Ch 4&C
Environmental sustainability calls on businesses to develop new approaches in what four areas?
*Ensure the health and well-being of all living creatures *Design, produce, distribute, and consume goods and services *Establish market prices for goods and services *Provide and consume energy
What category of renewable energy does ethanol fall under?
Biomass
A product's ______ footprint measures the volume of greenhouse gas emissions associated with it, usually throughout its life
Carbon
Which environmental framework is a nonprofit organization that provides reporting for sustainable water use and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions?
Carbon Disclosure Project
Of the following countries, which has the largest capacity of wind power?
China
Which country has the majority of new nuclear power plant construction?
China
____is the set of meteorological conditions of temperature, precipitation, and wind that prevail in a region.
Climate
What are two forms of renewable energy?
Wind power Solar power
What approach do businesses use to examine the whole chain of activities that contributes to the production of their product?
a life cycle assessment
____waterway is a body of water that provides inexpensive access to interior markets.
Inland
_____describes the complex relationships that sustainable practices create among ecological, social, and economic systems, in which actions in one of these systems may affect the other two.
Interdependence
Which statements accurately describe carbon footprinting?
It measures direct consumption as a result of product use. It measures the volume of greenhouse gas emissions. It measures indirect consumption as a result of the manufacture of the product.
Which tool helps consumers understand the cumulative impact of the products they purchase?
Life cycle assessment
Which aspect of natural capital created an advantage for Austria?
Location
What are three reasons why the size of the world's oil reserves are uncertain?
New discoveries of oil continue to be made. Political unrest and natural disasters impact areas that are available for exploration. Improved techniques increase output in both existing and new areas.
Oil-bearing shale yields 25 liters or more of liquid hydrocarbons per ton of rock and is an unconventional source of oil that has remained undeveloped because of environmental problems. The largest known source of this shale is found in ______.
North America
What are reasons why it can be difficult to move from a traditional model of doing business to a sustainable model?
People and businesses tend to resist change. The traditional model has worked well.
The goal of the traditional U.S. business model is Blank______.
Profit
Which are characteristics of the traditional U.S. business model that are at odds with a sustainable model? (Check all that apply)
Profitability is the goal. Consumption is encouraged. Nature's worth is measured in terms of how it will generate economic value.
What is the role of profits in stakeholder theory?
Profits are the result of value creation.
What two statements regarding growth in the renewable/nonrenewable energy sectors are true?
Recently, growth in the renewable energy sector has outpaced growth in the nonrenewable sector. The renewable energy sector is growing in places like the United States and the European Union.
Currently, what is the fasting-growing renewable power technology?
Solar Photovoltaic power
Which of the following are concerns regarding nuclear power? (Check all that apply.)
Spent fuel rods present storage challenges. Many plants are built in earthquake-prone zones. Nuclear power plants can be a target for terrorism.
In an effort to improve the reporting of sustainability efforts and reduce greenwashing, which nonprofit organization has developed a 77-standard framework to enable companies to explain sustainability and its financial impact?
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
Sustainability is a(n) Blank______ concept because it combines a group of interconnected elements that form a complex whole.
Systems
Which factors make water footprints difficult to calculate?
The cost of using water is not standardized. Water's availability varies greatly by location.
What are three characteristics of the traditional U.S. business model?
The model focuses on an input-process-output approach. The model defends a profit or bottom-line understanding of the basic purpose of business. The model focuses on economic benefits and growth.
What are three characteristics of environmentally sustainable businesses?
They develop ways to manage the interdependence of the systems in which they operate. They recognize the need for equity in their supply chains. They recognize and accept that resources are limited.
In what three ways do deserts and tropical forests affect trade?
They increase the cost of transportation. They separate markets. They create population concentrations.
True or false: A business that is responsible for environmental sustainability will recognize the need for equity in its supply chains.
True
True or false: Correctly produced nuclear power is clean and doesn't contribute to climate change.
