Search

In the upcoming years, the paper industry is expected to rely on containerboard for packaging. Since 2020, containerboard has been made from 80 % recycled fibres. Creating a new supply chain for fibres could help mitigate possible shortages. In this context, wood waste emerges as a valuable resource with the potential to serve as a plentiful and cost-effective reservoir for generating new materials, such as cellulose fibres. This study presents an assessment of the environmental impact associated with the organosolv extraction of cellulose pulp from wood waste based on a previous in vitro study conducted by the authors. The increasing demand for sustainable materials has prompted exploration into alternative methods for cellulose pulp production, with a focus on minimizing environmental footprint. Organosolv extraction, a promising technique, involves the use of organic solvents and acid catalysts to break down lignocellulosic biomass, resulting in high-quality cellulose pulp production. To evaluate the environmental implications of this process, a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) approach was adopted. The LCA framework considers all stages of the organosolv extraction process, from wood waste collection to cellulose pulp manufacture, using a gate-to-gate approach. The functional unit for assessment is set as one metric ton of cellulose pulp. The dataset utilized for the LCA comprises primary data obtained from in vitro experiments that have been scaling-up, complemented by secondary data sourced from literature and the Ecoinvent life cycle inventory database. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the influence of key parameters on the environmental performance of the organosolv extraction process, with a focus on variations in energy consumption to identify potential areas for optimization and improvement. In summary, this study emphasizes the environmental aspects of utilizing organosolv extraction for cellulose pulp production from wood waste. Further research is warranted to explore energy consumption during the organosolv process for obtaining more precise data and optimizing the process. This could be achieved through pilot-scale experiments or utilizing process simulation software.

The urgency to reach net-zero emissions until 2050 has created a vast interest in innovative technologies for renewable energy sector. At the same time the need for trusty and unfailing solutions will rise considering the increasing amount of decentralized and decarbonized energy systems. It has previously been described in the literature that the aforementioned characteristics could be combined by blockchain technology. Therefore, this study focuses on the practical side – the opinion of industry experts about the use of blockchain in renewable energy. By using SWOT, PESTLE and analytic hierarchy process analysis, the goal of this study is to develop a methodology for the selection of the most appropriate blockchain applications in renewable energy and to identify and evaluate the possible types of use considering socio-economic, political and legal, technological and environmental factors. The results of this study highlight the important influence of political, legal and technological factors like involvement of government institutions and possible attacks to the system, but considers the economic factors as the least significant for the introduction and use of blockchain technology in the renewable energy sector. The most promising use cases for blockchain would be associated with reliable and immutable certificates of origin for renewable energy and use in smart grid (including smart metering), smart homes and relevant Internet of Things applications. The use of crypto-assets and initial coin offerings for renewable energy development should be viewed with precaution and willingness to inform and educate considering social factors like public opinion and societies’ knowledge on crypto-assets.

Peatlands have a crucial role in the global carbon cycle, acting as significant carbon sinks, but become a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when peatlands are drained, and during peat extraction. This article presents a comprehensive overview of peatland ecosystems, emphasizing their classification across various climatic zones and the complex set of different characteristics that determine contribution to GHG emissions. Currently, inconsistencies exist in the definition of emission factors used between countries leading to varied approaches in estimating peatland emissions and posing significant challenges in the comparison and aggregation of global data on peat extraction related GHG. The aim of the study is to analyse the disparities in emission factors and calculation methodologies employed by different countries. Data from national GHG emission reports are submitted under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. Emissions report data calculations and emission factors can be based on either nationally determined data or data specified in the IPCC guidelines. Consequently, emission factor data for four countries - Latvia, Finland, Sweden and Germany - are collected and processed, which was compared with IPCC guidelines data. The data was compared by equating units of measurement. The results show there is a pronounced difference between the emission factors of each country, however, all of these factors are lower than the maximum values specified in the IPCC guidelines. The study concludes that emission factors are predetermined differently for each country, and it is not possible to determine the differences among assumptions for parameters included in the specification of the emission factors. The results suggest there is a need for development of a more transparent accounting for emissions with regard to the diverse environmental and anthropogenic factors influencing peatland ecosystems. Factors like composition, depth of peat, water table levels, and local land-use practices further compound this variability in emission accounting. Addressing these challenges is crucial for enhancing the accuracy and reliability of GHG emission reporting under international frameworks like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

