Vol. 1, No. 1 (2013): Regular Issue

Using Social network analysis techniques, the authors visualize the co-authorship network and provide descriptive statistics regarding the degree to which researchers are embedded in it. The aim of this paper is to point out three issues including: (1) the use and quantification of international bibliographic databases; (2) Social Network Analysis and interpreting merits; and (3) visualization and the analysis of coauthorship networks for co-authorship data. The results showed that there was a strong linear relationship between the number of papers published and an author’s h-index. And the co-author network displayed the following features: with medium connected groups of authors; the network density is low; many sparse ties since there are still observed isolated authors or simple clusters in the network; and a medium propensity to collaborate with co-authors. Such an understanding is a necessary pre-requisite to establish an information flow and collaboration pattern among authors involved in the progress of the emergy accounting field.

Using Social network analysis techniques, the authors visualize the co-authorship network and provide descriptive statistics regarding the degree to which researchers are embedded in it. The aim of this paper is to point out three issues including: (1) the use and quantification of international bibliographic databases; (2) Social Network Analysis and interpreting merits; and (3) visualization and the analysis of coauthorship networks for co-authorship data. The results showed that there was a strong linear relationship between the number of papers published and an author’s h-index. And the co-author network displayed the following features: with medium connected groups of authors; the network density is low; many sparse ties since there are still observed isolated authors or simple clusters in the network; and a medium propensity to collaborate with co-authors. Such an understanding is a necessary pre-requisite to establish an information flow and collaboration pattern among authors involved in the progress of the emergy accounting field.

It is generally and increasingly believed that humanity’s survival depends on adoption of sustainable development practices, which are based on adequate satisfaction of quantitatively defined and interrelated economical, environmental and social criteria. One can then argue that sustainable development has a meta-ethical foundation, a definition of right and wrong paths stemming from what one might consider a Universal Truth that is humanity’s desire to survive. One finds that “sustainability” is very much in vogue as a positive attribute, and more and more extensively used erratically and often improperly and even fraudulently over the entire social spectrum. Since sustainability is of vital importance to our survival, using its terminology in vain diminishes its vitally important value by desensitizing society and sowing distrust. Importantly, unethical usage of sustainability concepts causes much harm to the development of credible sustainability science. This paper briefly defines sustainability and its quantitative metrics, presents examples of ongoing ethical and unethical use of the concept, and recommends a path towards damage control that includes the development of internationally acceptable standards for that vital concept.

It is generally and increasingly believed that humanity’s survival depends on adoption of sustainable development practices, which are based on adequate satisfaction of quantitatively defined and interrelated economical, environmental and social criteria. One can then argue that sustainable development has a meta-ethical foundation, a definition of right and wrong paths stemming from what one might consider a Universal Truth that is humanity’s desire to survive. One finds that “sustainability” is very much in vogue as a positive attribute, and more and more extensively used erratically and often improperly and even fraudulently over the entire social spectrum. Since sustainability is of vital importance to our survival, using its terminology in vain diminishes its vitally important value by desensitizing society and sowing distrust. Importantly, unethical usage of sustainability concepts causes much harm to the development of credible sustainability science. This paper briefly defines sustainability and its quantitative metrics, presents examples of ongoing ethical and unethical use of the concept, and recommends a path towards damage control that includes the development of internationally acceptable standards for that vital concept.

Development of the concept of emergy established a medium for accounting that made it possible to express economic and environmental work of all kinds on a common basis as solar emjoules. Environmental accounting using emdollars, a combined emergy-monetary unit, can be used to produce a single income statement and balance sheet giving comprehensive accounts for the economy, society, and the environment that can be expressed on a single income statement and balance sheet. At present, emergy accounting is rapidly developing and this paper uses well-known methods from financial accounting and bookkeeping to guide the further development of emergy accounting methods. The important concept of environmental liability is defined and a conceptual basis for applying this idea in ecologicaleconomic systems is presented in the form of an Energy Systems Language model. Four categories of environmental debt are recognized and a scheme for payment of these debts is proposed based on the criterion that economic production be sustainable. Also, a system of double entry emergy and money bookkeeping is proposed, which uses a combined emergy and money journal, separate emergy and money ledgers with this data transferred to a unified emdollar balance sheet to keep one set of books for the environment and the economy. Further development, testing, and adoption of environmental accounting tools like the ones proposed here will allow governments and managers to finally determine the true solvency (i.e., the ability to pay economic, social and environmental debts) and therefore the sustainability of the firms and economic systems for which they are responsible.

