Search results for "Natural resource"
showing 10 items of 482 documents
From Buildings' End of Life to Aggregate Recycling under a Circular Economic Perspective: A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Case Study
2021
The demolition of buildings, apart from being energy intensive and disruptive, inevitably produces construction and demolition waste (C&Dw). Unfortunately, even today, the majority of this waste ends up underexploited and not considered as valuable resources to be re-circulated into a closed/open loop process under the umbrella of circular economy (CE). Considering the amount of virgin aggregates needed in civil engineering applications, C&Dw can act as sustainable catalyst towards the preservation of natural resources and the shift towards a CE. This study completes current research by presenting a life cycle inventory compilation and life cycle assessment case study of two buildin…
The green roofs for reduction in the load on rainwater drainage in highly urbanised areas
2021
AbstractRapid weather phenomena, particularly sudden and intense rainfall, have become a problem in urban areas in recent years. During heavy rainfall, urban rainwater drainage systems are unable to discharge huge amounts of runoff into collecting reservoirs, which usually results in local flooding. This paper presents attempts to forecast a reduction in the load on the rainwater drainage system through the implementation of green roofs in a case study covering two selected districts of Opole (Poland)—the Old Town and the City Centre. Model tests of extensive and intensive roofs were carried out, in order to determine the reduction of rainwater runoff from the roof surface for the site unde…
Impact of the environmental taxes on reduction of emission from transport in Latvia
2021
Transport has a significant contribution to climate change and many post-Soviet republics, including Latvia, struggle to decrease these emissions to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. In this paper, ...
Insurance mechanisms for tropical cyclones and droughts in Pacific Small Island Developing States
2016
One group of locations significantly affected by climate-related losses and damage is the Small Island Developing States (SIDS). One mechanism aiming to reduce such adverse impacts is insurance, with a wide variety of products and models available. Insurance for climate-related hazards affecting Pacific SIDS has not been investigated in detail. This article contributes to filling this gap by exploring how insurance mechanisms might be implemented in the Pacific SIDS for tropical cyclones and droughts. The study examines opportunities and constraints or limitations of some existing insurance mechanisms and programmes as applied to the Pacific SIDS. Eight insurance mechanisms are compared and…
Sustainability, Territorial Resources and Social Capital
2017
In Italy, in the last two decades, new methods of intervention in planning and land policies have been used, which focused more and more on territorial government, governance, development, cohesion and environmental sustainability. One of the main factors that has contributed to the dissatisfaction of the residents is the lack of quality in the towns, which has been more and more characterized by urban decay and by lack of services and gathering places. Giving back environmental, economic and social quality to degraded areas or recovering abandoned public spaces responds definitely to the concept of sustainable city limiting urban sprawl and reducing environmental impacts inherent in the bu…
Renewable energy for sustainable rural development: synergies and mismatches
2020
Abstract Energy transition is increasingly regarded as a promising opportunity for the economic development of rural areas. This possibility is associated with the siting and (co-)ownership of decentralized (small-scale) renewable energy facilities. The underlying productive link, however, has been taken for granted, rather than conceptually and practically cultivated. Thus, while renewable energy-based rural development has been stated as a desired by-product of energy transitions, its potential has remained largely unfulfilled. This review aims to illuminate the ambiguous interplay between renewable energy and rural development in the context of the current trajectories of the energy tran…
A methodological approach for assessing businness investments in renewable resources from a circular economy perspective
2018
Abstract In this paper, we have analyzed a feasibility project for the realization of a biogas plant at a company in the viticulture sector located in south-central Sicily. Using engineering formulas, we identified the electrical power that the plant could produce using waste products created by the vineyard itself, examined the new and interesting opportunities that have arisen with the encouragement and development of biogas production in Italy, and then assessed the economic feasibility of the investment itself, considering an investment scheme of total capital self-financing. The possibility of using wastes from wine production comes from an in-depth study of the circular economy, that …
Small Island developing states: Overview about wind, solar and marine energy in Cuba
2019
The current economic, political, and social trends in Cuba indicate that energy sector will change in the future. The energy consumption will increase and Cuba, like most island nations, lacks a large energy resource base and satisfies most of its energy needs with imported fossil fuels. The aim of this work is a summary of renewable energy sources (solar, wind, bioenergy and marine) presented in the island and the development in the next society of the future.
The Projection of a Sustainable Agriculture System Aiming for Supporting the Ecoeconomy and Ecosanogenesis Specific for the Hill-Mountain Areas – Con…
2010
The Romanian integration into the European Union – and also at its technological standards – means among others the adoption and implementation of transforming measures into the conventional agriculture. Thus the farmers should apply certain technologies to enable them to obtain good productions under specific conditions of the ecoeconomy and ecosanogenesis. The implementation of such a sustainable agriculture system for Romania is discussed into this article.
The Origins of Environmental Assessment
2016
Looking back through the course of history, it is indeed possible to find many different forms of “environmental assessment” that relate to a clear, unifying philosophy: to consider the impact of such practices before they are implemented. The most important difference that is clearly prevalent in more recent instances is the consideration of the environmental component in the assessment process, which can be straightforwardly be attributed to an increasing awareness within the modern society of the ever-growing scarcity and the cost of natural resources combined with the resulting quality of life for current and future generations. Focusing on the origin of modern ecological assessment, th…