Suchergebnisse

With electricity consumption increasing within the UnitedStates, new paradigms of delivering electricity are required in order to meet demand. One promising option is the increased use of distributedpowergeneration. Already a growing percentage of electricity generation, distributedgeneration locates the power plant physically close to the consumer, avoiding transmission and distribution losses as well as providing the possibility of combined heat and power. Despite the efficiency gains possible, regulators and utilities have been reluctant to implement distributedgeneration, creating numerous technical, regulatory, and business barriers. Certain governments, most notable California, are making concerted efforts to overcome these barriers in order to ensure distributedgeneration plays a part as the country meets demand while shifting to cleaner sources of energy.

The future economic growth for India is likely to result in rapid and accelerated surge in energy demand, with expected shortages in terms of supply. Many of its current policies and strategies are aimed at the improvement and possible maximization of energy production from the renewable sector. It is also clear that while energy conservation and energy efficiency can make an important contribution, renewable energies will be essential to the solution and are likely to play an increasingly important role for providing enhanced energy access, reducing consumption of fossil fuels, and helping India pursue its low-carbon progressive pathway. However, most of the states in India, like the northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir, have experienced an energy crisis over a sustained period of time and the government both at center and state level has to embark upon with these pressing issues in a more sustainable manner and accordingly initiate various renewable energy projects within these states. This paper will provide a broad-spectrum view about the energy situation within Jammu and Kashmir and will highlight the current policies along with future strategies for the optimal utilization of renewable energy resources.

The study of waste generated in ports is a vitally important issue to reduce marine pollution and improve port management systems. In this article, the authors study the management of solid waste generated in the ports of the Canary Islands. For this purpose, a waste management model based on the circular economy is developed. With this model, it is possible to reduce pollution in the port areas of the capital?s islands, increase the fraction of recycled waste and obtain additional energy for the ports. The interest of this study lies in the singularities of these islands with respect to the geographic limitations that make them weak energy environments. The proposed solution to solve the current problems and achieve a zone of zero waste (throughout the port of Santa Cruz and its industrial estate) has two main phases: the first, in which solid waste is processed and a part is recycled, and the second, which consists of recovering the energy of the converted fuels. The advantages of the application of this model are that CO2 emissions are reduced, energy savings are realized, waste management is improved in these environments (the recycling fraction is increased considerably), and new jobs are created. This model also contributes to the development of the Special Territorial Plan for Waste Management of the Canary Islands, in accordance with the policies of the European Union required for the coming years.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is a controversial aspect of isolated environments, not only because the production of waste grows exponentially, but also because in these isolated regions the difficulties are accentuated in comparison with the mainland territories. The limitation of space, the technology of scale and the peaks of generation due to existing tourism, are clear examples of the barriers that must be overcome. This research studies the potential of MSW recovery on the island of La Gomera (Canary Islands) as an alternative to landfill deposition, being an additional energy source for heat and electricity. Likewise, the possibility of carrying out the landfill mining located in the El Revolcadero environmental complex is explored. The methodology followed consists, first of all, on estimating the annual amount of MSW and waste deposited in the landfill. Second, the characterization of representative samples of each municipality is carried out. Third, according to these characteristics, the thermal treatment is chosen and, finally, the energy generated is evaluated. The results are encouraging, and many advantages are derived from this model. The annual recycling figure increases by about 5000 tons per year, the percentage of renewable energy from waste reaches 35.5% (most installed capacity is diesel), and greenhouse gases (GHG) are reduced by more than half. To overcome the challenges in the integral management of MSW, it is necessary to move from a linear economy to a circular economy that takes into account the priorities established by the European Union to solve the problem of these isolated environments in terms of energy.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is a problematic aspect in isolated environments. Not only because the production of waste grows exponentially, but because in these isolated regions the difficulties are accentuated in compar-ison with the peninsular territories. The limitation of space, the technology of scale and the peaks of generation due to existing tourism, are clear examples of the barriers that must be overcome. This document studies the potential for the recovery of municipal solid waste on the island of La Gomera (Canary Islands) as an additional source of energy to produce heat and electricity. Also, the pos-sibility of carrying out the landfill mining located in the El Revolcadero envi-ronmental complex is explored. Many advantages are derived from this model: there is a significant increase in the fraction of recycling (almost non-existent at present), a greater share of renewable energy on the island (almost every-thing is diesel), the recovery of green areas and a reduction of greenhouse gas-es (GHG). To overcome the challenges that lie ahead in the integral manage-ment of solid municipal waste, we must move from a linear economy to a cir-cular economy that takes into account the priorities established by the European Union to improve the collection and treatment of municipal waste.

