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Social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) is a tool to address social impacts from a life cycle perspective. This work presents the first S-LCA of the Portuguese pulp and paper sector. It presents the social risks and the positive social impacts of the sector, which have not been extensively covered in the scientific literature. Two different approaches were used to compile the social life cycle inventory based on input-output analysis. Approach 1 was based on impact analysis of changes in added value. Approach 2 was based on structural path analysis, supporting the disaggregation by production levels (or tiers). The functional unit was the production of 1 United States Dollar in the Portuguese pulp and paper sector. In the social life cycle impact assessment, the social risk assessment was conducted using the Social Hotspots Database. The positive impacts were addressed considering indicators of employment and remuneration, namely total employment, number of employees, labor compensation, and compensation of employees. Based on Approach 1, the results of the social risks showed the Portuguese pulp and paper industry, commerce and forestry sectors, and the Spanish forestry sector as the critical sectors. Based on Approach 2, Portugal and Spain continued to be the countries having the greatest social risks. Other contributions of countries were identified at different production levels, particularly China in tier 3. In both approaches, the stakeholder category ‘worker’ was the most critical. Regarding the positive social impacts, Approach 1 showed that Portugal and Spain contribute to the highest employment level linked to the pulp and paper, commerce, and forestry sectors. Approach 2 supported the differentiation of employment and remuneration at different production levels. Tier 2 (direct suppliers) presented the highest employment level and people engaged and the lowest remuneration level. The results showed that Approach 1 provides a faster and more aggregated assessment of social risks and positive social impacts. Furthermore, Approach 2 allowed a more detailed evaluation, providing a better understanding of the social risks and positive social impacts on the supply chain. Thus, Approach 2 is encouraged for different applications since it produces a better understanding of where social risks and positive social impacts occur, providing better guidance for corrective measures and decision-making.

In a circular economy, extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a regulatory approach that accounts for all environmental costs associated with a product throughout its life cycle. When considering the EPR, the regulator must (1) design an integrated framework for different stakeholders and (2) provide effective policies to create financial incentives to accelerate the circular system. Recycling funds and subsidies are the most prominent financial strategies that can either encourage or curtail the flows of recycled products. In Indonesia, a few companies provided recycling bonus s to their customers as incentives to increase the recycling rate. However, the recycling rate was not as effective as expected by the enterprise because recycling was practiced by a limited number of companies, rendering it economically unviable. The enterprises hope the government could develop a recycling fund system. In order to develop the recycling fund system, a system dynamic model was proposed and simulated to optimize the recycling funds and subsidies based on decentralized reverse supply chains. Although it is not a novelty model; however, the research show a very significant results for the government in Indonesia. This enabled a more precise, well-planned, and sustainable decision-making process for the EPR. In addition, by utilizing the system dynamic model with different scenarios in a real case study (aseptic paper packaging waste), we found that the capacity of the recycler could become the reference for the funds to be paid by the importer-producer group, wherein the recycling rate will increase with an increase in the recycling fund.

Rice husk is an important biomass residue derived from the production of rice. Rice husk contains silica (10–20 wt%) and lignocellulose (cellulose, 15–25 wt%; lignin, 10–20 wt%). The lignocellulose components in rice husk are potential carbon sources for functional carbon materials. In this work, we propose a general comprehensive green utilization strategy for the preparation of lignin-derived hierarchical porous carbon (LHPC) and cellulose-paper-based separator using the lignin and cellulose components inside rice husk, respectively. The obtained LHPC and cellulose paper separators were used as pivotal components for the fabrication of high-rate electrochemical zinc ion capacitors. Meanwhile, the silica and potassium sources in this comprehensive route were recycled as nano-sized SiO2 particles and pure KCl powders. This work constitutes a general route for the green utilization of rice husk biomass. This work opens a green avenue for the effective utilization of renewable biomasses to develop functional carbon materials and pivotal components of electrochemical energy storage devices.

There is growing interest in making printing inks more sustainable, and lowering the overall carbon footprint of the printing industry. A recent surge of research activity has emerged to develop “green” inks with bio-based solvents and binders, but little attention has been given to replacing the pigments that give inks their distinctive color. In this study, flexographic inks were formulated by replacing carbon black with a more sustainable biochar pigment derived from recycled paper, and fast growth cycle wood pulp. Obtained from fossil fuel sources, carbon black imparts high quality black prints, but at a significant environmental cost. Biochar, derived from recycled and renewable resources, has the potential to replace carbon black in many applications. Canceled United States currency stock was pyrolyzed at 1600 °C to produce a black biochar. Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) was selected for comparison, and converted to biochar at 550 °C and 1600 °C. Each biochar was functionalized and formulated into a simple ink composition optimized for flexographic printing. Prints exhibiting reflective optical densities exceeding 1.0 with excellent tone reproduction were obtained. Comparable print quality was achieved on both coated and uncoated paper substrates. Although further work would be required to fully optimize a biochar ink to match current print industry standards, a viable pathway for sustainable black ink development with good black density derived from recycled resources has been demonstrated. Our results indicate that it is possible to replace fossil fuel-based carbon black with biomass derived biochar, potentially resulting in cleaner production of flexographic printing inks.

To address the challenge of high water consumption, massive wastewater discharge and high pollution risk in textile industries, different countries have chosen various treatment method for textile wastewater according to the location and management of textile enterprises. It is not economical purposely to build separate wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for each small-scale enterprise, hence, it is common to treat the wastewater for a group of factories and then complete the treatment via a municipal wastewater treatment plant. However, the complex characteristics of textile wastewater brings some new problems for WWTPs: Textile wastewater contains over 300 mg/L COD, 100 μg/L antimony, 1000 μg/L aniline, some of which are toxic to microbes or non-biodegradable. Coagulation plays an important role in the pretreatment of textile wastewater for removing hydrophobic dyes, decreasing the SS and COD. In this paper, Poly Ferric Sulfate (PFS), Poly Aluminum Chloride (PAC) and Poly Aluminum Ferric Chloride (PAFC) were chosen to improve the biodegradability of the textile wastewater. And then, quantitatively evaluate the biodegradability of wastewater before and after coagulation treatment by analyzing the proportion of different organic pollution, which could be divided into four parts including rapid bio-treated, easy bio-treated, normal bio-treated and non-biological treatment. Results showed that the biodegradability of textile wastewater could be improved by coagulation process, and the contents of organic matter of rapid bio-treated and easy bio-treated could be maximizing when the control condition of coagulation process was optimized. Moreover, because of its characteristics of simple, easy to use, and rapidly online implement, this approach holds a great promise for applications such as investigate wastewater feature deeply, treatment technology optimization, risk control and management.

The broiler production chain (BPC) has associated environmental impacts, costs, and effects that are not compensated by the Brazilian socioeconomy. The objective of this review was to discuss BPC waste composting from a circular economy perspective. Organic solid waste is a negative externality and the agroindustry must contribute to its internalization, especially in countries with significant production, consumption, and export of chicken meat. The BPC has four main stages of significant organic waste production: reproductive poultry, hatchery, broiler growth, and broiler industry. The principal residues of this industry are reproductive poultry litter, hatchery waste, feed waste, carcasses, truck cleaning solid fraction, flotation sludge, sausage casings, charcoal, and ash. These residues have varying characteristics, such as total organic carbon (TOC) from ranging 4.4–56.22% and nitrogen from 0.2 to 9.33%. It is evident that raw materials, nutrients, and energy are misused throughout the BPC; developing countries especially cannot sustain the loss of these valuable resources. Composting has emerged as a method for mitigating the impacts of BPC waste, however, there are some obstacles. The high nitrogen concentration in BPC residues make balancing the C/N ratio complex. This deficit carbon demands residues from other sectors, such as from tree pruning, cotton residues, raw glycerin, and Napier grass. The produced BPC compost has favorable attributes to be reincorporated into the supply chain as an agricultural input. However, little research has been conducted on the short, medium, and long-term impacts of BPC compost application on different crop and soil types. Cultivations close to BPC facilities which grow broiler feed components (e.g., corn) are attractive for a closed cycle strategy and for approaching the principles of the circular economy.

