As the time spent by people indoors continues to significantly increase, much attention has been paid to indoor air quality. While many IAQ studies have been conducted through field measurements, the use of data-driven techniques such as machine learning has been increasingly used for the prediction of indoor air pollutants. For the present study, the concentrations of indoor air pollutants such as CO2, PM2.5, and VOCs in child daycare centers were predicted by using an artificial neural network model with three different training algorithms including Levenberg−Marquardt, Bayesian regularization, and Broyden−Fletcher−Goldfarb−Shanno quasi-Newton methods. For training and validation, data of indoor pollutants measured in child daycare facilities over a 1-month period were used. The results showed all the models produced a good performance for the prediction of indoor pollutants compared with the measured data. Among the models, the prediction by the LM model met the acceptable criteria... [more]

This paper presents an analysis of the literature that studies the possibility of sewage sludge being used in the cement industry to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cement production and thus solve the problem of disposing of sewage sludge so that it is no longer stored, avoiding soil pollution with heavy metals, and reducing pressure on the environment. The ash of sewage sludge is a good pozzolanic material, because when it is finely ground, it can be used as a partial substitute for Portland cement. This reduces waste storage costs. Sewage sludge ash was mixed with cement, and it was analyzed to determine whether the paste obtained could be used as a raw material in the cement industry. The presented results are on the hydration characteristics of the sewage sludge ash, the compressive strength of the cement determined after different days, the workability of the cement, and the porosity of the cement paste and the ash.

There are myriad questions that remain to be answered in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading. This article addresses carbon dioxide (CO2) emission factors and carbon losses from heavy equipment that is used to transport ores. Differences occurred between the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) emission factor and those that were obtained by considering incomplete combustion and on-site exhaust concentration measurements. Emissions from four off-road vehicles were analyzed. They operated at idle (loading, unloading, and queuing) and in motion (front and rear, loaded and unloaded). The results show that the average CO2 emission factors can be as low as 64.8% of the IPCC standard value for diesel fuel. On the other hand, carbon losses can be up to 33.5% and energy losses up to 25.5%. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the method that was developed here is innovative, simple, useful, and easily applicable in determining CO2 emission factors and fuel losses for heavy ma... [more]

Worldwide, in the rotary kilns of cement plants, various amounts of combustible waste are burned, which would otherwise end up in municipal landfills. The paper first analyzes the literature on the co-processing of waste in cement manufacture and its influence on the environment and human health. Then, it shows how the combustion components of co-processed waste can influence the final characteristics of clinker and cement. The main objective of the paper is to determine the level of emissions of the resulting pollutants (total dust and flue gases: NOx, SO2, and CO) at the outlet of the chimney of the clinker kiln and flour mill to meet the requirements of the Integrated Environmental Permit (EIA) from Romania and present an estimation of the level of atmospheric air pollution using the climatological model of pollutant dispersion. Following these assessments (data shown), the cement factories will establish measures to reduce the pollution, if necessary, to comply with the regulations... [more]

The study shows that the current network of hydrometeorological observation in the permafrost zone of Russia is insufficient to provide data for the statistical approaches adopted at the state level for engineering surveys and calculations. The alternative to the financially costly and practically impossible expansion of the monitoring network is the development of hydrological research stations and the implementation of new methods for calculating streamflow characteristics based on mathematical modeling. The data of the Kolyma Water-Balance Station, the first research basin in the world in a permafrost environment (1948−1997), and the process-based hydrological model Hydrograph are applied to simulate streamflow hydrographs in remote mountainous permafrost basins. The satisfactory results confirm that mathematical modeling may substitute or replace statistical approaches in the conditions of extreme data insufficiency. The improvement of the models in a changing climate requires the... [more]

Drivers for industrial energy efficiency are factors that promote the sustained adoption of energy-efficient measures and practices. Leveraging drivers to overcome barriers and encourage action which improves industrial energy efficiency can contribute to closing the energy efficiency gap. In fossil-fuel-based systems, this will also contribute to greenhouse gas abatement. A systematic literature review was used to investigate how knowledge about drivers is generated and whether prevalent drivers can be mapped to existing taxonomies. The systematic literature review confirmed that surveys and/or interviews with managers from countries who are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are the most common way to gather data on drivers for industrial energy efficiency. This means the extant knowledge on drivers may be incomplete because contributions from some stakeholders, industry types and company sizes may be missing. The review also found economic dr... [more]

