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Sustainability, Volume 8, Issue 5

2016 May - 94 articles

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Articles (94)

  • Article
  • Open Access
53 Citations
14,255 Views
18 Pages

A high demand for seafood leads to overfishing, harms the long-term health of seafood stocks, and threatens environmental sustainability in oceans. Sustainability certification is one of the major sustainability movements and is known as eco-labeling...

  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
6,416 Views
15 Pages

The ISI (Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure) Envision rating system is designed to be a comprehensive sustainability assessment that can be applied to a wide range of infrastructure projects, including water supply. With water supply resiliency...

  • Article
  • Open Access
43 Citations
15,502 Views
13 Pages

Recurrent haze in Southeast Asian countries including Singapore is largely attributable to rampant forest fires in Indonesia due to, for example, extensive slash-and-burn (S & B) culture. Drawing on the “treadmill of production” and environmental...

  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
6,595 Views
20 Pages

Zhejiang Province, China is experiencing rapid urbanization, facing the challenge of coupling socioeconomic development and ecological conservation. This paper establishes a comprehensive index system to assess coordinating development of economic, c...

  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
18,734 Views
23 Pages

Design of Stirrer Impeller with Variable Operational Speed for a Food Waste Homogenizer

  • Idris A. Kayode,
  • Emmanuel O. B. Ogedengbe and
  • Marc A. Rosen

A conceptualized impeller called KIA is designed for impact agitation of food waste in a homogenizer. A comparative analysis of the performance of KIA is made with three conventional impeller types, Rushton, Anchor, and Pitched Blade. Solid–liquid mi...

  • Article
  • Open Access
96 Citations
13,890 Views
12 Pages

In spite of the increasing importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employee job performance, little is still known about the links between the socially responsible actions of organizations and the job performance of their members. In...

  • Review
  • Open Access
19 Citations
7,978 Views
7 Pages

Organic farming prohibits the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) inasmuch as their genetic material has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally. In actual fact, there is a conventional identity between GMOs and transgenic organi...

  • Article
  • Open Access
16 Citations
5,454 Views
15 Pages

In 2010, the Swedish government established the Komet program—a pilot forest protection project that was initially implemented in five land areas. The Komet program was intended to complement existing formal protection measures by establishing partne...

  • Review
  • Open Access
35 Citations
25,963 Views
22 Pages

Genetic engineering (GE) offers an expanding array of strategies for enhancing disease resistance of crop plants in sustainable ways, including the potential for reduced pesticide usage. Certain GE applications involve transgenesis, in some cases cre...

  • Review
  • Open Access
41 Citations
10,145 Views
26 Pages

Abandonment, Ecological Assembly and Public Health Risks in Counter-Urbanizing Cities

  • Alexandra Gulachenski,
  • Bruno M. Ghersi,
  • Amy E. Lesen and
  • Michael J. Blum

Urban landscapes can be transformed by widespread abandonment from population and economic decline. Ecological assembly, sometimes referred to as “greening”, following abandonment can yield valuable ecosystem services, but also can pose a risk to pub...

  • Article
  • Open Access
38 Citations
26,251 Views
28 Pages

In a time of rapid climate change and environmental degradation, planning and building an ecologically sustainable environment have become imperative. In particular, urban settlements, as a densely populated built environment, are the center of atten...

  • Article
  • Open Access
17 Citations
8,194 Views
21 Pages

Synthesis of Household Yard Area Dynamics in the City of San Juan Using Multi-Scalar Social-Ecological Perspectives

  • Elvia J. Meléndez-Ackerman,
  • Christopher J. Nytch,
  • Luis E. Santiago-Acevedo,
  • Julio C. Verdejo-Ortiz,
  • Raúl Santiago-Bartolomei,
  • Luis E. Ramos-Santiago and
  • Tischa A. Muñoz-Erickson

Urban sustainability discourse promotes the increased use of green infrastructure (GI) because of its contribution of important ecosystem services to city dwellers. Under this vision, all urban green spaces, including those at the household scale, ar...

