Alternative fuels have numerous advantages compared to fossil fuels as they are renewable, biodegradable; provide energy security and foreign exchange savings besides addressing environmental concerns, and socio-economic issues. With regard to stringent emission legislation in the automotive sector and need to save fossil fuel for other developmental and research activities over the coming decades, this research work is directed at developing diesel engine-gasifier integrated systems to operate on renewable fuels such as Honge oil methyl ester [HOME] and Producer gas with specially designed carburetor [1-2, 5-6]. The raw Honge oil was obtained from Honge seeds and then it was subsequently converted into its respective biodiesel i.e., HOME. Further the branches of the Honge tree were used as the biomass feed stock in the downdraft gasifier for the producer gas generation. This work mainly aims at total substitution for fossil fuel by respective renewable fuels and is a step towards energy security and sustainability. The producer gas generated in the downdraft gasifier was then passed through a suitably fabricated carburetor supplying a mixture of producer gas and air at stoichiometric ratio. In this proposed research work different carburetor shapes were identified and developed to maximize the gasifier-engine performance. The developed producer gas carburetor was further analyzed for its mixing performance with a subsequent CFD modeling. The model is a mixing chamber having essential orifices for air and producer gas inlets to generate stoichiometric mixture at near to ambient conditions with required driving pressure differential for the flow. The carburetors were drawn from Y – shape, and with 30, 60, 90⁰ gas entries as well as with parallel gas entry. The CFD -ICEM simulation package was then used to identify better carburetor. From the study it was found that parallel flow gas entry carburetor resulted in better mixing of air and producer gas. The diesel engine developing 3.7 kW was finally operated in dual fuel mode using HOME and producer gas with developed carburetors. The dual fuel engine provided with parallel flow gas entry carburetor showed 4 to 5% increased brake thermal efficiency with reduced smoke, HC and CO emissions. The experimental results were in good agreement with CFD analysis.

This study presents a systematic method for assessing aggregate sustainability of firms at sector, region or industry level. The proposed method is based on the generalized sustainable value; it allows to aggregate data of individual firms to any group of firms in a specific sector, specialization, region, or any other group. The method is illustrated by two empirical applications of the Finnish crop and dairy sectors, where the benchmark technology is estimated by data envelopment analysis. Our efficiency assessment shows that the representative crop farm achieves only about a half of its potential output. Efficiency of the representative dairy farm is somewhat higher.

Heritage and nature are both prominent landscape features and resources for different forms of use. They could also be main assets for creating sustainable development, especially in rural and non-metropolitan communities. However, they are also contested areas, involving different groups of actors and interests. In this paper three contested areas, and suggestions for methods to move forward, will be discussed. The first ara may be labelled attractivity. Small municipalities in Sweden tend to experience demographic and economic downturns as many young people move out, and traditional industries close down. In order to turn the negative trends new ways of competeing for attractive citizens, not least the new creative class, and business are emerging. In this game heritage and nature are rendered new importance and new meanings. But these new meanings will probably enhance social stratification, as less attractive segments of citizens are excluded. The second area is (economic) growth. According to politicians from top to bottom, the economic future of rural and smaller non-metropolitan areas lay in tourism, albeit long histories of various forms of industries and production. But tourism does not go well with lifestyles and relationships with nature and heritage of most local inhantants. Also, so far most of the small scale nature and heritage business have problems of becoming profitable enough. The third area is the, by the authorities, increased demand for citizen participation in management of protected nature and heritage. Participation has so far mostly been a top-down affair, as the authorities have not been willing to step down from deciding which values that should be protected, only the work and costs for management. The retraction of the authorities is challenged by the citizens\' demands for information and knowledge, that is, and increased presence of experts. Nature and heritage, and how these resources may contribute to a sustainable development, is thus contested. There is a need for new ways of working in order to turn contestion into inclusive strategies, and thereby enhance the strengths of the contribution from nature and heritge to sustainable development. In this paper the possibilities of living labs and the creation of innovative systems for sustainable development as means for turning nature and heritage into sources of socially inclusive, sustainable development will be put forward.

The paper focuses on evaluation of material compositions of residential building structures in terms of environmental sustainability and influence on energy performance. We calculate the most preferred environmental indicators such as embodied energy from non-renewable resources, Global Warming Potential and Acidification Potential of materials by methodology Life Cycle Assessment within boundary Cradle to Gate. Study of the environmental and energetic effectiveness of designed structures points to importance of suitable choice of materials. By improving the energy performance of building through used higher amount of materials and components is reflected in higher embodied energy and associated emissions. Plant materials compared with other materials prove huge advantage in terms of stored carbon and used clean solar energy. The results of multi-criteria analysis of structure alternatives shows that passive house from traditional nature plant materials with minimal modification require much lower energy used in manufacturing and result in lower emissions from fossil fuel than passive house of other materials. The case study would provide a new optimization method for building envelope design in Slovak climatic conditions tends to the lowest environmental impacts of building during construction phase and occupation phase. Sustainable building is one of the most significant challenges we face. Our responses to environmental issue will influence the quality of life for future generations.

The Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive has been for the first time published in 1996 (Council Directive 96/61/EC). It was amended in 2008 and now it has been replaced by the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) n.75/2010. The IPPC Directive represents one of the main important policy tool of European Union to manage the emissions of industrial activities and to achieve a higher level of protection of environment as a whole. The Directive asks to the Competent Authorities to issue an unique permit for the industrial installations where are included limits, monitoring frequencies and operational requirements referred to all environmental aspects (water emissions, air emissions, soil, etc.) In literature we can find several studies about policies assessment. In this framework we can observe that not so many authors have studied the IPPC Directive. In addition the papers related to the assessment of the IPPC Directive are referred mainly to discuss about the effectiveness of the Directive in the implementation of Best Available Techniques (BAT) and the improvement of environmental performance of the companies in the scope of the Directive. Besides the few papers or technical reports focused on the implementation of the IPPC Directive from a legislative and administrative perspective have never studied in depth the contents of the issued permits. The objective of our paper is to bridge this gap presenting the results of an empirical research carried out by the authors in the framework of an European project named MED IPPC NET. The authors investigated 62 IPPC permits of landfill sector issued in seven European Regions: Andalusia and Valencia (Spain), Tuscany, Piedmont and Sicily (Italy), West Macedonia (Greece) and Slovenia. The research aimed to identify the differences in the Emissions Limit Values, monitoring frequencies, operational requirements imposed to installations of the same sector but with permits issued in different Competent Authorities. The results demonstrate relevant disparities not always justifiable by the flexibility given by the Directive to the Member States and Competent Authorities to implement the Directive.

Abstract Sustainable rural environments in transitioning societies have been recently one of the key concerns of policy makers in Central and Eastern Europe. The opening of Polish public to the western influences followed by the subsequent reforms caused a socio-economic crisis in majority of rural areas. Accession to the EU structures had further impacts on how rural development is understood and implemented (McDonald et al., 2003; Smith & Hall, 2006). For example, introduction of the LEADER approach to rural development and the growing interest in nature-based tourism in Poland has provided a unique opportunity for rural community stakeholders to diversify income through tourism services (Marciszewska, 2006). Also, the beginnings of the NATURA 2000 reflected the ever changing approach to the structure and functioning of valuable rural landscapes in the Member States of the EU (Grodzińska-Jurczak et al., 2012). On the other hand, the increasing focus on biodiversity and nature while implementing the new conservation policy- NATURA 2000 program have led to conflicts and misunderstandings about the distribution of responsibilities and compensation for loss of economic benefits from other forms of rural development (Henle et al., 2008; Alphandéry, 2011). The reality of changes in Poland requires policy-makers to make a step forward, toward a more inclusive planning process. The proposed article seeks to identify the current features of decision-making in Poland as well as the quality of community empowerment in the EU context based on the example of the LEADER development framework and the NATURA 2000 program. In the case of both programs a more sustainable development of local socio-ecological systems could be realized through promoting community and meaningful participation in decision-making. The effective sustainability approach needs to facilitate community empowerment (Strzelecka & Wicks, 2010; Grodzińska-Jurczak & Cent, 2011; Grodzińska-Jurczak, et al., 2012). The discussion about the character of community participation and community empowerment is framed within the model of stakeholders\' participation proposed by Arnstein (1969). This model identifies different stages of citizens\' participation linked to their real impact on decision-making. At the bottom of the ladder are manipulation and therapy, which describe levels of "non-participation" which to external actors may appear as genuine participation. The real objective of these \'non-participatory\' forms of decision-making would be to enable power-holders to "educate" participants. Higher levels of involvement (informing, consultation, placation) are defined as "tokenism" as they allow participants to be informed and to have a voice. However also under current conditions in Poland participants lack the power to ensure that the dominant leaders value their views. There is no assurance of changing the status quo. References Alphandéry, P. (2011). Fortier A. Can a Territorial Policy be Based on Science Alone? The System for Creating the Natura 2000 Network in France. Sociologia Ruralis 41(3), 311-328. Arnstein, S.R. (1969). A Ladder of Citizen Participation. JAIP 35, 216–224. McDonald, M., & Contributors (2003). European community tourism law and policy. Dublin: Blackhall Publishing. Marciszewska, B. (2006). Cultural tourism and socioeconomic development in Poland. In Smith, M., & Robinson, M. (Eds). Cultural tourism in a changing world: politics, participation and (Re)presentation. Channel View Publications, Clevedon. Grodzińska-Jurczak, M., Strzelecka, M., Kamal, S. & Gutowska, J. (2012). Effectiveness of Nature Conservation – a case of Natura 2000 sites in Poland. In: Protected Area Management. Red. Barbara Sladonja. InTech, Rijeka, 183-202, ISBN 980-953-307-448-6. Grodzińska-Jurczak M., Cent J. Expansion of Nature Conservation Areas: Problems with Natura 2000 Implementation in Poland? 2011. Environmental Management 47, 11-27. Grodzińska-Jurczak M., Cent J. 2011, Udział społeczny szansą dla realizacji programu Natura 2000 w Polsce. Public participatory approach- a Chance for Natura 2000 implementation in Poland. Chrońmy Przyrodę Ojczystą 66(5), 341-352. Henle K., Didier A.D., Clitherow J., Cobb P., Firbank L., Kull T., McCracken D., Moritz R.F.A., Niemela J., Rebane M., Wascher D., Watt A., Young J. 2008. Identifying and managing the conflicts between agriculture and biodiversity conservation in Europe–A review. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment,124 60–71. Strzelecka, M. & Wicks, B. (2010). Engaging residents in planning for sustainable rural-nature tourism in post-communist Polamd. Community Development 41 (3), 370-384 Smith, M., & Hall, D. (2006). Enlargement Implications for European Tourism. In Hall, D., Smith, M., & Marciszewska, B. (Eds), Tourism in the New Europe. The challenges and opportunities of EU enlargement (pp. 32-43). CAB International, Wallingford.

