High Environmental Performance Research Articles

Lean Manufacturing and Environmental Sustainability: The Effects of Employee Involvement, Stakeholder Pressure and ISO 14001

This paper explores the relationships between lean manufacturing (LM), the promotion of green practices, employee involvement, pressure to take actions against environmental issues, the adoption of an ISO 14001-based environmental management system (EMS) and environmental performance in order to understand how LM can help improve environmental performance through environmental practices and the development of a lean culture. The effects of pressure to “go green”, employee involvement and the adoption of an EMS based on the International Organization for Standardization’s standard ISO 14001 are discussed. Data were collected from 220 Chinese manufacturing firms and analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) regression. The results suggest that the implementation of LM has a positive effect on the promotion of green practices and consequent achievement of high environmental performance; employee involvement is a moderator that affects the relationship between green practices and environmental performance; pressure to “go green” is a mediator in the relationship between LM and green practices; however, the adoption of ISO 14001 does not act as a moderator on the relationship between LM and green practices, but synergies emerge if ISO 14001 is integrated with LM. The study shows the importance of human attitudes and fosters managers to develop the necessary mechanisms to ensure and enhance employee involvement and lean culture. Although these determinants of environmental sustainability have been studied separately until now, this paper analyzes them simultaneously, investigating the relationship between different strategies and shedding some light on successful actions that promote sustainable manufacturing, and on the role of LM in sustainability. The findings can help manufacturers to take the initiative to improve environmental performance and assist governments in implementing industrial policies.

The capital market reaction to Central Environmental Protection Inspection: Evidence from China

Central Environmental Protection Inspection (CEPI) is an important innovative measure meant to improve the health of China’s environment. In view of this, based on the "quasi natural experiment" situation of the implementation of CEPI in China, this paper takes as its research sample 155 A-share listed companies located in the provinces in which CEPI was first implemented. Our work uses the event study method to explore the reaction of China’s capital market to this policy implementation. The results show two significant findings. (1) CEPI will cause the capital market to react negatively because of the environmental protection pressure that it brings to bear on corporations; that is, the capital market will experience significantly negative abnormal returns due to the signals sent by CEPI. (2) Further analysis shows that the multiple heterogeneity factors will have an impact on the capital market’s reaction to CEPI. Specifically, at the corporate level, we find that firms that cause heavy pollution, firms that are small-scale, and firms with weak political connections are more sensitive to the market’s reaction to the CEPI policy; at the regional levels, the effect is more significant in areas with high environmental performance.

Environmental performance index for Brazilian public airports: The Infraero experience

Most indicators of airport performance found in the literature evaluate the quality of the services and the maintenance of operational safety levels, but only a few studies take into account environmental issues. This study presents the experience of the Brazilian Airport Infrastructure Enterprise (Infraero) in the implementation and assessment of the Infraero Environmental Performance Index (IEPI), formed by 25 indicators distributed into 10 environmental dimensions. The index was applied to 54 Brazilian public airports administrated by Infraero, between 2017 and 2019. The index was also applied to groups of airports according to their category, defined by the Brazilian Civil Aviation Regulation (RBAC) nº 153 (IEPIclass), and the biome in which the airport is inserted (IEPIbiome). The IEPI presented an average annual evolution of 5.0 % and ended the assessed period at 74.8 %, showing a significant improvement in the environmental quality of the airports in the assessed period. Large airports (Class IV) presented high environmental performance (IEPIclass = 94 %), showing the importance of having staff dedicated to address environmental issues in airports. With respect to the biomes, Pantanal presented the best result (IEPIbiome = 84 %). The index applied to different biomes presents an innovative approach to relate the environmental performance to the ecosystem where the airport is located, but still need improvement to properly reflect the specific characteristics of each of these ecosystems. There is still a long way to go regarding the implementation and monitoring of environmental performance indicators in airports, but the Infraero experience in the application of the IEPI shows a path that can be followed and improved. We believe that the IEPI is an important tool for airport management and decision making, since it provides a simple and quick portrait of the status of environmental actions and evidences the areas which require more attention.

