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Early papers found empirical support for a natural resource curse—the notion that exporting natural resources is detrimental to economic growth. Later papers, using reportedly improved econometric models and data, largely reversed these early findings by estimating that natural resources improve economic performance. However, this changing coefficient on natural resource dependence over time may not only be a function of model or data quality. Masked by this evolution in the economics literature is the possibility that the fundamental relationship between natural resources and economic performance has changed over the past several decades. This paper sheds a new perspective on the substantial resource curse literature by repeatedly estimating a single econometric model on data that evolve over time. The coefficient on natural resource dependence is estimated to steadily increases with the passage of time from a value that is negative and significant (for 1970, the basis for much of the early literature) to a positive and significant value a few decades later. Whatever natural resource estimated initially with data from 1970 seems to have evolved into a resource blessing over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As economic development continues to advance globally, countries are increasingly focused on the green transformation of their economies. This paper employs a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and entropy weighting methodology to construct and assess an indicator system for economic green transformation, taking into account environmental pollution. The analysis is based on panel data from 215 prefecture-level cities in China between 2015 and 2019. The two-way fixed effects model and moderating effect model are employed to investigate the influence of land finance on economic green transformation and to ascertain the moderating effect mechanism of local government debt. The study's conclusions are as follows: (1) Land finance impedes the transition to a green economy. (2) Local government debt is a major factor that restricts the influence of land finance on the transition to a green economy; as local government debt levels rise, land finance's role in impeding the transition to a green economy rises, and a positive moderating effect occurs. (3) Depending on the urban geographic location, the size of the economy and other factors, the impact of local government debt and land finance on the economic green transition varies. This empirical study demonstrates that the more local government debt there is in an eastern region or city with a bigger economic output scale, the more of an inhibitory influence land finance has on the economic transition to a green economy. In light of this, the paper suggests that the land finance policy be updated at the appropriate time, that the land market be regulated, that the government's reliance on land finance be gradually decreased, that the nature and amount of public debt be actively optimised, that the industrial infrastructure be enhanced to facilitate the transition towards a more environmentally sustainable economy, and that other suggestions be made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this conceptual paper is to provide the reader with a methodological toolkit for analysing China's transition to a new economic trajectory based on qualitative production factors such as research and development and innovation, as well as highly skilled human capital, etc., which thereby could help the country in escaping the middle-income trap. The nature of the proposed methodology is impact assessment, i.e., the paper discusses the ways and means of assessing and predicting the impact of policy measures on the economy. The use of a specific set of indicators and the application of the DEA-SBM and the PSM-DID models is proposed for quantitative analyses amended by the Markov Chain Model for predictions. The main contribution of this paper to the existing body of knowledge is the proposition of a comprehensive model for evaluating economic development in general. By exploring the role of economic policies, a deeper understanding can be obtained of how the economy should be reformed and developed. It is a valuable and practical approach to compare differences and solve problems at the macro, mezzo, and microeconomic levels that can be applied to other regions and countries facing similar challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity is a growing concern across the globe due to climate change and demands for increased economic development. This paper analyses the relationship between economic development and freshwater abstraction in order to investigate its European impact. The analysis focuses on a total of 19 European countries, including 18 EU member states and one candidate, from 2007 to 2018. Using a panel dataset, the impact of a diverse selection of indicators of economic development (per capita GDP, the Human Development Index - HDI, water productivity and volume of international trade) on freshwater abstraction, our analysis finds that all explanatory variables are significant for cross-country variations except for international trade. To maintain scope, the analysis is limited to economic-development indicators themselves, excluding the effects of climate change and the availability of water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AGIs (agricultural geographical indicators) are effective quality signals that can improve market welfare, but few studies have investigated the impact of AGIs on economic development. To fill this gap, this paper explores the impact of AGIs on per capita GDP and its mechanisms, according to country-level data in China from 2000 to 2018. For every additional AGI in the country, GDP per capita increased by 0.2–0.4%. Our conclusion remained reliable after various robustness tests. These effects were more salient in western areas, the main grain-producing areas, and settled areas. AGIs related to aquatic environments, animal husbandry, and planting products promoted economic development most significantly. For these effects, encouraging an increase in agricultural value (improving the quantity and quality of products) and promoting the agglomeration of populations, capital, and enterprises in the agricultural sector were the main mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In each country, in the economy observed over long periods of time, usually we can find some developmental phases due to socioeconomic changes, globalization, political decisions, and unexpected events. The identification of such phases, their duration, turning points in the trends of macroeconomic indicators, and some other early signals comprise interesting goals for research. The aim of this paper is to find homogeneous phases in the economic development of Poland from 2007-2019. Eight monthly variables were used, including data on labour markets, salaries, inflation, manufacturing, retail sales, exports, and the overall business climate. This multidimentional time-series dataset was partitioned using cluster analysis methods, namely Ward's agglomerative method and k-means. Seven sub-periods have been found and they are illustrated by segmented trends and displayed as models and graphs. Economic interpretation of the developments in the phases is explained and interpreted below. Looking at the periods that have been found, one can consider the quality of economic and political decisions, both within the world in general and the European economic situation. This paper presents original periodisation of Poland's economy and is based on real monthly data with the use of a clustering approach to multidimensional time series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several issues related to designing and operating wastewater and sanitation systems have become more complex in emerging economies like the Philippines. The challenge of such sustainable wastewater management or a lack thereof is characterized by interrelated political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors where rapidly growing population and urbanization are exacerbating the challenges. The selection of the most appropriate technique to assess the system’s current state and design a resilient and sustainable wastewater system is deemed necessary. This paper aims to provide a PRISMA-guided systematic review to synthesize and analyse the existing literature on the application of planning models to wastewater management systems. A comprehensive search of relevant databases, such as Scopus and Google Scholar, is applied to identify initially relevant studies. A total of 3178 studies were identified from the search for the last 15 years (2007-2022) using the keywords “planning model” AND "wastewater management systems" OR “planning models” AND “wastewater management” OR “waste_water management.” The result of the systematic review shows limited planning methodologies that could address uncertainty in the design of wastewater management systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When sulfur is left in fuel, it has a tendency to be