Sustainability, Volume 9, Issue 3 (March 2017) – 154 articles

Land use and cover change (LUCC) is important for the global biogeochemical cycle and ecosystem. This paper introduced a change detection method based on a bi-band binary mask and an improved fuzzy c-means algorithm to research the LUCC. First, the bi-band binary mask approach with the core concept being the correlation coefficients between bands from different images are used to locate target areas with a likelihood of having changed areas. Second, the improved fuzzy c-means (FCM) algorithm was used to execute classification on the target areas. This improved algorithm used distances to the Voronoi cell of the cluster instead of the Euclidean distance to the cluster center in the calculation of membership, and some other improvements were also used to decrease the loops and save time. Third, the post classification comparison was executed to get more accurate change information. As references, change detection using univariate band binary mask and NDVI binary mask were executed. The change detection methods were applied to Landsat 8 OLI images acquired in 2013 and 2015 to map LUCC in Chengwu, north China. The accuracy assessment was executed on classification results and change detection results. The overall accuracy of classification results of the improved FCM is 95.70% and the standard FCM is 84.40%. The average accuracy of change detection results using bi-band mask is 88.92%, using NDVI mask is 81.95%, and using univariate band binary mask is 56.01%. The result of the bi-band mask change detection shows that the change from farmland to built land is the main change type in the study area: total area is 9.03 km². The developed method in the current study can be an effective approach to evaluate the LUCC and the results helpful for the land policy makers. Full article

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is one of the widely used direct marketing strategies for small- and midsized farmers. CSA programs are an important option for sustainable production and consumption. It helps growers generate income (improve financial security) and consumers obtain fresh local foods. Sustaining and growing CSA participation is critical in order to continue enjoying these benefits. We used a national online survey in conjunction with discrete choice models to investigate the impact of demographic characteristics, lifestyle preferences, and different information outlets on the probability that a consumer is or will become a CSA member. The results indicate that the factors affecting current and future CSA participation differ substantially. While none of the demographic characteristics has a significant impact on current CSA participation, some of them significantly affect the probability that a consumer will become a CSA member in the future. Lifestyle preferences have a significant impact on current and future CSA participation. Although none of the information outlets examined affect current CSA participation, word-of-mouth and online sources significantly influence the probability that a consumer will join a CSA program in the future. These findings may have important implications for policy makers’ and CSA farm managers’ efforts to sustain future CSA development. Full article

The impressive growth of the Vietnam textile and apparel industry has led to some concerns due to its insufficient value chain and fierce competition within the industry. Thus, performance evaluation is significant issue to estimate the values of companies over time. Firstly, the grey prediction is used to forecast future data for 20 largest enterprises in six years (2016–2021) based on actual indicators. Then, the paper uses Malmquist productivity index and its decomposition into efficiency and technical change to measure the past productivity growth. Finally, window analysis is applied to significantly detect the trends of performance in 12 years (2010–2021) from large number of inputs and outputs. The results are found that how technology changes is the determinant for productivity growth and undeveloped technology causes a huge barrier to industry. In addition, the results are illustrated that textile companies are predicted to be more stable due to the importance of supplying materials for the entire industry. This paper aims to prove in-depth analysis can be conducted through combined models and also provide some recommendations for enhancing the sustainability performance of the industry. Full article

In this paper, we examine a sustainable economic order quantity (S-EOQ) problem with a stochastic lead-time and multi-modal transportation options. With the S-EOQ, decisions of order quantities, as well as a reorder point could be influenced by various factors, including unit price, stock-out cost, lead-time variability and emission costs. For a better understanding, we present a mathematical model of the concomitant S-EOQ problem and, using numerical experiments, explore various scenarios to determine the effects of incorporating sustainability considerations into the traditional inventory model on operational decisions including the choice of transportation modal combination and the sourcing decisions Full article

