When daylight hours are limited, pedestrians are dependent on appropriate outdoor lighting. Although new city lighting applications must consider both energy usage and pedestrian responses, current methods used to capture pedestrian walking behaviour during dark conditions in real settings are limited. This study reports on the development and evaluation of a video-based method that analyses pedestrians’ microscopic movements (VAPM—video analysis of pedestrian movements), including placement and speed, in an artificially lit outdoor environment. In a field study utilising between-subjects design, 62 pedestrians walked along the same path under two different lighting applications. VAPM accurately discriminated pedestrians’ microscopic movements in the two lighting applications. By incorporating methodological triangulation, VAPM successfully complemented observer-based assessments of pedestrians’ perceptions and evaluations of the two lighting applications. It is suggested that in evalu... [more]

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) represents an efficient and valuable pre-treatment technology to convert waste biomass into highly dense carbonaceous materials that could be used in a wide range of applications between energy, environment, soil improvement and nutrients recovery fields. HTC converts residual organic materials into a solid high energy dense material (hydrochar) and a liquid residue where the most volatile and oxygenated compounds (mainly furans and organic acids) concentrate during reaction. Pristine hydrochar is mainly used for direct combustion, to generate heat or electricity, but highly porous carbonaceous media for energy storage or for adsorption of pollutants applications can be also obtained through a further activation stage. HTC process can be used to enhance recovery of nutrients as nitrogen and phosphorous in particular and can be used as soil conditioner, to favor plant growth and mitigate desertification of soils. The present review proposes an outlook of... [more]

Biogas consists of methane and carbon dioxide, the main components, which are major greenhouse gases that affect global warming. As such, in order to convert greenhouse gas into renewable energy, which is a high-quality fuel, the biogas microwave reforming characteristics were studied and the results are as follows: In the main components of biogas, methane and carbon dioxide, the conversion efficiency of both methane and carbon dioxide increased as the amount of CO2 relatively increased. This is because the problem of active pore failure due to gasification of the attached carbon generated during methane reforming was overcome. When nitrogen, a biogas-containing component, was added, the activity of catalytic activity pores was enhanced by promoting the production of microplasma, resulting in increased conversion efficiency. When the concentration of oxygen, which is a biogas-containing component, increased, the conversion efficiency increased, but when the concentration is more than... [more]

Conventional methods of sewage sludge disposal are often limited by their environmental impact and economic demands. Pyrolysis has been studied as a viable method for sewage sludge disposal and transformation into usable products. Pyrolytic products may have various uses, and their complex characteristics shall be described to assess their potential for safe utilization. Here, we studied slow pyrolysis of stabilized sewage sludge in a fixed bed reactor at 400−800 °C to describe the composition of the pyrolysis gas and the condensate fraction. We found that condensate elemental composition was practically independent of pyrolysis temperature. On the other hand, the composition of the pyrolysis gas was strongly temperature-dependent regarding both the share of major components (H2, CO, CO2, CH4) and C2−C6 hydrocarbons speciation (which as a sum attributed to 7−9 vol. % of the gas). The increase in pyrolysis temperature also resulted in increasing the N2 content of the gas, whereas the su... [more]

Among the main causes of outdoor insulation failures is their poor specifications in terms of leakage distances. This happens when the selected criteria are unable to cope with all the stresses imposed by the changes in environmental pollutions. Therefore, it is important for utilities to fully understand the actual pollution characteristics of the service environment in which the insulators are operating. In this paper, the pollution severity and performance of some 13.2 kV ceramic insulators, sampled in different areas of a Canadian aluminum factory, are assessed. The investigations were performed taking into account the influence of air humidity. Various characteristics were investigated to assess the pollution levels of the insulators, such as equivalent salt deposit density (ESDD) and non-soluble deposit density (NSDD), surface resistance, and leakage current characteristics (density, 3rd harmonic amplitude, and phase). It was witnessed that the insulators, collected around the fa... [more]

Energy is a fundamental element supporting societal development, particularly with the increasing dependency on the Internet of Things. It is also the main contributor to environmental impacts and subsequently, a potential sector for mitigation. Sustainable energy system design considers energy savings and energy efficiency, waste and consumption reduction, process efficiency enhancement, waste heat recovery, and integration of renewable energy. Emerging tools range from advanced Process Integration, modelling, simulation, and optimisation, to system analysis and assessment. This review covers selected emerging studies promoting sustainable system design, including the recent developments reported in the Special Issue (SI) of the 22nd Conference on Process Integration, Modelling and Optimisation for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction (PRES’19). The primary emphasis was to enhance the economic and environmental performance. However, social factors were also highlighted as essential f... [more]