oxidized during combustion and cause problems to engines and harm when released into the atmosphere. One way to reduce sulfur content is by adsorptive desulfurization, which makes use of solid materials as adsorbents to adsorb sulfur from fuel selectively. This process is gaining interest from researchers as it can produce a high sulfur yield at mild temperatures and pressure, and the use of effective and regenerative adsorbents can lower the cost of the process. Clay adsorbents, like kaolinite, bentonite, and montmorillonite, are being studied as their availability and low cost make them good candidates. The objective of this paper is to review studies making use of bentonite as a desulfurization adsorbent and determine future research topics in this scope. It also aims to gain insight into the performance of bentonite and its mechanism in adsorbing different sulfur compounds. Several studies have made use of bentonite as an adsorbent for different compounds, specifically dibenzothiophene, dibenzothiophene sulfone, benzothiophene sulfone, dimethyl sulfide, propyl-mercaptan, and thiophene. Though these studies showed the wide range of effectiveness of bentonite to adsorb sulfur, modification to the adsorbent generally increases its effectiveness as it encourages chemisorption between the adsorbent and target molecule. It also aids in improving the physical properties of the adsorbent, like the surface area available for adsorption. The review showed that modifications to bentonite improved its performance in adsorbing sulfur, presenting the potential for industrial use with further research. For future studies, other modifications of bentonite can be investigated, such as activation and impregnation of other ions for adsorption of other sulfur compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The release of sulfur-containing compounds into the atmosphere has been a widespread environmental issue throughout the world. In producing fuel oils, oxidative desulfurization (ODS) has been a widely studied alternative method to hydrodesulfurization, as it requires lower operating parameters. Mixing-assisted oxidative desulfurization (MAOD) is a modification of the ODS process that employs high-shear mixing to enhance fluid/fluid interfacial area between an oxidant and a fuel. Since MAOD is a relatively new field, not all common ODS oxidants and catalysts have been applied to the process. This paper reviews common oxidant-catalysts used in the MAOD process, namely, H2O2 and Fe(VI) oxidants, along with heteropoly acids (HPA) and acetic acid catalysts. The majority of MAOD studies have shown that H2O2 is commonly preferred as it is cheap, easily available, and environmentally friendly. HPA consists of polyoxometalate anions that create intermediate products in reaction with H2O2 to enhance oxidation. A highly effective HPA in MAOD studies is phosphotungstic acid (HPW). Optimization studies that used the H2O2-HPW oxidant/catalyst system reported sulfur conversions ranging from 82 % and above. The highest sulfur removal of 100 % was achieved at 40 °C operating temperature, 10,000 rpm agitation speed, and 1:1 PTA to catalyst ratio for this system. In addition, the incorporation of activated carbon to HPW was reported to enhance the desulfurization performance, with the AC acting as a catalyst and an adsorbent. On the other hand, Fe(VI) has a high redox potential among commonly utilized oxidants in ODS. Fe(VI) is usually paired with an acetic acid catalyst as the high redox potential is achieved at acidic conditions. However, the separation and recycling of acetic acid after desulfurization has been seen as a potential challenge. With this, ODS studies have paired Fe(VI) with solid superacid, such as SO42−/γ-Al2O3, for their highly acidic strength, and environmental friendliness. An optimization study reported sulfur removal of 91.3 % using a Fe (VI)-SO42−/γ-Al2O3 system and 100 % using H2O2/UIO-66(Zr) system. These systems can be subjected to MAOD for a potential increase in sulfur conversion. Applying further optimization to lower economic and environmental implications may be advantageous for possible scale-up applications of the MAOD process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been a crucial trade and development initiative, offering preferential access to qualified Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries to the United States market since its enactment in 2000. This paper presents a comprehensive review of scholarly articles and policy reports that analyze the impact of AGOA on the economic performance of SSA countries. Employing various econometric methods and data analysis techniques, researchers have investigated the effects of AGOA on trade flows, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, employment, economic growth, and poverty levels. The findings reveal that AGOA has positively affected the region's trade, particularly in apparel, textiles, and agriculture. However, its influence on promoting export diversification and attracting FDI is nuanced, with substantial heterogeneity among the beneficiary countries and industries within each country. While some SSA countries have experienced substantial export growth and FDI inflows, others have not fully leveraged the benefits of AGOA due to absorptive capacity constraints and governance challenges. AGOA's effectiveness in promoting broad-based employment, GDP growth, and poverty reduction remains an active area of inquiry, necessitating further research to understand the policy's sustained impact and inform future trade policy designs for SSA countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of key financial indicators influencing the operational efficiency of banks in Jordan over the period 2006 to 2021. The study, focusing on fifteen commercial banks, employs seven regression models to assess the impact of selected variables on bank operating efficiency. Our findings reveal novel insights with substantial contributions to banking practice. We identify a statistically significant influence of both bank-specific factors and temporal effects, demonstrating the nuanced dynamics shaping the operational efficiency of Jordanian banks. Notably, a positive and significant correlation is established between the operating efficiency ratio and return on assets, bank size, and the ratio of loan loss provisions to net interest income, providing valuable strategic guidance for effective management. Conversely, a significant negative relationship is observed between the operating efficiency ratio and the total expense ratio, underscoring the critical importance of careful cost management. No significant associations are found between the operating efficiency ratio and credit risk, the equity-to-asset ratio, the deposit-to-liability ratio, and the equity-to-liability ratio. This study makes a unique contribution by shedding light on these previously unexplored correlations, offering actionable insights for enhancing operational efficiency in the banking sector. Additionally, our research advocates for the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) to persist in adaptive policy measures, which are crucial for ongoing banking reforms and improved monitoring practices. Based on our empirical findings, these recommendations aim to fortify the resilience and adaptability of Jordan's banking sector, contributing both academically and practically. Importantly, they reinforce the symbiotic link between a stable banking sector and sustained economic development in Jordan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines a paradigmatic example of post-conflict economic development of Vukovar, Croatia. It represents a pertinent case study for localities encountering analogous challenges, most notably urban areas in Ukraine in the near future. The war that broke out in 1991 brought significant human casualties, population displacement, and extensive destruction of residential, social, and economic infrastructure. The completion of the peaceful reintegration of Vukovar into Croatia's legal system in 1998 marked the beginning of the socio-economic revitalization process. The research scrutinizes the primary impediments and prospects for Vukovar's economic growth, probing why substantial investments in reconstructing housing, transport, communal infrastructure, and fiscal incentives for businesses have not paralleled its economic performance. It concentrates on the local business climate and influential factors as potential explanations for this discrepancy. The topic was designed as a case study and was covered by document analysis, survey method, and semi-structured interviews. