1,720,970 research outputs found
Freight transport in the context of industrial ecology and sustainability: evaluation of uni- and multi-modality scenarios via life cycle assessment
No full textPurpose: This study aims at comparing, from an environmental point of view, four different scenarios of freight transport at the Italian level, on an equal base of route between supplier and customer. The first scenario included freight movements by truck and mainly ship, the second included track and mainly train, the third was the three-modal based scenario, whilst the fourth scenario was the only uni-modal, based only upon truck movement. The study was conducted to find the environmentally sustainable solution, or at least a sustainable trade-off, as well as the most environmentally burdening issues, associated with the geographic dimension of transport in Italy, towards sustainability. Methods: Using uni‐ and multi-modal freight movements by truck, rail and ship, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was developed to estimate the related environmental burdens both at the midpoint and at the endpoint levels from the consumption of primary energy and natural resources along with the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and of other pollutants. Primary data were compiled as part of the inventory analysis and consisted in the transport flows associated with the system investigated: those were calculated from the distance travelled and the goods load transported. Primary data were then combined with secondary data that were modelled with the transport life cycle modules contained in Ecoinvent: from those modules, the fuel consumption amounts associated transport flows were extrapolated, and used for the assessment. Results: Results showed that the environmental impact of the multi-modal scenarios is lower compared with the uni-modal scenario. The best performing option was found to be the third scenario providing use of all the three freight means, namely ship, train and truck. However, this scenario is not being practiced for several reasons, mainly due to control and monitoring difficulties of each step and higher operational costs. The first and second scenarios showed a quite comparable environmental behaviour and so are to be considered as viable options. Conclusions: Apart from highlighting the most environmentally viable transport options, the study contributed to finding the indicators of environmental impact and damage that best describe the system investigated and are recommended by this author team to be accounted for in future assessments in the transport sector. Finally, although site-specific, the results of this study may be useful to logistics companies, policy and decision makers of other regions and countries towards identifying and promoting environmentally optimal freight transport solutions, contributing to sustainability of the transport sector
On the role of sustainable buildings in achieving the 2030 UN sustainable development goals
No full textBuilt environment plays a series of key roles in the society and in everyday life and it is also worldwide recognised to be one of the main contributors to the global energy demand and to the emission of greenhouse gases. Achieving sustainability in the building and construction industry is, therefore, crucial to contribute the global transition to a sustainable carbon-neutral built environment: in this regard, the adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the related SDGs would play a strategic role. This paper was set and developed with the aim of identifying the multiple key interactions between buildings and SDGs and, consequently, drawing considerations and points-of-view on a possible, preliminary approach to assess the role of buildings in the achievement of SDGs and their targets. A quantitative evaluation approach focussed on the environmental dimension of sustainability and based on Life Cycle Assessment on the building scale was proposed by the authors. The approach could represent the potential basis for the development of a comprehensive and scientifically-based method for large-scale applications aimed at determining and improving the way buildings affect SDGs. According to this paper's authors' proposal, after the selection of a comprehensive set of indicators and their linkage to the various SDGs, the assessment should be carried out considering reference values for the indicators, specific targets coherent with SDGs (and their targets) for each indicator and key statistical parameters for the built environment, such as the yearly built area
Combined Experimental and Numerical Approach for the Thermal Heat Exchange Investigation of Li-Ion Cells for Automotive Applications
No full textLithium-ion (Li-ion) battery is an advanced technology in the field of electrochemical energy storage, but its management constitutes one of the most intriguing challenges for electric vehicles. Many parameters need to be controlled and managed and many aspects need to be optimised. This work presents a methodology for laboratory characterization of Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) Lithium-Ion batteries suited for automotive applications. The purpose consists of obtaining a detailed description of the electrical and thermal behaviour of a single battery cell to provide an accurate model (static, dynamic, and thermal) that could ensure optimized real-time battery management by a management system for several battery packs. A battery testing system was built using a bidirectional power supply and a software/hardware interface was implemented within the National Instruments LabVIEW environment that monitors current, voltage and temperature sensors. This dedicated laboratory equipment can be used to apply and report charging/discharging cycles according to the user-defined load profile. A bidimensional CFD dynamic condition/transient simulation in the Ansys FLUENT environment was performed to study the heat thermal fluxes generated by a determined current value in the battery cells, and the results have been compared to the experimental data for validation
A simplified methodology for estimating the Carbon Footprint of heat generation by forest woodchips as a support tool for sustainability assessment in decision-making
