Life cycle cost (LCC) as a tool for improving sustainability in the Norwegian fishing fleet

Systems engineering principles in fisheries management may structure and improve the decision-making process. Sustainability in the fishing fleet is comprised of economic, environmental, and social dimensions. Even though the total system value may be constituted by economic factors and technical factors, non-market issues, such as environmental and social issues, have an increasingly important impact on the economic performance of a system or company. Life cycle cost (LCC) is related to the systems engineering process, because economic considerations are very important in the process of creating systems. LCC involves evaluation of all future costs related to the life cycle of a system. The main objective of this article is to discuss the usefulness of LCC as a method to enhance sustainable designs of fishing vessels for ship owners, and to improve the decision-bases for fisheries management.     

Energy consumption in the Norwegian fisheries

Energy use is of great concern within fisheries, due to both associated environmental effects and the cost of fuel to fishermen. This article explores the scale of energy consumed by most segments of the Norwegian fishing fleet for gadoid fish and for parts of the pelagic fleet for the period 1980–2005. Fuel use is assigned to the different species caught and different fishing gears using economic and mass-based allocation, where data permit. Correlations between variations in energy use and changing catch rates, quotas and oil prices are found. Inverse correlations are found between fuel consumption per kilogram of fish and catch rates on a yearly basis and between fuel consumption and oil prices on a longer term basis. A long term trend towards increased fuel consumption and reduced real prices is observed from the mid 1980s until 2000. This may indicate that low fuel prices do not motivate the development of energy efficient technology in the long run. Increased fuel use may further be used as an indication of over fishing as the correlation between low catch rates and increased fuel consumption is rather strong. Possible means of reducing energy use and emissions are discussed including changing operational strategies, hull forms and the use of alternative energy carriers. A comparison with measures taken in connection with the previous oil crisis around 1980 is done.     

Incorporating sustainability into supply management in the automotive industry – the case of the Volkswagen AG

Companies are perceived as important actors in the drive for sustainability. Linked to this, and in response to increasing demands from various stakeholder groups, companies start to look at their supply chain to enhance their overall sustainability profile. Two major triggers can be identified: (1) focal companies are held responsible for environmental and social problems caused by their suppliers, which become more and more important as (2) an increasing share of value is created at the supplier level. In response to such demands, companies have to find ways to incorporate environmental and social aspects into their supply (chain) management. Therefore, environmental and social standards are integrated into supply management by amending the purchasing processes. This paper presents one approach to integrate social and environmental standards into supply policy and supply management at the Volkswagen AG, a focal company of the automobile industry. Therefore, required changes of the sourcing and supply structures were identified during an action research project, and possible options adaptable for company internal integration are shown.     

江苏省排污申报信息管理系统设计

排污申报登记是环境管理的基础性工作,需要现代信息技术提供有力的技术保证.笔者通过对江苏省排污申报工作的需求分析、信息管理系统的系统设计、数据库设计、功能模块、.NET技术架构方法及实施、系统的应用概况等方面的介绍,给出了一种开发环境信息系统技术方面的新思路和新方法.      

A rough set-based quality function deployment (QFD) approach for environmental performance evaluation: a case of offshore oil and gas operations

Activities in offshore oil and gas (OOG) that cause environmental impacts can be systematically managed through an environmental management system (EMS). Environmental performance evaluation (EPE) is an essential part of an EMS. However, previous studies on EPE indicate that existing lists of indicators little insight into how indicators are modified to more accurately assess environmental performance.In this paper, a way is proposed to identify and define specific environmental performance indicators on a case-by-case basis, which consists of five steps: (1) describing environmental requirements; (2) determining favourable outcomes corresponding to the requirements; (3) identifying required activities or issues to achieve the outcomes; (4) searching for proper measures of the activities or issues; and (5) generating a list of key indicators. Based on these steps, a quality function deployment (QFD) approach is developed to determine key indicators and evaluate environmental performance. To handle uncertainties in QFD, the decision makers’ evaluations are quantified through rough numbers using the concept of rough sets. The outputs of the proposed approach are different environmental performance indices. Using these indices, decision makers can easily determine whether an improved performance has been achieved through an EMS. The proposed approach is transparent and promising for use as a unified tool for EPE. An application of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a numerical example.     

