Search

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are a serious hazard to human life and the ecosystem. This is the reason that many measures have been put in place by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to reduce the anthropogenic-derived CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. Today, the potential of renewable energy sources has led to an increased interest in investment in carbon capture and storage technologies worldwide. The aim of this paper is to investigate state-of-the-art carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies and their derivations for the identification of effective methods during the implementation of evidence-based energy policies. To this extent, this study reviews the current methods in three concepts: post-combustion; pre-combustion; and oxy-fuel combustion processes. The objective of this study is to explore the knowledge gap in recent carbon capture methods and provide a comparison between the most influential methods with high potential to aid in carbon capture. The study presents the importance of using all available technologies during the post-combustion process. To accomplish this, an ontological approach was adopted to analyze the feasibility of the CCS technologies available on the market. The study findings demonstrate that priority should be given to the applicability of certain methods for both industrial and domestic applications. On the contrary, the study also suggests that using the post-combustion method has the greatest potential, whereas other studies recommend the efficiency of the oxy-fuel process. Furthermore, the study findings also highlight the importance of using life cycle assessment (LCA) methods for the implementation of carbon capture technologies in buildings. This study contributes to the energy policy design related to carbon capture technologies in buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

End-of-life tires are a common and hazardous type of waste. According to estimates, over 2 billion tires are produced each year, and all of these tires will eventually be discarded as waste. Landfilling waste tires is strictly prohibited by the regulations of the European Union and the Environmental Protection Agency; they should be retreated and reused in an alternative scenario. As a waste-to-energy technology, pyrolysis can emerge as a useful technique to thermally degrade waste tires and produce useful byproducts in the form of liquid, gas, and char. The derived products can be filtered and used in further industries as biofuel substances. Pyrolytic oil has a high calorific value of 35–45 MJ/kg and can be used as an alternative to diesel to fuel specific vehicles. However, the environmental footprint of the technology has been widely neglected when using waste tires as feedstock. Made from synthetic and natural rubbers, tires contain a high amount of sulfur and styrene, which can cause toxic emissions and negatively affect the environmental sustainability of pyrolysis. This concept paper aims to elaborate the parameters of an operating rotary kiln reactor by reviewing previous life cycle assessment studies and applying the methodology to an industrial-scale pyrolysis plant in Northern Cyprus. Results found a maximum production yield of 45.6% oil at an optimal temperature of 500 °C. Influential parameters such as temperature, residence time, and heating rate are reviewed based on their overall contribution to the production yield and the environment. The outcome of this paper emphasizes the need in the literature to apply environmental analyses to industrial and commercial-scale reactors to test the sustainability of using pyrolysis as a tire waste management strategy. In addition, complex engineering concepts and tasks in waste recycling will be discussed in a broad and accessible manner, with the implications and future work discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To maximize profits without sacrificing quality, the concept of sustainable construction must be adopted across a project's whole lifespan. Although adopting the idea of passive design in developing countries is incomplete, these studies have focused on the reasons for doing so. In contrast, there is limited evidence to completely analyze the influence of integrating passive design on the project sustainable success (PSS) of projects throughout their existence. This study focuses on the hurdles to passive design adoption in Pakistani building projects. It evaluates the impact of overcoming passive design (PD) adoption barriers on project sustainability success (PSS) during the duration of the project. Therefore, a more comprehensive literature assessment is required for conceptual model construction. Using a survey assessment instrument, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was constructed (i.e., a questionnaire). A total of 156 construction experts in Pakistan provided information. The result of the model demonstrated that the elimination of PD implementation obstacles had a moderate to high impact on PSS throughout the building structure's lifetime. These results provide the foundation for legislation in a number of Asian nations about the efficient completion of projects via the removal of obstacles for the use of passive design. Similarly, the adoption of passive design will increase the success of the construction project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Passive design strategies can reduce heating and cooling demands with integration of more efficient building systems as well as the potential to integrate modular off-site construction technology and its technical systems to offset overall energy consumption. This study evaluates the energy performance of the nationally representative post-war social housing estate in the southeastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus where the weather is subtropical (Csa) and partly semi-arid (Bsh). This study employed a mixed methods research design approach which was based on a thorough field study that consisted of a questionnaire survey conducted with residents of the social housing estate in the hottest summer month of August, to explore the occupants' thermal sensation votes (TSVs), their habitual adaptive behaviour, and home energy performance concurrently. On-site environmental monitoring was performed, and in-situ measurements of each occupied space were recorded to identify 'neutral' adaptive thermal comfort. The selected representative high-rise residential development was modelled using Integrated Environmental Solutions' Virtual Environment (IES-VE) software, where extensive dynamic thermal simulations have been produced to assess existing energy performance and energy effectiveness of retrofitting strategies. The results demonstrated that a moderate–strong relationship was found between orientation and reasons for thermal discomfort (χ2 = 49,327, p < 0.001, Cramer's V = 0.405). Individual levels of thermal comfort were not limited to household socio-demographic characteristics, however; environmental factors were also determinants in the development of adaptive thermal-comfort theory. Furthermore, the occupants' TSVs indicated that in a southeastern Mediterranean climate, 28.5 °C is considered a neutral temperature, and the upper limit of the indoor-air thermal-comfort range is 31.5 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research project is undertaken in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (T.R.N.C.). The objective of the research is to investigate the occupants' behaviour and role in the refurbishment activity by exploring how and why occupants decide to change building systems and how to understand why and how occupants consider using energy-efficient measurements. The housing estates are chosen from 16 different projects in four different regions of the T.R.N.C. that include urban and suburban areas. The study is conducted through semi-structured interviews to identify occupants' behaviour as it is associated with refurbishment activity. This paper presents the results of semi-structured interviews with 70 homeowners in a selected group of 16 housing estates in four different parts of the T.R.N.C. Alongside the construction process and its impact on the environment, the results point out the need for control mechanisms in the housing sector to promote and support the adoption of retrofit strategies and to minimise non-controlled refurbishment activities. The results demonstrate that European Union Energy Efficiency directives need not only inform households about technological improvements that can be installed in their residential properties, but should also strongly encourage and incentivise them to use them efficiently. Furthermore, the occupants' energy consumption behaviour and the applicable policy interventions will make the difference between implementing policy which in fact delivers on its aims for energy efficiency and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]