Technology assessment is being increasingly employed in both the public and private sectors. Technology assessment is defined as a process consisting of analyses of technological developments and their consequences as well as a debate on the basis of these analyses. Inquiries into technological developments ad their implications cannot be based on purely technical considerations but needs to adopt more complex perspectives. While traditional forms of technology assessment focused on individual technologies, current physical, technical and political realities necessitate a more systemic/holistic view, focusing on the long-term directions of social change and their impacts on a variety of sustainability. It has been acknowledged that technology and society coevolve. The paper provides information and knowledge on existing methods and their connections with the environmental, economic and social implications which are used for the assessment of sustainability of technology. This article seeks to provide some clarification by reflecting on the different approaches described in the literature as being forms of sustainability assessment in terms of their potential contributions to sustainability. Currently available methodologies for the assessment of the sustainability cover environmental parameters in a single integrated approach, like environmental impact assessment (EIA). Many of these are actually have been extended to incorporate social and economic considerations as well as environmental ones, reflecting a “triple bottom line” approach to sustainability. Each of the methods differs a set of generic criteria and indicators under the following broad categories: technological suitability, environmental considerations (in terms of resources and emissions, risks etc.), economic concerns, and social considerations. Application of LCA-based methodology to assess painting technology verifies the usability of the framework for sustainability assessment of technology. The conceptual framework for sustainability assessment of technology demonstrated through the paper verifies the application and usability of the methods used.
PL
Ocena technologii jest coraz częściej stosowana zarówno w sektorze publicznym, jak i prywatnym. Ocena technologii jest definiowana jako proces składający się z analiz technologii i ich konsekwencje rozwoju i stosowania określonych technologii, procesy rozwoju technologii. Liczne zapytania o rozwój technologii nie mogą opierać się na względach czysto technicznych, ale wymagają bardziej złożonych perspektyw. Podczas gdy tradycyjne formy oceny technologii skupiają się na indywidualnych technologiach, obecne realia techniczne i polityczne wymagają bardziej systemowego/holistycznego spojrzenia, skupiającego się na długoterminowych kierunkach zmian społecznych i wewnętrznych zróżnicowaniach. Uznano, że technologia i społeczeństwo są współzależne. Artykuł dostarcza informacji i wiedzy na temat istniejących metod i ich współzależności, które są wykorzystywane do oceny stopnia zrównoważenia technologii. Odzwierciedlając różne podejścia opisane w literaturze, niniejszy artykuł ma na celu zarysowanie koncepcji metody oceny technologii pod kątem potencjalnego jej wpływu na zrównoważony rozwój. Obecnie dostępne metody oceny technologii uwzględniają parametry środowiskowe w jednolitym zintegrowanym podejściu, na przykład ocenę wpływu na środowisko (EIA). Wiele z nich zostało faktycznie poszerzonych o aspekty społeczne i ekonomiczne, a także środowiskowe, co odzwierciedla podejście zrównoważonego rozwoju, tj. „triple bottom line”. Każda z metod różni się zbiorem ogólnych kryteriów i wskaźników ujętych według różnych kategorii: przydatność technologiczna, względy środowiskowe (zasoby, emisja, zagrożenia itp.), aspekty ekonomiczne i względy społeczne. Zastosowanie metodyki opartej na cyklu życia produktu (LCA) do oceny technologii malowania ma na celu weryfikację przydatności tego narzędzia do oceny technologii w aspekcie zrównoważonego rozwoju.
In pursuit of higher energy savings and de-carbonization, greater fuel diversity and lower pollutant emission is possible by production processes through energy-savings opportunities and associated environmentally-benign technologies. Current production processes represents the biggest consumption of energy, and the greatest amount of emissions emitted to the environment. Improvement in energy efficiency is considered as the basic principle in realizing energy-saving, bringing cost-effective benefits and reduction of greenhouse emissions. Hence, this study proposes a framework to assess alternative sustainability of cogeneration systems, integrating the economic, environmental, and social indicators. The results showed that the cogeneration system with a new boiler with a 600 PSIG pressure and a new turbine seems to be a cost-efficient solution compared to the baseline scenario saving energy at the level of 1,823,072 kWh/yr (63%) against the baseline scenario. In the case study, the implemented solution in the plant improved the overall sustainability degree of technology by 53% (from 46% as baseline to 97%).