Along with the accelerated process of China’s urbanization, the increasing urban population has put much pressure on solid waste disposal. A speeding-up development plan of waste incineration power generation has been launched in China, which aims to resolve the dilemma where many cities are besieged by waste. However, due to the potential impact on surrounding environment, the site selection of these facilities has encountered protests from local residents. The economic reflection of the non-market public sentiment precisely embodies the prices of surrounding real estate market. Taking Shenzhen city as an example, this paper applies a hedonic price model to evaluate its impact on local housing values. The results show that for every additional kilometer the property is away from WTE (waste-to-energy) plants, the value of real estate can increase by 1.30%. If the distance is restricted to within 5 km, the effect rises to 8.6%, which remarkably increases negative externality. In addition, the depreciation impacts on property in two regions of Shenzhen city are significantly different. Policies for reducing the negative effects of the WTE plants are recommended. Full article

Our planet is undergoing radical environmental and social changes. Sustainability has now been put into question by, for example, our consumption patterns, loss of biodiversity, depletion of resources, and exploitative power relations. With apparent ecological and social limits to globalization and development, current levels of consumption are known to be unsustainable, inequitable, and inaccessible to the majority of humans. Understanding and achieving sustainability is a crucial matter at a time when our planet is in peril—environmentally, economically, socially, and politically. Since its official inception in the 1970s, environmental sociology has provided a powerful lens to understanding the challenges, possibilities, and modes of sustainability. This editorial, accompanying the Special Issue on “sustainability through the Lens of Environmental Sociology”, first highlights the evolution of environmental sociology as a distinct field of inquiry, focusing on how it addresses the environmental challenges of our time. It then adumbrates the rich theoretical traditions of environmental sociology, and finally examines sustainability through the lens of environmental sociology, referring to various case studies and empirical analyses. Full article

The reintegration of crop and livestock systems within the same land area has the potential to improve soil quality and reduce water and air pollution, while maintaining high yields and reducing risk. In this study, we characterize the degree to which federal policies in three major global food production regions that span a range of socioeconomic contexts, Brazil, New Zealand, and the United States, incentivize or disincentivize the use of integrated crop and livestock practices (ICLS). Our analysis indicates that Brazil and New Zealand have the most favorable policy environment for ICLS, while the United States provides the least favorable environment. The balance of policy incentives and disincentives across our three cases studies mirrors current patterns of ICLS usage. Brazil and New Zealand have both undergone a trend toward mixed crop livestock systems in recent years, while the United States has transitioned rapidly toward continuous crop and livestock production. If transitions to ICLS are desired, particularly in the United States, it will be necessary to change agricultural, trade, environmental, biofuels, and food safety policies that currently buffer farmers from risk, provide too few incentives for pollution reduction, and restrict the presence of animals in crop areas. It will also be necessary to invest more in research and development in all countries to identify the most profitable ICLS technologies in each region. Full article

The purpose of this work is to assess if traditionally used welded connectors for joining the two skins of reinforced concrete (RC) sandwich panels, used as structural walls and horizontal structural elements, can be substituted with bent ones. In this way, the scope of the effort is to reduce drastically the energy required during manufacturing, thus having a much more sustainable building product. Wire mesh on site production, in fact, requires a large amount of energy for the welding process, as stated by several Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). In addition, the production of sandwich panels with bent connectors requires a low level of automation and no qualified labor allowing the diffusion in developing countries. The procedures used to execute the work were both experimental and numerical. Structural performances were examined by testing full-scale sandwich panels under (axial and eccentric) compression and flexural loads. Additionally, a Finite Element (FE) study was developed to investigate and to optimize the dimension of welded mesh and the number of connectors. The major findings show that it is possible to substitute welded connectors with bent ones without compromising the structural performance of the tested RC sandwich panels, thus having a more sustainable way for producing these last ones. Full article