Development of the concept of emergy established a medium for accounting that made it possible to express economic and environmental work of all kinds on a common basis as solar emjoules. Environmental accounting using emdollars, a combined emergy-monetary unit, can be used to produce a single income statement and balance sheet giving comprehensive accounts for the economy, society, and the environment that can be expressed on a single income statement and balance sheet. At present, emergy accounting is rapidly developing and this paper uses well-known methods from financial accounting and bookkeeping to guide the further development of emergy accounting methods. The important concept of environmental liability is defined and a conceptual basis for applying this idea in ecologicaleconomic systems is presented in the form of an Energy Systems Language model. Four categories of environmental debt are recognized and a scheme for payment of these debts is proposed based on the criterion that economic production be sustainable. Also, a system of double entry emergy and money bookkeeping is proposed, which uses a combined emergy and money journal, separate emergy and money ledgers with this data transferred to a unified emdollar balance sheet to keep one set of books for the environment and the economy. Further development, testing, and adoption of environmental accounting tools like the ones proposed here will allow governments and managers to finally determine the true solvency (i.e., the ability to pay economic, social and environmental debts) and therefore the sustainability of the firms and economic systems for which they are responsible.

In ecological accounting for various responsibility entities, embodied ecological endowment fluxes across the local system boundary have different mitigation implications. A framework for the multi-scale input-output analysis is presented in this article to support ecological accounting for mitigation policy making by global, domestic and local responsibility entities. A case study for carbon emissions by the urban economy in Beijing 2007 is made to compare corresponding perspectives. With intensive tertiary industry, the urban economy is revealed as a net carbon emission importer.

In ecological accounting for various responsibility entities, embodied ecological endowment fluxes across the local system boundary have different mitigation implications. A framework for the multi-scale input-output analysis is presented in this article to support ecological accounting for mitigation policy making by global, domestic and local responsibility entities. A case study for carbon emissions by the urban economy in Beijing 2007 is made to compare corresponding perspectives. With intensive tertiary industry, the urban economy is revealed as a net carbon emission importer.

When analyzing the environmental performance of products, it has become standard practice to use a life cycle perspective. For organizations (e.g. companies) such a life cycle or supply chain oriented assessment is not yet established as common practice. The discussions on the carbon footprint of organizations and the development of the so-called ‘supply chain’- or ‘scope 3’-standard of the GHG-Protocol promoted the future use of such an approach. At the level of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) a project has just been launched to develop an LCA standard for Organizations (ISO 14072), which will address the full set of environmental interventions, not only greenhouse gases. This paper proposes a corporate environmental footprint assessment methodology by adapting the mandatory elements (“shalls”) of ISO 14044 from products to organizations. Most requirements are applicable on both the product and organizational level, such as impact assessment, reporting and review requirements. Others were partially adapted from ISO 14044, such as system boundary or allocation procedures. A third group of aspects like e.g. comparisons based on a common function, i.e. product and service portfolio, were identified as methodological challenges. As far as the data demand is concerned, it was interesting to find that even the corporate accounting approach needs product level data and in that respect does not differ from the traditional life cycle approach.

