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Di, Iulio Carlo. "Catalysts for sustainable chemical technologies." Thesis, University of Bath, 2012. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.601644.
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Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are, by the nature of their formation. a finite resource. Fossil fuel resources will eventually deplete or become uneconomical to use. If mankind is to maintain or improve its current quality of life over future generations, alternative means of producing usable energy and materials must be found. One feasible approach is bio-refining, which uses biomass to produce usable energy and materials from renewable sources. It has been stated that the main factor against the viability of a bio-refinery is the lack of available technology. The work described within this thesis aimed to enhance the technology in two areas within a potential bio-refinery; the depolymerisation of lignin to produce platform chemicals and the polymerisation of rac-lactide to produce bio-plastics. Chapter 2 contains the synthesis of a range of novel zinc(II) and aluminium(II1) heterogeneous silica tethered initiators for the ROP of rac-lactide were synthesised as well as their homogeneous silsesquioxane analogues. The heterogeneous complexes produced polylactide of reasonable molecular weight in a well controlled fashion. with Si-(L-HO)Al showing a degree of stereocontrol (Pr=0.32). ICP-AES analysis showed a reduction in the metal content of the polymer produced by heterogeneous initiators. A polymer synthesised by the heterogeneous Si-(LtBUO)AI complex contained 431 ppm Al compared to 2500 ppm Al when its homogeneous analogue, Al(tbuO)Me2, was used. A novel tetrametallic zinc(II) complex, Zn4(L HO)4(OMe)2Me2, was synthesised, demonstrating serendipitous oxygen insertion into the Zn-Me bond. Chapter 3 involved the synthesis and characterisation of a range of novel zinc(U) complexes based on a β-ketoiminate ligand system with varying steric properties. These were also active for the synthesis of polylactide from rac-lactide but exhibited no stereocontrol. The complexes were active in the industrial preferred melt conditions. Chapter 4 details analytical processes to assess the depolymerisation of lignin under oxidative conditions and a range of model lignin compounds were synthesised. Various approaches were utilised, based on heterogeneous and homogeneous•catalysts. The catalytical coupling of two -OH groups to form an ether moiety was observed in the presence of a Re(VII) complex and H20 2• A range of cobalt and vanadium complexes were synthesised and two solid state structures, CoSaLtBuOO and V(LTBUOO)O, were determined, these were screened for the depolymerisation of lignin and model compounds.
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De, Angelis Jordan. "Melanin biopigments' characterization for emerging sustainable technologies." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2019.
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Le melanine sono biopigmenti di colore nero-marrone, ampliamente presenti in natura e comunemente conosciute per la colorazione dei capelli e degli occhi e per le funzioni biologiche che svolgono all’interno dell’organismo umano.
Nel corso degli anni, le melanine hanno suscitato sempre maggior interesse nella comunità scientifica a causa delle loro particolari proprietà fisiche e chimiche: le proprietà di foto-protezione e conduzione elettrica, le caratteristiche antiossidanti e di chelazione metallica la rendono un candidato molto interessante per possibili applicazioni in campo tecnologico. D’altra parte, le melanine sono costituite da un sistema chimico estremamente complesso e difficilmente trattabile, molti dei loro fondamentali principi di funzionamento sono ancora materia di studio.
Il progetto di tesi di seguito illustrato si è sviluppato all’interno di due sotto-progetti entrambi volti alla caratterizzazione del biopigmento. Il primo ha avuto come obbiettivo lo studio dei meccanismi di aggregazione delle sue unità costituenti sottoforma di thin film, per poi analizzarne le caratteristiche di conduzione elettrica in condizioni di vuoto.
Con il secondo progetto sono state studiate le proprietà di assorbimento della radiazione e le caratteristiche antiossidanti dell’eumelanina investigando il suo funzionamento come sostituto bio-sourced ai comuni UV-absorber all’interno dei polimeri utilizzati nell’industria del packaging.
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Sikhosana, Qedile. "Global review of CSP technologies." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12454.
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Includes abstract.This global review of concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies is based mainly on an assessment of available international literature, up to 31 October 2011. It includes a review of major CSP projects currently operating or under development at this time; the respective CSP technologies employed; and an assessment of the present and future economics of CSP relative to other conventional and renewable energy electricity-generating technologies. Global outlook scenarios for CSP are discussed, as well as specific conditions and proposals for CSP developments in South Africa. The economic analysis has been limited by several challenges. Since the CSP industry is new, there are few well-documented projects on which to base the analysis. Most of the projects referenced here are from the USA and Spain. As the CSP market rapidly expands, competition in the industry tends to restrict the disclosure of detailed financial/economic information for projects under development. In general, it has been difficult to compare the publicly available economic data, on a reliable basis, since the financial costing parameters used may vary from case to case. In addition, most of the economic forecasts, which have been reviewed, are based on forward modeling rather than practical proven costs. There are uncertainties and quite wide variations in such predictions. This dissertation concludes, however, that there is great optimism for the growing employment of CSP technology in the near future and that CSP electricity-generating costs, in areas with high solar energy resources, are expected to become competitive with levelised electricity generating costs from other conventional and renewable energy technologies. The cost reduction potentials for CSP lie mainly in expected technical research and development advances, and production economies of scale, achieved by high volume deployment, supported by mid-term investment incentives from governments and other agencies. Another cost reduction potential, especially in the South African context, lies in the localization of skills and local fabrication of some plant structures and components.
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Palmer, Fleur. "Using emergent technologies to develop sustainable architectural composites." AUT University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10292/933.
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The intention of this project is to research the potential of emergent technologies for developing sustainable composites for the building industry. It is divided into three parts: Part 1 Identifies emergent practices which are being applied to the development of new sustainable building prototypes such as developments using nanotechnologies, the influence of biomimetics, the development of intelligent interactive systems and the use of digital technologies to generate complex cellular structural systems. Part 2 Outlines existing processes involved in selecting and manufacturing prototypes, as many existing processes have been opportunistically applied to emergent practices to generate innovative sustainable prototypes. Part 3 By synthesising the research gathered in the previous parts of this thesis, this section documents the design process for developing a sustainable building system. The design is based on a minimal surface structure to reduce materiality and to optimise strength and its manufacturing process exploits emergent and existing technologies for its generation.
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Kovalenko, E. "Technologies of an information society and sustainable development." Thesis, Видавництво СумДУ, 2004. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/23004.
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Dal, Pozzo Alessandro <1988>. "Analysis of Sustainable Technologies for Acid Gas Removal." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2017. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/7970/1/dalpozzo_alessandro_tesi.pdf.
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Acid gases, such as sulphur dioxide and hydrogen halides and – in a broad sense – carbon dioxide, are typical pollutants generated by combustion processes. Their removal by means of solid sorbents represent an efficient and cost-effective approach in dry acid gas treatment systems for waste incineration flue gas, while for CO2 capture the process is exploratively studied as a promising alternative to amine scrubbing. The present study addressed both aspects.
In waste incineration flue gas cleaning, acid gas removal by sorbent injection is a well-established process. Nonetheless, a thorough understanding of the gas-solid reactions involved in the process has not been reached yet and, thus, the operation of dry treatment systems is still highly empirical. In the present study, the process was analysed using different levels of detail: from the microscopic level of a lab-scale experimental campaign and phenomenological description of the kinetic and mass transfer phenomena governing the gas-solid reaction to the macroscopic level of techno-economic and environmental assessment of alternative full-scale dry treatment systems.
With respect to CO2 capture technologies, the process is still in the development stage and research is focused on the identification of highly-efficient sorbents. The present study analysed the enhancement of CO2 uptake potential of magnesium oxide, a promising sorbent for intermediate-temperature carbon capture, by means of coating with alkali metal molten salts.
The joint analysis of gas-solid reaction for flue gas cleaning in two diverse contexts allowed the identification of common issues and of possible shared solutions.
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Simonini, Emanuele <1989>. "Bio-plastics and technologies for eco-sustainable packaging." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2021. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/9698/1/Tesi%20Dottorato%20Emanuele%20Simonini%20AMS%20Thesis.pdf.
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Transmission welding tests on different eco-sustainable materials were performed using Thulium fiber laser radiation with 2 μm wavelength. All the samples were characterized via infra-red spectroscopy and DSC. The morphology of the materials and the relations between the laser process conditions and the quality of the seam were investigated by means of optical microscopy. Mechanical strength of the weld joints were measured via tensile tests, comparing some of them with different sealing methods and/or original tensile properties of the materials.
The morphology of the non-woven material especially plays an important role, compared to the continuous films, as well as the chemical nature of the samples. The experiments demonstrate new application areas of mid-IR fiber laser sources for materials processing.
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Phillips, Jason Patrick 1973. "The convergence of sustainable technologies and architectural design expression." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/69447.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-119).
In recent years an unprecedented ecological awareness has taken hold, not only within the discipline of architecture, but throughout our society as well. No longer are we, as a culture, accepting of the long established traditions of buildings holding dominion over nature at all cost and without consequence. Today there is concern with bringing mankind and all things manmade into a benign harmony with our natural environment. Architects can no longer be content with simply satisfying basic requirements of health, safety and welfare in their buildings. More esoteric investigations into the poetics of space, theoretical experimentation, or symbolic reference also are not enough. A new layer of expertise and understanding is now required of our discipline. The pursuits of design expression must now work in tandem with the advancement of sustainable technologies to achieve an architecture that responds in a positive and sensitive way to the environment in which it resides. Sustainable issues have become a significant participatory, yet not dominate, element within architectural design. It is the position of this thesis that there is a recent- and widespread--convergence of sustainable technologies and design expression that is occurring and affecting the entire discipline of architecture. The logical synthesis of technology and design is fundamentally altering not only what is built, but also how it is built. The physical implications of this convergence on contemporary architecture are that it is creating a new formal vocabulary never seen before. In many cases, a new typology is emerging. This thesis is primarily focused on identifying the physical architectural evidence associated with this convergence. The physical manifestation of the synthesis of sustainable technologies and design expression can be seen in a wide range of projects throughout the discipline and is bound by no aesthetic or formal category. These concerns have seemingly transcended all formal categorization, and are affecting architecture regardless of function, style, or theoretical position. Whereas once sustainability was relegated to its own category, today it has become apart of all categories. It is important to identify this phenomenon; understand how it is affecting the discipline of architecture; and to realize where the industry is going as a result.
by Jason Patrick Phillips.
S.M.
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Abanda, Fonbeyin Henry. "Knowledge modelling of emerging technologies for sustainable building development." Thesis, Oxford Brookes University, 2011. https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/d8e77b5c-04e1-4fdb-8fd5-1574deab180f/1/.
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In the quest for improved performance of buildings and mitigation of climate change, governments are encouraging the use of innovative sustainable building technologies. Consequently, there is now a large amount of information and knowledge on sustainable building technologies over the web. However, internet searches often overwhelm practitioners with millions of pages that they browse to identify suitable innovations to use on their projects. It has been widely acknowledged that the solution to this problem is the use of a machine-understandable language with rich semantics - the semantic web technology. This research investigates the extent to which semantic web technologies can be exploited to represent knowledge about sustainable building technologies, and to facilitate system decision-making in recommending appropriate choices for use in different situations. To achieve this aim, an exploratory study on sustainable building and semantic web technologies was conducted. This led to the use of two most popular knowledge engineering methodologies - the CommonKADS and "Ontology Development 101" in modelling knowledge about sustainable building technology and PV -system domains. A prototype system - Photo Voltaic Technology ONtology System (PV -TONS) - that employed sustainable building technology and PV -system domain knowledge models was developed and validated with a case study. While the sustainable building technology ontology and PV -TONS can both be used as generic knowledge models, PV -TONS is extended to include applications for the design and selection of PV -systems and components. Although its focus was on PV -systems, the application of semantic web technologies can be extended to cover other areas of sustainable building technologies. The major challenges encountered in this study are two-fold. First, many semantic web technologies are still under development and very unstable, thus hindering their full exploitation. Second, the lack of learning resources in this field steepen the learning curve and is a potential set-back in using semantic web technologies.
