Sustainability
2071-1050
Cơ quản chủ quản: MDPI , MDPI AG
Lĩnh vực:
Computer Networks and CommunicationsHardware and ArchitectureEnergy Engineering and Power TechnologyGeography, Planning and DevelopmentEnvironmental Science (miscellaneous)Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the EnvironmentManagement, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Các bài báo tiêu biểu
Adaptation to and Recovery from Global Catastrophe Global catastrophes, such as nuclear war, pandemics and ecological collapse threaten the sustainability of human civilization. To date, most work on global catastrophes has focused on preventing the catastrophes, neglecting what happens to any catastrophe survivors. To address this gap in the literature, this paper discusses adaptation to and recovery from global catastrophe. The paper begins by discussing the importance of global catastrophe adaptation and recovery, noting that successful adaptation/recovery could have value on even astronomical scales. The paper then discusses how the adaptation/recovery could proceed and makes connections to several lines of research. Research on resilience theory is considered in detail and used to develop a new method for analyzing the environmental and social stressors that global catastrophe survivors would face. This method can help identify options for increasing survivor resilience and promoting successful adaptation and recovery. A key point is that survivors may exist in small isolated communities disconnected from global trade and, thus, must be able to survive and rebuild on their own. Understanding the conditions facing isolated survivors can help promote successful adaptation and recovery. That said, the processes of global catastrophe adaptation and recovery are highly complex and uncertain; further research would be of great value.
Tập 5 Số 4 - Trang 1461-1479
Spatiotemporal Patterns of Ozone and Cardiovascular and Respiratory Disease Mortalities Due to Ozone in Shenzhen In order to explore the temporal-spatial patterns and possible health effects of ozone in Shenzhen, daily concentrations of ozone and the daily mortality caused by cardiovascular and respiratory diseases were collected. Using Geographic Information System (GIS) and SPSS, the spatial and temporal patterns of ozone in Shenzhen were illustrated. Using a generalized additive model (GAM), the associations between ozone and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases causing mortality were analyzed, adjusted for meteorological factors and other major air pollutants including fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carbon monoxide (CO), and stratified by lag, age, and gender. The results showed that, during 2013, ozone was the second main air pollutant in Shenzhen apart from PM2.5, with average daily concentrations of 95.9 µg/m3 and 76.8 µg/m3 for the ozone 1-h mean and the daily ozone 8-h maximum concentration, respectively. The daily level of ozone had a higher concentration from September to October, and relatively low concentration from May to June. Obviously, a higher concentration was found in central parts of Shenzhen with the largest population, indicating higher risks. The excess risk (ER) percentage of the cardio-respiratory mortality rate showed a clearly accumulative effect at L03, with the highest ER percentage of 1.08 (0.88–1.27) per 10 µg/m3 increase in the ozone 8-h maximum concentration for all the population. Males were found to be more sensitive to ozone compared with females, and the elderly were more susceptible to ozone exposure than younger people.
Tập 9 Số 4 - Trang 559
Understanding Pro-Environmental Behavior of Citizen Science: An Exploratory Study of the Bird Survey in Taoyuan’s Farm Ponds Project This exploratory study aims to fill the gap by adopting Hirose’s two-phase decision-making model with the theory of social networks to explore the environmentally friendly attitudes and environmental behavioral intentions toward pro-environmental behaviors of the citizen scientists who participated in the Bird Survey in Taoyuan’s Farm Ponds Project. The Bird Survey in Taoyuan’s Farm Ponds Project is a systematic citizen science project founded in 2003 with the aim to identify existing and potential irrigation ponds that are important to creating waterbird refuges to secure habitats for wintering waterbirds in anthropogenically influenced areas. The participation in this project itself can be considered as a form of pro-environmental behavior. A total of 24 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants of the Bird Survey in Taoyuan’s Farm Ponds Project. Qualitative data showed that participants mentioned six variables (i.e., perceived seriousness, ascription of responsibility, belief in the effectiveness, feasibility evaluation, cost–benefit evaluation, and social norms evaluation) of the two-phase decision-making model in relation to environmentally friendly attitudes and environmental behavioral intention. Findings also revealed three key variables (i.e., social networks, learning and growth, and belonging and contribution) in the theory of social networks that are associated with environmentally friendly attitudes and environmental behavioral intention. Based on the findings, it is proposed that the social needs variables are incorporated as an extension to the two-phase decision-making model to offer a more comprehensive explanation of pro-environmental behavior.
