This paper presents a review of the turn of events and points of view of biogas in and its utilization for power, heat and in transport in the European Union (EU) and its Member States. Biogas creation has expanded in the EU, empowered by the sustainable power strategies, notwithstanding monetary, ecological and atmosphere benefits, to arrive at 18 billion m3 methane (654 PJ) in 2015, speaking to half of the worldwide biogas creation. The EU is the world chief in biogas power creation, with more than 10 GW introduced and various 17,400 biogas plants, in contrast with the worldwide biogas limit of 15 GW in 2015. In the EU, biogas conveyed 127 TJ of warmth and 61 TWh of power in 2015; about half of absolute biogas utilization in Europe was bound to warm age. Europe is the world's driving maker of biomethane for the utilization as a vehicle fuel or for infusion into the petroleum gas network, with 459 plants in 2015 creating 1.2 billion m3 and 340 plants taking care of into the gas network, with a limit of 1.5 million m3. Around 697 biomethane filling stations guaranteed the utilization 160 million m3 of biomethane as a transport fuel in 2015.

https://www.longdom.org/open-access/biogas-developments-and-perspectives-in-europe.pdf

Biogas Developments and Perspectives in Europe

O proposito desta pesquisa e abordar a analise e a indexacao de paisagens da vida rural tendo por referencia o Arquivo Fotografico Ilustrativo dos Trabalhos Geograficos de Campo, do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica, cujas fotografias foram produzidas pelos geografos agrarios do entao Conselho Nacional de Geografia, entre os anos de 1940 e 1960. Trata-se de uma pesquisa exploratoria que aborda a informacao geografica no âmbito da Ciencia da Informacao voltada para a organizacao e a representacao do conhecimento registrado no processo de transferencia da informacao. Partindo de estudos sobre a paisagem levantados na literatura de Geografia e conjugado com a bibliografia das areas de Arquivologia, Biblioteconomia, Ciencia da Informacao e Historia, buscou-se identificar conceitos e categorias que subsidiaram a proposta de uma matriz para analise e indexacao de fotografias de paisagens. Os conjuntos fotograficos selecionados do acervo para o experimento referem-se as regioes brasileiras Nordeste e Sul, de acordo com a primeira divisao oficial proposta pelo Conselho Nacional de Geografia em 1941. Palavras-chave: Arquivo fotografico. Fotografias. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica. Indexacao de fotografias. Paisagens.

Análise e indexação da paisagem: o Arquivo Fotográfico Ilustrativo dos Trabalhos Geográficos de Campo do Instituto

To assess the sustainability of waste management scenario with energy recovery, it is necessary to carry out an adequate analysis of all influential criteria. The main problem in the analysis is to determine the indicators that clearly and fully sublimate the most important influential factors. The model for the assessment of the sustainability of waste treatment scenarios based on multi-criteria analysis AHP (analytic hierarchy process) method is developed. The model predicts an increase in the number of indicators, if it found that a selected number of indicators are not sufficient to distinguish between scenarios and new criterion for the selection of indicators: the relevance of the indicator for certain waste treatment. The model is verified in the case study the city of Nis. Four scenarios were selected and examined: business as usual scenario (landfilling of waste) and the other are created as scenarios with energy recovery and recourses preserving: composting organic waste with recycling inorganic waste, incineration of waste and anaerobic digestion of waste. The assessment of the sustainability of waste treatment scenarios was made in several steps. It is found that the best sustainable scenario is composting of organic and recycling of inorganic waste.

Multi-Criteria Analysis As A Tool For Sustainability Assessment Of A Waste Management Model

The rational allocation of spatial resources is an important factor to ensure the sustainable development of rural areas, and effective pre-emptive spatial evaluation is the prerequisite for identifying the predicament of rural resource allocation. Multi-criteria decision-making analysis has advantages in solving multi-attribute and multi-objective decision-making problems, and has been used in sustainability evaluation research in various disciplines in recent years. Previous studies have proved the value of spatial evaluation using multi-criteria decision analysis in guiding rural incremental development and inventory updates, but systematic reviews of the previous literature from a multidisciplinary perspective and studies of the implementation steps of the evaluation framework are lacking. In the current paper, the research is reviewed from the two levels of quantitative statistics and research content, and through vertical and horizontal comparisons based on three common operating procedures: standard formulation, weight distribution, and ranking and verification. Through the results, the application status and characteristics of the MCDA method in related research are determined, and five research foci in the future are proposed.

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Application of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Analysis to Rural Spatial Sustainability Evaluation: A Systematic Review

The concept of circular economy (CE) has gained prominence in management research as a new industrial approach that society, companies, and policymakers should follow in aiming to manage for sustainability issues. The adoption of CE principles has highlighted particular managerial practices that companies can implement in their business models. However, existing research still falls short of describing in sufficient detail the enablers of these practices for a circular business model design. This issue, especially in rural areas, is particularly interesting for the agri-food sector, which is characterized by enormous sustainability challenges, including food production and waste, packaging, transportation, consumer habits and behavior, and energy production and consumption. This article takes stock of this gap through an analysis of the enablers of managerial practices in Fiusis, a company operating in the agro-energy sector of a rural area, which has designed a circular business model and was recognized as “the best business model in the rural area” by the European Commission in 2019. The case highlights the importance of a suitable political and institutional environment beneficial to the starting-up and development of the business, and the importance of collaborating within the community of stakeholders for the creation of a new culture of sustainability.

Enablers of Managerial Practices for Circular Business Model Design: An Empirical Investigation of an Agro-Energy Company in a Rural Area

The objective of this study was to assess the impacts of biogas production implemented by family farmers organized in a cooperative agroenergy condominium. Evidences of changes in socioenvironmental performance were obtained through field observations and queries to the farmers. Observed ‘change coefficients’ were inserted into multicriteria indicators, weighted by their spatial scale of occurrence in the rural establishments, and impact indices were calculated for a set of seven characterization aspects (technological efficiency, environmental quality, productive process, employment, income, health, and management, and administration), integrated in 23 criteria and 123 indicators. The resulting impact indices of the implementation of the cooperative agroenergy condominium pointed out to positive performances in most of the criteria, with occasional transitory negative indices in specific indicators, related to farmers' particular contexts. Statistically significant positive results were obtained for seven of the ten Ecological impact criteria, as follows (i) use of agricultural inputs and resources; (ii) energy consumption; (iii) self-generation, utilization, reuse, and autonomy in the agricultural area; (iv) energy security; (v) emissions to the atmosphere; (vi) soil quality, and (vii) water quality. In the Socioenvironmental impacts dimension, statistically significant positive results were found for the following criteria: (i) productivity; (ii) productive integration in the concept of biorefinery/Ecopark; (iii) training; (iv) qualification and availability of work; (v) income generation; (vi) waste disposal, and (vii) institutional relationship. The agroenergy condominium contributed to reducing environmental impacts, promoting productive efficiency and improving income generation in the cooperating family farms.

Daiana Gotardo Martinez

Papers

Socioenvironmental impacts of biogas production in a cooperative agroenergy condominium