A green supply chain economy considering environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors improves the chances of functional growth through minimal risk factors. The implication of sophisticated technologies such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the blockchain improves the optimization and evaluation of ESG performance. An IIoT-Blockchain-based Supply Chain Economy Evaluation (IB-SCEE) model is introduced to identify and reduce functional growth risk factors. The proposed model uses green blockchain technology to identify distinct transactions’ economic demands and supply distribution. The flaws and demands in the circular economy process are validated using the IIoT forecast systems relying on ESG convenience. The minimal and maximum risks are identified based on economic and distribution outcomes. The present investigation highlights the significance of ongoing ESG-conceptualized research into blockchain-based supply chain economics. Companies who recognize the bloc... [more]

Unexpected instances have posed challenges to production lines over the last few years. The latest COVID-19 global epidemic is one notable example. In addition to its social impact, the virus has destroyed the traditional industrial production system. Industry 4.0 requires adapting to changing prerequisites with adaptability. However, the next movement, Industry 5.0, has emerged in recent years. Industry 5.0 takes a more coordinated approach than Industry 4.0, with increased collaboration among humans and machines. With a human-centered strategy, Industry 5.0 improves Industry 4.0 for greater sustainability and resilience. The concept of Industry 4.0 is the interconnection via cyber-physical systems. Industry 5.0, also associated with systems enabled by Industry 4.0, discusses the relationship between “man and machine,” called robots or cobots. This paper discusses the industry 5.0 possibilities, the restrictions, and future analysis potentials. Industry 5.0 is a new paradigm change th... [more]

Sustainable energy projects in Africa are particularly vulnerable in terms of sourcing vital alternative fuels due to the complexity of sourcing processes, contract agreements and relationships between society managers or directors and supplier chain entities. These challenges can affect any phase of a sustainable project, and the losses can be as high as 3.2 EURO/GJ. In addition, there is reduced competition and fair trade, low profits and poor quality of the fuel purchased. Technology (mobile application) is one powerful tool that can solve the above challenges by controlling or managing the supply and demand of biomass-based fuels, agriculture residue, industrial waste and many more. Thus, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of a developed digital platform to remove barriers in the trade of alternative fuels. Data collection began with the identification of the key production areas (sources) and quantities of three selected AFs. Secondly, data on the seas... [more]

The management of the supply chain for enterprise-wide operations generally consists of strategic, tactical, and operational decision stages dependent on one another and affecting various time scales. Their integration usually leads to multiscale models that are computationally intractable. The design and operation of energy hubs faces similar challenges. Renewable energies are challenging to model due to the high level of intermittency and uncertainty. The multiscale (i.e., planning and scheduling) energy hub systems that incorporate renewable energy resources become more challenging to model due to an integration of the multiscale and high level of intermittency associated with renewable energy. In this work, a mixed-integer programming (MILP) superstructure is proposed for clustering shape-based time series data featuring multiple attributes using a multi-objective optimization approach. Additionally, a data-driven statistical method is used to represent the intermittent behavior of... [more]

To meet climate policy goals, it will be necessary to deploy a series of low-carbon energy technologies, including nuclear power. The small modular reactor (SMR) can potentially support climate change mitigation and energy security issues. Small modular reactors (SMRs) are gaining popularity; however, one crucial debate is whether SMRs can compete economically with conventional nuclear reactors or not. From a commercial point of view, SMRs will be able to provide process heat in various industrial applications, replace older nuclear, natural gas, and coal power facilities, and serve smaller energy markets with less established infrastructure. Realizing these advantages would rely heavily on the near-term quick up-scaling of SMRs; this paper, then, examines and identifies some of the most hindering constraints and barriers for the quick deployment of SMR such as the technology choice, licensing, economy of scale and financing, public acceptance, supply chain, and proliferation. A clear... [more]

Electric vehicles (EVs) have been garnering wide attention over conventional fossil fuel-based vehicles due to the serious concerns of environmental pollution and crude oil depletion. In this article, we have conducted a systematic literature survey to explore the battery raw material supply chain, material processing, and the economy behind the commodity price appreciation. We present significant areas of concern, including resource reserves, supply, demand, geographical distribution, battery reuse, and recycling industries. Furthermore, details of the battery supply chain and its associated steps are illustrated. The authors believe the presented study will be an information cornerstone in boosting manufacturing and understanding the key components and materials required to facilitate EV battery production. Further, this study discusses the major industries, and their policies and global market share in each material category.

