This research identified the key categories of information that significantly determine the feasibility, opportunity, and/or perhaps urgency of working toward a sustainable supply chain in agriculture.

Building upon previous research, in early 2006 a second research team comprised of master’s students from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment joined with members of the Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP) to develop resources and tools to identify unmet local consumer demands and opportunities for agricultural economic development in a fivecounty area of southeastern Michigan (i.e., Jackson, Lenawee, Monroe, Washtenaw and Wayne counties).

The Yunnan Whitewaters Hydropower Development Project has been registered under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism. This carbon emission reduction endeavor is a 78 megawatt, three cascade stage, run-of-river hydropower venture in rural Yunnan Province of southern China. When completed in December 2007, the project is expected to displace ~274,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

This project builds on the work of previous groups, including the Canadian think-tank Moving the Economy and a group of three University of Michigan graduate students who, in 2005, produced a report for Ford Motor Company entitled New Mobility: Future Opportunities for Ford as a Mobility Integrator. Our team consists of eight MS students at the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan. Through a combination of primary and secondary research, we surveyed the current and future potential for New Mobility products, services, and technologies in five global cities, vis-à-vis the growing urgency of addressing the aforementioned megatrends. Our results from each city combined a conventional Market Attractiveness Analysis with a progressive New Mobility Market Analysis.

This paper presents a statistical model that quantifies the influence of various stakeholders on chemical manufacturing companies’ environmental performance. We based the model on a framework outlined by Andrew Hoffman in Competitive Environmental Strategy: A Guide to the Changing Business Landscape.1 The model uses actors from the following four categories: Social Drivers, Resource Drivers, Market Drivers and Coercive (Regulatory) Drivers as independent variables to explain the variation in Toxic Release Inventory Emissions (TRI) across the 50 states in the years 1995 through 2004.

This study analyzes the use of nearby nature by hospital visitors, a group of people who are typically at risk for stress and mental fatigue. Study participants were visitors of the University of Michigan Hospital System (UMHS) who were residing at the Ann Arbor Ronald McDonald House (RMH), a residence for family members of hospitalized children. The study involved suggested walking routes in Nichols Arboretum (Arb) and a series of before and post walk survey instruments to measure mental fatigue and stress. In addition, a survey instrument to measure awareness and perception of the Arb was administered.

This report presents the business case for why Cummins Inc., a 10-billion-dollar diesel engine and power company, should adopt a sustainability strategy, and provides suggestions for how the company can incorporate the concept of sustainability into its existing processes. To explain how Cummins can integrate a sustainability strategy, we develop a sustainability vision statement for Cummins. We then draw upon the Four-Question Sustainability Framework to systematically analyze existing processes and suggest enhancements for how the company can become more sustainable. We recommend implementing these changes through four main channels: overall company objectives, planning processes, operational practices, and financial analyses.

This report examines collaborative planning within the context of state trust lands. By analyzing eight case studies, the report aims to inform trust land agencies, local communities and other interested parties about the benefits, costs, challenges, facilitating factors and lessons learned associated with these collaborative planning efforts. The report concludes with a look ahead to future collaborative planning opportunities on state trust lands, providing a set of best management practices and recommendations for overcoming barriers to this trust land management approach.

The purpose of this study is to quantify this trade-off and determine optimal replacement intervals for residential clothes washers. The Life-Cycle Optimization (LCO) model employed to answer this fundamental research question uses as inputs separate Life-Cycle Inventory (LCI) and Life-Cycle Cost (LCC) profiles for each model year clothes washer from 1985-2020. These profiles represent four life-cycle phases of a washer: Material production, manufacturing and assembly, use, and end-of life management.

An engineering-economic analysis developed in this study, based on Park operating data and costs, estimates the current levelized cost of hydrogen ranging from $12.33 to $21.32/kg H2 (for hypothetical Park-like facilities with output of 1,200 and 100 kg H2/day, respectively), which is significantly higher than estimates made by other studies. Combining a fuel cell array with a neighborhood hydrogen filling station would result in an estimated current levelized cost of fuel cell electricity ranging from $2.09 to $2.13/kWh (for power generation of 5,000 kWh/day). The study concludes that the Park, with its current demonstration-stage technologies and costs, is not cost competitive in commercial hydrogen, utility-scale energy storage, or hydrogen vehicle markets.

Through joint systems thinking exercises, primary research, and focused system dynamics modeling efforts, our project seeks to expand the existing corporate understanding of the barriers to and benefits of engaging in a significant advanced biofuel implementation effort. We are actively modeling the interactive roles of the agriculture and energy sectors in the evolution of U.S. ethanol and biodiesel markets through 2030. Our model consists of four parts: aggregate farmer decisions for crop allocation, market allocation of feedstock (corn, waste residue, and switchgrass) to food/feed or fuels, aggregate corporate investments in production/refinery capacity for biofuels, and future transport demand.

A study of the status of Green and Sustainable Development throughout the state focusing on 11 different case studies of commercial, residential, educational and institutional buildings. In addition to the case studies, the report contains information on; the market for and benefits of green buildings as well as specific information on the integrated design process and perceptions and realities of green building practices.

Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and is home to millions of migratory birds, including the endangered Siberian Cranes. It is also home to millions of farmers and fishermen and is an endemic area for schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease known as snail fever. Because of a major flood in 1998 that affected millions and incurred damages in the billions, the Chinese government has implemented a 32-character mandate which included a Return Farm to Lake Policy that aimed to increase the flood storage capacity of the this lake by 2003.

The advantages of offshore wind in Michigan include higher average wind speeds compared to onshore sites, proximity to population centers and grid connections, at least somewhat mitigated aesthetic and noise concerns, and the ability to transport and deliver very large pieces of wind energy equipment using a well-established water transportation infrastructure. However, environmental and regulatory uncertainties have continued to impede progress and to date there has been little serious interest in offshore development in the Great Lakes.

This team worked with Ford Motor Company and Alcan, Inc to develop a framework for a Professional Development Program (PDP) to provide plant management with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to achieve sustainability goals at the plant level.

Currently, there are over 200 Community Forestry Management Plans in Cambodia which address the spiritual and economic needs of rural villages. An official Su-Decree under the Forestry Law recognizes this synthesis of development and conservation. Funding is provided by international NGOs who maintain a large presence in Cambodia. Ultimately, the success of Community Forestry will be judged on their individual financial sustainability. We recommend that CFM groups expand their efforts to target High Value Forests and incorporate microfinance, an effective tool of poverty alleviation, to provide the financial infusions for appropriate income-generating activities. Our recommendations and strategies were based on research and interviews conducted with microfinance institutions, conservation agencies and independent monitors of the logging activity.

The team assessed the energy consumption and GHG emissions associated with Aveda Corporation's product delivery system (PDS), which is defined as the tertiary packaging and transport required to deliver products to salon and retail customers. Cost-effective and operationally feasible recommendations were made to reduce the impact of the PDS.

Parks, rivers, trails, and greenways are traditionally recognized for their environmental protection, recreation opportunities, and aesthetic values, but they also provide economic benefits. Such areas have the potential to attract visitors, create jobs, enhance property values, expand local businesses, attract new or relocating businesses and residents, increase local tax revenues, decrease local government expenditures, improve health and enhance a local community.