Suchergebnisse

Ireland is committed to limiting its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 113% of 1990 levels over the period 2008-12 and to 84% of 2005 levels by 2020 under the Kyoto Agreement and the EU's '20 20' by 2020 respectively. National policies have targeted many industry sectors but have failed to directly tackle GHG emissions associated with construction activity. This paper estimates energy and GHG emissions intensities of the Irish construction sector and subsectors and estimates its contribution to Irish national emissions. This information is used to identify and assess the impacts of policy measures which would result in a reduction in emissions from the sector in a cost-effective manner. Energy and emissions intensities are estimated using input-output analysis techniques applied to Irish construction sector. In 2005 the Irish construction sector was responsible for the emission of 13.81mtCO2eq, comprising 2.37mt (17%) of direct on-site emissions, 5.69mt (41%) upstream indirect domestic emissions and 5.75mt (42%) upstream indirect emissions outside the state. Domestically arising direct and indirect emissions accounted for 3.44% and 8.26% of national emissions respectively. Approximately three-quarters of construction sector emissions were the result of activities relating to NACE 45.2 'civil and structural construction works, etc'. Given the potential importance of the construction sector to national emissions, there is scope for the implementation of policies which specifically target it. Two such policies are proposed: direct emissions mitigation through a construction EcoDriving initiative; and the provision of information to allow the design and specification of low-emissions materials.

AbstractSupply chain mapping is gaining heightened attention due to its vital role in improving supply chain visibility and resilience. Despite its crucial role in uplifting supply chain resilience, the critical elements of supply chain mapping are yet to be determined. The study adopts a twofold approach to identify and prioritize the dimensions and sub‐dimensions of supply chain (SC) mapping. At the first stage, through an extensive review of literature, 43 sub‐dimensions of SC mapping were identified. In the second stage, Gray ‐ DEMATEL‐based Analytic Network Process (GDANP) was employed by taking the input from 25 experts selected from Oil and Gas industry of an emerging market. The findings reveal three major dimensions of SC mapping followed by 15 sub‐dimensions. Among the dimensions, upstream mapping contains the highest priority weights, followed by midstream and downstream mapping. The findings suggest a step‐wise strategy to adopt SC mapping where upstream mapping should be given the first priority. The major contribution of this study is to develop a framework for measuring the extent of SC mapping of a firm using GDANP.

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) have been promoted worldwide as developmental platforms that can help eliminate some of the major global challenges such as poverty and economic development. The effectiveness of using MFIs to fulfil such expectations depends on their performance, which can be affected by a range of institutional factors such as corruption, rule of law and financial sector development. However, there is a lack of clarity on whether these factors are performance inhibitors or promoters. Using gender as a mediating factor, this study develops and tests these relationships on MFI performance, with the aim of contributing to research on institutions and corruption in the Global South. Drawing on the MFI performance model, the study uses data on MFIs operating in 33 African countries. The results reveal that the control of corruption reduces MFIs' operating expenditure, while it increases MFIs' operating income. Drawing from the essentialist perspective of the theory of social construction of gender, it is argued that female borrowers from MFIs are shown to have a mediating impact on the relationship between the variables tested (such as control of corruption) and MFI performance. The study also has public policy relevance for nations seeking to use MFIs as means of fostering entrepreneurship and economic development.

It is expected that biodiesel production in the EU will remain the dominant contributor as part of a 10% minimum binding target for biofuel in transportation fuel by 2020 within the 20% renewable energy target in the overall EU energy mix. Life cycle assessments (LCA) of biodiesel to evaluate its environmental impacts have, however, remained questionable, mainly because of the adoption of a traditional process analysis approach resulting in system boundary truncation and because of issues regarding the impacts of land use change and N2O emissions from fertiliser application. In this study, a hybrid LCA methodology is used to evaluate the life cycle CO2 equivalent emissions of rape methyl ester (RME) biodiesel. The methodology uses input-output analysis to estimate upstream indirect emissions in order to complement traditional process LCA in a hybrid framework. It was estimated that traditional LCA accounted for 2.7 kg CO2-eq per kg of RME or 36.6% of total life cycle emissions of28 the RME supply chin. Further to the inclusion of upstream indirect impacts in the LCA system (which accounted for 23% of the total life cycle emissions), emissions due to direct land use change (6%) and indirect land use change (16.5%) and N2O emissions from fertiliser applications (17.9%) were also calculated. Structural path analysis is used to decompose upstream indirect emissions paths of the biodiesel supply chain in order to identify, quantify and rank high carbon emissions paths or 'hot-spots' in the biodiesel supply chain. It was shown, for instance, that inputs from the 'Other Chemical Products' sector (identified as phosphoric acid, H3PO4) into the biodiesel production process represented the highest carbon emission path (or hot-spot) with 5.35% of total upstream indirect emissions of the RME biodiesel supply chain.

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on the 11th of March, 2020, but the world is still reeling from its aftermath. Originating from China, cases quickly spread across the globe, prompting the implementation of stringent measures by world governments in efforts to isolate cases and limit the transmission rate of the virus. These measures have however shattered the core sustaining pillars of the modern world economies as global trade and cooperation succumbed to nationalist focus and competition for scarce supplies. Against this backdrop, this paper presents a critical review of the catalogue of negative and positive impacts of the pandemic and proffers perspectives on how it can be leveraged to steer towards a better, more resilient low-carbon economy. The paper diagnosed the danger of relying on pandemic-driven benefits to achieving sustainable development goals and emphasizes a need for a decisive, fundamental structural change to the dynamics of how we live. It argues for a rethink of the present global economic growth model, shaped by a linear economy system and sustained by profiteering and energy-gulping manufacturing processes, in favour of a more sustainable model recalibrated on circular economy (CE) framework. Building on evidence in support of CE as a vehicle for balancing the complex equation of accomplishing profit with minimal environmental harms, the paper outlines concrete sector-specific recommendations on CE-related solutions as a catalyst for the global economic growth and development in a resilient post-COVID-19 world.

The prohibition of lead in many electronic components and devices due to its toxicity has reinvigorated the race to develop substitutes for lead zirconate titanate (PZT) based mainly on the potassium sodium niobate (KNN) and sodium bismuth titanate (NBT). However, before successful transition from laboratory to market, critical environmental assessment of all aspects of their fabrication and development must be carried out in comparison with PZT. Given the recent findings that KNN is not intrinsically 'greener' than PZT, there is a tendency to see NBT as the solution to achieving environmentally lead-free piezoelectrics competitive with PZT. The lower energy consumed by NBT during synthesis results in a lower overall environmental profile compared to both PZT and KNN. However, bismuth and its oxide are mainly the by-product of lead smelting and comparison between NBT and PZT indicates that the environmental profile of bismuth oxide surpasses that of lead oxide across several key indicators, especially climate change, due to additional processing and refining steps which pose extra challenges in metallurgical recovery. Furthermore, bismuth compares unfavourably with lead due to its higher energy cost of recycling. The fact that roughly 90–95% of bismuth is derived as a by-product of lead smelting also constitutes a major concern for future upscaling. As such, NBT and KNN do not offer absolute competitive edge from an environmental perspective in comparison to PZT. The findings in this work have global practical implications for future Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) legislation for piezoelectric materials and demonstrate the need for a holistic approach to the development of sustainable functional materials.