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Jung, Jae Sung. "Development and Deployment of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Technologies." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/56621.
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Solar and wind generation are one of the most rapidly growing renewable energy sources, and is regarded as an appealing alternative to conventional power generated from fossil fuel. This is leading to significant levels of distributed renewable generation being installed on distribution circuits. Although renewable generation brings many advantages, circuit problems are created due to its intermittency, and overcoming these problems is a key challenge to achieving high penetration.
It is necessary for utilities to understand the impacts of Photovoltaic (PV) generation on distribution circuits and operations. An impact study is intended to quantify the extent of the issues, discover any problems, and investigate alternative solutions. In this manner, system wide and local impact study are proposed in the dissertation.
1) System wide impact study
This study considers system effects due to the addition of Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHEV) and Distributed Energy Resource (DER) generation. The DER and PHEV are considered with energy storage technology applied to the residential distribution system load. Two future year scenarios are considered, 2020 and 2030. The models used are of real distribution circuits located near Detroit, Michigan, and every customer load on the circuit and type of customer are modeled. Monte Carlo simulations are used to randomly select customers that receive PHEV, DER, and/or storage systems. The Monte Carlo simulations provide not only the expected average result, but also its uncertainty.
2) Local impact study
Analysis of high PV penetration in distribution circuits using both steady-state and quasi steady-state impact studies are presented. The steady-state analysis evaluates impacts on the distribution circuit by comparing conditions before and after extreme changes in PV generation at three extreme circuit conditions, maximum load, maximum PV generation, and when the difference between the PV generation and the circuit load is a maximum. The quasi steady-state study consists of a series of steady-state impact studies performed at evenly spaced time points for evaluating the spectrum of impacts between the extreme impacts. Results addressing the impacts of cloud cover and various power factor control strategies are presented. PV penetration levels are limited and depend upon PV generation control strategies and the circuit design and loading. There are tradeoffs in PV generation control concerning circuit voltage variations, circuit losses, and the motion of automated utility control devices. The steady state and quasi steady-state impact studies provide information that is helpful in evaluating the effect of PV generation on distribution circuits, including circuit problems that result from the PV generation.
In order to fully benefit from wind power, accurate wind power forecasting is an essential tool in addressing this challenge. This has motivated researchers to develop better forecast of the wind resources and the resulting power. As a solution for wind generation, frequency domain approach is proposed to characterize and analyze wind speed patterns in the dissertation.
3) Frequency Domain Approach
This study introduces the frequency domain approach to characterize and analyze wind speed patterns. It first presents the technique of and the prerequisite conditions for the frequency domain approach. Three years of wind speed data at 10 different locations have been used. This chapter demonstrates that wind speed patterns during different times and at different locations can be well characterized by using the frequency domain approach with its compact and structured format. We also perform analysis using the characterized dataset. It affirms that the frequency domain approach is a useful indicator for understanding the characteristics of wind speed patterns and can express the information with superior accuracy.
Among the various technical challenges under high PV penetration, voltage rise problems caused by reverse power flows are one of the foremost concerns. The voltage rises due to the PV generation. Furthermore, the need to limit the voltage rise problem limits PV generators from injecting more active power into the distribution network. This can be one of the obstacles to high penetration of PVs into circuits. As a solution for solar generation, coordinated control of automated devices and PV is proposed in the dissertation.
4) Coordinated Automated Device and PV Control
A coordinating, model-centric control strategy for mitigating voltage rise problems due to PV penetration into power distribution circuits is presented. The coordinating control objective is to maintain an optimum circuit voltage distribution and voltage schedule, where the optimum circuit operation is determined without PV generation on the circuit. In determining the optimum circuit voltage distribution and voltage schedule, the control strategy schedules utility controls, such as switched capacitor banks and voltage regulators, separate from PV inverter controls. Optimization addresses minimizing circuit losses and motion of utility controls. The coordinating control action provides control setpoints to the PV inverters that are a function of the circuit loading or time-of-day and also the location of the PV inverter. Three PV penetration scenarios are considered, 10%, 20%, and 30%. Baselines with and without coordinating controls for circuit performance without PV generation are established, and these baselines are compared against the three PV penetration scenarios with and without coordinating control. Simulation results are compared and differences in voltage variations and circuit losses are considered along with differences in utility control motion. Results show that the coordinating control can solve the voltage rise problem while minimizing circuit losses and reducing utility control motion. The coordinating control will work with existing PV inverter controls that accept control setpoints without having to modify the inverter controls.
5) Coordinated Local and Centralized PV Control
Existing distribution systems and their associated controls have been around for decades. Most distribution circuits have capacity to accommodate some level of PV generation, but the question is how much can they handle without creating problems. It proposes a Configurable, Hierarchical, Model-based, Scheduling Control (CHMSC) of automated utility control devices and photovoltaic (PV) generators. In the study here the automated control devices are assumed to be owned by the utility and the PV generators and PV generator controls by another party. The CHMSC, which exists in a hierarchical control architecture that is failure tolerant, strives to maintain the voltage level that existed before introducing the PV into the circuit while minimizing the circuit loss and reducing the motion of the automated control devices. This is accomplished using prioritized objectives. The CHMSC sends control signals to the local controllers of the automated control devices and PV controllers. To evaluate the performance of the CHMSC, increasing PV levels of adoption are analyzed in a model of an actual circuit that has significant existing PV penetration and automated voltage control devices. The CHMSC control performance is compared with that of existing, local control. Simulation results presented demonstrate that the CHMSC algorithm results in better voltage control, lower losses, and reduced automated control device motion, especially as the penetration level of PV increases.Ph. D.
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Bibri, Mohamed. "ICT Design Unsustainability & the Path toward Environmentally Sustainable Technologies." Thesis, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola, Sektionen för datavetenskap och kommunikation, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-5935.
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This study endeavors to investigate the negative environmental impacts of the prevailing ICT design approaches and to explore some potential remedies for ICT design unsustainability from environmental and corporate sustainability perspectives. More specifically, it aims to spotlight key environmental issues related to ICT design, including resource depletion; GHG emissions resulting from energy-intensive consumption; toxic waste disposal; and hazardous chemicals use; and also to shed light on how alternative design solutions can be devised based on environmental sustainability principles to achieve the goals of sustainable technologies. The study highlights the relationship between ICT design and sustainability and how they can symbiotically affect one another. To achieve the aim of this study, an examination was performed through an extensive literature review covering empirical, theoretical, and critical scholarship. The study draws on a variety of sources to survey the negative environmental impacts of the current mainstream ICT design approach and review the potential remedies for unsustainability of ICT design. For theory, central themes were selected for review given the synergy and integration between them as to the topic under investigation. They include: design issues; design science; design research framework for ICT; sustainability; corporate sustainability; and design and sustainability. Findings highlight the unsustainability of the current mainstream ICT design approach. Key environmental issues for consideration include: resource depletion through extracting huge amounts of material and scarce elements; energy-intensive consumption and GHG emissions, especially from ICT use phase; toxic waste disposal; and hazardous substances use. Potential remedies for ICT design unsustainability include dematerialization as an effective strategy to minimize resources depletion, de-carbonization to cut energy consumption through using efficient energy required over life cycle and renewable energy; recyclability through design with life cycle thinking (LCT) and extending ICT equipment’s operational life through reuse; mitigating hazardous chemicals through green design - low or non-noxious/less hazardous products. As to solving data center dilemma, design solutions vary from hardware and software to technological improvements and adjustments. Furthermore, corporate sustainability can be a strategic model for ICT sector to respond to environmental issues, including those associated with unsustainable ICT design. In the same vein, through adopting corporate sustainability, ICT-enabled organizations can rationalize energy usage to reduce GHG emissions, and thereby alleviating global warming. This study provides a novel approach to sustainable ICT design, highlighting unsustainability of its current mainstream practices. Review of the literature makes an advance on extant reviews of the literature by highlighting the symbiotic relationship between ICT design and environmental sustainability from both research and practice perspectives. This study adds to the body of knowledge and previous endeavours in research of ICT and sustainability. Overall, it endeavours to present contributions and avenues for further theoretical and empirical research and development.+46704352135/+212662815009
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MacGillivray, Andrew John. "Economically sustainable development of wave and tidal stream energy technologies." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/25405.
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The wave and tidal energy sectors have received much interest in recent years, from policy-makers attentive to the prospect that ocean energy technologies could be capable of contributing towards meeting environmental targets; from utility companies that expressed interest in developing, constructing and operating array projects to export large quantities of clean energy from ocean based resources; and from Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and large multi-national Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) that were interested in undertaking technological development to commercialise wave and tidal energy converters that could successfully harness the energy contained within the ocean waves and tides. Within the existing research, development and innovation environment that has largely dominated the development of wave and tidal energy to date – rapid development of large MW-scale devices capable of utility scale power generation – technology developers have failed to reach the level of deployed capacity that was initially anticipated, despite the significant level of investment that has taken place. Indeed, the expected contribution of ocean energy in the wider energy mix, which has been written into policy documentation at both national and European level, has so far failed to materialise in the form of prolific multiple device array deployments. The research, development and innovation environment has not delivered on its intended objective of demonstrating commercial technology readiness, and the historic development trajectories for ocean energy technologies may not represent the most cost-effective route to product commercialisation. This research explores the wave and tidal energy research, development, and innovation environment through extensive stakeholder engagement within the ocean energy sector, and through application of suitable techniques from innovation theory. The purpose of this research was three-fold. Firstly, an objective analysis of the development of the wave and tidal energy sectors – building a comprehensive understanding of their development to date through extensive stakeholder engagement, and comparing wave and tidal energy technology development with that of historic energy technologies that have successfully entered into commercial operation – was necessary in order to identify whether the attempt by ocean energy technologies for rapid up-scaling of technology is consistent with the development pathway that was followed by energy technologies which have successfully transitioned from novel invention to full commercial operation. This work identified several dichotomies that are present in the nascent stages of technology development in the wave and tidal energy sectors. Secondly, the uncertainties surrounding existing capital and revenue costs, and the uncertainties within the potential future cost reductions associated with current technology trajectories, could lead to unsustainable investment requirements. Commercialisation of wave and tidal energy technology is predicated upon significant cost reduction – the current technology costs are not feasible for large scale roll out of technology. A research focus on the economic uncertainty through application of learning theory and a learning investment sensitivity analysis was anticipated to demonstrate the economic impact of minor perturbations from idealised reference assumptions. The results from this work suggest that even minor perturbations in input parameters have substantial negative impact on overall investment requirements to bring technology to a level of cost competitiveness. Thirdly, the policy landscape surrounding wave and tidal energy development has not been specifically compared and contrasted, using a number of performance metrics, to a technology which was subject to similar expectations in the form of income streams – wind energy technology. The causes and motivations for the rapid transition to large-scale technologies and ‘accelerated innovation’ within ocean energy technology were considered within this research, which suggested that a mismatch between policy support and technological readiness could misguide and misdirect the innovation pathway, harming the commercialisation prospects of ocean energy technology. In order for the successful emergence of economically sustainable wave and tidal energy technologies, a paradigm shift may be necessary, a change from the current approach that has to date dominated technological development within both the wave and tidal energy sectors. This research draws together industry consultation with academic insight to identify an optimised innovation pathway, culminating in a policy appraisal to guide and inform economically sustainable development of wave and tidal energy technologies.
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Maurovich, Horvat L. "Decision making under uncertainty and competition for sustainable energy technologies." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2015. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1460562/.
