26

Integrated pest management (IPM), which combines physical, biological, and chemical control measures to complementary effect, is one of the most important approaches to environmentally friendly sustainable agriculture. To expand IPM, we need to develop new pest control measures, reinforce existing measures, and investigate interactions between measures. Continued progress in the development of environmental control technologies and consequent price drops have facilitated their integration into plant production and pest control. Here I describe environmental control technologies for the IPM of spider mites through: (1) the disturbance of photoperiod-dependent diapause by artificial light, which may lead to death in seasonal environments; (2) the use of ultraviolet radiation to kill or repel mites; and (3) the use of water vapor control for the long-term cold storage of commercially available natural enemies. Such environmental control technologies have great potential for the efficient control of spider mites through direct physical effects and indirect effects via natural enemies.

Examining the market potential for natural-gas-powered trucks : barriers and opportunities for promoting environmental sustainability and economic prosperity.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-08-01

Over the past decade, public concerns have grown over America's energy use and production. Pushes : towards more environmentally friendly and sustainable sources of energy have moved out of fringe politics : and into mainstream political discourse. A...

Electrochemical Behaviour of Environmentally Friendly Inhibitor of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Electrochemical Behaviour of Environmentally Friendly Inhibitor of Aloe Secundiflora Extract in Corrosion Control of Carbon Steel in Soft Water Media. ... The investigation was performed at different inhibitor concentrations under static and dynamic conditions using a Rotating Disk Electrode (RDE). The impedance and ...

Promoting energy-saving and environmentally friendly generation dispatching model in China: Phase development and case studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ding, Yi; Yang, Hongliang

2013-01-01

Energy saving and environmental protection are important conditions for the sustainable development of Chinese economy. However current widely used generation scheduling model based on predefined production quota and tariff results in heavy energy consumption and severe environment pollution. From...... 2007, as concerns over energy shortage and environmental pollution, the Chinese authorities introduced the implementation of energy-saving generation dispatching model, which is an important approach to facilitating energy-saving and reduction of pollutant emission. The objective of implementing energy......-saving generation dispatching model is to prioritize the use of renewable energy resources and new power plants with high efficiency without compromising power system security and reliability. This paper analyzes the necessity and feasibility of implementing energy-efficient and environmentally friendly generation...

Environmental sustainability assessment of hydropower plant in Europe using life cycle assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmud, M. A. P.; Huda, N.; Farjana, S. H.; Lang, C.

2018-05-01

Hydropower is the oldest and most common type of renewable source of electricity available on this planet. The end of life process of hydropower plant have significant environmental impacts, which needs to be identified and minimized to ensure an environment friendly power generation. However, identifying the environmental impacts and health hazards are very little explored in the hydropower processing routes despite a significant quantity of production worldwide. This paper highlight the life-cycle environmental impact assessment of the reservoir based hydropower generation system located in alpine and non-alpine region of Europe, addressing their ecological effects by the ReCiPe and CML methods under several impact-assessment categories such as human health, ecosystems, global warming potential, acidification potential, etc. The Australasian life-cycle inventory database and SimaPro software are utilized to accumulate life-cycle inventory dataset and to evaluate the impacts. The results reveal that plants of alpine region offer superior environmental performance for couple of considered categories: global warming and photochemical oxidation, whilst in the other cases the outcomes are almost similar. Results obtained from this study will take part an important role in promoting sustainable generation of hydropower, and thus towards environment friendly energy production.

2002 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The 2002 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) measures overall progress toward environmental sustainability for 142 countries based on environmental systems,...

Environmentally Friendly Luxury Hotel : case: Grand Palace Hotel, Riga, Latvia

OpenAIRE

Losanwe, Ieva

2013-01-01

Chemical pollution, loss of biodiversity, ecological and other to environmental issues addressing words are often heard in todays’ society. Sustainability and especially its environmental aspect are growing trend. Environmental sustainability is considerable issues as well in tourism industry. Hotels can decrease their negative impact on environment by following and implementing environmentally sustainable practices at their business. Any step towards sustainability benefits both the environm...

Integrated nutrient management (INM) for sustaining crop productivity and reducing environmental impact: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Wei; Ma, Baoluo

2015-01-01

The increasing food demands of a growing human population and the need for an environmentally friendly strategy for sustainable agricultural development require significant attention when addressing the issue of enhancing crop productivity. Here we discuss the role of integrated nutrient management (INM) in resolving these concerns, which has been proposed as a promising strategy for addressing such challenges. INM has multifaceted potential for the improvement of plant performance and resource efficiency while also enabling the protection of the environment and resource quality. This review examines the concepts, objectives, procedures and principles of INM. A comprehensive literature search revealed that INM enhances crop yields by 8–150% compared with conventional practices, increases water-use efficiency, and the economic returns to farmers, while improving grain quality and soil health and sustainability. Model simulation and fate assessment further reveal that reactive nitrogen (N) losses and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions are reduced substantially under advanced INM practices. Lower inputs of chemical fertilizer and therefore lower human and environmental costs (such as intensity of land use, N use, reactive N losses and GHG emissions) were achieved under advanced INM practices without compromising crop yields. Various approaches and perspectives for further development of INM in the near future are also proposed and discussed. Strong and convincing evidence indicates that INM practice could be an innovative and environmentally friendly strategy for sustainable agriculture worldwide. - Highlights: • The increasing pressure to meet global cereal demand poses great challenge. • A changing environment further threatens cereal production. • Literature summary shows 8–150% yield advantage from use of INM method. • INM contributions to mitigation of environmental costs are remarkable. • High crop productivity and less environmental impact can be

Integrated nutrient management (INM) for sustaining crop productivity and reducing environmental impact: A review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Wei, E-mail: weiwu@nwsuaf.edu.cn [College of Agronomy, Northwest A& F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100 (China); Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (ECORC), Ottawa, ON K1A 0C6 (Canada); Ma, Baoluo, E-mail: Baoluo.Ma@AGR.GC.CA [Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (ECORC), Ottawa, ON K1A 0C6 (Canada)

2015-04-15

The increasing food demands of a growing human population and the need for an environmentally friendly strategy for sustainable agricultural development require significant attention when addressing the issue of enhancing crop productivity. Here we discuss the role of integrated nutrient management (INM) in resolving these concerns, which has been proposed as a promising strategy for addressing such challenges. INM has multifaceted potential for the improvement of plant performance and resource efficiency while also enabling the protection of the environment and resource quality. This review examines the concepts, objectives, procedures and principles of INM. A comprehensive literature search revealed that INM enhances crop yields by 8–150% compared with conventional practices, increases water-use efficiency, and the economic returns to farmers, while improving grain quality and soil health and sustainability. Model simulation and fate assessment further reveal that reactive nitrogen (N) losses and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions are reduced substantially under advanced INM practices. Lower inputs of chemical fertilizer and therefore lower human and environmental costs (such as intensity of land use, N use, reactive N losses and GHG emissions) were achieved under advanced INM practices without compromising crop yields. Various approaches and perspectives for further development of INM in the near future are also proposed and discussed. Strong and convincing evidence indicates that INM practice could be an innovative and environmentally friendly strategy for sustainable agriculture worldwide. - Highlights: • The increasing pressure to meet global cereal demand poses great challenge. • A changing environment further threatens cereal production. • Literature summary shows 8–150% yield advantage from use of INM method. • INM contributions to mitigation of environmental costs are remarkable. • High crop productivity and less environmental impact can be

A Summary of Environmentally Friendly Turbine Design Concepts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Odeh, Mufeed [United States Geological Survey - BRD, Turners Falls, MA (United States)

1999-07-01

The Advanced Hydropower Turbine System Program (AHTS) was created in 1994 by the U.S. Department of Energy, Electric Power Research Institute, and the Hydropower Research Foundation. The Program’s main goal is to develop “environmentally friendly” hydropower turbines. The Program’s first accomplishment was the development of conceptual designs of new environmentally friendly turbines. In order to do so, two contractors were competitively selected. The ARL/NREC team of engineers and biologists provided a conceptual design for a new turbine runner*. The new runner has the potential to generate hydroelectricity at close to 90% efficiency. The Voith team produced new fish-friendly design criteria for Kaplan and Francis turbines that can be incorporated in units during rehabilitation projects or in new hydroelectric facilities**. These include the use of advanced plant operation, minimum gap runners, placement of wicket gates behind stay vanes, among others. The Voith team will also provide design criteria on aerating Francis turbines to increase dissolved oxygen content. Detailed reviews of the available literature on fish mortality studies, causation of injuries to fish, and available biological design criteria that would assist in the design of fish-friendly turbines were performed. This review identified a need for more biological studies in order to develop performance criteria to assist turbine manufacturers in designing a more fish-friendly turbine.

Sustainable Tourism Development: Exploring the Relationship of Travel Agents’ Education and Experience to Their Attitudes on Environmental Issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nazmiye Erdoğan

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This study explored the nature of environmental attitudes of travel agents and investigated the relationship of educational level and business experience to their views on 27 environment related issues that are connected with sustainability. Data were collected from 1620 travel agents in Turkey. It was found that considerable numbers of travel agents had environmentally friendly views in respect to the factors contributing to the environmental problems, outcomes of environmental protection activities, importance of environmental criteria and environmental sensitivity of public sector, private sector and NGOs. Chi-square analyses to test the two hypotheses did not provide support for all 27 items. However, travel agents with higher education and long business experience in tourism sector hold generally more sensitive views toward environmental issues and sustainable tourism.

The Behavior of Environmentally Friendly Corrosion Preventative Compounds in an Aggressive Coastal Marine Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Montgomery, Eliza L.; Calle, Luz Marina; Curran Jerome C.; Kolody, Mark R.

2013-01-01

The shift to use environmentally friendly technologies throughout future space-related launch programs prompted a study aimed at replacing current petroleum and solvent-based Corrosion Preventive Compounds (CPCs) with environmentally friendly alternatives. The work in this paper focused on the identification and evaluation of environmentally friendly CPCs for use in protecting flight hardware and ground support equipment from atmospheric corrosion. The CPCs, while a temporary protective coating, must survive in the aggressive coastal marine environment that exists throughout the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The different protection behaviors of fifteen different soft film CPCs, both common petroleum-based and newer environmentally friendly types, were evaluated on various steel and aluminum substrates. The CPC and substrate systems were subjected to atmospheric testing at the Kennedy Space Center's Beachside Atmospheric Corrosion Test Site, as well as cyclic accelerated corrosion testing. Each CPC also underwent physical characterization and launch-related compatibility testing . The initial results for the fifteen CPC systems are reported : Key words: corrosion preventive compound, CPC, spaceport, environmentally friendly, atmospheric exposure, marine, carbon steel, aluminum alloy, galvanic corrosion, wire on bolt.

Eco-friendly dentistry: Need of future. An overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Savy Arora

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In today's world, it is very necessary to understand the importance of being eco-friendly in every facet of our lives. The color “green” has healing power and denotes renewal, growth, and hope. “Eco-friendly dentistry” attempts to reduce the detrimental impact of dental practices on the environment and promote environmental awareness and sustainability to patients. This paper attempts to cover all possible aspects of making a dental practice eco-friendly, both in a dental perspective as well as a general perspective. While establishing an eco-friendly dental workplace, the dentist needs to assess his choices in planning the infrastructure and purchasing of equipment and dental materials. Eco-friendly dentistry is a newly evolving practice of dentistry, which encompasses a simultaneous devotion to sustainability, prevention, precaution, and a minimally invasive patient-centric, as well as global-centric treatment. There are two main avenues for implementing eco-friendly dentistry: (1 appropriate policy development and implementation and (2 dentists taking responsibility/ownership in the absence of policies and regulations. Although in some cases, it may take a little extra effort or money; dentists throughout the world are doing their best to reduce the environmental impact of the dental practice. Although the commitment of one small dental office cannot save the planet, certainly, the collective efforts of many small offices as well as large dental hospitals/colleges can ensure that dentists, at least, will not be responsible for destroying it. This article discusses various factors that can be incorporated into dental practice that can help make dentistry eco-friendly.

2005 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) is a measure of overall progress towards environmental sustainability, developed for 146 countries. The index...

Environmentally-friendly lithium recycling from a spent organic li-ion battery.

Science.gov (United States)

Renault, Stéven; Brandell, Daniel; Edström, Kristina

2014-10-01

A simple and straightforward method using non-polluting solvents and a single thermal treatment step at moderate temperature was investigated as an environmentally-friendly process to recycle lithium from organic electrode materials for secondary lithium batteries. This method, highly dependent on the choice of electrolyte, gives up to 99% of sustained capacity for the recycled materials used in a second life-cycle battery when compared with the original. The best results were obtained using a dimethyl carbonate/lithium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl) imide electrolyte that does not decompose in presence of water. The process implies a thermal decomposition step at a moderate temperature of the extracted organic material into lithium carbonate, which is then used as a lithiation agent for the preparation of fresh electrode material without loss of lithium. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Consumer Purchase Behaviour Toward Environmentally Friendly Products in Japan

OpenAIRE

Udo, Miyako

2007-01-01

This study considers consumer purchase behaviour toward environmentally friendly products in Japan and focuses on factors which can influence environmentally responsible purchase decision making. The modified theory of planned behaviour based on previous research in the area of environmentally responsible purchase behaviour and ethical purchase decision making is applied to examine factors affecting the purchase decision making and key findings from the present study are highlighted. It can b...

DECO FRECASE (drywall eco-friendly from eggshell and cane bagasse) as an innovation of eco-friendly interior construction

Science.gov (United States)

Imron, M. A.; Ahkam, D. N. I.; Hidayat, A. W.

2017-12-01

The number of factories and home industries, both upper and lower middle class certainly adds waste generated, resulting in environmental pollution. The development of buildings is one of the largest contributors to global warming. For that, it takes technological innovations that lead to the criteria of green building. The application of green material is important aspects of environmentally friendly development, the selection of materials on the green material criteria of both roles should be applied continuously in order to realize the environmental sustainability of the material. Utilization Waste eggshell and bagasse which is a community waste, has the potential to become innovative environmentally friendly building materials. The eggshell is composed of 94% calcium carbonate, 1% magnesium carbonate, 1% calcium phosphate, and 4% organic material, especially protein, while the bagasse has a high content of silica (SiO2). In this study, the compounds are used as raw material for making alternative drywall in the form of DECO FRECASE. DECO FRECASE is an innovation of environmentally friendly building materials as an interior wall construction. Through DECO FRECASE, it is expected that building material innovation in Indonesia can be improved and of course environmental problems can be minimized by utilizing it as raw material for building construction.

Environmental-friendly wool fabric finishing by some water plant extracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Šmelcerović Miodrag

2007-01-01

Full Text Available In this article, environmental-friendly finishing of wool fabric were processed with several water extract plants, such as hibiscus, St. John's wort, and marigold. The plant extracts have good basis in the commercial dyeing of wool, for garment and carpet industry. At the same time, the environmental-friendly finishing by water extracts plants shows very good fastness of the antimicrobial properties and coloration of wool fabric. From an ecological viewpoint, the substitution of chemical dyes with "natural products" may represent not only a strategy to reduce risk and pollutants but also an opportunity for new markets and new businesses, which can expend involving of ecology in trade policy.

Environmentally Friendly Pretreatment for Department of Defense Applications

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-29

Develop an environmentally friendly pretreatment system for multi-material Department of Defense applications ― Free of hexavalent chromium (Cr6...Zn phosphate and chrome wash primer •Two Zirconium pretreatment variations passed the 336 hr and 1000 hr B-117 outlined per MIL-DTL-53022 or MIL

Environmental Friendly Coatings and Corrosion Prevention For Flight Hardware Project

Science.gov (United States)

Calle, Luz

2014-01-01

Identify, test and develop qualification criteria for environmentally friendly corrosion protective coatings and corrosion preventative compounds (CPC's) for flight hardware an ground support equipment.

Eco-friendly Retail Product Attributes, Customer Attributes and the Repurchase Intentions of South African Consumers

OpenAIRE

Job Dubihlela; Tandiswa Ngxukumeshe

2016-01-01

Purpose –Consumers are becoming progressively aware of the significance of eco-friendly activities, and their environmental consciousness drives them to consume eco-friendly products and services more, and prefer to support organisations that favor conservational practices. Increased environmental impacts bring a rise in concerns locally and globally, on sustainability issues aimed at reducing non-conservative consumption patterns. Retail organisations are increasingly developing and marketin...

Convenience food with environmentally-sustainable attributes: A consumer perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Stranieri, Stefanella; Ricci, Elena Claire; Banterle, Alessandro

2017-09-01

The use of chemicals in agriculture poses risks on both human health and the environment. Regulatory measures, both mandatory and voluntary, have been introduced to promote a reduction in the use of pesticides. The proliferation of such standards is related to the gradual shift of consumer preferences towards food with reduced negative health and environmental impacts. Beside consumer demand for sustainable food products, convenience food is also assuming an increasingly important role in developed countries. Among such products, minimally-processed vegetables are showing a growing positive trend, but their production has also negative effects on the environment. The goal of this study is to investigate the interaction between environmentally-friendly and healthy convenience food, and to investigate the determinants behind the purchase of healthy convenience food products with environmentally-sustainable attributes, focusing on minimally-processed vegetables labelled with voluntary standards related to integrated agriculture. To do so, we started from the Theory of Planned Behaviour and tested the efficacy of an extended model by considering also other variables which were found to affect significantly food choices. Data were collected by means of face-to-face interviews with 550 consumers in charge of grocery shopping in the metropolitan area of Milan, in northern Italy. Structural equation modelling was performed to analyse the relative importance of the constructs on consumer behaviour. Results confirm the relations of Ajzen's theory and reveal positive relations with consumer food shopping habits, food-related environmental behaviour, gender, income and knowledge. A negative relation with agricultural practices concern also emerges, highlighting that the most concerned consumers may prefer other more stringent environmental certifications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design of environmentally friendly calcium sulfate-based building materials : towards an improved indoor air quality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yu, Q.

2012-01-01

This thesis addresses the performance based design and development of an environmentally friendly calcium sulfate-based indoor building product towards an improved indoor air quality. Here "environmental friendly" is referred to the environment related subjects including: (1) the selection of raw

Sustainability Policy and Environmental Policy

OpenAIRE

John C. V. Pezzey

2001-01-01

A theoretical, representative agent economy with a depletable resource stock, polluting emissions and productive capital is used to contrast environmental policy, which internalises externalised environmental values, with sustainability policy, which achieves some form of intergenerational equity. The obvious environmental policy comprises an emissions tax and a resource stock subsidy, each equal to the respective external cost or benefit. Sustainability policy comprises an incentive affectin...

Is Environmental Training Critical to Environmental Sustainability Behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

OT Aladesanmi

2014-09-01

Full Text Available In the past few decades, concern for the environment has increased significantly with evidences of change in perception of people's values and attitudes towards the environment. This study presents the results of a survey carried out among postgraduate students undergoing training in environmental and non-environmental fields with the aim of comparing their environmental sustainable behaviour. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of environmental training on the postgraduate students? awareness, perceptions and behaviours with focus on the attitudes of the respondents towards environmental sustainability, and how these attitudes affect their behaviour. A purposive sampling method was used to obtain data using a semi-structured questionnaire. The respondents comprised of 50 and 47 postgraduate students undergoing training in environmental and non-environmental respectively. The data was subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS. The results of the study revealed that most of the students in environmental fields readily transferred the knowledge acquired in their training to a sustainable behaviour. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i3.11083 International Journal of Environment Vol.3(3 2014: 241-251

A Survey on Turkish Elementary School Students' Environmental Friendly Behaviours and Associated Variables

Science.gov (United States)

Alp, Elvan; Ertepinar, Hamide; Tekkaya, Ceren; Yilmaz, Ayhan

2008-01-01

This study investigated elementary school students' environmental knowledge and attitudes, the effects of sociodemographic variables on environmental knowledge and attitudes, and how self-reported environmentally friendly behaviour is related to environmental knowledge, behavioural intentions, environmental affects, and the students' locus of…

Taking a Holistic Approach to Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Girouard, Miles

2011-01-01

The benefits of sustainability go way beyond improving the environment. School districts that choose to build facilities using sustainable principles reap the benefits of environmentally friendly, healthy establishments; attractive work spaces (which improve recruiting and retention); and significant operational cost savings. Districts realize…

Some Theories Of Environmental Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irina-Virginia Dragulanescu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the arguments with which the neoclassical have approached the problems of sustainability, giving life to that branch of political economy that studies the problems related to the use of natural resources and environmental externalities. Environmental Economics studies, insights and additions that bind knowledge economy with the application of economic theory to environmental problems seek to provide in this paper an comprehensive framework and as exhaustive as possible of speculations around the concept of sustainability. We highlight, also, how environmental aspects are processed within a defined perimeter of economic instruments to defend the neoclassical orthodoxy in front of the market failure and to support the undertaking of a path of development that is sustainable.

Slip flow coefficient analysis in water hydraulics gear pump for environmental friendly application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yusof, A A; Wasbari, F; Zakaria, M S; Ibrahim, M Q

2013-01-01

Water hydraulics is the sustainable option in developing fluid power systems with environmental friendly approach. Therefore, an investigation on water-based external gear pump application is being conducted, as a low cost solution in the shifting effort of using water, instead of traditional oil hydraulics in fluid power application. As the gear pump is affected by fluid viscosity, an evaluation has been conducted on the slip flow coefficient, in order to understand to what extent the spur gear pump can be used with water-based hydraulic fluid. In this paper, the results of a simulated study of variable-speed fixed displacement gear pump are presented. The slip flow coefficient varies from rotational speed of 250 RPM to 3500 RPM, and provides volumetric efficiency ranges from 9 % to 97% accordingly

The Impact of Individual Attitudinal and Organisational Variables on Workplace Environmentally Friendly Behaviours

OpenAIRE

Manika, D; Wells, VK; Gregory-Smith, D; Gentry, M

2015-01-01

Although research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown steadily, little research has focused on CSR at the individual level. In addition, research on the role of environmental friendly organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) within CSR initiatives is scarce. In response to this gap and recent calls for further research on both individual and organizational variables of employees' environmentally friendly, or green, behaviors, this article sheds light on the influence of thes...

Environmentally Sustainable Economic Growth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stelian Brad

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Economic growth and sustainable development are important issues for social prosperity. Sustainable development strives for moderate and responsible use within the economic activity of the limited resources of our planet, whereas economic growth does not limit the resource exploitation and energy, being mainly focused on productivity increase. From this perspective, both conceptual and operational contradictions occur between the two pillars of prosperity. This paper looks to these contradictions and proposes some streams of intervention such as economic growth and environmental sustainability to operate in harmony. A structured framework for innovative problem solving is considered in this respect. Results of this research show that it is possible to induce smart measures in the economic system for directing businesses towards new paradigms where economic growth is possible without negative effects on environmental sustainability.

NASA Ames Environmental Sustainability Report 2011

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Ann H.

2011-01-01

The 2011 Ames Environmental Sustainability Report is the second in a series of reports describing the steps NASA Ames Research Center has taken toward assuring environmental sustainability in NASA Ames programs, projects, and activities. The Report highlights Center contributions toward meeting the Agency-wide goals under the 2011 NASA Strategic Sustainability Performance Program.

Sustainability evaluation of Sicily's lemon and orange production: an energy, economic and environmental analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Pergola, M; D'Amico, M; Celano, G; Palese, A M; Scuderi, A; Di Vita, G; Pappalardo, G; Inglese, P

2013-10-15

The island of Sicily has a long standing tradition in citrus growing. We evaluated the sustainability of orange and lemon orchards, under organic and conventional farming, using an energy, environmental and economic analysis of the whole production cycle by using a life cycle assessment approach. These orchard systems differ only in terms of a few of the inputs used and the duration of the various agricultural operations. The quantity of energy consumption in the production cycle was calculated by multiplying the quantity of inputs used by the energy conversion factors drawn from the literature. The production costs were calculated considering all internal costs, including equipment, materials, wages, and costs of working capital. The performance of the two systems (organic and conventional), was compared over a period of fifty years. The results, based on unit surface area (ha) production, prove the stronger sustainability of the organic over the conventional system, both in terms of energy consumption and environmental impact, especially for lemons. The sustainability of organic systems is mainly due to the use of environmentally friendly crop inputs (fertilizers, not use of synthetic products, etc.). In terms of production costs, the conventional management systems were more expensive, and both systems were heavily influenced by wages. In terms of kg of final product, the organic production system showed better environmental and energy performances. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Testing of environmentally friendly lubricants for sheet metal forming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bay, Niels; Olsson, David Dam; Andreasen, Jan Lasson

2005-01-01

the authors have especially been involved in the development of a system of test methods for sheet metal forming and in testing of friction and limits of lubrication of new, environmentally friendly lubricants. An overview of the developed tests is presented together with selected results....

Green technological foresight on environmental friendly agriculture: Executive summary

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borch, K.; Christensen, S.; Jørgensen, U.

2005-01-01

Risø and the co-operators have on behalf of the Forest and Nature Agency completed a technological foresight on environmentally friendly agriculture based on green technologies. A technological foresight is a systematic dialogue on how one prepares forfuture challenges, which have not yet manifes...

Sustainable energy-economic-environmental scenarios

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2002-03-31

IIASA's Environmentally Compatible Energy Strategies (ECS) Project has proposed a quantitative 'working definition' of sustainable development E3 (energy-economic-environmental) scenarios. ECS has proposed four criteria for sustainability: economic growth is sustained throughout the time horizon; socioeconomic inequity among world regions is reduced over the 21st century; reserves-to-production (R/P) ratio for exhaustible primary energy resources do not decline; and long-term environmental stress is mitigated. Using these criteria, 40 long-term E3 scenarios generated by ECS models were reviewed and analyzed. Amongst the conclusions drawn were: slow population growth or stabilization of global population appears to be prerequisite for sustainable development; economic growth alone does not guarantee a sustainable future; carbon intensities of total primary energy must decrease faster than the historical trend; strategies for fossil fuel consumption must aim at non-decreasing R/P ratios; and carbon emissions must be near or below today's levels at the end of this century. The analysis of sustainable development scenarios is an important step towards formulating long-term strategies aimed at climate stabilization. 6 figs., 1 tab.

Environmental sustainability of biodiesel in Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geraldes Castanheira, Érica; Grisoli, Renata; Freire, Fausto; Pecora, Vanessa; Coelho, Suani Teixeira

2014-01-01

Biodiesel production in Brazil has grown from 736 m 3 in 2007 to 2.7 Mm 3 in 2012. It is an emergent bioenergy for which it is important to guarantee environmental sustainability. The objective of this article is to characterise the biodiesel production chain in Brazil, to identify potential environmental impacts and to analyse key drivers and barriers for biodiesel environmental sustainability. This article explores these aspects and focusses on the increasing demand for the main feedstocks for biodiesel production in Brazil: soybean oil and beef tallow. The impacts of land use and land-use change on greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity and water, as well as the energy balance, were found to be critical for the environmental sustainability assessment and development of biodiesel chains. Increasing agriculture yields, diversifying feedstocks and adopting ethyl transesterification can contribute to minimise environmental impacts. It was also found that environmental impacts could be mitigated by appropriate policies aiming at an integrated optimisation of food and bioenergy production and through agro-economic–ecological zoning, allowing adequate use of land for each purpose. Despite the limitation and weakness of some sustainability tools and initiatives, certification and zoning can play an important role in the sustainability of the emerging biodiesel production in Brazil

Managing environmental sustainability in a healthcare setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Langstaff, Karen; Brzozowski, Victoria

2017-03-01

How does a hospital sustain its journey towards environmental sustainability? To date, most hospitals have embarked on some strategies for improving environmental performance, whether it's reducing energy or landfill waste. Environmental sustainability strategies, however, can often lose momentum or stagnate if not championed by someone whose full-time role is to assess, monitor, and bring new strategies to the table. In the face of ongoing budget deficits, it is increasingly difficult to get adequate support and buy-in for this type of role unless the leadership of the organization is committed to an environmental sustainability program. This article will examine the strategies and outcomes of an environmental sustainability plan for one hospital from 2008 to present, including best strategies, lessons learned, and what lies ahead of us in the new world of capping greenhouse gas emissions.

Sustainability: Environmental Studies and Public Health

OpenAIRE

Scholz, Miklas

2009-01-01

This special issue ‘Sustainability: Environmental Studies and Public Health’ is part of the internationally leading 'International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health’. I was invited to be the guest editor, and to oversee the refereeing process and subsequent selection of timely, relevant and high quality papers highlighting particularly novel aspects concerned with sustainability issues in environmental studies. [...

Sustainable mining, local communities and environmental regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kokko Kai

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Sustainable mining is an objective as well as a tool for balancing economic, social, and environmental considerations. Each of these three dimensions of mining – and sustainable development – has many components, some of which were chosen for closer study in the SUMILCERE project. While there is no single component that in itself provides a definitive argument for or against sustainable mining, the research reveals some that have proven valuable in the process of balancing the different dimensions of sustainability. In the SUMILCERE project, comparative studies enabled us to identify factors such as the following, which are essential when discussing the balancing in practice of the three dimensions of sustainable mining cited above: the framework and functionality of environmental regulation to protect the environment (environmental sustainability; competitiveness of the mining industry in light of environmental regulation and its enforcement (economic sustainability; public participation and the opportunities local communities have to influence their surroundings, as well as communities’ acceptance of projects (social sustainability before and during operations; and the protection of Sámi cultural rights in mining projects (social and cultural sustainability. Although each of the three dimensions of sustainability leaves room for discretion in the weight assigned to it, ecological sustainability, protected by smart environmental regulation and minimum standards, sets essential boundaries that leave no room for compromises. Economic and social sustainability are possible only within these limits. Details of the analyses in the Kolarctic area and accounts of the methods used can befound in the cited SUMILCERE articles.

Printed environmentally friendly supercapacitors with ionic liquid electrolytes on paper

Science.gov (United States)

Pettersson, F.; Keskinen, J.; Remonen, T.; von Hertzen, L.; Jansson, E.; Tappura, K.; Zhang, Y.; Wilén, C.-E.; Österbacka, R.

2014-12-01

Environmentally friendly supercapacitors are fabricated using commercial grade aluminum coated paper as a substrate and symmetrical activated carbon electrodes as large area electrodes. Different choline chloride-based eutectic solvents are used as electrolyte. These are inexpensive, environmentally friendly and have a larger operating window compared to that of water electrolytes. As the entire device is printed and the materials used are inexpensive, both small- and large-area power sources can be fabricated to be used in cheap, disposable and recyclable devices. Supercapacitors with different eutectic solvents are measured using cyclic charge-discharge and impedance spectroscopy measurements and compared to one widely used and one "green" imidazolium ionic liquid; EMIM:TFSI and EcoEng 212™, respectively. A mixture of ethylene glycol and choline chloride, Glyceline™, show the highest capacitance and power densities of the electrolytes being tested, including the imidazolium alternatives.

Sustainability: Environmental Studies and Public Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miklas Scholz

2009-10-01

Full Text Available This special issue ‘Sustainability: Environmental Studies and Public Health’ is part of the internationally leading 'International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health’. I was invited to be the guest editor, and to oversee the refereeing process and subsequent selection of timely, relevant and high quality papers highlighting particularly novel aspects concerned with sustainability issues in environmental studies. [...

Framework for Sustainability Performance Assessment for Manufacturing Processes- A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, K.; Sultan, I.

2017-07-01

Manufacturing industries are facing tough competition due to increasing raw material cost and depleting natural resources. There is great pressure on the industry to produce environmental friendly products using environmental friendly processes. To address these issues modern manufacturing industries are focusing on sustainable manufacturing. To develop more sustainable societies, industries need to better understand how to respond to environmental, economic and social challenges. This paper proposed some framework and tools that accelerate the transition towards a sustainable system. The developed framework will be beneficial for sustainability assessment comparing different plans alongside material properties, ultimately helping the manufacturing industries to reduce the carbon emissions and material waste, besides improving energy efficiency. It is expected that this would be highly beneficial for determination of environmental impact of a process at early design stages. Therefore, it would greatly help the manufacturing industries for selection of process plan based on sustainable indices. Overall objective of this paper would have good impact on reducing air emissions and protecting environment. We expect this work to contribute to the development of a standard reference methodology to help further sustainability in the manufacturing sector.

Child-Friendly Cities: A Place for Active Citizenship in Geographical and Environmental Education

Science.gov (United States)

Wilks, Judith

2010-01-01

This research was designed to investigate innovative practices associated with child-friendly cities initiatives in the United Kingdom and Italy and how civics and citizenship initiatives are being applied into practical programmes of exploration and learning in geography and environmental education. The Child-Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) of…

Corporate sustainability: environmental, social, economic and corporate performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alena Kocmanová

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The article deals with corporate sustainability and environmental and social issues of the integration of corporate performance measurement that may lead to sustainable economic success. Sustainability is a strategy of the process of sustainable development. Sustainability of businesses and sustainable performance can be defined as an integration of environmental, social and economic performance. First and foremost, businesses will want to know what indicators can be used to measure environmental, social and economic performance. What is the mutual relationship between environmental, social and economic performance? How can firms arrive at a comprehensive assessment of their performance in relation to sustainability? The aim of this paper is to analyze corporate environmental, social and economic performance and to analyze their mutual relationships. The final part of the article is an assessment of the contemporary situation and draft Key Performance Indicators (KPI for assessment of corporate sustainability that will be the subject of further research in a selected NACE-CZ sector and in accordance with Corporate Sustainability Reporting. KPI provide businesses with a means of measuring progress toward achieving objectives.

Sustainability makes ready for the future. Utilization of the energy, environmental protection; Nachhaltigkeit macht fit fuer die Zukunft. Energie nutzen, Umwelt schuetzen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doering, Markus; Jungbluth, Andreas; Petry, David; Mueller, Bernd

2010-09-15

Needless to say, that sustainability corresponds to the preservation of development opportunities and livelihood opportunities as well as to save the competitiveness of our country. In addition to this, the sustainability is the answer to the challenges of the globalisation, demographic change, worldwide climate changes and the shortage of energy sources. Under this aspect, the brochure under consideration contains the following contributions: (1) Discovery of energy: fundamentals and sources; (2) Utilization of energy: climate-friendly concepts; (3) Energy conservation: Environmental protection by means of efficiency; (4) Energy exploration: Innovations for a sustainable development.

Sustainable urban environmental quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tošković Dobrivoje

2004-01-01

Full Text Available MEANING as the essential element of urban quality. The role of the three main factors for the urban quality achievement: PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT and PEOPLE. Next to that, it is important to assume the identity of the local CONTEXT as the essential base for designing and shaping of form development. The problems of the quality achievements in the situation of the permanent changes. In such an environment - the RENEWAL of the towns become the basic strategic orientation requiring - evaluation of the development policy instruments. On the road of changes there are PROBLEMS of a strategic nature which should be, firstly, defined and, then, solved before entering in the process of structuring and arrangement. One of these problems is NEW versus OLD. Transition to a new policy of urbanism relying, first of all, on the private investors and international funds of the local authorities - call for a NEW STRATEGY in urbanism, in the context of the sustainability of environment. The sustainability of quality and the categories of the influencing factors. The sustainability of quality as a twofold process of urban design. The quality of environment as an aesthetic phenomenon. The urban situation and environmental quality: feasibility of changes and effects; the environmental capacity as an indicator and quality determinant. The urban quality and international experience. The evaluation of our urban situation. INSTEAD OF CONCLUSION: A general review on the visions and urban quality policy and planning. Toward an evaluation of urban environmental quality: negative and positive indicators; sustainable communities environmental ruling and urban quality planning.

Teaching environmental sustainability in higher education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Itard, L.C.M.; Van den Bogaard, M.E.D.; Hasselaar, E.

2010-01-01

The challenges of sustainable engineering and design are complex and so are the challenges of teaching sustainability to higher education students. This paper deals with teaching environmental sustainability, with a specific focus on the sustainability of buildings. The paper addresses specifically

Development of environmentally friendly briquettes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleisa, K.; Lehmann, J.; Verfuss, F.; Simon, G.

1994-01-01

The DMT has developed an industrial briquette consisting of about 87% hardcoal, 7% molasses pulp and 6% hydration limestone which meets the requirements of the clean air authority as an environmentally friendly fuel for travelling grate boilers. In extensive tests in a 4.4 MW travelling grate boiler these briquettes with molasses and limestone additives proved to be particularly effective in terms of reducing sulphur dioxide emission in the flue gas. They exhibited good ignition and combustion behaviour as well as a considerable reduction in nitrogen oxide emission. In a large-scale test with 1000 t of briquettes in a 46.5 MW travelling grate furnace it proved possible to confirm the good combustion behaviour and the reduced emission of sulphur oxide and nitrogen oxide in the flue gas. (orig.) [de

New Swedish environmental and sustainable education research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johan Öhman

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This special issue of Education & Democracy presents examples froma new generation of Swedish research on environmental and sustainability education and thereby complement the picture of the current Swedish environmental and sustainability education research outlined in the recent Danish-Swedish special issue of Environmental EducationResearch (Vol 16, No 1 and the anthology Democracy and Values inEducation for Sustainable Development – Contributions from Swedish Research (Öhman 2008. All the contributors to this issue are associatedwith the Graduate School in Education and Sustainable Development (GRESD, either as PhD students or as supervisors.

Activism: A Strong Predictor of Proactive Environmentally Friendly Buying Behavior in Turkey

OpenAIRE

Ahu Ergen; Filiz Bozkurt; Caner Giray

2016-01-01

The market for environmentally friendly products in Turkey is growing, and marketing experts are trying to understand the behavior of the consumers in this market with the help of variables such as demographic factors, information, attitudes, values and life styles. This study analyzes the effects of environmental activism, environmental knowledge and the perceived seriousness of environmental problems on green buying behavior. The study involved 516 Turkish consumers, over eighteen years of ...

School Facilities and Sustainability-Related Concepts: A Study of Hellenic Secondary School Principals’, Teachers’, Pupils’ and Parents’ Responses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasiliki Zepatou

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Effective building environment sustainability frameworks and practices need to take users’ opinions into account. For this purpose, a survey questionnaire was developed and the “Panhellenic survey of school spaces, materials and environmental-comfort conditions in secondary schools and perceptions, stances and attitudes of pupils, teachers, principals and parents towards sustainable construction and the selection and use of materials in schools that are friendly to the environment and human health” was conducted nationwide with a random stratified sample of 170 Hellenic public secondary schools. Selected findings are presented and discussed here. These show that existing school facilities are primarily rated as good and that selection and use of materials friendly to the environment and human health are extremely important. User groups believe that they should participate in planning/selecting sustainable solutions for schools. An Index of 10 School Environment Desired Outcomes associated with environmentally friendly and health-friendly materials selection and use was devised. Relevant factors were extracted and interpreted. The research establishes users’ subjective opinions that may be considered and integrated into procedures for improving school buildings, assessing and selecting environmentally friendly materials and implementing strategies for sustainable school design, building and operation.

Sustainable development of water resources in Pakistan and environmental issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shakir, A.S.; Bashir, M.A

2005-01-01

Irrigation water represents an essential input for sustaining agricultural growth in Pakistan's arid to semi arid climate. While the surface water availability for irrigation has been more or less stagnant for the last three decades, the ground water utilization also appears to have touched the peak in most of the sweet aquifers. In the present state of inaction for the water resources development, the overall water availability is in fact declining due to progressive sedimentation of the existing storages and gradual lowering of water table in fresh ground water areas. The paper discusses major water resources concerns that threaten the sustainability of Pakistan's irrigated agriculture. The paper identifies overall water scarcity, high degree of temporal variability in river flows, lack of balancing storages and declining capacity of existing storages due to natural sedimentation as the serious concerns. Over exploitation of ground water and water quality concerns also seems to be emerging threats for environmentally sustainable irrigated agriculture in this country. The salt-water intrusion and increase in soil and ground water salinity are indicators of over exploitation of ground water for irrigation. The continuous use of poor quality ground water for irrigation is considered as one of the major causes of salinity in the area of irrigated agriculture. Indiscriminate pumping of the marginal and saline ground water can add to the root zone salinity and ultimately reduce the crop yields. The paper presents various management options for development and efficient utilization of water resources for environment friendly sustainable development of irrigated agriculture in Pakistan. These include construction of additional storage, modernization of irrigation system and effective conjunctive use of surface and groundwater resources. The better soil and water management practices, saline agriculture, use of biotechnology and genetic engineering can further increase

Developing a validation for environmental sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Adewale, Bamgbade Jibril; Mohammed, Kamaruddeen Ahmed; Nawi, Mohd Nasrun Mohd; Aziz, Zulkifli

2016-08-01

One of the agendas for addressing environmental protection in construction is to reduce impacts and make the construction activities more sustainable. This important consideration has generated several research interests within the construction industry, especially considering the construction damaging effects on the ecosystem, such as various forms of environmental pollution, resource depletion and biodiversity loss on a global scale. Using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling technique, this study validates environmental sustainability (ES) construct in the context of large construction firms in Malaysia. A cross-sectional survey was carried out where data was collected from Malaysian large construction firms using a structured questionnaire. Results of this study revealed that business innovativeness and new technology are important in determining environmental sustainability (ES) of the Malaysian construction firms. It also established an adequate level of internal consistency reliability, convergent validity and discriminant validity for each of this study's constructs. And based on this result, it could be suggested that the indicators for organisational innovativeness dimensions (business innovativeness and new technology) are useful to measure these constructs in order to study construction firms' tendency to adopt environmental sustainability (ES) in their project execution.

