The roles of cleaner production in the sustainable development of modern societies: an introduction to this special issue

This issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production is based upon papers presented at the 1st International Workshop Advances in Cleaner Production (CP) held in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2007. The conference had the short-term purpose of deepening the Brazilian discussion on “The Roles of Cleaner Production in the Sustainable Development of Modern Societies”, and it had the long-term objective of providing an on-going interdisciplinary forum for knowledge development and exchange on Cleaner Production (CP) and Sustainable Development. This issue is devoted to papers covering a broad range of perspectives of CP practices and strategies. A special focus is placed upon methodological tools designed to support effective decision-making pertaining to quantitative benefits from CP.The ten papers provide insights from research designed to holistically integrate CP to help society make effective progress to sustainability. Papers cover the importance of informal knowledge, as complementary to formal knowledge, in performing effective ‘Environmental Impact Assessments.’ One paper explores the roles of radical and incremental innovation in the context of alternative automotive technologies. Benefits of Ecodesign are explored in two papers; one concerning its integration with remanufacturing to extend the life of used products and one focusing the adoption of ‘Emergy Environmental Accounting,’ as a complementary decision-making tool. The development of the Brazilian LCI database for ‘hydroelectric power generation’ and its contribution to support regionally relevant LCA studies is highlighted in one paper. The complete production chains of biodiesel and bioethanol are evaluated by using global methodologies, which help in the development of more objective and effective solutions. A “compensatory area”, calculated in terms of emergy, is proposed in order to work in a sustainable way for bamboo production. Finally, a paper about a novel approach for recycling used PET is also included.     

Hydrogen for a sustainable global economy

The topic of this special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production is “Sustainable Hydrogen from Biomass.” It is of interest to practitioners in the energy sector, governmental policy makers, researchers, educators, as well as to the general public. The purpose of this special issue is to increase public awareness and to stimulate exchange of information among actors expected to play important roles in making hydrogen available for the sustainable energy system of the future.Hydrogen as a biofuel, that is, hydrogen produced from biomass in a sustainable way is recognised as an important component of the fuel market for the future low or non-carbon based energy systems. In this special issue, the main focus is on hydrogen produced from vegetable biomass by fermentation. The development of a two-stage bioprocess for the cost-effective and environmentally friendly production of pure hydrogen from multiple biomass feedstocks is elucidated by a collection of papers presenting preliminary results of Integrated Research Project HYVOLUTION supported by the 6th Framework Programme of the European Union. The attention is turned to:- the over-all concept and characteristics of the two-stage hydrogen fermentation process,- key technological issues of fermentative hydrogen production,- the availability of vegetable feedstocks including agricultural byproducts that suitable for fermentative processing,- prospects of societal integration and sustainability of the fermentative hydrogen production technology.Other papers included in this special issue are devoted to:- simultaneous production of hydrogen and methane by fermentation of lactose-containing feedstocks derived from byproducts of milk processing,- hydrogen gas generation from organic material by electrohydrogenesis, that is, a bioelectrochemical process performed in reactors known as a microbial electrolysis cells,- the ideas for Europe-wide effort on education of hydrogen users and training of skilled staff needed for facilitating the transition to the future hydrogen economy.     

“The governance and practice of change of sustainable consumption and production.” Introduction to the ideas and recommendations presented in the articles in this special issue of the journal of cleaner production

This special issue is a result of work of Sustainable Consumption Research Exchanges (SCORE!). This EU supported network project under the 6th Framework Program engaged a few hundred professionals interested in sustainable consumption and production (SCP) in Europe and beyond. A key goal of the network is to enhance understanding how radical reductions of environmental impacts and at global level a more equitable growth can be realised. In April 2006, SCORE! organised a workshop in Copenhagen with support of the European Environment Agency, titled ‘Governance of change to Sustainable Consumption and Production’. This special issue contains 7 papers based on presentations during that workshop. It further contains a summary of the main conclusions drawn by the SCORE! project team on the basis of a broader review of radical change to SCP from a business, design, consumer and system innovation perspective. The conclusion is unambiguously that governments cannot ‘outsource politics’, but must form a ‘triangle of change’ with business and consumers. We have further to understand the systemic nature of the change required. Some policies are currently more viable than others, given existing mega-trends, mega-structures and mega-views, which cannot be changed easily in the short-term and usually cannot be tackled head-on. Such issues, like paradigms on the possibility of continuous exponential growth, the belief in free markets and trade, need a longer-term deliberative process before change is possible.     

