Showing papers in "Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy in 2019"
TL;DR: A review of the current state of the art was performed in order to search directions toward the most profitable biochar farming applications as discussed by the authors, indicating that a promising direction might be its on-farm production followed by onfarm use and nutrient recycling, or more precisely, special fertilization applications.
Abstract: Biochar refers to the high-carbon, black fine-grained product of biomass pyrolysis. Independent studies repeatedly confirmed that its incorporation into arable land is a reliable carbon sequestration method that significantly improves soil quality. The latest development leads to a reduction in the production cost (− 10 to 30 USD t−1); however, the use of biochar in commercial agriculture remains scarce. The reason is that biochar can substitute lower-quality charcoals (150–300 USD t−1). Therefore, farmers tend to sell their biowaste for energy purposes, respectively, preferring a quick profit over the forgotten soil-improving practices, which hold long-term benefits. A review of the current state of the art was performed in order to search directions toward the most profitable biochar farming applications. There are indications that a promising direction might be its on-farm production followed by on-farm use and nutrient recycling, or more precisely, special fertilization applications.
198 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the impact of renewable energy consumption, economic growth, foreign direct investment inflows and trade on carbon dioxide emissions for a panel of 12 Middle East and North Africa countries over the period 1980-2012 using the recent Panel Vector Autoregressive model with multi-domain analysis framework.
Abstract: This paper examines the impact of renewable energy consumption, economic growth, foreign direct investment inflows and trade on carbon dioxide emissions for a panel of 12 Middle East and North Africa countries over the period 1980–2012 using the recent Panel Vector Autoregressive model with multi-domain analysis framework. The results from Granger causality test reveal a bidirectional causality relationship between the candidate variables supporting the feedback hypothesis. The findings show that economic growth leads to environmental degradation while renewable energy, international trade and foreign direct investment inflows lead to decreases carbon dioxide emissions. A serious shift toward using more renewable energy resources, international trade and foreign direct investment inward is recommended to improve the environmental quality and attain the sustainable growth in the region.
152 citations
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that ANN has applicability to cities such as Ahvaz to forecast air quality with the purpose of preventing health effects and authorities of urban air quality, practitioners, and decision makers can apply ANN to estimate spatial–temporal profile of pollutants and air quality indices.
Abstract: Air pollutants impact public health, socioeconomics, politics, agriculture, and the environment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of an artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm to predict hourly criteria air pollutant concentrations and two air quality indices, air quality index (AQI) and air quality health index (AQHI), for Ahvaz, Iran, over one full year (August 2009–August 2010). Ahvaz is known to be one of the most polluted cities in the world, mainly owing to dust storms. The applied algorithm involved nine factors in the input stage (five meteorological parameters, pollutant concentrations 3 and 6 h in advance, time, and date), 30 neurons in the hidden phase, and finally one output in last level. When comparing performance between using 5% and 10% of data for validation and testing, the more reliable results were from using 5% of data for these two stages. For all six criteria pollutants examined (O3, NO2, PM10, PM2.5, SO2, and CO) across four sites, the correlation coefficient (R) and root-mean square error (RMSE) values when comparing predictions and measurements were 0.87 and 59.9, respectively. When comparing modeled and measured AQI and AQHI, R2 was significant for three sites through AQHI, while AQI was significant only at one site. This study demonstrates that ANN has applicability to cities such as Ahvaz to forecast air quality with the purpose of preventing health effects. We conclude that authorities of urban air quality, practitioners, and decision makers can apply ANN to estimate spatial–temporal profile of pollutants and air quality indices. Further research is recommended to compare the efficiency and potency of ANN with numerical, computational, and statistical models to enable managers to select an appropriate toolkit for better decision making in field of urban air quality.
103 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the viability of two types of biopolymer, xanthan gum and guar gum, as environmentally friendly additives for collapsible soil stabilization was explored, and the results revealed that biopolymers decrease maximum dry density and permeability of the collapsed soil.
Abstract: Addition of appropriate additives is considered as one of the most widely used techniques in soil stabilization applications. This study explores the viability of two types of biopolymer, xanthan gum and guar gum, as environmentally friendly additives for collapsible soil stabilization. Compaction, consolidation, permeability, and unconsolidated-undrained triaxial tests were performed in this study to measure the engineering properties of treated soil with different percentages of biopolymer at various curing times. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test was employed to assess the changes on the morphological characteristics of the stabilized soil. The results reveal that biopolymers decrease maximum dry density and permeability of the collapsible soil. The findings also indicate that strain–stress curves are influenced by the amount of biopolymer and curing time. Also, the results of SEM test show the changes in soil morphological characteristics due to the interaction between the biopolymers strings and fine-grained particles of the soil. Generally, the results suggest that xanthan gum and guar gum stabilization play a major role in fine-grained collapsible soil mechanical properties improvement, resulting in an eco-friendly and sustainable substitute to traditional soil additives.
