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The unsustainable and continuous growth of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) has pushed governments, private companies and stakeholders to adopt measures and policies to fight against climate change. Within this framework, increasing the contribution of renewable energy sources (RES) to final consumed energy plays a key role in the planned energy transition. Regarding the residential sector in Europe, 92% of GHG emissions comes from 75% of the building stock that is over 25 years old, and highly inefficient. Thus, this sector must raise RES penetration from the current 36% to 77% by 2050 to comply with emissions targets. In this regard, the hybridization of hydrogen-based technologies and RES represents a reliable and versatile solution to facilitate decarbonization of the residential sector. This study provides an overview and analysis of standalone renewable hydrogen-based systems (RHS) focusing on the residential and buildings sector, as well as critical infrastructures like telecom stations, data servers, etc. For detailed evaluation of RHS, several pilot plants and real demonstration plants implemented worldwide are reviewed. To this end, a techno-economic assessment of relevant parameters like self-sufficiency ratio, levelized cost of energy and hydrogen roundtrip efficiency is provided. Moreover, the performance of the different configurations is evaluated by comparing the installed power of each component and their energy contribution to cover the load over a defined period of time. Challenges ahead are identified for the wider deployment of RHS in the residential and buildings sector. This research is supported by the project ENERGY PUSH SOE3/P3/ E0865, which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERPF) in the framework of the INTERREG SUDOE Programme and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities (project RTI2018-093310-B-I00)

Financing and economic risks are two of the major challenges facing by the nuclear industry today for the construction of a new build Gen III+ or an advanced Gen IV nuclear power plant (NPP). Prediction of economics and financial aspects of an NPP always remains uncertain as these are heavily dependent on investment costs, construction time, licensing and regulation, operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, fuel costs, financing costs, plant capacity factor (PCF), etc. Such uncertainty in accurately predicting the risk of financing and economics limits the growth of the nuclear industry. Furthermore, global high-trend construction costs of NPPs lack confidence amongst manufacturers and builders. This paper attempts for modeling the costs of the twin under construction VVER-1200 model Gen III+ reactors at Rooppur in Bangladesh based on techno-economic and financial data, and some assumptions. To calculate the levelized unit electricity cost (LUEC), net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and payback period (PBP), nine scenarios are modeled in the FINPLAN modeling tool given the plant technical data, investment costs, financial terms & conditions, global benchmarked operation & maintenance (O&M) costs and fuel costs, PCFs of 50–90%, and a fixed discount rate of 10%. The study finds that the estimations of LUECs of the Rooppur NPP project are in the range of 43.8–82.5 $/MWh of which are lower than for coal, oil, and renewable energy sources. The annual rate of return of the project is found in the range of 13–20%. The PBP is within 7–8 years after the start of commercial operation. Cost sensitivity analysis is performed by taking a large variation of O&M costs, fuel costs, and PCFs. The results show favorable economic situations with regard to the country’s other power sources and are expected to be competitive with global NPPs projects. Only the competitive NPP projects can contribute to a sustainable economic, social, environmental, scientific, and technological developments for both NPP importing and exporting countries.

This paper develops an empirical model to investigate the strategic fleet management practices in the air transport industry regarding airline fleet standardization (AFS). We conduct an econometric analysis of the key drivers of AFS in Brazil and study the dynamic effects of five merger events. We find evidence of a significant drop in AFS following most of the consolidations, which is gradually reversed during the post-merger integration efforts. Additionally, except for the major full-service carrier, all other airlines had an estimated overall trend toward more intense fleet standardization over the entire period, revealing a stronger preference for seeking cost competitiveness over market opportunity when facing competition in the market.

Microalgal lipid-derived biofuels have been regarded as promising candidate materials to replace fossil fuels, but their production cost, especially for lipid extraction, still must be lowered substantially for field application. Although lipid extraction from concentrated wet microalgae using a nonpolar solvent is considered as a feasible method, an effective recovery method to regain the nonpolar solvent with microalgal lipid from the emulsified extraction mixture has not yet been addressed significantly. In this study, microalgal lipid is cost-efficiently recovered in continuous manner directly from the emulsified, highly concentrated extraction mixture by utilizing a surface-modified filter. The surface of a highly porous sponge filter is modified conformally by an oil-absorbing but water-repellent polymer coating via an initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) process. Concentrated wet

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) matrix materials are quickly being investigated for application in concrete construction repair, reinforcement, and refurbishment. The technology has progressed to the point that its future acceptance is mainly reliant on the availability of established design guidelines based on recognized performance criteria, as well as the cost competitiveness of these technologies in contrast to conventional rehabilitation methods. The goal of this study is to evaluate the different functional grades of adhesives throughout bond length for bonded socket joints of laminated FRP composite pipes. Damage development resistance is high with a functionally graded FRP composite socket joint, as shown. To extend the service life of the structure, the joint designer should use an FRP composite socket joint with a functionally graded adhesive (FGA).

