Addressing Sustainability Risks of Bioenergy—Policy Strategies and Corporate Initiatives Energy and Power Engineering

This paper focuses on the sustainable use of solid and gaseous biomass for electricity, heating and cooling. It provides updated findings of policy analyses and corporate strategy analyses performed in the frame of BIOENERGY PROMOTION, one of the flagship projects under the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. In particular, the paper highlights policies and measures which have been adopted by the EU and EU Member States to address environmental and social sustainability risks of bioenergy. Taking into account the conclusions of BIOENERGY PROMOTION, the paper identifies promising policy developments, but also shortcomings. On the Member State level, the paper refers to the examples of Germany and Poland. It illustrates how problematic policy priorities and policy malfunctioning in two sub-sectors (biogas from energy crops in Germany, biomass co-firing in Poland) led to undesirable environmental and social developments and how policies have been re-adjusted to mitigate sustainability risks. The paper also portrays a number of voluntary corporate sustainability initiatives which emerged due to the lack of a binding European sustainability framework for solid and gaseous biomass. The authors conclude that without a binding sustainability framework at EU level there is a risk of having a patchwork of potentially diverging sustainability regimes and initiatives across Europe causing market intransparency and insecurity for investors

The vibrational relaxation of CO₂ isolated in solid argon

For description of the vibrational relaxation of CO₂ molecules embedded in Ar matrix the model based on multiphonon transitions is applied. Rates for the VT and VV processes are determined from a fitting of simulated and experimental data. The calculations confirmed that radiative processes influence significantly the vibrational energy relaxation of CO₂ embedded in solid Ar, e.g., the determined rate for energy transfer between n₃ and n₂. mode is significantly lower than that predicted under assumption of the nonradiative relaxation

Promoting source separation of Biowaste for a Sustainable Circular Economy in the Baltic Region

BackgroundThe European Union Waste Framework Directive mandates the separate collection and sustainable utilization of biowaste at the source in member states from January 1, 2024, to achieve the EU's target of recycling 65% of municipal solid waste by 2035. However, less than 50% of municipal biowaste is being collected separately in member states. This presents significant challenges for the Baltic countries, where some need to develop new collection systems and waste treatment facilities, while others must improve their existing systems. Moreover, up to 60% of biowaste still ends up in residual waste bins, which poses a concern for the solid waste management system. Study AreaThe cities examined in this study include Bornholm, Lappeenranta, Rostock, and Gdańsk distributed across different countries. The selected cities are located within the geographical vicinity of the Baltic Sea, a brackish inland sea in Northern Europe  (Figure 1).MethodsThis study was a collaborative effort involving experts from Germany, Finland, Denmark, and Poland The methodology employed in this study involved an extensive review of scientific literature and seven discussion meetings from January to March 2023 between involved experts. The research aimed to identify the challenges, gaps, and potential measures to improve the source separation of biowaste in the Baltic region.ResultsManagement of biowaste varies significantly due to consumption patterns, economic wealth, regional policies, technical infrastructure, and public awareness. The studied areas have national-level regulations on biowaste source separation and landfill bans. Aside from Germany, other countries have recently implemented these regulations, leading to a transitional phase in biowaste management.Local authorities often struggle to adapt solutions to their specific context due to limited flexibility and resources. Sharing experiences and knowledge can mitigate repeating mistakes, foster cross-border collaboration, and enhance local authorities' capacity to improve biowaste source separation.</div

Thermal diffusion of supersonic solitons in an anharmonic chain of atoms

We study the non-equilibrium diffusion dynamics of supersonic lattice solitons in a classical chain of atoms with nearest-neighbor interactions coupled to a heat bath. As a specific example we choose an interaction with cubic anharmonicity. The coupling between the system and a thermal bath with a given temperature is made by adding noise, delta-correlated in time and space, and damping to the set of discrete equations of motion. Working in the continuum limit and changing to the sound velocity frame we derive a Korteweg-de Vries equation with noise and damping. We apply a collective coordinate approach which yields two stochastic ODEs which are solved approximately by a perturbation analysis. This finally yields analytical expressions for the variances of the soliton position and velocity. We perform Langevin dynamics simulations for the original discrete system which fully confirm the predictions of our analytical calculations, namely noise-induced superdiffusive behavior which scales with the temperature and depends strongly on the initial soliton velocity. A normal diffusion behavior is observed for very low-energy solitons where the noise-induced phonons also make a significant contribution to the soliton diffusion.Comment: Submitted to PRE. Changes made: New simulations with a different method of soliton detection. The results and conclusions are not different from previous version. New appendixes containing information about the system energy and soliton profile

Model of optical phantoms thermal response upon irradiation with 975 nm dermatological laser