Development of environmentally friendly messages to promote longer durations of breastfeeding for already breastfeeding mothers.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Amanda E

2015-01-01

Durations of breastfeeding activity in the United States fall short of established recommendations by leading public health institutions. In response to this problem, this study sought to develop environmentally friendly messages to promote continued breastfeeding for moms already breastfeeding in order to help them reach recommended breastfeeding durations. Messages were successfully cultivated to encourage moms already breastfeeding to meet recommended breastfeeding durations. In addition, this study cultivated strategies by which to use environmentally friendly messages to urge mothers who still need to decide whether to breastfeed or formula feed to breastfeed, although this was not the purpose of the research. Avenues for future communication-based breastfeeding research were also elucidated. The Elaboration Likelihood Model serves as useful theory to assess the role of environmentally friendly messages in the promotion of continued breastfeeding.

Evaluating Sustainability of Household Consumption Using DEA to Assess Environmental Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christoffersen, Line Block; Jensen, Trine Susanne; Wier, Mette

2005-01-01

We assess environmental performance across product types and across household types in order to evaluate environmental pressure from human activities. To so do, we combine family budget statistics, input-output tables, energy and material flow matrices, various types of emissions and environmenta...... friendly consumption pattern. Middle income families living in houses have the least environmentally friendly consumer basket, and these families constitute a high share of all families in Denmark....

Physical Geography and Environmental Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary Thornbush

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In this introduction to the Special Issue on Physical Geography and Environmental Sustainability, the links between a variety of physical landscapes located throughout the world and long-term wellbeing are considered from a systems approach. Twelve papers were published as part of this call, with half from Asia, especially China. They represent a contribution across topographic landscapes, from mountainous to estuarine, and cover models as well as case studies encompassing landscape and environmental changes. Remotely sensed data, statistical analysis, and GIS were often incorporated in the work, and this particularly conveys the importance of spatial analysis on inputs by physical geographers in sustainability research. Furthermore, scale variations from the local to global are presented as part of a geographical contribution. The connectedness of environments to humans and the reverse (of humans adapting to environmental change is evident in several of the papers where human impacts and adaptation are concerned. Finally, the last paper provides a comprehensive summary of the potential contribution that physical geographers can make to environmental sustainability from a multidisciplinary approach.

Pre-Service Teacher Opinions about Eco-Friendly Person Activity Package Developed to Raise Environmental Awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Candan, Sevcan; Erten, Sinan

2015-01-01

In this study, the effectiveness of Eco-Friendly Person Activity Package developed in order to raise environmental awareness in pre-service teachers and enable them to be an example of an eco-friendly teacher for their future students, and the responses about Eco-Friendly Person Activity Package were investigated. The study was conducted on 75…

Teaching Ecology to Children of Preschool Education to Instill Environmentally Friendly Behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Maria Eduarda; Cruz, Catarina; Pitarma, Rui

2016-01-01

This qualitative study analyzes the results of a pedagogical and didactic experiment which was focused on the problem of teaching environmentally-friendly behaviours to young kindergarten children. It is essential to awaken children's curiosity and desire to know more about environmental issues in their regions so that children develop their own…

University of Illinois FRIENDS Children’s Environmental Health Center

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The FRIENDS Children's Environmental Health Center at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, was established in 2001 to investigate the interactive effects of...

Sustainability and Environmental Economics: Some Critical Foci

Science.gov (United States)

I present five seminal concepts of environmental economic thought and discuss their applicability to the idea of sustainability. These five, Maximum Sustainable Yield and Steady-state, The Environmental Kuznet’s curve, Substitutability, Discount rate and Intergenerational equity...

Environmental management and sustainable development in Yugoslavia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simic, J.

2002-01-01

All problems have happened in Yugoslavia in last decade have not destroyed wishes to work, to invent and create in field of the environmental protection. This statement gives short survey of experiences in field of the environmental protection and sustainable development in Yugoslavia. The main objective is to emphasize the importance of sustainable development with its four components - economic, environmental, social and cultural. Having in mind that environmental protection is not job taker but a job maker that activity must take priority in near and further future. We wish to point very important role of international cooperation on the way of sustainable development on the Balkan. (author)

Environmental impact assessment and eco-friendly decision-making in civil structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sang-Hyo; Choi, Moon-Seock; Mha, Ho-Seong; Joung, Jung-Yeun

2013-09-15

This study develops two useful procedures in performing an environmental-impact assessment. One is the advanced life-cycle assessment (LCA) method, which effectively tracks the flow of materials and considers the recycling and demolition of a civil structure. The other is an eco-friendly decision-making procedure, which may effectively apply when determining the prototype of a civil structure. The advanced LCA method differs from traditional LCA procedure, as it classifies the input material prior to the impact assessment. Classification work is performed to establish independent life-cycle stages for each material. The processes of recycling and demolition are appropriately added to the life-cycle stages. The impact assessment is performed separately for the materials, and results are aggregated at the end of the analysis. The eco-friendly decision-making procedure enables designers to choose an economical, and environmentally friendly, alternative during the planning phase of the construction project. This procedure rationally amalgamates economical value and environmental effects into a single indicator. The life cycle cost (LCC) of a structure can be analysed by using conventional LCC tools, whereas the environmental impact is estimated by LCA. The results from LCC and LCA are then integrated by using either a CO2 conversion method or an analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The CO2 conversion method presents the result as a monetary value, whereas the AHP presents the result as a non-dimensional value. A practical example using a steel box girder bridge and a pre-stressed concrete (PSC) box-girder bridge is also given in order to aid the understanding of the presented procedure. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental sustainability in North European hotel business

OpenAIRE

Niskanen, Ville

2011-01-01

Environmental issues are becoming increasingly important in modern day society, and environmental sustainability is one issue to be considered in hotel business. Global temperatures have been increasing during the recent years and the emissions of carbon dioxide have a big role in the issue. Hotels can affect the situation for their part by trying to run their businesses in an environmentally sustainable fashion. Concentrating on environmental issues can also result in financial savings in th...

Application of Green Environmentally Friendly Materials in Food Packaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jixia Li

2017-11-01

Full Text Available With social development, requirements on the spiritual and material life have increased. However, some environmental issues appear, for example, in food packaging. Application of environment-friendly materials in food packaging has been more and more attractive. This study analyses the characteristics of degradable food packaging material and the existing problems, proposes the manufacturing of food packaging with poly(lactic acid/nanocrystalline cellulose composite material, tests its thermal and mechanical properties, and applies it to the design of food packaging. The results demonstrate that the thermal and mechanical properties of the material could satisfy the requirements of food packaging and that the material is applicable to the design of food packaging in the future. This work provides a reference for the application of green, environment-friendly materials in the design of food packaging.

Environmental ethics and regional sustainable development

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHENG Du; DAI Erfu

2012-01-01

The scientific environmental ethics plays a key role in the recognition of the human-environment interactions.Modern environmental ethics is the philosophical re-thinking of modern human race environmental behavior.The development of environmental ethics theory,as well as its application in reality,determines the viewpoints of environmental ethics.Sustainable development implies harmony on human-environment interactions and inter-generation responsibility,with emphasis on a harmonious relationship among population,resources,environment and development,so as to lay a sustainable and healthy foundation of resources and environment for future generations.The harmonious society construction in China that is raised by the Chinese central government should be covered by environmental ethics.The connotation of open environmental ethics includes a respect for nature,care for the individual human race,and respect for the development of future generations,which means giving consideration to natural values,individual and human race benefits and welfare across generations.The role of environmental ethics in regional development consists of cognition,criticism,education,inspiration,adjusting,legislation and promoting environmental regulations.The major problems in regional development are extensive resource exploration,fast population growth,irrational industrial structure,unfair welfare distribution and the twofold effects of science and technology development.The formulation of environmental ethics that aims at regional sustainable development,can not only harmonize the relationship of population,resource,environment and economic development,but also guide behavior selection,push social and political system transformation,strengthen the legal system,and raise environmental awareness of the public.

Environmentally Friendly Cleaners for Removing Tar from Metal Surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

2009-04-01

treatment plants that handle phosphate type solu- tions. The terms used by commercial vendors such as environmentally friendly, all natural, green, and...solvents used in relation to diesel fuel, and the procedure can also rank solvents quantitatively. Sacco (2004) has studied the blending of two plant ...other bituminous materials from industrial equipment surfaces. The composition is a mixture of a carrier monocyclic monoterpene and a nonionic

Application of Green Environmentally Friendly Materials in Food Packaging

OpenAIRE

Jixia Li

2017-01-01

With social development, requirements on the spiritual and material life have increased. However, some environmental issues appear, for example, in food packaging. Application of environment-friendly materials in food packaging has been more and more attractive. This study analyses the characteristics of degradable food packaging material and the existing problems, proposes the manufacturing of food packaging with poly(lactic acid)/nanocrystalline cellulose composite material, tests its therm...

Is environmental management an economically sustainable business?

Science.gov (United States)

Gotschol, Antje; De Giovanni, Pietro; Esposito Vinzi, Vincenzo

2014-11-01

This paper investigates whether environmental management is an economically sustainable business. While firms invest in green production and green supply chain activities with the primary purpose of reducing their environmental impact, the reciprocal relationships with economic performance need to be clarified. Would firms and suppliers adjust their environmental strategies if the higher economic value that environmental management generates is reinvested in greening actions? We found out that environmental management positively influences economic performance as second order (long term) target, to be reached conditioned by higher environmental performance; in addition, firms can increase their performance if they reinvest the higher economic value gained through environmental management in green practices: While investing in environmental management programs is a short term strategy, economic rewards can be obtained only with some delays. Consequently, environmental management is an economically sustainable business only for patient firms. In the evaluation of these reciprocal relationships, we discovered that green supply chain initiatives are more effective and more economically sustainable than internal actions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Green marketing as a key strategy for sustainable development: A case study of Albanian consumers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anita Gumeni

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Recently efforts have been made in order to achieve sustainable development, which consists of social sustainability, economic sustainability and environmental sustainability in order to reach well-being of present and future generations. In our time the concern for environmental topics and sustainable development has been increasing. Accordingly companies are trying to design new strategies for gaining competitive advantage in the marketplace. Green marketing is one of such strategies used by marketers for reaching sustainable development. Companies need to know consumers' attitude and to adapt new marketing solutions with the focus on determining the expectations and satisfying their needs. In this paper we will attempt to examine the attitude of Albanian consumers toward eco-friendly products. The aim of the survey is to gather information from a consumer standpoint. We will apply various statistical analyses to investigate the demographic variable of consumers who are willing to pay an extra price for eco-friendly products. Findings demonstrate that the profile of consumers with a positive attitude towards eco-friendly products was more likely to be young educated women.

Development and application of an environmentally friendly ductile alkali-activated composite

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nedeljkovic, M.; Lukovic, M.; van Breugel, K.; Hordijk, D.A.; Ye, G.

2018-01-01

This paper presents a development of a ductile alkali-activated fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) based composite as an environmentally friendly material for structural concrete application. For this purpose, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibres and sand aggregate were

Environmental sustainability in European public healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiarini, Andrea; Vagnoni, Emidia

2016-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to enlarge the debate concerning the influence of leadership on environmental sustainability implementation in European public healthcare organisations. Design/methodology/approach - This paper is a viewpoint. It is based on preliminary analysis of European standards dedicated to environmental sustainability and their spread across Europe in public healthcare organisations. Viewpoints concerning leadership are then discussed and asserted. Findings - This paper found a limited implementation of standards such as Green Public Procurement criteria, Eco-Management and Audit Scheme and ISO 14001 in public healthcare. Some clues indicate that the lack of implementation is related to leadership and management commitment. Originality/value - For the first time, this paper investigates relationships between leadership and environmental sustainability in European public healthcare opening further avenues of research on the subject.

Environmental Sustainability Analysis of Biodiesel Production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herrmann, Ivan Tengbjerg; Hauschild, Michael Michael Zwicky; Birkved, Morten

Due to their generally positive carbon dioxide balance, biofuels are seen as one of the energy carriers in a more sustainable future transportation energy system, but how good is their environmental sustainability, and where lie the main potentials for improvement of their sustainability? Questions...... like these require a life cycle perspective on the biofuel - from the cradle (production of the agricultural feedstock) to the grave (use as fuel). An environmental life cycle assessment is performed on biodiesel to compare different production schemes including chemical and enzymatic esterification...... with the use of methanol or ethanol. The life cycle assessment includes all processes needed for the production, distribution and use of the biodiesel (the product system), and it includes all relevant environmental impacts from the product system, ranging from global impacts like climate change and loss...

The hydrogen economy urgently needs environmentally sustainable hydroelectricity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goodland, R.

1995-01-01

Only two sources of energy were said to have the capacity to bridge the transition to fully sustainable and renewable energy, namely natural gas and hydro. The argument was made that because of this advantage, both forms will have to be promoted fast, since the transition to sustainable energy is urgent. In so far as natural gas supplies are concerned, it was estimated that they will last for perhaps the next 50 years, whereas hydroelectric potential is practically unlimited. Developing nations could vastly accelerate their development, reduce poverty and approach sustainability by exporting hydro to industrial countries. Similarly, industrial nations switching from fossil fuels to hydrogen could move up the environmental ranking, and significantly help alleviating global pollution and climate risks. Environmental ranking of new energy sources, world reservoirs of hydroelectric power, environmental and social ranking of hydro sites, the environmental impacts of hydro projects, and the concept of environmental sustainability in hydro reservoirs, were summarized. Greater acceptance of the need for sustainable development by the hydro industry was urged, along with more care in selecting hydro development sites with sustainability as a prime objective. 23 refs., 6 figs

Characterization of Encapsulated Corrosion Inhibitors for Environmentally Friendly Smart Coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Pearman, B. P.; Calle, L. M.; Zhang, X.; Li, W.; Buhrow, J. W.; Johnsey, M. N.; Montgomery, E. L.; Fitzpatrick, L.; Surma, J. M.

2015-01-01

The NASA Kennedy Space Center's Corrosion Technology Lab at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, U.S.A. has been developing multifunctional smart coatings based on the microencapsulation of environmentally friendly corrosion indicators, inhibitors and self-healing agents. This allows the incorporation of autonomous corrosion control functionalities, such as corrosion detection and inhibition as well as the self-healing of mechanical damage, into coatings. This paper presents technical details on the characterization of inhibitor-containing particles and their corrosion inhibitive effects using electrochemical and mass loss methods. Three organic environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitors were encapsulated in organic microparticles that are compatible with desired coatings. The release of the inhibitors from the microparticles in basic solution was studied. Fast release, for immediate corrosion protection, as well as long-term release for continued protection, was observed. The inhibition efficacy of the inhibitors, incorporated directly and in microparticles, on carbon steel was evaluated. Polarization curves and mass loss measurements showed that, in the case of 2MBT, its corrosion inhibition effectiveness was greater when it was delivered from microparticles.

Going green with eco-friendly dentistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Avinash, Bhagyalakshmi; Avinash, B S; Shivalinga, B M; Jyothikiran, S; Padmini, M N

2013-07-01

Eco-friendly dentistry is currently transforming the medical and dental field to decrease its affect on our natural environment and reduce the amount of waste being produced. Eco-friendly dentistry uses a sustainable approach to encourage dentists to implement new strategies to try and reduce the energy being consumed and the large amount of waste being produced by the industry. Many reasonable, practical and easy alternatives do exist which would reduce the environmental footprint of a dental office were it to follow the 'green' recommendations. Dentist should take a leading role in the society by implementing 'green' initiatives to lessen their impact on the environment. This article provides a series of 'green' recommendations that dentists around the world can implement to become a leading Stewards of the environment.

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.

Sustainability through the Lens of Environmental Sociology: An Introduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md Saidul Islam

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Our planet is undergoing radical environmental and social changes. Sustainability has now been put into question by, for example, our consumption patterns, loss of biodiversity, depletion of resources, and exploitative power relations. With apparent ecological and social limits to globalization and development, current levels of consumption are known to be unsustainable, inequitable, and inaccessible to the majority of humans. Understanding and achieving sustainability is a crucial matter at a time when our planet is in peril—environmentally, economically, socially, and politically. Since its official inception in the 1970s, environmental sociology has provided a powerful lens to understanding the challenges, possibilities, and modes of sustainability. This editorial, accompanying the Special Issue on “sustainability through the Lens of Environmental Sociology”, first highlights the evolution of environmental sociology as a distinct field of inquiry, focusing on how it addresses the environmental challenges of our time. It then adumbrates the rich theoretical traditions of environmental sociology, and finally examines sustainability through the lens of environmental sociology, referring to various case studies and empirical analyses.

Strategic Environmental Assessment and Sustainable Development

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Mingjing; Gao, Qingjun; Wang, Nan; Yang, Xigen; Xu, Xin; Zhang, Lu

2018-04-01

The development of social science and technology economy, the international community more and more attention to environmental and development issues. So the main goal pursued by people is not only to meet the needs of social and natural resources, while at the same time being able to protect the needs of future generations. This is the path of sustainable development. Therefore, this paper is a detailed study of strategic environmental assessment and sustainable development.

Sustainability and the Fixed Bed Nuclear Reactor (FBNR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farhang Sefidvash

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Sustainability as a multifaceted and holistic concept is analyzed. Sustainability involves human relationship with elements such as natural environment, economy, power, governance, education and technology with the ultimate purpose of carrying forward an ever-advancing civilization. The Fixed Bed Nuclear Reactor (FBNR is an innovative, small, simple in design, inherently safe, non-proliferating, and environmentally friendly concept that its deployment can generate energy in a sustainable manner contributing to the prosperity of humanity. The development of FBNR will provide electricity as well as desalinated water through a simple but advanced technology for the developing, as well as developed countries. FBNR is environmentally friendly due to its inherent safety and the convenience of using its spent fuel as the source of radiation for irradiation purposes in agriculture, industry, and medicine. Politically, if a ping pong game brought peace between China and USA, a program of development of FBNR supported by the peace loving international community can become a more mature means to bring peace among certain apparently hostile nations who crave sustainable energy, desalinated water and simple advanced technology.

Comparison of the microbiological quality of environmentally friendly and conventionally grown vegetables sold at retail markets in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Ryu, Jee-Hoon; Kim, Minju; Kim, Eun-Gyeong; Beuchat, Larry R; Kim, Hoikyung

2014-09-01

Fresh produce is usually eaten raw without cooking or heating, which may increase the probability of foodborne infection. The microbiological quality of 11 types of fresh, raw vegetables (romaine lettuce, sesame leaves, crown daisy, garlic chives, iceberg lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, leek, chili pepper, capsicum, and zucchini) purchased at retail markets in Iksan, Korea as affected by cultivation method (environmentally friendly vegetables [organic, pesticide-free, and low-pesticide vegetables] and conventionally grown vegetables) and harvest season was determined. Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella were not detected in all samples of vegetables tested. Aerobic mesophiles (>6 log cfu/g) were detected in environmentally friendly romaine lettuce and crown daisy and environmentally friendly and conventionally grown garlic chives, which also contained coliforms (>3 log cfu/g). Sesame leaf and crown daisy (regardless of cultivation method), as well as conventionally grown romaine lettuce and leek, contained >1 log cfu/g of E. coli. The overall microbiological quality of environmentally friendly and conventionally grown vegetables was not significantly different (P > 0.05). However, there were seasonal effects on populations of coliforms and generic E. coli on vegetables. The greatest numbers of microorganisms were isolated from environmentally friendly or conventionally grown vegetables purchased in winter. The vegetables, regardless of cultivation method or season, should be subjected to appropriate antimicrobial treatment to enhance their microbial safety. © 2014 Institute of Food Technologists®

Flexible procurement systems is key to supply chain sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Surajit Bag

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Background: In this dynamic business environment, manufacturers are focusing primarily on delivery performance and competitive pricing to win orders. It is essential that manufacturers adopt flexible procurement systems (FPSs in such an uncertain environment for business sustainability. Objectives: The purpose of the study is to identify the elements of FPSs and model the interrelationships between elements of FPSs and, finally, to understand how FPSs are linked with supply chain sustainability. Method: Besides providing a brief conceptual review of FPSs, the study largely illustrates the use of an innovative multi-criteria decision-making approach called total interpretive structural modelling (TISM. Results: The total interpretive structural modelling–based model evaluates the causality and illustrates elements with interpretation of relations and suggests that bottom-level elements are vital for sustainability in FPSs and avert risks. Secondly, strategic sourcing is positively influencing supplier integration. Thirdly, supplier integration positively influences supplier responsiveness. Fourthly, skills of flexible procurement workforce positively influence supplier integration. Fifthly, it is found that supplier integration positively influences flexible transportation. The sixth finding suggests that supplier integration positively influences eco-friendly packaging. The seventh finding highlights that supplier integration positively influences ISO 14001 certifications. The eighth finding explains that supplier responsiveness positively influences customer satisfaction. It is also observed that flexible transport reduces operational cost and environmental costs. The second last finding explains eco-friendly packaging and reduction in environmental cost by careful selection of packing material and chemicals. Lastly, it is found that ISO 14001/environmental certifications reduce environmental costs by greening suppliers and pressurises them

Cyanobacterial Farming for Environment Friendly Sustainable Agriculture Practices: Innovations and Perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jainendra Pathak

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Sustainable supply of food and energy without posing any threat to environment is the current demand of our society in view of continuous increase in global human population and depletion of natural resources of energy. Cyanobacteria have recently emerged as potential candidates who can fulfill abovementioned needs due to their ability to efficiently harvest solar energy and convert it into biomass by simple utilization of CO2, water and nutrients. During conversion of radiant energy into chemical energy, these biological systems produce oxygen as a by-product. Cyanobacterial biomass can be used for the production of food, energy, biofertilizers, secondary metabolites of nutritional, cosmetics, and medicinal importance. Therefore, cyanobacterial farming is proposed as environment friendly sustainable agricultural practice which can produce biomass of very high value. Additionally, cyanobacterial farming helps in decreasing the level of greenhouse gas, i.e., CO2, and it can be also used for removing various contaminants from wastewater and soil. However, utilization of cyanobacteria for resolving the abovementioned problems is subjected to economic viability. In this review, we provide details on different aspects of cyanobacterial system that can help in developing sustainable agricultural practices. We also describe different large-scale cultivation systems for cyanobacterial farming and discuss their merits and demerits in terms of economic profitability.

Cognitive dissonance and the development of a sustainable consumption pattern

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thøgersen, John

This paper reports a study of mental prerequisites for the development of a sustainable con-sumption pattern. Based on cognitive dissonance theory it is hypothesized that when two environmentally relevant activities are perceived as similar, behaving in an environmentally friendly way in one...

Nanotechnology for environmentally sustainable electromobility

Science.gov (United States)

Ellingsen, Linda Ager-Wick; Hung, Christine Roxanne; Majeau-Bettez, Guillaume; Singh, Bhawna; Chen, Zhongwei; Whittingham, M. Stanley; Strømman, Anders Hammer

2016-12-01

Electric vehicles (EVs) powered by lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) or proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cells (PEMFCs) offer important potential climate change mitigation effects when combined with clean energy sources. The development of novel nanomaterials may bring about the next wave of technical improvements for LIBs and PEMFCs. If the next generation of EVs is to lead to not only reduced emissions during use but also environmentally sustainable production chains, the research on nanomaterials for LIBs and PEMFCs should be guided by a life-cycle perspective. In this Analysis, we describe an environmental life-cycle screening framework tailored to assess nanomaterials for electromobility. By applying this framework, we offer an early evaluation of the most promising nanomaterials for LIBs and PEMFCs and their potential contributions to the environmental sustainability of EV life cycles. Potential environmental trade-offs and gaps in nanomaterials research are identified to provide guidance for future nanomaterial developments for electromobility.

Environmentally friendly joining of tubes by their ends

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Silva, Carlos M.A.; Nielsen, Chris Valentin; Alves, Luis M.

2015-01-01

This paper proposes an environmentally friendly joining process for connecting tubes by their ends that has the potential to replace current solutions based on fastened, crimped, welded, brazed or adhesive bonded joints. The process is based on a new type of tubular lap joint produced by local...... of deformation and the process feasibility window, and destructive testing to establish the working limits of tubular lap joints under different type of loading conditions. Results demonstrate that the proposed joining process is a flexible and cost-effective technology for connecting tubes by their ends...

Healthcare professionals' perspectives on environmental sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunphy, Jillian L

2014-06-01

Human health is dependent upon environmental sustainability. Many have argued that environmental sustainability advocacy and environmentally responsible healthcare practice are imperative healthcare actions. What are the key obstacles to healthcare professionals supporting environmental sustainability? How may these obstacles be overcome? Data-driven thematic qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews identified common and pertinent themes, and differences between specific healthcare disciplines. A total of 64 healthcare professionals and academics from all states and territories of Australia, and multiple healthcare disciplines were recruited. Institutional ethics approval was obtained for data collection. Participants gave informed consent. All data were de-identified to protect participant anonymity. Qualitative analysis indicated that Australian healthcare professionals often take more action in their personal than professional lives to protect the environment, particularly those with strong professional identities. The healthcare sector's focus on economic rationalism was a substantial barrier to environmentally responsible behaviour. Professionals also feared conflict and professional ostracism, and often did not feel qualified to take action. This led to healthcare professionals making inconsistent moral judgements, and feeling silenced and powerless. Constraints on non-clinical employees within and beyond the sector exacerbated these difficulties. The findings are consistent with the literature reporting that organisational constraints, and strong social identification, can inhibit actions that align with personal values. This disparity can cause moral distress and residue, leading to feelings of powerlessness, resulting in less ethical behaviour. The data highlight a disparity between personal and professional actions to address environmental sustainability. Given the constraints Australian healthcare professionals encounter, they are unlikely to

Field Testing of Environmentally Friendly Drilling System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

David Burnett

2009-05-31

The Environmentally Friendly Drilling (EFD) program addresses new low-impact technology that reduces the footprint of drilling activities, integrates light weight drilling rigs with reduced emission engine packages, addresses on-site waste management, optimizes the systems to fit the needs of a specific development sites and provides stewardship of the environment. In addition, the program includes industry, the public, environmental organizations, and elected officials in a collaboration that addresses concerns on development of unconventional natural gas resources in environmentally sensitive areas. The EFD program provides the fundamentals to result in greater access, reasonable regulatory controls, lower development cost and reduction of the environmental footprint associated with operations for unconventional natural gas. Industry Sponsors have supported the program with significant financial and technical support. This final report compendium is organized into segments corresponding directly with the DOE approved scope of work for the term 2005-2009 (10 Sections). Each specific project is defined by (a) its goals, (b) its deliverable, and (c) its future direction. A web site has been established that contains all of these detailed engineering reports produced with their efforts. The goals of the project are to (1) identify critical enabling technologies for a prototype low-impact drilling system, (2) test the prototype systems in field laboratories, and (3) demonstrate the advanced technology to show how these practices would benefit the environment.

Environmental Sustainability and Quality Education: Perspectives ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Environmental Sustainability and Quality Education: Perspectives from a community living in a context of poverty. ... Southern African Journal of Environmental Education. Journal Home · ABOUT THIS ... AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO ...

Promoting obesity prevention together with environmental sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Skouteris, Helen; Cox, Rachael; Huang, Terry; Rutherford, Leonie; Edwards, Susan; Cutter-Mackenzie, Amy

2014-09-01

There is mounting evidence that current food production, transport, land use and urban design negatively impact both climate change and obesity outcomes. Recommendations to prevent climate change provide an opportunity to improve environmental outcomes and alter our food and physical activity environments in favour of a 'healthier' energy balance. Hence, setting goals to achieve a more sustainable society offers a unique opportunity to reduce levels of obesity. In the case of children, this approach is supported with evidence that even from a young age they show emerging understandings of complex environmental issues and are capable of both internalizing positive environmental values and influencing their own environmental outcomes. Given young children's high levels of environmental awareness, it is easy to see how environmental sustainability messages may help educate and motivate children to make 'healthier' choices. The purpose of this paper is to highlight a new approach to tackling childhood obesity by tapping into existing social movements, such as environmental sustainability, in order to increase children's motivation for healthy eating and physical activity behaviours and thus foster more wholesome communities. We contend that a social marketing framework may be a particularly useful tool to foster behaviour change beneficial to both personal and environmental health by increasing perceived benefits and reducing perceived costs of behaviour change. Consequently, we propose a new framework which highlights suggested pathways for helping children initiate and sustain 'healthier' behaviours in order to inform future research and potentially childhood obesity intervention strategies. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Environment-friendly sustainable construction of houses; Duurzaam bouwen kan milieuvriendelijker

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klunder, G. [Onderzoeksinstituut OTB, Technische Universiteit Delft, Delft (Netherlands)

2003-02-01

An overview is given of the most important results of a study on the environmental effects of sustainable construction of residential buildings. [Dutch] Een overzicht wordt gegeven van de belangrijkste resultaten van een onderzoek naar de milieuvriendelijkheid van duurzaam bouwen.

ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

User

2017-12-28

Dec 28, 2017 ... of environmental issues in social work promotes sustainable .... the role those social workers should take in implementing ... urban areas in Zimbabwe to take responsibility for the prevention of environmental disasters.

Life-cycle design for sustainable architecture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesca Thiébat

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Sustainability in architecture should involve environmental and social aspects and also economic aspects. However, in a design process budget issues usually outweigh ecological aspects. How can we then drive clients and builders to put more socially responsible buildings on the market that do not exceed the fixed budget but are environmentally friendly? This paper propose an economic and environmental assessment tool to aid private or public building designers and owners to find the global sustainability value of a green building within a life cycle perspective. Sustainable life cycle tools for buildings design and construction help to achieve successfully integrated architecture. The research here presented proposes a new point of view of the “time-cost-quality triangle” of Project Management, by introducing three further aspects: environment, society and aesthetics.

Sustainable city policy. Economic, environmental, technological

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Camagni, R.; Capello, R. [Politecnico di Milano, Milan (Italy). Economics Dept.; Nijkamp, P. [Dept. of Spatial Economics. Fac. of Economics and Econometrics. Vrije Univ., Amsterdam (Netherlands)

1995-12-31

While the reasons for advocating intensified environmental concerns at the urban level are more and more accepted and clear, the question how to overcome such concerns is still fraught with many difficulties. The aim of the present paper is to formulate some policy guidelines, based on economic principles, for a `sustainable city`; it is an ambitious aim, since a unique and operationally defined `recipe` is difficult to envisage. An urban policy for a sustainable city needs to take different (and contrasting) aspects and many conflicting interests into consideration, while many political, social and economic frictions need to be overcome. A description of various aspects and concepts concerning sustainability issues at the urban level is given in Section 2. Section 3 then provides some considerations on possible technological, economic and environmental urban policies, by creating a typo logy of policy tools associated with different causes of urban decline. Section 4 provides some new, and partly provocative, suggestions for specific urban sustainability policies; in particular it deals with the problem of urban sustainability indicators, measures, and critical threshold levels at which urban sustainability policies should be implemented. Some reflective remarks will conclude the paper. 3 figs., 4 tabs., 25 refs.

Sustainable city policy. Economic, environmental, technological

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camagni, R.; Capello, R.

1995-01-01

While the reasons for advocating intensified environmental concerns at the urban level are more and more accepted and clear, the question how to overcome such concerns is still fraught with many difficulties. The aim of the present paper is to formulate some policy guidelines, based on economic principles, for a 'sustainable city'; it is an ambitious aim, since a unique and operationally defined 'recipe' is difficult to envisage. An urban policy for a sustainable city needs to take different (and contrasting) aspects and many conflicting interests into consideration, while many political, social and economic frictions need to be overcome. A description of various aspects and concepts concerning sustainability issues at the urban level is given in Section 2. Section 3 then provides some considerations on possible technological, economic and environmental urban policies, by creating a typo logy of policy tools associated with different causes of urban decline. Section 4 provides some new, and partly provocative, suggestions for specific urban sustainability policies; in particular it deals with the problem of urban sustainability indicators, measures, and critical threshold levels at which urban sustainability policies should be implemented. Some reflective remarks will conclude the paper. 3 figs., 4 tabs., 25 refs

Survival and sustainability. Environmental concerns in the 21st century

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goekcekus, Hueseyin; Tuerker, Umut [Near East Univ., Nicosia, North Cyprus (Turkey). Dept. of Civil Engineering; LaMoreaux, James W. (eds.) [P.E. LaMoreaux and Associates, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States)

2011-07-01

The International Conference on Environment: Survival and Sustainability, held at the Near East University, Nicosia, Northern Cyprus 19-24 February 2007, dealt with environmental threats and proposed solutions at all scales. The 21 themes addressed by the conference fell into four broad categories; Threats to Survival and Sustainability; Technological Advances towards Survival and Sustainability; Activities and Tools for Social Change; Defining Goals for Sustainable Societies. Activities and tools that move the society towards greater sustainability were emphasized at the conference. These included environmental law and ethics, environmental knowledge, technology and information systems, media, environmental awareness, education and lifelong learning, the use of literature for environmental awareness, the green factor in politics, international relations and environmental organizations. The breadth of the issues addressed at the conference made clear the need for greatly increased interdisciplinary and international collaboration the survival and sustainability concept. The exchanges at the conference represent a step in this direction. (orig.)

The State of Environmentally Sustainable Interior Design Practice

OpenAIRE

Mihyun Kang; Denise A. Guerin

2009-01-01

Problem statement: Research that investigates how interior designers use environmentally sustainable interior design criteria in their design solutions has not been done. To provide a base to develop education strategies for sustainable interior design, this study examined the state of environmentally sustainable interior design practice. Approach: A national, Internet-based survey of interior design practitioners was conducted. To collect data, the random sample of US interior design practit...

Corporate Sustainability Management and Environmental Ethics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schuler, Douglas; Rasche, Andreas; Etzion, Dror

2017-01-01

This article reviews four key orientations in environmental ethics that range from an instrumental understanding of sustainability to one that acknowledges the intrinsic value of sustainable behavior (i.e., sustainable resource use, conservation and preservation, rights-based perspectives, and deep...... ecology). It then shows that the current scholarly discourse around corporate sustainability management—as reflected in environment management (EM), corporate social responsibility (CSR), and corporate political activity (CPA)—mostly favors an instrumental perspective on sustainability. Sustainable...... business practices are viewed as anthropocentric and are conceptualized as a means to achieve competitive advantage. Based on these observations, we speculate about what corporate sustainability management might look like if it applied ethical orientations that emphasize the intrinsic value of nature...

The environmentally friendly technology for bio fuel production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bekers, M.; Danilevics, A.; Guriniece, E.; Gulbis, V.

2003-01-01

Full text: Bio fuel production and use have been discussed this time in EC and in Latvia as alternative energy sources. The national resources allow producing liquid fuels - bio diesel and bi oethanol from rape seeds and grain correspondingly. Liquid bio fuels can be recommended especially for auto transport in big towns to reduce the pollution of air. A system for environmentally friendly production of bio fuel from agricultural raw materials has been developed, which permit a complex utilization of byproducts an wastes for obtaining of valuable food-stuffs and industrial products, providing the agricultural production requirements and supporting with local mineral fertilizers. Such a bio fuel production includes the agricultural and industrial productions in a united biotechnological system. Production objects of system interact: the products, by-products and wastes from one object are used as raw materials, auxiliary materials or heat carriers in other system's objects. This integrated agro-industrial production system would allow the production of feeds and chemical products, along with bio fuels. In this work, a model of a system for a conventional administrative rural region is presented, exemplified with the case of Latvia. The model is developed for three forms of bio fuel production, i.e. ethanol, bio diesel and biogas as local energy source. Bio diesel is produced using ethanol as transesterifying agent of rape-seed oil fatty acids. This bio diesel is a blend of rape-seed oil fatty acid ethyl esters (REE) and consists solely from renewable raw materials. The capacity of distillery of system is 40 million litters per year and bio diesel 35000 ton. Important for agriculture is protein reach press cakes the byproduct from bio diesel production (66000 t/y). This byproduct can be exported as well. Biogas reactors of system can be used for utilization of wastes from town if necessary. Recommended bio system occupates up to 150.000 ha of agriculture lands

Measuring the environmental impacts and sustainability of automobiles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lave, L B; Cobas Flores, E; McMichael, F C; Hendrickson, C T; Horvath, A; Joshi, S [Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

1996-11-01

In the paper the following topics are discussed: - the need for public education and involvement in the decision process, - the difficulty of defining sustainability, - the occasional difference between the goals of sustainability and environmental quality, - the need for life cycle analysis to analyze the sustainability and environmental quality implications of a product, process, or material. The importance of environmental input-output analysis is stressed. This new tool can provide the life cycle information cheaply, quickly, and with much less uncertainty. Examples are presented for making an automobile, a seat out of plastic or aluminium, and an electric vehicle. (author) 4 tabs., refs.

How can we improve the environmental sustainability of poultry production?

Science.gov (United States)

Leinonen, Ilkka; Kyriazakis, Ilias

2016-08-01

The review presents results of recent life cycle assessment studies aiming to quantify and improve the environmental performance of UK poultry production systems, including broiler meat, egg and turkey meat production. Although poultry production has been found to be relatively environmentally friendly compared with the production of other livestock commodities, it still contributes to environmental impacts, such as global warming, eutrophication and acidification. Amongst different sub-processes, feed production and transport contributes about 70 % to the global warming potential of poultry systems, whereas manure management contributes about 40-60 % to their eutrophication potential and acidification potential, respectively. All these impacts can be reduced by improving the feed efficiency, either by changing the birds through genetic selection or by making the feed more digestible (e.g. by using additives such as enzymes). However, although genetic selection has the potential to reduce the resources needed for broiler production (including feed consumption), the changing need of certain feed ingredients, most notably protein sources as a result of changes in bird requirements may limit the benefits of this strategy. The use of alternative feed ingredients, such as locally grown protein crops and agricultural by-products, as a replacement of South American grown soya, can potentially also lead to improvements in several environmental impact categories, as long as such feeding strategies have no negative effect on bird performance. Other management options, such as improving poultry housing and new strategies for manure management have also the potential to further improve the environmental sustainability of the poultry industries in Europe.

Sustainable Decisions Signal Sustainable Relationships: How Purchasing Decisions Affect Perceptions and Romantic Attraction.

Science.gov (United States)

DiDonato, Theresa E; Jakubiak, Brittany K

2016-01-01

In the pursuit of love, individuals strategically use luxury products to signal status and other attractive attributes. Might eco-friendly products also signal mate-relevant information? The current research examined inferences from eco-friendly purchases and how they predict perceived suitability for short- and long-term romantic relationships. Participants read descriptions of a stranger's eco-friendly or luxury purchase decisions, reported their perceptions of the purchaser, and indicated their potential romantic interest in the purchaser. The influence of the relative price of the chosen product was also investigated. Compared to luxury purchasers, eco-friendly purchasers were ascribed greater warmth, competence, and good partner traits, but less physical appeal, and they were preferred for long-term but not short-term relationships. The social costs and benefits of "going green" are discussed in light of their implications for environmental sustainability efforts.

Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections: 2004 Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The 2004 Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) portion of the Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections contains 111 variables for 235...

Choice of Index Determines the Relationship between Corruption and Environmental Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert M. Ewers

2007-06-01

Full Text Available The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI was recently used to investigate links between sustainability and corruption. Here, we show that the ESI contradicts another widely used index of environmental sustainability, the Ecological Footprint (EF, with the result that the most sustainable nations under the ESI are the least sustainable under the EF. Consequently, opposite conclusions can be drawn from investigations into the causes of environmental sustainability, depending on which index is used.

