Environment-friendly Products Research Articles

ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF THE MINERAL FERTILIZER APPLICATION IN CEREAL PRODUCTION

Cereal grains have represented the principal component of the human diet for thousands of years. Modern cereal production cannot be imagined without the use of mineral fertilizers, particularly in terms of better utilization of biological potential of the yield of growing plants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the energetic efficiency of wheat and barley production, with special reference to the share of the use of mineral fertilizers in total energy consumption. Input data and yield of wheat and barley fields were collected in the experimental trials in Serbia. Results showed that total energy inputs of wheat and barley fields were 22178.04 and 15921.16 MJ·ha-1, respectively. Total energy outputs for wheat and barley fields were 80037.83 and 104496.08 MJ·ha-1, respectively. The results obtained indicate that mineral fertilizers claim a share of the total energy consumption in cereal production ranging from 49.19% in barley to 52.01% in wheat. Specific energy input, energy output–input ratio (energy use efficiency), energy productivity and net energy gain were 5.13 MJ·kg-1, 3.61,0.19 kg·MJ-1 and57859.79MJ·ha-1in wheat system and 2.75 MJ·kg-1, 6.56, 0.36 kg·MJ-1 and 88574.92 MJ·ha-1 in barley system, respectively. According to the results, it seems that barley production is more efficient from different aspects of energy consumption compared to wheat in the studied region. In general, production in barley fields was more sustainable than wheat production because, in view of ecological indices such as amount of energy use and renewable energy consumption, it was more environment-friendly production.

Traceability of VOCs in tire inner liner by chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Many parts of the vehicle cabin generate volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and some are hazardous and/or odorous to humans. In this study, VOCs in the inner liner of automobile spare tire, including raw rubbers and resins, were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) coupled with an extracting method of static headspace sampling (SHS). The results demonstrated that the sources of VOCs can be traced back to raw rubbers and resins: alkylphenol resins can release a large amount of 2,4,4-trimethyl-1-pentene and 2,2,4,6,6-pentamethyl-3-heptene; chlorobutyl rubber (CIIR) contained 3-methyl-pentane, and methyl-cyclopentane, and these VOCs are odorous. When alkylphenol resin and natural rubber (NR) with low VOCs were used to replace the corresponding resin and NR in the initial formulation, the total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) in the inner liner could be reduced. We expected that the information gained from this work could provide a basic reference for the manufacture of environmental-friendly tire products.

Green Purchase Behaviour: A Move towards Environmental Sustainability- An Application of Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM)

Green purchase behaviour refers to the purchase of environmental friendly products. It is considered to be one of the most important measures to attain environmental sustainability. Present study aims towards identifying factors influencing green purchase behaviour and to establish a relationship between the factors. Using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM), a hierarchical structure has been extracted illustrating the contextual relationship between the factors. Environmental knowledge occupied the lowest form of the hierarchy which is found to be the basis for green purchase behaviour. MICMAC analysis has been applied to group the factors according to their driving power and dependency. Environmental knowledge, environmental concern, eco-labelling, product quality, and brand image have a strong driving power towards green purchasing behaviour. Green purchase intention and green purchase behaviour are highly dependent on other factors.

THE INFLUENCE OF GREEN MARKETING STRATEGY ON PURCHASING DECISION WITH MEDIATION ROLE OF BRAND IMAGE

This study aims to determine and analyze the influence of green marketing, corporate social marketing, and green product innovation on purchasing decisions with the brand image as an intervening variable. The population is consumers who purchase go green products in central java. By using the purposive sampling technique, obtained a total sample of 140 respondents. The analysis tool is the analysis path, which was previously tested for validity, reliability, and the classic assumption test. The test results show that green marketing, corporate social marketing, and green product innovation have a positive influence on brand image. Green marketing, corporate social marketing, green product innovation, and brand image positively influence purchasing decisions. Brand image can be an intervening variable between green marketing and purchasing decisions, while brand image can be an intervening variable between corporate social marketing and purchasing decisions. Brand image can be an intervening variable between green product innovation on repurchase. The more the company can innovate on environmentally-friendly products, the more it will improve the positive image to increase consumers’ decisions. Future studies should consider green perceived quality, brand awareness, and brand trust to understand consumer purchasing decisions better.