Cost competitiveness is a determinantal factor in the future of nuclear power when it is compared to the trends in costs of alternative energy sources. The industry-planned burnup extension for PWRs is 75 MWd/kgU. The financial impacts of a very high burnup (VHB) core based on isotopic oxide 155GdO1.5 as burnable poison was evaluated and compared with the original core for Angra 2 NPP. A standard design methodology (SAV79 Standardauslegungsverfahren) was applied for the current Angra 2 design calculations. The results confirmed the incentives for operating fuel to high burnup: economic savings, capability for longer cycles, improved resource utilization, increased margin to storage capacity, and eventual decreased offsite shipping and storage costs. In fact, the levelized total costs for capital investments, operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, fuel fabrication, spent fuel storage and decommissioning fund indicate preliminary savings of US$ 45.2 million/year of the 155Gd isotopic fuel in comparison with the natural Gd fuel. In addition, the proposed VHB fuel for Angra 2 solved issues regarding to peaks of temperature and reactivity observed in the natural Gd fuel. Another relevant result in this study was the detections of the possibility of a very high burnup fuel (maximal burnup up to 73 MWd/kgU) without exceeding the usual 5 w/o 235U enrichment limit in the fuel fabrication process and obviously without the need to review its licensed limit. The same results are also valid for the design and licensed limits of the critical boron concentration, moderator temperature coefficient and power peaking factor.

The increasing adoption of passive safety based front-line systems in advanced nuclear power reactors due to their simplicity, cost competitiveness and autonomous nature makes it very essential to ...

Cu(In,Ga)Se2(CIGS)-based heterostructures have been thought to be one of the most prospective thin film solar cells. However, considering cost competitiveness, researchers are still seeking for new methods to improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE). In this work, the ZnO nanowires are first introduced into the CIGS-based solar cells to substitute the ZnO film for well developing the piezoelectric effect. Interestingly, the solar cells exhibit very good photovoltaic performances with PCE of 9.83% for rigid device and 5.43% for flexible device, the PCE of which is even larger than that of the corresponding ZnO film CIGS devices. Moreover, by exerting piezo-phototronic effect of the ZnO nanowires, the PCE of the rigid device is modulated from 9.83% to 11.40% with vertical pressure increasing from 0 to 2 MPa, and the PCE of the flexible device improves from 4.82% to 5.96% with external strain changing from a 0.74% tensile strain to a −0.74% compressive strain. This study demonstrates that introducing ZnO nanowires as well as the associated piezo-phototronic effect provides an ideal approach for improving the performances of CIGS-based solar cells.

This paper is one of the first to estimate how regions affect the productivity, wage cost and cost competitiveness (i.e. the productivity–wage gap) of firms. Detailed linked employer–employee panel data for Belgium and the Hellerstein–Neumark framework are used to estimate dynamic models at the establishment level. The findings show that interregional differences in productivity and wages are significant, but to a large extent due to drivers at the individual and/or firm level. The research provides evidence that the specificity of the Brussels region can be linked to its higher density compared with the rest of Belgium. Robustness tests suggest that the relatively better ceteris paribus performance of firms in Brussels is limited to the service sector., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

In this paper examine Sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) bilateral trade and cost competitiveness with China. We review patterns of bilateral trade between SSA and China, showing an extraordinary imbalance in the structure of trade in that China overwhelmingly exports manufactured products to SSA and almost exclusively imports primary products in return. Our principal means of assessing the competitiveness of SSA’s manufacturing sector vis-a-vis China are measures of relative unit labor costs (RULC). We find that African RULC levels have generally been very high relative to China, but declined over the 2000s as China’s wages have risen faster than Chinese productivity while the reverse is true for the SSA countries in our sample. Nevertheless RULC vis-a-vis China remained elevated for many SSA countries as of 2010. Generally high RULC along with weaknesses in the business climate suggest that most SSA countries are unlikely to be competitive in labor-intensive manufacturing any time soon.