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the study collates perspectives from entrepreneurs and business support institutions. The results confirmed that reconstruction of housing and social infrastructure is necessary, but more conditions are needed for successful post-conflict economic development, and that the business climate in lagging local units highly depends on state- and locally designed business-support measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the conditions of the modern global economy, tax policy is a direct tool of management that influences the economic development of the country. This paper dwells on the assessment of the interconnection between tax policy and economic development of the Kyrgyz Republic. The paper considers the issue of adapting the country’s tax policy to the conditions of the world economy, as well as to domestic needs and possibilities. This research focuses on the specific features of Kyrgyzstan's tax system, including the structure and recent changes in the legislation and their influence on fiscal policy and economic indicators. The authors emphasize that to achieve sustainable economic growth and raise the population’s well-being, it is important to create a tax system that would adequately react to the changes in the world economy. This paper contains a detailed analysis of macroeconomic factors and key economic indicators that is aimed at determining the current trends and potential opportunities for the optimisation of the tax burden. Special attention is paid to the development of tax tools that facilitate the formation of a favourable environment for sustainable economic development and prosperity of the national economy. This research is a complete overview of the tax system of the Kyrgyz Republic, with an analysis of the recent changes in the context of their impact on fiscal policy and economic indicators. Summing up, this paper distinguishes the strategic significance of effective tax policy for the stimulation of sustainable economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is a correlation between economic growth and the increase in living standards, economic theory is evident in the purpose of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measurement. GDP measures only the production capacity and economic growth, not the nation's development, as often claimed by policymakers. Furthermore, as several studies show, by focusing on economic growth and neglecting the other two crucial systems, the ecosystem, and the social system, we will not be able to achieve economic growth in the future. Since the GDP was developed in 1937, it has faced criticism not only for its limitation related to its construction. Also, the concept of economic growth is currently being challenged and being replaced by the pursuit of sustainable development. Therefore, the role of GDP, as an economic growth indicator, in our economy needs to be clarified and re-assessed. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the usefulness of the GDP in the era of sustainable development. To achieve this, we investigated the historical development of various measures of economic growth, as well as the historical development of the GDP as an economic growth metric. Furthermore, we argue that the future of GDP should be in the multi-dimensional indicators, which are used to measure the sustainable development of a country, as opposed to a self-standing single-dimensional measure of economic growth. As a case study, we also construct two measures, based on Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) using the free online software 'SuperDecisions: our Simple three-dimensional index of the nation's growth and the enhanced holistic three-dimensional index - Holistic Nation's Growth Index. Using the AHP method, we showcase the difference between the countries' rankings if we consider only economic growth and if we focus on the country's development more holistically. Our comparative study reveals that it is not enough to look only at three main systems, the economic, social, and ecosystem while assessing the countries' development. It is necessary to also investigate and try to capture the relationships between those three main systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What determines the differences in economic performance across European regions? In addressing this question, this paper takes inspiration from two different approaches. One approach highlights the role of capability-building, of a technological or social nature, while another perspective emphasizes the potential advantages of proximity and, hence, a relatively diversified economic structure, for regional economic performance. The paper argues that the impacts of capability-building and diversification on regional economic development need to be assessed jointly. Using information for 261 regions at NUTS2 level in 27 European countries in the 2000s, novel data sources are exploited to construct measures of technological and social capabilities, which are combined with indicators of related and unrelated variety in the analysis of regional economic dynamics. The results suggest that capability-building play a key role in regional economic development while the results for diversification are more mixed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's economy has shifted from the stage of high-speed growth to the stage of high-quality development. This paper selects panel data of 30 provinces, municipalities directly under the Central Government and autonomous regions (except Tibet) in mainland China with the time dimension of 2006–2016, selects indicators from five dimensions of innovation, coordination, greenness, openness and sharing, uses principal component analysis to construct a system of indicators of high-quality economic development, and uses the spatial Durbin model to empirically the impact of government investment behavior in the three industries on the regional economic high-quality development was studied. The results show that: first, there is a significant positive spatial correlation between China's economic quality development. Second, government investment in different industries has different effects on the quality development of the economy. Investment in the tertiary industry can boost employment, raise income level, promote economic quality development, and enhance sharing, coordination and innovation; investment in the secondary industry can enhance innovation, but because of the "crowding-out effect", it will reduce openness and sharing, and is not conducive to promoting economic quality development; investment in the primary industry can Investment in the primary industry can significantly improve coordination, but it will reduce innovation, greenness, openness and sharing, which will also have a negative impact on the overall high-quality economic development. Third, there is a significant spatial spillover effect of government investment behavior on regional economic quality development, and the economic quality development of this region will have an impact on neighboring regions. Finally, based on the research results, this paper puts forward countermeasure suggestions for promoting high-quality economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the capital market and the evolution of Romania's economic growth, examining the correlation between the main indicators of the two economic and financial mechanisms. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between financial development and economic growth in the period 2000-2020, using indicators for the development of the stock market sector and the macroeconomic environment. Most of the existing studies on this topic address the markets of developed economies, but we believe that the degree of correlation may differ in the case of less developed countries. This paper tries to bring its contribution to the specialized literature by studying the indicators in the case of Romania, during the period when this developing market aspires to the status of an emerging market and in the context in which this promotion took place in 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the connection between measures of a U.S. metropolitan area's new urban crisis (i.e., unaffordable housing, economic inequality, and residential segregation) and its year-over-year employment change in the period immediately before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results show that measures of the new urban crisis did not generally have a statistically significant association with year-over-year employment change between January and September of 2020, which captures the period before COVID-19 and the beginning of the pandemic (e.g., shutdown). The severity of a region's economic segregation and inequality, however, are associated with higher rates of employment decline in the early recovery months of October to December of 2020. These findings suggest that places that rate worse for indicators of the new urban crisis were less able to recover from the negative economic shocks related to COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to study the pedestrian pavement application of the green building material rubber concrete. As the majority of worn-out tyres are discarded in landfills in large masses, the looming threat over the environment is becoming more tangible. The "black pollution" waste tire rubber is mixed into the concrete, which not only solves the problem of black pollution, but also provides a new concrete material that is more resistant to cracking than the current concrete pavement for road construction. In order to study the applicability of rubber concrete pedestrian pavement, this