scholarly journals The Ecological Footprint Accounting of Products: When Larger Is Not Worse

Resources ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicoletta Patrizi ◽  
Valentina Niccolucci ◽  
Riccardo Pulselli ◽  
Elena Neri ◽  
Simone Bastianoni
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Product System ◽  
Sustainability Evaluation ◽  
Competitive Systems ◽  
The Status ◽  
Resource Accounting ◽  
Selection Of

One of the main goals of any (sustainability) indicator should be the communication of a clear, unambiguous, and simplified message about the status of the analyzed system. The selected indicator is expected to declare explicitly how its numerical value depicts a situation, for example, positive or negative, sustainable or unsustainable, especially when a comparison among similar or competitive systems is performed. This aspect should be a primary and discriminating issue when the selection of a set of opportune indicators is operated. The Ecological Footprint (EF) has become one of the most popular and widely used sustainability indicators. It is a resource accounting method with an area based metric in which the units of measure are global hectares or hectares with world average bio-productivity. Its main goal is to underline the link between the (un)sustainability level of a product, a system, an activity or a population life style, with the land demand for providing goods, energy, and ecological services needed to sustain that product, system, activity, or population. Therefore, the traditional rationale behind the message of EF is: the larger EF value, the larger environmental impact in terms of resources use, the lower position in the sustainability rank. The aim of this paper was to investigate if this rationale is everywhere opportune and unambiguous, or if sometimes its use requires paying a special attention. Then, a three-dimensional modification of the classical EF framework for the sustainability evaluation of a product has been proposed following a previous work by Niccolucci and co-authors (2009). Finally, the potentialities of the model have been tested by using a case study from the agricultural context.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of LNG Fueled Vessel in Domestic Services

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hwang ◽  
Jeong ◽  
Jung ◽  
Kim ◽  
Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Marine Fuel ◽  
Pm 2.5 ◽  
Fuel Supply ◽  
Selection Of

This research was focused on a comparative analysis of using LNG as a marine fuel with a conventional marine gas oil (MGO) from an environmental point of view. A case study was performed using a 50K bulk carrier engaged in domestic services in South Korea. Considering the energy exporting market for South Korea, the fuel supply chain was designed with the two largest suppliers: Middle East (LNG-Qatar/MGO-Saudi Arabia) and U.S. The life cycle of each fuel type was categorized into three stages: Well-to-Tank (WtT), Tank-to-Wake (TtW), and Well-to-Wake (WtW). With the process modelling, the environmental impact of each stage was analyzed based on the five environmental impact categorizes: Global Warming Potential (GWP), Acidification Potential (AP), Photochemical Potential (POCP), Eutrophication Potential (EP) and Particulate Matter (PM). Analysis results reveal that emission levels for the LNG cases are significantly lower than the MGO cases in all potential impact categories. Particularly, Case 1 (LNG import to Korea from Qatar) is identified as the best option as producing the lowest emission levels per 1.0 × 107 MJ of fuel consumption: 977 tonnages of CO2 equivalent (for GWP), 1.76 tonnages of SO2 equivalent (for AP), 1.18 tonnages of N equivalent (for EP), 4.28 tonnages of NMVOC equivalent (for POCP) and 26 kg of PM 2.5 equivalent (for PM). On the other hand, the results also point out that the selection of the fuel supply routes could be an important factor contributing to emission levels since longer distances for freight transportation result in more emissions. It is worth noting that the life cycle assessment can offer us better understanding of holistic emission levels contributed by marine fuels from the cradle to the grave, which are highly believed to remedy the shortcomings of current marine emission indicators.

Metrics-Based Sustainability Evaluation of Manufacturing Technologies: Surface Coating Case Study

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. Z. Yang ◽  
B. H. Chua
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Sol Gel ◽  
Sustainable Manufacturing ◽  
Powder Coating ◽  
Sustainability Evaluation ◽  
Environmental Evaluation ◽  
Manufacturing Technologies ◽  
Sustainability Assessments ◽  
Selection Of

Sustainability evaluation of manufacturing technologies is a vital part of decision process in sustainable manufacturing, particularly for decisions on transfer/adoption of new sustainable manufacturing innovations. This paper highlights a study on metrics-based sustainability evaluation of technologies in manufacturing, with emphasis on the technical, economical and environmental sustainability assessments. On the basis of three types of sustainability evaluation metrics proposed in this paper, our study integrates technology assessment, cost analysis and environmental evaluation to support decision-making for selection of sustainable manufacturing processes. Case studies about sol-gel coating and powder coating are explored in the paper to test the proposed sustainability evaluation methods and metrics. The assessment results provide quantitative justifications used in technology transfer of the new sol-gel coating innovations. The results also help potential technology adopters to reduce their implementation risks of the sol-gel coating process in automotive decorative applications.

Suboptimal food retail model in Czechia: social super discount stores

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomáš Sadílek
Keyword(s):  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Size Range ◽  
Food Distribution ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Status ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Discount Stores ◽  
Selection Of

PurposeThe paper aims to identify retail models redistributing suboptimal food and their presence in Czechia. The author aims to give an overview of the status in comparison with other European Union countries and the form of such models in the Czech retail market concerning social super discount stores (SSDSs).Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on data obtained from an empirical study conducted by the study of secondary materials, author store-check observations and interviews with owners of SSDSs. The theoretical part consists of a literature review on social enterprises, food wasting and the definition of certain food distribution formats such as social supermarkets, food banks and SSDSs. The criteria for the selection of the research sample for observation were chosen based on the research conducted in Austria by researchers from the Vienna University of Economics and Business.FindingsThe research sample consists of 40 retail stores belonging to five retailers. The particular variables of the study are the number of stores, store size, range of categories and products, discount rates, location and the number of employees in the selected stores in Czechia.Originality/valueThis paper is a case study to identify and explore social retailing in Central Europe. This paper contributes to the emerging set of literature on social entrepreneurship, particularly in the field of retail for suboptimal food products.

Selection of materials to reduce environmental impact: a case study on refrigerator insulation

1996 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.M. Weaver ◽  
M.F. Ashby ◽  
S. Burgess ◽  
N. Shibaike
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Selection Of

scholarly journals Environmental Evaluation of Building Materials of 5 Slovak Buildings

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-102
Author(s):  
Milan Porhincak ◽  
Adriana Estokova
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Mineral Wool ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Environmental Evaluation ◽  
Operational Phase ◽  
Negative Environmental Impact ◽  
Materials Used ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract Building activity has recently led to the deterioration of environment and has become unsustainable. Several strategies have been introduced in order to minimize consumption of energy and resulting CO2 emissions having their origin in the operational phase. But also other stages of Life Cycle should are important to identify the overall environmental impact of construction sector. In this paper 5 similar Slovak buildings (family houses) were analyzed in terms of environmental performance of building materials used for their structures. Evaluation included the weight of used materials, embodied energy and embodied CO2 and SO2 emissions. Analysis has proven that the selection of building materials is an important factor which influences the environmental profile. Findings of the case study indicated that materials like concrete, ceramic or thermal insulation materials based on polystyrene and mineral wool are ones with the most negative environmental impact.

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