90 citations
TL;DR: A review of the research into waste-incorporated geopolymers and highlighting the barriers to industry adoption with a view to pointing the way forward for future research is presented in this paper.
Abstract: The widespread industry adoption of geopolymer concrete has the potential to positively contribute to environmental sustainability in both the industrial and construction sectors, through the recycling of waste materials, and the reduction in carbon emissions. Extensive research has been conducted into geopolymers during the past two decades, demonstrating the potential for the alkali-activated cement to replace ordinary Portland cement. However, there are a number of challenges facing the adoption of geopolymers. Much of the research into geopolymers uses sodium silicate solution as the alkali activator. Studies have noted that sodium silicate solutions are highly corrosive, and, as such, can be defined as user-hostile systems. Alternative alkali activators, such as potassium silicate solutions, have been proposed as more user-friendly and therefore more favourable for industry adoption. The highly variable nature of waste materials needs to be a focus of future research, with mix designs that focus on locally available waste materials with minimal processing. Much research has focused on heat-cured geopolymers; however, this increases the embodied energy while reducing the environmental benefit, which also acts as a limiting factor for in situ applications. Research into ambient temperature curing, addressing the issues of compressive strength, the rate of strength development, and curing time is required. Durability issues need to be addressed with studies finding the compressive strength of geopolymers being reduced after relatively short time periods of immersion in water, and potential problems relating to chloride induced corrosion of reinforcing steel. Further research is recommended for developing standardized leachate analysis for geopolymers containing recycled waste materials. The objective of this paper is to review the research into waste-incorporated geopolymers and highlight the barriers to industry adoption with a view to pointing the way forward for future research.
77 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a combined economic value and environmental impact analysis under a full biorefinery setup was performed to assess the best pretreatment process from a techno-economic-environmental point of view.
Abstract: Second-generation bioethanol represents an interesting alternative to liquid fuels in times of increased concerns over global warming and energy security. However, the recalcitrant structure of lignocellulosic biomass feedstock makes necessary a pretreatment process to increase the conversion of sugars. Diluted acid, liquid hot water, steam explosion, ammonia fiber explosion, and organosolv pretreatments are assessed using a combined economic value and environmental impact analysis under a full biorefinery setup in order to assess the best pretreatment process from a techno-economic-environmental point of view. Five process areas were identified within each process considered: pretreatment stage, conversion stage, product purification and separation stage, water treatment stage, and cogeneration stage. A process simulation software was used to consider material and energy balances of the biorefineries with different pretreatment processes and to optimize the separation and purification processes (e.g., distillation columns). For the considered biomass and scenarios, all processes resulted in positive gains in terms of economic feasibility and carbon dioxide emissions. In particular, diluted acid can be considered the best pretreatment process to produce lignocellulosic bioethanol thanks to the best techno-economic-environmental performances, with the largest economic and environmental margins of 39.2 M$/year and 83.9 kt CO2/year, respectively.
56 citations
TL;DR: The role of conventional waste-to-energy (W2E) in the circular economy is discussed in this paper, where the authors show that although waste to energy figures on a lower level in the European waste hierarchy than recycling, it plays, from an overall sustainability point of view, an essential, complementary and facilitating role within a circular economy.
Abstract: This paper reviews the role of conventional waste-to-energy, i.e. incineration of (mainly) municipal solid waste with energy recovery, in the circular economy. It shows that, although waste-to-energy figures on a lower level in the European waste hierarchy than recycling, it plays, from an overall sustainability point of view, an essential, complementary and facilitating role within the circular economy. First of all, waste-to-energy combusts (or should combust) only waste that is non-recyclable for economic, technical or environmental reasons. This way waste-to-energy is compatible with recycling and only competes with landfill, which is lower in the waste hierarchy. Furthermore, waste-to-energy keeps material cycles, and ultimately the environment and humans largely free from toxic substances. Finally, waste-to-energy allows recovery of both energy and materials from non-recyclable waste and hence contributes to keeping materials in circulation. These arguments are elaborated and illustrated with many examples. This paper also points out the pitfalls of a circular economy if it merely focuses on material cycles, disregarding economic, environmental, social and health aspects of sustainability.
53 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the fit-for-purpose approach for greywater treatment and reuse is discussed, with a particular stress on the fit forpurpose approach to greywater reuse and reuse.
Abstract: Water scarcity, increasing demand, and new paradigms in water management are gradually switching public perception and attitude toward wastewater. The actual term “waste” water is nowadays being gradually replaced by “used” water, and this is further declined in an array of sub-components, including greywater, depending on provenance. Greywater is increasingly seen as a resource to be recovered. Treated greywater can be used on site for different purposes: toilet flushing, non-food irrigation, fire protection, and others. For this, greywater needs to be treated to remove organic matter, surfactants, micropollutants, and microbial activity. Membrane bioreactors have proven able to provide a high-quality effluent, ensuring also an efficient removal of microorganisms; the technology can be applied in decentralized treatment due to its small footprint, but some issues about the economic investment and fouling phenomenon are still present. Applications and possible solutions to undetermined issues are herein discussed, with a particular stress on the fit-for-purpose approach for greywater treatment and reuse.
