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Abstract: The significance of technical data, as well as the significance of system boundary choices, when modelling the environmental impact from recycling and incineration of waste paper has been studied by a life cycle assessment focusing on global warming potentials. The consequence of choosing a specific set of data for the reprocessing technology, the virgin paper manufacturing technology and the incineration technology, as well as the importance of the recycling rate was studied. Furthermore, the system was expanded to include forestry and to include fossil fuel energy substitution from saved biomass, in order to study the importance of the system boundary choices. For recycling, the choice of virgin paper manufacturing data is most important, but the results show that also the impacts from the reprocessing technologies fluctuate greatly. For the overall results the choice of the technology data is of importance when comparing recycling including virgin paper substitution with incineration including energy substitution. Combining an environmentally high or low performing recycling technology with an environmentally high or low performing incineration technology can give quite different results. The modelling showed that recycling of paper, from a life cycle point of view, is environmentally equal or better than incineration with energy recovery only when the recycling technology is at a high environmental performance level. However, the modelling also showed that expanding the system to include substitution of fossil fuel energy by production of energy from the saved biomass associated with recycling will give a completely different result. In this case recycling is always more beneficial than incineration, thus increased recycling is desirable. Expanding the system to include forestry was shown to have a minor effect on the results. As assessments are often performed with a set choice of data and a set recycling rate, it is questionable how useful the results from this kind of LCA are for a policy maker. The high significance of the system boundary choices stresses the importance of scientific discussion on how to best address system analysis of recycling, for paper and other recyclable materials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study assesses the policy/legal status of both multistream residues and potential secondary products ('symbiosis products') and whether there could be environmental benefits associated with the utilization of residues from integrated pulp and paper and carbon steel mills as raw materials for such secondary products. Waste-related European Union (EU) and Finnish policy and legal instruments were reviewed to identify potential constraints for, and suggested next steps in, the development of potential process industry residue-based symbiosis products. The products were soil amendment pellets, low-grade concrete, and mine filler. A global warming potential (GWP) assessment and an exergy analysis were applied to these potential symbiosis products. Some indicative GWP calculations of greenhouse gas emissions associating similar and/or analogous products based on virgin primary raw materials, more energy-intensive processes, and the alternative treatment of these residues as wastes are also presented. This study addresses GWP, exergy, and legal aspects in a holistic manner to determine the potential environmental benefits of secondary products within the EU legal framework. The GWP assessment and exergy analysis indicate that the utilization of multistream residues causes very low environmental burdens in terms of GWP. The utilization option can have potential environmental benefits in terms of GWP through process replacement and avoided landfilling and waste treatment impacts, as well as potentially through emission reductions from product replacement if suitable and safe applications can be identified. Waste regulation does not define the legal requirements under which utilizing residues in such novel concepts as introduced in this study would be possible, nor how waste status could be removed and product-based legislation be applied to the potential products instead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis technologies could be a novel energy-biochar production system to maximize energy and nutrient recovery from pulp and paper mill sludge. Herein, the life-cycle energy production and emissions reduction of sludge treatment from a typical pulp and paper mill were investigated, in which alternative uses of biogas for industrial or household application, in different regions of the world, were assessed. The three scenarios considered for different end-uses of biogas are: (A) biogas for vehicle fuel in the transportation sector in Sweden, (B) biogas for heat and electricity in the power sector in Brazil, and (C) biogas for cooking in households in China. The results of Environmental Life-Cycle Assessment (E-LCA) show that for all these three scenarios, the use of biogas and pyrolysis gas contributes most to emissions mitigation, while the dewatering and drying processes carried out on the sludge, contribute the most to the environmental emissions. Addition of biochar to the soil, contributes significantly to a reduction in global warming by sequestering carbon in the soil. Compared to scenarios B and C, Scenario A, in which biogas substitutes gasoline in transportation, and heat from combusted pyrolysis gases is used for district heating in Sweden, demonstrates the highest environmental performance for all the evaluated impact categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A life cycle assessment was conducted using IMPACT2002+ to estimate the environmental impact of producing printing and writing paper, which is entirely made with wastepaper. To confirm and add credibility to the study, uncertainty analysis was conducted using Taylor series expansion. Printing and writing paper produced from wood pulp was assessed for comparison. Compared with the wood pulp contained scenario, printing and writing paper made from wastepaper represented environmental benefit on non-carcinogens, respiratory inorganics, global warming, and non-renewable energy categories. In both scenarios, the technologies significantly contribute to the potential impacts of non-carcinogens, respiratory inorganics, terrestrial ecotoxicity, global warming, and non-renewable energy. The influence of the technologies on the way other categories affect the environment was negligible. Improved efficiency in electricity consumption, decreased transport distance from raw material buyers to suppliers, and change in the end-life treatment of solid waste from landfill to incineration are the key factors in reducing the overall environmental impact. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Existing product life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on offset printed matter all point at paper as the overall dominating cause of environmental impacts. All studies focus on energy consumption and the dominating role of paper is primarily based on the energy-related impact categories: global warming, acidification and nutrient enrichment. Ecotoxicity and human toxicity, which are related to emissions of chemicals, etc., are only included to a limited degree or not at all. In this paper we include the impacts from chemicals emitted during the life cycle of sheet fed offset printed matter. This is done by making use of some of the newest knowledge about emissions from the production at the printing industry combined with knowledge about the composition of the printing materials used. In cases with available data also upstream emissions from the production of printing materials are included. The results show that inclusion of the chemical emission-related impacts makes the EDIP97 impact profile of sheet fed offset products much more varied, as well for the normalised profiles as for the profiles weighted by distance to political environmental targets. Especially the ecotoxicity impact potential related to the production stage may contribute significantly, and the use of paper no longer becomes the overall dominating factor driving the environmental impacts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The battle between insurers and policyholders over coverage for climate change liability has already begun. Commentators have paid less attention to the positive role that insurers can play in coping with climate risk, or the negative impact should climate change liability create massive insurance insolvencies. The NAIC has now addressed these issues in its first White Paper on climate change. Everyone in the insurance industry must pay attention to the risks that the NAIC identifies, and the measures that it recommends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how climate change has an impact on the road transport infrastructure of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CTMM). There is no empirical component to this paper. Thus, desk research or secondary research was used. The desk research method entails gathering pre-existing data from a range of sources, such as government