A cross-sectional analysis of reported corporate environmental sustainability practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Cowan, Dallas M; Dopart, Pamela; Ferracini, Tyler; Sahmel, Jennifer; Merryman, Kimberly; Gaffney, Shannon; Paustenbach, Dennis J

2010-12-01

The concept of sustainability evolved throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but was formally described by the 27 principles of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in 1992. Despite the passage of nearly 20years, to date there are no uniform set of federal rules, regulations, or guidelines specifically governing the environmental aspects of sustainability practices or related requirements in the United States. In this benchmark analysis, we have collected information on the sustainability programs of the five largest US companies in each of the 26 industrial sectors [based on the Forbes Global 2000 through 2009 (n=130)]. For each company, we reviewed the most recent corporate sustainability, citizenship, or responsibility report, limiting our scope to environmental components, if available. Ten criteria were identified and analyzed, including leadership, reporting, external review, certification, and individual components of environmental sustainability programs. With respect to the prevalence of sustainability components between various business sectors, we found that the Drugs and Biotechnology (87%), Household and Personal Products (87%) and Oil and Gas Operations (87%) industries had the most comprehensive environmental sustainability programs. Using the nine components of environmental sustainability as a benchmark, we identified four key components as the characteristics of the most comprehensive environmental sustainability programs. These were (1) empowering leadership with a commitment to sustainability (80%), (2) standardized reporting (87%), (3) third-party evaluation of the sustainability programs (73%), and (4) obtaining ISO 14001 certification (73%). We found that many firms shaped their own definition of sustainability and developed their associated sustainability programs based on their sector, stakeholder interests, products or services, and business model. We noted an emerging area that we have called product sustainability - one in which

Environmental friendly anodizing of AZ91D magnesium alloy in alkaline borate-benzoate electrolyte

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu Yan [Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China); Department of Chemistry, Tianshui Normal University, Tianshui 741000 (China); Wei Zhongling [Magnesium Technology Co., Ltd., Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiaxing 314051 (China); Yang Fuwei [Department of Chemistry, Tianshui Normal University, Tianshui 741000 (China); Zhang Zhao, E-mail: eaglezzy@zjuem.zju.edu.cn [Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China); Key Laboratory for Light Alloy Materials Technology, Jiaxing 314051 (China)

2011-06-02

Highlights: > Environmental friendly PEO technology for AZ91 magnesium alloy is developed. > NaBz is used as new additive and it is low-cost and environmental friendly. > The effect of NaBz additive on the properties of the anodized film was studied. > Anodized film with excellent corrosion resistance is obtained. > The forming mechanism of anodized film in the presence of NaBz is approached. - Abstract: A kind of environmental friendly anodizing routine for AZ91D magnesium alloy, based on an alkaline borate-sodium benzoate electrolyte (NaBz) was studied. The effect of NaBz on the properties of the anodized film was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), respectively. The results showed that the anodizing process, surface morphology, thickness, phase structure and corrosion resistance of the anodized film were strongly dependent on the concentration of NaBz. In the presence of adequate NaBz, a thick, compact and smoothing anodized film with excellent corrosion resistance was produced. Moreover, the forming mechanism of the anodized film in the presence of NaBz additive was also approached, which was a suppression of arc discharge process by the adsorption of Bz{sup -} on the surface of magnesium alloy substrate.

Assessing and Enhancing Environmental Sustainability: A Conceptual Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Little, John C; Hester, Erich T; Carey, Cayelan C

2016-07-05

While sustainability is an essential concept to ensure the future of humanity and the integrity of the resources and ecosystems on which we depend, identifying a comprehensive yet realistic way to assess and enhance sustainability may be one of the most difficult challenges of our time. We review the primary environmental sustainability assessment approaches, categorizing them as either being design-based or those that employ computational frameworks and/or indicators. We also briefly review approaches used for assessing economic and social sustainability because sustainability necessitates integrating environmental, economic, and social elements. We identify the collective limitations of the existing assessment approaches, showing that there is not a consistent definition of sustainability, that the approaches are generally not comprehensive and are subject to unintended consequences, that there is little to no connection between bottom-up and top-down approaches, and that the field of sustainability is largely fragmented, with a range of academic disciplines and professional organizations pursuing similar goals, but without much formal coordination. We conclude by emphasizing the need for a comprehensive definition of sustainability (that integrates environmental, economic, and social aspects) with a unified system-of-systems approach that is causal, modular, tiered, and scalable, as well as new educational and organizational structures to improve systems-level interdisciplinary integration.

Environmental Innovation and Sustainability in Small Handicraft Businesses in Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arcelia Toledo-López

2011-07-01

Full Text Available In this study, the relationship between environmental innovation and sustainability is analyzed in 168 handicraft businesses in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Puebla, and Tlaxcala. The results show a direct, positive relationship between environmental innovation and sustainability in three dimensions: economic, social, and environmental. In terms of determination, the variables that best explain sustainability are: organization type, product innovation, and process innovation. The age of the handicraft businesses was not a significant factor in explaining sustainability. This study concludes that handicraft businesses make sustainable choices more as a result of a desire for profit maximization than as a result of environmental consciousness, as can be explained by neoclassical view of economics.

Aqueous hybrid ion batteries - An environmentally friendly alternative for stationary energy storage?

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Jens F.; Weil, Marcel

2017-10-01

Aqueous hybrid ion batteries (AHIB) are being promoted as an environmentally friendly alternative to existing stationary battery technologies. However, no quantification of their potential environmental impacts has yet been done. This paper presents a prospective life cycle assessment of an AHIB module and compares its performance with lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries in two different stationary energy storage applications. The findings show that the claim of being an environmentally friendly technology can only be supported with some major limitations. While the AHIB uses abundant and non-toxic materials, it has a very low energy density and requires increased amounts of material for providing a given storage capacity. Per kWh of battery, results comparable to those of the alternative lithium- or sodium-ion batteries are obtained, but significantly higher impacts under global warming and ozone depletion aspects. The comparable high cycle life of the AHIB compensates this partially, requiring less battery replacements over the lifetime of the application. On the other hand, its internal inefficiencies are higher, what becomes the dominating factor when charging majorly fossil based electricity, making AHIB unattractive for this type of applications.

Global environmental change and sustainable development in Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaeger, J.; Liberatore, A.; Grundlach, K. [eds.

1995-12-31

The document contains all but two papers presented at the Workshop as well as a summary of the contributions and discussions, a list of socio-economic research priorities identified at the meeting and a policy brief based on the themes woven together at the Workshop. The workshop was organised within the framework of the European Network for Research in Global Change (ENRICH). Papers include: global environmental change and sustainable development in Europe and in the Mediterranean basin, water management and global environmental change policies, human impacts on the nitrogen cycle, the merchandising of biodiversity, environmental performance indicators, urban sustainability indicators and strategies for sustainability.

The Importance of the Sustainability of Environmental Accounting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Habib Akdoğan

2015-06-01

Full Text Available : Rapid population growth, industrialization, unplanned urbanization, global warming, tourism activities and natural disasters have resulted in environmental issues that have reached global dimensions and started to threaten the life of creatures. For the permanent protection of ecological balance and sustainability, massive national and international regulations are needed. Threatening the life of creatures has not been considered in the system consisting of the establishment of equilibrium between man and nature as required. At this point businesses have important responsibilities. Businesses, for example, in order to prevent environmental pollution waste control systems, filtration systems, recycling methods  etc. endured environmental costs in a variety of ways, as these costs are incurred also causes more businesses to see the value of protecting the environment. The result of the activities of environmental impacts of enterprises can be considered, to be taken in the preparation of the necessary data to guide decisions, contacts and presentation of the stages of the environmental accounting system. In this study, we first examine the concepts of environmental accounting, sustainability and environmental costs and then in the cement factories located in Turkey the environmental costs and environmental accounting will be given in the results of a survey made for the calculation of the sensitivity. Keywords: Environmental Accounting; Sustainability; Environmental Costs

Environmental Education and Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Paul

2014-01-01

In the fall of 2013, Inverness Associates conducted a comprehensive national survey of environmental education and sustainability among private independent schools. The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and 14 regional and state associations supported the research. The survey sought to understand how schools' environmental…

2001 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The 2001 Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) utilizes a refined methodology based on the 2000 Pilot ESI effort, to construct an index covering 122 countries...

Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections: Rio to Johannesburg Dashboard of Sustainable Indicators

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Rio to Johannesburg Dashboard of Sustainable Development Indicators portion of the Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections contains 35...

Techno-Economic, Sustainability & Environmental Impact Diagnosis (TESED) Framework

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Loureiro da Costa Lira Gargalo, Carina; Carvalho, Ana; Matos, Henrique A.

2014-01-01

that truly sustainable design alternatives can befound.This work proposes a framework,called ‘Techno-Economic Sustainability Environmental Impact Diagnosis’ (TESED) that allows users to assess chemical/biochemical processes in a product oriented analysis.TESED is asystematic and generic approach that can......Nowadays, companies are looking for new sustainable design alternatives that improve their original processes.To assesst he best designalternative, economic aspects have been the preferred indicators. However, environmental and social concerns should also be included in the decision process so...

Professional Development in Environmental and Sustainability ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

explore how professional development at a tertiary institution can be used to support practising Science ... challenges related to 'the how' and 'the what' of implementation of environmental education ... teaching environmental and sustainability education, attest to this lack of capacity to implement ..... Profiles of participants.

Assessment of Environmental Sustainability in Health Care Organizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Carmen Carnero

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Healthcare organizations should set a standard in corporate social responsibility and encourage environmental sustainability, since protection of the environment implies the development of preventive measures in healthcare. Environmental concern has traditionally focused on manufacturing plants. However, a Health Care Organization (HCO is the only type of company which generates all existing classes of waste, and 20% is dangerous, being infectious, toxic or radioactive in nature. Despite the extensive literature analysing environmental matters, there is no objective model for assessing the environmental sustainability of HCOs in such a way that the results may be compared over time for an organization, and between different organizations, to give a comparison or benchmarking tool for HCOs. This paper presents a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis model integrating a Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process and utility theory, to evaluate environmental sustainability in HCOs. The model uses criteria assessed as a function of the number of annual treatments undertaken. The model has been tested in two HCOs of very different sizes.

Sustainable Environmental Management Indicators in South African Primary Schools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luiza O. de Sousa

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This research explores sustainable environmental management indicators in South African primary schools. Of key interest is the comparison of a township, farm and urban primary school that identify indicators that promote education for sustainable development in schools that implement an environmental management system. Data are drawn from one-on-one interviews, focus group interviews, observations and document analysis from 35 participants in three schools. A comparison of the three schools was done by content and thematic analysis of a within-case analysis. Data from the township school revealed that socioeconomic factors and organisational structure promote education for sustainable development. The farm school data revealed that health promotion can be managed within an environmental management system within a hierarchical school structure. The urban school data revealed that an economic inducement brings a school to realise that it can reduce its carbon footprint, gain financially and utilize its resources with innovation. A case is made that the four pillars of sustainable development (environment, society, economy, and governance endorse education for sustainable development. Furthermore, the objectives of environmental education ought to remain nested in an environmental management system to ensure that the global goal of quality education is achieved.

A proposal to measure absolute environmental sustainability in lifecycle assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjørn, Anders; Margni, Manuele; Roy, Pierre-Olivier

2016-01-01

sustainable are therefore increasingly important. Such absolute indicators exist, but suffer from shortcomings such as incomplete coverage of environmental issues, varying data quality and varying or insufficient spatial resolution. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that life cycle assessment (LCA...... in supporting decisions aimed at simultaneously reducing environmental impacts efficiently and maintaining or achieving environmental sustainability. We have demonstrated that LCA indicators can be modified from being relative to being absolute indicators of environmental sustainability. Further research should...

Genetic engineering and sustainable production of ornamentals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lütken, Henrik Vlk; Clarke, Jihong Liu; Müller, Renate

2012-01-01

Abstract Through the last decades, environmentally and health-friendly production methods and conscientious use of resources have become crucial for reaching the goal of a more sustainable plant production. Protection of the environment requires careful consumption of limited resources and reduct......Abstract Through the last decades, environmentally and health-friendly production methods and conscientious use of resources have become crucial for reaching the goal of a more sustainable plant production. Protection of the environment requires careful consumption of limited resources....... This review presents the more recent progress of genetic engineering in ornamental breeding, delivers an overview of the biological background of the used technologies and critically evaluates the usefulness of the strategies to obtain improved ornamental plants. First, genetic engineering is addressed......, compactness can be accomplished by using a natural transformation approach without recombinant DNA technology. Secondly, metabolic engineering approaches targeting elements of the ethylene signal transduction pathway are summarized as a possible alternative to avoid the use of chemical ethylene inhibitors...

Green Shoots: Environmental Sustainability and Contemporary Film Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victory, Jonathan

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the emerging phenomenon of ‘green filmmaking’ in film production, whereby the process of filmmaking is conducted with a view to minimising environmental impact. Establishing the motivations behind green filmmaking and surveying a range of international developments in this area, sustainability initiatives are identified and considered as a means of environmentally-sustainable economic development for the film sector. After identifying challenges of consumption habits to be overcome by the film industry worldwide, recent and current initiatives are highlighted from within the international film industry and one is specifically explored in more detail: the emerging role of a designated crew member or ‘eco-manager’ to oversee environmental initiatives on-set. The paper then concludes on a range of brief policy proposals for the film sector following on from analysis of existing film industry policy towards environmental sustainability.

Eco friendly expectations and limitations in daycare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Husted, Mia

This presentation elaborates on expectations and limitations of eco-friendly pedagogical responses to the sustainability crisis. The pedagogical perspectives on eco-friendly responses originates from an action research project involving pedagogues in day care centers and teachers at a University ...... College in Denmark. As part of the project they were asked to explore, elaborate and develop new pedagogical actions and perspectives related to future relationships between human beings and our common nature......This presentation elaborates on expectations and limitations of eco-friendly pedagogical responses to the sustainability crisis. The pedagogical perspectives on eco-friendly responses originates from an action research project involving pedagogues in day care centers and teachers at a University...

Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges Philippines An Eco-Friendly School Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dr. Jose Ariel R. Ibarrientos

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Academic institutions can become more environmentally responsible through the implementation of various conservation initiative. Along this the study attempt to transform the Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges into living models of an ecologically sustainable learning institutions. Data was gathered from among the six administrators 336 students 62 teaching and 31 non-teaching personnel from school year 2013-2014. Questionnaire supported by interview and ocular inspection was utilized to assess the college practices along its environmental policy resource management curriculum project and budget. Results revealed that the college has an Eco Friendly Program and has implemented guidelines along solid Waste Management in Classrooms and Laboratories. Awareness on environmental policy resource management in classrooms buildings and grounds purchasing use of lights and electricity paper conservation water conservation waste management were highly implemented HI. Maintenance on air quality and waste management in the canteen were moderately implemented MI in the college. Generally the college are Aware A along environmental programs and highly implement HI its environmental practices. T-test result shows that there was no significant difference between the level of awareness and implementation on environmental practices. The proposed Eco-Friendly School Model developed by the researcher must be adopted by the college.

Measuring Corporate Sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Value Added

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alena Kocmanová

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to propose a model for measuring sustainable value which would complexly assess environmental, social, and corporate governance contribution to value creation. In the paper the concept of the Sustainable Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Value Added is presented. The Sustainable Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Value Added is based on the Sustainable Value Added model and combines weighted environmental, social, and corporate governance indicators with their benchmarks determined by Data Envelopment Analysis. Benchmark values of indicators were set for each company separately and determine the optimal combination of environmental, social, and corporate governance inputs to economic outcomes. The Sustainable Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Value Added methodology is applied on real-life corporate data and presented through a case study. The value added of most of the selected companies was negative, even though economic indicators of all of them are positive. The Sustainable Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Value Added is intended to help owners, investors, and other stakeholders in their decision-making and sustainability assessment. The use of environmental, social, and corporate governance factors helps identify the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and provides a more sophisticated insight into it than the one-dimensional methods based on economic performance alone.

OPTIMAL CONTROL THEORY FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Science.gov (United States)

With growing world population, diminishing resources, and realization of the harmful effects of various pollutants, research focus in environmental management has shifted towards sustainability. The goal of a sustainable management strategy is to promote the structure and operati...

Environmental friendly anodizing of AZ91D magnesium alloy in alkaline borate-benzoate electrolyte

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yan; Wei Zhongling; Yang Fuwei; Zhang Zhao

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Environmental friendly PEO technology for AZ91 magnesium alloy is developed. → NaBz is used as new additive and it is low-cost and environmental friendly. → The effect of NaBz additive on the properties of the anodized film was studied. → Anodized film with excellent corrosion resistance is obtained. → The forming mechanism of anodized film in the presence of NaBz is approached. - Abstract: A kind of environmental friendly anodizing routine for AZ91D magnesium alloy, based on an alkaline borate-sodium benzoate electrolyte (NaBz) was studied. The effect of NaBz on the properties of the anodized film was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), respectively. The results showed that the anodizing process, surface morphology, thickness, phase structure and corrosion resistance of the anodized film were strongly dependent on the concentration of NaBz. In the presence of adequate NaBz, a thick, compact and smoothing anodized film with excellent corrosion resistance was produced. Moreover, the forming mechanism of the anodized film in the presence of NaBz additive was also approached, which was a suppression of arc discharge process by the adsorption of Bz - on the surface of magnesium alloy substrate.

Environmental law and sustainable development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Oliva Sirgo Álvarez

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This article analyses the origin and birth of the human right to a safe and healthy environment in order to allow everyone to live a dignified and quality life. It also analyses the essential content of sustainable development, which must always guide the development of environmental law to ensure a healthy environment for human present and future generations, and a sustainable economic growth that contributes to the development of equal opportunities for all people.

Approaching Environmental Sustainability: Perceptions of Self-Efficacy and Changeability.

Science.gov (United States)

Schutte, Nicola S; Bhullar, Navjot

2017-04-03

This paper describes a model focused on the role of self-efficacy and belief in changeability of behavior in motivating environmentally sustainable behavior. The model was tested in two studies. The first study found that participants who had greater self-efficacy for sustainability behavior and a greater belief in their changeability of sustainability behavior had a higher level of approach motivation toward sustainability behavior and reported more such actual behavior. The second study investigated the effect of brief interventions intended to increase perception of self-efficacy for sustainability-related purchasing and changeability of sustainability-related purchasing. The intervention that focused on enhancing self-efficacy for making sustainability-related purchases had the strongest impact on intention to purchase. These findings have implications for interventions intended to change behavior related to environmental sustainability.

Use of natural gas, methanol, and ethanol fuel emulsions as environmentally friendly energy carriers for mobile heat power plants

Science.gov (United States)

Likhanov, V. A.; Lopatin, O. P.

2017-12-01

The need for using environmentally friendly energy carriers for mobile heat power plants (HPPs) is grounded. Ecologically friendly sources of energy, such as natural gas as well as renewable methyl and ethyl alcohols, are investigated. In order to develop, determine, and optimize the composition of environmentally friendly energy carriers for an HPP, the latter has been tested when working on diesel fuel (DF), compressed natural gas (CNG), and methanol and ethanol fuel emulsions (MFE, EFE). It has been experimentally established that, for the application of environmentally friendly energy carriers for a 4Ch 11.0/12.5 diesel engine of a mobile fuel and power plant, it is necessary to maintain the following ratio of components when working on CNG: 80% gas and 20% DF primer portion. When working on an alcohol mixture, emulsions of the following composition were used: 25% alcohol (methanol or ethanol), 0.5% detergent-dispersant additive succinimide C-5A, 7% water, and 67.5% DF. When this diesel passed from oil DF to environmentally friendly energy sources, it allowed for the reduction of the content of exhaust gases (EG) (1) when working on CNG with recirculation of exhaust gases (EGR) (recirculation was used to eliminate the increased amount of nitric oxides by using CNG): carbon black by 5.8 times, carbon dioxide by 45.9%, and carbon monoxide by 23.8%; (2) when working on MFE: carbon black by 6.4 times, nitrogen oxides by 29.6%, carbon dioxide by 10.1%, and carbon oxide by 47.6%; (3) when working on EFE: carbon black by 4.8 times; nitrogen oxides by 40.3%, carbon dioxide by 26.6%, and carbon monoxide by 28.6%. The prospects of use of environmentally friendly energy carriers in diesels of mobile HPPs, such as natural gas, ethanol, and methanol, has been determined.

Clean and Selective Catalytic C-H alkylation of Alkenes with Environmental friendly Alcohols

KAUST Repository

Poater, Albert; Vummaleti, Sai V. C.; Polo, Alfonso; Cavallo, Luigi

2016-01-01

Bearing the alkylation of alkene substrates using alcohol as solvent, catalysed by the cationic Ru-based catalyst [(C6H6)(PCy3)(CO)RuH]+, DFT calculations have been carried out to get mechanistic insights of such an environmental friendly reaction

Incentives for environmentally friendly vehicles. A report from the Environment and Health Protection Administration in Stockholm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Henriksson, Cecilia; Paedam, S. [Inregia AB, Stockholm (Sweden)

1999-11-01

This report deals with incentives for environmentally friendly vehicles. The report includes a description of the current status of these vehicles in Sweden, Stockholm County Council, and the City of Stockholm. A forecast of possible development of zero and low emission vehicles is carried out. The major obstacles which currently hinder a market for these vehicles are noted. In order to determine market readiness and factors which affect these firms' purchase of vehicles, interviews were carried out with private firms. This analysis indicates that institutional barriers in Sweden hinder zero and low emission vehicles, with laws and tax policies which offer conflicting signals. To follow international developments, these obstacles must be reduced. Therefore, it is important that Stockholm works to create a positive climate for environmentally friendly vehicles. This means that it is important that the policies recommended in this report are implemented with adequate intensity. Because knowledge about zero and low emission vehicles is limited, there is a need to produce factual information. Information can be spread to a larger group, but it is more cost effective to reach a group which is most likely to accept environmentally friendly vehicles. This could include companies with environmental profiles, or those who drive and use company cars. To increase the effectiveness of this information campaign, we suggest that the City also maintain a demonstration fleet with loaner cars for companies who wish to test these vehicles in daily operation before deciding whether or not to purchase them. The incentive package recommended for Stockholm includes offering parking rebates to various groups who park in the city centre; residents , commercial vehicles, and temporary visitors. For equity reasons, all groups should in practice be offered the rebate. To increase the positive effect of the incentive, environmentally friendly vehicles should also be allowed to drive in

Promoting energy-saving and environmentally friendly generation dispatching model in China: Phase development and case studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding, Yi; Yang, Hongliang

2013-01-01

Energy saving and environmental protection are important conditions for the sustainable development of Chinese economy. However current widely used generation scheduling model based on predefined production quota and tariff results in heavy energy consumption and severe environment pollution. From 2007, as concerns over energy shortage and environmental pollution, the Chinese authorities introduced the implementation of energy-saving generation dispatching model, which is an important approach to facilitating energy-saving and reduction of pollutant emission. The objective of implementing energy-saving generation dispatching model is to prioritize the use of renewable energy resources and new power plants with high efficiency without compromising power system security and reliability. This paper analyzes the necessity and feasibility of implementing energy-efficient and environmentally friendly generation scheduling models in China. The institutional and technical barriers impeding the implementation of energy-saving generation dispatching model are identified. The development of advanced energy-saving generation scheduling models towards competitive market models and phased planning programs are emphasized in this paper. The effectiveness and experience of provinces piloted energy-saving generation dispatching projects are also discussed. - Highlights: ► Introducing problems of current power generation scheduling model in China. ► Discussing necessity of implementing ESGD model and corresponding barriers. ► Proposing phased planning programs for developing ESGD models. ► Discussing the effectiveness and experience of provinces piloted ESGD projects

Limitations of Carbon Footprint as Indicator of Environmental Sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laurent, Alexis; Olsen, Stig I.; Hauschild, Michael Z.

2012-01-01

change but also other environmental problems, like chemical pollution or depletion of natural resources, and the focus on CFP brings the risk of problem shifting when reductions in CFP are obtained at the expense of increase in other environmental impacts. But how real is this risk? Here, we model...... runs the risk of inadvertently shifting the problem to other environmental impacts when products are optimized to become more “green”. These findings call for the use of more broadly encompassing tools to assess and manage environmental sustainability.......Greenhouse gas accountings, commonly referred to with the popular term carbon footprints (CFP), are a widely used metric of climate change impacts and the main focus of many sustainability policies among companies and authorities. However, environmental sustainability concerns not just climate...

Sustainability issues in the geography Curriculum for an ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

model of development that meets the needs of the present generation, without ... community service activities (Togo & Lotz-Sisitka, 2008). Beringer ... changes in natural, built and social environments; an understanding of sustainable ways of living and of environmentally friendly and ecologically effective production; the skill.

An Environmental Ethical Conceptual Framework for Research on Sustainability and Environmental Education

Science.gov (United States)

Kronlid, David O.; Ohman, Johan

2013-01-01

This article suggests that environmental ethics can have great relevance for environmental ethical content analyses in environmental education and education for sustainable development research. It is based on a critique that existing educational research does not reflect the variety of environmental ethical theories. Accordingly, we suggest an…

Impact of Sustainability Balanced Scorecard Types on Environmental Investment Decision-Making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suaad Jassem

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Investment decision-making based on aspects of sustainability is gaining importance among organizations around the globe. In this context, there is a need for quality investment decisions, which require sufficient knowledge among organizational managers about managing sustainability information to achieve environmental objectives that meet stakeholder expectations. This has led to the emergence of organizational performance measuring tools such as the Sustainability Balanced Scorecard, which integrates the environmental perspective into the traditional Balanced Scorecard. Using experimental research method, the objective of this study is to investigate the indirect effect of Eco-efficiency knowledge and Sustainability Balanced Scorecard knowledge as mediators influencing the relationship between Sustainability Balanced Scorecard types and their impact on environmental investment decision-making. Findings of the current research are based on 60 respondents who were randomly assigned to one of the following two types of Sustainability Balanced Scorecard architecture: (1 environmental data embedded within the traditional Balanced Scorecard perspectives; and (2 standalone environmental data as an additional fifth perspective along with the traditional Balanced Scorecard architecture. The traditional Balanced Scorecard without any information on environmental perspective is included in the experiment as the control condition. The findings indicate that the combined effect of eco-efficiency knowledge and Sustainability Balanced Scorecard knowledge has a significant positive influence on the relationship between the Balanced Scorecard type versus Sustainability Balanced Scorecard type and environmental investment decision-making.

Student Motivation for Pursuing a Minor in Environmental Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Luanne Woods

2013-01-01

Environmental sustainability dominates the global conversation seeking to increase awareness and change the culture of thinking concerning the relationship between humans and the Earth. Because many universities offer programs relative to environmental sustainability, a need exists to understand why students pursue these programs. This study…

Environmental sustainability in the Brazilian energetic sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendonca, Mario Jorge Cardoso de

1999-01-01

The article discusses the following issues of energy consumption and environmental sustainability in Brazil: decomposition of industrial energy consumption, energy intensity, energy demand, decomposition aggregate energy, gas emission intensities, statistical measures of un-sustainability, greenhouse gases and strategies for mitigating global warming

Melon oil methyl ester: an environmentally friendly fuel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S.K. Fasogbon

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Demand for energy is growing across the globe due to the direct relationship between the well-being and prosperity of people and energy usage. However, meeting this growing energy demand in a safe and environmentally friendly manner is a key challenge. To this end, methyl esters (biodiesels have been and are being widely investigated as alternatives to fossil fuels in compression ignition engines. In this study, melon (Colocynthis Citrullus Lanatus oil was used to synthesize biodiesel (methyl ester using the transesterification method in the presence of a sodium hydroxide promoter. The emissions profile of the biodiesel was investigated by setting up a single-cylinder four-stroke air-cooled CI engine connected to a TD115-hydraulic dynamometer and an Eclipse Flue Gas Analyzer (FGA with model number EGA4 flue gas analyzer. The engine was run at engine speeds of 675, 1200 and 1900rpm for biodiesel/diesel blends at 21°C on a volume basis of 0/100(B0, 10/90(B10, 20/80(B20, 30/70(B30, 40/60(B40 and 50/50(B50. The test showed a downward trend in the emissions profile of the biodiesel, with remarkable reductions of about 55% in the dangerous-carbon monoxide exhaust gas pollutant and 33.3% in the unfriendly SOX from 100% diesel to B30-biodiesel concentration. Increasing the speed from 675 to 1200 and then to 1900 rpm also afforded further reductions in CO and SOX exhaust emissions. NOX however increased marginally by 2.1% from the same 100% diesel to the B30-biodiesel composition. Based on the remarkable reduction in CO and SOX and the marginal increase in NOX as the concentration of the biodiesel increased in the blends, the study concludes that melon oil methyl ester is an environmentally friendly fuel.

Biodegradable and bio-based polymers: future prospects of eco-friendly plastics.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwata, Tadahisa

2015-03-09

Currently used plastics are mostly produced from petrochemical products, but there is a growing demand for eco-friendly plastics. The use of bio-based plastics, which are produced from renewable resources, and biodegradable plastics, which are degraded in the environment, will lead to a more sustainable society and help us solve global environmental and waste management problems. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Education for Sustainable Living: An International Perspective on Environmental Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Fien, John

1993-01-01

Analyzes the nature of sustainable development and the role that environmental education can play in a transformation toward a sustainable society. Discusses three rules for teaching environmental education: a child-centered education, objectivity on matters of values, and creation of environmentally responsible behavior. Provides a checklist of…

Aging in Context: Individual and Environmental Pathways to Aging-Friendly Communities-The 2015 Matthew A. Pollack Award Lecture.

Science.gov (United States)

Scharlach, Andrew E

2017-08-01

Reflecting the theme of the 2015 Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Annual Scientific Meeting, "Aging as a Lifelong Process," this paper examines intersections between aging processes and their environmental context, develops theory regarding constructive developmental processes and their environmental context, and considers potential implications for conceptualizing and creating aging-friendly communities. The first section examines the primary goals of aging-friendly communities, that is, promoting elder well-being. The second section explores the role of environmental pathways in fostering well-being throughout the lifecourse. The third section presents a new Process Model of Constructive Aging that identifies key developmental processes at the intersection of individual and environmental pathways. The final section considers potential implications for creating aging-friendly communities, including ways in which cities and towns can promote the ability of community members to live fully throughout their lives, and identifies some key conceptual and empirical challenges affecting the future of the field. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Economic development and foreign direct investment: How to create sustainable development an analysis of the potential for sustainable development on the Indian subcontinent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Homlong Nathalie

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Focusing critically on the effects of the conditions for foreign direct investment on sustainable growth in the recipient country, this paper analyzes the potential for investments in environmental innovations in India. The definition of sustainability applied in this paper incorporates economic development and investment which promotes environmentally and socially friendly production and innovation. As the Indian economy experienced strong growth in GDP in recent years, but is still lagging behind in providing the basic needs of clean water, clean air and proper waste management for households and companies, the necessity for sustainable development exists. From a methodological point of view this paper uses macroeconomic data to evaluate quantitatively the potentials and needs of Indian states. This results in a state ranking showing the potential for sustainable development in selected Indian states, based on economic and environmental indicators.

Environmental concerns of supply chain sustainability (SCS)

Science.gov (United States)

Mokhtar, Mohd Faiz; Omar, Badrul; Nor, Nik Hisyamudin Muhd; Pauzi, Nur Fazlinda Mohd; Hasan, Sulaiman; Mohamed, W. A. Wan

2017-04-01

Environment concern is one important aspect for supply chain sustainability (SCS). Nowadays, company's activities give a lot of impact on the environment. Through these activities, there are other SCS issue of environment were identified. In this paper, the proposed SCS issue of environmental concern will be determined from Corporate Sustainability Report (CSR). Using a total weightage of 0.333 (after dividing into three aspects of sustainability), each proposed issues will be classified according to the company activities in order to determined weightage for each issue. Those weightages then will be used in developing of score metric for SCS in design phase. Result shows that the carbon footprint is the major concern for SCS of environment while environmental management system is a lowest concern for SCS environment.

Evaluation of carrying capacity and territorial environmental sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuseppe Ruggiero

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Land use has a great impact on environmental quality, use of resources, state of ecosystems and socio-economic development. Land use can be considered sustainable if the environmental pressures of human activities do not exceed the ecological carrying capacity. A scientific knowledge of the capability of ecosystems to provide resources and absorb waste is a useful and innovative means of supporting territorial planning. This study examines the area of the Province of Bari to estimate the ecosystems’ carrying capacity, and compare it with the current environmental pressures exerted by human activities. The adapted methodology identified the environmentally sustainable level for one province.

Making Rice Production More Environmentally-Friendly

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norman Uphoff

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Irrigated rice production is one of the most essential agricultural activities for sustaining our global population, and at the same time, one of the agricultural sectors considered most eco-unfriendly. This is because it consumes a larger share of available freshwater resources, competing with varied ecosystems as well as other economic sectors; its paddy fields are responsible for significant emission of greenhouse gases; and the reliance on chemical fertilizers and various agrochemicals contributes to pollution of soils and water systems. These stresses on soils, hydrology and atmosphere are actually not necessary for rice production, which can be increased by modifying agronomic practices though more agroecologically-sound management practices. These, combined under the rubric of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI, can reduce requirements of irrigation water, chemical fertilizer and agrochemicals while increasing paddy yields and farmer’s net incomes. Here we discuss how irrigated rice production can be made more eco-friendly for the benefit of farmers, consumers and the environment. This is achieved by introducing practices that improve the growth and functioning of rice plants’ root systems and enhance the abundance, diversity and activity of beneficial soil organisms that live around plant roots and within the plants themselves as symbiotic endophytes.

Decision-Making Tool for Cost-Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Wood Mobilisation

OpenAIRE

Matevž Triplat; Peter Prislan; Nike Krajnc

2015-01-01

Background and Purpose: With development of forest management technologies, the efficiency of wood production was significantly improved, and thus the impact on forests has changed as well. The article presents a practical decision-making tool for selection of most suitable harvesting system, considering given terrain as well as expected soil conditions on harvesting sites. The decision-making tool should support cost-efficient and environmentally friendly mobilisation of wood. Materials a...

Fashion design solutions for environmentally conscious consumers

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, M.; Chen, Y.; Curteza, A.; Thomassey, S.; Perwuelz, A.; Zeng, X.

2017-10-01

This paper intends to give an overview of the design solutions in fashion for environmentally conscious consumers, presenting green and ethical practices in contemporary clothing design. The results introduce the concept of slow fashion and discuss available fashion design solutions, giving most prominent examples of sustainable products and brands, these contain one or more design features. By this, the discussion extracts the main contemporary ideas. The presented examples of current offers are all envisioning less impact on the environment and society. Sustainable design solutions use more environmentally friendly materials such as organic cotton, incorporate circular design or design for recycling, e.g., replacing button closures with alternative closing possibilities or leather labels with printed versions, or ensure long product life through durability, among other methods. There are differing designs due to creators’ individuality. This overview can be beneficial for the future development of new solutions for more environmentally friendly fashion.

SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING BEHAVIOR: WHAT IS THE DEGREE OF INFLUENCE OF ITS ANTECEDENTS ?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Henrique Oliveira de Aguiar

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In recent years concerns have been expressed about the impact of products on the environment. Consumers and manufacturers have directed their attention to environmentally friendly products, energy-saving actions, organic food products, lead-free inks, recyclable paper, non-phosphate detergents, among others. This survey provides a brief review of environmental issues and identifies consumers' sustainable purchasing behavior, their level of awareness about environmental issues and green products according to the variables accessibility, sustainable awareness, brand, price and quality. The data collection was performed with an electronic questionnaire, obtaining 302 respondents. Results revealed that brand is the factor with the greatest influence on sustainable purchasing behavior, not having a concern with price and quality. Accessibility to sustainable products and sustainable consumer awareness also influence their product acquisition practices.

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.

Environmentally friendly use of non-coal ashes in Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Ribbing, C

2007-01-01

The Swedish Thermal Engineering Research Institute (Värmeforsk) initiated an applied research program "Environmentally friendly use of non-coal ashes", in 2002. The program aims at increasing knowledge on the by-products of energy production and their application. The goal of formulating technical and environmental guidelines and assessments is a major point of the program, which is supported by about forty authorities and private organisations. The programme has been divided into four areas: recycling of ashes to forests, geotechnical applications, use in landfilling, and environmental aspects and chemistry. Among all results obtained, the following progress is shown: *Evidence for the positive effects of spreading ashes on forest growth. *A proposal for environmental guidelines on the utilisation of ashes in construction. *A handbook for using non-coal fly ashes in unpaved roads. *Technical and environmental assessments of MSWI bottom ashes in road construction. *Development of the use of ashes with municipal wastewater sludge as a cover for landfills and mine tailings. *Use of ashes from bio-fuels in concrete and replacement of cement in stoop mining. *A method to classify those by-products from combustion that have mirror entries in the EWC as a hazardous or non-hazardous compound. The Ash Programme has also made it possible to increase knowledge on ashes as valuable materials, on quality assurance and on markets for recovered materials.

Replacement of petroleum based hydraulic fluids with renewable and environmental friendly resource

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wan Sani Wan Nik; Noraini Ali

2000-01-01

Rational self-interest and good environmental citizenship are forcing the development of renewable and environmentally acceptable hydraulic fluids. Fluids that are at least equivalent in performance plus biodegradable have been formulated in Europe and USA using vegetable oils as base stocks for innovative additive packages. While many of the differences in using vegetable based stocks in place of mineral oils have been adapted to by straightforward formulating changes, the oxidation stability of vegetable-based stock is still a challenging area. This work initiates the investigation in Malaysia in the use of environmentally friendly resource to replace partially the petroleum based hydraulic fluid. The study concentrates more in improving the oxidation stability of the vegetable based stocks. (Author)

An environmental assessment of grass-finishing beef operations in Pennsylvania

Science.gov (United States)

Concern for the environmental sustainability of traditional beef production has increased consumer interest in alternatively produced beef products perceived to be more environmentally friendly. This includes those marketed under “grassfed beef” labels. However, little information exists on the env...

Environmental evaluation for sustainable development of coal mining in Qijiang, Western China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Si, Hu; Bi, Haipu [College of Resource and Environment Science, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030 (China); Key Lab for the Exploitation of Southwestern Resource and the Environment Disaster Control Engineering, the Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030 (China); Li, Xiaohong; Yang, Chunhe [Key Lab for the Exploitation of Southwestern Resource and the Environment Disaster Control Engineering, the Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030 (China)

2010-03-01

Environmental degradation associated with mining activities may seriously threaten the health of local people and the sustainable development of coal mining, which may need to be addressed by improved environmental evaluation system. Based on analyzing environmental pollution from coal mining and the increasing need for raw coal, this paper establishes an environmental evaluation system, covering environmental situation, resource protection and economic benefit, for sustainable development in coal mining. This paper proposes methods for calculating the weight of each index and the environmental sustainable capability taking into account the method of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Finally, the index system is used to evaluate the environmental sustainability of coal mining in the Qijiang area, Western China, which has demonstrated the validity of the index system. It may also be useful as a tool to assess the environmental impact of mining areas, as well as a measure to promote sustainable development in coal mining. (author)

Sustainability Literacy of Older People in Retirement Villages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Xia

2014-01-01

Full Text Available With many developed countries experiencing the aging of the population, older people play a large role in contributing to environmental problems but also to environmental solutions. The purpose of this research is to understand the awareness and behavior of current older people living in retirement villages towards sustainability development. To achieve this, a sustainability literacy survey was conducted with 65 older residents of a private retirement village located 10 Km outside the Brisbane, Australia’s central business district (CBD. Most of residents recognized the importance of environment protection and would like to lead a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. In addition, the majority were willing to pay higher prices for a living environment with sustainable features. The importance of positive social communications was emphasized with most residents having established good relationships with others in the village. The findings provide an important insight into consumer perspectives regarding the sustainable features that should and can be incorporated into the village planning and development.

Sustainability literacy of older people in retirement villages.

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Bo; Zuo, Jian; Skitmore, Martin; Buys, Laurie; Hu, Xin

2014-01-01

With many developed countries experiencing the aging of the population, older people play a large role in contributing to environmental problems but also to environmental solutions. The purpose of this research is to understand the awareness and behavior of current older people living in retirement villages towards sustainability development. To achieve this, a sustainability literacy survey was conducted with 65 older residents of a private retirement village located 10 Km outside the Brisbane, Australia's central business district (CBD). Most of residents recognized the importance of environment protection and would like to lead a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. In addition, the majority were willing to pay higher prices for a living environment with sustainable features. The importance of positive social communications was emphasized with most residents having established good relationships with others in the village. The findings provide an important insight into consumer perspectives regarding the sustainable features that should and can be incorporated into the village planning and development.

