Cleaner Production Letters最新文献

The relation between financial performance and sustainability in the global pension sector has been widely researched. Current research confirms that sustainable investments can have a positive influence on financial performance, but how that effect materializes is still debated. This study argues that the ambiguity concerning this positive impact is caused by a lack of integration of sustainability in organizations. This lack of integration causes the sustainability efforts to harm financial performance of the pension funds. Nevertheless, research shows that, if sustainability is integrated in the core logic of the organization, sustainability efforts do not yield lower returns. We assess the current level of sustainability integration in the Dutch pension fund sector using a multiple case study approach. Next, this study formulates the challenges related to sustainability integration in the sector, after which solutions to the specific problems are presented. Given the lack of integration, the barriers for increasing sustainability integration can be viewed as a Catch-22. First, a perceived separation is observed between the societal pressure to invest sustainably and constituents’ pressure to realize financial value. Second, pension funds are ill equipped for the complexity in sustainable investing and use a third party as investment manager, creating a dispersion of knowledge of sustainable investments and the responsibility to do so. To be able to solve the Catch-22 dilemma, greater collaboration, standardization and a sustainability vision are needed, resulting in a positive impact on sustainability and positive effects on financial return.

Environmentally sustainable design approach is characterised using design frameworks, a pre-determined set of criteria guiding designs to achieve sustainability provided in way of. green building rating tools. Recently, these green building design outcomes were criticised for lack of emphasis on human nature connectedness where biophilic design was identified as an approach that enhance nature connectedness. There is a growing trend in the building industry to incorporate biophilic design criteria into green building rating tools. However, the sustainable design approach is highly quantitative whereas biophilic design is qualitative. Hence, thorough understanding of both frameworks is required to develop a design framework overcoming the compatibility challenges. Furthermore, unlike the large volume of literature on green building rating tools, biophilic design frameworks are scarcely studied.

Therefore, the aim of this paper is to fill this gap by 1) conducting the first analysis of all the current biophilic design frameworks to explore their structure and development techniques; and 2) examining the compatibility of biophilic criteria within frameworks with typical sustainable design criteria.

The study presents a review of biophilic design frameworks identified through an extensive literature review followed by content analysis to find the development stages, techniques, and compatibility with sustainability criteria. Our analysis of seven biophilic frameworks revealed four techniques that were used to develop themes for categories, criteria, design strategies and building components. These techniques are: 1) literature synthesis, 2) framework synthesis, 3) interdisciplinary ideation, and 4) expert knowledge. Biophilic framework criteria has an average of 43% compatibility with green building rating tool criteria. It can be concluded that biophilic design is a sensory place-making approach and sustainable design is a building performance-based approach with opportunities for compatibility. The findings assist to understand the techniques in developing a biophilic design framework compatible with sustainable design approach.

An expected decline in oil revenue and a complicated global energy market present significant concerns about oil-producing countries’ intentions to move away from fossil fuels. Understanding the dynamics of these concerns, particularly in light of potential energy transitions, is crucial for future energy supply and sustainable energy discussion. Given the scarcity of research on the issue, this study examined whether an implied shift from fossil fuels to a cleaner energy state is possible for Ghana, a small oil-producing economy in sub-Saharan Africa. A two-state Markov Switching Model (MSM) was applied to a dataset covering 1980–2019. Results based on a multivariate state-dependent regression technique were documented as follows: First, the probability of transitioning from a nonrenewable energy state to a renewable energy state is 76.5%. Second, there is 80.2% chance of remaining in a renewable energy state for five years. Third, fossil fuel production undermines cleaner energy development as 1% growth in nonrenewable energy causes a 0.20% decline in renewable energy generation. Finally, trade openness and foreign direct investment promote cleaner energy growth. The study concluded that Ghana’s economy has a greater chance of transitioning from fossil fuels and an equally higher chance of realizing a cleaner energy state, despite a declining policy support for renewable energy development.

