This study is the first that theorises and empirically tests, at the organisational level, the role that ‘Green’ Human Resource Management (HRM) practices play in facilitating employees' collective ...engagement in environment protection by taking voluntary actions that ‘go the extra mile’. In this regard, we take an original perspective on Environmental Management (EM) as an organisational change that requires strong support from employees. This allows us to investigate the mediating role of collective commitment to change – and specifically to EM – with regard to the relationship between ‘Green’ HRM practices and collective voluntary behaviours towards the environment. Our results show that ‘Green’ HRM practices are conducive to voluntary behaviours towards the environment at the collective level. Moreover, employees' willingness to support their organisation in its EM endeavour partially mediates this relationship. Additionally, by conceptualising three different types of ‘Green’ HRM practices, our results disentangle their relative importance and their differing impact on collective behaviours towards the environment. This paper thus provides scholars of EM and managers with original evidence-based guidelines on how to leverage ‘Green’ HRM to enhance employees' collective attitudes and behaviours towards the environment.
•The link between ‘Green’ HRM practices and collective OCBEs is analysed.•The mediating role of collective Affective Commitment to EM change is examined.•A survey of organisations within the English National Health System is reported.•Results support ‘Green’ HRM practices being positively associated with collective OCBEs.•Partial mediation by collective Affective Commitment to EM change is supported.
Nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CDs) have become a current focus of chemical research due to their superior photoluminescence (PL) properties and high fluorescence quantum yield (QY). In this ...paper, we reported a facile, simple and low-cost approach for the synthesis of highly fluorescent and stable N-CDs by hydrothermal treatment of maleic acid and ethylenediamine. The as-prepared N-CDs emitted strong blue fluorescence with an absolute QY of up to 45%, and exhibited pH-independent behavior in a wide pH range from 1 to 13 and good water solubility. In addition, the fluorescence of the N-CDs can be significantly quenched by p -nitrophenol (4-NP) through an electron-transfer-induced dynamic quenching mechanism, leading to 4-NP being sensed optically. The sensor presented a good linearity with 4-NP concentration in the range of 0.10–11 μg mL −1 . The detection limit of 22 ng mL −1 4-NP could be obtained, which is lower than the 60 ng mL −1 limit allowed in drinking water by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. The sensor exhibited rapid recognition and distinguished selectivity to 4-NP over other structural analogues of phenols. Moreover, the sensing system was successfully applied for the determination of 4-NP in environmental water samples.
The article analyses the renewable energy implementation and prediction prospects examining the case of Lithuania. This paper presents the achieved results obtained by implementing the targets of ...National Energy Independence Strategy and requirements of the EU directives for EU Member States. It was disclosed that over the last 5 years, the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in gross inland fuel and energy consumption in Lithuania increased about 1.3 times. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew annually on average 3.2%. Country’s GDP increased about 1.3 times and gross inland and final fuel and energy consumption – about 10–12%. The largest share of RES in Lithuania came from solid biofuels – 80.6% in 2017. For the last 5 years, wind energy production increased about 2.5 times and biogas energy consumption – about 2.8 times. Total emissions of greenhouse gasses decreased by 3% and air pollutants by 23%. Lithuania has set targets to increase RES share in the final energy consumption up to 30% by 2020, 45% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 years.
The analysis identified the most promising directions for sustainable energy development and their environmental impact. That is also suitable for use in other countries, in order to provide local energy resources.
•Main components of RES and tendencies of their usage in Lithuania were assessed.•Lithuanian energy policy has led to GDP growth of 1.3 times and annually on 3.2%.•Increase of gross inland consumption of RES from 15.8 to 20.4% is disclosed.•Decrease of total GHG emissions of 3% and air pollutants of 23% is estimated.•A target to increase RES share up to 30% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 was revealed.
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•Sewage sludge (SS) derived biochar was used to construct BC/TiO2 composite for hydrogen production.•The synergy between TiO2 and biochar increases the electron transfer rate and ...photocatalytic efficiency.•The dual stimulation between TiO2 and biochar was responsible for higher H2 evolution.•Higher stability was obtained using SS-based BC with TiO2 in multiple cycles.
Well-designed sewage sludge (SS) based multi-layered biochar (BC) template to construct BC/TiO2 heterojunction with the influential effect of metallic elements for stimulating photocatalytic H2 production has been investigated under several parameters including, calcination process, sacrificial reagent type, catalyst loading, and irradiation time. It was observed that biochar has an excellent structure with several metallic elements (M = Ni, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Fe), enabling efficient charge separation. The novel biochar made from sewage sludge incorporated TiO2 played a key role in H2 production via photocatalytic water splitting. The highest H2 production of 2523 μmol h−1 g−1 was achieved using BC/TiO2, suggesting 5.50 times more activity than pure TiO2. This obvious enhancement in productivity was due to the synergetic effect of biochar metallic elements, and the defect structure of biochar during the binary synthesis process by developing a several-layer structure, which enabled the efficient charge carrier separation. The presence of several metals boosted the synergy between TiO2 and biochar and increased the electron transfer rate. Furthermore, recycling experiments for 12 h proved the high catalyst stability to promote continuous H2 evolution. As a result, the innovative BC/TiO2 nanocomposite provided a simple technique for increasing electron transport carriers while enhancing strong interfacial contacts for optimal sustainable energy generation.