Hapiness and Environmental Awareness – Factors of Sustainable Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anita Frajman Jakšić

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Economic growth was long perceived as the key goal of economic development. But as the capitalist economies got richer and as negative consequences of the growth spurt became more obvious, the development paradigm began to change course towards sustainability, which encompasses economic, environmental and social dimensions. The purpose of the article is to link the value system in the society and the possibility of the society to embrace the sustainable development model. We first provide the theoretical framework, followed by an empirical analysis of Croatia. The stress is on the environmental component of sustainability. The article builds from the popular stream of economic theory, i.e. economic analysis of happiness, which claims that happiness results not solely from economic factors, but also personal and broader social elements. These can also include environmental variables. In economic analysis of happiness, the consumer is not a standard utility maximizing consumer, who directly links utility and consumption of goods. His happiness is largely determined also by environmental elements. The existence of such consumers is consequently a prerequisite for the establishment of the sustainable economy. Empirical results show that: (1 consumers in general are at the moment not well educated about ecological problems, but (2 those that are give a lot of attention to environmental aspects. It is also important to note that future sustainability depends primarily on the attitude of current young cohorts (15 to 24 years, which, unfortunately, are least environmentally conscious. The role of the government and public institutions in preparing broader educational campaigns can therefore be significant.

Radioecological implementation of 'environmental friendly' materials alumosilicate origin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stojanovic, M.; Milojkovic, J.; Grubisic, M.; Iles, D.

2009-01-01

The problem of modern civilization is radionuclide contamination of soil, especially in Serbia.There was NATO aggression when were used munitions with depleted uranium, and after that waste material was deposed on the inhabited and mostly fertile soil. Having in mind that not all activities have been taken that would permanently eliminate the consequences of this radionuclide, means that entering depleted uranium in the food chain is a real danger now. Solving this problem requires a holistic approach including the application of safe and effective 'environmental friendly' materials that are economical, locally available and easily applicable. Our investigations have included testing the efficiency of natural and modified with domestic origin aluminosilicate materials, zeolite, phosphate, bentonite and diatomite for in situ remediation of soil. (author) [sr

Environmental Impact Assessment Of Tourism And Environment Sensitive Sustainable Tourism Model

OpenAIRE

Gündüz, Fuat

1999-01-01

The basis of sustainable development is formed by sustaining environmental resources and values without losing their characteristics. In addition to production processes, tourism activity is the phenomenon that spoils ecological balances. The factors that form tourism sector are natural resources and socio-cultural and historical accumulations. The sustainability of tourism sector and development depends on the protection of all types of environmental values. In order to protect environmental...

2000 Pilot Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The 2000 Pilot Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) is an exploratory effort to construct an index that measures the ability of a nation's economy to achieve...

Characterization of Encapsulated Corrosion Inhibitors Containing Microparticles for Environmentally Friendly Smart Coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Pearman, Benjamin Pieter; Calle, Luz M.

2015-01-01

This poster presents the results obtained from experiments designed to evaluate the release properties, as well as the corrosion inhibition effectiveness, of several encapsulated corrosion inhibitors. Microencapsulation has been used in the development of environmentally friendly multifunctional smart coatings. This technique enables the incorporation of autonomous corrosion detection, inhibition and self-healing functionalities into many commercially available coating systems. Select environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitors were encapsulated in organic and inorganic pH-sensitive microparticles and their release in basic solutions was studied. The release rate results showed that the encapsulation can be tailored from fast, for immediate corrosion protection, to slow, which will provide continued long-term corrosion protection. The incorporation of several corrosion inhibitor release profiles into a coating provides effective corrosion protection properties. To investigate the corrosion inhibition efficiency of the encapsulated inhibitors, electrochemical techniques were used to obtain corrosion potential, polarization curve and polarization resistance data. These measurements were performed using the free as well as the encapsulated inhibitors singly or in combinations. Results from these electrochemical tests will be compared to those obtained from weight loss and other accelerated corrosion experiments.

Extrusion: An environmentally friendly process for PEMFC membrane elaboration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanchez, J.-Y.; Iojoiu, C.; Marechal, M. [LEPMI, UMR 5631 CNRS-INPG-UJF, ENSEEG, BP 75, F-38402, Saint Martin d' Heres (France); Chabert, F.; El Kissi, N. [Rheologie, UMR 5520 CNRS-INPG-UJF, ENSHMG, BP 53, F-38041, Grenoble (France); Salomon, J.; Mercier, R. [LMOPS UMR CNRS 5041, BP 24, F-69390 Vernaison (France); Piffard, Y. [CNRS Universite de Nantes, Institut des Materiaux Jean Rouxel, UMR 6502, BP 32229, F-44322, Nantes Cedex 3 (France); Galiano, H. [CEA, Le Ripault Research Center, BP 16, F-37260, Monts (France)

2007-12-31

The paper deals with the use of extrusion to process PEMFC filled and unfilled membranes. Several routes including the sulfonation of filled and unfilled extruded membranes and the extrusion of filled and unfilled ionomers are reported. Thanks to the use of selected water-soluble aid process plasticizers, acid and alkaline forms of sulfonated polyethersulfone were, for the first time, successfully extruded. The extrusion process did not lead to any degradation of the ionomer performances. Decreasing the membrane cost while using environmentally friendly elaboration conditions, it should be helpful to an industrial production. In addition, avoiding filler sedimentation it should allow homogeneous composite membranes to be obtained. (author)

Mechanism Of Environmental Franchising In The Sustainable Development Potential

OpenAIRE

Inna Illyashenko

2011-01-01

Reveals the types of environmental franchising: franchise environmental goods, manufacturing, service and environmental business format. Presents the methodological principles for the formation mechanisms of environmental franchise in implementing sustainable development potential. Proved economic, legal and organizational technology contractual relations regarding environmental franchise.

Environmental Sustainability based on Welfare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nørgaard, Jørgen

2005-01-01

The paper argues that the Scandinavian countries have some traditions of equity and social welfare, which are essential for reaching a truly environmentally sustainable society. But for the highly polluting Denmark, this would require a dramatic change in the political visions. Maintaining...... the present low birth rate is one condition necessary, environmentally better technology is another, and finally a saturation with material consumption, which is required. The latter is in line with people's quest for more leisure time rather than more consumption, but unfortunately counteracted by government...

Evaluation of environmentally friendly products for control of fungal diseases of grapes

OpenAIRE

Schilder, A.M.C.; Gillett, J.M.; Sysak, R.W.; Wise, J.C.

2002-01-01

Various environmentally friendly products were tested for efficacy in controlling powdery mildew, downy mildew, black rot, Phomopsis, and Botrytis bunch rot in grapes over several years. The products tested were: JMS stylet oil (paraffinic oil), Serenade (Bacillus subtilis), Croplife (citrus and coconut extract) + Plant food (foliar fertilizer), Armicarb (potassium bicarbonate), Elexa (chitosan), Milsana (giant knotweed extract), and AQ10 (Ampelomyces quisqua/is). JMS Stylet Oil, Armicarb, Se...

Limitations of carbon footprint as indicator of environmental sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Laurent, Alexis; Olsen, Stig I; Hauschild, Michael Z

2012-04-03

Greenhouse gas accountings, commonly referred to with the popular term carbon footprints (CFP), are a widely used metric of climate change impacts and the main focus of many sustainability policies among companies and authorities. However, environmental sustainability concerns not just climate change but also other environmental problems, like chemical pollution or depletion of natural resources, and the focus on CFP brings the risk of problem shifting when reductions in CFP are obtained at the expense of increase in other environmental impacts. But how real is this risk? Here, we model and analyze the life cycle impacts from about 4000 different products, technologies, and services taken from several sectors, including energy generation, transportation, material production, infrastructure, and waste management. By investigating the correlations between the CFP and 13 other impact scores, we show that some environmental impacts, notably those related to emissions of toxic substances, often do not covary with climate change impacts. In such situations, carbon footprint is a poor representative of the environmental burden of products, and environmental management focused exclusively on CFP runs the risk of inadvertently shifting the problem to other environmental impacts when products are optimized to become more "green". These findings call for the use of more broadly encompassing tools to assess and manage environmental sustainability.

Law Review of Islamic Capital Market Role to Support Sustainable Economic Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helza Nova Lita

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Objective - The objective of this paper is to assess on how the rule of Islamic capital markets to support   sustainable economic development and what kind of instruments can be developed.Method – The method used in this research is the study of normative juridical approach to legislation and the concept of Islamic economics through literature review.Result – Issuer's business activities related to support for environmentally friendly business activities are part of the implementation of sharia principles despite the provisions of the implementation of Islamic finance through a decision has not been stated . All types of instruments issued by issuers of sharia in Indonesia should be consistent with Islamic economic values, including the commitment to enforcement of environmentally friendly business activities.Conclusion – This finding suggests to strengthen the legal instruments in the issuer's issuance of Islamic instruments in the form of regulations issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission  and through the National Fatwa Council of Sharia.Keywords : Islamic Capital Markets, sustainable economic development, friendly environment

Energy sustainable communities: Environmental psychological investigations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schweizer-Ries, Petra

2008-01-01

Energy sustainability is becoming an increasing issue-or rather 'the' issue in our society. Often it is reduced to a purely technical problem. Renewable energies and energy-efficient technologies are developed to solve the problem, but finally the end-users will 'decide' how much and what kind of energy they are going to consume. This article is targeted on showing the environmental psychological aspects of the change of energy demand and supply. It builds upon a transactional model of human technology interchange and summarises environmental psychological work done during more than 5 years. It refers to the idea of energy sustainable communities (ESCs), shows the development of one example community and concentrates on one aspect of the social dimension of ESCs, the 'acceptance of renewable energy technology', its definition and measurement in Germany

Using lean methodologies for economically and environmentally sustainable foundries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. M. Torielli

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Lean manufacturing is often seen as a set of tools that reduce the total cost and improve the quality of manufactured products. The lean management philosophy is one which targets waste reduction in every facet of the manufacturing business; however, only recently have studies linked lean management philosophies with improving environmental sustainability. These studies suggest that lean manufacturing is more than a set of lean tools that can optimize manufacturing efficiencies; it is a process and mindset that needs to be integrated into daily manufacturing systems to achieve sustainability. The foundry industry, as well as manufacturing in general, has significant challenges in the current regulatory and political climate with developing an economically and environmentally sustainable business model. Lean manufacturing has proven itself as a model for both economic sustainability and environmental stewardship. Several recent studies have shown that both lean and green techniques and “zero-waste” policies also lead to reductions in overall cost. While these strategies have been examined for general manufacturing, they have not been investigated in detail for the foundry industry. This paper will review the current literature and describe how lean and green can provide a relevant framework for environmentally and economically sustainable foundries. Examples of lean and green technologies and techniques which can be applied to foundries in a global context will be described.

Australian consumers' views towards an environmentally sustainable eating pattern.

Science.gov (United States)

Mann, Davina; Thornton, Lukar; Crawford, David; Ball, Kylie

2018-05-15

The present qualitative study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of participants' attitudes, knowledge, perceived effectiveness (a person's belief that his/her behaviour can contribute to environmental preservation) and behaviours relating to a sustainable eating pattern. One-to-one interviews (either face-to-face or by telephone) were conducted following a structured interview schedule, audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis in NVivo 10. Victorian (Australia) adult participants recruited via online advertisements, flyers on community advertisement boards and letterbox drops. Twenty-four participants (mean age 40 years, range 19-69 years; thirteen female, eleven male) were interviewed. Participants reported that environmental impact was not an important influence on their food choice. Participants displayed limited knowledge about a sustainable eating pattern, with most unaware of the environmental impact of food-related behaviours. Most participants believed sustainable eating would be only slightly beneficial to the environment. Participants reported undertaking limited sustainable food behaviours currently and were more willing to undertake a food behaviour if they perceived additional benefits, such as promoting health or supporting the local community. The study suggests consumers need further information about a sustainable eating pattern and the environmental impact of food choice. The findings highlight some of the barriers that will need to be addressed when promoting this kind of eating pattern and that a range of interventions will be necessary.

Institutions, Sustainability Transitions and Aspects of Internationalisation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Decker, Arnim

The shift towards economic activities that are environmentally sustain- able involves the need to overcome incumbent socio- technical regimes that are environmentally unsustainable but difficult to replace. Techno- logical and institutional co-evolution of practices and technologies with large...... scale effects and strong path dependencies create significant obsta- cles that stand in the way to adapting technologies that cause less or no damage to the environment. This phenomenon has been termed "carbon lock-in" (Unruh, 2002), it impedes the introduction of environmentally friendly practices...... and technologies or makes it an uphill struggle. Until recently, most existing studies have taken single national systems as units of analysis while issues of internationalization are just emerging on the agenda. With a high degree of uncertainty involved, becoming part of a sustainability transition is a risky...

Making rainfed agriculture sustainable through environmental friendly technologies in Pakistan: A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirza B. Baig

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Pakistan is an agricultural country spreading over an area of about 79. 6 million hectares (Mha with an arid and semi arid climate. Of 79. 6 Mha, about 23 Mha is suitable for crop production and nearly 25 percent of the total cultivated area is designated for rainfed agriculture. Unfortunately, rain-fed agriculture is constrained with multifarious problems such as moisture stress, soil erosion and crusting, nutrient deficiency, depletion and poor nutrient use efficiency, and weed infestation limiting the yield potential of these lands. In addition, deforestation and poor crop husbandry techniques are commonly noticed features. To meet the food requirements, farmers bring all the available pieces of lands under plough including steep slopes. Farming on steep slopes if not managed on scientific lines, results in severe erosion. The problems faced by the farmers are due to the unsustainable practices they adopt to practice dryland agriculture, limiting the productive potential of these important ecosystems. However, their potential can be improved by adopting suitable rainwater harvesting techniques; employing scientific soil and water conservation methods and using sustainable agricultural practices. This paper highlights some important issues associated with the rainfed agriculture of Pakistan. Working strategies for realizing optimum and sustainable yields have been outlined while conserving both land and water resources.

Possible consequences of changing to a more environmental-friendly steel production in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolstad, Julie Riise

2005-01-01

China is the world's biggest steel producer, the world's biggest steel consumer and the world's biggest polluter. The superpower is forced to change its steel production in a more environmental-friendly way, but necessary measures will be expensive; moreover, they will have consequences far past China's borders. The possible effects are elaborated in the article (ml)

Future batteries will be environment-friendly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larcher, D.; Tarascon, J.M.

2012-01-01

Since the beginning of the nineties, efficient batteries have been built thanks to lithium. The use of nano-materials for the electrodes have recently opened the way to a cheaper and more environmental friendly technologies like lithium-iron-phosphate (LiFePO 4 ) batteries instead of classical lithium-ion batteries. Nano-materials enable the batteries to use more efficiently the electrode and to store more energy. Sustainable development requires the elaboration of clean processes to produce nano-materials, it appears that micro-organisms might be able to produce nano-metric minerals through bio-mineralisation, it is particularly true for FePO 4 because iron and phosphates are abundant biological components. (A.C.)

Improving the environmental sustainability of a waste processing plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, Tom; Watson, Stuart

2013-01-01

This paper describes how the level of environmental sustainability at the Solid Waste Processing plant at Research Sites Restoration Ltd (RSRL) Harwell was measured and improved. It provides reasons to improve environmental performance in an organisation, states best practice on how improvement should be conducted, and gives first-hand experience on how changes were implemented. In this paper sustainability is defined as 'meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. A baseline for environmental sustainability was created, by looking at multiple attributes. From this, a matrix was created to show how the baseline environmental performance compared to best practice, and a gap analysis was performed. Results from this analysis showed areas for potential systematic improvement, and actions were created. Nearly all actions were implemented within one year, and environmental sustainability improved significantly. Most improvements cost no money to implement, and the few that did had to pass criteria in a business case. Results from a company-wide survey showed that the vast majority of employees felt that environmental issues were important, and that they were willing to help improve performance. Environmental awareness training was given to everyone in the department, and individuals were given measurable improvement targets. A focus group was set up and met regularly to agree improvements and monitor results. Environmental performance was publicised regularly to highlight successes and seek further engagement and improvement. Improvement ideas were encouraged and managed in a transparent way which showed clear prioritisation and accountability. The culture of environmental improvement changed visibly and results at the end of the first year showed that electricity consumption had reduced by 12.5%, and gas consumption had reduced by 7.3%. In less than two years over UK Pound 60,000 was saved

Improving the environmental sustainability of a waste processing plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turner, Tom [AREVA RMC, Abingdon, Oxfordshire (United Kingdom); Watson, Stuart [RSRL, Harwell, Oxfordshire (United Kingdom)

2013-07-01

This paper describes how the level of environmental sustainability at the Solid Waste Processing plant at Research Sites Restoration Ltd (RSRL) Harwell was measured and improved. It provides reasons to improve environmental performance in an organisation, states best practice on how improvement should be conducted, and gives first-hand experience on how changes were implemented. In this paper sustainability is defined as 'meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. A baseline for environmental sustainability was created, by looking at multiple attributes. From this, a matrix was created to show how the baseline environmental performance compared to best practice, and a gap analysis was performed. Results from this analysis showed areas for potential systematic improvement, and actions were created. Nearly all actions were implemented within one year, and environmental sustainability improved significantly. Most improvements cost no money to implement, and the few that did had to pass criteria in a business case. Results from a company-wide survey showed that the vast majority of employees felt that environmental issues were important, and that they were willing to help improve performance. Environmental awareness training was given to everyone in the department, and individuals were given measurable improvement targets. A focus group was set up and met regularly to agree improvements and monitor results. Environmental performance was publicised regularly to highlight successes and seek further engagement and improvement. Improvement ideas were encouraged and managed in a transparent way which showed clear prioritisation and accountability. The culture of environmental improvement changed visibly and results at the end of the first year showed that electricity consumption had reduced by 12.5%, and gas consumption had reduced by 7.3%. In less than two years over UK Pound 60,000 was saved

Advancing Environmental Education and Training for Sustainable Management of Environmental Resources in Palestine

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Sa'ed, Rashed; Abu-Madi, Maher; Heun, Jetze

2009-01-01

This article describes the various capacity-building activities at the Institute of Environmental and Water Studies of Birzeit University during the past 10 years. It highlights the gained experience in advancing environmental science and engineering education and training programs as components of sustainable water and environmental management…

SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY OF INTERMODAL TERMINALS IN BRAZIL: AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diogo Palheta Nery

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The Brazilian agribusiness excels in international trade, but it has some problems as the concentration of roads in the country's transport matrix, which reduces the competitiveness of the sector. The intermodality is a solution to this problem because it uses the advantages of various modes of transport. Moreover, intermodality becomes logistics more sustainable by reducing the environmental impacts of its activities. Intermodal terminals are the links that allow intermodality, however, studies about the sustainability of the terminals are scarce. This research intended to fill this gap aiming to analyze the socio-environmental sustainability of Brazil's grains logistics intermodal terminals. The specific objectives were: to raise variables about socio-environmental sustainability in logistics terminals and to identify socio-environmental sustainability practices in logistics terminals surveyed. This used an exploratory approach. The sample was composed of 31 Brazilian intermodal terminals. It was found that the terminals are prioritizing social practices, but further studies are needed to confirm or refute the findings.

Implementing Environmental Practices for Accomplishing Sustainable Green Supply Chain Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minkyun Kim

2017-07-01

Full Text Available With the emergence of environmental protection as a global issue, implementing environmental practices for sustaining green supply chain management (GSCM has received a lot of attention. This study investigates the impact of integration with suppliers and supply disruption risk on environmental practices. It also examines the role of supplier integration and supply disruption risk on performance. Finally, it investigates the relationship between environmental practices and performance in order to sustain green supply chains. Based on 272 survey responses from supply and purchase managers, our research results support the positive impact of integration with suppliers and the negative impact of supply disruption risk on the adoption of environmental practices. Furthermore, they provide empirical evidence that environmental practices and integration with suppliers are positively associated with performance, while supply disruption risk is negatively associated with performance. This study identifies antecedents and establishes a research framework of GSCM. More importantly, it provides meaningful insights to managers regarding the implementation of environmental practices related to other supply chain practices for sustaining green supply chains.

Co-innovation of family farm systems: A systems approach to sustainable agriculture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dogliotti Moro, S.; García, M.C.; Peluffo, S.; Dieste, J.P.; Pedemonte, A.J.; Bacigalupe, G.F.; Scarlato, M.; Alliaume, F.; Alvarez, J.; Chiappe, M.; Rossing, W.A.H.

2014-01-01

Meeting the goals of sustainable growth of food production and reducing rural poverty requires assisting family farmers to develop more productive, profitable, resource efficient and environmentally friendly farms. Faced with decreasing product prices and increasing production costs during the last

Environmentally sustainable transport in the CEI countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thaler, R.; Wiederkehr, P.

2004-01-01

Moving people and freight in an environmentally sustainable manner that reduces environmental pollution and health hazards is a key challenge for transport and environment policies in Europe. Present mobility patterns of passenger and freight transport in Central and Eastern Europe do not correspond to the objectives of sustainable development. This paper presents the results of a transport futures study for the CEI region as a whole using backcasting methodology with long-term sustainability criteria to be met by 2030. Achieving environmentally sustainable transport (EST) doesn't mean less transport and mobility than we have today, but it means primarily maintaining a balanced modal split that results in less environmental and health impacts than it would be under projected future trends. Rail, trams, busses and new forms of flexible inter-modal public transport mobility would have to take a large share and rail transport for passenger and freight as well as inland shipping would have to be nearly doubled by 2030 while road freight could still increase if it is based on alternative fuels reducing its impacts. Technological advancements for passenger cars and lorries, fuels and infrastructure will play an important part to achieve EST, but also ''smart'' mobility management (e.g. transport avoidance, increasing load factors and modal shift), innovative mobility services and freight logistics would be critical. The implementation of these policies and strategies will require coherent and comprehensive packages of instruments and measures, including: economic instruments, regulatory instruments, changes in infrastructure investment, mobility management, information and education programmes as well as better integration of land use, transport and environment policies. Realising EST will provide new opportunities for businesses to develop and invest in innovative solutions for passenger and freight transport. Overall, achieving EST would constitute a net benefit for

Corrosion-Activated Micro-Containers for Environmentally Friendly Corrosion Protective Coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wenyan; Buhrow, J. W.; Zhang, X.; Johnsey, M. N.; Pearman, B. P.; Jolley, S. T.; Calle, L. M.

2016-01-01

This work concerns the development of environmentally friendly encapsulation technology, specifically designed to incorporate corrosion indicators, inhibitors, and self-healing agents into a coating, in such a way that the delivery of the indicators and inhibitors is triggered by the corrosion process, and the delivery of self-healing agents is triggered by mechanical damage to the coating. Encapsulation of the active corrosion control ingredients allows the incorporation of desired autonomous corrosion control functions such as: early corrosion detection, hidden corrosion detection, corrosion inhibition, and self-healing of mechanical damage into a coating. The technology offers the versatility needed to include one or several corrosion control functions into the same coating.The development of the encapsulation technology has progressed from the initial proof-of-concept work, in which a corrosion indicator was encapsulated into an oil-core (hydrophobic) microcapsule and shown to be delivered autonomously, under simulated corrosion conditions, to a sophisticated portfolio of micro carriers (organic, inorganic, and hybrid) that can be used to deliver a wide range of active corrosion ingredients at a rate that can be adjusted to offer immediate as well as long-term corrosion control. The micro carriers have been incorporated into different coating formulas to test and optimize the autonomous corrosion detection, inhibition, and self-healing functions of the coatings. This paper provides an overview of progress made to date and highlights recent technical developments, such as improved corrosion detection sensitivity, inhibitor test results in various types of coatings, and highly effective self-healing coatings based on green chemistry. The NASA Kennedy Space Centers Corrosion Technology Lab at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, U.S.A. has been developing multifunctional smart coatings based on the microencapsulation of environmentally friendly corrosion

Technology management for environmentally sound and sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaidi, S.M.J.

1992-01-01

With the evolutionary change in the production activities of human societies, the concept of development has also been changing. In the recent years the emphasis has been on the environmentally sound and sustainable development. The environmentally sound and sustainable development can be obtained through judicious use of technology. Technology as a resource transformer has emerged as the most important factor which can constitute to economic growth. But technology is not an independent and autonomous force, it is only an instrument which needs to be used carefully, properly and appropriately which necessitates technology management. (author)

Envisioning Agricultural Sustainability from Field to Plate: Comparing Producer and Consumer Attitudes and Practices toward "Environmentally Friendly" Food and Farming in Washington State, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Selfa, Theresa; Jussaume, Raymond A., Jr.; Winter, Michael

2008-01-01

A substantial body of sociological research has examined the relationship between farmers' environmental attitudes and their conservation behaviors, but little research has compared the attitudes of producers and consumers toward the environment with their behaviors or practices in support of sustainable agri-food systems. This paper addresses…

Sustainability appraisal. Quantitative methods and mathematical techniques for environmental performance evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Erechtchoukova, Marina G.; Khaiter, Peter A. [York Univ., Toronto, ON (Canada). School of Information Technology; Golinska, Paulina (eds.) [Poznan Univ. of Technology (Poland)

2013-06-01

The book will present original research papers on the quantitative methods and techniques for the evaluation of the sustainability of business operations and organizations' overall environmental performance. The book contributions will describe modern methods and approaches applicable to the multi-faceted problem of sustainability appraisal and will help to fulfil generic frameworks presented in the literature with the specific quantitative techniques so needed in practice. The scope of the book is interdisciplinary in nature, making it of interest to environmental researchers, business managers and process analysts, information management professionals and environmental decision makers, who will find valuable sources of information for their work-related activities. Each chapter will provide sufficient background information, a description of problems, and results, making the book useful for a wider audience. Additional software support is not required. One of the most important issues in developing sustainable management strategies and incorporating ecodesigns in production, manufacturing and operations management is the assessment of the sustainability of business operations and organizations' overall environmental performance. The book presents the results of recent studies on sustainability assessment. It provides a solid reference for researchers in academia and industrial practitioners on the state-of-the-art in sustainability appraisal including the development and application of sustainability indices, quantitative methods, models and frameworks for the evaluation of current and future welfare outcomes, recommendations on data collection and processing for the evaluation of organizations' environmental performance, and eco-efficiency approaches leading to business process re-engineering.

Environmental Sustainability Change Management in SMEs: Learning from Sustainability Champions

Science.gov (United States)

Chadee, Doren; Wiesner, Retha; Roxas, Banjo

2011-01-01

This study identifies the change management processes involved in undertaking environmental sustainability (ES) initiatives within Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) and relate these to the main attributes of learning organisations. Using case study techniques, the study draws from the change management experiences of a sample of 12 ES…

The impact of environmental supply chain sustainability programs on shareholder wealth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dam, Lammertjan; Petkova, Boyana

2014-01-01

Purpose - Multinationals are increasingly pressured by stakeholders to commit to environmental sustainability that exceeds their own firm borders. As a result, multinationals have started to commit to environmental supply chain sustainability programs (ESCSPs). However, little is known about whether

The impact of environmental supply chain sustainability programs on shareholder wealth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dam, L.; Petkova, B.N.

2014-01-01

Purpose: Multinationals are increasingly pressured by stakeholders to commit to environmental sustainability that exceeds their own firm borders. As a result, multinationals have started to commit to environmental supply chain sustainability programs (ESCSPs). However, little is known about whether

Developing and sustaining adolescent-friendly health services: A multiple case study from Ecuador and Peru.

Science.gov (United States)

Goicolea, Isabel; Coe, Anna-Britt; San Sebastián, Miguel; Hurtig, Anna-Karin

2017-08-01

Adolescent-Friendly Health Services (AFHSs) are those that are accessible, acceptable, equitable, appropriate and effective for different youth sub-populations. This study investigated the process through which four clinics in two countries - Peru and Ecuador - introduced, developed and sustained AFHSs. A multiple case study design was chosen, and data from each clinic were collected through document review, observations and informant interviews. National level data were also collected. Data were analysed following thematic analysis. The findings showed that the process of introducing, developing and sustaining AFHSs was long term, and required a creative team effort and collaboration between donors, public institutions and health providers. The motivation and external support was crucial to initiating and sustaining the implementation of AFHSs. Health facilities' transformation into AFHSs was linked to the broader organisation of country health systems, and the evolution of national adolescent health policies. In Peru, the centralised approach to AFHSs introduction facilitated the dissemination of a comprehensive national model to health facilities, but dependency on national directives made it more difficult to systemise them when ideological and organisational changes occurred. In Ecuador, a less centralised approach to introducing AFHSs made for easier integration of the AFHSs model.

Towards eco-friendly crop protection: natural deep eutectic solvents and defensive secondary metabolites.

Science.gov (United States)

Mouden, Sanae; Klinkhamer, Peter G L; Choi, Young Hae; Leiss, Kirsten A

2017-01-01

With mounting concerns over health and environmental effects of pesticides, the search for environmentally acceptable substitutes has amplified. Plant secondary metabolites appear in the horizon as an attractive solution for green crop protection. This paper reviews the need for changes in the techniques and compounds that, until recently, have been the mainstay for dealing with pest insects. Here we describe and discuss main strategies for selecting plant-derived metabolites as candidates for sustainable agriculture. The second part surveys ten important insecticidal compounds, with special emphasis on those involved in human health. Many of these insecticidal metabolites, however, are crystalline solids with limited solubility which might potentially hamper commercial formulation. As such, we introduce the concept of natural deep eutectic solvents for enhancing solubility and stability of such compounds. The concept, principles and examples of green pest control discussed here offer a new suite of environmental-friendly tools designed to promote and adopt sustainable agriculture.

Institutional conditions for sustainable private sector-led urban development projects : A conceptual model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heurkens, E.W.T.M.

2016-01-01

Across the globe sustainable private sector-led urban development projects (SPUDPs) in the built environment rarely commence as real estate developers face several institutional barriers which limit their capacity to develop economic-viable, social-responsible, environmental-friendly urban places.

The environmental Kuznets curve and sustainability: A panel data analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farhani, Sahbi; Mrizak, Sana; Chaibi, Anissa; Rault, Christophe

2014-01-01

In recent years, sustainability has represented one of the most important policy goals explored in the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) literature. But related hypotheses, performance measures and results continue to present a challenge. The present paper contributes to this ongoing literature by studying two different EKC specifications for 10 Middle East and North African (MENA) countries over the period 1990–2010 using panel data methods. For the first specification, namely EKC, we show that there is an inverted U-shape relationship between environmental degradation and income; while for the second specification, namely modified EKC (MEKC), we show that there is an inverted U-shape relationship between sustainability and human development (HD). The relationships are shaped by other factors such as energy, trade, manufacture added value and the role of law. More interestingly, findings from the estimation show that EKC hypothesis, HD and sustainability are crucial to build effective environmental policies. - Highlights: • Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and modified EKC models are examined for 10 MENA countries. • We attempt to include energy, trade, human development and sustainability in our approach. • The inverted U-shape relationship is verified for two models. • Human development positively affects the pollution and sustainability level

Environmental sustainability assessment of palm biodiesel production in Thailand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silalertruksa, Thapat; Gheewala, Shabbir H.

2012-01-01

The study assesses the environmental sustainability of palm biodiesel production systems in Thailand by focusing on their energy efficiency and environmental impact potentials. The Net Energy Balance (NEB) and Renewability indicate energy gain for palm biodiesel and its co-products as compared to fossil energy inputs. In addition, life cycle assessment also reveals lower values of environmental impact potentials of biodiesel as compared to conventional diesel. For example, palm biodiesel can provide greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction of around 46–73% as compared to diesel. Nitrogen-fertilizer production and application in the plantation and the air emissions from the ponds treating palm oil mill effluent (POME) are found to be the major environmental aspects. However, the energy and environmental performances depend on various factors such as the management efficiency of empty fruit bunches (EFB) and POME and the possible land-use change in the future. Recommendations are made for improving environmental performance of palm biodiesel and for securing the long-term availability of crude palm oil supply with a view towards sustainable palm biodiesel production. -- Highlights: ► Environmental sustainability of palm biodiesel production in Thailand is assessed. ► Palm biodiesel can provide GHG reduction of around 46–73% as compared to diesel. ► Net energy ratio and renewability of palm biodiesel both range between 2 and 4. ► Efficient use of by-products in the value chain enhances environmental benefits.

New environmentally-friendly antimicrobials and biocides from Andean and Mexican biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Cespedes, Carlos L; Alarcon, Julio; Aqueveque, Pedro M; Lobo, Tatiana; Becerra, Julio; Balbontin, Cristian; Avila, Jose G; Kubo, Isao; Seigler, David S

2015-10-01

Persistent application of pesticides often leads to accumulation in the environment and to the development of resistance in various organisms. These chemicals frequently degrade slowly and have the potential to bio-accumulate across the food chain and in top predators. Cancer and neuronal damage at genomic and proteomic levels have been linked to exposure to pesticides in humans. These negative effects encourage search for new sources of biopesticides that are more "environmentally-friendly" to the environment and human health. Many plant or fungal compounds have significant biological activity associated with the presence of secondary metabolites. Plant biotechnology and new molecular methods offer ways to understand regulation and to improve production of secondary metabolites of interest. Naturally occurring crop protection chemicals offer new approaches for pest management by providing new sources of biologically active natural products with biodegradability, low mammalian toxicity and environmentally-friendly qualities. Latin America is one of the world's most biodiverse regions and provide a previously unsuspected reservoir of new and potentially useful molecules. Phytochemicals from a number of families of plants and fungi from the southern Andes and from Mexico have now been evaluated. Andean basidiomycetes are also a great source of scientifically new compounds that are interesting and potentially useful. Use of biopesticides is an important component of integrated pest management (IPM) and can improve the risks and benefits of production of many crops all over the world. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Integration of life cycle assessment software with tools for economic and sustainability analyses and process simulation for sustainable process design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kalakul, Sawitree; Malakul, Pomthong; Siemanond, Kitipat

2014-01-01

The sustainable future of the world challenges engineers to develop chemical process designs that are not only technically and economically feasible but also environmental friendly. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool for identifying and quantifying environmental impacts of the chemical product...... with other process design tools such as sustainable design (SustainPro), economic analysis (ECON) and process simulation. The software framework contains four main tools: Tool-I is for life cycle inventory (LCI) knowledge management that enables easy maintenance and future expansion of the LCI database; Tool...... and/or the process that makes it. It can be used in conjunction with process simulation and economic analysis tools to evaluate the design of any existing and/or new chemical-biochemical process and to propose improvement options in order to arrive at the best design among various alternatives...

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...

Athletic Trainers' Attitudes and Perceptions of Environmental Sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Potteiger, Kelly; Pitney, William A; Cappaert, Thomas A; Wolfe, Angela

2017-12-01

  Environmental sustainability efforts are becoming a critical concern in health care. However, little is known regarding how athletic trainers feel about the environment or what can be done to reduce the environmental impact of the practice of athletic training.   To examine athletic trainers' attitudes toward and perceptions of factors related to environmental sustainability.   Sequential, mixed methods using a survey, focus groups, and personal interviews.   Field study.   Four hundred forty-two individuals completed the survey. Sixteen participated in the qualitative portion.   Quantitative results from the Athletic Training Environmental Impact Survey included data from a 5-point Likert scale (1 = lowest rating and 5 = highest rating). Descriptive statistics and 1-way analyses of variance were used to describe perceptions and determine differences in mean opinion, National Athletic Trainers' Association district, and use of green techniques. Qualitative data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed inductively.   The mean score for opinion of the environment was 3.30 ± 0.52. A difference was found between opinion and National Athletic Trainers' Association district ( F 9, 429 = 2.43, P = .01). A Bonferroni post hoc analysis identified this difference ( P = .03) between members of District 2 (Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania) and District 9 (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee). An inductive analysis resulted in 3 emergent themes: (1) barriers to using green techniques, (2) motivators for using green techniques, and (3) solutions to overcoming the barriers. The information gleaned from participants in the qualitative portion of the study can be useful for clinicians wishing to implement basic conservation efforts in their practice settings and may guide future sustainability projects.   Overall, participants reported a positive opinion of environmental sustainability topics related to athletic

Elements in a new sustainable industrial culture - Environmental assessment in product development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alting, Leo; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Wenzel, Henrik

1997-01-01

In the last few years the environmental focus in the manufacturing industry has shifted from the manufacturing processes to the products themselves, as these are accountable for the environmental impacts in all life cycle phases. The paper describes for 3 industrial cases how a newly developed LCA...... methodology can assist the product developer in development of more environmentally friendly products. Finally, common experience gained will be discussed....

Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Development

OpenAIRE

Said Salah Eldin Elnashaie

2018-01-01

Chemical Engineering is a very rich discipline and it is best classified using System Theory (ST) and utilized using the Integrated System Approach (ISA). Environmental Engineering (EE) is a subsystem of Chemical Engineering and also a subsystem of Sustainable Development (SD). In this paper both EE and SD are discussed from a Chemical Engineering point of view utilizing ST and ISA.

Resilience and sustainability: Similarities and differences in environmental management applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Marchese, Dayton; Reynolds, Erin; Bates, Matthew E; Morgan, Heather; Clark, Susan Spierre; Linkov, Igor

2018-02-01

In recent years there have been many disparate uses of the terms sustainability and resilience, with some framing sustainability and resilience as the same concept, and others claiming them to be entirely different and unrelated. To investigate similarities, differences, and current management frameworks for increasing sustainability and resilience, a literature review was undertaken that focused on integrated use of sustainability and resilience in an environmental management context. Sustainability was defined through the triple bottom line of environmental, social and economic system considerations. Resilience was viewed as the ability of a system to prepare for threats, absorb impacts, recover and adapt following persistent stress or a disruptive event. Three generalized management frameworks for organizing sustainability and resilience were found to dominate the literature: (1) resilience as a component of sustainability, (2) sustainability as a component of resilience, and (3) resilience and sustainability as separate objectives. Implementations of these frameworks were found to have common goals of providing benefits to people and the environment under normal and extreme operating conditions, with the best examples building on similarities and minimizing conflicts between resilience and sustainability. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Solar energy solutions for an environmentally sustainable world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morozov, A.I.; Pustovitov, V.D.

1992-01-01

The United Nations Conference of Environment and Development has focused the world's attention on the complex relationship between the environment and economic development. The essence of this relationship, and the emerging theme of UNCED, is the concept of sustainability. Sustainable economic development improves quality of life and raises standards of living by using the Earth's resources in a way that ensures that they are continually renewed, and will continue to support future generations. This is the subject of this report. While energy resources are essential to economic development, the authors current patterns of energy use are not sustainable. Reliance on fossil fuels, nuclear energy, and large-scale hydroelectric projects has contributed to serious environmental problems, including atmospheric pollution, loss of land productivity, loss of biological diversity, ocean and fresh water pollution, and hazardous waste generation. Thus, if they are to achieve sustainability in their patterns of energy consumption, it is imperative that they bring about a rapid and widespread transition to the utilization of environmentally sound energy sources and technologies. Solar energy technologies are environmentally sound, socially beneficial, and economically practical. They have been proven in a wide variety of applications around the world. The barriers to the widespread implementation of solar technologies are no longer technical, but rather social, economic, and political. These barriers can and must be removed

Development of environmentally friendly universal controller. Data and materials; 1998 nendo kankyo taio universal controller no kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Shiryohen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-05-01

Research and development was carried out for an 'environmentally friendly universal controller (UC)' which would be 'user-friendly and energy-saving' when used with electrical home appliances, and data and materials on them were compiled into this volume. It covers the specifications (Versions 0.6 and 0.51) of a newly developed two-way controller protocol, the specification (Version 0.1) of two-way remote control IrDA-C communication unit hardware, an infrared communication protocol IrDa Control, and the like. It also accommodates information collected through surveys of technological trends as reflected in technical literature, Internet home pages, catalogs, and the like, concerning the user-friendliness of electrical home appliances, remote control, domestic consumption of electric power, and the like. Also covered is the result of surveys of patents involving environmentally friendly UC related technologies, namely, Japanese patents (from applications made in 1979 through disclosures made in 1998) and U.S. patents (registrations made in 1982 and thereafter). Furthermore, it contains the result of surveys of actualities of domestic use conducted for the purpose of clarifying the effect of environmentally friendly UC introduction, how such UCs are being accepted by the public, and the conditions that should be satisfied for their popularization. (NEDO)

Development of environmentally friendly universal controller. Data and materials; 1998 nendo kankyo taio universal controller no kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Shiryohen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-05-01

Research and development was carried out for an 'environmentally friendly universal controller (UC)' which would be 'user-friendly and energy-saving' when used with electrical home appliances, and data and materials on them were compiled into this volume. It covers the specifications (Versions 0.6 and 0.51) of a newly developed two-way controller protocol, the specification (Version 0.1) of two-way remote control IrDA-C communication unit hardware, an infrared communication protocol IrDa Control, and the like. It also accommodates information collected through surveys of technological trends as reflected in technical literature, Internet home pages, catalogs, and the like, concerning the user-friendliness of electrical home appliances, remote control, domestic consumption of electric power, and the like. Also covered is the result of surveys of patents involving environmentally friendly UC related technologies, namely, Japanese patents (from applications made in 1979 through disclosures made in 1998) and U.S. patents (registrations made in 1982 and thereafter). Furthermore, it contains the result of surveys of actualities of domestic use conducted for the purpose of clarifying the effect of environmentally friendly UC introduction, how such UCs are being accepted by the public, and the conditions that should be satisfied for their popularization. (NEDO)

Environmentally friendly disinfectant: Production, disinfectant action and efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Čekerevac Milan I.

