Feasibility study of a combi-pv panel for greenhouse energy supply and water recovery by nightly radiation towards the sky

In southern European areas, characterized by high irradiation, the use of water for both evaporative cooling systems and hydroponic fertigation, represents a serious drawback for crop cultivation under cover. Water recovery systems seem to be an attractive solution, especially when they are integrated in the greenhouse construction. In this research, a feasibility study of applying a water recovery system driven by a combi-PV panel, in a semi-closed greenhouse was carried out. The prototype combi-PV panel was made by coupling an amorphous silicon panel with a sump stacked on the rear PV panel surface and filled with saline water. The system is driven by a cold-heat sink which is the PV panel itself. During night, the combi-PV panel exploits the radiative cooling of a ‘gray’ surface towards clear sky, chilling the water in the sump. In opposition, during day-time, the water in the sump is heated at a temperature higher than the environment. Thus, the water vapour will be condensing on the rear panel surface during night, being the warm air circulation facilitated by bouyancy effect. The evaluation of the system is in progress in order to assess the real amount of energy irradiated and consequently the water-drips to be collected on a proper surface inside the sump. The condensed water can be mixed with saline water to reduce the salinity and be used for fertigation

AGROALIMENTARE E SVILUPPO ECONOMICO SOSTENIBILE: ENERGIA, EFFICIENZA ENERGETICA, AMBIENTE E CIBO

Nell’ultimo decennio, il sistema agroalimentare nazionale nella sua accezione più ampia di agricoltura e industria alimentare, ha assunto una configurazione fortemente sistemica, aperta al contributo di diverse discipline e tecnologie. Tale evoluzione ha consentito al sistema agricolo di raggiungere posizioni ragguardevoli se consideriamo che nel complesso l’agroalimentare rappresenta per l’economia italiana un valore di 250 miliardi €, pari a circa 16% del PIL. Il mondo agricolo, nel suo complesso, costituisce ormai uno snodo fondamentale per attività che riguardano: l’energia, l’ambiente, il cibo, il territorio, il benessere dei cittadini, il sistema economico aree urbane-aree rurali. Il lavoro è focalizzato sul ruolo strategico dell’agroalimentare per gli obiettivi del Pacchetto Europeo 20-20-20 nonché per lo sviluppo economico sostenibile del sistema Paese.Agriculture and economic sustainable development: energy, energy efficiency, environment and food This article briefly examines the evolution of the agricultural sector in Italy and outlines the concept of the agro-food system that includes the agriculture and the food industry activities. The Italian agro-food system has reached a global annual value of 250 billions €, which corresponds to about 16% of the added gross value. The agricultural system is also analyzed in respect to the objectives of the European Package 20-20-20. This article outlines the impact of the agro-food system in terms of energy, energy efficiency, use of renewable resources related to the food production. The impact of the large retail groups and the key role of the agro-food system are also analyzed in respect to the development of a sustainable economy

Vertical Greenery as Natural Tool for Improving Energy Efficiency of Buildings

The European Construction Sector Observatory outlined that green building envelopes as green roofs and walls contribute to the reduction of energy demand and CO2 emissions due to the air conditioning in summer periods, and the mitigation of heat islands in urban areas. For this reason, the understanding about the contribution of urban greening infrastructures on buildings to sustainable energy use for air conditioning is urgent. This paper focuses on the analysis of a vertical surface provided with a Parthenocissus quinquefolia (L.) Planch., a winter deciduous species, as green cover of a building, assessing the reduction of the solar radiation energy absorbed by the facade and, consequently, the heat flux (HF) transmitted into the internal ambient. This research shows that, in July, surface temperatures (STs) on the vegetated facade were up to 13 degrees C lower than on the unvegetated (bare) facade. Under the climate and environmental conditions of the green wall located at ENEA Casaccia Research Center, a saving of 2.22 and 1.94 kWh(e)/m(2) , respectively in 2019 and 2020, for the summer cooling electricity load, was achieved. These energy reductions also allowed the saving of 985 and 862 g CO2/m(2) emissions, respectively, in 2019 and 2020. Ultimately, a green factor named K-v* was also elaborated to evaluate the influence of vegetation on the STs as well as on HFs transmitted into the indoor ambient and adapted to the case of a detached vertical green cover. Measurements of K-v* factor lasting three years showed the suitability of this index for defining the shading capacity of the vegetation on the building facade surfaces, which can be used to predict thermal gains and effects in a building endowed of a vertical green system