  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
5,015 Views
26 Pages

A Non-Parametric Delphi Approach to Foster Innovation Policy Debate in Spain

  • Juan Carlos Salazar-Elena,
  • M. Paloma Sánchez and
  • F. Javier Otamendi

The aim of this paper is to identify some changes needed in Spain’s innovation policy to fill the gap between its innovation results and those of other European countries in lieu of sustainable leadership. To do this we apply the Delphi methodology t...

  • Article
  • Open Access
14 Citations
9,727 Views
15 Pages

Impacts of Mining and Urbanization on the Qin-Ba Mountainous Environment, China

  • Xinliang Xu,
  • Hongyan Cai,
  • Daowei Sun,
  • Lan Hu and
  • Kwamina E. Banson

The Qin-Ba Ecological Functional Zone is a component of China’s ecological security pattern designed to protect the regional ecosystem and maintain biodiversity. However, due to the impact of mining and urban encroachment, the plight of a sustainable...

  • Article
  • Open Access
28 Citations
6,779 Views
13 Pages

The objective of the study is to present the modeling and multi-objective optimization of NOx conversion efficiency and NH3 slip in the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) catalytic converter for a diesel engine. A novel ensemble method based on a su...

  • Article
  • Open Access
55 Citations
11,699 Views
18 Pages

Modern portfolio theory attempts to maximize the expected return of a portfolio for a given level of portfolio risk, or equivalently minimize risk for a given level of expected return. The reality, however, shows that, when selecting projects to a po...

  • Article
  • Open Access
92 Citations
16,249 Views
19 Pages

This study reviews scholarly papers and case studies on urban vacant land to gain a stronger understanding of its public value in terms of the ecological and social benefits it can bring. This literature review offers a conceptual overview of the pot...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
6,201 Views
18 Pages

This study analyzed the direct and indirect CO2 emissions of the energy-intensive basic metals industry, in particular steels, using the distributions of various energy sources, including coal/peat, oil, and electricity, from an input–output table. A...

  • Article
  • Open Access
41 Citations
7,721 Views
22 Pages

With the rapid depletion of natural resources and undesired environmental changes globally, more interest has been shown in the research of green supply chain practices, including end-of-life vehicle (ELV) recycling. The ELV recycling is mandatory fo...

  • Article
  • Open Access
97 Citations
12,250 Views
20 Pages

Implications and Measurement of Energy Poverty across the European Union

  • Alexandru Maxim,
  • Costică Mihai,
  • Constantin-Marius Apostoaie,
  • Cristian Popescu,
  • Costel Istrate and
  • Ionel Bostan

Energy poverty, or the inability of households to afford adequate access to energy services, is an issue that can have a significant effect on the quality of life and even the state of health of individuals and even the overall development of a natio...

  • Article
  • Open Access
28 Citations
6,402 Views
12 Pages

Sustainable Production of Algal Biomass and Biofuels Using Swine Wastewater in North Carolina, US

  • Bo Zhang,
  • Lijun Wang,
  • Bilal A. Riddicka,
  • Rui Li,
  • Justin R. Able,
  • Nana Abayie Boakye-Boaten and
  • Abolghasem Shahbazi

Algae were recently considered as a promising third-generation biofuel feedstock due to their superior productivity, high oil content, and environmentally friendly nature. However, the sustainable production became the major constraint facing commerc...

  • Article
  • Open Access
9 Citations
11,769 Views
14 Pages

The intellectual property rights (IPR) landscape for plant germplasm has changed dramatically over the past 50 years, moving from the public domain into proprietary structures. Using carrot as a model crop, we explored the freedom to operate for plan...

  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
6,770 Views
19 Pages

China’s rapid economic growth and social transitions have deteriorated environmental conditions and caused further public health issues in last three decades. This study examines the complex mechanisms of how socioeconomic transitions and physical en...

  • Review
  • Open Access
321 Citations
25,836 Views
21 Pages

This article explores the role of actors and agency in the literature on sustainability transitions. We reviewed 386 journal articles on transition management and sustainability transitions listed in Scopus from 1995 to 2014. We investigate the thesi...

  • Article
  • Open Access
278 Citations
59,303 Views
32 Pages

Two rich knowledge domains have been evolving along parallel pathways in tourism studies: sustainable tourism (ST) and community-based tourism (CBT). Within both lie diverse definitions, principles, criteria, critical success factors and benefits sou...