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This dissertation addresses the main challenges faced in the transition to a more sustainable energy sector by applying modelling tools that could design more effective managerial responses and provide policy insights. To mitigate the impact of climate change, the electric power industry needs to reduce markedly its emissions of greenhouse gases. As energy consumption is set to increase in the foreseeable future, this can be achieved only through costly investments in more efficient conventional generation or in renewable energy resources. While more energy-efficient technologies are commercially available, the deregulation of most electricity industries implies that investment decisions need to be taken by private investors with government involvement limited to setting policy measures or designing market rules. Thus, it is desirable to understand how investment and operational decisions are to be made by decentralised entities that face uncertainty and competition. One of the most efficient thermal power technologies is cogeneration, or combined heat and power (CHP), which can recover heat that otherwise would be discarded from conventional generation. Cogeneration is particularly efficient when the recovered heat can be used in the vicinity of the combustion engine. Although governments are supporting on-site CHP generation through feed-in tariffs and favourable grid access, the adoption of small-scale electricity generation has been hindered by uncertain electricity and gas prices. While deterministic and real options studies have revealed distributed generation to be both economical and effective at reducing CO2 emissions, these analyses have not addressed the aspect of risk management. In order to overcome the barriers of financial uncertainties to investment, it is imperative to address the decision-making problems of a risk-averse energy consumer. Towards that end, we develop a multi-stage, stochastic mean-risk optimisation model for the long-term and medium-term risk management problems of a large consumer. We first show that installing a CHP unit not only results in both lower CO2 emissions and expected running cost but also leads to lower risk exposure. In essence, by investing in a CHP unit, a large consumer obtains the option to use on-site generation whenever the electricity price peaks, thereby reducing significantly its financial risk over the investment period. To provide further insights into risk management strategies with on-site generation, we examine also the medium-term operational problem of a large consumer. In this model, we include all available contracts from electricity and gas futures markets, and analyse their interactions with on-site generation. We conclude that by swapping the volatile electricity spot price for the less volatile gas spot price, on-site generation with CHP can lead to lower risk exposure even in the medium term, and it alters a risk-averse consumer’s demand for futures contracts. While extensive subsidies have triggered investments in renewable generation, these installations need to be accompanied by transmission expansion. The reason for this is that solar and wind energy output is intermittent, and attractive solar and wind sites are often located far away from demand centres. Thus, to integrate renewable generation into the grid system and to maintain a reliable and secure electricity supply, a vastly improved transmission network is crucial. Finding the optimal transmission line investments for a given network is already a very complex task since these decisions need to take into account future demand and generation configurations, too, which now depend on private investors. To address these concerns, our third study models the problem of wind energy investment and transmission expansion jointly through a stochastic bi-level programming model under different market designs for transmission line investment. This enables the game-theoretic interaction between distinct decision makers, i.e., those investing in power plants and those constructing transmission lines, to be addressed directly. We find that under perfect competition only one of the wind power producers, the one with lower capital cost, makes investment and to a lower degree under a profit-maximising merchant investor (MI) than under a welfare-maximising transmission system operator (TSO), as the MI reduces the transmission capacity to increase congestion rent. In addition, we note that regardless of whether the grid expansion is carried out by the TSO or by the MI, a higher proportion of wind energy is installed when power producers exercise market power. In effect, strategic withholding of generation capacity by producers prompts more transmission investment since the TSO aims to increase welfare by subsidising wind and the MI creates more flow to maximise profit. Under perfect competition, a higher level of wind generation can be achieved only through mandating renewable portfolio standards (RPS), which in turn results also in increased transmission investment.
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Mahroof, Kamran, Amizan Omar, and B. Kucukaltan. "Sustainable Food Supply Chains: Overcoming the Challenges with Digital Technologies." Emerald Publishing, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/18585.
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YesThe purpose of this paper is to offer a consolidative approach in exploring the potential contribution of digital technologies in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) for the sustainable performance of food supply chain business, through the circular economy concepts. As a single case study, this qualitative, interpretivist research was based on one of the largest food producers in the United Kingdom. The research utilises semi-structured interviews and applies thematic analysis to offer rich insights into SSCM challenges and their relationship with the business performance, through ten in-depth interviews. Findings derived from thematic analysis of the interview transcripts suggest four main critical success factors underpinning SSCM practices and businesses performance – i.e. business continuity, waste reduction, performance measurement approach, and organisational learning, which could use the help of digital technologies to improve. This led to seven propositions to be addressed in the future research. This research offers real, practical insights into SSCM challenges, within the context of food supply chain and explores the potential of digital technologies in overcoming them. Accordingly, the primary contribution of this work is grounded in the identification of critical success factors in SSCM for Food Supply Chains (FSC). Hence, this work contributes further to the literature on SSCM, as well as circular economy, by providing a study of a business in the context of the highly pertinent and valuable food industry.
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Davididou, Konstantina. "Sustainable photocatalytic oxidation processes for the treatment of emerging microcontaminants." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/31339.
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This work investigates the elimination of new and emerging microcontaminants (EMs) from water by means of photochemical oxidation processes, namely heterogeneous and homogeneous photocatalysis. Representative compounds of artificial sweeteners (saccharin, SAC), endocrine disruptors (bisphenol-A, BPA), and pharmaceutica ls (antipyrine, AP) of high environmental persistence and widespread occurrence in the water cycle are used as case studies. Novel concepts that can make photochemica l oxidation a more cost-effective and environmentally benign technology are tested. In Chapter 4, the photocatalytic treatment of SAC and BPA is investigated. Novel submicronic anatase-rutile nanocomposite particles with tuned phase ratio are used as catalysts to increase the photocatalytic performance under UVA irradiation. At the best-assayed conditions (C0 = 3 mg/L, catalyst = 400 mg/L), SAC and BPA are completely degraded within 90 and 150 min of photocatalytic treatment, respectively. [variables: anatase-rutile ratio; initial substrate concentration; catalyst concentration; catalyst reuse; sonication during catalyst recovery] In Chapter 5, a UVA light-emitting diode (UVA-LED) and sunlight are used as irradiation sources to reduce energy requirements and environmental impacts of photocatalytic processes. The photocatalytic degradation of SAC and BPA is studied under UVA irradiation provided by either a UVA-LED or a conventional fluoresce nt blacklight UVA lamp (UVA-BL) and solar irradiation. At the best-assayed conditions (C0 = 2.5 mg/L, TiO2 = 250 mg/L), BPA is completely degraded within 20, 30, and 120 min under UVA-LED, solar, and UVA-BL irradiation, respectively. The treatment time required for the complete elimination of SAC is 20 min under UVA-LED and 90 min under UVA-BL irradiation. [variables: initial substrate concentration; catalyst concentration; water matrix; light source; reactor configuration] In Chapter 6, a comparative study is carried out among the photocatalytic systems of Chapters 4 and 5 in terms of EMs removal, photonic and energy efficiencies. Technica l and economic aspects of all the processes are assessed. LED-driven photocatalysis achieves the highest efficiency in terms of organic removal with the minimum energy consumption, rendering it the most sustainable technology for the treatment of EMs. In Chapter 7, olive mill wastewater (OMW) is used as an iron-chelating agent in the photo-Fenton reaction to obviate the need for water acidification at pH 2.8. Conventional, OMW- and EDDS-assisted photo-Fenton treatment is applied for SAC degradation in a solar compound parabolic collector (CPC). It was found that OMW forms iron complexes able to catalyse H2O2 decomposition and generate hydroxyl radicals. At the optimal OMW dilution (1:800), 90% of SAC is degraded within 75 min. [variables: pH; iron-chelating agent; initial SAC concentration; OMW dilution] In Chapter 8, other complexing and oxidising agents, namely oxalate and persulfate, are used for the intensification of AP degradation during UVA-LED photo-Fenton treatment. Neural networks are applied for process modelling and optimisation. At the optimal conditions (hydrogen peroxide = 100 mg/L, ferrous iron = 20 mg/L, oxalic acid = 100 mg/L), complete degradation of AP and 93% mineralisation is achieved within 2.5 and 60 min, respectively. [variables: initial concentration of hydrogen peroxide, ferrous iron, oxalic acid, persulfate] It is concluded that LED-driven photocatalysis is a sustainable technology for the elimination of EMs from water. Results from this work highlight the need for development and optimisation of engineering proper LED reactors. Furthermore, this work introduces a new concept towards the sustainable operation of photo-Fenton that is based on the use of wastewaters rich in polyphenols instead of pricey and hazardous chemicals for iron chelation. The addition of ferrioxalate complexes is proposed for the intensification of EMs mineralisation during UVA-LED photo-Fenton treatment. Finally, the findings of this work encourage the use of chemometric tools as predictive and optimisation tools.
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Camaggi, Matteo. "Melanin biopigments for emerging sustainable technologies: optical absorption and electrical response." Master's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/15216/.
Full textAbstract:
Le melanine sono biopigmenti di colore marrone-nero presenti in natura comunemente nei mammiferi (ma anche nelle seppie, funghi e alghe) notoriamente conosciute come le responsabili della colorazione della pelle e dei capelli. Le loro interessanti proprietà, come fotoprotezione, conducibilità elettrica e chelazione metallica, hanno suscitato un grande interesse da parte dei gruppi di ricerca per comprendere eventuali applicazioni in campo tecnologico. Nell'ambito del progetto descritto, le proprietà di conduzione e foto-sensibilizzazione della melanina sono analizzate sia da un punto di vista elettrico, utilizzando la melanina come semiconduttore tra due elettrodi di oro a differenti voltaggi in condizioni di buio e di irraggiamento, sia da un punto di vista di affinità con polimeri, studiando se la proprietà di assorbimento della radiazione nell'intervallo UV-Visibile possa essere sfruttata come filtro UV con particolare interesse nel settore del packaging. Inoltre, uno studio sulla biodegradabilità della melanina è stato affrontato, per verificare se gli standard normativi per definire la molecola come biodegradabile siano effettivamente rispettati.
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Besancon, Axelle. "Technologies and multi-barrier systems for sustainable groundwater recharge and irrigation." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2010. http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/5726.
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Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) consists of artificially replenishing groundwater to facilitate reuse and/or the associated environmental benefits. Meanwhile, soil aquifer treatment (SAT) is a process of geo-purification designed and operated to improve the quality of the infiltrating water and is thus a type of MAR. SAT consists of a basin operating under rotation of drying and wetting periods. Often, SAT involves water of impaired quality applied onto soil and consequently it implies various risks of health, geochemical and physical nature with difficult or irreversible remediation. To study the effect of pre-treatment on SAT a pilot plant including conventional activated sludge (CAS), a membrane bioreactor (MBR), tertiary and secondary vertical flow reed beds (VFRB) and SAT soil columns. The sludge retention time (SRT) in the CAS and MBR processes was changed every 6 months to look at the impact of SRT on SAT. Each unit and treatment train effluent was characterised to determine the impact of effluent quality on SAT performance. This study showed that tertiary VFRB, especially when fed with MBR effluent, was the best option for SAT and irrigation reuse as it provided the best compliance with reuse standards and the best fertilisation potential. However, long-term clogging occurred in SAT after tertiary VFRB, suggesting the need for a longer resting period or shorter wetting period. This study also highlighted the importance of total suspended solids (TSS) content for SAT removal mechanisms and infiltration rate. In particular, SAT fed with high TSS content effluent was susceptible to temperature variation. Hence the duration of wetting and flooding periods should be adapted according to the season. Further, variation in SRT only indirectly affected pollutants removal by the system including CAS treatment set up at 6 d SRT where the N compounds balance was favourable to an autotrophic N removal.
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Scott-Emuakpor, Efetobor. "Optimisation of sustainable technologies for the remediation of waste water contaminants." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2011. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=182250.
