Fossil fuel dependency in developed countries is worrisome due to the lack of energy security that traditional energy generation provides. In order to prevent future energy problems and to maintain a sustainable society, some countries are starting to develop renewable energy sources. In this research, biomass energy is introduced as a solution not only to reduce fossil fuel dependency, but also to improve municipal solid waste management. The purpose of this report is to construct a distributed power generation system combining the superheated steam gasification of solid waste and photovoltaic panels, and to verify the feasibility of generating power at the consumption site. It also focuses on optimizing the current waste superheated steam gasification system and compares the superheated steam gasification technology with other waste to energy technologies, such as downdraft air gasification and solid waste direct combustion. Finally, the report analyzes the economic, environmental an... [more]

The aquatic plant Pistia stratiotes L. is environmentally hazardous and requires effective methods for its utilization. The harmfulness of these plants is determined by their excessive growth in water bodies and degradation of local aquatic ecosystems. Mechanical removal of these plants is widespread but requires fairly resource-intensive technology. However, these aquatic plants are polymer-containing substrates and have a great potential for conversion into bioenergy. The aim of the work was to determine the main patterns of Pistia stratiotes L. degradation via granular microbial preparation (GMP) to obtain biomethane gas while simultaneously detoxifying toxic copper compounds. The composition of the gas phase was determined via gas chromatography. The pH and redox potential parameters were determined potentiometrically, and Cu(II) concentration photocolorimetrically. Applying the preparation, high efficiency of biomethane fermentation of aquatic plants and Cu(II) detoxification were... [more]

Power production from coal combustion is one of two major anthropogenic sources of mercury emission to the atmosphere. The aim of this study is the analysis of the carbon footprint of mercury removal technologies through sorbents injection related to the removal of 1 kg of mercury from flue gases. Two sorbents, i.e., powdered activated carbon and the coke dust, were analysed. The assessment included both direct and indirect emissions related to various energy and material needs life cycle including coal mining and transport, sorbents production, transport of sorbents to the power plants, and injection into flue gases. The results show that at the average mercury concentration in processed flue gasses accounting to 28.0 µg Hg/Nm3, removal of 1 kg of mercury from flue gases required 14.925 Mg of powdered activated carbon and 33.594 Mg of coke dust, respectively. However, the whole life cycle carbon footprint for powdered activated carbon amounted to 89.548 Mg CO2-e·kg−1 Hg, whereas for c... [more]

Extracting oil from spent coffee grounds (SCG) for biodiesel production has recently attracted much research interest. Large amounts of organic solvents are involved for oil extraction and biodiesel synthesis. Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is an emerging thermochemical technology with great potential for biocrude production from a broad range of feedstocks. This study attempted to compare two SCG valorization options: route 1, oil extraction for biodiesel production followed by HTL of defatted SCG; and route 2, direct HTL of raw SCG. The microwave-assisted extraction conditions were optimized to effectively remove oil from SCG using response surface methodology. Under optimal conditions, an SCG oil yield of 8.4 wt.% could be achieved. HTL of defatted SCG generated less biocrude (18.9 wt.%) than that of raw SCG (28.1 wt.%). The biochemical compositions of resultant biocrudes were largely different from each other. The life cycle assessment was conducted on each of the SCG valorization... [more]

The energy efficiency of the construction sector should be determined by the cleanliness of the environment and, thus, the health of society. The scientific aim of this article was to develop a methodology for determining the optimum thickness of thermal insulation, taking into account both economic and ecological aspects and considering both heating and cooling costs. The method takes into account the number of degree days of the heating period, as well as the number of degree days of the cooling period. Variants in terms of different types of thermal insulation, various types of construction materials for building walls, climatic zones and heat sources, were taken into consideration. In order to find the optimum thicknesses of thermal insulation, both in economic and ecological terms, a metacriterion was used. The optimum thicknesses of thermal insulation with the use of the metacriterion were obtained in the range of 0.11−0.55 m. It was observed that the values of the optimum heat t... [more]

Low-carbon development is one of the more significant problems of the Visegrad Group countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary). It is related, among others, to the improvement of life quality in economic terms while taking into account activities for environmental protection. The aim of the article is to identify and explain the problems connected with low-carbon development. The purpose of the analyses is also to prove the negative impact of the emission of greenhouse gas emission (GHG) and other harmful substances into the air on the quality of human life and the natural environment. During the research, an assessment of the eco-efficiency of the used energy resources and technologies that negatively affect the environment was carried out. Moreover, the paper also presents methods to use greener energy sources and analyses the potential of implementing solutions supporting low-carbon development. The study recommends actions that may contribute to the reduction of gre... [more]

