Circular City Construction and Energy Efficiency: Evidence from China’s ‘Circular Economy Demonstration Cities’

Spatial agglomeration analysis on a circular economy's energy efficiency: A study of European Union countries

Manufacturers are often identified as agents of change to conserve resources. The circular economy is the paradigm of the societal operation model that aims to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation through a system of efficiency measures. However, a growing body of literature reported the failure of efficiency measures to conserve energy and resources in the current socio-economic environment. Several complex compensatory mechanisms called the rebound effect were reported to offset efficiency gains and resulted in higher resource use. In this paper, we addressed the lack of data on the microeconomic one-company rebound effect investigation by presenting the case study of a medium manufacturer from the US that implemented energy, water and material efficiency measures. While the company qualified as a top-performing “circularity developer” according to the published self-assessment questionnaire, it retained its linear business model. Energy efficiency and renewable energy measures resulted in a short-term rebound effect of 161% or backfire. In the long term, the rebound effect of 25% was calculated. The drivers and barriers that the company encountered when implementing efficiency measures were identified. In conclusion, it was found that the system focused exclusively on efficiency was incapable of conserving resource use and delivering on CE decoupling promise. Wider societal acceptance of sufficiency measures was suggested to improve resource-saving capacity in manufacturing.

Innovation and sustainable: Can innovative city improve energy efficiency?

Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 will require tackling both energy-related and non-energy-related GHG emissions, which can be achieved through the transition to a circular economy (CE). The focus of climate change crisis reversal has been on the energy-related continuum over the years through promoting renewable energy uptake and efficiency in energy use. Clean energy transition and efficiency gains in energy use alone will not be sufficient to achieve net-zero emissions in 2050 without paying attention to non-energy-related CO2 emissions. This study systematically reviews the CE literature across different themes, sectors, approaches, and tools to identify accelerators in transitioning to a CE. The study aims to understand and explore how technology, finance, ecosystem, and behavioral studies in the CE paradigm can be integrated as a decision-making tool for CE transition. The material analysis was carried out by identifying the main characteristics of the literature on CE implementation in the agriculture, industry, energy, water, and tourism sectors. Results of the literature survey are synthesized to engender clarity in the literature and identify research gaps to inform future research. Findings show that many studies focused on technology as an accelerator for CE transition, and more studies are needed regarding the CE ecosystem, financing, and behavioral aspects. Also, results show that CE principles are applied at the micro-, meso-, and macro- (national, regional, and global) levels across sectors with the dominance of the industrial sector. The agriculture, water, and energy sectors are at the initial stages of implementation. Additionally, the use of carbon capture and utilization or storage, conceptualized as a circular carbon economy, needs attention in tackling CE implementation in the energy sector, especially in hydrocarbon-endowed economies. The major implication of these findings is that for CE to contribute to accelerated net-zero emission by 2050, coordinated policies should be promoted to influence the amount of financing available to innovative circular businesses and technologies within an ecosystem that engenders behavioral change towards circularity.