53 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a model organism Chlorella pyrenoidosa was grown in four different sources of wastewater namely piggery, palm oil mill effluent (POME), mixed-kitchen, and domestic wastes.
Abstract: The study is aimed to enhance the productivity of microalgal culture by varying the organic and inorganic components during wastewater treatment. A model organism Chlorella pyrenoidosa (C. pyrenoidosa) was grown in four different sources of wastewater namely piggery, palm oil mill effluent (POME), mixed-kitchen, and domestic wastes. The growth efficacy of C. pyrenoidosa on POME was tested for their ability to remove nutrients. It was observed that POME showed the highest chemical oxygen demand of 700 mg L−1. Meanwhile, the piggery waste had the highest amount of total nitrogen of 590 mg L−1. C. pyrenoidosa species were reported to grow well with different nutrient sources and produce high levels of lipids. The highest content of chlorophyll a was obtained with POME (3 mg L−1) and domestic wastes (2.5 mg L−1). The optimum growth rate of C. pyrenoidosa was reported for POME as a substrate. Also, the results indicated the lipid content for POME (182 mg L−1), domestic sample (148 mg L−1), piggery (0.99 mg L−1), and mixed-kitchen wastes (117 mg L−1). The results above revealed that among the tested substrates, POME could be the best alternative for C. pyrenoidosa to improve the yield of lipids and ultimately, biofuels production. Therefore, the treatment of POME in wastewater using C. pyrenoidosa can boost clean technology and energy generation. In future studies, the screening of other waste effluents is needed to cultivate the microalgae and enhance biomass production to meet increasing energy demands and waste treatment applications.
53 citations
TL;DR: It can be concluded that the bank could pave the way for effectively performing a further and repaid reuse of components and perfecting current recycling of materials to contribute a more sustainable built environment from the view of various terms mentioned in this study.
Abstract: This paper concerns the reusable components and recycled materials from demounted structures which may draw a large amount of waste in construction industry. By a series of literature review and analyses, a material and component bank was proposed to manage more effectively the recycling of materials and direct reuse of components even of whole components obtained from old structures to facilitate a more sustainable construction industry. The concept, main businesses, and work operation of the bank were illustrated in detail including its potential management method and supply chain. The relationship between the bank and current building information modeling, design for deconstruction, supply chain, and life cycle assessment based on the bank were then analyzed in detail. It can be concluded that the bank could pave the way for effectively performing a further and repaid reuse of components and perfecting current recycling of materials to contribute a more sustainable built environment from the view of various terms mentioned in this study. The bank also can link with current method of life cycle assessment or environmental impact assessment well, which all can promote the construction sustainability indicating the bank can be integrated into current construction industry easily for the future.
52 citations
TL;DR: The present paper reviews the potential of enzymes, extracted from different biota (such as bacteria, fungi, algae and plants), to decolourize dyes from contaminated wastewater and finds the peroxidase enzymes are found to be very effective against wide classes of industrial dyes.
Abstract: The industrial wastewater contains a large amount of toxic pollutants that cause severe biotic risk and deterioration of environmental quality when discharged untreated/partially treated. Among the industrial sectors, the colourant industry-produced wastewater has more complex and hazardous composition in terms of toxicity of pollutants. In the recent past, numerous bioremediation techniques based on whole cells (bacteria, fungi and plants) or enzymes have been investigated for the treatment of dye-contaminated wastewater. The enzyme-driven treatment system has been found to be an effective for achieving satisfactory decolourization of dye-contaminated wastewater in less time, cost, labour and ecological risk. The enzyme-mediated decolourization of dye occurs through either degradation or biotransformation mechanism under optimal environmental conditions. The enzyme activity is limited by the operational factors such as reactivity of dye, pH, temperature, co-substrate and electron donor. In this regard, the present paper reviews the potential of enzymes, extracted from different biota (such as bacteria, fungi, algae and plants), to decolourize dyes from contaminated wastewater. It has been observed that the enzyme activity varies with the class of enzyme, its source and targeted substrate. The enzymes belonging to the class oxidoreductase are chief biological agents involved in bioremediation of textile dyes. The peroxidase enzymes are found to be very effective against wide classes of industrial dyes, with more tolerability to high temperature ~ 60 °C and wide range of operational pH 3–11. These enzymes are easily available as it can be extracted from bacteria, fungi, algae and plants. It has been observed that the dye decolourization efficiency of enzymes is higher in an immobilized state than in soluble form.
TL;DR: In this paper, an artificial neural network was adapted for modeling and optimization of the process parameters for achieving maximum As(V) removal efficiency, which achieved an R2 value of 0.9971 and the corresponding mean squared error value was 0.0000601.
