Investigating SME participation in the UK offshore wind supply chain

Paper delivered at the 21st Logistics Research Network annual conference 2016, 7th-9th September 2016, Hull. Abstract Purpose: The UK is the world’s offshore wind (OW) market leader in terms of installed capacity. OW is one of the main renewable energy technologies contributing to the UK’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and given its shallow seabed and vast amount of the wind resources around its coasts, the UK in general (and the Humber region in particular) offers a great advantage to further develop this technology and bring economic value to its domestic market in the third round of OW farm development. However, discussions around these opportunities raise questions as to how businesses may take advantage of them and what is expected of them. This paper presents the results of a research project investigating participation of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in the UK OW supply chain. Research Approach: Exploratory techniques were used to collect data from different perspectives to provide a comprehensive review of the industry and its supply chain structures and identify the main requirements that are expected of suppliers interested to be part of this industry through a literature review and interviews. Findings and originality: The study found that the UK OW sector’s supply chain structure varies according to one of four project execution strategies employed by the project owner, e.g. EPIC/EPC, DIY, multi-contracting and alliancing. The study also found that OW farm development and construction involves a lot of different industries each requiring specific qualifications and certifications. However, there are three common requirements, of which ISO 9001 is a prerequisite that SMEs should ideally already have or are working towards obtaining. Research Impact: The study adds to a sparse literature on how SMEs can effectively develop appropriate supply chain strategies, particularly in the OW sector by providing the findings on different supply chain strategies affecting their structures. Practical Impact: The study found that the OW sector does represent a good opportunity for SMEs in light of the upcoming Round 3 OW development in the UK. The study identifies the key requirements and expectations SMEs need to adhere to in order to enter the OW market

Badanie wskaźnika zielonej konkurencyjności przemysłu wytwórczego w aglomeracji miejskiej delty rzeki Jangcy

From the perspective of the complex multi-factors that affect manufacturing green competitiveness, this study constructs a green competitiveness index measurement indicator system of manufacturing industry in Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration, which includes five dimensions: economic creativity, technological innovation, energy and environmental protection, industrial structure optimization, and social service capabilities. The manufacturing green competitiveness index in Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration in 2014-2018 is measured and analyzed by using the comprehensive evaluation model of gray correlation projection method based on the combined weights of FAHP and maximum deviation. The results show that manufacturing green competitiveness of Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration generally shows a relatively stable and continuous improvement trend, but the regional differences are large: regional cities and general node cities have significantly lower manufacturing green competitiveness than the leading cities and hub cities, and the pace of industrial structure transformation and upgrading in the whole region also needs to be accelerated. Based on these results, this paper puts forward some policy recommendations for comprehensive development of Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration manufacturing industry: focus on improving the effective guidance of the positive incentive effect of technological innovation on manufacturing green competitiveness level, and solving the problem of insufficient technological innovation achievement transformation benefits; replan regional space, strengthen the integration of all industrial resources, reducing homogeneous competition; strengthen the ecological co-construction of regional manufacturing and improve social service security level.Z perspektywy złożonych czynników, które wpływają na konkurencyjność ekologiczną produkcji, w niniejszym artykule opracowano system pomiaru wskaźnika konkurencyjności ekologicznej dla przemysłu wytwórczego w aglomeracji miejskiej w delcie rzeki Jangcy. Obejmuje on pięć wymiarów: kreatywność ekonomiczną, innowacje technologiczne, energię i ochronę środowiska, optymalizację struktury przemysłowej i zakres usług społecznych. Wskaźnik konkurencyjności ekologicznej produkcji w aglomeracji miejskiej delty rzeki Jangcy w latach 2014-2018 jest mierzony i analizowany za pomocą kompleksowego modelu oceny metodą projekcji szarej korelacji opartej na połączonych wagach FAHP i maksymalnym odchyleniu. Wyniki pokazują, że konkurencyjność produkcji ekologicznej w aglomeracji miejskiej delty rzeki Jangcy na ogół wykazuje względnie stabilną i ciągłą tendencję do poprawy, ale różnice regionalne są duże: miasta regionalne i główne miasta węzłowe mają znacznie niższą konkurencyjność ekologiczną w zakresie produkcji niż miasta wiodące i miasta centralne, a tempo transformacji i modernizacji struktury przemysłowej w całym regionie również wymaga przyspieszenia. W oparciu o te wyniki, w niniejszym artykule przedstawiono pewne zalecenia polityczne dotyczące wszechstronnego rozwoju przemysłu wytwórczego w aglomeracji miejskiej delty rzeki Jangcy: skupiono się na sformułowaniu skutecznych wskazówek dotyczących pozytywnego efektu zachęty ze strony innowacji technologicznych na poziom konkurencyjności produkcji ekologicznej oraz na rozwiązaniu problemu niewystarczającej korzyści z transformacji osiągnięć innowacji technologicznych; należy przebudować przestrzeń regionalną, wzmocnić integrację wszystkich zasobów przemysłowych, zmniejszając jednorodną konkurencję; wzmocnić ekologiczne współtworzenie regionalnej produkcji i poprawić poziom zabezpieczenia społecznego

