Suchergebnisse

According to the annual world statistics, primary energy consumption demonstrated a steady growth over the past decade but in 2018, its average value was doubled. A rapid development of energy sector will not only lead to the growth of CO2 emissions and other negative consequences, but also to more intensive use of natural resources in the immediate future. Growing pressure on resources might give rise to a number of challenges in virtually all branches of human activity. The energy sector's impact on the environment is increasing at a high speed, which necessitates the efficiency assessment of investments in energy projects applying a system of technical, economic and environmental indicators. Nowadays, most of the energy projects comprise eco-friendly technological solutions that significantly decrease the use of natural resources but at the same time they might affect financial costs that dampen the attractiveness of investment projects at all. Despite that fact, the economic and environmental evaluation allows identifying the total exposure of the project in the long term and aids in measuring its multiplier effect on the region economy as lots of energy projects have a considerable innovative potential. The present study provides a system of environmental indicators that improves the efficiency assessment process of investment projects in the energy sector. © 2020 WIT Press. ; This research was supported by Act 211 Government of the Russian Federation, contract number 02.A03.21.0006.

Nowadays, the energy sector faces a lot of challenges because of environmental issues, the potential depletion of fossil fuels in the future, problems of technological development, etc. Despite the fact that alternative energy is a key factor of the energy sector's development, it still has several controversial questions, and one of them is "to what extent is nuclear energy safe for the world?" As a consequence, public acceptability has a role to play as it significantly affects the way nuclear energy should be developed in the next decades. In this paper, we provide the main results of the research made in December 2018 in Italy and Russia on students' attitude towards nuclear energy and its development in their homelands. The research method is a questionnaire which was carried out at the University of Trento, Italy, and at Ural Federal University, Russia. According to the given results, most of the students from both countries do not have a negative perception of nuclear energy. However, the opinions on its development in Italy and Russia are completely different: Russian students support the government's energy program in which nuclear energy is one of the most promising trends for the future, whereas Italian students do not accept the possibility that nuclear energy could come back into the Italian energy sector. © 2019 WIT Press. ; № 02.A03.21.0006. ; This research was supported by Act 211 Government of the Russian Federation, contract № 02.A03.21.0006.

Nowadays, most countries of the world are implementing the transition to the low-carbon economy which implies the need to carry out a full-scale eco-modernization of the energy sector. Green energy may be identified as one of the core concerns of energy sector modernization as it allows a considerable decrease in emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Therefore, nuclear and renewable energy may become key areas of global energy development in the near future, which is also in agreement with circular economy concepts. However, public opinion (and other controversial visions/aspects) is one of the barriers to their development. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between attitudes towards nuclear and renewable energy in two countries: a EU country (Italy) and a non-EU country (Russia), considering the level of their development. The authors conducted a survey among residents regarding their attitude towards nuclear and renewable energy, as well as their attitude to the present energy policy. The cluster analysis technique was used to analyze the results. The obtained results confirmed the dependence between the level of development of nuclear and renewable energy and the public attitude towards it. The national energy policy also might influence public opinion on the development of nuclear or renewable energy. The authors identified public attitude as one of the key factors in the development of energy and the achievement of environmental and social sustainability. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. ; Funding: The research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 22-28-01740, https://rscf.ru/en/project/22-28-01740/ (accessed on 6 December 2021).

The development of renewable energy is one of the strategic directions of eco-modernization of the Russian energy sector, which will not only reduce the negative impact of the industry on the environment, but also provide remote territories with the stable access to electricity. Despite the fact that the Russian regions have a great potential for the development of renewable energy, the full transition of the energy sector to the "green" vector of its development is currently impossible. Moreover, most of current studies consider the development of renewable energy without reference to the regions, which, according to the authors, does not provide an objective assessment of the potential for the use of renewable energy in Russia. The purpose of the present research is to evaluate the potential for the introduction of various renewable energy sources (RES) in the energy sector of the Sverdlovsk region — one of the largest industrial regions of Russia. The full-scale assessment of their potential use at the regional level helps to accelerate the process of their introduction into the energy sector, since during the assessment, scientists analyze not only the possibilities of use, but also the barriers to development. Authors applied various research methods among which analysis of state programs, analysis of the official statistical reports, analysis of natural conditions on the territory of the region, etc. As a result, authors developed a map of potential use of renewables in the territory of Sverdlovsk region, evaluated prospects of their development and revealed key barriers. The proposed algorithm of assessment might be applicable for other Russian regions. © 2021 The Authors. ; This research was supported by Act 211 Government of the Russian Federation, contract № 02.A03.21.0006.

