scholarly journals Sustainable Investment—A Solution to Reduce Environmental Footprint

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3104
Author(s):  
Kęstutis Biekša ◽  
Aurelija Zonienė ◽  
Violeta Valiulė
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Economic Indicators ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Solar Pv ◽  
Environmental Footprint ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Sustainable Investment ◽  
The Impact

The environmental footprint (EF) indicator has emerged as a tool to measure human demand for productive land and water and it is used for the evaluation of the impact of products or economic activities on the environment. There are many indicators that are used in the decision making for the investment in the power sector, however, predominant are the economic indicators which underestimate the depreciation of natural capital (environment) and the value added generated by the public services. Many research studies have been carried out in an attempt to demonstrate the versatility of the EF by extending its applicability not only to environmental assessment, but also to use it, among other economic indicators, when assessing sustainable investment. Sustainable investment (SI) combines fundamental analysis and engagement with an evaluation of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors. The purpose of this article is, upon evaluating the EF, to identify the opportunities for the EF reduction through sustainable investment in the electricity production sector in EU countries. Environmental footprint analysis has been performed by using sustainable process index program SPIonExcel (SPI), which is one of the methods in the EF family. SPI is a useful tool for assessing ecological problems and finding sustainable solutions in the life cycle of energy production process. This research has revealed that the function of the footprint reduction depends directly on investments in renewable energy source (RES) technologies, but not all investments can be sustainable. Countries mainly invest in the development of wind energy and solar PV technologies and gradually reduce their inland production capacities from fossil fuel. Although SI in RES technologies reduces the EF, this is not enough to reduce it substantially because there are limitations for installing new power capacities. Consequently, countries tend to invest in the development of electricity networks. The conclusion can be drawn as follows: the reduction of the EF of electricity could be achieved by developing RES technologies since the major part of electricity is produced by using non-renewable resources. It is essential to develop new technologies as soon as possible in order to reduce EF as much as possible, and this can only be achieved through systematic sustainable investment.

scholarly journals Energy Production from Biogas: Competitiveness and Support Instruments in Latvia

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 43-53
Author(s):  
G. Klāvs ◽  
A. Kundziņa ◽  
I. Kudrenickis
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Local Economic Development ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Distribution Network ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Gas Distribution ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Use of renewable energy sources (RES) might be one of the key factors for the triple win-win: improving energy supply security, promoting local economic development, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The authors ex-post evaluate the impact of two main support instruments applied in 2010-2014 – the investment support (IS) and the feed-in tariff (FIT) – on the economic viability of small scale (up to 2MWel) biogas unit. The results indicate that the electricity production cost in biogas utility roughly corresponds to the historical FIT regarding electricity production using RES. However, if in addition to the FIT the IS is provided, the analysis shows that the practice of combining both the above-mentioned instruments is not optimal because too high total support (overcompensation) is provided for a biogas utility developer. In a long-term perspective, the latter gives wrong signals for investments in new technologies and also creates unequal competition in the RES electricity market. To provide optimal biogas utilisation, it is necessary to consider several options. Both on-site production of electricity and upgrading to biomethane for use in a low pressure gas distribution network are simulated by the cost estimation model. The authors’ estimates show that upgrading for use in a gas distribution network should be particularly considered taking into account the already existing infrastructure and technologies. This option requires lower support compared to support for electricity production in small-scale biogas utilities.

scholarly journals Has Creative Destruction become more Destructive?

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Komlos
Keyword(s):  
Public Choice ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Creative Destruction ◽  
Capitalist Development ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Net Value Added ◽  
Industrial Revolutions

Abstract: Schumpeter’s concept of creative destruction as the engine of capitalist development is well-known. However, that the destructive part of creative destruction is a social and economic cost and therefore biases our estimate of the impact of the innovation on GDP is hardly acknowledged, with the notable exception of Witt (1996. “Innovations, Externalities and the Problem of Economic Progress.” Public Choice 89:113–30). Admittedly, during the First and Second Industrial Revolutions the magnitude of the destructive component of innovation was no doubt small compared to the net value added to GDP. However, we conjecture that recently the destructive component of innovations has increased relative to the size of the creative component as the new technologies are often creating products which are close substitutes for the ones they replace whose value depreciates substantially in the process of destruction. Consequently, the contribution of recent innovations to GDP is likely upwardly biased. This note calls for further research in innovation economics in order to measure and decompose the effects of innovations into their creative and destructive components in order to provide improved estimates of their contribution to GDP and to employment.

