Search results for " impacts"
showing 10 items of 86 documents
Embodied energy and environmental impacts of a biomass boiler: a life cycle approach
2015
The 2030 policy framework for climate and energy, proposed by the European Commission, aims towards the reduction of European greenhouse gas emissions by 40% in comparison to the 1990 level and to increase the share of renewable energy of at least the 27% of the European's energy consumption of 2030. The use of biomass as sustainable and renewable energy source may be a viable tool for achieving the above goals. However, renewable energy technologies are not totally clean because they cause energy and environmental impacts during their life cycle, and in particular they are responsible of air pollutant emissions. In this context, the paper assesses the energy and environmental impacts of a …
Towards more sustainable airfield pavements using life-cycle assessment of design alternatives
2020
Airports are critical infrastructures and their success is paramount to development through tourism, trade and connectivity. Within the airport, the runway pavement must always be in a pristine condition. Consequently, pavement design and maintenance decisions are vital. Authorities must make decisions concerning preferred materials for design and maintenance. Decisions should be balanced by both economic and environmental factors. This paper considers a case study at Falcone Borsellino Airport (PMO), Palermo, Italy, where air traffic has been steadily increasing. Different pavements are proposed: flexible Asphaltic concrete designs with both traditional Asphaltic concrete and using reclaim…
Energy and environmental impacts of Energy related products (ErP): a case study of biomass-fuelled systems
2014
Abstract Energy-related Products (ErP) account for a large proportion of European energy and natural resource consumption. In 2007, ErP were responsible for the consumption of about 239 Mtoe of electricity and about 555 Mtoe of fuels. In order to reduce the energy and environmental impacts of these products, the European Commission published the Directive 2009/125/EC on the eco-design of ErP. This Directive represents a key component of European policy for improving the energy and environmental performances of products in the internal market. In this context, it is important to develop scientific research aimed at assessing the energy and environmental impacts of ErP, and at defining their …
Life Cycle Assessment of electricity production from refuse derived fuel: A case study in Italy
2020
Biomasses and bio-waste have an important role in decarbonizing the European energy mix, the latter contributing to the transition towards a circular economy. In particular, Refuse Derived Fuel (RFD) - a biofuel obtained from dry residue of waste - appears a really interesting energy option. In this framework this study aims at assessing the environmental profile of electricity generation from RDF in Italy, comparing two different kinds of RDF production and combustion plants. The functional unit is 1 kWh of net electricity from RDF delivered to the grid. Two Italian plants are examined: one located in Ravenna (RDF is produced in a direct flow treatment plant) and the other one in Bergamo (…
The way forward : Can connectivity be useful to design better measuring and modelling schemes for water and sediment dynamics?
2018
For many years, scientists have tried to understand, describe and quantify water and sediment fluxes, with associated substances like pollutants, at multiple scales. In the past two decades, a new concept called connectivity has been used by Earth Scientists as a means to describe and quantify the influences on the fluxes of water and sediment on different scales: aggregate, pedon, location on the slope, slope, watershed, and basin. A better understanding of connectivity can enhance our comprehension of landscape processes and provide a basis for the development of better measurement and modelling approaches, further leading to a better potential for implementing this concept as a managemen…
A coupled eco-hydro-geomorphic investigation of basin response to climate change: Examining the role of climate on internal basin dynamics
2009
Much attention has been devoted to assessing the relationship between changes in climate and landscape evolution. Given the complexity of dependence of geomorphic processes on hydrological and vegetation properties of the system, it is not surprising that different studies of fluvial response to climate change often appear contradictory, making difficult to generalize about how any given drainage basin will respond to changes in climate and/or land use. In this study, an integrated geomorphic component of the physically-based, spatially distributed hydrological model, tRIBS, the TIN-based Real-time Integrated Basin Simulator, is used to analyze the sensitivity of landscapes to climate chang…
Lessons from the 2018-2019 European droughts : a collective need for unifying drought risk management
2022
Funding Information: This open-access publication was funded by the University of Freiburg. Funding Information: Financial support. The project is supported by the Wassernetzwerk Baden-Württemberg (Water Research Network of the State Baden-Württemberg), which is funded by the Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-Württemberg (Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of the State Baden-Württemberg) (grant no. AZ. 7532.21/2.1.6) and Maa-ja vesitekniikan tuki ry foundation. Doris E. Wendt acknowledges her support as part of the NERC-funded Groundwater Drought Initiative (NE/R004994/1). Lucy J. Barker was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/R016429/1) a…
Winter long dry spells in the Mediterranean basin and associated atmospheric conditions : contemporary and future variability (1957-2100)
2017
In the context of climate change, as reflected by a dryer Mediterraneanbasin, this thesis focused on the study of the contemporary and future variability(1957-2100) of the wintertime (September to April) very long dryspells events (called VLDSe) in the Mediterranean basin. An original methodologywas developed in this thesis in order to define VLDSe as singularclimatic events, characterized by location, duration and spatial extent criteria.76 VLDSe were detected in the Mediterranean basin on the contemporaryperiod (1957-2013). These events are divided into 4 main geographicalpatterns: North-East, West, Scattered Localized and South-East. North-East and West configurations are associated with…
The energy and environmental impacts of Italian households consumptions: An input–output approach
2011
Abstract Promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns is a key challenge for the future, in order to use the Earth resources efficiently, to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, and to decouple the economic growth from the environmental degradation. New or customized methods have to be applied to support decisions makers in the choice of environmental-friendly products, and to select policy priorities and sustainable strategies. A modified input–output model can aid to analyse the relationships among economic growth, energy consumptions and pollutants, in order to assess the energy and environmental impacts due to the actual production and consumption patterns. The following pa…
Life Cycle Assessment of Flow-Redox Cells: A Case Study
2022
European Union identified the battery value chain as strategic for achieving a sustainable and decarbonized economy. Focusing on the environmental sustainability of batteries, this paper presents an application of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology to three flow-redox cells characterized by electrodes made by different materials. The results are referred to one kWh of energy supplied by the cell during its useful life and are calculated following a “from cradle to grave” approach. Negligible differences (lower than 1.5%) are observed in the energy and environmental impacts of the three types of cells, mainly due to the type of electrode and the use phase. A dominance analysis shows that …