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Silver is a known disinfectant from ancient times, and it has been widely used for various purposes: for food and water disinfection, curing of wounds and as a universal antibiotic for a wide spectrum of diseases - until the Second World War and the discovery of penicillin. Until recently, it was assumed that silver, being a heavy metal, was toxic for humans and living beings. However, the newest research provides facts that the usage of silver, even for drinking water disinfection, is benign if it is added in small concentrations (in parts per billion. It has been shown in the newer scientific and technical literature that silver in colloidal form is a powerful (secondary disinfectant for drinking water, that it can be effectively used for the disinfection of water containers including swimming pools, installations in food industry, medicine, etc. Particularly, it has been shown that colloidal silver combined with hydrogen peroxide shows synergism having strong bactericidal and antiviral effects. The combination can be successfully used as a disinfectant in agriculture, food production and medicine. The original electrochemical process of production, the mechanism of physical-chemical reactions in that process and the mechanism of the antiseptic affect of the environmentally friendly disinfectant, based on the synergism of colloidal silver and hydrogen peroxide and the activity of electrochemically activated water, is shown. The starting solution was anolyte, obtained in electrochemical activation by water electrolysis of a highly diluted solution of K-tartarate in demineralized water (5.5-1CT4 M. The problem of electrolysis of very dilute aqueous solutions in membrane cells was particularly treated. It was shown that the efficiency of the electrolysis depends on the competition between the two processes: the rates of the processes of hydrogen and oxygen generation at the electrodes and the process of diffusion of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions

Graphene oxide-loaded shortening as an environmentally friendly heat transfer fluid with high thermal conductivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vongsetskul Thammasit

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Graphene oxide-loaded shortening (GOS, an environmentally friendly heat transfer fluid with high thermal conductivity, was successfully prepared by mixing graphene oxide (GO with a shortening. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that GO particles, prepared by the modified Hummer’s method, dispersed well in the shortening. In addition, the latent heat of GOS decreased while their viscosity and thermal conductivity increased with increasing the amount of loaded GO. The thermal conductivity of the GOS with 4% GO was higher than that of pure shortening of ca. three times, from 0.1751 to 0.6022 W/mK, and increased with increasing temperature. The GOS started to be degraded at ca. 360°C. After being heated and cooled at 100°C for 100 cycles, its viscosity slightly decreased and no chemical degradation was observed. Therefore, the prepared GOS is potentially used as environmentally friendly heat transfer fluid at high temperature.

Achievement report for fiscal 1998. Development of environmentally friendly universal controller; 1998 nendo kankyo taio universal controller no kaihatsu seika hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-05-01

Research and development was carried out for an 'environmentally friendly universal controller (UC)' which would be 'user-friendly and energy-saving' when used with electrical home appliances. An environmentally friendly UC is a remote controller which utilizes an infrared two-way communication function and becomes capable of dealing with any appliance upon downloading remote control information from the appliance involved. Studies were conducted for the development of controller hardware and software therefor and for the development of electrical home appliances to correspond to their specifications. In relation with energy conservation, studies centered about reduction in power consumption while on standby and unnecessary power consumption. As the result, an environmentally friendly UC protocol was newly developed and, based on the protocol, plural numbers of controllers, appliances, and network gateways were tentatively fabricated, and were examined for their function, behavior, and operational interchangeability. Systems aiming at reducing power consumption while on standby and unnecessary power consumption were built by way of experiment, and were checked for performance. It was then concluded that a reduction of several billion kWh might be achieved. (NEDO)

Integrated farm sustainability assessment for the environmental management of rural activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stachetii Rodrigues, Geraldo; Aparecida Rodrigues, Izilda; Almeida Buschinelli, Claudio Cesar de; Barros, Inacio de

2010-01-01

Farmers have been increasingly called upon to respond to an ongoing redefinition in consumers' demands, having as a converging theme the search for sustainable production practices. In order to satisfy this objective, instruments for the environmental management of agricultural activities have been sought out. Environmental impact assessment methods are appropriate tools to address the choice of technologies and management practices to minimize negative effects of agricultural development, while maximizing productive efficiency, sound usage of natural resources, conservation of ecological assets and equitable access to wealth generation means. The 'system for weighted environmental impact assessment of rural activities' (APOIA-NovoRural) presented in this paper is organized to provide integrated farm sustainability assessment according to quantitative environmental standards and defined socio-economic benchmarks. The system integrates sixty-two objective indicators in five sustainability dimensions - (i) Landscape ecology, (ii) Environmental quality (atmosphere, water and soil), (iii) Sociocultural values, (iv) Economic values, and (v) Management and administration. Impact indices are expressed in three integration levels: (i) specific indicators, that offer a diagnostic and managerial tool for farmers and rural administrators, by pointing out particular attributes of the rural activities that may be failing to comply with defined environmental performance objectives; (ii) integrated sustainability dimensions, that show decision-makers the major contributions of the rural activities toward local sustainable development, facilitating the definition of control actions and promotion measures; and (iii) aggregated sustainability index, that can be considered a yardstick for eco-certification purposes. Nine fully documented case studies carried out with the APOIA-NovoRural system, focusing on different scales, diverse rural activities/farming systems, and contrasting

The Power of Urban Planning on Environmental Sustainability: A Focus Group Study in Finland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eeva-Sofia Säynäjoki

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Sustainable communities are promoted as a desirable policy goal and, in particular, local authorities are encouraged to contribute to climate change mitigation through urban planning. Furthermore, recent research takes a broad perspective on the environmental sustainability of urban areas and considers the environmental impact of all consumption. A focus group study was conducted in Finland for the purpose of examining how increased environmental awareness influences urban land use. The 32 participants of three focus groups were professionals of urban planning and environmental sustainability, at both a municipal and a state level. The main finding was that urban planning is viewed as being unable to support environmental sustainability in the broader sense. In general, the participants did not see a connection between urban structure and sustainable lifestyles and only the influence of planning on housing and daily journeys was recognised. Three main reasons for this were identified. Firstly, environmental sustainability in its broader definition is seen as too complex for urban planners to influence alone. Secondly, the dominance of short-term economic issues in decision-making and the lack of co-operation from other stakeholders to achieve environmental aims demotivate land use planners. Thirdly, the prioritisation of urban density may overrule alternative means of promoting environmental sustainability, such as the encouragement of sustainable suburban or non-urban lifestyles.

Cleaner production - a tool for sustainable environmental development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmad, I.; Batool, S.

2005-01-01

Industrial Development and Production with no regard for environmental impacts creates water and air pollution, soil degradation, and large-scale global impacts such as acid rain, global warming and ozone depletion. To create more sustainable methods of industrial production, there needs to be a shift in attitudes away from control towards pollution prevention and management. Cleaner Production (CP) refers to a management process that seeks out and eliminates the causes of pollution, waste generation and resource consumption at their source through input reductions or substitutions, pollution prevention, internal recycling and more efficient production technology and processes for sustainable environmental development. The objective of cleaner production is to avoid generating pollution in the first place, which frequently cuts costs, reduces risks associated with liability, and identifies new market opportunities. Introducing cleaner production has become a goal to improve the competitiveness through increased eco-efficiency. CP is a business strategy for enhancing productivity and environmental performance for overall socio-economic development. The environmental and economic benefits can only be achieved by implementing cleaner production tools. The CP assessment methodology is used to systematically identify and evaluate the waste minimization opportunities and facilitate their implementation in industries. It refers to how goods and services are produced with the minimum environmental impact under present technological and economic limits. CP shares characteristics with many environmental management tools such as Environmental Assessment or Design for Environment by including them among the technological options for reducing material and energy intensiveness in production, as well as facilitating ruse trough remanufacturing and recycling. It is thus an extension of the total quality management process. The CP program has been successfully implemented in

Environmentally sustainable economic development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, M.G.; Woodruffe, J.D.

1991-01-01

Shell Canada adopted Sustainable Development in 1990 as the approach to managing the environment. The corporation's president, representing the energy industry on the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, provided key direction on the development of the process. This paper reports on national concepts of Sustainable Development principles that were utilized as a starting point, but quickly a Shell specific policy was approved, followed by Corporate Principles and Targets and Undertakings. These are being further developed in both the upstream and downstream with leadership from Resources (E and P) Department. Cascading of Targets and Undertakings has occurred to E and P followed by operating complexes, the drilling sites and the seismic lines. Steps were carefully programmed to learn from specific application before expanding to all areas. All plans are expected to be in place by mid 1992. Place contain short and long term target but focus on a rolling 2 year identification of actions to meet those targets. The plans permit an annual appraisal of accomplishments as well as budgeting for successive years. The move to Sustainable Development planning is a significant shift in industry attitude and approach but demonstrates the ability for the coexistence of environmental and economic demands

An Environmental Sustainability Course for Design and Merchandising Students

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Huantian; Frey, Lisa Vogel; Farr, Cheryl A.; Gam, Haejin

2006-01-01

The purpose of this project was to develop a science-based course, "Environmental Sustainability Issues for Designers and Merchandisers". The course emphasis was on scientific concepts underlying textile-related environmental problems; the focus was on the "cradle to cradle" design model as an approach for eliminating environmental problems during…

Environmental security and sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kok, M.T.J.

1996-01-01

Environmental security has become an important problem area for the social sciences and is becoming a key concept in long-term environmental policy and global environmental change issues. In taking Environmental Security on board, the International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP) intends to stimulate research on approaches to solve global environmental issues, responses to climate change, food and water security, extreme weather events, etc. Both the Netherlands and Canadian HDP committee have placed environmental security and sustainable development on their national agendas. However, a research agenda for the role of social sciences in environmental security and societal impacts of global change has not been sufficiently elaborated yet, except for economic research on the impacts of climate change. This was the main reason for holding the title workshop. The aims of the workshop were: (1) to define environmental security as a research theme; (2) to explore the research agenda on environmental security for the social sciences; and (3) to establish and reinforce (inter)national research networks in this field. Two papers served as input for the participants of the workshop. First, in the Scoping Report Global Environmental Change and Human Security a brief overview is given of research conducted so far, as well as a working plan for the recently formed ad hoc Working Group on Environmental Security and Global Environmental Change. Secondly, the preliminary results of a programming study on Environmental Security and the societal impacts of climate change are presented. Special attention was given to the involvement of policymakers in the workshop. figs., tabs., 3 appendices, refs

Eco-friendly Development Of Industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

An, Gi Cheol; Park, Hun; Lee, Dong Jin; Ryu, Sang Hui

1998-02-01

This book reports eco-friendly development of industry, which has summary on bring up the issue and research way and system of research. It deals with current state of affairs on eco-friendly development of industry and the case of developed countries such as necessity and meaning of eco-friendly development industry, prospect and change of the tendency, environmental issue by field in Korea like the steel industry, nonferrous metal industry, auto industry, and cement industry and general policy for eco-friendly development of industry.

Potentials and limitations of footprints for gauging environmental sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laurent, Alexis; Owsianiak, Mikolaj

2017-01-01

To address the sustainability challenge, a large variety of footprints, aiming at capturing specific impacts of human activities on natural environment, have emerged. But, how do they fit into our addressing of environmental sustainability? Here, we build on a critical literature review to (1......) provide an overview of existing footprints; (2) define their roles; (3) position them within the broad spectrum of known environmental problems and control variables of the planetary boundaries; and (4) argue for the need of consistent thresholds to benchmark footprint scores against absolute...

An easy and environmentally-friendly approach to superamphiphobicity of aluminum surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, R.; Hu, Y. M.; Wang, L.; Li, Zh. H.; Shen, T.; Zhu, Y.; Xiang, J. Zh.

2017-04-01

Superamphiphobic Al surfaces were achieved via an easy and environmentally-friendly approach. Aqueous mixed solution of 0.7 M CuSO4 and 1 M NaCl was used to etch polished Al surfaces to fabricate a rough morphology distributed with microscale step-like pits. The uniformly distributed nanoscale petals covered on the microscale pits were obtained by subsequent 96 °C hot deionized water bathing for 13 min. Thus, the hierarchical micro/nanometer scale roughness was formed which provided the structural basic of superamphiphobic Al surfaces. By 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-Perfluorodecyl-triethoxysilane (PFDTS) derivatization, desirable superamphiphobic Al surfaces were achieved with the highest static contact angles of 162° for water, 156° for peanut oil, respectively. Meanwhile, the sliding angles were lower than 10° for both water and peanut oil droplets. The as-prepared Al surfaces were investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and optical contact angle measurements. The FE-SEM images of as-prepared Al surfaces showed a hierarchical micro/nanometer scale morphology. XPS analyses demonstrated the PFDTS derivitization on Al surfaces. The superamphiphobic Al surfaces presented good mechanical durability and chemical stability which have a wide range of applications in fields such as self-cleaning, anti-icing, anti-corrosion, oil transportation, energy harvesting, microfluidics, and so forth. The approach reported in this paper may easily realize the industrial production of superamphiphobic Al surfaces owing to the advantage of facile, low cost and environmentally-friendly.

Environmentally friendly synthesis of organic-soluble silver nanoparticles for printed electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Kwi Jong; Jun, Byung Ho; Choi, Junrak; Lee, Young Il; Joung, Jaewoo; Oh, Yong Soo

2007-01-01

In this study, we attempted to synthesize organic-soluble silver nanoparticles in the concentrated organic phase with an environmentally friendly method. The fully organic phase system contains silver acetate as a silver precursor, oleic acid as both a medium and a capping molecule, and tin acetate as a reducing agent. Monodisperse silver nanoparticles with average diameters of ca. 5 nm can be easily synthesized at large scale. Only a small usage of tin acetate ( 90%). Also, it was investigated that the residual tin atom does not exist in the synthesized silver nanoparticles. This implied that tin acetate acts as a reducing catalyst

Measuring environmental sustainability in agriculture: A composite environmental impact index approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabiha, Noor-E; Salim, Ruhul; Rahman, Sanzidur; Rola-Rubzen, Maria Fay

2016-01-15

The present study develops a composite environmental impact index (CEII) to evaluate the extent of environmental degradation in agriculture after successfully validating its flexibility, applicability and relevance as a tool. The CEII tool is then applied to empirically measure the extent of environmental impacts of High Yield Variety (HYV) rice cultivation in three districts of north-western Bangladesh for a single crop year (October, 2012-September, 2013). Results reveal that 27 to 69 per cent of the theoretical maximum level of environmental damage is created due to HYV rice cultivation with significant regional variations in the CEII scores, implying that policy interventions are required in environmentally critical areas in order to sustain agriculture in Bangladesh. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sustainable Organic Farming For Environmental Health A Social Development Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ijun Rijwan Susanto

2015-05-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT In this study the researcher attempted 1 to understand the basic features of organic farming in The Paguyuban Pasundans Cianjur 2 to describe and understand how the stakeholders were are able to internalize the challenges of organic farming on their lived experiences in the community 3 to describe and understand how the stakeholders were are able to internalize and applied the values of benefits of organic farming in support of environmental health on their lived experiences in the community 4 The purpose was to describe and understand how the stakeholders who are able to articulate their ideas regarding the model of sustainable organic farming 5 The Policy Recommendation for Organic Farming. The researcher employed triangulation thorough finding that provides breadth and depth to an investigation offering researchers a more accurate picture of the phenomenon. In the implementation of triangulation researchers conducted several interviews to get saturation. After completion of the interview results are written compiled and shown to the participants to check every statement by every participant. In addition researchers also checked the relevant documents and direct observation in the field The participants of this study were the stakeholders namely 1 The leader of Paguyuban Pasundans Organic Farmer Cianjur PPOFC 2 Members of Paguyuban Pasundans Organic FarmersCianjur 3 Leader of NGO 4 Government officials of agriculture 5 Business of organic food 6 and Consumer of organic food. Generally the findings of the study revealed the following 1 PPOFC began to see the reality as the impact of modern agriculture showed in fertility problems due to contaminated soil by residues of agricultural chemicals such as chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides. So he wants to restore the soil fertility through environmentally friendly of farming practices 2 the challenges of organic farming on their lived experiences in the community farmers did not

Emerging sustainable/green cleaning products: health and environmental risks

OpenAIRE

Aydin, Mehmet Cihan; Işik, Ercan; Ulu, Ali Emre

2016-01-01

Sustainable development aims to bring a new perspective to our lives without compromising customer needs and quality. Along with sustainable development many innovative solutions came out. One of them is sustainable green cleaning products and techniques. Today, emissions from conventional cleaning products may cause severe health and environmental issues. Especially sick building syndromes such as eye, skin and respiratory irritations are main health effects of them. They may also contrib...

The role of hydropower in environment ally sustainable energy development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gabriel, H.F.

2005-01-01

Hydropower has historically been the renewable energy leader, and from a technical-cost perspective, is very likely to remain the only viable renewable energy source for many countries. In recent years, hydropower has been much maligned, especially by NGOs, for not being a sustainable source of energy. Though hydropower is clearly a renewable source of energy, but the question arises whether it can also be sustainable. Hydropower can play an increasingly important role in enabling communities around the world to meet sustainability objectives. To become more accepted as a key contributor to sustainable energy systems, new and existing hydropower projects need to be built and operated in an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable manner. This paper highlights the sustain ability aspects of hydropower and discusses the criteria for selection of environmentally friendly hydropower project sites so that that hydropower can be developed in a sustainable manner and once again be considered favorably in the planning of generation mix for new energy development. Sustainability of hydropower projects involves treating both the social and environmental sustainability of the project at an early stage and including the interests of all stakeholders of the project. As a case study, the Ghazi- Barotha Hydropower Project (GBHP) in Pakistan has been selected, as it is the best example in managing the social issues and gaining public acceptance because of proper planning and addressing environmental and social issues at an early stage. (author)

How to connect bioethics and environmental ethics: health, sustainability, and justice.

Science.gov (United States)

Dwyer, James

2009-11-01

In this paper, I explore one way to bring bioethics and environmental ethics closer together. I focus on a question at the interface of health, sustainability, and justice: How well does a society promote health with the use of no more than a just share of environmental capacity? To address this question, I propose and discuss a mode of assessment that combines a measurement of population health, an estimate of environmental sustainability, and an assumption about what constitutes a fair or just share. This mode of assessment provides an estimate of the just and sustainable life expectancy of a population. It could be used to monitor how well a particular society promotes health within just environmental limits. It could also serve as a source of information that stakeholders use when they deliberate about programs, policies, and technologies. The purpose of this work is to focus attention on an ethical task: the need to fashion institutions and forms of life that promote health in ways that recognize the claims of sustainability and justice.

Innovations in financing environmental and social sustainability: Literature overview

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kerste, M.; Weda, J.; Rosenboom, N.

2010-01-01

Innovative finance instruments can help increase funding of investments aimed at environmental and social sustainability. At the request of Duisenberg school of finance, this report highlights leading literature and empirical findings on ‘innovations in financing environmental and social

Environmentally friendly synthesis of highly monodisperse biocompatible gold nanoparticles with urchin-like shape.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Lehui; Ai, Kelong; Ozaki, Yukihiro

2008-02-05

We report a facile and environmentally friendly strategy for high-yield synthesis of highly monodisperse gold nanoparticles with urchin-like shape. A simple protein, gelatin, was first used for the control over shape and orientation of the gold nanoparticles. These nanoparticles, ready to use for biological systems, are promising in the optical imaging-based disease diagnostics and therapy because of their tunable surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and excellent surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity.

An investigation of environmental and sustainability discourses associated with the substantive purposes of environmental assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rozema, Jaap G., E-mail: j.rozema@uea.ac.uk [Science, Society and Sustainability Research Group, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, NR4 7TJ (United Kingdom); Bond, Alan J., E-mail: alan.bond@uea.ac.uk [Science, Society and Sustainability Research Group, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, NR4 7TJ (United Kingdom); Cashmore, Matthew, E-mail: cashmore@plan.aau.dk [Danish Centre for Environmental Assessment, Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University, Fibigerstraede 13, 9220 Aalborg O (Denmark); Chilvers, Jason, E-mail: jason.chilvers@uea.ac.uk [Science, Society and Sustainability Research Group, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, NR4 7TJ (United Kingdom)

2012-02-15

This paper investigates the discursive construction of the substantive purposes of environmental assessment (EA). It addresses these purposes by exploring the complex and often multifaceted linkages between political factors and plural views of democracy, public participation, and the role of science that are embedded in environmental and sustainability discourses. The interaction between policy-making and public actors leads to the formulation of divergent and potentially competing rationales for public participation, and for social appraisal more generally. Participatory approaches have also given impetus to the development of several interpretations on the role of science in assessment procedures. Science is important in mediating public participation and the two are therefore reciprocally linked. This leads to discourses that become manifest in the construction of substantive purposes. Discourse analysis in EA is a relevant method for examining trends and patterns in sustainable development. It is argued that public participation is an important, if not decisive, variable in the articulation and civil legitimacy of certain purposes. A general proposition that results from this paper is that EA, although typically presented as an objective scientific tool, is an intrinsically normative process. Enhanced knowledge on the construction, and reconstruction over time, of substantive purposes is required if environmental and sustainability discourses are to be used and understood as meaningful analytical instruments to assess the socio-political implications of EA. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Substantive purposes related to environmental assessment may be best analyzed through discourse analysis. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Environmental and sustainability discourses are contingent on the level of participatory democracy and civic science. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Public participation is a decisive variable in the construction of the substantive

An investigation of environmental and sustainability discourses associated with the substantive purposes of environmental assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozema, Jaap G.; Bond, Alan J.; Cashmore, Matthew; Chilvers, Jason

2012-01-01

This paper investigates the discursive construction of the substantive purposes of environmental assessment (EA). It addresses these purposes by exploring the complex and often multifaceted linkages between political factors and plural views of democracy, public participation, and the role of science that are embedded in environmental and sustainability discourses. The interaction between policy-making and public actors leads to the formulation of divergent and potentially competing rationales for public participation, and for social appraisal more generally. Participatory approaches have also given impetus to the development of several interpretations on the role of science in assessment procedures. Science is important in mediating public participation and the two are therefore reciprocally linked. This leads to discourses that become manifest in the construction of substantive purposes. Discourse analysis in EA is a relevant method for examining trends and patterns in sustainable development. It is argued that public participation is an important, if not decisive, variable in the articulation and civil legitimacy of certain purposes. A general proposition that results from this paper is that EA, although typically presented as an objective scientific tool, is an intrinsically normative process. Enhanced knowledge on the construction, and reconstruction over time, of substantive purposes is required if environmental and sustainability discourses are to be used and understood as meaningful analytical instruments to assess the socio-political implications of EA. - Highlights: ► Substantive purposes related to environmental assessment may be best analyzed through discourse analysis. ► Environmental and sustainability discourses are contingent on the level of participatory democracy and civic science. ► Public participation is a decisive variable in the construction of the substantive purpose of environmental assessment.

Selection of environmental sustainable fiber materials for wind turbine blades - a contra intuitive process?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Birkved, M.; Corona, A. [Technical Univ. of Denmark. DTU Management Engineering, Kgs. Lyngby (Denmark); Markussen, C.M.; Madsen, Bo [Technical Univ. of Denmark. DTU Wind Energy, Risoe Campus, Roskilde (Denmark)

2013-09-01

Over the recent decades biomaterials have been marketed successfully supported by the common perception that biomaterials and environmental sustainability de facto represents two sides of the same coin. The development of sustainable composite materials such as blades for small-scale wind turbines have thus partially been focused on the substitution of conventional fiber materials with bio-fibers. The major question is if this material substitution actually, is environmental sustainable. In order to assess a wide pallet of environmental impacts and taking into account positive and negative environmental trade-offs over the entire life-span of composite materials, life cycle assessment (LCA) can be applied. In the present case study, four different types of fibers (carbon, glass, flax and carbon/flax mixture) are compared in terms of environmental sustainability and cost. Applying one of the most recent life cycle impact assessment methods, it is demonstrated that the environmental sustainability of the mixed carbon/flax fiber based composite material is better than that of the flax fibers alone. This observation may be contra-intuitive, but is mainly caused by the fact that the bio-material resin demand is by far exceeding the resin demand of the conventional fibers, and since the environmental burden of the resin is comparable to that of the fibers, resin demand is in terms of environmental sustainability important. On the other hand is the energy demand and associated environmental impacts in relation to the production of the carbon and glass fibers considerable compared to the impacts resulting from resin production. The ideal fiber solution, in terms of environmental sustainability, is hence the fiber composition having the lowest resin demand and lowest overall energy demand. The optimum environmental solution hence turns out to be a 70:30 flax:carbon mix, thereby minimizing the use of carbon fibers and resin. On top of the environmental sustainability

Release Properties and Electrochemical Characterization of Encapsulated Corrosion Inhibitors for Environmentally Friendly Smart Coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Pearman, B. P.; Calle, L. M.; Zhang, X.; Li, W.; Buhrow, J. W.; Johnsey, M. N.; Montgomery, E. L.; Fitzpatrick, L.; Surma, J. M.

2015-01-01

The NASA Kennedy Space Center's Corrosion Technology Lab at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, U.S.A. has been developing multifunctional smart coatings based on the microencapsulation of environmentally friendly corrosion indicators, inhibitors and self-healing agents. This allows for the incorporation of autonomous corrosion control functionalities, such as corrosion detection and inhibition as well as the self-healing of mechanical damage, into coatings. This paper presents technical details on the characterization of inhibitor-containing particles and their corrosion inhibitive effects using electrochemical and mass loss methods. Three organic environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitors were encapsulated in organic microparticles that are compatible with desired coatings. The total inhibitor content and the release of one of the inhibitors from the microparticles in basic solution was measured. Particles with inhibitor contents of up 60 wt% were synthesized. Fast release, for immediate corrosion protection, as well as long-term release for continued protection, was observed. The inhibition efficacy of the inhibitors, both as the pure materials and in microparticles, on carbon steel was evaluated. Polarization curves and mass loss measurements showed that, in the case of 2MBT, its corrosion inhibition effectiveness was greater when it was delivered from microparticles.

Role of continual environmental performance improvement in achieving sustainability in uranium production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jarrell, J.P.; Chad, G.M.S.

2002-01-01

Although the term sustainable development is commonly used today, there is not yet a commonly accepted definition. Various ways of measuring sustainability have been proposed. To show how these issues are being effectively addressed in modern uranium developments, we will review some methods of defining the environmental component of sustainable development in the mining and mineral-processing sector. Environmental impacts associated with uranium extraction and processing in modern facilities are modest. Air and water emissions are well controlled. Waste materials are subject to comprehensive management programmes. The size of the impacted area is smaller than in other energy sectors, providing good opportunity to minimize land impact. Experience over the past three decades facilitated gradual, persistent, but cumulatively significant environmental improvements in the uranium production sector. Cameco's uranium mining and processing facilities exemplify these improvements. These improvements can be expected to continue, supporting our argument of Cameco's environmental sustainability. (author)

Environmental model for a capital city

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Eugenia Toca Torres

2013-06-01

Full Text Available From a review of the various options for modeling a sustainable development in its environmental dimension, this research proposes a model of environmental impact for Bogota, using the Vensim PLE software to model the pollution, the pollution load and soil contamination. The model includes a limited number of endogenous variables, as well as a greater number of exogenous variables. This modeling allows us to anticipate the environmental situation in the capital, in order to support public policies for addressing issues such as economic sanctions and moral regulations on emissions, discharges and waste, environmental measures and environmentally friendly practices

The adoption of sustainable innovations : Driven by symbolic and environmental motives

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Noppers, Ernst H.; Keizer, Kees; Bolderdijk, Jan Willem; Steg, Linda

Critical to the environmental success of sustainable innovations is the adoption by consumers. The consensus is that instrumental shortcomings of sustainable innovations inhibit their adoption. However, we argue that the adoption of sustainable innovations does not exclusively depend on their

Earning capacity of environmentally friendly companies and social responsible investing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bjerk, Jan

2002-01-01

Firms on Dow Jones Sustainability Index yield over time the same return as the ''ordinary'' firms on the Dow Jones World Stock Index. There are several investment funds today that deal in shares with selected companies having a high environmental or ethical profile. This is Social Responsible Investing (SRI). When the Norwegian company Storebrand Kapitalforvaltning selects companies for SRI, they exclude immediately nuclear power stations, tobacco factories and manufacturers of land mines. In addition to the same return on invested capital, both investors and society get an environmental profit. The firms analysed and selected by Storebrand for SRI contributes significantly less negative environmental effects than the other firms, typically 33% less to the global heating and have on average 53% less toxic emissions and 45% less water consumption

The development of environmental assessment tools to support the creation of dementia friendly care environments: Innovative practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Waller, Sarah; Masterson, Abigail; Evans, Simon C

2017-02-01

The need for more dementia friendly design in hospitals and other care settings is now widely acknowledged. Working with 26 NHS Trusts in England as part of a Department of Health commissioned programme, The King's Fund developed a set of overarching design principles and an environmental assessment tool for hospital wards in 2012. Following requests from other sectors, additional tools were developed for hospitals, care homes, health centres and housing with care. The tools have proven to be effective in both disseminating the principles of dementia friendly design and in enabling the case to be made for improvements that have a positive effect on patient outcomes and staff morale. This paper reports on the development, use and review of the environmental assessment tools, including further work that is now being taken forward by The Association for Dementia Studies, University of Worcester.

Perceived quality, perceived risk and customer trust affecting customer loyalty of environmentally friendly electronics products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lalinthorn Marakanon

2017-01-01

Full Text Available At present, industrial business competition causes producers to be aware of quality, price, and variety in developing new products to meet the consumers' needs. This research reviewed the literature on green marketing and proposes a new conceptual framework of customer loyalty. It uses four constructs—perceived quality, perceived risk, customer trust, and customer loyalty—in the context of environmentally friendly electronics products in Thailand. This research employed an empirical study using the questionnaire survey method to verify the hypotheses. Data were obtained from 420 consumers who bought and used environmentally friendly electronic products, particularly mobile phones, computers, and laptops using a purposive sampling method. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA and structural equation modeling (SEM. The results showed that perceived risk and customer trust had a direct effect on customer loyalty while perceived quality had an indirect effect on customer loyalty via customer trust. Furthermore, perceived quality had direct effects on perceived risk and customer trust. The results from the final SEM model were used to confirm the proposed relationships among the variables.

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....

Emergy assessment method for wheat cultivar efficiency and environmental sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janusz Jankowiak

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The method based on emergy was applied to quantify the fluxes of the energy, matter and monetary investment use (water, seeds, work, fertilizer and plant protecting agents, fuel, goods and services, productivity, environmental services and sustainability in typical wheat cultivar conducted in Wielkopolska. In order to convert all the flows mentioned into common base (seJ a conversion factors (solar transformities were used. In this way it was possible to consider also such flows that are free and generally neglected in the traditional balances. Generally only 52% emergy inflow is delivered by financial investment, while the remaining part, delivered in the form of the environmental services, is free. The Emergy Yield Ratio EYR = 1.14 indicate a low level of output per emergy investment unit. The values of Environmental Loading Ratio ELR = 11 and Emergy Sustainability Index ESI = 0.1 indicate an environmental stress and low level of cultivar sustainability, respectively. The final cultivar product (wheat has the emergy density 4.35 E12 seJ/kg and transformity 26.3 E4 seJ/J.

Photonics (the control of light) at the core of the environmental transition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

GeddaMudrov, Karl

2017-01-01

At the core of the environmental transition, photonics is reinventing our lives: smart, sustainable cities (the production of renewable energy and optimization of energy consumption, above all by the telecommunications infrastructure), factories of the future (precise and cleaner processes that consume fewer raw materials), etc. Photonic inventions (enhanced virtual reality and optical sensors) push in the same direction - toward the production of eco-friendly products in environmentally friendly factories. However they might go farther and be disruptive as they replace methods of mass production with individualized methods of production

Water-soluble resist for environmentally friendly lithography

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Qinghuang; Simpson, Logan L.; Steinhaeusler, Thomas; Wilder, Michelle; Willson, C. Grant; Havard, Jennifer M.; Frechet, Jean M. J.

1996-05-01

This paper describes an 'environmentally friendly,' water castable, water developable photoresist system. The chemically amplified negative-tone resist system consists of three water-soluble components: a polymer, poly(methyl acrylamidoglycolate methyl ether), [poly(MAGME)]; a photoacid generator, dimethyl dihydroxyphenylsulfonium triflate and a crosslinker, butanediol. Poly(MAGME) was synthesized by solution free radical polymerization. In the three-component resist system, the acid generated by photolysis of the photoacid generator catalyzes the crosslinking of poly(MAGME) in the exposed regions during post-exposure baking, thus rendering the exposed regions insoluble in water. Negative tone relief images are obtained by developing with pure water. The resist is able to resolve 1 micrometer line/space features (1:1 aspect ratio) with an exposure dose of 100 mJ/cm2 at 248 nm. The resist can be used to generate etched copper relief images on printed circuit boards using aqueous sodium persulfate as the etchant. The crosslinking mechanism has been investigated by model compound studies using 13C NMR. These studies have revealed that the acid catalyzed reaction of the poly(MAGME) with butanediol proceeds via both transesterification and transacetalization (transaminalization) reactions at low temperatures, and also via transamidation at high temperatures.

Evaluating the environmental sustainability of biomass-based energy strategy: Using an impact matrix framework

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weldu, Yemane W., E-mail: ywweldem@ucalgary.ca [Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta 2500, University Drive NW, T2N 1N4 (Canada); Assefa, Getachew [Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta 2500, University Drive NW, T2N 1N4 (Canada); Athena Chair in Life Cycle Assessment in Design (Canada)

2016-09-15

A roadmap for a more sustainable energy strategy is complex, as its development interacts critically with the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. This paper applied an impact matrix method to evaluate the environmental sustainability and to identify the desirable policy objectives of biomass-based energy strategy for the case of Alberta. A matrix with the sustainability domains on one axis and areas of environmental impact on the other was presented to evaluate the nexus effect of policy objectives and bioenergy production. As per to our analysis, economic diversification, technological innovation, and resource conservation came up as the desirable policy objectives of sustainable development for Alberta because they demonstrated environmental benefits in all environmental impact categories, namely climate change, human health, and ecosystem. On the other hand, human health and ecosystem impacts were identified as trade-offs when the policy objectives for sustainability were energy security, job creation, and climate change. Thus, bioenergy can mitigate climate change but may impact human health and ecosystem which then in turn can become issues of concern. Energy strategies may result in shifting of risks from one environmental impact category to another, and from one sustainable domain to another if the technical and policy-related issues are not identified.

Evaluating the environmental sustainability of biomass-based energy strategy: Using an impact matrix framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weldu, Yemane W.; Assefa, Getachew

2016-01-01

A roadmap for a more sustainable energy strategy is complex, as its development interacts critically with the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. This paper applied an impact matrix method to evaluate the environmental sustainability and to identify the desirable policy objectives of biomass-based energy strategy for the case of Alberta. A matrix with the sustainability domains on one axis and areas of environmental impact on the other was presented to evaluate the nexus effect of policy objectives and bioenergy production. As per to our analysis, economic diversification, technological innovation, and resource conservation came up as the desirable policy objectives of sustainable development for Alberta because they demonstrated environmental benefits in all environmental impact categories, namely climate change, human health, and ecosystem. On the other hand, human health and ecosystem impacts were identified as trade-offs when the policy objectives for sustainability were energy security, job creation, and climate change. Thus, bioenergy can mitigate climate change but may impact human health and ecosystem which then in turn can become issues of concern. Energy strategies may result in shifting of risks from one environmental impact category to another, and from one sustainable domain to another if the technical and policy-related issues are not identified.

Is a healthy diet an environmentally sustainable diet?

Science.gov (United States)

Macdiarmid, Jennie I

2013-02-01

The concept of a healthy and environmentally sustainable diet is not new, but with increasing concern about future global food security and climate change there is a renewed interest in this topic. Dietary intakes in UK accounts for approximately 20-30% of total annual greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), with the greatest contributions coming from high intakes of meat and dairy products. Dietary proposals to help mitigate climate change (i.e. reduce GHGE) have focused on reducing consumption of meat and dairy products, but this must be considered in the context of the whole diet, alongside any possible nutritional consequences for health. Bringing together health and environmental impact of the diet raises the question of whether a healthy diet can also be an environmentally sustainable diet. While recent research showed that it is possible to achieve a realistic diet that meets dietary requirement for health and has lower GHGE, it cannot be assumed that a healthy diet will always have lower GHGE. With different combinations of food it is possible to consume a diet that meets dietary requirements for health, but has high GHGE. It is important to understand what constitutes a sustainable diet, but this then needs to be communicated effectively to try and change well-established dietary intakes of the population. Studies show that understanding of sustainable diets is poor and there are many misconceptions (e.g. the overestimation of the protein requirements for a healthy diet), which could contribute to the barriers towards changing dietary intakes.

Environmental sustainability in the spanish hotel sector. A contribution to sustainable tourism between business profitability and the environmental commitment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel Valenzuela Rubio

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This paper intends to approach how the Spanish tourist sector has implemented environmental viewpoints initiated by international organizations such as UNO, UNESCO, European Union, etc. from the Rio Conference on (1992, and reinforced by the increasing environmental sensitivity of the hotel customers. Another aim of this process is to improve resource management and increase competitiveness in the hotel trade. The environmental commitment of the hotel sector must be demonstrated either by obtaining a certification of environmental quality or an ecolabel awarded by special purpose entities on fulfillment of specific requirements. These environmental labels are mostly obtained by large hotel chains for image and affordability reasons. Nevertheless, the Spanish hotel business still has a long way to go before reaching complete sustainability.

Preparation of porcelain tile granulates by more environmentally sustainable processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gil, C.; Silvestre, D.; Piquer, J.; Garcia-Ten, J.; Quereda, E.; Vicente, M. J.

2012-07-01

This study examines the feasibility of manufacturing glazed porcelain tiles with a more environmentally friendly manufacturing process, by reducing water and thermal energy consumption. The process studied in this paper is dry milling in a pendulum mill, with subsequent granulation (in order to obtain a press powder with similar flow ability to that of spray dried powders). The different morphology of the new granulate with respect to the standard spray-dried granulate modifies the microstructure of the green compacts and thus, their behaviour and fired tile properties. In order to obtain porcelain tiles with the required properties (water absorption, mechanical strength,) changes have been made in the raw materials mixture and in the processing variables. Finally, porcelain tiles measuring 50x50 cm have been manufactured at industrial scale with the new granulate using a conventional firing cycle, obtaining quality levels identical to those provided by the spray-dried granulate. These results open the possibility of preparing porcelain tile body compositions through a manufacturing process alternative to the standard one, more environmentally friendly and with lower costs. (Author)

Nuclear technology for sustainable development and FNCA activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Machi, Sueo

2004-01-01

Nuclear techniques have been contributing to sustainable development and human welfare through their applications in agriculture, health care, food supply, industry, water resources and environmental conservation. Nuclear techniques are more advantageous and/or complementary with other techniques to achieve goals. For many applications nuclear technique is more environmentally friendly because it does not need chemical agents to induce necessary reactions. This paper also illustrates successful applications of nuclear techniques and activities of the regional nuclear cooperation in Asia, FNCA (Forum for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia) to achieve common goals with limited resources. (author)

How Does Implementation of Environmental Management System Contribute to Corporate Sustainability Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucie Vnoučková

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Corporate sustainability management (CSM appears to be an important issue for current management. The aim of the paper is to identify what determinants of sustainability management are examined in the literature and discuss the contribution of environmental management system (EMS to CSM based on experiences of selected Czech organizations with implemented EMS according to ISO 14001. The data for the survey was gathered from 222 organizations (N = 1265 who have already implemented EMS. The results show there is a basic knowledge of sustainability concept in the surveyed Czech organizations. Perceived improvements of EMS implementation in Czech organizations are mainly in the area of environmental performance, economic performance, relationship with involved parties and social issues. Based on the implementation of EMS, the organizations take care about corporate sustainability (about the areas of environmental aspects and impacts of the organization. Improved environmental performance has been linked with process and product cost improvements and lower risk factors.