scholarly journals The impacts of in-state procurement preference policies on the economy of South Carolina

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 240-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sawsan Abutabenjeh ◽  
Stephen Gordon ◽  
Berhanu Mengistu
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Value Added ◽  
The State ◽  
Personal Income ◽  
Economic Indicators ◽  
Total Output ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gross State Product ◽  
State Preference ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to answer the question: What are the impacts of implementing in-state procurement preference policies on the economy of the state of South Carolina? Design/methodology/approach Toevaluate the impacts, the following six economic indicators were analyzed: jobs, personal income, real disposable income, output (sales), gross state product and value added. The data were collected from the South Carolina Procurement Services Office and were then analyzed using the Regional Economic Model Policy Insight (REMI PI+) for economic forecasting and policy analysis. The results from the REMI PI+ showed that implementing in-state preference policies benefitted the state and its communities economically. Findings Specifically, from 2010 until 2017, the total economic impact of implementing preference policies generated $17m in total output, 135 total job-years, $10.22m in gross state product (GSP), $10.27m in value added, $7.52m in income and $5.14m in real disposable personal income. The impact on the wholesale trade industry was over $5m in total industry output and approximately 27 jobs-years. In the manufacturing sector, the total impact was over $4m in output and approximately 17 jobs-years. The impact on the construction industry was approximately $3m in output and approximately 30 jobs-years. Although the values of these economic indicators were very small compared to the size of the state economy, they did outweigh the direct cost of implementing preference policies, thus demonstrating that overall the in-state preference policies contributed to South Carolina’s economy. However, further research is warranted to identify more precisely the benefits and costs of implementing preference policies.

scholarly journals Methods of assessing the efficiency of innovation activities of industrial enterprises

2019 ◽  
Vol 265 ◽  
pp. 07029
Author(s):  
Nikolay Voytolovskiy ◽  
Andrey Butyrin ◽  
Andrey Chizhik
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Economic Indicators ◽  
Innovation Activity ◽  
Innovative Product ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Industrial Enterprises ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
Innovation Projects ◽  
Implementation Of Innovations ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study is to improve the methods for assessing the efficiency of innovation activity of an enterprise. The paper proposes a system of economic indicators to assess the market attractiveness of innovation projects and the readiness of the enterprise to implement them. Using these indicators, it is possible to predict the potential of an innovative product on the market, as well as to determine the financial and economic opportunities of the enterprise. The presented methods for assessing the impact of innovations on the development efficiency of the enterprise’s economic activities allow determining the growth rates of the main economic indicators of the organization. The developed mechanism for a comprehensive assessment of the implementation of innovations at the enterprise allows determining the commercial effectiveness of the introduction of innovations and the impact of new technologies on the intercompany results of the enterprise, resulting in the possibility of taking into account the commercial and intercompany efficiency of investment in projects.

scholarly journals An RTDS-Based Testbed for Investigating the Impacts of Transmission-Level Disturbances on Solar PV Operation

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3867
Author(s):  
Manisha Maharjan ◽  
Almir Ekic ◽  
Bennett Strombeck ◽  
Di Wu
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Distribution Systems ◽  
Transient Stability ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Solar Pv ◽  
Renewable Energy Resources ◽  
Grid Planning ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Solar Penetration ◽  
Transmission Level