Heat production from a geothermal energy source is gaining increasing attention due to its potential contribution to the decarbonization of the European energy sector. Obtaining representative results of the environmental performances of geothermal systems and comparing them with other renewables is of utmost importance in order to ensure an effective energy transition as targeted by Europe. This work presents the outputs of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) performed on the Rittershoffen geothermal heat plant applying guidelines that were developed within the H2020 GEOENVI project. The production of 1 kWhth from the Rittershoffen heat plant was compared to the heat produced from natural gas in Europe. Geothermal heat production performed better than the average heat production in climate change and resource use, fossil categories. The LCA identified the electricity consumption during the operation and maintenance phase as a hot spot for several impact categories. A prospective scenario an... [more]

Urban soils are the most vulnerable component of the current terrestrial ecosystem. Due to the anthropogenic influence, various pollutants can accumulate in the soils and have a negative effect on the health of citizens. As a result of the degradation of permafrost landscapes, the disappearance of a number of natural ecosystems, as well as urban areas, is possible. In the course of the development of thermokarst processes, problems arise in the urban environment with the destruction of urban buildings and a decrease in agricultural areas. The ecosystem of Yakutsk city is located in the valley of the Lena River and represents the largest urbanized terrestrial biotope, located in the permafrost-affected bioclimatic and geogenic conditions. This work represents relevant datasets on the physico-chemical, toxicological and agrochemical state of soil cover components in various functional zones of the city. An 3excess of the maximum threshold levels for Zn was noted in the area of active min... [more]

This study determined the influence of precipitation occurring in the sewerage catchment basin in Nowy Targ (Poland) on the amount of wastewater inflow to the wastewater treatment plant, and determined the costs resulting from the treatment of accidental (rain) water entering the analyzed sewerage system. The research was conducted from 2016 to 2019, for which daily precipitation and average daily wastewater inflows in the so-called dry, normal, and very wet periods were analyzed. The research period was divided into six characteristic intervals in terms of precipitation. It was found that, on days with different precipitation intensity, the amount of accidental water as a proportion of the total amount of wastewater flowing into the plant ranges from 9.6% to 34.1%. The annual costs incurred by the operator resulting from the environmental fee are 1625.8 EUR/year. Alternatively, the costs resulting from financial expenditures for wastewater treatment processes amount to 337,651 EUR/yea... [more]

The construction sector is one of the most energy-intensive in the industrialized countries. In order to limit climate change emissions throughout the entire life cycle of a building, in addition to reducing energy consumption in the operational phase, attention should also be paid to the embodied energy and CO2 emissions of the building itself. The purpose of this work is to review data on embodied energy and GWP derived from EPDs of different types of windows, to identify the LCA phases, the most impacting materials and processes from an environmental point of view and to perform a critical analysis of the outcomes. The results show a strong dependence on the typology of the frame, with wooden windows having competitive performances: lower average primary energy non-renewable (1123 MJ/FU), higher average primary energy renewable (respectively 817 MJ/FU) and lower global warming potential (54 kgCO2eq/FU). More transparency and standardization in the information conveyed by the program... [more]

The cultivation of short rotation coppice (SRC) is a sustainable and ecological alternative for the production of energy vectors today. For its use, it is necessary to know the thermochemical properties of the biomass produced, as well as the differences between genotypes and varieties. In this work, the thermochemical properties of five different Populus clones grow up in Mediterranean basin, with two different age categories, are analyzed. The moisture content, wood density, heating value, ash content, energy density, composition and the volatile matter were measured, separating wood and crust fractions. The mean crust content for all clones was near to 10% but it is observed that the youngest clones have higher content of crust and humidity. The 3 year-old clones generally show lower humidity and ash content and higher density of wood and fixed carbon, consequently showing a higher heating value. In addition, 3 year-old clones are encouraged since they have a lower content of majori... [more]

The paper will examine, in detail, (a) the norms that can be featured under the category “Green Deal” connected to the European Commission, (b) their application to Spain, and (c) the different patterns of action and development models that have been shaped by this framework over the last 20 years. These patterns are particularly relevant currently, as the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the importance of advancing towards new patterns of local sustainability endowed with higher resilience. The notion of cognitive sustainability will be one of the added values to the current reflections on sustainability in general, and energetic sustainability in particular.

