ALBERT

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja509077a

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503212v

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja510266x

Beschreibung: From a holistic view, this paper addresses a perspective of coordinated development of economy, society, and environment for regional sustainability assessment. Firstly, a comprehensive indicator system for co-evaluating the level of economic, social, and environmental subsystems is presented based on a holistic understanding of regional sustainability. Then, a coordinated development index model focusing on the level of coordination among the subsystems as well as their comprehensive development level is established. Furthermore, an empirical study of all the provinces and municipalities is conducted by collecting the panel data from 2004 to 2010. The result shows that: (1) the coordinated developments of the most developed and the most underdeveloped regions stay stable while the regions with medium development level possess more fluctuant trends during the study years; (2) regional disparities are indicated according to the grading of CDI (the coordinated development index), which are further analyzed to be related to the local economic development patterns; (3) the conditions and causes of economic, social, and environmental development in real situations under different grades of CDI are discussed through detailed case studies of typical regions, which indicate specific suggestions of sustainable development for regions in the same pattern.

Beschreibung: As the largest solid waste (SW) generator in the world, China is facing serious pollution issues induced by increasing quantities of SW. The sustainability assessment of SW management is very important for designing relevant policy for further improving the overall efficiency of solid waste management (SWM). By focusing on industrial solid waste (ISW) and municipal solid waste (MSW), the paper investigated the sustainability performance of SWM by applying decoupling analysis, and further identified the main drivers of SW change in China by adopting Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) model. The results indicate that China has made a great achievement in SWM which was specifically expressed as the increase of ISW utilized amount and harmless disposal ratio of MSW, decrease of industrial solid waste discharged (ISWD), and absolute decoupling of ISWD from economic growth as well. However, China has a long way to go to achieve the goal of sustainable management of SW. The weak decoupling, even expansive negative decoupling of ISW generation and MSW disposal suggests that China needs timely technology innovation and rational institutional arrangement to reduce SW intensity from the source and promote classification and recycling. The factors of investment efficiency and technology are the main determinants of the decrease in SW, inversely, economic growth has increased SW discharge. The effects of investment intensity showed a volatile trend over time but eventually decreased SW discharged. Moreover, the factors of population and industrial structure slightly increased SW.

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja509513c

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja510079u

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja510028c

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja509243p

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol5032409

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503359w

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503119z

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503172h

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503356m

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503348n

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503065a

Beschreibung: Terra Preta Sanitation (TPS) plays a key role in sustainable sanitation (SuSan) and in the sustainable management of resources such as water, energy, soil (agriculture), liquid and solid organic waste streams as well as in the development of sustainable urban environment and infrastructure systems. This paper discusses the advantages of, and requirements for, SuSan systems, focusing on TPS. Case studies showing the stepwise extension and re-development of conventional sanitation systems (CSS) using TPS technologies and system approaches are presented and discussed. Decentralized TPS systems integrated in sustainable urban resource management were implemented in the German cities of Hamburg and Berlin. The compilation of best practice examples and findings using the newest TPS systems illustrates the immense potential of this approach for the transformation from conventional to SuSan systems. For this purpose, the potential savings of drinking water resources and the recycling potential of nutrient components are quantified. The results strongly suggest the need to encourage the development and application of innovative decentralized sanitation technologies, urban infrastructures, and resource management systems that have TP as a key component.

Beschreibung: Native chilies (Capsicum spp.) are currently underutilized in Bolivia, one of this crop’s centers of diversity. Fewer local farmers cultivate native chilies annually due to low market demand. Increasing its private use value can lead to the in-situ conservation of this crop. The objective of the paper is to evaluate the market acceptability of three native chili products: (a) chili marmalade; (b) chili cooking paste; and (c) pickled chilies. Multi-product Becker-DeGroot-Marschak experimental auctions and hedonic tests were conducted with 337 participants in La Paz and Santa Cruz. Data were analyzed using seemingly unrelated regressions. Results suggest that consumers are willing to pay price premiums of about 25–50 percent. Biodiversity conservation and improvements in farmers’ quality of life statements would not have influence on first purchase decisions but rather on repurchase decisions and therefore on consumers’ product loyalty. This in turn could lead to sustainable agro-biodiversity conservation, centered on consumers’ purchase of these products over time.