paper uses the axial compressive strength test to measure the rubber content of rubber concrete suitable for use in pedestrian pavement. The rubber content is to replace 20 % of the volume of fine aggregate with rubber particles, and then the rubber with this mix ratio is used. Concrete flexural experiments were carried out to explore the mechanical properties of rubberized concrete. The results show that the mechanical properties of rubberized concrete meet the requirements of pavement construction, and the flexural strength is about 20 % higher than that of ordinary concrete of the same strength. In addition, the incorporation of rubber particles improves the cracking resistance of concrete as measured by early and long-term crack resistance experiments. The number of short-term cracking cracks is much smaller than that of ordinary concrete, and the long-term drying shrinkage rate is about 1/2 of that of conventional concrete. It can be seen that rubberized concrete not only meets the requirements of sustainable development, but also satisfied the mechanical and service performance of pavement construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The priority areas for the development of different purposes ceramics technology are the energy-saving technologies creation and the reduction of production energy costs. The main efforts should be directed to the implementation of energy-saving reserves at the firing stage of products as the most energy-intensive technological operation. The necessity of temperature reduction and the firing time shortening requires special attention to the ceramic masses and glazes prescripts, designed to ensure high-quality products under energy)saving firing conditions. This paper considers the new approach for low-temperature masses and frit-free glaze development and presents an algorithm for composition designing in the production of building, technical and household ceramics. Examples of the original and low-cost method used for the energy-saving reserves implementation in porcelain slabs, electrical, sanitary and tableware porcelain production are given. The effectiveness of the proposed method was experimentally confirmed. Its use made it possible to reduce the firing temperature of products by 100-150 °C, significantly shorten the production cycle and, as a result, reduce energy costs by 15-20 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical engineering is a complicated combination of skills that depends on the curricula, teachers, and teaching environment and it requires huge resources to prepare skilled personnel for chemical and related industries. Chemical plant specialists face new challenges as digital and energy transition, new products and processes, circularity paradigm, etc. All these need awareness of new trends and the capability to solve related industrial problems. This paper presents a computer-aided process engineering-based (CAPE-based) curricula development that supports continuous improvements of chemical plants and speeds up the application of up)to-date knowledge directly to industrial practice. The approach is based on the interplay of engineers, plant managers and university professors in solving the real industrial problem. The procedure is supported by a cloud-based CAPE environment for teaching, training, and producing the project results. The industrial problems are identified by the plant personnel and appropriate engineers are assigned by managers. The specific structure of the curricula presumes face-to-face, online and hybrid training and consulting in a triangle engineer, plant supervisor, and professor to solve a problem in the chemical and petrochemical industry. The pool of university professors is adjusted to cover all necessary tasks, provide up-to-date knowledge, and give a new paradigm to engineering thinking. The fellows improve in machine learning, data science, communication skills, presentation skills, economic assessment, etc., to increase the importance of the company. As the real results of one of the case studies, the steam consumption of the petrochemical plant was reduced by 64 % and the yield of the production unit was increased. Eleven case studies were solved covering energy and resource efficiency, wastewater treatment, by-product recycling, new product development and other issues. As the final project results the mechanical specification of the equipment, new plant layout and economic efficiency were assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of renewable energy sources as a solution to the energy dependency on fossil fuels requires innovative solutions to the issue of energy storage. Among the solutions suggested in the literature, electrothermal energy storage comprised of a heat pump and a heat engine using transcritical CO2 cycles, water as a thermal energy storage (TES) fluid to store sensible heat and ice as a cold storage medium to store latent heat, appears promising. In this paper, a steady state mathematical model of the system is developed using Aspen Plus V11, validated and compared against results available in the literature. The validated model’s performance is then studied utilizing parametric sensitivity analysis by exploring the effect of different parameters on multiple efficiency metrics, with the best case achieving improvement on the round-trip efficiency (ηR-T) of 7.64 %. The hydraulic turbine inlet temperature and the heat engine minimum pressure are found to contribute the most to the ηR-T improvement, with the minimum pressure being the one that can be further decreased by using cold TES mediums with lower freezing points. Finally, the effect of alternative cold TES mediums (with lower freezing temperature than ice) on the performance of the system is evaluated. It was concluded, that the ηR-T of the model decreases as the freezing temperature declines, from 46.90 % at 0 °C to 44.90 % at -20.19 °C. As a result, no benefit related to the ηR-T of the model can be deduced by choosing cold TES mediums with lower freezing p than ice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the presented in this paper research is to give the physicochemical and morphological characterization of one of the most popular among Kazakhstani people peloid of Moiyldy lake. The results could lead to a more complex use of their potential as a self-healing source of biologically active components of natural origin as an environmentally safe material. A review of the available studies of natural mud in Kazakhstan has shown the absence of systematic studies of the composition and structure of peloids in the North-Eastern part of the country. For the first time, a comparative analysis of the data obtained with previous studies of peloids of other Kazakhstan regions was carried out. The results indicate that the studied samples of therapeutic mud have a medium mineralized, slightly alkaline continental origin with an insignificant content of humic carbon (3.861 %). It is characterized by an increased concentration of ammonium (253,849 mg kg-1 ), which is the biologically active component that has anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory effects. Based on the elemental content, it is concluded that elements whose gross concentrations exceed the accepted values are bismuth (41.4 times), tantalum (10.6 times), and cesium (8.0 times). The mineralogical and elemental analysis results demonstrate diverse composition that allows biologically active elements synergistically empower their effect and expand the scope of the therapeutic application of peloid in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cement manufacturing is an energy-intensive industry and is the third largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter accounting for 8 % of the world’s total emissions. There are mitigations to limit its carbon footprint through process optimization and using alternatives to fossil-derived fuels. Another technological option to meet the higher carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction target is carbon capture. The post-combustion process is considered the most straightforward and widely studied among carbon capture technologies (CCTs) in advanced stages of development for industrial application. However, the progress of CCTs on an industrial scale has been hindered by low profitability due to the high capital necessary to upscale the technology and retrofit industrial plants. Sales from utilizing the captured CO2 and carbon taxing and trading benefit the application of these technologies. This paper proposes a methodology built from the P-graph and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to aid in the planning of retrofitting cement plants with post-CCTs in a cap-and-trade environment utilizing an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Three alternative post-combustion technologies were considered, namely monoethanolamine (MEA) absorption technology, chilled ammonia process (CAP), and membrane-assisted liquefaction (MEM). The criteria used to prioritize alternatives are the net CO2 avoided, profitability, and the retrofitability of the technology to an existing plant. The results suggest that CAP is the most profitable based on P-graph calculation. However, MEA is the most optimal network considering the importance of net CO2 avoided and the level of retrofitability. Further sensitivity analysis of the model shows that CAP is the most applicable technology once the profitability score exceeds 0.8341. CAP and MEA will have an equal ranking at a retrofitability score of 0.0632. More than this score, the latter outranked the other two technologies. Finally, MEM surpassed CAP and MEA at a minimum net CO2 avoided score of 0.7079. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater is a limited and irreversible resource that is essential for human existence. Freshwater conservation is one of the critical components for sustainable development, socioeconomic development, a healthy ecosystem and social survival. Pinch Analysis, a tool in process integration, can be used to conserve freshwater resources in water conservation networks (WCNs). In many WCNs, multiple freshwater resources exist; the primary objective is cost-effectively conserving freshwater. Typically, WCN problems with up to two freshwater resources are efficiently solved using the existing methodologies in Pinch Analysis. In WCNs with three or more freshwater resources, replacing some freshwater resources with a combination of other freshwater is possible and may lead to a cost-optimal solution. This replacement strategy will be demonstrated for the first time in this paper. This paper aims to develop an algorithm based on Pinch Analysis to identify the replacement criteria for freshwater resources. The proposed algorithm is graphically represented with the help of a cost vs. concentration sensitivity diagram. The proposed algorithm is explained through a numerical example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adequate level of basic financial knowledge of the population contributes to achieving individual well-being, ensuring the stability of financial markets, and proper functioning of the economy. This paper aims to identify Romania's position on financial literacy indicators, compared to other European countries, and to investigate the link between financial literacy, economic development, and financial development at a cross-country level. The findings reveal that Romania has the lowest level of financial literacy, although its income per capita is not the lowest in the European Union (EU). The low financial inclusion in Romania is strongly linked to inadequate financial education. Moreover, the population underestimates the benefits of long-term savings. These results challenge Romanian policymakers to develop effective financial education tools and programs, aimed at increasing financial awareness and financial literacy of population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable development of rural areas is one of the European Union's objectives. LEADER program contributes to its fulfillment by offering financial support to disadvantaged rural areas. The purpose of this paper is to assess the LEADER program's economic impact in the Romanian rural communities. Econometric methods of impact assessment were used to analyze the evolution of economic indicators in the beneficiary communities. Propensity Score Matching and Difference in Differences were the methods applied in order to meet the objectives of the paper: analysis of the spatial distribution of projects submitted and funds allocated to LAGs (1), and of the economic evolution of LAG and non-LAG communities, before and after LEADER funding (2). The results indicate a stronger economic growth for the beneficiary rural communities, confirming in all cases the initial hypothesis. LEADER seems to have acted in these directions: the creation of new jobs and increasing the local businesses performance. However, the contribution made was minimal and insignificant. Conclusions of the study highlight that the contribution of the LEADER program to the economic development of rural communities can be at most one of supporting the current level of development, but not of reaching a much higher level. LEADER can be considered, from a quantitative point of view, only an instrument with a positive effect on rural areas, but not an instrument of impact. This is because LEADER did not bring significant changes and didn't ensure that critical mass that could trigger the economic development of rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the effects of environmental sources and health statistics on economic growth and other development indicators of interest. With population growth, urbanization, and industrialization of economies, the built environment for human health has emerged as an important and growing driver in interdisciplinary research and evidence-based policy development, improving a country's growth prospects and the standard of living. A compressed structural Panel Vector Autoregression is used to address these issues. Methodologically, a hierarchical semiparametric Bayesian approach is involved to reduce the dimensionality, overtake variable selection problems, and model stochastic volatility. Policy-relevant strategies are also addressed to investigate causal relationships between sustainability indicators and economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article is devoted to the essence and features of the formation of personal income tax gaps. The object of the paper is 1795 publications indexed in the Scopus database on the tax gaps in the national economy. The time horizon of the study was in 1935—2021. On the basis of bibliometric analysis, the main directions of the study of tax gaps are determine, the trend of changing the number of publications on this issue is analyzed. It is concluded that the theory of tax gap management is quite young and is currently only in its infancy. By the VOSViewer tools, five patterns of frequency of use of keywords in scientific works devoted to the issues of forming tax gaps have been identified, their connection with other economic categories have been determined. The analysis of the publications indexed in the Scopus database on a geographical basis is carried out. Clustering international research networks based on bibliometric analysis of scientific papers on the theory of tax gaps management by geographical location have been done. The article identifies the top Scientific Journals indexed by the Scopus database in which the issues of tax gap management were published most often. According to the Scopus database the most popular theories within this problem are: social theories, inequality and tax morality, management and motivation theories, sustainable development theory, production theory, concepts of fiscal policy implementation. A methodical approach to the assessment of tax gaps for personal income tax is proposed. The personal income tax gaps for Ukraine and European Union countries has been estimated. An average volume of personal income tax gaps within 7—28 %, and there is no positive dynamics in its reducing. The countries with the highest volume of personal income tax gaps include Greece, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Turkey, with the lowest — Germany, Belgium, Latvia, Luxembourg. Based on the Multiple regressions test, the hypothesis about the significant impact of tax gaps on personal income tax on the country’s economic development indicators was tested. Graphical interpretation of the link between the personal income tax gap and GDP for Ukraine and European Union countries indicates a negative correlation between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reassesses the long-debated relationship between the financial system development and economic growth. We use not only indicators for financial access, efficiency, stability and depth of the bank-oriented financial sector, but we also consider Eurozone membership, corruption perception and competitiveness of countries to examine the determinants of economic growth. We apply a panel data approach to 27 European countries over the 2004--2017 period. By splitting the time span, we examine whether the effect of financial system development, Eurozone membership, corruption perception and competitiveness on economic growth is affected by the occurrence of financial and debt crises. Our results indicate that loans to private sector do not always support economic growth. Our research also reveals that corruption perception has a negative impact on economic growth, and so does membership in Eurozone during a crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, the circular economy is emerging as a strategy for sustainable development. What is important in promoting the circular economy is to assess its current level and take measures for assessment. This paper discusses some methodological issues in comparing and assessing the efforts for the circular economy at the international level. To this end, the authors explain the theoretical premise related to the assessment of efforts for the circular economy, establish an indicator system for assessing the efforts for the circular economy, and suggest a method for comprehensively assessing the efforts for the circular economy by country. The conclusions