Evaluating the technical efficiencies of fishing vessels to achieve effective management of overexploited fisheries

Global marine capture fisheries are undergoing serious stress, with overfishing as one of the major problems. In order to mitigate the overexploitation of capture fisheries, government regulation or fisheries management is necessary. Among various management approaches, vessel quantity control is being widely employed. To achieve effective governance of fisheries, the technical efficiency (TE) issue needs to be considered in the implementation of vessel quantity control. Using the Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) stick-held dip net fishery in Japan as a case study, this paper estimated the TE of sampled fishing vessels and explored the possible factors affecting the gap in efficiency. This paper aims to provide suggestions for a better implementation of vessel quantity control in global Pacific saury fishery, and also to serve as an empirical example of integrating TE analysis into management of overexploited fisheries for achieving satisfactory effects. Results show the TE score of the sampled fishery averaged around 0.7 from 2009 to 2014, and factors concerning owners/skippers’ motivation such as vessel ownership and specialization, vessel tonnage as well as skippers’ age show positive effects on the TE. Our findings in the present work provide important strategies for mitigating overexploitation in fisheries. Conducting technical efficiency analysis of targeted fisheries is a vital issue to be considered for designing and realizing an effective implementation of fisheries management approaches. The large vessels and the enthusiasm of vessel owners/skippers need to be particularly addressed when vessel quantity limit is considered to mitigate the problem of overfishing.     

A project-based Mine Closure Model (MCM) for sustainable asset Life Cycle Management

Responsible Life Cycle Management (LCM) of mines has received much attention in the South African legislation. However, there is currently a mis-alignment between the mining industry and the various government authorities pertaining to the issue of mine closure or end-of-life management. The main reasons for this are unclear and unformulated approaches to rehabilitation with a subsequent legacy of unsuccessful mine closures that have wrongly been issued by the government from a sustainability perspective; this has posed an excessive economical burden for the mining industry. In this paper, a Mine Closure Model (MCM) based on project management principles, including risk management and concurrent engineering, is proposed to manage the closure process and assist the governing body with the effective evaluation of closures and the issuance of certificates. Mine closure or rehabilitation objectives can be achieved whilst managing the resources (of industry) optimally and aligning the closure process to meet the end requirements of stakeholder groups.     

Stakeholders and environmental management systems: a synergistic influence on environmental imbalance

This article analyzes the combined effects of stakeholder pressure and the implementation of environmental management systems on organizations’ environmental behaviors. Beyond their individual effects, the implementation of an environmental management system should enhance the effect of stakeholder pressure on environmental imbalance, defined as the divergence between what the organization does and what it should do. Information collected from 3748 industrial plants in seven countries provides empirical evidence that supports the study propositions. Therefore, this study contributes to both the debate about the effectiveness of environmental management systems and the effort to explain the complex relationship between organizations and their stakeholders in environmental matters.     

Life-cycle inventory for hydroelectric generation: a Brazilian case study

Representative Life-Cycle Inventories (LCIs) are essential for Life-Cycle Assessments (LCAs) quality and readiness. Because energy is such an important element of LCAs, appropriate LCIs on energy are crucial, and due to the prevalence of hydropower on Brazilian electricity mix, the frequently used LCIs are not representative of the Brazilian conditions. The present study developed a LCI of the Itaipu Hydropower Plant, the major hydropower plant in the world, responsible for producing 23.8% of Brazil's electricity consumption. Focused on the capital investments to construct and operate the dam, the LCI was designed to serve as a database for the LCAs of Brazilian hydroelectricity production. The life-cycle boundaries encompass the construction and operation of the dam, as well as the life-cycles of the most important material and energy consumptions (cement, steel, copper, diesel oil, lubricant oil), as well as construction site operation, emissions from reservoir flooding, material and workers transportation, and earthworks. As a result, besides the presented inventory, it was possible to determine the following processes, and respective environmental burdens as the most important life-cycle hotspots: reservoir filling (CO₂ and CH₄ emission; land use); steel life-cycle (water and energy consumption; CO, particulates, SO_x and NO_x emissions); cement life-cycle (water and energy consumption; CO₂ and particulate emissions); and operation of civil construction machines (diesel consumption; NO_x emissions). Compared with another hydropower studies, the LCI showed magnitude adequacy, with better results than small hydropower, which reveals a scale economy for material and energy exchanges in the case of Itaipu Power Plant.     