Machine Learning (ML) is one of the major driving forces behind the fourth industrial revolution. This study reviews the ML applications in the life cycle stages of biofuels, i.e., soil, feedstock, production, consumption, and emissions. ML applications in the soil stage were mostly used for satellite images of land to estimate the yield of biofuels or a suitability analysis of agricultural land. The existing literature have reported on the assessment of rheological properties of the feedstocks and their effect on the quality of biofuels. The ML applications in the production stage include estimation and optimization of quality, quantity, and process conditions. The fuel consumption and emissions stage include analysis of engine performance and estimation of emissions temperature and composition. This study identifies the following trends: the most dominant ML method, the stage of life cycle getting the most usage of ML, the type of data used for the development of the ML-based models,... [more]

The aim of the study was to analyze emissions in the supply chain and to identify, based on a literature analysis, which supply chain strategies could contribute to reducing these emissions. A broad spectrum of new supply chain strategy solutions was identified and, based on simulations of selected products, conclusions were drawn and the advantages and disadvantages of theoretical solutions were presented for individual cases. A critical analysis of the literature and simulation methods were used to illustrate the problem presented in this paper, to identify the factors causing greenhouse gas emissions and to draw conclusions in the form of proposals to redesign existing strategies, considering the factors determining the increase in pollution caused by the performed logistics processes. The results of the simulations and the literature analysis indicate that solutions related to the redesign of strategies must consider the specificity of the product and the nature of the chain. Not a... [more]

Extensive studies are conducted to investigate the potential and techno-economic feasibility of bioenergy routes in different countries. However, limited researches have been focused on the whole national agricultural bioenergy resources in Egypt. This research provides an assessment of the potential agricultural biomass resources for electric energy production in Egypt. It provides a strategic perspective for the design of a national network of biomass power plants to utilize the spatially available agricultural residues throughout a country. A comprehensive approach is presented and is applied to Egypt. First, the approach estimates the amount, type, and characteristics of the agricultural residues in each Egyptian governorate. Then, a techno-economic appraisal for locating a set of collection stations, and installing a direct combustion biomass power plant in each governorate is conducted. SAM simulation software is used for the technical and economic appraisals, and preliminary pla... [more]

At present, electric vehicles (EVs) are attracting increasing attention and have great potential for replacing fossil-fueled vehicles, especially for logistics applications. However, energy management for EVs is essential for them to be advantageous owing to their limitations with regard to battery capacity and recharging times. Therefore, inefficiencies can be expected for EV-based logistical operations without an energy management plan, which is not necessarily considered in traditional routing exercises. In this study, for the logistics application of EVs to manage energy and schedule the vehicle route, a system is proposed. The system comprises two parts: (1) a case-based reasoning subsystem to forecast the energy consumption and travel time for each route section, and (2) a genetic algorithm to optimize vehicle routing with an energy consumption situation as a new constraint. A dynamic adjustment algorithm is also adopted to achieve a rapid response to accidents in which the vehic... [more]

Refrigerators play an important role in perishable goods supply chains and are expected to operate efficiently. Thermoelectric refrigerators need specific criteria for assessing their energy efficiency. The existing criteria do not take into account the insulation properties of a refrigerator cabinet, which results in a low credibility of the assessment of energy parameters of thermoelectric coolers. The aim of the research was to develop and approve a new universal criterion for assessing the energy efficiency of stationary thermoelectric refrigerators used in supply chains. It was proposed to replace the known criterion of specific power consumption with a new indicator Pk, that takes into account the overall thermal transfer coefficient of the refrigerator cabinet. Based on experimental studies, the approval of the proposed indicator was carried out on the example of a comparative analysis of four thermoelectric refrigerators from different manufacturers. The indicator application r... [more]

The undersupplies of feedstock and high costs have hindered the development of China’s biomass power generation. In this paper, the noncooperative game, farmer−broker cooperative game, and broker−biomass power plant cooperative game, under government incentives, are constructed and analyzed. The optimal decision strategies and profits for these three cases are obtained, while numerical examples and sensitivity analysis are conducted, aiming at illustrating some specific features of the games. It is shown that the government plays a critical role in the development of utilizing agribiomass for power generation and can work better in cooperative games. In addition, both agribiomass supply quantity and profits of supply chain members are higher in cooperative than in noncooperative game. Meanwhile, farmers can get the maximum profit in the broker−biomass power plant cooperative game, while biomass power plant makes the maximum profit in the farmer−broker cooperative game. To guide the hea... [more]

