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This paper develops an Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare for Spain from 1970 to 2012 and seeks to update valuation approaches to a number of items. Two approaches have proven particularly controversial over recent decades; the costs of energy depletion and of climate change. The valuation implications in measuring present welfare have proven problematic, as both include future sustainability consequences arising from resource depletion and environmental impacts. This study includes a ‘ transition cost ’ approach to energy depletion, a modified approach to costs of climate change and water pollution, and removes the cost of ozone depletion. The results illustrate that while GDP per capita increased significantly, the ISEW per capita shows a widening gap. Household labour contributes strongly, but income distribution, energy depletion and costs of climate change limit improvement. Sensitivity analysis shows that accumulating climate change costs and escalating energy depletion costs have significant effects. Nevertheless, the new valuation approaches do not alter conclusions that welfare has shown little improvement. The ISEW provides a useful alternative to current indicators such as GDP subject to awareness of limitations. It is a measure of welfare that uses sustainability accounting methods when estimating costs, but is not an indicator of whether welfare is actually sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology to allocate carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions that result from fuel combusted to produce electricity and heat to the end-use sectors (industry, buildings, transport, and agriculture) where the electricity and heat are actually consumed. Attributing these indirect emissions to the appropriate sectors results in a very different picture of CO 2 emissions per sector than is seen when only direct emissions are characterized. With attribution to the demand side, the industrial and buildings sectors contribute the largest shares of CO 2 emissions globally. When indirect emissions are allocated to their respective end-use sectors, the buildings sector’s share of total emissions increases the most, from 9% (direct emissions only) to 31% (including indirect emissions), which reflects the large share of electricity and heat consumed in this sector. The share of CO 2 emissions attributable to the industrial sector also increases significantly, from 18% to 37%. These increased values include emissions from both electricity and heat used in end-use sectors, in contrast to the traditional accounting method, which allocates all electricity and heat emissions to the transformation and energy sector. Allocating these emissions to end-use sectors makes it possible to assess the full potential impact of demand reduction of electricity and heat use. This article is based on contributions to the Fifth Assessment Report of Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentration of CO 2 in the atmosphere is increasing rapidly. CO 2 emissions may have an impact on global climate change. Effective CO 2 emission abatement strategies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) are required to combat this trend. Compared with pre-combustion carbon capture and oxy-fuel carbon capture approaches, post-combustion CO 2 capture (PCC) using solvent process is one of the most mature carbon capture technologies. There are two main barriers for the PCC process using solvent to be commercially deployed: (a) high capital cost; (b) high thermal efficiency penalty due to solvent regeneration. Applying process intensification (PI) technology into PCC with solvent process has the potential to significantly reduce capital costs compared with conventional technology using packed columns. This paper intends to evaluate different PI technologies for their suitability in PCC process. The study shows that rotating packed bed (RPB) absorber/stripper has attracted much interest due to its high mass transfer capability. Currently experimental studies on CO 2 capture using RPB are based on standalone absorber or stripper. Therefore a schematic process flow diagram of intensified PCC process is proposed so as to motivate other researches for possible optimal design, operation and control. To intensify heat transfer in reboiler, spinning disc technology is recommended. To replace cross heat exchanger in conventional PCC (with packed column) process, printed circuit heat exchanger will be preferred. Solvent selection for conventional PCC process has been studied extensively. However, it needs more studies for solvent selection in intensified PCC process. The authors also predicted research challenges in intensified PCC process and potential new breakthrough from different aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Several studies show the potential benefits achievable by recurring to roof vegetation. Really, little literature investigates the economic feasibility of such solution. The paper verifies utility of green roofs, under environmental and energy point of views, by considering all the aspects that influence their performances. With reference to several climates, intensity of rainfalls, needs of irrigation and kind of building use, a large parametric analysis evaluates the technical and economical feasibility of green roofs applied to a modern office building, considering various vegetations and different external coatings. The scarce amount of rainfall – and thus the irrigation cost – can nullify the savings in energy demand for air-conditioning. Moreover, even if green roofs show satisfactory performance if monthly rainfalls do not imply significant additional watering – the economic investigation shows scarce convenience for well-insulated buildings, above all if the higher initial cost of a green roof, compared to traditional roofing coating, is computed. Finally, cool roofs, by means of high-reflective and high-emissive coatings, are suitable solutions in warm climates, strongly improving the summer performances, with low extra costs for installation and maintenance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]