Search results for "omics"
showing 10 items of 17130 documents
Energy Policies and Sustainable Management of Energy Sources
2017
Sustainability of current energy policies and known mid-term policies are analised in their multiple facets. First an overview is given about the trend of global energy demand and energy production, analysing the share of energy sources and the geographic distribution of demand, on the basis of statistics and projections published by major agencies. The issue of sustainability of the energy cycle is finally addressed, with specific reference to systems with high share of renewable energy and storage capability, highlighting some promising energy sources and storage approaches.
Dynamic goal programming synthetic indicator: an application for water companies sustainability assessment
2018
ABSTRACTThis study proposes to evaluate the sustainability of water companies through time by using a new approach, one that involves a dynamic synthetic indicator derived from goal programming techniques. This dynamic indicator approach incorporates catch-up and innovation indices, which enables one to identify the main factors that drive changes in sustainability through time. We used a case study approach to clarify this dynamic approach by evaluating indicator values from a sample of 129 Portuguese water companies over the 2012 to 2015 time period. For most of the water companies we evaluated, sustainability values changed over time, which illustrates the importance of evaluating dynami…
Impact Analysis Using Life Cycle Assessment of Asphalt Production from Primary Data
2020
Road construction and maintenance have a great impact on the environment, owing to the huge volumes of resources involved. Consequently, current production procedures and technologies must be properly investigated, for identifying and quantifying the life cycle environmental impacts produced. In this paper, primary data, i.e., site-specific data directly collected or measured on a reference plant, are analyzed for calculating the impact of the production of a hot mix asphalt. The analysis is performed in a from &ldquo
Renewable energy growth and the financial performance of electric utilities: A panel data study
2017
Electric utilities are under pressure to increase clean energy production. Although the adoption of renewable energy can improve the utilities' environmental performance, a fundamental question is if it also pays in economic terms. Building on the natural-resource-based view of the firm, we answer this question using two data analysis methods. First, we carry out a regression analysis of panel data from 66 large electric utilities covering the period 2005–2014, applying both a fixed and random effects estimator. Subsequently, we use the Granger causality test to explore possible causality links. Our results show a negative correlation at the firm level between renewable energy increase and …
“Natural wine” consumers and interest in label information: An analysis of willingness to pay in a new Italian wine market segment
2019
Abstract Increasing public attention to issues of health and environmental sustainability has contributed to a growing consumer demand for “natural” food and drinks. As has been observed, this trend has also affected the wine market, leading to the spread of so-called “natural wine”. According to the literature, consumers who are aware of the social and environmental impact of their consumption choices pay more attention to the information displayed on the label as a tool to reduce the risk associated with their purchase. This study seeks to identify which consumers are willing to pay for natural wine and to understand what information on the label influences their choice. This study is one…
Modeling the natural gas supply chain for sustainable growth policy
2020
Abstract Natural gas has been used globally as a transitional fuel for supporting a green-energy-supply strategy, which has been questioned for the intermittence and lack of reliability of renewables. This paper proposes a System Dynamics model for assessing alternative security of supply policy along the natural gas value chain. The model incorporates demand, transport, production and reserves of natural gas variables according to a systemic perspective. It also includes a module for evaluating the effect of natural gas price on the demand and supply levels, respectively. Alternative supply policies are evaluated under different scenarios. The chosen case-study focuses on the Colombian nat…
Five-years-long effects of the Italian policies for photovoltaics on the energy demand coverage of grid-connected PV systems installed in urban conte…
2016
Abstract The paper examines the responsiveness of the electricity demand coverage in urban contexts to the changes in the Italian policies for PV systems. The morphological configuration of building roofs according to the number of covered flats, annual data of PV generation and electricity consumptions were considered in the transition from the feed-in tariff (FIT) mechanism to the tax credits scheme currently in force. With the aim of assessing the changes over time in three representative cities, the fluctuations both in the premiums for the produced electricity and the tax credits applied to the PV system costs were observed from July 2010 to February 2016. Furthermore, the main time-va…
Technical Rules for Connecting PV Systems to the Distribution Grid: A Critical Comparison of the Italian and Vietnamese Frameworks
2018
In the last two decades, starting from the Kyoto protocol, decarbonization has promoted worldwide the rise of distributed generation from renewable energy sources. Currently, Vietnam is still showing a strong dependence on fossil fuels but with a great interest in investing in renewable, especially in photovoltaic (PV) systems. In this paper, the current Vietnamese technical and administrative framework for the connection of PV systems to the power grid is presented and critically compared to the Italian one, in order to define the bases for future cooperation in distributed generation and renewable sectors.
Smart Urban Energy Districts and Energy Policies
2018
The deployment of smart cities appears a strategic factor for reducing environmental impact and increasing competitivity of economic systems across the world. Although terminology is similar worldwide, the different political assets and social enviroments largely affect the development models. Drivers indeed are quite different, such as the speed at which transformations take place. As a result, implementation of measures is carried out differently and realizations of smart city projects can be strongly different. Europe, China and U.S.A. approaches are compared in this paper to provide the reader with a broader view about different smart city implementations, with a focus on the electricit…
Soft Innovation Resources: Enabler for reversal in GDP Growth in the Digital Economy
2018
While Finland and Singapore have been maintaining world digital leaders position, they demonstrate interlaced contrast: high welfare with low GDP growth in Finland and higher GDP growth with lower welfare in Singapore. This provokes an uncaptured GDP postulate that Finnish wellbeing has developed more than one might conclude by GDP. However, a recent reversal in the GDP growth trend suggests the possibility that uncaptured GDP contributes to remove structural impediments in GDP growth.This paper demonstrates this hypothesis. An empirical analysis elucidating the inside the national accountings and institutional systems revealed that soft innovation resources have substituted for service cap…