Regional Sustainable Standard Exploration: The Case of Chinese Rural Areas

Evaluation criterion of sustainability is an effective method of protecting stable Eco-system, enhancing life quality and reducing the waste of resource. Recently, with the emergence of resource shortage and environmental degradation, people started to shift their attention to the development of sustainability, which is to find the balance among social, environmental and economic factors. Especially in the end of the 20th century, the concepts of sustainability had been approved by the countries around the world [8]. Some developed countries took the lead in starting develop sustainable practices and set evaluation standard based on the real needs of project construction. However, many sustainable strategies and standardized systems are often applied to various sites without considering the particularity of each zone such as the diversity of social environment and region discrepancy. Thus, these evaluations appropriate for low integrating degree fail to guide practical constructions and reduce the overall project performance of sustainability. This paper analyzes the case of the mainstream evaluation tools from several professional organizations such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Living Building Challenge. Most of them include aspects of environment, society, life, etc. In addition, based on the researches of regional condition and social features of Chinese different regions, it proposes two design improvements for rural sustainable development, regional evaluation emphasis and feasibility of Chinese situation. This study reviews the concept of sustainable design for two Chinese rural zones and takes the regional features and social structure of these rural community groups into consideration. The base standard content and proposed changes as a contrast, and the results prove that regional strategies and evaluation emphasis play an important role in improving the sustainable performance of rural area construction in China. In conclusion, a set of variations related to the standard based on regional design can largely improve sustainable performance and life quality on grounds of different requirements to create a better model for rural constructions. And these regional sustainable standards also provide more references and instructive significance for relevant construction projects such as Rural Regeneration, Pollution Reduction, Energy use, Passive Design and Economic Benefit, etc

Rural Industry and Rural Development in China: The Role of Geography, Transportation, and Policy in Jiangsu Province.

A significant change in China since late 1978 is the development of rural industry (also township-village enterprise, or TVE). Rural industry is particularly important in light of China\u27s current policy of socio-economic decentralization. Rural industry not only absorbs surplus labor and pushes the increases of agricultural productivity, it also revitalizes China\u27s previously lethargic economy. In this study, variations in employment, production value, and economic efficiency of rural industry are analyzed in terms of geographical, transportation and policy determinants at the county/city level of Jiangsu Province in China. Rural industry\u27s contribution to agricultural and rural welfare activities, and how levels of rural industry\u27s foreign capital and export are determined by TVE attributes, geographical attributes and domestic capital, are also addressed. Multiple regression, Tobit regression and expansion method are used in the empirical analysis. Data include 1978-1991. Empirical results include the following conclusions. (1) Rural industry has not developed at the cost of the agricultural sector. (2) High levels of domestic capital are advantageous for securing foreign capital and increasing exports for TVEs. (3) Access to water transportation is very important for rural industry, while rail transport is not as significant. (4) Being a designated city permits the greater development of rural industry. (5) There is a north-south disparity in the development of rural industry. (6) Ownership type of rural industry (private vs. collective) is insignificant in influencing how much rural enterprises contribute to rural activities, although private TVEs and all forms of TVE develop differently. (7) Open door policies are influential to the development of rural industry in participating locations. Many implications may be drawn from empirical analysis. First, spatial disparities within Jiangsu do exist due to locational and policy elements. Distinct planning policies for all forms of TVE and private TVE are called for, because they develop differently. The insignificance of the access to rail transportation reveals problems regarding the lack of complementary facilities for rail freight. Finally, because the effect of open door policies may be location-sensitive, similar results for TVEs may not be found in all of the province even if open-door type policies were introduced throughout Jiangsu