Over the last two decades the share of CEE countries’ exports of goods in world exports more than doubled, despite considerable appreciation of their real effective exchange rates. Inspired by this observation, we set out to establish which factors had impact on their export performance. For that purpose, we run a series of panel regressions in which export market shares are explained by various measures of price/cost competitiveness, technological advancement and institutional environment. We make two important contributions to the subject literature. We show that technological factors, specifically innovative outputs (patent applications), had the most significant positive impact on export performance and that was in addition to their impact through the economic potential. Moreover, we verify the impact of the quality of the institutional environment on exports. Specifically, we show that improvements in the overall regulatory quality were conducive to increasing export market shares. The results regarding price/cost competitiveness are less robust and depend on the measure used. Hence, we conclude that further gains in non-price competitiveness should be considered for the region to compete successfully in international markets in the long run.

Armenia and Georgia are taking climate change agenda seriously and contributing to efforts for mitigating global climate change through various ways including preparation of low carbon development strategies for their future economic growth. The improvement of energy efficiency is one of the key elements of the low carbon development strategies. This study develops a methodology to estimate marginal abatement cost (MAC) curve for energy efficiency measures and apply in the building sector in both countries. The study finds that among the various energy efficiency measures considered, the replacement of energy inefficient light bulbs (i.e., incandescent lamps) with efficient light bulbs is the most cost effective measure in saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the building sector. Most energy efficiency improvement options considered in the study would produce net economic benefits even if the value of reduced carbon is not taken into account. While the MAC analysis conducted demonstrates the cost competitiveness of various energy efficiency measures in Armenia and Georgia, the study also offers a caution to policy makers to have supplemental analysis before prioritizing the implementation of these measures or introducing policies to support them.

In this paper, we present OLED display technologies for large-size and premium TVs. Since high-quality TV needs total accuracy to reproduce input images, OLED panels must achieve stable luminance, uniformity at low luminance, and color uniformity. Using various OLED and TFT compensation technologies, we have successfully developed an OLED display with the “Real Black” image quality and high color uniformity. Additionally we have been developing OLED displays for broadcast monitors, which require much higher image quality than commercial TVs. We are now focusing on cost competitiveness of premium OLED displays.

The continuous retreat of Arctic sea ice and seemingly appealing cost competitiveness of transarctic shipping routes are expected to boost shipping activities in the region. However, in reality, the number of Arctic transits remains meagre compared with major shipping routes. This study first develops a profit estimation model for containership sailing from an original port to a destination port with multiple port calls and a cost estimation model for oil tanker sailing from an origin port to a destination port. The authors then proceed to compare the shipping efficiency between the Northern Sea Route (NSR) and the Asia-Europe shipping route via Suez Canal by using the developed models and real shipping operational data. The results demonstrate that NSR shipping is not economically favored compared to traditional one in container shipping, but may be only appealing to small or medium-size tanker operators.

Torrefaction is one of the pretreatment processes used to overcome the disadvantages of using biomass as a fuel such as low energy density, high moisture, and oxygen contents. The torrefaction increases energy density, hydrophobicity, and reduces grinding energy requirement of biomass. This paper provides a review of the recent advancements in the torrefaction process. The discussion will cover the environmental and economic aspects of the torrefaction process and torrefied pellets, and various applications of torrefaction products. The cost competitiveness of torrefied pellets is one of the major concern of the torrefaction process. Integrating the torrefaction with other processes makes it economically more viable than as a standalone process.

Modular buildings or off-site construction of building units are increasingly gaining momentum. Although such construction practices have advantages in terms of cost competitiveness and del...

The transport sector is often seen as the most difficult sector to decarbonize. In recent years, so-called electrofuels have been proposed as one option for reducing emissions. Electrofuels-here defined as fuels made from electricity, water, and carbon dioxide-can potentially help manage variations in electricity production, reduce the need for biofuels in the transportation sector while utilizing current infrastructure, and be of use in sectors where fuel switching is difficult, such as shipping. We investigate the cost-effectiveness of electrofuels from an energy system perspective under a climate mitigation constraint (either 450 or 550 ppm of CO2 in 2100), and we find the following: (i) Electrofuels are unlikely to become cost-effective unless options for storing carbon are very limited; in the most favorable case modeled-an energy system without carbon storage and with the more stringent constraint on carbon dioxide emissions-they provide approximately 30 EJ globally in 2070 or approximately 15% of the energy demand from transport. (ii) The cost of the electrolyzer and increased availability of variable renewables appear not to be key factors in whether electrofuels enter the transport system, in contrast to findings in previous studies.

