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Abstract: Two possible substitutions for fossil fuel used in heat production are biomass and solar energy. This paper presents an evaluation of various energy sources for hot water production in a heating plant. The heating plant was situated in one of the largest municipalities in the city of Belgrade, Serbia. It produces and delivers domestic hot water and energy for heating to approximately 17,000 households. It is possible to use of using renewable energy instead of fossil fuel for producing the thermal energy for the supply of domestic hot water. Hence, in this paper, an evaluation of the sustainability of different energy options for obtaining thermal energy was considered: 1) from gas combustion; 2) from gas combustion and solar collection 3) from biomass combustion 4) from gas and biomass combustion, and 5) from gas and biomass combustion and solar collection. To compare the different energy systems, the method of multi-criteria analysis was utilised. This method integrates various multi-dimensional criteria and provides an efficient method of estimating the sustainability of complex systems. The obtained results were compared by the General Index of Sustainability which is a measure of the complexity of a system. A basic set of energy indicators that relate to different aspects of sustainable development was defined. In this way, the results in the assessment of sustainability of energy options do not depend on the various analysts in decision making. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Leaf Area Index (LAI) is a dimensionless parameter that has a significant impact on forestry applications. With conventional methods, LAI can be calculated with destructive sample collection or with a relatively new non-destructive method called hemispherical photography. With the engagement of surveying instruments in forestry, obtaining LAI value for large areas in a short time has recently become more prominent and possible with the use of Terrestrial Laser Scanners (TLS). Although promising, TLS data evaluation techniques for LAI calculation are still subject to development. This paper aims to make a comparative evaluation of existing novel techniques with newly proposed methods and incorporates the use of neural networks and connected component analysis for segmentation purposes. The in-situ measurements, as a case study, were conducted in Istanbul- University-Cerrahpasa research forest – a part of Belgrad forest – Istanbul, Turkey. The Results obtained from the study show that segmentation and removal of wood materials from forest point cloud data, by using neural network algorithms and connected component analysis methods, albeit time and resource consuming, have a promising future on the calculation of effective LAI values of large areas. • Leaf Area Index estimation using Terrestrial Laser Scanner in heterogeneous forest. • Laser Scanning in Forestry is a developing method for data acquisition and evaluation. • Leaf Area Index can be obtained by using Geodetic Projection on Point Cloud data. • Connected component based segmentation of trees in heterogeneous forest. • Neural Networks based segmentation using PCD in heterogeneous forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]