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Assumptions that the net contribution of cement and concrete production to greenhouse gas levels are represented by carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions alone are inaccurate. The net contribution of CO 2 released through calcination of limestone may be over 20% less on a global scale. This is due to CO 2 uptake by concrete products in service through the naturally-occurring phenomenon of carbonation of concrete. Failure to take account of the net effect may lead to misinformed policy formulation on global and regional climate change strategies. Accurate quantification of these figures and incorporation of this concept intolife-cycle assessment studies will permit a more realistic comparison to be made of the true environmental impact (CO 2 footprint) of future concrete structures. This paper presents the methodology and findings of a preliminary investigation into the sequestration of CO 2 by concrete in Ireland. The process of concrete carbonation is well known and models for the process underpin concrete durability design in current European concrete standards. Despite this, CO 2 sequestered by concrete in and after service is not generally accounted for in determinations of environmental impact. Using methodologies developed from similar work in Scandinavia, this paper details the development of initial estimates of the quantity of the CO 2 immobilised by Irish concrete in service over time, as a fraction of the CO 2 released through calcination of limestone. Possible implications of the preliminary findings and potential avenues for future research are outlined DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.10.1.8037

Rivers will be among the most sensitive of all ecosystems to the effects of climate change as they are heated by processes similar to those warming the Earth's atmosphere. The river water and air temperatures follow each other closely. The life cycle of lotic biota is regulated by two major physical factors: water temperature and hydraulic conditions. Any change in hydraulic pattern that leads to an alteration of the established thermal regime of a lotic ecosystem will ultimately lead to a dramatic change in the composition and survival of lotic biota. In order to assess the impacts of potential climate change on thermal regime of water bodies, it is important to know the long range forecasts for various climatic parameters. For this purpose the modelling of water discharge and forecasting of future changes are performed. This paper provides the long-term changes in the Lithuanian river water temperature according to two models and emissions scenarios. This paper evaluates the changes of warm season (May-October) water temperature and heat runoff of Lithuanian rivers (Nemunas, Merkys and Dubysa) with different thermal regimes at the end of the 21 st century (2071–2100) comparing to the climate normal period (1961-1990) using two climate change models (ECHAM5 and HadCM3 global climate models and the A2 and B1 emissions scenarios) and hydrological modelling (HBV model). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.68.2.6178

The article deals with the research of the influence of plants on the potential energy savings in the field of ventilation of intelligent buildings. It is known that selected plants can effectively reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide even in the indoor environment of buildings in poor lighting conditions. The paper presents a theoretical simulation method that shows the potential of selected plants to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the indoor environment and thus reduce the requirement for the amount of supplied air in intelligent buildings which are air-conditioned based on the current and required concentration of carbon dioxide. The results of the research are very influential; in terms of overall percentage savings, plants have the most significant effect in buildings with lower indoor air quality (IDA4+), while they have a less significant effect in areas with high air quality according to carbon dioxide concentration (IDA2, IDA3). Research with the help of computer simulation shows that the implementation of 1 m2 of living green plants, depending on the quality class of the IDA indoor environment, can bring savings on the amount of supplied air in the range of 0.058 % to 1.997 % for a typical office for 4 people.

The Republic of Azerbaijan, as the largest nation state in the South Caucasus Region, has the potential for developing and using renewable sources of energy in order to support the environmental challenge resolution associated with climate change, improving the environmental situation in the country. Solar photovoltaic (PV) comprises one of the direct usages of solar energy. In this paper, a sustainable PV usage scenario in residential houses was introduced to reduce negative environmental effects in land use, water consumption, air pollution, etc. It was recommended by the author that PV systems can be part of function and design of residential building components, such as roofs, walls and windows. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.71.4.12070

As the effects of global warming are spreading all over the planet, the activities on monitoring the environment are getting on importance and are becoming the focus of many projects, in particular those targeting development of smart cities and smart societies in general. Development of technology is enabling implementation of low-cost environment monitoring systems that can be installed across the cities utilizing the existing city infrastructure (for example attached to lampposts or installed on public transport vehicles) or even carried around by individuals contributing to crowd sourced based monitoring solutions. However, even though the costs are significantly lower than just a few years ago, it is still prohibitive to deploy such systems on a very large scale. This paper presents a possible approach towards significant reduction of the number of measurement points as well as the number of required sensors while still providing reliable estimations of environment parameters across an area. The approach is based on the mathematical statistics methods. It is shown that the proposed solution works well in the areas with stable and slowly-changing weather conditions, i.e. in cases when there are no sudden climate changes. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eee.20.6.7269

The increasing awareness of climate change and the scarcity of fossil fuel reserves have made many nations consider energy alternatives. Wind appears everywhere on the globe, and wind power technology, including offshore wind power could offer a qualified solution. The objective of this paper is to analyze the key actors in the offshore wind power markets, and to evaluate how new entrants with novel products could enter the market. The evaluation is based on a literature review and financial, patent and potential partner analyses. The results reveal the leading players, new entrants and challengers, in collaboration with whom a new small-scale entrant could execute the commercialization of novel products. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.mech.18.6.3170

Climate change has started to alter the way how climatic events take place on the earth. Occurrence and distribution of extreme climatic events are now more frequent and undoubtedly Bangladesh is experiencing the effects of climate change among which the extreme events manifest in a more evident and devastating way. This paper aims at eliciting evidences of the effect of climate change on the characteristics of cyclones of this region. Recent histories of cyclones that formed at the Bay of Bengal and made landfall on the coasts of Bangladesh, ranging from 1795 to 2009, were studied. Frequency of the cyclones has shown an increasing trend along with their intensity. Frequency of weaker cyclones is decreasing and although intensity of the weaker storm is rising, they are rising at a greater rate for the stronger storms and hence there will be large differences among the intensity of the future cyclones. Storm surges show a positive correlation with the intensity of the storms hence greater storm surges can be expected in the future. Storms tracks seem to remain unaltered for a long tract of time. These analyses implicate the necessity to decelerate climate change and also increase awareness among the highly dense population of the coastal regions of the developing countries to reduce damages due to such extreme events.