With economic development, the output of municipal sludge (MS) continues to increase, and the effective utilization of corn straw (CS) also plays an important role in promoting “carbon neutrality”. The mixed combustion of solid wastes is a very environmentally friendly technology; however, little research has occurred regarding the combustion characteristics and reaction kinetics of MS and CS in a fluidized bed. Therefore, this study used a micro-fluidized bed and process mass spectrometer to evaluate the mixed-combustion characteristics of MS and CS and analyze the effects of the temperature and mixing ratios on the reaction rate. Isothermal kinetics were used to calculate the activation energy, pre-exponential factors, and other kinetic parameters of this reaction. The results showed that with an increasing reaction temperature, the combustion reaction rate of MS and CS under different mixing ratios increased. The reaction rate of mixed combustion of MS and CS was greater than that o... [more]

Using straw and herbaceous crops to replace or augment fossil fuels is becoming popular as access to forest biomass becomes environmentally stricter and more expensive. The low bulk density raw biomass is pre-processed and densified into pellets to facilitate handling and use. Dust is generated during collection, baling and debaling, grinding, drying, and densifying processed herbaceous biomass. Abundant literature deals with dust generated during the industrial handling of woody biomass, grains, and other crops like cotton. But the information on handling herbaceous biomass in the open literature is scarce. This paper reviews the available literature on dust generation from handling and processing of herbaceous biomass. Limited available data shows that herbaceous biomass species have a lower ignition temperature than woody biomass. The paper identifies several crucial pieces of information needed to ensure safety in the handling and pelleting of herbaceous crops.

This paper presents an assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the waste management sector, and then, based on laboratory tests and computer calculations, indicates how to effectively manage selected waste generated during the pandemic. Elemental compositions—namely, C, H, N, S, Cl, and O—were determined as part of the laboratory tests, and the pyrolysis processes of the above wastes were analysed using the TGA technique. The calculations were performed for a pilot pyrolysis reactor with a continuous flow of 240 kg/h in the temperature range of 400−900 °C. The implemented calculation model was experimentally verified for the conditions of the refuse-derived fuel (RDF) pyrolysis process. As a result of the laboratory tests and computer simulations, comprehensive knowledge was obtained about the pyrolysis of protective masks, with particular emphasis on the gaseous products of this process. The high calorific value of the pyrolysis gas, amounting to approx. 47.7 MJ/m3, encou... [more]

In recent years, the dramatic increase of greenhouse gases concentration in atmosphere, especially of carbon dioxide, determined many researchers to investigate new mitigation options. Thermodynamic studies play an important role in the development of new technologies for reducing the carbon levels. In this context, our group investigated the phase behavior (vapor−liquid equilibrium (VLE), vapor−liquid−liquid equilibrium (VLLE), liquid−liquid equilibrium (LLE), upper critical endpoints (UCEPs), critical curves) of binary and ternary systems containing organic substances with different functional groups to determine their ability to dissolve carbon dioxide. This study presents our results for the phase behavior of carbon dioxide + n-butanol structural isomers binary systems at high-pressures. Liquid−vapor critical curves are measured for carbon dioxide + isobutanol and carbon dioxide + tert-butanol binary systems at pressures up to 147.3 bar, as only few scattered critical points are av... [more]

The Central and South Pacific have significant wave energy resources distributed through the region that are currently not being explored. Even though the wave energy resource in the Pacific has been studied, there is limited knowledge on the potential obstacles when inserting this new energy source into a unique and unexplored environment. Pacific Island countries (PICs) have distinctive characteristics that can become barriers to this technology, especially considering that local coastal and marine systems are fundamental for subsistence and local development. Thus, the success of a project relies on local acceptance. The current study developed an integrative conceptual framework for the PICs (ICFPICs) that derived from the integration of the elements of a political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal (PESTEL) structured approach and further combined with a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) approach to create a matrix that included relevan... [more]

Risk management is critical for corporate finance management systems, in addition to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development (SD) programs. Stakeholders need risk information to make informed judgments as to their involvement. No studies exist to date concerning disclosure of non-financial and financial risks in corporate annual statements and Polish strategic sector company reports. The authors sought to determine whether energy companies disclosed risks in non-financial annual reports in 2011−2020 (e.g., CSR, integrated, and board activity reports), and whether one can assess threats, including business activity risks and SD, based on these reports. We assessed the reports of all large Polish energy companies on a three- and five-degree scale to develop a model for risk information disclosures. We have three key empirical findings. Only half the analysed companies disclose annual financial data, threats, and risks. Less than half have implemented and operate... [more]

