Search

Abstract With globalization, logistics has assumed a key role in the planning, organizing and controlling of movement of products around the world. This has caused significant impacts on sustainability, especially with operations involving road freight transport. In order to measure the real impacts of this activity and make decisions aligned with sustainability, logistics planners must use methods that consider the economic, environmental and social dimensions. Existing methods for assessing the impacts do not consider these dimensions together, which precludes a complete view of the effects of road freight transport on sustainability. The objective of this paper is to propose a method for assessing the impacts of road freight transport on all three dimensions of sustainability. For this purpose, the main quantitative indicators were identified, a scale was established to classify the impact intensity and the form of the results presentation was defined. Finally, a case study was carried out in a large Brazilian sugar-energy company to verify the method's applicability. The results showed that the evaluated truck fleets had significant impacts on all dimensions. The proposed method allows companies to have an overall vision of the impacts on sustainability, enabling the identification of impacts with higher intensity and consequently contributing to decision-making processes to mitigate them. This paper also advances sustainable logistics theory by encouraging the development of new research involving logistics and the three dimensions of sustainability. Highlights • Road freight transport causes impacts on the three dimensions of sustainability. • An assessment method involving these dimensions together is missing in the literature. • The proposed method includes seven universal indicators. • Trucks used in the sugar-energy industry have significant impacts on sustainability. • This paper promotes sustainable logistics theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract By applying an integrated framework, this paper examines the impacts of population decline, urban sprawl and industrial transformation on rural residential land use change at the peri-urban interface. The examination is conducted from the perspective of the spatial structure of rural residential land based on a comparative regional analysis. The results show that the pace and pattern of spatial structure change in three regional areas are quite different: the changing process in mountainous areas is much slower, together with low-density development; conversely, the spatial structure in plains and semi-mountainous areas experiences considerable change, and development is more diversified. This can be explained by the differential impacts of urbanization and industrialization: rural population decline, which often occurs in exurban areas with monotonous economic structures, easily causes land and environmental degradation, as evidenced by large quantities of abandoned land. Nevertheless, suburban areas present a compact and multifunctional land use pattern, which is attributed to benign industrial transformation and the external benefits of urban sprawl (e.g., industrial transfer, infrastructure expansion, and urban-rural migration). Based on these findings, this paper also offers a critical discussion of the limitations of rural residential land use and potential adaptive strategies, arguing that the multifunctionality of rural areas and local village characteristics should be taken into account by Chinese policy-makers to achieve man-environment systems compatible with development and rural sustainability. Highlights • Rural residential land use change is always embodied in its internal structure. • Regional differentiation of land use changing patterns existed clearly. • Rural population decline easily causes land and environmental degradation. • Multifunctional land use pattern is attributed to benign industrial transformation and benefits of urban sprawl. • Multifunctionality should be encouraged in rural environmental restructuring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frugal innovation can help to foster sustainability and address global challenges, like building economic growth, addressing various social needs, and protecting the environment. However, if one wants to measure the sustainability impacts of frugal innovation or enable companies to make empirically informed decisions between frugal and alternative innovation, the question of how to assess these empirical impacts arises. The main objectives of this paper are the identification of approaches and indicators for assessing the sustainability impacts of frugal innovation and the analysis of empirical findings relating to prior assessments. To this end, a systematic literature review was conducted, which identified 15 texts, and a qualitative content analysis was employed to evaluate their contents. From these analyses two main approaches for assessment emerged. First, the assessment based on the triple bottom line or the dimensions of sustainability (ecological, social, and economic). Second, assessment against the Sustainability Development Goals. In the identified texts, the sustainability dimensions are preferred over the Sustainable Development Goals for assessing the sustainability impacts of frugal innovation. From the 15 identified texts, 13 use qualitative indicators and two quantitative (conceptual) indicators. To answer the research question of the paper, a set of 47 qualitative indicators relating to integrated dimensions of sustainability for the assessment of the sustainability