Sustainability

Anthropogenic global warming and the depletion of nonrenewable resources necessitate a transition towards bioenergy to accelerate sustainable development and carbon neutrality. This study quantified the availability and energy potential of crop (cereals, legumes, roots and tubers) straws based on data from the Northern, North East and Savannah regions in Ghana. The annual technical straw potential was 2,967,933 tonnes, whilst the crop straws with the highest technical potential were yam (935,927 tonnes), groundnut (485,236 tonnes), maize (438,926 tonnes) and soybean (374,564 tonnes). The technical energy potential of all the crop straws was 42,256 TJ, although the energy potential of yam, groundnut, maize and soybean was 13,922 TJ, 7611 TJ, 5704 TJ and 5409 TJ, respectively. There was a linear correlation between the straw produced and the energy potential per region. The Northern region (28,153 TJ) recorded the highest energy potential followed by the Savannah (8330 TJ) and North East (5773 TJ) regions. To serve as context, the research placed an emphasis on the sustainability of crop straws for bioenergy and added a brief analysis of the life cycle assessment (LCA) of bioenergy scenarios to explore the environmental sustainability of crop straw-based power generation. This study will serve as a reference in understanding LCA inference on practicable research of crop straw-based, power plant expansion in Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Full article

Climate change and the policy responses to it have implications in terms of (in)justice. Research in fields such as political ecology and environmental justice emphasizes the importance of policy-making addressing and responding to climate injustices. It, moreover, stresses that democratic engagement is imperative, since no universal agreement on the meaning of “justice” exists. Democratic engagement on climate (in)justice is, however, hampered by the predominance of technocratic policy frames. Considering this, knowledge of ways to promote democratic engagement is called for. This study develops such knowledge related to policy-making for climate change adaptation and resilience at the local level, in developed country contexts. Specifically, it draws on the “what’s the problem represented to be?” approach to conceptualize different styles of democratic engagement and examine the possibilities and limitations of each. From the data, comprised of previous research, representations of three styles of democratic engagement are identified and analyzed: (1) closure-oriented engagement centered on changing behaviors, (2) closure-oriented engagement centered on changing the systemic production of unjust practices, and (3) disruptive engagement centered on changing the systemic production of unjust practices. The contributions of this study are relevant to researchers, policymakers, activists and others interested in how to promote a democratization of climate policy-making. Full article

The olive tree (Olea europaea L.) is one of the main crops of the Mediterranean region which suffers from drought and soil salinization. We assessed the photosynthetic rate, leaf water content and antioxidative enzyme activity (APX, GPX, SOD and CAT) of three Greek olive cultivars (‘Amfisis’, ‘Mastoidis’ and ‘Lefkolia Serron’) subjected to drought and salinity stresses. Hyperspectral reflectance data were acquired using an analytical spectral device (ASD) FieldSpec^® 3 spectroradiometer, while principal component regression, partial least squares regression and linear discriminant analysis were used to estimate the relationship between spectral and physiological measurements. The photosynthetic rate and water content of stressed plants decreased, while enzyme activity had an increasing tendency. ‘Amfisis’ was more resistant to drought and salinity stress than ‘Mastoidis’ and ‘Lefkolia Serron’. The NDVI appeared to have the highest correlation with the photosynthetic rate, followed by the PRI. APX enzyme activity was the most highly correlated with the 1150–1370 nm range, with an additional peak at 1840 nm. CAT enzyme activity resulted in the highest correlation with the visible part of the spectrum with two peaks at 1480 nm and 1950 nm, while GPX enzyme activity appeared to have a strong correlation within all the available spectral ranges except for 670–1180 nm. Finally, SOD activity showed high correlation values within 1190–1850 nm. This is the first time the correlation of hyperspectral imagery with photosynthetic rate and antioxidant enzyme activities was determined, providing the background for high-throughput plant phenotyping through a drone with a hyperspectral camera. This progress would provide the possibility of early stress detection in large olive groves and assist farmers in decision making and optimizing crop management, health and productivity. Full article