are that (a) the comparative evaluation of activities related to the circular economy by country requires a unified standard or category that can cover these activities, including all factors that meet sustainable development; the outcome, process, and guarantee of the circular economy, and this can be the circular economy effort and (b) the circular economy effort of a given country must synthetically be assessed by using the indicators capable of showing all aspects. These conclusions may contribute to establishing a new theoretical foundation that can include various aspects of the circular economy activities and to setting a practical and methodological foundation for evaluating each country's various activities related to the circular economy at the international level and can serve as a policy basis for identifying the weak and strong aspects of circular economy activities at the domestic or international level and establishing technological and economic measures to strengthen the weak aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociological scholarship, economic theory, and empirical studies all indicate that interpersonal relationships are valuable productive assets and deserve to be formally incorporated into the study of human development. This paper employs the India Human Development Survey to examine, using OLS and logistic regressions, the impact of different dimensions of social capital on multiple proxies for household welfare. Social capital in the form of memberships in local community organizations and social network connections has a statistically and economically significant association with household consumption expenditures, physical asset ownership, and the probability of a household living in poverty. Households that are members of any formal community organization are expected to have higher monthly per capita consumption expenditures than households without any memberships. Estimates of a similar magnitude are observed when modeling a household's stock of physical assets, a longer-term indicator of economic welfare. These indicators of social capital are also significantly associated with lower odds of a household living below the poverty line. Organizational memberships and social networks are also associated with considerably higher odds of a household assessing its own economic situation positively. Overall, social capital is a catalyst for increasing household welfare along multiple dimensions, and, therefore, a critical area of focus for economists, sociologists, development practitioners, and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exports are a crucial driving force of China's economic growth; however, researchers have yet to verify whether they can effectively improve the high-quality economic development. Based on interprovincial panel data from 2000 to 2019, in this study, we constructed a high-quality economic development indicator system through the entropy weight method, and we adopted the linear regression model and dynamic panel threshold model to empirically test the export trade effect on the high-quality economic development as well as its mechanism. We also probed the impact of the heterogeneous absorptive capacity on the high-quality economic development. According to our research findings, China's export trade has substantially promoted the high-quality economic development level by, from the viewpoint of the action path, positively influencing the economic, open, and coordination subsystems. The influence of the export trade on the high-quality economic development has a substantial single-threshold effect on the heterogeneous absorptive capacity; that is, when the threshold variables that represent the regional absorptive capacity (the economic level, R&D intensity, and technological gap) are all higher than the threshold value, the export trade has a substantial positive impact on the high-quality economic development level. The research conclusions of this paper provide new ideas for the development of high-quality economic systems as well as a useful reference for China in its formulation of more targeted foreign trade policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined finance-growth nexus in the finance industry and the influencing factors of economic indicators which deliberate on the performance of the Solow Growth model to prove the actuality of financial development (FD) inside the economic growth (EG) model, based on the regional data from 1980 to 2017 in Africa. We applied the econometric method of GMM style panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) and panel quantile regression (PQR). With the optimal finance-growth outcome, the review shows that the economic indicators influence the finance-growth nexus. The quantile results show that high economic indicators help to strengthen the finance-growth nexus, whereas low economic indicators hinder it. The GMM style PVAR results present a mixed effect in terms of the connection and marginal significance, indicating that FD has a varied impact on economic growth. Last, the granger causality results show a two-way causal association amid finance-growth in Western, Central, Eastern, and Southern African economies and a unidirectional causal link of finance-growth in Northern Africa. The policy conclusion is that to gain the long-term economic benefits of FD, African countries should strive for low and steady economic stability. To attain the required economic stability, it may be important to use suitable fiscal and monetary policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigate the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) on local economy is of great importance and interest to policy makers and scholars. Though there is a big body of literature in this area, the estimates of such impact are inconsistent or even contradictory. The empirical evidence remains problematic for several reasons: endogenous route placement; omitted variable bias; heterogeneity across different regions; various confounding factors. In this paper, we assess this impact by constructing the appropriate counterfactual in the absence of HSR services with similar GDP level and GDP trend before the debut of HSR services. The control group forms a good fit for the treatment group, and the economic performance of the control group was even slightly stronger than that of the treatment group before 2007. Using the DID method, we find the HSR network promoted local GDP by approximately 3.3 percentage points. The introduction of HSR service helped cities attract more industrial enterprises and achieve more industrial output, but its effect on the service sector was not pronounced. Our results are robust to different sample selection procedures, to the dynamic analyses, to different empirical strategies. Our study thus provides new and solid empirical support to the argument that HSR benefits local economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the twenty-first century, the success story of the Post-World-War-II World has been called into question by climate change and other challenges. De-growth or zero economic growth are discussed as possible solutions for mitigating climate change. The traditional economic growth model is increasingly challenged by the demand for sustained economic growth expressed in United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8 "sustained economic growth" (UN-SDG 8) and supported by the European Green Deal. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the general understanding of characteristics, effects and challenges of new economic growth ideas as well as their interlinkages with the food–energy–water (FEW) nexus. Methods: To address these challenges, a stylized dynamic General Equilibrium Model (GEM) was developed, which consists of two countries: an emerging, developing European country A and a developed European country B. Country A is assumed to grow, while country B shrinks. The model is based on artificial data sets. This approach was chosen to prevent the blurring of counterfactual comparison by country-specific effects of economic turbulences such as the Lehman crash or the economic break-in during the Covid-19 pandemic. Results: The gross output of the emerging European country increases, whereas the output of the developed European country decreases according to the different growth strategies. The analysis reveals that a constantly widening gap between the emerging and the developed country is created. It can further be shown how this influences the relevant economic indicators (CO2 emissions, household budget, trade balance, utility and social welfare). Conclusions: The analysis of the two-country stylized GE model makes distortions visible: insignificant gaps in the values and development of analyzed economic indicators become prevalent. The welfare gap affects the core of the traditional socio-economic system, because the development of the utility of the households is central for the stability of political processes. A sufficiency and subsistence sector may be an option to even out the welfare losses from the de-growth strategy of the traditional economic system to avoid that the de-growth