The operational efficiency of a coke plant depends on three vital aspects: first, the produced coke should meet the quality standards required for the use of modern blast furnaces; second, the environmental consideration; and third, the cost of the coke. This has become progressively important due to the cost competitiveness of the iron and steel industry, which has become the key to survival. Therefore, the production of coke with optimal cost by adequate selection of cokemaking technology and the optimization of coal blend cost and operating parameters are the most important tasks for cokemakers. This chapter describes an overview of cokemaking technologies, fundamental aspects of carbonization, coal-blending practice in cokemaking with practical experience, and the influence of operating parameters and environmental regulations. A brief review of conventional by-product coke ovens is also part of this chapter.

Purpose This paper aims to summarize and review the key innovations that have taken place in the Indian Hospitality Industry in recent times. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on the findings and managerial implications as outlined by the contributors to this theme issue: “How is the need for innovation being addressed by the Indian Hospitality Industry?” Findings The paper highlights some of the recent innovations that have taken place in the Indian Hospitality Industry, especially in the areas of customer service, cost competitiveness, culinary management, revenue management and technology. It also highlights some of the key challenges faced by senior management of selected hotels in implementing innovative ideas and related processes. Practical implications With domestic hoteliers continuously expanding and foreign players’ intent on investing in India, it will be of interest to hoteliers and policymakers to know about the recent innovative measures adopted by the Indian Hospitality Industry. The innovations will aid hoteliers as they seek to create differentiation for their products and services. Originality/value There is limited literature on innovation in the Indian Hospitality Industry, especially with a focus on practitioner perspectives. This issue offers a significant contribution in the field of research in the Indian Hospitality Industry.

Solar thermal cooling technology is currently facing a very exciting challenge. Air conditioning is a large and growing energy consumer, especially in sunny and developing countries. Worldwide efforts to develop renewable energy solutions must address this critical cooling application. Solar thermal energy presents a natural and strong opportunity to do just this. However, even if reliable technologically advanced products are presently available, the solar cooling sector must leap from a pre-industrial and demonstration status into a competitive mass market. Despite this, some applications, particularly for large buildings with combined cooling and domestic hot water production, are already very close to cost competitiveness without any incentives. This paper will concentrate on introducing an international collaborative R&D activity called IEA SHC Task 48 in the field of solar cooling and the methodology, participating entities and initial outcomes.

Biofuels are regarded as one of the most viable options for reduction of CO2 emissions in the transport sector. However, conventional plant-based biofuels (e.g., biodiesel, bioethanol)'s share of total transportation-fuel consumption in 2016 was very low, about 4%, due to several major limitations including shortage of raw materials, low CO2 mitigation effect, blending wall, and poor cost competitiveness. Advanced biofuels such as drop-in, microalgal, and electro biofuels, especially from inedible biomass, are considered to be a promising solution to the problem of how to cope with the growing biofuel demand. In this paper, recent developments in oxy-free hydrocarbon conversion via catalytic deoxygenation reactions, the selection of and lipid-content enhancement of oleaginous microalgae, electrochemical biofuel conversion, and the diversification of valuable products from biomass and intermediates are reviewed. The challenges and prospects for future development of eco-friendly and economically advanced biofuel production processes also are outlined herein.

Transport biofuels derived from biogenic material are used for substituting fossil fuels, thereby abating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Numerous competing conversion options exist to produce biofuels, with differing GHG emissions and costs. In this paper analysis and modelling of the long-term development of GHG abatement and relative GHG abatement cost competitiveness between crop-based biofuels in Germany is carried out. Presently dominant conventional biofuels and advanced liquid biofuels were found not to be competitive compared to the substantially higher yielding options available: sugar beet based ethanol for the short to medium term least-cost option and Substitute Natural Gas (SNG) for the medium to long term. The competitiveness of SNG was found to depend highly on the emissions development of the power mix. Silage maize based biomethane was found competitive on a land area basis, but not on an energetic basis. Due to land limitations as well as cost and GHG uncertainty, a stronger focus on the land use of crop-based biofuels should be laid in policy.