This paper focuses on the interdependent relationship of power generation, transportation and CO2 emissions to evaluate the impact of electric vehicle deployment on power generation and CO2 emissions. The value of this evaluation is in the employment of a large-scale, bottom-up, national energy modeling system that encompasses the complex relationships of producing, transforming, transmitting and supplying energy to meet the useful demand characteristics with great technological detail. One of such models employed in this analysis is the BUEMS model. The BUEMS model provides evidence of win-win policy options that lead to profitable decarbonization using Turkey’s data in BUEMS. Specifically, the result shows that a ban on diesel fueled vehicles reduces lifetime emissions as well as lifetime costs. Furthermore, model results highlight the cost-effective emission reduction potential of e-buses in urban transportation. More insights from the results indicate that the marginal cost of emis... [more]

Climate change has a potential impact on the number of hot and torrid days in the summer period. Due to the occupants’ comfort needs, and because of the high heat loads during the summer period, in several European countries, the energy used for air conditioning in buildings increased. With multiple environmental monitoring systems (Testo Saveris) in two similar offices, having west and east orientation of glazing, 1920 data (internal air, mean radiant temperature) related to operative temperature were collected in order to show the differences between heat loads of rooms with similar geometry in the same building. Data were measured in a 15 min interval. The diffuse and direct solar radiation had been determined for the horizontal and vertical surfaces, using the measured hourly global radiation (Debrecen, Hungary) data for the analyzed days (summer, hot, and torrid days). The local climatic results were compared with other climatic days used in different national standards. The daily... [more]

Geothermal energy is a key renewable energy for Italy, with an annual electric production of 6.18 TWh. The future of geothermal energy is concerned with clarity over the CO2 emissions from power plants and geological contexts where CO2 is produced naturally. The Mt. Amiata volcanic−geothermal area (AVGA) is a formidable natural laboratory for investigating the relative roles of natural degassing of CO2 and CO2 emissions from geothermal power plants (GPPs). This research is based on measuring the soil gas flux in the AVGA and comparing the diffuse volcanic soil gas emissions with the emissions from geothermal fields in operation. The natural flux of soil gas is high, independently from the occurrence of GPPs in the area, and the budget for natural diffuse gas flux is high with respect to power plant gas emissions. Furthermore, the CO2 emitted from power plants seems to reduce the amount of natural emissions because of the gas flow operated by power plants. During the GPPs’ life cycle, C... [more]

The environmental performance index was developed to protect public health, and to sustain and manage the ecological vitality that is a crucial factor in countries’ social and economic development. The increase in CO2 emissions has been threatening environmental and human health. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of economic growth, energy consumption, energy management, the urban population, trade openness, and financial development on CO2 emissions in the OECD countries that have a high ranking in the environmental performance index by utilizing the panel data analysis method for the years spanning 1990−2014. This assessment finds positive relationships between economic growth, energy consumption, and the urban population, and CO2 emissions. Moreover, it is put forward that a negative and significant relationship between financial development and CO2 emissions exists. Despite displaying a similar negative correlation, the relationship between trade openness a... [more]

The oil and gas industry generates a significant amount of harmful greenhouse gases that cause irreversible environmental impact; this fact is exacerbated by the world’s utter dependence on fossil fuels as a primary energy source and low-efficiency oil and gas operation plants. Integration of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) into natural gas plants can enhance their operational efficiencies and reduce emissions. However, a systematic analysis of the life cycle impacts of SOFC integration in natural gas operations is necessary to quantitatively and comparatively understand the potential benefits. This study presents a systematic cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) based on the ISO 14040 and 14044 standards using a planar anode-supported SOFC with a lifespan of ten years and a functional unit of one MW electricity output. The analysis primarily focused on global warming, acidification, eutrophication, and ozone potentials in addition to human health particulate matter and human tox... [more]

This work refines and updates estimates of the fuel-cycle greenhouse-gas (GHG) emission impacts of electric vehicles (EVs) rebated in California. Emissions are estimated using disaggregated data from the start of the rebate program through August 2018 (N = 269,902 participants) and factors that characterize fuel use and fuel life-cycle carbon intensity. GHG reductions are calculated for the first year of vehicle operation and subsequently scaled to reflect various operational timeframes. GHG reduction estimates over the first year of vehicle ownership total approximately 855 thousand metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions, or 3.2 tons per vehicle. For nonfleet individuals, 54% of reductions are associated with “Rebate-Essential” participants who were most highly influenced by the rebate to purchase/lease. Comparing the estimated warranty-life benefit of 7.9 million tons of GHG reductions to USD 603 million in corresponding rebates results in USD 76 of state incentives per metric ton r... [more]

The importance of corporate social responsibility, especially in the environmental domain, continues to grow in an era of mounting climate urgency. This study is based on original, empirical, survey-based research in two post-communist European countries and seeks to add a geographical viewpoint and to investigate the influence of innovative constructs (environmental reporting, environmental strategy, environmental management control system) on environmental and economic performance. Data are analysed through partial least squares structural equation modelling, which enables the use of a complex model with several links between constructs. Findings reveal that environmental strategy has a positive impact on the use of an environmental management control system and an indirect positive impact on environmental performance. The environmental management control system has been shown to have a positive influence on environmental performance and, ultimately, on economic performance.

