Using eco-efficiency in sustainable supply chain management; a case study of furniture production

In this article, a three-step method, proposing how small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can improve the environmental performance in their supply chain, is presented. The method is based on (1) an assessment of their products, (2) identification of critical processes that should be improved, and (3) identification of actors in the supply chain that should be focussed upon not only based on environmental performance, but also based on the abilities that the end producer has to influence them. This article is exemplified with a case study of furniture production in Norway. The case shows that the potential for improvement of processes under direct control by the end producer is limited. However, the three steps, as a whole, show how an SME with limited resources and supply chain power can identify key actors in the supply chains for further improvements, based on a potential for improvements of environmental performance and the possibilities that the end producer has to impose improvements.     

Use of life cycle assessments to evaluate the environmental footprint of contaminated sediment remediation

Ecological and human risks often drive the selection of remedial alternatives for contaminated sediments. Traditional human and ecological risk assessment (HERA) includes assessing risk for benthic organisms and aquatic fauna associated with exposure to contaminated sediments before and after remediation as well as risk for human exposure but does not consider the environmental footprint associated with implementing remedial alternatives. Assessment of environmental effects over the whole life cycle (i.e., Life Cycle Assessment, LCA) could complement HERA and help in selecting the most appropriate sediment management alternative. Even though LCA has been developed and applied in multiple environmental management cases, applications to contaminated sediments and marine ecosystems are in general less frequent. This paper implements LCA methodology for the case of the polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and -furans (PCDD/F)-contaminated Grenland fjord in Norway. LCA was applied to investigate the environmental footprint of different active and passive thin-layer capping alternatives as compared to natural recovery. The results showed that capping was preferable to natural recovery when analysis is limited to effects related to the site contamination. Incorporation of impacts related to the use of resources and energy during the implementation of a thin layer cap increase the environmental footprint by over 1 order of magnitude, making capping inferior to the natural recovery alternative. Use of biomass-derived activated carbon, where carbon dioxide is sequestered during the production process, reduces the overall environmental impact to that of natural recovery. The results from this study show that LCA may be a valuable tool for assessing the environmental footprint of sediment remediation projects and for sustainable sediment management.     

Eco-efficiency reporting exemplified by case studies

This paper presents current and future trends and requirements for environmental, eco-efficiency and sustainability reporting. Further it defines the concept of eco-efficiency, and describes ways of developing eco-efficiency indicators for production sites and for product chains. Eco-efficiency measures give indications both on economic and on environmental performance. These indicators are then exemplified by results from case studies within Norwegian and European industrial companies. Some of these projects have also laid the foundation for environmental accounting and reporting systems in local communities. Eco-efficiency as a tool for measuring the performance along product value chains is demonstrated in the paper. Product oriented eco-efficiency indicators are seen in the context of the international efforts on standardisation of environmental product declarations (EPDs), which are ways to report the environmental performance of products. This is exemplified with cases from furniture production value chains. The presentation focuses further on the concept of corporate social responsibility and on the challenges of how to incorporate this in future sustainability reporting.     

Phytostanols and phytosterols distributions in corn kernel

Recently, industry has focused attention on plant matrices rich in phytosterols and phytostanols for their ability to reduce serum cholesterol levels. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the phytosterols and phytostanols contents of different fractions (endosperm, pericarp, germ) of corn kernel. The germ fraction contained more oil (24.2–30.7%) than endosperm and pericarp fractions (0.4–1.2%). Endosperm oil had the highest levels of phytostanols and 4,4-dimethylsterols, while pericarp oil had the greatest amounts of 4-desmethylsterols and 4-monomethylsterols. In the oil extracted from three corn kernel fractions sitostanol was the predominant phytostanols (77–87%), followed by campestanol (13–23%). The high percentages of 24–methylencycloartanol and cycloartenol were detected in the endosperm and pericarp parts, respectively. Citrostadienol was detected in corn germ oil as the main component of the 4-monomethylsterols fraction. In different parts of corn kernel, β-sitosterol (62–69%) was the major 4-desmethylsterol, followed by campesterol (11–18%) and stigmasterol (5–13%).     

