1,720,973 research outputs found
LCA come strumento di previsione per l’ottimizzazione di tecnologie fotovoltaiche innovative
No full textXI Convegno dell'Associazione Rete Italiana LCA. Resource efficiency e sustainable development goals: il ruolo del Life Cycle Thinking. Siena 22-23 giugno 2017. Atti
No full textIl volume raccoglie gli atti del XI Convegno della Associazione Rete Italiana LCA “Resource Efficiency e Sustainable Development Goals: il ruolo del Life Cycle Thinking”, svoltosi a Siena nei giorni 22 e 23 giugno 2017. I contributi scientifici sono stati selezionati attraverso un processo di double peer review gestito dal Comitato Scientifico dell’Associazione Rete Italiana LCA. I contributi qui pubblicati sono stati suddivisi in presentazioni orali e poster. Le tematiche trattate al Convegno riguardano i seguenti aspetti: resource efficiency e Life Cycle Thinking; Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, economic growth and sustainable development goals; sviluppi metodologici di LCA, LCC e SLCA e integrazione con altri strumenti per studi di sostenibilità; Water - Food - Energy – Waste; PEF e OEF - esperienze applicative e possibili utilizzi nelle politiche ambientali. L’ultima sezione è dedicata al Premio Giovani Ricercatori LCA nella quale sono pubblicati i contributi scientifici dei primi tre classificati fra i 12 giovani ricercatori che hanno partecipato al concorso. Gli autori degli studi raccolti in questo volume sono rappresentativi di diverse realtà provenienti sia dal mondo accademico, sia da enti di ricerca pubblici e privati
Development of dye sensitized solar cells: a life cycle perspective for the environmental and market potential assessment of a renewable energy technology
No full textThanks to the research and development for achieving a larger distribution, many photovoltaic technologies are available in the market presently. Those accepted as "conventional" are well along in the process of commercialization while those classified as "new generation" photovoltaics are at an early stage of industrialization as of yet. To the latter category belong the non-conventional technology of dye sensitized solar cells. Since their first assembling at the beginning of the 1990s, these devices have attracted much interest and have been extensively investigated, because of their ease for assembling of readily available materials and the employment of well-established processes. So far, many configurations have been developed, tested and reported in literature. Each of them is based on the improvement and/or replacement of one or more components of a single solar cell: the substrate, the semiconductor, the dye, the electrolyte and the counter electrode. The efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells at lab scale is now comparable with amorphous silicon photovoltaics technology, but with much more potential than silicon for performance improvements and for becoming a cost-effective means for electricity production. In spite of these favourable aspects, dye sensitized solar cell prototypes for large scale production are not yet sufficiently efficient to be industrially competitive. In this study, we present an environmental sustainability overview of the principal dye sensitized solar cell configurations proposed to select the proper set of materials suitable for improving their performances. This is done on the basis of data published in literature, pre-industrialization tests by several companies and lab data obtained through the Fotosensorg Project. The analysis will be integrated with considerations on the potential for a larger distribution and competition of dye sensitized solar cells with presently available solar electric technologies on the photovoltaic market
Environmental sustainability evaluation of innovative self-cleaning textiles
No full textNanotechnology has high technological potential for textile industry. An important application of this
technology in this sector is a novel concept of textile, called “self-cleaning textiles”, that can be easily
washed and maintained, capable to improve the process performances in terms of energy and resources
consumption. The new textile is realized by depositing on the surface a nanocrystalline TiO2 photocatalytic
layer, which is able to destroy organic material by solar irradiation. This finishing process, is
able to reduce the maintenance costs of textile products, including a reduction in the consumption of
water and chemicals/detergents, and to significantly reduce the temperature required for the removal of
persistent stains.
In this study, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to a self-cleaning textile in order to quantify its
environmental advantages. The calculations were performed with the SimaPro software version 7.3.3 and
the main database used for this study is Ecoinvent version 2.2.
In particular the ecological earnings were evaluated by comparison of the production and the use
phases of the innovative and conventional materials in a variety of application scenarios. The results
show that the innovative system has lower impact with all the chosen LCIA methods (CED, GWP100,
ReCiPe) and reduced tap water consumption
The critical issue of using lead for sustainable massive production of perovskite solar cells: a review of relevant literature [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
Full text linkThis work aims to review the most significant studies dealing with the environmental issues of the use of lead in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A careful discussion and rationalization of the environmental and human health toxicity impacts, evaluated by life cycle assessment and risk assessment studies, is presented. The results of this analysis are prospectively related to the possible future massive production of PSC technology
Environmental analysis of a nano-grid: A Life Cycle Assessment
No full textRenewable energy sources are fundamental to face the problem of climate changes. Unfortunately, someresources, such as wind and solar radiation, have fluctuations affecting the electrical grids stability.Energy storage systems can be used for a smart energy management to accumulate power from renew-able sources. For such reason, these devices play a key role to achieve a sustainable electric system. Onthe other hand, they are affected by some environmental drawbacks mainly connected with the depletionof rare and expensive materials. Based on these considerations, in this study a nano-grid composed by aphotovoltaic plant, a backup generator and an energy storage system is analysed by an environmentalLife Cycle Assessment approach. A Solar Home System is designed, and its environmental profile is eval-uated considering several Lithium-ion batteries. Among them, nickel-cobalt aluminium oxide cellsresulted to be the most suitable solution for a Solar Home System (46.66 Pts/MWh). Moreover, a sensi-tivity analysis of the Solar Home System is performed and a hybrid energy storage plant integratinghydrogen and batteries is proposed to face the problem of seasonal solar radiation variability. Four sce-narios having different gas pressure levels and lifespan of the devices are considered. Results show thatcurrently the most sustainable configuration is represented by the Solar Home System, but in the future ahybrid nano-grid equipped with 700 bar hydrogen storage might be the best off-grid configuration forminimizing the impact on the environment (37.77 Pts/MWh). Extending the perspective of our analysisto future on-grid potential configurations, an efficient connection of the Solar Home System with a smart-grid is assessed as it looks more sustainable than other off-grid solutions (22.81 Pts/MWh)
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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