Can Naturbanization Promote Environmentally Friendly Built-Up Areas? A Comparison Between Cadí-Moixeró (Catalonia, Spain and Comana (Romania Natural Parks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tulla Antoni-Francesc

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The study compares the on-going naturbanization processes in and around two Natural Parks under the impact of newcomers, but also tourists from Barcelona and Bucharest and their metropolitan areas. The landscape value of these areas attracts the urban population, which contributes to local sustainable development process but also promotes construction. New businesses associated with rural multifunctionality and value-added activities related to environmental quality were identified. New residents have contributed introducing responsible patterns of consumer, ecoentrepreneurship by women, recovery of abandoned buildings and intensification of rural-urban relationships. Negative impacts such as intensive construction of second homes, with a lower use, in some areas around Cadí-Moixeró threaten biodiversity and habitat connectivity. Insufficient integration of environmental policies, particularly in the Comana wetlands, reduces the potential for rural renewal. Research methods included a review of the counterurbanization literature and the statistical data related to processes of naturbanization in both areas, along with the conduct of 30 structured interviews with key local actors in each area. Naturbanization still offers the potential to enhance local development; however, it is urgent to assess social perspectives in natural parks management in order to achieve environmentally friendly built-up areas.

Introduction: Features of environmental sustainability in agriculture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dalgaard, Tommy; Ferrari, S; Rambonilaza, M

2006-01-01

This introductive paper aims to address the features of environmental sustainability in agriculture. Recent developments of the concept, which are discussed here, emphasise its multi-faceted nature and lead to various definitions as well as to different implications for policy measures in society...

Sustainability of social-environmental programs along pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doebereiner, Christian [Shell Southern Cone Gas and Power (Brazil); Herrera, Brigitte [Transredes S.A. (Bolivia)

2005-07-01

The sustainability of Social and Environmental programs along pipelines, have shown to be a major challenge. Gas pipelines in Bolivia and Brazil operate in a diversity of environments and communities with different cultures, values and expectations. However, the pipeline network can also provide opportunities for contributing to regional development and working with local populations on topics of mutual interest. Many of these are quite strategic because they arise from topics of mutual interest for both the company and neighboring populations, and because they provide opportunities for achieving results of mutual benefit. These opportunities could include helping to make gas available to local communities, contributions to urban planning, hiring local services and other initiatives. Sustainable and integrated Social and Environmental programs are therefore key to a successful pipeline operation. These opportunities are often missed or under valued. Some successful examples are presented from Transredes S.A., Bolivia. (author)

Response of international shipping to the current environmental challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Popek Marzenna

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The international shipping industry directly facilitates the growth of the world trade, economic development and improvement of the global living standards. As the world economy and population continue to expand, the volume of maritime trade is expected to increase significantly as well. Maritime transport already contributes significantly to the three pillars of sustainable development – social, environmental and economic. Maritime transportation is generally considered environmental friendly when compared to other transportation means, especially if the energy efficiency is measured per tonne transported/per mile. Nevertheless, emissions from the growing maritime transport sector represent a significant and growing source of air pollution. One of future goals in international shipping is to reduce CO2 emissions. The International Maritime Organization is the United agency responsible for the protection of the environment from the impact of maritime transport. All parts of shipping industry are examining a number of ways to reduce CO2 emissions, which are primarily linked to reducing fuel consumption. The paper identifies the main areas that should be addressed if maritime sustainable development is to be achieved. It presents analysis of activities focused on environmentally friendly solutions as a form of IMO support for realization of the strategy of sustainable development.

Cultural Variability in the Link Between Environmental Concern and Support for Environmental Action.

Science.gov (United States)

Eom, Kimin; Kim, Heejung S; Sherman, David K; Ishii, Keiko

2016-10-01

Research on sustainability behaviors has been based on the assumption that increasing personal concerns about the environment will increase proenvironmental action. We tested whether this assumption is more applicable to individualistic cultures than to collectivistic cultures. In Study 1, we compared 47 countries ( N = 57,268) and found that they varied considerably in the degree to which environmental concern predicted support for proenvironmental action. National-level individualism explained the between-nation variability above and beyond the effects of other cultural values and independently of person-level individualism. In Study 2, we compared individualistic and collectivistic nations (United States vs. Japan; N = 251) and found culture-specific predictors of proenvironmental behavior. Environmental concern predicted environmentally friendly consumer choice among European Americans but not Japanese. For Japanese participants, perceived norms about environmental behavior predicted proenvironmental decision making. Facilitating sustainability across nations requires an understanding of how culture determines which psychological factors drive human action.

Environmental Management Systems and Sustainability in SMEs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shah Satya

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Environmental sustainability in manufacturing sector has been allocated a major consideration in the international literature. Due to growing concerns over the high effect of SMEs on world manufacturing industries and their contribution to pollution; this research attempts to focus on the key parameters that interact in the application of environmental management system, taking into account the main features of SMEs and also the integral role of industrial entrepreneurs in inspiring their firms’ approaches. The paper explores the potential opportunities which enable these enterprises to move towards organizations with high level of responsibility regarding environmental protection in order to provide a healthier life for future generations. Case investigation is carried out on an adhesive manufacturing company, which covers a notable market share within the sector. The research identifies that the company requires developing both internal and external entities within an explicit plan to revolutionize the recruitment patterns. Given the lack of adequate studies in adhesive technology, more researches are recommended in the future to consider the sustainable innovations on a broader sample of adhesive manufacturing companies to perform the life-cycle analysis due to the harmful organic compounds and toxic vapours of the adhesive products.

Water Quality and Sustainable Environmental Health

Science.gov (United States)

Setegn, S. G.

2014-12-01

Lack of adequate safe water, the pollution of the aquatic environment and the mismanagement of resources are major causes of ill-health and mortality, particularly in the developing countries. In order to accommodate more growth, sustainable fresh water resource management will need to be included in future development plans. One of the major environmental issues of concern to policy-makers is the increased vulnerability of ground water quality. The main challenge for the sustainability of water resources is the control of water pollution. To understand the sustainability of the water resources, one needs to understand the impact of future land use and climate changes on the natural resources. Providing safe water and basic sanitation to meet the Millennium Development Goals will require substantial economic resources, sustainable technological solutions and courageous political will. A balanced approach to water resources exploitation for development, on the one hand, and controls for the protection of health, on the other, is required if the benefits of both are to be realized without avoidable detrimental effects manifesting themselves. Meeting the millennium development goals for water and sanitation in the next decade will require substantial economic resources, sustainable technological solutions and courageous political will. In addition to providing "improved" water and "basic" sanitation services, we must ensure that these services provide: safe drinking water, adequate quantities of water for health, hygiene, agriculture and development and sustainable sanitation approaches to protect health and the environment.

Going Green in Business - A Study on the Eco-friendly Initiatives towards Sustainable Development in India

OpenAIRE

Pradeep M. D

2017-01-01

Increasing awareness on the various environmental problems has led to a shift in consumer behaviour. There has been a change in consumer attitude towards a green lifestyle. Thus green Marketing has evolved special implications in the modern market. Green indicates purity through quality, fairness in price and worthy in dealings. Green marketing focuses on marketing eco-friendly products to satisfy the needs and wants of the customers. It adopts innovative techniques of product modification, d...

Sustainable production program in the Mexican mining industry: occupational risks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Zavala Reyna

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Speaking of mining and sustainability sounds contradictory, as the environmental impact generated by resource extraction is well known. However, there are mining companies that are working to be safe and environmentally friendly. An example of this is presented in this study aimed at identifying occupational risks generated by the activities of a small-scale gold and silver mine located in northwestern Mexico. The methodology followed was a Sustainable Production Program (SPP based on a continuous cycle of five steps in which the tools of cleaner production and pollution prevention are adapted. As a result of this project, it was possible to implement SPP activities: training for workers, use of personal protective equipment and adequate handling of chemicals. As a conclusion, it was verified that SPP application helped this mining company move towards sustainable patterns of production.

Ethics in environmental politics and sustainable use of the planet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Cairns Jr.

2001-06-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT: Environmental politics, especially regarding sustainable use of the planet, must be based on a shared set of ethical values. Although there is a fundamental conflict between ecological doctrine and human cultures, naturalistic assemblages of plants and animals can co-exist with human society in a mutualistic relationship. Numerous environmental practices of human society have ethical implications and are serious obstacles to the quest for sustainability. Continuing them will probably result in crossing one or more important ecological thresholds, which may result in new ecological conditions less favorable to human society than those that presently exist. Some of the probable conditions (e.g., global climate change could be characterized as paradigm-shifting catastrophes. Motivational ethics may triumph initially, but consequential ethics may eventually emerge in environmental politics, which would then produce some interesting conditions in a sustainability context. Since humans have only one planet on which to experiment, speculation about possible future scenarios seems prudent, as does precautionary action to avoid undesirable outcomes.

Optimizing Green Computing Awareness for Environmental Sustainability and Economic Security as a Stochastic Optimization Problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emmanuel Okewu

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The role of automation in sustainable development is not in doubt. Computerization in particular has permeated every facet of human endeavour, enhancing the provision of information for decision-making that reduces cost of operation, promotes productivity and socioeconomic prosperity and cohesion. Hence, a new field called information and communication technology for development (ICT4D has emerged. Nonetheless, the need to ensure environmentally friendly computing has led to this research study with particular focus on green computing in Africa. This is against the backdrop that the continent is feared to suffer most from the vulnerability of climate change and the impact of environmental risk. Using Nigeria as a test case, this paper gauges the green computing awareness level of Africans via sample survey. It also attempts to institutionalize green computing maturity model with a view to optimizing the level of citizens awareness amid inherent uncertainties like low bandwidth, poor network and erratic power in an emerging African market. Consequently, we classified the problem as a stochastic optimization problem and applied metaheuristic search algorithm to determine the best sensitization strategy. Although there are alternative ways of promoting green computing education, the metaheuristic search we conducted indicated that an online real-time solution that not only drives but preserves timely conversations on electronic waste (e-waste management and energy saving techniques among the citizenry is cutting edge. The authors therefore reviewed literature, gathered requirements, modelled the proposed solution using Universal Modelling Language (UML and developed a prototype. The proposed solution is a web-based multi-tier e-Green computing system that educates computer users on innovative techniques of managing computers and accessories in an environmentally friendly way. We found out that such a real-time web-based interactive forum does not

Environmental Accounting: Concepts, Practive and Assessment of Sustainable Development

OpenAIRE

Vardon, Michael; Harrison, Bob

2002-01-01

Quantitative assessment of sustainable development requires accounting for the depletion and degradation of natural resources and other environmental impacts of economic development. The United Nations System of Integrated Economic and Environmental Accounting (SEEA) provides a system that links economic activities to changes in the environment and natural resources. SEEA has guided the development of environmental accounts by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This paper describes how SEEA...

Challenges and strategies for sustaining youth-friendly health services - a qualitative study from the perspective of professionals at youth clinics in northern Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomée, Suzanne; Malm, Desiré; Christianson, Monica; Hurtig, Anna-Karin; Wiklund, Maria; Waenerlund, Anna-Karin; Goicolea, Isabel

2016-12-21

Youth-friendly health-care services - those that are accessible, acceptable, equitable, appropriate and effective for different youth subpopulations - are beneficial for youth health, but not easy to implement and sustain. Sweden is among the few countries where youth-friendly health-care services have been integrated within the public health system and sustained for a long time. This study explores the challenges and strategies in providing sustainable youth-friendly health-care services, from the perspective of professionals working in youth clinics in northern Sweden. Eleven semi-structured interviews with various health-care professionals working in youth clinics in northern Sweden were conducted. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and analysed using thematic analysis in relation to the World Health Organization domains of youth friendliness. Four themes emerged from the analysis of the data: 1) 'Meeting youths on their own terms - the key to ensuring a holistic and youth-centred care' was related to the acceptability and appropriateness of the services; 2) 'Organizational challenges and strategies in keeping professionals' expertise on youth updated' referred to the domain of effectiveness; 3) 'Youth clinics are accessible for those who know and can reach them' was related to the domains of accessibility and equity, and 4) 'The challenge of combining strong directions and flexibility in diverse local realities' focused on the struggle to sustain the youth clinics organization and their goals within the broader health system. Professionals working in youth clinics are perceived as motivated, interested and knowledgeable about youth, and the clinics ensure confidentiality and a youth-centred and holistic approach. Challenges remain, especially in terms of ensuring equitable access to different youth subpopulations, improving monitoring routines and ensuring training and competence for all professionals, independently of the location and characteristics of

Evaluating construction projects of hotels based on environmental sustainability with MCDM framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarfaraz Hashemkhani Zolfani

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Environmental issues have got incredible attention among daily life activities. Sustainability penetrated in all society practices specially construction industry due to its substantial impact on the environment. Monitoring and controlling architectural project contains a decision problem with multi-varieties analysis. This study aimed to evaluate construction projects of hotels regarding environmental sustainability. To this end, a hybrid Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM model is proposed. Step‐wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA and Complex proportional assessment (COPRAS compose a unified framework. A private construction project is supposed as a case study. The project is based on establishing a five star hotel in Tehran, Iran. In this research SWARA produces criteria weights and COPRAS will rank decision alternatives. This study can be a strategic route for other similar researches in other fields. Keywords: Architecture projects, Sustainability, Environmental sustainability, SWARA, COPRAS

Environmental and economic benefits of sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKay, P.; Kelly, B.; Passmore, J.

1997-01-01

The panel on sustainable development was moderated by Paul McKay of the Wildside Foundation. Bryan Kelly, Director of Environment and Sustainable Development at Ontario Hydro, and Jeffrey Passmore of Passmore Associates International were the panel members. Bryan Kelly described the objectives of his group's program as reducing market barriers, and get renewables on a level playing field through technological advances to ensure that ' when Ontario Hydro or its successors make decisions about new capacity, renewables will be a viable option and will not be dismissed out of hand'. To illustrate the approach, he described several ongoing research and development projects. Jeffrey Passmore reported on a study he conducted for the Canadian Wind Energy Association and Environment Canada to determine the environmental and economic benefits of wind energy in Canada. He estimated achievable wind energy potential in Canada at around 6400 MW by 2010. He stressed wind energy's potential for job creation and CO 2 reduction as the principal economic and environmental benefits

Better, but good enough? Indicators for absolute environmental sustainability in a life cycle perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjørn, Anders; Richardson, Katherine

An increasing focus on sustainability has led to proliferation of the use of environmental indicators to guide various types of decisions, from individual consumer choices to policy making at the national, regional and global scale. Most environmental indicators are relative, meaning that quantif......An increasing focus on sustainability has led to proliferation of the use of environmental indicators to guide various types of decisions, from individual consumer choices to policy making at the national, regional and global scale. Most environmental indicators are relative, meaning...... that quantified environmental interferences of a studied anthropogenic system (a product, a company, a city, etc.) are compared to those of chosen anthropogenic systems of reference. The use of relative indicators can give the impression that societies are moving towards environmental sustainability when...... that society-nature interactions in many cases are environmentally unsustainable and that the level of unsustainability may be increasing over time. A clear rationale therefore exists for developing and using absolute environmental sustainability indicators (AESI) that not only can identify the anthropogenic...

Assessing Sustainability in Environmental Management: A Case Study in Malaysia Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Turan, Faiz Mohd; Johan, Kartina; Lanang, Wan Nurul Syahirah Wan; Asmanizam, Asmadianatasha

2017-08-01

The scarcity in measuring the sustainability accomplishment has been restrained most of the companies in Malaysian industry. Currently, there are variety types of the measurement tools of the sustainability assessment that have been implemented. However, there are still not achieving the inclusive elements required by the worldwide claim. In fact, the contribution to the sustainability performance are only highlighted on the nature, financial along with society components. In addition, some of the companies are conducting their sustainability implementation individually. By means, this process approaching type is needed to be integrated into a systematic system approach. This paper is focussing on investigating the present sustainability tools in the environmental management system for Malaysian industry prior to the quantification of the sustainability parameters. Hence, the parameters of the sustainability have been evaluated then in order to accomplish this project. By reviewing on the methodology of this research it comprises of three phases where it starts with the analyzation of the parameters in environmental management system according to the Malaysian context of industry. Moving on to the next step is the quantification of the criterion and finally the normalisation process will be done to determine the results of this research either it is succeeded or vice versa. As a result, this research has come to the conclusion where the level of the sustainability compliance does not achieve the standard level of the targeted objectives though it has already surpassed the average level of the sustainability performance. In future, the understanding towards the sustainability assessment is acquired to be aligned unitedly in order to integrated the process approach into the systematic approach. Apart, this research will be able to help to provide a measurable framework yet finally bestowing the Malaysian industry with a continuous improvement roadmap in achieving

[Environmental health and inequalities: building indicators for sustainable development].

Science.gov (United States)

Carneiro, Fernando Ferreira; Franco Netto, Guilherme; Corvalan, Carlos; de Freitas, Carlos Machado; Sales, Luiz Belino Ferreira

2012-06-01

Despite its progress in terms of socio-economic indicators, Brazil is still unequal, which is due to an unequal and exclusionary historical process. In this paper we selected the Human Development Index - HDI and other social, economic, environmental and health indicators to exemplify this situation. We selected the municipalities that had the lowest HDI in the country in 2000 comparing their evolution over time between 2000 and 2010 by means of indicators linked to the economic, environmental and social pillars of sustainable development. These municipalities have an HDI classified as low (sustainable development with quality of life, the improvement of sanitation and education indicators should be a priority for Brazil.

Environmental-economic benefits and trade-offs on sustainably certified coffee farms

OpenAIRE

Haggar, Jeremy; Soto, Gabriela; Casanoves, Fernando; de Melo Virginio, Elias

2017-01-01

Coffee with diverse shade trees is recognized as conserving greater biodiversity than more intensive production methods. Sustainable certification has been proposed as an incentive to conserve shade grown coffee. With 40% of global coffee production certified as sustainable, evidence is needed to demonstrate whether certification supports the environmental benefits of shade coffee. Environmen-tal and economic data were taken from 278 coffee farms in Nicaragua divided between non-certified and...

Iconic Destination: a Snapshot of Sustainable Tourism in Pisa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvia Sarti

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Tourism is one of the world's fastest growing industries. According to the World Tourism Organization, Italy is the fifth most visited country in the world, with more than 47.7 million tourists a year (2013. At the same time, the increasing number of studies focused on sustainable tourism demonstrates a growing interest about the topic. In addition, practitioners’ attitude is changing and the most important actors of the market are acting in a more sustainable way and developing reports on their eco-friendly performances. Nowadays, the entire supply chain maybe environmentally sustainable. From the reservation to the post-holiday phase, it is possible to select the more eco-friendly suppliers. The main companies operating in the different stages of the process are demonstrating a concrete interest on sustainable development. This new challenge is generated through the information flow between local authorities, private firms and final customers. We propose to make a reflection based on the latter actors’ attitude. Our research aims to investigate the level of sensitivity of tourists about environmental sustainability from two different perspectives: self-evaluation and real purchasing behavior. We conducted a face-to-face survey among tourists in Pisa, in Piazza dei Miracoli, during May 2015. By using a structured questionnaire, we gathered primary data from a sample of 406 respondents. We selected respondents randomly. Pisa is the perfect location to obtain information from several typologies of tourists, with different levels of awareness of sustainable issues. Itis one of the most important tourist destination in Italy and it is an iconic destination recognized worldwide thanks to the attractiveness of the leading tower. The results of our study is a snapshot of the current level of awareness among tourists. The analysis of the questionnaires revealed tourist profiles, their eco-friendly behaviors, their concerns about sustainability

Green knowledge management to support environmental sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dornhoefer, Mareike-Jessica

2017-01-01

Sustainability, environmental management and green initiatives are topics which gradually developed into trends since the late 1980s, not only in research institutions, but also in public and private organizations. While the usage of energy and other resources are increasing, these organizations search for new possibilities to reduce the economic, ecologic and social burdens and consequences of office and production environments for employees and nature. While certified environmental management systems were established already in the 1990s, green approaches and technologies are only about 10 years old and steadily developing. Decisions about a fitting strategy and the support of suitable measures inside an organization always require knowledge provided for the decision makers. Furthermore it is of importance to record the environmental consequences of the operational business and to not only record data and information, but to create a context and deduce the knowledge for future activities. Based on this situation, the work addresses the main research question of how �classical'' knowledge management might be further developed or transformed into Green Knowledge Management and how it addresses the goals of sustainability, especially ecological sustainability, environmental management and green approaches alike? The definition of Green Knowledge Management consists of five factors, which are discussed systematically, explored conceptually and documented with the help of practical examples. Different knowledge management models and their respective building blocks are analyzed to deduce how knowledge processes might interact with environmental ones as well as green aspects. Also different types of knowledge management systems are analysed for their application possibilities. A planning and decision making tool in form of a three dimensional cube, the ''Green Knowledge Management Cube'' is introduced on a conceptual level and documented

Eco-friendly polymer nanocomposites processing and properties

CERN Document Server

Thakur, Vijay Kumar

2015-01-01

This book contains precisely referenced chapters, emphasizing environment-friendly polymer nanocomposites with basic fundamentals, practicality and alternatives to traditional nanocomposites through detailed reviews of different environmental friendly materials procured from different resources, their synthesis and applications using alternative green approaches. The book aims at explaining basics of eco-friendly polymer nanocomposites from different natural resources and their chemistry along with practical applications which present a future direction in the biomedical, pharmaceutical and automotive industry. The book attempts to present emerging economic and environmentally friendly polymer nanocomposites that are free from side effects studied in the traditional nanocomposites. This book is the outcome of contributions by many experts in the field from different disciplines, with various backgrounds and expertises. This book will appeal to researchers as well as students from different disciplines. The co...

Environmental management as a pillar for sustainable development.

Science.gov (United States)

Mikulčić, Hrvoje; Duić, Neven; Dewil, Raf

2017-12-01

There is a growing concern about how to minimize the impact of human activities on the environment. Already nowadays, in some places adaptation efforts are needed in order to avoid the irreversibility of negative human activities. Due to climate changes, and corresponding environmental and social changes, there is a great need for a more sustainable development of mankind. Over the years, research studies that analyzed the sustainable development of different communities with a multi-disciplinary approach, stressed the necessity of preserving the environment for next generations. Therefore, responsible and conscientious management of the environment is a pillar of the sustainable development concept. This review introduction article provides an overview of the recent top scientific publications related to sustainable development that mostly originated from previous SDEWES conferences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections: Complete Collection, Version 1.1

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Compendium of Environmental Sustainability Indicator Collections, Version 1.1 contains 426 indicators for 239 countries from five major environmental...

Service-Learning in the Environmental Sciences for Teaching Sustainability Science

Science.gov (United States)

Truebe, S.; Strong, A. L.

2016-12-01

Understanding and developing effective strategies for the use of community-engaged learning (service-learning) approaches in the environmental geosciences is an important research need in curricular and pedagogical innovation for sustainability. In 2015, we designed and implemented a new community-engaged learning practicum course through the Earth Systems Program in the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences at Stanford University focused on regional open space management and land stewardship. Undergraduate and graduate students partnered with three different regional land trust and environmental stewardship organizations to conduct quarter-long research projects ranging from remote sensing studies of historical land use, to fire ecology, to ranchland management, to volunteer retention strategies. Throughout the course, students reflected on the decision-making processes and stewardship actions of the organizations. Two iterations of the course were run in Winter and Fall 2015. Using coded and analyzed pre- and post-course student surveys from the two course iterations, we evaluate undergraduate and graduate student learning outcomes and changes in perceptions and understanding of sustainability science. We find that engagement with community partners to conduct research projects on a wide variety of aspects of open space management, land management, and environmental stewardship (1) increased an understanding of trade-offs inherent in sustainability and resource management and (2) altered student perceptions of the role of scientific information and research in environmental management and decision-making. Furthermore, students initially conceived of open space as purely ecological/biophysical, but by the end of the course, (3) their understanding was of open space as a coupled human/ecological system. This shift is crucial for student development as sustainability scientists.

The Importance of Pro-Environmental Behavior in Adolescent

Science.gov (United States)

Palupi, Tyas; Sawitri, Dian R.

2018-02-01

Studies regarding pro-environmental behavior in adolescents are lacking. This study aimed to examine the importance of pro-environmental behavior in adolescents (high school and university students) by conducting literature review from previous studies on pro environmental behavior. Pro-environmental behavior is the behavior of individuals that contributes towards environmental preservation. Based on previous studies, measurement of pro-environmental behavior were investigated on several theories, namely theory of planned behavior (TPB) and value, belief, norms (VBN) by using aspects of pro environmental behavior. Young people with critical thinking, and good environmental education, are expected to behave more environmentally friendly for creating a sustainable future.

Isomerization of glucose into fructose by environmentally friendly Fe/β zeolite catalysts.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Siquan; Zhang, Lei; Xiao, Kehao; Xia, Haian

2017-06-29

Herein, the environmentally friendly Fe/β zeolite for glucose isomerization to fructose in aqueous media was reported for the first time. The effects of various reaction conditions including reaction temperature, reaction time, catalyst dosage, etc. on the isomerization reaction over Fe/β zeolite were studied in detail. Under the optimized conditions, yield of fructose higher than 20% were obtained. Moreover, the Fe/β zeolite catalysts were stable and remained constant catalytic activity after five consecutive runs. The possible active Fe species for isomerization of glucose in Fe/β zeolite is also discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biodegradation performance of environmentally-friendly insulating oil

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jun; He, Yan; Cai, Shengwei; Chen, Cheng; Wen, Gang; Wang, Feipeng; Fan, Fan; Wan, Chunxiang; Wu, Liya; Liu, Ruitong

2018-02-01

In this paper, biodegradation performance of rapeseed insulating oil (RDB) and FR3 insulating oil (FR3) was studied by means of ready biodegradation method which was performed with Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 301B. For comparison, the biodegradation behaviour of 25# mineral insulating oil was also characterized with the same method. The testing results shown that the biodegradation degree of rapeseed insulating oil, FR3 insulating oil and 25# mineral insulating oil was 95.8%, 98.9% and 38.4% respectively. Following the “new chemical risk assessment guidelines” (HJ/T 154 - 2004), which illustrates the methods used to identify and assess the process safety hazards inherent. The guidelines can draw that the two vegetable insulating oils, i.e. rapeseed insulating oil and FR3 insulating oil are easily biodegradable. Therefore, the both can be classified as environmentally-friendly insulating oil. As expected, 25# mineral insulating oil is hardly biodegradable. The main reason is that 25# mineral insulating oil consists of isoalkanes, cyclanes and a few arenes, which has few unsaturated bonds. Biodegradation of rapeseed insulating oil and FR3 insulating oil also remain some difference. Biodegradation mechanism of vegetable insulating oil was revealed from the perspective of hydrolysis kinetics.

STUDY ON NEED FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS – A CASE STUDY OF COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING- GUINDY, CHENNAI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gobinath Ravindran

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Sustainability has become the key word of developing world and it’s evident in many issues, the growing economy is facing nowadays. Sustainability is the need of the hour for Indian economy to support our future generation with a cleaner, safer environment. Legal framework implemented by governing bodies such as Pollution control board is also supporting the implementation of sustainable development by new enforcements introduced then and there, but it is questionable about the effectiveness of this frameworks. Most of the enforcements are focusing to imply the sustainability in industries or equivalent organizations but not putting thrust on all polluting bodies, educational institutions are one among them. Recent growth in educational scenario in India had increased the number of educational institutions to a large extent, also increased the effect on environment by their activities. Growth of educational sector and the number of institutions catering various fields of education is needed for India but the growth should be optimized in a way such that it’s sustainable and eco friendly. Various methods are developed recently to find out the exact problems associated with the environment, Geograpchial Information System (GIS is one among them taking a big leap in the recent years in the area of environmental problem identification. This paper provides the details of the environmental impacts of educational institutions with case studies and also suggests a sustainable framework to make them environmental friendly by the use of (GIS.

Environmental Sustainability of Gm Crops for Food Safety on Risk Society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gil Ramos de Carvalho Neto

2016-10-01

Full Text Available GM crops are presented as an alternative to the erradication of hunger. The risk society, however, considering the brazilian environmental law - specially the brazilian legislation on biosafety - the food safety and nutritional law and the economic and social data on the subject, it appears that the environmental sustainability of these crops is not yet complete. Producers should adopt additional safeguards if they wish a sustainable agriculture with effective food security.

Modeling Indicator Systems for Evaluating Environmental Sustainable Development Based on Factor Analysis

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

WU Hao; CHEN Xiaoling; HE Ying; HE Xiaorong; CAI Xiaobin; XU Keyan

2006-01-01

Indicator systems of environmental sustainable development in the Poyang Lake Basin are established from 51 elementary indexes by factor analysis, which is composed of four steps such as the factor model, the parameter estimation, the factor rotation and the factor score. Under the condition that the cumulative proportion is greater than 85%, 5 explicit factors of environmental sustainable development as well as its factor score by region are carried out. The result indicates some impact factors to the basin environmental in descending sort order are volume of water, volume of waste gas discharge, volume of solid wastes, the degree to comprehensive utilization of waste gas, waste water and solid wastes, the emission volume of waste gas, waste water and solid wastes. It is helpful and important to provide decision support for constituting sustainable development strategies and evaluate the sustainable development status of each city.

BUMPER: the Bayesian User-friendly Model for Palaeo-Environmental Reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Holden, Phil; Birks, John; Brooks, Steve; Bush, Mark; Hwang, Grace; Matthews-Bird, Frazer; Valencia, Bryan; van Woesik, Robert

2017-04-01

We describe the Bayesian User-friendly Model for Palaeo-Environmental Reconstruction (BUMPER), a Bayesian transfer function for inferring past climate and other environmental variables from microfossil assemblages. The principal motivation for a Bayesian approach is that the palaeoenvironment is treated probabilistically, and can be updated as additional data become available. Bayesian approaches therefore provide a reconstruction-specific quantification of the uncertainty in the data and in the model parameters. BUMPER is fully self-calibrating, straightforward to apply, and computationally fast, requiring 2 seconds to build a 100-taxon model from a 100-site training-set on a standard personal computer. We apply the model's probabilistic framework to generate thousands of artificial training-sets under ideal assumptions. We then use these to demonstrate both the general applicability of the model and the sensitivity of reconstructions to the characteristics of the training-set, considering assemblage richness, taxon tolerances, and the number of training sites. We demonstrate general applicability to real data, considering three different organism types (chironomids, diatoms, pollen) and different reconstructed variables. In all of these applications an identically configured model is used, the only change being the input files that provide the training-set environment and taxon-count data.

An environmentally-friendly vacuum reduction metallurgical process to recover germanium from coal fly ash

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Lingen; Xu, Zhenming, E-mail: zmxu@sjtu.edu.cn

2016-07-15

Highlights: • An environmental friendly vacuum reduction metallurgical process is proposed. • Rare and valuable metal germanium from coal fly ash is recycled. • Residues are not a hazardous material and can be further recycled. • A germanium recovery ratio of 94.64% is obtained in pilot scale experiments. - Abstract: The demand for germanium in the field of semiconductor, electronics, and optical devices is growing rapidly; however, the resources of germanium are scarce worldwide. As a secondary material, coal fly ash could be further recycled to retrieve germanium. Up to now, the conventional processes to recover germanium have two problems as follows: on the one hand, it is difficult to be satisfactory for its economic and environmental effect; on the other hand, the recovery ratio of germanium is not all that could be desired. In this paper, an environmentally-friendly vacuum reduction metallurgical process (VRMP) was proposed to recover germanium from coal fly ash. The results of the laboratory scale experiments indicated that the appropriate parameters were 1173 K and 10 Pa with 10 wt% coke addition for 40 min, and recovery ratio germanium was 93.96%. On the basis of above condition, the pilot scale experiments were utilized to assess the actual effect of VRMP for recovery of germanium with parameter of 1473 K, 1–10 Pa and heating time 40 min, the recovery ratio of germanium reached 94.64%. This process considerably enhances germanium recovery, meanwhile, eliminates much of the water usage and residue secondary pollution compared with other conventional processes.

Is environmental sustainability a strategic priority for logistics service providers?

Science.gov (United States)

Evangelista, Pietro; Colicchia, Claudia; Creazza, Alessandro

2017-08-01

Despite an increasing number of third-party logistics service providers (3PLs) regard environmental sustainability as a key area of management, there is still great uncertainty on how 3PLs implement environmental strategies and on how they translate green efforts into practice. Through a multiple case study analysis, this paper explores the environmental strategies of a sample of medium-sized 3PLs operating in Italy and the UK, in terms of environmental organizational culture, initiatives, and influencing factors. Our analysis shows that, notwithstanding environmental sustainability is generally recognised as a strategic priority, a certain degree of diversity in the deployment of environmental strategies still exists. This paper is original since the extant literature on green strategies of 3PLs provides findings predominantly from a single country perspective and mainly investigates large/multinational organizations. It also provides indications to help managers of medium-sized 3PLs in positioning their business. This is particularly meaningful in the 3PL industry, where medium-sized organizations significantly contribute to the generated turnover and market value. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brazilian Biodiesel Policy: Social and environmental considerations of sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcez, Catherine Aliana Gucciardi; Vianna, Joao Nildo de Souza

2009-01-01

The objective of this article is to analyze the Brazilian Biodiesel Policy (PNPB) and to identify the social and environmental aspects of sustainability that are present or absent within it. Biofuels, namely alcohol and biodiesel, have been increasing in popularity on a global scale due to their potential as alternative and renewable energy sources. Brazil, a vast country blessed with abundant natural resources and agricultural land, has emerged as a global leader in the production of biofuels. This article includes a brief analysis of the concept of sustainable development, which served as a basis to evaluate the Policy documents. Although PNPB's implementation, which began in 2004, is still within its initial stage, it was possible to identify and elaborate on the environmental and social aspects of the Policy, namely: the social inclusion of family farmers; regional development; food security; influencing the carbon and energy balance of biodiesel; promoting sustainable agricultural practices and a diversity of feedstock. (author)

Towards Sustainable Use of Potassium in Pineapple Waste

OpenAIRE

Ahmed, Osumanu H.; Husni, M.H.A.; Anuar, A.R.; Hanafi, M.M.

2004-01-01

Due to the 1997/98 haze problem in South-East Asia and the increasing need for sustainable food production and development, the usual management of crop residues (including pineapple wastes) through burning is prohibited. As a result, the need for alternative uses of pineapple wastes in pineapple production has been emphasized. This study investigated an environmentally friendly means of recycling pineapple leaves for agricultural use. Pineapple leaves were shredded and composted in a compost...

Sustainable heat supply. Status report; Nachhaltige Waermeversorgung. Sachstandsbericht

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strohschein, Jan; Erdmenger, Christoph; Albert, Reihard (and others)

2007-03-15

The Federal Environmental Office views sustainable energy supply - of which the heat market is a decisive element - mostly under the aspect of climate protection and emission reduction of climate-relevant gases. If the heat market is to make a contribution here, the heat supply system must be reorganized. This publication of the Federal Environmental Office indicates fields of action in the heat market. The focus is on climate-friendly heat production, e.g. renewable energy sources, cogeneration systems, and higher energy efficiency. The full report can be downloaded from http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/klimaschutz/. (orig./AKB)

Microbiological Leaching; an Environmentally Friendly and Cost Effective Method for Extraction of Metals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghobeiti-Hasab Mehdi

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Finding a cleaner, environmentally friendly and cost-effective way of metal and mineral extraction has a great importance in today’s world. Using microorganisms in bio-leaching and bio-oxidation process is of great value. From Archaea to bacteria and fungi, microorganisms can play an important role in extraction of metals from mine drainage and un-accessible sources, both in aquatic and terrestrial environments. Optimization of environmental factors such as the temperature, pH and substrate concentration is crucially important to access the optimum extraction of selected metals from an ore or mine drainage. The present paper will review the bio-leaching and bio-oxidation process of minerals with emphasis on the most well-known species of bacterial communities of such ability, through the literature.

Ukrainian realities of labeling of environmentally friendly products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.M. Tsaruk

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The basis of life of any society is a safe environment that is not only the guarantee of welfare and quality of life, but also the guarantee of the further development of human civilization. That is why in the modern world the issue of the preservation of the natural environment is of special actuality. The gradual awareness by humanity of new threats (high degree of concentration of harmful industries; high level of resource and energy consumption; lack of modern environmental technologies; slow but inevitable degradation of the gene pool of a population due to the consumption of poor quality and in most cases harmful products, etc. forced the society to seek new approaches to socio-economic development and environmental management. One of such approaches is the introduction of ecological and organic labeling. Marking is a source of information about the purity, safety and quality of the products offered in the market; effective information mechanism, which is a kind of quality mark for the offered products. The current practice of ecological and organic labeling aimed at the increase of level consumer's awareness and the changing models of purchasing behavior in the direction of environmental protection. The feature of most marking systems of environmentally friendly and safe products is the obligation of compliance with the established requirements used by producers of raw materials and technologies taking into account their potential environmental impact. Labeling of ecologically clean and safe products is reducing the negative impact on the environment and on the human's health. It is the consequence of changes in the economic environment, namely: the improvement of socio-ethical requirements to production; the increasing level of integration of producers and service providers; the customer's satisfaction in varieties of products; globalization of economic space; reduction of time for development, standardization and production. Labeling is

The determinants of household energy demand in rural Beijing: Can environmentally friendly technologies be effective?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Jingchao; Kotani, Koji

2012-01-01

With the recent rapid economic growth, total energy demand in rural China has increased dramatically, and the energy structure is in the transition from non-commercial to commercial sources. Simultaneously, it is expected that households in rural areas will face energy shortages and additional environmental problems unless they have more access to renewable energy technologies. However, little is known about (i) the transition of energy use patterns and (ii) whether introduced technologies have been effective. To analyze these issues, we estimated the energy demands of rural households by using survey data taken from Beijing's ten suburban districts. The data contain information on both non-commercial and commercial energy use, key characteristics of the households and several renewable energy technologies. Our empirical analysis yielded three main results. First, the per capita income is a key factor in the per capita energy consumption. More specifically, the marginal increase (or marginal change) in per capita coal consumption strongly diminishes (or declines) as per capita income increases. Second, coal and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices do not exhibit substitution effects, but an increase in these prices has strong negative effects on the use of these energy resources. Third, renewable energy technologies are identified to reduce coal consumption and to improve energy efficiency. Overall, these findings suggest a positive perspective: if the Chinese government were to design appropriate policies associated with renewable energy technologies and related energy prices, then coal consumption can be reduced in the near future, and the substitution to cleaner energy use will accelerate. Therefore, a smooth energy transition in rural China could be made in a more environmentally sustainable manner. - Highlights: ► Energy demands of non-commercial/commercial sources are examined in rural Beijing. ► Income and energy prices are key determinants of the energy

Environmental and Energy Aspects of Construction Industry and Green Buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Kauskale, L.; Geipele, I.; Zeltins, N.; Lecis, I.

2017-04-01

Green building is an important component of sustainable real estate market development, and one of the reasons is that the construction industry consumes a high amount of resources. Energy consumption of construction industry results in greenhouse gas emissions, so green buildings, energy systems, building technologies and other aspects play an important role in sustainable development of real estate market, construction and environmental development. The aim of the research is to analyse environmental aspects of sustainable real estate market development, focusing on importance of green buildings at the industry level and related energy aspects. Literature review, historical, statistical data analysis and logical access methods have been used in the research. The conducted research resulted in high environmental rationale and importance of environment-friendly buildings, and there are many green building benefits during the building life cycle. Future research direction is environmental information process and its models.

