Fuel Quality: Challenges to the Sustainable Development of Automobile Transport and Approach to Solution

The current obstacles to the sustainable development of the vehicle fleet present one of the most serious and complex challenges for technogenic civilization in view of the consumption of rapidly depleting oil and gas resources and the increasing emissions of the products of fuel combustion. The aim of this paper is to study and discuss the impact patterns of the quality of fuel on the environmental and performance characteristics of vehicles and to develop an approach towards improving the quality of fuel as a means of increasing the sustainability of vehicles. The patterns of influence of the chemical composition of the fuel on the temperature conditions in the engine, the emissions of toxic substances and carbon dioxide from the fuel’s combustion, the toxicity of the gasoline vapor, carbonization, fuel consumption, engine power and the requirements for a gasoline octane rating have been identified. The use of a fuel additive has been proposed which improves fuel injection in the engines and excludes tarry deposits in the fuel system through the effective detergency and catalyzes the gasification reactions in the engine. The developed fuel additive was shown to have a positive effect by significantly reducing fuel consumption and toxic emissions and improving the performance of vehicles

Public attitude towards nuclear and renewable energy as a factor of their development in a circular economy frame: two case studies

5siThe energy sector is one of the most important sectors of the economy and one of the polluters of the environment. Therefore, in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the climate goal stated in the Paris Agreement, many countries need to carry out a full-scale eco-modernization of the energy sector and develop green energy. Nuclear and renewable energy may become key areas of global energy development in the near future, in agreement also with Circular economy concepts, but public opinion (and other controversial visions/aspects) is one of the barriers to their development. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between attitudes towards nuclear and renewable energy in two countries: EU and non-EU, considering the level of their development. The authors conducted a survey among residents regarding their attitude towards nuclear and renewable energy, as well as their attitude to the present energy policy. The cluster analysis technique was used to analyze the results. The obtained results confirmed the dependence between the level of development of nuclear and renewable energy and the public attitude towards it. The authors identified the public attitude as one of the key factors in the development of energy and the achievement of environmental and social sustainability.openopenKaraeva, Anzhelika; Magaril, Elena; Torretta, Vincenzo; Viotti, Paolo; Rada, Elena CristinaKaraeva, Anzhelika; Magaril, Elena; Torretta, Vincenzo; Viotti, Paolo; Rada, Elena Cristin

Risk Reduction Methods for Managing the Development of Regional Electric Power Industry

The development of the regional electric power industry has come to the forefront due to the changing scale, quality, and configuration of electric power infrastructure, and the spread of distributed generation. This gives rise to more stringent requirements regarding the reliability, safety, and environmental impact of electric power supply. This article aims to justify a package of methods that make it possible to identify and minimize investment, production, financial, and environmental risks in order to ensure sustainable development of the regional electric power industry that performs anti-crisis functions, and of individual energy companies. The key method to be employed is integrated resource planning (IRP). As a part of the method, energy conservation, renewable energy sources, and combined heat and power production are considered as equally valid ways of meeting future demand. The authors have designed a methodology for taking into account uncertainty and risk when implementing IRP. The methodology includes analysis of scenarios and decision making processes by calculating past and projected values of profit indicators. When conducting the environmental and economic assessment of an investment project in the electric power industry, the authors suggest using an aggregate indicator of environmental and economic effectiveness that is calculated on the basis of a combination of locally significant positive and negative environmental and economic impacts of the project. The authors formulate conceptual provisions that serve as the foundation for a promising model of the regional electric power industry and which contain recommendations for managing the development of the industry while minimizing organizational, market, and technological risks

Improving vehicle adaptability to the operating conditions of "smart" cities in the northern regions

