Search results for "Environmental Protection"

Life Cycle Environmental Assessment of Energy Valorization of the Residual Agro-Food Industry

2021

This study assesses the potential environmental impacts related to the energy valorization of agro-food industry waste thought the Life Cycle Assessment methodology (ISO 14040). The system examined consists of a real anaerobic digester coupled with a combined anaerobic digester and heat and power plant (AD-CHP) operating in Sicily. The analysis accounts for all the impacts occurring from the delivery of the biomass to the AD-CHP plant up to the electricity generation in the CHP. The main outcomes of the study include the eco-profile of the energy system providing electricity and the assessment of the contribution of each life cycle phase aimed at identifying the potential improvement area. …

Agricultural Residue Management for Sustainable Power Generation: The Poland Case Study

2021

The European Union has set targets for renewable energy utilization. Poland is a member of the EU, and its authorities support an increase in renewable energy use. The background of this study is based on the role of renewable energy sources in improving energy security and mitigation of climate change. Agricultural waste is of a significant role in bioenergy. However, there is a lack of integrated methodology for the measurement of its potential. The possibility of developing an integrated evaluation methodology for renewable energy potential and its spatial distribution was assumed as the hypothesis. The novelty of this study is the integration of two renewable energy sources: crop residu…

Unveiling distribution patterns of freshwater phytoplankton by a next generation sequencing based approach.

2012

The recognition and discrimination of phytoplankton species is one of the foundations of freshwater biodiversity research and environmental monitoring. This step is frequently a bottleneck in the analytical chain from sampling to data analysis and subsequent environmental status evaluation. Here we present phytoplankton diversity data from 49 lakes including three seasonal surveys assessed by next generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S ribosomal RNA chloroplast and cyanobacterial gene amplicons and also compare part of these datasets with identification based on morphology. Direct comparison of NGS to microscopic data from three time-series showed that NGS was able to capture the seasonality in…

Effect of environmental conditions on the durability of polycarbonate for the protection of cultural heritage sites.

2019

Polycarbonate is a good material for covering and protecting cultural heritage sites because of its durability, mechanical properties, and transparency. However, polycarbonate degrades under environmental weathering with a significant decrease of physical and mechanical properties and loss of transparency. In this work, the contemporary presence of ultraviolet irradiation and different temperature and moisture conditions have been taken into account to study the environmental degradation of this polymer with regard to its mechanical and optical properties. The photo-oxidation reactions cause a decrease in the molecular weight and the formation of many oxygenated species. The hydrolytic sci…

Global health burden of PM2.5, black and organic carbon aerosols

2021

Análisis del comportamiento de la demanda de turismo rural desde la experiencia de la comarca El Alto Palancia

2004

This study is intended to delve into the tastes and preferences of tourists visiting rural areas in Spain as an alternative to the traditional sun and beach holiday that dominates Spanish tourism. This paper is focused on the demand side of rural tourism; more specifically the extent to which tourists visiting a Spanish rural area. El Alto Palancia region, exhibit different behaviours depending on age, gender, incomes and educational background. The homogeneity of behaviour across several categories of tourists was tested in two sets of variables. First, «interest in certain resources associated with rural tourism», focused on natural and architectural resources that sustains the tourist's …

Prawne aspekty polityki Unii Europejskiej w zakresie ochrony środowiska i bezpieczeństwa ekologicznego

2018

Bezpieczeństwo ekologiczne w ostatnich dekadach stało się niezwykle ważnym elementem bezpieczeństwa międzynarodowego. Dewastacja środowiska ma znaczący wpływ na pogorszenie warunków życia człowieka, spowodowało to konieczność wypracowania nowych standardów w dziedzinie polityki ekologicznej. Również Unia Europejska wprowadza regulacje mające na celu poprawę kondycji środowiska naturalnego i jego ochronę. Pośród obszarów działania Unii Europejskiej możemy odnaleźć ochronę klimatu czy też unormowania dotyczące energii i zasobów naturalnych. Warto prześledzić prawne aspekty ochrony środowiska na poziomie europejskim oraz omówić przykłady katastrof ekologicznych pod kątem mechanizmu reagowania …

A Double-Hurdle model of urban green areas valuation: Dealing with zero responses

2008

Due to the widespread support for public parks and open spaces in urban areas, there is an increasing need to analyse the social benefits that are generated by such amenities. The city of Valencia (Spain) has a large park that can be considered its green backbone due to its transversal layout running along 9 of the 19 districts into which the city is divided. A contingent valuation survey was therefore conducted in order to obtain the non-market benefits derived from the use of this park by the inhabitants of Valencia. In addition, to deal with the large number of zero responses obtained, a Double-Hurdle model was applied. The results show that this model is more appropriate than other, sim…

Regional climate model simulations for Europe at 6 and 0.2 k BP: sensitivity to changes in anthropogenic deforestation

2014

International audience; This study aims to evaluate the direct effects of anthropogenic deforestation on simulated climate at two contrasting periods in the Holocene, ∼ 6 and ∼ 0.2 k BP in Eu-rope. We apply the Rossby Centre regional climate model RCA3, a regional climate model with 50 km spatial resolution, for both time periods, considering three alternative descriptions of the past vegetation: (i) potential natural vegetation (V) simulated by the dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS, (ii) potential vegetation with anthro-pogenic land use (deforestation) from the HYDE3.1 (History Database of the Global Environment) scenario (V + H3.1), and (iii) potential vegetation with anthropogenic land …

Threatened Plant Communities as an Indicator of Fishponds Value: An Example from Silesia (Sw Poland)

2007

This paper presents the first results of studies of fishpond plant communities of Silesia (SW Poland). On fishponds, many rare and threatened plant associations were found, especially within the aquatic, mud and rush communities. Among the most interesting are: Lemno minoris-Salvinietum natantis, Trapetum natantis, Eleocharetum ovatae and Scirpetum radicantis. The majority of the above-mentioned associations occur only in artificial fishpond reservoirs within the region. Thus, to reach an effective level of conservation, co-operation between biologists and owners, and integration of conservation and agricultural activities, have to be achieved. This would be the only way to stop the impover…