Environmental change in south-east Asia. People, politics and sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parnwell, M.J.G.; Bryant, R.L.

1996-01-01

The interaction of politics and ecology in the quest for sustainable development in South East Asia is explored in this book by contributors who provide a broad range of perspectives. In the first of the four main sections, the political context of ecological change is examined. The topics discussed are: Indonesia and Thailand in a globalising pulp and paper industry; environmental organisations and different political contexts in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam; Japan and South East Asia's environment. Some of the processes and forms of human-induced environmental change are illustrated in the second section. These include: the search for sustainable livelihoods in Indonesian transmigration settlements; the 210 MW hydro-power project on the Theun river in Laos which illustrates the tensions between environmental costs and potential economic benefits; forest management in Laos. Discussion of the various methods which strengthen understanding of human-induced environmental change in the region is integrated with further illustrations of its process and context in the third section where the following are considered: environmental change in Malaysian Borneo; the value of remote sensing and geographical information systems in mapping the environment; the weakness of Vietnam's tropical forestry action plan. In the final section, an examination of some of the options for change which are necessary if sustainable development is to become a reality includes: the sustainability of ecotourism in Indonesia; the potential stewardship role of the Bajau people in Indonesia's proposed marine parks; environmental degradation, non-timber forest products and Iban communities in Sarawak; conservation and development in Brunei's rainforests; Philippine community-based forest management. (27 figures; 23 tables; 752 references) (UK)

Polyester-Based (Bio)degradable Polymers as Environmentally Friendly Materials for Sustainable Development

Science.gov (United States)

Rydz, Joanna; Sikorska, Wanda; Kyulavska, Mariya; Christova, Darinka

2014-01-01

This review focuses on the polyesters such as polylactide and polyhydroxyalkonoates, as well as polyamides produced from renewable resources, which are currently among the most promising (bio)degradable polymers. Synthetic pathways, favourable properties and utilisation (most important applications) of these attractive polymer families are outlined. Environmental impact and in particular (bio)degradation of aliphatic polyesters, polyamides and related copolymer structures are described in view of the potential applications in various fields. PMID:25551604

Environmental sustainability of Alpine livestock farms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luca Battaglini

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The 2006 FAO report concerning the environmental impact of the livestock sector has generated scientific debate, especially considering the context of global warming and the need to provide animal products to a growing world population. However, this sector differs widely in terms of environmental context, production targets, degree of intensification and cultural role. The traditional breeding systems in the Alps were largely based on the use of meadows and pastures and produced not only milk and meat but also other fundamental positive externalities and ecosystem services, such as conservation of genetic resources, water flow regulation, pollination, climate regulation, landscape maintenance, recreation and ecotourism and cultural heritage. In recent decades, the mountain livestock, mainly represented by dairy cattle, has been affected by a dramatic reduction of farms, a strong increase of animals per farm, an increase in indoor production systems, more extensive use of specialised non-indigenous cattle breeds and the increasing use of extra-farm concentrates instead of meadows and pastures for fodder. This paper firstly describes the livestock sector in the Italian Alps and analyses the most important factors affecting their sustainability. Secondly, it discusses the need to assess the ecosystem services offered by forage- based livestock systems in mountains with particular attention to greenhouse gas emission and its mitigation by carbon sequestration. In conclusion, comparison between the different elements of the environmental sustainability of mountain livestock systems must be based on a comprehensive overview of the relationships among animal husbandry, environment and socio-economic context.

From economics to resources: Teaching environmental sustainability in Peru's public education

Science.gov (United States)

Adriazola-Rodriguez, Ana

This dissertation examines the teaching of environmental awareness in Peru's public educational system and how it needs to be consciously taught and improved in order to overcome contamination and pollution of resources and decrease poverty. This is a situation afflicting a significant percentage of Peruvians, who face difficulty in surviving and living well because the scarcity of clean air and water, unpolluted land, and affordable energy, which are basic environmental resources. The teaching of environmental awareness, as mandated by Educational Peruvian Laws and curriculum, should be redesigned to promote environmental ethical awareness and sustainability to guard Peru's natural and cultural resources, bounty and beauty before it is too late. In this way, education will promote a better level of life for the majority of Peruvians. Peruvian public education is presently in a state of emergency, as has been recognized by the former minister of education Javier Sota Nadal (2004-2006). Only 10% of students leaving high school understand what they read and only 4% do well in mathematics. A number of reasons contribute to this tragedy. Among them is principally the low quality of teaching and the inadequate budget available for public education. Peru's laws, echoing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and mandate good and free education and guarantee the right to live well. The reality is that none of these rights are properly given to the majority of poor Peruvians. This dissertation offers a course of action to teach and spread out not only environmental awareness, but also environmental ethics and sustainability from a personal perspective. This rounded concept, if applied, will form citizens able to guard, protect, and preserve natural and cultural resources. The needed environmental ethics and sustainability education will gradually guarantee, from early in life, a truthful way to love, care, protect and preserve the ecosystem. Also encompassed within

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD): The Turn away from "Environment" in Environmental Education?

Science.gov (United States)

Kopnina, Helen

2012-01-01

This article explores the implications of the shift of environmental education (EE) towards education for sustainable development (ESD) in the context of environmental ethics. While plural perspectives on ESD are encouraged both by practitioners and researchers of EE, there is also a danger that such pluralism may sustain dominant political…

A thermodynamic perspective on technologies in the Anthropocene : analyzing environmental sustainability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liao, Wenjie

2012-01-01

Technologies and sustainable development are interrelated from a thermodynamic perspective, with industrial ecology (IE) as a major point of access for studying the relationship in the Anthropocene. To offer insights into the potential offered by thermodynamics in the environmental sustainability

Sustainable solutions for Dutch housing. Reducing the Environmental Impacts of New and Existing Houses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klunder, G.

2005-04-12

Sustainable housing construction and management has, to date, been primarily based on an intuitive approach. Numerous measures have been formulated to promote sustainable construction and to reduce the environmental impacts of the built environment. However, little is yet known about the extent of the environmental benefits thereof. Moreover, methods and tools are mainly directed to new construction. This thesis makes clear that short-term environmental benefits in sustainable housing construction are rather limited. Renewal of the post-war housing stock offers excellent changes for improvement of the environmental performance of housing. With a newly developed method it is proven that renovation causes less environmental impacts than demolition followed by new construction. However, at the same time the usefulness of Life Cycle Assessment for buildings is doubted.

Permaculture as a sustainable lifestyle: the vision of environmental psychology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raquel Farias Diniz

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Due to the ecological crisis evident over the past decades, it is necessary to understand that various environmental problems are based on human behavior. In this sense, the psychological science seeks to contribute to the construction of cognitive, emotional and motivational knowledge processes that predispose behaviors in favor of the environmental conservation and to the development of ecological individuals. Under the sustainability framework, environmental psychology has been devoted to understanding sustainable lifestyles (SLS, its psychological predispositions and its effective practices. In this essay it is argued that the Permaculture, such as ethics and counter-hegemonic way of life, is configured as an SLS. In discussing this relationship, it is considered its potential to question contemporary ways of life and foster new pathways to the transformation of human-environment relations.

Maintenance in sustainable manufacturing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimir Stuchly

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Sustainable development is about reaching a balance between economic, social, and environmental goals, as well as people's participation in the planning process in order to gain their input and support. For a company, sustainable development means adoption of such business strategy and actions that contribute to satisfying present needs of company and stakeholders, as well as simultaneous protection, maintenance and strengthening of human and environmental potential which will be needed in the future. This new approach forces manufacturing companies to change their previous management paradigms. New management paradigm should include new issues and develop innovative methods, practices and technologies striving for solving problem of shortages of resources, softening environment overload and enabling development of environment-friendly lifecycle of products. Hence, its realization requires updating existing production models as they are based on previously accepted paradigm of unlimited resources and unlimited regeneration capabilities. Maintenance plays a crucial role because of its impact on availability, reliability, quality and life cycle cost, thus it should be one of the main pillars of new business running model.  Material and methods: The following paper is a result of research on the literature and observation of practices undertaken by a company within maintenance area. Results and conclusions: The main message is that considering sustainable manufacturing requires considerable expanding range of analysis and focusing on supporting processes. Maintenance offers numerous opportunities of decreasing influence of business processes on natural environment and more efficient resources utilization. The goal of maintenance processes realizing sustainable development strategy is increased profitability of exploitation and optimization of total lifecycle cost without disturbing safety and environmental issues. 

An environmentally-friendly fluorescent method for quantification of lipid contents in yeast

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Severo Poli, Jandora; Lützhøft, Hans-Christian Holten; Karakashev, Dimitar Borisov

2014-01-01

lipid and the calibration curve showed linearity (R2 = 0.994) between 0.50 and 25 mg/L. Compared with traditional gravimetric analysis, the developed method is much faster and uses less organic solvents. Lipid contents determined by fluorescence and gravimetry were the same for some strains......This study aimed at developing an efficient, fast and environmentally-friendly method to quantify neutral lipid contents in yeast. After optimising the fluorescence instrument parameters and influence of organic solvent concentrations, a new method to quantify neutral lipids in yeast based......, but for other strains the lipid contents determined by fluorescence were less. This new method will therefore be suitable for fast screening purposes....

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....

Environmental Sustainability and Mold Hygiene in Buildings.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Haoxiang; Ng, Tsz Wai; Wong, Jonathan Wc; Lai, Ka Man

2018-04-04

Environmental sustainability is one of the key issues in building management. In Hong Kong, one of the initiatives is to reduce the operation hours of air-conditioning in buildings to cut down energy consumption. In this study, we reported a mold contamination case in a newly refurbished laboratory, in which the air-conditioner was switched from 24- to 18-h mode after refurbishment. In order to prevent mold recurrence, the air-conditioner was switched back to 24-h mode in the laboratory. During the mold investigation, visible mold patches in the laboratory were searched and then cultured, counted and identified. Building and environmental conditions were recorded, and used to deduce different causes of mold contamination. Eight contaminated sites including a wall, a bench, some metal and plastic surfaces and seven types of molds including two Cladosporium spp., two Aspergillus spp., one Rhizopus sp., one Trichoderma sp., and one Tritirachium sp. were identified. Cladosporium spp. were the most abundant and frequently found molds in the laboratory. The contaminated areas could have one to five different species on them. Based on the mold and environmental conditions, several scenarios causing the mold contamination were deduced, and different mold control measures were discussed to compare them with the current solution of using 24-h air-conditioning to control mold growth. This study highlights the importance of mold hygiene in sustainable building management.

Environmental Sustainability and Mold Hygiene in Buildings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haoxiang Wu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Environmental sustainability is one of the key issues in building management. In Hong Kong, one of the initiatives is to reduce the operation hours of air-conditioning in buildings to cut down energy consumption. In this study, we reported a mold contamination case in a newly refurbished laboratory, in which the air-conditioner was switched from 24- to 18-h mode after refurbishment. In order to prevent mold recurrence, the air-conditioner was switched back to 24-h mode in the laboratory. During the mold investigation, visible mold patches in the laboratory were searched and then cultured, counted and identified. Building and environmental conditions were recorded, and used to deduce different causes of mold contamination. Eight contaminated sites including a wall, a bench, some metal and plastic surfaces and seven types of molds including two Cladosporium spp., two Aspergillus spp., one Rhizopus sp., one Trichoderma sp., and one Tritirachium sp. were identified. Cladosporium spp. were the most abundant and frequently found molds in the laboratory. The contaminated areas could have one to five different species on them. Based on the mold and environmental conditions, several scenarios causing the mold contamination were deduced, and different mold control measures were discussed to compare them with the current solution of using 24-h air-conditioning to control mold growth. This study highlights the importance of mold hygiene in sustainable building management.

STUDY ON NEED FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE - A CASE STUDY OF COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING - GUINDY, CHENNAI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gobinath Ravindran

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Sustainability has become the key word of developing world and it¿s evident in many issues, the growing economy is facing nowadays. Sustainability is the need of the hour for Indian economy to support our future generation with a cleaner, safer environment. Legal framework implemented by governing bodies such as Pollution control board is also supporting the implementation of sustainable development by new enforcements introduced then and there, but it is questionable about the effectiveness of this frameworks. Most of the enforcements are focusing to imply the sustainability in industries or equivalent organizations but not putting thrust on all polluting bodies, educational institutions are one among them. Recent growth in educational scenario in India had increased the number of educational institutions to a large extent, also increased the effect on environment by their activities. Growth of educational sector and the number of institutions catering various fields of education is needed for India but the growth should be optimized in a way such that it¿s sustainable and eco friendly. Various methods are developed recently to find out the exact problems associated with the environment, Geograpchial Information System (GIS is one among them taking a big leap in the recent years in the area of environmental problem identification. This paper provides the details of the environmental impacts of educational institutions with case studies and also suggests a sustainable framework to make them environmental friendly by the use of (GIS.

Green dentistry: the art and science of sustainable practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Mulimani, P

2017-06-23

Dentistry is highly energy and resource intensive with significant environmental impact. Factors inherent in the profession such as enormous electricity demands of electronic dental equipment, voluminous water requirements, environmental effects of biomaterials (before, during and after clinical use), the use of radiation and the generation of hazardous waste involving mercury, lead etc have contributed towards this. With rising temperatures across the world due to global warming, efforts are being made worldwide to mitigate the effects of environmental damage by resorting to sustainability concepts and green solutions in a myriad of ways. In such a scenario, a professional obligation and social responsibility of dentists makes it imperative to transform the practice of dentistry from a hazardous to a sustainable one, by adopting environmental-friendly measures or 'green dentistry'. The NHS in the UK has been proactive in implementing sustainability in healthcare by setting targets, developing guidance papers, initiating steering groups to develop measures and implementing actions through its Sustainable Development Unit (SDU). Such sustainable frameworks, specific to dentistry, are not yet available and even the scientific literature is devoid of studies in this field although anecdotal narratives abound. Hence this paper attempts to present a comprehensive evaluation of the existing healthcare sustainability principles, for their parallel application in the field of dentistry and lays out a blueprint for integrating the two main underlying principles of sustainability - resource use efficiency and eliminating or minimising pollution - in the day-to-day practice. The article also highlights the importance of social values, community care, engaging stakeholders, economic benefits, developing policy and providing leadership in converting the concept of green dentistry into a practised reality.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGIC FACTOR IN THE ENERGY INDUSTRY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CÎRNU Doru

2015-06-01

Full Text Available We propose to conceive an environmental strategy intended to integrate harmoniously Gorj energy industry with principles of sustainable development. The sustainable development complies trinomial: ecological-economic-social. In our view, sustainable development, requires clean water and unpolluted air, land consolidated rejuvenated forests, biodiversity and protected nature reserves, churches and monasteries secular admired by visitors, welcoming places entered in the natural and cultural harmony. It is also necessary to reduce the pressure generated by socio-economic factors on the environment and the principles of sustainable development. The quality of life in urban and rural areas show extreme differences compared to European standards. For efficiency, we addressed the modeling method by designing a model valid for all thermoelectric power plants based on fossil fuels, allowing simultaneously, so adding value and environmental protection. The general objective that we propose for the environment, natural resources and patrimony, is related to the prevention of climate change by limiting the emission of toxic gases and their adverse effects on the environment The achievement of strategic objectives and implementation of proposals submitted, we consider that would have a double impact, on the one side, to protect the environment and the quality of life and, on the other side a positive influence on economic and social level.

Sustainability and public health nutrition at school: assessing the integration of healthy and environmentally sustainable food initiatives in Vancouver schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Black, Jennifer L; Velazquez, Cayley E; Ahmadi, Naseam; Chapman, Gwen E; Carten, Sarah; Edward, Joshua; Shulhan, Stephanie; Stephens, Teya; Rojas, Alejandro

2015-09-01

To describe the development and application of the School Food Environment Assessment Tools and a novel scoring system to assess the integration of healthy and environmentally sustainable food initiatives in elementary and secondary schools. The cross-sectional study included direct observations of physical food environments and interviews with key school personnel regarding food-related programmes and policies. A five-point scoring system was then developed to assess actions across six domains: (i) food gardens; (ii) composting systems; (iii) food preparation activities; (iv) food-related teaching and learning activities; and availability of (v) healthy food; and (vi) environmentally sustainable food. Vancouver, Canada. A purposive sample of public schools (n 33) from all six sectors of the Vancouver Board of Education. Schools scored highest in the areas of food garden and compost system development and use. Regular integration of food-related teaching and learning activities and hands-on food preparation experiences were also commonly reported. Most schools demonstrated rudimentary efforts to make healthy and environmentally sustainable food choices available, but in general scored lowest on these two domains. Moreover, no schools reported widespread initiatives fully supporting availability or integration of healthy or environmentally sustainable foods across campus. More work is needed in all areas to fully integrate programmes and policies that support healthy, environmentally sustainable food systems in Vancouver schools. The assessment tools and proposed indicators offer a practical approach for researchers, policy makers and school stakeholders to assess school food system environments, identify priority areas for intervention and track relevant changes over time.

Affording Sustainability: Adopting a Theory of Affordances as a Guiding Heuristic for Environmental Policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roope O. Kaaronen

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Human behavior is an underlying cause for many of the ecological crises faced in the 21st century, and there is no escaping from the fact that widespread behavior change is necessary for socio-ecological systems to take a sustainable turn. Whilst making people and communities behave sustainably is a fundamental objective for environmental policy, behavior change interventions and policies are often implemented from a very limited non-systemic perspective. Environmental policy-makers and psychologists alike often reduce cognition ‘to the brain,’ focusing only to a minor extent on how everyday environments systemically afford pro-environmental behavior. Symptomatic of this are the widely prevalent attitude–action, value–action or knowledge–action gaps, understood in this paper as the gulfs lying between sustainable thinking and behavior due to lack of affordances. I suggest that by adopting a theory of affordances as a guiding heuristic, environmental policy-makers are better equipped to promote policies that translate sustainable thinking into sustainable behavior, often self-reinforcingly, and have better conceptual tools to nudge our socio–ecological system toward a sustainable turn. Affordance theory, which studies the relations between abilities to perceive and act and environmental features, is shown to provide a systemic framework for analyzing environmental policies and the ecology of human behavior. This facilitates the location and activation of leverage points for systemic policy interventions, which can help socio–ecological systems to learn to adapt to more sustainable habits. Affordance theory is presented to be applicable and pertinent to technically all nested levels of socio–ecological systems from the studies of sustainable objects and households to sustainable urban environments, making it an immensely versatile conceptual policy tool. Finally, affordance theory is also discussed from a participatory perspective

Affording Sustainability: Adopting a Theory of Affordances as a Guiding Heuristic for Environmental Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaaronen, Roope O

2017-01-01

Human behavior is an underlying cause for many of the ecological crises faced in the 21st century, and there is no escaping from the fact that widespread behavior change is necessary for socio-ecological systems to take a sustainable turn. Whilst making people and communities behave sustainably is a fundamental objective for environmental policy, behavior change interventions and policies are often implemented from a very limited non-systemic perspective. Environmental policy-makers and psychologists alike often reduce cognition 'to the brain,' focusing only to a minor extent on how everyday environments systemically afford pro-environmental behavior. Symptomatic of this are the widely prevalent attitude-action, value-action or knowledge-action gaps, understood in this paper as the gulfs lying between sustainable thinking and behavior due to lack of affordances. I suggest that by adopting a theory of affordances as a guiding heuristic, environmental policy-makers are better equipped to promote policies that translate sustainable thinking into sustainable behavior, often self-reinforcingly, and have better conceptual tools to nudge our socio-ecological system toward a sustainable turn. Affordance theory, which studies the relations between abilities to perceive and act and environmental features, is shown to provide a systemic framework for analyzing environmental policies and the ecology of human behavior. This facilitates the location and activation of leverage points for systemic policy interventions, which can help socio-ecological systems to learn to adapt to more sustainable habits. Affordance theory is presented to be applicable and pertinent to technically all nested levels of socio-ecological systems from the studies of sustainable objects and households to sustainable urban environments, making it an immensely versatile conceptual policy tool. Finally, affordance theory is also discussed from a participatory perspective. Increasing the fit between local

Affording Sustainability: Adopting a Theory of Affordances as a Guiding Heuristic for Environmental Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Kaaronen, Roope O.

2017-01-01

Human behavior is an underlying cause for many of the ecological crises faced in the 21st century, and there is no escaping from the fact that widespread behavior change is necessary for socio-ecological systems to take a sustainable turn. Whilst making people and communities behave sustainably is a fundamental objective for environmental policy, behavior change interventions and policies are often implemented from a very limited non-systemic perspective. Environmental policy-makers and psychologists alike often reduce cognition ‘to the brain,’ focusing only to a minor extent on how everyday environments systemically afford pro-environmental behavior. Symptomatic of this are the widely prevalent attitude–action, value–action or knowledge–action gaps, understood in this paper as the gulfs lying between sustainable thinking and behavior due to lack of affordances. I suggest that by adopting a theory of affordances as a guiding heuristic, environmental policy-makers are better equipped to promote policies that translate sustainable thinking into sustainable behavior, often self-reinforcingly, and have better conceptual tools to nudge our socio–ecological system toward a sustainable turn. Affordance theory, which studies the relations between abilities to perceive and act and environmental features, is shown to provide a systemic framework for analyzing environmental policies and the ecology of human behavior. This facilitates the location and activation of leverage points for systemic policy interventions, which can help socio–ecological systems to learn to adapt to more sustainable habits. Affordance theory is presented to be applicable and pertinent to technically all nested levels of socio–ecological systems from the studies of sustainable objects and households to sustainable urban environments, making it an immensely versatile conceptual policy tool. Finally, affordance theory is also discussed from a participatory perspective. Increasing the fit

Environment 1994: Policy for sustainable, environmentally compatible development. Summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-08-01

Economic, social and ecological development are inseparably interlaced. This is the essential message of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development 1992 in Rio. Linking of economic, social and ecological aspects is also the main approach of German environmental policy. Environmentally compatible recycling, comprehensive product liability, and just attribution of environmental consumption costs are major targets of this national strategy for the promotion of sustainable development. High standards and strict limiting values form the foundation of effective environmental protection. The further integration of environmental protection in all areas of activity and policy fields will be a central concern especially in the 90s. (orig./TF) [de

Review and challenges of policies of environmental protection and sustainable development in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Kun-Min; Wen, Zong-Guo

2008-09-01

China is confronted with the dual task of developing its national economy and protecting its ecological environment. Since the 1980s, China's policies on environmental protection and sustainable development have experienced five changes: (1) progression from the adoption of environmental protection as a basic state policy to the adoption of sustainable development strategy; (2) changing focus from pollution control to ecological conservation equally; (3) shifting from end-of-pipe treatment to source control; (4) moving from point source treatment to regional environmental governance; and (5) a turn away from administrative management-based approaches and towards a legal means and economic instruments-based approach. Since 1992, China has set down sustainable development as a basic national strategy. However, environmental pollution and ecological degradation in China have continued to be serious problems and have inflicted great damage on the economy and quality of life. The beginning of the 21st century is a critical juncture for China's efforts towards sustaining rapid economic development, intensifying environmental protection efforts, and curbing ecological degradation. As the largest developing country, China's policies on environmental protection and sustainable development will be of primary importance not only for China, but also the world. Realizing a completely well-off society by the year 2020 is seen as a crucial task by the Chinese government and an important goal for China's economic development in the new century, however, attaining it would require a four-fold increase over China's year 2000 GDP. Therefore, speeding up economic development is a major mission during the next two decades and doing so will bring great challenges in controlling depletion of natural resources and environmental pollution. By taking a critical look at the development of Chinese environmental policy, we try to determine how best to coordinate the relationship between the

Sustainable Architecture that Teaches: Promoting Environmental Education through Service-Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Eason, Grace; Berger, Rebecca; Green, Pamela Davis

2010-01-01

The University of Maine at Farmington (UMF) has undertaken a commitment to establish a culture of environmental sustainability. With two new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings on site, a green building curriculum has been developed. This multidimensional curriculum involves university faculty, students, K-12…

Environmental sustainability in hotels, theoretical and methodological contribution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabricia Silva da Rosa

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The environmental sustainability is a multidisciplinary subject and its scope has attracted the attention of researchers from various fields of knowledge. In this perspective, there is the environmental management in the hotel industry, by two aspects, first the economic importance of the hotels that are a key element of the tourism sector, and secondly, the activity generates environmental impacts that need to be managed. Thus, it is understood that it is to investigate the subject is treated in academia. In this sense, the objective of this research, exploratory and descriptive in nature, consists of mapping the theme of sustainability management in hotels, according to the delimitations posed by researchers. To accomplish this purpose, we used the Knowledge Development Process process - Constructivist (ProKnow-C. At the end of the survey, were identified 13 articles published in international journals aligned with the boundaries placed by the researchers. When installing the Bibliographical Portfolio (PB is evidenced by: (i aspects of relevance and adherence to the theme of the articles; (Ii proposals and results obtained in the research; (Iii theoretical and methodological contribution of the research published in the PB items. The results show that the topic is relevant and current, which lacks structured process to evaluate the environmental management in order to support management decisions.

The Political Tendency in Environmental and Sustainability Education

Science.gov (United States)

Håkansson, Michael; Östman, Leif; Van Poeck, Katrien

2018-01-01

This article presents a categorisation of the different situations in which the political dimension of environmental and sustainability education can be handled and experienced in practice: the "political tendency." Using a methodology inspired by Wittgenstein's user perspective on language, we empirically identified situations that…

Sustainability of utility-scale solar energy: Critical environmental concepts

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez, R. R.; Moore-O'Leary, K. A.; Johnston, D. S.; Abella, S.; Tanner, K.; Swanson, A.; Kreitler, J.; Lovich, J.

2017-12-01

Renewable energy development is an arena where ecological, political, and socioeconomic values collide. Advances in renewable energy will incur steep environmental costs to landscapes in which facilities are constructed and operated. Scientists - including those from academia, industry, and government agencies - have only recently begun to quantify trade-off in this arena, often using ground-mounted, utility-scale solar energy facilities (USSE, ≥ 1 megawatt) as a model. Here, we discuss five critical ecological concepts applicable to the development of more sustainable USSE with benefits over fossil-fuel-generated energy: (1) more sustainable USSE development requires careful evaluation of trade-offs between land, energy, and ecology; (2) species responses to habitat modification by USSE vary; (3) cumulative and large-scale ecological impacts are complex and challenging to mitigate; (4) USSE development affects different types of ecosystems and requires customized design and management strategies; and (5) long-term ecological consequences associated with USSE sites must be carefully considered. These critical concepts provide a framework for reducing adverse environmental impacts, informing policy to establish and address conservation priorities, and improving energy production sustainability.

Environmental Education and Sustainability: Reflections in a Management Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leandro Petarnella

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This study aims to reflect and discuss on Environmental Education (EE and Sustainability Education in Management, particularly stricto sensu Postgraduate Programmes. For this, it studies the history and the subject longevity in its transience, therefore it is a review article. This study was conducted through an exploratory approach, with a qualitative method of inductive reasoning, based on literature and document review for conceptual appropriation. Its relevance addresses two inter, multi and transdisciplinary issues, which reveal and complement each other in a broader social understanding. The reflections here discussed under the administration context, point to the challenge of the respective area. This should devise and disseminate scientific knowledge from and related to management that can operate under changes in the current social paradigm in which this science is linked to the others paradigm that is expected in the future: management contextualized and articulated with the sustainability paradigm. The study’s conclusion is that the challenge of incorporating sustainability into the teaching of stricto sensu Postgraduation in Management should be addressed through environmental education.

Comparative Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Bio-Based Fibre Reinforcement Materials for Wind Turbine Blades

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Corona, Andrea; Markussen, Christen Malte; Birkved, Morten

2015-01-01

and flax/carbon, flax/glass mixed fibres) are compared in terms of environmental sustainability. Applying one of the most recent life cycle impact assessment methods, we demonstrate that the environmental sustainability of natural fibre based composite materials is similar or even lower, within certain...... turbines have therefore partially been focused on substitution of conventional fibre materials with bio-fibres assuming that this substitution was in the better for the environment and human health. The major question is if this material substitution, taking into account a multitude of environmental impact...... reinforcement materials. Since the environmental burden of the resin in addition is comparable to that of the fibres (especially in terms human health related impacts), the higher resin demand counterbalances the environmental sustainability improvements, obtained with the application of natural fibres....

The Relation between Sustainable Innovation Strategy and Financial Performance Mediated By Environmental Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hariyati Hariyati

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This study aims to examine the relationship of sustainable innovation strategy and financial performance through the mediation environmental performance. The hypothesis in this study is sustainable innovation strategy affect the financial performance which is mediated by environmental performance. This study is quantitative research in the explanatory level. The population of this study is all the manufacturer companies in East Java. The data is collected through questionnaire. The unit of analysis is a business unit. The respondent of this study is the manager of a business unit manufacturing company in East Java. The results showed that the environmental performance mediates partially the relation between sustainable innovation strategy and financial performance.

2017 Sustainable LA Environmental Report Card for Los Angeles County: Energy & Air Quality

OpenAIRE

Federico, Felicia; Rauser, Casandra; Gold, Mark

2017-01-01

The 2017 Sustainable LA Environmental Report Card (ERC) for Los Angeles County (LA County) on Energy and Air Quality offers an in-depth look at the region’s sustainability efforts focusing on the energy we use, greenhouse gas emissions, and the air we breathe. The LA County Environmental Report Card is the only comprehensive environmental report card for a megacity in the world. This ERC assesses 21 indicators that fall into five categories: Stationary Energy Use; Transportation; Renewable En...

Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Perspective of Sustainable Development in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Galuh Nuansa Citrasmara

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Sustainable development with three main pillars, namely environmental, economic, and social, is the concept of country’s development to achieve inclusive economic growth, good environmental quality, and improvement of people's welfare. However, the dominance of economic factors cause various environmental problem. This phenomenon occurs in most of developing countries, including in Indonesia. The relationship between economic activity and environmental quality has been widely discussed and empirically tested by scholars. This descriptive research analysed the hypothesis called Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC from a perspective of sustainable development in Indonesia. EKC hypothesis illustrates the relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation forming an inverted U-curve, indicating that at the beginning of development, environmental quality will decrease along with increasing economic growth, and then reached a certain point the environmental quality will gradually improve. In this paper will be discussed how the relationship between environmental quality and economic growth in Indonesia was investigated. The preliminary results show that most of the empirical studies use the conventional approach, in which the CO2 emission used as the proxy of environmental degradation. The existence of inverted U-curve is also inconclusive. Therefore, the extension research on the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality in Indonesia using the EKC hypothesis is required.

Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Perspective of Sustainable Development in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Nuansa, Citrasmara Galuh; Widodo, Wahyu

2018-02-01

Sustainable development with three main pillars, namely environmental, economic, and social, is the concept of country's development to achieve inclusive economic growth, good environmental quality, and improvement of people's welfare. However, the dominance of economic factors cause various environmental problem. This phenomenon occurs in most of developing countries, including in Indonesia. The relationship between economic activity and environmental quality has been widely discussed and empirically tested by scholars. This descriptive research analysed the hypothesis called Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) from a perspective of sustainable development in Indonesia. EKC hypothesis illustrates the relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation forming an inverted U-curve, indicating that at the beginning of development, environmental quality will decrease along with increasing economic growth, and then reached a certain point the environmental quality will gradually improve. In this paper will be discussed how the relationship between environmental quality and economic growth in Indonesia was investigated. The preliminary results show that most of the empirical studies use the conventional approach, in which the CO2 emission used as the proxy of environmental degradation. The existence of inverted U-curve is also inconclusive. Therefore, the extension research on the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality in Indonesia using the EKC hypothesis is required.

Towards the environmental sustainability assessment for the viticulture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucia Recchia

2018-04-01

Full Text Available During the last decades in Italy the wine sector focused on the environmental sustainability of the production processes, including the agricultural, the agro-industrial and the packaging phases. Recent surveys highlighted that the wine consumers are interested in the environmental certifications, even if they are not familiar with them. Several environmental pressures can be evaluated in the viticulture phase, but an elevated number of the analysed impacts require the collection of a large set of input data and significant efforts during the elaboration phase. Therefore, the aim of the present work was the identification of the inventory data and impacts, which mainly describe the environmental pressures associated with the viticulture phase. Particularly, the results of the life cycle assessment (LCA were integrated with those of a model and a simplified approach for evaluating the risks due to the pesticides use. The LCA identified three phases, which are responsible of 70-80% of the CO2eq (CO2 equivalent, the cumulated energy utilisation, the acidification potential (expressed in SO2 equivalent and the eutrophication (expressed in PO4 equivalent, i.e. the harvesting, the crop protection and the ligature. The phase of the pesticides use was analysed also through the pesticides risk indicator (PERI model and a simplified approach elaborated by the Regional Agency for the Environment Protection in Tuscany, Italy. Results concerning the environmental risk showed that the PERI model, the Arpat approach and the LCA were coherent for the pesticide mix highlighting that the associated environmental risk is more than doubled from 2004 to 2010. Finally, some operative indications were elaborated in order to reduce the impacts and improve the local and global environmental sustainability of the viticulture phase.

Bio-based fillers for environmentally friendly composites

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mokhothu, Thabang H

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The use of bio-based fillers as alternative replacement for synthetic fillers has been dictated by increasing ecological concerns as well as depleting petroleum resources. The other aspect is a growing need for eco-friendly, renewable...

Spillover of environment-friendly consumer behaviour

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thøgersen, John; Ølander, Carl Folke

2003-01-01

This paper contributes empirical input to current reasoning about consumers' propensity to behave in an environmentally friendly way in different domains. Spe-cifically, we investigate whether environmentally friendly behaviours spread to more and more areas of the consumption pattern in a virtuous...... circle and whether it is a necessary prerequisite for a virtuous circle to emerge and to continue to work that the individual possesses certain general values or ethical norms. The data material is a three-wave panel study with a large random sample of Danish consumers. The data were analysed by means...... of structural equation modelling and other techniques. Cases of transfer of environment-friendly conduct between behavioural categories are found, but only in a few of the possible instances and only of a modest size. The panel analysis also identifies a few negative cross-lagged effects. Such effects may...

Environmental Sustainability and Energy-Efficient Supply Chain Management: A Review of Research Trends and Proposed Guidelines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piera Centobelli

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This paper conducts a structured review on the topic of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in the supply chain management context to define research trends on the topic and identify research gaps. The review is carried out using the largest databases of peer-reviewed literature (Scopus and Web of Science. A sample of 122 papers focusing on the topic of energy-efficient and sustainable supply chain management was selected and analyzed through descriptive and content analysis. The review highlights that despite there is a growing research trend on the topic, different research gaps remain to be covered. These gaps concern the factors influencing energy efficiency and environmental sustainability initiatives, the classification of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability initiatives, the impact of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability on supply chain performance, the customer perspective in sustainable and energy-efficient supply chain, and the different technologies supporting the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability initiatives. The research gaps and the research questions identified offer the opportunity to identify areas of investigation to design future research directions and propose guidelines in the field of supply chain management.

The future impact of ICT on environmental sustainability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wunnik, C. van; Rodriguez, C.; Delgado, L.; Burgelman, J.C.; Desruelle, P. [Inst. for Prospective Technological Studies, European Commission, DG-JRC (Spain)

2004-07-01

The Institute for Prospective Technology Studies commissioned a project to research the possible effects of ICT on a set of environmental indicators in 2020. The project adopted an innovative methodology combining qualitative scenario-building and quantitative modelling. The general conclusion was that the impact of ICT is roughly between -20 and +30%. It should therefore be taken into account by environmental policies in order to ensure that ICT applications make a positive contribution to environmental outcomes, and, at the same time, to suppress rebound effects. There are significant opportunities for improving environmental sustainability through ICTs, which can rationalise energy management in housing (or facilities), make passenger and freight transport more efficient, and enable a product-to-service shift across the economy. (orig.)

Beyond Public Particpation: The disjuncture between South Africa's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA Law and Sustainable Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T Murombo

2008-10-01

Full Text Available One of the key strategies for achieving sustainable development is the use of the process of evaluating the potential environmental impacts of development activities. The procedure of environmental impact assessment (EIA implements the principle of integration which lies at the core of the concept of sustainable development by providing a process through which potential social, economic and environmental impacts of activities are scrutinised and planned for. Sustainable development may not be achieved without sustained and legally mandated efforts to ensure that development planning is participatory. The processes of public participation play a crucial role in ensuring the integration of the socio-economic impacts of a project into the environmental decision-making processes. Public participation is not the only process, nor does the process always ensure the achievement of sustainable development. Nevertheless, decisions that engage the public have the propensity to lead to sustainable development. The public participation provisions in South Africa’s EIA regulations promulgated under the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 show a disjuncture between the idea of public participation and the notion of sustainable development. The provisions do not create a framework for informed participation and leave a wide discretion to environmental assessment practitioners (EAPs regarding the form which participation should assume. In order for environmental law, specifically EIA laws, to be effective as tools to promote sustainable development the laws must, among other things, provide for effective public participation. The judiciary must also aid in the process by giving content to the legal provisions on public participation in the EIA process.

How does consumer knowledge affect environmentally sustainable choices?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peschel, Anne O; Grebitus, Carola; Steiner, Bodo

2016-01-01

. Subjective knowledge was found to be more important in this context. Usage experience had relatively little impact on environmentally sustainable choices. Our results suggest that about 20 % of consumers in both countries are ready to adopt footprint labels in their food choices. Another 10 - 20% could...

Advancing sustainable consumption in the UK and China: the mediating effect of pro-environmental self-identity

OpenAIRE

Dermody, Janine; Hanmer-Lloyd, Stuart; Koenig-Lewis, Nicole; Zhao, Anita Lifen

2015-01-01

In this paper, we respond to the call for more holistic and culturally diverse research to advance understanding of (non)sustainable consumption behaviour. Our conceptual model incorporates materialism, environmental concern, social consumption motivation, pro-environmental self-identity and sustainable consumption behaviours. This paper contributes to knowledge by examining the mediating role of pro-environmental self-identity to more fully explain consumers’ (non)sustainable consumption beh...

Renewable energy for sustainable development and environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Omer, Abdeen

2010-09-15

The increased availability of reliable and efficient energy services stimulates new development alternatives. This article discusses the potential for such integrated systems in the stationary and portable power market in response to the critical need for a cleaner energy technology. Throughout the theme several issues relating to renewable energies, environment and sustainable development are examined from both current and future perspectives. It is concluded that renewable environmentally friendly energy must be encouraged, promoted, implemented and demonstrated by full-scale plan especially for use in remote rural areas.

Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Perspective of Sustainable Development in Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Galuh Nuansa Citrasmara; Widodo Wahyu

2018-01-01

Sustainable development with three main pillars, namely environmental, economic, and social, is the concept of country’s development to achieve inclusive economic growth, good environmental quality, and improvement of people's welfare. However, the dominance of economic factors cause various environmental problem. This phenomenon occurs in most of developing countries, including in Indonesia. The relationship between economic activity and environmental quality has been widely discussed and em...

Environmentally friendly inhibition of pathogenic bacteria and algae propagation due phthalocyanine agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rihova Ambrozova, J.; Bezdekova, E.; Louckova, E.; Nekovarova, J.

2007-01-01

From 2004, in the laboratory of The Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague is being solved the project FT-TA/034 'Environmentally friendly inhibition of pathogenic bacteria and algae propagation in the circulatory cooling systems of nuclear power stations and in other similar technological facilities' to determine effects of phthalocyanine agents. The project bearer is VUOS, Inc. in Rybitvi (Research Institute for Organic Synthesis Inc.), where are the new phthalocyanines synthesized. The aimed goal of the research is environmentally friendly liquidation of bacteria and algae by means of photodynamic generated singlet oxygen through impact of solar radiation in the circulation cooling waters of various technical and technological systems. The principle of the problem outlined is the applying of phthalocyanine agents on samples of pure bacterial, anabaenas and algae cultures to estimate the inhibition effect on the organism exposed. In the course of solution, it is assumed that in such way conducted inhibition of bacteria, anabaenas and algae as well of their proliferation would replace routinely used bactericidal and algicidal preparations, which demand permanent dosing into circulating waters or perhaps from time to time an application of shocking doses. The particular algicidal and bactericidal agents represents in this case in situ emerging singlet oxygen, that is harmless to water biocenoses and whose presence in the water is no reason to ban the outflow of waters treated in such a way into water streams. The goal should be also a direct estimation of the effect those agents on cooling waters samples e. g. from the nuclear power plant systems. The purpose of the tests performance is also elimination of filamentous green algae, emerging in the systems cooling towers. The applied preparations are not toxic and do not burden the living environment, they contain no substances interacting with surface materials of structures in the circulatory cooling circuit

Reclaim “Education” in environmental and sustainability education research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sund, Per; Lysgaard, Jonas Greve

2013-01-01

Without contextualization and explicit links to centuries of relevant educational theories, research presentations at conferences risk appearing disconnected from teaching method development or evaluation. Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE), is a highly vibrant research area...