Biodiesel fuels derived from a variety of plant and animal feedstocks are promising renewable alternative diesel fuels in view of energy security, environmental protection and the great potential of ...carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction from the whole cycle of biodiesel production. This review only focused on the characteristics of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), particulate matter (PM) and polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions found in recent years when various biodiesel fuels with different physicochemical properties were used in diesel engines. The effect of ethanol addition, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and various catalytic converters on the emissions above and particle size distributions of diesel engines was presented. To meet stringent exhaust emission regulations when biodiesel is used, efforts on engine electronic control systems, the improvement in conversion efficiency of catalysts, particulate trapping efficiency and biodiesel preparation require to be made.
Of various chemosensory protocols, the color change observed by the naked eye is considered to be a conceivable and on-site way to indicate the presence of an analyte. We herein designed a ...ratiometric fluorescence probe by hybridizing dual-emission quantum dots (QDs) and demonstrated its efficiency for on-site visual determination of copper ions. The hybrid probe comprises two sizes of cadmium telluride QDs emitting red and green fluorescence, respectively, in which the red-emitting ones are embedded in silica nanoparticles and the green-emitting ones are covalently linked onto the surface. The fluorescence of the embedded QDs is insensitive to the analyte, whereas the green emissive QDs are functionalized to be selectively quenched by the analyte. Upon exposure to different amounts of copper ions, the variations of the dual emission intensity ratios display continuous color changes from green to red, which can be clearly observed by the naked eye. The limit of detection for copper is estimated to be 1.1 nM, much lower than the allowable level of copper (∼20 μM) in drinking water set by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The probe is demonstrated for the determination of copper ions in lake water and mineral water samples, especially for visually monitoring copper residues on herb leaves. This prototype ratiometric probe is simple, fully self-contained, and thus potentially attractive for visual identification without the need for elaborate equipment.
Carbon soot (CS) has the advantages of cost-effectiveness and production scalability over other carbons (i.e., graphene, CNTs) in their synthesis. However, little research has been conducted to ...explore the potential applications of CS. In this study, we demonstrated that a common daily wasteCScan be used for developing a cost-effective absorbent (CS-sponge) to remove oil contaminants from water. The CS was synthesized by an ethylene-oxygen combustion flame. The CS-sponge was prepared via a dip-coating method. Without further surface modification and pretreatments, the CS-sponge demonstrates high absorption capacities (up to 80 times its own weight) for a broad spectrum of oils and organic solvents with a recyclability of more than 10 times. These research results show evidence that the CS-sponge is promising in environmental remediation for large-scale, low-cost removal of oils from water.
With increased worldwide awareness of environmental protection, green supply chain management (GSCM) has received much attention from both researchers and practitioners over the past decade. ...Traditionally, organizations have considered criteria such as cost, quality, and delivery to evaluate the performance of their suppliers. Although there is an abundance of studies considering the conventional criteria in supplier selection, there are a rather limited number taking into account the environmental issues. In this study, we use both economic and environmental criteria and propose a comprehensive green supplier selection model. The analytic network process (ANP) is used to deal with the interdependencies among the criteria, and the traditional Grey relational analysis (GRA) has been modified to better address the uncertainties inherent in supplier selection decisions. We utilize the ANP and an improved GRA to weight the criteria and rank the suppliers respectively. The proposed approach is novel, and allows decision-makers to participate in the assessment process and use linguistic evaluation in the green supplier selection process. A case study in the automotive industry is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
•A comprehensive green supplier selection model is proposed.•Analytic network process is used to deal with the criteria interdependencies.•Grey relational analysis is used to deal with the supplier selection uncertainties.•An automotive industry case study demonstrates the effectiveness model.
NZEB (Net zero energy building) is regarded as an integrated solution to address problems of energy-saving, environmental protection, and CO2 emission reduction in the building section. NZEB could be ...even possible with electricity production if enough renewable energy could be used. Moreover, various building-service systems with renewable energy sources have been widely considered for potential applications in NZEB. All of these new features extend the technical boundary of the conventional energy-efficient buildings, attach a more profound implication to the sustainable development of building technology, and therefore pose a challenge to evaluation works on NZEB performance.
This paper presents a guided tour on NZEB evaluation through literature-research. An overview about definitions and energy-efficient measures of NZEB is presented so that the research object and technology boundary can be clarified for NZEB evaluation. Then, a summary of widely-used research method, tool and performance indicator in evaluation is provided for the methodology part. This part also includes a discussion on the application of LCA (life cycle assessment) in NZEB evaluation and LCA's role in promoting a well-defined NZEB. Finally, potential progress in NZEB evaluation with possible development trends is highlighted in terms of energy storage, load match and smart grid.
•Definitions and typical energy-efficient measures of net zero energy building are reviewed.•Research methods, tools and performance indicators for evaluation methodology are summarized.•Possible development trends of net zero energy building are discussed.
We are witnessing in recent years a significant increase in the penetration of small units of distributed generation on electricity networks, motivated by a higher demand of environmental protection ...and a gradual process of liberalization on the energy market. In last decade many countries have begun a liberalization process of their electrical systems by opening access to transmission and distribution networks. This has been accompanied by a fast growth in the presence of small generators distributed, of several technologies, many of them based on renewable energy sources.
However, there are still technical, economic and regulatory barriers that limit the definitive boost of distributed generation (DG). The increase of connections in many cases, has been based on the philosophy “fit and forget” and capacity of installed DG remains limited by Distribution Network Operators. In this article are reviewed those factors that can contribute most to the necessary evolution of DG, to overcome the current paradigm of renewable distributed generation sources “integrated in a real network”, and reach a stage of DG units “embedded in the new distribution networks”.
To do this, aspects such as, Smartgrids and new information and communications technologies, microgeneration and storage technologies, Active Management Network, multiobjetive planning as an optimization tool for sizing and selection of sites DG, or regulatory issues, are examined along of this article.
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