The scientific periodical journal (indexed on Web of Science) published by the Tomas Bata University in Zlin offers results of basic and applied economic research in the English language.

The study deals with the possibilities of using alternative types of fuels to produce electricity. Power Plant Vojany (PPV) is a thermal power plant (TPP) in eastern Slovakia, which is part of the company Slovenské elektrárne, a. s. (SE). PPV primarily used black coal to produce electricity, which had to be imported from abroad (the Russian Federation). This activity has become inefficient both economically and environmentally, due to the high price of CO₂ permits and the high emission factor of this type of fuel. PPV decided to co-combust biomass and refuse-derived fuel (RDF), which resulted in much better economic conditions due to their price, economic efficiency, and partly closed CO₂ cycle. The aim of the paper is to explore the possibilities related to the production of energy in the cleanest possible way and with the least possible damage to the environment in coal thermal power plants using the example of operating Power Plant Vojany located in eastern part of Slovakia and to inspire each other for the modern transformation. For the purposes of hypothesis verification, analytical methods focused on overview studies of average fuel prices, comparisons, and the balance of fuels in connection with eliminated CO₂ emissions, as well as municipal waste (MW) management in the EU and V4 countries, were used. The authors also focused on the energy recovery and combustion of MW and tracking the achieved CO₂ savings in connection with the development of fuel sources in PPV. The results point to the fact that PPV is one of the power plants that could use biomass and RDF as fuel, which confirms the economic advantages of this procedure. The results confirm that the potential of RDF production in Slovakia is sufficient to ensure the operation of PPV at planned, even higher volumes of electricity production. The transformation to cleaner operation of coal thermal power plants represents a significant contribution of this study.

This paper deals with the state and perspectives of bioenergy development in the context of exploiting the potential of available natural resources. We analyse the economic benefits of transitioning to alternative biofuel within the research task in cooperation with the Vojany black coal power plant. Within the applied methodology, a non-parametric data envelopment analysis method was used to confirm the most economically efficient types of fuels used in the combustion process. The assumption of fuel efficiency was confirmed by testing fuel combustion combinations directly in the power plant. The transition to 100% combustion of solid recovered fuel creates the potential for sustainable production of the analysed power plant and compliance with the current emission values of basic pollutants and new stricter limits, which will be binding in the EU from August 2021. The proposed solutions were analysed by Monte Carlo simulation. An estimate of the economic results achieved by the power plant was simulated, assuming a complete transition to solid recovered fuel. The results of the study support the feasibility of creating a circular waste management market, with the Vojany black coal power plant as the largest user of solid recovered fuel in Slovakia and abroad.

The paper is aimed at measuring innovation and qualification of technological operations in automotive production within the quality management system. Quality requirements according to ISO/TS 16949 promote a process approach for the design and development, production, installation and servicing of automotive products, which can result in increased quality, reduced variation and increase of efficiency. The solution focuses on the process of approval of parts in series production (Production Part Approval Process – PPAP). The PPAP purpose is to determine whether an organization properly understood all customer requirements listed in the specifications and records of the technical design of the product. PPAP further verifies that the process has the potential to produce a product in series production so that customer requirements will be met, in actual production volume and at the agreed rate of production. Specifically, a toothed winch of hydroelectric generator is solved by the case study.

This paper focuses on modeling trends in the consumption of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a sustainable fuel in road transport and its comparison with traditional Diesel propulsion. The paper aims to assess the divergence between CNG and Diesel in terms of fuel efficiency and environmental...