An easy and environmentally-friendly approach to superamphiphobicity of aluminum surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deng, R. [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091 (China); Hu, Y.M., E-mail: yongmaohu@163.com [College of Engineering, Dali University, Dali 671003 (China); Wang, L.; Li, Zh.H.; Shen, T. [Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093 (China); Zhu, Y., E-mail: zhuyan@kmust.edu.cn [Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093 (China); Xiang, J.Zh., E-mail: jzhxiang@ynu.edu.cn [School of Materials Science and Engineering, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091 (China)

2017-04-30

Highlights: • Superamphiphobic Al surfaces were achieved via an approach of chemical etching and low surface energy material modification. • The process of chemical etching and hot water bathing were optimized to obtain desirable hierarchical micro/nanoscale structures. • The surface morphology, chemistry and wetting properties of the as-prepared aluminum surfaces were characterized and discussed. • The mechanical robustness and chemical stability of the as-prepared superamphiphobic Al surfaces were tested and evaluated. - Abstract: Superamphiphobic Al surfaces were achieved via an easy and environmentally-friendly approach. Aqueous mixed solution of 0.7 M CuSO{sub 4} and 1 M NaCl was used to etch polished Al surfaces to fabricate a rough morphology distributed with microscale step-like pits. The uniformly distributed nanoscale petals covered on the microscale pits were obtained by subsequent 96 °C hot deionized water bathing for 13 min. Thus, the hierarchical micro/nanometer scale roughness was formed which provided the structural basic of superamphiphobic Al surfaces. By 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-Perfluorodecyl-triethoxysilane (PFDTS) derivatization, desirable superamphiphobic Al surfaces were achieved with the highest static contact angles of 162° for water, 156° for peanut oil, respectively. Meanwhile, the sliding angles were lower than 10° for both water and peanut oil droplets. The as-prepared Al surfaces were investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and optical contact angle measurements. The FE-SEM images of as-prepared Al surfaces showed a hierarchical micro/nanometer scale morphology. XPS analyses demonstrated the PFDTS derivitization on Al surfaces. The superamphiphobic Al surfaces presented good mechanical durability and chemical stability which have a wide range of applications in fields such as self-cleaning, anti-icing, anti

An easy and environmentally-friendly approach to superamphiphobicity of aluminum surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng, R.; Hu, Y.M.; Wang, L.; Li, Zh.H.; Shen, T.; Zhu, Y.; Xiang, J.Zh.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Superamphiphobic Al surfaces were achieved via an approach of chemical etching and low surface energy material modification. • The process of chemical etching and hot water bathing were optimized to obtain desirable hierarchical micro/nanoscale structures. • The surface morphology, chemistry and wetting properties of the as-prepared aluminum surfaces were characterized and discussed. • The mechanical robustness and chemical stability of the as-prepared superamphiphobic Al surfaces were tested and evaluated. - Abstract: Superamphiphobic Al surfaces were achieved via an easy and environmentally-friendly approach. Aqueous mixed solution of 0.7 M CuSO 4 and 1 M NaCl was used to etch polished Al surfaces to fabricate a rough morphology distributed with microscale step-like pits. The uniformly distributed nanoscale petals covered on the microscale pits were obtained by subsequent 96 °C hot deionized water bathing for 13 min. Thus, the hierarchical micro/nanometer scale roughness was formed which provided the structural basic of superamphiphobic Al surfaces. By 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-Perfluorodecyl-triethoxysilane (PFDTS) derivatization, desirable superamphiphobic Al surfaces were achieved with the highest static contact angles of 162° for water, 156° for peanut oil, respectively. Meanwhile, the sliding angles were lower than 10° for both water and peanut oil droplets. The as-prepared Al surfaces were investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and optical contact angle measurements. The FE-SEM images of as-prepared Al surfaces showed a hierarchical micro/nanometer scale morphology. XPS analyses demonstrated the PFDTS derivitization on Al surfaces. The superamphiphobic Al surfaces presented good mechanical durability and chemical stability which have a wide range of applications in fields such as self-cleaning, anti-icing, anti-corrosion, oil

Feasibility survey of the environmentally-friendly coal utilization system. Feasibility survey of the environmentally-friendly coal utilization system in the Philippines; Kankyo chowagata sekitan riyo system kanosei chosa. Philippines ni okeru kankyo chowagata sekitan riyo system kanosei chosa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-03-01

With relation to the coal of the Philippines, where the expansion of the use of coal as a substitute for petroleum/plant fuel is aimed at, the paper grasped the situation of coal production/development, the trend of coal import and domestic distribution, the coal utilization trend, and environmental problems, and analyzed the situation of coal utilization/spread by industry including the commercial/residential use. The purpose of the survey is to draw up a master plan for the introduction of the environmentally-friendly coal utilization system. As to the use of environmentally-friendly coal technology which should be adopted to the coal mining industry and commercial/residential sector, cited are the introduction of coal preparation technology and power transmission technology, and the development/spread of briquette as a firewood substituting fuel. In the electric power sector, the problem is the treatment of ash after combustion and the effective use. Relating to the treatment of flue gas, there is no installation at all of desulfurization facilities and denitrification facilities. In the cement industry sector, they wish to return fuel from heavy oil to coal. For it, it is necessary to study dust preventive measures. In the other sectors, coal hasn`t been used very much. An increase in coal demand is not expected also in the future, and big problems concerning coal haven`t occurred. 42 figs., 64 tabs.

Regional sustainability in Northern Australia. A quantitative assessment of social, economic and environmental impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, Richard; Garnett, Stephen

2010-01-01

This paper seeks to provide a picture of sustainability of the Northern Territory by analysing a number of sustainability indicators across indigenous status and remoteness class. The paper seeks to extend current socio-economic statistics and analysis by including environmental considerations in a 'triple bottom line' or 'sustainability assessment' approach. Further, a life-cycle approach is employed for a number of indicators so that both direct and indirect impacts are considered where applicable. Whereas urban populations are generally doing better against most quantitative economic and social indicators, environmental indicators show the opposite, reflecting the increasing market-based environmental impacts of urban populations. As we seek to value these environmental impacts appropriately, it would be beneficial to start incorporating these results in policy and planning. (author)

Citizen involvement in sustainability-centred environmental assessment follow-up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hunsberger, Carol A.; Gibson, Robert B.; Wismer, Susan K.

2005-01-01

In Canada, many project proponents and planners in the public and private sectors are required to forecast and minimize the adverse environmental effects of their undertakings. However, environmental assessments have traditionally been weak in the areas of planning and conducting effective monitoring, encouraging public participation, integrating social and ecological considerations, encouraging environmental rehabilitation and enhancement, and examining cumulative effects of multiple projects. This paper attempts to address these deficiencies together by drawing from theory and practice in citizen-based monitoring, in the interests of sustainable livelihoods, using local knowledge. Informed by case study research in several regions of Canada, the discussion focuses on opportunities for using citizen-based approaches to broad and continuing regional monitoring as a foundation for the project-centred work that is the usual concern of environmental assessment follow-up. Such approaches have advantages beyond the usual expectations of project-centred monitoring and beyond the conventional arguments for increasing local involvement in environmental assessments. However, there are also challenges including those of integrating local and conventional (or scientific) knowledge systems, addressing concerns about the credibility and biases of citizens and project proponents, ensuring attention to broader sustainability goals such as increased stewardship and civility, and developing practical ways of coordinating and funding integrated and participatory monitoring programs. The concluding recommendations call for a dramatically different approach to follow-up activities on the part of private and public project proponents, as well as novel thinking for environmental assessment practitioners

Towards Carbon Neutrality and Environmental Sustainability at CCSU

Science.gov (United States)

Button, Charles E.

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide information about past and present efforts undertaken at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) to reduce its carbon footprint and to institute a campus culture centered on the principles of environmental sustainability. Provide some recommendations to other institutions of higher education…

Healthy and sustainable diets: Community concern about the effect of the future food environments and support for government regulating sustainable food supplies in Western Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Harray, Amelia J; Meng, Xingqiong; Kerr, Deborah A; Pollard, Christina M

2018-06-01

To determine the level of community concern about future food supplies and perception of the importance placed on government regulation over the supply of environmentally friendly food and identify dietary and other factors associated with these beliefs in Western Australia. Data from the 2009 and 2012 Nutrition Monitoring Survey Series computer-assisted telephone interviews were pooled. Level of concern about the effect of the environment on future food supplies and importance of government regulating the supply of environmentally friendly food were measured. Multivariate regression analysed potential associations with sociodemographic variables, dietary health consciousness, weight status and self-reported intake of eight foods consistent with a sustainable diet. Western Australia. Community-dwelling adults aged 18-64 years (n = 2832). Seventy nine per cent of Western Australians were 'quite' or 'very' concerned about the effect of the environment on future food supplies. Respondents who paid less attention to the health aspects of their diet were less likely than those who were health conscious ('quite' or 'very' concerned) (OR = 0.53, 95% CI [0.35, 0.8] and 0.38 [0.17, 0.81] respectively). The majority of respondents (85.3%) thought it was 'quite' or 'very' important that government had regulatory control over an environmentally friendly food supply. Females were more likely than males to rate regulatory control as 'quite' or 'very' important' (OR = 1.63, 95% CI [1.09, 2.44], p = .02). Multiple regression modeling found that no other factors predicted concern or importance. There is a high level of community concern about the impact of the environment on future food supplies and most people believe it is important that the government regulates the issue. These attitudes dominate regardless of sociodemographic characteristics, weight status or sustainable dietary behaviours. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigation of Environmental-friendly Technology for a Paint Industry Wastewater Plant in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pelin YAPICIOĞLU

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Paint manufacturing process has several unfavorable aspects to the environment in Turkey. One of these impacts is wastewater treatment. Paint wastewater contains huge amounts of toxic chemical substances, bio refractory compounds, pigments and microorganisms. So, advanced treatment requirement is available to dispose of colour, microorganisms and chemical oxygen demand (COD. The high organic content of wastewater causes serious environmental challenges and contamination for the living organisms and the ecosystem in the receiver media unless it is treated adequately. In this context, the treatment process to be implemented should be preferred in such a way as to give the least damage to the environment. In this study, three treatment scenarios that contain electrocoagulation (Scenario-1, Fenton process (Scenario-2 and membrane distillation (Scenario-3 have been created for wastewater treatment facility of a paint industry in Turkey. For three scenarios, environmental impact assessment has been carried out with Fine-Kinney method. It is aimed to choose best environmental technology before investment. The evaluation results revealed that Scenario-2 has the less environmental impacts that total impact value is 556. Scenario-1 has the highest total impact value as 756, relatively. Total impact value related to Scenario-3 is 637. According to the evaluation results, Fenton process is the best environmental-friendly treatment technology for wastewater treatment of a paint industry in Turkey.

The System Dynamics Model User Sustainability Explorer (SD-MUSE) user interface: a user-friendly tool for interpreting system dynamic models

Science.gov (United States)

Sustainability-based decision making is a challenging process that requires balancing trade-offs among social, economic, and environmental components. System Dynamic (SD) models can be useful tools to inform sustainability-based decision making because they provide a holistic co...

A sustainable building promotes pro-environmental behavior: an observational study on food disposal.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, David W-L; DiGiacomo, Alessandra; Kingstone, Alan

2013-01-01

In order to develop a more sustainable society, the wider public will need to increase engagement in pro-environmental behaviors. Psychological research on pro-environmental behaviors has thus far focused on identifying individual factors that promote such behavior, designing interventions based on these factors, and evaluating these interventions. Contextual factors that may also influence behavior at an aggregate level have been largely ignored. In the current study, we test a novel hypothesis--whether simply being in a sustainable building can elicit environmentally sustainable behavior. We find support for our hypothesis: people are significantly more likely to correctly choose the proper disposal bin (garbage, compost, recycling) in a building designed with sustainability in mind compared to a building that was not. Questionnaires reveal that these results are not due to self-selection biases. Our study provides empirical support that one's surroundings can have a profound and positive impact on behavior. It also suggests the opportunity for a new line of research that bridges psychology, design, and policy-making in an attempt to understand how the human environment can be designed and used as a subtle yet powerful tool to encourage and achieve aggregate pro-environmental behavior.

Environment-friendly drilling operation technology

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Huaidong; Jing, Ning; Zhang, Yanna; Huang, Hongjun; Wei, Jun

2017-01-01

Under the circumstance that international safety and environmental standards being more and more stringent, drilling engineering is facing unprecedented challenges, the extensive traditional process flow is no longer accepted, the new safe and environment-friendly process is more suitable to the healthy development of the industry. In 2015, CNPCIC adopted environment-friendly drilling technology for the first time in the Chad region, ensured the safety of well control, at the same time increased the environmental protection measure, reduced the risk of environmental pollution what obtain the ratification from local government. This technology carries out recovery and disposal of crude oil, cuttings and mud without falling on the ground. The final products are used in road and well site construction, which realizes the reutilization of drilling waste, reduces the operating cost, and provides a strong technical support for cost-cutting and performance-increase of drilling engineering under low oil price.

Protected areas for environmental sustainability in Nigeria | Imasuen ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper is focused on protected areas for environmental sustainability in Nigeria. It has examined what protected areas are the meaning, especially as defined by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). A thorough investigation was done to identify the areas that were and are still protected in ...

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

Assessing Environmental Sustainability of Remediation Technologies in a Life Cycle Perspective is Not So Easy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Owsianiak, Mikolaj; Lemming, Gitte; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

2013-01-01

Integrating sustainability into remediation projects has attracted attention from remediation practitioners, and life cycle assessment (LCA) is becoming a popular tool to address the environmental dimension. The total number of studies has reached 31 since the first framework for LCA of site reme...... about the environmental sustainability of remediation technologies.......Integrating sustainability into remediation projects has attracted attention from remediation practitioners, and life cycle assessment (LCA) is becoming a popular tool to address the environmental dimension. The total number of studies has reached 31 since the first framework for LCA of site...

Deciphering Corporate Governance and Environmental Commitments among Southeast Asian Transnationals: Uptake of Sustainability Certification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Marc Roda

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Promoting tropical forest sustainability among corporate players is a major challenge. Many tools have been developed, but without much success. Southeast Asia has become a laboratory of globalization processes, where the development and success of agribusiness transnationals raises questions about their commitment to environmental concerns. An abundance of literature discusses what determines the behavior of Asian corporations, with a particular emphasis on cultural factors. Our hypothesis is that financial factors, such as ownership structure, may also have a fundamental role. We analyzed the audited accounts of four major Asian agribusiness transnationals. Using network analysis, we deciphered how the 931 companies relate to each other and determine the behavior of the transnationals to which they belong. We compared various metrics with the environmental commitment of these transnationals. We found that ownership structures reflect differences in flexibility, control and transaction costs, but not in ethnicities. Capital and its control, ownership structure, and flexibility explain 97% of the environmental behavior. It means that existing market-based tools to promote environmental sustainability do not engage transnationals at the scale where most of their behavior is determined. For the first time, the inner mechanisms of corporate governance are unraveled in agricultural and forest sustainability. New implications such as the convergence of environmental sustainability with family business sustainability emerged.

What current literature tells us about sustainable diets: emerging research linking dietary patterns, environmental sustainability, and economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Auestad, Nancy; Fulgoni, Victor L

2015-01-01

The concept of sustainable diets, although not new, is gaining increased attention across the globe, especially in relation to projected population growth and growing concerns about climate change. As defined by the FAO (Proceedings of the International Scientific Symposium, Biodiversity and Sustainable Diets 2010; FAO 2012), "Sustainable diets are those diets with low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security and to healthy life for present and future generations." Consistent and credible science that brings together agriculture, food systems, nutrition, public health, environment, economics, culture, and trade is needed to identify synergies and trade-offs and to inform guidance on vital elements of healthy, sustainable diets. The aim of this article is to review the emerging research on environmental and related economic impacts of dietary patterns, including habitual eating patterns, nutritionally balanced diets, and a variety of different dietary scenarios. Approaches to research designs, methodologies, and data sources are compared and contrasted to identify research gaps and future research needs. To date, it is difficult to assimilate all of the disparate approaches, and more concerted efforts for multidisciplinary studies are needed. © 2015 American Society for Nutrition.

Regional sustainability in Northern Australia. A quantitative assessment of social, economic and environmental impacts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wood, Richard [School for Environmental Research, Charles Darwin University, NT 0909 (Australia); Industrial Ecology Program, NTNU, Trondheim (Norway); Integrated Sustainability Analysis, University of Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia); Garnett, Stephen [School for Environmental Research, Charles Darwin University, NT 0909 (Australia)

2010-07-15

This paper seeks to provide a picture of sustainability of the Northern Territory by analysing a number of sustainability indicators across indigenous status and remoteness class. The paper seeks to extend current socio-economic statistics and analysis by including environmental considerations in a 'triple bottom line' or 'sustainability assessment' approach. Further, a life-cycle approach is employed for a number of indicators so that both direct and indirect impacts are considered where applicable. Whereas urban populations are generally doing better against most quantitative economic and social indicators, environmental indicators show the opposite, reflecting the increasing market-based environmental impacts of urban populations. As we seek to value these environmental impacts appropriately, it would be beneficial to start incorporating these results in policy and planning. (author)

Sustainability as an element of environmental management in companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuela Ingaldi

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The concept of sustainable development involves a properly and consciously shaped relationship between economic growth, care for the environment and life quality. The aim of this concept is to ensure the ability to provide the basic needs of both the present generation and also future generations. This concept introduced the need of environmental protection and most of all the change of environmental man-agement strategies. One of the elements this strategy is waste minimisation that involves reducing the amount of waste produced in society and helps eliminate the generation of harmful and persistent wastes, supporting the efforts to promote a more sustainable society. The aim of the article is to introduce the definition of the concept of susainability with regard to the environment. Waste minimisation in companies, which is connected with this concept, will be also presented.

Reclaim “Education” in environmental and sustainability education research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lysgaard, Jonas Greve; Sund, Per

Introduction: this paper looks into the the nascent research area of Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) and argues that it needs a firm grounding in educational philosophy in order to focus more on education. The paper is based on experiences at two recent conferences focusing...... on research in this field. Issues related to content, attitudes and long-term aims dominated at these conferences, while learning processes were often taken for granted. Objectives: This paper highlights the risk that, without a connection to educational philosophy, Environmental and Sustainability Education...... (ESE) research can result in normative statements that may essentially be regarded as mis-educative. All education is normative in the sense that it has a purpose. The normativity that is problematized here is the tendency to use ESE as a platform for prescribing how the knowledge that is acquired...

Factors Influencing Arab Nursing Students' Attitudes toward Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability and their Inclusion in Nursing Curricula.

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Jonas Preposi; Felicilda-Reynaldo, Rhea Faye D; Alshammari, Farhan; Alquwez, Nahed; Alicante, Jerico G; Obaid, Khamees B; Rady, Hanan Ebrahim Abd El Aziz; Qtait, Mohammad; Silang, John Paul Ben T

2018-05-17

To assess the factors influencing the attitudes of Bachelor of Science in Nursing students toward climate change and environmental sustainability and the inclusion of these concepts in the nursing curricula of four Arab countries. A convenience sample of 1,059 students from four Arab countries was surveyed using the Environmental Sustainability Attitudes in Nursing Survey-2 (SANS-2) questionnaire in this descriptive-comparative study. The majority of the respondents exhibited positive attitudes toward the five items of SANS-2, with "Environmental sustainability is an important issue for nursing" receiving the lowest mean score and "Issues about climate change should be included in the nursing curriculum" receiving the highest mean score. Saudi students had more positive attitudes toward environmental sustainability in health care compared with students from Iraq, Egypt, and the Palestinian Territories. Country of residence, type of community, and knowledge about environmental issues and their impact on health in any nursing course were significant factors that influenced attitudes toward environmental sustainability. The inclusion of climate change and environmental sustainability in nursing curricula in the Arab region was emphasized by the findings. Including environmental sustainability practices in nursing education will help student nurses develop critical thinking and skills in the adaptive delivery of health care, especially when resources are scarce. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Constraints in the Adoption of Eco Friendly Conservation Practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Murali Krishnan

2016-05-01

Insect pest and diseases management, Lack of awareness of agro environmental problems and farmer’s attitude towards the Eco Friendly Conservation Practices are the major constraints in the adoption of Eco Friendly Conservation Practices.The study suggests educational, extension & training strategies for fostering the adopted of ECO friendly Conservation Practices.

Polystyrene Supported Al(OTf)3: an Environmentally Friendly Heterogeneous Catalyst for Friedel-Crafts Acylation of Aromatic Compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boroujeni, Kaveh Parvanak

2010-01-01

Stable and non-hygroscopic polystyrene supported aluminium triflate (Ps-Al(OTf) 3 ), which is prepared easily from cheap and commercially available compounds was found to be an environmentally friendly heterogeneous catalyst for Friedel-Crafts acylation of arenes using acid chlorides in the absence of solvent under mild reaction conditions. The catalyst can be reused up to five times after simple washing with dichloromethane

Analysis on Transportation Infrastructure Availability to Achieve Environmental and Social Sustainability in Karawang

Science.gov (United States)

Rarasati, A. D.; Octoria, N. B.

2018-03-01

Sustainable infrastructure is the key to development success. At the same time, transportation infrastructure development will involve social and environmental conditions of the local surroundings. Assessment of the availability of such transport infrastructure is one of the solutions adapted from social and environmental impacts. By conducting a correlation test, the presence of transportation infrastructure and the social conditions of the environment can be identified. The results obtained show that the accessibility, the level of security, and the level of equality are correlated to social and environmental sustainability in Karawang. In terms of environment, the availability of transportation infrastructure is not directly related to the impact of environmental sustainability. The impact of the perceived environment also has no effect on the journey. Correlation results indicate that the length of travel time and congestion level do not make the perceived impact greater. The impact of the perceived environment is merely due to the high utilization of private vehicles in Karawang which subsequently leads to higher energy consumption.

Bridge to a sustainable future: National environmental technology strategy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-04-01

For the past two years the Administration has sought the views of Congress, the states, communities, industry, academia, nongovernmental organizations, and interested citizens on ways to spur the development and use of a new generation of environmental technologies. This document represents the views of thousands of individuals who participated in events around the country to help craft a national environmental technology strategy that will put us on the path to sustainable development.

The Analysis of Sustainable Development Content in the Syllabus of Environmental Knowledge and Plants Ecology Lecture

Science.gov (United States)

Putra, A.; Rahmat, A.; Redjeki, S.

2017-09-01

This research aims to find out how much the content of sustainable development exist in the content of environmental knowledge and plant ecology courses. The focus indicators of sustainable development indicators is the environment. This research is a qualitative research type with qualitative descriptive approach. The analyzed variables are only 2 courses, which are environmental knowledge and plants ecology. The results showed that the syllabus contents analysis of environmental knowledge and plants ecology courses in private Lembaga Pendidikan Tenaga Kependidikan (LPTK) in the province of Nusa Tenggara Barat is already good enough and the sustainable development contents is very large, almost all syllabus contents has already prioritize the sustainable development load of both the subject of environmental knowledge and plants ecology, although there are still some syllabus contents that was not includes sustainable development load, but the percentage is quite small, especially in the course of Plant Ecology.

Photovoltaic battery charging stations for sustainable off-grid rural electrification in the Philippines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pascual, C.M.; Acebedo, I.P.; Gudoy, F.

2005-01-01

The Mariano Marcos State University-Affiliated Non Conventional Energy Center (MMSU-ANEC) in partnership with the Energy Management Bureau-Renewable Energy Management Division, Department of Energy implemented the Barangay Electrification Program (BEP) of the government in the off-grid rural areas at the northern Philippines from 1995-2004 with a common vision of promoting the use of new and renewable energy systems for rural electrification in order to spur development in the far-flung, off-grid rural areas. Such activity of the MMSU-ANEC on BEP used modified and improved Photovoltaic battery charging stations (PVBCS) to energize households and augment their livelihood in collaboration with the local government units and the beneficiaries. Socioeconomic and environmental impacts using long-range energy alternative planning or LEAP software showed that PVBCS are indispensable, feasible, economical, environmental-friendly and sustainable renewable energy resources systems in off-grid areas. Improvement of a locally-made battery charging unit (patent applied at IPO, Manila) which is cheaper and comparable than the imported unit, enabling project implementation strategies in community organizing and lessons learned during the implementation of BEP are also presented. Such improvement of the PVBCS is considered an innovative advancement in renewable energy that can be commercialized towards a sustainable agro-industrial development in far-flung, off-grid rural areas, among other applications for rural electrification and power generation using clean and environment-friendly sustainable technologies. (author)

Getting to Family-Friendly in Your Department

Science.gov (United States)

Pilachowski, Catherine A.

2012-01-01

These days, most academic and research institutions recognize the importance of a family-friendly workplace, and have implemented at least some policies to support a sustainable work-life balance: family and medical leave, parental leave, stopping or extending tenure clocks, modified duty policies, breast feeding policies and lactation rooms, partner hiring programs, childcare programs, eldercare programs, emergency and sick child care programs, dependent care travel funds, etc. But while institutions may offer a menu of policies and free or low-cost services to support families, what's happening in your department? Achieving a supportive workplace culture requires that we dispel some of the myths associated with family-friendly policies, and establish that family-friendly policies not only benefit all employees, but also help the institution be more successful.

A novel, environmentally friendly sodium lauryl ether sulfate-, cocamidopropyl betaine-, cocamide monoethanolamine-containing buffer for MEKC on microfluidic devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoeman, Kurt W; Culbertson, Christopher T

2008-12-01

A new buffer has been developed for fast, high-efficiency separations of amino acids by MEKC. This buffer was more environmentally friendly than the most commonly used surfactant-containing buffers for MEKC separations. It used a commercially available dishwashing soap by Seventh Generation (Burlington, VT, USA), which contained three micelle-forming agents. The mixed micelles were composed of sodium lauryl ether sulfate (anionic), cocamidopropyl betaine (zwitterionic), and cocamide monoethanolamine (non-ionic). The optimized buffer contained 5.0% w/w Seventh Generation Free & Clear dishwashing soap, 10 mM sodium borate, and was completely void of organics. The lack of organics and the biodegradability of the surfactant molecules made this buffer more environmentally friendly than typical SDS-containing buffers. This new buffer also had a different selectivity and provided faster separations with higher separation efficiencies than SDS-based buffers. Fast separations of BODIPY FL labeled amino acids yielded peaks with separation efficiencies greater than 100,000 in less than 20 s.

Development and Substantiation of Parameters of Environmentally Friendly Technology for Filling the Vertical Mine Workings with Autoclaved Slag-Concrete

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uglyanitca Andrey

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The environmentally friendly technology for filling the vertical mine workings with autoclaved slag-concrete, prefabricated on the surface of the mine is presented in the article; the optimal parameters of filling technology are proposed. The developed technology for filling the abandoned vertical mine workings allows ensuring the environmental safety of the territories adjacent to the abandoned mine, utilizing slag dumps and providing the possibility of shaft recovery, if necessary, with minimal labor and material costs.

MODELING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF MACHINERY SECTORS TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THAILAND

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pruethsan Sutthichaimethee

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research is to propose an indicator to evaluate environmental impacts from the machinery sectors of Thailand, leading to more sustainable consumption and production in this sector of the economy. The factors used to calculate the forward linkage, backward linkage and real benefit included the total environmental costs. The highest total environmental cost was railway equipment need to be resolved immediately because it uses natural resources in carrying capacity, higher than standard environmental cost, and contribute to low real benefit. Electric accumulator & battery, secondary special industrial machinery, motorcycle, bicycle & other carriages, and engines and turbines need to monitor closely because they are able to link to other production sectors more than other production sector do and they have high environmental cost. In order to decide the sustainable development strategy of the country, there is a need to use this research to support decision-making.

Strategic environmental assessment for sustainability: A review of a decade of academic research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, Lisa; Noble, Bram F.

2013-01-01

This paper examines the strategic environmental assessment (SEA)–sustainability relationship over the past decade, from 2000 to 2010, focusing in particular on the incorporation of sustainability in SEA. A total of 86 papers from the academic literature containing the terms ‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable development’ and ‘strategic environmental assessment’ were identified and reviewed. Several common themes emerged by which SEA can support sustainability, including providing a framework to support decision making for sustainability; setting sustainability objectives, ensuring the consideration of ‘more sustainable’ alternatives, and integrating sustainability criteria in PPP development; and promoting sustainability outcomes through tiering and institutional learning. At the same time, our review identified many underlying barriers that challenge SEA for sustainability, including the variable interpretations of the scope of sustainability in SEA; the limited use of assessment criteria directly linked to sustainability objectives; and challenges for decision-makers in operationalizing sustainability in SEA and adapting PPP development decision-making processes to include sustainability issues. To advance SEA for sustainability there is a need to better define the scope of sustainability in SEA; clarify how to operationalize the different approaches to sustainability in SEA, as opposed to simply describing those approaches; provide guidance on how to operationalize broad sustainability goals through assessment criteria in SEA; and understand better how to facilitate institutional learning regarding sustainability through SEA application. -- Highlights: ► There is significant potential for SEA to support sustainability in PPP development. ► However, there are still many barriers in place that challenge SEA for sustainability. ► The scope and approaches to sustainability in SEA must be better defined and described. ► Guidance is needed to

Strategic environmental assessment for sustainability: A review of a decade of academic research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

White, Lisa, E-mail: lisa.white@usask.ca [School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, 117 Science Place, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5A5 (Canada); Noble, Bram F., E-mail: b.noble@usask.ca [Department of Geography and Planning, School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, 117 Science Place, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 5A5 (Canada)

2013-09-15

This paper examines the strategic environmental assessment (SEA)–sustainability relationship over the past decade, from 2000 to 2010, focusing in particular on the incorporation of sustainability in SEA. A total of 86 papers from the academic literature containing the terms ‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable development’ and ‘strategic environmental assessment’ were identified and reviewed. Several common themes emerged by which SEA can support sustainability, including providing a framework to support decision making for sustainability; setting sustainability objectives, ensuring the consideration of ‘more sustainable’ alternatives, and integrating sustainability criteria in PPP development; and promoting sustainability outcomes through tiering and institutional learning. At the same time, our review identified many underlying barriers that challenge SEA for sustainability, including the variable interpretations of the scope of sustainability in SEA; the limited use of assessment criteria directly linked to sustainability objectives; and challenges for decision-makers in operationalizing sustainability in SEA and adapting PPP development decision-making processes to include sustainability issues. To advance SEA for sustainability there is a need to better define the scope of sustainability in SEA; clarify how to operationalize the different approaches to sustainability in SEA, as opposed to simply describing those approaches; provide guidance on how to operationalize broad sustainability goals through assessment criteria in SEA; and understand better how to facilitate institutional learning regarding sustainability through SEA application. -- Highlights: ► There is significant potential for SEA to support sustainability in PPP development. ► However, there are still many barriers in place that challenge SEA for sustainability. ► The scope and approaches to sustainability in SEA must be better defined and described. ► Guidance is needed to

Investigating Environmentally Sustainable Transport Based on DALY weights and SIR Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossein Nezamianpour Jahromi

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Accessibility is one of the main causes of well-being and growth in contemporary societies. Transportation is the backbone of accessibility systems that lead to the growth of economic and social networks and spatial dispersion of activities. Unfortunately, the adverse effects of transportation have a great impact on the natural and human environment. Since transportation is associated with fossil fuel combustion, it results in emissions of pollutants that cause damage to human health. To save the global eco-system, sustainable development has become an international priority. To deal with the sustainability of transportation systems is an important issue as testified by a growing number of initiatives framed to define and measure sustainability in transportation planning and infrastructure planning as well. The capability of environmental assessment as a sustainability instrument is well known. This study proposes a new approach to rank countries based on environmental sustainability development applying disability adjusted life year (DALY weights for transportation sector emissions. DALY weights consider actual impacts of pollutants on human health. By employing SIR method, a superiority and inferiority ranking method is presented for multiple criteria decision making, the sustainability ranking of a number of European countries is presented. Three various ranking methods extracted from SIR ranking method are discussed and the results and the correlation among them are demonstrated.

Environmental friendly method for the extraction of coir fibre and isolation of nanofibre.

Science.gov (United States)

Abraham, Eldho; Deepa, B; Pothen, L A; Cintil, J; Thomas, S; John, M J; Anandjiwala, R; Narine, S S

2013-02-15

The objective of this work was to develop an environmental friendly method for the effective utilization of coir fibre by adopting steam pre-treatment. The retting of the coconut bunch makes strong environmental problems which can be avoided by this method. Chemical characterization of the fibre during each processing stages confirmed the increase of cellulose content from raw (40%) to final steam treated fibres (93%). Morphological and dynamic light scattering analyses of the fibres at different processing stages revealed that the isolation of cellulose nano fibres occur in the final step of the process as an aqueous suspension. FT-IR and XRD analysis demonstrated that the treatments lead to the gradual removal of lignin and hemicelluloses from the fibres. The existence of strong lignin-cellulose complex in the raw coir fibre is proved by its enhanced thermal stability. Steam explosion has been proved to be a green method to expand the application areas of coir fibre. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advanced, Environmentally Friendly Hydroelectric Turbines for the Restoration of Fish and Water Quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brookshier, P.A.; Cada, G.F.; Flynn, J.V.; Rinehart, B.N.; Sale, M.J.; Sommers, G.L.

1999-01-01

Hydroelectric power contributes about 10 percent of the electrical energy generated in the United States, and nearly 20 percent of the worlds electrical energy. The contribution of hydroelectric generation has declined in recent years, often as a consequence of environmental concerns centering around (1) restriction of upstream and downstream fish passage by the dam, and (2) alteration of water quality and river flows by the impoundment. The Advanced Hydropower Turbine System (AHTS) Program of the U.S. Department of Energy is developing turbine technology which would help to maximize global hydropower resources while minimizing adverse environmental effects. Major technical goals for the Program are (1) the reduction of mortality among turbine-passed fish to 2 percent or less, compared to current levels ranging up to 30 percent or greater; and (2) development of aerating turbines that would ensure that water discharged from reservoirs has a dissolved oxygen concentration of at least 6 mg/L. These advanced, environmentally friendly turbines would be suitable both for new hydropower installations and for retrofitting at existing dams. Several new turbine designs that have been he AHTS program are described

Sustainable development and the nature of environmental legal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2. What is the exact difference between a principle and a legal rule, and between a principle and a policy? 3. What is the relationship between a principle and more concrete legal rules and policies? It is argued that principles of environmental law receive their high moral value from the ideal of sustainable development.

Selection of environmental sustainable fiber materials for wind turbine blades - a contra intuitive process?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Birkved, Morten; Corona, Andrea; Markussen, Christen Malte

2013-01-01

environmental trade-offs over the entire life-span of composite materials, life cycle assessment (LCA) can be applied. In the present case study, four different types of fibers (carbon, glass, flax and carbon/flax mixture) are compared in terms of environmental sustainability and cost. Applying one of the most...... recent life cycle impact assessment methods, it is demonstrated that the environmental sustainability of the mixed carbon/flax fiber based composite material is better than that of the flax fibers alone. This observation may be contra-intuitive, but is mainly caused by the fact that the bio...... impacts in relation to the production of the carbon and glass fibers considerable compared to the impacts resulting from resin production. The ideal fiber solution, in terms of environmental sustainability, is hence the fiber composition having the lowest resin demand and lowest overall energy demand...

Renewable and sustainable bioenergies production from palm oil mill effluent (POME): win-win strategies toward better environmental protection.

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Man Kee; Lee, Keat Teong

2011-01-01

Palm oil industry is one of the leading agricultural industries in Malaysia with average crude palm oil production of more than 13 million tonne per year. However, production of such huge amount of crude palm oil has consequently resulted to even larger amount of palm oil mill effluent (POME). POME is a highly polluting wastewater with high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in which can caused severe pollution to the environment, typically pollution to water resources. On the other hand, POME was identified as a potential source to generate renewable bioenergies such as biomethane and biohydrogen through anaerobic digestion. In other words, a combination of wastewater treatment and renewable bioenergies production would be an added advantage to the palm oil industry. In line with the world's focus on sustainability concept, such strategy should be implemented immediately to ensure palm oil is produced in an environmental friendly and sustainable manner. This review aims to discuss various technologies to convert POME to biomethane and biohydrogen in a commercial scale. Furthermore, discussion on using POME to culture microalgae for biodiesel and bioethanol production was included in the present paper as a new remedy to utilize POME with a greater beneficial return. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Encouraging sustainability in the workplace: a survey on the pro-environmental behaviour of university employees

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blok, V.; Wesselink, R.; Studynka, O.; Kemp, R.G.M.

2015-01-01

In order to enhance more sustainable behaviour in households, recent research focuses on the identification of factors that have an impact on sustainable or pro-environmental behaviour. The aim of this study is to identify factors that could predict pro-environmental behaviour in the workplace.

Environmental and legislative drivers for sustainable music festival management : why Finnish music festivals should "go green"

OpenAIRE

Okolo-Kulak, Aleksandra

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate why Finnish music festivals should "go green". The research was conducted from the aspect of environmental and legal drivers for sustainability. Academic sources on event management, sustainability as well as sustainable event management (SEM) were used to collect information on the subject. Furthermore, secondary sources were used to grasp a deep understanding on the environmental issues as well as legislative drivers for sustainability. The r...

Community Theories of Change: Linking Environmental Justice to Sustainability through Stakeholder Perceptions in Milwaukee (WI, USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaitlyn Hornik

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Environmental justice and sustainability are compatible lenses, yet action toward equity is often missing from urban sustainability initiatives. This study aims to assess the cohesion of these frameworks in practice. To do this, we parse individuals’ theories of change, or how they identify and propose to resolve environmental injustices in the pursuit of sustainability. We posit that these theories of change are comprised of three main components: (1 perceived environmental benefits and burdens; (2 the causal pathways of environmental and social injustice; and (3 visions for positive change. Drawing from 35 stakeholder interviews in Milwaukee (WI, USA we examine individual and institutional perspectives on environmental and social change and their links to the production of injustice. Our findings reveal that participants do not distinguish between environmental and social injustices. Instead, both social and environmental factors are implicated in injustice. Furthermore, we identify two mental maps for how social and economic change reproduce injustice. These findings suggest the need to reorient how urban injustice is considered and make efforts to acknowledge how a diversity of operational theories of change could either be divisive or could bring environmental justice and sustainability initiatives together.

Is sustainability certification for biochar the answer to environmental risks?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annette L. Cowie

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Biochar has the potential to make a major contribution to the mitigation of climate change, and enhancement of plant production. However, in order for biochar to fulfill this promise, the industry and regulating bodies must take steps to manage potential environmental threats and address negative perceptions. The potential threats to the sustainability of biochar systems, at each stage of the biochar life cycle, were reviewed. We propose that a sustainability framework for biochar could be adapted from existing frameworks developed for bioenergy. Sustainable land use policies, combined with effective regulation of biochar production facilities and incentives for efficient utilization of energy, and improved knowledge of biochar impacts on ecosystem health and productivity could provide a strong framework for the development of a robust sustainable biochar industry. Sustainability certification could be introduced to provide confidence to consumers that sustainable practices have been employed along the production chain, particularly where biochar is traded internationally.

Is nuclear power environmentally sustainable? Paper no. IGEC-1-121

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackson, D.P.

2005-01-01

The sustainability of nuclear energy is discussed in terms of its environmental impacts and its utilization of resources. The reactors in the present generation of fission reactors extract only a small percentage of the energy available from uranium. A solution to the long-term management of highly radioactive used reactor fuel is also a key factor in fission's sustainability. Recycling used fuel for enhanced energy production in advanced reactors and the mitigation of the long-term management of the remaining wastes, ideally with their ultimate destruction by nuclear transmutation are technologies that need to be developed in order to ensure the long term sustainability of nuclear fission. In contrast nuclear fusion, while not yet available for power production, promises to be inherently sustainable. (author)

Tourism in Austria: biodiversity, environmental sustainability, and growth issues.

Science.gov (United States)