Coal preparation plants are increasingly turning to alternative sources of water to reduce their consumption of fresh water, including recycled water. Some of these sources can vary greatly in inorganic electrolyte content. In this study, standard flotation tests were conducted with varying water chemistry. The concentrations of collector, frother and salt, which reflect the water quality, were varied to study the main effect of the reagents with water of varying purity as well as their interactions. The concentration of frother was clearly the most influencing factor for the yield, water recovery and ash. However, it was found that ionic content (or water quality) also had a profound effect. In particular, a higher concentration of salt tended to produce flotation products with a higher ash content. Thus, as regulation of coal preparation plants becomes more stringent and water of varying quality such as process water is used in flotation, the quality of the coal concentrates deteriorate. Thus, the environmentally beneficial practice of recycling water can lead to increased air pollution and waste generation due to an inferior product.

Co-hydrothermal carbonization (co-HTC) has emerged recently as a promising thermochemical technique that can transfer organic solid residue (e.g., biomass, sewage sludge, plastic, livestock manure) into value-added products (i.e., hydrochar). This advanced mechanism conceals the weakness of hydrochars derived from the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of a single feedstock. The co-HTC of various feedstock blends used for hydrochar is reviewed in this article. Biomass/sludge, biomass/plastic, biomass/coal, biomass/manure were the most common feedstock blends. Many studies have found that co-HTC, compared to single feedstock, enhances the yield, ultimate and proximate properties, higher heating value (HHV), thermal behaviors, and overall quality of hydrochars. The synergistic effects of feedstock types, blending ratio, temperature, and residence time are also discussed. The feedstock mixing ratio emerges as the most important variable, followed by feedstock types, temperature, and reaction time. Thermogravimetric (TG) and derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) analyses have made it possible to better understand the thermal decomposition characteristics of hydrochars. In most papers on this subject, the range of combustion temperature and comprehensive combustion index (CCI) has increased. Overall, the physicochemical and thermal behaviors of hydrochar derived from co-HTC make it energy-efficient and environmentally sound by reducing the waste load and avoiding pollution issues. Additionally, several important suggestions have been recommended for future advances being made in co-HTC of feedstocks and its comprehensive application.

In this paper, we report on the economic and environmental issues associated with a pyrolysis plant for processing sugarcane residues. The analyses consider four scenarios: (i) raw sugarcane bagasse (SCB), (ii) raw sugarcane trash (SCT) and acid-leached (iii) sugarcane bagasse (L-SCB) and (iv) sugarcane trash (L-SCT). The systems were studied by integrating a comprehensive mathematical model and experimental data. The environmental impact assessment was performed using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, including agriculture and sugar industry stages into the system boundaries. The results demonstrate that the process economy heavily depends on the bio-oil composition, yield, feedstock cost, and leaching conditions. Bio-oil from L-SCT and L-SCB contained more than 30 wt%. levoglucosan, which made it a candidate to produce fermentable sugars or other valuable chemicals instead of being burnt in low-efficiency boilers. The unitary cost of bio-oil produced from L-SCT (0.89 USD/L) and L-SCB (0.75 USD/L) was below that obtained for raw biomass, even when the Total Investment Costs behaved differently. The environmental impacts, expressed in damage categories, associated with L-SCB and L-SCT, were nearly 86% higher than for SCB and SCT. The highest impact could be attributed to the citric acid (CA) production chain, biomass transport, and harvesting operations.

Ultrasonication lysis-cryptic growth is an efficient, green method for the source reduction of excess sludge. However, the commonly used high-intensity ultrasound (HIU) suffers from high energy consumption and poor effluent quality. We explored the feasibility of low-intensity ultrasound (LIU) for sludge yield reduction. Batch activity assays indicated that an ultrasound specific energy (Es) of 2000 kJ/kg dry sludge (DS) could increase the dehydrogenase activity of the sonicated sludge by 30%. Further testing of the ultrasonic stimulus using a sequential batch reactor (SBR) showed that LIU reduced the sludge yield rate by 21.53% when the proportion of sonicated sludge (SP) was 20%, without affecting sludge dehydrogenase activity, effluent quality and sedimentation performance. Compared with that obtained with HIU, the sludge reduction rate obtained with LIU was reduced by half, but its energy consumption efficiency (EE) was 4 times higher (0.0606 kg DS/kWh). Repeated ultrasonic experiments confirmed that dehydrogenase activity reached a maximum of 60% after the sludge was sonicated once and decreased rapidly after two or more repeated ultrasonic irradiation cycles. Therefore, LIU application to a portion of the sludge achieved a balance between sludge activity and destruction, thereby promoting sludge reduction without effluent deterioration.

The reheating furnace operation in the hot mill is natural gas- and electricity-intensive. Oxygen enrichment combustion for reheating furnaces has been proposed to curb and replace natural gas use. In this study, heat transfer in steel slabs in the combustion environment of a push-type reheating furnace was simulated using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. Two oxygen enrichment methods that optimized for performance were selected— a medium oxygen enrichment (MOE) case and an oxy-fuel (OF) case. A life cycle analysis (LCA) characterized the energy and emission profiles of an integrated iron and steel manufacturing process using the two oxygen enrichment cases for the hot mill. These conditions were evaluated for energy use and carbon intensity and compared with a baseline case. Results show that with oxygen enrichment, natural gas consumption can decrease by 19.6%–26.8%, total energy consumption (natural gas and electricity) can decrease by 15.1%–20.7% in the hot mill. Emissions of greenhouse gases can decrease by 11.1%–15.2% in the two optimized cases with 14%–27% reductions in regulated criteria pollutants (nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, black carbon, organic carbon, and volatile organic carbons). There is a tradeoff between reducing natural gas consumption and increasing electricity demand from a life cycle perspective. Although the OF case resulted in higher energy- and emissions-related benefits, the MOE case showed the more desirable heat flux uniformity, which is key to maintaining product quality. The analysis suggests that oxygen enrichment in the reheating furnace process can have a significant impact on hot mill environmental performance and become a contributing factor in transitioning to low-carbon steel manufacturing.

Bioconversion technology has paved the way for solving the contradiction between population growth, food production reduction, and global environmental degradation because of its ability to convert organic waste into high-value products (including plant biostimulants) and stabilize organic materials. However, the current literature review and reference framework of biostimulants in bioconversion compost of organic waste have not yet surfaced. With the great advantages of bioconversion technology, this review focuses on combing and summarizing the biostimulants components (represented by betaines, chitin, humic substances, protein hydrolysates, and beneficial microorganisms) in bioconversion compost (larvae bioconversion compost and vermicompost) and their agricultural application. In addition, the complexity of the action mode of plant biostimulants produced in bioconversion compost, as well as the existing knowledge gaps, challenges, and opportunities, were also discussed in order to give full play to the potential and agricultural application value of bioconversion technology in the future.

Increasing global energy demands requires a versatile approach, prompting many researchers to focus on renewable biofuel from sustainable resources, especially second-generation lignocellulosic biomass. The utilization of lignocellulosic biomass for biofuel production requires proper pre-treatment in biorefinery to increase the reaction rate in the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis step. Consequently, operational cost, enzymes and other chemical agents consumed and amount of waste produced are reduced. In this review, the latest trends in green pre-treatment methods of lignocellulosic biomass are presented and discussed, spanning the years from 2018 to 2021 and every terrestrial biomass type. Green pre-treatment methods such as ozonolysis, ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents (DES), organosolv and steam explosion are scrutinized for their optimal process parameters that maximize lignin degradation, hydrolysis sugar yield, as well as minimize reaction time, reagent consumption and energy consumption. The potential of green biofuel production by applying green pre-treatment methods are elaborated, and future perspectives for the utilization of green pre-treatment technology at industrial scale are also presented.