Full textAbstract:
There is an increasing demand for the provision of cleaner safer water. In the last 5 years, the global water supply industry has spent > £57 billion on purification treatments. With an increasing population and energy costs, investment is predicted to increase over the next 10 years. Moreover, the industry is attempting to move towards more efficient and sustainable processes for the treatment of a wide range of contaminants. This project focuses on two novel sustainable technologies for remediation of common waste water contaminants: photoelectrocatalysis (pathogens and 2,4-DCP) and biosorption (heavy metals - HMs). The application of semiconductor photocatalysis in waste water treatment has been intensively investigated over the past decade. These studies mainly involve nano dimensional titanium dioxide as a photocatalyst using ultra-violet light as an energy source. However, practical applications are still limited by its poor visible light activity. In this study a photoelectrocatalytic batch cell (PECB) and photoelectrocatalytic fuel cell with a flow through configuration (PECFC) containing a visible light active tungsten trioxide (W03) photocatalyst have been optimised and assessed for contaminant remediation. The potential for the PECB to disinfect a surrogate human pathogen, the lux-marked E. coli HE 101 pUCD607, is investigated in Chapter 3. Disinfection experiments indicated that a > 99 % decrease in CFU/rnl occurred within 15 min. Although, this experiment showed that bacterial disinfection can be achieved by light alone (photolysis), the results indicated that disinfection rates were enhanced considerably by using the immobilised thin film W03 photoelectrocatalyst. This alternative catalyst was further assessed in a flow through PECFC system. The combination of the visible light enhanced W03 and the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology to remediation of 2,4-DCP in waste waters is investigated in Chapter 4. Degradation of 2,4-DCP was monitored over a period of 24 hrs. A total decrease of 74 % in 2,4-DCP concentration was observed, from which ea. 54 % were accountable to photoelectrocatalytic degradation processes and 20 % due to losses by adsorption or volatilisation. This decreased further to > 98 % removal over 6 days. A combination of chemical (HPLC) and bacterial biosensor (lux-marked Escherichia coli HB101 pUCD607) toxicity responses confirmed degradation of the parent compound with a concomitant increase in toxicity due to formation of intermediates, respectively. The reduction in 2,4-DCP concentration was observed to follow first order kinetics assuming a perfect flow model for the PECFC. However, more work is required to improve sustain ability of this technique as reduced efficiency of the PECFC occurred with prolonged use of the MEA (potentially due to occlusion of the catalytic sites), leading to loss of membrane conductivity. A major constraint with PECFC is the presence of eo-contaminants such as HMs that limit the efficiency of the MEA. Therefore, Chapter 5 assesses the efficacy and mechanisms for a sustainable biosorbent (distillery spent grain - DSG) to remove HMs from contaminated waters. A batch system was employed to determine the sorption of five different HMs from aqueous solution to DSG. Adsorption occurred up to a saturation point of 11.8, 14.1, 11.2, 38.1 and 14.6 mg of Co, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn / g DSG, respectively. Adsorption for all HMs conformed to the Freundlich isotherm model, indicating heterogeneity of the DSG surface. The sorption of HM followed the pseudo- second-order kinetic model, indicating that the rate-controlling step in the process was chemical interaction between the HM ions and the functional groups on the DSG surface. An increased sorption efficiency of the DSG occurred with increased storage time as decomposition of the organic matrix resulted in increased number of active sorption sites. However, deterioration in the aesthetic quality of the DSG meant that a balance was required between optimum performance and ease of handling in the application of this material; an optimum storage period of 3 months has been proposed. The batch equilibrium sorption experiments estimated sorption under optimal conditions where there was no limiting rate of interaction between HM and DSG active sites. A leaching set up more reminiscent of a 'real life' in-stream remediation scenario is assessed in Chapter 6. Successful sorption of all five HMs was observed but this was significantly reduced compared to batch equlibia. Moreover, an assessment of the effect of competing ions (NaCl) on HM sorption efficiency of the DSG indicated that increasing the ionic strength of the HM solution generally resulted in a decrease in HM sorption capacity of DSG at lower initial HM concentrations but the opposite effect was observed at the highest initial HM concentration. Sequential extractions, carried out on the BM-laden DSG after leaching experiments indicated that all five HMs studied were strongly bound within the organic matrix of the DSG as < 10 % of the sorbed HMs were loosely bound on labile or exchangeable sites. A preliminary investigation of DSG as a potential sorbent for 2,4-DCP is described in Chapter 7. For two concentrations (16.3 and 40.75 mg/l) , 66.0-68.9- % and 39.6-44.3 % of the 2,4-DCP was removed in batch and leaching experimental set-ups, respectively. The W03 photoelectrocatalytic fuel cells (batch PECB and continuous flow PECFC) and waste-derived biosorbent investigated during the course of this study are both promising emerging technologies for sustainable waste water treatment technologies. Moreover, there is potential for both technologies to act as complementary systems in a treatment train with the DSG deployed upstream of the PECFC (Chapter 8). This DSG- PECFC arrangement could potentially improve the efficiency of the PECFC to degrade organic contaminants, as the DSG will sorb both HM and organic pollutants, thereby reducing the contaminant concentration load stream entering the PECFC. This proposed set-up could in principle be adapted for application in-line of existing waste water treatment systems.
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Yudina, A. "Green technologies as an objective need of Ukrainian regions' sustainable energy." Thesis, Sumy State University, 2015. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/40873.
Full textAbstract:
Тoday, one of the major global issues the humanity is facing is an
іssue tо рrovide a sustainable еconomic World and national development
with the nееded fuel and еnergy resources and, respectively, to рrovide
global and natіonal еnergy safety. For Ukraine today the very topical is
GDP radical energy and resource intensity decrease and, as a consequence,
strengthening of independence and increase of economy’s competitiveness.
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Brand, Ralf Gregor. "Co-evolution toward sustainable development : neither smart technologies nor heroic choices /." Access restricted to users with UT Austin EID, 2003. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/fullcit?p3108469.
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com, jpayakpate@gmail, and Janjira Payakpate. "Knowledge Management Platform for Promoting Sustainable Energy Technologies in Rural Thai Communities." Murdoch University, 2008. http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/browse/view/adt-MU20081203.115333.
Full textAbstract:
Sustainable energy services aim to meet the energy demands and to improve the living standards of rural communities with the utilization of sustainable energy technologies. Such services are becoming increasingly important due to the reduction of traditional energy resources and the ongoing increase in the demands. The demands are mainly due to the growth of population, domestic consumptions and industrial uses. In addition, increasing awareness of issues such as global warming, carbon emission, peak oil and the need for a sustainable environment has kindled keen interests in sustainable energy around the world. Many projects on sustainable energy services have been launched and particularly in developing countries. In most areas, at least one type of sustainable energy resources is available. In the case of Thailand, in additional to resources such as solar and wind, there are other sustainable energy resources in the forms of biomass and waste residue from agricultural products. However, there exist practical problems hindering the success of many sustainable energy projects. Two key reasons are the lack of in depth knowledge regarding the sustainable energy systems among the local users, and the limited budgets for planning, research and development. Therefore, the need to promote better understanding of sustainable energy technologies is necessary in order to gain better utilization of the energy services and acceptance by the community. One possible solution is the use of a Knowledge Management System (KMS). Based on advanced Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the integration of knowledge management and web technologies has enabled KMS to be developed as an effective tool for the sharing, management and dissemination of valuable knowledge on any particular subject. This combination has the potential to promote the knowledge and initiate relevant activities thereby enabling the acquisition and management of diverse types of information and data. Typical functions and services which could be provided are: checking updated information on sustainable energy resources around a particular area; teaching of sustainable energy systems development and maintenance processes; sharing of best practices and lessons learned
etc. With the availability of the internet, a Web-based KMS will be a valuable channel for the gathering, sharing, extracting and dissemination of knowledge about the sustainable energy services for the Thai communities. This thesis presents the research and development of a knowledge management (KM) platform for sustainable energy technologies. The system is implemented with web GIS server-side application and it is installed at the School of Renewable Energy Technology, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand. To assess the effectiveness of the developed system, surveys in the form of pre-questionnaires and post-questionnaires from the users are used. Such information is used to determine the effectiveness of the system and to measure the improvement of the participants knowledge on the subject. There are three groups of participants involved in this study: local government administrators, researchers and general users. The overall results of the questionnaires reveal that the participants are satisfied with the performance of the KM platform. The results also indicated that the KM platform provides adequate knowledge on the subject and it has a high level of user friendliness. It was found that the participants knowledge is also increased and the increase is in proportion to the time they engaged with the KM platform. A linear regression analysis of the researchers and local government administrators has shown that the increment of the participants knowledge has a linear relationship with the learning period on the KM platform with statistical significance. Findings from this study can be used as a guideline and for further development on improving the local Thai communities knowledge on sustainable energy technologies.
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Musila, Beatrice Wekesa. "Sustainable agriculture in rural development using local technologies, the case of Kenya." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp01/MQ56716.pdf.
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Wohlgemuth, Stephanie-Angelika. "Functional nanostructured hydrothermal carbons for sustainable technologies : heteroatom doping and superheated vapor." Phd thesis, Universität Potsdam, 2012. http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2012/6012/.
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The underlying motivation for the work carried out for this thesis was the growing need for more sustainable technologies. The aim was to synthesize a “palette” of functional nanomaterials using the established technique of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC). The incredible diversity of HTC was demonstrated together with small but steady advances in how HTC can be manipulated to tailor material properties for specific applications. Two main strategies were used to modify the materials obtained by HTC of glucose, a model precursor representing biomass.
The first approach was the introduction of heteroatoms, or “doping” of the carbon framework. Sulfur was for the first time introduced as a dopant in hydrothermal carbon. The synthesis of sulfur and sulfur/nitrogen doped microspheres was presented whereby it was shown that the binding state of sulfur could be influenced by varying the type of sulfur source. Pyrolysis may additionally be used to tune the heteroatom binding states which move to more stable motifs with increasing pyrolysis temperature. Importantly, the presence of aromatic binding states in the as synthesized hydrothermal carbon allows for higher heteroatom retention levels after pyrolysis and hence more efficient use of dopant sources. In this regard, HTC may be considered as an “intermediate” step in the formation of conductive heteroatom doped carbon. To assess the novel hydrothermal carbons in terms of their potential for electrochemical applications, materials with defined nano-architectures and high surface areas were synthesized via templated, as well as template-free routes. Sulfur and/or nitrogen doped carbon hollow spheres (CHS) were synthesized using a polystyrene hard templating approach and doped carbon aerogels (CA) were synthesized using either the albumin directed or borax-mediated hydrothermal carbonization of glucose. Electrochemical testing showed that S/N dual doped CHS and aerogels derived via the albumin approach exhibited superior catalytic performance compared to solely nitrogen or sulfur doped counterparts in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) relevant to fuel cells. Using the borax mediated aerogel formation, nitrogen content and surface area could be tuned and a carbon aerogel was engineered to maximize electrochemical performance. The obtained sample exhibited drastically improved current densities compared to a platinum catalyst (but lower onset potential), as well as excellent long term stability.
In the second approach HTC was carried out at elevated temperatures (550 °C) and pressure (50 bar), corresponding to the superheated vapor regime (htHTC). It was demonstrated that the carbon materials obtained via htHTC are distinct from those obtained via ltHTC and subsequent pyrolysis at 550 °C. No difference in htHTC-derived material properties could be observed between pentoses and hexoses. The material obtained from a polysaccharide exhibited a slightly lower degree of carbonization but was otherwise similar to the monosaccharide derived samples. It was shown that in addition to thermally induced carbonization at 550 °C, the SHV environment exhibits a catalytic effect on the carbonization process. The resulting materials are chemically inert (i.e. they contain a negligible amount of reactive functional groups) and possess low surface area and electronic conductivity which distinguishes them from carbon obtained from pyrolysis. Compared to the materials presented in the previous chapters on chemical modifications of hydrothermal carbon, this makes them ill-suited candidates for electronic applications like lithium ion batteries or electrocatalysts. However, htHTC derived materials could be interesting for applications that require chemical inertness but do not require specific electronic properties. The final section of this thesis therefore revisited the latex hard templating approach to synthesize carbon hollow spheres using htHTC. However, by using htHTC it was possible to carry out template removal in situ because the second heating step at 550 °C was above the polystyrene latex decomposition temperature. Preliminary tests showed that the CHS could be dispersed in an aqueous polystyrene latex without monomer penetrating into the hollow sphere voids. This leaves the stagnant air inside the CHS intact which in turn is promising for their application in heat and sound insulating coatings.