The increasing penetration of renewable energy resources such as solar and wind via power electronic inverters is challenging grid dynamics, as well as grid planning, operation, and protection. Recently, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has reported a series of similar events of the unintended loss of solar generation in Southern California over a large geographic area following the transmission-level disturbances. These events highlight the importance of understanding the characteristics of the transmission-side disturbances propagating into the distribution systems and their impacts on the operation of inverter-based resources. In this paper, a real-time electromagnetic simulation testbed is constructed for real-time electromagnetic simulations to generate realistic transmission-level disturbances and investigate their impacts on the solar PV operation under different fault types and locations, solar penetration levels, and loading levels. Through the simulation analysis and grid strength assessment, it is found that the grid strength at points of integration (POIs) of solar PVs significantly affects the transient stability of solar generators. Particularly, undesirable transient stability events are more likely to occur at the weak POIs following the transmission-level disturbances. Moreover, undesirable transient stability events become severer when the transmission-level disturbance is closer to the weak POIs or the disturbances become more serious. Additionally, the impact of the transmission-level disturbances on the solar PVs at the weak POIs exacerbate with the increasing solar penetration levels and loading levels. Thus, it is important to study and develop new technologies for grid planning, operation, and protection in weak grid conditions to address the emerging issues of integrating the high penetration of solar PVs and other IBRs.

scholarly journals Capturing Bio-Sensing Solutions: Biomonapp’s Story about the Seasons of Change across a Global Sustainable Landscape - Monitoring for Sustainable Bioremediation in Rural & Urban Farms, Soil, Agronomy, & Aquaculture

10.28945/4052 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Monitoring Methods ◽  
Sustainable Solutions

Aim/Purpose: This paper addressed the topics of sustainable agronomy, aquaculture, hydroponics and soil monitoring methods that show how to move towards a repairing mode and bioremediation in many locations across the globe. Background: Sixty percent of the world’s major terrestrial ecosystems are being degraded; the human ecological footprint is spreading across the globe. The major human impact on terrestrial ecosystems in the form of depletion of ground water, over grazing of livestock, clearing for agriculture, timber and urban development, soil damage from off road vehicles, hydroelectric dams and reservoirs, and air pollution from urban areas and power plants. The cost to bio remediate is in the trillions. Methodology: AG biotech methodologies and applications Contribution: The paper bridges such gaps and informs about brave entrepreneurs and university and community individuals with innovative ideas and emerging technologies that gain the momentum for funding and monitoring nutrient uptake and toxic removal of harmful chemicals from water, soil, plants and fish for restoration to take place. Such techniques begin to conquer the giant by restoring the wealth to our soils and water, rural and urban farmlands and forests that retain and capture natural capital and ensure that nutrition and value added resources minerals are not lost. Findings: Biomonapp can detect and make recommendations for repairing & making sustainable solutions, many entrepreneurs & academics have pioneered ways to find SUS solutions Recommendations for Practitioners: Read from the articles and books listed in the references of this paper to understand the need for bioremediation. Use Biomonapp to diagnose water, soil & fish problems & find solutions. Attend conferences & seminars about SUS responsibility & phytoremediation Recommendation for Researchers: To investigate the phytoremediation and bioremediation techniques. Applications for Biomonapp for plants, water, soil, & animals to rejuvenate and repair water, soil and urban & rural communities Impact on Society: These ideas give the power back to local people who can learn to enhance their lives not only by foods but the sustainable green jobs that are being created to make sure urban and rural areas truly are sustainable. Future Research: The results of monitoring with biosensors & bio monitoring methods with regards to sustainable bioremediation, renovating, continued SUS responsibility training, continued evidence of repair and protecting natural capital & ecosystem services

scholarly journals Barriers to the development of SMEs in the Slovak Republic

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Ivanová
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Bank Loans ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
External Sources ◽  
The Impact