The bilateral trade data provided by the United Nations International Trade Statistics Database are some of the most authoritative trade statistics and have been widely used in many research fields. Here, we propose a new form of inconsistency in its records, namely statistical imbalance, which refers to the phenomenon of inequality between the import or export trade value of a commodity category and the total value of all its subcategories. We investigated the frequency and spatial-temporal patterns of the statistical imbalances of 15 reporters (i.e., Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, the Rep. of Korea, the Russian Federation, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, and Vietnam) from 1996–2016 and explored their distributional differences in commodity categories with a co-clustering algorithm. The results show that statistical imbalance is widespread with obvious clustering patterns. Trade records related to specific categories such as fossil fuels, pharmaceuticals, machinery, and unspecified commodity categories presented severe statistical imbalances, which may lead to erroneous trade research results. Since statistical imbalance is difficult to detect in studies focusing only on specific commodity categories, we suggested that researchers should prescreen the data for statistical imbalance to ensure the validity of their results. Full article

Uncertainty and variability are key challenges for climate change adaptation planning. In the face of uncertainty, decision-making can be addressed in two interdependent stages: make only partial ex ante anticipative actions to keep options open until new information is revealed, and adapt the first-stage decisions with respect to newly acquired information. This decision-making approach corresponds to the two-stage stochastic optimization (STO) incorporating both anticipative ex ante and adaptive ex post decisions within a single model. This paper develops a two-stage STO model for climate change adaptation through robust land use and irrigation planning under conditions of uncertain water supply. The model identifies the differences between decision-making in the cases of perfect information, full uncertainty, and two-stage STO from the perspective of learning about uncertainty. Two-stage anticipative and adaptive decision-making with safety constraints provides risk-informed decisions characterized by quantile-based Value-at-Risk and Conditional Value-at-Risk risk measures. The ratio between the ex ante and ex post costs and the shape of uncertainty determine the balance between the anticipative and adaptive decisions. Selected numerical results illustrate that the alteration of the ex ante agricultural production costs can affect crop production, management technologies, and natural resource utilization. Full article

The geography fieldtrip is a well-consolidated learning mode, but may become a procedural teaching strategy in geography. In geographical education, fieldtrips foster students’ overall knowledge-building processes to become world citizens, and thus to be fully committed to the Earth’s sustainability. Fieldtrips prepare students for applying and connecting knowledge in a real context. However, the geography fieldtrip may lack robust proposals on challenges and achievements that are clearly identified as assessable geographical geoabilities for competences. This paper offers a geography competence-oriented fieldtrip assessment framework. Project-based learning is chosen as the didactic approach, in which the fieldtrip project is built upon a real-world acute question of the students’ interest and choice, and solutions are reached following the enquiry learning method. The proposal brings cognitive domain (geographical thinking) and process (geospatial thinking) into alignment with geography and cross-cutting competences, corresponding geoabilities and geoskills, and learning outcomes in geography fieldtrips. The framework provides an assessment procedure (learning outcomes, tasks, and evidence) and tools (rubrics of evidence for learning outcomes) for fieldtrip geoskill assessment. Full article

The question of trace metal elements (TME) is still relevant and causes several environmental problems. Moreover, the digestion methods of TME have a significant impact on ecosystems. Sample preparation is an important step of any analytical procedure. In fact, defining the levels of TME in vegetal tissues requires various steps: drying samples, crushing, extraction, and dosage. The use of chemical extraction solutions can be put into question. Other than their lack of specificity, they are susceptible to provoking the redistribution and/or re-fixation of a part of the metallic ions between the various vegetal components. Our study aims to test the procedures of extraction that are specific for the metals Cu, Zn, Fe, Ca, Cr and Ba. Our results show an outstanding difference in the levels of TME derived from the same vegetal sample, according to the various techniques of extraction. In fact, cold extraction by nitric acid diluted at 10% is the most efficient way to put the ions of Cu, Zn, Fe and Ca into a solution. Meanwhile, the use of heated extraction using different acid digestion approaches is the most efficient for Cr and Ba solubilization from Atriplex portulacoides, Arthrocnemum indicum, Olea europaea BCR-62, Ulva lactuca and Ulva lactuca BCR-279. Full article

To understand how landscape irrigation can be better managed, we selected two urban irrigation systems in northern Utah, USA, and performed a statistical analysis of relationships among water use, irrigated area, plant health (based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), and water rate structures across thousands of parcels. Our approach combined remote sensing with 4-band imagery and on-site measurements from water meters. We present five key findings that can lead to more efficient irrigation practices. First, tiered water rates result in less water use when compared to flat water rates for comparable plant health. Second, plant health does not strictly increase with water application but has an optimum point beyond which further watering is not beneficial. Third, many water users irrigate beyond this optimum point, suggesting that there is water conservation potential without loss of aesthetics. Fourth, irrigation is not the only contributor to plant health, and other factors need more attention in research and in water conservation programs. Fifth, smaller irrigated areas correlate with higher water application rates, an observation that may inform future land use decisions. These findings are especially pertinent in responding to the current drought in the western United States. Full article

