Oil Spill Detection Analyzing “Sentinel 2“ Satellite Images: A Persian Gulf Case Study

Oil spills near exploitation areas and oil loading ports are often related to the ambitions of governments to get more oil market share and the negligence at the time of the loading in large tankers or ships. The present study investigates one oil spill event using multi sensor satellite images in the Al Khafji (between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia) zone. Oil slicks have been characterized with multi sensor satellite images over the Persian Gulf and then analyzed in order to detect and classify oil spills in this zone. In particular this paper discusses oil pollution detection in the Persian Gulf by using multi sensor satellite images data. Oil spill images have been selected by using Sentinel 2 images pinpointing oil spill zones. ENVI software for analysing satellite images and ADIOS (Automated Data Inquiry for Oil Spills) for oil weathering modelling have been used. The obtained results in Al Khafji zone show that the oil spill moves towards the coastline firstly increasing its surface and then decreasing it until reaching the coastline

Indoor environmental quality analysis for optimizing energy consumptions varying air ventilation rates

The energy refurbishment of the existing building heritage is one of the pillars of Italian energy policy. Aiming for energy efficiency and energy saving in end uses, there are wide and diversified improvement strategies, which include interventions on the building envelope and Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, with the introduction of renewable energy sources. The research aims at evaluating the building energy consumptions and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), varying the airflow rates handled by the HVAC system. A Case Study (the Aula Magna of a university building) is analysed; an in-situ monitoring campaign was carried out to evaluate the trend of some environmental parameters that are considered to be significant when varying the external airflow rates handled by the HVAC system. Additionally, dynamic simulations were carried out, with the aim of evaluating the energy savings coming from the airflow rates reduction. The results of this case study highlight the opportunity to achieve significant energy savings, with only slight variations in IEQ; a 50% reduction in airflow rate would decrease energy consumption by up to 45.2%, while increasing the carbon dioxide concentration from 545 ppm to 655 ppm, while the Particulate Matter and Total Volatile Organic Compounds increase is insignificant

an identification and a prioritisation of geographic and temporal data gaps of mediterranean marine databases

Abstract Getting an overall view of primary data available from existing Earth Observation Systems and networks databases for the Mediterranean Sea, the main objective of this paper is to identify temporal and geographic data gaps and to elaborate a new method for providing a prioritisation of missing data useful for end-users that have to pinpoint strategies and models to fill these gaps. Existing data sources have been identified from the analysis of the main projects and information systems available. A new method to perform the data gap analysis has been developed and applied to the whole Mediterranean basin as case study area, identifying and prioritise geographical and temporal data gaps considering and integrating the biological, geological, chemical and physical branches of the total environment. The obtained results highlighted both the main geographical data gaps subdividing the whole Mediterranean Sea into 23 sub-basins and the temporal data gaps considering data gathered since 1990. Particular attention has been directed to the suitability of data in terms of completeness, accessibility and aggregation, since data and information are often aggregated and could not be used for research needs. The elaborated inventory of existing data source includes a database of 477 data rows originated from 122 data platforms analysed, able to specify for each dataset the related data typologies and its accessibility. The obtained results indicate that 76% of the data comes from ongoing platforms, while the remaining 25% are related to platforms with non-operational monitoring systems. Since the large amount of analysed records includes data gathered in inhomogeneous ways, the prioritisation values obtained for each identified data gap simplify the data comparison and analysis. Lastly, the data gaps inventory contains geographic and temporal information for any missing parameter at the whole basin scale, as well as the spatial resolution of each available data

The rapid spread of SARS-COV-2 Omicron variant in Italy reflected early through wastewater surveillance

