1,720,971 research outputs found
Sustainable solid waste management in the European Union: Four countries regional analysis
No full textThe EU has framed a comprehensive regulatory action aimed at shifting Waste Management towards Sustainable Waste Management. This paper aims to examine how EU legislation, starting from the 2008 Waste Framework Directive, has been implemented at the regional level, and to assess the leading and lagging regions in the transition towards sustainable municipal waste management. The study uses Data Envelopment Analysis to analyze 75 NUTS-2 regions from four EU Member States: Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands over the period 2008–2013. The results shows that regions in Germany and the Netherlands have moved away from landfill to a greater extent, in favor of higher recycling rates. Conversely, Italy and France regions are these displaying lower performances but with progressive improvement. It is shown that regions with still very low waste collection volumes will have to accelerate the process in order to align with EU targets. In this concern, a burden-sharing system might be advisable
State of the art on the Nexus between sustainability, fashion industry and sustainable business model
Full text linkThe fashion industry is one of the most environmentally impactful. It is estimated that about 9% of greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to this industry. It also turns out to be a highly resource-consuming industry with a rather low recycling rate. With this in mind, the authors wanted to further research the issue of sustainability in fashion. This was done with two main purposes: to update the literature to investigate the latest scientific contributions, to foster their application in sustainable business models; and to help define the state of the art on the topic by investigating the application of sustainable best practices in the market. The study is intended as a basis for future work that will focus on the topic of fashion sustainability and to support the adoption of sustainable business models by companies. This study analyses the fashion industry, particularly the textile, footwear, and leather industries, by searching the scientific literature and business cases for the current state of the art on recent best practices in process, product, and business strategies that have a positive impact on industry sustainability. A systematic literature review and business case research was conducted to identify best practices and gaps on areas of the fashion industry that can be catalysts for change toward a circular economy system based on sustainable business models. Policies and possible solutions to environmental problems related to the fashion industry were also considered. The study showed that there are many technologies, best practices and innovations that aim to make the fashion industry less impactful and, most importantly, circular. Therefore, some representative results for each of the three areas investigated are explored in depth, keeping in mind that there are the companies and sectors involved have sometimes unique peculiarities and characteristics, so it is not possible to have results equally applicable to each business model
Navigating Change: Shaping the Future of EUSAIR through Comparative Insights and Policy Implications
No full textThis study focuses on the European Union Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) as a pivotal framework. EUSAIR’s four key pillars form the bedrock for comprehensive regional development. This paper investigates the shifting trends within EUSAIR from 2014 to the present, aiming to formulate strategic policy recommendations for the upcoming programming period. In addition, this article endeavours to create a comparative analysis among the four EU macro-regional strategies. Anchored in the identified potential new priorities for EUSAIR, the study proposes leveraging the need for research emphasis, stakeholder engagement, youth involvement, infrastructure connectivity, and data standardisation
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Improving Pumped Hydro Storage Flexibility in China: Scenarios for Advanced Solutions Adoption and Policy Recommendations
No full textThe decarbonisation targets of the People’s Republic of China are ambitious. Their achievement relies on the large-scale deployment of variable renewable energy sources (VRES), such as wind and solar. High penetration of VRES may lead to balancing problems on the grid, which can be compensated by increasing the shifting flexibility capacity of the system by integration with energy storage, e.g., by installing additional electricity storage. Pumped Hydro Storage (PHS) is the most diffused electricity storage technology at the global level and the only fully mature solution for long-term electricity storage. China already has the highest PHS capacity installed worldwide and plans to increase it strongly before 2030. The present study, based on the data from the “Pumped Storage Tracking Tool” of the International Hydropower Association, investigates the potential for technological improvement of the existing and future PHS fleet in China. The aims of adopting advanced PHS solutions allow China to better cope with the task of balancing the VRES production. The potential for adopting advanced PHS solutions is evaluated through five different intervention possibilities (here referred to as scenarios). These scenarios consider revamping part of the operational Pumped Storage Plant (PSP) fleet and redesigning future installations that are already planned. As a result, considering all the major technical and authorisation process constraints, 4.0% (5.2 GW) of the 132 GW fleet expected to be commissioned before 2035 could additionally adopt advanced PHS in a high-potential scenario. Meanwhile in the medium and low potential scenarios, the quota can reach 11.1% (14.6 GW) and 26.2% (34.5 GW), respectively. Furthermore, policy recommendations are elaborated to promote, facilitate, and support the adoption of these advanced PHS solutions
European Union Macroregional Strategies: Overview on the Adriatic-Ionian Region Seaports
No full textThe European Union’s macro-regional strategies unite territories and stakeholders with shared interests and geographic proximity. They guide the involved territories and incentivize growth and cooperation. The eu Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian region includes non-eu countries with common goals and challenges. Given its focus on the Adriatic-Ionian Sea, seaports play a critical role in the strategy’s implementation. This paper examines the Adriatic-Ionian Region, particularly in terms of seaports’ cooperation and cohesion. It provides an overview of their primary activities and analyses the impact of Macro-Regional Strategies on their participation in initiatives and projects. The findings highlight the eu Strategy’s role in enhancing competitiveness and cohesion among ports in the region. As these ports are primarily complementary, increased cooperation will improve their performance
Smart grid in china, eu, and the US: State of implementation
No full textDepletion of fossil fuel deposits is the main current issue related to the world’s power generation. Renewable energy sources integrated with energy efficiency represent an effective solution. The electrification of end-use coupled with renewable power generation integration is considered as an important tool to achieve these tasks. However, the current electric power system does not currently have the suitable features to allow this change. Therefore, in the future, it has to allow two-way direction power flows, communication, and automated controls to fully manage the system and customers. The resulting system is defined as the smart grid. This article analyses the smart grid state of play within China, the US, and the EU, assessing the completion state of each smart grid technology and integrated asset. The analysis related to these countries presented here shows that the smart grid overall state of play in China, the US, and the EU are equal to 18%, 15%, and 13%, respectively, unveiling the need related to further efforts and investments in these countries for the full smart grid development
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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