Green manuring inhibits nitrification in a typical paddy soil by changing the contributions of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria

Rice–rice–green manure rotations in south China are characterized by high efficiency and good environmental performance, and the application of green manure plays an important role in N management. Nitrification is a key process in N cycling and is highly correlated with the N utilization of crops and with leaching losses. As a potential N loss pathway, the nitrification process and nitrifiers as affected by green manuring are of critical importance. A pot experiment covering green manure-double rice rotation was conducted to evaluate the effects of green manure and N fertilizer on soil nitrification and to achieve a mechanistic understanding of underlying processes in an alkaline paddy soil. Soil nitrification potential (NP) and the recovered nitrification potential (RNP) were measured. Relative contributions of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in soil nitrification were studied using specific bacterial inhibitors. In the alkaline paddy soil, soil NP and nitrate concentrations were significantly decreased by green manuring but increased with increasing N fertilization. Soil nitrification was dominated by AOB and that the relative contributions of AOB to RNP ranged from 65% to 79% at different sampling stages despite the larger abundance of AOA amoA gene numbers. RNP and the contribution of AOB to RNP were significantly increased by N fertilizer, whereas the contribution of AOA was decreased by green manuring. We concluded that the application of inorganic N enhanced NP while green manures reduced it, which is consistent with the variation of observed soil nitrate concentrations. These results indicate that the utilization of winter green manure is an effective practice to improve N management in paddy rice.

Impact of the global green factor on the capitalization of oil companies in Russia

Research background: This paper studies the impact of a new so-called green factor on the capitalization of petroleum companies, which is becoming highly relevant in view of the signing of the Paris agreements in 2015 and the support for clean energy. Although society, international organizations, and government authorities encourage companies to reduce their environmental impact, one of the main reasons for responsible behavior is still economic efficiency. The oil industry, on the one hand, faces one of the most volatile markets and, on the other hand, has one of the largest environmental impacts of any industry. That requires a detailed study of interconnections between market capitalization and the green factor.
 Purpose of the article: A comprehensive study of factors affecting the level of capitalization of oil and gas companies in Russia and identification of the most significant among them with a special focus on the green factor.
 Methods: Econometric analysis of panel data for Russian petroleum companies. The database includes indicators for six major Russian oil companies from 2011 to 2018. The following groups of factors are analyzed to explain the change in the companies? capitalization: macroeconomic (GDP and inflation in Russia), microeconomic (companies? revenue, net profit, tax payment, return on assets, return on equity, ratio of borrowed capital to equity), industrial (oil export, refining, production and proven reserves of the companies), and the green factor.
 Findings & Value added: The selection of factors showed that the size of capitalization has been influenced most significantly by the following: the volume of the company's proven reserves, net profit, tax burden, and the green factor based on the policy of minimizing environmental damage. This result shows that investors consider companies with high environmental performance to be more valuable than companies with similar financial results but lower environmental ratings.

Impact of climate change mitigation policies on corporate financial performance: Evidence‐based on European publicly listed firms

AbstractThis study examines the relationship between climate change and firm performance in the context of European publicly listed companies. We conduct a multivariate regression analysis using Corporate Environmental Performance and Corporate Financial Performance as independent and dependent variables, respectively. A financial statement analysis of European publicly traded firms with high environmental performance shows that they register high corporate financial performance. Environmental performance positively impacts financial performance (β = .013, p‐value < .01). Return on equity (ROE) is positively related to firm size and CE1 (carbon emissions) intensity but negatively linked to CE2, CE1 & 2, and capital intensities. However, return on investment (ROI) is positively correlated with all the control variables, including capital intensity, firm size, and growth. The results confirm that the firm‐wide adoption of environmental practices reduces environmental risks, and thereby lowers production costs and increases profits. These findings can guide policymakers and organizations pursuing climate change mitigation and sustainable business solutions.