Two case studies are reported in the present work. They regard municipal solid waste (MSW) management trends in the last decades in two Italian provinces selected to analyse some issues of waste management in mountainous areas. The first case study refers to a selective collection (SC) rate expected to reach 80 % soon. This scenario assumes SC mainly in kerbside mode. The scenario is based on specific local conditions: the absence of a thermo-chemical plant in the territory (but with a part of the residual MSW burnt in a neighbour province), the presence of local plant of anaerobic, and a sanitary landfill for pre-treated residual MSW. The adopted tariff helped increasing the SC rate: indeed, since 2013, a tariff calculated at user level, depending on the behaviour of each user, has been adopted. This is called punctual tariff. The second case study concerns an area where SC reached about 75 %. The punctual tariff has been recently introduced. In this scenario, an incineration plant and a Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) plant allow implementing an industrial symbiosis solution in conjunction with a cement factory. The work demonstrates that SC can be the core of a correct MSW management and that kerbside collection is fully compatible with mountainous area. However, other issues remain to be optimized yet: the low density of mountain areas makes difficult to implement enhanced solutions of SC (e.g. for diapers) and increases costs for light packaging collection; moreover, the presence of tourist fluxes can significantly affect SC efficiency.

Urban growth needs large cities, and the current emphasis on landscape preservation makes using underground spaces an opportunity and a significant necessity. However, underground construction techniques significantly impact the sustainability of the built environment, including infrastructure systems and their entire supply chains. Nowadays, there is a shortage of quantitative methodologies to assess and measure the sustainability of construction and underground building processes towards the three sustainable pillars, i.e. environmental, social, and economic. Thus, this study aims to cover this gap by explaining how to appropriately incorporate sustainability goals into geotechnical projects to address measure-driven strategies and eco-design-based solutions. This study illustrates a novel methodology based on the Life Cycle Thinking approach, with an emphasis on geotechnical ground improvement techniques. The proposed method incorporates the concept of the EU Taxonomy, following the EU Green Deal, with the Envision framework to guide decision-makers toward a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable infrastructure design. The proposed method will incorporate a cradle-to-site Life Cycle Assessment perspective, improving the quantitative estimation of the environmental performance of construction processes and providing guidelines to systematically assess the sustainability of geotechnical infrastructures.

Permeation grouting treatments can be considered a well-established ground improvement strategy in urban built environments, where an accurate fine-tuning of its components can lead to tailored and efficient interventions. However, how to improve its overall environmental impact remains an open question. Using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach emphasizing the construction phase, this research highlights the leverages that can improve the environmental performance of this geotechnical construction process. The alternative approaches in terms of materials and processes are identified, quantified, and compared using the standard output of the LCA analysis and represent the ideal input for the three-phased sustainability assessment method for geotechnical infrastructure developed by the authors.

Seaweeds are organisms with unique characteristics. They contain a broad spectrum of micro and macro elements (i.e., minerals, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, pigments, and vitamins). Furthermore, they have a very high growth rate and are present in large quantities and species in nature. Therefore, they represent an ideal feedstock for a biorefinery concept. Historically, macroalgae used in biorefineries have been harvested directly from the sea or the shores, i.e., off-shore technique. However, recent studies are analysing the possibility of creating on-shore cultivation facilities. This research aims to perform a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study that analyses and compares the environmental impact of two seaweed cultivation and wild harvesting techniques in the Baltic Sea Region conditions based on existing pre-commercial and commercial projects. Inventory data are collected directly from two macroalgae producers, one off-shore and one on-shore, integrated with literature, and then normalized to the selected functional unit, i.e., 1 ton of harvested fresh macroalgae. The results, implemented with SimaPro 9.4 software, determine which of the two techniques has the highest environmental impact and which are the most sensitive environmental indicators. Furthermore, the results underline the critical parameters for the two cultivations (i.e., fuel consumption and electricity), contributing to identifying environmental benchmarks for further optimization strategies. The sensitivity analysis included in the study aims to explore and highlight the effect of the variation of selected input parameters or assumptions to provide a consistent assessment of the uncertainty of the model outputs and the main findings in terms of environmental impacts.

