Technological Transformation in the Global Pulp and Paper Industry 1800–2018


Book Description

This contributed volume provides 11 illustrative case studies of technological transformation in the global pulp and paper industry from the inception of mechanical papermaking in early nineteenth century Europe until its recent developments in today’s business environment with rapidly changing market dynamics and consumer behaviour. It deals with the relationships between technology transfer, technology leadership, raw material dependence, and product variety on a global scale. The study itemises the main drivers in technology transfer that affected this process, including the availability of technology, knowledge, investments and raw materials on the one hand, and demand characteristics on the other hand, within regional, national and transnational organisational frameworks. The volume is intended as a basic introduction to the history of papermaking technology, and it is aimed at students and teachers as course material and as a handbook for professionals working in either industry, research centres or universities. It caters to graduate audiences in forestry, business, technical sciences, and history.




Paper and the British Empire


Book Description

Paper and the British Empire examines the evolution of the paper industry within British organisational frameworks and highlights the role of the Empire as a market and business-making area in a world of shrinking commerce and rising trade barriers. Drawing on a valuable range of primary sources, this book covers the period 1861–1960 and examines events from the establishment of free trade backed by the gold standard to Britain’s membership of the European Free Trade Association. In the field of the paper industry, the speed and intensity of the industrialisation process around the globe have been shaped by a wide variety of variables, including the surrounding institutional framework; entrepreneurial and organisational strategies; the cost and accessibility of transport; and the availability of capital, knowledge, energy resources, and technology. The supply of papermaking raw materials has also been key and has historically been the most important determinant for geographical location and dominance. The research in this work focuses on the roles played by such variants, on the one hand, and demand characteristics on the other. In particular, it considers developments connected to a quest for Empire-grown raw materials in order to tackle the problem of the lack of indigenous raw materials and the resulting dependence on Scandinavian wood pulp imports. This text is of considerable interest to advanced students and researchers in economic history, business history, and the paper industry, and will also be useful to organisations working within the pulp and paper industries.




Chemistry for Biomass Utilization


Book Description

Much interest has been directed to the versatile possibilities of using lignocellulosic biomass resources (i.e., “renewable raw materials”) for the full-scale production of various chemicals and other bioproducts together with solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels. Introduces modern aspects and various technologies of lignocellulosic biomass conversion for producing chemicals, biofuels, and other products in a reader friendly way. Starting with fundamentals of biorefi nery, the author further describes chemical, biochemical, and thermal conversion approaches. In addition, the properties and biorefining principles of non-wood biomass feedstock




New Horizons for Innovation Studies


Book Description

This timely book takes an insightful look at rethinking innovation and how lessons can be learnt from what is a major turning point in our contemporary societies: the urgent need to reduce the use or consumption of certain substances and technologies due to the dangers they pose to our environments and current way of life. Using theoretical reflection and empirical work in a broad range of sectors including agriculture, food, health, religion, energy, packaging, markets and digital technology, eminent scholars utilise new perspectives to enrich our understanding of innovation processes and how these can be transformed.







Decarbonising Economies


Book Description

Based on an interdisciplinary investigation of future visions, scenarios, and case-studies of low carbon innovation taking place across economic domains, Decarbonising Economies analyses the ways in which questions of agency, power, geography and materiality shape the conditions of possibility for a low carbon future. It explores how and why the challenge of changing our economies are variously ascribed to a lack of finance, a lack of technology, a lack of policy and a lack of public engagement, and shows how the realities constraining change are more fundamentally tied to the inertia of our existing high carbon society and limited visions for what a future low carbon world might become. Through showcasing the first seeds of innovation seeking to enable transformative change, Decarbonising Economies will also chart a course for future research and policy action towards our climate goals. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.




Capitalism and Dispossession


Book Description

This edited collection brings together a broad range of case studies to highlight the role of Canadian corporations in producing, deepening and exacerbating conditions of dispossession both at home and abroad. Rather than presented as instances of exceptional greed or malice, the cases are described as expected and inherent consequences of contemporary capitalism and/or settler colonialism. A core purpose of the book is to combine and synthesize analyses of dispossession within and outside of Canada. While the literature tends to treat the two as distinct and unrelated phenomena, these processes are often connected, as the normalization of settler colonialism at home can lead to indifference and acceptance of dispossession caused by Canadian companies abroad. This book brings local and global cases together in order to present a rigorous analysis of the role of Canadian corporate activity in processes of dispossession. The book includes a diversity of theoretical approaches related to the overarching theme of capitalism and dispossession; however, they share a critical analysis of capitalism and its implications on marginalized peoples at home and abroad. Included are political economy approaches that draw on the work of theorists such as David Harvey, important interventions from Indigenous and settler colonial studies, feminist approaches using the work of scholars such as Silvia Federici and the concept environmental racism, which draws on both critical race theory and environmental justice literature.




Rethinking Clusters


Book Description

This volume discusses how different geographical spaces can enhance or hinder the capacity of a variety of organizational settings to achieve economic value creation in the pursuit of sustainable regional development. In order to provide the most comprehensive picture of new sources of value creation for sustainable transitions, the book collects contributions that tackle this issue from a variety of perspectives, and adopts a systemic approach where macro, meso and micro-levels of analysis are intertwined in three sections. This multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach comes from scholars operating in the fields of planning, economic geography, social entrepreneurship and organizational management. The first section of the book adopts a macro-level approach linking sustainability to the regional development theme, and addresses how organizations work between different social interests to produce outcomes not previously realized. The second section of the book focuses on the spatial dimensions of sustainable development, with particular clusters, industrial districts and regions considered as relevant units of analysis (meso-level analysis). The third section of the book is dedicated to a micro-level approach, illustrating how to drive social entrepreneurship activities, which are based upon sustainable business models centered in the creation of a shared value. The book is geared towards scholars working on sustainable development issues intersecting the disciplines of regional studies, economic geography and management, and will appeal to geographers and researchers in economic development, business innovation, and sustainability transitions.




The Modern Portuguese Economy in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries


Book Description

This book offers insights into the behaviour of the Portuguese economy in relation to economic growth from the twentieth century to the present. How did the 1891-92 crisis and World Wars impact Portugal economically? How did the Portuguese economy behave during the 'Golden Age' of economic growth in postwar Europe? What have the effects of the European Monetary Union been? Amaral examines long-running trends in the development of the modern Portuguese economy in order to help us understand various growth phases of the modern period. This title is important reading for economic historians and economists researching economic growth, crises, stablisation and monetary unions.




Technological Transformation in the Global Pulp and Paper Industry 1800-2018


Book Description

This contributed volume provides 11 illustrative case studies of technological transformation in the global pulp and paper industry from the inception of mechanical papermaking in early nineteenth century Europe until its recent developments in today's business environment with rapidly changing market dynamics and consumer behaviour. It deals with the relationships between technology transfer, technology leadership, raw material dependence, and product variety on a global scale. The study itemises the main drivers in technology transfer that affected this process, including the availability of technology, knowledge, investments and raw materials on the one hand, and demand characteristics on the other hand, within regional, national and transnational organisational frameworks. The volume is intended as a basic introduction to the history of papermaking technology, and it is aimed at students and teachers as course material and as a handbook for professionals working in either industry, research centres or universities. It caters to graduate audiences in forestry, business, technical sciences, and history.