Improvement Of Environmental Performance Research Articles

Theoretical Analysis of Energy, Exergy, and Environmental-Related Aspects of Hydrofluoroolefin Refrigerants as Drop-In Alternatives for R134a in a Household Refrigerator

Abstract There are increasing trends to eliminate refrigerants with a high global warming potential (GWP) and use alternative environmentally friendly refrigerants in refrigeration systems. In this regard, this study presents a triple analysis of the energy, exergy, and environmental-related aspects of low-GWP hydrofluoroolefin refrigerants—R1234yf, R1234ze(E), and R1336mzz(Z)—as substitutes for the high-GWP R134a, which is used in a 200-liter household refrigerator having a 157 W cooling power. Pressure ratio, volumetric refrigeration capacity, power consumption, and coefficient of performance were studied as energy performance parameters. Exergy destruction rate and total exergy efficiency were studied as exergy performance parameters. Total equivalent warming impact was studied as an environmental performance parameter. All parameters were calculated under a condenser and ambient temperature of 30 and 40 °C, respectively, and a variable evaporator temperature of −5 to −30 °C. The outcomes revealed that R1234yf and R1234ze(E) give thermal performance close to R134a and higher environmental performance, while R1336mzz(Z) did not show thermal performance close to R134, nor did it show a clear improvement in environmental performance. R1234yf can be used as a direct replacement for R134a, but R1234ze(E) is considered a better alternative provided that the R134a compressor is replaced with a compressor with a higher displacement. The pure R1336mzz(Z) cannot be used in a refrigerator.

Towards circular economy through innovation: the role of entrepreneurial orientation and human resource management

The development of the circular economy (CE) has become a strategic priority for the EU to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. While the number of CE-based start-ups is burgeoning, established companies seem to be slower to adopt CE. Incorporating CE principles requires established firms to transform their business processes and activities from a linear to a circular approach, which often requires the introduction of significant and complementary technological and non-technological innovations, as well as significant investments that may hamper the firm’s overall performance. Thus, the disruptive nature of CE adoption may make established firms reluctant to embrace this process and underlines the need to identify its drivers and to clarify its potential benefits. Accordingly, we analyze the role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in promoting circular human resource management (CHRM), circular product innovation and circular manufacturing. This study is the first to define and measure CHRM and one of the few to apply the concept of EO in the context of CE. Using seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR), we find that EO promotes circular innovation directly and indirectly through CHRM. This factor represents a non-technological innovation which directly impacts on circular product innovation and circular manufacturing, whilst reinforcing the complementarity between non- technological and technological innovation. This research also addresses concerns about potential conflicts in achieving different types of CE performance simultaneously. By analyzing firm performance from a holistic perspective, our study confirms that CE implementation leads to environmental, market and social performance improvements together with the moderating role of technological turbulence.

The Impact of Green Finance and Technological Innovation on Corporate Environmental Performance: Driving Sustainable Energy Transitions

As global sustainability imperatives increase, understanding how green finance policies and technological innovation influence corporate environmental performance has become a relevant issue. This study examines the impact of green finance on corporate environmental practices, particularly focusing on how innovation enhances sustainable energy transitions. A difference-in-differences (DID) approach was employed. This research compares corporate environmental performance before and after the implementation of green finance policies across treated and control groups. This method allows for isolating the effect of green finance by controlling for temporal and individual factors, providing robust insights into policy efficacy. Our findings indicate a statistically significant improvement in environmental performance, particularly among larger, state-owned enterprises in China’s eastern regions. The findings also underscore the moderating role of innovation in optimizing green finance outcomes. Finally, important implications for policymakers aiming to drive corporate sustainability are offered.