The selection of a local and sustainable use of biogas, and biogas feedstocks, towards the upgrading process to biomethane, is a key aspect towards more consistent energy planning within the frame of the EU Green Deal and Sustainable Development Goals. In this paper, four biomethane production and utilization pathways were assessed in the view of economic, environmental, technological, and social dimensions compared to a reference scenario in which direct biogas use in a cogeneration unit is assumed. The technologies analyzed included membrane systems, amine scrubbing, water scrubbing, and biological methanation, regarding the Sardinian context. The impact assessment was carried out using the TOPSIS method. As an output, thirteen consistent indicators reflecting the holistic aspect of sustainability were designed and proposed based on an in-depth literature review and the authors’ technological knowledge. The results show that the reference scenario was the preferable one. In terms of environmental and social considerations, biological methanation emerged as the most environmentally and socially responsible alternative. From the economic perspective, all the upgrading options depicted similar results. The technological-oriented weighting showed that the two most widespread upgrading options highlighted the optimal results.

Businesses willing to reduce their carbon footprint embrace sustainability and positively impact the progress towards achieving climate neutrality. Well-prepared and presented information to the business customer before purchasing can be a strong driver for better decision-making towards less impactful product alternatives. This study presents the development of a tool for packaging products online marketplace that informs customers about the carbon footprint of packaging products and allows them to evaluate which of the select packaging alternatives is most preferable from an environmental perspective. The tool implements a life cycle analysis (LCA) approach, including the stages of raw material extraction, packaging production, and transportation to the customer. The impact assessment in the tool is performed according to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2021 methodology for assessing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions based on information obtained from the Ecoinvent database. The final output of carbon footprint calculation is provided with an indicator marking the carbon footprint performance of customer-defined alternatives in a clear, simple, and consistent way. The tool aims to educate customers, foster informed purchasing decisions, and improve the environmental outcomes of their decisions.

Microalgae cultivation at biogas plants creates joint benefits for using liquid digestate and exhaust gas from the CHP unit as nutrient and carbon sources for microalgae growing. This circular approach increases biogas production’s sustainability towards a bioeconomy and zero-waste perspective. This study aims to evaluate the potential environmental impacts in connection to a novel microalgae growing technology named Stacked Modular Open Raceway Pond (SMORP) as a side-stream process coupled with centrate and exhaust gases from a biogas plant. A comparative LCA according to ISO 14044 is performed between the innovative SMORP concept at the pilot level and a hypothetical scaled-up system. Primary data for the inventory are directly gathered from the microalgae growing test performed at the biosystems laboratory of the Institute of Energy Systems and Environment of the Riga Technical University. Secondary data are collected from literature mostly in terms of mass and energy balances considering the SMORP pilot project design. The results of the LCA include the main findings both at mid and endpoint categories according to the IMPACT 2002+ method. In addition, a sensitivity analysis for several different parameters has been investigated. Results show the feasibility of the coupled system and the possibility of having benefits once the system is scaled up. Nevertheless, the results show a critical dependency of the environmental performance on the local conditions, potentially affecting too high cultivation costs.

Transport consumes around one-third of Latvia’s final energy demand being the largest sector that produces greenhouse gas emissions. In Latvia, in the year 2019, the share of renewable energy sources in the transport sector was only 4.8 % of the total gross consumption with a target of 7 % of not food-based biofuels by 2030. To tackle climate change problems, one significant task is reducing pollution in the transport sector by substituting fossil with biomass-based fuels. The goal of this study is to develop a methodology for evaluating biofuel production in Latvia considering economic, social, environmental, and technological aspects. A total of 16 specific criteria were selected for biofuel comparison. The methodology is based on a combination of two quantitative approaches, namely Life Cycle Assessment and Multi-Criteria Analysis. The proposed method aims to identify the most sustainable biofuel in Latvia according to a set of specific indicators.

Research data produced within the CARIPLO IMAP and Perform Water 2030 projects were processed using the SimaPro software to carry out the Life Cycle Assessment according to ISO 14040-44 of an innovative process of treated effluents’ polishing. The study aims to evaluate the integration of a microalgae culture as a side-stream process into the baseline layout of a wastewater treatment plant to remove nitrogen from the supernatant of sludge centrifugation from an environmental perspective. In particular, the investigated system focuses on using the algal biomass produced as an organic matrix for encapsulating zero-valent iron nanoparticles to be used for the final refinement of the effluent. Zero-valent iron (ZVI) is a reactive metal and an effective reducing agent. It can be used to remove organic and inorganic pollutants (e.g., chlorinated organics, pharmaceuticals, metals, textile dyestuffs). The encapsulation of ZVI by hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) in a carbonaceous matrix allows for overcoming the problems related to its lack of stability, easy aggregation, and difficulty in separating the ZVI nanoparticles from the treated solution. The case study refers to Bresso wastewater treatment plant (Milan province, Northern Italy). The environmental performances of the study were assessed following the Life Cycle Impact Assessment methods IMPACT 2002+. According to the results, the new process integration does not affect the environmental performance of the WWTP, still implying a significant improvement in the removal of metals and micropollutants. In fact, due to the ability of ZVI nanoparticles to remove organic and inorganic pollutants, the outflowing load will be significantly reduced, which will improve the environmental performance of the entire Bresso wastewater treatment plant.