Exploring the Quantity Change Pattern of Environment-Friendly Products in the Sharing Economy

In the practice of various Internet-based sharing economies, environmental issues of shared products become more prominent and urgent. By analysing the relationship among government, enterprises, and consumers, this paper develops a system dynamics model based on the evolutionary game theory to explore the quantity change pattern of environment-friendly products in a sharing industry. A discrete dynamic system simulation of the quantity change process takes shared bikes in Beijing as a case study. The simulation results are consistent with the analysis of evolutionary game theory. The results show that government subsidies to both enterprises and consumers can lead to higher quantities of environment-friendly shared products, while consumer subsidy is better than enterprise subsidy. In addition, governments and enterprises need to ensure moderate investments to improve consumer experience and environmental awareness.

WATER-SOLUBLE FILM SEBAGAI ALTERNATIF KEMASAN PRODUK SACHET

AbstractTrash has always been a problem for the world. Trash are items that no longer have any use and havebeen thrown away by their owner(s). Current estimations show that Indonesia produces 85.000 tonsof daily trash, with further estimations showing an increase up to 150.000 tons of trash per day, a76% increase, by the year 2025. Water-soluble films are films that can dissolve or degrade when theycome into contact with water, made from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymers. From the year 2012, thismaterial has been used in America detergent packaging, spa cosmetics, and many others. Water-solublefilms are environmental-friendly products that brings several advantages, such as total solubility inwater, biodegradability, pollution- and poison-free, and anti-stasis. Product packaging made of theenvironmentally-friendly water-soluble films is now necessary due to the high amount of global trashproduction and the resulting concerns about non-degradable wastes. With water-soluble film-basedpackaging as an alternative to sachet-based packaging, it is expected that there will be a reduction todaily trash production, which leads to well-kept environments.Keywords: packaging, plastic, environmentally-friendly, trash, water-soluble film

Experimental investigation of the effect of IF-WS2 as an additive in castor oil on tribological property

The development of eco-friendly lubricant is the requirement of the times. In this paper, the modified IF-WS2 nanoparticles are added to castor oil as additives to prepare mixed lubricant. The lubrication performances of the mixed oil are investigated by ball-on-disc rotary friction tester, and then the surface scratches are characterized by depth of field digital microscope, scanning electron microscope and Raman spectrometer. Experiments reveal that compared with the base oil, the friction coefficient and worn volume decrease by 27.4% and 47.2% after adding modified IF-WS2 as additives under 300 rpm and 5 N conditions, respectively. From mechanism analysis, this improvement in lubrication performance is attributed to the polarity of castor oil and the unique pressure bearing structure and dispersion stability of modified IF-WS2, which makes that the castor oil molecules can better adsorb around the modified IF-WS2 to form heavy loading bearing friction oil film so as to reduce friction and wear. In summary, results indicate the mixture of modified IF-WS2 nanoparticles and vegetable lubricating oil has an attractive prospect in the field of environmentally-friendly products.

Unlocking the investment impact of biomass energy utilization on environmental degradation for an isolated island

PurposeDiscussions on environment-friendly production connected with the concerns of growing biomass emissions have gained much attention. In this regard, this study aims to explore the issue of biomass energy consumption and its related emission effects on the economic and environmental well-being of the economy of Cyprus.Design/methodology/approachThis study sources time series data on specific variables from the Global Material Flow and the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI, 2020) between 1990 and 2016. The Robust least square (ROB-L2) in conjunction with Pesaran autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) methodology analysis techniques was used in addition to the Granger causality tests to examine the direction of causality flow between the variables under consideration.FindingsThe results indicate that biomass energy usage in the long run reduces pollution and negatively correlates with CO2 emissions level. Also, the decline of emission is influenced by increased foreign direct investment (FDI), thus, activities of foreign investors contribute to combating emission in the country. According to empirical results, non-renewable energy consumption showed both positive and negative influences on increased emission level, whereas economic growth is increasing carbon dioxide emission for the case of Cyprus.Originality/valueThis study applies current reliable data that offers renewed insights and sheds light on the state of affairs on biomass utilization from a developing country perspective. Additionally, it extends the discourse on the impact of biomass utilization on CO2 emissions by considering the impact of FDI, trade flow and energy consumption in a carbon-income function built on the liner version of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. Although this is by no means exhaustive, the study pioneers the discourse on how FDI with biomass utilization among other relevant variables influences carbon dioxide emission.