Impact of Industry 4.0 on Environmental Sustainability

Industry 4.0 is a concept that originated from the German industry, and whose essence is the use of technology for efficient production. In business today, the emergence of Industry 4.0 for production, and its related technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and cyber-physical systems, amongst others, have, however, a negative impact on environmental sustainability as a result of air pollution, the poor discharge of waste, and the intensive use of raw materials, information, and energy. The method used in this study is an analysis of a literature review of manuscripts discussing topics related to Industry 4.0 and environmental sustainability published between 2000 and 2020. There is currently a gap existing between the actual and the desired situation, in that production occurs in a weak sustainability model, and, therefore, this research debates the effects on environmental sustainability and the challenges facing Industry 4.0. Four scenarios are discussed: a deployment scenario, an operation scenario, integration and compliance with sustainable development goals, and a long-run scenario. The results indicate that there is a negative relationship related to the flow of the production process from the inputs to the final product, including raw materials, energy requirements, information, and waste disposal, and their impacts on the environment. However, the integration of Industry 4.0 and the sustainable development goals enhance environmental sustainability to create ecological support that guarantees high environmental performance with a more positive impact than before. This paper will help stakeholders and companies to provide solutions to the existing environmental challenges that can be mediated through adopting new technologies. The novelty of this study is its depiction of Industry 4.0 and its technologies integrated with sustainable development goals to create a sustainable Industry 4.0 combining environmental protection and sustainability.

Mediterranean Morphologies in Hot Summer Conditions: Learning from France’s “Glorious Thirty” Holiday Housing

Climate change and rising temperatures lead to an air-conditioning proliferation in summertime of the Mediterranean regions. This study links urban morphology to the microclimate. It claims that a lesson can be drawn from holiday housing morphologies designed with an additive approach during the “Glorious Thirty” French coastal development (1946-75). It is based on a morphological analysis of four case studies, with on the one hand re-drawing and site visiting, on the other hand, assessment of environmental performance through key parameters: Absolute Rugosity, Compactness Ratio, Building Density, Mineralization, Sky View Factor (SVF) and Height/Width (H/W) Ratio. Compared to literature reference values of a traditional courtyard morphology, the case studies are less compact and with a lower H/W Ratio (higher SVF), but they are less mineral than a historic medieval city centre. This research contributes to the search for semi-collective alternatives (for example additive morphologies) to individual housing in peri-urban areas, with high environmental performance in the summertime.

Durability of Concrete with Man-made Thermoplastic Sulfur Additive

In the article, the data on sulfur surface modification and its influence on the properties of common cement mix and concrete are discussed as well as durability and corrosive resistance of modified compositions. The composite components, conditions of mixtures making, and required temperature treatment were established in the laboratory testing. The potentiometric model was used to assess the interaction between the corrosive environment and the modified composites, a corrosive agent being used as a sulfate environment. This model takes into account the change in reaction potentials and is used as an index of the solvolysis reaction between the sulfate solution and constituents of the modified cement matrix. This modelling determined two main characteristics used to predict the durability of building material. These are the depth of corrosive agent in the material structure and the amount of solved calcium hydroxide. The established data show the potential usefulness of the modified additive based on man-made sulfur as an additive for cement composites. The modified additive can be used for materials with a high performance and durability in an aggressive environment. The increasing of corrosive resistance might be explained by the structure changing and by the properties of the formed crystalline hydrates.

Butterfly Shaped Printed Monopole Antenna for Ultra Wide Band Applications

In this paper, a microstrip line fed butterfly shaped monopole UWB antenna is proposed for wireless applications. The wings of butterfly shaped monopole antenna is formed by adding two rotated ellipse of same radius symmetrically placed about the centre of feeding line. The proposed antenna exhibits impedance bandwidth of 3.1-11.9 GHz which covers the whole ultra-wideband frequency range from 3.1-10.6 GHz. The performance is characterised in terms of VSWR, radiation patterns, impedance bandwidth and gain. The proposed antenna can be used for various UWB applications like high performance in noisy environment, low transmission power, cost effectiveness and large channel capacity.

Motion Artifact Suppression for Insulated EMG to Control Myoelectric Prostheses.