Thermophysical and mechanical properties of novel polymers prepared by the cationic copolymerization of fish oils, styrene and divinylbenzene

New polymeric materials have been prepared from the cationic copolymerization of fish oil ethyl ester (NFO), conjugated fish oil ethyl ester (CFO) or triglyceride fish oil (TFO) with styrene and divinylbenzene initiated by boron trifluoride diethyl etherate (BF₃·OEt₂). These materials are typical thermosetting polymers with crosslink densities ranging from 1.1×10² to 2.5×10³ mol/m³. The thermogravimetric analysis of the new fish oil polymers exhibits three distinct decomposition stages at 200–340, 340–500 and >500°C, respectively, with the maximum weight loss rate at approximately 450°C. Single glass-transition temperatures of T_g=30–109°C have been obtained for the fish oil polymers. As expected, these new polymeric materials exhibit tensile stress–strain behavior ranging from soft rubbers through ductile to relatively brittle plastics. The Young's modulus (E) of these materials varies from 2 to 870 MPa, the ultimate tensile strength (σ_b) varies from 0.4 to 42.6 MPa, and the percent elongation at break (ε_b) varies from 2 to 160%. The failure topography indicates typical fracture mechanisms of rigid thermosets, and the unique fibrillation on the fracture surface gives rise to relatively high mechanical properties for the corresponding NFO polymer. The new fish oil polymers not only exhibit thermophysical and mechanical properties comparable to petroleum-based rubbery materials and conventional plastics, but also possess more valuable properties, such as good damping and shape memory behavior, which most petroleum-based polymers do not possess, suggesting numerous, more promising applications of these novel fish oil-based polymeric materials.     

Lanthanum implantation for threshold voltage control in metal/high-k devices

In this paper the tuning of the n-metal effective work function by implantation of lanthanum is demonstrated. The effect of implantation and thermal annealing on the device flat-band voltage is presented. It is shown that lanthanum doping of the gate stack produces a negative shift of the flat-band voltage of ?0.53 V for a lanthanum does of 5 × 10¹⁴ cm^?2, after the device undergoes S/D anneal conditions. The results are discussed within the framework of a phenomenological dipole model and compared with other results     

Use of special processors for efficient realization of operations of relational algebra in vertical-processing systems

Translated from Kibernetika i Sistemnyi Analiz, No. 2, pp. 85–94, March–April, 1993.     

Industrial ecology study and research program at Norwegian University of Science and Technology

This paper gives a brief presentation of the industrial ecology study and research programs at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). These programs have been running for a few years, and they have recently been evaluated. The revised program will be presented. A central topic within the framework of industrial ecology is eco-efficiency. Eco-efficiency should be a tool for measuring internal progress as well as a tool for communicating level of economic and environmental performance. Some of the research projects in the NTNU program deal with this concept. Effort has been put into clarifying the terminology of eco-efficiency, the definitions and the methodologies for selecting eco-efficiency indicators, and how they can be used for reporting purposes and as a tool for improvement measures. The paper presents examples of the use of indicators for eco-efficiency measures both for production sites and for products and value chains. The paper further gives an overview of upcoming international requirements to environmental reporting in the context of industrial ecology. Here we find different types of reporting initiatives, e.g. that eco-efficiency reports inform about economic performance in addition to the environmental performance while sustainability reports encompasses social, economic and environmental aspects, the "triple bottom line". Today we see a move from traditional environmental reporting to eco-efficiency reporting and sustainability reporting. For products, we see an international standardisation effort of environmental product declarations (EPDs). Among the research activities at the industrial ecology program at NTNU, is the search for eco-efficiency indicators that can be harmonised with the product declaration standards.     

A possible mechanism for furan formation in the tropospheric oxidation of dienes

The isoprene + OH gas-phase reaction has been widely studied because of its relevance in tropospheric chemistry. However, an unsolved question remains concerning the mechanism for the formation of the observed 3-methylfuran. OH addition to dienes, such as isoprene and butadiene, is assumed to occur only at the external carbon atoms, thus restricting furan formation to a step after addition at C1 and C4. Moreover, cyclization of the carbon chain necessarily involves a cis conformation. In this work, several quantum chemistry methods have been used to model five different reaction paths for furan formation. A mechanism that is highly favored for intermediates that do not undergo collisional stabilization has been identified.