Set Of Sustainability Criteria Research Articles

Hybrid Prediction-Driven High-Throughput Sustainability Screening for Advancing Waste-to-Dimethyl Ether Valorization.

Assessing the prospective climate preservation potential of novel, innovative, but immature chemical production techniques is limited by the high number of process synthesis options and the lack of reliable, high-throughput quantitative sustainability pre-screening methods. This study presents the sequential use of data-driven hybrid prediction (ANN-RSM-DOM) to streamline waste-to-dimethyl ether (DME) upcycling using a set of sustainability criteria. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are developed to generate in silico waste valorization experimental results and ex-ante model the operating space of biorefineries applying the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) and sewage sludge (SS). Aspen Plus process flowsheeting and ANN simulations are postprocessed using the response surface methodology (RSM) and desirability optimization method (DOM) to improve the in-depth mechanistic understanding of environmental systems and identify the most benign configurations. The hybrid prediction highlights the importance of targeted waste selection based on elemental composition and the need to design waste-specific DME synthesis to improve techno-economic and environmental performances. The developed framework reveals plant configurations with concurrent climate benefits (-1.241 and -2.128 kg CO2-eq (kg DME)-1) and low DME production costs (0.382 and 0.492 € (kg DME)-1) using OFMSW and SS feedstocks. Overall, the multi-scale explorative hybrid prediction facilitates early stage process synthesis, assists in the design of block units with nonlinear characteristics, resolves the simultaneous analysis of qualitative and quantitative variables, and enables the high-throughput sustainability screening of low technological readiness level processes.

A hybrid Grounded Theory, fuzzy DEMATEL and ISM method for Assessment of sustainability criteria for project portfolio selection problems

In this paper, a set of sustainability criteria is introduced and a hybrid Multi Criteria decision Making (MCDM) method is performed in order to identify and classify a set of criteria for selecting a project portfolio. Proposed criteria based on fuzzy DEMATEL technique in an uncertain environment are assessed to determine the relation among all of the criteria. Moreover, ISM method is used to level the proposed criteria which are effective in the process of selecting the project or not. The results obtained from the proposed method demonstrates that profit, cost, soil, atmosphere, energy, waste and risk criteria are the most effective ones in selecting project portfolio, especially in construction project selection. Furthermore, environmental issues play an important role in the selection of project portfolio while social issues are not as much significant as others. Technical requirement, water, security and public utility are less effective criteria in selecting project portfolio. Also, Biodiversity, social integration and responsibility criteia are the most effected criteria in selecting project portfolio.

Integrating BIM-Based LCA and Building Sustainability Assessment

With the increasing concerns about building environmental impacts, building information modelling (BIM) has been used to perform different kinds of sustainability analysis. Among the most popular are the life cycle assessment (LCA) and building sustainability assessment (BSA). However, the integration of BIM-based LCA in BSA methods has not been adequately explored yet. This study addresses the relation between LCA and BSA within the BIM context for the Portuguese context. By performing an LCA for a Portuguese case study, a set of sustainability criteria from SBTool were simultaneous assessed during the process. The possibility of integrating BIM-based LCA into BSA methods can include more life cycle stages in the sustainability assessment and allow for normalising and producing more comparable results. BIM automates and connects different stages of the design process and provides information for multi-disciplinary data storage. However, there are still some constraints, such as different BSA/LCA databases and the necessity to manually introduce the embodied life cycle impacts of building materials. The scope of the BSA analysis can be expanded by integrating a complete LCA and be fostered by the support of BIM, effectively improving building sustainability according to local standards.