Research background: SMEs make up an important segment of the economic system, not only in the national economy, but also throughout the EU, and their importance continues to grow. SMEs in Slovakia, according to the latest data of the European Commission, represent 99.9 per cent of all enterprises, constitute 70.7 per cent of jobs, and 61.2 per cent of value added in the economy. However, they are often confronted with market imperfections. SMEs frequently have difficulties in obtaining capital or credit, particularly in the early start-up phase. Their restricted resources may also reduce access to new technologies or innovation. Authors often deal with the impact of SME financing on their development. Madrid-Guijarro et al. (2016), Lee et al. (2015) claim that SMEs have difficulty in funding innovation and the worsening in general credit conditions has been more pronounced for non-innovative firms.Purpose of the article: The main objective of the conducted research was to analyze the conditions for the development of small and medium enterprises (the SMEs sector) in Slovak Republic, whereas the specific objectives were: (1) to determine the terms for gaining external sources of financing for the development of SMEs, (2) to examine the resources for innovation development in the SMEs sector, (3) to find out if SMEs are considered to be a competitive advantage.Methods: The research was conducted in the Slovak Republic in 2016. Participants were 193 Slovak companies that were classified as SMEs by the size class of employment. The research tool used for the study was the own questionnaire consisting of 38 questions and the demographics. The structure of the questionnaire allowed the authors to identify the group of questions concerning the most important conditions for the development of the examined sector referring to the business environment. The results were processed by chi-square method.Findings & Value added: On the basis of the conducted research of the sector of SMEs , it can be concluded that a large group of companies have difficult access to external sources of financing and this refers both to the access to the European Union funds, grants, bank loans and other instruments of the financial market. However, it occurs that: (1) in Slovakia, the smaller the enterprise, i.e. the fewer employees it hires, the easier the access to external sources of financing, (1) innovative projects are realized from company profits or a loan, (1) problems in Slovakia in accessing external funds due to the complexity of the process of approval of applications and documents and strict criteria for the assessment of financial capacity.

Enhancing Humans and Sustainability: The Reunion of Bioethics and Environmental Ethics

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 35-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan McGregor
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Emerging Technologies ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Normative Study ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Enhancement Technologies

Emerging technologies are hyped as ‘transformative’ by their proponents, who prophesize that these new technologies will significantly and beneficially change our world. Concerns have been raised about the potential environmental impacts of these technologies. Emerging technologies and their implications on humans, society, and the environment challenge our understanding of our responsibilities to the environment and future generations. Utilizing Van Potter’s sense of bioethics that meant the normative study of humanity’s place in the biosphere, I attempt to reintegrate bioethics and environmental ethics, to address questions about human well-being in the future, its dependence on complex environmental systems, and the impact of emerging technologies particularly enhancement technologies upon it. Ultimately, I argue that the future envisioned by proponents of human enhancement technologies is not consistent with our responsibilities to future generations which including leaving certain amounts of natural capital, including human ones.

scholarly journals Global Production Networks, New Trade Technologies and the Challenge for International Institutions

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-41
Author(s):  
Richard Pomfret
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Production Networks ◽  
Global Production Networks ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
International Transactions ◽  
The Impact

In the twenty-first century, production processes and international trade in goods and services are being revolutionized by developments in information and communications technology. For many products, global production networks have rendered the label Made in Country X meaningless. With an increasing number of services, both for end-users and as inputs, being provided online, it becomes increasingly difficult to locate where value-added is being produced. This article seeks to document the impact of new technologies on international trade and to analyse the policy implications at the national and global level. A turning point is identified in the mid-1990s; up to 1995 there is no statistically significant relationship between internet usage and trade, but after 1997 the relationship is statistically significant. Use of the internet reduced trade costs, increased the size of trade flows and permitted greater fragmentation along global value chains. It also created opportunities for new international transactions, for example, based on ‘big data’. The article concludes with analysis of attempts to reach WTO agreements with respect to e-commerce and digitalization and of alternative fora in which these issues are being addressed, and relates the outcomes to the phenomenon of mega-regionalism. JEL Codes: F02, F68, 038

scholarly journals Has Schumpeterian Creative Destruction become more destructive?

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
John Komlos
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Creative Destruction ◽  
Capitalist Development ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Net Value Added ◽  
Industrial Revolutions

<p align="justify">Schumpeter’s concept of creative destruction as the engine of capitalist development is well-known. However, that the destructive part of creative destruction is a social and economic cost and therefore biases our estimate of the impact of the innovation on GDP is hardly acknowledged, with the notable exception of Witt (1996). Admittedly, during the First and Second Industrial Revolutions the magnitude of the destructive component of innovation was no doubt small compared to the net value added to employment or GDP.</p><p align="justify">However, we conjecture that recently the new technologies are often creating products which are close substitutes for the ones they replace whose value depreciates substantially in the process of destruction. Consequently, the contribution of recent innovations to GDP is likely upwardly biased. This note calls for further research in innovation economics in order to measure and decompose the effects of innovations into their creative and destructive portions in order to provide improved estimates of their contribution to GDP or to employment.</p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document