The development of linear infrastructure increases the degree of fragmentation of natural areas and has a negative impact on biodiversity and the range of available ecosystem services. The basic competing land use model is expanded to include infrastructure development. The extended model leads to the conclusion that due to the dual impact of the infrastructure (lowering the value of ecosystem services and increasing the private rents to developed land), the size of the natural area in the long-term equilibrium will be lower compared to the basic model. The preservation of nature ceases to be profitable enough. Infrastructure also reduces the marginal costs of conversion and thus increasing the volume of natural land being converted at avery moment along the transition path. If the decisions on optimal management of natural areas and infrastructure development are undertaken together, the result is a lower density of the infrastructure network and a larger ecosystem area in the steady state.

Acidification, as a form of soil degradation is a process that leads to permanent reduction in the quality of soil as the most important natural resource. The process of soil acidification, which in the first place implies a reduction in soil pH, can be caused by natural processes, but also considerably accelerated by the anthropogenic influence of excessive S and N emissions, uncontrolled deforestation, and intensive agricultural processes. Critical loads, i.e. the upper limit of harmful depositions (primarily of S and N) which will not cause damages to the ecosystem, were determined in Europe under the auspices of the Executive Committee of the CLRTAP in 1980. These values represent the basic indicators of ecosystem stability to the process of acidification. This paper defines the status of acidification for the period up to 2100 in relation to the long term critical and target loading of soil with S and N on the territory of Krupanj municipality by applying the VSD model. The Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) geostatistic module was used as the interpolation method. Land management, particularly in areas susceptible to acidification, needs to be focused on well-balanced agriculture and use of crops/seedlings to achieve the optimum land use and sustainable productivity for the projected 100-year period.

Currently, the distribution system has been adapted to include a variety of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). Maximum benefits can be extracted from the distribution system with high penetration of DERs by transforming it into a sustainable, isolated microgrid. The key aspects to be addressed for this transformation are the determination of the slack bus and assurance of reliable supply to the prioritized loads even during contingency. This paper explores the possibilities of transforming the existing distribution system into a sustainable isolated network by determining the slack bus and the optimal locations and capacity of Distributed Generators (DGs) in the isolated network, taking into account the contingencies due to faults in the network. A combined sensitivity index is formulated to determine the most sensitive buses for DG placement. Further, the reliability based on the loss of load in the isolated system when a fault occurs is evaluated, and the modifications required in for reliability improvement are discussed. The supremacy of the transformed isolated network with distributed generators is comprehended by comparing the results from conventional IEEE 33-bus grid connected test system and modified IEEE 33-bus isolated test system having no interconnection with the main grid.

This article aims to evaluate the potential application of prefabricated panels in energy retrofit of facades in the Portuguese building stock. The fundamentals of this study were part of Annex 50, which was an international ECBCS IEA project, with the purpose of developing an innovative concept of building renovation for the most representative buildings based on prefabricated systems. To analyze the potential application of energy retrofit using prefabricated panels, was important to know the reality of the existing building stock and its morphology. To know the reality of the building stock, an analysis was done based on the existing statistical data and to find the most representative residential buildings, target of the study, three criteria were defined: buildings built before 1990, with 2 to 6 floors and with renovation needs in the exterior envelope.

In the absence of statistical information about buildings morphology, a research work was done in the field. During the collection of data a methodology was developed in which each opening was classified according to a code with three parameters. In the end of the classification, 29 final codes were achieved and was verified that three types of panels have a higher probability of being applied.

A concern about the current state of relations between industry and the environment is

often neglected. However, it is important to underline that industry and sustainability are

not mutually exclusive. There are many industrial processes to blame when analyzing the

negative impact on current socio-ecological environment. The emerging question is whether

companies nowadays are ready to face challenges in the name of sustainability, the future

of the planet and generations to come. In addition, an assessment of industrial processes

may be very time-consuming and costly in financial terms. This fact allows developing sustainability

assessment approach and its measures for keeping track on to evaluate scale of

environmental, social and economic changes. The goal of the paper is to develop a multicriteria

decision-making approach for sustainability assessment of renewable energy technology.

A sustainability assessment approach combines life cycle-based methods integrated with

multi-criteria decision-making method based on analytical hierarchy process. The resulting

assessment method allows finding a compromise between industry and the environment and

identify potential intervention points for further research. As a result of decision-making

process, string ribbon technology was considered as the most sustainable. The applicability

of the proposed method is assessed based on photovoltaic panels.

The goal of this paper is to present the author’s thoughts on the possible contribution of

quality engineering to sustainable development. It is indicated that in the product life cycle

designers have the greatest potential to support this challenge. Arguments have been presented to abandon the commonly accepted paradigm, according to which the overriding goal

of the designer is to achieve the highest market value possible measured by the prospected

level of demand for the products designed. It is postulated to include the minimization of

the risks brought to the natural environment and social relations as a criterion of product

design quality. To this goal, it is necessary for designers to pursue both environmentally

friendly materials and technologies and design concepts reducing consumers’ pressure on

continuously increasing demand. Such an approach will allow for more effective control of

consumption, the main cause of the negative effects of economic growth.