The consumption of renewable energy has become a substitute for fossil fuels to mitigate environmental degradation. However, this substitution of energy raises many questions regarding its possible impact on economic growth. In this context, this research aims to examine the long-term relationship between economic growth and financial development, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, and human capital in 16 Latin American countries. Panel data techniques during the period 1988−2018 and statistical information compiled by the World Bank and Penn Word Table databases were used. Second-generation econometric techniques (cross-sectionally augmented Dickey−Fuller (CADF) and cross-sectionally augmented IPS (CIPS) were used in the work methodology, which allow the presence of cross-sectional dependence between sections to be controlled. The main results indicate that there is a long-term equilibrium relationship between financial development, non-renewable energy consumption, renewable ene... [more]

The article presents results of the research on the use of chars produced during pyrolysis of residual biomass as a substitutional fuel in the iron ore sintering process. Such an approach allows to implement circular economy and industrial symbiosis to the iron and steel branches. The effect of the substitution of conventional coke breeze fuel used in sintering on final sinter quality and emission was examined. With regard to productivity, fuel consumption, and properties of the sinter it was shown that the share of tested biochars in fuel may be kept at 10, and up to 30 wt.%, depending on the biochar type. It was observed that with the use of the biochars, the content of iron oxide in the sinter decreased, which was advantageous. Moreover, the sinter obtained in the presence of biochars was characterized with better strength and abrasion than the sinter obtained with coke breeze-based fuel, improving the final product quality. The presence of biochar influenced the raw exhaust gas com... [more]

Life cycle assessment is an environmental method which estimates either a process or a building material within the cradle-to-grave cycle. Presently, it is one of a few tools that include all factors which may influence the environment. The authors used this tool to prove effects connected with potential efficient energy levels and a reduction in CO2 emissions within a building’s life cycle. For the purpose of our analyses, several types of single-family building were chosen and they were subjected to analysis in the fixed location of Warsaw. The research scope included a numerical analysis of the buildings concerning the level of embodied energies and the emission of greenhouse gases. The performed analysis proved that, within a 50-year cycle, the difference between the embodied energy from the best and worst building choices can amount to 14.87%, whereas a reduction in embodied carbon emissions can reach 20.65%. Each change in the building’s form and the type of building materials us... [more]

The assessment of life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of motor fuels is important due to the legal obligations and corporate social responsibility of the petroleum industry. Combining the Life-Cycle Assessment with optimization methods can provide valuable support in the decision-making process. In this paper, a mathematical model of a refinery was developed to analyze the impact of process optimization on GHG emissions at the fuel production stage. The model included ten major refinery units. Fuel production costs were minimized by taking into account the number of constraints. The analysis was performed in two steps. First, the model was run for the reference case of fuels composition. Then, more than twelve thousand model runs were performed. In each model, the fuel composition was changed. This change represented the exogenous pressures and resulted in different flows of mass, energy and GHG emission at the refinery. The most favorable results in terms of GHG emissions were then id... [more]

Typhoons and other natural disasters affect the normal operation of power systems thus it is an important goal for strong and intelligent power grid construction to improve the ability of power systems to resist typhoons and other natural disasters. Especially, an effective coordinated and optimized dispatching strategy for a multi-source power system is greatly helpful to cope with the impact of typhoons and other natural disasters on power system operation. Given this background, a typhoon wind circle model considering the temporal and spatial distribution of typhoons is established to obtain the input wind speed of the wind farm at first. Second, based on the initial input wind speed of wind farms, a typical scenario set of wind power output is constructed to reflect its fluctuation and uncertainty. Next, an optimal coordinated dispatching model of a multi-source power system with wind, hydro and thermal power based on the conditional value at risk (CVaR) is established with the tar... [more]

The water−energy−food nexus has captured the attention of many researchers and policy makers for the potential synergies between those sectors, including the development of self-sustainable solutions for agriculture systems. This paper poses a novel design approach aimed at balancing the trade-off between the computational burden and accuracy of the results. The method is based on the combination of static energy hub models of the system components and rule-based control to simulate the operational costs over a one-year period as well as a global optimization algorithm that provides, from those results, a design that maximizes the solar energy contribution. The presented real-world case study is based on an isolated greenhouse, whose water needs are met due to a desalination facility, both acting as heat consumers, as well as a solar thermal field and a biomass boiler that cover the demand. Considering the Almerian climate and 1 ha of tomato crops with two growing seasons, the optimal... [more]

The use of energy is a precondition for global economic and civilisational development. However, the growing demand for energy is depleting traditional energy resources and, most importantly, causing environmental pollution, mainly through the emission of greenhouse gases. As energy is necessary for the functioning of all sectors of the economy, such as industry, services, transport as well as households, these sectors are the largest contributors to energy consumption. Renewable energy sources are an alternative to generating energy from conventional fossil fuels. The main objective of this paper was to determine and compare the level, trends and variation in energy consumption by different economic sectors in countries of the European Union in 2010−2019. An analysis of the share of renewable energy consumption in different economic sectors was also carried out, as well as an assessment of the relationship of these indicators with the level of economic development of the countries and... [more]