The aim of this study was to identify the preferences of final purchasers regarding the environment of cooperation with offerors and the benefits of cooperation, as well as to identify dependencies between two groups of preferences, taking into account the age of purchasers. The results of an analysis of the global literature on the subject indicate that so far these issues have not been studied, either in relation to the energy market or other areas of the consumer market. Therefore, we can talk about a cognitive and research gap in this area. In order to reduce the gap, seven research hypotheses were formulated and primary research was carried out on 1196 adult representatives of final purchasers in Poland to verify the hypotheses. The collected data were subjected to quantitative analysis, the results of which made it possible to state that most respondents preferred the parallel use of the online and offline environments as a place of interaction with offerors. More than half of th... [more]

A fire can pose a significant threat to a building’s occupants and leads to property damage. The burning characteristics usually determine the severity of the accident. Environments in high-altitude areas feature low oxygen content and ambient pressure, which can influence the burning characteristics of combustibles. In this paper, a series of field experiments were conducted to investigate the burning characteristics of gasoline at different altitudes considering heat release rate (HRR), flame height, and smoke release rate. Results show that the combustion process can be divided into three stages: initial stage, stable stage, and attenuation stage. Lower oxygen content and ambient pressure reduce the HRR; for example, the HRR at an altitude of 4150 m is nearly half at an altitude of 500 m, contributing to a lower smoke release rate. The HRR is proportional to 1.3 power of atmospheric pressure, and a fitting equation was brought out in this paper. Flame height increases with the incre... [more]

Current climate change threats and increasing CO2 emissions, especially from the building stock, represent a context where action is required. It is necessary to provide efficient manners to manage energy demand in buildings and contribute to a decarbonised future. By combining new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, Internet of things, blockchain, and the exploitation of big data towards solving real life problems, the way could be paved towards smart and energy-aware buildings. In this context, the aim of this paper is to present a critical review and an in-detail definition of the big data value chain for the built environment in Europe, covering multiple needs and perspectives: “policy”, “technology” and “business”, in order to explore the main challenges and opportunities in this area.

Blue Economy represents a new and interesting concept on a global level, both from the economic potential but also by the fact that it can be used to reduce environmental degradation. The main goal of this research is to identify the causality relations between the greenhouse gas emissions, the Blue Economy and economic growth based on a panel of annual data from the 28 countries that are members of the European Union (EU) over the 2009−2018 period. After applying stationarity and cointegration tests, the long term cointegration coefficients shall be determined with the help of the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) estimator. Granger causality estimation based on the vector error correction model (VECM) was applied to identify the causality relationship between the variables and to detect the direction of causality. Based on the identified causality relations, the Blue Economy has a significant influence on greenhouse gas emissions in the long run. Unidirectional causality... [more]

The main purpose of the paper is to present a proposal to measure the relationships between Goal 7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and one of the areas considered in the green growth concept: environmental production efficiency. Both of these areas illustrate the relationship between the natural environment and the economy, emphasizing transformations in the field of energy use. Selected taxonomic methods, TOPSIS, and multicriteria taxonomy, were applied to study the relationships between the two areas. The results of the EU countries classification showed a variety of countries’ development pathways within a single economic community. Despite continued attempts to equalize the development levels between European Union countries in many strategic areas, they remain highly diversified. That is also true for the areas analyzed in the paper, which is a disturbing situation, indicating that both strategies might not correlate in all respects. Further research into the relati... [more]

In recent years, corporate involvement in CSR has become increasingly important and appreciated in the context of the ideas and assumptions regarding sustainable development. Due to the specificity of the energy sector, its particular impact on the environment, the living conditions of the population, and the social involvement of energy companies is particularly desirable, therefore it is observed and assessed by many stakeholder groups. The aim of this article is to assess the CSR commitment of Polish energy companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The assessment was based on the proposed indicator model, based on the data published in the annual reports of the companies. The study uses data from the years 2016−2020. The main research question is as follows: What is the engagement in CSR activities of six Polish energy companies towards contractors, investors, employees, society, and the environment? The obtained results show that the investigated energy companies present a sim... [more]