Food supply chain is gaining significant importance among international researchers and practitioners. However, food loss and waste is a global issue that significantly impacts global food security and requires more attention from all parties to find solutions to eliminate their causes. Although the amount of food loss and waste is much higher in developed countries, this paper enriches the current literature by providing insights from developing countries. The study highlighted the challenges and obstacles which hinder the capability of citrus farmers and other stakeholders to reduce food loss and waste and improve their profit in one of the Mediterranean countries. This paper aims to identify the best practices for improving the sustainable performance of citrus supply chains. For this purpose, the system dynamics approach has been used to build and simulate scenarios to improve the environmental performance of citrus production in Jordan and to observe the reflections of that on both the economic and social dimensions. Five scenarios were proposed and discussed from the sustainability perspective. The results from all scenarios showed significant improvement in 'farmers' profit by 22.4%, 15.6%, 8.6%, 30.0%, and 23.2% when hiring more workers (S1), motivating workers (S2), re-usage of crates (S3), the combination of S1 and S3 (S4), and the combination of S2 and S4 (S5), respectively. Moreover, the self-sufficiency index has been improved by 18.9% in S1, S2, S4, and S5.

The study suggests that there is a significant relationship between the number of farmworkers, pre-harvesting loss, and citrus consumption per capita. The novelty of this research lies within its quest to expand the knowledge regarding the dynamic factors influencing the sustainability of citrus supply chains in developing countries and observe the interactions between the pillars of sustainability.

The energy transition's success hinges on the effectiveness to curbing carbon emissions from hard-to-abate sectors. Hydrogen (H₂) has been proposed as the candidate vector that could be used to replace fossils in such energy-intensive industries. Despite green H₂ via solar-powered water electrolysis being a reality today, the overall defossilization of the hard-to-abate sectors by electrolytic H₂ would be unfeasible as it relies on the availability of renewable electricity. In this sense, the unbiassed photoelectrochemical water splitting (PEC), as inspired by natural photosynthesis, may be a promising alternative expected in the long term. PEC could be partly or even completely decoupled from renewable electricity and then, could produce H₂ autonomously. However, some remaining challenges still limit PEC water splitting to operate sustainably. These limitations need to be evaluated before the scaling up and implementation. A prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used to elucidate a positive performance scenario in which the so-called super-green H₂, or photo-H₂, could be a sustainable alternative to electro-H₂. The study has defined future scenarios by conducting a set of sensitivity assessments, determining the figures of operating parameters such as i) the energy to produce the cell; ii) solar-to-hydrogen efficiency (STH); and iii) lifetime. These parameters have been evaluated based on two impact categories: i) Global Warming Potential (GWP); and ii) fossil Abiotic Depletion Potentials (f-ADP). The mature water electrolysis was used for benchmarking in order to elucidate the target performance in which PEC technology could be positively implemented at large-scale. Efficiencies over 10% (STH) and 7 years of lifetime are compulsory in the coming developments to achieve a positive scaling-up.

Digital battery passports (DBPs) may help support the transition towards more sustainable and circular electric vehicle battery (EVB) value chains by providing respective value chain actors with valuable data in sustainable battery management. To ensure such support, DBPs have to fulfil EVB value chain actors' data needs and requirements. This work sets out to provide initial empirical insight into EVB value chain actors' data needs and requirements in the context of sustainable battery management. The analysis is based on a DBP concept comprising 54 data points and four information categories. The research design encompassed focus group expert workshops, expert interviews, follow-up expert consultation and subsequent qualitative content analyses. The results reveal diverging perspectives regarding data needs and availability. These are attributable to value chain actors' different positions and roles in the value chain, as well as to a lack of well-defined information flows along the EVB value chain. The work augments current DBP research by introducing the first systematic mapping of EVB value chain actors’ data needs in sustainability battery management. It further provides policy makers, and practitioners with guidance on the information content of DBPs, and on how their development and implementation may be supported.

Animal production intensification puts pressure on resources, leads to environmental impacts, animal welfare and biodiversity issues. Livestock products provide key components of the human diet and contribute to rural territories through ecosystem services such as nutrient and biomass recycling. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is key to assess environmental impacts in livestock systems and products. A harmonization of LCA methods is necessary to improve evaluations in these areas as LCA still lacks accuracy and robustness in addressing sustainability across livestock systems and products. Here, a participatory harmonization approach was applied to provide a framework to evaluate LCAs of current and future livestock systems. A total of 29 workshops with targeted discussions among 21 LCA experts were organised, together with two anonymous surveys to harmonise evaluation criteria. First, key research topics for improving LCAs of livestock systems were identified as follows: i) Food, feed, fuel and biomaterial competition, crop-livestock interaction and the circular economy; ii) Biodiversity; iii) Animal welfare; iv) Nutrition; v) GHG emissions. Next, general evaluation criteria were identified for livestock focussed LCA methods, considering livestock systems characteristics: Transparency and Reproducibility, Completeness, Fairness and Acceptance, Robustness and Accuracy. Evaluation criteria specific to each key topic were also identified. This participatory method was successful in narrowing down general and specific evaluation criteria through targeted discussion. Moreover, this study provided a holistic participatory framework for the evaluation of LCA methods addressing the impacts of livestock systems across a range of key topics which can be further used for other sectors.

