Search results for "Emissions"

Energy-related GHG emissions balances: IPCC versus LCA

2017

Addressing climate change is one of the greatest environmental challenges. Due to the impact of cities to energy consumption, the involvement of the local authorities in environmental policies is rapidly increasing. The Covenant of Mayors (CoM), launched by the European Commission, is an urban initiative aimed at reducing CO2 emissions. The signatories have to compile the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) balance of their territory and, to do so, they can use the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) or the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Moreover, the signatories have to define strategies to reduce the GHG emissions. In this context, authors estimate the GHG balance of an Italian muni…

The environmental benefits of carsharing: The case study of Palermo

2020

Abstract The problems related to traffic emissions are becoming increasingly pressing and serious, especially in big cities where the private car plays the main role in the mobility of people, being excessively used, while walking, cycling and the use of public transport are often seen as secondary options and are hampered by a poorly urban environment. Therefore, solutions must be found to reduce the number of cars circulating in the city and to support the most sustainable modes of transport at the same time, in order to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and harmful substances. A modal alternative which is of undoubted interest could be represented by carsharing, which is a mode comple…

Forecasting Etnean eruptions by real-time observations of volcanic gas composition.

2007

It is generally accepted but not experimentally proven that a quantitative prediction of volcanic eruptions is possible from the evaluation of volcanic gas data. By discussing the results of two years of real-time observation of H2O, CO2 and SO2 in volcanic gases from Mt. Etna volcano, we unambiguously demonstrate that increasing CO2/SO2 ratios can allow detecting the pre-eruptive degassing of uprising magmas. Quantitative modeling by the use of a saturation model allows us to relate the pre-eruptive increases of the CO2/SO2 ratio to the refilling of Etna’s shallow conduits with CO2-rich deep-reservoir magmas, leading to pressurization and eruption triggering. The advent of real-time observ…

Passive degassing at Nyiragongo (D.R. Congo) and Etna (Italy) volcanoes: the chemical characterization of the emissions and assessment of their uptak…

2014

Volcanic plume monitoring at mount Etna by diffusive(passive)sampling

2004

This paper reports the use of diffusive tubes in determining HF, HCI, and SO2 in the volcanic plume of Mount Etna in an attempt to highlight the potential of this method in studying volcanoes. In a first application a network of 18 diffusive tubes was installed on Etna's flanks, aimed at evaluating the atmospheric dispersion of the volcanic plume on a local scale. Results showed a monotonic decrease in volatile air concentrations with distance from the craters (HF from 0.15 to <0.003 μmol m-3 , HCl from 2 to <0.01 μmol m -3, and SO2 from 11 to 0.04 μmol m -3 ), revealing the prevalently volcanic contribution. Matching of SO2/HCl and HCl/HF volatile ratios with contemporaneous measurements a…

Atmospheric CFCs and geogenic HCFCs in gas discharges from Mt Etna and Vulcano Island (Italy)

2013

Accounting for Emission Trading Schemes: A Still Open Debate

2014

AbstractEmission allowances form the common trading currency introduced by the European Emission Trading Scheme to cover the emission of greenhouse gases. This initiative forces companies to internalise environmental expenses, so that it has an impact on accounting practices. The aim of this note is to discuss some alternative views on how to record this economic transaction, which could help the International Accounting Standards Board to find an accepted proposal. Adopting a common approach would always be preferable to the current situation characterised by total discretion. Indeed relying on the business model as proposed by the Autorite des Normes Comptables and the European Financial …

The Effect of Combustion Dynamics on the Formation of Pollutant Emissions by Co-Firing the Wood Biomass with Gaseous Fuel

2008

On the Use of a Hydrogen-Fueled Engine in a Hybrid Electric Vehicle

2022

Featured Application: The specific application of this research could be the implementation of a hydrogen-fueled engine in a hybrid electric vehicle in order to improve the engine efficiency and to eliminate its exhaust emissions. Hybrid electric vehicles are currently one of the most effective ways to increase the efficiency and reduce the pollutant emissions of internal combustion engines. Green hydrogen, produced with renewable energies, is an excellent alternative to fossil fuels in order to drastically reduce engine pollutant emissions. In this work, the author proposes the implementation of a hydrogen-fueled engine in a hybrid vehicle; the investigated hybrid powertrain is the power-s…

Hyaluronan-Based Graft Copolymers Bearing Aggregation-Induced Emission Flurogens

2017

In order to develop a technology platform based on two natural compounds from biorenewable resources, a short series of hyaluronan (HA) copolymers grafted with propargylated ferulic acid (HA-FA-Pg) were designed and synthesized to show different grafting degree values and their optical properties were characterized in comparison with reference compounds containing the same ferulate fluorophore. Interestingly, these studies revealed that the ferulate fluorophore was quite sensitive to the restriction of intramolecular motion and its introduction into the rigid HA backbone, as in HA-FA-Pg graft copolymers, led to higher photoluminescence quantum yield values than those obtained with the isola…