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Agricultural food residues (agro-residues) receive low economic returns and experience disposal problems. The food production and processing is often not configured to supply agro-residues for production of bioenergy needed in food processing. The feasibility of utilising agro-residues through advances in postharvest technology for sustainable bioenergy conversion is reviewed. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Agro-residues from maize, sugarcane and potatoes in five African countries were assessed from secondary data to identify suitable conversion technologies, energy products and configurations of bioenergy plants for applications in postharvest food processing.

Strategic alignment of postharvest technology to bioenergy production systems is vital to advancing both food production and bioenergy that benefit rural communities in Africa. High economic returns are possible when the bioenergy plants are either annexure to existing agro-processing operations or operate as a biorefinery.

Assessment of energy self-sufficiency of food production and processing systems is required.

Agro-residues for bioenergy production require investments in infrastructure for storage, transportation and processing of the residues, and development of new risk management techniques.

The rural communities will be energy secure resulting in food security through reduced postharvest losses and increased agricultural productivity.

The study stimulates innovative thinking in establishing sustainable bioenergy systems for food processes.

A variety of biomass plantations are being raised for energy production. This case study is on energy production potential of seasonal oil bearing crops in India. These crops have the advantage of producing oil (liquid fuel) as well as biomass as agro residue (solid fuel). The purpose of the study is to estimate total energy yields of oil bearing crops and compare with other types of energy plantations. Also oil bearing crops bioaccumulate metals and thus phytoremediate soil. This provides scope for waste water irrigation.

Relevant published papers on energy production by raising oil bearing crops have been analyzed. The effect of waste water irrigation and agronomic practices on increasing productivity is given special attention.

It is shown that the seasonal oil bearing crops such as castor have a high potential to generate energy and this is comparable to energy produced by many perennial grasses. The energy yields of castor under irrigated condition was 196×103 MJ/ha and this is comparable to the reed canary grass which yields 195×103 MJ/ha. Some of the oil bearing crops are also super accumulators of certain toxic metals.

In this study, only all the accessible papers on the topic could be analyzed.

This case study indicates that raising oil bearing crops such as castor using waste water has many advantages which include high energy yields, utilization of waste water for productive purpose and phytoremediation of soil.

The comparison made between various types of energy crops for their energy generation is an original contribution. Findings of economic and environmental benefits by waste water irrigation are also of value.

The pulp and paper industry has been the focus of government policies ever since independence. This is the only industry where government plays a multi-dimensional role – not only as the regulator but also as the supplier of raw material and as the buyer. Despite the government's omnipotent role, there is evidence that industry is not very competitive, as it has very high energy and water intensity and poor productivity. A potent factor identified in the literature for the underperformance of the industry or for that matter any economy is the kind of technology used by the firms in the sector. This paper aims to look into the role of government policy in affecting the growth of the industry and what role embodied technology has played in influencing the efficiency of firms in Indian pulp and paper industry.

For the first question, the study uses 66 years of production data of the industry from 1951 to 2016 and tests for the structural break. For the second question, the study uses cross-section plant-level data for the year 2011-2012 of 160 paper manufacturing units to first estimate the stochastic production frontier (stochastic frontier analysis [SFA]) and then uses the output of SFA to find an association between embodied technology gap (TG) and technical efficiency. A methodological problem in earlier literature is the use of the productivity gap as a proxy for embodied TG. The present study uses technical parameters of papermaking – machine deckle and operating speed – to construct an index of TG.

The results show a structural break in the production trend occurring in 1999 with the delicensing in July 1997 as the possible cause. The SFA results show that the average technical inefficiency (TE) of the firms in the sector is 74 per cent with half of the firms having TE higher than 76 per cent. The study, however, does not find any impact of embodied TG on technical efficiency; rather it is the age, size, ownership and location that have an impact on it.

This is an original research, as the author has not come across any study in Indian context or elsewhere using technical parameters to construct TG variable.

The purpose of this paper is to study Al-based green composite. To make composite samples of aluminium alloy (AA3105) with different weight percentages of rice husk ash (RHA) and eggshell (ES) particles as reinforcement, stir casting method was used.

Several other aspects, including the weight percent of reinforcing agent particles, the applied stress and the sliding speed, were taken into consideration. During the course of the wear test, the sliding distance that was recorded varied from a minimum of 1,000 m all the way up to a maximum of 3,135 m (10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 min). The typical range for normal loads is 8–24 N, and their speed is 1.58 m/s.

With the AA/ES/RHA composite, the wear rates decreases when the grain size of the reinforcing particles enhanced. Scanning electron microscopy images of worn surfaces show that at low speeds, delaminating and ploughing are the main causes of wear. At high speeds, ploughing is major cause of wear. Composites with better wear-resistant properties can be used in wide range of tribological applications, especially in the automotive industry. It was found that hardness increases at the same time as the weight of the reinforcement increases. Tensile and hardness were maximized at 10% reinforcement mix in Al3105.

In this work, ES and RHA has been used to develop green metal matrix composite to support green revolution as promoted/suggested by United Nations thus reducing the environmental pollution.

The paper aims to design and prove the concept of micro-industry using trigeneration fuelled by biomass, for sustainable development in rural NW India.

