Research findings and decision making: the case of renewable energy

Energy policies from local to global scale are increasingly questioned in terms of sustainability. Evidence-based and science-based decision making in this field need a robust and transparent integrated assessment of policy options. Nevertheless, scientific findings do not lead straight to political conclusions, and the relationship between science and decision making is a debated issue. The article discusses the main barriers to effective interaction and communication between scientific enquiry and decision making and proposes some effective ways to overcome these barriers, starting from experiences in the biomass energy sector. The article discusses the case of wood fuel, focusing on one of the European hot spots for air pollution, namely the Po valley in Northern Italy. It proves to be an interesting case, especially because of the ambiguity between the positive and the negative aspects of wood burning, which, if not adequately integrated by information about the specific conditions that influence pollution levels, can lead to opposite political decisions about the use of wood in local energy plans. Starting from scientific findings it is possible to derive guidelines about the best practices to adopt in order to reduce environmental impacts along the whole wood fuel chain. In this, associations of producers and of consumers and other existing networks (e.g. forestry consortia) can be very useful, either as a source of information not published in the scientific literature and as intermediaries for translating the knowledge into a more usable format and to convey information to the final targets identified (e.g. policy makers, firms and final users).JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Mountain glaciers darkening: geochemical characterizazion of cryoconites and their radiative impact on the Vadret da Morteratsch (Swiss Alps)

Mountain glaciers represent an important source of fresh water across the globe. It is well known that these reservoirs are seriously threatened by global climate change, and a widespread reduction of glacier extension has been observed in recent years. Surface processes that promote ice melting are driven both by air temperature/precipitation and surface albedo. This latter is mainly influenced by the growth of snow grains and by the impurities content (such as mineral dust, soot, ash etc.). The origin of these light-absorbing impurities can be local or distal, and often, as a consequence of melting processes, they can aggregate on the glacier tongue, forming characteristics cryoconites, that decrease ice albedo and hence promote the melting. In this contribution, we coupled satellite images (EO1 \u2013 Hyperion and Landsat 8 - OLI) and ground hyperspectral data (ASD field spectrometer) for characterizing ice and snow surface reflectance of the Vadret da Morteratsch glacier (Swiss Alps). On the glacier ablation zone, we sampled ice, snow, surface dust and cryoconite material. To evaluate the possible impact of anthropogenic and natural emissions on cryoconites formation, we determined their geochemical composition (through the Neutron Activation Analysis, NAA) and the concentration of Black Carbon (BC), Organic Carbon (OC), Elemental Carbon (EC) and Levoglucosan. From satellite data, we computed the Snow Darkening Index (SDI), which is non-linearly correlated with dust content in snow. Results showed that, during 2015 summer season, ice albedo in the ablation zone reached very low values of about 0.1-0.2. The darkening of the glacier can be attributed to the impact of surface dust (from lateral moraine and Saharan desert) and cryoconites, coupled with grain growth driven by the extremely warm 2015 summer. The geochemical characterization of non-ice material contained in the cryoconites can provide important information regarding their source and the possible impact of anthropogenic emissions on cryoconites formation and evolution

Estimation of local and external contributions of biomass burning to PM2.5 in an industrial zone included in a large urban settlement

A total of 85 PM2.5 samples were collected at a site located in a large industrial zone (Porto Marghera, Venice, Italy) during a 1-year-long sampling campaign. Samples were analyzed to determine water-soluble inorganic ions, elemental and organic carbon, and levoglucosan, and results were processed to investigate the seasonal patterns, the relationship between the analyzed species, and the most probable sources by using a set of tools, including (i) conditional probability function (CPF), (ii) conditional bivariate probability function (CBPF), (iii) concentration weighted trajectory (CWT), and (iv) potential source contribution function (PSCF) analyses. Furthermore, the importance of biomass combustions to PM2.5 was also estimated. Average PM2.5 concentrations ranged between 54 and 16 μg m−3 in the cold and warm period, respectively. The mean value of total ions was 11 μg m−3 (range 1–46 μg m−3): The most abundant ion was nitrate with a share of 44 % followed by sulfate (29 %), ammonium (14 %), potassium (4 %), and chloride (4 %). Levoglucosan accounted for 1.2 % of the PM2.5 mass, and its concentration ranged from few ng m−3 in warm periods to 2.66 μg m−3 during winter. Average concentrations of levoglucosan during the cold period were higher than those found in other European urban sites. This result may indicate a great influence of biomass combustions on particulate matter pollution. Elemental and organic carbon (EC, OC) showed similar behavior, with the highest contributions during cold periods and lower during summer. The ratios between biomass burning indicators (K+, Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, levoglucosan, EC, and OC) were used as proxy for the biomass burning estimation, and the contribution to the OC and PM2.5 was also calculated by using the levoglucosan (LG)/OC and LG/PM2.5 ratios and was estimated to be 29 and 18 %, respectively