Clean dyeing technologies for polyester textiles, particularly waterless dyeing, have been studied extensively in recent decades. In the present work, a new waterless dyeing technology, the silicone medium dyeing, for polyester textiles had been investigated. The dyeing process of polyester textile in the silicone medium was optimized by determining the dyeing temperature, holding time, type and dosage of dye accelerator. The dye uptake of disperse dye and the fastness properties of the dyed polyester were equivalent to those of conventional water-bathed dyeing. After dyeing, polyester textile had a better color levelness. From the TGA and XRD results, it can be proved that silicone medium has no adverse effects on the fiber and can be used as a dyeing medium. The influence of the increase of halogen in the diazotized component on the affinity, dye uptake, diffusion coefficient, and other parameters was obtained by analyzing the dye uptake of C.I. Disperse Orange 44 and C.I. Disperse Yellow 163. These parameters formulate guidelines for the selection of disperse dyes for silicone medium dyeing system. To verify the feasibility of industrialization, pilot-scale dyeing was carried out. The results showed that, as compared to aqueous dyeing, higher colorfastness and better color levelness were obtained from silicone media. Therefore, this eco-friendly dyeing technology has considerable potential to become a mainstream dyeing method in the foreseeable future.

Wastewater treatment plants play a key role in preserving the resources of the environment, as well as human health. The applied technological system of a wastewater treatment plant determines the efficiency of wastewater and sewage sludge treatment, but also energy efficiency and operating costs. The aim of the presented work is to analyse the technological unconventional system of a small wastewater treatment plant with some modifications generating ecological profits, mainly the fertiliser, biomass or peat substitution ("biosolids factory" concept). The modification of the technological system consists in the application of sewage microfiltration, conditioning of sewage and sludge with cellulose material and application of short-term thermo-composting (Bionor technology). The use of a belt filter for suspension separation reduces the load on activated sludge bioreactors and aerobic stabilisation. The basic modification is the use of thermo-composting of separated sewage sludge with the addition of a structure-forming agent (straw pellet). Importantly, no precipitating or flocculating chemical substances or agents are used in this technology. The technology used enables the processing of sewage sludge into biomass with high fertilising and energy potential. In the following work, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a wastewater (and sewage sludge) treatment plants was made, comparing different possible concepts of sewage sludge management. The LCA was performed on five applied sewage sludge treatment scenarios: incineration of biomass (S1); biomass as a fertiliser product - "fertiliser substitution" (S2); biomass as a soil addition - "peat substitution" (S3); biomass as both fertiliser and a soil addition - "fertiliser and peat substitution" (S4); and biomass as a filling without any substitution benefits - "no specific use" (S5). The LCA analyses of the Bionor sludge technology applied in the wastewater and sewage sludge treatment plant confirm the environmental benefits and minimise the environmental impact with conventional solutions. The fertiliser and peat substitution scenario cause the least impact on climate change. This scenario was found as beneficial for avoiding net CO2 emissions (-5.8 kg CO2 eq/1 m(3) wastewater) and eutrophication potential (-1.7 to -2.0 kg N2O eq/1 m 3 wastewater, -2.78 to -3.0 PO4 eq/1 m(3) wastewater). The eco-toxicity study also showed low impact potentials for a land application scenario. Incineration of biomass yields higher environmental impacts than any application scenario (13.8 kg CO2 eq/1 m(3) wastewater). The LCA analysis confirmed that the peat substitution scenario was found as the most valuable. Web of Science 319 art. no. 128655

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are largely used in textile auxiliaries for the water/oil repellent finishing and have been listed as substances of very high concerns globally. Quantifying the generations and emissions of PFCs from textile and dyeing enterprises is of great significance to realizing the cleaner production management. In this study, congener- and isomer-specific PFCs were measured in regulation tank influent and final effluent from 48 textile plants in the Yangtze River Delta, China. The median ∑17 PFC concentrations in influent and effluent were 428.5 and 268.0 ng/L, respectively. Short- and medium-chain homologues accounted for three-quarters of the total PFCAs in these wastewater samples. Isomeric fingerprints showed an overwhelming occurrence of linear isomers rather than branched ones for PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS. This implied that PFCs in textile wastewater might not be exclusively from a 3M electrochemical fluorination (ECF) source. Raw materials played an important role in PFCs distributions since significantly higher levels of PFHpA, PFHxA, PFNA, PFDA, PFUnDA and PFTrDA were found in wastewater from chemical fibre manufacturing than from manufacturing of other materials. There was no significant discrepancy in PFCs removal rates between different treatments techniques. Although ecological risk assessment revealed an absent health risks of PFCs from effluent in the short term, the implement of textile cleaner production warrants concern due to the high volumes of water per unit fabric for processing. The widespread PFCs occurrence in textile wastewater highlighted the urgency of PFCs removal and disposal. We also encouraged the replacement of synthetic substances with natural materials, adoptions of technical improvements, and innovations such as life cycle analysis or cluster process management in the development of the textile industry.

Due to growing environmental concerns mainly related to non-renewable fuels and high added-value chemicals, new solutions should reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Biorefineries, which use lignocellulosic biomass as raw material, emerges as a promising alternative to replace fossil fuels and to avoid competition between food and fuel production for arable land and drinking water. Sugarcane is one of the most harvested crops in the world, mainly in the equatorial zone. One tonne of processed cane generates between 300 and 400 kg of bagasse. This work proposes a biorefinery configuration for the co-production of ethanol, xylitol, lignin, and cellulose acetate, analyzing two different scenarios in the context of low sugarcane availability. The analysis included the determination of mass, total capital investment, total manufacturing costs, CO2 footprint, and water consumption. The cellulose acetate, ethanol, and xylitol production were economically viable only if lignin is considered a product. Positive net income, with return on investment in at least ten years, was achieved. Based on the environmental assessment, the carbon capture capacity is about 400 kg per tonne of sugarcane included in the process was determined.

This study evaluated the potential of ultrasonic enhanced Fenton-based advanced oxidation to reduce toxicity, total phenol (TPh) and organic matter (COD) from olive mill wastewater (OMW). Emphasis was also placed on suggesting a sustainable treatment strategy in the light of accumulated scientific evidence, indicating the role of Fenton-based oxidation in the suggested scheme. Fenton oxidation and Fenton-like oxidation (with Fe2+ and Fe3+) were tested as selected advanced oxidation methods. The experiments were conducted in such a way that the individual removal efficiencies of ultrasonication and advanced oxidation processes be evaluated separately and in sequence. The impact on toxicity removal was tested by means of a standard respirometric method, also currently used to assess biodegradation in wastewaters. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) involving central composite design (CCD) was implemented to assess the optimum conditions. Results highlighted the merit of Fenton-based oxidation with an 80% TPh reduction and a decrease of toxicity down to the narrow margin of 13–17%, together with a COD reduction of 20–26%, all quite meaningful for the following step of biological treatment. The ultrasonic pretreatment also proved to be quite useful as it secured up to 40% of particulate COD dissolution. Studies on particle size distribution of the OMW clearly showed that preliminary treatment including advanced oxidation would leave behind the bulk of soluble COD accumulated below the size of 3 nm. Accordingly, co-treatment of OMW diluted with municipal sewage was recommended after a pretreatment sequence of holding/plain settling; chemical treatment and Fenton-based oxidation. For OMWs with low particulate COD (VSS) content, Fenton-based oxidation enhanced by ultrasonic pretreatment would be a viable option in the view of effective particulate COD dissolution achieved in this study when coupled with ultrafiltration, prior to joint biological treatment with sewage. The study highlighted advanced oxidation as an indispensable step in the treatment of olive mill wastewaters.