Background: Energy efficiency has recently become one of the key aspects in the manufacturing sector. The facilities should improve their performance due to the related economic costs and the significant environmental impacts. The objective of this paper is to prove that energy efficiency of opportunities for energy savings improvements provided by the energy auditors are efficient. These opportunities represent technical actions recommended in the U.S. industrial plants over time period 2013 to 2014. Moreover, these technologies are considered as efficient ones based on energy audits results. Therefore, only ten suggested recommendations are included in the analyses. Methods: The paper demonstrates a DEA- Slack Based Measurement approach to evaluate the energy efficiency of the recommended technical solutions. This study is built upon the results of energy audits carried out by the author with the Industrial Assessment Center`s experts at the University of Michigan. Results: The results confirms that seven audit`s energy-effective improvements are still efficient, compared with those of the DEA-SBM method outcomes. The paper reveals inefficiencies of three industrial plants, which were considered as efficient ones examined individually in energy audit procedure. Moreover, the results are enriched with the additional analysis of input excesses and output shortfalls. Conclusions: Based on the study of the recommended solutions in the U.S. industrial plants, more effective technologies (DMU2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10) are identified, along with the ranking of the recommended solutions used. The SBM model described in this paper allows a more accurate determination of which audit`s proposed technical improvements are energy efficient or not. Further work is required to develop a set of relative input and output variables as well as a way of variables selection using analytical methods which may make the measure more robust.
PL
Wstęp: Efektywność energetyczna stała się jednym z najważniejszych aspektów w sektorze wytwórczym. Zakłady przemysłowe stają przed koniecznością zmiany sposobu prowadzenia działalności gospodarczej w celu poprawy wydajności ekonomicznej i zminimalizowania negatywnego wpływu na środowisko. Celem niniejszego opracowania jest udowodnienie, że działania dotyczące poprawy efektywności energetycznej w procesach wytwórczych zaproponowane przez audytorów są efektywne energetycznie. Działania te stanowią rekomendowane przez audytorów usprawnienia technologiczne, wdrożone w amerykańskich zakładach przemysłowych w latach 2013 - 2014. Ponadto, usprawnienia te, uznane zostały za uzasadnione biznesowo pod względem kosztowo-energetycznym na podstawie wyników audytów energetycznych. W związku z tym, tylko dziesięć zaleceń poaudytowych zostało zaprezentowanych w niniejszej analizie. Metody: Artykuł prezentuje ocenę efektywności energetycznej usprawnień technologicznych poprzez zastosowanie modelu DEA-SBM w oparciu o przeprowadzone audyty energetyczne w ramach Industrial Assessment Center przy University of Michigan. Wyniki: Uzyskane wyniki wskazują, że siedem z dziesięciu analizowanych usprawnień technologicznych działa w sposób efektywny, co zostało zweryfikowane przy użyciu metody DEA-SBM. Ponadto, wyniki zostały wzbogacone o analizę źródeł nadefektywności oraz nieefektywności badanych obiektów. Wnioski: W oparciu o powyższe badania dotyczące usprawnień technologicznych w amerykańskich zakładach przemysłowych, wyszczególniono siedem efektywnych energetycznie technologii (DMU2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10). To potwierdza, że usprawnienia zaproponowane podczas audytów energetycznych są nadal efektywne. Przedstawiony w artykule sposób pomiaru narzędzi realizacji poprawy efektywności energetycznej pozwoli na bardziej precyzyjne określenie czy rodzaj zaproponowanych usprawnień technologicznych jest efektywny energetycznie czy też nie. Dalszych prac wymaga opracowanie zestawu istotnych zmiennych wejściowych i wyjściowych oraz sposobu wyboru wskaźników przy pomocy metod analitycznych, co może przynieść bardziej wiarygodne wyniki.
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Most industrial plants prioritize efficient, uninterrupted production, with production costs coming in second even though they are no less important. Any commitment to boosting energy efficiency while cutting pollution and energy waste is treated as an after-thought. This article presents an in-depth analysis of energy efficiency and its related emissions reduction opportunities in the context of a hot-dip galvanizing plant. This paper describes the modernization of the galvanization process in terms of the current situation with the process and possible energy efficiency improvement actions (such as operating parameters and changes at system level), which affect the overall exhaust emissions without changing current production or the technology used. Results show that the energy requirement dropped by 23%, from 399.3 MJ/tonne at baseline to 307 MJ/tonne in the improvement scenario, while emission intensity NO dropped by 96%.