This study was performed to investigate the characteristics of pollutants and microbial communities obtained in simulated lysimeters and to evaluate the effects of anaerobic sludge and water on the biodegradation of swine carcasses. The leachate production rates of Lysimeters 2 and 3 with the addition of anaerobic sludge were higher than that of Lysimeter 1 (control). The methane production rate of Lysimeter 3 with anaerobic sludge addition and increased water content was higher than those of other lysimeters. The result of microbial community analysis revealed that the relative abundances of Proteobacteria including pathogens in Lysimeter 3 were lower than those in other lysimeters. Overall, this study demonstrated that the proper operating conditions of lysimeters accelerated the stabilization of swine carcasses and could contribute to sustainable land use. Full article

The study assessed agricultural sustainability in South Asia (i.e., Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Nepal) by computing multi-lateral multi-temporal Total Factor Productivity (TFP) indices and their six finer components (technical change, technical-, scale- and mix-efficiency changes, residual scale and residual mix-efficiency changes) and examined the role of capital in driving TFP growth covering a 34-year period (1980–2013). Results revealed that all countries sustained agricultural productivity growth at variable rates with Bangladesh experiencing highest rate estimated @1.05% p.a. followed by India (0.52%), Pakistan (0.38%) and Nepal (0.06% p.a.). There were little or no variation in technical and scale efficiency changes among the countries. However, residual scale efficiency increased @0.44% p.a. in Bangladesh, 0.12% p.a. in Pakistan, remained unchanged in India and declined −0.39% p.a. in Nepal. Similarly, mix efficiency increased @0.44% in Bangladesh, remained unchanged in India and declined @−0.12% p.a.in Pakistan and −0.39% p.a. in Nepal. The major drivers of agricultural TFP growth were the levels of natural, human and technology capital endowments whereas financial capital and crop diversification had opposite effects. Policy implications include land and tenurial reforms aimed at consolidating farm operation size and smooth operation of the land rental market to improve natural capital, investments in education to improve human capital and agricultural R&D to enhance technology capital in order to boost agricultural productivity growth in South Asia. Full article

The concern of risk management has continuously increased in international construction projects. International projects have a high level of risk and complexity, which results in greater possibilities of cost overruns and schedule conflicts when compared with local projects. Therefore, the goal of risk management is to improve project performance by systematically identifying and assessing project risks, developing strategies to reduce or avoid risks and to maximize opportunities. However, there have been very limited studies in systemized risk management methods due to the unstructured nature of the risk items and knowledge, especially for nuclear power plant projects. In order to address this issue, this paper proposes a standardized risk management methodology for nuclear power plant (NPP) construction with a capability of comparing distinctive risk characteristics among fossil, gas, and nuclear power plants. The proposed methodology includes standard risk classifications and structured risk evaluation techniques in terms of likelihood, impact, and weightings for different types of power plants. It also defines risk packages and risk paths for effective manipulation in a structured manner. The proposed methodology, variables, and initial values were identified by an extensive literature review and expert interviews. Finally, a customizable prototype of risk management system in power-plant construction projects was proposed in order to examine the viability. Implications of this paper reveal that the nuclear power plant has much higher risks in all areas when compared with fossil and gas power plants. It was stressed, throughout this study, that the risk factors of nuclear power plant construction need to be continuously monitored and evaluated in order to explore sustainable nuclear power plants. Full article

This research was aimed at improving the overall efficiency of the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) Serra da Estrela cheese production process, a traditional food product with cultural significance. Mapping of the manufacturing and distribution processes was developed from systemic analysis using ethnographic techniques. Critical points were identified, leading to design work. Ergonomic risks in cheese making were detected during the process of chips cutting, fostering the emergence of musculoskeletal disorders of the wrist. A tool that better fitted the job was developed. The systemic analysis provided a relational link across the boundaries of distinct domains approached through the research, including microorganism contamination, ergonomics, energy efficiency, legislation and regulation policies, transportation challenges and economic viability. Based on an analysis that connected various disciplines, maintaining a holistic perspective, a development plan to tackle critical points identified in the system was created. The results ripple across the triple bottom line of sustainability, demonstrating how systemic analysis and design are at the service of improving sustainability. By unveiling and acting on critical points that pushed the system away from zero waste, the environment is conserved; the preservation of cultural heritage has social significance; and the efficiency gains obtained in production attend financial goals. Full article