The paper reviews a relevant problem of providing a higher quality of people’s living in the northern regions by the application of the modern technologies within transport in order to improve its environmental performance and efficiency. The aim of the research is to substantiate methods of increasing the adaptability of vehicles to variable low-temperature operating conditions based on a neural control system of preheating and maintaining the optimum temperature of technological fluids by SHF radiation and improving diesel fuel properties by introducing a multifunctional additive. It has been found that SHF radiation influences the physical and chemical parameters of diesel fuel, as well as the engine output parameters. SHF radiation results in a reduction of fuel consumption to 7%, smoke from the exhaust to 15%, and nitrogen oxide emission to 30%. A conclusion is made that using SHF radiation for technological fuel preheating is essential. An approach has been developed that improves low-temperature properties of diesel fuels and increases engine operation efficiency under severe climatic conditions by introducing a multifunctional additive. The additive will enable a significant decrease in fuel consumption under low-temperature operating conditions and a complex improvement of fuel properties

5C analysis of the Epidermal Differentiation Complex locus reveals distinct chromatin interaction networks between gene-rich and gene-poor TADs in skin epithelial cells

YesMammalian genomes contain several dozens of large (>0.5 Mbp) lineage-specific gene loci harbouring functionally related genes. However, spatial chromatin folding, organization of the enhancer-promoter networks and their relevance to Topologically Associating Domains (TADs) in these loci remain poorly understood. TADs are principle units of the genome folding and represents the DNA regions within which DNA interacts more frequently and less frequently across the TAD boundary. Here, we used Chromatin Conformation Capture Carbon Copy (5C) technology to characterize spatial chromatin interaction network in the 3.1 Mb Epidermal Differentiation Complex (EDC) locus harbouring 61 functionally related genes that show lineage-specific activation during terminal keratinocyte differentiation in the epidermis. 5C data validated by 3D-FISH demonstrate that the EDC locus is organized into several TADs showing distinct lineage-specific chromatin interaction networks based on their transcription activity and the gene-rich or gene-poor status. Correlation of the 5C results with genome-wide studies for enhancer-specific histone modifications (H3K4me1 and H3K27ac) revealed that the majority of spatial chromatin interactions that involves the gene-rich TADs at the EDC locus in keratinocytes include both intra- and inter-TAD interaction networks, connecting gene promoters and enhancers. Compared to thymocytes in which the EDC locus is mostly transcriptionally inactive, these interactions were found to be keratinocyte-specific. In keratinocytes, the promoter-enhancer anchoring regions in the gene-rich transcriptionally active TADs are enriched for the binding of chromatin architectural proteins CTCF, Rad21 and chromatin remodeler Brg1. In contrast to gene-rich TADs, gene-poor TADs show preferential spatial contacts with each other, do not contain active enhancers and show decreased binding of CTCF, Rad21 and Brg1 in keratinocytes. Thus, spatial interactions between gene promoters and enhancers at the multi-TAD EDC locus in skin epithelial cells are cell type-specific and involve extensive contacts within TADs as well as between different gene-rich TADs, forming the framework for lineage-specific transcription.This study was supported by the grants 5R01AR064580 and 1RO1AR071727 to VAB, TKS and AAS, as well as by the grants from MRC (MR/ M010015/1) and BBSRC (BB/K010050/1) to VAB

An Investigation of the Feasibility of the Organic Municipal Solid Waste Processing by Coking

In the context of transition to a circular economy, one of the strategic priorities is the development of technological innovations aimed at waste processing. In this study, the foundations have been developed for a low-temperature, environmentally safe method for efficient processing of organic municipal solid waste, which may be further applied for processing both municipal and industrial waste organics in order to obtain liquid products. The maximum yield of liquid products is ensured when conducting the coking of a mixture of organic waste with long residuum in the temperature range of 400–420 °C, with a heating rate of 5–70 °C/min, and with an optimal heating time to the coking temperature of 80 min. Recommendations on the use of the waste recycling products are given. The proposed process is consistent with the principles of circular economy and does not require external energy costs because the energy needed for the process is generated by burning the gas produced during the waste coking. The process does not produce emissions into the environment and, in combination with standard refining processes, can be used to obtain commercial petroleum products

