Improving the eco-efficiency of food systems is one of the major global challenges faced by the modern world. Short food supply chains (SFSCs) are commonly regarded to be less harmful to the environment, among various reasons, due to their organizational distribution and thus the shortened physical distance between primary producers and final consumers. In this paper, we empirically test this hypothesis, by assessing and comparing the environmental impacts of short and long food supply chains. Based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach, we calculate eco-efficiency indicators for nine types of food distribution chains. The analysis is performed on a sample of 428 short and long food supply chains from six European countries. Our results indicate that, on average, long food supply chains may generate less negative environmental impacts than short chains (in terms of fossil fuel energy consumption, pollution, and GHG emissions) per kg of a given product. The values of eco-efficienc... [more]

In the construction industry, it is the material production phase and the use phase of buildings’ life cycles that represent the greatest environmental burden. The presented research focused on wood constructions during their use phase. The primary objective of the research was to determine the amount of CO2 produced during the operation of specific wood constructions in connection with the energy demand for their heating. A correlation analysis of selected parameters revealed a statistically significant correlation between heating medium type and energy demand for heating (p = −0.5773) and between heating medium type and amount of CO2 produced (p = 0.4796). A more detailed analysis showed that, in terms of the average energy demand for heating, the column constructions were the most efficient among the compared construction systems, regardless of the energy standard. Similar findings were obtained for annual CO2 production in connection with the average energy demand for heating. The... [more]

This paper evaluates the link between economic growth, renewable energy, tourism arrivals, trade openness, and carbon dioxide emissions in the European Union (EU-28). As an econometric strategy, the research uses panel data. In the first step, we apply the unit root test, and the results demonstrated that the variables used in this study are integrated I (1) in the first difference. In the second step, we apply the Pedroni cointegration test, and Kao Residual cointegration test, and we observe that the variables are cointegrated in the long run. The panel fully modified least squares (FMOLS), panel dynamic least squares (DOLS), and generalized moments system (GMM-System) estimator are considered in this research. The econometric results proved that trade openness and renewable energy decreased climate change and environmental degradation. The empirical study also found a positive effect of economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, tourism arrivals are negatively correlated... [more]

The objective of the present study is to show a comprehensive assessment of the wind resource dynamics along the Spanish coastal environment of the Iberian Peninsula. After studying the historical resources (reported at 100 m height) for the 20-year period from 1999 to 2018 by analyzing the ERA5 time series of wind speed data, the 10 locations with highest historical wind resources are considered. For these, the study of the future dynamics for the 30-year period from 2021 to 2050 under the climate change scenario RCP 4.5 is carried out. After further selection, mean and maximum values, as well as the seasonal and monthly variability of the wind power density, are obtained for six locations along the Spanish coasts. Furthermore, a performance and economic dynamics assessment is presented for four different wind turbine technologies with rated capacities ranging between 3 and 9.5 MW. A further comparison with other locations in the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea is presented to provide a... [more]

Many embedded systems are implemented for healthcare, and smart homes and spaces. These devices are generally designed for elderly care, for monitoring, surveillance, and collection information. As embedded systems are ubiquitous and pervasive in a smart home, office, or space, different layout affects not only reduce the implementation cost but also the power density of electromagnetic waves. This study aimed to develop a multiple-embedded-system optimization layout to consume less electromagnetic wave power density and gain better communication strength. For smart offices, we analyzed the layout topology of n-shaped and n-shaped with door layout categories. On the basis of the location of each embedded system in a communication center via an n-shaped layout, we investigated the electromagnetic wave effect to the local, direct, and semidirect effects. Indirect and subindirect effects were also studied in the n-shaped layout with a door. In addition, we derived a set of formulas from t... [more]

Urbanization and climate change are requiring cities to find novel pathways to a sustainable future, and therefore the urban context may accelerate the conversion to a circular economy. In this sense, climate change is a considerable threat to the environment, affecting both human and natural systems, and in this context individuals have a very important role. Therefore, the paper aims to investigate, on the one hand, what determines people to undertake specific actions in fighting climate change and, on the other hand, what determines some people to engage in adopting multiple actions exhibiting extra mitigation behaviour compared to others, paving the way to an urban circular economy. In order to do that, multilevel logistic regression analysis using hierarchical data (individuals grouped in counties), reflecting group variability and group-level characteristics effects on outcomes at individual level has been applied. Special attention was given to modernisation thesis validation, s... [more]