In the case of public buildings with ceiling heating and mechanical ventilation, radiant temperature asymmetry caused by the warm ceiling and draught occur simultaneously. The currently available literature does not offer an exhaustive description of the comfort conditions resulting from such a thermal environment. This research focuses on complementing the available knowledge, using instrumental measurements, as well as subject measurements carried out on 20 individuals. Relying on these measurements, the purpose of the research is to support the understanding of the combined mechanisms of action of the two local discomfort parameters. The main result of this research is that, if the predicted percentage dissatified is less than 6%, the radiant temperature asymmetry is in an interval of 5−15 °C, and the draught rate is 15% or 25%, the actual mean vote and the predicted mean vote values differ significantly, and the actual mean vote is always lower, with a few exceptions. In addition,... [more]

Underground mining engineers and planners in our country are faced with extremely difficult working conditions and a continuous shortage of money. Production disruptions are frequent and can sometimes last more than a week. During this time, gate road support is additionally exposed to rock stress and the result is its progressive deformation and the loss of functionality of gate roads. In such an environment, it is necessary to develop a low-cost methodology to maintain a gate road support system. For this purpose, we have developed a model consisting of two main phases. The first phase is related to support deformation monitoring, while the second phase is related to data analysis. To record support deformations over a defined time horizon we use laser scanning technology together with multivariate singular spectrum analysis to conduct data processing and forecasting. Fuzzy time series is applied to classify the intensity of displacements into several independent groups (clusters).

In recent decades, there has been a positive trend in world politics in the field of promoting territories’ sustainable development. At the same time, one of the most relevant areas is to promote the transition to renewable energy sources (RES), which correspond to one of the UN’s goals—Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) “Ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy sources for all”. This article is devoted to the study of the renewable energy sources’ impact on the sustainable development of the Russian Arctic zone. The authors chose the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as an indicator reflecting the impact of RES on sustainable development, since this factor is one of the main factors for assessing trends in the activities of countries aimed at achieving progress on most of the Sustainable Development Goals of territories. The hypothesis of the relationship between the use of renewable energy sources and the achievement of progress on th... [more]

When developing a sustainability plan in a complex and heavily urbanized territory, one of the most relevant options available is installing rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels. Thus, it is essential to determine the amount of available surface and the potential impact of such installations on the energy and emission budget of the area. Instead of processing remotely sensed imagery, which is a long process and does not allow considering the buildings’ ownership, this study develops an approach based on a cluster analysis of the urban/morphological characteristics of the municipalities. Once a clear group diversification is obtained, the roof surface of the center of gravity of each cluster is extrapolated to all similar settlements. This, together with the information of local solar irradiation, allowed us to compute each cluster’s potential solar energy production and its capability to respond to the local energy demand, a key parameter to decide about the possibility of a local smart el... [more]

The importance of CO2 removal from the atmosphere has long been an essential topic due to climate change. In this paper, the authors aim to demonstrate the suitability of the underground reservoirs for CO2 storage based on their geological characteristics. The research addressed the potential of geological formations for fossil CO2 storage in the Baltic States to support the goal of achieving carbon neutrality in the region. The geological, technical, and economic feasibility for CO2 storage has been assessed in terms of carbon sequestration in geological structures and the legal framework for safe geological storage of fossil CO2. Results indicate that prospective structural traps in the Baltic States, with reasonable capacity for CO2 storage, occur only in Southwestern Latvia (onshore) and in the Baltic Sea (offshore), whilst other regions in the Baltics either do not meet basic geological requirements, or have no economically feasible capacity for CO2 storage. Based on the examinati... [more]

Fire and explosion accidents of oil-filled electrical transformers are leading to negative impacts, not only on the delivery of energy, but also on workplace health and safety as well as the surrounding environment. Such accidents are still being reported, regardless of applying the regular maintenance strategy in the power plants. The purpose of this paper is to integrate a sustainability perspective into the maintenance strategy. The problem addressed is: how can we approach the relevant cost-effective sustainable maintenance for oil-filled electrical transformers? For this purpose, an empirical study in a power plant in Kuwait was introduced. The first stage was to carry out a sustainability assessment using the ABCD procedure. In this procedure, gaps to approach sustainability were identified and actions prioritized to close these gaps were demonstrated. Applying this procedure yielded an early fault diagnosis (EFD) model for achieving cost-effective sustainable maintenance using a... [more]