COP22 called for political commitment to combat climate change by using low-carbon energy sources. The European Commission recognises that industrial and domestic sectors have the possibility of consuming their own electricity, due to the level of development and innovation of most Member States. The rise in electricity prices, together with the decrease in the cost of renewable generation technologies, results in estimations foreseeing up to a 75% increase of the self-consumption rate in European households. However, the lack of regulation on this issue at European level has derived in different regulations being approved across Member States. In Spain, Royal Decree 900/2015 has been considered too restrictive, in the sense of precluding the financial feasibility of self-consumption systems' deployment, whereas other European countries with poorer renewable energy resources are experiencing a higher growth in this field.

In 2005 the Directorate General for Industrial Development and Technological Innovation of the Canary Islands proceeded to carry out a project to measure the behavioral skills of various government agencies and companies in the Canary Islands in order to prepare a White Paper to assess the most effective measures for the stimulation of innovation in this autonomous community and to facilitate the objectives of public subsidies. This paper shows a portion of the work performed comparing the activity oriented towards innovation and the one aimed at sustaining the status quo of the organizations in the sample.

RESUMEN
Introducción: las innovaciones que a nivel tecnológico ocurren han ocasionado diversas transformaciones en las cuales, la evolución del hacer científico viene creando variadas áreas del saber que abordan los problemas del ser humano desde diferentes aristas. En el ámbito organizacional, los estudios se han destacado en lo que atañe a innovación de productos y servicios sin desmerecer los argumentos a favor de conocer las verdaderas necesidades del consumidor, a manera de procesos mentales que sustentan significativamente los diversos comportamientos de este. Metodología: Revisión narrativa de la literatura sobre el neuroconsumidor, para develar el sentido de los patrones mentales de este, fundamentado diacrónicamente en el saber neurocientífico. Se realizó un mapeo científico de documentos sobre el neuroconsumidor, la dinámica cerebral, y las emociones, en revistas indixadas de alto impacto: Scopus y Web of Science. Lo referenciado describe estructuralmente la bibliografía, encontrándose ejes temáticos. Resultados y Discusión: La revisión evidencia el vínculo entre el marketing que forma parte de la neuroeconomía y la neurociencia como una novedosa visión que aborda el análisis del comportamiento del consumidor de manera más profunda en el proceso de decisión de compra. Conclusiones: De la comprensión en red se identificaron dos clústeres: el comportamiento del consumidor y las emociones creadas en el cerebro. La interpretación de los hallazgos destacó la relevancia de la dinámica cerebral las "trampas psicológicas ocultas" al tomarse una decisión y en la elección de un producto o servicio. No se evidencian investigaciones al respecto, solo las vinculadas al neuromarketing.

 La presente investigación tiene como propósito desarrollar un método de análisis por indicadores para evaluar la gestión del conocimiento (GC) en empresas manufactureras, constituido por cuatro etapas: crecimiento del conocimiento, desarrollo de los procesos del conocimiento, aporte de la GC al cliente e impacto de la GC en la rentabilidad. Su objetivo es medir las variables asociadas al conocimiento organizacional, con la finalidad de explicar su contribución en la organización. Metodológicamente se inscribe en la modalidad de investigación empírica de tipo descriptivo-cuantitativo. La población objeto de estudio fueron las empresas manufactureras productoras de aluminio primario, CVG Alcasa y CVG Venalum. Los resultados del análisis estadístico permitieron identificar que la GC está conformada por cuatro factores, que se pueden construir en cuatro dimensiones para explicar las variables con base al 63,93% de la varianza total. El primer factor se refiere a la formación, el segundo a las TIC, el tercero a las mejoras continuas, estando el cuarto y el último factor asociado a la toma de decisiones. El método desarrollado en esta investigación permite medir el impacto de la GC en la rentabilidad de las empresas del sector aluminio, contribuyendo así a mejorar la competitividad, a través de la valoración de su activo más importante: el conocimiento.

The challenges of today's world require individuals and companies to improve their performance levels as a mechanism to achieve better living conditions and a coherent economic and social development. Therefore, one of the main objectives of the European Union is to become the worlds most competitive and dynamic economy based on knowledge, capable to reach sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. Commission of the European Communities (2003). However, even with such a global reference and important examples on international markets, not all local scenarios present the conditions needed to achieve the growth, development and proper use of knowledge. The Venezuelan case, currently widely discussed due to the contradictory currents that analyze national socio-economic performance is one that, on a pattern that seems contrary to global trends, shows signs of weakening of the productive sector. Therefore, in seeking long-term solutions, it is necessary to analyze: What happens with the Venezuelan competitive performance? Why does its industrial sector present a behavior apparently opposed to global trends? What are the limitations that prevent its own players to develop the maximum potential of the country? How can current trends be corrected?