In light of global climate change the relevance of sustainable food consumption is growing, yet access to it has not correspondingly developed. This paper addresses the issue of accessing sustainable food from a practice theories perspective. The case of students in Paris is examined by means of interviews and participant observation. Four indicators serve to structure the results, i.e., mode of recruitment, mode of engagement, degree of commitment, and bundles of practices. Based on this analysis, three types are constructed, each with distinct access issues. We conclude that access to sustainable food is not necessarily determined by financial means only, nor by individual attitudes, but should be analysed as embedded in the complex dynamics of multiple social practices. Building on these insights means that more attention for the actual practice of accessing sustainable food, the different elements, and bundles involved is needed when looking for ways to increase access to sustainable food. Full article

Several grassland conservation programs aiming to relieve grazing pressure have been implemented in Inner Mongolia since 2000 to reverse grassland degradation and protect local and regional environments. Previous studies on the effects of these programs usually used small-scale data generated from field experiments and household surveys, inhibiting the discovery of large-scale effects due to spatial heterogeneity. For a typical study region in Xilingol League, we used fixed-effects models and a panel dataset at the county level from 1998 to 2013 to examine the effects of two programs, namely, the Beijing–Tianjin Wind/Sand Source Control Program and the Ecological Subsidy and Award System and other drivers on vegetation rehabilitation. The modeling results suggested that the programs had a positive but delayed impact on grassland vegetation rehabilitation. Enrollment in the two programs in a specific year was predicted to increase the vegetation index value by amounts equivalent to 186 mm and 98 mm more annual precipitation after two years, respectively (p < 0.01). Fixed effects (including site factors and land use history) had a greater effect, hence the design and implementation of government conservation policies should be context-based. Full article

The relationship between the fashion retail industry’s working environment and the high rate of employee turnover has been highlighted as one of the key concerns for negative organizational performance in both the short and long term. This relationship creates a need to investigate the ethical climate within fashion retail businesses, employees’ attitudes toward their jobs, and employees’ turnover intention, as these factors can influence organizations’ performance including their likelihood of achieving the triple bottom lines of sustainability. Based on social exchange and human and social capital theories, this study investigated how employees’ ethical climate and turnover intention are affected by both individual- and organizational-level factors, and their impact on the triple bottom lines of organizational sustainability performance. This study empirically tested a structural model based on the survey responses from 278 U.S. fashion retail employees. The findings show that an ethical climate can enhance employees’ job attitude as well as all three dimensions of organizational sustainability performance—financial, social, and environmental. Creating an ethical climate in an organization can decrease employees’ turnover intention, but also employees’ attitudes towards their jobs lowers their turnover intention. The study’s findings reveal that not only can employees’ attitudes toward their jobs impact organizational sustainability performance, but creating an ethical working environment is another important way to improve organizational sustainability performance. Full article

Governments today are increasingly looking to non-state and bottom up community actors to help achieve climate change mitigation targets. Canada is a resource rich state with one of the highest per capita greenhouse gas footprints in the world. It is also a state where issues of political will, geographic scale and incumbent industries contribute to a challenging context for broad community participation. Despite this, a long history of co-operative and municipal activity exists in the energy sector, exhibited in diverse ways across its provinces and territories. Provincial variation in energy sources and actors illustrates a far more nuanced picture than exists at the national level, providing a case rich with both promising and cautionary tales for the community energy sector. This article examines the emergence of community energy in the context of broader energy sector moves towards increasingly powerful trade agreements, privatization, and conflicts over Indigenous rights in Canada. It argues that significant potential exists to strengthen the role of local actors in Canadian energy governance, but that macro-level political and economic developments have also created significant challenges for widespread community energy transitions. Full article