Since early 2015, PETRONAS, through its Upstream Regulatory Unit (Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM)) drives and coordinates an organized nationwide response to recent downturn of oil prices starting late 2014. Building on collective intelligence of the leaders from its Petroleum Arrangement Contractors (PACs), Oil and Gas Services and Equipment (OGSE) providers as well as PETRONAS’ internal organization, a cost optimization program, which termed as Cost Reduction Alliance (CORAL) 2.0 was defined to take Malaysian Upstream industry through a cost transformation journey, with the mission to optimize cost, improve efficiencies and drive innovation towards a new level of industry competitiveness. This paper documents the framework of this program and its key principles guiding the whole program execution. Several observations concerning its impact to Malaysian Upstream industry are also deliberated.

We analyze the incentives to subsidize R&D when there is an R&D leader and an R&D follower. Without government intervention, the R&D leader always achieves higher cost competitiveness than the R&D follower. In the presence of R&D subsidies, the country that hosts the R&D follower offers higher R&D subsidies than the country that hosts the R&D leader. As a result, competitiveness-shifting effects arise, since due to the R&D subsidy the R&D follower achieves higher cost competitiveness than the R&D leader. Consequently, the country that hosts the R&D follower does not face a prisoner׳s dilemma in international subsidy wars, since even when the foreign country retaliates, it is always better off when it intervenes.

In this paper, we investigate export competitiveness based on unit labor costs (ULC) and nominal effective exchange rates for Japan, China and Korea for 12 manufacturing industries at the two-digit International Standard Industrial Classification level for the period 2001–2009. Japan's ULC are relatively stable or declining in most industries, while Korea's ULC show an upward trend in many industries, with the electrical and optical equipment industry being a major exception. China's ULC are declining in most industries. Evaluating ULC on a foreign currencies basis, Japan's ULC increased rapidly during the period of yen appreciation, suggesting that Japan's cost reduction efforts were more than offset by the appreciation of the yen. The results of our empirical analysis suggest that both increases in ULC and appreciation of the home currency reduce exports by raising the home country's relative prices. The negative impact of ULC is largest for China, while it is negligible for Japan. However, the negative impact of nominal effective exchange rates is largest for Japan. Moreover, the negative impact of ULC tends to be larger for machinery-related industries, suggesting that cost competitiveness is particularly important in these industries.

Engineer–to-order (ETO) firms produce complex – one of a kind – products and desire shorter lead time as a key component to cost competitiveness. In ETO firms, the engineering process is the largest controllable consumer of lead time. Given that lead time is a function of completion rate and scheduling policy, one critical process is to accurately sequence jobs in front of the engineering function. However, unlike other manufacturing models, such as make–to-stock or make-to-order models, the design for an ETO product is not realized until after the engineering process has been completed. Hence, the only information available does not include data normally required by most sequencing algorithms. Therefore, the problem becomes the determination of an accurate schedule within a complex transactional process for jobs which have not even been designed yet. This paper investigates this topic in the context of the engineering process within the ETO model. Based on research conducted in conjunction with multiple firms, common factors are identified which drive complexity, and a new framework and algorithm are presented for using these factors to sequence jobs. Using discrete event simulation, the performance of this new algorithm is found to be a significant improvement over current industry and published methods.

We provide an overview of the challenges, risks and opportunities experienced by Australia's liquefied natural gas industry over the past 25 years. This includes an evaluation of the cost competitiveness challenge of the sector, the importance of effective public oversight and regulation to attract investments and progress developments and the need for community trust. We find that an effective and fair fiscal regime and regulatory process, a trustworthy and transparent process of approvals and monitoring that effectively manages risks are necessary to maximise the national benefits of liquefied natural gas developments.

Evaluating the assemblability at the design stage is important because of the cost competitiveness of company. However by compared results of the sequence of bottle neck process of production stage, the Lucas DFA (Design for assembly) and Boothroyd & Dewhurst DFA is not enough to evaluate the assenblability accurately. Therefore, in this paper, we proposed three design factors which is affecting assembly but not mentioned at DFA. These design factors would help the designers to evaluate assemblability and improve the productivity.

Over the last few years there has been a renewed interest on the use of timber-concrete composite (TCC) structures in bridge decks, possibly because of their cost competitiveness and environmental friendliness. Accordingly, this paper investigates the sustainability of TCC bridge decks under a threefold environmental, economic, and sociocultural perspective. Two different types of decks, which represent the overall characteristics of TCC bridges constructed around the world, are first described. Next, the paper presents a comparative sustainability assessment of two existing concrete bridges and their TCC deck potential alternatives (of the types previously mentioned); a lifecycle methodology, based on standards from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and other publications, is followed. The main conclusions are that, when compared with concrete decks, TCC solutions cause less environmental impact and are cost-competitive. Regarding sociocultural impacts, this analysis reveal...