More than 90% of Rwandans rely on polluting solid fuels to meet their cooking needs. The negative impacts on health, climate, and the environment have led the Rwandan government to set a target of halving that number to 42% by 2024. A National Master Plan to promote scale up of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has been developed to define (i) the necessary market conditions, (ii) public and private sector interventions, and (iii) the expected societal impacts. Findings are reported from modelling scenarios of scaling LPG use towards the 2024 policy target and the 2030 target for “universal access to clean modern energy” (SDG7). Household LPG use is projected to increase from 5.6% in 2020 to 13.2% by 2024 and 38.5% by 2030. This level of adoption could result in a reduction of 7656 premature deaths and 403,664 disability-adjusted-life-years (DALYs), as well as 243 million trees saved. Reductions in carbon dioxide and black carbon emissions equivalents (CO2e and BCe, respectively) are estim... [more]

The brick industry is currently facing a shortage of natural resources. Despite this, the demand for construction bricks is progressively increasing. Alternative materials, such as dredged sediments and solid organic waste, have been recently proposed as options to replace natural clay in brick manufacturing. Potential exploitation of dredged sediments in clay bricks is evaluated in this study. The chemical composition of the mixtures and the opto-thermal properties of brick samples, which differed for the dredged sediment content (from 10% to 50% of the clay weight), were investigated. Chemical analyses detected lower concentrations of heavy metals in bricks incorporating dredged sediments (DS). Negligible variations in thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and specific heat were observed by increasing the amount of DS in the mixture. In particular, the thermal conductivity values ranged between 0.45 ± 0.03 W m−1 K−1 (DS-50) and 0.50 ± 0.03 W m−1 K−1 (DS-30). Conversely, the colo... [more]

The purpose of this research was to assess the development potential of cities and municipalities in Wałbrzych County, approached from the perspective of social, economic and environmental potential. Comparisons were performed for the periods 2002−2004 and 2016−2018. The following problem questions were formulated in the study: Which strategic goals can currently act as incentives for taking action in the analysed post-industrial areas, and for which ones should development be particularly strengthened? What development direction should be taken by individual municipalities in Wałbrzych County? The research covering the development potential of the municipalities was conducted using the multidimensional analysis method, and the similarities in municipal potential were analysed taking into account a comparison of distances between individual diagnostic variables. Among the analysed municipalities, in terms of social, economic and environmental potential, Szczawno-Zdrój and Czarny Bór ac... [more]

Fuel-related measures and modernization of small-scale combustion units has become the focus of attention in the renewable heat generation sector, as a means to promote local biomass utilization and fuel-flexibility while meeting strict environmental legislative requirements. With the aim to mitigate total particulate matter emissions and ash-associated problems characteristic of crop residue combustion, (1) corn cob pellets (with and without kaolin and binder) as well as (2) fuel blends with wood pellets were combusted in a pellet oven under full load. Results show that additivation or fuel blending (e.g., 50 wt. % wood and 50 wt. % corn cob pellets) reduce total particulate and CO-emissions by 48 to 60 wt. % and 64 to 89 wt. %, respectively, in comparison to baseline emissions from non-additivized corn cob pellets. Kaolin prevented sintering of corn cob ash. However, considerable grate ash entrainment was observed. TPM consists of a “primary network”—polyhedral and spherical particle... [more]

This paper investigates adaptive thermal comfort during summer in medical residences that are located in the French city of Troyes and managed by the Association of Parents of Disabled Children (APEI). Thermal comfort in these buildings is evaluated using subjective measurements and objective physical parameters. The thermal sensations of respondents were determined by questionnaires, while thermal comfort was estimated using the predicted mean vote (PMV) model. Indoor environmental parameters (relative humidity, mean radiant temperature, air temperature, and air velocity) were measured using a thermal environment sensor during the summer period in July and August 2018. A good correlation was found between operative temperature, mean radiant temperature, and PMV. The neutral temperature was determined by linear regression analysis of the operative temperature and Fanger’s PMV model. The obtained neutral temperature is 23.7 °C. Based on the datasets and questionnaires, the adaptive coef... [more]

This study estimates the environmental efficiency of 150 economies during the period of 2010−2017 to understand the environmental efficiency trend worldwide. This research adopts the meta-Malmquist approach to compare and capture the dynamic change in environmental efficiency among different income groups. The empirical results indicate that among the four income groups, only the low-income group suffers from regression in terms of environmental efficiency, while the high-income group achieves the greatest progress. For the high-income group, the source of improvement originates from the frontier shift rather than from efficiency change. By contrast, the improvement of the lower-income groups results from the catching-up effect. With regard to the effect of the Paris Agreement, only the lower middle-income group exhibits a statistical difference between the two periods, and environmental efficiency increases after the adoption of the Paris Agreement. The fight against global warming ca... [more]