Overall the work carried out in this thesis represents a noteworthy development in demonstrating the great potential of sustainable carbon materials.Das Ziel der vorgelegten Arbeit war es, mit Hilfe der Hydrothermalen Carbonisierung (HTC) eine Palette an verschiedenen Materialien herzustellen, deren physikalische und chemische Eigenschaften auf spezifische Anwendungen zugeschnitten werden können. Die Motivation hierfür stellt die Notwendigkeit, Alternativen zu Materialien zu finden, die auf fossilen Brennstoffen basieren. Dabei stellen vor allem nachhaltige Energien eine der größten Herausforderungen der Zukunft dar. HTC ist ein mildes, nachhaltiges Syntheseverfahren welches prinzipiell die Nutzung von biologischen Rohstoffen (z. B. landwirtschaftlichen Abfallprodukten) für die Herstellung von wertvollen, Kohlenstoff-basierten Materialien erlaubt. Es wurden zwei verschiedene Ansätze verwendet, um hydrothermalen Kohlenstoff zu modifizieren. Zum einen wurde HTC unter „normalen“ Bedingungen ausgeführt, d. h. bei 180 °C und einem Druck von etwa 10 bar. Der Zucker Glukose diente in allen Fällen als Kohlenstoff Vorläufer. Durch Zugabe von stickstoff und /oder schwefelhaltigen Additiven konnte dotierte Hydrothermalkohle hergestellt werden. Dotierte Kohlenstoffe sind bereits für ihre positiven Eigenschaften, wie verbesserte Leitfähigkeit oder erhöhte Stabilität, bekannt. Zusätzlich zu Stickstoff dotierter Hydrothermalkohle, die bereits von anderen Gruppen hergestellt werden konnte, wurde in dieser Arbeit zum ersten Mal Schwefel in Hydrothermalkohle eingebaut. Außerdem wurden verschiedene Ansätze verwendet, um Oberfläche und definierte Morphologie der dotierten Materialien zu erzeugen, welche wichtig für elektrochemische Anwendungen sind. Schwefel- und/oder stickstoffdotierte Kohlenstoff Nanohohlkugeln sowie Kohlenstoff Aerogele konnten hergestellt werden. Mit Hilfe von einem zusätzlichen Pyrolyseschritt (d. h. Erhitzen unter Schutzgas) konnte die Leitfähigkeit der Materialien hergestellt werden, die daraufhin als Nichtmetall-Katalysatoren für Wasserstoff-Brennstoffzellen getestet wurden. Im zweiten Ansatz wurde HTC unter extremen Bedingungen ausgeführt, d. h. bei 550 °C und einem Druck von ca. 50 bar, welches im Wasser Phasendiagram dem Bereich des Heißdampfes entspricht. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die so erhaltene Hydrothermalkohle ungewöhnliche Eigenschaften besitzt. So hat die Hochtemperatur-Hydrothermalkohle zwar einen hohen Kohlenstoffgehalt (mehr als 90 Massenprozent), enthält aber auch viele Wasserstoffatome und ist dadurch schlecht leitfähig. Da damit elektrochemische Anwendungen so gut wie ausgeschlossen sind, wurde die Hochtemperatur-Hydrothermalkohle für Anwendungen vorgesehen, welche chemische Stabilität aber keine Leitfähigkeit voraussetzen. So wurden beispielsweise Hochtemperatur-Kohlenstoff-Nanohohlkugeln synthetisiert, die großes Potential als schall- und wärmeisolierende Additive für Beschichtungen darstellen. Insgesamt konnten erfolgreich verschiedenste Materialien mit Hilfe von HTC hergestellt werden. Es ist zu erwarten, dass sie in Zukunft zu nachhaltigen Technologien und damit zu einem weiteren Schritt weg von fossilen Brennstoffen beitragen werden.
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Gaustad, Gabrielle G. "Towards sustainable material usage : time-dependent evaluation of upgrading technologies for recycling." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/53243.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2009.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 151-160).
As consumption in the US grows, so does concern about sustainable materials usage. Increasing recycling is a key component within a broad arsenal of strategies for moving towards sustainable materials usage. There are many barriers to increasing recycling; one that is problematic is compositional uncertainty in the scrap stream. Repeated recycling compounds this problem through the accumulation of tramp elements in the material stream over time. Pertaining to the available operational and technological strategies that exist to mitigate accumulation, this thesis addresses the following questions: 1) How effective are these strategies at mitigating accumulation? 2) Under what conditions do upgrading technologies provide a cost efficient and environmentally effective improvement to the composition of recycled scrap streams? To answer these, a method was developed combining dynamic material flow analysis with optimal allocation of those materials into production portfolios using blending models. This methodology thus captured 1) the flow of EOL scraps, 2) how the economics of production are affected by changes in technology, and 3) a characterization of how recycling parameters influence accumulation in recycled streams. Using this methodology, optimal allocation was found to be an effective strategy for mitigating accumulation, for example, iron in the scrap stream was 69% less when compared to the value projected by conventional statistical methods. Two upgrading technology cases were examined using the time-dependent methodology developed: shredding, sorting, and dismantling of aerospace scraps and fractional crystallization.
(cont.) Case results indicate that the time-dependent value of these technologies relies on whether or not the scrap stream is compositionally or availability constrained. These values were compared to analysis that does not consider repeated recycling (time-independent). Results show that undervaluing will occur in a regime where scrap availability is constrained and there is significant compositional accumulation occurring, a regime that may very well represent the reality faced by aluminum secondary producers in the US.
by Gabrielle G. Gaustad.
Ph.D.
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Garba, Abdulhakeem. "Renewable energy technologies assessment in providing sustainable electricity to Nigerian rural areas." Thesis, Robert Gordon University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10059/2436.
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The research work that underpins this thesis aims to investigate the viability of renewable energy technologies (RETs) and to develop a RETs implementation framework for providing sustainable electricity to Nigeria’s rural areas. As a result of electricity supply deficiency in Nigeria, rural communities have been negatively affected in their socio-economic activities. A strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (SWOT) analysis in combination with an assessment of sustainability indicators of RETs, identified the most appropriate technology for providing sustainable electricity in Nigeria's rural areas. Biomass energy technologies (BETs) are the most appropriate RET given significant resource availability. However, cost has been identified as the major barrier in adopting BETs. Both BETs and grid extension (GE) systems have been assessed. Whole Life Costing (WLC) and interview methods have been used to evaluate the economics of various capacities of BETs and GE systems, and assessed suitability of BETs respectively. Typical findings revealed that all the BETs capacities evaluated other than a 50kW direct combustion system are currently cost-competitive with existing fossil fuel (FF) sources used in generating electricity in Nigeria (US$0.13/kWh without incentives). BETs are identified as the preferable option than GE system for electricity provision to communities of demand capacity less than 50kW and distance less than five kilometre from load centres. Similarly, the interview method confirmed that BETs utilisation in the country’s rural areas are suitable and desirable. For implementation, all the identified drivers and enablers of BETs should be considered, along with the identified constraints to the adoption and development of BETs, some of which should be addressed before implementation. Further, a BETs implementation framework for sustainable electricity provision in rural areas has been developed through the selection of appropriate biomass feedstock and conversion technologies, and support through suitable incentive strategies. The framework was then evaluated and validated using six villages as case study. The benefit of the framework is ensuring successful electricity provision in rural areas. Thus, this study recommends that the existing rural areas energy policies be reviewed to include incentive strategies like economic subsidies in order to encourage investors’ participation given lack of energy infrastructures in rural areas.
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Dutka, J. "The impact of emerging sustainable technologies on existing electrical infrastructure in Ontario." Thesis, Сумський державний університет, 2013. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/31073.
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Sustainable energy sources are urgently required, as traditional non-renewable energy sources are increasing in scarcity and subsequently in cost. Significant innovation and investment is required to incorporate newly developed sustainable energy technologies into the existing energy infrastructure network. This presentation will review how emerging sustainable technologies are interacting with existing energy infrastructure. Specifically it will review the existing electrical grid in Ontario, Canada, and the impact of sustainable technologies such as electric cars and distributed generation.
When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/31073
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Jain, Deeksha. "Development of Alternative Materials to Replace Precious Metals in Sustainable Catalytic Technologies." The Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1566176607919202.
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Payakpate, Janjira. "Knowledge management platform for promoting sustainable energy technologies in rural Thai communities." Thesis, Payakpate, Janjira (2008) Knowledge management platform for promoting sustainable energy technologies in rural Thai communities. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2008. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/426/.
Full textAbstract:
Sustainable energy services aim to meet the energy demands and to improve the living standards of rural communities with the utilization of sustainable energy technologies. Such services are becoming increasingly important due to the reduction of traditional energy resources and the ongoing increase in the demands. The demands are mainly due to the growth of population, domestic consumptions and industrial uses. In addition, increasing awareness of issues such as global warming, carbon emission, peak oil and the need for a sustainable environment has kindled keen interests in sustainable energy around the world. Many projects on sustainable energy services have been launched and particularly in developing countries. In most areas, at least one type of sustainable energy resources is available. In the case of Thailand, in additional to resources such as solar and wind, there are other sustainable energy resources in the forms of biomass and waste residue from agricultural products. However, there exist practical problems hindering the success of many sustainable energy projects. Two key reasons are the lack of in depth knowledge regarding the sustainable energy systems among the local users, and the limited budgets for planning, research and development. Therefore, the need to promote better understanding of sustainable energy technologies is necessary in order to gain better utilization of the energy services and acceptance by the community. One possible solution is the use of a Knowledge Management System (KMS). Based on advanced Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the integration of knowledge management and web technologies has enabled KMS to be developed as an effective tool for the sharing, management and dissemination of valuable knowledge on any particular subject. This combination has the potential to promote the knowledge and initiate relevant activities thereby enabling the acquisition and management of diverse types of information and data. Typical functions and services which could be provided are: checking updated information on sustainable energy resources around a particular area; teaching of sustainable energy systems development and maintenance processes; sharing of best practices and lessons learned etc. With the availability of the internet, a Web-based KMS will be a valuable channel for the gathering, sharing, extracting and dissemination of knowledge about the sustainable energy services for the Thai communities.
This thesis presents the research and development of a knowledge management (KM) platform for sustainable energy technologies. The system is implemented with web GIS server-side application and it is installed at the School of Renewable Energy Technology, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand. To assess the effectiveness of the developed system, surveys in the form of pre-questionnaires and post-questionnaires from the users are used. Such information is used to determine the effectiveness of the system and to measure the improvement of the participants' knowledge on the subject. There are three groups of participants involved in this study: local government administrators, researchers and general users. The overall results of the questionnaires reveal that the participants are satisfied with the performance of the KM platform. The results also indicated that the KM platform provides adequate knowledge on the subject and it has a high level of user friendliness. It was found that the participants' knowledge is also increased and the increase is in proportion to the time they engaged with the KM platform. A linear regression analysis of the researchers and local government administrators has shown that the increment of the participants' knowledge has a linear relationship with the learning period on the KM platform with statistical significance. Findings from this study can be used as a guideline and for further development on improving the local Thai communities' knowledge on sustainable energy technologies.
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Payakpate, Janjira. "Knowledge management platform for promoting sustainable energy technologies in rural Thai communities." Payakpate, Janjira (2008) Knowledge management platform for promoting sustainable energy technologies in rural Thai communities. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2008. http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/426/.
Full textAbstract:
Sustainable energy services aim to meet the energy demands and to improve the living standards of rural communities with the utilization of sustainable energy technologies. Such services are becoming increasingly important due to the reduction of traditional energy resources and the ongoing increase in the demands. The demands are mainly due to the growth of population, domestic consumptions and industrial uses. In addition, increasing awareness of issues such as global warming, carbon emission, peak oil and the need for a sustainable environment has kindled keen interests in sustainable energy around the world. Many projects on sustainable energy services have been launched and particularly in developing countries. In most areas, at least one type of sustainable energy resources is available. In the case of Thailand, in additional to resources such as solar and wind, there are other sustainable energy resources in the forms of biomass and waste residue from agricultural products. However, there exist practical problems hindering the success of many sustainable energy projects. Two key reasons are the lack of in depth knowledge regarding the sustainable energy systems among the local users, and the limited budgets for planning, research and development. Therefore, the need to promote better understanding of sustainable energy technologies is necessary in order to gain better utilization of the energy services and acceptance by the community. One possible solution is the use of a Knowledge Management System (KMS). Based on advanced Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the integration of knowledge management and web technologies has enabled KMS to be developed as an effective tool for the sharing, management and dissemination of valuable knowledge on any particular subject. This combination has the potential to promote the knowledge and initiate relevant activities thereby enabling the acquisition and management of diverse types of information and data. Typical functions and services which could be provided are: checking updated information on sustainable energy resources around a particular area; teaching of sustainable energy systems development and maintenance processes; sharing of best practices and lessons learned etc. With the availability of the internet, a Web-based KMS will be a valuable channel for the gathering, sharing, extracting and dissemination of knowledge about the sustainable energy services for the Thai communities.