From productivity performance indicators derived from the World Bank, The Bahamas is underperforming relative to our Caribbean economies and even other small economies within Latin America and the Caribbean. This policy brief outlines and explains these deficiencies using the enterprise surveys of the World Bank and the Compete Caribbean PROTEqIN database and describes the four major "bottlenecks" to private sector output growth and productivity, while suggesting what policy measures will be required to improve productivity and cost competitiveness, and spur economic growth within the archipelago.

A comprehensive bottom-up cost model has been developed by NREL for ARPAE’s MOSAIC micro-concentrator PV program. It will calculate LCOE for MOSAIC technologies and assess their cost competitiveness compared to traditional flat-plate systems.

In general, precast concrete (PC) construction is preferred to reduce construction time, improve the quality of buildings and reduce costs. This type of construction consists of in-plant or in-house production, transportation and on-site erection processes. However, the PC construction method based on in-plant production is less effective in terms of cost compared to an in-situ construction method. According to previous studies in Korea, in-plant production cost of PC members accounts for 75–77% of total cost of PC framework, transportation cost is 7–10% and erection cost is 15–17%. If qualitative in-situ production is possible, more than 10% of in-plant production cost and 7–10% of the transportation cost can be reduced, resulting in better cost competitiveness. Yet, in-situ production of PC members has complicated issues such as securing site traffic and resolving interference with other work. This study is intended to develop algorithms that can quickly establish a production layout plan by considering in-situ production factors affecting composite precast concrete members. Usefulness of the developed algorithms has been demonstrated through a case study.

Despite their increasing cost competitiveness, the continued expansion of renewable energy remains dependent on policy support. Moreover, the dismantling of renewable energy policies in a number of former pioneer countries indicates that continued policy support is not a foregone conclusion. Yet, in light of the accelerating expansion of renewable energy, the dismantling of renewable energy policies has captured comparatively less attention than the rapid spread of support schemes. This article seeks to fill this important knowledge gap by developing and testing a framework for the analysis of policy dismantling processes in the renewable energy sector. It applies the framework to conduct a comparative analysis of policy dismantling in Spain and the Czech Republic. Both countries represent European pioneers of renewable energy support who subsequently dismantled their policies. The paper finds that the inter-relationship between policy design and the broader configuration of the political economy in the energy sector are key for understanding dismantling processes. It offers a number of conclusions for the design of more robust renewable energy support policies.

Agriculture in Tanzania is the foundation of the economy as it supports employment, food production and export. In terms of agricultural trade, Tanzania has seen growth in both imports and exports, hence, emerging world demand for agricultural commodities offers a great opportunity. Tanzanian agricultural exports have increased in diverse; however, the contribution of agricultural export in the total export of the country has declined. The present study explored the trade performance and export competitiveness of Tanzania's major agricultural exports (cash crops) from 1996–1997 to 2016–17. Exports of agricultural commodities increased over the last decade although its share in total national exports declined. The CGR of agricultural export was 11.32 per cent, whereas that of agricultural imports was 15.64 per cent. Tanzania's imports decreased in terms of percentage share in total national imports from 14.47 per cent in 1997–98 to 6.29 per cent in 2016–17, whereas, agricultural exports declined in recent years. Tanzania's agricultural export faced problems in regulations of importing countries requirements, SPS measures and other standards, as well as cost competitiveness problem due to high transportation cost and marketing margins.

The South African automotive industry makes an important contribution to the South African economy. However, there are deficiencies within the local automotive component manufacturers’ (ACMs) supplier base and therefore automotive assemblers, or original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), have to import many of their parts requirements. These deficiencies are caused by ACMs’ lack of technology, global supply capability, cost competitiveness and their geographic location (ACMs are scattered across the country). A study was conducted to explore the supply chain challenges South African ACMs face and whether the location, size and age of participating ACMs have a bearing on whether they face the same challenges. The results revealed that the most significant supply chain challenges in South Africa were in the customer relationship category. From the hypotheses testing, the conclusion could be drawn that, in general, participating ACMs face common supply chain challenges, irrespective of their location, age and size.This article contributes to the published research on the topic and the findings reveal that business opportunities in the automotive industry exist for entrepreneurs aspiring to enter into the automotive component industry.

