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Abstract: Water scarcity and pollution rank equal to climate change as the most intricate environmental turmoil for the 21st century. Today, the percolation of palm oil mill effluents into the waterways and ecosystems, remain a fastidious concern towards the public health and food chain interference. With the innovation of palm oil residue into a high valuable end commodity, there has been a steadily growing interest in this research field. Confirming the assertion, this paper presents a state of art review of palm oil mill effluent industry, its fundamental characteristics and environmental implications. Moreover, the key advance of its implementations, major challenges together with the future expectation are summarized and discussed. Conclusively, the expanding of palm oil mill effluent in numerous field of application represents a plausible and powerful circumstance, for accruing the worldwide environmental benefit and shaping the national economy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Global climate change concerns have lead to growing demand for renewable energy sources (RES). However the viability of these sources is critically dependent on environmental, economic and technological considerations. This paper focuses on the environmental aspect of future photovoltaic (PV) systems which are assessed through life cycle analysis (LCA). Previous LCA studies on commercially available PV systems are reviewed. The sustainable evaluation methods used in these studies are also discussed. These methods are applied to the hybrid quantum dot (QD)-based solar cells currently under development within a project between the University of Manchester and Imperial College London. The aim of this project is to develop affordable solar cells with efficiencies up to 10% for micro-generation applications. Presently hybrid QD-based solar cells are not commercially fabricated; therefore the study is mostly based on very small laboratory-scale production. For easy comparability 10% conversion efficiency and 25 years lifetime are initially assumed. Lower conversion efficiencies and shorter lifetimes likely to initially characterise emerging PV technologies such as the hybrid QD-based solar cells are discussed. Comparable criteria for sustainability of electricity-generating systems namely net energy ratio (NER), energy pay-back time (EPB-T) and CO2 emissions per unit generated during lifetime are found to be lower than current commercially available PV modules. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The present paper analyzes the CO2 emissions from mobile communications and portable wireless electronic devices in the Korea environment. The quantitative and qualitative contributions to CO2 emission reduction of the substitution of renewable energy for traditional electricity as the power supply in these devices are also investigated. Firstly, the national CO2 emission coefficient is temporarily estimated as 0.504tCO2/MWh, which can be regarded as the basis for calculating CO2 emissions in mobile devices. The total annual CO2 emissions from mobile devices is calculated as approximately 1.4 milliontons, comprising 0.3 milliontCO2 for portable wireless electronic devices and 1.1 milliontCO2 for electric equipment required for mobile communication service. If renewable energy sources are substituted for traditional electricity sources in the supply for mobile devices, solar cell and wind turbine systems can reduce CO2 emissions by about 87% and 97%, respectively. However, the use of fuel cell systems will only slightly reduce the CO2 emissions. However, the use of the direct methanol fuel cell system can release 8% more CO2 emissions than that emitted by using traditional electricity sources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Electricity generation in different countries is based on a variety of fuel mixes compromising solid fossil fuels, oil, natural gas, nuclear and renewable energy sources. While in the past, national energy agendas have directed the optimal utilisation of domestic resources as a means to achieve supply security, today''s environmental debates are influencing the electricity fuel mix in new directions. In this paper we examine the electricity sectors of Germany, Greece, Poland and the UK in an attempt to identify the policy and technology choices implemented in each country. The country selection is deliberately made to facilitate an extended overview of national agendas, varying domestic energy resources and industrialisation levels but still within the common EU framework. The focus is placed on policies related to two objectives, climate change mitigation and improving electricity supply security. The theoretical framework developed provides the possibility to assess the electricity sector independence at a national level using a multi-parametric analysis of the fuel mix data. Through a comparative assessment of the knowledge gained in different countries the authors provide insights and suggestions that allow for an improved understanding of the trade-offs and synergies that various policy options may introduce. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The development of the renewable energy sources (RES) and the energy efficiency (EE) is related to the enhancement of the energy companies’ (energy producers by RES and energy services companies—ESCOs) operational environment. The aim of this paper is to present an information decision support system, which consists of an expert subsystem, as well as a multi criteria decision making (MCDM) subsystem. The system supports the state toward the formulation of a modern environment, since it incorporates the “new parameters” of the energy market, namely the liberalization and the climate change. The system was successfully applied in the 13 accession member states of the EU. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]