gaps are perceived by the community as welfare losses which can endanger the realization of UN-SDG 8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project finance plays a key role in supporting UAE's infrastructure projects, driving economic growth and job creation. This financing approach isolates project funding from a sponsor's corporate debt, simplifying investment tracking and reducing the risk of underinvestment due to excessive debt. Nevertheless, it faces challenges from government regulations, political factors, environmental concerns, and complex procedures. Thus, this paper presents a study to investigate the relationship between project finance factors and economic development indicators. The relationship is translated to a PLS-SEM model development and assessment. To develop the model, the study adopted quantitative research approach where the data for the model was collected through a questionnaire survey using judgmental sampling for convenience. The sample size for the model is from 269 respondents, who are the employees in the Economic Department workforce in Abu Dhabi. The model's development and evaluation were conducted using SmartPLS software. The evaluation encompassed two stages: measurement and structural components, with the model successfully meeting all evaluation criteria. The results of hypothesis testing revealed that the relationships between Project Scope and Identifying Risk constructs with Economic Development construct are statistically significant with the strength 0f 0.520 and 0.227 respectively. Unfortunately, the relationships between Market Entry Strategy and Origination Capabilities with Economic Development are not statistically significant. In terms of model's goodness of fit, the model demonstrated a substantial overall explanatory power with GoF values of 0.667. While, the model's predictive relevancy with Q² value is 0.443, indicating how well the model can forecast economic development. In suggesting that the model explains approximately 44.3% of the variability in economic development. The findings of this study hold potential benefits for Economic Department employees dealing with project finance challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory and practice suggest that entrepreneurship is the engine of economic growth. The speed with which a nation moves from economic growth to economic development depends on the performance of entrepreneurial initiatives. Given the role played by entrepreneurship for the development of an economy, increasing its performance can help the development of national markets and the increase in national competitiveness. The main objective of our paper is to investigate the link between entrepreneurial performance and economic development of countries. The research was carried out on a sample of 27 European Union countries in a period of twelve years. We used panel data regression models. As dependent variables for expressing the economic development, we considered the global competitiveness index and the gross domestic product per capita growth. As independent variables, we used a set of indicators measuring entrepreneurial performance. Our findings highlight the significant role played by increased entrepreneurial performance for enhancing the economic development of EU countries. We also find that some indicators expressing entrepreneurial performance might have different effects on the economy depending on the stage of economic development of countries. Our research provides empirical evidence regarding the need for performant entrepreneurial activities for enhancing economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collapse of the USSR significantly affected the economic and political situation of all the republics which gained sovereignty as a result. Among them were countries such as Estonia and Kazakhstan. This article considers whether these countries have coped with the new political conditions. Using known economic indicators, a comparison was made of the economic and financial situation of both countries, pointing to the potential causes of diversification of their socio-economic development. Currently, Estonia is considered the most developed country of the 15 former members of the USSR, and Kazakhstan is in 5th place. The research carried out in this paper shows that the current economy of Kazakhstan is clearly moving away from that Estonia needs radical measures to achieve economic acceleration. The authors, analyzing the strategic activity of Estonia and Kazakhstan and the independence of financial management, concluded that these have had a significant impact on the current state of economic and financial development of the countries in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the economy of China has developed rapidly, but this has brought widespread damage to the environment, which forces us to explore a sustainable, green, economic development model. Therefore, it is particularly necessary to clarify the relationship between economic development and environmental pollution. In this paper, we used satellite remote sensing tropospheric NO2 vertical column density (VCD) as an air quality indicator; the total exports, total imports, and industrial electricity consumption as the economic indicators; and the wind speed, temperature, and planetary boundary layer height as the meteorological factors to perform a Generalized Additive Modeling (GAM) analysis. By deducing the influence of meteorological factors, the relationship between economic indicators and the air quality indicator can be determined. When total exports increased by one billion USD (United States Dollar), the tropospheric NO2 VCDs of Nanjing and Suzhou increased by about 15% and 6%, respectively. The tropospheric NO2 VCDs of Suzhou increased by about 5% when the total imports increased by one billion USD. In addition, when the industrial electricity consumption increased by one billion kWh, the tropospheric NO2 VCDs of Nanjing, Suzhou and Xuzhou increased by about 25%, 12%, and 59%, respectively. This study provides a method to quantify the contribution of economic growth to air pollution, which is helpful for better understanding of the relationship between economic development and air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extensive and unsustainable economic development has seriously hindered the friendly development of the economy. The economy pays more attention to the quality and quality of development and needs a way to evaluate economic development objectively. The study puts forward four first-level indicators and 12 second-level indicators for high-quality economic development, which can be evaluated from the essence of economic development. The initial stage is to construct the model structure, with high-quality economic development as the higher level and economic structure and green development as the middle levels of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP); to construct the matrix and introduce secondary indicators; to calculate the maximum eigenvalue; and to analyze and evaluate. In the example, the economic development quality of a region is evaluated, and the corresponding quality membership degree is higher, which belongs to the better development quality. The hierarchical development model proposed in this paper can better evaluate the lack of development power due to the imbalance of economic development and environmental factors and fundamentally realize the fair and just evaluation of the process of economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy consumption has gained growing importance in the world energy consumption portfolio over recent years. One of the reasons is the increasingly negative development of climate change. The research carried out in this paper aims to discern whether the examined economic indicator (GDP per capita) and the environmental indicator (CO2 emissions per capita) affect the renewable energy consumption in the region of the Visegrad Group (V4 - Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovak Republic) countries, and to draw implications for public administration in the given issue. The fixed effects panel regression model was used to verify the mentioned relationships between variables from 1990-2020. The results show that the level of the share of renewable energy consumption on the total energy consumption in the region of the V4 countries can be affected by the GDP per capita (positive relationship validated) and the CO2 emissions per capita (negative relationship validated). These results are mostly in line with the findings of other researchers conducted on different samples of countries, although some differences can be noted, especially regarding the direction of the relationship. The implications of the research results are presented on three levels: practical implications for the business sector, emphasis placed on political implications for public administration, and theoretical implications that lay the foundation for further research. The main limitation of the research results comes from the sample used in V4 countries and, thus, from the limited possibilities of generalizing the results. The