scholarly journals De-Risking Wood-Based Bioenergy Development in Remote and Indigenous Communities in Canada

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2603
Author(s):  
Jennifer Buss ◽  
Nicolas Mansuy ◽  
Sebnem Madrali
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Local Knowledge ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Environmental Risks ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Positive Externalities ◽  
Bioenergy Systems

Remote and Indigenous communities in Canada have a unique opportunity to mobilize the vast amount of wood-based biomass to meet their energy needs, while supporting a local economy, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study realized in collaboration with five remote and Indigenous communities across Canada investigates the main barriers and potential solutions to developing stable and sustainable wood-based bioenergy systems. Our results highlight that despite the differences in available biomass and geographical context, these communities face common policy, economic, operational, cultural, social, and environmental risks and barriers to developing bioenergy. The communities identified and ranked the biggest barriers as follows; the high initial investment of bioenergy projects, the logistical and operational challenges of developing a sustainable wood supply chain in remote locations, and the limited opportunities for community leadership of bioenergy projects. Environmental risks have been ranked as the least important by all the communities, except for the communities in Manitoba, which ranked it as the second most important risk. However, all the communities agreed that climate change is the main environmental driver disturbing the wood-based bioenergy supply chain. To de-risk the wood-based bioenergy system, we suggest that stable and sustainable supply chains can be implemented by restoring community-based resources management supported by local knowledge and workforce. Using local knowledge can also help reduce the impacts caused by biomass harvesting on the ecosystem and avoid competition with traditional land uses. Including positive externalities to cost benefit analysis, when comparing bioenergy systems to existing energy installation, will likely make bioenergy projects more attractive for the community financially. Alternatively, supporting co-learning between partners and among communities can improve knowledge and innovation sharing.

scholarly journals Global externalities from avoided emissions in the Costa Rican cattle sector: opportunities for more efficient mitigation policies

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe Dall’Orsoletta ◽  
Andrei Domingues Cechin
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Global Public Good ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Positive Externalities ◽  
Livestock Sector ◽  
Mitigation Policies

AbstractThe livestock sector has had an important contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In Costa Rica, more than 20% of emissions come from beef and milk production. This paper performs a cost–benefit analysis of a climate policy in the Costa Rican cattle sector, and tries to innovate by including the positive global externality of emissions reduction into the analysis; to assess the extent to which it affects the attractivity of the referred policy. National sectorial policies for climate change mitigation generate global benefits, such as avoided GHG emissions into the atmosphere—a global public good. However, such global positive externalities, which represented 13% to 31% of the policy’s benefits in the widest scenario of our study, are usually not included in national climate planning, which may lead efficient policies to be dismissed. This paper shows that taking externalities into account makes sectorial climate mitigation policies more efficient, i.e., more appealing for investments. Benefit–cost ratios varied between 0.27 and 7.31 and break-even points average around the third and fourth years. Moreover, the results under different economic assumptions varied in terms of net benefits, but viability balance (viable vs. unviable scenarios) remained stable for different settings. The crucial question remains on how to best balance such global positive externalities to be advantageous to both funders and beneficiaries, enabling an efficient global climate mitigation strategy.

scholarly journals Investigations on Biogas Recovery from Anaerobic Digestion of Raw Sludge and Its Mixture with Agri-Food Wastes: Application to the Largest Industrial Estate in Oman

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3698
Author(s):  
Salah Jellali ◽  
Yassine Charabi ◽  
Muhammad Usman ◽  
Abdullah Al-Badi ◽  
Mejdi Jeguirim
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Net Present Value ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Food Wastes ◽  
Industrial Estates

This work is intended to evaluate the technical, environmental, and economic feasibility of converting the sludge produced at an industrial estate’s wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Oman into energy through anaerobic digestion (AD). In this study, three different scenarios were analyzed. They concerned the digestion of the total amount of the produced sludge alone (240 m3 day−1) (scenario 1), and its co-digestion with wet agri-food wastes (AFW) at rates of two tonnes day−1 (scenario 2) and ten tonnes day−1 (scenario 3). Based on the analyses of sludge samples, an intensive literature review regarding sludge and AFW Physico-chemical and energetic characteristics and the use of the cost–benefit analysis (CBA) approach, it was found that, for the overall duration of the project (20 years), the AD of the sludge alone (scenario 1) permitted the production of 43.9 GWh of electricity, the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (more than 37,000 tonnes equivalent CO2 (TCO2)) and exhibited positive net present value (NPV: $393,483) and an internal return rate (IRR) of 19.4%. Co-digesting sludge with AFW significantly increased all of these key performance indicators. For instance, scenario 3 results in the recovery of electrical energy of 82.2 GWh and avoids the emission of 70,602 tCO2. Moreover, a higher NPV and IRR of $851,876 and 21.8%, respectively, and a payback period (PBP) of only seven years were calculated. The sensitivity analysis revealed that a decrease in total expenses by 15% results in a significant increase of the NPV and the IRR to $1,418,704 and 33.9%, respectively, for scenario 3. Considering a pessimistic assumption (an increase of the total expenses by 15%), all studied scenarios remain attractive. For instance, for scenario 3, the NPV, IRR, and PBP were evaluated to $285,047, 13.5%, and 9 years, respectively. Therefore, the co-digestion of sludge with agri-food wastes for energy recovery purposes could be considered a promising, eco-friendly, and economically viable approach in the Omani industrial estates.

