Search results for "natural resource"

Changes in the total costs of the English and Welsh water and sewerage industry: The decomposed effect of price and quantity inputs on efficiency

2020

Abstract Understanding what drives changes in regulated water companies' costs is of great relevance to water regulators. This study decomposes and estimates the change in total costs for a sample of ten water and sewerage companies in England and Wales from 1993 to 2016. The results demonstrate that companies' total costs increased over time due to increases in input prices and input quantity. Any gains obtained from the efficient allocation of resources and technical progress were lost due to mergers and technical inefficiency. Finally, we link our results with the regulatory cycle to evaluate the impact of the regulatory regime on companies' costs and discuss some policy implications.

Environmental analysis of different construction techniques and maintenance activities for a typical local road

2017

Abstract In this paper, considering the sever impact of road infrastructures on both the surrounding environment as well as on the consumption of locally available natural resources, different road construction techniques have been studied and compared, in order to be able to rank the best solution in terms of environmental sustainability. For the aims of this study, a Life Cycle Analysis has been carried out on a road infrastructure with the most representative geometrical characteristics among those widely used in Italy, in suburban areas, with the help of an appropriate software, the PaLATE. The environmental effects due to both the use of recycled materials, such as the Reclaimed Asphal…

Effects of temperature and desiccation on ex situ conservation of nongreen fern spores

2012

Premise of the study Fern spores are unicellular and haploid, making them a potential model system to study factors that regulate lifespan and mechanisms of aging. Aging rates of nongreen spores were measured to compare longevity characteristics among diverse fern species and test for orthodox response to storage temperature and moisture. Methods Aging of spores from 10 fern species was quantified by changes in germination and growth parameters. Storage temperature ranged from ambient room to -196°C (liquid nitrogen); spores were dried to ambient relative humidity (RH) or using silica gel. Key results Survival of spores varied under ambient storage conditions, with one species dying within …

In Itinere STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT of an integrated provincial waste system

2009

In the paper, the practical problem of analysing in an integrated way the performance of provincial waste systems is approached, in the framework of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). In particular, the in itinere phase of SEA is analysed herein. After separating out a proper group of ambits, to which the waste system is supposed to determine relevant impacts, pertinent sets of single indicators are proposed. Through the adoption of such indicators the time trend of the system is investigated, and the suitability of each indicator is critically revised. The structure of the evaluation scheme, which is essentially based on the use of ambit issues and analytical indicators, calls …

The contribution of a supplier of the food and beverage industry to the sustainability of the overall supply chain

2021

Achieving sustainable scopes in a supply chain context entails structural changes at all tiers. Recently, scholars investigated different models able to achieve a sustainable supply chain management. With the aim to explain which factors, at the single supplier level, could reassure a focal firm as regards the compliance of sub-suppliers toward sustainability principles, a case study was performed on a company of the food and beverage packaging industry, based on the natural resources-based view of the firm. Results show the leading role that, a major supplier, can play in promoting sub-suppliers' compliance towards sustainable principles. Reputation, legitimacy and concerns about future po…

Changes and persistences of traditional architectural shapes in Burkina Faso

2018

Oggetto del presente lavoro è l’esito di una ricerca condotta presso il Dipartimento di Architettura dell’Università degli Studi di Palermo, finalizzata all’analisi dello stato dell’arte dell’architettura tradizionale dei Paesi dell’Africa Nord-Occidentale e agli effetti che su questa ha determinato il processo di modernizzazione dell’habitat, attraverso l’introduzione di nuovi materiali da costruzione e di tecnologie avanzate importate da Paesi industrializzati. Il Paese preso in esame è il Burkina Faso, nell’Africa sub-sahariana, uno dei più poveri del Mondo e dell’Africa e, per tale ragione, uno dei più suscettibili alla superiorità economica e tecnologica dei paesi industrializzati che …

Zrównoważone wykorzystanie zasobów rolnictwa warunkiem wzrostu gospodarczego

2013

Environmental aspects of the implementation of bioeconomy in the Baltic Sea Region: An input-output approach

2019

Abstract Bioeconomy is one of the main aspects of the Baltic Sea Region (BRS) Programme. However, at the national level, bioeconomy strategies are still under development in several countries. As environmental aspects are particularly important to ensure the sustainability of bioeconomy, the aim of this paper is to analyse changes in consumption- and production-based bio-resource, land and water footprints for the period of 2011–2015 and couple them with economic indicators, to assess the efficiency of bioeconomy in the BSR countries. The results show significant differences in consumption- and production-based bio-resource, land and water footprints among the BSR countries; these differenc…

Ecological footprint decomposition analyses: the case of Latvia

2012

This paper presents results from empirical decomposition analyses of Latvia’s national Ecological Footprint in the housing, transport and food consumption sectors. It draws attention to growth, structural and intensity effects causing changes in the ecological footprint and presents the strategies to be employed by policy makers to overcome these effects.

PAYMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TERRITORY

2014

Over the last years the interest in environmental s ervices provided by forests has considerably grow. This situation, in developed countries, derive from risi ng demand of new goods and services tied to landsca pe use and leisure activities. These can be considered such as no woody products and they represent externalities produced by forest that, if suitably utilized, could produce value for the area and earn ings for people living near forests. From an economic point of view, at the aim of providing these services, it is necessary the introduction of a suitable payment sy stem or, in alternative, a situation in which posit ive externalities of landscape, in sync with other good s/service…