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Strategies to reduce product waste in the consumer packaged goods industry
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015)
The cost of waste for products such as soft drinks, shelf stable dry food, and dairy in the consumer packaged goods industry is massive, about $15 billion annually in the U.S.A. This thesis focuses on waste associated with ...
Intellectual property and architecture : how architecture influences intellectual property lock-in
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017)
Intellectual property lock-in is a wicked problem particularly pervasive under monopsony market structures, such as the Department of Defense (DoD). However, little research exists on the mechanisms of action that induce ...
Accounting for non-hazardous industrial waste in the United States
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016)
This dissertation presents a method for estimating the tonnage and composition of non-hazardous industrial waste (NHIW) flows in the United States. For thirty years, it has been an accepted fact that NHIW is generated at ...
Modeling human attention and performance in automated environments with low task loading
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016)
Automation has the benefit of reducing human operators' workload. By leveraging the power of computers and information technology, the work of human operators is becoming easier. However, when the workload is too low but ...
Potential housing bubble with Chinese characteristics : analysis and policy design through an operational model
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018)
This thesis analyzes the potential housing bubble in the Chinese urban housing market. Using an operational model built on system dynamics (SD), it explores the unique housing market structures, information flows, key ...
Greenhouse gas equivalency metrics for evaluating energy technologies
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017)
This thesis addresses a long-standing question about how to compare energy technologies that emit different types of climate forcers during their life cycles. This problem is challenging because these forcers have dissimilar ...
Locating the source of large scale outbreaks of foodborne disease
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016)
Foodborne illness outbreaks impose enormous health and economic burdens in the US. Identifying the origin of the contaminated food causing an outbreak is a challenging problem due to the complexity of the food supply and ...
Drivers of photovoltaics cost evolution
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018)
Photovoltaics (PV) have experienced notable development over the last forty years. PV module costs have declined 20% on average with every doubling of cumulative capacity, while global PV installations have increased at ...
Bioenergy and its use to mitigate the climate impact of aviation
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017)
The use of modern bioenergy presents an opportunity to mitigate CO2 emissions contributing to anthropogenic climate change by offsetting fossil fuel use, and the work presented in this thesis contributes to the literature ...
Improving the performance of regional electricity markets in developing countries : the case of the Southern African Power
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017)
Power pools can reduce the cost of providing electricity and improve system reliability through coordinated use of energy resources. Realizing these benefits requires careful market design supported by technical, economic ...