Green energy development in an industrial region: A case-study of Sverdlovsk region

5siopenThe development of renewable energy is one of the strategic directions of eco-modernization of the Russian energy sector, which will not only reduce the negative impact of the industry on the environment, but also provide remote territories with the stable access to electricity. Despite the fact that the Russian regions have a great potential for the development of renewable energy, the full transition of the energy sector to the "green" vector of its development is currently impossible. Moreover, most of current studies consider the development of renewable energy without reference to the regions, which, according to the authors, does not provide an objective assessment of the potential for the use of renewable energy in Russia. The purpose of the present research is to evaluate the potential for the introduction of various renewable energy sources (RES) in the energy sector of the Sverdlovsk region – one of the largest industrial regions of Russia. The full-scale assessment of their potential use at the regional level helps to accelerate the process of their introduction into the energy sector, since during the assessment, scientists analyze not only the possibilities of use, but also the barriers to development. Authors applied various research methods among which analysis of state programs, analysis of the official statistical reports, analysis of natural conditions on the territory of the region, etc. As a result, authors developed a map of potential use of renewables in the territory of Sverdlovsk region, evaluated prospects of their development and revealed key barriers. The proposed algorithm of assessment might be applicable for other Russian regions.openKaraeva, Anzhelika; Magaril, Elena; Torretta, Vincenzo; Ragazzi, Marco; Rada, Elena Cristina.Karaeva, Anzhelika; Magaril, Elena; Torretta, Vincenzo; Ragazzi, Marco; Rada, Elena Cristina

PLANNING SUSTAINABILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: THREE CASE STUDIES

7siSustainable development is a key principle of national and international policies, which has been strongly promoted by the European Union since 2015. Communication, education, the awareness of the importance of accelerating the transition from a linear economy to a circular one and of raising environmental awareness play a key role in the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs). To achieve the goals on a large scale, it is necessary to start from a local scale. In this sense, universities must experiment best practices and make them available to the society. In the last years, many universities have adopted environmental sustainability plans in order to implement green policies and develop a roadmap towards the achievement of the SDGs, while sharing best practices with university communities and society. This paper presents the case of two Italian universities and a Russian one. Specifically, the paper presents the contents of the current environmental sustainability plans of the Italian universities, discussing the reasons for the choice of the environmental sustainability goals and the expected results following the implementation of the related actions. A comparison between the approaches adopted in the sustainability plans of the two Italian universities will be presented in details. In addition, the paper analyses the potential implementation of a sustainability plan in the Russian university. The paper will discuss also potential criticalities in the achievement of the goals.openopenSchiavon, Marco; Ragazzi, Marco; Magaril, Elena; Chashchin, Maxim; Karaeva, Anzhelika; Torretta, Vincenzo; Rada, Elena CristinaSchiavon, Marco; Ragazzi, Marco; Magaril, Elena; Chashchin, Maxim; Karaeva, Anzhelika; Torretta, Vincenzo; Rada, Elena Cristin

Some considerations on circular economy, municipal solid waste and occupational risk

The aim of the present article is to preliminarily analyse the effects that the introduction of the principles of circular economy can have on the occupational risk in the sector of MSW management. The chosen reference scenario concerns an Italian town that reached a very high efficiency of selective collection and where a lot of data have been generated in the last years to characterize the content of MSW. Since 2015, the town has to modify a few criteria of MSW management in order to fully comply with the vision of EU. The methodology adopted in the present article is based on the following steps. Details on the destination and material recovery were collected for each stream of MSW presently source separated: specifically, food waste and green waste, paper and cardboard, plastics, metals, glass, composite materials, textiles, expired medicaments, exhausted batteries and other. This scenario was analysed concerning new possible initiatives on source separated streams and their treatment (e.g. diapers). Moreover, additional modifications to the present approach were analysed in order to maximize material recovery, optimize energy recovery and minimize landfilling. Consequences of this re-organization of the sector have to be discussed in terms of occupational risk and economic impact