The excessive air pollution in the Lubuskie Voivodeship and throughout Poland is a very serious problem. One of the main causes of poor air quality is low emission, which arises at a short distance from the ground (up to 40 m). The real reduction of low emission requires a series of measures. The most important of them, include replacement of non-ecological boilers heating single-family buildings, improvement of thermal insulation of outer building walls, development of public transport, limiting the movement of old, non-ecological cars, conducting extensive educational activities, economic support for the poorest families in pro-ecological activities, and development of district heating in urban areas. The issue of thermal modernization is also important from the point of view of ensuring an appropriate level of energy security in the social dimension. The article presents a scenario analysis of activities aimed at reducing low emission through economic support for thermal modernizati... [more]

Because of extensive variations in occupancy patterns around office space environments and their use of electrical equipment, accurate occupants’ behaviour detection is valuable for reducing the building energy demand and carbon emissions. Using the collected occupancy information, building energy management system can automatically adjust the operation of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems to meet the actual demands in different conditioned spaces in real-time. Existing and commonly used ‘fixed’ schedules for HVAC systems are not sufficient and cannot adjust based on the dynamic changes in building environments. This study proposes a vision-based occupancy and equipment usage detection method based on deep learning for demand-driven control systems. A model based on region-based convolutional neural network (R-CNN) was developed, trained and deployed to a camera for real-time detection of occupancy activities and equipment usage. Experiments tests within a case s... [more]

The present study evaluates the potential upgrade of a Linear Fresnel Reflector (LFR) collector at the Cyprus Institute (CyI) with photovoltaics via the calculation of the Levelized Cost Of Heat (LCOH). For over 4 years the collector has been supplying heating and cooling to the Novel Technologies Laboratory (NTL) of the Cyprus Institute (CyI). Extensive measurements have been carried out both on the LFR and NTL to render real numbers in the computations. This hybridization would be undertaken with the installation of PV arrays under mirrors, so that the collector is able to either reflect direct radiation to the receiver to process heat or to produce electricity directly in the built environment. The main objective is the decrease of the LCOH of Linear Fresnel collectors, which hinders their wider deployment, while air conditioning demand is globally booming. The results show that the LCOH for a small LFR to supply air conditioning is high, c€25.2−30.1 per kWh, while the innovative PV... [more]

Work safety can be a component of the broadly understood sustainable enterprise approach that goes beyond the idea of sustainable development. Sustainability in an unpredictable and turbulent environment has many constellations, many aspects and many fields of the enterprise’s activity and it complements the rationality of the business. The aim is to understand the sustainability of safety, because this is the term we have adopted for rationality in occupational safety management, in the context of the analysis of work accidents in the Polish steel industry, with particular emphasis on the methodology of forecast assessment in the studied area, proposed by us. The realized forecasts were used for the creation of a combined model which formed the basis for formulating conclusions from the analysis. The publication presents the modeling of the victims of work accidents in the steel sector in Poland. Based on the research of the forecasts obtained, a downward trend is recorded in the numb... [more]

Environmental considerations are motivating the adoption of low global warming potential refrigerants. Most of these are mildly flammable, i.e., A2L. Their susceptibility to ignition from various ignition sources is poorly understood, particularly for the stoichiometric and quiescent mixtures that are emphasized here. The viability of fifteen residential ignition sources to ignite four A2L refrigerants is considered. Tests are performed in a windowed chamber with a volume of 26 L. The refrigerants are R-32 (difluoromethane); R-452B (67% R-32, 26% R-1234yf, and 7% pentafluoroethane); R-1234yf (2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene); and R-1234ze (1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene). Two types of ignition sources are confirmed here to be viable: a resistively heated wire at 740 °C and open flames. When the refrigerant concentration was increased slowly, candle flames and butane flames extinguished before initiating any large deflagrations. Eleven other sources were not viable: a smoldering cigarette, a but... [more]

Wastewater treatment plants and power generation constitute inseparable parts of present society. So the growth of wastewater treatment plants is accompanied by an increase in the energy consumption, and a sustainable development implies the use of renewable energy sources on a large scale in the power generation. A case study of the synergy between wastewater treatment plants and photovoltaic systems, aiming to improve the energetic, environmental and economic impacts, is presented. Based on data acquisition, the energy consumption analysis of wastewater treatment plant reveals that the highest demand is during April, and the lowest is during November. The placement of photovoltaic modules is designed to maximize the use of free space on the technological area of wastewater treatment plant in order to obtain a power output as high as possible. The peak consumption of wastewater treatment plant occurs in April, however the peak production of the photovoltaic is in July, so electrochemi... [more]

The article proposes methods for determining the optimal thermal insulation thickness for economic and ecological reasons, depending on the number of degree days of the heating period. Life cycle assessment was used for the ecological analysis. Analyses were performed for selected variants typical of Polish conditions. The optimal thermal insulation thickness as well as the amount of economic and ecological benefits depends very much on the condition of the building without thermal insulation, but also on the heat source used and the thermal insulation material to be used. For each variant, the optimal thermal insulation thickness for ecological reasons is much greater than the optimal for economic reasons. Taking into consideration the climatic zone and the associated number of degree days of the heating period, the colder the zone, the greater the optimal insulation thickness, as well as economic and ecological benefits.