When analyzing the environmental performance of products, it has become standard practice to use a life cycle perspective. For organizations (e.g. companies) such a life cycle or supply chain oriented assessment is not yet established as common practice. The discussions on the carbon footprint of organizations and the development of the so-called ‘supply chain’- or ‘scope 3’-standard of the GHG-Protocol promoted the future use of such an approach. At the level of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) a project has just been launched to develop an LCA standard for Organizations (ISO 14072), which will address the full set of environmental interventions, not only greenhouse gases. This paper proposes a corporate environmental footprint assessment methodology by adapting the mandatory elements (“shalls”) of ISO 14044 from products to organizations. Most requirements are applicable on both the product and organizational level, such as impact assessment, reporting and review requirements. Others were partially adapted from ISO 14044, such as system boundary or allocation procedures. A third group of aspects like e.g. comparisons based on a common function, i.e. product and service portfolio, were identified as methodological challenges. As far as the data demand is concerned, it was interesting to find that even the corporate accounting approach needs product level data and in that respect does not differ from the traditional life cycle approach.

This paper evaluates the resource use and environmental performance of the Italian agricultural sector across levels, from local (selected olive, lemon and grape farms), through regional (Campania region) up to the national scale (whole Italy). An assessment over time (from 1985 to 2010) was performed in order to investigate how the demand for environmental support changed in the last twenty-five years. The performance indicators were calculated by using the Emergy Synthesis method in order to ascertain the emergy investment per unit of product (dry-mass, available energy, monetary value) as well as the overall sustainability of the process. Results point out both a decrease of renewability (%REN) and a higher dependence from imported resources (high Environmental Loading Ratio, ELR and low Emergy Yield Ratio, EYR) at all the scales investigated. The main factors affecting such indicators are the choice of crops mix, machinery use, climate conditions (mainly rainfall), market value of products, direct and indirect labor. A scenario analysis was implemented based on increased resource use efficiency in order to assess the sustainability improvement potential of the agricultural system.

This paper evaluates the resource use and environmental performance of the Italian agricultural sector across levels, from local (selected olive, lemon and grape farms), through regional (Campania region) up to the national scale (whole Italy). An assessment over time (from 1985 to 2010) was performed in order to investigate how the demand for environmental support changed in the last twenty-five years. The performance indicators were calculated by using the Emergy Synthesis method in order to ascertain the emergy investment per unit of product (dry-mass, available energy, monetary value) as well as the overall sustainability of the process. Results point out both a decrease of renewability (%REN) and a higher dependence from imported resources (high Environmental Loading Ratio, ELR and low Emergy Yield Ratio, EYR) at all the scales investigated. The main factors affecting such indicators are the choice of crops mix, machinery use, climate conditions (mainly rainfall), market value of products, direct and indirect labor. A scenario analysis was implemented based on increased resource use efficiency in order to assess the sustainability improvement potential of the agricultural system.

Future availability of mineral resources is influenced by two opposed facts. On the one hand, general trends suggest a long-term decline in ore grade, which increases energy consumption in mining industry. But on the other hand there have been technological transitions that might avert rises in energy consumption. The aim of this paper is to become acquainted if technological breakthroughs that have occurred can preclude the rising energy demand for the gold mining industry. As experience is acquired, material and energy efficiency increase and technical changes can be expressed through the so called learning curves. Accordingly, the learning curve approach is applied to several data sets of 17 major gold producing countries. Our results show that technological learning is as dependent on ore grade as it is on mining operation and recovery processes. Applying the learning curve method we obtain average progress ratios varying from +20% to -22%. This survey allows us to have a better understanding of the mining sector and the outcomes of technology evolution together with ore grade declining by means of identifying best mining practices around the world.

Future availability of mineral resources is influenced by two opposed facts. On the one hand, general trends suggest a long-term decline in ore grade, which increases energy consumption in mining industry. But on the other hand there have been technological transitions that might avert rises in energy consumption. The aim of this paper is to become acquainted if technological breakthroughs that have occurred can preclude the rising energy demand for the gold mining industry. As experience is acquired, material and energy efficiency increase and technical changes can be expressed through the so called learning curves. Accordingly, the learning curve approach is applied to several data sets of 17 major gold producing countries. Our results show that technological learning is as dependent on ore grade as it is on mining operation and recovery processes. Applying the learning curve method we obtain average progress ratios varying from +20% to -22%. This survey allows us to have a better understanding of the mining sector and the outcomes of technology evolution together with ore grade declining by means of identifying best mining practices around the world.