The objective of the paper is to evaluate the energy efficiency performance of industrial plants based on energy audit measures using dynamic Data Envelopment Analysis. The paper demonstrates a three-stage DEA based on slacks-based measure approach to evaluate the energy efficiency of U.S. industrial plants. Also, a 3-step approach to select relevant variables to be employed in slacks-based measure model. The paper has revealed inefficiencies of industrial plants, which were considered as efficient ones examined individually in energy audit procedure. The results indicate that half of analyzed plants are not performing at high energy efficiency, given a total of 6 facilities were operating efficiently. It shows that these industrial plants appear to have the potential to reduce their energy use and cost. Moreover, the results were enriched with the additional analysis of input excesses and output shortfalls and further suggestions for improving energy efficiency are provided.
The paper is to present a multi-criteria approach for sustainability assessment of manufacturing processes, which can be applied to carry out the sustainability assessment of manufacturing processes requiring less detailed data, time, and expert knowledge, but still providing a company-level analysis. The analytical hierarchy process method is used to determine ranking of simple and relevant activity areas for manufacturing processes in terms of sustainability objectives. Analytical technique is also employed to assess the degree of sustainability in manufacturing due to limited information which appear to be a characteristic of the case study presented. One goal of sustainability characterization methodology is to improve the manufacturing sustainability performance. Similar to the baseline scenario, sustainability reevaluation for sustainability improvement is also applied and discuses performance profile at the process level. This approach seems particularly useful when comparing different processes. It makes applicable for various industries and might be a challenge to derive priorities for systematic improvement. The applicability and usability of the proposed assessment method was verified by the case study in company producing heating devices.
W artykule opisano skonkretyzowane działania energooszczędne realizowane w Stanach Zjednoczonych. Ciągle zmieniająca się sytuacja na rynku energetycznym w USA, ograniczone zasoby naturalne i wzrost konsumpcji powodują, że na poziomie federalnym inicjowane są różne programy promujące zrównoważony rozwój. W artykule omówiono funkcjonowanie ogólnonarodowego programu Industrial Assessment Center, będącego przykładem zacieśniania współpracy pomiędzy wyższymi uczelniami technicznymi a przemysłem. Tysiące przeprowadzonych audytów energetycznych pozwoliły na wypracowanie opisanych w artykule procedur audytowych. Pokazano również umiejscowienie audytu energetycznego w strukturze systemu zarządzania energią ISO 50001.
EN
The goal of the article is to present energy saving actions un-dertaken in the United States. The constantly changing energy market in the U.S., limited natural resources and increase in energy consumption have motivated federal programs designed to promote sustainable development. The article discusses the activities of the Department of Energy's Industrial Assessment Center program, which was created to encourage closer cooperation between technical universities and industry. Already performed energy audits are basis for establishing of auditing procedures, discussed in the paper. IAC energy audits have been also mapped in the ISO 50001 Energy Management structure.
Manufacturing techniques are concerned with quality, cost, productivity and sustainability. With today's environmental awareness and the pressure of the sustainability requirements, existing manufacturing techniques of heating devices are evolving into the redesign manufacturing unit processes to increase overall sustainability. Also, these techniques need a measurement method to assess processes-related sustainability performance indicators. The purpose of this paper is to stress the role of manufacturing techniques: welding, cleaning and painting in the manufacture of heating appliances (solid fuel fired boilers used renewable energy sources) in terms of incorporating into the field the concept of sustainable development. It then focuses on the environmental, technical, economical and social impact of sustainable technologies and argues for the need to ensure that the concept is being applied to the manufacture of heating devices. In this paper, author tries to propose a unified, standard scientific factory-level methodology to evaluate the influence of manufacturing techniques on the sustainability of enterprises producing heating devices. The proposed methodology in the terms of the case study is a comprehensive answer to the question of to what extent the improvements in those techniques influence the sustainable development of the enterprises. An industrial case study demonstrates that the proposed improvements can effectively influence the sustainability of enterprise. The results of this assessment can be applied to broad industry sectors, and can lead to the accepted measures and practices.
Intrinsic motivation is a key driver of innovation. Motivation should be understood as a process that produces, directs and sustains human behavior defined in order to achieve certain goals. Basis for the development of innovative ideas is an appropriate personnel policy, without which success is impossible. Within this concept are taken measures for winning workers and supporting development of the best of them as well as influence their performance, their effidency and self-motivation. Although part of intrinsic motivation depends on personality, that work environment can have a significant effect on that innovator's level of self-motivation at any point in time; the level of intrinsic motivation can, in turn, have an essential effect on that person's creativity. The purpose of this paper is to study the self-motivation of innovators. This paper analyzes the motivation sources of innovators needed to creative thinking, and describes experiences of companies in motivation of innovators.
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