In this paper, various modern power engines developed by the American, Japanese, and European automobile industries will be compared. Specific data, including the efficiency, emission rate of nitrogen oxides (NOx), fuel consumption, and electronic vehicle technology, will be developed. Since the first invention of the automobile engine in the late 19th century, companies came up with unique innovations, including its structure, control systems, and additional mechanical installations to improve efficiency and reduce emissions. Numerous companies, including Ford, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz, compete in the automobile industry to improve their engine’s efficiency and emission rates to create a clean environment. In addition, each country has its regulations on emission rates and automobile structure. Therefore, to meet these regulations, the structure and the system of the engines vary between companies in different countries. A variety of variable valve timing (VVT) systems, which is a me... [more]

The environmental safety of a car is currently one of the most important indicators of vehicle competitiveness and quality in the consumer market. Currently, assessment of the ecological properties of vehicles is based on various criteria. In the case of combustion-powered cars, most attention is usually paid to the values characterizing their use, and in terms of environmental assessment, pollutant emissions, and operational fuel consumption are key factors. The current article considers the possibility of using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to analyze the ecological properties of a passenger car during its operation. A simplified LCA method for vehicles, which, in strictly defined cases, can be used for the analysis of environmental impact and assessment of the energy analysis related to its operation, is presented. For this purpose, a vehicle life cycle model is developed. Data on the operation of 33 passenger cars from different manufacturers with similar operational chara... [more]

The production of wood pellets has grown considerably in the last decades. Besides woody biomass, other feedstocks can be used for pellet production. Among these, miscanthus presents some advantages because, even if specifically cultivated, it requires low inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides and shows high biomass yield (up to 28 tons of dry matter ha−1 in Europe). Even if in the last years some studies evaluated the environmental impact of woody pellet production, there is no information about the environmental performances of miscanthus pellet production. In this study, the environmental impact of miscanthus pellet was evaluated using the Life Cycle Assessment approach with a cradle-to plant gate perspective. Primary data were collected in a small-medium size pelletizing plant located in Northern Italy where miscanthus is cultivated to be directly processed. The results highlight how the miscanthus pellet shows lower environmental impact compared to woody pellet, mainly due to... [more]

Due to the constant evolution of the electricity markets around the world, new possibilities for contracting electricity are emerging. In Brazil, there are two models available to the consumer: the regulated contracting environment and the free contracting environment. Because of these possibilities for contracting electricity, it is important that consumers know how to migrate from the regulated to the free environment when it is an advantage. This study was conducted following the premises of three techniques: systematic literature review, gray literature review, and expert panel. The following question was asked: What are the determining factors to be considered by the consumer at the moment decision to migrate from the regulated electricity market to the free market? In total, 7 factors were identified and discussed in the literature review. The experts who participated in the study pointed out 3 influential scenarios in this decision making to migrate. The main contribution of thi... [more]

Comprehensive evaluation of shale gas resource, which plays a role in energy system optimization, atmospheric environmental cobenefit, and methane risk, has long been ignored in China. This research aims to fill this gap and conduct a study based on the China-Multi-pollutant Abatement Planning and Long-term benefit Evaluation model to answer the research question, “When considering environmental and climate risks, does the shale gas resource in China exert a negative or positive effect?” Results show that shale gas plays an important role in replacing coal and optimizing the energy structure. Shale gas can also effectively help reduce the key local pollutant emissions. Approximately 84.85 thousand of deaths (persons) and 32.24 billion yuan of economic loss can be avoided in 2030 with the reduction of SO2 and NOx. The methane risk, which has been disregarded in China when evaluating cobenefits, is also considered in this study. The economic loss due to methane leakage is estimated to re... [more]

Desalination using fossil fuels is so far the most common technique for freshwater production worldwide. However, such a technique faces some challenges due to limited fossil fuels, high pollutants in our globe, and its high energy demand. In this study, solutions for such challenges were proposed and investigated. Renewable biofuel blends were introduced and examined as energy/sources for desalination plants and, in turn, reduced dependency on fossil fuels, enhanced pollutants, and recovered energy for desalinations. Eight different blended biofuels in terms of dual and ternary blend approaches were investigated. Results displayed that dual and ternary blends of gasoline/n-butanol, gasoline/isobutanol, gasoline/n-butanol/isobutanol, gasoline/bioethanol/isobutanol, and gasoline/bioethanol/biomethanol were all not highly recommended as energy sources for desalination units due to their low heat recovery (they showed much lower than the gasoline, G, fuel); however, they could provide rea... [more]