Abstract: Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) were synthesized via an affordable and environmentally friendly route using waste banana peel extract. The polyphenol-rich extract acted as a stabilizing and reducing agent resulting in formation of α-Fe2O3 with a particle size of around 60 nm. The composition, phase, morphology and size of the nanoparticles were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and a Zetasizer. The efficiency of the IONPs was assessed in terms of arsenic(V) remediation from contaminated water within the range of 0.1–2.0 mg/L. Batch study showed that IONPs had a high As(V) adsorption capacity of about 2.715 mg/g at 40 °C. A statistical approach, viz. an artificial neural network, was adapted for modeling and optimization of the process parameters for achieving maximum As(V) removal efficiency. A set of 54 experimental sets were conducted and the predicted model generated showed an R2 value of 0.9971 and the corresponding mean squared error value was 0.0000601. Surface binding of the As(V) phenomenon on the green synthesized IONPs was explained on the basis of FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy of the control and the As(V)-loaded IONPs.The spent adsorbent was successfully immobilized in phosphate glass matrix with an objective to provide a complete and sustainable solution for arsenic contamination.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the differences in CO2 emissions between the prefabricated and conventional construction methods and the effect of the prefabo-rication rate on building carbon emissions.
Abstract: In recent years, the industrialization of construction has been promoted to achieve sustainable development within the construction industry; accordingly, prefabrication technology has been utilized substantially. Due to enormous carbon emission reduction pressure, the carbon-reducing potential of prefabrication has attracted widespread interest. To deepen the current understanding of the carbon emission performance of prefabrication, this study investigates the differences in CO2 emissions between the prefabricated and conventional construction methods and the effect of the prefabrication rate on building carbon emissions. A quantitative model is established based on life-cycle assessment (LCA) to calculate the cradle-to-site CO2 emissions of the two construction methods. The LCA model is then parameterized to simulate the cradle-to-site CO2 emissions at varying prefabrication rates. The simulation is conducted based on three scenarios, i.e., some slabs and staircases are prefabricated, all transverse members are prefabricated, and all components are prefabricated. Two sample buildings in China, where housing industrialization has developed rapidly, are used for a preliminary examination. The results show that the conventional building produces 185.13 kgCO2/m2, whereas the prefabricated building produces 151.84 kgCO2/m2, which is approximately 18% lower than the former value. Additionally, the CO2 emissions do not necessarily decrease with an increase in the prefabrication rate. The building with some prefabricated slabs and staircases produces the least CO2 emissions, and the building with the highest prefabrication rate still produces less CO2 emissions than the conventional building. Moreover, as the prefabrication rate increases, the carbon emissions during the construction cycle present a shift towards manufacturing and transportation. Therefore, adopting prefabrication technology contributes to significant environmental benefits for reducing CO2 emissions; the optimal prefabrication rate can be chosen according to the demand. Carbon reduction in manufacturing and transportation should be a new focus.
TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic study was performed testing PLA membranes in pervaporation (PV) for the separation of methanol (MeOH)/methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) azeotropic mixture evaluating their performance by varying feed temperature and vacuum degree.
Abstract: Membrane science, in the context of the growing attention towards the preservation and protection of the environment, has an emerging role as a very well-recognised eco-friendly technology. In order to meet the complete concept of sustainability, however, greener strategies still need to be put in place regarding the preparation of the membranes. Polylactic acid (PLA) green flat sheet membranes were prepared using ethyl lactate as a green solvent and water as a non-solvent, for the first time. The morphology, thickness, contact angle, mechanical properties, FTIR and degree of swelling were determined for studying the properties of the produced membranes. A systematic study was performed testing PLA membranes in pervaporation (PV) for the separation of methanol (MeOH)/methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) azeotropic mixture evaluating their performance by varying feed temperature and vacuum degree. The findings revealed that the membrane morphology changed from finger-like to spongy-like and finally to dense-like structure by acting on the evaporation time (ET) during the preparation with an improvement in the overall mechanical properties. The PLA dense membrane produced with an ET of 7 min was successfully tested in PV exhibiting a preferred permeation towards MeOH with a highest selectivity value of more than 75. An Arrhenius-type dependence between flux and temperature was found.
TL;DR: In this paper, a concept of sustainability steady state is proposed, based on data that are commonly accepted, and mass and energy conservation principle with second law, seem to indicate that irrespective of correlation between carbon dioxide build-up and global warming, renewable energy, specifically direct solar energy will have to be adopted.
