Quantified Eco-Efficiency


Book Description

A central asset of eco-efficiency analysis is that it does not depend on a specific evaluation of environmental impacts against economic effects. Several evaluation methods may be used, including those based on willingness-to-pay, panel procedures, and public statements on policy goals. This volume covers all aspects of eco-efficiency analysis and offers a global perspective on the subject.




Advances in Efficiency and Productivity II


Book Description

This book surveys the state-of-the-art in efficiency and productivity analysis, examining advances in the analytical foundations and empirical applications. The analytical techniques developed in this book for efficiency provide alternative ways of defining optimum outcome sets, typically as a (technical) production frontier or as an (economic) cost, revenue or profit frontier, and alternative ways of measuring efficiency relative to an appropriate frontier. Simultaneously, the analytical techniques developed for efficiency analysis extend directly to productivity analysis, thereby providing alternative methods for estimating productivity levels, and productivity change through time or productivity variation across producers. This book includes chapters using data envelopment analysis (DEA) or stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) as quantitative techniques capable of measuring efficiency and productivity. Across the book’s 15 chapters, it broadly extends into popular application areas including agriculture, banking and finance, and municipal performance, and relatively new application areas including corporate social responsibility, the value of intangible assets, land consolidation, and the measurement of economic well-being. The chapters also cover topics such as permutation tests for production frontier shifts, new indices of total factor productivity, and also randomized controlled trials and production frontiers.




Efficiency of Manufacturing Processes


Book Description

This monograph presents a reliable methodology for characterising the energy and eco-efficiency of unit manufacturing processes. The Specific Energy Consumption, SEC, will be identified as the key indicator for the energy efficiency of unit processes. An empirical approach will be validated on different machine tools and manufacturing processes to depict the relationship between process parameters and energy consumptions. Statistical results and additional validation runs will corroborate the high level of accuracy in predicting the energy consumption. In relation to the eco-efficiency, the value and the associated environmental impacts of manufacturing processes will also be discussed. The interrelationship between process parameters, process value and the associated environmental impact will be integrated in the evaluation of eco-efficiency. The book concludes with a further investigation of the results in order to develop strategies for further efficiency improvement. The target audience primarily comprises researchers and experts in the field, but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.




Assessing and Measuring Environmental Impact and Sustainability


Book Description

Assessing and Measuring Environmental Impact and Sustainability answers the question “what are the available methodologies to assess the environmental sustainability of a product, system or process?” Multiple well-known authors share their expertise in order to give a broad perspective of this issue from a chemical and environmental engineering perspective. This mathematical, quantitative book includes many case studies to assist with the practical application of environmental and sustainability methods. Readers learn how to efficiently assess and use these methods. This book summarizes all relevant environmental methodologies to assess the sustainability of a product and tools, in order to develop more green products or processes. With life cycle assessment as its main methodology, this book speaks to engineers interested in environmental impact and sustainability. Helps engineers to assess, evaluate, and measure sustainability in industry Provides workable approaches to environmental and sustainability assessment Readers learn tools to assess the sustainability of a process or product and to design it in an environmentally friendly way




Pursuing Sustainability


Book Description

This handbook includes three parts, corresponding to the following three domains of OR/MS research related to sustainability: (i) Systems Design, Innovation, and Technology, (ii) Manufacturing, Logistics, and Transportation, and (iii) Sustainable Natural Resource Management. The first part of the handbook (Chapters 2-6) will focus on the creation and development of sustainable products, services, value chains, and organizations from a systems perspective. Key areas to be covered include Green Design & Innovation, Technology and Engineering Management, Sustainable Value Chain Systems, Sustainability Standards and Performance Evaluation, and Circular Economy and New Research Directions in Sustainability. The second part of the handbook (Chapters 7-11) will concentrate on the major operational and logistic issues faced by today’s industries in pursuing sustainability. Key areas to be covered include Remanufacturing, Reverse Logistics, Closed-Loop Supply Chains, Sustainable Transportation, and New Research Directions in Green Supply Chain Management. The third part of the proposed handbook (Chapters 12-16) will center on major sustainability issues in managing engineering infrastructure and natural resources. Key areas to be covered include Renewable Energy, Sustainable Water Resource, Biofuel Infrastructure, Natural Gas, and New Research Direction in Sustainable Resource Management. The handbook aims to bridge the three main OR/MS research domains in sustainability: “Systems Design, Innovation, and Technology,” “Manufacturing, Logistics, and Transportation,” and “Sustainable Natural Resource Management.” Traditionally, these domains are treated separately in the OR/MS literature. By combining the three domains, the handbook will provide a more holistic treatment of MS/OR methodologies to address critical sustainability issues faced by today’s society. Unlike most existing handbooks which only focus on current OR/MS research in sustainability within a domain, this handbook will include a concluding chapter in each of the three parts to discuss and identify potential future research directions in each of the three main domains.




The Oxford Handbook of Business and the Natural Environment


Book Description

This Handbook discusses the main issues, research, and theory on business and the natural environment, and how they impact on different business functions and disciplines




Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century


Book Description

Provides a rigorous analysis of sustainable development that includes practical, policy-relevant, global case studies, explained concisely and clearly.




Springer Handbook of Wood Science and Technology


Book Description

This handbook provides an overview on wood science and technology of unparalleled comprehensiveness and international validity. It describes the fundamental wood biology, chemistry and physics, as well as structure-property relations of wood and wood-based materials. The different aspects and steps of wood processing are presented in detail from both a fundamental technological perspective and their realisation in industrial contexts. The discussed industrial processes extend beyond sawmilling and the manufacturing of adhesively bonded wood products to the processing of the various wood-based materials, including pulp and paper, natural fibre materials and aspects of bio-refinery. Core concepts of wood applications, quality and life cycle assessment of this important natural resource are presented. The book concludes with a useful compilation of fundamental material parameters and data as well as a glossary of terms in accordance with the most important industry standards. Written and edited by a truly international team of experts from academia, research institutes and industry, thoroughly reviewed by external colleagues, this handbook is well-attuned to educational demands, as well as providing a summary of state-of-the-art research trends and industrial requirements. It is an invaluable resource for all professionals in research and development, and engineers in practise in the field of wood science and technology.




Life Cycle Management


Book Description

This book provides insight into the Life Cycle Management (LCM) concept and the progress in its implementation. LCM is a management concept applied in industrial and service sectors to improve products and services, while enhancing the overall sustainability performance of business and its value chains. In this regard, LCM is an opportunity to differentiate through sustainability performance on the market place, working with all departments of a company such as research and development, procurement and marketing, and to enhance the collaboration with stakeholders along a company’s value chain. LCM is used beyond short-term business success and aims at long-term achievements by minimizing environmental and socio-economic burden, while maximizing economic and social value.




Life Cycle Assessment


Book Description

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has developed in Australia over the past 16 years in a fragmented way with many different people and organizations contributing to the area at different times, and largely through informal or unpublished work. This publication will legitimize and document LCA research and methodology development to act as a record of what has happened and a basis for future development and application of the tool. The Centre for Design at RMIT has been a leading research center in Australia through its work on data collection, methodology development and contribution to knowledge through undertaking LCA studies for leading companies and government departments ranging from products, packaging, buildings, water management and waste management. This work, in addition to key work undertaken by other researchers, will be presented. The book will become a bridge between LCA implementation and life cycle management (LCM) and provide discussion on how LCA development will be in the future and how it integrates with available software tools.