Sustainable greenhouse horticulture in Europe

The European greenhouse horticulture represents one of the most intensive energy sector in agriculture and strongly contributes to increase the energy and environmental vulnerability within regions having a large greenhouse farming systems. Specifically, the European greenhouse farming sector is facing a trend that responds to the changing consumer’s demands in a society that, globally, is increasingly affluent but more aware about some negative consequences, such as high energy-demand processes, and CO2 emissions. About 200,000 hectares of greenhouses in Spain, Italy, The Netherlands and Greece is the estimated covered surface, with not less than 3.4 MTOE of energy consumption and 9.2 MtCO2eq, and an yearly economy value of 7 billions of Euros. The installed energy power load of greenhouses in Europe depends on local climate conditions, and varies from 50-150 W/m2 (Southern regions of Europe) to 200-280 W/m2 (Northern and Central regions), while complete conditioning could even reach an energy load of 400 W/m2 (heating, lighting, cooling). Nowadays, the proportion of renewable use in the total energy consumption of greenhouse farming in Europe is very low, and there are no clear priorities set in this area, yet. Comprehensive and complete studies that evaluate the opportunities of renewable options in greenhouse sector are still not completeted. This, strongly hinders the process of setting concrete goals and legislative targets to support a wider introduction of sustainable energy technology, and appropriate legislation in greenhouse regions of Europe. This paper deals with the proposal of supporting the organization of a sustainable greenhouse agriculture, based on renewable energy sources, i.e. geothermal energy at low temperature, photovoltaic solar energy and solid biomass, in tune with the specific local assets, the local geo-climatic conditions and the protection of landscapes rather than with a careless perspective for local environment and potential societal costs

Green roofs and green façades for improving sustainability of towns

Nowadays, buildings in Europe account for a consumption of 40% of total energy use and about 65% of total electricity consumption. According to the European Directive on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD Directive), solutions such as green roofs and green walls can help to reduce energy consumptions and the greenhouse gases emissions by buildings. The installation of plant systems covering some surfaces of the building allows to reach an improvement of the building's energy efficiency mainly by reducing the energy demand for cooling in warm periods. The green layers used for buildings contribute to improve thermal insulation, since they reduce the direct solar radiation while the evaporative cooling contributes to create a better local microclimate. This paper provides the first data collected by a green wall prototype in progress at ENEA Casaccia Centre to investigate the effects of this natural green solution on the energy efficiency of buildings. The project was funded by the Programme Research of Electrical System, and is being carried out in cooperation with the Universities of Pisa, Bari and Viterbo

Pain and Frailty in Hospitalized Older Adults

Introduction: Pain and frailty are prevalent conditions in the older population. Many chronic diseases are likely involved in their origin, and both have a negative impact on quality of life. However, few studies have analysed their association. Methods: In light of this knowledge gap, 3577 acutely hospitalized patients 65 years or older enrolled in the REPOSI register, an Italian network of internal medicine and geriatric hospital wards, were assessed to calculate the frailty index (FI). The impact of pain and some of its characteristics on the degree of frailty was evaluated using an ordinal logistic regression model after adjusting for age and gender. Results: The prevalence of pain was 24.7%, and among patients with pain, 42.9% was regarded as chronic pain. Chronic pain was associated with severe frailty (OR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.38–2.07). Somatic pain (OR = 1.59, 95% CI 1.23–2.07) and widespread pain (OR = 1.60, 95% CI 0.93–2.78) were associated with frailty. Osteoarthritis was the most common cause of chronic pain, diagnosed in 157 patients (33.5%). Polymyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and other musculoskeletal diseases causing chronic pain were associated with a lower degree of frailty than osteoarthritis (OR = 0.49, 95%CI 0.28–0.85). Conclusions: Chronic and somatic pain negatively affect the degree of frailty. The duration and type of pain, as well as the underlying diseases associated with chronic pain, should be evaluated to improve the hospital management of frail older people

The multifaceted spectrum of liver cirrhosis in older hospitalised patients: Analysis of the REPOSI registry

