• Energy Research

The article discusses selected problems related to environmental protection in the context of climate change in the Ceará region of North-Eastern Brazil. The authors analyse the lack of water and negative impact of climate change on fish processing in the region. Also, the opportunity to use fish waste to increase profitability of the local fish processing SMEs thanks to implementation of climate-friendly technologies such as the production of fertilisers and energy for their own needs is discussed.

It is proposed using certain indicators to assess the sustainable development of the EU countries and Ukraine: for the economic measuring - the global competitiveness index, the global innovation index and the index of economic freedom; for the social measuring - the social progress index, the human development index, quality of life index; for the environmental measuring - environmental performance index. The analysis of each selected indices of the EU countries and Ukraine is carried out. The methodology for calculating the ratio of the economic, social and environmental components of sustainable development for each EU country and Ukraine is presented. Attention is focused on the significant regional diversification of sustainable development and its components in the EU countries and Ukraine; the highest, middle and lowest levels of sustainable development of counties are identified. Impact: the methodology for the study of sustainable development, proposed by the authors on the example of the EU countries and Ukraine, is based on objective international ratings that have a transparent calculation methodology. These international ratings are constantly updated and cover most of the countries of the world. Therefore, the proposed methodology makes it possible to identify countries with the highest level of economic, social and environmental development; calculate the index of sustainable development of any country in the world.

Climate changes are nowadays reality and affect all aspects of everyday life. One of the places where these changes influence the society the most is the Brazilian Ceará region and Jaguaribara basin that suffer long-lasting, devastating drought cycles. They have a dramatic negative impact on local economy, forcing change in business models. This work presents the valorisation of wastes and residues from local fish, prawns, and the vegetable-cultivation industry via biogas production forced to adapt to these new circumstances. Along a single year, as much as 189.74 tonnes of wastes and residues can be processed by the biogas production facility, producing as much as 94 GJ of cooling energy and 1 tonne of biofertiliser monthly. Even for such a small biogas production facility, the NPV is positive already after 11 years; its IRR is 6.2%, and accumulated ROI for 20 years of operation is as high as 77.8%. This work demonstrates that a valorisation of industrial wastes and residues via biogas production is a feasible solution for a specific industrial scenario addressing new socio-economic challenges for the particular enterprise.

The COVID-19 pandemic has set new challenges for the HoReCa industry. Lockdowns have coincided with and strongly impacted the industrial transformation processes that have been taking place for a decade. Among the most important HoReCa transition processes are those related to the rapid growth of the delivery-food market and ordering meals via internet platforms. The new delivery-food market requires not only the development of specific distribution channels, but also the introduction of appropriate, very specific food packaging. Food packaging and its functionality are defined by the administrative requirements and standards applicable to materials that have contact with food and principally through the prism of the ecological disaster caused by enormous amounts of plastic waste, mainly attributed to the food packaging. To meet environmental and administrative requirements, new technologies to produce food packaging materials are emerging, ensuring product functionality, low environmental impact, biodegradability, and potential for composting of the final product. However, predominantly, the obtained product should keep the nutritional value of food and protect it against changes in color or shape. Current social transformation has a significant impact on the food packaging sector, on one hand creating a new lifestyle for society all over the world, and on the other, a growing awareness of the negative impact of humans on the environment and increasing responsibility for the planet. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to develop a circular economy based on the paradigm of shortening distribution channels, using local raw materials, limiting the consumption of raw materials, energy, water, and above all, minimizing waste production throughout the life cycle of products, all of which are in line with the idea of low-carbon development.