Cold-chain products are time-sensitive and perishable and pose the risk of failure if they are transported to a distant location. Thus, there is a need to analyze their quality during distribution so that the customers may receive optimal-quality products. To address this issue, this study integrates inspection strategies with the sustainable distribution system of multi-quality multiple-cold-chain products. A bi-objective model of cost and emission is proposed under the constraints of heterogeneous vehicle and time window. Furthermore, this study intends to address the following questions: which inspection strategy helps to ensure the potency of delivered products, and what is the impact of quality differentiation on the value of objective functions? A set of meta-heuristics is used for implementing the model using a rich panel of experiments. The results reveal that the quality conditions of different products impact the solutions of cost and emissions. Moreover, the conformity strat... [more]

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of inventory turnover on the profitability level of Saudi manufacturers. The data comprises 78 manufacturers listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange and was used to test the research hypothesis. The related data over the 2017−2021 period were collected from annual reports and the Datastream database. After running a multiple regression analysis with a fixed effects model, findings showed that the higher the inventory turnover ratio, the higher the cost which could be suppressed, and the greater the profitability of a company. The outcomes of this study have significant implications for managerial accounting issues in the setting of Saudi Arabia. Further, they provide policy recommendations to decision makers and assist managers in enhancing sustainability in the manufacturing sector. This research is the first to investigate this relationship including the impact of COVID-19 among Saudi companies in several industries, thus filling a gap in... [more]

The biomass industry is growing due to the current search for greener and more sustainable alternatives to fossil energy sources. However, this industry, due to its singularity, presents several challenges and disadvantages related to the transportation of raw materials, with the large volumes that are usually involved. This project aimed to address this internal logistics situation in torrefied biomass pellets production with two different biomass storage parks, located in Portugal. The main park receives raw material coming directly from the source and stores it in large amounts as a backup and strategic storage park. The second park, with smaller dimensions, precedes the production unit and must be stocked daily. Therefore, a fleet of transport units with self-unloading cranes is required to help to unload the biomass at the main park and transport the raw material from this park to the one preceding the production unit. Thus, the main goal was to determine the dimensions of the fle... [more]

Sweden has committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to net-zero by 2045. Around 20% of Sweden’s annual CO2 emissions arise from manufacturing, transporting, and processing of construction materials for construction and refurbishment of buildings and infrastructure. In this study, material and energy flows for building and transport infrastructure construction is outlined, together with a roadmap detailing how the flows change depending on different technical and strategical choices. By matching short-term and long-term goals with specific technology solutions, these pathways make it possible to identify key decision points and potential synergies, competing goals, and lock-in effects. The results show that it is possible to reduce CO2 emissions associated with construction of buildings and transport infrastructure by 50% to 2030 applying already available measures, and reach close to zero emissions by 2045, while indicating that strategic choices with respect to process tec... [more]

The study presented in the paper is an innovative research approach. It is the result of linking the concept of supply chain management and global changes, which at present are clearly visible on a global scale, with research methodology based on the systematic literature review, knowledge visualization and an expert method that makes use of knowledge, experience and opinions of experts in a given field. This research is about a Delphi study that was conducted in the context of the development of trends of supply chain and global changes, based on the findings of a systematic literature review. The qualitative study was conducted with 30 Delphi experts in the field of the supply chain. This progressive approach to the research topic allowed us to discover key global trends and modern supply chain development directions in the context of global changes, as well as their assessment and projection of the developmental potential of these trends.

Recently, the interest around the Blockchain concept has grown faster and, as a consequence, several studies about the possibility of exploiting such technology in different application domains have been conducted. Most of these studies highlighted the benefits that the use of the blockchain could bring in those contexts where integrity and authenticity of the data are important, e.g., for reasons linked to regulations about consumers’ healthcare. In such cases, it would be important to collect data, coming in real-time through sensors, and then store them in the blockchain, so that they can become immutable and tamper-proof. In this paper, the design and development of a software framework that allows Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices to interact directly with an Ethereum-based blockchain are reported. The proposed solution represents an alternative way for integrating a wide category of IoT devices without relying on a centralized intermediary and third-party services. The main applic... [more]

EU is moving towards a climate neutrality goal in 2050 with heating of buildings posing a major challenge. This paper provides a deep understanding of the historical development, path dependency and current status of the EU-28 residential heat sectors to inform strategy and policy makers and to open up this black box. Data is combined for buildings, installed technologies, fuel consumption and energy supply for Member States from 1990 to 2015, to analyse the importance of large-scale infrastructures and supply chains. Primary energy supply for residential heating is mainly based on fossil fuels; 70% in 2015 with 69% imported. The building level technologies are dominated by non-condensing boilers and stoves. Primary and final energy consumption decreased in spite of an increase in the total occupied living area in most countries. Path-dependency effects are found in the residential heat supply in EU. The analysis show path-dependent trajectories are present in most Member States, espec... [more]