Since a chilled beam system can reduce the conveyance energy for air conditioning and has many advantages in terms of constructability and indoor environment, its supply has been rapidly expanding mainly in Europe. For this chilled beam system to be effectively available in Korea, a product suitable for the domestic climatic environment and HVAC system operating conditions needs to be developed. Also, domestic products need to have an edge in cost competitiveness compared to overseas products. In this study, the induction structure of a chilled beam is deduced and an analysis on the induction performance is carried out while the chilled beam system that meets domestic situations is in the process of development.

Energy cost has been increasing rapidly to comply with environmental regulations worldwide and the manufacturing industry who consumes more than half of the total energy needs to improve their cost competitiveness considering environmental costs. Machine tools are essential elements in manufacturing industry and efforts have been made recently to increase their energy efficiency mainly by German and Japanese machine tool builders. In this paper, trends in energy saving technology are described on the hardware and software sides of peripheral equipment of machine tools. In addition, the power consumption of a machining center is measured and analyzed to develop a software-based standby strategy for energy saving with peripheral equipment of machine tools.

A novel uni-body composite pylon has been proposed for 400 kV transmission lines with advantages of compacted size, friendly looking and cost competitiveness. As its configuration is quite different from the traditional lattice pylon, its electrical performance needs in-depth investigation and evaluation, for which electrical testing methods are essential. However, as research on composite-based pylons is still in initial stage, leaving international standards and theoretical analysis on this topic very limited, effective testing methods to evaluate the fully composite pylon’s electrical performance need to be studied. This paper sums up experience and key advances on testing methods to evaluate electrical performance of composite cross-arms and composite-based pylons. Based on state of the art review, several feasible testing methods that can be used to verify the feasibility of the novel uni-body composite pylon are put forward.

This note focuses on two issues concerning industrial policy in Italy. The first relates to the question of which kind of industrial policy is better suited to meet the development needs of an economic system at an intermediate level of development focusing, in particular, on the Italian southern regions. The second issue concerns the labor market institutions that are more consistent with an industrial policy aimed at reversing the present Italian decline. We underline the incompatibility of a labor market set-up that encourages continuous turnover and cost competitiveness strategies—based on labor cost reduction—with an industrial policy aimed at strengthening and upgrading the industrial structure.

This paper assesses the relationship between government and manufacturing wages. We find that the long-run relation between the two wages is stronger when the government is a large employer. Manufacturing wages are better aligned with productivity and unemployment when public wages, to which they respond, are set through bargaining. Finally, manufacturing wages react in the same way whether public wages are increased or cut, a relation that seems to hold also under fiscal consolidation provided the public sector is a large employer.

While India has become a fairly significant manufacturing hub due to its industryfriendly policies, cost competitiveness and vast pool of human resources, some of the key challenges remain unaddressed. As a consequence, the full potential remains unrealised which manifests as a structural problem in the Indian economy (Indian industry has a low share in GDP). In response, the policy makers are constantly renewing their focus on expanding manufacturing and service sectors while various stakeholders feel that India faces an even bigger challenge with respect to vocational skills. Surveys and studies point out that the skill demand-supply gap is extremely wide.

Aksel is the CEO of UCo and he is becoming more and more concerned about the company’s competitiveness in a challenging global market. He has recently brought in Gary as the company’s operations director, a new executive position, on the strength of his performance at a world-class manufacturing company in Canada. Gary’s role is essentially to ensure safety and productivity performance across UCo and his first assignment is to assess what he feels is required to improve both the company’s safety performance and its cost competitiveness. Based on his discussions with Aksel, Gary knows that there is a need to streamline operations and bring consistent standards to a range of sites working under very different conditions.

Cost has a significant impact on shipbuilding competitiveness. In China, low costs have created favourable conditions for domestic shipyards competing in the international market. However, China's shipbuilders have faced rising cost pressures in recent years, which may affect their industrial competitiveness. In this article, we assess shipbuilding costs and their impacts on the competitiveness of China's shipbuilding industry. We compare developments with China's two primary competitors, South Korea and Japan, from 2000 to 2009. First, we analyse primary factors that affect shipbuilding costs. Second, we examine how the shipbuilding costs in China have changed over time. Finally, we use shipbuilding costs and market share to evaluate the competitiveness of China's shipbuilding industry. The results reveal sources and constraints of China's cost advantage, as well as changes in its shipbuilding costs and competitiveness. This article has broad implications for shipbuilding bids, ship production and policy-making.