Livestock waste products have been shown to be a viable source of biofuel. Although research have shown that animal excreta may be used to produce bioethanol, there are scanty of reports on the use of piggery (Sus scrofa) excreta for bioethanol production. The goal of this study was to produce bioethanol on a modest scale from pig excreta using a conventional anaerobically fermentation technique with Saccharomyces cervices. Using piggery excreta, we were able to produce 0.765–1.02 gm/200 mL of 89.59 percent pure bioethanol. Gas chromatography (GC) was used to evaluate the single distilled solvent generated from the pretreated (with 4% H2SO4) and fermented pig excreta, which indicated 89.59 percent purity and a retention time of 4.104 min that was closer to absolute ethanol values. The signal peaks indicating the CH3, OH, and CH2 groups of ethyl alcohol were detected employing proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) analysis of the fermented distilled colourless from pig excreta. The antibacterial activity of bioethanol was also evaluated against several gram positive and negative pathogens, and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was found to be between 11 and 25 g/mL. The potential of piggery excreta as an alternative source of bioethanol production and antibacterial agents were identified in this early investigation. In view of public health concerns as well as pollution prevention, pig manure disposal is a critical concern. In developing countries, industrialized small-scale pig farming has exploded, but the environmental issues that come with it have yet to be fully recognized. This research might lead to a more inventive and intelligent method for piggery waste/excreta disposal. As a result, policymakers may wish to consider adopting this approach for piggery farm waste/excreta management in the future, resulting in cleaner production and improved environmental conditions.

Furfural is an organic compound that is widely used in the chemical industry for manufacturing various products, such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and solvents. Furfural production from biomass feedstocks can be achieved through various conversion pathways (e.g., pyrolysis or hydrolysis), however, it requires further investigation to reduce the total cost and meet the market needs. This study proposes a multi-objective decision making framework to compare techno-economic and environmental aspects of pyrolysis and hydrolysis technologies for furfural production from sugar beet pulp. Life cycle assessment method is applied for investigating the environmental impacts of converting organic materials to intermediate bioproducts (e.g., bio-oil) on-site, near collection area, using a portable refinery unit. The techno-economic assessment employs an optimization model for minimizing the upstream and midstream costs (e.g., collection, transportation, and production). Sustainability assessments are conducted on a real case study in southern Idaho, USA, to evaluate and verify the methodology and demonstrate the application of this study. The results show that the total cost for furfural production, using pyrolysis and hydrolysis, are approximately $846 and $980 per metric ton, and total emission is 267 and 1095 kg CO2 eq. per metric ton, respectively. Therefore, the pyrolysis pathway results in lower emissions and costs due to the high-water demand and low energy-density feedstock transportation associated with the hydrolysis pathway. It is concluded that portable operations near collection sites can reduce the total costs and emissions, and consequently stimulate sustainable furfural production by addressing upstream and midstream challenges.

Mercury pollution from artisanal gold mining causes severe environmental and health problems, especially to operators and people living around the processing facilities. Over 2000 tonnes/a of mercury is released to the environment by the artisanal miners which is the largest man-made source of mercury pollution. Here we present a novel method using a local plant, cassava, common in many artisanal mining areas in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, to dissolve gold from ores. In our experiments, we used a liquid by-product of cassava flour manufacturing, “manipueira” to leach gold from the gold ore. It contains hydrogen cyanide, generating from the hydrolysis of cyanogenic glycosides in the cassava plant. The results were very promising to replace the use of mercury, as approximately 50% of the gold content was extracted from the ore in 24 h.

Although urine constitutes less than 1% volume of the total wastewater, it adds up 50–80% of the nutrient load [Phosphates (PO43−) and Nitrates (NO3−), Ammonium (NH4+)] in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Recovery of Phosphorous (P) and Nitrogen (N) from urine diminishes the eutrophication impact as well it could act as a sustainable source of P by lessening dependence on finite phosphorite reservoirs. Due to its environmental (carbon-negative process) and economic (produced from waste) value, biochar is gaining the researcher’s attention in recent years. Many studies are ongoing to introduce novel structures and modifications in the surface properties of biochar for efficient adsorption of P and N. Direct application of urine as fertilizer has been discouraged due to various hygienic pitfalls further forced to explore the alternative nutrient recovery methods. This review article explores the nutrient recovery paradigms from source-separated human urine for abridging the nutrient gap between wastewater treatment and agricultural productivity using pristine/engineered biochar. The influencing factors for P and N’s adsorption process by biochar and its detailed mechanisms have been outlined. Further, it deliberates the possible strategies of engineering the biochar to enhance the recovery of P and N from human urine. Applications of nutrient-loaded biochar in an agricultural field could act as a slow-release fertilizer to releases P and N in addition to soil conditioning. This review emphasized the challenges of storage, transportation, contamination of urine, and possible difficulties in the adsorption process by pristine/engineered biochar.

Fruit and vegetables contain molecules that have particular colors, which can potentially be an environmentally attractive substitute for their synthetic counterparts in (non-)food applications. The most sustainable source for such natural colorants would be by the valorization of by-products from the fruit and vegetable industries, but qualitative and quantitative characteristics of food by-products for this purpose remain scarce. Natural dyes also show mediocre stability and affinity toward textile fibers, which questions their potential feasibility for application and level of sustainability to overcome these issues. This review describes three dye classes (i.e., anthocyanins, quinones, and carotenoids) along with their occurrence, mass, and concentration in by-products that are generated from agricultural losses as well as the fruit and vegetable processing industries. To tackle the shortcomings of natural dyes on fibers, several application techniques were collected from the literature. A discussion on techno-economic potential and environmental sustainability is included. The latter is done by including a life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental impact of extracting anthocyanins, quinones, and carotenoids from fruit and vegetable processing by-products and their subsequent application to the dyeing process. The mapping of by-products for each natural dye class illustrates the vast availability of agro-food residues (>0.1 Mt annually in the EU-28) with a natural dye content of up to 56 kg/t DW for anthocyanins, 18 kg/t DW for quinones, and 593 kg/t DW for carotenoids. Metallic mordants are mostly favored for improving the fixation of natural dyes but entail potential environmental issues. Greener approaches, such as biomordants and enzymes, still show room for improvement, chemical modification methods might also guarantee dye fixation, though questionable in environmental sustainability. The different valorization scenarios of anthocyanins, quinones, and carotenoids from food waste, analyzed with LCA, showed the environmental competitiveness of these natural dyes, applied as a crude extract, compared to synthetic dyes. The valorization routes design shows that agricultural losses and food processing waste streams are adequate sources of natural dyes, especially to be applied in niche scale applications.

Biodiesel is a widely-used, renewable and environmentally-friendly fuel. The 700 W commercial household hand blender was proposed as simple and effective continuous FAME production technique using a homogeneous catalyst based on fresh refined palm oil, waste cooking oil (WCO), and various vegetable oils as feedstocks. The continuous system was designed and the effects of reaction volume, oil and methanol flow rate, reaction temperature and sodium hydroxide catalyst loading on FAME yield and yield efficiency were explored. The steady-state FAME yield of higher than 96.5% can be achieved from both fresh refined palm oil and WCO with the energy efficiency of 18.0 × 10-4 g/J (fresh refined palm oil) and 19.0 × 10-4 g/J (WCO) (6:1 methanol to oil molar ratio, reaction volume of 200 mL, total flow rate 12 mL/min, 60 °C, 0.8 wt% sodium hydroxide for palm oil and 1.5 wt% sodium hydroxide for WCO, highest stirring speed (10,640 rpm) at 220 V, no insulation), indicating that WCO shows good potential as a feedstock of biodiesel production. All properties of the synthesized FAMEs satisfy the EN 14214 and ASTM D 6751 standards. FAME produced from palm oil showed the highest FAME content, followed by sunflower oil and corn oil. The simple and low-cost kitchen hand blender is an alternative process intensification device to efficiently produce good quality FAME for household users, which is a convenient and environmentally-friendly method. WCO can also be recycled to produce a product with high economic value.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a very important role in national production, and provide more than 60% of the employment opportunities for the society. The benign development of small and medium-sized enterprises determines the sustainability of economic operation. In recent years, small and medium-sized enterprises have faced increasing operational pressure. Due to scale limitations, insufficient funds and weak bargaining power, small and medium-sized enterprises are often at a disadvantage when dealing with suppliers. One the one hand, large suppliers rely on the imbalance of bargaining power to increase the transaction costs of small and medium-sized enterprises; On the other hand, small and medium-sized suppliers with poor reputation may use legal loopholes to commit fraud, which may even threaten the survival of small and medium-sized enterprises in severe cases. However, the existing literature focuses more on the situation of large organizations facing complex and diverse suppliers. Therefore, this paper constructed a supplier selection evaluation framework for small and medium-sized enterprises, and proposed an extended PROMETHEE Ⅱ method to achieve sustainable supplier selection process. First, establish a sustainable supplier selection evaluation framework from the three dimensions of product and service capability, cooperation degree and risk factors; Second, combine the PROMETHEE Ⅱ approach with subjective preference parameters and probability language term set (PLTS) to obtain an extended PROMETHEE Ⅱ approach; Last, use the methodology of this paper to implement sustainable supplier selection for a small and medium-sized enterprise (M company) in China. The practical case and sensitivity analysis showed that the evaluation framework and method proposed in this paper were applicable and effective. Actual cases and sensitivity analysis showed that cost, credit and corporate irregularities were the three most important aspects for small and medium-sized enterprises to evaluate supplier performance.