Nowadays, most countries of the world are implementing the transition to the low-carbon economy which implies the need to carry out a full-scale eco-modernization of the energy sector. Green energy may be identified as one of the core concerns of energy sector modernization as it allows a considerable decrease in emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Therefore, nuclear and renewable energy may become key areas of global energy development in the near future, which is also in agreement with circular economy concepts. However, public opinion (and other controversial visions/aspects) is one of the barriers to their development. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between attitudes towards nuclear and renewable energy in two countries: a EU country (Italy) and a non-EU country (Russia), considering the level of their development. The authors conducted a survey among residents regarding their attitude towards nuclear and renewable energy, as well as their attitude to the present energy policy. The cluster analysis technique was used to analyze the results. The obtained results confirmed the dependence between the level of development of nuclear and renewable energy and the public attitude towards it. The national energy policy also might influence public opinion on the development of nuclear or renewable energy. The authors identified public attitude as one of the key factors in the development of energy and the achievement of environmental and social sustainability.

The implementation of investment projects has an important role to play in the development of the economy and also to be in concordance with the Circular Economy concepts, as it causes not only the flows of financial and labor resources into the regional economy, but also stimulates the development of scientific and technological progress and the emergence of innovations. A comprehensive assessment is essential approach of any investment project to achieve sustainable development and to close the loop as requested be the Circular Economy through balancing between social and economic development, as well as preservation of environment. The assessment of ecological and economic efficiency of investment projects is one of the most significant stages of project implementation as it allows to uncover the potential negative effects and possible failure of the project. So far, there are no unified approaches to assessing the effectiveness of investment projects, especially its environmental component. That fact leads to a biased assessment of the impact of an investment project on the environment. The problem is caused not only by the lack of a common, internationally accepted methodology, but also by the complexity of accounting for externalities and negative financial impact. The purpose of the study is to examine and systemize existing approaches to the assessment of ecological and economic efficiency and provide recommendations for its enhancement. The article highlights two conceptual approaches to the efficiency assessment of the project and their benefits and drawbacks. © 2021 WITPress. All rights reserved. ; This research was supported by Act 211 Government of the Russian Federation, contract № 02.A03.21.0006.

The optimization of municipal solid waste management requires the re-organization of niche sectors too. The sector of the university is not fully explored from the scientific point of view. The creation of networks among universities in order to face this issue allows an exchange of expertise also at an international level as demonstrated in this article, by three case studies: two Italian (University of Trento and University of Insubria) and one Russian (Ural Federal University) universities. This study highlights the pros and cons of each university in terms of waste management. Specifically, setting up communication campaigns, standard procedures, monitoring actions, pricing strategies that incentivize selective collection, and improving the collaboration within the university community are identified as crucial initiatives. The margins of improvement of the three universities analyzed are favored by the composition of the generated waste. The implementation of good practices can give economic advantages to the universities, besides improving their level of sustainability. © 2020 by the authors. ; The authors wish to thank Dolomiti Energia Spa and, especially, C. Realis and G. Baldessarri Antoniolli for the data on the fractions contained in the residual waste produced by UniTrento. This research was supported by Act 211 Government of the Russian Federation, contract № 02.A03.21.0006.

