Sustainability performance of ammonia production: the contribution of Industry 4.0 and renewables to enhance the triple bottom line

PurposeSustainable production and manufacturing is an emerging concept for commercially successful performance. A question is how core asset processes should be streamlined to ensure performance quality and to portray their business roles within sustainability requirements. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue from asset operations and maintenance (O&M) perspective.Design/methodology/approachIssues discussed here are based on findings from a project launched during 2000‐2003 in Norway with major emphasis on performance integrity, consistency, and quality.FindingsThrough the findings of the original study, the paper elaborates on the important “Business – Production or Manufacturing asset – Operations and Maintenance” performance architecture in sustainable business environments.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper aims at stimulating production and manufacturing cluster to initiate joint R&D efforts to further explore and research this interesting and important subject matter that seems to be sensitive from socio‐economical viewpoint.Practical implicationsThe paper provides a framework to explore and specify critical elements for a risk‐based industrial asset management practice in dynamic and complex settings of sustainable environments. This is critical for many commercial businesses with the ongoing debates on the proper balance between profits and fundamentals, and to develop effective performance measurements and auditing systems for asset O&M process to ensure integrity, consistency and quality in performance.Originality/valueMany underlying issues regarding sustainability performance in production and manufacturing environments still remain ill‐defined. This paper clarifies how the emerging sustainable business concept can influence performance in industrial production and manufacturing assets, and how to outline a framework to streamline O&M performance.

This report contains an empirical analysis of the productivity and sustainability performance of different types of farms in thirteen countries. Farm productivity performance is measured through estimates of average productivity levels and through annual rates of technical change. Evidence on the environmental sustainability of farm groups is based on an index that reflects environmental pressure per hectare and the local environmental sustainability of production practices. In addition to environmental sustainability, the analysis also considers fundamental differences across farms with respect to farm structure, innovation of operations, individual characteristics as well as farm location. Productivity performance by farm classes is related to the environmental sustainability performance and to other farm characteristics in order to shed light on the factors that drive or impede farm performance. Empirically identifying the main conditions for and obstacles to performance improvement supports the development of effective and efficient policies targeting the performance of farms. This analysis contributes in particular to a better understanding of the synergies and trade-offs between productivity and environmental sustainability performance.

PurposeConstruction and demolition waste (CDW) continuously causes environmental and social problems. These formidable challenges lead to sustainable issues and are an increasingly urgent issue worldwide. Prior studies have neglected to link the triple bottom line (TBL) to a reliable estimation or empirical model for estimating CDW production performance and lack empirical sensitivity analysis in profit maximization. This study proposes an attribute analysis to build a cost–benefit analysis (CBA) to obtain profit maximization.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses fuzzy set theory to develop a cost and benefit analysis (CBA) model to assess the sensitivity analysis in terms of its performance on addressing the environmental, economic and social aspects. The model is used to weigh the sum of benefits such as financial gain and total costs of actions taken to mitigate the negative impacts.FindingsBased on the sensitivity analysis conducted, the environmental, economic and social mean scales were significantly changed, i.e. increased, and profits increased drastically. The results provide an insight into environmental legislation compliance, environmental investment and environmental impact as the cause attributes for the CDW recycling profit increase. The results prove that sensitivity analysis is viable to infer that a sustainable production performance can achieve more revenue and profit through an adequate selection of attributes regarding the TBL aspects to address the firm's uncertainty problem in multiple criteria analysis.Originality/valueThis study builds a CBA model to maximize profits for recycled CDW material by linking of environmental, economic and societal aspects for recycled CDW assessments. It considers a sustainability structure with criteria based on TBL aspects to assess production performance to realize the Sustainable Development Goals and presents fuzzy set theory and sensitivity analysis to solve the uncertainty problem in the construction industry.