Managing the transition to a low carbon economy is a complex challenge that needs both early wins and a longer-term alternate technologies leapfrog, to better supplement existing public policies. Relative to the significant investment and policy focus on renewable energy generation and Electric Vehicles (EV) - both globally and in India - Stationary Energy Storage systems (ESS) have received far lower investment and policy attention. This is an important issue to redress for two key reasons. Firstly, ESS is a key rate limiting constraint to achieve the desired benefits of further increasing the share of renewables in the energy generation mix, in India's case from the current 20–25% to a target 40%+ range by 2030. Secondly, several ESS applications are already/very nearly economically viable. Although the dominant discourse focuses on EVs, our analysis in this paper shows that there is a bigger near term opportunity in India for Stationary Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to replace diesel gensets for power backup. Interestingly India offers a meaningful level of scale for power-backup applications, for adoption directly by end-users. BESS as an alternative to Diesel Generator (DG) for power backup is economically viable in the Telecom sector and for roof-top solar installations; further non-subsidy levers e.g. differential tariffs and an annual cess on DG use, can drive economic viability in large campuses e.g. residential, schools and commercial buildings. These applications could offer a BESS demand ranging from 40 to 145 GWh over the next three years – which is more than the BESS demand estimates for EV segment of 40 GWh. Our study is verified and supported by experiential insights derived through primary research, personal interviews and hosting round-table discussions with relevant private and public policy experts. The conclusions from this paper raise the interesting public policy and business strategy implications, 1 of given the economic viability and significant demand why has the adoption up to this potential not yet taken off, and what will it take to achieve this potential?

Water, energy, and food (WEF) are essential material bases for mankind's survival and development. At the same time, water and energy, as necessary inputs for food production, are of great significance to food security. Scientific understanding of the water-energy-food nexus (WEF Nexus) in food production is conducive to ensuring food security and sustainable utilization of basic resources. However, current research linking the WEF Nexus with food production is lacking. Therefore, we took the WEF Nexus as an entry point to quantify China's food production efficiency and considered the direct and indirect inputs of water and energy in food production in this paper. First, we constructed an evaluation index system of food production efficiency based on the perspective of input-output and used the stochastic frontier production function model to measure the absolute efficiency values of food production. Then, GIS spatial analysis, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and the gravity center model were used to reveal the spatial-temporal pattern, spatial autocorrelation characteristics and barycenter trajectory, respectively. Finally, the Tobit model was applied to analyze the main factors which influenced the spatial pattern changes of food production efficiency. The research results indicated that China's food production efficiency was on the rise and there were spatial differences between provinces. Per capita GDP, natural disaster losses and irrigated areas of food crops were the main factors influencing China's food production efficiency. This paper contributed a new theoretical reference to the study of food production efficiency, and provided a decision-making reference for regional resource management to ensure basic resource security and sustainable development in the future.

Energy is essential for socio-economic development and due to the increase in energy consumption it is necessary to look for renewable and clean energy over the coming decades. Wind energy has received more attention than other sources due to better economic conditions as well as lack of environmental pollution and unlimited wind resources. This paper describes a practical method for measuring the potential of wind resources with the ability to generate electricity, using the geographic information system and considering the selection criteria of wind farms. The present study analyzed a multi-criteria decision support system to define wind energy resources in western Iran. In the method of calculating wind potential in this paper, the desired items are considered with equal importance and these criteria include technical, environmental, economic and geographical factors. The aims of this research are measuring the potential of areas suitable for generating electricity from wind energy for large turbines according to international standards, stating the standards and criteria for measuring the potential of wind resources and finally implementing the items mentioned in regional electricity. The results show that assuming the use of Gamesa G58 turbine, a maximum of 1897 MW of wind power can be generated in the study area, which is 26% of the region's electricity supply in 2025 horizon. The method used in this study can be applied for future wind potential measurements and it is recommended to be integrated with fuzzy AHP method to enhance the accuracy of the results.

The large-scale energy consumption produced by corporates in China's industrial parks has produced a large number of waste discharges. The toxic substances in these wastes have caused a certain degree of environmental pollution, which poses a threat to the living environment, health, and even life of human beings. The measurement method of corporate environmental responsibility and its application, which gradually become a significant issue, have been put forward for improving and solving the increasingly severe environmental pollution problems in industrial parks. Based on the literature review, current situation analysis, and the latest researches, this paper proposes an input-output model considering energy consumption input and unexpected output, improves the input-output model according to the requirements of corporate environmental responsibility measurement, constructs the environmental responsibility improved input-output measurement model of corporate energy consumption and pollution discharge in industrial parks, and selects Nanjing MV Industrial Park as a case to conduct the application test of measuring the corporate environmental responsibility from energy consumption and pollution discharge. The measurement results show that from 2010 to 2018, the responsibilities of energy consumption and environmental treatment, environmental improvement, and the total environment in Nanjing MV Industrial Park have been declining slowly, which shows that the corporate environmental pollution treatment effect of Nanjing MV Industrial Park has been gradually improved. The research results of this paper provide a quantitative analysis method for strengthening the management of corporate environmental responsibility in industrial parks, promoting corporates to strengthen energy conservation and emission reduction, and realizing the sustainable development of industrial parks; for helping the local governments to formulate corporate energy consumption and environmental responsibility management policies in industrial parks and to strengthen the assessment and evaluation of corporate energy consumption and environmental responsibility.

Confronted with the constraints of carbon dioxide reduction, R&D improves the production efficiency of enterprises. However, China's diversified economic entity structure makes enterprises with different attributes exhibit different R&D behaviors under the constraints of external carbon dioxide reduction. This paper takes Ten Thousand Enterprises Plan as an example, which belongs to the front-end policy and restricts the enterprise's carbon emission rights, reveals the impact of carbon dioxide reduction constraint on enterprises' R&D investment and alleviates the endogenous bias of previous research. Moreover, this paper explores the moderating effect of ownership structure on the relationship between carbon dioxide reduction policy and enterprises' R&D investment. The results show that the relationship between carbon reduction policy and enterprises' R&D investment in China is manifested as a significant “cost effect”, that is, mandatory carbon emission reduction policy limits the expansion of enterprises' R&D investment scale. Comparing state-owned enterprises with non-state-owned enterprises, carbon dioxide reduction policy can hardly stimulate the R&D investment in non-state-owned enterprises, while the state-owned enterprises can easily obtain factor resources, which decreases carbon emission reduction costs and improve R&D investment intention, resulting in stronger R&D behaviors.

Exploring the relationship between ecosystem health and urbanization is the foundation for solving the ecological and environmental problems of urban ecosystems and has both theoretical and practical significance. This paper investigates the relationship between ecosystem health and urbanization in 260 Chinese cities in the years 2000, 2005 and 2010. For each city, four aspects of ecosystem health are evaluated and three types of urbanization are measured. The paper uses piecewise linear regression to explore the spatiotemporal dynamics of the relationship between urbanization and ecosystem health at both national and regional levels. Finally, the threshold levels of urbanization that cause changes in ecosystem health responses were estimated. The results show significant negative correlations between different dimensions of urbanization and ecosystem health at the national level, with spatial urbanization having a greater effect than economic and population urbanization. The results also reveal regional and temporal differences in the correlations at both national and regional levels, along with threshold levels for the effects of urbanization. This paper aims to explore the dynamic impacts of different urbanization characteristics and stages on ecosystem health, and help in reconciling the contradictions between economy, population, land expansion, and ecosystem health in different urbanization stages by identifying the thresholds of change trends.

