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From motivation to implementation: A firm-level model of customer-oriented green actions
Full text linkThe integration of sustainability into business operations increasingly requires firms to align environmental strategies with customer value. This study examines how external and internal motivations influence the implementation of customer-oriented green actions through four core firm-specific practices: environmental management systems (EMS), sustainable supplier selection, product eco-design, and green human resource management (HRM). We propose a moderated mediation model to explore how different types of motivation influence green action enactment, both directly and indirectly through internal capabilities. The model is empirically tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) on a large cross-sectoral sample of 879 Italian firms. Results show that external motivations have a more substantial impact on eco-design and HRM, whereas internal motivations have a more significant influence on EMS and supplier selection. All four practices significantly enhance customer-oriented green actions, with supplier selection being the most impactful. The moderating role of firm size reveals that eco-design is more relevant for smaller firms, while HRM plays a stronger role in larger organizations. This study contributes to the environmental management literature by providing an integrated view of how motivational drivers and firm-level practices interact to promote sustainability-oriented customer engagement. The findings offer actionable insights for managers, particularly in aligning sustainability practices with customer-facing value creation, and for policymakers aiming to design targeted incentives that support sustainable transformation across various firm types and sizes
Thermoluminescence dosimeters characterization with 60Co gamma radiation at ENEA Casaccia Research Center
Full text linkQuesto report presenta uno studio sulla caratterizzazione dei dosimetri a termoluminescenza (TLD) utilizzando radiazioni gamma da Cobalto-60 presso la facility Calliope e l'Istituto Nazionale di Metrologia delle Radiazioni Ionizzanti (INMRI) del Centro di Ricerca ENEA Casaccia. Vengono trattati la teoria della termoluminescenza, il processo di lettura del TLD e le tecniche di valutazione della dose e le relative tecniche di calibrazione. I dosimetri utilizzati, in particolare i TLD 100, la procedura di irraggiamento e calibrazione sono descritti nel dettaglio. Vengono presentati i risultati della calibrazione a bassa dose e un confronto con le calibrazioni precedenti effettuate presso l'INMRI. Inoltre, vengono forniti confronti tra dosimetria Fricke e TLD per brevi tempi di irraggiamento e basse dosi, e vengono introdotti i risultati ottenuti nel caso di schermatura. Questo studio mira a migliorare l'accuratezza delle misure della dose, soprattutto per campioni organici di dimensioni ridotte per possibili applicazioni in radiobiologia.This report presents a study on the characterization of thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLDs) using 60Co gamma radiation at the Calliope Facility and the National Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology (INMRI) of the ENEA Casaccia Research Center. It covers thermoluminescence theory and the TLD reading process, followed by dose evaluation and calibration techniques. The dosimeters used, particularly TLD 100, are described in detail, with an explanation of the irradiation process and calibration procedure. Results from low-dose calibration and comparisons with previous INMRI calibrations are presented. Additionally, comparisons between Fricke and TLD dosimetry for short irradiation times and low dose rates are included, along with discussions on shielding. This study aims to enhance the accuracy of dose measurements, especially for small organic samples for possibile radiobiological applications
The Energy and Environmental Planning of the Strait of Messina Ports
No full textThis contribution intends to describe the actions carried out by the Autorità di Sistema Portuale dello Stretto (AdSP) to plan and control the energy and environmental aspects on the ports of Messina, Milazzo, and Tremestieri, in Sicily, and Villa San Giovanni, Reggio Calabria, and Saline in Calabria. AdSP is the public authority in charge of the direction, planning, control, promotion of port operations, and other commercial and industrial activities carried out in these six ports close to the Strait of Messina. The drafting of the Environmental Energy Planning Document of Authority Port Systems (DEASP) is requested by law for each Italian Port Authority, in accordance with Ministerial guidelines. In this case, it defines specific measures, in order to improve energy efficiency in buildings, promote the use of renewable energy in the port area (photovoltaic solar plants and tidal energy systems), and introduce measures that have environmental benefits for the