The literature review lacks empirical studies on the role of big data analytics (BDA) and green technological innovation capabilities (GTICs) in promoting the sustainable performance of the manufacturing industry. The primary objective of this study is to examine the role of BDA-technology capability, GTIC, and environmental orientation toward green production and sustainable firm performance. Moreover, this research paper investigates the mediating role of green production and green competitive advantage and the moderating role of corporate reputation and supply chain innovativeness. Primary data was collected from Pakistani manufacturing firms through the survey method. Structural equation modeling was applied to measure and verify the relationship of proposed hypotheses. Empirical findings show BDA technology capability, GTIC, and environmental orientation positively contribute to green production. Moreover, green production helps achieve a green competitive advantage, and green competitive advantage positively influences sustainable firm performance. Furthermore, mediating role of green production and green competitive advantage and moderating role of corporate reputation and supply chain innovativeness was also confirmed. This study contributes by developing a comprehensive model showing the relationship between organizational capabilities, BDA technology capability, GTIC, and sustainable firm performance by considering potential mediators and moderators. Thus, this research suggests enhancing green production and sustainable firm performance through adopting BDA technology capability and GTIC by Pakistani manufacturing firms.

PurposeEnvironmental degradation in emerging economies has induced stakeholder pressures on diverse firms to ensure sustainable business performance. Consequently, firms are adopting environmentally ethical cultures and reinforcing green creativity to satisfy stakeholders' environmental needs while attaining green competitive advantage, sustainable production and higher financial performance. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether corporate environmental ethics and green creativity serve as antecedents to higher competitiveness, sustainable production and financial performance, and also examine if green competitive advantage and sustainable production mediate the relationships between corporate environmental ethics, green creativity and financial performance in the context of an emerging economy.Design/methodology/approachThis study using a survey approach examined data from 290 manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises. Data were analyzed and interpreted using SmartPLS 3.0 software, a variance-based structural equation modelling technique. This modelling technique was adopted due to its suitability for predictive research models.FindingsThe findings show that corporate environmental ethics and green creativity are critical antecedents to green competitive advantage, sustainable production and financial performance. The results connote that while corporate environmental ethics and green creativity directly and robustly influence green competitive advantage, sustainable production and financial performance, their effect on financial performance is strengthened via the indirect effects of green competitive advantage and sustainable production. Contrasting past findings, corporate environmental ethics negatively related to financial performance in this study context. The findings indicate that the integration of environmental ethics and green creativity can be a unique strategy for mitigating environmental negative risks while improving green competitive advantage, sustainable production and financial performance.Originality/valueThe study is among the few that draws insights from organizational ethics and the natural resource-based view (NRBV) to examine the interactions between corporate environmental ethics, green creativity, green competitive advantage, sustainable production and financial performance. Drawing insights from the findings, the study provides suggestions for managers, academicians, policymakers and governments as well as highlights implications and directions for future research.

Employee sustainable performance is a contemporary issue in the modern workforce, directly impacting organizational performance and competitive advantages in the market.Interestingly, practitioners have recently researched sustainable performance at the individual level but neglected research in academic literature.Furthermore, rare research about academics' sustainable performance was conducted in the context of Higher Education.The sustainable performance of academics in terms of high productivity and well-being directly impacts education output, linked to SDGs No. 4 (Quality Education) and No. 3 (Good Health and Well-being).This conceptual paper explores the causal relationship between systemic HR practices and academics' sustainable performance (A-SuPer) in the context of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and how systemic HR practices can nurture academic workforces to meet high current market demands but not at the cost of the academics's well-being.The main themes identified from the literature are Systemic HR Practices, Academics Experiences, and Academics' Sustainable Performance with various constructs.This research identifies A-SuPer as productivity performance and well-being; Systemic HR practices as training and development, pay and rewards, and organizational design.Based on the AMO and JDR theories, the relationship between these constructs are revealed, and therefore, an integrated conceptual framework is developed.Some directions for future research are proposed.This study provides comprehensive literature on the relationship between systemic HR practices and A-SuPer and sheds some light on boosting sustainable performance at the individual level in the HEIs context.