Risks and opportunities from key importers pushing for sustainability: the case of Indonesian palm oil

Growing concerns in the major importing countries on the socio-environmental sustainability of oil palm farming may affect the import demand of palm oil and hence the economy of the exporting countries. This paper develops a comparative static, partial equilibrium model to examine the impact of potential reductions in EU imports of Indonesia’s palm oil on palm oil output, prices, factor markets, trade, deforestation, and peatland conversion in Indonesia. Results suggest that there would be only small impacts on the major environment-economic variables in Indonesia in a scenario with a moderate reduction EU import demand, for example, due to sustainability concerns. However, the impacts would be more profound if sustainability concerns also affect other import regions and trigger a similar decline in import demand in other markets. The way forward for Indonesia and other palm oil producers and exporters is to adopt a common set of sustainability criteria, encompassing the elements of transparency, regulatory compliance, best agricultural practices, environmental responsibility, the livelihood of small farmers, as well as human and community rights.

Sustainability Assessment of indicators for integrated water resources management

The scientific community strongly recommends the adoption of indicators for the evaluation and monitoring of progress towards sustainable development. Furthermore, international organizations consider that indicators are powerful decision-making tools. Nevertheless, the quality and reliability of the indicators depends on the application of adequate and appropriate criteria to assess them. The general objective of this study was to evaluate how indicators related to water use and management perform against a set of sustainability criteria. Our research identified 170 indicators related to water use and management. These indicators were assessed by an international panel of experts that evaluated whether they fulfil the four sustainability criteria: social, economic, environmental, and institutional. We employed an evaluation matrix that classified all indicators according to the DPSIR (Driving Forces, Pressures, States, Impacts and Responses) framework. A pilot study served to test and approve the research methodology before carrying out the full implementation. The findings of the study show that 24 indicators comply with the majority of the sustainability criteria; 59 indicators are bi-dimensional (meaning that they comply with two sustainability criteria); 86 are one-dimensional indicators (fulfilling just one of the four sustainability criteria) and one indicator do not fulfil any of the sustainability criteria.

Comparing smart scheme effects for congested highways

A high level objective for many international governments and local operators is that highways should be managed in a way that is sustainable in terms of a Low Carbon Energy future. Recent initiatives such as the Strategic Transport Technology Plan and the policy and legal framework promoted by the European Commissions’ Intelligent Transport System (ITS) Directive and ITS Action Plan may assist with this objective. However, many levels of complexity are inherent within the (ITS) schemes that are now part of highway management, due to the linkage of various technological components to complex systems and services. Maintaining efficient, sustainable co-operative performance is therefore a major task, with inconsistencies between product suppliers, network managers and operators. As a result, it is of considerable interest to the highway operators and high level policy makers to be able to assess the performance of individual ITS schemes and furthermore, to be able to compare performance between ITS schemes. In this paper, an illustration is provided of a methodology that can be used to assess the performance of ITS schemes according to a set of sustainability criteria. A case study is introduced which compares the performance of anticipated Active Traffic Management (ATM) schemes for what the road network operator (Highways England) perceive to be the four most congested highways in England (in terms of annual average daily traffic flows). Appropriate action can then be taken to improve the energy and sustainable management of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and transport systems for the benefit of a smarter, sustainable and efficient future.

Contesting legitimacy of voluntary sustainability certification schemes: Valuation languages and power asymmetries in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in Colombia

Voluntary certification schemes aimed at assuring producer compliance with a set of sustainability criteria have emerged as market-based instruments (MBIs) of sustainability governance. However, the impacts they tackle can be part of a complex arena of socio-environmental conflict, where values and powers of business and local actors compete. Legitimacy of these schemes not only results from compliance by business actors; but also depends on acceptance by local actors affected by, or resisting the industries that these mechanisms aim to govern. This paper explores the influence of different local actors' values and powers on legitimacy granting or contestation by local actors during national processes of sustainability criteria development. We analyse the case of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Colombia using an approach that combines concepts of ecological economics and political ecology with the legitimacy literature based on critical sociology. In Colombia, the palm oil industry led the initiative to implement certification under national interpretation of RSPO principles and criteria. However, the national interpretation process revealed power asymmetries among stakeholders and clashes between their different values. This resulted in strong contestation of RSPO legitimacy by local actors who resist expansion of oil palm cultivation.