Earth as a planet has limited natural resources and current levels of extraction and consumption are not sustainable. The organizational model for the production of goods and services in society is predominantly linear: resources are extracted, passed through the production process, used by society, and then discarded, ignoring external effects. While the linear economy was very successful in creating material wealth in industrialized countries until the 20th century, it has proven to be unsustainable in the new millennium, as such an approach depletes natural resources, piles up waste, contributes to climate change, and increases other forms of pollution and environmental degradation. environment. In contrast to the conventional linear economic model, where resources are extracted, used and discarded, the concept of circular (circular) economy is increasingly developing in the world, conceived as an ideal and instrumental model of development determined by the responsible and cyclical use of resources, in order to maintain their value in the economy, minimized the pressures on the environment and contributed to the improvement of socio-economic well-being. The collection of concepts that make up the circular economy enables the reduction of waste by incorporating the reuse of goods components by design through closed loop and cascade approaches, increasing the resilience of the economic system, preserving the environment, meeting the growing demands of an increasingly populated planet and increasing the operability and profitability of production. The application of circular economy principles brings cleaner air through the application of measures to reduce air pollution, encouraging the use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency; cleaner water through the implementation of measures to prevent water pollution; regulated waste management system; addressing climate change and a number of other measures that ultimately bring a positive impact on people's health and the preservation of resources for future generations. Eco-innovations are one of the key tools for the transition from a linear to a circular economy and the fight against climate change. The circular economy reduces the pressure on natural resources, and is a prerequisite for achieving the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 and stopping the loss of biological diversity. Implementation of CE worldwide appears to be still in its early stages, mostly focused on recycling rather than reuse. Evidence suggests that CE has numerous advantages as it represents a unique policy strategy for avoiding resource depletion, energy conservation, waste reduction, land management and integrated water resources management. The transition to a system based on a circular economy represents an advantage not only for the market, by stimulating competitiveness and innovation, but also for the environment, reducing resource dependence and waste problems. On the other hand, challenges include lack of clear, standardized quantitative measurements and targets, data quality, lack of advanced technology, weak law enforcement, weak economic incentives, poor governance and lack of public awareness. The advantages are undeniable, and such innovative models lead to a reduction of dependence on raw materials by strengthening the relationship between the company and its customers, offering products with a high degree of customization, the emergence of a participatory economy based on digital technologies, etc. Despite widespread recognition of its benefits, implementation has been slow. Attempts tend to focus on short-term, immediately feasible actions rather than transformative, structural changes. The category of highly circular strategies targets processes such as the creation, design and development of products or services and involves significant investment in research, development and innovation. The lesson learned from successful experiences is that the transition to CE comes from the involvement of all actors of society and their capacity to connect and create appropriate patterns of cooperation and exchange. Previous research shows that the transition to a circular economy represents a systemic shift that contributes to the long-term resilience of society and local communities to climate change and economic shocks, creates business opportunities and jobs, and has lasting positive effects on the environment and society. The government should play a leading role in drawing up a macro-development plan, raising public awareness of the circular economy, establishing a system of laws and regulations, encouraging key industries, investing capital and providing technical support for the development of the circular economy. The circular economy research field still has a long way to go to create positive global, political, economic, scientific, social and environmental impacts. There is a need for studies in different sub-fields to highlight potential impacts in the present and future, as well as research to find ways to accelerate the economic transition towards a circular economy.

Over the last few decades, process industries have invested increasing efforts in developing technical and operating solutions related to industrial symbiosis and energy efficiency in both production processes and auxiliary services. In particular, new technologies that enable industrial symbiosis, such as novel treatment processes for byproduct extraction and valorization, water purification, and energy transformation, were implemented in different sectors. This work analyses recent relevant results in the implementation of industrial symbiosis and energy efficiency solutions within process industries across Europe, based on the transactions of energy and material flows. Current developments, based on the circular economy’s transformation levers and related achieved results, were taken into account by considering the achieved results coming from the literature, EU-funded projects, programmes, and initiatives on the implementation of technical solutions and practices related to industrial symbiosis and energy efficiency. In addition, the most relevant challenges deriving from the implementations of industrial symbiosis and energy efficiency were analysed. A comprehensive picture of the sectors involved in achieving more proactive cross-sectorial cooperation and integration was provided, as well as an analysis of the main drivers and barriers for IS and EE implementation in future scenarios for European process industries.