Economic Growth and Environmental degradation nexus in Sri Lanka

The environmental Kuznet curve (EKC) hypothesis suggests that at the initial stage of development, as the economy grows, environ-mental degradation rises until a turning point is reached whereby the pollution and degradation begins to decline while the economy continues to grow (it follows an inverted U curve). Is the environmental Kuznet curve (EKC) hypothesis applicable to Sri Lanka? What factors are responsible for environmental degradation in Sri Lanka? This study seeks to provide answers to these fundamental questions. Sri Lanka is one of the emerging economies in South Asia with an average annual growth rate of 4.16% in the last five years and the industrial sector contributing 25% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This hypothesis is tested for Sri Lanka. This study also investigated the major factors behind environmental pollution and degradation in Sri Lanka. Annual data from 1971-2014 was used in estimating the relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation. Carbon (CO2) emission was used as a proxy for environmental degradation while real per capita income was used as a proxy for growth along with other explanatory variables. An autoregressive distributed lag model was used. Results showed that neither the EKC hypothesis nor the pollution haven hypothesis are applicable to Sri Lanka. Long term estimates revealed that increasing energy consumption leads to increasing CO2 emissions. Secondly, it was observed that energy consumption, urbanization, trade openness, tourism and financial development are among the key factors responsible for the quality of the environment. The policy implication is that the Sri Lankan Government, in conjunction with the private sector must adopt energy saving and environmental friendly technologies and production processes in order to save the environment.

Non-Enzymatic H2O2 Sensor Using Liquid Phase High-Pressure Exfoliated Graphene

Importance of graphene-based nanomaterials in electrochemical sensors has increased due to their exceptional electrochemical properties and electrocatalytic activity. Despite the significant amount of work on graphene exfoliation, there is a need for large-scale, environmental friendly production of high-quality graphene for electrochemical sensing applications. This work describes the use of liquid phase mechanical (high-pressure) exfoliation for synthesis of graphene and its application in H2O2 electrochemical sensors. The basic electrochemical characterizations of exfoliated graphene samples have shown great enhancement in electrochemical activity due to their improved ion adsorption ability as a result of increased electroactive surface area and the presence of functional groups (defective sites). The developed H2O2 sensors showed excellent sensitivity and limit of detection (LOD). The repeatability, reproducibility, and stability studies of liquid phase mechanical exfoliated graphene-based H2O2 sensors showed consistent results suggesting the potential usage of the exfoliated graphene in electrochemical sensors. The interference study of fabricated sensors revealed the selective H2O2 sensing nature of exfoliated graphene and confirmed its potential for H2O2 determination in real samples.

Effects of green bonds on Taiwan's bioenergy development

Green financing has been proposed to stimulate and promote environment-friendly products such as low-carbon building and renewable energy to mitigate climate change since 2013; however, Taiwan's energy security is fragile and vulnerable to fluctuations of fossil prices. This study investigates how the promotion of green bonds benefits Taiwan's bioenergy production and emission reduction, as well as the development efficiency under various green-bond rates and volumes. We propose a price-endogenous, mathematical programming framework that incorporates the entire agricultural sector to simulate net bioenergy production, emission reduction, and overall profitability in the face of alternative bioenergy technologies and market conditions. The results show that if biopower and biofuel are eligible for low-cost bond financing, bioenergy production would be more stable. An increase in the emission trade price is favored to biopower technology, but this advantage will be partly recovered by a low borrowing rate because biofuel production will also be at a low production cost. In the face of energy price changes, we estimate that with an increase in green volume of US$0.61 to US$1.02 billion, a meaningful transition to bioenergy technology could occur.

Fiscal Policy Dilemma in Resolving Agricultural Risks: Evidence from China's Agricultural Insurance Subsidy Pilot.