PV temperature significantly affects the module’s power output and final system yield, and its accurate prediction can serve the forecasting of PV power output, smart grid operations, online PV diagnostics and dynamic predictive management of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) systems. This paper presents a dynamic PV temperature prediction model based on transient Energy Balance Equations, incorporating theoretical expressions for all heat transfer processes, natural convection, forced convection, conduction and radiation exchanges between both module sides and the environment. The algorithmic approach predicts PV temperature at the centre of the cell, the back and the front glass cover with fast convergence and serves the PV power output prediction. The simulation model is robust, predicting PV temperature with high accuracy at any environmental conditions, PV inclination, orientation, wind speed and direction, and mounting configurations, free-standing and BIPV. These, alongsid... [more]

The common use of electric lighting in interiors has led to the need to search for user- and environmentally-friendly solutions. In this research, the impact of the luminaires and room parameters on the selected parameters of general lighting in interiors was assessed. To achieve the objective of this work, a computer simulation and statistical analysis of results were conducted. The illuminance uniformity on work plane, ceiling and wall relative illuminances, utilance, and normalized power density of lighting installations for 432 situations were analyzed in detail. The scenarios were varied in terms of room size, reflectance, lighting class, luminaire downward luminous intensity distribution, and layout. The lighting class was a factor having the highest impact on ceiling and wall illumination, utilance, and power. It was also shown that the impact of lighting class on ceiling illumination, utilance and power, was different in interiors of various sizes. The impact of reflectances an... [more]

The article offers a systematic approach to the method of developing mathematical models of a chemical-technological system (CTS) in conditions of deficit and fuzziness of initial information using available data of various types. Based on the results of research and processing of the collected quantitative and qualitative information, mathematical models of the reactor are constructed. Formalized and obtained mathematical statements of the control problem for choosing effective modes of operation of technological systems are based on mathematical modeling. Based on the obtained expert information, linguistic variables were described and a database of rules describing the operation of the input parameters of the reactor unit of the catalytic cracking unit was obtained.

Electrodialysis is regarded as a novel liquid regeneration method, and the regenerated solution can satisfy the dehumidification requirements even in a hot and humid environment. LiBr solution is an important choice for a liquid desiccant air conditioning system due to its great dehumidifying ability, so it is necessary to conduct experimental exploration of the regeneration characteristics of ED regeneration for LiBr solution. In this paper, the effects of solution concentration, circulation flow rate, current and electrode solution on the performance of the electrodialysis regeneration system were studied by constructing an experimental electrodialysis regeneration system. The results show that growing the starting concentration of the LiBr solution adversely affects the regeneration characteristics of the electrodialyzer and of the air conditioning system dehumidified by the solution. Under test conditions, as the initial concentration of LiBr solution increased from 45% to 55%, the... [more]

In this study, an analysis is carried out to determine the optimal application of multiple renewable energy resources, namely wind and solar, to provide electricity requirements for green smart cities and environments. This was done to determine the potential of renewable energy to provide clean, economically viable energy for the case study of Zagazig, located at 30°34′ N 31°30′ E in the North East of Egypt. The relevant data surrounding the production of energy were collected, including the meteorological data from NASA, and specifications regarding renewable resources including solar panels, wind turbines, and storage batteries. Then a hybrid model was constructed consisting of Photovoltaics (PV) panels, wind turbines, a converter, and storage batteries. Once the model was constructed, meteorological data were added alongside average daily demand and cost of electricity per kWh. The optimal solution for Zagazig consisted of 181,000 kW of solar panels feeding directly into the grid.... [more]

Petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals and agricultural pesticides have mutagenic, carcinogenic, immunotoxic and teratogenic effects and cause drastic changes in soil physicochemical and microbiological characteristics, thereby representing a serious danger to health and environment. Therefore, soil pollution urgently requires the application of a series of physicochemical and biological techniques and treatments to minimize the extent of damage. Among them, bioremediation has been shown to be an alternative that can offer an economically viable way to restore polluted areas. Due to the difficulty in choosing the best bioremediation technique for each type of pollutant and the paucity of literature on soil bioremediation enhanced by the use of specific additives, we reviewed the main in situ and ex situ methods, their current properties and applications. The first section discusses the characteristics of each class of pollutants in detail, while the second section presents current biorem... [more]

The energy crisis and environmental pollution have attracted much attention and have promoted researches on clean and sustainable hydrogen energy resources. With the help of highly active and stable transition metal nickel-based catalysts, the production of hydrogen from water electrolysis from electrolyzed water has become an inexpensive and efficient strategy for generating hydrogen energy. In recent years, heteroatom doping has been found to be an effective strategy to improve the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performances of nickel-based catalysts in acidic, neutral, and alkaline media. This review will highlight many recent works of inexpensive and readily available heteroatom-doped nickel-based HER catalysts. The evaluation methods for the performances of HER catalyst will be briefly described, and the role of heteroatom doping and its application in nickel-based catalyst will be summarized. This article will also point out some heteroatom doping strategies,... [more]

The safety of electric vehicles (EVs) has aroused widespread concern and attention. As the core component of an EV, the power battery directly affects the performance and safety. In order to improve the safety of power batteries, the internal failure mechanism and behavior characteristics of internal short circuit (ISC) and thermal runaway (TR) in extreme cases need to be tested and studied. The safety of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) has become a research hotspot for many scholars. With unreasonable misuse or abuse of lithium ion batteries, it is easy to cause internal short circuits, resulting in thermal runaway, which poses a great threat to the safety of the whole vehicle. This comprehensive review aims to describe the research progress of safety testing methods and technologies of lithium ion batteries under conditions of mechanical, electrical, and thermal abuse, and presents existing problems and future research directions.