The economic cultural heritages are exposed to several natural and nowadays biological hazards, which, in addition to causing potential structural damage, can lead to severe loss deriving from financial non-incomes. The paper aims to highlight the role of insurance in mitigating financial damages and losses, specifically explaining the key role of insurance in mitigating biological hazards like Covid-19. The paper is part of broader research by the authors and uses the assumptions and results already obtained previously in the context of the case study relating to the asset of Villa Adriana and Villa D’Este.

Cold supply chains of food and beverage sectors represent one of the main drivers of the EU total final energy consumption. Within this context, food quality losses, changes in temperature regimes, energy use, environmental burdens, and the economic viability of energy efficiency measures are essential aspects to consider for improving cold supply chains’ overall sustainability. This paper presents a dedicated toolbox, developed within the Horizon 2020 project ICCEE, for supporting decision-making and actors to assess energy efficiency path within a specific type of food cold-supply (i.e., meat, fish, milk and cheese products, fruits, and vegetables). More in specific the toolbox offers support for decision-makers to understand and minimize the specific energy consumption, to decrease the overall environmental impact even including non-energy benefit evaluation many times underestimated. The six separated tools merged within a unique toolbox consider different methodological approaches such as: assessment of the whole energy requirements in stock and flows considering the storage impact, the logistics and quality losses over time, implementation of Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle costs within the environmental and financial assessment of energy efficiency measures, based on a benchmarking approach. Finally, a specific approach implementing Multi Criteria Analysis was developed on selected key performance indicators such as specific and cumulated energy consumptions, quality losses and environmental burdens (i.e., global warming potential and water scarcity). The latest version of the ICCEE toolbox is available as free downloadable package on the ICCEE website.

This work evaluates the impact of cultivating Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) in marginal lands of the Umbrian territory (Italy) to produce oil. The analysis considers the entire production process, aiming to understand which are the most impacting factors. In particular, the work assesses the environmental savings deriving from the reuse of the main by-product of the oil extraction process, i.e. the cake, for animal feed purposes. The evaluation was carried out by means of a cradle-to-gate LCA. The results show that the greatest impacts are due to the crop fertilization. However, such an impact is almost completely compensated by the use of the cake in feed production.

The development of new sound absorbing materials and the transition to net zero emissions production have become inseparable. This paper investigates a new type of composite sound absorbing material made of waste tyre textile fibre (WTTF) and different binders: polyurethane resin (PU), polyvinyl acetate (PVA), and starch (POS). Non-acoustic and acoustic parameters were studied, and life cycle assessment was performed for the considered composite sound absorbing materials. The airflow resistivity was determined according to the ISO 9053-1 standard, while the sound absorption coefficient was determined according to the ISO 10534-2 standard, and the LCA was performed based on the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards. Composite sound absorbing materials subjected to sound absorption coefficient tests showed results in the range of 0.04 to 0.99 and peaking in the frequency range of 800 to 2000 Hz, while airflow resistivity varied between 17.4 and 83.6 kPa⋅s/m2. The combination that gave the highest sound absorption coefficient was experimentally found to be PU composite material. Life cycle assessment results revealed that the lowest potential impact on the environment is obtained when composite materials are produced using starch as a binder and its total potential impact on the environment varied between 0.27 and 0.55 Pt, while the highest potential impact was observed by PU composites (0.33 ÷ 0.64 Pt). The results obtained experimentally and by LCA modelling revealed great attractiveness and promising development of composites using WTTF and different binders' potential for sound absorbing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular economy and industrial symbiosis represent a production and consumption model involving sharing, lending, reusing, and recycling existing materials and products in the most efficient way to increase sustainability and reduce or eliminate waste. Beef production has a high impact on the environment in different impact categories, especially those activities related to livestock breeding and feeding. In this study, a life cycle assessment and a life cycle cost evaluation are carried out investigating potential energy efficiency measures to promote industrial symbiosis scenarios referring to a proposed baseline scenario. Three main potential measures are evaluated: energy recovery from waste via anaerobic digestion, integration of renewable sources at warehouses, including solar PV panels, and the replacement of auxiliary equipment at the retailer. It was found that energy reconversion of food waste through anaerobic digestion and cogeneration provides the most valuable benefits to the supply chain. From the economic perspective, using a conventional life cycle cost assessment, the energy production from the use of wastes for anaerobic digestion proved to be the best potential option.

