Search results
1 – 10 of 39Barrie Pittock and G. Dale Hess
Sustainable atmospheric management today involves a complex set of issues arising from the deliberate or inadvertent use of the atmosphere as a repository for waste products…
Abstract
Sustainable atmospheric management today involves a complex set of issues arising from the deliberate or inadvertent use of the atmosphere as a repository for waste products arising from human activities. Urban pollution affects human health, building materials and vegetation. Acidic emissions and excess nutrients produce both acid rain and dry deposition that affect terrestrial, freshwater and ocean chemistry and ecosystems. The production and effects of atmospheric pollution can transcend national boundaries and thus mitigation will require cooperation on regional and global levels, as well as local action. Global pollution includes greenhouse gases and atmospheric particles which are changing the global climate and affecting human health. While technological solutions will play an important part, the large reductions in emissions necessary to achieve sustainability will involve adopting lifestyles that conserve energy and minimise pollution. These concerns were foreshadowed in the writings of Fritz Schumacher.
Marco Spitoni, Fabio Polonara and Alessia Arteconi
This chapter outlines the potential market of methane (especially LNG) as vehicle fuel in Europe and China.
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter outlines the potential market of methane (especially LNG) as vehicle fuel in Europe and China.
Methodology/approach
A comprehensive report on the existing framework in terms of market capacity, regulations, and incentives is presented. Moreover, the feasibility of using biogas as environmental friendly source gas is considered.
Findings
The transport sector represents a major element in the global balance of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Natural gas is considered the alternative fuel that, in the short-medium term, can best substitute conventional fuels in order to reduce their environmental impact, because it is readily available at a competitive price, using technologies that are already in widespread use. It can be used as compressed gas (CNG) or in the liquid phase (LNG). The former is more suitable for light vehicles, while the latter for heavy-duty vehicles. Some barriers need to be overcome for the diffusion of this alternative fuel, especially concerning the supply problem. The incentive policy has been shown to cover a major influence in the feasibility evaluation.
Originality/value
This work shows the state of the art of natural gas as fuel, especially from biogas source, in Europe and China and assesses the incentive scheme necessary to make liquefied biomethane feasible on the basis of the existing scenario in Italy.
Details
Keywords
Anyone who follows climate change policy debates even casually knows that these debates are shot through with controversy about what ought to be done and who ought to be doing it…
Abstract
Anyone who follows climate change policy debates even casually knows that these debates are shot through with controversy about what ought to be done and who ought to be doing it. What sometimes get lost in these debates, however, are much deeper differences over the nature of the climate change problem itself. That is my focus in this chapter. I will take climate change as a prime example of broader debates over what constitutes “sustainable development” and draw upon different strands of the sustainability literature to show how these disagreements play out in the climate change context.
James D. Ludema, Chris Laszlo and Kevin D. Lynch
The creation of sustainable value has become a key driver of competitive advantage for many companies. The field of organization development and change can assist these companies…
Abstract
The creation of sustainable value has become a key driver of competitive advantage for many companies. The field of organization development and change can assist these companies because it provides the theories, research, models, and tools they need to embed sustainability into their core business practices. In this chapter, we provide a brief history of sustainable value, demonstrate how and why it is an important source of competitive advantage, and describe five core capabilities companies need to embed sustainability throughout their organizations. We use case examples to illustrate these ideas and conclude with implications for research and practice.
Purpose – The shipping industry is generally recognised as having better fuel efficiency than other transport modes. In many regions of the world, therefore, policy has promoted…
Abstract
Purpose – The shipping industry is generally recognised as having better fuel efficiency than other transport modes. In many regions of the world, therefore, policy has promoted shipping as the preferred freight transport mode of choice. In recent years, however, environmental problems associated with shipping have emerged. Several influential analyses have revealed the impact of shipping on air quality, particularly in the form of emissions of sulphur, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, all of which have adverse consequences for human health.
Methodology/approach – An extensive environmental profile of shipping is provided, focusing specifically on the atmospheric pollution that is directly attributable to shipping operations.
Findings – It is important, however, to place the environmental profile of the shipping industry into the context of exactly how much transport work it does. This makes it clear that where shipping is a viable modal alternative then, in relative terms and most contexts, it still retains significant environmental advantages over other modes. The industry and its regulators have been slow, however, to improve its environmental profile and maintain its inherent advantage. Technical and operational measures which the industry may implement unilaterally are analysed, but these are deemed insufficient to stem the adverse tide of environmental concerns. Regulation is a necessity. Recently implemented regulatory measures are analysed, together with possible scenarios for the future regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. The IMO approach of global regulation is supported in preference to regionally based regulatory policies. There is also a danger that regulatory intervention may distort mode choice contexts.
Originality/value – The provision of an extensive environmental profile of shipping and an examination of this profile in relation to the importance of this transport mode to the global economy.
A growing academic literature seeks to define corporate environmental management (CEM) and understand its implications for corporate behavior and environmental outcomes. However…
Abstract
A growing academic literature seeks to define corporate environmental management (CEM) and understand its implications for corporate behavior and environmental outcomes. However, the research questions are of more than just academic interest, as the answers have immediate consequences for business strategy, environmental quality, and the relationship between CEM and public policy. How does CEM differ from more general notions of corporate management? Are there incentives for CEM that go beyond improving the bottom line? Does CEM produce genuine improvements in environmental performance, or is it simply a public relations form of “green-washing”? To what extent, if any, does CEM serve as a complement or substitute for more centralized forms of environmental policy? Questions such as these are the focus of theoretical and applied research in a variety of disciplines, including, but not limited to, economics, sociology, psychology, political science, management, and industrial ecology.
The cruise sector promotes itself as a responsible steward of the ocean environment and claims its policies and practices protect the marine ecology. As such, it would argue that…
Abstract
The cruise sector promotes itself as a responsible steward of the ocean environment and claims its policies and practices protect the marine ecology. As such, it would argue that its activities do not significantly contribute to global warming and climate change. However, there is disconnect between what the cruise sector says it does and what cruiseships actually do in relation to the environment. This chapter looks at the sector's environmental practices and how it contributes to climate change. This is both directly through greenhouse gases and indirectly through degradation of the marine environment, as well as the prospects for the sector to voluntarily take responsibility for its part of the problem. Despite a poor record on voluntary efforts, the chapter calls on the cruise sector to embrace initiatives that bring its behavior in line with its public pronouncements about environmental responsibility.
Details
Keywords