Greenhouse gas emissions and pollution emanating from fossil fuel-based vehicles present a major environmental problem worldwide. These problems are particularly pronounced and more challenging in developing countries. Electric vehicles are often touted as one solution to improving air quality in cities and reducing pollution. However, a smooth transition to electric vehicles in developing countries is not straightforward. This transition can be enhanced if the factors enabling and driving the adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in developing countries are appropriately understood. However, our current knowledge, particularly regarding the manufacturing and servicing infrastructure required for BEVs, regulatory frameworks, and understanding of consumer demand in developing countries is still rudimentary. This paper develops a framework to explore the readiness of the upstream value chain players of BEVs in a developing country and provides a discussion on pathways for the transition. The framework builds on the Technology, Organization, and Environment (TOE) framework, as well as research on value chain analysis. Drawing on an analysis of original qualitative and quantitative data collected in Pakistan, which provides an interesting and relevant context for this research, the findings show that the transition to BEVs along the upstream value chain requires concerted development of technological capabilities and organizational capacity, as well as conducive policies, rules, and regulations. This paper develops and explains the relevance of the TOE framework in the unique context of upstream players in the value chain for BEVs. The key contribution of the paper is its development of a TOE-based structured instrument for measuring the readiness of upstream players in the BEVs value chain. The proposed framework serves as a diagnostic tool to track readiness for the adoption of electric vehicles in developing countries. In addition, the paper outlines possible pathways to enhance the transition to BEVs manufacturing.

Despite evidence that the extractive industry adheres to corporate social responsibility (CSR), companies developing such activities still attract negative attention because of their frequent involvement in crises. The adoption of CSR practices to respond to crises is particularly important for the postcrisis, for which the literature has been extensive in documenting the mechanisms mobilized by organizations for damage control and for learning from crisis events. However, the previous literature has been less prolific in investigating the recovery phase of crises, which involves a series of actions that organizations might undertake between the phases of damage control and learning. By employing an inductive and qualitative approach, this paper examines the use of CSR practices during the recovery phase of crises in the oil industry context by investigating three cases involving the Brazilian company Petrobras. Our findings indicate that four mechanisms are mobilized in the recovery phase of the different crises: penance, deference, renaissance and insurance. With the adoption of a processual perspective, our paper provides a comprehensive understanding of the processes underlying these four mechanisms and how they shape the actions of organizations in high-risk activities such as the extractive industry.

Sustainable supplier selection is critical to the operation of water environment treatment Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects. This paper considered the sustainability of suppliers and established a sustainable supplier selection indicator system using five aspects. This paper introduces the Shapley value method to modify the index weights determined by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in order to overcome differences in expert cognition. The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) decision model based on interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IVIFSs) was constructed to select sustainable suppliers for water environmental treatment PPP projects. The decision-making model was used to select a supplier for a case, and the result of that selection was compared and verified with different decision-making methods. The use of IVIFSs in the decision-making process can reduce the ambiguity and uncertainty of expert judgment. The results show that the supplier's own sustainability has an important impact on the sustainable development of the project. Moreover, the supplier's sustainable financial capabilities and sustainable technology solutions are key factors that need to be considered when choosing a sustainable supplier. This paper conducts comparative verification and sensitivity analysis to verify the effectiveness of the method. This article considers the sustainability of suppliers, which provides a new research direction for improving the sustainability of PPP projects. The index system and decision-making methods in this article can help governments in developing countries select suitable water environment treatment suppliers and improve the sustainability of public services.

The rapid urbanisation and infrastructure development projects have increased infinite property regeneration and construction projects in the developed countries. This study aims to examine the current construction waste management literature, including key authors, university networks, and relevant information systems, considering four selected countries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This paper uses a set of novel metrics, query-based search, and social network analysis techniques for evaluating a dataset of 2337 papers published in a decade by authors from different countries investigating the topic of recycling and reuse of construction and demolition waste in order to identify prominent researchers, influential universities, collaboration practices, and research trends. The dataset of publications is collected from Scopus and analysed using a set of network analysis techniques and statistical analysis. An additional dataset of keywords was collected from the Twitter pages of engineering firms and other relevant industry organisations to assess any possible connection between industry interests and research trends. In order to present a solid analysis of the current investigations in the field, a scientometric analysis along with a rigor statistical method was adopted to carefully identify trends, detailed sub-topics, and the materials investigated in the literature. A probit regression model for testing differences between countries in recycling practices was utilised in the STATA environment. The findings show a set of network analysis and clusters that can help scholars to set their future studies based on the current advances and limitations identified in the literature. Within the dataset, 42% of publications referred to concrete waste, whilst only 2.2% included glass, 2.5% included brick, 4.3% included steel and none included wood, which shows the most common building materials have not been fully covered in the literature. Only 48 publications, or 7.4% of the dataset, originated from the three selected concrete-focused journals. It was also found that information systems appeared in the database lately; however, there is less discussion in the literature on how the integration of Geographic Information System (GIS), Buidling Information Model (BIM), 3D Printing and geo-spatial data analysis can help waste management in the field of construction. The bibliographic analysis of the selected cases shows that universities in Canada and the US exhibit more evidence of domestic collaboration and industry partnerships than universities in Australia and the UK. Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that publications with at least one industry co-author are more likely to address the issue of regulation. The outcome of this paper enables academics, engineers, and regulators to predict research trends, improve industry collaborations and utilise information systems and assign more research resources to address the identified gaps in the literature.

Cities produce over 70% of global carbon emissions and are thus crucial in driving climate change. Urban carbon emissions may continue to increase especially in those less-developed countries and regions which are still under rapid urban development. Policymakers need to find ways to effectively control and reduce carbon emissions. Thus, spatial modeling methods to map and predict urban carbon emissions have been developed to meet these needs. This paper examines the progress of the spatial modeling of carbon emissions and the relationship between urban form and carbon emissions in China by reviewing more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles in the Scopus database. The latest prediction methods and techniques are described in the paper. Their advantages and limitations are then discussed. Urban forms have a significant influence on carbon emissions and have been applied in spatial modeling studies in other countries. However, this review has identified the lack of urban form data and high-resolution inventories from existing studies in China. Future developments in the spatial modeling in China should therefore have a fine spatial resolution and incorporate open and high-quality urban form data, including urban morphology and land use/land cover.

With the global trend of clean and low-carbon energy transformation, China has put forward the 30·60 double carbon target. However, traditional energy still need to play a supporting role in the energy transition period. The purpose of this study is to optimize the dispatching order of thermal power resource, when clean renewable energy is given priority and fully dispatching, but still can not meet the energy demand of the whole society. Different from the traditional economic dispatching, the green thermal power dispatching evaluation mechanism proposed in this paper is oriented by cleanliness, supplemented by economy and reliability. This paper set up green power dispatching evaluation model through the comprehensive use of the Analytic Hierarchy Process, Entropy Weight Method and Grey Relation Analysis. And emergy method was used to solve the problem of environmental information quantification and evaluation. Finally, we established a set of green comprehensive energy efficiency evaluation system with 16 indicators. The results showed that the dispatch sequence has changed significantly under the new mechanism, which confirmed that the model has good effect and practical value for optimizing the cleaning dispatching of thermal power.