Today, the study of thermal systems that take advantage of residual thermal sources in the power generation sector is of great importance to mitigate environmental impact and promote sustainable alternatives in this sector. Among these alternatives, the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is of great relevance since it allows taking advantage of residual energy sources at low temperatures. This work presents a methodology to evaluate the feasibility of using a refrigerant as a working fluid in an organic Rankine cycle based on an exergetic viability index. As a case study, R134a, R600a, R245fa, and R123 refrigerants were considered. A residual thermal source was used that came from the Hybrid Cycle Plant of the Valley of Mexico. Thermodynamic analysis was performed to determine generated power, thermal efficiency, refrigerant mass flow, pinch point temperature difference, specific steam consumption, unused thermal exergy flow, exergy efficiency, and total heat transfer requirement. The weighte... [more]

Among all the activities in a society, construction has a key role in environmental, social, and economic pillars. Construction is also responsible for a considerable amount of waste production, energy consumption, pollutant gas emissions, and consumption of nonrenewable natural resources. Regarding energy consumption, a high demand for building operational energy has been observed in the last decades due to the more demanding requirements of the users with a continuous search for better thermal comfort in their homes, namely in developed countries. In Portugal, for instance, more than 20% of the electricity consumed is related to residential buildings, which is based on CO2 emissions and other pollutants that negatively affect the environment. Much of this consumed energy is a result of the HVAC systems installed inside buildings to provide users with thermal comfort. One exciting opportunity to mitigate buildings’ operational energy consumption while contributing to thermal user comf... [more]

The Earth is permanently surrounded by cloud cover that, particularly, is an essential component in the planet’s energy balance. In turn, cloud cover intervenes in the main conditioning factor for soil temperature: solar radiation. In particular, the soil thermal amplitude should be dampened with the attenuation of solar radiation. However, the scientific community rarely analyzes this relationship, neglecting the model that is used to estimate the soil temperature. In this context, the present study seeks to reformulate the model by inserting a variable referent to cloud cover. Thus, to achieve this objective, a physical-mathematical review of the heat flow in the vertical profile of soil is performed. The reformulated model indicates the influence of cloud cover, intervening for both the soil’s heating (nighttime period) and cooling (daytime period). Finally, the reformulated model should be employed to estimate the soil thermal behavior (in particular, on “overcast sky” days).

Ongoing climate change most pronounces itself in northern latitudes, including in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF). Climate change is a complex multidirectional process that is characterized by both positive and negative effects on the functioning of territorial economic systems. In this regard, an analysis of the impacts of climate change on economic development is a particularly urgent scientific and practical task that requires comprehensive study. This research was devoted to assessing the probable impacts of climate transformations on the parameters of the economic development of the AZRF regions. The authors created a methodological approach to the assessment of the costs of the effects of climate change for the economy of the AZRF regions, taking into account the average predicted dynamics of surface air temperature and key regional economic specializations, as well as the degree of susceptibility of various industries to the climate change. The energy industry w... [more]

As an economic corridor, the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) connects the East to Western nations, where carbon emissions are gradually becoming severe. This study aims to provide solutions for dealing with carbon emissions from the transportation of the SREB in the Chinese range. By employing the Malmquist index method of data envelopment analysis (DEA), this study develops models to test the different carbon-reduction performances (CRP) of transportation in the Chinese provinces along the SREB. This study shows that carbon-reduction performance has improved since 2013 because of the improvements in transportation technology. Technical efficiency, including scale efficiency and pure technological efficiency, may improve carbon reduction, while the lagged technological progress restricts the CRP. It is further suggested that the provincial CRPs are different. The southwest provinces have the best decarbonization performance, followed by the northwest, while the northeast provinces, incl... [more]

The use of CO2-based hydrocarbons plays a crucial role in reducing the climate footprint for several industry sectors, such as the chemical industry. Recent studies showed that regions which are favorable for the production of CO2-based hydrocarbons from an energy perspective often do not provide concentrated point sources for CO2, which leads to an increased environmental impact due to the higher energy demand of direct air capture processes. Thus, producing H2 in regions with high renewable power potential and transporting it to industrialized regions with concentrated CO2 point sources could provide favorable options for the whole process chain. The aim of this study is to analyze and compare pathways to produce CO2-based methanol in Germany using a local CO2 point source in combination with the import of H2 per pipeline or per ship as well as H2 produced in Germany. The environmental and economic performance of the pathways are assessed using life cycle assessment and cost analysis... [more]

Atria within buildings present an environment which allows smoke to spread around a building in a fire situation. This could create dangerous conditions for the evacuation of people. Smoke control ventilation systems in atria work in the case of a fire, keeping evacuation routes available for people. They play a significant role in sustainable, holistic building fire strategies, and are most often designed following prescriptive requirements. However, contemporary, complex atria with additional architectural elements—such as transversal balconies—may not meet the standard approach, and require individual, performance-based research. This article proves a thesis that the atrium’s architecture can impact the effectiveness of smoke control systems, and suggests how to verify them based on CFD simulations. In the presented example, the authors suggest an improvement of people’s safety in a fire scenario by extending the preliminary smoke control system parameters, or by providing smoke cur... [more]