The interest in employing absorption refrigeration systems is usually related to electricity’s precariousness since these systems generally use thermal rejects for their activation. The application of these systems is closely linked to the concept of energy polygeneration, in which the energy demand to operate them is reduced, which represents their main advantage over the conventional vapor compression system. Currently, the solution pairs used in commercial absorption chillers are lithium bromide/water and ammonia/water. The latter pair has been used in air conditioning and industrial processes due to the ammonia operation’s low temperature. Few review papers on absorption chillers have been published, discussing the use of solar energy as the input source of the systems, the evolution of the absorption refrigeration cycles over the last decades, and promising alternatives to increase the performance of absorption refrigeration systems. There is a lack of consistent studies about des... [more]

In this paper, the aggregate index of green performance of agriculture (Agri-Environmental Index (AEI)) was proposed and empirically verified. For this purpose, a taxonomic method was used, i.e., the linear ordering method, which allows for the construction of a synthetic metric for the assessment of performance. Based on 16 agri-environmental indicators from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Eurostat database, green performance indexes were constructed for 20 European countries. The constructed indexes are based on the multi-line impact of agriculture on the environment, with a particular focus on energy issues. During the analyses, answers to the following research questions were sought: Is the AEI an appropriate tool for evaluating the green performance of agriculture? What is the overall situation in this matter in EU countries? Which areas in terms of the impact of agriculture on the environment require remedial actions? The results of surveys sh... [more]

The current paper analyzes the awareness of renewable energy sources (RES), the relationship between self-reported and actual knowledge, and the correlation among the knowledge of renewable energy sources, the characteristic stereotypes, and the typical attitude of different social groups to energy, comparing them with international experience. A nationwide representative questionnaire-based survey was carried out involving 1002 people in Hungary in 2019. Better education, a higher income, an active white-collar profession, and a health- and environment-conscious approach to life (LOHAS (lifestyle of health and sustainability) segment) are definitely an advantage when it comes to knowledge of renewable energy sources. No significant relationship was detected in terms of age; however, in cluster formation, young people were typically found to be better informed. Overall, the actual knowledge of the Hungarian respondents is more favorable than the self-reported one, and the basic level o... [more]

There is a broad consensus worldwide that anthropogenic climate change is a scientific fact. Likewise, the fact is that the UN’s efforts to address climate change over the last 28 years have not been successful enough. It is evident that the global average temperature is on the rise (1.1 °C above pre-industrial levels in 2019). A particular concern comes from the fact that the Paris Agreement on keeping increases in the global average temperature to below +2 °C is an unenforceable ambition, since the focus is more on consequences than causes. In addition, economic policies regarding global taxes, as well as adaptation and mitigation measures, are questionable, as there is no evidence that changes in the climate system will proceed at the same rate in the coming years. This paper proposes an engineering approach that considers all relevant aspects of the climate change problem and proposes a new policy, named the “Climate New Deal”. It deals with: (i) Reorientation from a high-carbon ec... [more]

This case study investigates the potentials, greenhouse gas (GHG), and energy performance of forest residue biofuels produced by new and emerging production technologies, which are commercially implemented in Sweden for heavy transport. The biofuel options included are ethanol (ED 95), hydro-processed vegetable oil (HVO), and liquefied biogas (LBG) produced from logging residues in forestry and sawdust generated in sawmills. The calculated life cycle GHG emissions, based on the EU Renewable Energy Directive calculation methodology, for all three pathways are in the range of 6−11 g CO2eq./MJ, corresponding to 88−94% GHG emission reductions as compared to fossil fuel. Critical parameters are the enzyme configuration for ethanol, hydrogen supply systems and bio-oil technology for HVO, and gasifier size for LBG. The energy input is ranging from 0.16 to 0.43 MJ/MJ biofuel and the total conversion efficiency from the feedstock to biofuel, including high-value by-products (excluding heat), va... [more]

Poland is one of the leading producers of sugar from sugar beet in Europe. However, the production of sugar generates large amounts of lignocellulosic waste, in the form of beet pulp and leaves. Currently, this waste is not reutilized in the chemical industry, but is only used as food for farm animals. This paper assesses the potential of using bio-waste from the sugar industry as a raw material for the production of furfurals via acid hydrolysis. Further processing of furfural into derivatives such as furfuryl alcohol (FA) or tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA) could increase the economic profitability of the initiative. Furfuryl alcohol can be used as a fuel additive in sugar factories. Tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol can be used as a component in agricultural fertilizers, increasing the yield of sugar beet. This approach reduces the amount of post-production waste and brings the sugar industry closer to the concept of a circular economy.