The Strength Within: CSR Governance as an Environmental Performance Driver in Weak Institutional Contexts

This study investigates how the relationship between firm-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) governance and corporate environmental performance (CEP) varies across diverse national contexts. Drawing on institutional theory, organizational adaptation theory, and the concept of institutional voids, we analyze an extensive dataset of 5326 firms from 26 OECD countries over a seven-year period (2013–2019). Employing panel data analysis, we examine the moderating effects of country-level factors on the CSR governance–CEP relationship. Our findings reveal a significant positive association between a firm’s CSR governance quality and environmental performance, which is notably stronger in countries characterized by weaker environmental governance, less prominent societal environmental values, and fewer climate mitigation laws and policies. These results suggest that firms with strong CSR governance effectively fill institutional voids in environmental governance, going beyond mere compliance to drive environmental performance improvements where external pressures are weak. Our study contributes to the literature by advancing the current understanding of the contextual nature of CSR, extending the application of institutional void theory to environmental governance landscapes in developed economies, and providing a more nuanced perspective on when and where CSR governance matters most for environmental outcomes. These insights offer valuable implications for managers in diverse institutional contexts and for policymakers seeking to enhance corporate environmental performance through complementary governance mechanisms.

Eco‐innovation for circular economy and sustainability performance: Insights and evidence from manufacturing firms

AbstractDespite progress in the literature in understanding the relationships between barriers, drivers, and features of eco‐innovations (EIs) to promote the circular economy (CE) and improve companies' sustainability results, the evidence remains limited and diffuse. To address this gap, we investigate the effect of barriers, sources of information, and features of innovations and EIs on manufacturing companies' CE and sustainability performance. This longitudinal study used official Colombian government data from 3144 manufacturing companies (2015–2020), considering partial least squares structural equation modeling. Our results reveal that developing or adopting (eco‐) innovations with incremental features could cause a blockage in implementing high‐level CE and in improving their overall sustainability performance. Similarly, radical (eco‐) innovations need more evidence to clarify their impacts on CE and sustainability. Finally, we show that the improvement in environmental and CE performance attributed to (eco‐) innovations has a significant and positive impact on the company's economics.

Optimizing olefin purification: An artificial intelligence-based process-conscious PI controller tuning for double dividing wall column distillation

This study investigates the light olefin separation using dual dividing wall columns (DWCs) and compares various proportional-integral (PI) controller tuning methods. A novel process-conscious reinforcement learning (RL) approach, utilizing Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG), is developed by incorporating domain-specific knowledge into the reward function to ensure compliance with critical process variables and product purity. The DDPG-based PI tuning is evaluated against traditional methods such as Aspen’s recommended initial tuning, Ziegler-Nichols (ZN), and Cohen-Coon (CC). The result shows that the DDPG method significantly enhances control stability and accuracy, reducing error by factors of 11.9, 2.3, and 1.6 compared to Aspen, ZN, and CC, respectively. Additionally, DDPG demonstrates superior energy efficiency, consuming 13% less energy than the next best method. It also reduces purification costs by up to 13.5% and CO2 emissions by 20% compared to other methods. This study highlights the potential of integrating advanced RL techniques into industrial process control, delivering substantial improvements in stability, energy efficiency, economic, and environmental performance.

Environmental Management Accounting Practices: The Use, Motivations and Barriers for Large Manufacturing Firms in Lower Northern Provinces Group I, Thailand

This work studies environmental management accounting practice (EMAP) that enterprises apply to ensure the prevention of environmental damage caused by their daily operational activities, including motivations and barriers to adoption. A descriptive study was performed in 10 large manufacturing enterprises in the lower northern provinces group I Thailand via semi-structured interviews and in-depth qualitative interviews with manager/ owner. The result shows that half of the enterprises have implemented EMAP as a requirement for qualifying for ISO 14001 certification. The rest only prepare internal reports for planning, controlling and making operational decisions related to environmental information. The result also indicates that strict legislation, integrating environment into corporate strategy, and sufficient resources play a vital role in EMAP adoption. In addition, this study indicates that the key barriers limiting the implementation of EMAP are lack of resources, knowledge/ expertise/ guidance, and internal difficulties, respectively. This study gives contributions to the government, managers and relevant authorities by providing useful information on the motivations and barriers influencing EMAP adoption, which can help them to establish policy in the field of environmental management. Furthermore, it suggests that managers value EMAP for internal management not only for improvement of environmental performance but also increasing the role of accounting in business.