北太平洋柔鱼渔场时空分布与海洋环境要素的研究

根据2010 年7~9月和2011年7~10月“舟渔1301#” 2个航次的北太平洋柔鱼渔场海上调查资料,利用渔获生产数据?海况天气数据以及同期的卫星遥感获取的海表面温度(SST) ?海表盐度(SSS)及叶绿素a (Chl-a)浓度和海流等数据,分析柔鱼的中心渔场分布与海洋环境的变动关系.研究结果显示:整个调查期间渔获频次在SST和Chl-a因子上均呈正态分布,渔场高产的最适SST范围为18~20℃, 最适SSS范围为33.60‰~34.80‰, 最适Chl-a浓度范围为0.08~0.24mg/m3,其中SST与柔鱼渔场之间有较好的匹配关系,中心渔场通常位于18~20℃的等温线附近,且位置一般出现在冷水团和暖水团交汇区的冷水团一侧;中心渔场位于亲潮和黑潮交汇混合区的向北一侧,离交汇地带的距离较近,而且随着时间的推移,渔汛期间中心渔场的位置逐步往其向西北方向移动.总体上多个环境因子皆可作为确定潜在中心渔场的指标,但以海表水温为最佳,另外辅助寒?暖流的交汇情况以及Chl-a浓度?天气海况等因素来综合分析,判断渔场的中心位置会更准确.     

废弃产品回收处理企业环境绩效评价初探

近年来,废弃产品回收处理行业日益受到政府和社会各界的关注,而回收处理企业是实施回收处理活动的主体,相关法律、法规的出台对回收处理企业提出了更高的要求。本文在概括梳理相关法律、法规的基础上,初步建立了废弃产品回收处理企业环境绩效评价指标体系,为回收处理企业采用先进的技术工艺、降低环境负荷、加强职业健康监护和企业环境管理提供参考,以适应国家政策要求和行业发展的需要。     

Eco-design implemented through a product-based environmental management system

Lucent Technologies (Lucent) has undergone considerable change in business strategy with the outsourcing of manufacturing activities. In order to control the significant environmental aspects of hardware products, Lucent's wireless business unit, Mobility Solutions, determined it would concentrate on the design of products: focusing on eco-design enables product sustainability to be improved, with each product generation providing a ‘start of pipe’ (front end) solution with attendant efficiencies.Mobility Solutions pioneered a product-based environmental management system (PBEMS) to formally address the impacts of wireless hardware products on the environment throughout the entire product lifecycle, regardless of where products are developed. This management system looks beyond the environmental impacts of manufacturing to include conceptual design, development, use by the customer, and final product disposal.The success of this approach can be attributed to the integration of eco-design with traditional hardware product realization processes. Through the PBEMS, business and environmental processes are simultaneously utilized to manage significant product aspects and to incorporate sustainability principles during product design. Many innovative eco-design tools are applied during the product realization process to identify areas for improvement of future products, and to verify that each generation of existing products is more sustainable than its predecessor. These eco-design tools include eco-roadmapping, design for environment guidelines and checklists, and lifecycle assessments.The Mobility Solutions PBEMS conforms to the requirements of the ISO 14001 international standard and has achieved third-party certification. By implementing environmentally responsible characteristics through eco-design programs, employees, customers, and the world community benefit from a consistent approach to the environmental management of wireless hardware products. Mobility Solutions continues to reap the value of sustainable product design that is both good for the environment and makes sound business sense.     

生态环境对经济系统贡献的相对价值评估研究

用经济价值度量单位定量评估生态环境对经济社会的贡献,使之便于与普通经济要素比较,从而促进资源和环境利用方式符合可持续发展要求,是通过交叉学科研究生态环境问题的一个基本目标. 然而,目前的评估研究多从微观支付意愿出发直接估算区域乃至国家尺度上的生态系统服务价值总量,省略了利益相关者群体的中间规模层次,因此限制了这些评价对于可持续发展的理论和政策分析的参考意义. 本文从一般意义上探讨了准公共品类型环境产品和服务的潜在供需的构成和对应函数,概述了通过市场模拟估算其价值的环境经济学逻辑,并讨论了不完善模型和数据支持下评价的相对有效性,以及这种相对经济价值评估的理论和实践意义.     

Improving agricultural sustainability: the case of Swedish greenhouse tomatoes

Of major concern to agriculturists and society are issues of sustainability and land and resource requirements for food and fiber. Sustainability of Swedish domestic agriculture is explored using the production of tomatoes in greenhouses as a case study. Issues of sustainability are related to net yields, environmental loading, greenhouse gases, employment and land use. A model for evaluation of sustainability is developed and illustrated using the concepts and theories of analysis. The intensive tomato production system investigated was shown to be highly dependent on non-renewable resources and human service fed back from society. Substituting wood powder from logging residues for the oil used for heating reduced the environmental load and improved the sustainability of the system significantly.     

基于.NET的B(S)/结构的环境管理信息系统的设计和开发研究

针对某企业目前环境管理的实际情况,分析该企业环境管理的各项需求,在对环境管理的的系统架构和功能平台进行充分设计的基础上,开发出一套较为完整的企业环境管理信息系统,使得企业中各部门能快捷共享环境数据库,提高企业处理环境事务的信息化水平.在系统的实现上,选定ASP.Net作为WEB服务端的开发技术,SQL Server作为后台数据库技术,完成基于.NET的B/S结构的企业环境管理信息系统的设计和开发,并成功应用于该企业的环境管理,满足了对环境管理信息化的需求.     

