Freeports and their equivalents are designed to boost national economic prosperity, yet their associated sustainability concerns are often overlooked. Existing research on freeport performance is largely fragmented, with a predominant focus on economic metrics specific to individual cases. To address this research gap, this study introduces a novel methodology for holistically assessing freeport sustainability

This editorial explores the critical intersection of cleaner production and circular economy principles as vital strategies for promoting resource equity in the face of escalating environmental challenges. It emphasizes the necessity for a multifaceted approach to address the complexities of production and consumption that impact resource distribution and sustainability. The research articles highlight

Although individuals in various organizations are the agents of sustainability transitions, human experience remains an underdeveloped area in sustainability transition research. Building on interview data collected from public governance organizations, businesses, and their intermediaries, this qualitative study explores emotions experienced in the context of a European manufacturing industry undergoing

While the imperative for green manufacturing is widely acknowledged, there is ongoing global concern regarding manufacturers’ greenwashing practices. This situation presents a conundrum: how to mitigate greenwashing effectively, ensuring both optimal profits and increased product sustainability, while promoting social welfare. Our study investigates manufacturers’ greenwashing activities and evaluates

The existing oyster cold chain suffers from high energy consumption, numerous links, and low transparency. Few studies provide a comprehensive and integrated assessment of the energy consumption and carbon emissions of the oyster cold chain. Therefore, this paper designs and builds an oyster cold chain assessment system aimed at providing an energy-carbon, economic, and sustainability assessment framework

Substantial engagement in social and environmental responsibility, aimed at reducing greenwashing, is a key driver for corporations to strengthen their market power and achieve sustainable development. This study empirically tested the effect of greenwashing on corporate market power using a sample of A-share-listed companies in China's capital market from 2009 to 2021. The following results were obtained:

The aggravation of scrap tires in landfills has negative impacts on human life and the surrounding environment. Therefore, many studies have been conducted to recycle and reuse scrap tires in other areas. One such area is the asphalt pavement, where the crumb rubber (CR) from scrap tires are recycled for asphalt modification. This study focuses on improving the coating properties, and moisture resistance

The existing economic system is mainly founded on a linear approach to gaining capital, including mining natural resources, manufacturing, consumption, and disposal. Despite the increasing attention given to the Circular Economy (CE), currently, scholarly analysis is absent into the function of finance and the prospective utility of financial developments in expediting the adoption of CE principles

In this research, an innovative and clean shipboard Sustainable Hybrid Energy and Carbon Capture System (SHECCS) is proposed, addressing the energy demand of a ship in both sailing and mooring modes. To comprehensively utilize renewable energy, LNG cooling energy, and ship waste heat, the SHECCS integrates multiple subsystems, including the Carbon Capture Subsystem, Liquefied CO2 Subsystem, Carnot

Nowadays, the ocean shipping carbon emission accounting for 2∼3% of global carbon emission. As a zero-carbon fuel with higher volumetric heat density than hydrogen, ammonia has the potential to serve for marine engines, thereby aiding in the decarbonization of ocean shipping. However, as a fuel with weak flammability, ammonia engine still faces the problem of how to organize its combustion. This study

Sustainable development is an important tool to realize the sound economic, social, and ecological operation of the destination, and rural sports tourism is an important way to realize the sustainable development of the destination by relying on its own industrial advantages. This paper systematically explains the causal relationship between rural sports tourism and destination sustainable development

Illegal logging significantly contributes to the climate crisis, as trees are vital for converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. This study examines how tourism can reduce the impact of financial crime on deforestation by providing alternative ways to economically benefit from forests. Using data from 154 countries between 2012 and 2020, the research employs spatial clustering and dynamic panel models

Carbamazepine (CBZ) is an anticonvulsant, one of the most commonly detected in surface water, even in areas with low anthropogenic pressure. The CBZ contained in wastewater is poorly removed by conventional secondary processes and requires a polishing stage; oxidation processes in this case are a tried-and-tested options. However, a multitude of reaction pathways occurs and may lead to the generation

This study investigated whether impression management (IM), which is constantly used in sustainability disclosures (D-CSR in Brazil), is associated with higher levels of information asymmetry (IA) by analyzing 55 Brazilian listed companies’ D-CSRs from 2016 to 2020 (266 reports in total). The codification model and measurements were adapted to capture the IM level using four techniques: attribution

7% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are caused by the iron and steel industry. India produces 6% of the global crude steel, most of which comes from large steel plants using the blast furnace – basic oxygen furnace route and the natural gas – sponge iron – electric arc furnace route. This study investigates the carbon abatement potential and associated economics of major decarbonization options

This study explores the dynamic field of circular economy (CE) in the circular textiles and fashion (CTF) industry of Japan, highlighting the country's distinct position and its potential to catalyze challenges in business cooperation with the European Union (EU). The methodology consisted of (1) desk research with a systematic literature review, and (2) conducting 20 interviews with stakeholders from

