Tracking the environmental impacts of production, use, and disposal of products (e.g., goods, and services) have been an important issue in the global economy. Although Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a widely applied method to track these environmental impacts and support policies, it has certain limitations and an isolated way of evaluating the environmental impacts with no consideration of so...

This research presents a methodology to comprehensively define Distressed Communities. We further identify if there is a significant difference in public investment between Distressed communities and Wealthy communities. One of the key tools in sustainability planning is the use of sustainability indicators (SIs). A considerable amount of scholarship has contributed to define and develop SI pro...

Background: Many rural electrification projects around the world employ micro hydropower plants (MHPs). These installations provide immediate and direct benefits to the local people. However, the sustainability of their operation in the long run remains a vital issue. Without proper sustainability assessment, the projects may face operational problems. However, to date, only a few empirical stu...

In this paper, a biorefinery complex in Thailand was assessed vis-à-vis sustainability. The complex studied includes plantations of sugarcane and a biorefinery system composed of several units including, a sugar mill, power plant, ethanol factory and fertilizer plant. The assessment aimed at evaluating the environmental and socio-economic implications relating to molasses-based ethanol producti...

Sustainable transportation and mobility are key components and central to sustainable development. This research aims to reveal the macro-level social, economic, and environmental impacts of alternative vehicle technologies in the U.S. The studied vehicle technologies are conventional gasoline, hybrid, plug-in hybrid with four different all-electric ranges, and full battery electric vehicles (B...

for a long time, the concept of sustainability and unsustainability, the ways to assess them, and the factors involved in the process of various areas of scienc, especially the environmental ones. sustainability in rural areas as human settlements depends heavily on a series of factors including environmental and socio-economic factors. this paper aims at introducing fuzzy set theory and the ex...

BACKGROUND The purpose of the article is to research and analyze the notion of sustainability criteria in their function of an emerging tool to promote and safeguard sustainable products and their sustainable production. The article addresses critical issues, which are important for deeper understanding of sustainability criteria and their practical use. In this, the article examines the existi...

Following formative work in the 1970s, disappearance in the 1980s, and reemergence in the 1990s, a chronological review shows that the past decade has witnessed increasing interest in the study of urban metabolism. The review finds that there are two related, non-conflicting, schools of urban metabolism: one following Odum describes metabolism in terms of energy equivalents; while the second mo...

Energy efficiency is regarded as an important objective in a world of limited resources. The sustainable use of energy is necessary for the continuity of life styles that do not jeopardize the future. Nevertheless, due to poor information about the impact of human actions on the environment, it is hard to promote and warn for sustainability. This work focuses on the use of ambient intelligence ...

Sustainability in production processes is mandatory in the manufacturing environment due to restrictions such as legislation. Conventional Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) don’t really support environmental sustainable goals but are actually the most suitable background for an extension towards sustainability monitoring, control and assessment. This paper introduces a new MES generation wh...