True
True or false: Geographic proximity plays a role in the formation of trading groups.
True
Which country leads the world in recoverable coal reserves, with enough to last more than 350 years?
United States
What are characteristics of equity in distribution as part of the sustainability context? (Check all that apply.)
Vast inequities may lead to social disruption and violence. There cannot be vast differences in the distribution of gains. All stakeholders have to benefit to some degree from the value added by business activities.
There are many large ports on the east coast of the United States that allow for trade between Europe and the United States. What aspect of these ports' natural capital allows for this trade?
Water
According to Pulitzer Prize winner Jared Diamond, gaps in technology among human societies were caused by the development of ____
agricultural
According to Pulitzer Prize winner Jared Diamond, gaps in technology among human societies were caused by the development of _______(agricultural/manufacturing) societies in places favored by climate and topographic features.
agricultural
Austria took advantage of its location as natural capital in order to . (Check all that apply.)
allow its entrepreneurs to capture an important share of the West's exports to the East strengthen its role as the regional headquarters for international businesses operating in Eastern Europe increase trade with the East become the principal financial intermediary between East and West
Wind power, biomass fuels, solar photovoltaic power, concentrating solar thermal power, geothermal power, ocean energy, and hydropower are all considered to be ______ forms of energy.
alternative
An effort by businesses toward equity in distribution can be seen when they use Blank______ to control their supply chains to meet the need for increased efforts toward equity.
backward integration
Why is production of coal projected to decline as an energy source?
because it is a heavy producer of pollution
Which topographical component attracts people and facilitates transportation?
bodies of water
The Global Reporting Initiative is a network made up mostly of Blank______ that have collaborated to develop a sustainability reporting framework. Multiple choice question.
businesses
Jared Diamond's argument regarding the development of technology in human society is based on the idea that ______ plays a role in where society develops.
climate
The North-South divide is based on the idea that ______ affects economic and intellectual development.
climate
Which four forms of energy are considered to be nonrenewable energy sources?
coal nuclear power petroleum natural gas
Which type of power uses mirrors to collect sunlight that heats water running in tubes behind the collector's surface?
concentrating solar thermal power
What are the three most popular sources of ethanol?
corn wheat sugarcane
Which sustainability approach is most closely in sync with nature?
cradle-to-cradle design
Which sustainability approach suggests that products and services should be designed to completely close the production loop, so that all resources needed to produce them are recycled and reused rather than discarded or left to pollute?
cradle-to-cradle design
Mountains can act as barriers by ______. (Check all that apply.)
creating cultural barriers separating neighbors impeding trade
Wind turbines are becoming more common throughout the United States. These turbines create a source of ______ energy.
electric
If a business decided to conduct all of its manufacturing processes in another country because it could produce items at a lower cost in that country, but it failed to pay the employees in the other country a fair wage because "everyone in that country is poor," then that company would not be applying which of the following concepts?
equity in distribution
Limits address the reality that environmental resources are
exhaustible
What three advantages result from geographic proximity between trading partners?
faster delivery knowledge of trade partners lower freight and service costs
A water Blank______ is a measure of the amount of water used in a product's manufacture and use.
footprint
What term is given to companies that only pretend to actively engage in pro-sustainability activities?
greenwashing
Oil sands and oil-bearing shale produce ____ oil, which is made from a chemical process.
heavy
What is an oil that doesn't flow easily and is sourced from oil sands and oil-bearing shale?
heavy oil
When viewing itself in a societal context, a company is able to Blank______. (Check all that apply.)
identify limits for its operations address ways to achieve equity of distribution manage the interdependencies among ecological, social, and economic systems
The fracking process used to extract oil from the ground has caused public health problems, more traffic, and social disturbances in the areas of the country where the process takes place. In other words, the single action of fracking has affected other systems.The results of fracking offer an example of the Blank______ of systems.
interdependence
The peak production period of petroleum ______.