Globally, around half a million tonnes of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) will be in dry or wet storage by around 2050. Continued storage is not sustainable and this SNF must eventually either be disposed (the open nuclear fuel cycle) or recycled (the closed fuel cycle). Many international studies have addressed the advantages and disadvantages of these options which can be considered now in the framework of sustainable development and the three pillars of: economic, environmental and societal impacts. To inform this debate, a detailed survey of the available literature related to economic assessments of closed and open cycles has been undertaken—this complements an earlier review on environmental impacts. Results of economic assessments showing how the management of spent fuels in the open and closed cycles impacts the costs of the nuclear fuel cycle, are usually presented in terms of the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE). It is clear that the costs of the back end of the fuel cycle are a... [more]

The goal of this study was to examine the interlinkage of renewable energy, technology innovation, human capital, and governance on environment quality by using a panel quantile regression in Asian emerging economies over the period of 1990−2019. The results indicated that higher economic growth, population density, technological innovation in renewable energy, and exploitation of natural resources have significantly raised CO2 emissions in emerging Asia. Furthermore, larger capital, more use of renewable energy, green technology, and human capital development can improve environmental sustainability in Asia. As for governances, proxied by corruption rates, no evidence indicated that it has resulted in more damage, unlike earlier studies have suggested. The findings indicated that the three channels exposed in the Kuznets hypothesis can serve as a reference for proposals for environmental policies (scale of consumption, energy composition, and choice of technologies). There are opportu... [more]

As the push for carbon-neutral transport continues, the aviation sector is facing increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint. Furthermore, commercial air traffic is expected to resume the continuous growth experienced until the pandemic, highlighting the need for reduced emissions. The use of alternative fuels plays a key role in achieving future emission goals, while also lowering the dependency on fossil fuels. The so-called sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), which encompass bio and synthetic fuels, are currently the most viable option, but hydrogen is also being considered as a long-term solution. The present paper reviews the production methods, logistical and technological barriers, and potential for future mass implementation of these alternative fuels. In general, biofuels currently present higher technological readiness levels than other alternatives. Sustainable mass production faces critical feedstock-related challenges that synthetic fuels, together with other solutio... [more]

Water treatment generally does not specifically address the removal of microplastics (MPs). Nevertheless, treatment plants process water effectively, and the number of synthetic microparticles in effluents is usually very low. Still, discharge volumes from water-treatment plants are often elevated (reaching around 108 L/day), leading to the daily discharge of a substantial number of MPs and microfibers. Furthermore, MPs accumulate in the primary and secondary sludge, which in the end results in another environmental problem as they are currently used to amend soils, both for cultivation and forestry, leading to their dispersion. Something similar occurs with the treatment of water intended for human consumption, which has a much lower but still significant number of MPs. The amount of these pollutants being released into the environment depends on the processes that the water undergoes. One of the most-used treatment processes is rapid sand filtration, which is reviewed in this article... [more]

The amount of hybrid vehicles and their contribution have increased in the global market. They are a promising aspect for a decrease in emissions. Different tests are used to determine the factors of such emissions. The goal of the present study was to compare the emissions of two hybrid vehicles of the same manufacturer: the plug-in version and the HEV version (gasoline + electric engine). These vehicles were chosen because they comprise the largest market share of hybrid cars in Poland. The exhaust emission tests were conducted in the WLTC tests on a chassis dynamometer and under real traffic conditions. Simultaneous testing on a dyno and under real driving is the most adequate test to assess the environmental aspects of vehicles—especially hybrids. The combustion engines of the tested vehicles were supplied with gasoline containing 5% biocomponents. The emissions, including CO2, CO, NOx, THC and PNs, were measured in accordance with the European Union procedure. According to the lat... [more]

Poultry litter mass is formed in large quantities at poultry farms producing poultry meat (1−3 kg of litter mass per 1 kg of produced meat). These wastes represent a threat to the environment because of the presence of pathogenic microflora in them and the greenhouse gas emitted during the storage of these wastes. The procedure of poultry litter mass processing by wet torrefaction in a superheated water vapor environment at a temperature of 150−260 °C is studied. It is shown that after torrefaction at a temperature of 150 °C, the poultry litter mass retains high humidity, i.e., it represents an environment suitable for the re-development of pathogenic microflora. Only after wet torrefaction at a temperature of 260 °C does the humidity of the poultry litter mass decreases to 4%, and the risk of re-infection with pathogenic microflora decreases sharply. The absence of nitrates in the samples after torrefaction at a temperature of 260 °C indicates the termination of the activity of nitrif... [more]