It is not a novelty that renewable energies are being the source of energy towards where the efforts of different countries are aiming to mitigate the negative environmental impact generated by years of fossil-based energy use. In this sense, the German government has developed a regulatory framework for the development of electricity generation projects of geothermal origin. This Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) came into effect on April 1, 2000. In June 2011, the German Bundestag approved an amendment to this law that came into effect on January 1, 2012 (Renewable Energy Sources Act EEG 2012) [1]. This research analyzes this regulatory framework and focuses on the options that are presented to the promoters that are susceptible to valuation by applying the methodology of the real options. In particular, the paper analyzes the influence that this regulatory framework has on the valuation of geothermal energy. Given the options that this regulation incorporates, it has been considered appropriate to incorporate the effect of these real options into the valuation of projects. Within the scope of real options, investment projects can be measured as a set of purchase options (CALL) and sales (PUT), which represent the different types of opportunities or options that exist in the project [2]. The fundamental point in the evaluation of projects through real options is to identify the options that appear in the horizon of the life of the project [3]. Until now, the few contributions that address the role of the regulator in generating investment value through real options focus on general environmental aspects [4] or the valuation of generic renewable sources [5]. In this sense, Balibrea et al. [6], [7] evaluate investment projects in offshore wind energy in Denmark and land wind in Germany and Spain, respectively, with real options existing in the regulatory framework. As a result, two real regulatory options have been detected. The incorporation of these two options has a very positive value for the project ...

The objective of this article was to propose a conceptual model of strategic projectmanagement for basic industries. The model was built using the soft systems methodology "Soft SystemMethodology" (SSM), proposed by Professor Peter Chekland. This methodology is a way of dealingwith problem situations in which there is a high social, political and human component in the activity.In the case of the GEP, the proposed conceptual model translates the interactions of strategic planning,portfolio management and production and operations management, generating a model that explainsthe forms of growth and decrease in the system real. Finally the conclusions of the investigation arepresented.

This is an exploratory study about technology democracy and technology inclusion from workers perspectives. We are interested in answers questions like how is workers' participation and their inclusion in technology in companies under cooperative management or participatory management of the direct producers? The research was conducted under participatory action research combined with multiple case of study considering Venezuelan an Argentinean companies where there are workers' participation experiences. Results were grouped in participatory categories and modalities for the technological inclusion developed by another authors. It was found that technology democracy and inclusion emerges from those experiences in four modalities: use, appropriation, method of working adjustment and technological revitalizing. In both, Venezuela and Argentina cases, there is not a massive inclusion of workers and that is related to the way technology democracy has been encouraged in those companies.

Participatory action research has been used by Latin American social sciences researchers in order to deal with social and community problems to encourage social changes. Participatory action research experiences with industrial workers have been less visible. This paper focuses on workers' research experience at state-owned Venezuelan metallurgical industries. The methodological approach is based on workers' educational needs with participation in their own emancipation process. Workers and researchers share experiences, knowledge, and set the basis for increased democracy at industry through workshops, meetings, and other educational activities. These experiences allowed the emergence of an industrial participatory action research project that is being deepened through participatory appraisal and education research programs with readings, "generating questions," working roundtables, consensus and dissent, experience systematization, and a living language of participation to strengthen local and national education-research network with people, especially workers, increasing their voice through knowledge democracy and technology democracy which implies industrial democracy too.

The European energy sector is undergoing a major transformation and is facing a series of difficult challenges. These include a high and increasing dependence on external energy resources; dramatically reduce the need for the emissions of greenhouse gases to meet environmental objectives and the difficulties related to the promotion of energy market effectively integrated and competitive. Some of the policies associated with the various objectives are sometimes in conflict with each other, while in other cases are mutually reinforcing.The aim of this paper is to do a scienti?c analysis of the developments so far and the expectations for the coming period focusing on the pillars of energy policy in the EU in terms of security of supply, environment, climate change and promoting a competitive and integrated market. The use of renewable energy sources is seen as a key element of European energy policy and should help to: reduce dependence on fuel from non-member countries; reduce emissions from carbon-based energy sources, and; decouple energy costs from oil prices.