The potential for increased energy utilisation and reduced carbon footprint has been investigated for the industrial park Mo Industri Park (MIP), located at Mo i Rana, Norway. Process data has been gathered to quantify the energy flows between industrial clients. The energy flows have been visualised quantitatively in Sankey diagrams, while the quality of the available energy is presented in the form of a grand composite curve. High temperature flue gas from ferrosilicon (FeSi) production at Elkem Rana represent the largest heat source available for utilisation. A theoretical assessment of potential applications for this energy is presented and includes: (1) electricity production; (2) local biocarbon production, where surplus heat is utilised for drying of wood chips; (3) post combustion carbon capture, where surplus heat is utilised for solvent regeneration. The results indicate that increasing the current energy recovery from 400 GWh to >640 GWh is realistic. The increase in energy... [more]

As an important part of a micro-compressed air energy storage system, the scroll expander directly affects the efficiency of the whole energy storage system. The effects of resistance on the efficiency of scroll expander caused by inlet structure and size are discussed with theory analysis and experimental methods in this paper. Micro-compressed air energy storage system has aroused widespread attention because of its pollution-free, high flexibility, in the community, remote areas power supply. Comprehensive experimental work with the selections of different size and structure of the air inlet of the scroll expander was performed with the cutting angle of air inlet chamber of the scroll expander. The results of the experiments are discussed on how exergy efficiency and inlet flow of the scroll expander were affected resulting from the cutting angles dissected. The results show that a maximum value exists for exergy efficiency of the scroll expander. Therefore, the exergy efficiency of... [more]

This paper presents a thermodynamic, economic, and environmental analysis of a renewable polygeneration system connected to a district heating and cooling network. The system, fed by geothermal energy, provides thermal energy for heating and cooling, and domestic hot water for a residential district located in the metropolitan city of Naples (South of Italy). The produced electricity is partly used for auxiliaries of the thermal district and partly sold to the power grid. A calibration control strategy was implemented by considering manufacturer data matching the appropriate operating temperature levels in each component. The cooling and thermal demands of the connected users were calculated using suitable building dynamic simulation models. An energy network dedicated to heating and cooling loads was designed and simulated by considering the variable ground temperature throughout the year, as well as the accurate heat transfer coefficients and pressure losses of the network pipes. The... [more]

A Kalina cycle-based integration concept of municipal air-conditioning, electricity and gas is investigated thermodynamically, economically, and environmentally to reduce the carbon intensity of these supplies, with attention to hot climatic conditions. The proposed poly-generation system is driven by low-grade renewable or surplus heat, and utilizes waste exergy from liquefied natural gas vaporization for refrigeration and power augmentation. At nominal conditions (130 °C driving heat), approximately 561 and 151 kJ of refrigeration and useful power per kg of liquefied natural gas regasified are generated by the proposed system, respectively, at effective first-law and exergetic efficiencies of 33% and 35%, respectively. The Kalina sub-system condenser cryogenic heat rejection condition is found to triple the system useful electrical output compared with high ambient temperature condenser heat sinking conditions. Per million ton per annum of liquefied natural gas vaporization capacity,... [more]

Fuel production from hydrogen and carbon dioxide is considered an attractive solution as long-term storage of electric energy and as temporary storage of carbon dioxide. A large variety of CO2 sources are suitable for Carbon Capture Utilization (CCU), and the process energy intensity depends on the separation technology and, ultimately, on the CO2 concentration in the flue gas. Since the carbon capture process emits more CO2 than the expected demand for CO2 utilization, the most sustainable CO2 sources must be selected. This work aimed at modeling a Power-to-Gas (PtG) plant and assessing the most suitable carbon sources from a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) perspective. The PtG plant was supplied by electricity from a 2030 scenario for Italian electricity generation. The plant impacts were assessed using data from the ecoinvent database version 3.5, for different CO2 sources (e.g., air, cement, iron, and steel plants). A detailed discussion on how to handle multi-functionality was also ca... [more]

