Search results

In the recent decades, research and industry on city logistics have tried to seek for environment-friendly solutions that are efficient enough to satisfy both society and suppliers’ needs. One of the potential solutions is the use of small-size electric vehicles (SEVs), due to their improved energy efficiency, local zero emissions, and lower traffic disturbance.

In spite of all the benefits of SEV for society, advertised through experimental trials focused on social and environmental benefits, research on these vehicles’ impacts seems to overlook the effects on private stakeholders operations, namely, disregarding the replacement rate needed to assure the same delivery patterns and their purchasing and battery charging implications.

In this chapter, the authors contribute in filling this research gap by considering private interests, related to operation costs levels (running and driving costs), service levels, and efficiency in the promotion of SEV. Simultaneously, its balance with public interests, related with sustainability, quality of life, mobility, and environmental issues are also addressed.

The authors aim to evaluate the usage of SEV in this research and to estimate the effects of replacing conventional vans by SEV on city logistics operations. The results of this quantitative analysis enlighten if SEVs are indeed a viable solution to satisfy public and private stakeholders, when operational and external costs are fully accounted.

The chapter presents a case study that addresses the effects of replacing vans by SEV on city logistics operations in the city of Oporto (Portugal), considering public and private stakeholders’ interests. The study compares four scenarios of 5%, 10%, 30%, and 70% of SEVs replacing diesel vans used in transport and unloading operations. The four scenarios are tested on different geographical scales: street and city levels. First, the authors estimate how the use of SEV in city logistics affects traffic, energy consumption, and emissions. Second, the respective operating and external costs are quantified and the acquisition and battery issues are discussed.

When considering the goal of promoting SEV as a sustainable city logistics policy, under a methodology focused on mobility, operational performance, and environmental externalities, the authors concluded (a) the replacement rate SEV:van is determinant to make a decision on whether or not to use SEVs replacing vans, (b) SEVs are economically competitive with conventional vans if the replacement rate is 1:1, (c) SEVs have a better performance at the street level rather than at the city level, (d) SEVs can be used with normal traffic as a niche of market (lower than 5%), and (e) SEVs benefits exist, but they are not significant enough to drive suppliers for their adoption.

The chapter explores the corporate risks and opportunities in low carbon economy in order to provide references for business to tackle the global warming issue. It first discusses severe consequence of climate change and points out that the low carbon economy is to mitigate climate change. Then different perspectives of low carbon economy and similar connotations are introduced. It is found that companies are driven to practise environmental responsibility by various risks. In particular, these risks come from international policies, investors, national regulations, customers, peers, sub-sectors, and supply chains. Finally, the opportunities and benefits of low carbon responsibility are illustrated. The research shows that if the enterprises actively take low carbon responsibility, they will get the opportunities to develop corporate capabilities, benefits of early movement and advantages of brand effect.

The aim of the study is to evaluate role of trade war between the United States and China on oil price. For this purpose, global oil price and US trade balance with China are selected as variables. In addition to this issue, monthly data of these variables for the periods between 1990 and 2019 are taken into consideration. In the evaluation process, both Engle–Granger cointegration and Toda–Yamamoto causality analysis are considered. The results of Engle–Granger cointegration analysis indicates that there is a ­relationship between trade war and oil prices. Nevertheless, according to the results of Toda–Yamamoto causality analysis, it is identified that trade war does not cause oil prices. While looking at these results, it is determined that trade war between the United States and China has an influence on the oil price changes. However, it is also understood that it is not the main factor of this volatility. Thus, it is recommended that in order to identify the main indicator of the oil price volatility, some different factors should also be taken into consideration.

This chapter describes the scenario technique used for the integrative methodological approach (IMA) of the German global change project GLOWA Elbe. It is outlined how regional scenarios are systematically derived to analyze water use conflicts and their resolution in the context of global change for the German Elbe river basin. Through the combination of frameworks of development and policy strategies a consistent set of developmental scenarios can be generated that makes it possible to examine the regional impact of policy strategies under conditions of different future global change development paths. The scenario analysis of the framework of development starts on the global level with qualitative IPCC storylines, translates them to the regional level, and quantifies their regional effects by means of modeling and statistical estimation methods. The policy strategies are derived in close cooperation with regional stakeholders.

Clean energy is the most demanding issue for sustainable development, especially in post-COVID-19 scenario. The Government of India (GOI) has adopted various reform policies in the energy sector focusing on Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7). India has taken initiative on SDG 7 to ensure access to sustainable energy for all. The core interest area of this paper is to analyse recent energy reform policies in energy sectors covering power generation, transmission, distribution and consumption and discusses mechanism SDG target achievement within 2030 in India. In the COVID-19 pandemic scenario, every country faces a major issue of energy security since the undisrupted energy security is related to energy demand. In the time period of pandemic, industrial energy demand goes down rapidly all over the world, especially in India. Though in the eve of festive season in India the difference between the energy supply and demand slightly overcomes. In the year 2003, GOI through Electricity Act opened electricity market for private participation to increase efficiencies. In the COVID-19 pandemic scenario, every country faces a major issue of energy security since the undisrupted energy security is related to energy demand. Further, the Ministry of Power has taken several policies such as National Electrification Policy in 2005, National Tariff Policy, Rural Electrification Policy in 2009 and Integrated Energy Policy. This policy brief paper highlights the progress of clean energy in India and provides their future trajectory towards achieving SDG targets, especially in the period of COVID-19 pandemic.