Beschreibung: This study proposes a new concept, green organisational ambidexterity, that integrates green exploration learning and green exploitation learning simultaneously. Besides, this study argues that the antecedents of green organisational ambidexterity are green shared vision and green absorptive capacity and its consequents are green radical innovation performance and green incremental innovation performance. The results demonstrate that green exploration learning partially mediates the positive relationships between green radical innovation performance and its two antecedents—green shared vision and green absorptive capacity. In addition, this study indicates that green exploitation learning partially mediates the positive relationships between green incremental innovation performance and its two antecedents—green shared vision and green absorptive capacity. Hence, firms have to increase their green shared vision, green absorptive capacity, and green organisational ambidexterity to raise their green radical innovation performance and green incremental innovation performance.

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja5097094

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja508192y

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja509383r

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja508161c

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja509829e

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja509245x

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja510003y

Beschreibung: The South Korean government has long been attempting to reduce the nation’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels and increase environmental safety by developing and installing renewable power generation infrastructures and implementing policies for promoting the green growth of Korea’s energy industry. This study focuses on the use of independent renewable power generation systems in the more than 3000 officially affirmed islands off Korea’s coast and proposes a simulated solution to the electricity load demand on Ulleungdo Island that incorporates several energy sources (including solar, batteries, and wind) as well as one hydro-electric and two diesel generators. Recommendations based on the simulation results and the limitations of the study are discussed.

Beschreibung: Evaluation of the sustainability of biomass pyrolysis requires a thorough assessment of the product yields and energy densities. With this purpose, a laboratory scale fixed bed reactor (FBR) was adapted from the standard Gray-King (GK) assay test on coal to conduct fixed bed pyrolysis experiments on agricultural and agro-industrial by-products. The present study provides results on the pyrolysis of two types of biomass: chipped olive tree trimmings (OT) and olive pomace (OP). Solid (char) and liquid (tar) product yields are reported. Mass yields are determined and compared with values obtained in similar works. Results indicate that char yield decreases from 49% (OT-db) and 50% (OP-db) at 325 °C to 26% (OT db) and 30% (OP-db) at 650 °C. Tar yield is almost constant (42%) at different reaction temperatures for OT, while it decreases slightly from 42% to 35% for OP. Energy density of the products at different peak temperatures is almost constant for OT (1.2), but slightly increases for OP (from a value of 1.3 to a value of 1.4).

Beschreibung: Efficient delivery and precision provision of urban public services concern quality of urban life and urban sustainability. Amid much debate regarding citizen assessments as a policy tool of public services, this study examines the validity of citizen assessments through user assessments of urban green spaces (UGSs) in Guangzhou, China. Users can distinguish the qualities of UGS across the dimensions and types, the assessment of individual UGSs matches the overall assessment of all UGSs in the city as a whole, and the overall assessment is only slightly influenced by personal backgrounds. Findings consistently support user assessments as a policy tool of UGSs and offer empirical evidence on the validity of citizen assessments. This positive evidence will encourage city managers to seriously consider citizen assessments and even institutionalize them as a standard management practice of (specific) urban public services, including UGSs, in China and abroad.

Beschreibung: The aim of this study is to analyze the environmental performance of countries and the variables that can influence it. At the same time, we performed a multivariate analysis using the HJ-biplot, an exploratory method that looks for hidden patterns in the data, obtained from the usual singular value decomposition (SVD) of the data matrix, to contextualize the countries grouped by geographical areas and the variables relating to environmental indicators included in the environmental performance index. The sample used comprises 149 countries of different geographic areas. The findings obtained from the empirical analysis emphasize that socioeconomic factors, such as economic wealth and education, as well as institutional factors represented by the style of public administration, in particular control of corruption, are determinant factors of environmental performance in the countries analyzed. In contrast, no effect on environmental performance was found for factors relating to the internal characteristics of a country or political factors.

Beschreibung: The relationship between economic growth, expansion of urban land area and the broader issue of cultivated land conversion in China has been closely examined for the late 1980s and 1990s. Much less is known about recent urban expansion and if the effects of economic growth on this expansion have changed over time. This paper updates estimates of urban expansion for China and examines the relationship with city economic growth for 1993–2012. To see if patterns are robust to different types of evidence, administrative data on the area of 225 urban cores are compared to estimates of brightly lit areas from remotely sensed night lights. The trend annual expansion rate in lit area is 8% and was significantly faster in the decade to 2002 than in the most recent decade. Expansion is slower according to administrative data, at just 5% per annum, with no change in unconditional expansion rates between decades, while conditional expansion rates have declined. The elasticity of area with respect to city economic output is about 0.3. Over time, expansion of urban land area is becoming less responsive to the growth of the local non-agricultural population.

