Modelling of the effects of renewable energy establishments towards the economic growth of a nation

Renewable energy is one of the current hot topics in the global energy forum and many of the conventional fossil fuelsbased establishments have been replaced with renewable sources over the last few decades. Countries such as China, USA and India have already made huge investments on installing renewable energy infrastructure. Hence, many of these countries are in need of investigating the effects of their investments on the countries’ economic growth, carbon footprint and the well-being of their environment. This study provides a comprehensive discussion on how renewable energy usage can contribute towards the economic enhancements mainly to the Gross Domestic Production (DGP). A conceptual model were established to understand the effects of the development of renewable energy establishments on some key economic performance indicative parameters such as the household consumption, government consumption, capital formation, trade balance and energy import and then eventually on the GDP formation. Then, the data collected from an emerging economy were analysed incorporating a path analysis by using SPSS Amos software. Chi square (χ2) test and maximum likelihood indices are used to assess the overall fit of the model. Overall, the findings of this study clearly show that the promotion of renewable energy establishments can cause a significant reduction in energy related imports while increasing the GDP of a nation. Accordingly, it is apparent that Sri Lanka has aligned their economic strategies in terms of becoming a 100% sustainable energy driven nation by 2050 as their major economic indicators are positively correlated with the promotion of renewable energy establishments

Investigating the effects of renewable energy utilization towards the economic growth of Sri Lanka: a structural equation modelling approach

With the rapid depletion of natural resources and increased environmental pollution, nations across the world are in a desperate need of achieving the common goal of sustainable development. Combustion of fossil fuels along with other human activities over the past few decades have resulted in increased greenhouse gas emissions leading to the climate change and the multi-scale pollution of land, air and water that the world is experiencing today. Hence, the focus has now been shifted towards the sustainable and renewable energy sources while prompting a circular economy. Being one of the island nations of South Asia, Sri Lanka has also aligned the country's economic strategies with the global trends and aims to be a 100% sustainable energy dependent nation by 2050. Consequently, there has been a gradual rise in the renewable energy establishments in the country over the past two decades. This study aims to analyze the influence of these establishments on the economic growth of the country, using a structural equation modelling approach. A conceptual model was formulated to represent the relationships between the renewable energy consumption and the key economic indicators, and also a path analysis was carried out to explore the relationships among the variables. The fit of the conceptual model to the secondary data collected related to the economic and energy indicators was established using a number of statistical fit indices such as the Chi-square, absolute fit indices and the root mean square error of approximation. The results indicate that there is no significant direct effect of the renewable energy consumption on the GDP of Sri Lanka yet, but there is an indirect positive effect through capital formation and also an indirect negative effect through trade balance. Hence, it is clear that renewable energy establishments have to be promoted through incentives/policies that lead to capital accumulation via increased renewable energy consumption. Moreover, the analysis and the findings presented in this study can be related and are applicable to many of the emerging economies across the globe

Environmental responsibility of family businesses: a perspective paper

Purpose: This perspective paper explores ongoing research into stimuli that promote environmental responsibility in family business contexts. It also delineates emerging patterns and possible directions for future research within this domain. Design/methodology/approach: The authors synthesise, critically assess and integrate existing research to make current thinking about the environmental responsibility of family businesses more accessible to a wide range of readers. Findings: This paper offers a comprehensive overview of multifaceted triggers and sheds light on how they interact and influence the environmental performance of family businesses. The authors delve into family dynamics and values, examining how they enable a business to develop environmental responsibility practices. Simultaneously, the authors emphasise the importance of probing the impact of the macro environment within which family businesses operate, which either might incentivise or challenge their pursuit of environmental responsibility initiatives. The need to design a robust tool to measure the environmental consciousness of familiness, applicable to specific contextual settings, has been identified. Investigating how accounting and control systems act as supportive management tools to enhance the efficacy of overall corporate performance in family businesses is another area for future research. Moreover, examining these dynamics within the unique landscape of emerging economies offers a promising field of exploration. Originality/value: This article consolidates existing research on the environmental responsibility of family businesses and puts forward potential avenues for future research

The impact of the performance appraisal process on job satisfaction of the academic staff in higher educational institutions

Performance appraisal is one of the key management tools which identifies employees’ strengths and weaknesses. Usually, this is the major mechanism of gathering information for rewarding/training employees based on their performance, and hence a key to achieve organisational goals by creating a satisfied workforce. Therefore, this study was aimed at examining the effects of the Performance Appraisal Process on job satisfaction of the university academic staff. The information collected within one of the largest universities in the UK via questionnaires and semi-structured interviews showed that the existing appraisal process majorly aligned with the requirements of the research-excellence-framework of the UK, which is greatly concerned with research rather than teaching. Furthermore, it was found that there is no clear link between promotions, salary increments, and rewards, etc. with staff performance within the current appraisal process. Eventually, it was realised that the majority of the academic staff of the source university were dissatisfied with the current performance appraisal process, and this could be the situation in the majority of universities in the UK. Therefore, further research in this area is highly recommended to explore extensive information to create a favourable work/study environment for both staff and students within the universities

The role of artificial intelligence-driven soft sensors in advanced sustainable process industries: a critical review