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant emerged in South Africa in November 2021, and has later been identified worldwide, raising serious concerns. A real-time RT-PCR assay was designed for the rapid screening of the Omicron variant, targeting characteristic mutations of the spike gene. The assay was used to test 737 sewage samples collected throughout Italy (19/21 Regions) between 11 November and 25 December 2021, with the aim of assessing the spread of the Omicron variant in the country. Positive samples were also tested with a real-time RT-PCR developed by the European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), and through nested RT-PCR followed by Sanger sequencing. Overall, 115 samples tested positive for Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant. The first occurrence was detected on 7 December, in Veneto, North Italy. Later on, the variant spread extremely fast in three weeks, with prevalence of positive wastewater samples rising from 1.0% (1/104 samples) in the week 5-11 December, to 17.5% (25/143 samples) in the week 12-18, to 65.9% (89/135 samples) in the week 19-25, in line with the increase in cases of infection with the Omicron variant observed during December in Italy. Similarly, the number of Regions/Autonomous Provinces in which the variant was detected increased from one in the first week, to 11 in the second, and to 17 in the last one. The presence of the Omicron variant was confirmed by the JRC real-time RT-PCR in 79.1% (91/115) of the positive samples, and by Sanger sequencing in 66% (64/97) of PCR amplicons. In conclusion, we designed an RT-qPCR assay capable to detect the Omicron variant, which can be successfully used for the purpose of wastewater-based epidemiology. We also described the history of the introduction and diffusion of the Omicron variant in the Italian population and territory, confirming the effectiveness of sewage monitoring as a powerful surveillance tool

The role of sector coupling in planning the transition of a smart energy island

European Union has definitely identified the priorities towards sustainable and low-carbon energy systems recognizing a key role to islands that have been described as ideal sites to develop and test innovative strategies and solutions that will then boost the transition on the mainland. Islands energy systems are usually based on expensive and inefficient fossil fuels plants and this represents an opportunity at both environmental and economic level. Nevertheless, such transition is not a trivial task. Indeed, the integration of Variable Renewable Energy Sources (vRES) into the electricity grid is already causing technical problems to island grids thus making the grid flexibility a key topic. In the past, since power plants were completely manageable while the load was unpredictable, the grid flexibility was supplied by traditional power plants; but now, due to vRES, the variability and unpredictability has moved to the generation side and the opposite shift has happened to flexibility agents thus drawing attention to concepts such as Demand Response and Sector Coupling. In this framework of an increasingly complex energy systems, energy planning is an indispensable tool to optimally design the future energy system selecting proper renewable energy sources as well as the optimal flexibility strategies such as electric energy storage or sector coupling solutions. Energy system modelling represents one of the most used method for energy planning; indeed, energy models enable to simulate the real energy system from a technical and economic point of view. Thus, the present thesis analysed the full spectrum of energy planning in energy islands. In this context, the first step of the thesis consisted in a detailed review of the current literature, namely the following reviews were developed: • review of the existing bottom-up energy system models applied at island level highlighting the main challenges due to the insular context. Indeed, for the intrinsic characteristics of island energy systems there is the need for particular constraints and assumptions within the modelling. Maritime transport, desalination loads, congestion management (towards the mainland when connected) and security of supply are just some of the aspects that are often neglected in energy system modelling at national level and that are crucial for islands; • review of strategies and technologies that improve the ability of the grid to cope with vRES unpredictability such as energy storage technologies and all the solutions offered by sector coupling strategies. Particularly, this research focus on strategies that deal with the insular context. As regard sector coupling and Demand Side Management solutions, all the analysed solutions showed relevant results in terms of i) reduction of excess electricity production and ii) increased grid ability of hosting vRES. Then, after having identified the current gaps in the literature, specific analysis developed by the candidate on the case study of the Favignana Island are presented and discussed, namely: • application of a multi-objective optimization method for the investigation of the optimal configurations of the island energy system in 2050. In order to appropriately analyse the case study of a non-interconnected island, an additional constraint is analysed to preliminary consider the system stability. The model is used to evaluate different energy mix, based on high penetration of renewables, considering several solutions for handling the excess electricity production, namely electricity energy storage, power to heat and power to transport solutions while also improving the overall energy efficiency (i.e. solar collectors, heat pumps and electric vehicles). Results show that sector coupling solutions would lead to much greater impact in terms of carbon avoidance and economic savings managing the non-dispatchable renewable generation and maintaining the critical excess electricity production within feasible values; • a Marginal Abatement Cost (MAC) curve method is applied to optimally select the energy mix of the energy system of the island of Favignana, Italy. The considered objective function is the carbon avoidance cost so as to consider both economic and environmental aspects in a single indicator. The technologies that are considered are Photovoltaic (PV), energy storage and demand response strategies including the maritime transport and heating sectors. The decarbonisation of the maritime transport sector is of utmost importance since it contributes to almost 50% of the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of the whole island and is rarely considered within an optimization. Thus, this section aims at understanding if the decarbonisation of the maritime sector should be prioritized or not; • a research investigating on the issue of water scarcity and water supply in small islands by means of a long-term energy planning model based on linear programming optimization using OSeMOSYS was developed. In this chapter, also the importance of indirect emissions of the maritime transport of goods and services (i.e. delivery of water and fossil fuels) on the whole island will be analysed in parallel with the optimization of the water supply and the optimal sizing of the RES generators (i.e. PV). Hence, the thesis proves the potential of sector coupling and DR in insular energy systems both with a literature analysis, and by demonstrating it via case study analysis by means of different models and software. It identified the current gap in literature and filled part of it with ad-hoc researches