The negative impacts of high stocking density on the commercial poultry industry compromise sustainable birds’ productivity and welfare. Thus, we investigated the potential of colocynth seed (CC) supplementation in alleviating the negative impacts of high stocking density on broilers’ performance, immunity, inflammation, and redox status. A total of 648 one-day-old male Cobb 500 chicks were recruited and distributed into 2 × 2 factorial arrangements. The treatment groups were assigned based on stocking density as low stocking density (9 birds/m2; LSD) or high stocking density (19 birds/m2; HSD), and CC supplementation as without (0 g/kg feed; −CC) or with (1 g/kg feed; +CC) supplementation. Data were collected from week three to week five of age. Production performance was monitored and meat quality was assessed. Blood samples were collected to measure stress markers, humoral immune response, inflammatory cytokines, and antioxidant activity levels. The results indicated that HSD induced production performance reduction, immunosuppression, and imbalance redox status, along with elevation in inflammation and stress markers levels. Breast meat weight and yield were reduced in the HSD groups by 9 and 1%, respectively, compared to LSD groups. However, CC supplementation to HSD birds was able to slightly improve daily weight gain, body weight gain, and breast weight, showing no significant difference compared to the LSD-CC group, and significantly increased breast yield. Furthermore, CC supplementation significantly reduced inflammatory cytokines and stress markers levels. Under HSD, both cell-mediated and humeral immune responses were elevated with CC supplementation compared with the non-supplemented group. It can be concluded that HSD is a detrimental factor in the commercial poultry industry, which generates oxidative and inflammatory responses and, subsequently, immunosuppression and impaired performance. Nevertheless, dietary CC supplementation can be used as a natural antioxidant source to mitigate the negative impacts of HSD on broilers’ production performance, as well as physiological competency.

Heat stress is one of the stressors that negatively affect broiler chickens, leading to a reduction in production efficiency and profitability. This reduction affects the economy in general, especially in hot and semi-hot countries. Therefore, improving heat tolerance of broiler chicks is a key to sustained peak performance, especially under adverse environmental heat stress conditions. The present study investigated three early feed withdrawal regimes (FWD) as a potential mitigation for thermal stress exposure. A total of 240 unsexed one-day-old Cobb-500 chicks were randomly recruited to one of four experimental groups using a completely randomized design (10 birds × 6 replicates). The experimental groups included the control group with no feed withdrawal (control), while the other three groups were subjected to early feed withdrawal for either 24 h on the 5th day of age (FWD-24), 12 h on the 3rd and 5th day of age (FWD-12), or 8 h on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th day of age (FWD-8), respectively. Production performance was monitored throughout the experiment. Meanwhile, blood and liver samples were taken at the end of the experimental period to evaluate major physiological dynamic changes. Our findings demonstrated that under chronic heat stress conditions, FWD treatments significantly improved broilers' production performance and enhanced several physiological parameters compared with the control. Serum levels of thyroid hormones were elevated, whereas leptin hormone was decreased in FWD groups compared with the control. Moreover, serum total protein, globulin, and hemoglobin levels were higher, while total cholesterol and uric acid were lower in the FWD groups. Furthermore, FWD groups showed significantly higher antioxidant marker activity with a significantly lower lipid peroxidation level. Immunoglobulin levels, lysozyme, complement factor C3, and liver heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) concentration were also elevated in FWD compared with the control. Also, serum interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) significantly increased with FWD. Based on our findings, early feed withdrawal can be applied as a promising non-invasive nutritional strategy for broilers reared under chronic heat stress conditions. Such a strategy promotes the alleviation of the deleterious effects of heat stress on broiler performance, immunity, and redox status, owing to the onset of physiological adaptation and the development of thermotolerance ability.

