• Energy Research
• economics and business close
• DE close
• Sustainability close

Social networks expand the communication tools of nature conservation. Nonetheless, to date there is hardly any scientific literature on nature conservation communication in social networks. For this reason, this paper examines 600 Facebook and Twitter posts of three German nature conservation organizations: Federal Agency for the Conservation of Nature (Bundesamt für Naturschutz, BfN), Naturschutzbund Deutschland e. V. (NABU), and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Germany. Using the Mann–Whitney U method and Spearman’s rank correlation analysis, it reveals how post design affects communication success and provides respective recommendations for German conservation organizations. Communication success was divided into four indicators: reactions, comments, shares, and overall engagement as a synthesis of the three. On Facebook, the use of hashtags, images, and many characters (up to 1500) leads to higher success, whereas emojis and videos can reduce it. On Twitter, links, images, and longer posts promote user interactions. Emojis have a positive influence on comments and overall engagement, but a negative influence on reactions and shares. In addition, hashtags reduce overall engagement on Twitter. These results are discussed with reference to similar studies from other political fields in order to provide recommendations for conservation organizations. A validation and expansion of the presented results is recommended due to the growing relevance of digital nature conservation communication.

Based on an analysis of challenges and enablers of circular economy (CE) practices for outdoor brands and retailers, we aim to identify which of these CE practices are best suited for the outdoor sporting goods industry. To develop the study, we used a qualitative methodology through a content analysis of 21 expert interviews. From these interviews, we derived challenges and enablers for different CE elements in the categories reduce, circulate products, circulate materials, and shift towards renewable resources. Our findings indicate trade-offs related to the high complexity and functionality of many products, the juxtaposition of extremely technical and less technical products, and the low product return rate as challenges, while design for durability, design for repairability, and linking the degree of circularity to product types were identified as enablers. Based on our data, we argue that among circular practices reduce should form a basis upon which other aspects can build, with durability and repairability best suited for technical outdoor gear. As our study adds an industry-specific perspective, it contributes new knowledge to the CE literature. It also helps managers with the practical implications, as we argue they should be aware of potential downsides of CE elements and thus consider carefully which of those elements can help support their overall business and sustainability strategies.

Electric vehicles require sufficient public charging infrastructure. This in turn necessitates detailed information on charging demand. In this paper we present a four-step approach to estimating public charging demand of electric vehicles. Previous methods are limited in their ability to provide differentiated results and adapt to future developments. Therefore, we account for user groups (private, carsharing, commercial), technical developments (vehicles, infrastructure), infrastructure availability, and carsharing development (operational area, business models, autonomous vehicles). Our approach also considers the interactions between these factors and allows for scenario analysis yielding the quantity and spatial distribution of public charging demand. We demonstrate our approach for Berlin, Germany. We find that the majority of public charging demand results from carsharing. This demand is concentrated in the city center, even when carsharing is available citywide. Public charging demand for commercial users is relatively low and located outside the city center. For private users, public charging demand shifts to the city center with an increasing market penetration of electric vehicles and technological advancements (increased range, charging speed). Public demand from private users increases dramatically when private infrastructure is absent. Finally, public charging demand shifts to the city center when private users do not have private infrastructure.

A new brewery is founded in Brazil every two days. Yet with climate change, drinking water is increasingly scarce. Previous studies have begun exploring the brewing industry, but an examination of circular economy initiatives in Latin America is lacking, particularly during the COVID era. This study analyzes strategic implications of circular economy initiatives, together with their role in the coevolution of the craft beer sociotechnical system in Brazil from a resource perspective during the COVID pandemic. Using a qualitative methodology based on analytic induction, 11 in-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out with key actors from the craft beer sociotechnical system in Guarapuava. For the content analysis, we triangulated the interviews with an analysis of 74 related documents. We found evidence of circular economy practices and sociotechnical transitions with the simultaneous coevolution of the system actors. Increasing rejection of the linear take–make–waste economy was observed as subject organizations largely adopted a regenerative model reducing operational waste. Hence, entrepreneurial innovation was apparently crucial for resource allocation during the COVID era. This work contributes to further understanding resource configurations in the circular economy, with practical implications for integrating sustainability into strategy, business models, and production.

We investigate how an investor’s preference for sustainable assets in the portfolio varies for differing levels of risk aversion. Using a sample of 411 publicly listed firms in the S&P 500, we calculate financial and sustainability returns, on which the investor’s utility depends. We approximate the investor’s preference by the exponential and s-shaped utility function and optimize with regard to the sustainability preference. We find that with increasing levels of risk aversion, both minimum-variance and maximum Sharpe ratio type investors seek to incorporate sustainable assets in the portfolio.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is increasingly being applied in corporate accounting. Recently, especially carbon footprinting (CF) has been adopted as ‘LCA light’ in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. According to the strategy ‘balance, reduce, substitute, compensate’, the approach is intended to provide the basis for optimization towards climate neutrality. However, two major problems arise: (1) due to the predominant focus on climate neutrality, other decisive life-cycle impact categories are often ignored, resulting in a misrecognition of potential trade-offs, and (2) LCA is not perceived as an equal method alongside cost and value-added accounting in everyday business, as it relies on a fundamentally different system understanding. In this paper, we present basic considerations for merging the business and life-cycle perspectives and introduce a novel accounting system that combines elements of traditional operational value-added accounting, process and material flow analysis as well as LCA. The method is based on an extended system thinking, a set of principles, a calculation system, and external cost factors for the impact categories climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, air pollution, eutrophication and acidification. As a scientifically robust assessment method, the presented approach is intended to be applied in everyday operations in manufacturing companies, providing a foundation for a fundamental change in industrial thought patterns on the way to the total avoidance of negative environmental impacts (i.e., environmental neutrality). Therefore, this is validated in two application examples in the German special tools industry, proving its practicability and reproducibility as well as the suitability of specifically derived indicators for the selective optimization of production systems.

The global brewing industry is facing enormous environmental challenges and is urgently required to produce sustainably and efficiently. The rising costs of energy and electricity are forcing small and medium-sized breweries in particular, which are confronted with barriers such as lack of capital and know-how, to make substantial changes. This article presents an extended approach to prognose the energy and media demand for batch-oriented production of a brewery. Therefore, based on a modeling editor as well as a standardized data structure and an approach to determine the simulation-relevant parameters, a solution for fast and easy model generation was developed. Extensive measurement recordings within a brewhouse were performed to create a comprehensive model with recipe-specific parameters and detailed production plans. A simulation model can be generated automatically from a configuration file in a simulation environment that has been extended to include the mapping of batch-oriented operation. A validation is presented and a maximum deviation of the electrical and thermal energy demand of 1–2% is achieved. In combination with a preliminary work, the holistic simulation of the complex combined production of batch-oriented and discrete operation within the brewery is presented and allows comprehensive analysis as well as optimization towards sustainable production.