Renewable energy is a global interest area in achieving sustainable development. Renewable energy sustainability has been assessed using the most commonly used dimensions of this concept: economic, environmental, social, and institutional dimensions. In this paper, we designed a composite index named the Renewable Energy Sustainability Index. The proposed index may represent a national monitoring mechanism that points out the strengths and weaknesses of a state in terms of renewable energy. The data were normalized by calculating the z-score. We tested the proposed index on a selection of 15 European countries ranked by final energy consumption and with different levels of development. The Kayser-Mayer-Olkin values were above the 0.700 limit, which indicates the robustness of each dimension. The proposed index reveals the development stages of renewable energy sustainability and can provide solutions to increase the sustainability of a country by improving positive impact indicators and mitigating negative impact indicators.
The study aims to asses overall satisfaction of the initiative for becoming an entrepreneur among women in Romania. The research was conducted in the Regions of North East, North West and West, on a sample of 602 women entrepreneurs. The research method chosen was the sociological survey. Almost three quarters of the respondents declare to be satis ied having opened a business. The degree of satisfaction regarding this decision is associated with age, education and family income. The main motivations identi ied are: capital accumulation, independence, lack of employment or the rise of an opportunity. Most frequently, women entrepreneurs feel respect due to their status, this decreasing among those with secondary education, with family incomes below 3000 RON and those who don't have employees.
An upward trend for plant dietary supplements has been reported lately in the Romanian market, suggesting that they could become a component of a sustainable food diet for consumers. The aim of this study was (1) to explore consumers’ perceptions about alfalfa powder (a plant dietary supplement), to identify their needs and expectations regarding the use of this product and to define the consumer profile; (2) to outline the significant factors of alfalfa sustainable consumption. For this purpose, the evaluation was performed using a questionnaire on a sample of consumers from two important Transylvanian cities (Deva and Cluj-Napoca). The results of the study indicate that the product is consumed by youth, adults and elderly people with upper-class education and high incomes. Emphasis was placed on identifying the main benefits perceived by the use of alfalfa powder. Hence, these are directly related to immunity (10%), detoxification (15%) and healthy dietary supplements (32%). Furthermore, since sustainability is a key factor for increasing quality of life, evidence emerged revealing alfalfa sustainable consumption. Consequently, this study shows that a more sustainable consumption of alfalfa can be stimulated through successful strategies for consumer education through label information including traceability data.
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