Sustainability of seafood production and consumption: an introduction to the special issue

This paper provides an introduction to the special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production on “The Sustainability of Seafood Production and Consumption”. The purpose of the special issue is to bring together a series of papers that will form a nucleus for the growth of an emerging area of scholarship. Overfishing and marine habitat damage have generated a global crisis in the production of seafood. In order to respond to this crisis we need systems for the management of seafood production and consumption that will comprehensively reduce and eventually eliminate wastefulness in both capture fisheries and aquaculture systems. Thirteen papers address these issues, with focuses on: seafood harvesting practices, fish processing, life cycle assessment, eco-efficiency, management of wastes, seafood distribution and consumption, total energy costs, eco-labeling, and the conservation of resources and biodiversity. We conclude that major changes are required in our approaches to the management of both the marine environment and our seafood capture and production systems. We also conclude that steps have been taken in this direction, but there is still far to go.     

Sustainability and supply chain management – An introduction to the special issue

This paper introduces the special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production on “Sustainability and Supply Chain Management”. This special issue mirrors the increasing relevance of this topic for both practitioners in companies, and academics. The purpose of this special issue is to serve as a catalyst to this important topic. Environmental and social problems and challenges do not stop at the gates of single companies, but have to be considered along the supply chains as the entities across which related material and information flows are organized. The aims of the paper are to introduce current research topics and provide an overview of the single papers. The papers cover supply chain strength of regions and regional activities as well as actions taken by small- and medium-sized manufacturing and public organizations. The papers in this issue also take a look at performance indicators and closed-loop supply chain aspects. Amongst these topics, four papers incorporate social aspects, which have been relatively and significantly less researched than environmental issues.     

Roles of academia in regional sustainability initiatives: outreach for a more sustainable future

Institutions of Higher Education have to cope with an array of challenges in the 21st century including globalization of teaching, research and outreach activities; additionally there are dramatic increases in competition for students, staff and funding sources. Meanwhile, local and regional involvement in regional sustainable development is increasing in importance as well. This latter process is driven by the mandates from many sources for academic involvement in working on the multi-faceted issues pertaining to Sustainable Development (SD). This requires concerted action not only at the global, but also at the local and regional levels. This article provides an overview of this special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production on the Roles of Academia in Regional Sustainable Development Initiatives. The essence of the 11 articles contained in this special issue is summarized and contextualized within the rapidly evolving academic efforts on SD. Recommendations are made of ways for academia to help their regions to make more rapid progress toward SD via involvement of their faculty, students and staff in Regional SD programs and processes.     

Minimising emissions and energy wastage by improved industrial processes and integration of renewable energy

This article provides an introduction to this Special Issue of Journal of Cleaner Production (JCLP), which contains thirteen, carefully selected articles from the 12th Conference, “Process Integration, Modelling and Optimisation for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction” – PRES'09. This issue builds upon the multi-year co-operation between the PRES conference planners and the JCLP. The articles cover important subjects of increased efficiency in energy generation and usage and in improvements in industrial process optimisation. The first group of five papers focuses upon recent advances in emissions reduction and the resulting energy penalties. The second group of four papers deals with improving the efficiency and reliability in the utilisation of renewable energy, where hydrogen and biodiesel are the key energy carriers. The final group of three papers focus on process integration challenges of sustainable energy systems and upon the challenges of industrial/societal integration of sustainable energy systems into regional sustainable development planning.     

Advancing pollution prevention and cleaner production – Canada's contribution

This special issue introduction reviews the objective and focus of the special issue: an overview of Canadian contributions to, and expectations for, cleaner production–pollution prevention (CP-P2) and its integration with sustainable development. It provides the Canadian definition of P2, briefly reviews policy and legislative background and growth and evolution of CP-P2 in Canada, and the importance of public debate. It notes the challenge of using CP-P2 to move toward sustainability. It concludes by highlighting the content and findings of the papers in the special issue which explore the key issues driving the evolution of CP-P2 in Canada, the contribution of various players to this evolution and the synergies between CP-P2 and other sustainability initiatives.     

At the source: the origins of the Massachusetts toxics use reduction program and an overview of this special issue

This special edition of the Journal of Cleaner Production celebrates the twentieth anniversary of a piece of legislation that has special significance to the environmental movement - the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act of 1989 (TURA). Most of the papers in this issue were presented at a symposium to commemorate the twentieth anniversary that was held on November 4, 2009.Much has been written about the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Program. It has been heralded as a major pollution prevention success story. It has been lauded as a premier American example of the precautionary principle in action. It has been condemned by the American chemical industry trade association as “bad for the chemical industry”. And it has been praised by the Ford Foundation and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government as an award-receiving example of innovation in government (Harvard Kennedy School, 2005).Looking back now to some twenty years ago—back to the early origins of the program concept—it can be seen both as a landmark breakthrough in international chemicals policy, and as a fairly conventional next step in the political evolution of Massachusetts environmental policy.Where did this idea come from? How did it develop? How were pieces put together? Why did Massachusetts adopt such an idea into law? And how did the idea change during the early years of implementation? This paper provides a brief history of the development of the concept of toxics use reduction and the process by which it was drafted into law in Massachusetts, followed by an introduction to the articles included in this special edition and their assessment of TURA - past, present, and future.     

