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The availability of freshwater and energy is a serious issue in remote and islanded areas, especially at a small scale, where there may not be the possibility to access the grid and/or water distribution systems. In this context, polygeneration systems operating on the basis of local, renewable energy sources can be an answer to the users' demand for electricity, heating, cooling, and domestic hot water. The scope of the proposed paper was to investigate, numerically, the energy and economic feasibility of a novel hybrid polygeneration system powered by biomass, solar, and wind energy for a micro-district of households. The proposed system consists of a biomass-fueled steam cycle, wind turbine, photovoltaic field coupled with thermal and electrical energy storage, adsorption chiller, and a reverse osmosis water desalination unit. The system is also assisted by an LPG generator set running as backup. The system provides space heating and cooling, electrical energy, and fresh and domestic hot water to 10 households located on Pantelleria Island, Italy. The proposed system is modelled and simulated through TRNSYS software with realistic user demand. The energy and economic performance of the proposed system are assessed with respect to a reference system in different scenarios, taking into account islanded operation, connection to the grid, and biomass tariffs. The results show that the proposed system achieves an excellent primary energy saving performance in all the investigated scenarios, with savings of more than 94% for all the investigated scenarios. Excluding any kind of funding, in case of new investment for the system, the simple payback oscillates between 7 and 12 years, showing that the developed alternative is fairly valid with respect to traditional solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To contribute to the use of bio‐based materials in the building sector, a novel bio‐based wall panel, with a high thermal performance level, is proposed in this work. The panel is based on an ancient rural technique, widely diffused in southern Italy, which makes use of Arundo donax L. canes combined with gypsum plaster to build walls and ceilings of rural buildings. The enhancement of the thermal capacity of these panels by means of the introduction in the canes of a natural wax oleogel (WO) is proposed in this paper. A specific experimental campaign aiming at the comparison of traditional and innovative panels was carried out to assess the enhanced thermal performance of the proposed solution. The maximum value of heat flow absorbed from the panel with WO was 61.08 W/m2 around a mean panel temperature of 24°C, corresponding to the melting temperature range of the WO. The panel without WO at the same temperature absorbed an incoming heat flow of 34.64 W/m2 which is about 57% of the panel with WO. The panel with WO released at a temperature of about 27.5°C, a heat flow of 43.42 W/m2. At the same temperature of about 27.5°C, the panel without WO released a heat flow of 34.38 W/m2 which is about 80% that of the panel with WO. The results highlighted that the addition of natural WO has enhanced the thermal capacity of the panel facilitating heat dissipation through the borders. These characteristics make the panel a suitable component for internal partitions of controlled temperature zones such as residential rooms, storage food areas, livestock buildings, and where it is necessary to obtain a constant environmental temperature. In particular, the null or low toxicity of the panel's materials allows for partition use, also in hygienically safe environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the need to acknowledge Italy's colonial history and its consequences, particularly in the form of material traces such as street names, monuments, and buildings. It discusses the efforts to make colonial violence visible and how the use of the term "vandalism" to describe protests against colonial monuments undermines the political significance of these actions. The article also introduces the "Postcolonial Italy: Mapping Colonial Heritage" project which aims to document these colonial traces and stimulate public debate about Italy's colonial past.