Mind the gap! Barriers and implementation deficiencies of energy policies at the local scale in urban China

Environmental concerns and potential social-economic impacts associated with fossil fuels have turned cities into indispensable entities for supporting energy transitions in China. Pursuing a transition towards a sustainable energy system has become a major policy concern for the Chinese central government. In response, and on the basis of a top-down and conformance-oriented system of policy implementation and evaluation, the Chinese central government has launched various policies and targets on energy efficiency and production that lower levels of government have to follow. However, the translation of top-down targets and the measurement of conformance-based targets have both proved to be problematic. This paper investigates Chinese state policy on energy efficiency through four empirical case studies. It identifies how policy design of target setting and evaluation is both impacting and driving the implementation of energy efficiency at the local urban scale. We demonstrate how local authorities are faced with constraining barriers that can inhibit the implementation of centrally issued targets and policies. These barriers may even undermine local performance in the pursuit of ambitious energy efficiency goals, resulting in potentially harmful consequences

Environmental Land Use Planning

Environmental Land Use Planning brings together leading scholars in the field of environmental problem solving to examine environmental problems and effects on land uses; analytical methods and tools in the field; and the role of governments, community grants and tradable permits in environmental planning. The chapters are based on empirical research from countries around the globe including Canada, USA, China, Nigeria, Germany, Serbia, Venezuela, and Brazil. The book discusses such issues as predicting changes in land use pattern, ecological footprint analysis, socioeconomic and behavioral modeling, and flood control approaches. It is insightful and serves as an important resource and reference material on environmental management

International scientific and technical cooperation between China and Ukraine

The purpose of the bachelor's thesis is to study China and Ukraine's cooperation experience in the high-tech field and understand the future cooperation trends and directions that can be optimized. The object of research is the process of international development cooperation between Ukraine and China. The subject of research is the structure, dynamics, and prospects of development international cooperation between Ukraine and China. Results of work: approaches to the activation of scientific and technical activities have been determined cooperation in the context of globalization; a proposal for the construction of a joint Ukrainian-Chinese enterprise within the outlined approaches was formulated; recommendations for the development of a general strategy are substantiated development of scientific and technical relations between Ukraine and China.Метою бакалаврської роботи є вивчення досвіду співпраці Китаю та України у сфері високих технологій та розуміння майбутніх трендів та напрямків співпраці, які можна оптимізувати. Об’єктом дослідження є процес розвитку міжнародного співробітництва між Україною та Китаєм. Предметом дослідження є структура, динаміка та перспективи розвитку міжнародного співробітництва між Україною та Китаєм. Результати роботи: визначено підходи до активізації науково-технічної діяльності кооперації в умовах глобалізації; сформульовано пропозицію щодо будівництва спільного українсько-китайського підприємства в рамках окреслених підходів; обґрунтовано рекомендації щодо розробки загальної стратегії розвитку науково-технічних відносин між Україною та КНР

IEA ECES Annex 31 Final Report - Energy Storage with Energy Efficient Buildings and Districts: Optimization and Automation

At present, the energy requirements in buildings are majorly met from non-renewable sources where the contribution of renewable sources is still in its initial stage. Meeting the peak energy demand by non-renewable energy sources is highly expensive for the utility companies and it critically influences the environment through GHG emissions. In addition, renewable energy sources are inherently intermittent in nature. Therefore, to make both renewable and nonrenewable energy sources more efficient in building/district applications, they should be integrated with energy storage systems. Nevertheless, determination of the optimal operation and integration of energy storage with buildings/districts are not straightforward. The real strength of integrating energy storage technologies with buildings/districts is stalled by the high computational demand (or even lack of) tools and optimization techniques. Annex 31 aims to resolve this gap by critically addressing the challenges in integrating energy storage systems in buildings/districts from the perspective of design, development of simplified modeling tools and optimization techniques