documents, the internet, critical scholarly reviews, books and conceptual analyses. This paper finds deplorable road infrastructure elements that are highly vulnerable to climate change. It discusses various options for responding to the growth of road transport infrastructure during the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance phases. The paper shows that a key factor in responding is the design aspect and emphasises the necessity of enhancing institutional capability to implement policy execution of mitigation action. It suggests expanding the current environmental impact assessment risk to incorporate an analysis of the impacts of climate change. The limited amount of literature that is available in the context of the South African local government points to the need for additional research in the fields of road transport and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shelves have been estimated to account for more than one fifth of the global marine primary production. It has been also conjectured that shelves strongly influence the oceanic absorption of atmospheric CO2 (carbon shelf pump). Owing to their coarse resolution, currently applied global climate models are inappropriate to investigate the impact of climate change on shelfs and regional models do not account for the complex interaction with the adjacent open ocean. In this study, a global ocean general circulation model and biogeochemistry model were set up with a distorted grid providing a maximal resolution for the NW European shelf and the adjacent North Atlantic. Using model climate projections we found that already a moderate warming of about 2.0 K of the sea surface is linked with a reduction by ~30% of biological production on the NW European shelf. If we consider the decline of anthropogenic riverine eutrophication since the 90's the reduction of biological production amounts to 39%. The decline of NW European shelf productivity is twice as strong as the decline in the open ocean (~15%). The underlying mechanism is a spatially well confined stratification feedback along the continental shelf break. This feedback reduces the nutrient supply from the deep Atlantic to about 50%. In turn, the reduced productivity draws down CO2 absorption on the NW European shelf by ~34% at the end of the 21st century compared to the end of the 20th century implying a strong weakening of shelf carbon pumping. Sensitivity experiments with diagnostic tracers indicate that not more than 20% of the carbon absorbed in the North Sea contributes to the long term carbon uptake of the world ocean. The rest remains within the ocean mixed layer where it is exposed to the atmosphere. The predicted decline in biological productivity and decrease of phytoplankton concentration (by averaged 25%) due to reduced nutrient imports from the deeper Atlantic will probably negatively affect the local fish stock and therefore fisheries in the North Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences between glacial and pre-industrial potential vegetation patterns can conceptually be attributed to two factors: firstly to differences in the climate, caused by a strong increase in ice masses and the radiative effect of lower greenhouse gas concentrations, and secondly to differences in the ecophysiological effect of lower glacial atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The synergy emerging from these effects when operating simultaneously can be interpreted as sensitivity of the effect of enhancing physiologically available CO2 on shifting vegetation to climate warming. Alternatively and equally valid, it can be viewed as sensitivity of climatically induced vegetation changes to differences in physiologically available CO2. A first complete factor separation based on simulations with the MPI Earth System Model indicates that the pure climate effect mainly leads to a contraction or a shift in vegetation patterns when comparing glacial with pre-industrial simulation vegetation patterns. Globally, a reduction in fractional coverage of most plant functional types is seen -- except for raingreen shrubs which strongly benefit from the colder and drier climate. The ecophysiological effect of CO2 appears to be stronger than the pure climate contribution for many plant functional types -- in line with previous simulations. The ecophysiological effect of lower CO2 mainly yields a reduction in fractional coverage, a thinning of vegetation and a strong reduction in net primary production. The synergy appears to be as strong as each of the pure contributions locally. For tropical evergreen trees, the synergy appears strong also on global average. Hence this modelling study suggests that for tropical forests, an increase in CO2 has, on average, a stronger ecophysiological effect in warmer climate than in glacial climate. Alternatively, areal differences in tropical forests induced by climate warming can, on average, be expected to be larger with increasing concentration of physiologically effective CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Life cycle assessment was carried out using IMPACT2002+ to estimate the environmental impact of coated white board production, which is common in China. Normalized results showed that the potential impacts of respiratory inorganics, terrestrial ecotoxicity, global warming, and non-renewable energy had a dominant contributions to overall environmental impact. Specifically, emissions from chemical and energy production processes exhibited higher potential impact (more than 80% of the total contribution) on the environment than that of emissions generated from transport, landfill, wastewater treatment, and paper plants infrastructure. Energy recovery from black liquor and energy generation based on natural gas are key factors in reducing overall environmental potential impact. The current paper presents improvements on the environmental performance of a coated white board production site in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A series of wildfires broke out in western Russia starting in late July of 2010. Harmful particulates and gases released into the local Russian atmosphere have been reported, as have possible negative consequences for the global atmosphere. In this study, an extremely hazy area and its transport trajectory on Russian wildfires were analysed using aerosol optical depth (AOD) images retrieved via the synergy method from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. In addition, we used trace gases (NO2 and SO2) and CO2 products measured using Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) data, vertical distribution of AOD data retrieved from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) data, the mass trajectory analyses, synoptic maps from a HYSPLIT model simulation and ground-based data, including AERONET (both AOD and Ångström exponent) data and PM2.5. First, an Optimal Smoothing (OS) scheme was used to develop more precise and reliable AOD data based on multiple competing predictions made using several AOD retrieval models; then, integrated AOD and PM2.5 data were related using a chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem), and the integrated AOD and visibility data were related using a 6S model. The results show that the PM2.5 concentration is 3-5 times the normal amount based on both satellite data and in situ values with peak daily mean concentrations of approximately 500 µgm-3. Also, the visibility of many parts of Russia, even Moscow, was less than 100 m; in some areas, the visibility was less than 50 m. Additionally, the possible impact on neighbouring countries due to the long-transport effect was also analysed during 31 July and 15 August 2010. A comparison of the satellite aerosol products and ground observations from the neighbouring countries suggests that wildfires in western Russian have had little impact on most European and Asian countries, the exceptions being Finland, Estonia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. However, a possible impact on the Arctic region was also identified; such an effect would have a serious influence on the polar atmospheric environment and on animals such as polar bears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we study the global warming phenomena and its effect on the humanity on the earth and on the atmospheric, also we study its causes, harms, and how to prevent it, we found that the progressing country have the great effect of causing this phenomena because of its industries and what's causes of it, also we found that the main causes of the global warming was the green house gases effect, we find that we could reduced or prevent the global warming by encourage the agricultural of wide land of some kind of pants on the earth, and use clean fuel, or renewable energy sources by the glob to save the life on the earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geotechnical constructions involve consumption of a vast amount of non-renewable natural resources and energy- and carbon dioxide-intensive materials (e.g. cement and steel) that contribute significantly to global warming and climate change. This paper uses drilled shafts as an example to illustrate the importance of environmental impact assessment in the design phase of foundations. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is used to quantify the environmental impacts of construction of single drilled shafts and groups embedded in sandy soil profiles. Parametric studies are conducted to investigate the effects of soil properties, design parameters and hauling distances of construction materials and equipment on the environmental impacts of single drilled shafts. For pile groups, different configurations, applied load, centre-to-centre spacing and thickness of pile cap are considered in the parametric study. The global warming impact and human toxicity of a typical drilled shaft are found to be 39 and 486% of annual world impact per person, respectively. Based on the study, charts and tables are developed that may be used for quick estimation of the global warming impact of drilled shafts without the use of specialised LCA software programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: A three-way catalytic converter (TWC) is a type of pollution control product (PCP) that has been widely used to reduce the emission of carbon monoxide (CO), total hydrocarbon (THC), and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from vehicles. TWC's decreasing removal efficiency as a result of their aging condition can have a substantial impact on their environmental benefits. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the dynamic environmental impacts of TWC during its whole life cycle. Methods: Dynamic emission factors of pollutants from the rapid aging (RA) test and the real vehicle aging (RVA) test were firstly analyzed. Then, the dynamic environmental benefits and dynamic environmental burdens of TWC during its whole life cycle were evaluated by a dynamic life cycle assessment (DLCA) method. Impact categories assessed included global warming potentials (GWP), acidification potentials (AP), human toxicity potentials (HTP), photochemical smog potentials (POCP), and abiotic resource depletion potentials (ADPs). Results and discussion: Dynamic emission factors of vehicle pollutants collected from the rapid aging (RA) test and the real vehicle aging (RVA) test indicate that CO had the highest emission amounts compared to NOx and THC. Results in AP, HTP, and POCP showed that the environmental benefits of TWC in the RVA test were 76.24, 1.03, and 2743 times greater than its burdens. The difference in AP, HTP, and POCP between RVA and RA tests was 0.39%, 0.39%, and 0.97%, showing no significant variations from these two tests to evaluate the environmental benefits. Dynamic environmental burdens allowed for a 51.36% increase in HTP compared to static environmental burdens of TWC. Conclusions: Both RVA and RA tests are suitable methods to acquire the dynamic data in the dynamic life cycle assessment of TWC. Our results proved the more precise evaluation of dynamic environmental burdens in reflecting the performance of TWC in real driving circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: An online review was conducted on the availability of life-cycle assessment (LCA), water, and carbon footprinting studies in Sweden. The main purpose was to quantify the number of available studies, which may be of general interest to non-specialists or as background data for LCA practitioners. Additionally, results from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reports were also included.Methods: The study used online searches conducted in Google and Google Scholar to obtain the publically available reports. Additionally, searches in ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Wiley were performed to obtain other peer-reviewed academic papers. Only English language results were included.Results and discussion: LCAs and carbon footprinting studies were the most commonly conducted studies (13 LCA and 12 carbon footprinting studies), whereas water footprinting reports, while still largely available, were fewer in number. A number of GRI reports were also available with the majority of studies conducted for the financial services and real estate sectors. Several studies were in the form of university theses, while companies and research organizations conducted the remainder of research projects.Conclusions: While several life-cycle assessments, carbon, and water footprinting studies were accessible via Google searches, given the interest in LCA in the country, e.g., the LCM2013 conference in Gothenburg and The Swedish Life Cycle Centre, more studies were expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Norway, the boreal forest offers a considerable resource base, and emerging technologies may soon make it commercially viable to convert these resources into low-carbon biofuels. Decision makers are required to make informed decisions about the environmental implications of wood biofuels today that will affect the medium- and long-term development of a wood-based biofuels industry in Norway. We first assess the national forest-derived resource base for use in biofuel production. A set of biomass conversion technologies is then chosen and evaluated for scenarios addressing biofuel production and consumption by select industry sectors. We then apply an environmentally extended, mixed-unit, two-region input−output model to quantify the global warming mitigation and fossil fuel displacement potentials of two biofuel production and consumption scenarios in Norway up to 2050. We find that a growing resource base, when used to produce advanced biofuels, results in cumulative global warming mitigation potentials of between 58 and 83 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents avoided (Mt-CO2-eq.-avoided) in Norway, depending on the biofuel scenario. In recent years, however, the domestic pulp and paper industry—due to increasing exposure to international competition, capacity reductions, and increasing production costs—has been in decline. In the face of a declining domestic pulp and paper industry, imported pulp and paper products are required to maintain the demand for these goods and thus the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the exporting region embodied in Norway's pulp and paper imports reduce the systemwide benefit in terms of avoided greenhouse gas emissions by 27%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an estimation of the electricity generating potential as well as the environmental implications of bio-oil derivable from pyrolysis of plastic in some selected cities of Nigeria is conducted. The estimation premise on the experimental results obtained across different literatures, which gave the possible bio-oil yield of different mixture of plastics. First, the amount of plastic in different streams of municipal solid waste across the selected cities are sourced from the local literature and are used to estimate the theoretical amount of bio-oil obtainable through pyrolysis of plastics. Thereafter, the electricity generation potential of the bio-oil is estimated. The environmental impact assessment is conducted through the determination of its global warming and acidification impact. Some of the key results show that pyrolysis of plastic waste has great potential for electricity generation in Nigeria with total electricity generation potential of 87.5 MW with total global warming potential 634.9 kgCO2 (i.e. 0.634922769 tCO2e) and acidification potential of 16.4 kgSO2. The paper is important as it gives an insight into the probable opportunities in waste to energy technology for electricity generation using plastic wastes. This could be an eye-opener to the investors, researcher, policy makers, relevant government parastatals, and legislators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of wind generated waves due to the prevailing climate change induced by global warming is vital for benefit to the coastal community. In the present paper, the hindcasting of decadal variation namely (i) 1979–1992, (ii) 1993–2006, and (iii) 2007–2019 of wind-wave climate over seasonal and annual scale through 41 years starting from 1979 is carried out using ERA5 reanalysis wind-forcing with a daily temporal and 0.5° × 0.5° spatial resolution. The numerical simulations are executed over the computational domains (i) Global—Indian Ocean and (ii) Regional—south Gujarat to north Goa for evaluating the variability analysis of annual and seasonal mean significant wave heights. The evaluation framework is validated over three in-situ measurement locations with good correlation as compared to the simulated results. The results indicate that at this site the wind and wave activity is noted to increase during transition from 1979–1992 to 1993–2006, then a declination of mean significant wave height is noted during the span 2007–2019. Further, along with the spatial variation estimation, 27 locations along 15 m bathymetric contour at 25 km interval are selected for trend line study. All the 27 locations exhibits a similar kind of trend by variation of decreasing trend from 1979–2019 with variations 0.07–0.22 cm/year. This study highlights the significance in simulating the prevailing wind-wave changes at a regional level considering the impact