For reasons of sustainability, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy security, it becomes necessary to properly evaluate all of possible options for powering transportation fleet for a particular country. When doing this it is equally important to understand all the costs (economic, social, and environmental) and emissions during the fuel extraction, refining and distribution stages as well as the final combustion stage. All steps in the full pathway contribute to the final economic and environmental profile of any given fuel. The natural gas (NG) family of fuels has to be seriously considered as providing for large-scale transportation. From a combustion point of view, NG derivatives have a lower carbon-to-hydrogen ratio than oil-based fuels and should therefore be cleaner, but the upstream emissions of the fuels need to be properly understood. The supply pathways of gaseous fuels are more diverse than the oil-based fuels pathways, because the sources of gas are varied and can imply substantially different emissions profiles. It is therefore important to understand these various pathways for the country under consideration, so that profiles for each country can be documented and policy formulated accordingly. This preliminary study is conducted based on a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach to evaluate potential sustainability of using gaseous fuels (CNG/LNG) for light commercial and passenger vehicles based on conditions in Australia and Ukraine, which are quite different, taking into account information on the production, distribution and use of gaseous fuel. Data for this study are mostly sourced from published literature. The results of the study reveal a significant opportunity for Australia, as well as for Ukraine to increase sustainability of the transport fleet if it takes gaseous fuels on as major source for transport vehicles.

The research is drawn on the main hypothesis that Latvia does not use its advantageous location effectively supported by the previous research results published this year in the book "Climate change and adaptation to it: Latvia" where the authors found the modern industrial real property market stock would not need any further growth and pointed on the local industrial real estate market misbalance. The research subject is the leading industrial multinational enterprises from the Baltic Sea Region working in Latvia. The survey is planned to be conducted in Latvia. A focus of the research is on finding out the key principles in those companies\' choice on the most appropriate territory to the industrial objects and industrial location specifics. The Paper contains the questionnaire with the projected results, the analysis of other scientists\' work results on the industrial location research and the model previously introduced. The worked out model is devoted to forecast stock of the modern industrial premises in Europe in the territory of the Republic of Latvia by the original approach of including the European climate change issue as a basis to assign the sustainable supply of the industrial premises, applying complex of the methods like logical approach and comparison, the system and dynamic row\'s analyses. The Paper is a message to professional critical view and assessment on the model and the questionnaire.

Renewable energy sources (RES) will certainly play a key role in moving towards sustainable development of economy. Talking about prospects of the use of solar energy, it is evident that the main market is the heating sector in the consumer\'s side. The main and most important problems, determining that the absorption process in the consumer\'s side is slow, are the lack of knowledge and organisation, large and deterrent amount of investments, and particularly differences of motivation between energy suppliers and consumers in the heating sector. The main purpose of the research is what conditions are required for heat energy that is produced by consumers based on solar technology and how this type of heat energy source would be able to compete with other energy sources. District heating (DH) may be an appropriate infrastructure for the implementation of RES technologies both in production and demand side. Conclusions were drawn concerning on what scale and under what assumptions the use of solar technologies may be competitive.

Human beings are a natural part of the environment and as such have influenced, changed and managed natural resources for millennia. The landscape reflects these impacts, and many, if not most, regions have changed dramatically due to human interactions with the environment. Until the last century, plant genetic resources were considered to be common heritage. The history of patent law in the Americas, however, demonstrates the evolution of the concept of private property rights as applied to living organisms such as plants. With the globalization and westernization of much of the world, the intellectual property rights of indigenous people have become a significant issue. This paper addresses the legal and policy implications related to agricultural plant biopiracy and indigenous rights under Peruvian and International law in light of the global governance of innovation. The first section of the paper addresses the laws that apply to agricultural plants and intellectual property. Indigenous rights are also addressed since globalization of agriculture and trade has unique effects on indigenous people and their culture. The second section of this paper provides an understanding of traditional knowledge systems. This discussion provides a basis for describing how traditional indigenous knowledge is cultural and imbedded in the concept of community, rather than individual rights or exploitation.