1,721,001 research outputs found
Decision Making in energy planning. Application of the electre method at regional level for the diffusion of renewable energy technology
No full textThe authors show an application of the multicriteria decision-making methodology used to assess an action plan for the diffusion of renewable energy technologies at regional scale. This methodological tool gives the decision-maker considerable help in the selection of the most suitable innovative technologies in the energy sector, according to preliminary fixed objectives. In this paper, a case study is carried out for the island of Sardinia. This region presents, on one hand, a high potential for energy resources exploitation, but on the other hand, it represents a specific case among other Italian regions, because of its socio-economic status and history.Three decision scenarios have been supposed, each one representing a coherent set of actions, on the basis of which strategies of diffusion are developed. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Energy and environmental life cycle assessment of an institutional catering service: An Italian case study
Full text linkFood production is recognised as one of the major drivers for global environmental pressure. In the last years,
changes in consumption models result in an increasing population consuming food out of home that pose the
catering service sector at the centre of the European Union policies aimed at improving the environmental sustainability
of the food sector. In this framework, better technical knowledge on the environmental impacts of
catering service is essential in order to identify potential actions towards amore sustainable food sector. This article
presents an environmental assessment of a school catering service operating in Italy and delivering approximately
2,518,128 meals per year. Starting from primary data on the amount of each food consumed in the
catering service examined, we perform an environmental analysis of an equivalent meal ready to be consumed
in the schools canteens by using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology consistent with ISO 14040 standard.
The system boundaries include food and tableware production, food transport, food storage and cooking and
waste treatment. Due to a lack of primary data tableware production, food storage, cooking andwaste treatment
are modelled using literature data or models.
The results of the analysis show that the food production phase is relevant to almost all assessed impact categories
(contribution higher than 65%). The exception is represented by photochemical oxidation impact categories
inwhich the larger impact is linked to the transportation phase. The environmental impacts associated to the tableware
production, food storage and cooking are relevant to global warming and global energy requirement
(contributions higher than 7%).
The scenario analysis of potential actions aimed at reducing the environmental impacts of the catering service
shows that, to obtain amore sustainable food sector, strategiesmust be implemented along the entire food supply
chain and considering a wide range of environmental impact categories
Guideline for Policy Makers : Evaluation of embodied energy and CO2eq for building construction 2016 : Guidance to support policy makers in their policy design and decision making process
No full textThis document is the deliverable “Guidelines for Policy Makers”, developed within the Subtask 1 of IEA - EBC Annex 57 “Evaluation of Embodied Energy and CO2eq for Building Construction”. It also includes guidelines for including Embodied Energy and CO2eq considerations into the procurement process
The main goal of Subtask 1 is to clarify the connections between actors and targets related to embodied energy (eE) and embodied greenhouse gas emissions (eCO2eq) for building construction. Building eE and eCO2eq are affected significantly not only by the construction methods adopted, but also by the energy efficiency of the material production processes and by the energy generation mix. In such a context, the guidelines for Policy Makers aim towards informing about eE and eCO2eq in the building sector, give recommendations about standardization of methodological principles and technical data requirements, as well as guidance and tools to support planning
Bioenergy from anaerobic digestion plants: Energy and environmental assessment of a wide sample of Italian plants
Full text linkThis study assesses the energy and environmental performances of electricity produced from Italian anaerobic digestion coupled with combined heat and power plants. The Life Cycle Assessment methodology is applied to a set of plants characterised by different power sizes (from 100 to 999 kW) and feedstock compositions (variable rates of agricultural products and by-products). Then, the average eco-profile of the produced electricity is compared with electricity produced by the national grid and photovoltaic panels. The analysis allows detection of the combinations of size and feedstock with the lowest impacts. They correspond to small and medium plants mainly fed by organic by-products. In addition, compared to electricity from the grid, the average biogas electricity is characterised by the lowest contribution in impacts categories, such as abiotic depletion potential and ozone layer depletion potential, while largest in acidification and eutrophication. Focusing on global warming potential and cumulative energy demand fossil, the impacts of average biogas electricity (155 kgCO2eq/MWh and 172 MJ/MWh) are about 35 % and 38 % of that generated by the grid. Furthermore, it could generate 47 % less of the impact in the abiotic depletion elements category of the solar system. To enhance the farms' environmental and economic sustainability and balance the electric grid, these outcomes point out that biogas electricity produced from the agriculture and livestock sector can contribute to the decarbonisation and self-sufficiency of European countries. The results strictly depend on the operative conditions and can aid policymakers at the global level in improving the energy supply security and sustainability. Further, they provide reliable information to stakeholders to select the most sustainable solution, according to the feedstock type, power supply, and management
Life cycle assessment of roads: Material and process related energy savings
Full text linkThe need for climate change mitigation calls for significant actions to match the sustainable development goals and, in this context, road construction and management play a relevant role (cf. EU Green Public Procurement Criteria for Road Design, Construction and Maintenance and Environmental Product Declarations - EPD). In such a context, the role of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is broadly recognized as a tool to quantify sustainability of processes and systems. This study aims at calculating the life-cycle energy and carbon footprint of a typical Italian urban road, including materials production, transportation, construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation. The LCA approach is applied according to the ISO 14040 regulations series. Authors assess the life cycle energy and carbon footprint of several alternative scenarios based on mixture type and reuse/recycle of waste materials as well as developing dominance analyses. The main contribution of this study is to provide a systemic approach for energy and carbon footprint assessment for the sake of all stakeholders, in order to support the development of new models of low-energy consumption and innovative production models
Energy and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of asphalt pavements: A Scenario Analysis for Urban Roads
No full textThis paper aims at calculating the life-cycle energy and the environmental impacts pertaining
to roads management, including materials production, transportation, construction,
maintenance, and rehabilitation.