This is being tested at village Malunga, near Jodhpur in Rajasthan. The system components comprise burning of waste biomass for steam generation and its use for power generation, cooling system for fruit ripening and the use of steam for producing distilled water. Site was selected taking into account the local economic and social needs, biomass resources available from agricultural activities, and the presence of a NGO which is competent to facilitate running of the enterprise. The trigeneration system was designed to integrate off-the-shelf equipment for power generation using boilers of approximate total capacity 1 tonne of fuel per hour, and a back-pressure steam turbo-generator (200 kW). Cooling is provided by a vapour absorption machine (VAM).

The financial analysis indicates a payback time of less than two years. Nevertheless, this is sensitive to market fluctuations and availabilities of raw materials.

Although comparable trigeneration systems already exist in large food processing industries and in space heating and cooling applications, they have not previously been used for rural micro-industry. The small-scale (1-2 m3/h output) multiple effect distillation (3 effect plus condenser) unit has not previously been deployed at field level.

Transforming a production-oriented firm into a marketing-oriented firm; aligning marketing strategy of local companies in globalizing emerging markets; creating sustainable competitive advantage.

Post graduate management courses in marketing management, strategic marketing, international marketing, business strategy.

This case is about how the leader in the Indian paper industry, Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT), is proactively transforming a production-oriented firm to a marketing-oriented firm to compete in the globalizing emerging market scenario, in the wake of economic liberalisation. It requires the participants to evaluate the impact of marketing initiatives made, and align BILT's marketing strategy to leverage it's strengths and help create sustainable competitive advantage.

To understand the need for local companies in emerging markets to proactively align marketing strategy to build competitive advantage in the globalizing industry.

Teaching notes.

The subject area of the case is operations management and capacity planning. The case adopts different operation strategies to use the idle capacity.

The case study is suitable for discussion in masters level classes. The case explains the situation of a company which is fighting for its survival. The case reveals the alternative operations strategies it applies to maximize its capacity utilization and reduce its costs.

The case describes a paper producing company which is earning low margins. The company’s capacity remains unused during the off-seasons. The company then plans to share its capacity with another dying industry. Both the companies plan to cooperate and share resources. However, there are other attractive alternatives too and the dilemma situations leave the gap for continuous discussions.

The case aims at providing potential alternatives to the students and initiating healthy discussions. The students will be able to understand the capacity utilization dilemmas and applicability of the operations strategy concept in practice.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

In the context of China, the purpose of this paper is to empirically answer three related questions: Could circular agriculture (CA) attain economic, ecological and social benefits simultaneously? What is key to a successful CA business in emerging economies? And who plays the vital role in building and sustaining a circular business?

The paper is based on a field study and looks at a farm in China. It uses a triangulation methodology to collect information. Besides longitudinal filed work at the farm, the researchers have also interviewed multiple stakeholders and conducted field research at the local markets.

With concrete performance data, the study proves that a circular approach can help achieve ecological, economic and social goals together. It shows that economic viability is essential to succeeding in circular operation, sufficient production pathways are required to make such operation sustainable, and entrepreneurship is key to build and grow a circular business.

The findings point to the crucial role of entrepreneurship in promoting the circular model in emerging economies. These findings, however, may not be readily generalizable, given the limitations of the case study approach.

The study highlights a few areas in which government assistance can make a difference, including financial incentives, information provision, technical support and most importantly the creation of a positive environment for entrepreneurial development.

While prior research emphasizes the role of government in promoting circular economy in developing and emerging markets, the study proves that entrepreneurship is key to turning government initiatives into economically viable and sustainable circular operation.

Aluminium metal matrix composite (AMMC) is most popular in various industrial applications such as aerospace, automobile, marine, sports and many others. In common practice, silicon carbide, aluminum oxides, magnesium oxide, graphene and carbon nano tubes are the major reinforcing elements to prepare the AMMC. The purpose of this paper is to develop AMMCs reinforce with eggshell (ES) and rice husk ash (RHA).

Stir casting process is used for preparation of AMMC. From past few years, more emphasis is given to prepare the AMMCs using agro waste such as rice husk and/or ES as reinforcing materials. In this method, after the Al-matrix material is melted; it is stirred vigorously to form vortex at the surface of the melt, and the reinforcement material is then introduced at the side of the vortex. Stir casting process is a vortex and vigorous method to prepare the AMMCs. First, aluminum alloy (AA3105) is melted in the furnace when metal is in semisolid form. Reinforcement, i.e. ES and RHA are preheated at temperature 220°C and 260°C, respectively.

The result of AMMC shows that the tensile strength and hardness increased by using 22.41% and 45.5%, respectively, at 4.75 Wt.% each reinforcement, i.e. ES and RHA, and 1% Cr. The toughness and ductility of metal matrix composite (MMCs) have decreased up to 23.31% and 19.23% respectively by using 1% Cr, 4.75 wt. % ES and by 4.75 wt. % RHA of composite material.

In this work, Cr, waste ES and RHA have been used to develop green MMC to support the green revolution as promoted/suggested by United Nations, thus reducing the environmental pollution.

The present study deals with determination of physical, mechanical and combustion characteristics like mass, density, compressive strength, shearing strength, moisture content, total ash content, fixed carbon, volatile matter, gross calorific value of Sawdust briquette. Briquette quality is evaluated mainly by briquette density. Briquette density is very important from the viewpoint of manipulation, burning speed, briquette durability, etc. During our research, theoretical analyses of parameters which have an impact on briquette quality were conducted. The sawdust sample produced using super-70 piston press machine. The compression test and shear test were conducted for three sawdust sample using compression testing machine. For quality and durability evaluation of the manufactured briquette the density and strength properties were determined. To determine the calorific value and proximate analysis of the briquette using the tests carried out in the lab.