This thesis presents the research and development of a knowledge management (KM) platform for sustainable energy technologies. The system is implemented with web GIS server-side application and it is installed at the School of Renewable Energy Technology, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand. To assess the effectiveness of the developed system, surveys in the form of pre-questionnaires and post-questionnaires from the users are used. Such information is used to determine the effectiveness of the system and to measure the improvement of the participants' knowledge on the subject. There are three groups of participants involved in this study: local government administrators, researchers and general users. The overall results of the questionnaires reveal that the participants are satisfied with the performance of the KM platform. The results also indicated that the KM platform provides adequate knowledge on the subject and it has a high level of user friendliness. It was found that the participants' knowledge is also increased and the increase is in proportion to the time they engaged with the KM platform. A linear regression analysis of the researchers and local government administrators has shown that the increment of the participants' knowledge has a linear relationship with the learning period on the KM platform with statistical significance. Findings from this study can be used as a guideline and for further development on improving the local Thai communities' knowledge on sustainable energy technologies.
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Kahoush, May. "Eco-technologies for immobilizing redox enzymes on conductive textiles, for sustainable development." Thesis, Lille 1, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019LIL1I061/document.
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L'immobilisation d'enzymes sur des supports conducteurs d’électricité est nécessaire afin d’améliorer leur bioactivité et leur stabilité, pour une utilisation et une réutilisation dans des applications dépendant de la réponse bio-électrochimique, telles que des bioélectrodes, des biocapteurs ou des piles à biocarburant. Cependant, les méthodes d'immobilisation utilisées rencontrent encore de nombreux défis en termes de risques pour la santé et d'impact environnemental. Il est donc important de trouver des approches équilibrées et respectueuses de l’environnement pour parvenir à une immobilisation efficace avec un minimum de conséquences néfastes. Ainsi, dans le cadre de cette thèse, l’utilisation d’écotechnologies telles que le plasma froid, le dépôt de polymère conducteur biocompatible (PEDOT: PSS) et d’un agent de réticulation biologiquement basé sur la génipine, peu toxique, permettant l'immobilisation de glucose oxydase (GOx) sur des textiles nontissés à base de fibres de carbone a été étudiée. Ces textiles à base de carbone, quelle que soit leur hydrophobicité, sont des matériaux robustes à utiliser comme alternative aux métaux rigides onéreux, car ils possèdent une bonne conductivité électrique et une bonne résistance à la corrosion dans différents milieux. Les résultats obtenus ont montré que le traitement plasma froid avec un mélange gazeux d'azote et d'oxygène était efficace pour fonctionnaliser la surface des nontissés de carbone vierge et ceuxrevêtus de PEDOT: PSS. Une augmentation des énergies de surface des fibres de carbone facilite l’immobilisation de GOx par adsorption physique avec une bioactivité maintenue et une meilleure capacité de réutilisation. En outre, l’immobilisation de GOx au moyen de génipine en tant qu’agent de réticulation améliore de façon remarquable la stabilité des performances des feutres de carbone bio-fonctionnalisés. Cet agent de réticulation s'est révélé capable de réticuler directement les enzymes sans matrice ni hydrogel. Enfin, les textiles de carbone bio-fonctionnalisés obtenus ont été principalement évalués pour une utilisation dans des applications durables pour le traitement des eaux usées telles que la Bio-Fenton (BF) et la Bio-Electro-Fenton enzymatique (BEF). Les résultats ont montré que la bioactivité et la bio-activité électrique du GOx immobilisé étaient prometteuses pour l’élimination de la couleur du colorant réactif Remazol Blue RR et sa dégradation partielle à partir de la solution dans les deux traitements, ce qui a prouvé l’efficacité des méthodes d’immobilisation choisies pour la production de textiles bioactifs. Ces textiles peuvent être utilisés comme électrodes pour la production d'énergie et la dépollutionEnzyme immobilization on electrically conductive supports is necessary to improve their bioactivity and stability, for use and re-use in applications depending on bio-electrochemical response, such as in bioelectrodes, biosensors, or biofuel cells. However, the immobilization methods used are still facing many challenges in terms of health hazards and high environmental impact. Thus, it is important to find balanced and eco-friendly approaches to achieve efficient immobilization with minimum harmful consequences. Hence, within the frame of this thesis, the use of eco-technologies such as cold remote plasma, a bio-compatible conductive (PEDOT:PSS) polymer coating, and a bio-based crosslinker “genipin” which has low toxicity, to immobilize glucose oxidase (GOx) enzyme on conductive carbon fiber-based nonwoven textiles was investigated. These carbon-based textiles, regardless of their hydrophobicity, are robust materials to be used as alternative for expensive rigid metals, since they possess good electrical conductivity and good resistance to corrosion in different media. The results obtained showed that cold remote plasma treatment with nitrogen and oxygen gas mixture was efficient in functionalizing the surface of carbon felts and PEDOT:PSS coated felts. This increased carbon fiber surface energies, and facilitated the immobilization of GOx by physical adsorption with maintained bioactivity and improved reusability. Furthermore, immobilization of GOx using genipin as a crosslinking agent improved remarkably the stability of performance of bio-functionalized carbon felts. This crosslinker showed to be able to directly crosslink the enzymes without a matrix or hydrogel. Finally, the obtained bio-functionalized carbon textiles were primarily evaluated for use in sustainable applications for wastewater treatment such as Bio-Fenton (BF) and enzymatic Bio-Electro-Fenton (BEF). The results showed that bioactivity and bio-electro-activity of immobilized GOx was promising in color removal of Remazol Blue RR reactive dye and its partial degradation from solution in both treatments, which proved the success of the chosen immobilization methods in producing bioactive textiles that can be used as electrodes for power generation and pollution control
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Aboagye, Gizella <1990>. "Phenotypic approaches in livestock productions: New methods and technologies for sustainable systems." Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2021. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/9602/1/PhD%20thesis%20final.pdf.
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The present thesis investigated the effect of transport stress on the welfare and meat quality traits of Apulo-Calabrese (a local Italian pig breed) in comparison with crossbreed [Duroc x (Landrace and Large White)] pigs. For this purpose, all the animals were blood sampled five days before transport and at exsanguination for the analysis of blood stress parameters. Apulo-Calabrese pigs were slaughtered at 135 kg live weight while crossbreed pigs were slaughtered at 155 kg live weight. Meat quality traits such as pH, color, drip loss, cooking loss, Warner–Bratzler shear force, and intramuscular fat (IMF) were assessed on the longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle. In addition, water status was assessed from LT samples using transverse relaxation time (T2) weighted signals registered by Time Domain Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (TD-NMR), and fatty acid composition was determined by Folch method. Data were analyzed using mixed models and principal component analysis.
The results are presented in three manuscripts: In chapter 1, the effect of short distance transport on the behavioral occurrences, blood parameters, and meat quality traits was investigated. Apulo-Calabrese pigs showed the highest value of exsanguination lactate when compared with crossbreed pigs which indicates a more intense physiological response. Significantly higher a* and lower L* coordinates were found in the samples of Apulo-Calabrese which showed meat with a deeper red color than crossbreeds. In chapter 2, results from the TD-NMR showed a higher percentage of extra-myofibrillar water in the samples of Apulo-Calabrese which was in agreement with the higher values of cooking loss found in this breed. In chapter 3. Except for heptadecenoic acid, there were no great differences in the longissimus thoracis muscle fatty acid profile between the two genetic types.
The thesis provided insight on the effects of transport stress on the well-being being and meat quality traits of Apulo-Calabrese pig.
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Golzari, Nasser. "Re-reading affordable technologies : the role of techno-cultural elements and invisible technologies in sustainable design for the Middle East." Thesis, University of Westminster, 2014. https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/973y5/re-reading-affordable-technologies-the-role-of-techno-cultural-elements-and-invisible-technologies-in-sustainable-design-for-the-middle-east.
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This PhD by design thesis offers an alternative perspective on sustainable design bringing forward a broader reading to environmental technologies in hot countries in the Middle East. It focuses particularly on a range of design proposals for Iran and Palestine. I aim to show that for environmental design to be sustainable, a fundamental re-orientation needs to emerge -- away from the current obsession with purely numeric game, which fails to address the social values of a particular place and people. Instead, I argue for what I call the ‘invisible’ technologies that are embedded in socio-cultural practices and informal daily habits, within the spatial realm. There are currently two intensive activities taking place within the world of architecture. On one hand, we find a concern about the use of technologies that promote energy efficiency and ecological sustainability, most of which rely upon complex technological devices and a universal approach, affordable only to wealthy corporations or institutions. On the other hand an increasing number of architects, theorists and politicians – although not yet enough – are looking into affordable technologies that are more embedded in older cultural practices. From London to a myriad of developing cities across the world, a series of mayors, developers and architects now take cover under the umbrella of ‘green building’, but in truth still propose projects that are as culturally alien as ‘non-green’ developments. All seem to hunt for icons and postcard buildings to sell their city in the global marketplace. For certain architects, it provides a chance to explore their creativity, whereas for others it is merely to stamp their mark or get more work. In the specific context of the Middle East, whose oil- and gas-producing (and consuming) countries have dominated the world’s energy market since the 1970s, the subject of energy use is now a major economic and political battlefield. The role of architecture, and of architects, in regard to global energy demands has been much debated. However, perhaps the most crucial questions about sustainable design projects are, firstly,whether they actually address the crucial issue of affordability, and secondly, whether they can work at a local level. How familiar are users with the energy-saving techniques they are being expected to use? Does the architecture share any belonging with its physical and cultural context? This doctoral thesis hence takes sustainable design away from the purely technical basis on which it is usually discussed, and demonstrates that in our day-to-day activities we need to have far more to do with locally identifiable requirements and practices. Many of these everyday habits still survive, whereas others are disappearing due to changes in modern lifestyles. My research explores an alternative, hybrid approach to sustainability that is proudly rooted in cultural practices. The ‘technocultural tools’ that I have developed for projects in Iran and Palestine are in many case invisible, but taken together they can be seen to be culturally responsive, affordable and socially inclusive.
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BARRY, Raphael. "Sustainable Building Design with Autodesk Ecotect." Thesis, KTH, Energiteknik, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-37351.
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Alayón, Claudia. "Exploring sustainable manufacturing principles and practices." Licentiate thesis, Tekniska Högskolan, Högskolan i Jönköping, JTH, Industriell organisation och produktion, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-32016.
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The manufacturing industry remains a critical force in the quest for global sustainability. An increasing number of companies are modifying their operations in favor of more sustainable practices. It is hugely important that manufacturers, irrespective of the subsector they belong to, or their organizational size, implement practices that reduce or eliminate negative environmental, social and economic impacts generated by their manufacturing operations. Consequently, scholars have called for additional studies concerning sustainable manufacturing practices, not only to address the paucity of related literature, but also to contribute to practitioners’ understanding of how to incorporate sustainability into their operations. However, apart from expanding the knowledge of sustainable manufacturing practices, it is first key to understand the ground set of values, or principles, behind sustainable manufacturing operations. For that reason, the purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the existing body of knowledge regarding sustainable manufacturing principles and practices. The results presented in this thesis are based on three studies: a systematic literature review exploring sustainability principles applicable to manufacturing settings, and two empirical studies addressing sustainable manufacturing practices. In general, it is concluded from the literature that there is a little knowledge about sustainability principles from a manufacturing perspective. In relation to the most common sustainable manufacturing practices, it is concluded that these practices mainly refer to energy and material management, and waste management. Similarly, the study of the adherence of sustainable manufacturing practices to sustainable production principles concluded that the principles concerning energy and materials conservation, and waste management were found to create the highest number of practices. Although most manufacturers still engage in reactive sustainable manufacturing practices driven by regulatory and market pressures, some industrial sectors were found to be more prone to develop proactive sustainable manufacturing strategies than others. Furthermore, SMEs were found to lag behind large organizations regarding adherence to sustainable manufacturing principles.