Myoelectric prostheses help amputees to regain independence and a higher quality of life. These prostheses are controlled by electromyography, which measures an electrical signal at the skin surface during muscle contractions. In this contribution, the electromyography is measured with innovative flexible insulated sensors, which separate the skin and the sensor area by a dielectric layer. Electromyography sensors, and biosignal sensors in general, are striving for higher robustness against motion artifacts, which are a major obstacle in real-world environment. The motion artifact suppression algorithms presented in this article, prevent the activation of the prosthesis drive during artifacts, thereby achieving a substantial performance boost. These algorithms classify the signal into muscle contractions and artifacts. Therefore, new time domain features, such as Mean Crossing Rate are introduced and well-established time domain features (e.g., Zero-Crossing Rate, Slope Sign Change) are modified and implemented. Various artificial intelligence models, which require low calculation resources for an application in a wearable device, were investigated. These models are neural networks, recurrent neural networks, decision trees and logistic regressions. Although these models are designed for a low-power real-time embedded system, high accuracies in discriminating artifacts to contractions of up to 99.9% are achieved. The models were implemented and trained for fast response leading to a high performance in real-world environment. For highest accuracies, recurrent neural networks are suggested and for minimum runtime (0.99–1.15 s), decision trees are preferred.

Эффективность сжигания древесного топлива в водогрейных котлах КВУ-2000

Renewable energy use is one of priority areas of power production development. One of the sources is wood biomass. Utilization of wood biomass in the regions with developed timber industry is a prospective decision in ensuring power independence. Wood biomass usage allows to recover by-products of logging and woodworking industries, generate cheaper electric power and reduce an impact on the environment. The North-West of Russia has huge wood reserves. As a result, the issues of efficient utilization of wood biomass are relevant for the region. An effective way of the complex solution of energetical and ecological problems with provision of heating loads is application of modern devices operating on wood fuel such as modern water boilers. This study aims to analyze heat engineering and environmental performance of the boiler KVU-2000 during the combustion of by-products of timber industry. The components of the boiler’s heat balance and gaseous effluents have been determined. Emissions of particulate matter and the content of soot particles have been studied. The study results have shown that the boiler KVU-2000 provides high economic and environmental performance when operating on polydisperse wood fuel. However, a manual regulation of secondary air flow and absence of the flue gas oxygen control systems do not allow to keep optimum combustion air-blown mode. Absence of resistance control devices for ash collectors and thermal insulation of elements in post-combustion gas path lead to irrational heat losses, which conflicts with normative regulations. A limited operational period between cleaning of heating surfaces of a fire-tube boiler demands strict requirements to capacity redundancy. Elimination of identified flaws will ensure substantial increase of energetic and economic performance of the boilers; allow to minimize the emissions of harmful substances of biofuel burning, and recommend these boilers for application in heat supply systems in the Arctic region. For citation: Lyubov V.K., Popov A.N. Combustion Efficiency of Wood Fuel in the Water Boilers KVU-2000. Lesnoy Zhurnal [Russian Forestry Journal], 2020, no. 1, pp. 167–179.DOI: 10.37482/0536-1036-2020-1-167-179 Acknowledgments: The authors are grateful to D.G. Chukhchin for carrying out the research using the scanning electron microscopy method.

Influence of removal efficiency on a moving granular bed filter

High power generation efficiency and environmental performance are obtained in the integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants. Hot gas clean-up is a key technology in IGCC systems. In this paper, a moving granular bed filter was constructed to examine the effect on collection efficiency when variations in the working parameters, namely, the mass flow rate, the filtration superficial velocity, and the amount of dust particulates at the inlet were introduced. A method to enhance particulate removal was proposed and tested in a lab-scale experiment. In addition, the study analyses the motion of gas flow in the inlet gas device of filter system. The results indicated a low amount of dust in the outlet of filter system when a mass flow rate of 0.008 kg/s and a filtration superficial velocity of 0.42 m/s were used. Furthermore, this new method is suitable for IGCC and other industrial areas involving high-temperature environments.