The paper aims to provide a clarification of assessing insurance risk related to an asset owned by a subject under public law and, more specifically, to an economic cultural asset. This study is aligned with key aspects proposed by the EU for the protection of the cultural heritage from natural disasters. In the first place, given the peculiarity of the material inherent to cultural heritage, a motivation underlies the search for the correlation between the latter and the commonality. Secondly, it appeared necessary to verify the differences, similarities and importance of the economic management of cultural heritage in order to understand the social, economic, material and intangible importance of an asset managed in an economic way within a social axis (municipality). The third reason relates to the general severity and the risk and subsequent damage that a hazard, such as a pandemic outbreak (COVID-19), can cause on one or more cultural heritage. In the final analysis, perhaps the most meaningful aspect underlies the verification of the possible consequences in the analysis of summations of losses generated by a hazard in order to allow a prospect of what could be the consequences of such a catastrophic scenario.

It is now well known that the world community must share the risks and hazards deriving from climate change and, more generally, from the environment. At the end of summer 2019, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) issued the World’s first dedicated climate resilience bond and this confirms the thesis according to which financial, social and economic instruments are always most necessary for the development of society and to avoid that natural hazards can, as occurred in the past, cause extremely heavy damage with negative repercussions on every single area of a community. Starting from the characteristics of resilience bonds and reinsurance, the paper seeks to highlight the potential advantages that would derive from a systematic application of recursive contractual instruments (smart contracts). The authors focused on the study of the projection of financial and quantitative data of resilience and catastrophe bonds on the basis of a determined timeline, a fixed insurance premium, mitigation works related and connected to the main contract (insurance). In particular, the study concerns the correlation of the urban implementation of risk mitigation works with the specific catastrophic flood risk. The paper implements a purely economic and social cost-benefit analysis (ACB) in the sense that includes, among others, a public approach and the goal of maximizing social welfare, according to efficiency economic criteria. In a nutshell, the authors highlight as the main result not only the possibility, but also the convenience of the joint and multidisciplinary application of the quantitative method (resilience bonds) to infrastructure resilience.

The present study is a cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment of a hypothetical production process of rigid polyurethane foam obtained from thistle seed oil, grown on the marginal soils of the Umbria region, Italy. Thistle is a particularly rustic crop, suitable for difficult soil and climatic conditions that allow its cultivation in the Mediterranean area on marginal lands and with only the water supply of the autumn-spring rains. Life Cycle Inventory was built on up-to-date inventory for thistle production, while experimental data for polyol and synthesis were obtained from literature, with reference to a pilot scale reactor. Energy recovery of lignocellulosic biomass and sensitivity analysis were also included in the study. Life Cycle Assessment was performed using SimaPro 9.0 and impacts were evaluated with the Impact2000+ method. Results show the overall impact of thistle oil including its final use for the production of polyurethane foam, and underline the important contribution as environmental benefit of the use of biomass leftovers in the agricultural phase. Moreover, results show that the major impacts of the rigid polyurethane foam production process were related to the synthesis of the foam itself. Among the previous phases constituting the process of synthesis of the polyol, the most impactful one was the cultivation; the oil processing stage, on the other hand, had a small global impact. The synthesis of the foam, taken individually, generated a greater impact than the entire synthesis process of the vegetable polyol starting from the cultivation of thistle.

Research focuses on linking climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies. The aim of the research is to test an urban resilience assessment tool through a local case study. The tool is based on integrating two methods. Multi-criteria analysis and system dynamics model is used to create a dynamic Urban Resilience Index. For the case study a local medium sized town is chosen in Latvia that is subject to flood risk. The results of the model simulation show that the model is suitable for both short term and long term resilience assessment. Future studies must focus on the precision of such a tool, which in this study could not be evaluated. Overall, the tool presented can contribute to offsetting the existing knowledge gaps between climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction for better policy planning and strengthening urban resilience on the local level.