Large-scale deployment of both biochemical and thermochemical routes for advanced biofuels production is seen as a key climate change mitigation option. This study addresses techno-economic and environmental aspects of advanced liquid biofuels production alternatives via biomass gasification and Fischer−Tropsch synthesis integrated to a typical sugarcane distillery. The thermochemical route comprises the conversion of the residual lignocellulosic fraction of conventional sugarcane (bagasse and straw), together with eucalyptus and energy-cane as emerging lignocellulosic biomass options. This work promotes an integrated framework to simulate the mass and energy balances of process alternatives and incorporates techno-economic analyses and sustainability assessment methods based on a life-cycle perspective. Results show that integrated biorefineries provide greenhouse gas emission reduction between 85−95% compared to the fossil equivalent, higher than that expected from a typical sugarcan... [more]

Cheap and clean energy demand is continuously increasing due to economic growth and industrialization. The energy sectors of several countries still employ fossil fuels for power production and there is a concern of associated emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). On the other hand, environmental regulations are becoming more stringent, and resultant emissions need to be mitigated. Therefore, optimal energy policies considering economic resources and environmentally friendly pathways for electricity generation are essential. The objective of this paper is to develop a comprehensive model to optimize the power sector. For this purpose, a multi-period mixed integer programming (MPMIP) model was developed in a General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) to minimize the cost of electricity and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Various CO2 mitigation strategies such as fuel balancing and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) were employed. The model was tested on a case study from Pakista... [more]

Coal combustion flue gas contains CO2, a greenhouse gas and driver of climate change. Therefore, CO2 separation and removal is necessary. Fortunately, 5A zeolites are highly porous and can be used as a CO2 adsorbent. In addition, they act as nuclei for hydrate formation. In this work, a composite technology, based on the physical adsorption of CO2 by 5A zeolite and hydrate-based gas separation, was used to separate CO2/N2 gas mixtures. The influence of water content, temperature, pressure, and particle size on gas adsorption and CO2 separation was studied, revealing that the CO2 separation ability of zeolite particles sized 150−180 μm was better than that of those sized 380−830 μm at 271.2 K and 273.2 K. When the zeolite particles were 150−180 μm (type-B zeolite) with a water content of 35.3%, the gas consumption per mole of water (ngas/nH2O ) reached the maximum, 0.048, and the CO2 separation ratio reached 14.30%. The CO2 molar concentration in the remaining gas phase (xCO2gas) was lo... [more]

This research qualitatively reviews literature regarding energy system modeling in Japan specific to the future hydrogen economy, leveraging quantitative model outcomes to establish the potential future deployment of hydrogen in Japan. The analysis focuses on the four key sectors of storage, supplementing the gas grid, power generation, and transportation, detailing the potential range of hydrogen technologies which are expected to penetrate Japanese energy markets up to 2050 and beyond. Alongside key model outcomes, the appropriate policy settings, governance and market mechanisms are described which underpin the potential hydrogen economy future for Japan. We find that transportation, gas grid supplementation, and storage end-uses may emerge in significant quantities due to policies which encourage ambitious implementation targets, investment in technologies and research and development, and the emergence of a future carbon pricing regime. On the other hand, for Japan which will init... [more]

Successful geological sequestration of carbon depends strongly on reservoir seal integrity and storage capacity, including CO2 injection efficiency. Formation of solid hydrates in the near-wellbore area during CO2 injection can cause permeability impairment and, eventually, injectivity loss. In this study, flow remediation in hydrate-plugged sandstone was assessed as function of hydrate morphology and saturation. CO2 and CH4 hydrates formed consistently at elevated pressures and low temperatures, reflecting gas-invaded zones containing residual brine near the injection well. Flow remediation by methanol injection benefited from miscibility with water; the methanol solution contacted and dissociated CO2 hydrates via liquid water channels. Injection of N2 gas did not result in flow remediation of non-porous CO2 and CH4 hydrates, likely due to insufficient gas permeability. In contrast, N2 as a thermodynamic inhibitor dissociated porous CH4 hydrates at lower hydrate saturations (<0.48... [more]

Energy saving is at the heart of sustainable development in the context of climate change. Saving energy is not only the amount of energy that we save, but also reducing emissions of pollutants to the atmosphere, as well as reducing the consumption of energy resources that are used to produce energy. Reducing pollutant emissions and the use of energy resources can be achieved by increasing the use of renewable energy sources, but at present, this method of obtaining energy in the world is not representative. It should be noted that renewable energy devices throughout the life cycle generate environmental impact. Similar to this situation, the building’s thermo-modernization, which is focused on reducing the pressure on the environment of the building’s user, also has an impact on the environment throughout the building’s life cycle. Determining this environmental impact and ecological or economic benefits or costs is the purpose of the following article. Thermo-modernization of the bui... [more]