Chapter 2 - Smart cities as a platform for technological and social innovation in productivity, sustainability, and livability: A conceptual framework

The electrocatalytic production of ammonia has garnered considerable interest as a potentially sustainable technology for ammonia synthesis. Recently, non-metallic-doped materials have emerged as promising electrochemical catalysts for this purpose. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the latest research on non-metallic-doped materials for electrocatalytic ammonia production. Researchers have engineered a variety of materials, doped with non-metals such as nitrogen (N), boron (B), phosphorus (P), and sulfur (S), into different forms and structures to enhance their electrocatalytic activity and selectivity. A comparison among different non-metallic dopants reveals their distinct effects on the electrocatalytic performance for ammonia production. For instance, N-doping has shown enhanced activity owing to the introduction of nitrogen vacancies (NVs) and improved charge transfer kinetics. B-doping has demonstrated improved selectivity and stability, which is attributed to the formation of active sites and the suppression of competing reactions. P-doping has exhibited increased ammonia generation rates and Faradaic efficiencies, likely due to the modification of the electronic structure and surface properties. S-doping has shown potential for enhancing electrocatalytic performance, although further investigations are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. These comparisons provide valuable insights for researchers to conduct in-depth studies focusing on specific non-metallic dopants, exploring their unique properties, and optimizing their performance for electrocatalytic ammonia production. However, we consider it a priority to provide insight into the recent progress made in non-metal-doped materials and their potential for enabling long-term and efficient electrochemical ammonia production. Additionally, this paper discusses the synthetic procedures used to produce non-metal-doped materials and highlights the advantages and disadvantages of each method. It also provides an in-depth analysis of the electrochemical performance of these materials, including their Faradaic efficiencies, ammonia yield rate, and selectivity. It examines the challenges and prospects of developing non-metallic-doped materials for electrocatalytic ammonia production and suggests future research directions.

The high production levels reached by the dairy sector need adjustment in nutritional inputs and efficient feed conversion. In this context, we evaluated a compound (QY—Qualix Yellow) combining optimized inputs in trace elements and 20% MIX 3.0. In a first step, the effects of MIX 3.0 on ruminal function were assessed in vitro by incubating ruminal fluid with the mixture at a ratio of 20:1. The results obtained encouraged us to test QY in vivo, on a herd of dairy cows. The herd was divided into one group of 19 dairy cows receiving the compound and a control group of 20 animals conducted in the same conditions, but which did not received the compound; the production performance and feed efficiency of the two groups were compared. In vitro experiments showed improved digestion of acid and neutral detergent fibres by 10%. The propionate production was enhanced by 14.5% after 6 h incubation with MIX 3.0. The plant mixture decreased the production of methane and ammonia by 37% and 52%, respectively, and reduced the number of protozoa by 50%. An increase in milk yield by 2.4 kg/cow/d (p < 0.1), combined with a decrease in concentrate consumption of 0.27 kg DM/cow/d (p < 0.001), was observed in vivo after consumption of the compound. Sixty-six days after the beginning of the trial, methane emissions per kg of milk were significantly lower in the group receiving QY. In conclusion, MIX 3.0 induced change in ruminal function in vitro and, when it entered into the composition of the QY, it appeared to improve feed efficiency and production performance in vivo.

The production of crude palm oil has environmental, economic and social implications. A sustainability assessment framework is needed to improve the sustainability performance of crude palm oil production in a carbon-constrained economy. The objective of this paper is to develop Performance Measures for triple bottom line assessment in the Malaysian palm oil industry, which includes Key Performance Indicators and Higher Performance Indicators for implementing the sustainability assessment framework. The Performance Measures of the triple bottom line assessment were built on the framework of Lim and Biswas (Sustainability 7(12):16561–16587, 2015). The measures were further developed through a participatory approach involving stakeholders and area experts, including Government, Industry, Academia and Local Smallholders/Non-Government Organisations. The developed framework presents a final list of Performance Measures, Key Performance Indicators and Higher Performance Indicators using a structured process and introduces weighting factors to the indicators to reflect the difference in the perceived level of importance. The calculation methods of the assessment framework were verified, and finally, the framework was tested using hypothetical data.

Triple-bottom-line assessment of São Paulo state’s sugarcane production based on a Brazilian multi-regional input-output matrix

Implications of dynamic capabilities on triple bottom line performance after the COVID-19 pandemic: An empirical insight from B2B marketing perspective

Determining factors driving sustainable performance through the application of lean management practices in horticultural primary production