With the predicted depletion of natural resources and alarming environmental issues, sustainable development has become a popular as well as a much-needed concept in modern process industries. Hence, manufacturers are quite keen on adopting novel process monitoring techniques to enhance product quality and process efficiency while minimizing possible adverse environmental impacts. Hardware sensors are employed in process industries to aid process monitoring and control, but they are associated with many limitations such as disturbances to the process flow, measurement delays, frequent need for maintenance, and high capital costs. As a result, soft sensors have become an attractive alternative for predicting quality-related parameters that are ‘hard-to-measure’ using hardware sensors. Due to their promising features over hardware counterparts, they have been employed across different process industries. This article attempts to explore the state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (Al)-driven soft sensors designed for process industries and their role in achieving the goal of sustainable development. First, a general introduction is given to soft sensors, their applications in different process industries, and their significance in achieving sustainable development goals. AI-based soft sensing algorithms are then introduced. Next, a discussion on how AI-driven soft sensors contribute toward different sustainable manufacturing strategies of process industries is provided. This is followed by a critical review of the most recent state-of-the-art AI-based soft sensors reported in the literature. Here, the use of powerful AI-based algorithms for addressing the limitations of traditional algorithms, that restrict the soft sensor performance is discussed. Finally, the challenges and limitations associated with the current soft sensor design, application, and maintenance aspects are discussed with possible future directions for designing more intelligent and smart soft sensing technologies to cater the future industrial needs

The Impact of the Performance Appraisal Process on Job Satisfaction of the Academic Staff in Higher Educational Institutions

From MDPI via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-10-02, pub-electronic 2021-10-11Publication status: PublishedPerformance appraisal is one of the key management tools which identifies employees’ strengths and weaknesses. Usually, this is the major mechanism of gathering information for rewarding/training employees based on their performance, and hence a key to achieve organisational goals by creating a satisfied workforce. Therefore, this study was aimed at examining the effects of the Performance Appraisal Process on job satisfaction of the university academic staff. The information collected within one of the largest universities in the UK via questionnaires and semi-structured interviews showed that the existing appraisal process majorly aligned with the requirements of the research-excellence-framework of the UK, which is greatly concerned with research rather than teaching. Furthermore, it was found that there is no clear link between promotions, salary increments, and rewards, etc. with staff performance within the current appraisal process. Eventually, it was realised that the majority of the academic staff of the source university were dissatisfied with the current performance appraisal process, and this could be the situation in the majority of universities in the UK. Therefore, further research in this area is highly recommended to explore extensive information to create a favourable work/study environment for both staff and students within the universities

The Impact of the Performance Appraisal Process on Job Satisfaction of the Academic Staff in Higher Educational Institutions

Performance appraisal is one of the key management tools which identifies employees’ strengths and weaknesses. Usually, this is the major mechanism of gathering information for rewarding/training employees based on their performance, and hence a key to achieve organisational goals by creating a satisfied workforce. Therefore, this study was aimed at examining the effects of the Performance Appraisal Process on job satisfaction of the university academic staff. The information collected within one of the largest universities in the UK via questionnaires and semi-structured interviews showed that the existing appraisal process majorly aligned with the requirements of the research-excellence-framework of the UK, which is greatly concerned with research rather than teaching. Furthermore, it was found that there is no clear link between promotions, salary increments, and rewards, etc. with staff performance within the current appraisal process. Eventually, it was realised that the majority of the academic staff of the source university were dissatisfied with the current performance appraisal process, and this could be the situation in the majority of universities in the UK. Therefore, further research in this area is highly recommended to explore extensive information to create a favourable work/study environment for both staff and students within the universities

Investigating the effects of renewable energy utilization towards the economic growth of Sri Lanka: A structural equation modelling approach

With the rapid depletion of natural resources and increased environmental pollution, nations across the world are in a desperate need of achieving the common goal of sustainable development. Combustion of fossil fuels along with other human activities over the past few decades have resulted in increased greenhouse gas emissions leading to the climate change and the multi-scale pollution of land, air and water that the world is experiencing today. Hence, the focus has now been shifted towards the sustainable and renewable energy sources while prompting a circular economy. Being one of the island nations of South Asia, Sri Lanka has also aligned the country's economic strategies with the global trends and aims to be a 100% sustainable energy dependent nation by 2050. Consequently, there has been a gradual rise in the renewable energy establishments in the country over the past two decades. This study aims to analyze the influence of these establishments on the economic growth of the country, using a structural equation modelling approach. A conceptual model was formulated to represent the relationships between the renewable energy consumption and the key economic indicators, and also a path analysis was carried out to explore the relationships among the variables. The fit of the conceptual model to the secondary data collected related to the economic and energy indicators was established using a number of statistical fit indices such as the Chi-square, absolute fit indices and the root mean square error of approximation. The results indicate that there is no significant direct effect of the renewable energy consumption on the GDP of Sri Lanka yet, but there is an indirect positive effect through capital formation and also an indirect negative effect through trade balance. Hence, it is clear that renewable energy establishments have to be promoted through incentives/policies that lead to capital accumulation via increased renewable energy consumption. Moreover, the analysis and the findings presented in this study can be related and are applicable to many of the emerging economies across the globe

Towards a circular economy: recycling of polymeric waste from end-of-life vehicles, electrical and electronic equipment

Polymeric materials-based waste has been accumulating over the years and now these can be found not only on the land but also in the waters across the globe, and has become a serious global crisis in many ways. Among used plastics, end-of-life vehicles (EOLV) and electrical-and-electronic-equipment (EEE) are two major sources of polymeric-waste. These wastes can have variety of combinations of polymers, and the properties of such blends are not well-understood yet. In this work, the effects of six different process parameters were tested with three types of recycled polymers (derived from EOLV and EEE waste) under various processing conditions. The results confirmed that the properties and processing behavior of recycled materials can be highly variable and hence difficult to predict. Furthermore, findings highlighted the importance of knowing their actual constituents and also the selection of appropriate process settings to achieve the desired product properties while saving resources