Envisioning the sustainability of the production of short rotation coppice on grassland

BackgroundShort rotation coppices (SRC) offer a chance to enhance sustainable biomass production and to enlarge domestic wood resources. On arable land, SRC are less competitive in many regions compared to cropping systems and thus farmers are interested to establish SRC on grassland. This change of land use is discussed controversially because of the associated effects on the carbon-sequestering ecosystem grassland. In this paper, land use changes will be analyzed in reference to sustainability objectives, including aspects of land use competition with food and energy production or the preservation of biodiversity.MethodsThe Integrative Sustainability Concept has been adapted and applied to identify the relevant sustainability objectives using a holistic approach in order to assess the potential for the change in sustainable land use towards an expanded supply of lignocellulose-based bioenergy.ResultsA set of sustainability criteria with a special focus on the change in land use from grassland to SRC has been developed and discussed. For selected criteria, adequate sustainability indicators have been chosen and applied to a case study of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg in Germany. The indicators have been implemented by performing a spatial differentiated bottom-up assessment using GIS-based data. The results revealed that around 13% of the grassland could be converted into SRC without harming the considered sustainability criteria.ConclusionsThe exploitation of the assessed potential for the change in sustainable land use from grassland to SRC could contribute to decentralize renewable energy supply, local employment and income. With regard to the economic values otherwise lost-, it is recommended not to set grassland conservation as an area-wide imperative. Instead strategies to direct the establishment of SRC to the most suitable areas and technologies should be developed realizing that land use transformation will be performed in a minimal invasive way to ensure compliance with the environment and climate protection.

How can the sustainability of industrial symbioses be measured?

In the scientific literature, there are (so far) few studies quantifying the environmental benefits or sustainability of Industrial Symbiosis (IS) networks although, at the same time, the potential tools for these kinds of assessments have been developed rapidly both in number and capacity. In this article, we first review the existing studies on the environmental performance of IS systems. We draw a conclusion that these studies usually only concentrate on one or a limited number of factors and also use a narrow approach to system boundaries considering just the impacts taking place within the symbiosis. Finally, we suggest that The Natural Step (TNS) System Conditions could constitute a basis which – through a set of sustainability criteria and a series of questions derived from them – would essentially steer the analyses made about the environmental performance and overall sustainability of the IS network at hand.

Sustainability criteria and indicators for the Makiling Botanic Gardens in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines: An application of the CIFOR C&I toolbox

Abstract The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) generic template was used as an initial set of sustainability criteria and indicators (C&I) in the development of a unique C&I set for the Makiling Botanic Gardens (MBG). The MBG is a forest area managed for educational and recreational activities inside the University of the Philippines Los Banos campus. A multi-disciplinary team evaluated each criterion and indicator of the CIFOR generic template using multi-criteria analysis (MCA) techniques such as ranking, rating and pairwise comparison to eliminate irrelevant and inapplicable C&I items. The remaining C&I set was then restructured and additional items developed to finalize the set. The final C&I set for MBG was tested through a preliminary assessment conducted by MBG management and users. Results showed that the C&I set was appropriate for MBG, and focused primarily on the protection of ecological processes, while at the same time supporting recreational and educational activities. The MBG C&I also highlighted the importance of a sound policy framework that supports management, as well as the critical role that planning, implementation and monitoring play in progressing sustainability. Moreover, the study demonstrated the practical applicability of the CIFOR C&I Toolbox when developing C&I at the forest management unit level.

The impact of clean development mechanism in achieving sustainable development

The flexible mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol, the clean development mechanism (CDM), should fulfil a twin objective: cost-effective greenhouse gas mitigation and enhancement of sustainable development in developing countries. As most host CDM countries have not established the proper institutional capacity to approve CDM projects and, at the same time, are prerogative to define sustainable development criteria for CDM projects, there is a clear need for a single set of guidelines or one evaluation system that accounts both climate and sustainable development considerations in the approval process of CDM projects. This paper proposes a set of sustainability criteria and indicators for CDM projects screening, reflecting the environmental, social, economic and technological dimension of sustainable development. Sufficient attention has been paid to determine globally relevant criteria and indicators. Priority has been given to energy sector CDM projects.