Abstract: Renewable energy and sustainable development are widely discussed and highly debated topics. The current and majority opinion is that for sustainable development renewable energy is a necessity and plenty of it is available, which can be harvested economically and in environment friendly way. There are also dissenters who feel strongly that fossil fuels are far from exhausted, can be used with clean technologies, which are already developed, while technical problems for renewable energy are far from solved and they are very often more damaging to the environment and society than envisaged. The phenomena of global warming and carbon dioxide build-up are also inseparably entangled with sustainability and energy. Most analyses take a short-term view, hardly ever beyond 2050 or 2100. We certainly expect the society to survive and remain viable well beyond these dates and therefore need to explore what such long-term sustainability may imply. So it seems appropriate to consider a much longer time span and in order to keep the discussion from becoming speculative, certain restrictions need to be imposed. Therefore, a concept of sustainability steady state is proposed. Rough analysis presented here based on data that are commonly accepted, and mass and energy conservation principle with second law, seem to indicate that irrespective of correlation between carbon dioxide build-up and global warming, renewable energy, specifically direct solar energy will have to be adopted. This will of course have to be aided by judicious amount of indirect solar energy like wind energy and particularly bio-energy. Renewable sources, while having orders of magnitude greater energy content than human society may use up, are not particularly easy to harness, allowing only a small part to be finally harvestable. There are tough technical, environmental and societal problems, all quite significant, that have to be solved and restrictions on its transmission and location of usage have to be followed. It will also require development of “wasteless technology” and recovery and recycle of materials, particularly those which are difficult to win from natural sources and may be in short supply. Thus, in the long run, “renewable energy” will become inevitable, but even this will require a great deal of effort and planning and will not come easy.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship between international tourism indicators, air pollutants, and ecological biodiversity underlying the premises of environmental Kuznets curve in the panel of 35 tourists-induced countries for the period of 1995-2016.
Abstract: The ecological footprint of tourism is imperative to assess for United Nation’s environmental sustainable agenda that is provoked for healthy visitation of tourists without damaging natural environment. This would ultimately reap economic and environmental benefits to sustained international tourism. This study examined the relationship between international tourism indicators, air pollutants, and ecological biodiversity underlying the premises of environmental Kuznets curve in the panel of 35 tourists-induced countries for the period of 1995–2016. The study used panel fixed effect and panel two-stage least square regression technique for robust inferences. The results confirmed the following key points, i.e., (1) the U-shaped relationship found between inbound tourists and mono-nitrogen oxide (NOx), where inbound tourists initially do not emanate the NOx emissions, while at the later stages, the level of NOx emissions substantially raises the required strong policy intervention to reduce emissions and provide tourists safe and healthy destinations, (2) inbound tourists linked with the biodiversity loss, and it increases carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in a panel of countries, (3) trade openness affects ecological footprint and potential habitat area, while it decreases NOx and SO2 emissions, (4) international tourists’ departure exercised the ‘rebound effect’ on the ecosystem and air pollutants across countries, (5) there is a monotonic increasing relationship between outbound tourists and ecological footprint, while there is a flat/no relationship between outbound tourists, NOx, CO2, SO2, and GHG emissions, and (6) the food management practices supported the ecological diversity, and it reduces the carbon ‘foodprint,’ while it substantially increases SO2 emissions in outbound tourists’ model. The study emphasized the need for sustainable tourism infrastructure that conserves our natural environment and reduces climatic variability across the globe.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focused on the nonlinear Granger causality between cement production, economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions by Markov-switching vector autoregressive (MScVAR) and Markov switching Granger (MS-Granger) approach for the period of 1960-2017 for China and the USA.
Abstract: The study focuses on the nonlinear Granger causality between cement production, economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions by Markov-switching vector autoregressive (MScVAR) and Markov-switching Granger causality approach for the period of 1960–2017 for China and the USA. The empirical findings from MSIA(2)-VAR(2) for the USA and MSIA(3)-VAR(3) for China suggest that cement production has an important impact on CO2 emissions and economic growth. Markov-switching causality approach determines the evidence of unidirectional causality running from cement production to carbon dioxide emissions in all regimes for the USA and China. The cement production is an important source of environmental pollution. The USA and China have global responsibility for cement production determined as one of the central sources of carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, MS-Granger causality results were compared with ones determined by traditional causality method. It was determined that to employ traditional method instead of MS-causality method can cause wrong policy applications if the tested series has nonlinearity.
TL;DR: In this paper, a threshold model was used to examine the relationship between environmental regulation and CO2 emissions, with significant differences among the eastern, central, and western regions, and it was concluded that a diverse range of measures for CO2 reduction should be adopted according to the local economic situation.
Abstract: With the increasing pressure on China to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, it is crucial to clarify the effect of implementing environmental regulations and their impact on the region. Many studies have focused on the linear, rather than nonlinear, relationship between environmental regulation and CO2 emissions. The exploration of nonlinear relations is conducive to the in-depth study of policy effects and regional differences of environmental regulations in China. To ensure effective CO2 emission reductions, regional differences in CO2 emissions in China should also be considered. In this study 30 provinces of China were divided into three different regions according to their level of economic development from 2004 to 2015. Taking the energy intensity and foreign direct investment (FDI) as threshold variables, a threshold model was used to examine the relationship between environmental regulation and CO2 emissions. It was found that environmental regulation has a threshold effect on CO2 emissions, with significant differences among the eastern, central, and western regions. Environmental regulations in the eastern region were ineffective for curbing CO2 emissions, while the energy intensity was in the middle and low threshold range. However, FDI had a promotional effect on CO2 emissions. In the central region, environmental regulations reduced CO2 emissions under the influence of energy intensity and FDI. In the western region, environmental regulations could not mitigate CO2 emissions when the energy intensity and FDI were used as the threshold variables. It was concluded that a diverse range of measures for CO2 reduction should be adopted according to the local economic situation.
