Energy Intensity

Income inequality has long been a frustrating feature of Malaysian economic development. The country income inequality, represented by the Gini Coefficient has decreased only slightly to 0.41 in 2014 from 0.51 in 1970. This income inequality, however, was accompanied by rapid economic growth. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown by an average of more than 7 percent per year for 25 years or more. The expectations that the high economic growth would accompany low income inequality as hypothesized by the inverted ‘U-shaped’ Kuznets curve have not come true for Malaysia. Why did it occur? Unlike many other conventional studies which look at the relationship between growth and income inequality to explain this phenomenon; this study intent to looks at the foreign direct investment (FDI) relationship with income inequality. Since 1990s, FDI has been an important source of economic growth for Malaysia, bringing in capital investment, technology and management knowledge needed for economic growth. FDI had increased almost thirty-fold during 1970s to 2000s. There is a heated debate on the effects of FDI on income distribution. While FDI may have been good for development this masks the facts that not all types of workers necessarily gain from FDI to some extent. FDI induced skill specific technological change where it can be associated with skill-specific wage bargaining or skill-intensive sectors. This study presents an attempt to evaluate the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on income distribution among labors. The Malaysia’s Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) is constructed as a framework for the analysis. In this SAM the detail framework of the component of FDI in various sectors, production sectors and labour groups are essential to analyse different effects from different component of FDI on the labor’s income distribution among different labor group. This structure of SAM would answer the question of either and which component of FDI will benefit the most to the low income. The study finds that the FDI expansion has impacted negatively on the distribution of income across different labor groups, where it has increased the high-low or skilled-unskilled income inequality. It also indicates that there are differences in the composition of the FDI that impacts income distribution among labor. The apparent differences in the magnitude of the effects of the different FDI components suggests that variations in the FDI allocations among sectors should be considered as a possible policy variable to achieve income equality goals.

The total energy and fossil fuels used in producing a desktop computer with 17-in. CRT monitor are estimated at 6400 megajoules (MJ) and 260 kg, respectively. This indicates that computer manufacturing is energy intensive: the ratio of fossil fuel use to product weight is 11, an order of magnitude larger than the factor of 1-2 for many other manufactured goods. This high energy intensity of manufacturing, combined with rapid turnover in computers, results in an annual life cycle energy burden that is surprisingly high: about 2600 MJ per year, 1.3 times that of a refrigerator. In contrast with many home appliances, life cycle energy use of a computer is dominated by production (81%) as opposed to operation (19%). Extension of usable lifespan (e.g. by reselling or upgrading) is thus a promising approach to mitigating energy impacts as well as other environmental burdens associated with manufacturing and disposal.

The fall of communism left some of the most polluting and wasteful energy sectors of the World in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). After 15 years of restructuring, eight of these countries have joined the European Union (EU), closing an era of economic transitions. What progress has been made in these countries in the field of energy from the perspective of sustainability? Has the transition agenda been completed, or do any of the socialist energy sector legacies prevail?The purpose of this paper is to review the period of economic transition in the energy sector, focusing on sustainability, in three selected CEE countries, and to use Russia as a comparison. First, the paper argues that at the core of the unsustainability of energy sectors at the end of the communist era were among the highest energy intensities in the world. Then, we identify the legacies of the centrally planned economy that contributed to these high-energy intensities. We outline a policy agenda for the transitions which addresses the identified legacies. Next, we look at the energy landscape at the end of the restructuring, and review the developments in energy intensities during the period of economic transitions. We conclude that, while energy and economic restructuring is very important to bring down the high-energy intensities of former communist countries, a sizeable gap remains in intensity levels between CEE countries and the old EU states. Therefore, economic and energy system reforms alone will not close the gap, and targeted policies and measures are needed to improve energy efficiency levels. Beyond a more serious governmental commitment, a concerted effort is needed from regulators, corporations, utilities, consumer organisations and the civil sector to catalyse the remaining progress to be made in combating the socialist legacy in the field of energy efficiency.

