scholarly journals Apps as a tool against food loss and waste. Technical implications and implementation complications

Paakat ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Álvaro Antonio Ochoa Mendoza ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Return On Investment ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Economic Viability ◽  
Private Institutions ◽  
Smartphone Apps ◽  
Viable Option ◽  
Food Loss ◽  
Software Developer ◽  
Technical Requirements

The study of environmental crisis that affects the world in contemporary times involves the analysis of different factors which contribute to a bigger problem. One of these factors is food loss and waste. This issue originates as well from different factors that can be approached from different strategies. This article analyses the use of smartphone apps as a tool to fight food loss and waste. Theoretical bases that support the use of these tools as a viable option to mitigate environmental problems and the different implications of food loss and waste. It is then analyzed the technical requirements of apps and considered their economic viability from the software developer and entrepreneur respectively. Finally, it is exemplified with a case study of a failed anti-food waste app launch in Guadalajara. Results show that these apps design is a development that requires of many resources compared to a slow return on investment that will hardly ensure the app sustainability. Potential reaches of the app are high, but hard to accomplish without a solid structure behind and, ideally, support from government or private institutions that are more interested in environmental impact than financial profit.

Mobile Money - A Catalyst for Financial Inclusion in Developing Economies: A Case Study of Zimbabwe using FinScope Survey Data

GIS Business ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-56
Author(s):  
Kingstone Mutsonziwa ◽  
Obert K. Maposa
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Financial System ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Viable Option ◽  
Mobile Money ◽  
Bank Branches ◽  
Financial Transactions

Mobile money in Zimbabwe has extensively extended the frontiers of financial inclusion to reach millions who were earlier excluded within a relatively short space of time. The growing use of mobile phones in transferring money and making payments has significantly altered the countrys financial inclusion landscape as millions who had been hitherto excluded can now perform financial transactions in a relatively cheap, reliable and secure way. The FinScope results found out that 45% of the adult population use mobile money services. Of those using mobile money, 65% mentioned that is convenient, while 36% mentioned that it is cheap. Mobile money is accessible. These drivers are in the backdrop of few or no bank branches in rural communities as well as time and cost of accessing the bank branches. In Zimbabwe, mobile money is mostly used as a vehicle for remittances. While some people are enjoying mobile money services, it is important to mention that there are still people who are excluded from the formal financial system. The reasons why people do not use mobile money are mainly related to poverty issues. Mobile money remains a viable option to push the landscape of financial inclusion in Zimbabwe and other emerging markets where the formal financial system might not be strong.

Ensuring access to water in an emergency context: Towards an overexploitation and contamination of water resources?

2021 ◽  
pp. 096466392110316
Author(s):  
Chloé Nicolas-Artero
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Water Rights ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Supply Network ◽  
Mining Pollution ◽  
Access To Water

This article shows how geo-legal devices created to deal with environmental crisis situations make access to drinking water precarious and contribute to the overexploitation and contamination of water resources. It relies on qualitative methods (interviews, observations, archive work) to identify and analyse two geo-legal devices applied in the case study of the Elqui Valley in Chile. The first device, generated by the Declaration of Water Scarcity, allows private sanitation companies to concentrate water rights and extend their supply network, thus producing an overexploitation of water resources. In the context of mining pollution, the second device is structured around the implementation of the Rural Drinking Water Programme and the distribution of water by tankers, which has made access to drinking water more precarious for the population and does nothing to prevent pollution.

scholarly journals Experimental and Numerical Study of a Microcogeneration Stirling Unit under On–Off Cycling Operation

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 801
Author(s):  
Gianluca Valenti ◽  
Aldo Bischi ◽  
Stefano Campanari ◽  
Paolo Silva ◽  
Antonino Ravidà ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Study ◽  
Thermal Storage ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Operational Cost ◽  
Cogeneration Plant ◽  
Economic Optimization ◽  
Viable Option ◽  
Heating Value ◽  
Energy Flows

Stirling units are a viable option for micro-cogeneration applications, but they operate often with multiple daily startups and shutdowns due to the variability of load profiles. This work focused on the experimental and numerical study of a small-size commercial Stirling unit when subjected to cycling operations. First, experimental data about energy flows and emissions were collected during on–off operations. Second, these data were utilized to tune an in-house code for the economic optimization of cogeneration plant scheduling. Lastly, the tuned code was applied to a case study of a residential flat in Northern Italy during a typical winter day to investigate the optimal scheduling of the Stirling unit equipped with a thermal storage tank of diverse sizes. Experimentally, the Stirling unit showed an integrated electric efficiency of 8.9% (8.0%) and thermal efficiency of 91.0% (82.2%), referred to as the fuel lower and, between parenthesis, higher heating value during the on–off cycling test, while emissions showed peaks in NOx and CO up to 100 ppm but shorter than a minute. Numerically, predictions indicated that considering the on–off effects, the optimized operating strategy led to a great reduction of daily startups, with a number lower than 10 per day due to an optimal thermal storage size of 4 kWh. Ultimately, the primary energy saving was 12% and the daily operational cost was 2.9 €/day.