The 2010/2011 foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Korea produced about 4500 burial sites for 3.5 million animal carcasses, which can be summarized as quick, mass burials, at or near the outbreak farms. An FMD outbreak has occurred nearly every year since the big outbreak, although the sizes of these outbreaks have been small. This article presents the rationale behind government policies for FMD outbreaks and disposal sites, the secrecy of the government administration and the neglect of scientific data. We compared government news announcements with news from the non-governmental sector by analyzing all the news for FMD and disposal sites from 29 October 2010, the first day of the big outbreak to August 2016. We found that the Korean response to the FMD outbreak originated from political purposes. We present four rationales for our arguments including: (1) a military collision between North and South of Korea; (2) the reformation of four big rivers; (3) the incident at the Fukushima Atomic Energy Plant of Japan; and (4) the national elections. We believe that the next response should be based on scientific data and proof, and also from the environmental perspective, not the political or industry perspective. Full article

The port is an important node in logistics, and its energy consumption constitutes a considerable proportion of the transportation industry. In port logistics, not only does the energy consumption generate carbon emissions, but other business activities do as well. This paper firstly characterizes the sources of carbon emissions and the basic elements in the port system, and proposes the concept of a port-integrated logistics system. Secondly, a case study of The Port of Shenzhen is conducted and a method is provided to measure the carbon emissions in the port-integrated logistics system. This paper then suggests two approaches to reducing carbon emissions, and their economic and environmental benefits are compared. Finally, some policies are put forward to reduce carbon emissions, such as improving the efficiency of loading and unloading, and replacing the heavy fuel oil by low sulfur fuel oil and shore power. The proposed method of carbon emission reduction for port-integrated logistics systems can be generalized for the analysis of various types of ports. Full article

Global warming will increase the rate of chloride ingress and the rate of steel corrosion of concrete structures. Furthermore, in coastal (atmospheric marine) zones, sea level rise will reduce the distance of concrete structures from the coast and increase the surface chloride content. This study proposes a probabilistic model for analyzing the effects of global warming and sea level rise on the service life of coastal concrete structures. First, in the corrosion initiation stage, an improved chloride diffusion model is proposed to determine chloride concentration. The Monte Carlo method is employed to calculate the service life in the corrosion initiation stage; Second, in the corrosion propagation stage, a numerical model is proposed to calculate the rate of corrosion, probability of corrosion cracking, and service life. Third, overall service life is determined as the sum of service life in the corrosion initiation and corrosion propagation stages. After considering the impacts of global warming and sea level rise, the analysis results show that for concrete structures having a service life of 50 years, the service life decreases by about 5%. Full article

Xinjiang’s industrial sector accounted for more than 80% of the total energy-related carbon emissions. A further understanding of each industrial sub-sector’s carbon intensity is very necessary to make differentiated policies and measures. This paper applied index decomposition analysis and attribution analysis to examine the influencing factors and each sub-sector’s contributions to the changes in influencing factors. The results demonstrated the following: (1) energy intensity effect contributed most to the decreases in industrial carbon intensity, and mining and quarrying, foods and tobacco, and other manufactures were the most representative industrial sub-sectors; (2) energy structure effect showed a positive effect on industrial carbon intensity, but its effect was not significant, and fuel processing, smelting and pressing of metals, metal products, and textile were mainly responsible for the increases in energy structure effect; (3) industrial structure effect showed significant fluctuations, but its accumulative effect promoted the increases in industrial carbon intensity, and fuel processing, mining and quarrying, and textiles were the main sub-sectors, which exerted negative effects on the decreases in industrial structure effect; (4) fuel processing, smelting and pressing of metals, and mining and quarrying significantly influenced these three decomposed factors from 2000 to 2014; (5) since 2009, energy-intensive sub-sectors increased rapidly, and the energy structure was not optimized, while attention was not paid to controlling the energy efficiency, thus all decomposed factors promoted the increases in industrial carbon intensity; and (6) mining and quarrying, textiles, fuel processing, and transport equipment were primarily responsible for the increases in energy structure effect. Fuel processing, chemicals, and smelting and pressing of metals were primarily responsible for the increases in energy intensity effect. Fuel processing, chemicals, smelting and pressing of metals, and other manufactures were primarily responsible for the increases in industrial structure effect. Full article