GJB 4239《装备环境工程通用要求》在直升机研制中的应用研究

根据直升机及直升机型号的特点,结合直升机环境工程及传统研制、设计经验,提出了直升机及直升机型号研制中贯彻GJB 4239的具体实施程序和方法,试图将GJB 4239的通用要求转化为直升机和直升机型号系统、部件/设备环境适应性分析、设计、试验及管理具体实用,易于操作的工程技术要求,并提出直升机研制中环境试验与评估的实施要求和方法。     

装备环境适应性闭环管控方法研究

通过加强对装备环境适应性的闭环管控,避免设计方案反复,提高研制效率和装备环境适应性.在系统工程方法基础上,建立装备环境适应性闭环管控工作体系,提出闭环管控方法,包括基于流程前置的环境工程工作计划,面向流程闭环的环境适应性工作过程控制,以及全寿命周期环境适应性信息管理等内容.装备工程实践结果表明,提出的环境适应性闭环管控方法是可行的,环境适应性问题早在方案设计阶段即得到了有效解决,使环境适应性工作变被动为主动,在提高装备研制效率的同时,提升了产品的环境适应性.该方法可以有效提高装备环境适应性和研制效率,对于运载火箭、航天器、工业设备等其他类型产品的研发也有一定的借鉴意义.     

Does the potential of the use of LCA match the design team needs?

Today, most people involved in the industrial engineering community (consultants, manufacturers, researchers and institutional actors) assert that Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the most successful tool to assess environmental considerations in the product design process. This assertion is addressed in this article through a simultaneous check of the potential of this tool and the environmental needs of the design team. After a comparison of this potential to these needs, the following assertions may be made: (1) LCA is not an adequate tool for the designer, because its utility in the design process is limited to an analysis of existing products or well defined products at the final stages of the design process, and (2) LCA is not useful in creating a learning dynamic (awareness) within the company, because it does not improve the legitimacy or the credibility of environmental considerations. Moreover, it may generate confusion within the design team while restricting the capacity for innovation within the company. This paper concludes that, in the product design field, the LCA tool should be considered as a specialized tool handled by a specific player (the environmental actor) and should be dedicated to the strategic evaluation of new concepts.     

中国南海渔业环境资源的保护研究

南海渔业资源具有"公共池塘资源"的基本属性是导致其面临地缘政治紧张局势的内生困境,为此有必要从南海渔业在低敏度领域的现实表征为立足点,与南海领土主权与海域划界争端等高敏度领域相互结合的角度考察与评判南海渔业资源环境保护的主权变动动向:应该注重传统捕鱼权在南海周边国家的海洋管辖权边界的应用.以东南亚渔业管理组织和新建立南海渔业管理组织联合协同组织新的东南亚渔业管理组织必定有助于南海渔业资源纠纷的解决.     

Eco-labelling of wild-caught seafood products

Several eco-labels for wild-caught seafood have been developed during the last decade. This article describes and analyses the criteria applied by four different eco-labelling schemes for seafood products from capture fisheries, and discusses the criteria in terms of environmental impacts, based on the ISO 14040 standard for life cycle assessment.It is concluded that the most widespread eco-label, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), mainly addresses the fishing stage, in particular the overexploitation of marine resources. LCA studies confirm that the fishing stage represents the most significant environmental burden, but energy consumption and emissions of anti-fouling agents at the fishing or harvesting stage contribute with significant impacts that are not being addressed by international labelling initiatives for wild-caught seafood.LCA studies show that significant environmental impacts are related to the life cycle stages after landing. This includes fish processing, transport, cooling and packaging (especially for highly processed seafood products). Hence, another challenge would be to include criteria related to the post-landing consumption of energy, certain materials and chemicals, waste handling and wastewater emissions. Minimizing product losses throughout the product chain would also be an important area for future criteria in order to avoid fishing at high environmental costs only to produce something that is later wasted.The analysis shows that the Swedish KRAV is the only one that currently addresses a range of issues that include energy and chemicals in the whole life cycle of the products. International initiatives such as MSC cover fish products from many parts of the world emphasizing ‘overexploitation of fish resources’. It is recommended, however, that international initiatives such as MSC develop criteria related to energy use and chemicals – at least at the fishing stage. Over time, other life cycle stages could be addressed as well to the extent that this is manageable.