TL;DR: This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the influence and productivity of research on GSC from 1995 to 2017 by reporting trends among authors, countries and institutions based on a bibliometric approach.
Abstract: Recently, the emergent concept of green supply chain has received increasing attention. Although popular among scholars, many literature reviews have only examined GSC from a general point of view or focused on a specific issue related to GSC. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the influence and productivity of research on GSC from 1995 to 2017 by reporting trends among authors, countries and institutions based on a bibliometric approach. To this end, the study analyzes around 1900 papers on GSC. This study uses the Web of Science Core Collection database to analyze the bibliometric data and the visualization of similarities viewer method to graphically map those data. The graphical analysis uses bibliographic coupling, co-citation, co-authorship and co-occurrence of keywords.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) for large onshore wind turbines in the US, including all phases of the turbine's life cycle separately (materials acquisition, manufacturing, transportation, installation, operation and maintenance, and end of life).
Abstract: The goal of this study was to conduct a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) for large onshore wind turbines in the US, including all phases of the turbine’s life cycle separately (materials acquisition, manufacturing, transportation, installation, operation and maintenance, and end of life) and multiple impact categories (environmental, human health, resource consumption). Particular attention was given to make the installation and maintenance phases complete and transparent. The contribution of this study is that it is the first comprehensive LCA for large wind turbines in the US, where different transport distances (including overseas transport of turbine parts), truck emission standards, mixes of electricity sources, and waste disposal practices will affect impacts, compared to those conducted for other countries. It is also the first comprehensive LCA to examine separately all 6 phases of the turbine’s life cycle (in particular separating manufacturing from raw material acquisition/installation) and the first to evaluate turbine lifespan as a sensitivity parameter. The study was conducted for 200 Gamesa 2-MW wind turbines located near Abilene, Texas. SimaPro8 software was used for modeling, according to ISO 14040 standards. The manufacturing phase contributed the greatest overall impacts, which was consistent with other studies; hence, alternative methods of manufacturing should be explored to reduce impacts. Installation, transportation, maintenance, and raw materials acquisition ranked second through fifth, respectively. Consistent with other studies, end-of-life ranked last, which means that the disposal method (landfilling or combustion) for turbine parts which are not recycled makes little difference in terms of the overall turbine life cycle.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed an integrated methodology using multi-criteria decision-making methods and geographical information systems for a renewable energy spatial planning model, which was applied to the province of Malaga (Spain), which is characterized by high energy demand for both residential and touristic use.
Abstract: The present study aims to develop an integrated methodology using multi-criteria decision-making methods and geographical information systems for a renewable energy spatial planning model. This methodology has been applied to the province of Malaga (Southern Spain), which is characterised by high energy demand for both residential and touristic use. Criteria and restrictions are defined, weighed and combined in order to identify high potential areas for the construction of single- or combined wind power, solar power and biomass generation facilities. Finally, a cluster analysis is carried out in order to classify municipalities within the province according to the availability of medium and high potential land for the construction of these facilities. Results suggest that for the three types of energy analysed (wind, solar and biomass), single- or combined solar and wind power facilities are the best options in the province of Malaga. The breakdown of these results at the municipality level is of great interest from the point of view of spatial planning. For instance, in some municipalities less than 1 km2 is regarded as having a medium-to-high potential in terms of renewables. Some of these municipalities, situated on the Costa del Sol, must meet high current- and future energy demands, owing both to population density and the volume of touristic demand, which is the highest in the region of Andalusia. The methodology used can be applied to other regions and will be of interest for planners, managers and investors, all of whom can use this information for spatial- and energy planning, and the definition of targets and strategies, and, therefore, as and to aid decision-making.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify the environmental, socioeconomic, and social hot spots and to find ways to enhance the sustainability of selected food, fuel, and fiber products from sugarcane, i.e., sugar, sugar, electricity from bagasse, and molasses-based ethanol.
Abstract: This paper aims to identify the environmental, socioeconomic, and social hot spots and to find ways to enhance the sustainability of selected food, fuel, and fiber products from sugarcane, i.e., sugarcane, sugar, electricity from bagasse, and molasses-based ethanol. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) were used to examine the environmental, socioeconomic, and social performances of the various sugarcane-based products. All data from the field were collected during the production year 2014/2015. The environmental data were analyzed using the ReCiPe life cycle impact assessment method. Social data were analyzed using performance reference points method, using social indicators from relevant standards/guidelines. Interesting results from the study are that some problems such as cane trash burning and overuse of chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals are the main causes not only of negative environmental performance, but also of negative socioeconomic and social performances. Moreover, recommendations to help increase the sustainability of the Thai sugar industry for each stakeholder group have been provided. These include, for example, using demonstration farms in the same areas, zoning of agricultural crops, implementing large area-based agriculture policy, and making local regulation to prohibit cane trash burning.