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Performance of an On-Site Wastewater Treatment System Using Reactive Filter Media and a Sequencing Batch Constructed Wetland Many on-site wastewater treatment systems, such as soil treatment systems, are not sustainable in terms of purification efficiency, nutrient recycling potential, and economics. In this case study, a sequencing batch constructed wetland (SBCW) was designed and added after a package treatment plant (PTP) using reactive filter media for phosphorus (P) removal and recycling. The treatment performance of the entire system in the start-up phase and its possible applicability in rural areas were investigated. Raw and treated effluents were sampled during a period of 25 weeks and analyzed for nitrogen, phosphorus, BOD7, and bacteria. Field measurements were made of wastewater flow, electrical conductivity, oxygen, and temperature. The entire system removed total-P and total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) by 83% and 22%, respectively. High salt concentration and very low wastewater temperature were possible reasons for these unexpectedly low P and TIN removal efficiencies. In contrast, removal rates of bacteria (Escherichia coli, enterococci) and organic matter (as BOD) were high, due to filtration in the alkaline medium Polonite® (Ecofiltration Nordic AB, Stockholm, Sweden) and the fine sand used as SBCW substrate. High pH in effluent from the PTP was efficiently reduced to below pH 9 in the SBCW, meeting recommendations by environmental authorities in Sweden. We concluded that treating cold on-site wastewater can impair treatment performance and that technical measures are needed to improve SBCW performance.
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An Efficient Approach for Coordination of Dual-Channel Closed-Loop Supply Chain Management In this paper, a closed-loop supply chain composed of dual-channel retailers and manufacturers, a dynamic game model under the direct recovery, and an entrusted third-party recycling mode of the manufacturer is constructed. The impact of horizontal fairness concern behavior is introduced on the pricing strategies and utility of decision makers under different recycling models. The equilibrium strategy at fair neutrality is used as a reference to compare offline retails sales. Research shows that in the closed-loop supply chain of dual-channel sales, whether in the case of fair neutrality or horizontal fairness concerns, the manufacturer’s direct recycling model is superior to the entrusted third-party recycling, and the third-party recycling model is transferred by the manufacturer. In the direct recycling model, the horizontal fairness concern of offline retailers makes two retailers in the positive supply chain compete to lower the retail price in order to increase market share. Manufacturers will lower the wholesale price to encourage competition, and the price will be the horizontal fairness concern coefficient, which is negatively correlated. In the reverse supply chain, manufacturers increase the recycling rate of used products. This pricing strategy increases the utility of manufacturers and the entire supply chain system compared to fair neutral conditions, while two retailers receive diminished returns. Manufacturers, as channel managers to encourage retailers to compete for price cuts, can be coordinated through a three-way revenue sharing contract to achieve Pareto optimality.
Tập 10 Số 10 - Trang 3433
Research on the Pricing Model of the Dual-Channel Reverse Supply Chain Considering Logistics Costs and Consumers’ Awareness of Sustainability Based on Regional Differences With the prevalence of Internet technology, many recycling centers have developed a dual-channel reverse supply chain by introducing online recycling channels on the basis of offline third-party recyclers (TPR). In addition, great imbalanced development has been observed in different regions in China, as supported by the literature review. It is necessary to help companies in the supply chain to adjust their pricing strategies according to regional differences. This paper is aimed at answering the following two questions: (1) After introducing online channels, what strategies should the recycling center adopt to adjust online recycling prices and to readjust the transfer price of offline channels? (2) How do recycling centers and TPR in city A & B modify their pricing strategies in accordance with logistics costs or consumers’ awareness of sustainability changes in city B? To solve the above questions, models were made to study the pricing strategies of recycling centers and the TPR based on the Stackelberg game in a dual-channel reverse supply chain in two cities. The results indicate that recycling centers will benefit from the increase in consumers’ awareness of sustainability and the reduction in logistics costs of the online channel in city B; this is in contrast to the TPR in this city. We also find that the revenue of the TPR in city A will be affected when the above two factors in city B change. Its increase or decrease depends on the selection of pricing strategy by the recycling center.