Elderburbs, defined as old suburban neighborhoods in terms of their ‘built environments’ and ‘demographic structures’, have emerged prominently in academic discussion due to the social vulnerability and outdated built environments of senior dominant neighborhoods that barely meet the needs of their aging populations. Even though previous literature has revealed concerns about suburban decline and the growing number of seniors, these two points of interest have largely been examined in isolation from one another. Thus, this paper attempts to unveil the spatial and social morphology of Elderburbs in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas from 1990 to 2010. Elderburbs were identified by two major criteria; built year (first-generation suburbs built between 1950 and 1970) and demographic aging (based on elderly, elderly-child, and elderly dependency ratios). The findings of this study indicate that Elderburbs have increased and expanded out to suburban areas, especially in the Northeast and Midwest. On the contrary, Elderburbs in the South have decreased and moved closer to core cities. Differing from our assumptions, both Elderburbs and Elderurbans were found to be less socially vulnerable than ordinary suburban and urban neighborhoods.
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Among many disposal options of animal carcasses due to animal diseases including foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and avian influenza (AI), on-farm burial has been the most frequently used one in Korea. Animal carcasses generate contaminants such as ammonium-N and chloride. This study aimed at testing biochar (BC) as a permeable reactive barrier (PRB) material in combination with fast growing tree species (Populus euramericana) to mitigate groundwater pollution from animal burial sites. For this, a PRB filled with BC was installed and 400 poplar tree (P. euramericana) seedlings were planted. Tested BC was obtained from rice husk and its efficiency to mitigate contaminant migration from a burial site of pig carcasses was tested using ammonium-N, chloride, electrical conductivity (EC), and pH as monitoring parameters. Monitoring wells downstream from the burial site were used. Leachates from a monitoring well, three wells inside the burial site close to PRB and three wells outside the burial site close to PRB were sampled and analyzed for ammonium-N, Cl⁻, EC, and pH for four years from PRB installation. The pH, EC, and ammonium-N of leachate fluctuated during the test period depending on precipitation. pH, EC, and ammonium-N of the leachate samples collected from outside of the burial site close to PRB decreased compared to those from inside of the burial site close to PRB. The concentrations of ammonium-N in the leachate from the monitoring well kept under the threshold value of 10 mg·L⁻¹ for two years from PRB construction. In addition, the growth of poplar plants appeared to be increased via uptaking available N and P released from the burial sites. Achieved results suggest that BC PRBs can be used to in situ mitigate contaminant release from buried animal carcasses. Full article

Regions dependent on agricultural production are concerned about the uncertainty associated with climate change. Extreme drought and flooding events are predicted to occur with greater frequency, requiring mitigation strategies to reduce their negative impacts. Multi-purpose local farm water retention systems can reduce water stress during drought periods by supporting irrigation. The retention systems’ capture of excess spring runoff and extreme rainfall events also reduces flood potential downstream. Retention systems may also be used for biomass production and nutrient retention. A sub-watershed scale retention system was analysed using a dynamic simulation model to predict the economic advantages in the future. Irrigated crops using water from the downstream reservoir at Pelly’s Lake, Manitoba, Canada, experienced a net decrease in gross margin in the future due to the associated irrigation and reservoir infrastructure costs. However, the multi-purpose benefits of the retention system at Pelly’s Lake of avoided flood damages, nutrient retention, carbon sequestration, and biomass production provide an economic benefit of $25,507.00/hectare of retention system/year. Multi-purpose retention systems under future climate uncertainty provide economic and environmental gains when used to avoid flood damages, for nutrient retention and carbon sequestration, and biomass production. The revenue gained from these functions can support farmers willing to invest in irrigation while providing economic and environmental benefits to the region. Full article