The energy requirements of a solar-powered exploration rover constrain the mission duration, traversability, and tractive capability under the given limited usable power. Thus, exploration rover design, more specifically, rover wheel design (related to considerable energy consumption in driving), plays a significant role in the success of exploration missions. This paper describes the modeling of an operational environment and a multi-body dynamics (MBD) simulation tool based on wheel-terrain interaction model to predict the dynamic behavior on a digital elevation model (DEM) map. With these simulation environments, a multidisciplinary optimal wheel design methodology, integrating the MBD simulation tool and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II), is developed. Design parameters are chosen through sensitivity analysis. These multi-objective optimizations in dynamic states are conducted to obtain the optimal wheel dimension that meet the limited power condition with maxima... [more]

This article examines the environmental Kuznets curve for the member countries of the United States−Mexico−Canada Agreement (USMCA), using the ecological footprint as a measure of environmental degradation during 1980−2016. Panel data econometric methods are applied in this research, such as the cross-section dependence, unit root, cointegration and causality tests, and the new method of moments quantile regression (MMQR). The results suggest that the variables are characterized by a cross-section dependence, integrated of order one, and cointegrated. The fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) method shows that renewable energy reduces environmental degradation, and the environmental Kuznets curve is validated. In contrast, patents and trade openness do not show a statistically significant relationship. These results are confirmed with the MMQR, where renewable energy reduces environmental degradation in quantiles from 4 to 6, while the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis is... [more]

The concept of sustainable economic development takes into account economic, social and environmental aspects and strives to achieve balance between them. One of the basic areas where it is required to revalue the current views on sustainable development is energy. The growing public awareness of environmental protection forces changes in this industry. Despite the global nature of this problem, its solution is perceived differently in various regions of the world. The unquestionable leader in introducing the idea of sustainable development economy is the European Union, where the energy sector is of key importance for the effectiveness of this process. In order to assess the sustainable energy development of the European Union countries, studies were conducted based on 13 selected indicators characterizing this sector in terms of energy, economy and environment. In order to assess the specificity of the European Union countries, these indicators were additionally compared to the gross... [more]

Energy and climate policies benefit from modernized construction technology and energy supply source choices. Energy-efficiency improvement and CO2 emission reduction will result from renewable energy (RE) utilization in new and retrofit single-family houses in rural Poland. Several house construction scenarios and heating energy sources comparing building costs and potential emission reduction are based on already existing structures calculated for a 100 m2 dwelling corresponding to the average rural home. With the addition of thermal insulation and RE-generating equipment, construction costs increase, but the energy costs of operating the home dramatically shrink between a conventional and energy-neutral house. The latter scenario includes thermal solar panels and a heat pump as heating energy sources as well as electricity-generating PV panels. Replacing coal with environmentally-friendly RE reduces CO2 emissions by about 90% annually. Additionally, lower dependence on coal lessens... [more]

Technological solutions allowing the increase of the technological efficiency of anaerobic methods of wastewater treatment are still under investigation. The weaknesses of these solutions can be limited by the use of active fillings. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of fluidized active filling on the effectiveness of anaerobic treatment of sugar-industry effluent, the production efficiency and the qualitative composition of the biogas produced. High, comparable (p = 0.05) effluent treatment results were observed at tested organic load rates between 4.0 and 6.0 kg COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand)/m3·d. The COD removal rate reached over 74%, biogas yields ranged from 356 ± 25 to 427 ± 14 dm3/kg CODremoved and the average methane contents were approximately 70%. A significant decrease in effluent treatment efficiency and methane fermentation was observed after increasing the organic load rate to 8.0 kg COD/m3·d, which correlated with decreased pH and FOS/TAC (volatile... [more]

Cities constitute three quarters of global energy consumption and the built environment is responsible for significant use of final energy (62%) and greenhouse gas emissions (55%). Energy has now become a strategic issue for local authorities (LAs) and can offer savings when budget cuts have threatened the provision of core services. Progressive LAs are exploring energy savings and carbon reduction opportunities as part of the sustainable and smart city agenda. This paper explores the role of citizens in smart city development as “buildings don’t use energy: people do”. Citizens have the potential to shape transitions towards smart and sustainable futures. This paper contributes to the growing evidence base of citizen engagement in low carbon smart cities by presenting novel insights and practical lessons on how citizen engagement can help in smart city development through co-creation with a focus on energy in the built environment. A case study of Nottingham in the UK, a leading smart... [more]