of the climatology and seasonality changes for effective coastal management, environmental impact assessments and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, environmental problems caused by global warming and exhaust gas have been increasing, leading governments all over the world to implement strict environmental regulations. For this reason, the automotive industry has begun working to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. In addition, in order to improve the performance of engines implemented in internal combustion engines (ICEs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), electronic control actuators are becoming increasingly preferred over conventional mechanical parts. In particular, engine intake and exhaust valve timing techniques are critical to improving fuel economy and reducing vehicle emissions. Previously, a hydraulic continuous variable valve timing (CVVT) system was used for valve timing control. However, a disadvantage of this type of system is that the response speed is slow at low and high engine temperatures; these conditions limit the extent of automobile fuel efficiency improvement. Therefore, an electric variable valve timing system (E-CVVT) is being studied to overcome this disadvantage. In this paper, we propose a shape optimum design method for brushless DC (BLDC) motors used in an electric continuous variable valve timing (E-CVVT) system, which is employed in ICEs and HEVs. The proposed design aims to maximize the maximum torque and rated efficiency of BLDC motors, and minimize cogging torque. To select the optimal design variables, we chose to implement Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) to avoid duplication of sampling points. The characteristics of the sampling points obtained via the LHS method were calculated by using finite element (FE) analysis. In order to consider the nonlinearity of properties, we have created an approximate modeling technique that uses a radial basis function. Finally, genetic algorithms were used to determine the design parameters of the optimum model. The effectiveness of the proposed BLDC motor design process is verified by comparing the FE analysis and experimental results. Simulation and experimental results confirmed that the proposed optimized design procedure yields improved operating characteristics. Specifically, testing the proposed optimized design yielded a 16.7% increase in the maximum torque, and a 66.2% reduction in the cogging torque. In addition, the vehicle test confirmed that the proposed design was suitable for an E-CVVT system equipped with a BLDC motor. In addition, the optimum model of the BLDC motor was applied to the E-CVVT system. The response characteristics of the conventional hydraulic CVVT system and E-CVVT were compared via vehicle testing. The response speed of the E-CVVT system was 0.65 s faster than that of the CVVT system during the retard angle phase. Therefore, it was a 39.4% improvement in the response performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a quantitative dynamic ecosystem vegetation model to explore the potential impact of warming up to 9-12 degrees C on global ecosystems. The paper does not find evidence of a global collapse in terrestrial ecosystems but there is evidence of substantial changes. Temperate and tropical forests expand and replace boreal forests and forests shift to woodlands and parkland at high temperatures. Net primary productivity and standing forest biomass per hectare rise. These changes will affect dependent animal species. Further research is needed to measure the resulting benefits and damages to market and nonmarket services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The conventional decision-making for bridges is mostly focusing on technical, economical, and safety perspectives. Nowadays, the society devotes an ever-increased effort to the construction sector regarding their environmental performance. However, considering the complexity of the environmental problems and the diverse character of bridges, the related research for bridge as a whole system is very rare. Most existing studies were only conducted for a single indicator, part of the structure components, or a specific life stage. Methods: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an internationally standardized method for quantifying the environmental impact of a product, asset, or service throughout its whole life cycle. However, in the construction sector, LCA is usually applied in the procurement of buildings, but not bridges as yet. This paper presents a comprehensive LCA framework for road bridges, complied with LCA ReCiPe (H) methodology. The framework enables identification of the key structural components and life cycle stages of bridges, followed by aggregation of the environmental impacts into monetary values. The utility of the framework is illustrated by a practical case study comparing five designs for the Karlsnäs Bridge in Sweden, which is currently under construction. Results and discussion: This paper comprehensively analyzed 20 types of environmental indicators among five proposed bridge designs, which remedies the absence of full spectrum of environmental indicators in the current state of the art. The results show that the monetary weighting system and uncertainties in key variables such as the steel recycling rate and cement content may highly affect the LCA outcome. The materials, structural elements, and overall designs also have varying influences in different impact categories. The result can be largely affected by the system boundaries, surrounding environment, input uncertainties, considered impact indicators, and the weighting systems applied; thus, no general conclusions can be drawn without specifying such issues. Conclusions: Robustly evaluating and ranking the environmental impact of various bridge designs is far from straightforward. This paper is an important attempt to evaluate various designs from full dimensions. The results show that the indicators and weighting systems must be clearly specified to be applicable in a transparent procurement. This paper provides vital knowledge guiding the decision maker to select the most LCA-feasible proposal and mitigate the environmental burden in the early stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern lifestyles have popularised the use of food containers, also known as food savers or Tupperware. However, their environmental impacts are currently unknown. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper presents the first comprehensive assessment of the life cycle environmental sustainability of reusable plastic and glass food savers and evaluates different options for improvements, focusing on European conditions. Taking a cradle-to-grave approach, the paper considers twelve environmental impacts, including global warming potential (GWP), acidification, eutrophication, human and ecotoxicities. The results suggest that, for example, the total GWP of using both types of food saver in the European Union (EU) amounts to 653 kt CO 2 eq./year, equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of Bermuda. The use stage is the main contributor to the impacts (>40%), related to the washing of containers. Glass food savers have 12%–64% higher impacts than the plastic and should have up to 3.5 times greater lifespan to match the environmental footprint of plastic containers. Three improvement scenarios have been considered at the EU level for the year 2020: low-carbon electricity mix; implementation of the EU eco-design regulation for dishwashers; and adoption of more resource-efficient hand dishwashing techniques. The results suggest that the implementation of all three improvement options would reduce the impacts by 12%–47%. The option with the greatest potential for reducing the impacts (12%–27%) is improved hand dishwashing to reduce the amount of water, energy and detergents used. Thus, policy makers and manufacturers should devise strategies to raise awareness and guide consumers in adopting these techniques with the aim of reducing the environmental impacts associated with reusable food savers used by millions of people worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to develop guidelines in order to assist in decision making with respect to treatment options of waste solvents, and more importantly for the choice of solvent in the design of the process a priori, from an environmental point of view based on the composition of a mixture. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to evaluate two treatment alternatives: continuous distillation and incineration. The software Ecosolvent® v.1.0.1 was used to perform the LCA, considering two scenarios (the best and worst scenarios) and five environmental indicators: Eco-indicator 99, UBP-97, global warming potential, cumulative energy demand and CO2-balance. From the results, it can be concluded that the environmental impact originating from the production of the solvents is the main issue to consider for the selection of distillation or incineration as the treatment method during the process design. In general, those solvents with a low impact during their production stage were found to be candidates for incineration. Moreover, those compounds that yield a great environmental burden during the production step should be always recovered in order to minimize the total impact. A series of charts is presented as guidelines to select the most environmentally favorable alternative for mixtures of solvents, and to select which solvent to use considering the environmental effects that are produced. Regarding the information given by the different indicators, it was observed that all the studied indicators lead to the same conclusions for the evaluated mixtures with some exceptions for UBP-97. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Information communication technology (ICT) offers the chance of enhancing the efficiency of public services and economic processes. The use of server-based computing is supposed to reduce the energy and material consumption in ICT services. This hypothesis will be investigated and quantified looking at the whole life cycle of the products. In this paper, server-based computing in combination with thin clients (SBCTC) is compared to a typical desktop PC (DPC) workplace over a time period of 5 years. Materials and methods: The LCA method used in this paper is focused on the impact category of global warming potential. The calculations were performed using the Microsoft® Excel-based methodology for ecodesign of energy-related products tool. This tool includes the requirements of energy-related products (Directive ). Moreover, an input-orientated method-material input per service unit (MIPS)-is applied which allows for an additional comparison between the two ICT solutions. Results and discussion: Electricity consumption could be identified as a crucial environmental impact factor of DPC and SBCTC with both methods. Depending on the user behavior, more than 200 kg CO can be saved by switching from DPC to SBCTC. Over 80 kg CO can be saved in the material and extraction life cycle stage. The largest savings are achieved in the material category electronics (about 70 kg CO). A correlation analysis between the results of global warming potential (GWP) and the MIPS category 'air' shows that both indicators GWP and air lead to the same conclusions when evaluating life cycle stages and ICT material categories. Conclusions: Taking into account all assumptions made in this paper, SBCTC saves more than 65 % of greenhouse gas emissions compared to DPC during the entire life cycle. To ensure further profound comparisons of the ICT solutions, current data on the energy demand and detailed information on the composition of the IT products should be made available by industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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While climate change has become an important concern at both regional and global levels, its inherent uncertainties have often been cited as the main reason for delaying many actions to mitigate its potential impacts. Reviews of environmental assessments (EAs) have shown that impacts from climate change have been inadequately addressed within them and that the corresponding uncertainties have been addressed even more poorly. This paper describes several basic approaches for addressing and analysing climate change within the EAs of individual projects with a focus on its uncertainties. Subsequently, the paper describes how the results from this analysis can be effectively and comprehensively communicated to the EA's disparate set of technical and non-technical decision-makers and stakeholders. Based upon this overall approach, the paper proposes a general set of guidelines that enables proponents to incorporate climate change and its uncertainties into project EAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concentrating and non-concentrating hybrid solar collectors have drawn increasing interest thanks to their multiple advantages compared to the conventional counterparts, including the higher efficiency and dual production of thermal and electrical energies, alleviating energy security and environmental concerns. Consequently, their utilization has been explored for various applications. However, there is a scarcity of reviewed literature addressing the performance of concentrating and non-concentrating hybrid collectors-based systems from energy, exergy, economic, and environmental (4E) prospects. Therefore, a critical review of concentrating and non-concentrating hybrid solar collectors is conducted for revealing their potential in different applications, namely heating, cooling, desalination, drying, and poly-generation systems. The paper aims to highlight the energetic and exergetic performance, cost-effectiveness, and environmental impact of hybrid solar collectors' implementation through the main indicators of the 4E analysis. This review revealed that hybrid solar collectors possess an undeniable potential to cover a wide range of applications and alleviate the global warming impact linked mainly to the fossil energy systems' utilization. However, their energetic performance has to be further improved to achieve the competitiveness with fossil fuel-based systems. From exergetic perspective, the systems are still inefficient due to the high exergy destruction rate, especially for heating applications. Poly-generation systems appeared to be a cost-effective application of hybrid collectors' technology with a cost as low as $0.03/kWh. Accordingly, this work could serve as a guideline for research community and investors to get insights into hybrid collectors' technologies and identify the research trend and challenges for improving the maturity level of these systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of methane (CH4) in the 21st century presents a critical dilemma. Its abundance and clean-burning nature make it a promising energy source, while its potent greenhouse effect threatens climate stability. Despite its potent greenhouse gas (GHG) nature, CH4 remains a crucial energy resource. However, advancements in CH4 capture, utilization, and emissions mitigation are rapidly evolving, necessitating a critical assessment of the advances, their potential, and challenges. This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the current state of the art in these advancements, particularly focusing on the emissions trends, with corresponding global warming potentials of projected CH4 emissions, and a discussion on the advances that have been made towards reducing the impacts of CH4 emissions. The areas of these advances include measurement, computational, numerical modeling, and simulation studies for CH4, emerging technologies for CH4 production, management and control, the nexus of CH4 –X, and case study applications in countries. This study reports on these advances, which involves a technical review of studies, mainly from the last decade, discussing the technical feasibility, economic viability, and environmental impact of these advancements. Our trend analysis reveals that even though the share of CH4 in the GHG mix has been around 19% compared with carbon dioxide (CO2), still, CH4 reduction would need to be highly subsidized because of the high global warming potential it has, compared with CO2. We conclude that while significant progress has been made, further research and development are essential to optimize the performance, scalability, and affordability of these advancements. Additionally, robust policy frameworks and international collaborations are crucial to ensure widespread adoption and maximize the potential that comes with the advancements in the mitigation of the impact of CH4 emission. This study contributes to the ongoing dialogue on balancing the potentials of CH4 with its environmental footprint, paving the way for a future where this versatile resource can be utilized sustainably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Batteries have been extensively used in many applications; however, very little is explored regarding the possible environmental impacts for their whole life cycle, even though a lot of studies have been carried out for augmenting performance in many ways. This research paper addresses the environmental effects of two different types of batteries, lithium-ion (LiIo) and nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries, in terms of their chemical constituents. Life cycle impact analysis has been carried out by the CML, ReCiPe, EcoPoints 97, IPCC, and CED methods. The impacts are considered in categories such as global warming, eutrophication, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, human toxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity. The results reveal that there is a significant environmental impact caused by nickel-metal hydride batteries in comparison with lithium-ion batteries. The reason behind these impacts is the relatively large amount of toxic chemical elements which are present as constituents of NiMH batteries. It can be anticipated that a better environmental performance can be achieved through optimization, especially by cautiously picking the constituents, taking into account the toxicity aspects, and by minimizing the impacts related to these chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming is one of the greatest threats to humanity and the environment. This paper investigates the relationship between the increasing number of private cars in Bandung and its contribution to global warming. Bandung city population in 2010 was about 2.4 million, and the population density was 1,600. The global warming in Bandung has increased due to the intensive urban activities. Global warming is the warming that happens when certain gases in Earth’s atmosphere trap heat. The main sources of global warming in Bandung are transportation, industry and household. The ever increasing number of cars is proportional to the increasing temperatures that reach 27◦C at night and 30◦ during the day especially in downtown Bandung. My research focused on the private cars heading towards the Ciumbuleit-Cihampelas-Silwangi Junction during a busy Saturday afternoon for a period of 3months to see whether all the car seats are occupied by people, and to check whether all the cars are necessarily required on the road. Less than 20% of the cars were at least half filled with people. About 40% of the cars had only the driver and about 40% of the cars had more than 1 person but less than the half filled car capacity. All the Passengers could comfortably fit in only 60% of the cars. The mean of the data was 2.4 occupants per car where the car capacity ranged from 4 to 6 occupants per car. 50% of the cars were unnecessarily required on the road during the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MEPC 70 foresees a greenhouse gas reduction strategy will be in force in 2018. Researchers are striving to investigate different GHG reduction technologies to determine their feasibility in the aspect of both environment and economy. However, the evaluations are not specific or comprehensive so this paper presents a systematic evaluation approach to guide policy makers to evaluate the performances and to help ship owners to select suitable reduction technologies. One carbon reduction method proposed by authors was proved to be cost effective and this paper applies life cycle analysis focusing on all stages of ship life to investigate, determine and compare the feasibility of this methods in the aspect of environmental and cost impact which are two significant standard for the assessment. The results indicate the application of reduction method leads to a lower global warming potential when the carbon reduction target is increased. Oppositely, the economic benefits increased while complying with strict regulation. This paper also indicates to achieve carbon reduction target set up by regulation, a marginal target will be necessary. Evaluation of carbon reduction method using life cycle assessment is also recommended to policy makers and ship owners to provide them comparable results and reasonable decision makings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

against the background of increasing awareness and appreciation of issues such as global warming and the impact of mankind's activities such as agriculture on the global environment, this paper updates previous assessments of some key environmental impacts that crop biotechnology has had on global agriculture. It focuses on the environmental impacts associated with changes in pesticide use and greenhouse gas emissions arising from the use of GM crops. The adoption of the technology has reduced pesticide spraying by 503 million kg (-8.8%) and, as a result, decreased the environmental impact associated with herbicide and insecticide use on these crops (as measured by the indicator the environmental Impact Quotient [EIQ]) by 18.7%. The technology has also facilitated a significant reduction in the release of greenhouse gas emissions from this cropping area, which, in 2012, was equivalent to removing 11.88 million cars from the roads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forest and building sector is of major importance in climate change mitigation and therefore construction materials based on forest products are of great interest. While energy efficiency has had a large focus in climate change mitigation in the building sector, the carbon footprint of the construction material is gaining relevance. The carbon footprint of construction materials can vary greatly from one type to another, the building sector is consequently demanding documentation of the carbon footprint of the materials used. Using an environmental product declaration (EPD) is an objective and standardised solution for communicating the environmental impacts of construction products and especially their carbon footprint. Nevertheless, it is challenging to include the features of forest products as pools of carbon dioxide. There is currently a focus on research into methods for the accounting of sequestered atmospheric carbon dioxide and also implementation of these methods into technical standards. This paper reviews the recent research and technical standards in this field to promote a common understanding and to propose requirements for additional information to be included in EPDs of forest-based products. The main findings show the need for reporting the contribution of biogenic carbon to the total on greenhouse gas emissions and removals over the product's lifecycle. In order to facilitate the implementation of more advanced methods from research, the EPD should also include more detailed information of the wood used, in particular species and origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental impact evaluation of intensive dairy farming systems has been of growing interest recently as agriculture has several negative influences on the surrounding environment, including eutrophication, declines in biodiversity, and pollution of nearby waterbodies. Dairy production in particular is characterized by the emission of greenhouse gasses (GHG) contributing toward climate change. In this study, the carbon footprint of South African pasture-based dairy farming systems was assessed using a farm-gate life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach. A total of 82 pasture-based dairy farms across South Africa were assessed (2012-2022). The average carbon footprint across all dairy farming systems was 1.36 ± 0.21 kg CO2eq kg-1 fat- and protein-corrected milk produced (FPCM), which is higher than similar studies performed outside South Africa. Enteric fermentation had the largest influence on the carbon footprint, indicating the key role of methane as an emission source in ruminant dominated livestock systems. A difference in milk production efficiency was found between farming systems with the lowest and highest carbon footprints. Pasture-based dairy farming systems must be managed with adaptive management such as regenerative agriculture. Future research agendas should explore modeling approaches to assess the economic and environmental impact of dairy production, formulating a holistic understanding of the system dynamics while also quantifying net carbon emissions or sinks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the increasing awareness and appreciation of issues such as global warming and the impact of mankind's activities such as agriculture on the global environment, this paper updates previous assessments of the environmental impact of an important and relatively new technology, crop biotechnology has had on global agriculture. It focuses on the environmental impacts associated with changes in pesticide use and greenhouse gas emissions arising from the use of GM crops. The adoption of the technology has reduced pesticide spraying by 474 million kg (-8.9%) and, as a result, decreased the environmental impact associated with herbicide and insecticide use on these crops [as measured by the indicator the Environmental Impact Quotient (EI Q)] by 18.1%. The technology has also facilitated a significant reduction in the release of greenhouse gas emissions from this cropping area, which, in 2011, was equivalent to removing 10.22 million cars from the roads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adapting existing buildings is a viable alternative to demolition and replacement in order to mitigate climate change and global warming. Australian cities with inherent cultural heritage fabric, like Melbourne and Sydney, are actively promoting building adaptive reuse as a strategy that supports their programme for developing carbon-neutral cities. Thus, designing for future buildings with embedded adaptive reuse potential is a useful criterion for sustainability. Building adaptive reuse entails less energy and waste, protects the buildings' heritage values- its socio-cultural and historic meanings; while giving them a new lease of life. This paper looks into urban conservation-- an interdisciplinary field that combines adaptive reuse, architecture and community development of the built heritage. It will further introduce the development of a new rating tool known as adaptSTAR, suitable for assessing the adaptive reuse potential of future buildings to lead and help promote the development of low to no carbon built environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces SArch, an environmental impact