Sustainable Development and Technological Impact on CO2 Reducing Conditions in Romania

Abstract

Climate change is a reality all over the world, and its complexity is increasing. Therefore, sustainability has become a national and international concern, ingrained in many organizational processes. The ability of organizations to respond to sustainability concerns is sometimes hindered by the complexity of integrating sustainability into business models and by the need to rethink their strategic directions. In Romania, sustainable development has become a priority for businesses, but even though companies are showing some concern, there are yet to demonstrate any full commitment (they are mainly concerned with areas such as society and the environment). This paper assesses Romania's involvement in the adoption of actions directed toward the reduction of pollutants and greenhouse gases, namely actions focused on reducing the main causes of pollution. This analysis compares the situation in Romania with that of the European OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 1638Union. The main concerns can be categorized according to four sectors, which produce the highest quantity of carbon dioxide emissions in the world: the energy sector, the transport sector, the waste sector and the industry sector. The last section of this paper deals with the carbon footprint of Romania and its implications.

Risk Indicators and Road Accident Analysis for the Period 2012–2016

“…Road traffic affects the environmental dimension of sustainability. Thus, it can be said that transport contributes directly to the sustainable development of a country [16].…”

“…The overall objective of Romania's national strategy [16,21], which is aligned with the European strategy, is to reduce the number of deaths from road accidents by 50% by 2020, compared with 2010. In this respect, it is expected that in 2020 there will be no more than 1188 deaths, compared with the 2377 deaths registered in 2010.…”

“…In this section, the data obtained from the database collections used for research are presented [16][17][18][19][20][21]. Road and traffic accidents are assessed based on the established variables.…”

Assessment of environmental impact from renewable and non-renewable energy sources

“…For example, the production of coal-based energy in the EU Member States reached an amount of approximately one billion tons of CO 2 emissions one decade ago, equivalent to 24% of total CO 2 emissions in the EU [1,2].…”

Environmental assessment of the Sibiu County, Romania: proposal for sewage sludge and OFMSW management

“…The current management of urban waste generates negative impact on the environment both in the presence of household waste and industrial waste, since most of the MSW is disposed of in landfills. Landfills are a source of air pollution (emissions of methane), surface water pollution and degradation of soil quality through the percolation of hazardous liquids that cause low soil fertility, also at great distances [15][16][17][18].…”