The current industrial constraints on production systems, especially availability problems

are complicating maintenance managers’ mission and making longer and further performance

improvement process. Dealing with these problems in a wiser managerial vision respecting

sustainability dimensions would be more efficient to optimize all resources. In this paper, and

after addressing the lean/sustainability challenge in a the literature to define main research

orientations and critical points in manufacturing and then maintenance specific context, two

case studies have been conducted in two production systems in Morocco and Canada, within

the objective to set a clearer scene of the lean philosophy implementation in maintenance

and within the sustainability scope from an empirical perspective. To activate the social dimension

being often non-integrated in the lean/sustainability initiatives, the article authors

reveal an original research direction assigning maintenance logistics as the leading part of our

approach to cover all sustainability dimensions. Furthermore, its management is discussed

for the first time in a sustainable framework, where the authors propose a new model considering

the lean/sustainable perspective and inspired by the rich Human-Machine interaction

memory to solve daily maintenance problems exploiting the operators’ experience feedback.

The article presents a structured approach to the attractiveness and competitiveness of Polish regions in the context of selected international experiences.

Poland is now faced with the task of developing a long-term energy policy for decades to come, a strategy capable of reconciling the security of power supplies as well as effective economic processes, ensuring adequate standards of environmental protection. The process in which fossil fuels are converted into energy carriers of choice is accompanied by the emission of various gas substances which escape into the environment. Later on, those substances accumulate in the atmosphere as greenhouse gases affecting the Earth’s radiation balance – the greenhouse effect. Upsetting the balance between emission levels of those gases and the capacity to convert them in the atmosphere is the reason for climate changes. Sustainable development indices constitute a monitoring tool which makes it possible to create a statistical image of a country from the perspective of a new development paradigm. The most important feature of this index is the capability of comparing values, enabling to determine the position of a given object with reference to other objects. The article analyses 8 indexes of sustainable development in terms of using biomass for power generation purposes. The analysis was performed to include three social order indices, two economic indices and one environmental order index. It was concluded that the use of biomass in power generation can reduce the emission of greenhouse gasses significantly at several stages: the emission can be eliminated from the biological process of biomass conversion, storage and it can also be reduced during transportation.

The concept of a Circular Economy assumes that the value of products, materials and resources is to be maintained in the economy for as long as possible to ultimately reduce waste generation to a minimum. In this concept, raw materials are repeatedly put into circulation many times, often passing from one branch of industry to another. So energy, water, metal ores, oil, gas, coal and others, and wherever possible, their replacement with renewable resources (wind and solar energy, natural resources). It is important, and this is the essence of the Circular Economy, the maximum re-use of scarce materials and raw materials from already produced and used products. This concept has found the support of the European Commission and activities in this area will successively be implemented through appropriate legal acts of the European Union. The need to implement solutions in the field of minimizing the consumption of raw materials, materials and energy or reducing waste production is also felt by consumers and industry. The packaging industry is particularly interested in implementing the concept of a Circular Economy. Due to the dynamic growth of the packaging market, which in 2017 reached around EUR 9.6 billion in Poland (data from the Polish Chamber of Packaging) and the increasing amount of post-consumer waste, it is necessary to introduce solutions limiting the consumption of raw materials and energy throughout the product life cycle.

The aim of the article is to present current practices regarding the reduction of the negative impact of packaging on the environment and the indication of directions for the implementation of the Circular Economy concept in the packaging industry.

The article shows the need to take into account the principles of sustainable development in the field of the revitalization of space, and point out green roofs as a tool in this process. It is presented in the light of the green city concept, and the criteria of the European Green City Index. The article shows the ecological, social and economic benefits of green roofs (starting from the retrieval of green areas in the urbanized space, the reduction of heat island effects, up to the integration function of green roofs), which is illustrated by a few case studies of applying green roofs within revitalization projects. The article indicates also legal incentives, as well as programs directed to the development of green roofs around the world, pointing out a range of factors to consider also for Polish cities.

One of the current challenges in transport is e-mobility, understood as electromobility, ecomobility and mobility economics. E-mobility is nowadays a key focus area of socio-technical change, in terms of attention from policy makers as well as from industry and the public. The societal challenges ahead, in particular climate change put increasing pressure on the current mobility system, due to its tremendous environmental impact. Furthermore e-mobility is seen as major economic opportunity for the automotive industry. In this context, based on the available literature and documents and practical solutions implemented already in cities and agglomerations, the paper discusses the fundamental challenges that cities are to face in the context of the current megatrends. This process will engage diff erent stakeholders in order to make this concept become a reality.

This article aims to present the issues related to the legal framework for conducting economic activity in the form of marine aquaculture, consisting of farming marine organisms. The work analyses mainly selected the regulations of international law because it is these regulations that shape the rights and obligations of states, producers, farmers and society in the field of ocean farming, as well as in the context of marine resources, which are undoubtedly a common good for all mankind. The author also discusses the legal status of maritime areas in which aquaculture is cultivated.