From pattern to process: landscape fragmentation and the analysis of land use/land cover change

The incorporation of landscape ecological and fragmentation analyses within remote sensing science has expanded the inferential capabilities of such research. This issue presents a series of papers on the use of landscape ecological techniques to explore the relationship between land cover and land use spatial pattern and process in an international, comparative context. Methodologically, researchers seek to link spatial pattern to land use process by integrating geographic information systems (GIS), socio-economic, and remote sensing techniques with landscape ecological approaches. This issue brings together papers at the forefront of this research effort, and illustrates the diversity of methods necessary to evaluate the complex linkages between pattern and process in landscapes across the world. The analyses focus on major forces interacting at the earth’s surface, such as the interface of agricultural and urban land, agriculture and forestry, and other pertinent topics dealing with environmental policy and management. Empirical analyses stem from many different ecological, social and institutional contexts within the Americas, Africa, and Asia.     

Sustainability in higher education: what is happening?

This special issue focuses upon diverse facets of Education for Sustainability. The 33 documents within it are from authors in institutions of higher education from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, Central America and North America. Some authors use discipline-specific foci to foster inclusion of sustainable development (SD) within their educational programs. Many other authors report on their experiences in working within interdisciplinary teams to re-focus education, research and outreach to help accelerate the rate at which educational institutions foster and underpin the values, knowledge and actions to help their students transform society from unsustainable to sustainable patterns.The authors of these articles underscore the importance of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development that began on January 2005 to be an important framework and a catalyst for increasing SD educational, research and outreach efforts within all academic institutions, worldwide.The developers of this special issue hope that the lessons learned by the authors of these articles will help all in envisioning the way forward and in overcoming the resistance to change within and outside of academia as we work together on our joint journey toward sustainable societies.     

Researching the agroecosystem/environmental interface

This special issue of Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment recognizes the important contribution of Dr. J.W. Sturrock to agroecosystem and environmental research through his long-term role as Editor-in-Chief (1982–2000). An historical overview of agroecosystem and environmental research is provided to illustrate the continued growth of scientific endeavor in this area, and to show its importance for a better understanding of ecological interactions within agroecosystems and especially at the agroecosystem/environmental interface. The papers collected in this special issue are selected to illustrate the breadth and diversity of agroecosystem and environmental research. They can be placed in the following four areas: the environmental impact of farming systems; the management of organic resources, the link between the ecology of farming systems and the environment; and the ecological interactions that occur within or between agricultural systems. Intensification of food production, population growth, technological change, changing land-use patterns, and global change will further impact the structure and functional properties of agroecosystems, and intensify the interaction between agriculture and the environment, and will present a major continuing need for research in the 21st century.     

从第31届国际地质大会命题看：地球科学研究的热点和趋势

本文论述了第 31届国际地质大会学科和专题命题情况 ,统计了大会收到的论文和摘要数并将各命题重新排序。将位于前 12位的学科和前 5位的专题命题进一步列出重点讨论题目和摘要数。通过与第 30届国际地质大会命题的比较 ,试图大致了解国际地球科学研究的热点和趋势 ;通过上述分析和了解 ,就地球科学与可持续发展阐述了笔者的认识 ,提出了地球科学基础性研究和应用基础研究的重点领域     

Critical perspectives of sustainable development research and practice

Sustainable development has been intensely debated for more than twenty years, but real progress of our societies to become more sustainable is very slow. Therefore this special issue provides a forum for critical perspectives of Sustainable Development Research and Practice. The papers are grouped into three clusters: a. Sustainability Science, b. Economic Problems and c. Corporate Contributions to Sustainable Development.Although a single special issue cannot address the entire array of issues pertaining to progress of sustainability related research, the selected papers highlight special aspects of sustainability research either due to their theoretical contributions or because they report on valuable empirical evidence. The main goal of sustainability research should be to contribute to our understanding of sustainability problems and to develop and help to implement solutions to solve them. This can be described as the relevance of sustainability research. A precondition to gain relevance is the rigor of sustainability science: it has to be based on solid scientific principles and methods. Additionally it has to be regarded that Sustainable Development is dynamic and that it has both normative and practical aspects. It is concluded that sustainability science and practice should be based upon these four central aspects: rigor, relevance, normative aspects and dynamic     

海洋开发活动环境影响的公众调查与反馈研究——以厦门海域某清淤整治工程为例

随着海洋经济的快速发展,海洋开发活动环境影响评价的公众参与工作也越来越重要.厦门市是中国沿海经济特区之一,文章以厦门海域清淤整治工程的环境影响评价公众参与调查与反馈过程为案例,通过对该项目公众调查和反馈的过程,分析了海洋环境影响评价在实施公众参与时可能面临和需要解决问题:该项目由于及时召开了补充座谈会并通过专题调查报告的形式解决了公众的疑问,同时应公众的要求业主做好环保措施.通过对公众意见的调查与反馈,可以使海洋开发项目真正达到经济、社会、环境效益协调统一.     