citizens of neighboring territories and port users (electrification of the docks to allow the shore supply of ships and the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG storage plant to replace more polluting marine fuels), together with awareness campaigns on “green” issues, involving the three million users of the ports. Based on the objectives and actions envisaged by AdSP, it is expected to obtain 30 GWh/y reduction in primary energy consumption and 24,000 tonCO2equ/y avoided emissions. ENEA developed specific studies on the assessment of the areas potentially covered by photovoltaic plants, both on buildings’ coverings and parking shelters. The results of the study show more than 36,000 m2 could be covered by photovoltaic plants, with PickPower of more than 5400 kW and the production of more than 81,000 MWh/y electricity, reducing up to 48% the consumptions of the companies operating inside the port areas. Thanks to the successful application in the first call of the European New Energy Solutions Optimized for Islands (NESOI), AdSP received support in the drafting of the DEASP, engaging ENEA together with the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria and the CNR-ITAE of Messina in the consortium to carry out the project activities
Self-monitoring Precast RC Beams Industrial Production with FBG Sensors for Quality Control and Real-Time Monitoring
No full textFibre optical sensors technology is widely employed for structural health monitoring of civil engineering structures, mainly existing structures, to guarantee a proper structural safety level. This research proposes an industrial solution which leads to the production of self-monitoring prestressed, precast RC beams through optical fibre technology, for quality prebuilt beam control and to monitor structures when the implementation in the construction site is done. As a first step, steel strands have been instrumented with Fiber Bragg Grating sensors. It was feasible through the embedding of FBGs into fibreglass manufactured saddles for easy positioning and the fixing of optical sensors on rebars during the pre-cast production site of beams. The following step consists of performing executing tensile tests for comparing and validating FBG monitoring results to traditional measurement systems (extensometers) and Digital Image Correlation measurement system (DIC). Throughout this article, the manufacturing saddles process and preliminary thermal tests are presented to display the first monitoring parameters’ results
Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Recovery System for Potential Application in the European Cement Industry
No full textThe paper focuses on the potential application of supercritical CO2 (sCO2) power cycle for waste heat-to-power systems in cement industries. The reference power cycle is based on the CO2OLHEAT (G.A. 101022831) European project, which includes the pioneering implementation of a 2 MW demonstration plant in a relevant environment. The paper provides an overview of the key technologies and processes in the cement production sector within Europe. It emphasizes the successful recovery of waste heat without compromising industrial operations. The analysis encompasses five relevant countries in the EU region, each of them characterized by distinct features such as cement production and export, power generation energy mix, and geographical considerations. The analysis is referred to the year 2019, representing the most up-to-date data obtained from specific database sources, which allowed a differentiation based on technological classes of cement production rather than specific cement plants. Therefore, a generalized approach has been adopted to consider various scenarios of waste heat recovery based on available thermal energy and temperature ranges, taking into account specific requirements, limitations, and possibilities in terms of thermodynamic, economic, geographical, and political constraints
Energy And Cost Analysis Of Concentrated Solar Thermal Plants Integrated With Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage For The Decarbonization Of Industrial Processes
No full textIndustrial energy demand in the EU is driven by the thermal energy share, which accounts for the most part of the total energy demand. A large part, about one-third, is at medium temperatures, between 100 and 200 °C, and it is still produced by fossil fuels, mainly natural gas. This energy demand could be met by solar thermal energy by using Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) technologies, suitably combined with thermal energy storage systems. This paper presents a study of CST plant composed by Parabolic Trough Collectors (PTC) combined with Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) system in shell-and-tubes configuration for the supply of heat for industrial processes. Firstly, the criteria adopted for the sizing and the quasi-static simulation of the system are described. Significant attention is given to