We have developed a numerical model describing the optical and thermal behavior of optical tissue phantoms upon laser irradiation. According to our previous studies, the phantoms can be used as substitute of real skin from the optical, as well as thermal point of view. However, the thermal parameters are not entirely similar to those of real tissues thus there is a need to develop mathematical model, describing the thermal and optical response of such materials. This will facilitate the correction factors, which would be invaluable in translation between measurements on skin phantom to real tissues, and gave a good representation of a real case application

Impact of economic mechanisms of the EU Common Agricultural Policy to maintain the favorable conservation status Lesser Spotted eagle Aquila pomarina in Poland

Bielik Haliaeetus albicilla w Polsce od kilkudziesięciu lat wykazuje silny wzrost liczebności. Obecnie występuje prawie w całym kraju, a najwyższe zagęszczenia i liczebności osiąga na północnym zachodzie i zachodzie oraz północy kraju. Krajowa populacja w 1994 r. wynosiła 223 pary, a w 2008 r. 767 par. W ciągu 14 lat nastąpił 3,3-krotny wzrost liczebności, czyli średnio o 40 par rocznie. W skali regionalnej najsilniejszy przyrost liczby nowych par lęgowych w latach 2000-2008 miał miejsce na terenie województw: łódzkiego, śląskiego i kujawsko-pomorskiego. Sukces lęgowy bielika w Polsce w latach 1994-2008 wynosił 68%, produkcja młodych 1,44 na parę z sukcesem, i 0,97 na parę lęgową. Dominowały lęgi z jednym młodym (58%), mniej liczne były lęgi z 2 młodymi.The population of the White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla in Poland showed a sharp increase during the last few decades. Its current distribution covers almost the entire country, with the highest density in the northwest, west and north. In 1994, total population was 223 pairs, and in 2008, 767 pairs. Over the last 14 years, the population has increased 3.3 times: approximately 40 pairs per year. On a regional scale, the greatest increase of breeding pairs, between 2000-2008, took place in the following parts of the country: łódzkie, śląskie and kujawsko-pomorskie. The breeding success of the White-tailed Eagle in Poland between 1994-2008 was 68%, with 1.44 hatchings per successful pair and 0.97 per breeding pair. Broods with a single young were predominant (58%), whilst broods with two young were present in smaller numbers

National Monitoring of Birds of Prey - evaluation methodology of the population and distribution in large sample areas

Monitoring Ptaków Drapieżnych (MPD) jest jednym z 11 ornitologicznych zagadnień realizowanych w ramach Państwowego Monitoringu Środowiska na zlecenie Głównego Inspektoratu Ochrony Środowiska. Głównym zadaniem MPD jest śledzenie trendów wskaźników liczebności i rozpowszechnienia trzmielojada Pernis apivorus, kani czarnej Milvus migrans, kani ruda Milvus milvus, bielika Haliaeetus albicilla, błotniaka stawowego Circus aeruginosus, błotniaka łąkowego Circus pygargus, jastrzębia Accipiter gentilis, myszołowa Buteo buteo, orlika krzykliwego Aquila pomarina, pustułki Falco tinnunculus, kobuza Falco subbuteo i bociana czarnego Ciconia nigra. Zaproponowana metodyka jest próbą połączenia względnie precyzyjnych ocen liczebności z uproszczoną, standaryzowaną techniką gromadzenia danych. Uzyskane wyniki ilościowe należy traktować jako wartości indeksowe. W przypadku poszczególnych gatunków w różnym stopniu odbiegają one od rzeczywistych wartości bezwzględnych, jakie uzyskalibyśmy metodami szczegółowymi. Wyniki ekstrapolacji danych indeksowych na powierzchnię całego kraju są w przypadku większości gatunków zbieżne z dotychczasowymi oszacowaniami liczebności i rozpowszechnienia. Dowodzi to, że opracowana na potrzeby MPD metodyka może być stosowana w ocenach bezwzględnej liczebności i rozpowszechnienia wybranych gatunków ptaków drapieżnych na rozległych powierzchniach badawczych.Monitoring of Birds of Prey (MPD) is one of 11 ornithological issues implemented under the National Environmental Monitoring at the request of the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection. The main task of the MPD is to track trends of population and distribution indicators of honey buzzard Pernis apivorus, black kite Milvus migrans, red kite Milvus milvus, white-tailed eagle Haliaeetus albicilla, marsh harrier Circus aeruginosus, meadow harrier Circus pygargus, goshawk Accipiter gentilis, buzzard Buteo buteo, lesser spotted eagle Aquila pomarina , kestrels Falco tinnunculus, hobby Falco subbuteo and black stork Ciconia nigra. The proposed methodology is an attempt to combine relatively accurate assessments of the population with a simplified, standardized technique for collecting data. Quantitative results obtained should be treated as index values. In the case of different species in varying degrees they diverge from the actual absolute values, which would be obtained with specific methods. Results of extrapolation of index data for the territory of the whole country are in the majority of species consistent with existing estimates of bird abundance and distribution. This proves that the developed methodology for the MPD can be used in the evaluation of absolute abundance and distribution of selected species of birds of prey in vast areas of research