The aim of this paper is to highlight the insurance dynamics in relation to catastrophic events and how the insurance companies approach the insured parties (contractors) for the definition of a tailored insurance policy contract. Within this study the emphasis has been addressed more on the regulatory situation in the Italian context as a key example of the existing contractual problems regarding the drafting of insurance contracts against natural hazards. In particular, the study defines the drawbacks of having information asymmetry between the parties towards several substantial elements of the policy agreement, including the definition of the overall risk, exposure, vulnerability and the consequential insurance premium. This study provides an overview of the possible calculation as a specific one based on the risk / premium assessment tool of the Exceedance Probability curve (EP curve) method used by insurance companies. This method focuses on some of the most important insurance parameters for determining the insurance premium and the possible indemnity in relation to the risk related to natural hazards. In the results and discussion, the research reports on how an information discrepancy on contractual transparency appears evident in fact creating an obstacle to facilitate the access to the data referred to in the risk calculation inherent in the asset and obviating the information discrepancy, allowing the private individual to use the information consciously. With the presentation of a risk calculation tool based on the EP curve and relative loss or exceedance, the study shows a possible correlation between insurance dynamics and the new environmental, social, governance (ESG) parameters for implementation on the financial markets.

New district heating system technologies have arisen in the last years to deliver economic and environmental benefits to residential and commercial buildings. The extensive ranges of equipment, energy sources, temperature profile configurations, size of the network, energy demand, and many other intrinsic variables, make it difficult to identify if a determined district heating option is potentially better than another in environmental terms. As for the economic evaluation, there are several tools decision-makers can rely on to assess environmental performance. The main challenge is to provide a holistic point of view for which lifespan and complexity of implementable, new technological systems can be an obstacle. For this reason, in this paper, a Life Cycle Assessment is performed upon a technical evaluation of several district heating configuration options for the Gulbene region in Latvia, where DH systems in most of the assessed parishes are already operating under medium temperature regimes, also known as third-generation district heating. The goal of the study is to understand the environmental impact of moving from the current DH system to a low temperature one. Results show a considerable environmental benefit if low-temperature profiles, combined with the use of renewable energy sources are adopted in the current DH systems. A hotspot analysis is also performed showing the use stage is the one carrying most of the burden across the project’s lifetime, followed by infrastructure construction; also showing that the refurbishment of buildings does not play a major role in the total environmental impact contribution.

Selection of appropriate microalgae strain for cultivation is essential for overall success of large-scale biomass production under particular environmental and climate conditions. In addition to fast growth rate and biomass productivity, the species ability to grow in wastewater must also be considered to increase the economic feasibility of microalgae for bioenergy purposes. Furthermore, the content of bioactive compounds in a strain must be taken into account to further increase the viability by integration of biorefinery concept. Chlorella spp. are among the most studied microalgal species. The present review attempts to unfold the potential of species of the genus Chlorella for bioenergy production integrating applicability for wastewater treatment and production of high added-value compounds. Several key features potentially make Chlorella spp. highly beneficial for bioenergy production. Fast growth rate, low nutritional requirements, low sensitivity to contamination, adaptation to fluctuating environments, ability to grow in photoautotrophic, heterotrophic and mixotrophic conditions make Chlorella spp. highly useful for outdoor cultivation coupled with wastewater treatment. Chlorella is a source of multiple bioactive compounds. Most promising high-value products are chlorophylls, lutein, β-carotene and lipids. Here we demonstrate that although many Chlorella spp. show similar characteristics, some substantial differences in growth and response to environmental factors exist.

Microalgae hold great potential as a source for renewable energy due to their high photosynthetic efficiency, high growth rates and independence from fertile agricultural lands. However, large-scale cultivation systems of microalgae biomass are still not economically viable mainly due to the difficulties with maintaining optimum growth conditions of microalgae in open pond systems and high costs of biomass cultivation and harvesting. Here we propose the Novel Stacked Modular Open Raceway Ponds (SMORPs) system for microalgae biomass cultivation to be integrated in biogas production plant. The proposed technological solution will eliminate the drawbacks of current microalgae cultivation technologies, mainly, will reduce the land use, improve lighting conditions and reduce the cost of cultivation as a result of the application of waste products from biogas production, i.e. anaerobic digestion effluent and flue gas. In this study we propose the initial design of the SMORP concept and a microalgae biomass kinetic model as a simple approach to screen microalgae strains potentially applicable for large-scale ponds. The developed tool is also useful to evaluate the potential benefit of additional artificial LED light sources and to assess the maximum biomass growth rate with minimal light intensity.