Growing international trade is likely to become a major obstacle in reducing carbon emissions. Research that estimates trade-related emissions and analyzes the sources will be important to overcoming this obstacle. With this in mind, the current paper investigates carbon emissions embodied in South Korea's trade during 2000–2014. Using multi-regional input-output analysis, we find large increases in emissions embodied in exports (production-based emissions) and imports (consumption-based emissions) which drove increases in Korean emissions. Over time, Korea's net carbon exports grew alongside its net value-added exports, implying a greater trade-off between the environmental costs and economic benefits of trade. However, emission intensities of exports and imports both fell which suggests improvements in emission efficiencies at home and abroad. Analysis of bilateral trade shows that growth in trade with China accounted for the largest share of increases in Korea's embodied emissions. Analysis at the sectoral level shows high levels of emissions relative to value added in basic materials and transportation services but low levels of emissions relative to value added in electronic and mechanical equipment and transportation equipment. Lastly, structural decomposition analysis indicates that improvements in emission intensities limited growth in emissions, while rising levels of final demand expanded growth in emissions. As the first extensive study to analyze the drivers of changes in Korea's carbon emissions embodied in multilateral exports and imports, this paper recommends various abatement policies to effectively reduce emissions.

The aviation industry contributes to climate pollution while facilitating commercial trade and international exchanges. How to improve the overall efficiency of airlines has become a hot issue of social concern. Based on the Range Adjusted Measure model (RAM), this paper proposes two improved by-production models, namely mixed input sharing model and good output sharing model, which decompose the air transport process to explore the driving factors of airline efficiency. We take the Number of Employees (NE), Fleet Size (FS) and Aviation Kerosene (AK) as the inputs, the Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPK) as the desirable output, and the Greenhouse gas emission (GHG) as the undesirable output. The empirical study is based on the data of 22 global airlines from 2014 to 2019. We have some findings: (1) The average efficiency scores of mixed input sharing model are higher for most airlines than the good output sharing model. (2) The efficiency scores of the good output sharing model are more distributed than the mixed input sharing model. (3) Fleet renewal and carbon emission reduction policies play an important role in improving environmental efficiency. In addition, the possible future research directions and policy implications are also proposed in this paper.

New business models have been attracting attention for their capacity to respond to the current society's challenges, maintaining a balance between social, environmental, and economic logics. This paper focuses on the so-called sustainability-driven hybrid business models, which operate in the interception of hybrid organizing and sustainable business models. Considering the dearth of research on the contextual factors that influence organizations implementing this model, this study investigates the attributes that alleviate the tensions of operating in an emerging economy, building on a multiple case study of eighteen Certified B Corporations from diverse sectors in Colombia. The main contribution was to provide a sustainability-driven hybrid business model archetype for Certified B Corporations based on the core business model elements: value proposition, value creation and delivery, and value capture. Drawing on the institutional pillars — regulative, normative, and cognitive-cultural, it is suggested that Certified B Corporations respond to tensions by adapting specific attributes of their business model to the particularities of the operating environment. The paper links the findings to the extant literature and offers recommendations for research and practice.

Within this paper, new findings of the potential of four considered intermediate solutions towards a primary climate-neutral steel production are reported. (1) Injection of natural gas into a blast furnace, (2) injection of hydrogen into a blast furnace, (3) natural gas-based direct reduction with subsequent input of the hot briquetted iron (HBI) in a blast furnace, and (4) hydrogen-based direct reduction with subsequent input of the hot briquetted iron in a blast furnace. The current study is a carbon footprint assessment applied to the product hot-rolled coil (HRC) according to the ISO norm 14067:2019. A cradle to gate approach is used including the production of raw materials to the production of hot-rolled coil. To define a reference point, a carbon footprint of hot-rolled coil produced via a typical blast furnace – basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) route is presented. The basic data set is based on primary data from the integrated site of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG (tkSE), year 2018. Within a novel approach, this base line is enhanced by integrating metallurgical models from the literature. Thereby all changes of the complex material and energy supply chain of an integrated site and of the upstream chain are reported. The carbon footprint of each process unit is presented in detail so that optimization potentials are identified, which impacts are analysed within a sensitivity analysis. A holistic comparison of using hydrogen in a blast furnace to using hydrogen in a direct reduction plant is presented and delivers important findings. This can help steel producers to maximize the efficiency of hydrogen use. Since the focus of this paper lies on the comparison of steel production routes and the assessments for all considered scenarios are based on the same methodologies and databases the sensitivity of made assumptions on the deltas between these scenarios is much weakened than the sensitivity of absolute values. That's one of the reasons why, the conclusions of this paper, which are referred to the plant of tkSE, can be transferred to other production sites, as well. The presented results can help decision-makers to know the potentials of possible intermediate solutions towards a climate-neutral steel production and how the potentials can be maximized. The carbon footprint of the product hot-rolled coil is 2.1 t CO2eq/tHRC following the recycled content approach and 0.82 t CO2eq/tHRC following the end-of-life recycling approach. The reduction potential for the carbon footprint is about 4 % for injecting natural gas into a blast furnace and about 9 % for injecting hydrogen into a blast furnace. The hydrogen is produced via electrolysis driven by a renewable German energy mix, year 2018. Using hot briquetted iron (HBI) within a blast furnace leads to a reduction potential between 5 % and 12 % for natural gas based-HBI and between 10 % and 17 % for H2-based HBI. The reduction potential strongly depends on the iron feedstock, which is replaced by the hot briquetted iron. Between 4.5 and 7.0 kg CO2eq/kg H2 are avoided by injecting hydrogen into a blast furnace, and about 5.4 kg CO2eq/kg H2 are prevented if the hydrogen is injected into a direct reduction plant.

With the economic development of various countries in the world, the traditional energy supply has been unable to meet the demand of current economic development, and the environmental problems caused by the use of traditional energy are also a major issue that needs to be urgently solved in all countries in the world, so the development and use of clean energy is an important measure to alleviate these two problems. This paper mainly studies the coupling mechanism and development prospect of the innovation ecosystem of clean energy under the smart agriculture based on blockchain. This paper first analyzes the coupling mechanism between the blockchain smart agriculture and the clean energy innovation ecosystem; secondly, it establishes the evaluation index system of the clean energy innovation ecosystem, and measures the development efficiency of the clean innovation ecosystem by using the SBM model, super efficiency SBM model and the global principal component method; thirdly, it uses the development efficiency of the clean energy innovation ecosystem through coupling and coordination The model calculates the coupling coordination of clean energy innovation ecosystem in different regions, and analyzes the spatial-temporal differences, regional differences and spatial agglomeration of the coupling coordination degree. The calculation results show that the average coupling coordination degree of green innovation development in the East, the middle, the West and the whole country is consistent with the development trend of provinces, autonomous regions and cities, showing an upward trend. The results show that the eastern region increases from 0.62 to 0.70; the average coupling coordination degree of the central region is lower than the national average coupling coordination degree, and the distance is gradually increasing; the western region has been in a serious maladjustment level, the global Moran index I value of the coupling coordination degree of clean energy innovation ecosystem is greater than 0, and the Z statistics are greater than the critical value of normal distribution function at the level of 5 %, P values are all less than 0.05 Local Moran index I and Z statistics have been growing steadily, and the significance of spatial positive correlation is getting higher and higher. The research results of this paper can provide a useful reference for the development of clean energy innovation ecosystem under the smart agriculture based on blockchain.

This paper is about Airborne Wind Energy Systems, a promising new wind power generating system that, although technologically possible to realize, is not available on the market yet. Currently, many different technological options for the systems are being developed. One question for such systems is where to position the generator, on the ground or in the air. These two configurations constitute two alternative designs that may eventually characterize the dominant design. This paper aims to find which of the two alternative design choices will have the highest chance to dominate and what factors affect that. The literature on these two design options is consulted, and indicators are distilled. Experts are asked to evaluate these indicators making use of the Best Worst Method. It appears that for this battle, technological superiority, flexibility, the regulator, and ‘big fish’ are the most critical factors. In part, this supports earlier thinking in dominant design research and offers new insights into that literature. The two designs are found to have still equal chances of achieving design dominance. This paper is novel in that it applies the Best Worst Method to Airborne Wind Energy Systems for the first time, and, for one of the first times, empirically studies factors for technology dominance in the stage at which a prototype is ready, but a commercial product has not been launched yet.