The agricultural insurance subsidy policy (AISP) encourages farmers to expand production scale by mitigating production risks. Under the high-input production patterns of traditional agriculture, the implementation of AISP is conducive to increase farmers’ income, but it also leads to the destruction of the agricultural environment. Achieving agricultural green development (AGD) has been hindered in China. In this context, this paper attempts to analyze the impact of AISP on farmers’ income and the agricultural environment. Based on the panel data of 316 prefecture-level cities from 2003 to 2012 in China, this paper empirically tests the effects of AISP by employing methods such as time-varying difference-in-difference (DID). The results show that AISP has significantly promoted the growth of farmers’ incomes but has negatively impacted the agricultural environment. Furthermore, the mechanism analysis shows that the policy effects are realized by affecting the quantity of main productive fixed assets (Mpfa) and grain sown area per capita (Gsa). In addition, the policy effect is heterogeneous in different regions. Therefore, the government should appropriately raise the subsidy standard for farmers who adopt environmental-friendly production patterns. At the same time, the government should give more subsidies to the large grain-producing areas.

Understanding the factors of green advertising to adopt the environmental strategy

Climate change is changing weather patterns and catastrophic consequences throughout the world. To reduce the climate change issue, companies should be responsible for making sure their products does not harm to human beings and the planet. Companies are going green by introducing the environmental friendly product and promoting it through green advertising. However, companies should be able to understand consumer behavior to adapt to the environmental strategy. A study on factors of green advertising to adopt environmental strategy behaviorwas carried out among retail consumers. Indonesian retailers with environmental friendly products were selected, and 200 consumers have responded to the questionnaire. Results shows that factors of green advertising for environmental strategy behavior adaption consist of green impact, green message, green theme, green emotion, green experience, green interaction, and green claims. The three most dominant factors to increase green advertising value are green experience, green theme, and green message. This study provides the essential information for industries to engage in environmentally friendly products and to uphold environmental sustainability efforts.

Environment-friendly products as a CSR strategy and its effect on Purchase Behaviour of Young Consumers

Environment-friendly products as a CSR strategy and its effect on Purchase Behaviour of Young Consumers

Environmental Friendly Production of Amylase from Aspergillus niger EFRL-FC-024 Using Corn Waste as Carbon Source

Amylase is an indispensable and industrially important enzyme that hydrolyzes carbohydrates particularly starch into simple sugars. Amylase enzymes have been isolated from various sources such as microbes, animals and plants. However, microorganisms are highly preferred as compared to plants and animal sources. Amylases of fungal origin are highly stable compared to amylases produced by bacterial species. The aim of this study was to investigate the production of extracellular amylase enzyme from Aspergillus niger EFRL-FC-024 using sugarcane bagasse and corn waste as an energy source under submerge fermentation conditions. Primarily, the fungal strain was grown for 6 days using sugarcane bagasse and corn waste, respectively. Mainly, the growth of a microorganism was also evaluated using different pH, temperature and incubation periods. The results revealed maximum amylase production of 1.64 U/mL when A. niger was cultured for 96 h using corn waste. Moreover, addition of different nitrogen sources showed the highest amylase production when peptone was supplemented as a nitrogen source. Finally, the effect of pH indicated maximal concentration of amylase enzyme at pH 6.0. The present study will highly be beneficial to explore the role of fungal strain A. niger in amylase production at Industrial levels.

Green Marketing: A Descriptive Analysis of its Influence on Consumer Buying Behavior

Green marketing has become a very important marketing concept in recent years, and it has proven to be effective in promoting and reinforcing the concept of environmental conservation and sustainable development. The objective of this descriptive study was to determine the influence of green marketing on buying behaviour of consumers and their views and expectations towards green product and this study aim to assist consumers in Palayan City, Philippines by raising product awareness through ads, with the goal of changing individual purchasing habits, which can have an effect on environmental welfare and also to understand environmental friendly products' availability and the impact of advertisers' marketing campaigns in relation to consumers. As to its findings, most of the respondent agreed that humans must live in harmony with nature in order to survive. Also, the respondents believed that no consumers or buyers should frequently buy which can be refilled, and they are highly in favour that they feel good about buying green brands causing less damage to our environment. It also revealed that using an eco-friendly product has the most impact of green marketing on consumer buying decision that contributes for the environment safety, they encourage patronizing green marketing and using eco-friendly products to lessen the negative impact in our environment. Finally, the researchers recommend strengthening the campaign on green marketing practice through the use of different social media platforms. These platforms will help to connect with the customers and increase awareness of the crisis facing by the environment.