The dominance of road transport, both on passenger and freight movements, has reached alarming levels in what concerns their negative environmental impacts as well as societal and economic costs. To reverse this trend, a technology-driven approach and a behavioral change attitude need to be pursued. Promising results have been reported in Europe in the reduction of vehicle ownership, due to the introduction of an alternative transport mode known as car sharing. This work evaluates the contribution of car sharing to sustainable transport, based both in a technological shift and a potential behavioral change.

The state of the art on car sharing and policies presents the effects of these systems and how they have been promoted. As those effects can vary according to the geographical area, the users profile, and service characteristics, a worldwide analysis on car sharing systems covering more than 400 cities was performed. Average service indicators were quantified and characterization variables were accounted to those cities’ urban areas. Considering those normalized values, the authors performed an analysis of the car sharing system in Lisbon (Portugal). An initial assessment was made to estimate its current energy and environmental impacts. This outcome was then compared with the environmental and economic effects of using alternative vehicle technologies in car sharing. The results obtained enable a discussion of the more important variables for the success of the system and, consequently, to choose what policy instruments can help car sharing to succeed.

The results of the existing car sharing schemes reveal the positive contribution of car sharing to fill a “mobility gap” in sustainable transport. It works as a complement to other sustainable transport options and it impacts positively both society and car-sharers in terms of mobility costs, environmental, and energy implications. These results are more significant if a technology shift to electric mobility is promoted. Within the case study in Lisbon, the adoption of electric mobility would allow decreases up to 47% and 65% in energy consumption and CO₂ emissions, respectively. Moreover, the present value economic analysis revealed that, these systems will only be economically viable after approximately 7 years. A sensitivity analysis to the economic model was performed showing that the variables having higher influence were cost-related variables (reducing the break-even timeframe from 36% to 57%), such as vehicle purchase cost, insurance, maintenance and tax costs, and fuel cost.

Car sharing systems generally present social benefits to society as it leads to the reduction of car ownership, with all the positive effects that has on a lower demand for parking space, less congestion, reduced local pollutants and emissions. If the technology used by car sharing vehicles shifts from conventional to another type of technology, the effects both for society and car sharers are even more appealing from a social point of view. In the particular case study approached in the chapter, given the small scale of the car sharing network and low usage patterns, the local results have a low social impact at the city scale. A larger promotion of the system either with a more aggressive marketing campaign targeting specific population niches (e.g., environmentally conscious people), larger vehicle and parking availability, or better integration with the city’s public transport system could foster the deployment of the system, similarly to other cities.

Overall, the results obtained from this research work quantify the contribution of car sharing to sustainable transport and highlights the positive effects of promoting a technological shift. These facts reinforce the need for public policies to support the integration of car sharing within the city’s solutions to promote a more sustainable mobility. The successful deployment of car sharing systems can be influenced by policies targeting features such as allocation of parking, the fees and complementarity with public transport, signage and markings, and marketing of social and environmental benefits.

Contemporary literature reveals that, to date, the poultry livestock sector has not received sufficient research attention. This particular industry suffers from unstructured supply chain practices, lack of awareness of the implications of the sustainability concept and failure to recycle poultry wastes. The current research thus attempts to develop an integrated supply chain model in the context of poultry industry in Bangladesh. The study considers both sustainability and supply chain issues in order to incorporate them in the poultry supply chain. By placing the forward and reverse supply chains in a single framework, existing problems can be resolved to gain economic, social and environmental benefits, which will be more sustainable than the present practices.

The theoretical underpinning of this research is ‘sustainability’ and the ‘supply chain processes’ in order to examine possible improvements in the poultry production process along with waste management. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and ‘design science’ methods with the support of system dynamics (SD) and the case study methods. Initially, a mental model is developed followed by the causal loop diagram based on in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation techniques. The causal model helps to understand the linkages between the associated variables for each issue. Finally, the causal loop diagram is transformed into a stock and flow (quantitative) model, which is a prerequisite for SD-based simulation modelling. A decision support system (DSS) is then developed to analyse the complex decision-making process along the supply chains.

The findings reveal that integration of the supply chain can bring economic, social and environmental sustainability along with a structured production process. It is also observed that the poultry industry can apply the model outcomes in the real-life practices with minor adjustments. This present research has both theoretical and practical implications. The proposed model’s unique characteristics in mitigating the existing problems are supported by the sustainability and supply chain theories. As for practical implications, the poultry industry in Bangladesh can follow the proposed supply chain structure (as par the research model) and test various policies via simulation prior to its application. Positive outcomes of the simulation study may provide enough confidence to implement the desired changes within the industry and their supply chain networks.