Full text linkEnergy production from biomass is very strategic for the achievement of global sustainability goals and the use of biofuels for decentralized energy production in medium-small size plants, which conforms to global fossil energy and GHG reduction targets, is expected to increase in the short-medium term. This paper proposes a simplified methodology for estimating the Carbon Footprint associated with heat generation by forest woodchips. The methodology includes all the relevant life cycle phases and is based on the specific fuel and plant characteristics, so it can effectively support sustainability assessment in decision-making regarding biomass projects through proper Carbon Footprint estimates. The application of the methodology showed results in the range of about 6–12 gCO2eq/MJ, depending on the case study characteristics, that agree with the impact values range observed from previous literature. The basic idea that the use of forest woodchips is particularly strategic for sustainable energy production within a “local” wood-energy supply chain (short transport distance) was confirmed. Furthermore, the methodology allowed to estimate indicative transportation distances for which forest woodchips can be considered environmentally competitive compared to alternative renewable sources such as, for instance, wood pellets
Carbon Footprint of autonomous vehicles at the urban mobility system level: A traffic simulation-based approach
No full textA comparative Life Cycle Assessment of external wall-compositions for cleaner construction solutions in buildings
No full textApplication of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in buildings is usually performed at the envelope scale, mainly for comparison of several sample-solutions, and provides in-depth analyses of the related energy and environmental performances. In this way, it is possible to identify those solutions that perform best in energy and environmental terms, and that so are suitable for construction of sustainable buildings. In this context, the study was aimed at carrying out energy and environmental assessments to compare four external-wall samples characterised by different rates of sophistication in terms of assembly technologies and component materials. The samples considered were properly designed for development of the subsequent energy-environmental analysis. In particular, two "standard" wall compositions and two ventilated façades were considered, using rock-wool and recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (R-PET) as insulating materials. The study documented that, as regards both energy and environmental impacts, ventilated façades perform quite well compared to the "standard" wall compositions, especially when equipped with R-PET. It also confirmed that both solutions easy to be disassembled and recycled materials are key design choices for environmental sustainable and low energy demanding buildings along their whole life cycles. Finally, the authors believe that the study provides helpful insights on the environmental sustainability of eco-friendly materials and technologies, and can contribute to less time and resources consuming LCAs at the building scal
Durum-wheat straw bales for thermal insulation of buildings: Findings from a comparative energy analysis of a set of wall-composition samples on the building scale
Full text linkThe urgent need to make buildings more performant in energy and environmental terms has led to the increasing study of recycled and natural materials as viable solutions. In this context, the present study aims at comparing the energy performance of innovative wall-sample solutions (with recycled polyethylene-terephthalate panels or durum-wheat straw bales) with a basic one. Energy evaluations were performed in Piazza Armerina (a city of Sicily–Italy), where the chosen material is widespread, by applying two calculation methods: a monthly average-energy-calculation approach, mandatory by Italian regulations (UNI TS 11300), and an hourly energy-calculation procedure (EN 52016). The results documented that: (i) the new innovative wall-sample allows for significantly reducing heat loss (heating of 4–10% and cooling of 40–50%) (ii) a lower primary-energy demand was obtained by adopting the new calculation procedure of EN 52016 (energy decreasing of 20–24%); (iii) significant differences in terms of heat-loss (of 10–36%) and heat-gain (up to 75%) calculations were found for the two calculation methods. This puts emphasis upon the importance of properly selecting a calculation method by accounting for all of those key variables and features that are representative of the energy system being investigated
Woodchips from Forest Residues as a Sustainable and Circular Biofuel for Electricity Production: Evidence from an Environmental Life Cycle Assessment
Full text linkEnergy production from biomass represents a strategic solution for the achievement of global sustainability goals. In addition, the use of biofuels offers both significant environmental advantages and several socio-economic benefits. In this study, the environmental life cycle impacts associated with the use of woodchips from forest residues for combined heat and power generation in Italy were analyzed. Moreover, the use of woodchips was compared to the use of conventional fossil fuels in similar applications, and different biomass supply scenarios were evaluated to understand their effect on the overall impact related to 1 kWh of electricity. The impacts on “Climate Change” (2.94 × 10−2 kgCO2eq/kWh) and “Resources” (4.28 × 10−1 MJ primary) were revealed to be minimal compared to fossil fuels (reduction of about 95–97%) and forest woodchips emerged as a sustainable alternative for electricity generation. Moreover, impacts regarding “Human health” (3.04 × 10−7 DALY) and “Ecosystem quality” (3.58 × 10−1 PDF·m2·yr) were revealed to be relevant and identified as a research area to be further explored. The findings of this study also highlighted the key role played by the supply mode/distance of the woodchips on the overall life cycle impacts, with the use of “local” biomass representing the best reduction option. Lastly, another aspect to be further investigated is the optimization of the biomass supply
Bio-based and Recycled-Waste Materials in Buildings: A Study of Energy Performance of Hemp-Lime Concrete and Recycled-PET Façades for Office Facilities in France and Italy
No full textThis study reports on the performance of sustainable materials produced from natural resources as hemp-concrete or from recycled-waste non-biodegradable materials including Recycled PolyEthylene Terephthalate (R-PET). Three façades employing three different materials (Hemp-concrete, hemp-concrete with brick and R-PET) were investigated in three cities in France (Nancy and Carpentras) and Italy (Perugia) with different climate. The energy performance of each façade was assessed in terms of cooling and heating demands, electrical consumption for a constant flow rate ventilation mode, considering different orientations. The study also shows the effect of window size (10%, 25%, and 40%) on the annual energy consumption
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