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Abstract: How to cope with the problem of scrap automobiles and the environmental pollution caused by them is an issue that every automotive industrial country has to face in varying degrees; China is no exception. With the rapid economic growth, Chinese car production reached 13.79 million, in 2009, which made China rank first in the world for the first time for car production. But the scrap vehicle recycling industry is at its infancy. There are many serious problems in the scrap vehicle recycling industry, not least of which is the fact that improper disposal of hazardous substances and a lack of environmental protection measures are common in vehicle dismantling operations. This paper gives a brief introduction of Japanese and Chinese laws about End-of-Life Vehicles, the process of handling with them. This paper also makes a comparison of the present situation of scrap automobiles between Japan and China, trying to find an appropriate way for China to deal with the problem of scrap automobiles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Given the self-declared energy and environmental protection objectives of many car manufacturers responsible companies must use energy-efficient production technologies. The running costs of production sites are a decisive factor in the overhead of automotive production. Therefore, it is important for many operators to reduce those costs in a sustainable way. For this purpose, they attempt to reduce both the energy consumption costs and CO 2 emissions of production systems. However, most components of the energy costs are determined during the very early phases of the product creation process. To achieve an estimation of the energy consumption in this early planning stage, a new suitable forecasting method is required. Therefore, this paper presents an approach for determining the prospective energy consumption by using Methods-Energy Measurement combined with defined energy reference cycles for manufacturing technologies. With this approach, key performance indicators are defined, and the production technologies are divided into basic energy consumers. The average energy values will be determined empirically by using the defined energy reference cycles. With these data, the energy demands for different scenarios are calculated. Thereby, it is possible to estimate the potential energy consumption of complex manufacturing cells. The designed method is validated within a case study of a modern automotive body shop. In summary, the approach contributes to identify and realize sustainable solutions in advance and thus increase the profitability of a factory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel policy assessment approach for sustainable transitions using insights from the multilevel perspective (MLP). An analysis of current German and UK policies for sustainable transport is conducted to illustrate its application. For both cases a potential transition pathway, that can satisfy environmental protection and industrial competitiveness goals, is derived from archetypal transition pathways. These are then put in relation to current policies, discussing whether these measures support these pathways. In the UK case, where emission reduction goals and industrial development are pursued together, current policies of promoting the diffusion of electric vehicles as well as industrial niches are supporting the emergence of a reconfiguration pathway. Replacing foreign suppliers, the local automotive industry shall become a significant part of the future regime. In contrast to that, Germany focuses on a careful transformation and conservation of its automotive industry where none of the current actors is left behind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]