The Circular Economy is driven by sustainable strategies of management and the reuse of materials and power to try to decrease the demand of resources and minimize the environmental impacts. Aligned to said perspective, the Industrial Symbiosis (IS) is opposite to the linear production's logic, enabling the sharing of resources, waste, and by-products, that is, the circular flow of power, water, materials, and information. In the last few years, to improve these IS strategies, platforms and tools were created to intermediate this process and facilitate the match between those who demand and offer waste and resources, such as the online waste markets or e-marketplaces. From this perspective, the objective of this study is to evaluate how these tools contributed to the IS process, going beyond the problem of the local factor. For this purpose, ten online platforms, found in the literature, were selected. The analysis was made based on the identification of key elements, which enabled the creation of a list with different types of traded materials, sectors and areas served, how wide was the service, the year when the activities started and, ultimately, the business model adopted. As a result, the evaluation shows that these tools enhance the symbiosis process because they approach the parties and facilitate the identification of synergies. Generally, the use of online platforms widens the geographic scope of the IS processes, enabling the interaction of parties from different places and regions. Was observed that these tools are characterized by the use of intelligent systems, based on algorithms that identify and recommend relations, providing greater assertiveness and speed to the decision-making process. Among the research's findings, we must stress that the IS potential extends much beyond the reuse of waste. There are opportunities for other synergies, such as infrastructure and service sharing. Finally, it was highlighted that, although they present many benefits in the social, economic, and environmental scopes, to be implemented on a wider scale, these tools still need to overcome challenges such as the lack of data on available materials and generated waste, the reluctance of some parties to establish synergetic relations, and the prejudice of working with repurposed materials.

Fossil fuels continue to exacerbate climate change due to large carbon emissions resulting from their use across a number of sectors. An energy transition away from fossil fuels seems inevitable, and energy sources such as renewables and hydrogen may provide a low carbon alternative for the future energy system, particularly in large emitting nations such as the United States. This research quantifies and maps potential hydrogen fuel distribution pathways for the continental US, reflecting technological changes, barriers to deployment, and end-use-cases from 2020 to 2100, clarifying the potential role of hydrogen in the US energy transition. The methodology consists of two parts, a linear optimization of the global energy system constrained by carbon reduction targets and system cost, followed by a projection of hydrogen infrastructure development. Key findings include the emergence of trade pattern diversification, with a greater variety of end-uses associated with imported fuels and greater annual hydrogen consumption over time. Further, sensitivity analysis identified the influence of complementary technologies including nuclear power and carbon capture and storage technologies. We conclude that hydrogen penetration into the US energy system is economically viable and can contribute toward achieving Paris Agreement and more aggressive carbon reduction targets in the future.

Installed capacity of renewable resources to generate electricity is increasing globally. The global share of renewables is expected to grow sharply in the next decade by replacing fossil fuel-fired power generating stations with hydropower, wind, and solar generation. This increasing trend will help reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuel combustion, and contribute to limit the global temperature increase by 1.5 °C. Nova Scotia, Canada, is committed to follow this trend by closing the remaining coal-fired power plants by 2030, although it still relies heavily on coal as its major fuel for electricity generation and failed to meet renewable electricity generation targets of 40% in 2020. Although Nova Scotia is still committed to meet a supply of 80% renewables in less than ten years, it is not clear how this will be achieved. This short review analyzes the provincial plan to reduce dependency on coal and provides an overview of recent developments in policies to reduce air emissions from fossil fuel combustion. Existing monitoring and reporting programs revealed that provincial air emission caps on the electricity sector resulted in a reduction of more than 50% emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides from 2002 to 2020. These annual caps, which will be progressively reduced until 2025, have already proven to be an effective strategy to reduce harmful air emissions from power stations in the province. However, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM), two harmful air pollutants also relevant to the electricity sector, are not yet regulated by provincial policy. This review recommends a revision in the monitoring and reporting programs and transition to renewables to reduce air pollution.