Background, aims and scope The environmental aspects of companies and their products are becoming more significant in delivering competitive advantage. Formway Furniture, a designer and manufacturer of office furniture products, is a New Zealand-based company that is committed to sustainable development. It manufactures two models of the light, intuitive, flexible and environmental (LIFE) office chair: one with an aluminium base and one with a glass-filled nylon (GFN) base. It was decided to undertake a life cycle assessment (LCA) study of these two models in order to: (1) determine environmental hotspots in the life cycle of the two chairs (goal 1); (2) compare the life cycle impacts of the two chairs (goal 2); and (3) compare alternative potential waste-management scenarios (goal 3). The study also included sensitivity analysis with respect to recycled content of aluminium in the product. Materials and methods The LIFE chair models consist of a mix of metal and plastic components manufactured by selected Formway suppliers according to design criteria. Hence, the research methodology included determining the specific material composition of the two chair models and acquisition of manufacturing data from individual suppliers. These data were compiled and used in conjunction with pre-existing data, specifically from the ecoinvent database purchased in conjunction with the SimaPro7 LCA software, to develop the life cycle inventory of the two chair models. The life cycle stages included in the study extended from raw-material extraction through to waste management. Impact assessment was carried out using CML 2 baseline 2000, the methodology developed by Leiden University’s Institute for Environmental Sciences. Results This paper presents results for global warming potential (GWP100). The study showed a significant impact contribution from the raw-material extraction/refinement stage for both chair models; aluminium extraction and refining made the greatest contribution to GWP100. The comparison of the two LIFE chair models showed that the model with the aluminium base had a higher GWP100 impact than the model with the GFN base. The waste-management scenario compared the GWP100 result when (1) both chair models were sent to landfill and (2) steel and aluminium components were recycled with the remainder of the chair sent to landfill. The results showed that the recycling scenario contributed to a reduced GWP100 result. Since production and processing of aluminium was found to be significant, a sensitivity analysis was carried out to determine the impact of using aluminium with different recycled contents (0%, 34% and 100%) in both waste-management scenarios; this showed that increased use of recycled aluminium was beneficial. The recycling at end-of-life scenarios was modelled using two different end-of-life allocation approaches, i.e. consequential and attributional, in order to illustrate the variation in results caused by choice of allocation approach. The results using the consequential approach showed that recycling at end-of-life was beneficial, while use of the attributional method led to a similar GWP100 as that seen for the landfill scenario. Discussion The results show that the main hotspot in the life cycle is the raw-material extraction/refinement stage. This can be attributed to the extraction and processing of aluminium, a material that is energy intensive. The LIFE chair model with the aluminium base has a higher GWP100 as it contains more aluminium. Sensitivity analysis pertaining to the recycled content of aluminium showed that use of aluminium with high recycled content was beneficial; this is because production of recycled aluminium is less energy intensive than production of primary aluminium. The waste-management scenario showed that recycling at end-of-life resulted in a significantly lower GWP100 than landfilling at end-of-life. However, this result is dependent upon the modelling approach used for recycling. Conclusions With respect to goal 1, the study found that the raw-material extraction/refinement stage of the life cycle was a significant factor for both LIFE chair models. This was largely due to the use of aluminium in the product. For goal 2, it was found that the LIFE chair model with the aluminium base had a higher GWP100 than the GFN model, again due to the material content of the two models. Results for goal 3 illustrated that recycling at end-of-life is beneficial when using a system expansion (consequential) approach to model recycling; if an attributional ‘cut-off’ approach is used to model recycling at end-of-life, there is virtually no difference in the results between landfilling and recycling. Sensitivity analysis pertaining to the recycled content of aluminium showed that use of higher recycled contents leads to a lower GWP100 impact. Recommendation and perspectives Most of the GWP100 impact was contributed during the raw-material extraction/refinement stage of the life cycle; thus, the overall impact of both LIFE chair models may be reduced through engaging in material choice and supply chain environmental management with respect to environmental requirements. The study identified aluminium components as a major contributor to GWP100 for both LIFE chair models and also highlighted the sensitivity of the results to its recycled content. Thus, it is recommended that the use of aluminium in future product designs be limited unless it is possible to use aluminium with a high recycled content. With respect to waste management, it was found that a substantial reduction in the GWP100 impact would occur if the chairs are recycled rather than landfilled, assuming an expanding market for aluminium. Thus, recycling the two LIFE chair models at end-of-life is highly recommended.

This paper presents an analysis of Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) from an energy standpoint. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) has a potential as an environmental benign alternative to traditional processes but only few authors deal with the process optimisation including energy aspects. In the present paper an analysis of the energetic aspect of SLS is proposed. In addition, with respect to the classical technological parameters (resolution, productivity) attention is paid to energetic elements (energetic productivity, laser parameters) showing how the perspective of a sensible development of such a kind of technology could be beneficial not only from a technological point of view, but also for energy saving in a lot of manufacturing fields. A polyamide powder is the material tested to acquire some characteristics data of the process. It is shown that the Volumetric Energy Intensity (VEI) of the process in optimal condition could be of the order of 0.2 J for each mm3 of material agglomerated.

Cement production has been one of the most energy intensive industries in the world. In order to produce clinker, rotary kilns are widely used in cement plants. This paper deals with the energy audit analysis of a dry type rotary kiln system working in a cement plant in Turkey. The kiln has a capacity of 600 ton-clinker per day. It was found that about 40% of the total input energy was being lost through hot flue gas (19.15%), cooler stack (5.61%) and kiln shell (15.11% convection plus radiation). Some possible ways to recover the heat losses are also introduced and discussed. Findings showed that approximately 15.6% of the total input energy (4 MW) could be recovered.

Inspired by the idea of promoting equality opportunities across individuals can enhance economic growth through the allocation of human resource based on their best use, we examine the extent of inter-generational social mobility in Northern region of Malaysia. Using both descriptive and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) estimation, we analyze the possibility of income and occupation change of the poor households in rural areas. The findings demonstrate that both level of education and type of occupation reflect a significant improvement of inter-generational social mobility. Interestingly, the findings also indicate that social mobility in Malaysia is relatively higher than in other countries where more space and equal opportunities are enjoyed by all walks of life in the nation.

Annually, breweries in the United States spend over $200 million on energy. Energy consumption is equal to 38 percent of the production costs of beer, making energy efficiency improvement an important way to reduce costs, especially in times of high energy price volatility. After a summary of the beer making process and energy use, we examine energy efficiency opportunities available for breweries. We provide specific primary energy savings for each energy efficiency measure based on case studies that have implemented the measures, as well as references to technical literature. If available, we have also listed typical payback periods. Our findings suggest that given available technology, there are still opportunities to reduce energy consumption cost-effectively in the brewing industry. Brewers value highly the quality, taste and drinkability of their beer. Brewing companies have and are expected to continue to spend capital on cost-effective energy conservation measures that meet ...