A life-cycle approach is applied to assess energy and environmental impacts of a typical
Italian urban road, according to the ISO 14040 series. In more detail, the Authors assess the
energy and environmental profile of different optimized scenarios of bituminous mixtures.
The aim of scenario analysis is to identify the less impacting scenario from an energy and
environmental point of view. For each analysed scenario, the contribution of each life-cycle
step to the total impacts and the energy and environmental hotspots are identified in order to
define suitable options for improvement.
Results show that the pavement scenarios, characterized by the use of recycled materials,
involves lower energy and environmental impacts, due to the saving of virgin raw materials
and avoided impacts for disposa
Environmental assessment of 2030 electricity generation scenarios in Sicily: An integrated approach
No full textThis paper deals with the environmental assessment of two electricity scenarios in Sicily, for 2030,
characterized by a high exploitation of renewable energy sources in order to quantify the potential
contribution of the local strategies in the achievement of the European climate policies and the potential
improvement in the future electricity mix, compared to the current one (2014). In order to match these
goals, authors integrate the Life Cycle Assessment with a scenario analysis. The future electricity mix
scenarios, characterized by a share of renewables (57% for 2030-BS scenario and 51% for 2030-DS scenario) show a reduction of the greenhouse gases emissions per kWh of electricity generated, compared
to the current one in which renewables account for 24%. Greenhouse gases emissions decrease by 39.9%
in 2030-BS and by 32.9% in 2030-DS. However, the analysis highlights that the state of development of
technologies does not allow improvements in a whole set of impacts categories. Particularly, freshwater
ecotoxicity increases by around 30% and resources depletion by more than 100%. Results of this study can
be used by local authorities as knowledge base in the definition and "ex-ante" evaluation of site-specific
low-carbon energy strategies in Sicily
Il metodo delle funzioni di trasferimento applicato ad un singola zona termica
No full textNel lavoro viene presentato un algoritmo basato sull’utilizzo dell’operatore Z-Trasformata per lo studio della trasmissione del calore all’interno di una singola zona termica costituita da pareti multistrato. L’algoritmo utilizzato è molto versatile e potrebbe venire utilizzato per il calcolo dei coefficienti delle funzioni di trasferimento nella simulazione del comportamento termico di un ambiente in free floating. Noti i coefficienti delle funzioni di trasferimento è possibile simulare in regime dinamico il profilo della temperatura di ciascuna superficie interna e dell’aria interna all’ambiente analizzato. L’algoritmo viene descritto in maniera completa in tutte le sue parti. Per valutare l’affidabilità dell’algoritmo è stato realizzato un confronto fra dati di simulazione ottenuti con esso e quelli ottenuti con il programma di simulazione termica denominato TRNSY
Life cycle assessment of olive oil: A case study in southern Italy
No full textThe paper describes the results of a specific LCA based analysis of the production of olive oil in the region of Calabria, in southern Italy. The goal of the study is to assess the energy and environmental impacts of different scenarios involving conventional and organic cultivations, plains and hills cultivations and involving different operating techniques. The study also aims at assessing the share of each life cycle step on the total of energy and environmental impacts. The functional unit chosen for the comparative analysis is a glass bottle of 0.75 L of extra virgin olive oil. A “from cradle to gate” perspective was chosen. The analysis was developed according to the LCA standards of the ISO 14040 series. The analysis is based on a field analysis developed in the last years in the province of Reggio Calabria between more than 50 enterprises and stakeholders of the field, representative of the whole Calabria region and of most southern Italy. The data used for the development of mass and energy balances are related to the years 2013–2015. The results clarify that for all indicators that the first part of the life cycle – from the production, including the growth of the olive plant to the full production stage – is the most relevant, variable between 80.6% share in the case of the particulate matter indicator to the 99.64% in the case of land use (Hill – Biological agriculture scenario). Relevant differences can be also traced for each specific indicator among all scenarios; high impacts are traced for the agricultural stages among all scenarios (70% −90% in all indicators) with high impacts caused by fertilizers. Among the transformation stages the bottle production is one of the most relevant sources of life cycle energy uses and environmental impacts (80–90%)
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