Welcome to the first issue of 2013. With this issue we start our sixth year in publication. We present nine papers with themes that encompass organisational sustainability, the environmental implications of site location, energy issues, and waste, recovery and reuse issues.
We start with sustainability in an organization which can be difficult to define or measure because it is such a complex concept. Vinodh et al describe the use of a fuzzy-based Kano model based on stakeholders' satisfaction to assess the sustainability level of an organization.
When a business wishes to locate a new operating business or division it must consider many aspects and issues. IT data centres (DCs) are a huge investment and companies cannot afford to make a wrong decision when designing and setting up a new DC. Daim et al describe their use of a hierarchical model to assess various financial, environmental, social, political and geographical factors which an organization should consider when choosing a city for their DC. The issue of site selection also features in the paper by Vali et al. Here the authors were concerned with a country-specific concern about the location of a paper mill in relation to the availability of natural resources. As a result of calculations performed through hierarchical analysis process (AHP), and the use of Expert Choice Software, the authors were able to indicate a preferred location for a paper mill in Iran.
We present three papers with an energy theme, two of which consider hybrid energy systems. Organizations have adopted hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) to reduce their environmental impact. Modelling can enable an organization to optimise such decisions. In their paper, Young Moon et al present a comprehensive system dynamics model of HRES that utilises a combined heating and power (CHP) generator. Hybrid energy systems also feature in the paper by Al-Badi but here the emphasis is on energy and eco-houses. The paper assesses the techno-economic feasibility of using a hybrid energy system with a hydrogen fuel cell for application in an eco-house that will be built in Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.
Continuing the energy theme but considering bio-mass derived fuel in engine operation, Banapurmath et al present the effects of EGR (exhaust gas recirculation), swirl augmentation techniques and ethanol addition on the combustion of Honge oil methyl ester (HOME) and its blends with ethanol in a diesel engine.
Finally, we present three papers that consider issues relating to waste processing, recovery or reuse of materials. In the first of these, Finkbeiner at al address their concern that current carbon foot-printing (CF) and life-cycle assessment (LCA) methods do not treat recycled biogenic carbon adequately, because the calculation rules for recycled products and biogenic carbon stored in products are defined independently from each other. Their paper proposes improvements to the currently developed standards for CF by adding a requirement to the goal and scope definition phase that ensures consistent and transparent documentation about how biogenic carbon removal credits are allocated between life cycles. Next, Francis and Vilminot consider the recovery and reuse of distinct waste streams arising from two industrial processes. They evaluated kinetic parameters and phase development for the crystallisation of amorphous mullite-based glass ceramics produced from aluminium hydroxide sludge resulting from the anodisation process and waste glasses.
In this issue's final paper, Al Momani describes the use of solar energy as a disintegration unit operation for waste activated sludge, tested in a pilot plant. The effect of the treatment process on chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), settling time and filtration index was investigated in single (solar) and sequential processes (solar & biological).