Organizational sensemaking and environmental performance: A longitudinal study of publicly traded firms' sustainability reports

AbstractEnvironmental strategy research has often used organizational interpretation as a key lens for understanding how firms engage in sensemaking around natural environmental issues and environmental performance. This work has rarely empirically tested the proposed relationships of organizational interpretation in firms' sensemaking around environmental issues nor the relationship between firms' environmental sensemaking and environmental performance. We empirically test this relationship, capturing environmental sensemaking through computer‐aided text analysis (CATA) of published sustainability reports, and environmental performance with the Trucost environmental dataset. Mixed‐effects general linear modeling on a bespoke longitudinal dataset of 117 publicly traded companies from 2005 to 2018 reveals the three stages of the organization interpretation model of sensemaking—scanning, interpreting, and responding—align as expected. We also find firms' environmental scanning relates with year‐over‐year improvement in environmental performance, yet environmental interpreting correlates with worsening environmental performance. Additionally, larger firms and firms in industries with high carbon emissions gather more environmental data and exhibit more extensive environmental interpreting. This research provides insight for scholars by testing environmental sensemaking and exploring the boundary conditions of sensemaking and performance, and for practitioners and policymakers by offering a new framework for analyzing and interpreting sustainability reports and corporate environmental performance.

Digital Transformation on Corporate Environmental Performance

Digital transformation, as a powerful catalyst for the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, has emerged as a crucial driver for enterprise transformation and upgrading, as well as reshaping the competitive landscape. Drawing on data from Chinese A-share listed companies between 2010 and 2019, this study empirically examines the relationship between digital transformation and corporate environmental performance, as well as its underlying impact mechanisms. The findings indicate that digital transformation significantly enhances the level of corporate environmental performance. Moreover, corporate digital transformation facilitates the improvement of environmental performance by enhancing green technology innovation capabilities and optimizing production structures. The positive impact on environmental performance is particularly pronounced in state-owned enterprises, high-growth companies, those with substantial research and development investments, and those garnering high analyst attention.

Possibilities of Changes in Energy Intensity of Production Depending on the Scale of Farm Investments in a Polish Region

The purpose of this paper was to analyze the possibility of changes in energy intensity of production in the context of farm investment scale. The empirical section relies on unpublished FADN microdata. The study answers the question of whether investments and fixed capital growth can contribute to improvements in environmental performance of agricultural production. As it turns out, the group of farms with the greatest amount of investments saw an increase in energy consumption costs, though at a much slower rate than growth in production value. As a result, there was a drop in energy intensity of production, defined as the ratio between energy costs and production value. These findings corroborate the hypothesis advanced in this study, namely that upon reaching a sufficiently large amount of investments, farms can become capable of reducing the energy intensity of their production activity. Hence, higher levels of capital productivity are attained when the farms invest in more energy-efficient fixed assets. Conclusions cannot be universal, as the analysis involved a portion of selected farms. However, the research indicates a trend in the study of energy intensity of production depending on the scale of investment and the validity of the investment comprehensiveness approach. These conclusions provide a basis for recommendations for an agricultural policy which should include support for investments that are large and comprehensive (in relation to the farm’s assets) and go beyond the simple renewal of assets. Therefore, in its investment-oriented measures, the agricultural policy should take the innovativeness (including energy efficiency) criterion into account.

