Purpose: Decision making in logistics is an increasingly complex task for organizations as these involve decisions at strategic, tactical and operational levels coupled with the triple-bottom line of sustainability. Decision support systems (DSS) played a vital role in arguably solving the challenges associated with decision making in sustainable logistics. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current state of the research in the domain of DSS for logistics while considering sustainability aspects. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic review approach using a set of relevant keywords with several exclusion criteria was adopted to identify literature related to DSS for sustainable logistics. A total of 40 papers were found from 1994 to 2015, which were then analyzed along the dimensions of publishing trend, geographic distribution and collaboration, the most influential journals, affiliations and authors as well as the key themes of identified literature. The analysis was conducted by means of bibliometric and text mapping tools, namely BibExcel, gpsvisualizer and VOSviewer. Findings: The bibliometric analysis showed that DSS for sustainable logistics is an emerging field; however, it is still evolving but at a slower pace. Furthermore, most of the contributing affiliations belong to the USA and the UK. The text mining and keyword analysis revealed key themes of identified papers. The inherent key themes were decision models and frameworks to address sustainable logistics issues covering transport, distribution and third-party logistics. The most prominent sustainable logistics issue was carbon footprinting. Social impact has been given less attention in comparison to economic and environmental aspects. The literature has adequate room for proposing more effective solutions by considering various types of multi-criteria decision analysis methods and DSS configurations while simultaneously considering economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainable logistics. Moreover, the field has potential to include logistics from wide application areas including freight transport through road, rail, sea, air as well as inter-modal transport, port operations, material handling and warehousing. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic review of DSS for sustainable logistics using bibliometric and text analysis. The key themes and research gaps identified in this paper will provide a reference point that will encourage and guide interested researchers for future study, thus aiding both theoretical and practical advancements in this discipline.

This paper provides an account of a questionnaire-based study of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their responses to the current requirements of environmental best practice. The study was based within South Yorkshire. We aim to explore the current relationship between SMEs and the environment and how this affects their concept of ‘sustainable business’. The main finding reported is that most manufacturing and service organisations surveyed believe environmental issues affect their business. However, meeting environmental requirements is seen as a business cost that is not transferable to customers in terms of added benefits and few organisations could show that it led to a competitive advantage. SMEs have only a generalist awareness of environmental legislation, and information provided by most local support services is not presented in a format that is efficient or effective. Our recommendations are that the assistance provided by local support agencies with regards to environmental best practice should be critically reviewed, and this review should seek to understand the reluctance and real difficulties faced by SMEs in comprehension and implementation of environmental legislation. This paper should therefore be used in conjunction with associated information when considering the best way to help prepare SMEs for greater involvement in environmental best practice and the achievement of sustainable business.

This book is written by a retired grid engineer and deals with renewable sources of energy and the instability of the electrical distribution grid. Derek Birkett carefully goes through the arguments about the electrical supply and the effect of intermittent and variable renewable sources of energy on grid stability. As a result of investment in renewable energy and the increasing costs of carbon taxes levied on fossil fuel fired generation, the government has created a situation which is very expensive for consumers and industry, and is unsustainable. The government has intervened in the energy market and provided subsidies and policy support for renewable energy without considering the consequences for the stability of the electrical grid system. The government has no strategic vision of the future for energy generation and no expertise to draw upon. Consumers experience increasing energy costs, power outages and blackouts which will be costly and hard to recover from. Derek states quite clearly that “… the state should no longer use environmental regulation for political purposes unless there is a clear imperative for national well-being and security.”

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a harmless highly beneficial rare trace gas essential for all life on Earth due to photosynthesis which produces simple sugars and carbohydrates in plants and a bi-product Oxygen (O2) which is essential for all animal life. CO2 is the basis of the entire food supply chain. CO2 has been vilified as a ‘greenhouse gas’ and is thought to be responsible for ‘global warming’. Yet CO2 is a weak greenhouse gas and cannot be responsible for ‘dangerous’ heating of the planet. It is claimed the greenhouse effect will be multiplied by a simultaneous increase in atmospheric water vapour content. Water vapour is the most significant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. However, the claimed increase has not been seen and we can expect much less warming. This research explains that the exaggerated claims about CO2, methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are misleading. These gases have a limited effect on temperature and the climate. Increases in these gases will have a decreasing effect, since absorption of radiation is logarithmic. We provide a parts per million by volume (ppmv) calculator for amounts of CO2, and parts per billion (ppbv) calculator for amounts of CH4, and N2O. About half of the yearly emitted CO2 is lost to the ocean and biosphere and does not appear in the atmosphere. There is considerable uncertainty about whether the small increases in concentration of CH4 and N2O are human-caused or natural.