Search results for "WASTE"
showing 10 items of 2580 documents
Road project opportunity costs subject to a regional constraint on greenhouse gas emissions
2012
Abstract France has constrained the Aquitaine region to set up a climate plan to avoid an emission of 2883 ktCO 2 eq for the period 2007–2013. In parallel, the region has decided to carry out the construction of road infrastructures in order to avoid very high congestion costs. Those road projects will involve an increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during that period. In the present context of strong sustainability, all emissions (direct and indirect) generated by those projects should be offset. At the regional level, the offsetting of GHG emissions is usually carried out by implementing carbon sequestration projects or projects that reduce energy demand. This paper aims at determin…
Greenhouse gases from wastewater treatment — A review of modelling tools
2016
Nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane are greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted from wastewater treatment that contribute to its carbon footprint. As a result of the increasing awareness of GHG emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), new modelling, design, and operational tools have been developed to address and reduce GHG emissions at the plant-wide scale and beyond. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art and the recently developed tools used to understand and manage GHG emissions from WWTPs, and discusses open problems and research gaps. The literature review reveals that knowledge on the processes related to N2O formation, especially due to autotrophic biomass, is still incompl…
Understanding water energy nexus in drinking water provision: an eco-efficiency assessment of water companies
2022
Producción Científica
Estimation of biogas produced by the landfill of Palermo, applying a Gaussian model
2008
Abstract In this work, a procedure is suggested to assess the rate of biogas emitted by the Bellolampo landfill (Palermo, Italy), starting from the data acquired by two of the stations for monitoring meteorological parameters and polluting gases. The data used refer to the period November 2005–July 2006. The methane concentration, measured in the CEP suburb of Palermo, has been analysed together with the meteorological data collected by the station situated inside the landfill area. In the present study, the methane has been chosen as a tracer of the atmospheric pollutants produced by the dump. The data used for assessing the biogas emission refer to night time periods characterized by weak…
Economic feasibility study for intensive and extensive wastewater treatment considering greenhouse gases emissions
2013
Economic feasibility assessments represent a key issue for selecting which wastewater treatment processes should be implemented. The few applications that exist focus on the positive economic value of externalities, overlooking the existence of negative externalities. However, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) consume a significant amount of energy, contributing to climate change. In this context, as a pioneering approach, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) have been incorporated as a negative externality of wastewater treatment. Within this framework, this study aims to compare the economic feasibility of five technologies, both intensive and extensive, for small communities. The results sho…
THE INFLUENCE OF LANDFILL FEATURES AND SIDE SLOPES ON METHANE EMISSION RATES
2011
Sanitary landfills for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) disposal have been identified as one of the most important sources of methane (CH4) emissions; indeed, MSW contains a certain amount of biodegradable organic matter which undergoes anaerobic degradation resulting in the production of the so called landfill gas (LFG), which main component is typically represented by CH4. In general, LFG will escape through any faults in the landfill capping or in the LFG collection system. If the capping is not damaged, low quantities of LFG will be emitted through the permeable material that covers the disposed waste. On the other hand, some zones of the capping are often more permeable than others (e.g. si…
Greenhouse gases from wastewater treatment plant: towards a new protocol for field measurements
2015
Greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) represents an increasing interest in the water industry at the present moment. The biological processes needed for treating wastewater have been found responsible for the unintentional generation of GHGs, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). The quality and quantity of a GHG emitted from a WWTP can significantly vary with the wastewater treated, the process configuration, and the strategies employed in process control. In the recent past, efforts for monitoring and accounting for GHGs emissions from WWTPs have considerably increased, and classifications of emission type were proposed t…
A survey to evaluate safety in protected crops in western Sicily
2017
Protected crops in the Mediterranean area has reached advanced production systems, but they should solve environmental, energy and money problems. The greenhouse, in fact, is a system characterized by high energy inputs with a reduced environmental sustainability compared to extensive farming and intensive open field. In Sicily, the area dedicated to annual greenhouse cultivation is 8,200 ha with a total number of farms greater than 6,000; although the sector is of great importance in the Sicilian economy, issues as workplace, food and environmental safety are often overlooked. A survey was carried out with the aim of identifying the possibilities to improve environmental, work and food saf…
Compatibility of surfactants with activated-persulfate for the selective oxidation of PAH in groundwater remediation
2017
Abstract Surfactants foam technology can improve the in situ remediation of hydrophobic organic contaminants by enhancing their solubility and the delivery of remediation chemicals. However, the presence of surfactants may impair the effectiveness of the selective oxidation of those contaminants. To tackle the issue, kinetics and selectivity of phenanthrene (PHE) oxidation in aqueous suspensions and its affecting factors including surfactant concentration (CS) and nature, temperature and persulfate (PS) concentration were studied. Significant differences in selectivity were observed between surfactants, reflecting Coulomb interactions with the anionic oxidizers. Lauryl Betaine (LB) stood ou…
THE ROLE OF ACCOUNTABILITY WITHIN A ZERO WASTE STRATEGY: EVIDENCES FROM A SICILIAN SMALL MUNICIPALITY
2017
Building a sustainable city model comprising an integrated waste management system has become an indispensable choice, also in the light of increasingly stringent regulatory constraints. The core point of the paper is the implementation of a zero waste strategy in a small municipality in Sicily. Given that only the unceasing participation of citizens may ensure the persistence over time of such a policy, accountability process works letting citizens approach directly the end-results of their ongoing good practices. By building up a SD model framed by a DPM chart, it is possible to figure out how disclosure of public saving resulting from the decreasing amount of waste piled up in the landfi…