TL;DR: In this article, a toolbox for developing an eco-industrial park (EIP) from scratch according to French policy is developed and discussed, and the first candidate companies' achievements are discussed and demonstrate the first benefits of toolbox.
Abstract: The twentieth century was characterized by an increase in research studies concerning the interactions between economic system growth and environmental deterioration issues. Faced with this background, circular economy (CE) and its industrial ecology (IE) pillar seem to be an efficient way to achieve sustainable development within the industrial sector. IE consists of optimizing the networking among industries by using energy and material exchange, which are generated from by-products and waste stocks. It aims to improve the environmental potentialities of integrated clusters called eco-industrial parks (EIPs). Policy in the European Union countries and in French territories has positively influenced such EIP implementation by the establishment of a set of measures to develop the industrial symbiosis performances. The present paper reviews the key drivers to identify the methods and tools to integrate the life cycle thinking approach that defines the following five phases: design, layout, commercialization, operating and renewal phases. A toolbox for developing an EIP from scratch according to French policy is developed and discussed. This study defines a framework involving a factual eco-industrial park and network. The industrial application is a new EIP, namely “Les Portes du Tarn”. It is located in the south of France and acts as an experimental field. The paper provides current results for commercialization and operating, including a model of an organizational process, a decision-making process, information technology tools and systems to manage sustainable development. It highlights the CE and IE challenges surrounding enhancing the social acceptability of an industrial park project through adaptation of a relevant governance model and establishment of a continuing collaborative context and trust relationship between diverse actors. The first candidate companies’ achievements are discussed and demonstrate the first benefits of toolbox. The paper delivers a toolbox, feedback and some good practices to support the development of EIP project from greenfield.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify the most critical barriers that hinder the deployment of shore power supply in the container terminals of Djibouti and identify the key barriers that currently influence the implementation of the shore power technology.
Abstract: Greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants from ships contribute to climate change and poor local air quality. While at berth, the use of shore-side electricity as an alternative technique to generate electricity to ships can greatly reduce emissions and improve air quality. The container terminals of Djibouti accommodate a significant number of ship calls, but there is a lack of emissions mitigation measures. The purpose of this study is to identify the most critical barriers that hinder the deployment of shore power supply in the container terminals of Djibouti. To achieve this aim, this study consults professional experts and experienced managers working in the maritime industry. The data collection is based on a survey questionnaire collected in the form of linguistic preferences to handle fuzziness of human perceptions. The collected linguistic preferences are later converted into quantitative data and analyzed using fuzzy cognitive map approach. The results reveal that power requirement, investment cost and electricity cost are the key barriers that currently influence the implementation of the shore power technology in Djibouti. The findings of the study have great implications and are hoped to assist decision makers and port authority in prioritizing the different barriers according to their importance, in an effort to accelerate the introduction and the development of green port strategies.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors established a bottom-up framework to estimate the impacts of regulation on the technological trends of battery electric vehicles based on the most up-to-date data from the market in China.
Abstract: The newly launched new energy vehicle credit regulation scheme is expected to have a dramatic impact on the development of the Chinese and global new energy vehicle markets. This paper establishes a bottom-up framework to estimate the impacts of regulation on the technological trends of battery electric vehicles based on the most up-to-date data from the market in China. The results suggest that mini-electric cars will always be the most credit cost-effective. Moreover, 350 km will be the optimal driving range under the credit regulation. With the development of energy-saving technologies, midsize electric vehicles will increase in popularity before 2020 and be the first to receive the highest credit of 6. Additionally, promoted by the regulation, the investment in energy-saving technologies will reduce the cost of batteries and lead to higher credits, especially for large-class and high electric range vehicles. However, the regulation likely faces the risk of losing this positive effect in 2025 or even earlier. To avoid such a circumstance, the relevant policies should be modified before such a scenario occurs.
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors examined the impact of two different environmental policies (environmental regulation and government subsidy) and their interaction on green technical innovation, and found that there are dramatic regional differences in green innovation efficiency in China.
Abstract: Global environmental problems will require the development of new technologies. How will green technology-related public policy affect this process? By exploiting an economic assessing model of green technical innovation efficiency, this paper examines the impact of two different environmental policies (environmental regulation and government subsidy) and their interaction on green technical innovation. The analysis was conducted by collecting innovation-related data on 30 provinces in China over the period 2006–2016. It was found that there are dramatic regional differences in green innovation efficiency in China. The average efficiency in the eastern region is about 0.8, followed by the western region, the central region and the north-eastern region, with 0.4, 0.2 and 0.2, respectively. During the sample period, there was a statistically significant effect of the coupling of the two policy instruments on the innovative efficiency of green technology of China, which is − 0.01. Regulatory policies have a remarkable incentive influence on the performance of green innovation in the central region (0.5) but a restraining effect on the eastern region (− 0.9). R&D subsidies play an essential role in inducing green technology only in the central region (0.2). The paper concludes that both regulative policy and governmental subsidies have failed to achieve the goal of promoting green innovation development in China. These two figures show the average regional efficiency of the two types of innovation with or without environment-related factors using innovation-related data on a panel of 30 provinces in China over the period 2006–2016.