Less bad is not good enough: approaching zero emissions techniques and systems

Radical changes towards sustainable products and a clean and safe system of production have yet to be developed and implemented in all sectors of industry. Technology holds the key to addressing many environmental problems and achieving sustainable patterns of economic growth. In many cases, companies already have the appropriate technological solution. However, the technology may not be in widespread use because of market and systemic failures and cultural barriers. Examples of market failures are the lack of information about cleaner technologies. Examples of systemic failures are weaknesses in linkages among firms, universities, research and development (R&D) institutions, and others involved in developing, supplying and applying technology. Cultural barriers are caused by the differences in the way companies communicate and do business. This makes “zero emissions” a much needed approach. The Journal of Cleaner Production has devoted this special issue to “Zero Emissions Techniques and Systems – ZETS” in the production and the urgent issues surrounding, “How to make sustainable companies become reality”. To document the state of the art in this field and to report progress are main goals of this issue. The objective of the planners of this special issue is to present perspectives, case studies and pedagogic initiatives from, academic, governmental, business, technical and financial sectors, as well as from NGOs from around the world.It is, however, evident that the term “zero emissions” still has different meanings and refers to different strategies and technologies. “Zero Emissions Techniques and Systems” are really a “SYSTEMS” aspect and not a sectoral approach. It develops more and more like a discussion about a mosaic. Some speak of the image they expect to be seen at the end, others speak of the tesserae they have to shape or the cement that fills the gaps between.     

The climate change challenge and transitions for radical changes in the European steel industry

This paper presents ideas pertaining to transitions that are envisaged in the steel industry from Cleaner Production (CP) to Systems Innovation. Limits of the socio-technical system and the climate change challenge will induce changes in the production, distribution and consumption patterns of steel and other materials. Insights from industrial economics and evolutionary theory on innovation for sustainable development are needed to assess the rationale behind the adoption and diffusion of new breakthrough technologies named Ultra Low CO₂ Steel making (ULCOS). Evolution in material consumption patterns deserves a special research agenda which focuses upon the long term evolution of the consuming sectors as major changes in the infrastructure and products that support our many energy dependent services (mobility, shelter, heat, light, etc.) are expected. These changes will be significantly amplified by greenhouse gas emission constraints.     

Going beyond the rhetoric: system-wide changes in universities for sustainable societies

In October 2008, the 5th Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities (EMSU) international conference was held in Barcelona, Spain. It dealt with the need to rethink how our higher educational institutions are facing sustainability. This special issue has been primarily derived from contributions to that conference. This issue builds upon related academic international publications, which have analysed how to use the critical position of universities to accelerate their pace of working to help to make the transition to truly SUSTAINABLE SOCIETIES!This issue focus is on the ‘softer’ issues, such as changes in values, attitudes, motivations, as well as in curricula, societal interactions and assessments of the impacts of research. Insights derived from the interplay of the ‘softer’ issues with the ‘harder’ issues are empowering academic leaders to effectively use leverage points to make changes in operations, courses, curricula, and research. Those changes are being designed to help their students and faculty build resilient and sustainable societies within the context of climate change, the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), and the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).The overall systems approach presented by Stephens and Graham provides a structured framework to systematize change for sustainability in higher education, by stressing on the one hand the need for “learning to learn” and on the other hand by integrating leadership and cultural aspects. The “niche” level they propose for innovative interactions between practitioners such as EMSU is exemplary developed by all of the other documents in this special issue. To highlight some of the key elements of the articles in this issue, there are proposals for new educational methods based in sustainability science, a set of inspirational criteria for SD research activities, new course ranking and assessment methods and results of psychological studies that provide evidence that participatory approaches are the most effective way to change values within university members in order to facilitate the development and sharing of new sustainability norms.     

国内实施清洁生产的探讨

清洁生产是依靠科技进步，改进技术而得到的清洁生产过程，通过清洁生产可以获得清洁的产品。讨论了在中国现阶段实施清洁生产的必要性；分析了清洁生产在中国实施的意义。