Circular Economy frameworks have become central to debates and interventions that aim to reduce global resource use and environmental despoilment. As pathways to both systemic and micro-scale transformations, there remain many challenges to making Circular Economy actionable. One such challenge is facilitating the emergence of the ‘circular consumer’. Here, we are all encouraged to shift everyday practices to consume new products and services and/or participate in the ‘Sharing Economy’: all of which are claimed, in some prominent debates, to automatically offer more ‘convenience’ for the consumer. In response, this paper argues that viewing such debates through the lens of Consumption Work offers a different picture of what it takes to be, and what we need to know about, the circular consumer. Consumption Work refers to the labour integral to the purchase, use, re-use and disposal of goods and services. This paper argues that the nature and scope of such work has been underplayed in Circular Economy debates to date, and that becoming a circular consumer requires varied and unevenly distributed forms of Consumption Work, which in turn, has significant implications for the success of Circular Economy. This paper thus proposes a research agenda into this topic, outlining five, inter-related, critical issues that a Circular Economy research agenda must address, including questions of who undertakes Consumption Work; to what ends; and how its multiple forms are coordinated within and beyond the household.

In the rise of global emphasis on circular economy, the automotive firms in an emerging economy such as India in this context are bracing themselves for circular supply chain to recover the expended resources after formalization of End-of-life vehicle (ELV) norms, but these firms lack the knowledge about how to transform from Product-Service System (PSS) business model to circular business model. The extant literature doesn't mention clearly as to what drivers and sub-drivers are needed for adoption of circular principles in PSS business model. This paper aims to propose a multi-theoretical framework (the resource-based view, resource-dependence theory, and stakeholder theory) and identifies and evaluates drivers and sub-drivers. The paper adopts Grey-Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory multi-criteria decision-making method to evaluate the inter-relationship between the sub-drivers. A structural model has been developed based on the outcome of the empirical analysis. The study recommends that firm should focus on the important drivers (sub-drivers) – Circular Value Marketing (Recovery/Recycling information on a Product), Circular Services (Supplier adaptability for closed resource loop), Circular Product Design (Design of Sustainability Capability), and Reverse Flow Drivers (Incentives in Secondary Market for Recoverable Products). The implications are related to design, sourcing, and marketing functions and suggest the adoption of the influencing drivers and sub-drivers to create circular value. This study contributes to the literature of the circular supply chain by discriminating the causal relationships between factors that would help managers to develop product service systems strategy(s) to create circular value in the supply chain.

New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) exert great potential in reducing carbon emissions, improving air quality and reducing the dependence on petroleum products, and are also essential in realizing the social transformation toward a low-carbon society. Since public are the principal users and stakeholders of NEVs, it's vital to understand their acceptance of NEVs and discuss the influencing factors of public acceptance, so as to promote the development of NEVs. Based on the survey data of Gansu Province, this paper analyzes the public perception and acceptance of NEVs in underdeveloped regions, and explores main factors affecting their acceptance by adopting Structural Equation Model. The results show that the public acceptance of NEVs is relatively higher, with only 51.99% residents are willing to accept NEVs. And there are differences of public acceptance of NEVs among different groups. The acceptance of females, young and less educated public are relatively higher, decreases with aging and increases with education attainment. Perceived risk and perceived cost are significantly negative correlated with public acceptance of NEVs, while subjective norm and the quality of NEVs positively correlated with public acceptance. In addition, support policy is significantly positively correlated with perceived cost while perceived cost is positively corelated with perceived risk. Finally, this paper proposes countermeasures and suggestions on improving the public acceptance of NEVs in underdeveloped regions.

Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) support through the CENSE is financed by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the strategic project. The authors also acknowledge the participants in the surveys and the participatory workshop for their valuable contribution to this research. All organisations mentioned in this paper, including the funding sources, the participants in the surveys and workshop, and the authors' affiliations, played no part in the design, analysis, interpretation, writing-up of the paper or the decision to publish. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Organisations are increasingly being pushed to manage, assess and report their sustainability performance, including public sector organisations (PSO). Several approaches were developed to implement sustainability assessments at the organisation level. However, the majority are still for the private sector and are often not supported by active stakeholder involvement. Several PSO have adapted private-oriented models to assess their sustainability performance, which are often not adequate due to public administration, whose main mission is to provide public services. The present work aims at developing a conceptual framework to support PSO and to assess their sustainability performance. The proposed approach is supported by two sustainability performance assessment systems – Formal and Informal Sustainability Performance Assessment. The Formal Sustainability Performance Assessment system, which is the main focus of this paper, consists of a checklist of objectives and practices and a set of twenty-nine (29) performance indicators. An initial proposal was drawn from the literature review and then assessed through a participatory process involving practitioners and academics in semi-structured interviews, questionnaire surveys and a collaborative workshop. The Portuguese central public administration was used as a case study. The developed checklist of objectives and practices and related performance indicators will allow PSO to assess and communicate complex information about organisational sustainability. Reference values support the normalization of indicators’ results, and consequently, the comparison of sustainability-related performance between PSO integrated into the context of the Portuguese central public administration. This research contributes to the debate on organisational sustainability assessment and communication, and the importance of selecting and developing sustainability indicators using co-creation processes with key stakeholders. authorsversion published

The government subsidy for low-carbon consumption can stimulate demands and thus help increase enterprises' profits on sales. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers report their carbon emission reduction truthfully to the government. In the presence of information asymmetry, the manufacturer who produces low-carbon products has an incentive to get a higher subsidy, thereby dishonestly signaling a higher carbon reduction level to the government. This paper analytically investigates the impacts of government subsidy on participants' performances under asymmetric carbon reduction information. A classical signaling game arises between the manufacturer and government and at equilibrium. We show that the manufacturer with high emission reduction level distorts the price upwards in order to separate from the manufacturer with a low reduction level. From the comprehensive analysis, a few important findings are obtained. Firstly, this paper shows that the subsidy can benefit both the government and manufacturer when consumers are moderately sensitive to subsidy policy under complete information. Secondly, as a result of information asymmetry, the government is willing to subsidize only when consumers' sensitivity to government subsidy is relatively low or sufficiently high within a certain range. Interestingly, it is further found that if subsidy policy is more effective in stimulating demand, the subsidy can encourage the manufacturer to share information with the government in order to avoid the losses caused by the upward price distortion under asymmetric information. Consequently, they reach a consensus on both government subsidy and manufacturer information sharing only when consumers are rather sensitive to subsidies.

This paper explores the responses of French transport services' buyers to environmental initiatives, thereby contributing to understanding the impact of governmental sustainable freight policies, including the FRET21 programme launched in 2015 by the French government. Using a multiple case study design involving 10 pilot companies, the heterogeneous data collection (semi-structured interviews, access to internal documents, direct observations, programme participants brainstorming) has been carried out with the assistance of French transportation services purchasing managers from Carrefour, Coca-Cola, Saint-Gobain, Renault, Fleury Michon, Air Products, Henaff, Ferrero and Orrion. Our study reveals the voluntary participation of the companies to reduce their CO2 emissions related to their freight operations, regardless of company size or their sector of activity. Furthermore, the environmental sensitivity of the shippers stems more from an internal dynamic, be it supportive employees or top management, rather than the obligation to calculate their CO2 emissions. Although the FRET21 charter enhances substantially intra- and inter-organisational collaboration, especially between carriers, ADEME - the French Environmental Protection Agency - and shippers, environmental issues do not yet constitute a decisive criterion in carrier selection by shippers. This paper is original in its research area since very few studies in the existing literature explore the application of a sustainable freight transportation programme, scrutinising the successes and failures encountered in its application. Our study contributes to the green freight transportation field in two ways: by providing appropriate recommendations to help spread the sustainable freight programme to other shippers in France, but also by providing public and private entities worldwide with managerial insights and relevant guidance to influence shippers’ responsiveness in the direction of sustainable freight. The study also stresses the need of having transparent tools and a standard method to measure freight CO2 emissions, thereby supporting shippers in their sustainable freight endeavours.