Total Site Resource Efficiency System

The need for sustainable production, efficient use of resources, energy efficiency and reduction in CO2 emission are currently the main drivers that are transforming the European process industry besides Industry 4.0. Since the potential of industrial symbiosis (IS) and energy efficiency (EE) about environmental, economic and social issues has been discovered, the interest in them is gradually increasing. The funding and investments for IS and EE are highly encouraged by the European Commission, while more and more policies as well as research and innovation (R&I) activities are initiated to promote European industry’s advancement towards a circular economy and CO2 neutrality. The aim is to maintain the competitiveness and economic progress of the industry. The key to build a competitive and sustainable European manufacturing industry is to create a competent, highly qualified workforce that is capable of handling the new business models coming with IS and EE requirements and digital technologies. We can generate this by identifying the skills needs and upskilling and reskilling the current workforce accordingly by delivering the suitable training programmes. Therefore, this work identifies the most critical skills needs related to IS and EE for six different energy-intensive sectors (steel, ceramic, water, cement, chemical and minerals) in Europe. The effect of the digital transformation on the skills needs is as well discussed. The identified skills are aimed to be included in vocational education and training (VET), tertiary education and other kinds of training curricula. We also identify the cross-sectoral most representative job profiles linked with EE and IS in these sectors and demonstrate the methodology for the selection process. Furthermore, we present a key tool for identifying the most significant current and future skills requirements. Also, we define the critical skill gaps of the European process industry using this tool. Once the skill gaps are defined, they can be reduced by delivering well-developed continuous trainings. We also link our work to the respectable ESCO, the European Classification of skills, competences, qualifications and occupations, to attain a common ground with other studies and frameworks, minimise the complexity and contribute to their work. Our work is developed to be an academic and industrial guideline to prepare well-developed training programmes to deliver the needed skills.

Wastewater treatment plays an important role in ensuring ecological safety for water bodies. The achievement of the standard quality of wastewater treatment is being fulfilled through the introduction of the best available techniques. However, the process of wastewater treatment and sludge utilization itself is quite energy intensive. In the course of investment program planning and implementation, corporate managers and local authorities often focus on individual tasks such as how to improve the wastewater treatment quality or to improve energy efficiency; these factors are, however, however interrelated. Achieving the standard quality of wastewater treatment through the introduction of best available techniques and an increase in the number of technological stages usually leads to an increase in the overall energy consumption of the facilities. The hypothesis of the research suggests that the performance assessment of wastewater treatment plants needs mutual accounting of two main factors: wastewater treatment quality and energy efficiency. The main purpose of this work is to develop a methodological approach for assessing the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants on the way towards the implementation of circular economy principles, followed by its trial application. The authors proposed a methodological framework that consists of three stages: (1) assessing the quality of wastewater treatment, (2) assessing energy efficiency, and (3) constructing a sustainability index on a correlation matrix. The outputs of the operation activities of wastewater treatment plants in Yekaterinburg for 2015-2018 were used for methodological framework approbation. The results of the investigation develop existing knowledge regarding the assessment of the effectiveness of management at treatment facilities and confirm the research hypothesis: the obtained values of the sustainable index correlate with the technical condition of the facilities both in terms of the achievement of the standard treatment quality the energy efficiency of the technological process. The practical significance of the study lies in the creation of a convenient and simple management tool for assessing the current success of wastewater treatment plants and progress in implementing successful circular economy practices. The proposed approach can be used as an element of environmental and economic assessment in the energy sector.

BackgroundThe main goal of the paper is to define the level of energy efficiency in the economies of selected countries in the Balkan region that have opted for the EU Green Deal, a circular economy, and a transition to carbon neutrality. Energy efficiency, as a determinant of carbon neutrality, was selected as an indicator for analysis because it records particularly unfavorable indicators in the region under observation. The research was carried out on a sample of seven Balkan countries and their surrounding areas. An initial qualitative analysis was followed by a quantitative analysis based on a combination of statistical methods and soft computing. Six indicators were selected for the analysis covering a period of 30 years (1990–2020).ResultsA significant obstacle to the green transition and the region’s transition to a circular economy and carbon neutrality is energy efficiency and energy related pollution—the reliance of most countries on coal-fired thermal power plants for electricity generation. The research results showed the following: (a) the degree of economic development and membership in the European Union are not significantly related to the level of energy efficiency; (b) most of the sampled countries are in the initial stages of introducing activities to achieve carbon neutrality; and (c) only Slovenia has documented consistent indicators and evident advancements in its efforts to achieve carbon neutrality. Based on the research findings, proposals for improvements were made in the direction of policymaking and in a methodological sense.ConclusionsThe implementation of circularity and carbon neutrality as a long-term goal of the European Union is not necessarily related to the level of economic development, nor can its trajectory be exclusively ascertained by means of data processing and monitoring. A more precise understanding of a carbon-neutral future can be achieved through the incorporation of qualitative data to a greater extent, a realistic evaluation of historical facts and their repercussions, as well as projections of the effects that reality and global developments after 2022 will have on each country.