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol5029755

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol5028199

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503035z

Beschreibung: In this study a microclimate analysis on a particular urban configuration: the—street canyon—has been carried out. The analysis, conducted by performing numerical simulations using the finite volumes commercial code ANSYS-Fluent, shows the flow field in an urban environment, taking into account three different aspect ratios (H/W). This analysis can be helpful in the study on urban microclimate and on the heat exchanges with the buildings. Fluid-dynamic fields on vertical planes within the canyon, have been evaluated. The results show the importance of the geometrical configuration, in relation to the ratio between the height (H) of the buildings and the width (W) of the road. This is a very important subject from the point of view of “Smart Cities”, considering the urban canyon as a subsystem of a larger one (the city), which is affected by climate changes.

Beschreibung: This paper analyzes the differences in the amount and the structure of residential energy consumption at the provincial level in China and identifies the hidden factors behind such differences. The econometrical analysis reveals that population, economic development level, energy resource endowment and climatic conditions are the main factors driving residential energy consumption; while the regional differences in energy consumption per capita and the consumption structure can be mainly illustrated by various economic development levels, energy resource endowments and climatic conditions. Economic development level has a significant positive impact on the proportion of gasoline consumption, whereas its impact on the proportion of electricity consumption is not notable; energy resource endowment and climatic condition indirectly affect both the proportion of electricity consumption and that of gasoline consumption, primarily through their impacts on the proportions of coal consumption and heat consumption.

Beschreibung: Urbanization transforms urban-rural landscape and profoundly affects ecological processes. To maintain a sustainable urbanization, two important issues of land-use need to be quantified: the comprehensive variation of urban-rural construction land and the specific models for consolidating these lands. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework to assess the change of urban-rural construction land and build a decision-support system for consolidating these lands. Four sub-layers were first built in the assessment framework, including the characteristic layer, the coordination layer, the potential layer and the urgency layer. Each layer encompassed specific indices for evaluating the change of urban-rural construction land in different aspects. The entropy method was then applied to the data resources from Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) images, statistical data and overall land-use and land consolidation planning of Nantong city in coastal China to allocate weightings to the indices in each sub-layer. Finally, the decision-support system was built based on the assessment results and the degree of importance for consolidating urban and rural construction land, respectively. The results of our study show an overall investigation and quantitative description of the change of urban-rural construction land and provide an effective framework for land consolidation and land use management.

Beschreibung: The identification and characterization of particulate matter (PM) concentrations from construction site activities pose major challenges due to the diverse characteristics related to different aspects, such as concentration, particle size and particle composition. Moreover, the characterization of particulate matter is influenced by meteorological conditions, including temperature, humidity, rainfall and wind speed. This paper is part of a broader investigation that aims to develop a methodology for assessing the environmental impacts caused by the PM emissions that arise from construction activities. The objective of this paper is to identify and characterize the PM emissions on a construction site with different aerodynamic diameters (PM2.5, PM10, total suspended particulates (TSP)), based on an exploratory study. Initially, a protocol was developed to standardize the construction site selection criteria, laboratory procedures, field sample collection and laboratory analysis. This protocol was applied on a multifamily residential building construction site during three different construction phases (earthworks, superstructure and finishings) aimed at measuring and monitoring PM concentrations arising from construction activities. The particulate matter was characterized in different particle sizes. Results showed that the higher TSP emissions arising from construction activities provoked environmental impacts. Some limitations to the results were identified, especially with regards the need for a detailed investigation about the influence of different construction phases on PM emissions. The findings provided significant knowledge about various situations, serving as a basis for improving the existing methodology for particulate material collection on construction sites and the development of future studies on the specific construction site phases.

Beschreibung: With a unique cultural background and fast economic development, China’s adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become the center of discussion worldwide, and its successful implementation will have great significance for global sustainability. This paper aims to explore how CSR has given way to economic growth in China since the start of economic transition and its cultural, historical and political background, and how this has affected or been affected by the economic performance of firms. Thus, the recent calls for China to adopt CSR in its industries follow a period where the country arguably had one of the strongest implementations of CSR approaches in the world. This transition is considered in the context of a case study of a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) and a group of small private firms in the same industrial sector in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province over a time span of eight years. While the CSR of the SOE has been steadily decreasing along with the change of ownership structure, its economic performance did not improve as expected. On the other hand, with a steady improvement in economic performance, the small private firms are showing a great reluctance to engage in CSR. The results indicate that implementation of CSR in China needs both the manager’s ethical awareness and the change of institutional framework. The results also raise the question as to whether CSR is a universal concept with a desired means of implementation across the developed and developing world.