is occurring right now
World population maps clearly show that densely populated regions coincide with ______. (Check all that apply.)
lakes rivers seacoasts
Roberto's company produces computer hardware and is holding off the release of its newest memory chips until it receives a report on how the disposal of the new chips could affect landfills and run-off in the future. Roberto's company is using
life cycle assessment
What tool helps businesses focus on reducing its environmental footprint, its cost structure, and the potential of its processes emitting dangerous carcinogens?
life cycle assessment
Kenneth is a farmer and realizes that much of the soil in the region of the country where he lives is becoming unusable to grow certain crops. What characteristic of environmentally sustainable businesses describe the fact that environmental resources are exhaustible?
limits
The United States and Canada conduct broad-based trade with each other. Which aspect of natural capital allows for this trade?
location
Carbon footprinting is a way to
measure sustainability
All the formations of our ecosystem that provide us with goods and services on which our survival depends are collectively referred to as Blank______ capital.
natural
Anything supplied by nature on which people depend is called a ______ resource.
natural
Land, air, water, and living organisms are all components of ______.
natural capital
What is the cleanest burning fossil fuel?
natural gas
What are two unconventional sources of oil?
oil-bearing shale oil sands
More than ______ of the Earth's surface consists of arid and semiarid desert regions.
one-third
Which nonrenewable energy source has been a cheap source of energy and a raw material for plastics, fertilizers, and other industrial applications?
petroleum
Biomass is a renewable fuel that relies on the energy source of ______.
photosynthesis
Energy sources such as wind power, geothermal power, and ocean energy are called ______ energy sources because they have the ability to be naturally replenished.
renewable
Many communities are considering the use of wind power to supply their electrical needs because wind can be naturally replenished. In other words, wind power is a ______ energy source.
renewable
What are the two major categories of natural resources? (Check two.)
renewable nonrenewable
What three areas are measured in triple-bottom-line accounting?
social performance environmental performance economic performance
To achieve balance using stakeholder theory, a company needs to see itself in a relationship to its stakeholders and also in a Blank______ context.
societal
Which power is based on the voltage created when certain materials are exposed to light?
solar photovoltaic power
Which of the following must be available for biomass to be produced?
solar power
Which theory is an understanding of how business operates that takes into account all identifiable interest holders?
stakeholder
What are the two names of the output of oil sands and oil-bearing shale?
synthetic oil heavy oil
A company that takes back used playground equipment in order to recycle it into materials for a new playground is using Blank______ nutrients within a cradle-to-cradle system.
technical
It is difficult to estimate the size of the world's oil reserves because ______.
territories ripe for exploration and production are impacted by natural disasters and political unrest
Heather noticed that the directions on the box of muffin mix said to bake the muffins at a different temperature if you live at a high altitude. These directions show how ______ affects a nation's natural capital.
topography
Within the United States there are mountains, rivers, and deserts. These physical features of the Earth's surface are collectively known as
topography
Which approach to accounting measures the firm's social and environmental performance in addition to its economic performance?
triple-bottom-line accounting
What are three alternative energy sources being tracked for commercial development?
wind power ocean energy hydropower
What four areas are addressed by the United Nations Global Compact? Multiple select question.
Human rights, Labor, environment, and corruption
How many of the United Nations Global Compact's 10 principles address the environment?
3
The International Atomic Energy Agency lists ______ nuclear plants in operation across 30 countries.
443
What social and branding movement has had a positive effect on integrating equity into the value chain by certifying that products are produced and marketed in ways that meet very modest claims to equity?
Fair Trade movement
True or false: Inland waterways provide expensive access to interior markets.
False
True or false: Triple-bottom-line accounting allows for comparisons across companies.
False
True or false: While plains and plateaus can impede exchange and interaction between neighboring countries, mountains facilitate trade and make exchange more likely.
False
The Blank______ guidelines provide businesses with information on measuring and reporting the environmental impact of their operations.
Global Reporting Initiative