This commentary debates on the role of multiple socioeconomic drivers of fringe land degradation (including, but not limited to, population and social dynamics, economic polarization, and developmental policies), as a novel contribution to the desertification assessment in Southern European metropolitan regions, a recognized hotspot of desertification at the global scale. Expanding rapidly all over the world, metropolitan regions are a geographical space where land degradation drivers and processes assume typical relationships that require further research supporting dedicated policy strategies. To assure a better comprehension of the environmental-economic nexus at the base of land degradation in peri-urban areas, we provided a classification of relevant socioeconomic and territorial dimensions in both macro-scale and micro-scale degradation processes. We also identified the related (contextual) factors that determine an increased risk of desertification in metropolitan regions. Micro-scale factors, such as agricultural prices and off-farm employment, reflect some potential causes of fringe land degradation, with a mostly local and on-site role. Technological change, agricultural prices, and household income influence land vulnerability, but their impact on fringe land degradation was less investigated and supposed to be quite moderate in most cases. Macro-scale factors such as population density, rural poverty, and environmental policies—being extensively studied on a qualitative base—were taken as important drivers of fringe land degradation, although their impact still remains undefined. Regional disparities in land resource distribution, rural poverty, and unsustainable management of environmental resources like soil and water were indirect consequences of land degradation in peri-urban districts. Based on a comparative review of theoretical and empirical findings, strategies mitigating degradation of fringe land and reducing desertification risk in potentially affected metropolitan regions were finally discussed for the Northern Mediterranean basin and generalized to other socioeconomic contexts. Full article

Climate is an essential component in the sustainability of tourism cities. Coastal tourism cities face unprecedented challenges under a changing climate. The complexity of the tourism–climate interface predicates the need for tools that can assess the weather and climate accurately. Tourism climate indices have been widely developed to evaluate the temporal and spatial distribution of climate resources, but these indices are not entirely applicable to coastal cities facing air pollution. This study developed a Coastal Tourism Climate Index (CTCI) to assess the tourism climate suitability of Chinese coastal cities. The CTCI was developed to include five variables: thermal comfort, sunshine, precipitation, wind, and air quality. This index was applied and verified in the case of nine coastal tourism cities in China compared to the Holiday Climate Index (HCI: Beach). According to the results, the CTCI is more suitable for coastal tourism climate assessment in China. Finally, corresponding countermeasures are put forward for the balanced and sustainable development of Chinese coastal tourism cities. This study takes the lead in applying big data to the development and validation of tourism climate indices. These findings provide novel insights for the tourism climate assessment of coastal destinations facing air pollution. Full article

Damages in port facilities during past seismic events have led to widespread direct and indirect losses, with serious impact on the economic, operational, and emergency management of the port itself and, as a consequence, on the related society. Ground shaking is among the most widespread sources of seismic damage to port structures and infrastructure, together with the induced phenomena principally associated with the liquefaction of loose, saturated soils that often prevail in coastal areas. This study presents a methodology for the seismic risk assessment of port facilities which considers the combined effects of ground shaking and liquefaction as well as various interdependencies among port elements, which affect the port’s operation and, consequently, the total risk impact. The methodology, based on either probabilistic or deterministic scenario-based approaches, is demonstrated through an application to the Thessaloniki port, one of the most important ports in Southeastern Europe and the largest transit-trade port in Greece. The systemic risk analysis of the port is carried out using as a performance indicator the reduction in the container and bulk cargo movements affected by the seismic performance of the piers, the waterfront, and container/cargo handling equipment, as well as their interaction with the seismic performance of the electric power system. Two different functionality analyses of the port system are performed, one basic and one less conservative alternative. The results of the probabilistic seismic risk assessment are illustrated in terms of annual probabilities of collapse and loss exceedance curves for each individual port component as well as normalized performance loss for the whole port system for the container and cargo terminal. For the scenario-based deterministic approach, the results are given in terms of risk maps presenting the spatial distribution of damages/losses for all components as well as in terms of the expected loss of performance of the port system. The proposed methodology may provide the basis for an efficient seismic risk management of ports. It may also be adjusted and applied to other port infrastructures in Greece and worldwide considering additional components, interactions among elements, and different earthquake induced hazards. Full article