On the path to energy independence: hybrid energy systems evaluation towards Favignana smart energy Island.

Energy costs, CO2 emissions, security of supply and system stability are common challenges in small islands. Many European islands have become pilot sites of energy innovation but this green transition goes slowly in several Small Italian islands (SIIs), which are not connected to the national grid. This study examines the suitability of using hybrid energy system comprising PV, hydrogen and batteries storage, diesel generators, Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) and HCNG vehicles to meet Favignana island (Italy) electricity and public transportation demand, so as to increase the RES penetration level. The Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER) software is used to carry out the energy analysis of different scenarios to identify the most effective energy solution from both technological and economical point of views. The outcomes show that the implementation of hybrid energy systems can be an adequate and reliable option for increasing energy independency of Favignana island

Open data and energy analytics - An analysis of essential information for energy system planning, design and operation

Energy transitions are reshaping global and national energy systems and appropriate decision-making strategies are needed to drive an effective change in response to pressing global issues. Governmental institutions, industry, academia, and civil society are all participating to this global change, playing different roles. Open energy models and associated data are essential to promote open science practices, and create an effective science-policy interaction. For example, they can foster multi-disciplinary research addressing the co-evolution of energy technologies and human behaviour more transparently and, more in general, they can improve the interaction of multiple linked models and data, by improving them with respect to the current state of the art. In this paper, we present an analysis of features of open energy models and data, highlighting essential information that can be shared among communities of researchers in the energy field to foster multidisciplinary research. This information inherently embodies different key concepts and perspectives in modelling that affect both simulation and optimization processes employed for energy systems planning, design and operation. Indeed, this shared knowledge is crucial to overcome critical technical issues (e.g. end-use energy efficiency improvements, energy conversion processes, energy infrastructures operation, etc.) that may inhibit successful energy transitions. Finally, ecosystems of interacting open data and models are key assets for the development of next generation energy services and technologies, based on innovative business models in which the problem of monitoring, verifying and tracking performance transparently (at multiple levels) will be fundamental.</p

Exploring the penetration of renewable energy at increasing the boundaries of the urban energy system – The PRISMI plus toolkit application to Monachil, Spain

Urban energy system analysis calls for setting the boundaries of the closed system to start the analysis. However, the Municipality limits are not actually the real ones of the energy supply. Moreover, the expansion of renewable energy installations leads to involving more territories as well as providing benefits to the local energy mix depending on the density of the energy demand and the closeness of the producers. In this view, the PRISMI Plus toolkit has been applied to develop the energy transition scenarios of the Municipality of Monachil towards 50% renewable energy systems. To do so, the increasing share of renewables is in parallel with the inclusion of the surrounding areas together with the related energy demand to test the possible synergies in exploiting extensive renewable energy sources and intensive ones. The results have shown that involving the Municipalities of Huétor Vega, La Zubia, and Cájar lead to a more effective renewable penetration having a higher diversification of the energy mix and the critical mass to make investments in the wind sector and Investment cost and operation cost would be raised exponentially by increasing renewable penetration, so, it is expected that cost in 100% penetration is higher than 50 % penetration