Seaweed valuables have been researched a lot in the last decades but there is a lack of information on brackish seaweed at the eastern part of the Baltic Sea. Previous research shows that Baltic seaweed can be used as a source for phycocolloids as well as for bioenergy. The amount of available usable biomass is not clear, also seaweed in brackish seawater does not reach the dimensions such as the same species in Western parts of the Baltic Sea where the salinity is higher. Therefore, the use of this biomass must be smart to create economic benefit. Three abundant Baltic brackish seaweed species were chosen, to represent green, brown and red seaweed groups and an in-depth information analysis was made to clarify possible focus substances that could be extracted from these species. In this paper we summarize literature of common seaweed components, traditional extraction technology, and potential amount in seaweed and give an overview of novel methods for extraction of seaweed bioactive compounds.

Risk insurance for disasters plays a relevant part in the implementation of risk reduction strategies during the pre-disaster phase. This is essential to support risk management towards decreasing the marginal risk allowing policy holders to transfer risk to avoid considerable financial loads from the costs incurred during the recovery phase in a post-disaster phase. There is evidence that the introduction of an integrated risk insurance strategy for community resilience planning is still lacking. Thus, this undermines the possibility to have proper optimized holistic risk management; on the one hand this strengthens pre-disaster risk mitigation measures, mostly relying on mitigative infrastructural solutions, and on the other hand it better defines risk prevention strategies mostly connected to land planning and urban development. This paper will show how insurance markets can play a key role towards mitigating the economic consequences of natural and climate change disasters, and how essential it is to better quantify the beneficial effects and costs of engineer-based mitigative solutions. In this context, the legal framework into which the actuarial quantitative model can be implemented will support the creation of an integrated multidisciplinary approach with potential implementation on a novel platform capable of collecting and processing information from different sources and dimensions such as blockchain technology. The scientific community is, in fact, increasingly interested in implementing blockchain technology to overcome problems linked to the contractual dimension of natural disaster risk insurance which can be interpreted as a sort of smart contracting. Through a study that involved four distinct areas, namely: law, environmental engineering, insurance and IT, this paper proposes a specific multidisciplinary methodology to achieve the drafting and implementation of a digital insurance contract on a blockchain platform against natural hazards. This paper proposes the basis to advance a quantitative concept to optimize the impact of catastrophe risk insurance onto the community resilience; in fact providing a key synergy for definition of pre-disaster conditions.

This article explores the dynamics of international currency competition and de-dollarization, focusing on the current dominance of the US dollar and potential challenges from the Chinese renminbi and BRICS countries. It reviews recent literature on currency statecraft, the political economy of the renminbi, and the capacity of BRICS nations to foster de-dollarization. The studies reviewed suggest that while no currency or coalition poses an imminent threat to the US dollar’s dominance, the geopolitical landscape and countries’ foreign policy ambitions play crucial roles in shaping future monetary relations. This review highlights the importance of geopolitics in understanding the complex interplay of international currencies and states’ strategic responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable heating solutions involving renewable energy sources and low supply/return temperatures for district heating are evolving. Low temperature use in district heating allows reducing the heating operation costs significantly and at the same time holding the sustainability criteria. However, an in-depth study on environmental impacts during the life cycle of low temperature district heating was not conducted until now. Thus, this study aims to find the best development scenarios for development of local low temperature district heating. For this purpose, a methodology adopts life cycle analysis approach that allows assessing the environmental impacts according to a variety of environmental performance criterions. The results of the study showed an improvement in the overall environmental performance towards the transition of a conventional 3rd generation district heating to low temperature concept including the effects of reconstruction and modernization of the boiler house. A set of potential development is proposed. Specifically, the scenario implementing low temperature district heating with solar PV showed the best score for environmental performance. The scenario with implementation of low temperature district heating without solar PV did not show significant improvement in environmental performance under operation conditions of a pilot case study.