impacts of frugal innovation is proposed. In addition, this paper presents new insights relating to the empirical evidence of sustainability impacts of frugal innovation. Approximately 60% of 334 empirical findings from 70 different cases related to the Sustainable Development Goals contribute to the five (socially and economically focused) SDGs 8, 3, 10, 12, and 9. After a transformation to the Triple Bottom Line, these findings contribute predominantly to the economic and social dimensions (in each case 45%), and only slightly to the ecological dimension (the remaining 10%). In turn, 164 empirical results from 77 different cases related to the Triple Bottom Line show an almost similar contribution to all three sustainability dimensions with a small lead of the economic dimension. Nonetheless, in the opinion of the author, these findings confirm other studies, that from an empirical perspective, frugal innovation can be described as inherently socially and economically sustainable and ecological sustainability is mostly not the primary focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural decay is changing rural landscapes worldwide, but its impacts on agricultural production, especially on large-scale farming, are still being debated in the scientific literature. Certain researchers see it as a threat to large-scale farming, whereas others view it as an opportunity for modern agriculture. Here, this paper presented an integrated framework and used a case study to exemplify this issue. A model selection approach (OLS, SEM, and SLM) was performed to assess the impacts of rural decay on large-scale farming based on a comparative analysis of farming systems for peri-urban agriculture (efficient agriculture, semi-subsistence agriculture, and leisure agriculture) in China. The assessment showed that there was a positive spatial autocorrelation between rural decay and large-scale farming in the region. The results of the comparative analysis indicated that contrasting impacts were recorded in three farming systems: their relationship in rural communities practicing efficient agriculture and semi-subsistence agriculture tended to be more consistent by reason of the rural exodus, farmland abandonment, and residential vacancy providing crucial preconditions for large-scale farming. However, contrasting patterns were observed in leisure agriculture, and their conflicting relationship due to low dwelling density and population aging trapped large-scale farming in a disadvantaged position. In general, rural decay could partially and temporally accelerate large-scale farming, but it does not seem to be a favorable phenomenon to promote large-scale farming in the long term. Therefore, some effective strategies, such as providing more off-farm employment opportunities, improving land consolidation and machinery for agricultural production, and adapting various farming systems, may contribute to the feasible implementation of policies aiming to reverse rural decay and even accelerate large-scale farming. [Display omitted] • Rural decay can be interpreted as depopulation, land degradation, and industrial decline. • Decaying rural communities can be considered a crucial precondition for large-scale farming. • Contrasting impacts are observed in rural communities with different farming systems. • Rural decay could temporally accelerate large-scale farming, but not a favorable phenomenon. • Various farming systems could coexist to achieve large-scale farming and environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydropower is considered as one of the most convenient and popular renewable energy technologies and its capacity is growing rapidly throughout the world. Its rapid deployment also comes up with various environmental issues which cannot be neglected at a glance. Previous studies had imposed questions about its sustainable nature and now it becomes important to think about the sustainability of hydropower projects so that the technology would grow effectively in future. This paper reviews the status of research on environmental assessment of hydropower projects. The factors which affect the environmental impacts associated with hydropower generation are also explored. It is found that environmental impact assessment of hydropower projects must be performed considering all aspects and factors which affects the environmental impacts associated with hydropower projects. Most of the previous studies are focused on the estimation of GHG emissions so it is necessary to give emphasis on other environmental impacts like acidification, land use, energy consumption etc. and also consider biomass decomposition in submerged land. In fact it is not worthy to predict the sustainability of hydropower projects without considering almost all biophysical impacts associated with them. The paper also compares large and small hydro considering all sustainability assessment factors. Small hydropower projects are considered as a good alternative to control the problems associated with large hydropower projects but still many studies found that so many issues are associated with small hydro as well which cannot be neglected completely. Image 1 • Factors that influence the environmental impacts of a hydropower plant are summarized. • Current status of research related to sustainability assessment of hydropower projects is discussed. • Comparison among Large and Small Hydropower in respect of sustainability is provided. • Improvements required in the future research in order to obtain more realistic and useful results are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]