The authors investigated the plant species used for charcoal production and their sources and the willingness of the producers to plant charcoal-making species. Furthermore, the authors indirectly determined the invol...The authors investigated the plant species used for charcoal production and their sources and the willingness of the producers to plant charcoal-making species. Furthermore, the authors indirectly determined the involvement of farmers in charcoal production in Atwima Mponua District of Ghana. A total of 120 producers were interviewed and simple ranking was used for the analysis. Twenty-three plant species were used with the first, second, third and fourth which were Celtis mildbraediL Cylicodiscus gabunensis, Margaritoria discoides and Amphimas pterocarpoides respectively. However, the Amphimas pterocarpoides was not among the traditional charcoal-producing species. The wood used came from seven different sources. None of the charcoal producers had a plantation of charcoal-producing species. Only 13 % of the producers were willing to plant, 87% of them who were not willing to plant indicated that they would leave charcoal production if the resource got finished. The 120 charcoal producers were made up roughly of 56% males, and 44% females and in which 69.2% of them were farmers.展开更多
The paper proposes a matrix-based approach that a designer can use to evaluate the sustainability of one or more design solutions in the conceptual phase of a product development process. The methodology is structured...The paper proposes a matrix-based approach that a designer can use to evaluate the sustainability of one or more design solutions in the conceptual phase of a product development process. The methodology is structured in two main phases. In the first one, a data structure, called Augmented-DSM （Design Structure Matrix）, has to be drawn in order to collect design information such as functional links among product components, indicators that provide information about the life cycle of each element, connections with the environment and toward other systems. The matrix is based on a DSM format, where new records were introduced to store and organize different types of data and an editing protocol was formalized. In the second stage, a set of procedures have to be applied in order to evaluate sustainability of a design solution and compare it with the others. The presented procedures, in fact, allow designers to assess a product in its proper characteristics, evaluate a device during its use stage and verify the coherence of links present in the functional model. This new approach is conceived to manage different performance indicators and, as a support tool, it is an attempt to aid designers in a quantitative evaluation.展开更多
文摘The authors investigated the plant species used for charcoal production and their sources and the willingness of the producers to plant charcoal-making species. Furthermore, the authors indirectly determined the involvement of farmers in charcoal production in Atwima Mponua District of Ghana. A total of 120 producers were interviewed and simple ranking was used for the analysis. Twenty-three plant species were used with the first, second, third and fourth which were Celtis mildbraediL Cylicodiscus gabunensis, Margaritoria discoides and Amphimas pterocarpoides respectively. However, the Amphimas pterocarpoides was not among the traditional charcoal-producing species. The wood used came from seven different sources. None of the charcoal producers had a plantation of charcoal-producing species. Only 13 % of the producers were willing to plant, 87% of them who were not willing to plant indicated that they would leave charcoal production if the resource got finished. The 120 charcoal producers were made up roughly of 56% males, and 44% females and in which 69.2% of them were farmers.
文摘The paper proposes a matrix-based approach that a designer can use to evaluate the sustainability of one or more design solutions in the conceptual phase of a product development process. The methodology is structured in two main phases. In the first one, a data structure, called Augmented-DSM （Design Structure Matrix）, has to be drawn in order to collect design information such as functional links among product components, indicators that provide information about the life cycle of each element, connections with the environment and toward other systems. The matrix is based on a DSM format, where new records were introduced to store and organize different types of data and an editing protocol was formalized. In the second stage, a set of procedures have to be applied in order to evaluate sustainability of a design solution and compare it with the others. The presented procedures, in fact, allow designers to assess a product in its proper characteristics, evaluate a device during its use stage and verify the coherence of links present in the functional model. This new approach is conceived to manage different performance indicators and, as a support tool, it is an attempt to aid designers in a quantitative evaluation.