Young consumers' purchase intention toward organic food: exploring the role of mindfulness

PurposeThe role of mindfulness in influencing green behaviors has been recognized in literature though it has not been explored sufficiently in the context of organic food. This study makes an attempt to explore the role of mindfulness in influencing young consumers' purchase intention (PI) toward organic food in India.Design/methodology/approachA total of 348 useable responses were collected through an intercept survey at organic food stores using a purposive sampling approach. Data analysis was carried out through structural equation modeling.FindingsMindfulness emerged as a significant predictor of behavioral intention. Further, the specific indirect effects of mindfulness through attitude, perceived behavioral control (PBC), drive for environmental responsibility (DER) and label reference willingness (LRW) were also significant.Originality/valueThis research is one of the initial efforts to link mindfulness with PI for organic food. The results could help the government and marketers tap onto the potential of mindfulness with regard to environment-friendly products and frame appropriate strategies for stimulating the demand for organic food in India

Analysing the effect of low carbon product design on firm performance

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of low carbon product design on firm's competitiveness and economic performance. It also examines the mediating role of the proactive environmental strategy and eco-innovation on low carbon product design, competitiveness and economic performance.Design/methodology/approachThrough a questionnaire-based survey, the data were collected from 69 Indian manufacturing firms and analyzed using a variance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) technique to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that the low carbon product design significantly improves firm's competitiveness and economic performance, and proactive environmental strategy significantly mediates the relationship between low carbon product design and firm's competitiveness.Practical implicationsThis study provides a framework for the adoption of low carbon product design. It demonstrates how manufacturing firms can implement environmental friendly product design. It also analyses the contextual factors that ensure a successful low carbon product design.Originality/valueThis article investigates the economic benefit of low carbon product design, thus filling lacuna in existing research.

Horizontal mergers in low carbon manufacturing

Motivated by the horizontal mergers that have recently become prevalent in low carbon economy, this paper studies the impact of mergers between low carbon manufacturers on prices and carbon emissions. We analyze a game-theoretical model taking into account price and emission sensitive demand in the absence and presence of cap-and-trade policy, respectively. In addition to price collusion and production cost savings, we find that carbon emission collusion and green technology investment cost synergies of mergers between low carbon manufacturers have several price and emission implications that have not been addressed by previous research. While a merger reduces competition, our result shows that the merging manufacturers could charge lower prices but increase carbon emissions even in the absence of the two sources of cost savings. We further establish that production cost synergies (green technology investment cost savings) can (cannot) alone lead to a win-win-win outcome in which merging manufacturers enjoy higher profits, consumers benefit from more environmental-friendly products with reduced prices, and environment becomes better off due to reduced carbon emissions in the absence of green technology investment cost savings (production cost savings). Moreover, if the green technology investment cost synergies are relatively small but the production cost savings are not too small, the win-win-win outcome can be achieved. Finally, we show that the cap-and-trade regulation is an efficient policy for antitrust agencies to further protect the consumers and environment.

Experimental Investigation of the Mechanical and Thermal Behavior of a PT6A-61A Engine Using Mixtures of JETA-1 and Biodiesel

Biofuels are important additives to conventional fuels in combustion engines of the transport sector, as they reduce atmospheric emissions and promote environmental-friendly production chains. The mechanical and thermal performance of a PT6A-61A engine on a test bench of the Colombian Air Force operating with blends of JETA-1 and Biodiesel up to 25% volume values of substitution is evaluated in this work. Experimental results show that blends are operationally reliable up to 15% volume content. In that range, the engine operation is not compromised in terms of response variables. Moreover, experimental properties of fuel blends show that the freezing point—which is the most critical variable, does not comply with aeronautical regulations. The system dynamics are subject to several variations in the test parameters, which mainly affected fuel flow, Inter-Turbine Temperature (ITT), and engine performance. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is performed over the experimental results to quantify possible disturbances on the bench measurements. This is based on the fact that the study is restrained to stationary test bench conditions.