  • Article
  • Open Access
20 Citations
5,634 Views
9 Pages

We study how the information and communications technology (ICT) ecosystem affects the sustainable growth of ICT firms. For our study, we analyze the efficiencies of ICT firms in China, South Korea, the United States, and Japan, which are the current...

  • Article
  • Open Access
26 Citations
7,277 Views
14 Pages

Taiwan’s government has promoted investment in an offshore wind power farm, and local fishermen have protested. A social impact assessment (SIA) has examined the impact of the proposed offshore wind power farm on all stakeholders. The main objective...

  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
8,269 Views
18 Pages

Eco-industrial development projects are increasingly popular because of their ability to transform the traditional model of industrial parks into more sustainable forms of economic development. Still, few industrial parks worldwide have achieved the...

  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
6,569 Views
15 Pages

Understanding wetland changes under urbanization is important for wetland management. In this study, net transition intensity (NTI) and total transition intensity (TTI) are presented to characterize wetland transitions based on spatial data obtained...

  • Article
  • Open Access
17 Citations
7,618 Views
14 Pages

A Hybrid Method of Analyzing Patents for Sustainable Technology Management in Humanoid Robot Industry

  • Jongchan Kim,
  • Joonhyuck Lee,
  • Gabjo Kim,
  • Sangsung Park and
  • Dongsik Jang

A humanoid, which refers to a robot that resembles a human body, imitates a human’s intelligence, behavior, sense, and interaction in order to provide various types of services to human beings. Humanoids have been studied and developed constantly in...

  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
6,569 Views
28 Pages

System Merits or Failures? Policies for Transition to Sustainable P and N Systems in The Netherlands and Finland

  • Thomas Hoppe,
  • Anna Kuokkanen,
  • Mirja Mikkilä,
  • Helena Kahiluoto,
  • Miia Kuisma,
  • Maarten Arentsen and
  • Lassi Linnanen

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycles are absolutely vital in maintaining sustainable food systems. Human activities disturb the natural balance of these cycles by creating enormous additional nutrient fluxes, causing eutrophication of waterways and...

  • Article
  • Open Access
20 Citations
6,377 Views
15 Pages

Towards a Model of Sustainable Competitiveness of Health Organizations

  • Simona Catalina Stefan,
  • Ion Popa and
  • Cosmin Octavian Dobrin

Over the last decades, around the world, the concept of competitiveness was long debated by economists (and others), widely used and even sometimes overused. Although at the theoretical level, a number of determinant factors of health care organizati...

  • Article
  • Open Access
45 Citations
7,995 Views
21 Pages

In this paper, we examine the influence of environmental regulation on sustainable economic growth from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Our research is twofold. First, we apply a modified NEG (New Economic Geography) model to analyze how...

  • Article
  • Open Access
185 Citations
37,837 Views
16 Pages

Sustainable Wearables: Wearable Technology for Enhancing the Quality of Human Life

  • Jaewoon Lee,
  • Dongho Kim,
  • Han-Young Ryoo and
  • Byeong-Seok Shin

This paper aims to elicit insights about sustainable wearables by investigating recent advancements in wearable technology and their applications. Wearable technology has advanced considerably from a technical perspective, but it has stagnated due to...

  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
4,597 Views
12 Pages

Achieving the decoupling of electric CO2 emissions from total electricity generation is important in ensuring the sustainable socioeconomic development of China. To realize this, China implemented market-oriented reforms to its electric power industr...

  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
6,038 Views
17 Pages

Sustainability and Chinese Urban Settlements: Extending the Metabolism Model of Emergy Evaluation

  • Lijie Gao,
  • Shenghui Cui,
  • Dewei Yang,
  • Lina Tang,
  • Jonathan Vause,
  • Lishan Xiao,
  • Xuanqi Li and
  • Longyu Shi

Anthropogenic activity interacts with urban form and inner metabolic processes, ultimately impacting urban sustainability. China’s cities have experienced many environmental issues and metabolic disturbances since the nation-wide market-oriented “ref...

  • Article
  • Open Access
40 Citations
15,133 Views
33 Pages

Considering the current emerging demographic, urbanization and climatic trends, integrating sustainability and resilience principles into urban development becomes a key priority for decision-makers worldwide. Local and national governments, project...