This paper summarizes the key points of a report titled Nuclear Energy Outlook, published in 2008 by the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which has 30 member nations. The report discusses the commitment of many nations to increase nuclear power generating capacity and the potential rate of building new electricity-generating nuclear plants by 2030 to 2050. The resulting decrease in carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion resulting from an increase in nuclear power sources is described. Other topics that are discussed include the need to develop non-proliferative nuclear fuels, the importance of developing geological disposal facilities or reprocessing capabilities for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste materials, and the requirements for a larger nuclear workforce and greater cost competitiveness for nuclear power generation.

Panel data is used to model the cost of a set European and US regional air carriers between 1991 and 2002 to see the extent to which they are affected by Public Service Obligations or the US's Essential Air Service Program. Pooling the data set indicates that the Public Service Obligations in Europe do affect the economic performance of carriers, but this is not the case for the US's Essential Air Service Program.

Global energy demand is expected to increase steeply, creating an urgent need to evolve a judicious global energy policy, exploiting the potential of all available energy resources, including nuclear energy. With increasing awareness of environmental issues, nuclear energy is expected to play an important role on the energy scenario in the coming decades. The immediate thrust in the science and technology of nuclear materials is to realize a robust reactor technology with associated fuel cycle and ensure the cost competitiveness of nuclear power and to extend the service life of reactors to 100 years. Accordingly, the present-generation materials need to be modified to meet the demands of prolonged exposure to irradiation and extended service life for the reactor. Emerging nuclear systems incorporate features to ensure environmental friendliness, effective waste management, enhanced safety, and proliferation resistance and require development of high-temperature materials and the associated technologies. Fusion, on a longer horizon of about fve decades, also requires the development of a new spectrum of materials. The development of next-generation materials technology is expected to occur in short times and is likely to be further accelerated by strong international collaborations.

PVC remains the material of choice for the construction industry and pipe producers. However, environmental concern and regulations will lead to the elimination of lead based heat stabilizers over the next five years. This move to lead free stabilizers will cause pipe producers to re-evaluate their stabilizer options as they strive to keep the cost competitiveness of their PVC formulations. Thus, the challenge for stabilizer manufacturers is to propose new lead-free stabilizers for pipes with good performance and attractive costs. Rohm and Haas Company has developed a new stabilization system that is based on a derivative of the mercaptan chemistry which has been used for decades with conventional tin stabilizers. The patented technology includes organic based, heavy metal free compositions that contain blocked thiols, which under vinyl processing conditions, generate highly active stabilizing components. These innovative systems offer wide processing windows, give excellent early color, and can be adjusted to meet the various technical requirements of the pipe market. The stabilizing systems are odor free, and are compatible with all standard stabilizer systems. Additional benefits include reduced cross-linking leading to easier recycling. This new stabilizing systems are non toxic, contain no heavy metals, and are available as stabilizer system additives or as one-packs, offering excellent price/performance ratio. Here we present information detailing the stabilization mechanism and performance attributes (stabilization, rheology, and recycling data) on laboratory and industrial equipment.

Until recently, most natural gas trade has been limited to the regional scale due to the challenges of transporting gas over long distances. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) — an option that reduces the volume of gas about 600 times allowing for transportation by ship — has created an opportunity for expansion of the international market for natural gas. Pipeline option shows cost competitiveness for short to medium distances and for inland destinations, but it suffers from geological and political constraints. LNG provides an option to diversify supplies and we here we assess the LNG prospects for the next decade. The LNG trading volumes are projected to increase from about 240 Mt LNG in 2013 to about 340–360 Mt LNG in 2020. Longer-term projections show a potential for a substantial growth of LNG, but the challenges exist due to a potentially weaker demand from Asia. On the other side, geopolitical tensions might increase LNG flows to Europe.

Solar cooling technology is currently facing a very exciting challenge. Air conditioning is a large and growing energy consumer, especially in sunny and developing countries. Worldwide efforts to develop renewable energy solutions must address this critical cooling application. A new Generation of Solar Cooling systems including the coupling between Photovoltaic modules and a reversible heat pump is very promising and able to represent a cost competitive solution both reliable and efficient. To address this new generation of solar cooling, a new IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Program Task, called Task 53 has just started for 3.5 years and will be described. This paper will first concentrate on the description of Task 53 with its objectives and work plan then it will show the first results such as the state of the art of the new generation solar cooling systems. Then, a virtual case study on the cost competitiveness of a PV reversible heat pump installed in Madrid for cooling and heating will be presented, underlining that such a solution already would present a payback time of less than 10 years in the Spanish economical today's conditions