Development of high-gravity technology for removing particulate and gaseous pollutant emissions: Principles and applications

Current solid waste management strategies and energy recovery in developing countries - State of art review

Current solid waste management strategies and energy recovery in developing countrihes - State of art review.

Model−based predictive maintenance in building automation systems with user discomfort

Concern for climate change is one of the drivers of new, transitional energy policies oriented towards economic growth and energy security, along with reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and preservation of biodiversity. Since 2010, the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) has been publishing annual Global Landscape of Climate Finance reports. According to these reports, US$3660 billion has been spent on global climate change projects over the period 2011–2018. Fifty-five percent of this expenditure has gone to wind and solar energy. According to world energy reports, the contribution of wind and solar to world energy consumption has increased from 0.5% to 3% over this period. Meanwhile, coal, oil, and gas continue to supply 85% of the world’s energy consumption, with hydroelectricity and nuclear providing most of the remainder. With this in mind, we consider the potential engineering challenges and environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the main energy sources (old and new). We find that the literature raises many concerns about the engineering feasibility as well as environmental impacts of wind and solar. However, none of the current or proposed energy sources is a “panacea”. Rather, each technology has pros and cons, and policy-makers should be aware of the cons as well as the pros when making energy policy decisions. We urge policy-makers to identify which priorities are most important to them, and which priorities they are prepared to compromise on.

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/18/4839/pdf

Energy and Climate Policy—An Evaluation of Global Climate Change Expenditure 2011–2018

Biomass boiler plants of small thermal power (under 35 kW thermal), in particular for domestic heating, have greatly contributed to the rise in particulate emissions. Several technologies, like fabric filters or electrostatic precipitators, can achieve high particulate removal efficiency, over 99%. However, the application of these technologies is limited by excessive prices and operational problems, since the high cost does not allow their use in small size plants. The paper shows a comparative performance analysis of different scrubber systems which have been designed, realized and tested with flue gas produced by biomass combustion in a 25 kW thermal boiler. The experimental campaigns were realized in the laboratory of the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Bologna. Experimental results demonstrate the achievements of particulate removal efficiency which is comparable with the efficiency of industrial technologies. Moreover, a preliminary energy balance was carried out to assess the energy cost of the different scrubber systems tested.

Francesco Cento

Papers

Performance analysis of different scrubber systems for removal of particulate emissions from a small size biomass boiler

Sediment management in coastal infrastructures: techno-economic and environmental impact assessment of alternative technologies to dredging.