Fossil fuel combustion produces around 98% of coal emissions. Therefore, liquid and gaseous biofuels have become more attractive due to their environmental benefits. The biodiesel production process requires measurements that help to control and supervise the variables involved in the process. The measurements provide valuable information about the operation conditions and give estimations about the critical variables of the process. The information from measurements is essential for monitoring the state of a process and verifying if it has an optimal performance. The objective of this study was the conception of a virtual sensor based on the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and the model of a batch biodiesel reactor for estimating concentrations of triglycerides (TG), diglycerides (DG), monoglycerides (MG), methyl ester (E), alcohol (A), and glycerol (GL) in real-time through measurement of the temperature and pH. Estimation of the TG, DG, MG, E, A, and Gl through this method eliminates the need for additional sensors and allows the use of different types of control. For the performance analysis of the virtual sensor, the data obtained from the EKF are compared with experimental data reported in the literature, with the mean square error of the estimate then being calculated. In addition, the results of this approach can be implemented in a real system, since it only uses measurements available in a reactor such as temperature and pH. Full article

In this study, we evaluated the physicochemical and microbial qualities of source and stored household waters in some communities in Southwestern Nigeria using standard methods. Compared parameters include: physicochemical constituents; Temperature (T), pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Magnesium ion (Mg²⁺) and Calcium ion (Ca²⁺) and microbiological parameters included Total Coliform Counts (TC), Faecal Coliform Counts (FC), Fungal Counts (Fung C), Heterotrophic Plate Counts (HPC).Comparing Stored and Source samples, the mean values of some physicochemical parameters of most of the stored water samples significantly (p < 0.05) exceeded that of Sources and ranged in the following order: T (15.3 ± 0.3 °C–28.3 ± 0.5 °C), pH (6.4 ± 0.1–7.6 ± 0.1), TDS (192.1 ± 11.1 ppm–473.7 ± 27.9 ppm), TH (10.6 ± 1.7 mg/L–248.6 ± 18.6 mg/L), BOD (0.5 ± 0.0 mg/L–3.2 ± 0.3 mg/L), Mg²⁺ (6.5 ± 2.4 mg/L–29.1 ± 3.2 mg/L) and Ca²⁺ (6.5 ± 2.4 mg/L–51.6 ± 4.4 mg/L). The mean microbial counts obtained from microbial comparison of different points (Stored and Source) of collection showed that most of the stored water had counts significantly exceeding (p < 0.05) those of the source water samples (cfu/100 mL) which ranged as follows: TC (3.1 ± 1.5–156.8 ± 42.9), FC (0.0 ± 0.0–64.3 ± 14.2) and HPC (47.8 ± 12.1–266.1 ± 12.2) across all sampled communities. Also, the predominant isolates recovered from the samples were identified as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Aspergillus spp., Mucor spp., Rhizopus spp. and Candida spp. The presence of these pathogenic and potentially pathogenic organisms in the waters and the high counts of the indicator organisms suggest the waters to be a threat to public health. Full article

Urban roads constitute most of the existing roads and they are directly managed by small administrations. Normally, these small administrations do not have sufficient funds or sufficient qualified personnel to carry out this task. This paper deals with an easy-implementation Pavement Management System (PMS) to develop strategies to maintain, preserve and rehabilitate urban roads. The proposed method includes the creation of the road network inventory, the visual surveys of the pavement and the evaluation of its condition by the Pavement Condition Index (PCI). The method intends to give a valid tool to road managers to compare alternative maintenance strategies and perform the priority analysis on the network. With this aim, the procedure assesses the Vehicle Operating Costs (VOC) by a written regression between PCI and International Roughness Index (IRI). The proposed method has several advantages because it can be easily adapted to various situations and it does not require a large amount of time and money for its implementation. Full article

Carbon allowances traded in the EU-Emission Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) were initially designed as an economic motivation for efficiently curbing greenhouse as emissions, but now it mimics quite a few characteristics of financial assets, and have now been used as a candidate product in building financial portfolios. In this study, we examine the time-varying correlations between carbon allowance prices with other financial indices, during the third phase of EU-ETS. The results show that, at the beginning of this period, carbon price was still strongly corrected with other financial indices. However, this connection was weakened over time. Given the relative independence of carbon assets from other financial assets, we argue for the diversification benefits of including carbon assets in financial portfolios, and building such portfolios, respectively, with the traditional global minimum variance (GMV) strategy, the mean-variance-OGARCH (MV-OGARCH) strategy, and the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) strategy. It is shown that the portfolio built with the MV-OGARCH strategy far out-performs the others and that including carbon assets in financial portfolios does help reduce investment risks. Full article