scholarly journals Packaging Innovations to Reduce Food Loss and Waste: Are Italian Manufacturers Willing to Invest?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1963
Author(s):  
Antonella Cammarelle ◽  
Mariarosaria Lombardi ◽  
Rosaria Viscecchia
Keyword(s):  
Technological Opportunity ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Food Loss ◽  
Latent Demand ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Study Methodology ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Global Food

The target 12.3 of the 2030 Agenda by the United Nations (UN) calls for halving per capita global food loss and waste. In this regard, the Food & Drink industry (F&D) could play a crucial role in reducing food waste and improving food safety by adopting healthy and eco-innovation packaging. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the F&D manufacturers’ willingness to invest in packaging innovations, such as active, intelligent, and compostable ones to achieve the UN target. In order to reach the stated objective, a multiple case study methodology was developed and administered to a sample of Italian micro and small-medium entrepreneurs located in the Apulia region. Results show that many firms were aware of their need for packaging innovation and of the available technological opportunity. However, only the F&D manufacturers who showed a Real demand, according to a taxonomy approach which also considers the Potential and Latent demand for the innovation, were effectively prompt to invest. Finally, most of the interviewed manufacturers were willing to invest in at least one packaging innovation, choosing mainly between the active packaging and the compostable one.

Performance Evaluation of a Solar Water Heating System for Industrial Application

2012 ◽  
Vol 512-515 ◽  
pp. 130-136
Author(s):  
Keh Chin Chang ◽  
Wei Min Lin ◽  
Yi Mei Liu ◽  
Tsong Sheng Lee ◽  
Kung Ming Chung
Keyword(s):  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Heating System ◽  
Economic Viability ◽  
Solar Collectors ◽  
Water Heating ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Solar Water Heating ◽  
Solar Water ◽  
Solar Water Heating System

The total area of solar collectors installed in Taiwan had exceeded 2 million square meters by the end of 2010. However, there were only 98 systems in operation with area of solar collectors installed exceeding 100 square meters from 2001 to 2010. To increase industrial awareness of solar water heating technologies, a nursery greenhouse was chosen as the case study to evaluate its thermal performance throughout the months of May 2010 to April 2011. The results showed that the solar energy collected and heat loss during the night hours would affect the thermal efficiency, economic viability and attractiveness of a SWH. This study would provide useful information for all parties related to this market, manufacturers, potential users and policy-makers.

Enhancing User Experience in Financial Services

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-22
Author(s):  
Fatma Molu ◽  
Nur Findik ◽  
Mustafa Dalci
Keyword(s):  
User Experience ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Return On Investment ◽  
Customer Relationship ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
User Research ◽  
Banking Service ◽  
Digital Environments

The domain of User Experience (UX) involves studying, designing for and evaluating the experiences that people have through the use of a system. This use takes place in a specific context, which has an impact on, or contributes to, the UX. As enterprises make a focus on the customer integral to their strategies, they need to recognize that technology developments are changing the customer relationship. In today's world, a great number of interactions between financial services and their customers have moved to digital environments and as a result a user interface design's significance increases in shaping the digital, financial experience.Based on this increasing importance, this paper proposes the role of usability studies for return on investment, along with a case study carried out in Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank. It involves an extended user research of online bank services which resulted with new specifications to be applied in the new corporate online banking service.

scholarly journals Web-Based Simulation Environment for Vehicular Electrical Networks

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 6087
Author(s):  
Xavier Dominguez ◽  
Paola Mantilla-Pérez ◽  
Nuria Gimenez ◽  
Islam El-Sayed ◽  
Manuel Alberto Díaz Díaz Millán ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Analytics ◽  
Distribution Systems ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Automatic Generation ◽  
Electrical Networks ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Electrical Distribution Systems ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
Information Interaction

For the validation of vehicular Electrical Distribution Systems (EDS), engineers are currently required to analyze disperse information regarding technical requirements, standards and datasheets. Moreover, an enormous effort takes place to elaborate testing plans that are representative for most EDS possible configurations. These experiments are followed by laborious data analysis. To diminish this workload and the need for physical resources, this work reports a simulation platform that centralizes the tasks for testing different EDS configurations and assists the early detection of inadequacies in the design process. A specific procedure is provided to develop a software tool intended for this aim. Moreover, the described functionalities are exemplified considering as a case study the main wire harness from a commercial vehicle. A web-based architecture has been employed in alignment with the ongoing software development revolution and thus provides flexibility for both, developers and users. Due to its scalability, the proposed software scheme can be extended to other web-based simulation applications. Furthermore, the automatic generation of electrical layouts for EDS is addressed to favor an intuitive understanding of the network. To favor human–information interaction, utilized visual analytics strategies are also discussed. Finally, full simulation workflows are exposed to provide further insights on the deployment of this type of computer platforms.

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