Mass timber construction has the potential to reduce the embodied carbon of new constructions and store carbon in the building stock. However, due to current design and manufacturing practices of engineered wood products, mass timber building can be more expensive than other structural material systems, making up to 30% of the total building cost.Optimized shaped beams can reduce material need by up

Sustainable development in mountainous areas is closely linked to human ecological well-being. The coordination of ecological conservation and economic development is an important issue that urgently requires exploration. This study, based on a re-examination of the relationship between ecological conservation and economic development, revises the coupling framework between ecosystem assets in mountainous

Clean energy, such as hydropower, wind power and photoelectric energy, has been widely concerned because of its advantages of renewable and environmental protection. Considering the randomness, volatility and uncertainty of wind power and solar power, these two types of independent power sources are easy to bring adverse effects on the stability of the power grid. The starting point of this study is

Since its invention 200 years ago, Portland cement (PC) has been extensively utilized as a construction material. Looking ahead, the prevailing demand for PC will unlikely drop due to the ongoing infrastructure expansion in India, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia & the Pacific, and the Middle East. It is crucial to examine the latest production technologies of PC from the perspectives of material consumption

A dual-loop organic Rankine cycle-onboard carbon capture system (DORC-OCCS) for liquid natural gas (LNG) -powered ships is proposed to satisfy both objectives of carbon emission reduction and efficient energy utilization for ships. In this system, the wasted heat from the ship powers the reboiler and drives the high-temperature ORC to generate electricity. Simultaneously, LNG cold energy is utilized

We investigate how innovation in circular economy and (multistakeholder) network contracts can contribute to addressing the problem of natural resource commons such as overexploitation, short-termism and free riding. We show that circular economy innovation can improve the efficiency of investment in the regeneration of natural resources, while network contracts can create a legal framework preventing

Under the background of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, it is urgent for heavy polluting enterprises to achieve green transformation. The Digital Tax Administration (DTA) will contribute to the establishment of the digital and green integrated administration mode. This study analyzes the effect of DTA on enterprises’ green transformation, by using the Progressive Difference-in-Differences (DID)Model

Collective environmental action is crucial for building sustainable waste management systems, especially in backward rural communities, but it is highly prone to the collective-action dilemma. While previous studies have emphasized the role of farmer cooperatives, concrete empirical evidences have been lacking. To fill this research gap based on the survey data from 1820 rural households and the registration

Agricultural carbon emissions constitute a significant share of global carbon emissions, emphasizing the critical need to enhance agricultural carbon emission efficiency (ACEE) as a key response to the global climate crisis. Rapid urban expansion (UE) has reshaped agricultural production practices and inevitably affects agricultural carbon emissions. However, existing research has inadequately examined

Porous concrete (PC) can effectively mitigate various environmental problems associated with road space. Exploring high-performance porous concrete (HPPC) is essential to expanding its applications. However, the current single methods for improvement have almost reached a bottleneck, particularly in terms of mechanical properties. Therefore, this research seeks further breakthroughs from synergistic

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is essential for evaluating the environmental impact of sustainable activities in industry. Despite its importance, there exist challenges negatively impacting its deployment, particularly the time-consuming process of gathering inventory data. This research introduces a novel framework that leverages advanced text-based algorithms from Natural Language Processing (NLP)

This study investigates the impact of low-carbon constraints on the location choices of heterogeneous firms. Based on data from 282 prefecture-level cities in China and 293,800 newly estabilished firms, this paper empirically analyzes the impact of urban low-carbon constraints on firms' location choices. Using a two-way fixed effect model and instrumental variables, a low-carbon location choice effect

Using methanol as a fuel for power generation has garnered significant attention due to the increasing demand for renewable energy. This study compares the energy, economic, and environmental benefits of five potential methanol-to-power (M2P) routes: direct methanol power generation and four electrochemical/thermochemical power generation routes coupled with the methanol pretreatment process. Energy

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are crucial modern sustainable energy generation devices. The accurate assessment of their state of health (SOH) and the forecast of their remaining useful life (RUL) are critical for their practical deployment. Current mainstream methods typically use time-domain voltage decay as the health indicator (HI) and rely on recurrent neural networks. However,

Previous research proposed a molten salt heating tire pyrolysis reactor, based on the high heat transfer and storage capabilities of molten salts, to enhance heat transfer and improve the quality of pyrolysis products. During the pilot and industrialization stage, the techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) are crucial to evaluate the economic potential and the environmental

A considerable amount of produced construction and demolition waste (C&DW) has necessitated effective investigation on its life-cycle impacts and benefits to achieve a sustainable waste management chain. However, previous studies have predominantly relied on static approaches, which fail to account for the dynamic changes in the life cycle of C&DW management, thereby limiting the scalability and transferability