direction of further research in the addressed issue will include a larger number of countries in the research and the use of various quantitative and qualitative research methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the development of an integrated resource network that comprises an energy supply chain, a polygeneration hub for combined heat, power, and absorption refrigeration system, to meet demand for heating, cooling, and electricity generation. The method adopted involves a 3-layered superstructure where the first layer comprises a supply chain network of seasonal renewable and non-renewable energy sources which are connected to the second layer through transport modes such as rail, road, and pipeline. The second layer comprises the polygeneration hub which plays host to technologies such as a boiler for generating high pressure steam, turbines for generating power, and an absorption refrigeration system for water cooling. The third layer of the superstructure, which is connected to the second layer through pipelines and transmission cables, comprises the heat exchanger network of a process plant. The solution of the developed model, which is a mixed integer non-linear program, is evaluated using economics and environmental impact and is solved using the goal method of multi-objective optimisation. In the hypothetical case study investigated, the model showed a higher preference for renewable energy when environmental impact was considered as the only objective to be minimised, while coal was selected when economics was the only objective minimised and when both objectives were simultaneously minimised with an equal weighting. In addition, the cost minimisation scenario resulted in fewer heat exchangers being selected than in the environmental and multi-objective optimisation scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harnessing solar thermal energy involves the design and construction of systems for the collection, storage, and distribution of heat. Heat storage can be done by sensible heat or latent heat, with the latter being preferred due to the higher densities achievable. The design of a storage system must consider the properties of the phase change material to be used, such as temperatures and enthalpies of fusion and crystallisation, as well as aspects of the heat exchanger, such as materials, configuration, and surface area, among others. This paper presents the simulation of the melting process of hydrogenated palm stearin for its use as a phase change material of renewable origin. A two-dimensional rectangular shell-coil geometry was used. The influence of the coil geometry on the heat transfer rate was evaluated using a constant flow of 3 L/min and a temperature of 75 C for the heat transfer fluid. According to simulations using COMSOL Multiphysics®, the heat transfer increases considerably for configurations where natural convection is favoured. These maximum transfer rate configurations are characterised by allowing the liquid phase of the PCM to flow to the top of the system. Additionally, despite the increases in heat transfer, the limiting factor is strongly defined in the PCM, which generates small differences between the inlet and outlet temperature of the heat transfer fluid. These results allow for heat exchanger designs based on shell-coil systems that, in addition to heat transfer improvements, let for the reduction of construction costs and the use of additives or support matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the utility system of the pyrolysis unit of a polymer plant and assesses the decarbonization options of the utility system. The method is based on an integrated approach that includes a steady-state digital twin (SSDT) of investigated process and an update of the existing steam cascade to apply renewable energy and power-to-x. Pyrolysis gas composition was obtained from online analyzers and simulated in a UniSim environment. The simulation model of the whole process, from pyrolysis of liquid feedstock to final monomer separation, was developed and verified on plant data. The energy-saving potential was assessed based on SSDT, and energy-saving measures were proposed. The updated steam cascade of the investigated process was developed, and decarbonization options accounting for steam generation and waste heat utilization were proposed. The final solution gives the energy targets for e-boilers and low-grad heat for Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the midst of growing concern about global warming, which has become of great importance more than ever, a concerted international effort is needed to limit the temperature rise to around 1.5 degrees Celsius. To mitigate the worst impact of climate change, a global effort to achieve net zero by 2050 is a must, which is essential to cut the emissions to close to zero while the rest is captured from the atmosphere. This ambitious goal would not be possible without proper coordination and active participation from the waste management sector and industries, which significantly contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions. It is necessary that the net zero is aligned with all the actors to cover the scope of controlling emissions occurring at the source and emissions associated with the production of energy consumed by the industry. This also includes the indirect emissions derived from the industry's activities from sources that are not managed by the industry itself. It is understood that at this global scale, the collection of data, processing, and analytics to reach the targeted net zero becomes nearly impossible for humans to handle. The application of artificial intelligence (AI), especially machine learning and deep learning, among other subsets, could be instrumental in collecting, processing, and analysing big data in real-time with automation and optimisation and elucidating trends and patterns of emission and waste generation from industries, to name a few. This study aims to systematically assess and map the research trend, potentials of AI toward accomplishing net zero, and barriers to AI application in pollution reduction and waste management. This systematic review and mapping as complementary approaches could offer vital insights for further decision-making among inter-governmental agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a synthesis method for interplant heat integration where the participating plants have multiple periods of operations with unequal durations. The method adopted is the energy hub approach where interplant heat integration and heat exchange with hot and cold utilities occur at the energy hub while intra-plant heat integration occurs at the individual plant level. The example considered involves three plants that are colocated with each plant having a 2-period operational profile involving daytime and night-time. The multiperiod profile for plant 1 spans 12 hours for the daytime period and 12 hours for the night-time period. That of plant 2 spans 10 hours for the daytime and 14 hours for the night-time while that of plant 3 spans 8 hours for the daytime and 16 hours for the night-time. The unequal periodic durations across the three plants were synchronised using a newly developed operational period mapping approach that gave rise to 4 periods for the interplant heat integration. The solution obtained from the example considered involves 14 heat exchangers of which 6 are intra-plant heat exchangers, 5 are utility exchangers while 3 are interplant process heat exchanger at the energy hub. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the recent surge of industrialisation and advancement of technologies, supply chain management has been widely permeated by the practice of reverse logistics and zero-waste circular economy. Literature on these topics has covered several reverse logistics optimisation problems; however, the area of the vehicle routing problem has only been explored to a limited extent, notwithstanding the costs associated with route planning under bi-directional pathways. E-commerce logistics is not well-represented in previous works; and of such existing studies, no model has quantified the performance of the routing plan on the basis of all three sustainability measures. In this light, the objective of the present paper is to model the forward-reverse logistics network of e-commerce organisations and determine optimal routing plans based on economic, environmental, and social performance measures. To fulfil this, a mixed-integer linear programming problem (MILP) integrating the minimisation of three types of costs, namely (1) operational costs, (2) carbon emissions, and (3) highest energy use of vehicle drivers, was formulated and then evaluated using a hypothetical case study. The findings indicated that the proposed model was successful in optimising all three aspects of sustainability, with a weighted average deviation of a minimal 9.02 % from the potential of each objective. Under the optimal routing scheme, all vehicles are deployed and assigned paths such that they leverage the unique benefits of the vehicles in sustainable terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]