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja511195g

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja508862h

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja5090805

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja507405j

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja510475n

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja503012g

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja509364d

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja510131a

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja506820r

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja5076629

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja5043403

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja5086244

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja505720m

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol502921a

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol5030508

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol502918g

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol502973c

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503022h

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol5028267

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol502869u

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503009f

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol502676y

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol502749b

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol5028249

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol502995h

Beschreibung: Interdisciplinary sustainability science teamwork skills are essential for addressing the world’s most pressing and complex sustainability problems, which inherently have social, natural, and engineering science dimensions. Further, because sustainability science problems exist at global scales, interdisciplinary science teams will need to consist of international members who communicate and work together effectively. Students trained in international interdisciplinary science skills will be able to hit the ground running when they obtain jobs requiring them to tackle sustainability problems. While many universities now have sustainability science programs, few offer courses that are interdisciplinary and international in scope. In the fall semester of 2013, we piloted a course for graduate students entitled “Principles of Interdisciplinary Sustainability Research” at Michigan Technological University. This course was part of our United States National Science Foundation Partnerships in International Research and Education project on bioenergy development impacts across the Americas. In this case study, we describe the course development and implementation, share critical insights from our experience teaching the course and student learning outcomes, and give recommendations for future similar courses.

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503337f

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol5034139

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503198p

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503345h

Beschreibung: In most emerging economies, there has been many incentives and high availability of funding for low-cost housing projects. This has encouraged product standardization and the application of mass production ideas, based on the assumption that this is the most effective strategy for reducing costs. However, the delivery of highly standardized housing units to customers with different needs, without considering their lifestyle and perception of value, often results in inadequate products. Mass customization has been pointed out as an effective strategy to improve value generation in low-cost housing projects, and to avoid waste caused by renovations done in dwellings soon after occupancy. However, one of the main challenges for the implementation of mass customization is the definition of a set of relevant options based on users’ perceived value. The aim of this paper is to propose a method for defining value adding attributes in customized housing projects, which can support decision-making in product development. The means-end chain theory was used as theoretical framework to connect product attributes and costumers’ values, through the application of the laddering technique. The method was tested in two house-building projects delivered by a company from Brazil. The main contribution of this method is to indicate the customization units that are most important for users along with the explanation of why those units are the most relevant ones.

Beschreibung: A fiber optic daylighting system is an evolving technology for transporting illumination from sunlight into building interiors. This system is a solution developed by daylighting designers to reduce operational costs and enhance comfort. As an innovative technology, fiber optic daylighting systems can illuminate building interiors efficiently compared with other daylighting strategies. However, as a transmission medium in daylighting systems, optical fibers require uniform light distribution in sunlight concentration, which could generate heat. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of heat buildup produced by end-emitting fiber optic daylighting systems in tropical buildings. The applied method adopts a new fiber optic daylighting system technology from Sweden called Parans SP3, with a 10 m cable to be tested in an actual room size under the Malaysian climatic environment, particularly within the vicinity of the main campus of the Universiti Sains Malaysia. Results show that the system generated a temperature of 1.3 °C under average conditions through fiber optic diffusers and increases indoor temperature by 0.8 °C in a 60 m3 room. According to the results, applying fiber optic daylighting systems, as renewable energy sources, generates extra heat gain in building interiors in the tropics.

Beschreibung: Coastal fisheries contribute to global food security, since fish are an important source of protein for many coastal communities in the world. However, they are constrained by problems, such as weak management of fisheries and overfishing. Local communities perceive that they are fishing less, as in other fisheries in the world. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fisheries sustainability in the Jalisco coast through the fishing footprint, or fishprint (FP), based on the primary productivity required (PPR) and the appropriated surface by the activity (biocapacity). The total catch was 20,448.2 metric tons from 2002–2012, and the average footprint was calculated to be 65,458 gha/year, a figure that quadrupled in a period of 10 years; the biocapacity decreased, and the average trophic level of catches was 3.1, which implies that it has remained at average levels, resulting in a positive balance between biocapacity and ecological footprint. Therefore, under this approach, the fishing activity is sustainable along the coast of Jalisco.

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja5065735

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol5033128

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja511231f

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja510335z

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja5084267

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja5109535

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja510260j

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503189j

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503303w

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol5032848

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503231p

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol5031469

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503341t

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja510738y

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503157k

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja511308k

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja5093562

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja506790w

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja508794r

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja508721y

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja500707z

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja508478x

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja509005e

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol502747t

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja509820z

Beschreibung: Organic Letters DOI: 10.1021/ol503410e

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja5109084

Beschreibung: Journal of the American Chemical Society DOI: 10.1021/ja509766f