Exergy Analysis of Gas Switching Chemical Looping IGCC Plants

Integrated gasification combined cycles (IGCC) are promising power production systems from solid fuels due to their high efficiency and good environmental performance. Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is an effective route to reduce the energy penalty associated with CO2 capture. This concept comprises a metal oxygen carrier circulated between a reduction reactor, where syngas is combusted, and an oxidation reactor, where O2 is withdrawn from an air stream. Parallel to CLC, oxygen carriers that are capable of releasing free O2 in the reduction reactor, i.e., chemical looping oxygen production (CLOP), have been developed. This offers interesting integration opportunities in IGCC plants, replacing energy demanding air separation units (ASU) with CLOP. Gas switching (GS) reactor cluster technology consists of a set of reactors operating in reduction and oxidation stages alternatively, providing an averaged constant flow rate to the gas turbine and a CO2 stream readily available for purification and compression, and avoiding the transport of solids across reactors, which facilitates the scale up of this technology at pressurized conditions. In this work, exergy analyses of a gas switching combustion (GSC) IGCC plant and a GSOP–GSC IGCC plant are performed and consistently benchmarked against an unabated IGCC and a precombustion CO2 capture IGCC plant. Through the exergy analysis methodology, an accurate assessment of the irreversible loss distribution in the different power plant sections from a second-law perspective is provided, and new improvement pathways to utilize the exergy contained in the GSC reduction gases outlet are identified.

Numerical modeling of the combustion of pre-mixed fuel in micromodule burner

The article presents the results of numerical simulation for the combustion of pre-mixed fuel in micromodule. The study prerequisites, burner model and the initial modeling conditions are presented. It is shown that the burner has high environmental performance outside the stoichiometry zone. The dependences of temperatures on the coefficient of excess fuel are presented, which confirm the dependence of the concentration of nitrogen oxides on the excess fuel.The concluding section presents a formula for calculating the concentration of nitrogen oxides based on the temperature in the combustion zone.

A bi-level optimal scheduling model for virtual power plants and conventional power plants considering environmental constraints and uncertainty

To effectively realise the distributed energy resources participating in the system scheduling and reduce pollutant emissions from conventional plants, a bi-level stochastic optimal model for conventional plants and VPPs was built considering the uncertainty and environmental constraints. Firstly, a method of scenario generation and reduction is proposed to simulate the output of WPP and PV based on interval method and Kantorovich distance. Secondly, a bi-level stochastic optimal scheduling model for VPPs and conventional plants in a day-ahead plan is constructed. Finally, different simulation scenarios are designed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model. The results illustrate that the model can overcome the influence of uncertainty and realise optimal economic jointly dispatch for VPPs and conventional plants under environmental constraints, through VPP technology, distributed power generation resources can be integrated effectively and have good environmental effect. Plants with high environmental performance will gain a larger share and generate more power.

Building a new sustainable preconstructed building element

This paper presents the primary findings of a research project, aiming to introduce an innovative building module with improved thermophysical and mechanical properties that will serve as a bearing element and/or as an internal partition wall in prefabricated residential buildings. This new building module will comply with current requirements as regards its operation and performance. For the purposes of this investigation, the overall performance of the considered building elements is ensured by the proper configuration and assembly of the involved layers and is verified through analytical and experimental analyses, as well as through measurements at accredited laboratories. The objective of this innovative building element is to establish a building envelope with a high structural, hygrothermal, energy, acoustic, fire and environmental performance, while reducing both the time and cost required to complete its construction. Evidently, the accomplishment of this objective suggests various benefits on both the business sector and the research community. Moreover, the utilization of this building module is influential in terms of social impact, as it promotes the construction of buildings with advanced energy and environmental performance that can furthermore mitigate and adapt to the climate change impacts.

Life cycle assessment of a geothermal combined heat and power plant based on high temperature utilization

