Operational Research: Methods and Applications

Throughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include a variety of methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a diverse and wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first aims to summarise the up-to-date knowledge and provide an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion. It should be used as a point of reference or first-port-of-call for a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order. The authors dedicate this paper to the 2023 Turkey/Syria earthquake victims. We sincerely hope that advances in OR will play a role towards minimising the pain and suffering caused by this and future catastrophes

Operational Research: Methods and Applications

Throughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include a variety of methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a diverse and wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first aims to summarise the up-to-date knowledge and provide an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion. It should be used as a point of reference or first-port-of-call for a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order

Operational research:methods and applications

Throughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include a variety of methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a diverse and wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first aims to summarise the up-to-date knowledge and provide an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion. It should be used as a point of reference or first-port-of-call for a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order

A methodology for economic assessment of wastewater intrinsic value recovery using an indirect production function approach

The efficient use of finite water resources and measures to extend the service value of these resources in water scarce countries is a pre-requisite for achieving sustainable development. There is constant pressure to explore new resources to meet the ever increasing demand posed by growth in population and that of industry in urban cities. Introduction of unconventional resources such as wastewater and greywater reuse, allows access to a readily available valuable resource and intrinsic value recovery for the benefit of society. Not only does this assist with fresh water resource conservation and optimal use thereof and mitigation of negative impacts but also closing of urban nutrient loops and extraction of chemical energy for energy generation. This research explores wastewater intrinsic value recovery at wastewater treatment plant and wastewater management system levels as part of the balancing equation of natural-unconventional resource use and environmental, social and economic constraints. A methodology for assessment of wastewater intrinsic value recovery was developed that derive a monetary equivalent of value recovery of reuse employing an econometric production function approach. Apart from a economic level life cycle analysis, the methodology developed include a holistic multi-criteria analysis (MCA) covering sustainability criteria related to the economic, technical, social and environmental domains. The methodology can be adopted to analyse the economic effects of choices between the different pathways of wastewater intrinsic value recovery or a combination thereof and performance differences between surface and ground water reclamation strategies. The methodology allows strategic level comparative analyses of wastewater management system options within the centralised-decentralised wastewater continuum and appropriate technology option choices, being demonstrated for sewered technology in the second case study of the research. It is concluded that wastewater beneficiation or intrinsic value recovery consists of three different pathways of reclamation, reuse and recycle, each being location specific with different social, environmental and economic repercussions. While reuse positively impact virtual water components and water footprints, modification to allow multiple water use is needed to apply the concept in wastewater management. By quantifying the impact of reuse on water availability for urban water supply systems the link between reuse level and resource conservation benefits is established. The main recommendations made include the exploring of shadow prices and contaminant removed at treatment and management system levels over multiple time periods. In addition, sustainability of extended system scale and technology options over the centralised-decentralised wastewater continuum and returns to scale of urban sewered systems within a South African context require investigation. The adoption of the methodology is also proposed to analyse the economic impacts of wastewater beneficiation pathways or combinations thereof, additional benefits of multiple water use and ways of adjustment of the virtual water (VW) concept to be more amenable to wastewater management. Furthermore, impact of reuse on increased water availability for urban water supply systems by incorporating a network-specific and consumer-end related system losses differentiation as link to resource conservation benefits assessment is also recommended

Secure and Sustainable Energy System

This special issue aims to contribute to the climate actions which called for the need to address Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, keeping global warming to well below 2°C through various means, including accelerating renewables, clean fuels, and clean technologies into the entire energy system. As long as fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil) are still used in the foreseeable future, it is vital to ensure that these fossil fuels are used cleanly through abated technologies. Financing the clean and energy transition technologies is vital to ensure the smooth transition towards net zero emission by 2050 or beyond. The lack of long‐term financing, the low rate of return, the existence of various risks, and the lack of capacity of market players are major challenges to developing sustainable energy systems.This special collected 17 high-quality empirical studies that assess the challenges for developing secure and sustainable energy systems and provide practical policy recommendations. The editors of this special issue wish to thank the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) for funding several papers that were published in this special issue

Performance and optimization of farm certification systems as private institutions of sustainability

The demand for an ecologically and socially more responsible production has increased dramatically. Traditionally, public authorities intervene by means of regulations and economic stimuli, but also private market parties integrate social and ecological concerns into their business objectives. As such they hope to create added value. Consequently, this can result into a win-win for both the private actor and the society. To operationalize these private initiatives in the farm sector, certification schemes with private standards and labels are used. These certification schemes can be considered as an example of Private Institutions of Sustainability, which are sets of rules voluntary followed by private market actors to reach a sustainability target. The doctoral thesis investigates whether these certification schemes and labels, as examples of Private Institutions of Sustainability, are a promising instrument to realize sustainable development. The introductory part focuses on why market actors are interested in these Private Institutions of Sustainability. A first descriptive analysis places PIoS between other sustainable development initiatives. According to different market actors PIoS are promising both from economic and ecological perspective. An important condition for the success of these schemes is consumer interest. By means of ‘choice preference’-modelling it is shown that there are strong consumer preferences for some sustainability claims. Moreover, different types of consumers perceive the same claims differently. A second important precondition for the success of these schemes is retail interest. In a qualitative analysis different retail strategies for sustainable production were identified. The second part of the thesis focuses on whether these private systems deliver what they promise, which is effectively contributing to ecological, economic and social sustainability. First the contribution of PIoS to ecological sustainability is investigated by means of a meta-analysis. The contribution is confirmed, although some question marks can be placed. To assess the economic performance of these systems the sustainable value method is further optimized. The analysis reveals that firms participating in PIoS create more added value by using ecological resources more efficiently. The social performance was investigated by means of a qualitative analysis of social equity within the value chain. PIoS are not automatically a guarantee for social equity within the value chain. In part three of the dissertation changes are modelled in the PIoS to further improve sustainability. By means of ‘choice preference’-modelling the cost experienced by market actors for ecological changes in the certification scheme is estimated. This enables us to estimate the private cost for further ecological sustainability. In a following step it is shown how the ‘choice preference’-methodology can be used to estimate the desired compensations for institutional changes within the certification scheme. This allows to reduce the information asymmetries during negotiations between participants in the value chain. Finally, a methodology is developed to assess the sustainable efficiency of firms and certification schemes when new sustainability targets are introduced. From the analysis it became clear that firms participating in certification schemes have a higher sustainable efficiency compared to firms who do not. The research shows that there is still room for further ecological and economic improvement by removing current inefficiencies in the systems. Given that these institutions are private, a trade off is made between private and social objectives. Although the role of public authorities has shifted from initiator to monitor, it is important that these give the necessary impulses for further improving PIoS’ sustainability. Finally, the contribution of PIoS to internal value chain social sustainability depends on whether specific rules have been incorporated that safeguard the equity between participants