Green Intellectual Capital Driving Environmental Performance: The Mediating Role of Green Ambidexterity and Moderating Influence of Environmental Ethics

This empirical investigation explores the relationship between Green Intellectual Capital (GIC) and Environmental Performance (EP) within Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry. Employing quantitative methods and data form 286 respondents, findings reveal a positive correlation between GIC and EP. The significant and positive association between GIC and Green Ambidextrous Innovation (GAI) unveils a novel pathway for leveraging intellectual capital to foster innovation in environmentally sustainable practices within organizations. Moreover, the study underscores the pivotal role of GAI in enhancing EP, emphasizing its potential as a catalyst for environmental performance improvement. The observed moderating effect of GAI on the relationship between GIC and EP highlights the importance of cultivating ambidextrous capabilities to fully harness the benefits of intellectual capital for environmental sustainability. Additionally, the interaction between Environmental Ethics (EE) and GAI reveals s strong effect, underscoring the significance of ethical considerations in shaping organizational responses to environmental challenges. These findings offer valuable insights for scholars and industry practitioners, informing strategies for enhancing environmental performance and competitive advantage in the pharmaceutical sector, while contributing to the academic discourse on green innovation and corporate sustainability.

Rethinking Cultural Ecosystem Services in Urban Forest Parks: An Analysis of Citizens’ Physical Activities Based on Social Media Data

Urban forest parks play a vital role in promoting physical activities (PAs) and providing cultural ecosystem services (CESs) that enhance citizens’ well-being. This study aims to reevaluate CESs by focusing on the physical activity experiences of park visitors to optimize park management and enhance citizen satisfaction. This study utilized social media data and employed natural language processing techniques and text analysis tools to examine experiences related to physical activities in Beijing Olympic Forest Park, Xishan Forest Park, and Beigong Forest Park. A specialized sports activity dictionary was developed to filter and analyze comments related to PA, emphasizing the impact of natural environments on enjoyment and participation in PA. The importance–performance analysis (IPA) method was used to assess the service characteristics of each park. The findings reveal that urban forest parks are highly valued by citizens, particularly for their natural landscapes, leisure activities, and the emotional fulfillment derived from PA, with 82.58% of comments expressing positive sentiments. Notably, appreciation for natural landscapes was exceptionally high, as evidenced by the frequent mentions of key terms such as ‘scenery’ (mentioned 2871 times), ‘autumn’ (mentioned 2314 times), and ‘forest’ (mentioned 1439 times), which significantly influence park usage. However, 17.11% of the reviews highlighted dissatisfaction, primarily with the management of facilities and services during sports and cultural activities. These insights underscore the need for performance improvements in ecological environments and sports facilities. This study provides a novel perspective on assessing and optimizing urban forest parks’ functions, particularly in supporting active physical engagement. The rich CESs offered by these parks enhance physical activity experiences and overall satisfaction. The findings offer strategic insights for park managers to better meet citizens’ needs and improve park functionality.

Unlocking potential for a circular bioeconomy transition through digital innovation, lean manufacturing and green practices: a review

PurposeToday’s businesses are looking for a circular bioeconomy (CBE) to develop a sustainable manufacturing process as industrial operations result in significant amounts of waste materials and the depletion of natural sources. The industry commonly applies techniques such as lean manufacturing (LM), digital innovations (DI) and green practices (GP) for operational and quality improvement. However, publications explaining how these technologies enable the CBE transition are scarce. This study examines CBE components, common practices of each technology facilitating the CBE transition, problems of solitary technology deployment as well as coupling technologies for the CBE transition.Design/methodology/approachA scoping review was conducted to analyse previous studies in this new field. The data collection is in a quantitative manner, but the data synthesis process follows a similar method of synthesising data in the grounded theory method, which includes familiarisation with the data, open-coding and finalisation of the themes.FindingsCritical components of CBE were identified as biobased goods, industry symbiosis, material resource efficiency, renewable energy, product lifecycle and sharing economy. GP is the most prominent in moderating the CBE transition. We identify each technology has coupled relationships (Lean-4.0, Green-Lean and Green-4.0) technologies facilitated by the circularity concept, which form the core pillars of enablers and advance the CBE paradigm.Research limitations/implicationsThis study demonstrates that combining lean principles with green technology and digital technologies can effectively decrease waste and resource usage in biobased manufacturing processes, therefore endorsing the concept of resource efficiency in circular bioeconomy models.Practical implicationsThe results allow entrepreneurs to strategically incorporate different existing technologies to meet CBE fundamental objectives by initiating it with dual technologies and facilitate industry professionals and regulators to support the improvement of environmental sustainability performance in the manufacturing industry. The management will be able to focus on the common practices across the technologies, which have a dual benefit for both operational and environmental performance.Originality/valueThe paper makes the first attempt to present the synergic impact of the three quality management technologies on a new concept of sustainability, CBE.