This study applies life cycle assessment (LCA) to examine environmental impacts of generating 1 kW h of energy in a geothermal combined heat and power (CHP) plant based on high temperature geothermal utilization. The Hellisheidi geothermal CHP plant located in SW Iceland, producing 303 MWe and 133–267 MWth in a double flash cycle, is used as a case study for the LCA. The CML-IA baseline and Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) methods are used to perform the life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), providing results for common environmental impact categories investigated in most LCA studies. The impacts associated with joint production processes for electricity and heat are allocated to the two products by energy allocation. The result show that the construction phase of the plant, mainly drilling and casing of geothermal wells along with construction of collection system for geothermal fluid, is largely responsible for most of the impact category results. However, the global warming potential (GWP100), acidification (AP) and the renewable cumulative energy demand from wind, solar and geothermal energy (CEDR,w,s,g) are mainly affected by the operational phase of the plant, due to direct emissions of gases (mainly CO2 and H2S) and the extraction of geothermal fluid from ground. To explore the effects of currently installed mitigation methods and operational improvements at the Hellisheidi plant, two operation scenarios are investigated within the study; the first based on a previously published dataset for operating conditions at year 2012 and the second, an updated dataset based on inclusion of implemented mitigation methods until the operating year 2017. Due to carbon capture and storage (CCS) by reinjection of CO2 using the CarbFix method developed at Hellisheidi, the GWP100 reduced from 15.9 g CO2eq/kWh to 11.4 g CO2eq/kWh for electricity and 15.8 g CO2eq/kWh to 11.2 CO2eq/kWh for heat over the 30-year operational time under investigation. Similarly, the SulFix method used for reinjection of H2S at Hellisheidi resulted in decreased AP from 9.7 g SO2eq/kWh to 3.6 and 3.5 g SO2eq/kWh and human toxicity (HTP) from 5.8 and 5.5 g 1,4-DB eq/kWh to 5.1 and 4.8 1,4-DB eq/kWh for electricity and heat respectively. The overall CED resulted in 5.2 kW h (18.7 MJ) of energy demand to produce 1 kW h of either electricity or heat, dominated by the use of geothermal energy as mentioned earlier. Non-renewable energy demand (CEDNR) decreased from 6.8 × 10−3 and 5.9 × 10−3 kWh (0.024 and 0.021 MJ) to 5.8 × 10−3 and 5.0 × 10−3 kWh (0.021 and 0.018 MJ), for electricity and heat respectively, by using electrical drills instead of diesel fueled drills for additional wells during the operational time of the power plant. In conclusion, these results indicate a very high environmental performance of the Hellisheidi plant compared to other energy conversion technologies and emphasizes the potential of geothermal energy as a clean energy source for producing electricity and heat.

USE OF EXPANDER-GENERATOR UNIT AT CHP OF METALLURGICAL PLANT FOR PRODUCING ELECTRIC POWER AND INCREASING EFFICIENCY OF COMPRESSOR

The ability of saving energy in the production of compressed air is one of the most energy-consuming production in which much of the used energy is lost. The proposed technical solution is based on the united use of two energy-saving technologies. The first of them is the use of technological pressure drop of transported natural gas which lost irrevocably when it is throttled at gas control stations. The second one is air cooling before the compressor sections to reduce compression work. A scheme of a combined steam blowing and heat power plant of a metal manufacturer is proposed. In addition to a power and heat generating turbine and a two-section air compressor with a steamturbine drive, a two-stage expander-generator unit (EGU) producing electricity and cold is used. The thermodynamics of gas expansion processes in the expander is considered, the choice of a two-stage scheme is founded. The cold produced in the EGU is used to lower the air temperature at the inlet to the first and second sections of the compressor, thus reducing fuel consumption for air compression. Using the proposed scheme allows to reduce fuel consumption to the compressor drive, to use the heat of compressed air to preheat the transported gas before the steps of the expander and to generate additional electric power. At the same time, fuel is not used to generate electricity, and the heat of the cooled air is not discharged into the environment, therefore the plant operation is characterized by high environmental performance. The procedure for calculating of fuel economy when using the proposed scheme is given. The assessment has shown that the use of this scheme allows, under given conditions of calculation, to reduce fuel consumption at the combined heat power and steam blowing plant by 11.2 thousand tons of fuel equivalent per year, which is 0.84 %. The generated electric power of the EGU will be 5.3 MW.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE AND THE EXTENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE

Purpose of this study: This study examines the relationship between environmental performance and the extent of environmental disclosure.
 Methodology: The sample of this study consists of 35 high profile companies. The environmental performance is measured based on the results of the assessment of PROPER and the extent of environmental disclosure index by using GRI checklist items. This research applies content analysis, descriptive, and inferential statistical analyses.
 Main Findings: The result shows that the extent of environmental disclosure, on an average is low (22.5%). Mining companies provide the highest environmental disclosure (58.2%) followed by chemicals (21.4%), utilities (19.0%), pulp and papers (16.5%), industrial (11.0%), and oil and gas (4.2%). The analysis also presents that environmental performance does not affect the level of environmental disclosure.
 Implications: This result suggests that high environmental performance may not encourage companies to communicate more environmental issues. This finding indicates that motivation for a company to disclose environmental information is not always based on the legitimacy perspectives, but might be an accountability form.