Impacts of logistics service quality and energy service of Business to Consumer (B2C) online retailing on customer loyalty in a circular economy

As a global leader in energy supply, Saudi Aramco spares no efforts in maintaining the global energy demand by operating major onshore and offshore oil fields. This comes while ensuring to minimize the carbon footprint that will be resulted oil production, and to maximize the value creation from the operating facilities. The production of crude oil from these oil fields will involve producing associated gas at a facility that is called Gas Oil Separation plant (GOSP) which will be handled through gas gathering trains at the Gas Oil Separation Plants (GOSPs) to accommodate this valuable by-product with the produced crude oil from the connected oil field to increase the value creation and reduce flaring of the associated gas which may negatively impact the surrounding environment which includes but not limited to impacting climate change and air pollution. This is also part of Saudi Aramco commitments toward circular economy by reducing waste the amount of waste at the oil producing facilities. Therefore, Saudi Aramco strives to improve energy efficiency at its premises. In spite of all the exerted efforts, strict policies, challenging targets and investments to achieve a continual improvement in energy efficiency, it would be hard to avoid a performance plateau without breakthrough solutions. This is particularly true in Saudi Aramco, considering the large geographical area in which different facilities are scattered. Energy efficiency and environmental protection are two important parameters that are interconnected, and both are critical for the quality of future generation. Effective power utilization can eventually help sustainability and circular economy.

When energy is considered, the circular economy seeks ways to reduce the environmental impact of energy systems by reducing energy use and waste generation. Design facets related to energy, especially energy selection and energy efficiency, are essential considerations in the circular economy and are described in this chapter. The descriptions are supported by background material on energy and its conversion. Then, energy use is discussed, and its impact on the environment is described. Efficiencies and other measures of merit for energy use are presented, and designs for energy selection and energy efficiency are described, highlighting energy-related design factors for the circular economy. For illustration, an example is presented.KeywordsEnergyCircular economySustainabilityGreen managementCircularity

Facing the fierce competition in the domestic and abroad, it is a common task for all the steel enterprise to search for their way to survive. Steel industry is highly dependent on resources, and high energy consumption, high emissions. Improvement of energy efficiency is one way to get rid of the predicament and make Chinese steel industry from large to strong. This also meets the international trends of the energy conservation and emission reduction, green low-carbon, circular economy. Matter flow in iron and steel enterprise includes material flow, energy flow and emission flow. Energy flow drives the material flow in steelmaking process and brings out the emission flow at the same time (forming environmental problems). It is clear that energy flow plays an important intermediary role in the material flow. Energy management includes energy production, energy transfer and conversion, rational use of energy, which core indicator is energy efficiency. The energy efficiency of iron and steel enterprise is highly related to material flow structure and enterprise benefit. In this paper, by analyzing the energy efficiency of iron and steel enterprises, the specific direction and path of improving energy efficiency of iron and steel enterprises are put forward, including strengthen the coordination of energy flow material and flow emission flow, and enhanced waste heat energy utilization.

The housing stock in Vietnam has boomed in the last few decades, especially in urbanised areas. However, the increasing number of housing units did not go along with housing quality, a healthy living environment or a sustainable building stock. Recent legislation only applies to public buildings but not the private housing sector, which accounts for the majority of the building stock. Therefore, this research aimed to contribute to a more sustainable building stock in Vietnam by improving the energy efficiency in new and renovated urban houses. This research started with examining the energy upgrade potential of the existing houses in Vietnam. Both passive and active refurbishment design measures were investigated for the Vietnamese context. Among the measures, a green facade has a large potential in energy saving. Effect of a green facade on thermal and energy performance was tested by conducting a physical experiment on a real tube house in Hanoi. Next, a stepped design strategy was introduced in a student design workshop in Vietnam. The participants were trained to apply sustainable and energy efficient design measures for Vietnamese tube houses. In addition, the vision for designing future tube houses was discussed on several sustainability aspects: urban densification, energy efficiency, circular economy and social interaction. This research is also expected to contribute to the establishing of a future national technical regulation for private housing in Vietnam.