Single rollover or dual rollover: How a monopoly NEV manufacturer responds to NEV credit policy

The NEV credit policy plays a crucial role in advancing the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry and environmental conservation. This study investigates the monopoly NEV manufacturer’s optimal rollover strategy (Single Rollover (SR) vs. Dual Rollover (DR)) and pricing scheme (skimming vs. penetration) under the government’s stricter calculation criteria for NEV credit policy, considering a two-period market with strategic consumers. We find that the NEV manufacturer typically adopts a skimming pricing scheme in DR strategy, while a penetration pricing scheme in SR strategy. The choice between SR and DR strategy hinges on the government’s calculation criteria for NEV credits, product upgrade speed, and vehicle environmental performance improvement. When the calculation criterion for NEV credits is moderate, or when it is low, coupled with fast product upgrade speed and marginal improved environmental performance of the new vehicle, SR strategy is beneficial to the NEV manufacturer to avoid the cannibalization between new and old vehicles. In contrast, the NEV manufacturer can benefit from DR strategy through price discrimination between new and old vehicles to attract consumers from different market segments. However, stricter calculation criteria for NEV credits do not always result in higher social welfare.

How does green finance policy affect firms' pro‐environmental mergers and acquisitions?

AbstractThe study reveals that the Green Credit Guidelines significantly encourage firms' pro‐environmental mergers and acquisitions (M&As) among polluting industries, as evidenced by difference‐in‐differences estimations with Chinese listed firms (2004–2020). Three primary mechanisms include increased commercial credit financing, improvements within firm agencies, and heightened scrutiny from external analysts. The effect is more prominent in non‐state‐owned firms, firms with a higher number of executives with financial backgrounds, and regions with lower levels of green financial development and environmental regulations. Post‐M&A, acquiring firms demonstrate a marked decrease in environmental governance expenses and carbon emissions, alongside an improvement in overall environmental performance.

Driving sustainability: assessing KPI effectiveness in the Saudi chemical industry

This study explores the relationship between Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and environmental performance improvement within the Saudi chemical industry. Against the backdrop of global sustainability imperatives and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which promotes sustainability for economic diversification, this research aims to assess the effectiveness of KPIs in driving environmental sustainability practices. The motivation for this study stems from the identified gaps in the systematic implementation and utilisation of KPIs and the lack of awareness regarding certain aspects of environmental impact management within the industry in the Kingdom. The methodology involved a structured survey administered to a diverse range of chemical manufacturing companies, followed by rigorous data analysis using descriptive evaluation, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), reliability analysis, and t-tests. The results revealed insights into pollution areas, KPI utilisation, methods for pollution assessment, alignment with strategic goals, and governance regulations. Descriptive analysis highlighted air quality management as a priority, with notable attention to water and land pollution, while quantitative analysis confirmed the significance of KPIs in driving environmental performance improvement in the area. However, it also unveiled the absence of a systematic approach to implementing and utilising KPIs effectively, coupled with a lack of awareness regarding certain aspects of environmental impact management, consequently leading to uncertainty. Overall, this study contributes to advancing sustainability efforts within the Saudi chemical sector, providing actionable insights for industry stakeholders and policymakers.