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Donani, Yao-Martin. "Developing a framework for sustainable manufacturing of technologies in Africa focusing on Ghana." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2014. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37127/.
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This thesis is concerned with developing a framework for the sustainable manufacturing of technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on Ghana, for local industry. The interest here is on manufacturing and production technologies. Drawing on the work of Clemens and Dalrymple (2005), a three step approach emerged as an overarching methodology leading to the construction of the Ghana manufacturing of technology model (GMTM). The work of Sagasti (1992) provided the framework for its construction. The aim here is to investigate to understand what factors account for the state of technology drawback in Ghana, so as to be able to explain them. A multidisciplinary approach was therefore required and employed. Owing to the human and cultural understanding required here, a mixed-research approach involving ethnography, grounded theory and case-study was found to be most suitable. This involved data from two rural communities, expanding to the urban areas where government officials, policy makers and heads of institutions were interviewed. The corpus of data was analysed using grounded theory and a case study of the shea butter industry provided further insights. The findings, among other things, suggest that Ghana has no focused framework for technology manufacturing for local industry. The study noted that the cultural and ethnic division in traditional Ghana, inhibits knowledge and cultural exchange, hence, affecting the deployment and advancement of traditional technologies in the "closed" societies. This division is reflected in the formal Ghanaian sector, which side-lines the traditional sector from development and industrialisation decision making. Government Officials and policy makers were found to be vague on technology development for local industry, but were focused on developing high-techs, like nano-technologies and science parks. The study sees this as misplaced priority. The technology drive will require a business model, which falls outside the scope here, hence left for future work. A new concept of development engineering emerges from the study.
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Andersson, Hanna. "Designing Digital Nudges for Sustainable Travel Decisions." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för tillämpad fysik och elektronik, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-161076.
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Tourism is an important force for sustainable development in many countries. It provides millions of jobs which, for some countries, entails an increased gross domestic product (GDP). Unfortunately, there are downsides of tourism as well, and work towards sustainable tourism is now a key feature of many travel organizations. To influence consumers into more sustainable behavior, organizations can use nudging as a tool. A nudge uses a specific psychological effect to guide individuals towards a predefined choice. Since many travel companies provide their products through digital environments, such as websites or apps, knowledge of digital nudging is mandatory. The aim of this study was to investigate how digital nudging could be used to encourage more sustainable decisions on a travel company website. How the digital nudges should be designed, and how digital nudging would be perceived by consumers were investigated. The use of existing guidelines for how to design digital nudges resulted in prototypes of a travel company's website including several digital nudges. The guidelines included four steps: define the goal, understand the users, design the nudge and test the nudge. The result showed several digital nudges that after some design improvements have the potential to influence consumers to make more sustainable decisions on a travel company's website. The result also showed that the majority of the consumers had a positive attitude towards digital nudging in this context, although this needs to be further evaluated. Further research is also recommended to assess which nudge that works best for a given choice situation.
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Gylling, Fanny. "A User Centred Approach To Sustainable Development : How UX as means to develop a tool to reduce everyday stress and promote a sustainable lifestyle." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för tillämpad fysik och elektronik, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-161621.
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How can user experience as means support people in their struggle to keep up with their stressful life. This thesis cover how user experience can be used as method to develop a application that in short term reduce everyday stress, and in long term support a sustainable development. A literature study was conducted what stress is and what impact it has on people, also a compilation of sustainable development in everyday life together with the theory of user experience on a mobile platform was made. To create a prototype of a mobile application an iterative design process been conducted by design, test and evaluate prototypes in three stage from paper prototypes, lo-fi to hi-fi. Finally interactive prototype of a mobile application were created with functionality that reduce stress among people in their everyday life. This applications functionality to ease the burden on chores that frequently accrued in the user study as source of stress. Mainly related to laundry, cleaning and food chores.
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Save, Paul William. "UBC Living Lab : innovation in accelerating the adoption of sustainable technologies for campus infrastructure." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/46518.
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Any group that creates challenging goals for the future also requires a strategy to achieve them. In the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) case, the goals are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 33% below 2007 levels by 2015, 66% by 2020, and 100% by 2050 (UBC 2010c). The strategy was to develop the University Sustainability Initiative and the Campus as a Living Lab to assign authority and responsibility to help manage this endeavor. The Campus as a Living Lab at UBC provides a process for simultaneously meeting increasing infrastructure capacity requirements while achieving sustainability goals. The Campus as Living Lab accomplishes this by collaborating with industry partners, operations, and researchers to utilize the campus as a test bed for commercialization of sustainable technologies. This thesis explores the Campus as a Living Lab program at UBC and the replicability of it as a tool to expedite the adoption of sustainable technologies for campus and municipal infrastructure. Part of this exploration involved developing and amalgamating business process models for current practices at UBC, and conducting a 16-month long ethnographic study to extract key transferable characteristics for replicability. The research culminates in a series of comprehensive and generic business process models that illustrate what is required to develop and maintain a Campus as a Living Lab program.
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Barnes, Jake Peter. "The local embedding of technologies through community-led initiatives : the case of sustainable energy." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2016. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/61170/.
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It is widely acknowledged that existing low carbon technologies offer substantial means to reduce the carbon intensity of existing lifestyles. Yet the problem is not simply one of diffusion: commercially developed technologies need to be made to work in diverse local contexts of use. They need to be locally embedded. I approach the study of ‘local embedding' through a particular actor, community-led energy initiatives and the broad research question: how are community-led energy initiatives seeking to integrate sustainable technologies into local contexts of use? I explore the agency of community activists to locally embed technologies and the context dynamics influencing how their projects develop. In doing so, I identify a gap in current knowledge between the social embedding of technology by wider society (as conceptualised by sustainability transitions research) and the appropriation of technology by users (as conceptualised by domestication studies) and develop the concept of local embedding as a distinct conceptual contribution. Having identified community initiatives as performing a largely intermediary role I draw on insights from research on innovation intermediaries to understand their agency. A framework is constructed through building blocks from these approaches, then tested and refined through four comparative case studies on community attempts at local embedding. The research contributes a novel process model on community-based intermediation for local embedding. I identify an ideal-typical sequence to key community-based intermediary processes and identify a variety of context dynamics influencing project development. As such I contribute to current discussions within (a) sustainability transitions research, about actors and their agency, and (b) innovation intermediaries research, identifying an under-studied intermediary working at the user-end of innovation processes and refine an existing framework on key intermediary processes.
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Cheatham, Benjamin Myles 1973. "Sustainable urban transportation in developing mega-cities : a review of policies, regulations, and technologies." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8311.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, February 2002."January 2002."
Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-138).
Of the many daunting challenges the world's developing mega-cities face, perhaps none is more pressing than the urgent need to enhance the mobility of their citizens. An efficient flow of goods and people into around and through these urban nerve centers is vital to their global economic competitiveness, environmental health, and socioeconomic development. A lack of adequate mobility is characterized by a number of detrimental externalities. Chiefly, the ensnarement of vehicles in traffic congestion, an increase in air-borne pollutants and a higher cost of travel are symptoms of poor planning, inadequate investment, and ineffective governance. Innovative policies, regulations, and technologies must be employed that enable mobility without sacrificing quality of life, clean air, or investment in other sectors. The primary objective of this study is to assist municipal governments in the development of environmentally sustainable, socially equitable, and financially self-reliant transportation policies and systems. This objective will be achieved in three stages: I. This study will describe and assess a portfolio of urban transportation policies, regulations, and technologies, concentrating on those policies that make use of market forces to influence travel demand. II. Two urban transportation case studies will be developed: Singapore and Bogoti, Colombia. These cases will be used to illustrate the interactions of policies, regulations, and technologies and to demonstrate the important roles that institutional arrangements and public opinion can play as determinants of success or failure. III. Finally, from this analysis we will develop a series of urban transportation policy recommendations for the city of Guangzhou. Our recommendations are based on interviews with senior municipal officials, documents produced by the administration, the city's unique context, and the telling experiences of Singapore and Bogota. Three primary conclusions arise from this study. First, developing mega-cities cannot focus solely on the supply of additional infrastructure to address their mobility problems; they must also manage the demand side of the equation. Second, these cities must employ a broad mixture of demand-management measures simultaneously in order to significantly improve mobility. Third, these cities must develop adequate institutional capacity in order to design, implement, and enforce effective transportation policies and manage sustainable urban transportation systems.
by Benjamin Myles Cheatham.
S.M.
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Mavindidze, Zororo. "The contribution of renewable energy technologies to sustainable community development in Rusitu Valley, Zimbabwe." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/4066.
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Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS)This exploratory study is based on the case of the Rusitu Valley, a low income rural community in Zimbabwe. Data was collected using largely qualitative methods and quantitative methods were used to obtain supportive descriptive statistics. Information elicited from focus group discussions conducted with members of the Rusitu Valley community as well as responses obtained from a brief structured questionnaire were used to abstract the Rusitu Valley as a complex adaptive system. Input from in-depth interviews with government representatives in energy policy, local government and non-governmental organisations as well as a review of secondary sources was used to support the analysis and confirm the contextual validity of the study. This study revealed that there is intimate connection between renewable energy technologies and sustainable community development. A key finding was that the contribution of renewable energy technologies in Rusitu Valley is mostly towards the economic dimensions of the community and is relatively limited with regard to social and environmental dimensions. Therefore, this study concluded that renewable energy technologies have not sufficiently contributed towards sustainable community development in the Rusitu Valley. This study also found that the contribution of renewable energy technologies is constrained not only by internal limitations but also external factors. A conclusion drawn from this study was that effective contribution of renewable energy technologies towards social, economic and environmental facets can be enhanced through mainstreaming of renewable energy in policy and planning, as well strengthening institutions and local capacity which would have the overall effect of sustainable community development in low income communities
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Thomas, Matthew J. W. "Virtual learning environments : the impact of information and communication technologies on a sustainable higher education /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 2000. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09pht459.pdf.
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Alekal, Pragnya Y. (Pragnya Yogesh) 1977. "Best practices for the sustainable scaleup of lighting technologies in bottom of the pyramid communities." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/41763.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2007.Includes bibliographical references.
This thesis deduces a set of best practices for sustainably scaling up lighting technologies in developing countries with a focus on Bottom-of-the-Pyramid (BOP) communities, whose annual incomes are US $3000 or less (in local purchasing power parity). The best practices are derived from a comparative analysis of two heuristic case studies profiling entrepreneurs based in southern India, who have successfully scaled up lighting technologies in BOP communities. Also discussed is the impact that quality lighting has on our health, safety, socio-economic status and the environment that surrounds us. Not surprisingly the demand for quality artificial lighting is high in these communities, where access is generally limited. SELCO-India, a registered company, sells photovoltaic-based home lighting systems; while THRIVE, a nonprofit organization, sells Light Emitting Diode (LED) lanterns to remote communities in India. Both organizations use alternative models to address the same issue. While the research presented here focuses on the lighting sector in India, it is also proven that the results are applicable in the context of entrepreneurship in BOP communities around the world.
by Pragnya Y. Alekal.
S.M.
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Li, Xiaojin. "Anammox-based Technologies for Sustainable Mainstream Wastewater Treatment: Process Development, Microbial Ecology and Mathematical Modeling." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/93328.