This paper adopts the Life Cycle Investment (LCI) approach proposed by Farinha et al. to assess project viability based on the maintenance and operational efficiency of a proposed biopower plant over its useful economic life. The adoption of ISO 55000:2014, its guidance on management and maintenance policies for physical assets, and its contribution to the achievement of sustainable development goals on clean and affordable energy (SDG7) remain relevant for investment decisions regarding waste-to-energy technology systems. Using the parameters defined in a previous biopower feasibility study for Nigeria, the LCI approach is applied to show the change in project profitability over the estimated useful life of the plant, where availability is altered, based on maintenance downtime and overall operational efficiency. The results show positive movement in operational efficiency between 85–91%, which correlates with increased profitability in the same period. The project’s profitability and return on investment is revised downward from 29% to 8% based on the initial availability adjustment, and the changes in derived profit based on plant availability support the argument in favor of operational efficiency and structured maintenance policies as key performance and investment viability indicators, which ultimately impact the total cost of ownership. The results are also interpreted using Pareto Principles for emphasis. The ultimate goal is to encourage due attention and diligence in relation to latent factors which often erode the perceived benefits of viable projects after completion and potentially hamper future investment, specifically in the broader sub-Saharan African waste management context. Full article

Crop switching has been examined in the literature addressing the production effects of irrigation or as viable strategy in the adaptation to climate change, which is closely related to agricultural resilience. Attention to the identification of the direct linkage between crop switching and farm profitability, and, thus, farm sustainability, however, has been quite limited. This study attempts to provide a significant complement to the extant research by identifying the treatment effect of crop switching on the net returns of crop growers in Taiwan. A multinomial endogenous treatment effects model with the latent-factor structure is used to take self-selection into account. The result suggests that farm households’ economic resilience is closely related to their choice of crops, which constitute the major source of farm income. Specifically, among the six cash crop categories, fruit crops and other crops are found to be most remunerating and, thus, suggests possible improvements in farm households’ economic resilience through crop switching. A further analysis of the distributional implications of crop switching through quantile regression confirms the persistent and stronger effects of crop choice on net returns when moving from the bottom to the top quartiles along the net-return distribution. This result suggests a close association of crop choices with farm income inequality among the crop farm households in Taiwan, which in turn implies possible distributional effects of crop switching. Full article

Given that energy is a significant input factor for modern economic growth, which has also brought the most severe negative externalities damage to the environment, improving energy efficiency is considered critical globally. As a large energy producer and consumer, China faces challenges from both the economy and the environment. This study used the generalized method of moments estimation techniques to examine the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) technology spillovers on energy efficiency in a sample of manufacturing industries. A super-efficient data envelopment measure of energy efficiency is examined. The novelty of this study is that it analyzes both the quantitative and qualitative values of various spillover effects at the industry level. Using a panel data set on 26 manufacturing industries in Guangdong Province of China covering the period 2000–2018, the empirical results show a positive and statistically significant relationship between FDI competitive effects and energy efficiency. In contrast, this relationship is in the opposite position when demonstration effects of FDI technology spillovers occur. The results also show these effects have more impact to the low or middle energy consumption industries. The study provides a reference for the formulation of the FDI strategy and energy policy in the manufacturing sector. Full article

From an early age, girls disregard studies related to science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM), and this means that a gender gap begins during secondary education and continues to increase over time. Multiple causes have been identified for this phenomenon in the literature, and numerous initiatives are being carried out to reverse this situation. In this paper, we analyze the impact that a group mentoring initiative led by a female STEM role model had on the young people who participated and whether the impact was different based on their sex. We analyzed how these mentoring sessions affected their attitudes towards technology, mathematical self-efficacy, gender stereotypes, science and technology references, and career vocations. To this end, 303 students between the ages of 10 and 12 years old from 10 schools in Spain participated in the six sessions comprising the program and completed a series of questionnaires before and after participating. The results show that the program had an impact on the students’ attitudes towards technology, increased the number of female STEM references they knew, and improved their opinions of vocations and professions related to science and technology. The impact was greater among girls, although in aspects such as attitudes towards technology, the female participants still demonstrated lower values than boys. The program did not improve the stereotypes that the young participants had about mathematical self-efficacy, which was also always lower among girls. We conclude that the lack of STEM vocations among girls is rooted in multiple social, educational, and personal aspects that need to be addressed from a very early age and that should involve multiple agents. Full article