evaluate the variation of the Solar Fraction (SF) with the typical parameters of thermal storage, such as the maximum capacity and exchange surface, given a specific location and the Solar Multiple (SM). The methodology has been applied to a dairy processing facility within the agri-food sector with a thermal load of 500 kWth. Then, an economic analysis has been carried out by evaluating the impact of the component’s costs, such as the linear parabolic collectors, thermal storage materials and landscape preparation. Finally, the Levelized Cost of Heat (LCOH) has been computed for different thermal storage sizes in order to find the best combination that minimizes it. As a result, despite the overall increase of the SF with the thermal storage capacity, the proposed work shows how the minimum value of the LCOH (7.24 c€/kWh) corresponds to low storage capacity (1 MWh)
BOFDA sensing over conventional single-mode fibers at cryogenic temperatures
No full textIn this work, we show that high spatial resolution (3-cm) distributed temperature measurements at cryogenic temperatures can be realized using the Brillouin Optical Frequency-Domain Analysis (BOFDA). A large increase of peak gain and narrowing of the Brillouin gain spectrum were observed at temperatures below ≈ 10K under high spatial resolution conditions, thanks to the pre-activation of the acoustic wave involved in the stimulated scattering process. Adopting a slope-assisted configuration, a temperature sensitivity less than 0.1 K is demonstrated over a maximum fiber length of 50 m and at an acquisition rate of 1.75 Hz
3D TOMOGRAPHY OF HYDROGEN AND HELIUM PLASMA PRODUCED IN THE PROTO-SPHERA EXPERIMENT
No full textWe propose an approach to image reconstruction based on a formulation of the Fourier slice theorem in 3D, which relates a set of projections onto planes -or 3D Radon transform- to a 3D Fourier transform. After a suitable transformation of coordinates, by calculating the 3D inverse Fourier transform of projections, the 3D image of the scanned object is reconstructed. The formulation is applied to the reconstruction of the distribution of light emission density of magnetically confined plasma, employing data provided by ENEA (Italian National Agency for Technology, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development). Data include light emission by Hydrogen and Helium plasma, recorded within the framework of the PROTO-SPHERA experiment, where plasma is produced within a transparent vessel and monitored by six cameras. This experiment displayed the appearance and sustainment of a plasma torus around an internal plasma centerpost by self-organisation; an entirely unexplored phenomenon to date. The 3D image reconstruction enabled observation of the formation of the plasma torus at different time instants and of the emission spectrum of its cross-sections
Archeometric Study of Medieval Ceramic Finds from the Porta Reno Excavation in Ferrara (Italy)
No full textThe ceramics from the excavation of Porta Reno (Ferrara, Italy) consist of fire pots and amphorae for domestic use. To better characterize these ceramics, a petro-archeometric investigation was carried out to define the compositional, textural, and structural characteristics of these finds. The aim of this work was to obtain the widest possible knowledge of part of the medieval ceramic materials collected, identifying the raw materials, and firing processes thanks to microscopic, X-ray fluorescence, and X-ray diffraction analyses
An Investigation of the Impact of Emotion in Image Classification Based on Deep Learning
No full textEmotion was found to improve memory and learning under certain conditions. In the context of deep learning, many neural models achieved competitive performances by considering the emotional factor in solving tasks of interest. Among them, investigations concerning the introduction of emotion for solving image classification tasks provided significant results. However, to our knowledge, a study on the impact of emotion on solving image classification through trainable encoders has never been conducted, yet. To perform experiments, the present study proposes the Emotional Regulation approach, which mainly consists of selecting non-emotional and emotionally-influenced representations according to a criterion. In particular, emotionally-influenced representations are learned by concatenating original embeddings with the representations obtained from a frozen emotional encoder. Experiments were performed by employing ResNet-50 and ViT-B/16 architectures, assuming CIFAR-10 and -100 as target datasets for training and evaluation. A set of emotional stimuli was employed to provide an emotional history, while the regulation process was conditioned on positive, neutral, and negative semantics. The results show that our approach improved the original backbones in classifying the considered target datasets, providing evidence for the effectiveness of emotion in supporting image classification based on deep learning