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The nitritation-anammox process is an efficient and cost-effective approach for biological nitrogen removal, but its application in treating mainstream wastewater remains a great challenge. The key objectives of this dissertation are to develop nitritation-anammox process to treat wastewater with low-nitrogen strength, understand the fundamental microbiology, and optimize its operation through experimental studies and mathematic modeling. Chapter 2 showed that the nitritation-anammox process has been successfully developed in an upflow membrane-aerated biofilm reactor, where pure oxygen was delivered via gas-permeable membrane module. Chapter 3 demonstrated that hybrid anaerobic reactor (HAR) could be an effective pretreatment method to provide a relatively low COD/N ratio for nitritation-anammox reactor. In Chapter 4, a novel mathematical model has been proposed to evaluate the minimum DO requirement for the nitritation-anammox reactor to achieve the maximum TN removal under various COD/N scenarios (controlled by HRTHAR). Chapters 5 and 6 designed an OsAMX system by linking nitritation-anammox to forward osmosis to remove the reverse-fluxed ammonium while using ammonium bicarbonate as a draw solute. The microbial community structures and dynamics, spatial distributions in these bioreactors were characterized by high-throughput sequencing and fluorescent in situ hybridization techniques. The studies in this dissertation have demonstrated that nitritation-anammox process is a promising alternative for sustainable mainstream treatment with the appropriate pretreatment approach and operation optimization.PHD
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Drozdyk, Yulia, and Юлія Дроздик. "Development and implementation of digital technologies in the process of realization of sustainable development goals." Thesis, National aviation university, 2021. https://er.nau.edu.ua/handle/NAU/50581.
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1. Digital Economy Report 2019. Available at: https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/der2019_en.pdf (accessed: 10.03.2021).
2. The Age of Digital Interdependence. Report of the UN Secretary-General’s Highlevel Panel on Digital Cooperation June 2019. Available at: http://d-russia.ru/wp-content/uploads/HLP-onDigital-Cooperation-Report-ExecutiveSummary-ENG.pdf (accessed: 10.03.2021).
3. Communication From the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/communication-connectivity-competitivedigital-single-market-towards-european-gigabitsociety (accessed: 10.03.2021).The concept of sustainable development has recently taken on a new quality by focusing on effective policies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This concept is due to the transition in the globalization of economic, socio-political, socio-cultural processes to a new technological system and the advent of the fourth industrial revolution, which causes digital transformation as an evolutionary stage of digital economy and society through large-scale digital technologies, creating the technological core of the future. The spread of digitalization opens up many economic opportunities. In particular, digital data can help improve economic and social performance, innovate and increase productivity. From the standpoint of industrial production, the transformation of all areas and markets under the influence of digital technologies can improve the quality of goods and services while significantly reducing costs. In addition, digitalization is transforming value chains in different ways, opening up new opportunities for added value and profound structural change
Концепція сталого розвитку нещодавно набула нової якості, зосередившись на ефективній політиці для досягнення Цілей сталого розвитку. Ця концепція зумовлена переходом у процесі глобалізації економічних, соціально-політичних, соціально-культурних процесів до нової технологічної системи та появою четвертої промислової революції, яка спричиняє цифрову трансформацію як еволюційний етап цифрової економіки та суспільства через великі -масштабні цифрові технології, створюючи технологічне ядро майбутнього. Поширення цифровізації відкриває багато економічних можливостей. Зокрема, цифрові дані можуть допомогти поліпшити економічні та соціальні показники, впровадити інновації та збільшити продуктивність. З позицій промислового виробництва трансформація всіх сфер і ринків під впливом цифрових технологій може поліпшити якість товарів і послуг, одночасно значно зменшивши витрати. Крім того, цифровізація по-різному трансформує ланцюжки створення вартості, відкриваючи нові можливості для доданої вартості та глибоких структурних змін
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Abokersh, Mohamed. "Decision Making Tools for Sustainable Transition Toward Low Carbon Energy Technologies in the Residential Sector." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/671958.
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Aliniant-se amb l’ambiciós paquet energètic i climàtic de la UE 2030 per reduir les emissions d’efecte hivernacle i
substituir les fonts de calor convencionals mitjançant la presència de participacions d’energia renovable per aconseguir
una comunitat d’energia nul·la, les parts interessades del sector residencial s’enfronten a diversos aspectes tècnics,
econòmics i ambientals. qüestions per assolir els objectius de la UE en un futur proper.
Aquesta tesi se centra en dues transformacions estructurals claus necessàries per a una transició sostenible cap a la
producció d’energia neta: el problema de les tecnologies d’energia amb baix carboni que representen els sistemes
solars de calefacció urbana juntament amb l’emmagatzematge estacional d’energia i la seva aplicació per aconseguir
edificis d’energia gairebé nul·la. L’abordatge d’aquests reptes s’inicia mitjançant l’ús del disseny i l’optimització de
sistemes d’energia neta incorporats a l’aprenentatge automàtic i l’anàlisi de dades per desenvolupar eines d’enginyeria
de processos assistits per ordinador. Aquestes eines ajudarien a abordar els reptes de les parts interessades,
contribuint així a la transició cap a un futur més sostenible.Alineándose con el ambicioso paquete de energía y clima de la UE 2030 para reducir las emisiones de efecto invernadero y reemplazar las fuentes de calor convencionales a través de la presencia de energía renovable para lograr una comunidad de energía neta cero, las partes interesadas en el sector residencial se enfrentan a varios problemas técnicos, económicos y ambientales. cuestiones para cumplir los objetivos de la UE en un futuro próximo. Esta tesis se centra en dos transformaciones estructurales clave necesarias para la transición sostenible hacia la producción de energía limpia: el problema de las tecnologías energéticas bajas en carbono que representan los sistemas de calefacción de distrito solar junto con el almacenamiento de energía estacional, y su aplicación para lograr edificios de energía casi nula. El abordaje de estos desafíos se inicia mediante el uso del diseño y la optimización de sistemas de energía limpia incorporados con el aprendizaje automático y el análisis de datos para desarrollar herramientas de ingeniería de procesos asistida por computadora. Estas herramientas ayudarían a abordar los desafíos de las partes interesadas, contribuyendo así a la transición hacia un futuro más sostenible.
Aligning with the ambitious EU 2030 climate and energy package for cutting the greenhouse emissions and replacing conventional heat sources through the presence of renewable energy share to achieve net-zero-energy community, the stakeholders at residential sector are facing several technical, economic, and environmental issues to meet the EU targets in the near future. This thesis is focusing on two key structural transformations needed for sustainable transition towards clean energy production: the low carbon energy technologies problem represented by the solar district heating systems coupled with seasonal energy storage, and its application to achieve Nearly Zero Energy Buildings. The Tackling for these challenges is instigated through using design and optimization of clean energy systems incorporated with machine learning and data analysis to develop Computer-Aided Process Engineering tools. These tools would help in addressing the stakeholder’s challenges, thus contributing to the transition towards a more sustainable future.
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Dangana, Syeda. "A decision support framework for selecting innovative sustainable technologies for delivering low carbon retail buildings." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/3387.
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There is an urgent need to adopt innovative sustainable technologies (ISTs) to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions whilst improving process efficiency of existing retail buildings, due to rising energy prices and the impacts of retail buildings on the environment. Despite their reported advantages, exhibited performance and numerous policies and legislations that encourage their adoption, there is a slow uptake of ISTs in the retail sector. This is due to the fact that the majority of stakeholders consider the task of selecting ISTs as a complex multi-attribute, multi-valued problem involving a large number of stakeholders with numerous, often conflicting objectives. To overcome this problem, the thesis develops a Decision Support Framework to assist stakeholders in the selection of ISTs for delivering low carbon retail buildings. Firstly focusing on the wider retail construction industry, followed by an in-depth case study of a leading UK retail contractor, the drivers and barriers faced by stakeholders in the retail construction industry during the selection of ISTs were identified. The underlying cause to the slow uptake of ISTs (complex decision-making problem) and the need to optimise the use of ISTs were investigated. The results identified the lack of a Decision Support Framework for the selection of ISTs for stakeholders in the retail construction industry. To address the problem, the research developed a Decision Support Framework to assist stakeholders in the complex decision-making task of selecting ISTs. The developed Decision Support Framework was first validated with a leading UK retail contractor and proved favourable; facilitating the decision-makers in the selection process and resulting in the successful selection of eight ISTs. A more general validation was conducted to ensure the Decision Support Framework was applicable to the wider construction industry. The results indicated that the framework was an effective mechanism to optimise the selection of ISTs by improving the decision-making process; it could be used by other stakeholders and also transferable to other building types for selecting ISTs. The thesis contributes to the knowledge related to decision-making and construction management research by developing a Decision Support Framework to assist stakeholders in the selection of ISTs to deliver low carbon retail buildings. In addition, it identifies the drivers for and barriers to selecting ISTs for existing retail buildings; key stakeholders in the selection of ISTs, a set of selection criteria used by clients/developers and designers/constructors and a database of ISTs that can be implemented by stakeholders to achieve low carbon retail buildings.
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Ali, Alisha. "An investigation into information and communication technologies-based applications for sustainable tourism development of destinations." Thesis, Queen Margaret University, 2009. https://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/7306.
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Sustainable tourism is a heavily researched concept but in reality there has been limited implementation of the principles and practices of sustainable tourism for destinations. Adopting a destination focused perspective, this thesis presents research which expounded Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a practical, new and innovative approach to sustainable tourism development i.e. computer-supported sustainability. A literature review revealed that there was no specific study focusing on the uses and applications of ICT for sustainable tourism development despite the mention and benefits of doing so. However it did identify that several opportunities existed in destination management for using ICT as well as a collection of ICT-based tools/applications which can be used for managing different aspects of sustainable tourism. Therefore an investigative analysis was necessary in building a solid body of work on the uses and applications of ICT for sustainable tourism as a practical approach for destination managers. These findings formed the input for the primary research which was conducted in two phases: surveys administered to destination managers and eTourism experts followed by semi-structured interviews with experts in this domain identified from the surveys. The primary research alongside the literature findings led to the development of a descriptive framework which identified, categorised and described the uses of these ICT-based tools/applications for managing tourism‟s impacts. Assessment procedures based on the sustainability goals of the destination were then developed in order assist destination managers selecting the ICT-based tools/applications that were best suited for managing the sustainable tourism development of their destinations. The conclusion of this research clearly identifies that destination managers‟ sophisticated application of ICT to sustainable tourism is the next logical and practical step they can take in making sustainable tourism a workable reality for their destinations. This research is the building block for prospective research in the ICT-sustainable tourism domain. Future research avenues would be to use the results presented to determine the suitability, applicability and feasibility of the ICT-based tools/applications presented for destination managers. This existing research can be used to develop a more co-ordinated approach to theory development and engage in more empirical research to address tourism challenges with regards to using ICT for sustainable tourism development.
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Johansson, Anna, and Mathilda Opseth. "Factors that influence a construction company's sustainable innovation maturity." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för samhällsbyggnad och industriell teknik, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-446281.
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Construction companies emit large amounts of greenhouse gasses and in order to reduce their emissions enough to reach the Paris agreement they need to be innovative. However, the construction industry is lagging in innovation and do not know what to focus on to evolve its maturity regarding sustainable innovations. To aid construction companies to understand and improve their sustainable innovations capabilities, this study identified the factors that influence their maturity regarding producing, adopting and introducing sustainable innovations. The factors were then combined to develop the Sustainable Innovation Capabilities Maturity Assessment (SICMA), an assessment tool that measures a construction company’s sustainable innovation maturity. In order to identify those factors a qualitative case study approach was used and twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers at a construction company, Peab. The empirical result and analysis show that 61 factors divided in twelve themes may influence the maturity of a generic construction company. SICMA is based on the factors identified during the interviews and previous research within fields related to the subject, i.e., sustainability, construction, innovation, organizational structure and change. The tool measures 20 factors by giving statements and using the capability maturity models five-point scale in order for companies to self-assess. We concluded that seven themes need to be measured to understand the construction company's maturity regarding adopting sustainable innovation; collaborations and cooperation, customers, management and leadership, processes, culture, resources, and structure. Furthermore, we concluded that previous tools measuring innovation capabilities in a generic industry may not be suited for the construction industry since customers have more influence on a construction company's actions regarding sustainable innovation.
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Merugula, Laura. "Supporting Sustainable Markets Through Life Cycle Assessment: Evaluating emerging technologies, incorporating uncertainty and the consumer perspective." The Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373461844.
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