TL;DR: In this article, a combination of Fe3O4 nanoparticles/persulfate in conjunction with ultrasound was used to address the presence of residual antibiotics in the environment; the influence of effective parameters in the remediation process, persulfate concentration, nanoparticle concentrations, initial antibiotic concentration, contact time and pH was investigated.
Abstract: The presence of residual antibiotics in the environment is one of the major global concerns, and it is imperative to control their discharge in water bodies. The present study used a combination of Fe3O4 nanoparticles/persulfate in conjunction with ultrasound to address this problem; the influence of effective parameters in the remediation process, persulfate concentration, nanoparticle concentrations, initial antibiotic concentration, contact time and pH was investigated. The highest removal rate of tetracycline antibiotic was observed at pH 10, the amount of magnetic nanoparticles being (0.3 g/L), with persulfate concentration at 4 mM for the removal of antibiotic concentration at 10 mg/L; TC and COD removal efficiency is 92.99 and 79.85%, respectively. The deployment of sonocatalytic process, along with the use of magnetite nanoparticles and persulfates as oxidizing agents, appears to be an effective means for decreasing the high-level tetracycline concentration in water.
TL;DR: In this article, a system dynamics-based evolutionary game theoretical analysis is proposed to examine the impact of policy incentives, i.e., price subsidy and taxation preference on electric vehicles (EVs) industry development.
Abstract: A system dynamics-based evolutionary game theoretical analysis is proposed to examine the impact of policy incentives, i.e., price subsidy and taxation preference on electric vehicles (EVs) industry development. Two case scenarios were used to distinguish policy performance by dividing it into a static and dynamic incentive. The result reflected that the game in implementation of the static incentive policy did not achieve stable equilibrium, indicating that such a policy is not effective for driving the development of the EVs industry. However, the game had stable equilibrium when dynamic incentive policy was implemented. The taxation preference had better performance in incentivizing EVs production than the direct subsidy. The study is expected to provide insight into policy making in the industrial transition toward low-carbon consumption. Limitations are given to indicate opportunities for further research.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate how rapidly the building stock can be transformed into net-zero energy buildings (NZEs) and investigate the potential impact of energy efficiency policies.
Abstract: In recent years, numerous countries and organizations have presented a large number of initiatives and policies to promote the net-zero energy building movement. Although several research efforts have been conducted to set up a consistent and holistic framework of net-zero building standards, the differences in policies and codes related to net-zero buildings and their impacts are not yet fully understood. The aim of this study is to investigate how rapidly the building stock can be transformed into net-zero energy buildings (NZEs). The focus is not technical or based on economic constraints but instead on the potential impact of energy efficiency policies. In response, this paper first presents an overview of the current status of codes and policies related to net-zero building development worldwide. Second, this paper compares and explains the major differences in building energy codes among regions; three countries are used as examples to demonstrate the different approaches. The three countries, which are located on three different continents, are the USA, Germany, and China. Lastly, three prototype buildings are modeled—with similar climate zone classifications as the above-mentioned three countries—based on each country’s respective building energy codes. The prototypes are analyzed against a baseline, with and without the impact of building codes and policies. The preliminary results indicate that, currently, China has few stringent building code requirements; however, due to the wider acceptable indoor thermal environmental range, China has higher potential than the USA to achieve the net-zero goal. Additionally, policies in the building sector have had a substantial positive impact on the reduction of energy and carbon emissions in China. In comparison, Germany has slightly higher potential to achieve the net-zero goal than the other two countries, whereas the USA, without a positive energy policy, will underperform in the near future, compared to most countries worldwide.
TL;DR: In this article, the state of the art of the current status, techniques used for conversion, possible future prospects, policies and challenges of biomass energy in the context of Bangladesh are presented.
Abstract: This paper presents the state of the art of the current status, techniques used for conversion, possible future prospects, policies and challenges of biomass energy in the context of Bangladesh. It is seen that the utilization of biomass energy is increasing day by day. Biomass has the potential capacity to contribute around 400 EJ/yr in the future global energy supply by the year 2050 ensuring the adaptability of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all). However, in many cases, lack of modern technology augmented by socioeconomic challenges is creating a tremendous hindrance to the way of extracting and utilizing the biomass energy at a higher efficacy. The authors believe if well-researched plans and techniques are adapted specifically for Bangladesh, and followed accordingly, it is possible to mitigate this hindrance to a great extent. The authors have also proposed some recent techniques that might be feasible in the context of Bangladesh.