Environmental Exhaust Emissions reduction and Performance Improvement Analysis of biodiesel operated Diesel Engine Performance Using Operating Parameters

<p style="margin-top:3px; margin-bottom:3px; text-align:justify; text-indent:31.5pt">The present investigation aims to study the performance and emission characteristics of a CI DI diesel engine using biodiesel blends derived from Jatropha seed feedstock. Four blends, namely B25, B50, B75, and B100, are employed as fuels to run the diesel engine at a rated speed of 1500 rpm, and their performance and emission characteristics are determined under different operating conditions in the first phase. The blend B25 of JME is found to be the optimum blend, and the optimum compression ratio is found to be 18.5.The optimum blend exhibits better performance in terms of brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and brake thermal efficiency (BTHE), along with a decline in the emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC), except for the emission of nitrogen oxides (NOX) at the optimum compression ratio of 18.5. At maximum load, with a compression ratio of 18.5, the optimum blend results in better BSFC and BTHE, which are 0.255 kg/kW-hr and 31.87%, respectively.</p>

Discrete Space Deep Reinforcement Learning Algorithm Based on Support Vector Machine Recursive Feature Elimination

Algorithms for training agents with experience replay have advanced in several domains, primarily because prioritized experience replay (PER) developed from the double deep Q-network (DDQN) in deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has become a standard. PER-based algorithms have achieved significant success in the image and video domains. However, the exceptional results observed in images and videos are not as effective in many domains with simple action spaces and relatively small states, particularly in discrete action spaces with sparse rewards. Moreover, most advanced techniques may improve sampling efficiency using deep learning algorithms rather than reinforcement learning. However, there is growing evidence that deep learning algorithms cannot generalize during training. Therefore, this study proposes an algorithm suitable for discrete action space environments that uses the sample efficiency of PER based on DDQN but incorporates support vector machine recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE) without enhancing the sampling efficiency through deep learning algorithms. The proposed algorithm exhibited considerable performance improvements in classical OpenAI Gym environments that did not use images or videos as inputs. In particular, simple discrete space environments with reflection symmetry, such as Cart–Pole, exhibited a faster and more stable learning process. These results suggest that the application of SVM-RFE, which leverages the orthogonality of support vector machines (SVMs) across learning patterns, can be appropriate when the data in the reinforcement learning environment demonstrate symmetry.

A study of the impact of digital investment on corporate environmental performance

The improvement of corporate environmental performance is an important way to realize sustainable development.This article, based on a sample of Chinese non-financial A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2022, attempts to determine the extent to which digital investment can facilitate the improvement of corporate environmental performance. The study finds that digital investment can significantly improve corporate environmental performance. The mechanism study finds that digital investment can improve corporate environmental performance by enhancing corporate green innovation. Furthermore, the conclusions remain robust to instrumental variable substitution and endogeneity issues.

Developing a low carbon brick for residential building construction

The construction industry is trying to become more eco-friendly and minimise environmental impact. One way to achieve this is by using innovative building materials. Traditional clay bricks are not eco-friendly due to the depletion of resources, emissions, and waste generated during production. In this study, a new alternative called the Novel Organic Brick (NOB) was produced and evaluated, which was made from recycled construction and demolition sand and red clay as partial replacements for traditional virgin clay. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted to compare the environmental impact of NOBs to that of Kiln Fired Bricks (KFBs). The inventory flows from material sourcing to brick shaping were modelled in SimaPro 8.1 and characterised into impact indicators using the ReCiPe 2016 method. The LCA showed that NOBs can reduce the impact of climate change by 39-56% compared to KFBs, depending on the type and source of recycled sand. This study encourages the construction industry to adopt alternative solutions for greater sustainability by demonstrating the viability of incorporating secondary materials and quantifying environmental performance improvements in India.