assessment tool developed in Thailand. SArch can be used to assess the environmental impact of construction materials throughout the lifecycle of buildings. The assessment starts with the raw materials and follows their preparation, transportation, utilization and maintenance to post-utilization or destruction. Five categories of impact are considered: global warming, acidification, eutrophication, ecological toxicity and smog. SArch can be used to assess the environmental impact of materials in the building design phase as well as the impact of existing buildings. An example of using SArch for the assessment of a residential house in Thailand is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of risk perceptions in influencing public policy related to global warming. It solves for the optimal paths for emissions, abatement and investment in pollution-eliminating research by incorporating perceived risks into public decision making. It also compares the impact of differential risk perceptions on international collaboration on carbon abatement. Key findings are that the perception of risks related to environmental damages and technological breakthroughs plays an important role in determining the level of mitigation efforts. A high level of perceived risk of environmental damages discourages investment in pollution-eliminating research as there are few benefits from eliminating pollution after damages are realized. Other options that allow for sequestering carbon from the atmosphere may still remain viable. Another key finding is that when it comes to effort sharing between nations, differential mitigation efforts are primarily caused due to the differences in abatement technology, benefits from emissions and research capabilities. However, such differences could be accentuated or mitigated depending upon the differences in risk perception of developed and developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potential environmental impacts associated with aerobic in-vessel composting and bioreactor landfilling were assessed using life cycle inventory (LCI) tool. LCI models for solid waste management (SWM) were also developed and used to compare environmental burdens of alternative SWM scenarios. Results from the LCI models showed that the estimated energy recovery from bioreactor landfilling was about 9.6 megajoules (MJ) per kilogram (kg) of waste. Air emissions from in-vessel composting contributed to a global warming potential (GWP) of 0.86 kg of CO2-equivalent per kg of waste, compared to 1.54 kg of CO2-equivalent from bioreactor landfill. Waterborne emissions contributing to aquatic toxicity is less coming from in-vessel composting than from bioreactor landfilling. However, emissions to air and water that contribute to human toxicity are greater for the composting option than for the landfill option. Full costs for in-vessel composting is about 6 times greater than for the landfilling alternative. Integration of individually collected commingled recyclables, yard wastes, and residual wastes with windrow composting and bioreactor landfilling produces airborne and waterborne emissions with the least environmental effects among the alternatives considered. It also yields greater energy savings due to the conversion of the landfill gas (LFG) to electrical energy than the option that diverts yard waste, food waste and soiled paper for aerobic in-vessel composting. However, this scenario costs 68% more than that where the commingled collection of wastes is integrated with in-vessel composting and conventional landfilling, owing to increased collection costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the environmental impacts and damage costs (‘external costs’) of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer and discusses options for reducing these impacts, including their consequences for farmers and for producers of fertilizer. The damage costs of the fertilizer life cycle that could be estimated are large, about 0.3 €/kg N (compared to the current market price of about 0.5 €/kg N ); much of that is due to global warming by N 2 O and CO 2 emissions during fertilizer production and N 2 O emissions from fertilized fields. Policy options for internalizing these costs are discussed, and the consequences of reduced fertilizer input on crop yield are explored. If the damage costs were internalized by a pollution tax or tradable permits that are auctioned by the government, the economic consequences would be heavy, with a large revenue loss for farmers. However, if it is internalized by tradable permits that are given out free, the revenue loss for farmers is small. The loss for fertilizer producers increases linearly with the amount of external cost that is internalized, by contrast to the loss for farmers which increases quadratically but is very small for a damage cost of 0.3 €/kg N . Expressed as a change in the fertilizer-dependent part of the farmers' revenue (crop yield × crop price – fertilizer used× fertilizer price), the decrease is less than 0.5% for most crops; the losses are larger only for crops with low €/ha revenue. Averaged over wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar beet and rapeseed, the loss to farmers is about 0.1% in the UK and 0.4% in Sweden. The revenue loss for fertilizer producers is larger, about 8% in the UK and 14% in Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanisation and industrialisation have had an adverse and deep impact on the environment contributing to global warming and climate change. These thermal environmental problems can be even more challenging to people living in regions with warm and humid climatic conditions throughout the year, such as Malaysia. This paper analyses wind characteristics and outdoor thermal comfort index at the hottest temperatures based on data recorded hourly between 2012 and 2014 for two cities in East Malaysia, namely Kuching (Sarawak) and Kota Kinabalu (Sabah). Wind characteristics were analysed using only wind velocity and direction, while the level of outdoor thermal comfort was measured using Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). The results showed that hourly average wind velocities for Kuching and Kota Kinabalu were 1.84 m/s and 2.15 m/s respectively while the highest average wind velocities was 10.1 m/s and 12.4 m/s respectively. No wind movement (i.e. 0 m/s) was recorded for both locations. The prevailing annual wind flow is generally from South-Southeast (150°) in Sarawak and from East-Southeast (110°) in Sabah. It was also found that both Kuching and Kota Kinabalu experienced strong and extreme heat stress conditions with UTCI levels of 44.8°C and 49.8°C respectively. Thus, it can be concluded that, East Malaysia faces strong and extreme heat stress conditions. This study is an original contribution on the subject of outdoor thermal environment in Malaysia, Further research to better understand outdoor thermal environmental problems is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laser cladding is one of the principal means of equipment remanufacturing and the environmental profiles of this technology has become a research focus. This paper examines the environmental impacts of cast iron cylinder head block remanufacturing through laser cladding using life cycle assessment (LCA), and compares it with the new cylinder head block manufacturing. Resource and energy consumptions of each manufacturing and remanufacturing processes are collected along the production line and then the results of six selected environmental impact categories are calculated. Consistency and sensitivity analysis is also conducted after life cycle impact assessment. The results reveal that cylinder head remanufacturing by laser cladding will achieve large environmental benefits, which can cut environment impact over the entire life cycle by 63.8% on average. This paper also discusses the trend of changes in environmental impacts using scenario analysis over different remanufacturing levels. By taking characterized global warming potential (GWP) as the assessment index, the result shows that remanufacturing will no longer be the preferred option if it needs to repair more than 16 cracks by laser cladding for the cylinder head. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the performance of seawater-cured calcined clay-portlandite binder as a potential alternative to ordinary portland cement (OPC) for marine concrete applications. The samples for the investigation were prepared by mixing calcined kaolinite and bentonite clays in different ratios with portlandite. Seawater served as both the mixing and curing agent while acting as an activator due to its chloride and sulfate ion contents. The process involved three sequential steps: evaluating the changes in the mechanical performances, assessing the microstructural features, and estimating the environmental impacts. The results showed that the bound and total chloride content was significantly higher in the calcined clay mixes than in the OPC. The higher kaolinite enhanced the mechanical properties, and the strength-providing phases were Friedel's salt, C-A-S-H, ettringite, and zeolites. It was concluded that this novel binder has the potential to reduce global warming by 85–90% more than OPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the severe problems caused by global warming, controlling greenhouse-gas emissions has become an emerging topic around the world. This situation has led to the implementation of legislations, forcing companies to implement innovations and strategies to prevent and reduce carbon emissions. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of implementing these strategies and the estimation to fulfill Kyoto Protocol's 2020 target Emission Trading Schemes needs to be further analysed and discussed. This paper reviews the existing greenhouse-gas-emission legislations, as well as carbon offset programs worldwide. A detailed analysis on carbon emissions trends related to emissions penalties is shown for six major countries. The optimal penalty for emissions trading schemes is also analyzed and discussed in this paper. Future changes that could be made to the existing programs for enhancing their effectiveness are also suggested. It was found that carbon emissions decreased around 1.58% per year since Emission Trading Schemes implementation. Around 23.43% of CO 2 reduction can be reached after 10 years of Emission Trading Schemes implementation, compared to the trend when Emission Trading Schemes was not implemented. Despite Emission Trading Schemes implementation is extremely recent, based on the existing data a first estimation of the optimal penalty in achieving the maximum carbon reduction it was found around US$90.22 per tonne. However, as the implementation period of Emission Trading Schemes is still limited for most countries, it is necessary to explore similar analysis as future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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With increased acknowledgment of global climate change and warming, governments, consumers, and firms are responding collectively to create today's low-carbon economy. Carbon footprint labeling has developed as a meaningful instrument to motivate greenhouse gas emission reductions. This paper reviews existing research and implementation examples to understand the development of carbon labeling. This includes discussing the evolution of the carbon labeling concept, and different measurement methodologies and standards for carbon labels. These methods and standards include life cycle assessment, Public Available Standard 2050, Greenhouse Gas Protocol, and International Organization for Standardization 14067. The review also considers carbon label implementation in different countries and the potential impacts of carbon labeling schemes. The paper closes with recommendations for carbon label implementation, summarizing the advantages and drawbacks of carbon labeling approaches. Governments, consumers, and firms may use this review to adjust their strategy for future carbon label implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to determine the environmental aspects of a less impactful municipal solid waste management system through life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. In order to achieve this goal, first, the composition study was conducted in Sakarya, Turkey for one year. The results of first step are to be utilized as a reliable data source in establishing a complete picture of the environmental performances of municipal solid waste management systems with a life cycle perspective. The functional unit of the study was selected as one ton of municipal solid waste generated in Sakarya. System boundaries included collection and transportation of municipal solid waste and its treatment and disposal by MRF, incineration, composting and landfilling methods. Data on the process was gathered from a field study conducted in Sakarya, and from SimaPro 8.0.2 literature and libraries. The data was evaluated with CML-IA methodology by the means of abiotic depletion, abiotic depletion (fossil fuels), acidification, global warming, ozone depletion, human toxicity, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity and photochemical oxidation. According to the results, while landfilling and incineration have been confirmed as the worst waste final disposal alternatives, composting and material recovery showed better performance. An integrated system (MRF, composting, incineration and landfilling) is considered as a solution towards improved sustainability to overcome the existing waste management problem. The paper showed LCA to be a valuable tool which can help governors and managers plan an integrated waste management strategy that provides more preferable environmental outcomes than the strategy suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents life cycle environmental impacts of UK shale gas used for electricity generation, in comparison with other fossil, nuclear and renewable options. Per kWh of electricity generated, shale gas has higher environmental impacts than the other options, except for coal. Thus, if it were to replace coal, most impacts would be reduced, including the global warming potential (GWP; by 2.3 times). However, if it were to compete with nuclear or some renewables most impacts would rise, with the GWP increasing by 5-123 times. Within a future UK electricity mix up to 2030, shale gas would make little difference to the environmental impacts of electricity generation, including the GWP, even for the most optimistic assumptions for its domestic production. This suggests that, in the medium term, shale gas cannot help towards meeting UK climate change targets and that certain renewables and nuclear power should be prioritized instead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the oceanic and atmospheric variability over the Intra-American Seas (IAS) from a 32-year integration of a 15-km coupled regional climate model consisting of the Regional Spectral Model (RSM) for the atmosphere and the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) for the ocean. It is forced at the lateral boundaries by National Centers for Environmental Prediction-Department of Energy (NCEP-DOE R-2) atmospheric global reanalysis and Simplified Ocean Data Assimilation global oceanic reanalysis. This coupled downscaling integration is a free run without any heat flux correction and is referred as the Regional Ocean-Atmosphere coupled downscaling of global Reanalysis over the Intra-American Seas (ROARS). The paper examines the fidelity of ROARS with respect to independent observations that are both satellite based and in situ. In order to provide a perspective on the fidelity of the ROARS simulation, we also compare it with the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), a modern global ocean-atmosphere reanalysis product. Our analysis reveals that ROARS exhibits reasonable climatology and interannual variability over the IAS region, with climatological SST errors less than 1 °C except along the coastlines. The anomaly correlation of the monthly SST and precipitation anomalies in ROARS are well over 0.5 over the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans. A highlight of the ROARS simulation is its resolution of the loop current and the episodic eddy events off of it. This is rather poorly simulated in the CFSR. This is also reflected in the simulated, albeit, higher variance of the sea surface height in ROARS and the lack of any variability in the sea surface height of the CFSR over the IAS. However the anomaly correlations of the monthly heat content anomalies of ROARS are comparatively lower, especially over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. This is a result of ROARS exhibiting a bias of underestimation (overestimation) of high (low) clouds. ROARS like CFSR is also able to capture the Caribbean Low Level Jet and its seasonal variability reasonably well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Nowadays the control of greenhouse gas is probably the most challenging environmental policy issue. Since CO2 is considered the major greenhouse gas (GHG) that contributes to the global warming, enforcing technological strategies aiming to avoid or reuse CO2 emissions becomes crucial, in order to mitigate GHG environmental impact. Currently, solutions conventionally adopted to this purpose are carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. In this context, instead, the followed strategy aims to further improvements in energetic conversion efficiency with related reduced specific CO2 emissions (per produced kWhe). Therefore, with particular reference to the electric power generation, this paper proposes an innovative energy conversion system, based on solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), characterized by higher efficiency and reduced CO2 emission factor respect to an analogous conventional energy plant. In particular, the innovative solution consists of combining SOFC to methane dry reforming technology, while the conventional system refers to steam methane reforming-SOFC coupling. The innovative system performance up to 65% electric efficiency as cited in the paper, was validated through simulations carried out in Aspen Plus environment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]