Benchmarking Marine Energy Technologies Through LCA: Offshore Floating Wind Farms in the Mediterranean

Floating wind turbines are a valid option for offshore wind farms in the Mediterranean, where the sea-floor falls off rapidly with distance from the coastline. The present study concerns a Life Cycle Assessment of the environmental performance of two types of floating wind turbine. Greenhouse gas emissions of two standard models (raft-buoy and spar-buoy, 154 m rotor diameter, 6 MW installed power) were estimated in terms of Global Warming Potential (t CO2eq) with the aim of determining a benchmark for evaluating the performance of similar offshore wind farms. Thus, the aim of the paper was to create a benchmark for the design of innovative technologies, such as those developed by specialist companies, and to verify the validity of new designs and technologies in terms of avoided greenhouse gas emissions. The results show that the Carbon Intensity of Electricity of a single floating wind turbine varies in the range 26–79 g CO2eq·kWh−1, averaging 49 g CO2eq·kWh−1, in line with other studies of offshore wind turbines and other renewable energy sources (such as onshore wind and photovoltaic). Extension of our study to the whole life cycle, including manufacturing, assembly and installation, maintenance and material replacement and a hypothetical decommissioning and end-of-life, showed that wind farms are among the most promising marine renewable energy technologies for the Mediterranean

Integrating Blue Energy in Maritime Spatial Planning of Mediterranean Regions

Blue Energy (BE) is expected to play a strategic role in the energy transition of Europe, particularly toward the 2050 horizon. It refers to a set of Marine Energy Sources (MES), including offshore wind, waves, tides, marine currents, sea thermal energy, salinity gradients, and marine biomass, which are exploited by different BE technologies. Nevertheless, the implementation of integrated solutions to exploit MES in marine areas does not just concern technological issues; it requires inclusive planning practices considering different aspects regarding climate and environmental impacts, landscape compatibility, interference with other marine activities (such as shipping, fishing, and tourism), and social acceptance. A replicable BE planning framework has been developed based on interdisciplinary knowledge in three Mediterranean sites in Greece, Croatia, and Cyprus, under the scope of the Interreg Med BLUE DEAL project. It has been implemented by some interdisciplinary experts through a collaborative and iterative process of data elaboration, mapping, evaluation, and visualization. Results concern the localization of suitable sites to install BE plants and the estimation of potential energy production and avoided emissions in selected scenarios. Together with visual simulations, this study shows the potential effects of the implementation of BE in specific marine areas, with a special focus on the most promising offshore floating wind farms and wave energy converters (WECs), as basic information for participative design and stakeholder engagement initiatives, including public authorities, businesses, and citizens

Overview of sustainability assessment methods within the input-state-output framework

In order to provide a rational, structural, and thermodynamics-based representation of sustainability, an Input-State-Output framework has been recently introduced [1]. The I-S-O framework has been proposed to investigate different systems by means of systems indicators representative of three components: input indicators show the material and energy flows feeding the system; state indicators represent structural and organizational features of the system; output indicators quantify what systems produce in terms of outflows. The I-S-O framework has been applied to investigate and categorize different kinds of systems. It has been primarily applied to ecosystems [2], using emergy to quantify what is needed for the systems to survive; eco- exergy to describe its structural characteristics; ecosystem services to identify the output in connection with human utility. More recently, the framework has been used to study national economies [1, 3], which allowed to compare, cluster and rank them on the basis of information other than pure economic ones. Moreover, the Input, State and Output. components have been assimilated to the sustainability pillars, namely the environmental, social and economic spheres, respectively, to be assessed for each country. In fact, the I-S-O framework enables to detect these spheres in isolation from, and in connection with each other without losing information (the latter being a problem of extremely aggregated indicators). A crucial role in this proposal is played by the choice of indicators and assessment methods used for each component of the I-S-O framework. Different triads can be chosen in accordance with the kind of information that we need to produce. In particular, several of indicators exist and can be selected to quantify aspects of the input/environmental, state/social and output/economic component of the I-S-O framework

La vivienda en El Hornillo

La duración de la cinta de vídeo es de trece minutosDocumental que, después de mostrarnos la contraposición existente entre un barrio señorial y el chabolismo y caos de los barrios del extrarradio, nos conduce hasta el singular Caserío de El Hornillo, en el municipio de Agaete, donde todavía podemos encontrar vestigios de nuestro pasado ya que posee unos de los núcleos de cuevas y terrazas colgadas, habitadas, que mejor estado de conservación presentan.CanariasES

GHG action zone identification at the local level: Emissions inventory and spatial distribution as methodologies for policies and plans

Climate change mitigation and adaptation policies play a role in the political agendas of local authorities. The number of monitoring tools and experiences is progressively increasing also due to improvement in standardi-zation of methods and proliferation of research and accounting experiments, which bring about increase in awareness of political subjects and the general public. Coherently with its Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP), in 2018 the Municipality of Grosseto (central Italy) decided to build a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory integrated with Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based maps, to visualize the spatial distribution of the GHG balance results.A bottom-up GHG emissions inventory at the sub-national level has been elaborated, following the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines, with the aim of creating site-specific knowledge and supporting policies. GHG gross emissions corresponded to 395,558.59 t carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq), i.e. five time higher than CO2 absorption, determining an abatement percentage of 17.09%. The emissions came mainly from road transport (47.57%), heating (15.01%), and consumption of imported electricity (14.57%). The GHG emissions balance results have been translated into five geo-referenced GIS-based maps, which help localize the areas under stress and categorize the territory into GHG action zones, able to stimulate environmental policies and monitor their efficacy. Beside policies inspired by the key categories of the GHG emissions inventory (e.g., mobility, import of electricity, heating), the spatial visualization of results stimulates considerations and measures regarding the localization of activities and infrastructures, urban and environmental planning, and land use change, which are not always supported by adequate information in the case of sub-national admin-istrative systems. Moreover, by virtue of reliability and replicability, the obtained results (i.e., climate-altering emission maps and GHG action zones identification) should be incorporated into the so-called Baseline and Monitoring Emission Inventories, required in the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) of the municipalities that join the Covenant of Mayors