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Decision Models for a Dual-Recycling Channel Reverse Supply Chain with Consumer Strategic Behavior In this paper, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is collected both with online and traditional methods in a reverse channel. We obtain a quantity for recycling based on online popularity and reference price by considering their impact on consumer recycling behaviors. On this basis, we build a Stackelberg game model in which the recycling dealer acts as the leader and the recycler acts as the follower in a reverse supply chain. We explore a combination contract comprising a revenue cost-sharing contract and a two-part tariff contract to enhance the performance of the reverse supply chain with a dual channel. The conclusion shows that the reference price degree can alleviate the recycling channel’s conflict in order to improve the operation efficiency of the reverse supply chain. The well-designed coordination mechanism enables the perfect coordination of the entire supply chain system.
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Dual-Recycling Channel Decision in a Closed-Loop Supply Chain with Cost Disruptions This paper investigates cost disruptions of new and remanufactured products in a closed-loop supply chain where a manufacturer and a third-party collector recycle used products through online-recycling and offline-recycling channels, respectively. We use a Stackelberg game to acquire the equilibrium decisions of dual-recycling and single-recycling channels and analyze how cost disruptions affect the manufacturer’ production and collection strategies. We show that, cost disruption of new products produces a positive impact whilst the remanufacturing cost disruption has a negative impact on collection quantity of used products and negative cost disruptions of both new and remanufactured products could be profitable to the manufacturer. As for the manufacturer’s channel choice, the dual-recycling channel dominates single-recycling channels when new product cost faces positive disruption, because the manufacturer acts as both a buyer and a competitor to the collector and can determine an appropriate acquisition price and transfer price to coordinate the online-offline recycling channel. While if cost disruption of new products is negative, the manufacturer prefers the dual-recycling channel instead of single-recycling channels only if the remanufacturing cost faces large size of negative disruption.
Tập 9 Số 11 - Trang 2004
Novel and Conventional Technologies for Landfill Leachates Treatment: A Review Municipal solid waste final disposal represents an environmental burden worldwide since landfilling, or open dumping, is still the preferred solution for the end of life of solid discarded materials. This study aims to review the technological innovations applied for landfill leachate treatment, taking into consideration the experiences obtained during the past years and the solutions which have been implemented. The review showed that both biological and physiochemical treatments are not able to achieve the requested water quality level, according to the limits established by regulations, whether applied in a single treatment or multiple treatments. In order to respect sustainable release limits to guarantee environmental protection, the construction of depuration systems and combining biological and physiochemical treatment methods is considered of the utmost importance. The review looks at possible joint applications of different treatment techniques reviewed by other studies and considers the state of the art of current research. Combined technical solutions suggested within the 2016 peer-reviewed papers are presented and discussed as a sustainable way to effectively treat landfill leachate, giving particular attention to feasible solutions for developing countries.
Tập 9 Số 1 - Trang 9
Potential Sources of Anthropogenic Copper Inputs to European Agricultural Soils In the European Union (EU), copper concentration in agricultural soil stems from anthropogenic activities and natural sources (soil and geology). This manuscript reports a statistical comparison of copper concentrations at different levels of administrative units, with a focus on agricultural areas. Anthropogenic sources of diffuse copper contamination include fungicidal treatments, liquid manure (mainly from pigs), sewage sludge, atmospheric deposition, mining activities, local industrial contamination and particles from car brakes. Sales of fungicides in the EU are around 158,000 tonnes annually, a large proportion of which are copper based and used extensively in vineyards and orchards. Around 10 million tonnes of sewage sludge is treated annually in the EU, and 40% of this (which has a high copper content) is used as fertilizer in agriculture. In the EU, 150 million pigs consume more than 6.2 million tonnes of copper through additives in their feed, and most of their liquid manure ends up in agricultural soil. These three sources (sales of fungicides, sewage sludge and copper consumption for pigs feed) depend much on local traditional farming practices. Recent research towards replacing copper spraying in vineyards and policy developments on applying sewage and controlling the feed given to pigs are expected to reduce copper accumulation in agricultural soil.
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