  • Article
  • Open Access
23 Citations
5,983 Views
16 Pages

To gain a greater understanding of the spatial spillover effect of greenhouse gas emissions and their influencing factors, this paper provides a spatial analysis of four gas pollutants (CO2 emissions, SO2 emissions, NOx emissions, and dust emissions)...

  • Article
  • Open Access
18 Citations
8,076 Views
17 Pages

Do NGOs and Development Agencies Contribute to Sustainability of Smallholder Soybean Farmers in Northern Ghana—A Stochastic Production Frontier Approach

  • Aniah Dominic Avea,
  • Jing Zhu,
  • Xu Tian,
  • Tomas Baležentis,
  • Tianxiang Li,
  • Michael Rickaille and
  • William Funsani

NGOs and development agencies have a conspicuous presence in facilitating capacity building, access to production resources and markets. Capacity building by NGOs and development agencies is expected to contribute to farm efficiency and sustainabilit...

  • Article
  • Open Access
38 Citations
8,249 Views
16 Pages

Visual Prompts or Volunteer Models: An Experiment in Recycling

  • Zi Yin Lin,
  • Xiao Wang,
  • Chang Jun Li,
  • Micheil P. R. Gordon and
  • Marie K. Harder

Successful long-term programs for urban residential food waste sorting are very rare, despite the established urgent need for them in cities for waste reduction, pollution reduction and circular resource economy reasons. This study meets recent calls...

  • Article
  • Open Access
28 Citations
6,315 Views
15 Pages

Enterprise architecture (EA) is one of the most important and effective tools for delivering high-quality e-government services to citizens. In this study, we used organizational performance and change theory to determine factors that contribute to t...

  • Article
  • Open Access
109 Citations
13,600 Views
15 Pages

Environmental and sustainability assessment tools have an important role in moving towards a better world, bringing knowledge and raising awareness. In the architecture and civil engineering sector, these assessment tools help in moving forward to co...

  • Article
  • Open Access
18 Citations
5,495 Views
21 Pages

Previous research in regional energy efficiency by using macro statistical data has demonstrated that technology development could improve regional energy efficiency. Since the start of reform and opening up in 1978, China has mainly adopted energy i...

  • Article
  • Open Access
16 Citations
7,416 Views
19 Pages

Environmental Efficiency Analysis of Listed Cement Enterprises in China

  • Fang Zhang,
  • Hong Fang,
  • Junjie Wu and
  • Damian Ward

China’s cement production has been the highest worldwide for decades and contributes significant environmental pollution. Using a non-radical DEA model with slacks-based measure (SBM), this paper analyzes the environmental efficiency of China’s liste...

  • Article
  • Open Access
52 Citations
17,517 Views
21 Pages

Decision-Making for Risk Management in Sustainable Renewable Energy Facilities: A Case Study in the Dominican Republic

  • Guido C. Guerrero-Liquet,
  • Juan Miguel Sánchez-Lozano,
  • María Socorro García-Cascales,
  • María Teresa Lamata and
  • José Luis Verdegay

Today, Renewable Energy Sources (RES) are a key pillar to achieving sustainable development, which is the main reason why energy projects are being carried out not only in developed countries but also in many emerging countries. Since the technical a...

  • Article
  • Open Access
10 Citations
7,769 Views
14 Pages

In the early 2000s, Vietnam’s government concentrated on the promotion of supporting industries which can be seen as a “key” solution to sustaining economic growth, thereby improving the national welfare. However, Vietnam’s supporting industries stil...

  • Article
  • Open Access
47 Citations
12,960 Views
36 Pages

Logistics centers contribute to CO2 emissions in the building and logistics sector and therefore share a responsibility to decarbonize not only the supply chain. Synergy effects in both building and intra-logistics should be considered as suitable le...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
4,383 Views
14 Pages

Characteristics of Rainfall Runoff Pollutant and Initial Treatment

  • Seongjoon Byeon,
  • Bonjin Koo,
  • Dongwoo Jang and
  • Seunghyub Baeck

The spread of urbanization drives problems which distort the urban water cycle as a form of flood disaster and pollutant loads. When it comes to pollution, a lack of information on the load and characteristics of pollutants has led to insufficient re...

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Sustainability - ISSN 2071-1050