Crop stage-specific information on the impacts of projected climate change on crop and irrigation water requirements are essential for improving productivity. This study investigated the possible implications of projected climate change on the phenology, effective rainfall (P_eff), crop (CWR) and irrigation water requirements (IWR) of maize in eight locations in India. CWR, P_eff and IWR were estimated for seven crop stages viz., emergence, 5th leaf stage, tasseling, silking, milking, dough and maturity during the baseline (1980–2009) and near-century (2022–39) using climate data derived from a subset of 29 general circulation models. The results indicated that mean seasonal maximum temperature, minimum temperature and rainfall were projected to increase in all the locations. Hence, the total crop duration (3–7 days), CWR (8–69 mm) and IWR (1–54 mm) were projected to decrease. The study could identify the specific stages in which the greatest reduction in crop duration, CWR and IWR would occur. Such information will be of immense help to farmers and varietal improvement programs in the study regions in the near future. Full article

There is an urgent need to understand the fishing sector, given the uncertainties and the importance it has gained due to the potential of Algerian waters. The main objective of this paper is to establish a diagnosis of the demand for fishery resources at Algiers fishing ports and provide additional information regarding energy use at a reduced scale. According to the estimated ecological footprint (EF) of fishery production (EFf), Algiers fishing is in the status of ecological surplus, as the demand for fisheries production averages 15,338.49 gha compared to more than 108 thousand gha of biologically productive fishing area. In addition to this overall output, this metric indicates each species’ primary production requirement (PPR), which could help to restructure the fishing effort based on the stock’s condition. For the energy component, the fuel consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions expressed in metric tons of CO₂ were used to estimate the required area for carbon sequestration, valued roughly at 500 gha. The latter is a reference state and remains approximate because it was derived from unofficial data provided by the fishers. This study demonstrated that EF is informative and could be used for resources management. However, it must be built on precise data and supported by further analysis. Full article

High-quality innovation in cross-border business models is the focus of innovative development. However, some enterprises are blindly obsessed with focusing on the quantity of innovation, while they neglect the quality of innovation. As a result, the quantity of innovation in cross-border business models is not proportional to the quality, and cross-border business models need continuous improvement. High-quality innovation in cross-border business models is also related to outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) and knowledge absorptive capacity. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between OFDI and innovation quality in cross-border business models. This study proposes that knowledge absorptive capacity plays a mediating transmission role between OFDI and innovation quality. Based on panel data for 478 Chinese high-tech multinational enterprises in the period from 2014 to 2019, the paper uses moderated path analysis to construct a non-linear mediated transmission model of knowledge absorptive capacity in terms of the OFDI and innovation quality of high-tech enterprises. The results show that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between OFDI and innovation quality. Knowledge absorptive capacity plays an inverted U-shaped mediating role in the transmission between OFDI and innovation quality. In a post hoc analysis, it was found that a low degree of OFDI has an inverted U-shaped relationship with innovation quality, and a high degree of OFDI negatively inhibits innovation quality. Therefore, Chinese high-tech enterprises operating cross-border must maintain an appropriate level of OFDI by improving the matching mechanism between OFDI and knowledge absorptive capacity, which is conducive to improving the innovation quality of multinational enterprises in host countries. Full article

The article presents selected Polish early warning models (logit and discriminant models) that allow the assessment of the risk of bankruptcy of a company, and the purpose of the considerations is to indicate their prognostic effectiveness in predicting susceptible Polish companies one year before their declarations of bankruptcy. The limitations of these methods were also indicated in unpredictable situations, such as the outbreak of an economic crisis, e.g., caused by a humanitarian crisis—the COVID-19 pandemic. Another aim chosen in the article is a methodological critical assessment of the phenomenon of widespread use of foreign models (including the common Altman method) in the study of the risk of bankruptcy of Polish enterprises. Models developed on a sample of foreign enterprises without prior adaptation to domestic conditions are used all over the world, so the conclusions of the article are applicable internationally. The research was based on a query of Polish and foreign literature in the field of economic and legal aspects of bankruptcy and financial analysis, including, in particular, bankruptcy forecasting. The empirical research analyzes the financial data of 50 Polish enterprises from 2017 to 2018. The effectiveness of the selected bankruptcy forecasting models in identifying enterprises from section C of the Polish economy (industrial processing) that filed for bankruptcy in 2018 and 2019 was tested. The time frame fully allows for the identification and the assessment of the effectiveness of early warning models a year before bankruptcy. Full article