The aim of this paper is to identify the correlations between energy consumption and the factors that control usage in the city of Tangshan. To do this, we first analyze the current status of Tangshan’s economic development and energy consumption, and then applied the logarithmic mean Divisia index to identify the factors affecting the changes in energy consumption of all sectors. The findings are summarized as follows: (1) secondary industry accounts for an extremely high percentage of industry in Tangshan city, much higher than the national average; from 2007 to 2012, the proportion of secondary industry increased in Tangshan city; (2) Tangshan’s energy consumption in 2013 was nearly twice that in 2005. Coal and coke coal consumption was responsible for 96.2% of total energy consumption in 2005 and 95.1% in 2013; (3) Tangshan’s energy intensity decreased from 3.00 tce/thousand Yuan in 2005 to 1.85 tce/thousand Yuan in 2013. However, the energy intensity of Tangshan was far more than the average for China, and the decline in Tangshan’s energy intensity was much slower than the average for China; (4) The technical effect plays a dominant role in decreasing energy consumption in most sectors, and the scale effect is the most important contributor to increasing energy consumption in all sectors. Input structural and final use structural effects play different roles in energy consumption in different sectors. Full article

Industrial energy and environment efficiency evaluation become especially crucial as industrial sectors play a key role in CO₂ emission reduction and energy consumption. This study adopts the additive range-adjusted measure data envelope analysis (RAM-DEA) model to estimate the low-carbon economy efficiency of Chinese industrial sectors in 2001–2013. In addition, the CO₂ emission intensity mitigation target for each industrial sector is assigned. Results show that, first, most sectors are not completely efficient, but they have experienced and have improved greatly during the period. These sectors can be divided into four categories, namely, mining, light, heavy, and electricity, gas, and water supply industries. The efficiency is diverse among the four industrial categories. The average efficiency of the light industry is the highest among the industries, followed by those of the mining and the electricity, gas, and water supply industries, and that of the heavy industry is the lowest. Second, the electricity, gas, and water supply industry shows the biggest potential for CO₂ emission reduction, thus containing most of the sectors with large CO₂ emission intensity mitigation targets (more than 45%), followed by the mining and the light industries. Therefore, the Chinese government should formulate diverse and flexible policy implementations according to the actual situation of the different sectors. Specifically, the sectors with low efficiency should be provided with additional policy support (such as technology and finance aids) to improve their industrial efficiency, whereas the electricity, gas, and water supply industry should maximize CO₂ emission reduction. Full article

On-site management of construction waste commonly determines its destination. In the case of plasterboard (PB), on-site segregation becomes crucial for closed-loop recycling. However, PB is commonly mixed with other wastes in Spain. In this context, the involvement of stakeholders that can contribute to reversing this current situation is needed. This paper analyzes on-site waste management of PB in Spain through a pilot study of a construction site, with the main objective of identifying best practices to increase waste prevention, waste minimization, and the recyclability of the waste. On-site visits and structured interviews were conducted. The results show five management stages: PB distribution (I); PB installation (II); Construction waste storage at the installation area (III); PB waste segregation at the installation area (IV) and PB waste transfer to the PB container and storage (V). The proposed practices refer to each stage and include the merging of Stages III and IV. This measure would avoid the mixing of waste fractions in Stage III, maximizing the recyclability of PB. In addition, two requisites for achieving enhanced management are analyzed: ‘Training and commitment’ and ‘fulfilling the requirements established by the current regulation’. The results show that foremen adopted a more pessimistic attitude than installers towards a joint commitment for waste management. Moreover, not all supervisors valued the importance of a site waste management plan, regulated by the Royal Decree 105/2008 in Spain. Full article