Sustainable development is a key principle of national and international policies, which has been strongly promoted by the European Union since 2015. Communication, education, the awareness of the importance of accelerating the transition from a linear economy to a circular one and of raising environmental awareness play a key role in the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs). To achieve the goals on a large scale, it is necessary to start from a local scale. In this sense, universities must experiment best practices and make them available to the society. In the last years, many universities have adopted environmental sustainability plans in order to implement green policies and develop a roadmap towards the achievement of the SDGs, while sharing best practices with university communities and society. This paper presents the case of two Italian universities and a Russian one. Specifically, the paper presents the contents of the current environmental sustainability plans of the Italian universities, discussing the reasons for the choice of the environmental sustainability goals and the expected results following the implementation of the related actions. A comparison between the approaches adopted in the sustainability plans of the two Italian universities will be presented in details. In addition, the paper analyses the potential implementation of a sustainability plan in the Russian university. The paper will discuss also potential criticalities in the achievement of the goals. © 2021 WITPress. All rights reserved. ; This research was supported by Act 211 Government of the Russian Federation, contract № 02.A03.21.0006.

Enhancement of efficiency and competitiveness of the industrial complex requires changing the existing methods and improving the used methods for forming and implementing industrial policy. Particularly acute is the task of ridding the industrial enterprises of the dependence on foreign technologies and components and the transition to total import substitution under the sanctions of the Western powers and the United States of America. The analysis of the special literature on the problems of development of the industrial complex of the Russian Federation makes it possible to summarize certain provisions of the formation and implementation of industrial policy. 1. Definitely, reasonable participation of the state is obligatory in a market economy conditions, as a result of which it is necessary and appropriate to use the methods of government regulation and planning to establish priority areas for making joint efforts. 2. When developing an industrial policy strategy, it is necessary not only to take the peculiarities and trends of development of the industrial complex of the Russian Federation into account, but also to allow for all various possible scenarios with estimates of the main criteria. 3. The bar should always be raised, as, an attenuation of all rates of growth in industry indicators is inevitable without a transition to a new technological level. All this requires breakthrough technologies and developments to be definitely used. 4. In industrial policies, it is also necessary to consider their direct and indirect effects on other sectors of the national economy [2; 7; 13].

Das International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) ist ein länderübergreifendes, fortlaufendes Umfrageprogramm, das jährlich Erhebungen zu Themen durchführt, die für die Sozialwissenschaften wichtig sind. Das Programm begann 1984 mit vier Gründungsmitgliedern - Australien, Deutschland, Großbritannien und den Vereinigten Staaten - und ist inzwischen auf fast 50 Mitgliedsländer aus aller Welt angewachsen. Da die Umfragen auf Replikationen ausgelegt sind, können die Daten sowohl für länder- als auch für zeitübergreifende Vergleiche genutzt werden. Jedes ISSP-Modul konzentriert sich auf ein bestimmtes Thema, das in regelmäßigen Zeitabständen wiederholt wird. Details zur Durchführung der nationalen ISSP-Umfragen entnehmen Sie bitte der Dokumentation. Die vorliegende Studie konzentriert sich auf Fragen zu Religion und religiöser Identität.

Das International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) ist ein länderübergreifendes, fortlaufendes Umfrageprogramm, das jährlich Erhebungen zu Themen durchführt, die für die Sozialwissenschaften wichtig sind. Das Programm begann 1984 mit vier Gründungsmitgliedern - Australien, Deutschland, Großbritannien und den Vereinigten Staaten - und ist inzwischen auf fast 50 Mitgliedsländer aus aller Welt angewachsen. Da die Umfragen auf Replikationen ausgelegt sind, können die Daten sowohl für länder- als auch für zeitübergreifende Vergleiche genutzt werden. Jedes ISSP-Modul konzentriert sich auf ein bestimmtes Thema, das in regelmäßigen Zeitabständen wiederholt wird. Details zur Durchführung der nationalen ISSP-Umfragen entnehmen Sie bitte der Dokumentation. Die vorliegende Studie konzentriert sich auf Fragen zu sozialer Ungleichheit.