Background: Knowledge on the main clinical and prognostic characteristics of older multimorbid subjects with liver cirrhosis (LC) admitted to acute medical wards is scarce. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of LC among older patients admitted to acute medical wards and to assess the main clinical characteristics of LC along with its association with major clinical outcomes and to explore the possibility that well-distinguished phenotypic profiles of LC have classificatory and prognostic properties. Methods: A cohort of 6,193 older subjects hospitalised between 2010 and 2018 and included in the REPOSI registry was analysed. Results: LC was diagnosed in 315 patients (5%). LC was associated with rehospitalisation (age-sex adjusted hazard ratio, [aHR] 1.44; 95% CI, 1.10-1.88) and with mortality after discharge, independently of all confounders (multiple aHR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.37-3.22), but not with in-hospital mortality and incident disability. Three main clinical phenotypes of LC patients were recognised: relatively fit subjects (FIT, N = 150), subjects characterised by poor social support (PSS, N = 89) and, finally, subjects with disability and multimorbidity (D&M, N = 76). PSS subjects had an increased incident disability (35% vs 13%, P < 0.05) compared to FIT. D&M patients had a higher mortality (in-hospital: 12% vs 3%/1%, P < 0.01; post-discharge: 41% vs 12%/15%, P < 0.01) and less rehospitalisation (10% vs 32%/34%, P < 0.01) compared to PSS and FIT. Conclusions: LC has a relatively low prevalence in older hospitalised subjects but, when present, accounts for worse post-discharge outcomes. Phenotypic analysis unravelled the heterogeneity of LC older population and the association of selected phenotypes with different clinical and prognostic features

Clinical features and outcomes of elderly hospitalised patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure or both

Background and objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure (HF) mutually increase the risk of being present in the same patient, especially if older. Whether or not this coexistence may be associated with a worse prognosis is debated. Therefore, employing data derived from the REPOSI register, we evaluated the clinical features and outcomes in a population of elderly patients admitted to internal medicine wards and having COPD, HF or COPD + HF. Methods: We measured socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics, severity and prevalence of comorbidities, clinical and laboratory features during hospitalization, mood disorders, functional independence, drug prescriptions and discharge destination. The primary study outcome was the risk of death. Results: We considered 2,343 elderly hospitalized patients (median age 81 years), of whom 1,154 (49%) had COPD, 813 (35%) HF, and 376 (16%) COPD + HF. Patients with COPD + HF had different characteristics than those with COPD or HF, such as a higher prevalence of previous hospitalizations, comorbidities (especially chronic kidney disease), higher respiratory rate at admission and number of prescribed drugs. Patients with COPD + HF (hazard ratio HR 1.74, 95% confidence intervals CI 1.16-2.61) and patients with dementia (HR 1.75, 95% CI 1.06-2.90) had a higher risk of death at one year. The Kaplan-Meier curves showed a higher mortality risk in the group of patients with COPD + HF for all causes (p = 0.010), respiratory causes (p = 0.006), cardiovascular causes (p = 0.046) and respiratory plus cardiovascular causes (p = 0.009). Conclusion: In this real-life cohort of hospitalized elderly patients, the coexistence of COPD and HF significantly worsened prognosis at one year. This finding may help to better define the care needs of this population

A Fast Procedure to Estimate Hydraulic Characteristics of Greenhouse Substrates from One-Step Outflow Data

An improvement to an iterative method for the simultaneous determination of soil hydraulic properties from One-Step data has been developed, inserting in the optimization algorithm some parameter among which ‘r’ (residual water content) improved the procedure. Soil hydraulic properties were characterized by the Brooks and Corey equation for water retention, and by the Kozeny power equation for hydraulic conductivity. The iterative procedure was examined for a particular class of soil such as substrates for container cultivation represented by three mixes of peat and pumice. Estimated hydraulic conductivity was compared with the estimation obtained from the Van Genuchten-Mualem equation. The comparison showed a very high similarity between the two curves. Applying One-Step procedure, the duration of experiments can be decreased to one week, compared with the standard duration quantifiable in three or more weeks

Renewable energy for greenhouse agriculture

The greenhouse industry is a profitable branch in most countries of Europe. However, this sector has to limit its consumption of fossil fuel and reduce its CO 2 emission, in order to respond to the European Directives on energy, energy efficiency and the environment. This paper focuses on the evaluation of the energy greenhouse demand in the different climatic areas of the Italian peninsula. An algorithm was developed on the base of the average outside data of solar energy radiation and the outside average temperatures for the different regions of Italy. Results shown that in the southern regions of the peninsula the annual electricity greenhouse demand can be fully covered by a PV solar system of 70 kWp. On the other hand, a biomass boiler calculated as 100 W/m 2 can be used to cover the heating power demand of greenhouses. As average data, the power energy load calculated for the Italian greenhouse agriculture was evaluated between 30 Wm -2 (in southern regions) and more than 175 Wm- 2 (in northern regions), with an energy consumption ranging from 21 to 546 kWh th /m 2 /year. © 2019, SRAC - Romanian Society for Quality. All rights reserved