Brillio Technologies and ‘Bringing Smiles’

2021 ◽  
pp. 097282012199496
Author(s):  
Achuta Ratna Paluri ◽  
Vandana Sonwaney
Keyword(s):  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
First Year ◽  
Negative Externalities ◽  
Underserved Students ◽  
Positive Externalities ◽  
Employee Volunteering ◽  
Need To Evaluate ◽  
Corporate Social

Firms are under constant pressure to minimize negative externalities and increase positive externalities. These pressures are translating into the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities by firms. CSR is emerging as a widespread business activity, and firms are undertaking CSR voluntarily. This case provides a brief discussion of the scenario of CSR in India. It goes on to discuss the educational activities undertaken by firms under their CSR programmes. Brillio Technologies is one such company that has adopted CSR voluntarily, from the very first year of operations, in 2015. CSR actions of Brillio go beyond the legal requirements as it achieved remarkable results in community engagement and employee engagement. CSR activities of companies are internal to the organization, such as reducing and recycling waste, or external to the organization, such as reducing its carbon footprint. While Brillio undertook numerous internal activities, its focus was on external activities through its flagship programme ‘Bringing Smiles’. The programme successfully reached 100,000 underserved students through STEM education by 2020—the company partnered with NGOs and schools to achieve its social goals. Participants need to evaluate the existing programme and strategize for achieving the goals. They are posed with three choices: (a) increase employee volunteering hours, (b) partner with more NGOs and (c) recommend a foundation for taking up CSR activities. These strategies could be a huge drain on the resources, hence there is need for a cost-benefit analysis of the alternatives.

scholarly journals Analisis Pemanfaatan RFID terhadap Efisiensi Biaya dalam Global Supply Chain Management

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Yustina Tritularsih
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Calculation Model ◽  
Chain Process ◽  
Rfid Technology ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
A Company

<p class="yiv2767954440ydp91c392edmsonormal"><em><span>Supply Chain Management (SCM) has been assumed to play an important role in the company's performance and has attracted academician’s attention to research seriously in these recent years. A number of literatures reveal the research of supply chain management developmenth that has implemented RFID technology. Generally, the method is implemented by combining and informing the journal about cost-benefit analysis model in a company that applies RFID tag technology integratedly from production line, delivery up to management of retailer part. Currently, all links from the entire supply chain need to integrate those different parts and have better controls to get better returns. This integration must offer the ability for the company to have a thorough and transparent insight into its supply chain activities. Intelligent supply chains that are primarily supported by RFID technology can meet these integration needs. By using RFID, a company can benefit from several advantages. One of them is cost reduction and time efficiency. This paper attempts to recommend a model to estimate the benefits of implementing RFID in companies that have an integrated supply chain process. The proposed model is used to find out the value of depreciation and RFID price tag that can provide maximum benefit from RFID implementation. Examples of case studies provide a better understanding of calculation model </span></em></p>

scholarly journals A new blockchain system design to improve the supply chain of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies – a case study in the oil and gas sector

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashid Amiri Ara ◽  
Klara Paardenkooper ◽  
Ron van Duin
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
System Design ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Field Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Implementation Processes ◽  
External Expert

Purpose This paper aims to propose a new blockchain system design to improve engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies’ supply chain for constructing oil and gas infrastructure, by mitigating cost and time inefficiencies. Design/methodology/approach A case study analyses the supply chain of a sample EPC company. First, a literature review is conducted to explore the subject in academic literature. Second, information flows are mapped using responsible, accountable, consulted and informed analysis and cross-functional process mapping. Third, inefficiencies are identified. Fourth, the root causes of the inefficiencies are pinpointed using fishbone and five-times-why analysis. Fifth, a comparison is made between the linear and the blockchain information system via force-field analysis. Sixth, a specific blockchain system design is identified based on three external expert interviews. Finally, the new system is designed and a cost-benefit analysis is conducted. Findings Major cost and time inefficiencies in oil and gas infrastructure developments are caused by a poor information flow in the supply chain. The new blockchain system design is a feasible solution, reducing cost inefficiencies by 12.4% and operation lead-times by 36.5%. Research limitations/implications The confidentiality of the sample EPC company’s information represents a limitation. Originality/value The research introduces a new blockchain system design, reducing cost and time inefficiencies in the project-development supply chain, including implementation processes.

scholarly journals INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS OF PROCESS PARAMETERS ON THE FLEXURAL STRENGTH OF 3D PRINTED PLASTICS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolai Beharry ◽  
Boppana Chowdary
Keyword(s):  
Flexural Strength ◽  
Polyethylene Terephthalate ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Current State ◽  
Raster Angle ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Recycled Plastics

In this paper, the flexural strength of 90% Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (RPET), Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) and Polycarbonate (PC), are investigated with varying layer thickness, infill percentage and raster angle. Across each material, higher infill percentage resulted in higher flexural strength when loaded, whereas raster angle was the least significant. Using a Genetic Algorithm, the maximum flexural strength of each material was determined to be 48.57 MPa for RPET, 44.22 MPa for PETG and 101.54 MPa for the PC samples. Using these results, practical applications in local industries were investigated. The relatively high flexural strength of the RPET indicates great progress in material science towards creating a strong and sustainable 3D Printing filament. However, a cost-benefit analysis performed on the existing market value indicated that in its current state, the price per strength of RPET is heavily outmatched by PETG as a cheaper option and PC as a stronger option. If the process of creating filament from recycled plastics is refined, RPET filament will become cheaper and more desirable for manufacturing. This can lead to diversifying the local economy as a competitive and eco-friendly option to satisfy consumer needs.

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