Bioenergy is one of the alternatives to secure energy demand, despite increasing debate on the sustainability of using bioenergy as a renewable source. As the source is disseminated over a large area and affected by seasonality, the potential benefit is highly dependent on other cost and benefit trade-offs along the supply chain. This review paper aims to assess operational management research methods used in biofuel supply chain planning, including both upstream production and international downstream trading. There have been considerable operational management studies done on upstream processes in biofuel production based on different strategic and tactical decision making of a single or multiple feedstocks, considering economic and environmental factor. However, the environmental consideration is often limited to carbon emission where the other environmental impact such as land-use change, biodiversity loss, irrigation and fertilisation are often being overlooked. Biofuel supply cha... [more]

Future European strategies to reduce dependence on foreign markets for energy supply and energy production will rely on the further exploitation of the primary sector. Lignocellulosic feedstock for bioenergy production is a valuable candidate, and dedicated crops such as giant reed (Arundo donax L.), miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus), reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) have been proven to be suitable for extensive cultivation on marginal lands. The present review aimed at providing a comprehensive picture of the mechanical strategies available for harvesting giant reed, miscanthus, reed canary grass, and switchgrass that are suitable for the possible upscaling of their supply chain. Since harvesting is the most impactful phase of a lignocellulosic supply chain in dedicated crops, the associated performance and costs were taken into account in order to provide concrete observations and suggestions for future implementation. The findings... [more]

Global interest in LNG products and supply chains is growing, and demand continues to rise. As a clean energy source, LNG can nevertheless emit air pollutants, albeit at a lower level than transitional energy sources. An LNG plant capable of producing up to 126 MMTA was successfully developed and simulated in this study. A hybrid life cycle assessment model was developed to examine the social and human health impacts of the LNG supply chain’s environmental air emission formation. The Multiregional Input−Output (MRIO) database, the Aspen HYSYS model, and the LNG Maritime Transportation Emission Quantification Tool are the key sources of information for this extensive novel study. We began our research by grouping environmental emissions sources according to the participation of each stage in the supply chain. The MDEA Sweetening plant, LNG loading (export terminal), and LNG transportation stages were discovered to have the maximum air emissions. The midpoint air emissions data estimated... [more]

Much research has already been dedicated to the impact of the supply chain, but less attention has been paid to the potential of supplier development (SD) processes in strengthening enterprises’ sustainability performance. This study aimed to indicate how the approach to socially responsible supplier development has changed over the years (2010−2019) in the automotive sector considering the types of practices and the applied areas of social responsibility. The study was based on original and empirical content analysis research of sustainability reports of car producers. To identify changes in the approach to socially responsible supplier development (SRSD) practices, 17 criteria were identified within direct as well as indirect types of supplier development practices. Considering areas of social responsibility, we applied the core subjects of social responsibility based on the ISO 26000 standard. The findings revealed that during the analyzed period, there has been a recursive use of b... [more]

In modern systems, there is a tendency to model issues more accurately with low computational cost and considering multiscale decision-making which increases the complexity of the optimization. Therefore, it is necessary to develop tools to cope with these new challenges. Supply chain management of enterprise-wide operations usually involves three decision levels: strategic, tactical, and operational. These decision levels depend on each other involving different time scales. Accordingly, their integration usually leads to multiscale models that are computationally intractable. In this work, the aim is to develop novel clustering methods with multiple attributes to tackle the integrated problem. As a result, a clustering structure is proposed in the form of a mixed integer non-linear program (MINLP) later converted into a mixed integer linear program (MILP) for clustering shape-based time series data with multiple attributes through a multi-objective optimization approach (since differ... [more]

Hydrogen and its energy carriers, such as liquid hydrogen (LH2), methylcyclohexane (MCH), and ammonia (NH3), are essential components of low-carbon energy systems. To utilize hydrogen energy, the complete environmental merits of its supply chain should be evaluated. To understand the expected environmental benefit under the uncertainty of hydrogen technology development, we conducted life-cycle inventory analysis and calculated CO2 emissions and their uncertainties attributed to the entire supply chain of hydrogen and NH3 power generation (co-firing and mono-firing) in Japan. Hydrogen was assumed to be produced from overseas renewable energy sources with LH2/MCH as the carrier, and NH3 from natural gas or renewable energy sources. The Japanese life-cycle inventory database was used to calculate emissions. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to evaluate emission uncertainty and mitigation factors using hydrogen energy. For LH2, CO2 emission uncertainty during hydrogen liquefaction ca... [more]