Five primary sources of organic aerosols in the urban atmosphere of Belgrade (Serbia)

Biomass burning and primary biological aerosol particles (PBAPs) represent important primary sources of organic compounds in the atmosphere. These particles and compounds are able to affect climate and human health. In the present work, using HPLC-orbitrapMS, we determined the atmospheric concentrations of molecular markers such as anhydrosugars and phenolic compounds that are specific for biomass burning, as well as the concentrations of sugars, alcohol sugars and D- and L-amino acids (D-AAs and L-AAs) for studying PBAPs in Belgrade (Serbia) aerosols collected in September-December 2008. In these samples, high levels of all these biomarkers were observed in October. Relative percentages of vanillic (V), syringic compounds (S) and p-coumaric acid (PA), as well as levoglucosan/mannosan (L/M) ratios, helped us discriminate between open fire events and wood combustion for domestic heating during the winter. L-AAs and D-AAs (1% of the total) were observed in Belgrade aerosols mainly in September-October. During open fire events, mean D-AA/L-AA (D/L) ratio values of aspartic acid, threonine, phenylalanine, alanine were significantly higher than mean D/L values of samples unaffected by open fire. High levels of AAs were observed for open biomass burning events.Thanks to four different statistical approaches, we demonstrated that Belgrade aerosols are affected by five sources: a natural source, a source related to fungi spores and degraded material and three other sources linked to biomass burning: biomass combustion in open fields, the combustion of grass and agricultural waste and the combustion of biomass in stoves and industrial plants. The approach employed in this work, involving the determination of specific organic tracers and statistical analysis, proved useful to discriminate among different types of biomass burning events. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Small scale spatial gradients of outdoor and indoor benzene in proximity of an integrated steel plant

Benzene is known as a human carcinogen, whose annual mean concentration exceeded the EU limit value (5 \u3bcg/m3) only in very few locations in Europe during 2012. Nevertheless 10% to 12% of the EU-28 urban population was still exposed to benzene concentrations above the WHO reference level of 1.7 \u3bcg/m3. WHO recommended a wise choice of monitoring stations positioning in proximity of \u201chot spots\u201d to define and assess the representativeness of each site paying attention to micro-scale conditions. In this context benzene and other VOCs of health concern (toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes) concentrations have been investigated, with weekly passive sampling for one year, both in outdoor and indoor air in inhabited buildings in close proximity (180 m far up to 1100 m) of an integrated steel plant in NE of Italy. Even though the outdoor mean annual benzene concentration was below the EU limit in every site, in the site closest to the works the benzene concentration was above 5 \u3bcg/m3 in 14 weeks. These events were related to a benzene over toluene ratio above one, which is diagnostic for the presence of an industrial source, and to meteorological factors. These information pointed at the identification of the coke ovens of the plant as the dominant outdoor source of benzene. Benzene gradients with the increasing distance from coke ovens have been found for both outdoor and indoor air. Linear models linking outdoor to indoor benzene concentrations have been then identified, allowing to estimate indoor exposure from ambient air benzene data. In the considered period, a narrow area of about 250 m appeared impacted at a higher degree than the other sites both considering outdoor and indoor air. Passive BTEX sampling permits to collect information on both ambient air and daily life settings, allowing to assemble a valuable data support for further environmental cost-benefit analyses

An integrated PM2.5 source apportionment study: Positive Matrix Factorisation vs. the Chemical Transport Model CAMx

none8Receptor and Chemical Transport Models are commonly used tools in source apportionment studies, even if different expertise is required. We describe an experiment using both approaches to apportion the PM2.5 (i.e., particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters below 2.5 m) sources in the city of Genoa (Italy). A sampling campaign was carried out to collect PM2.5 samples daily for approximately six month during 2011 in three sites. The subsequent compositional analyses included the speciation of elements, major ions and both organic and elemental carbon; these data produced a large database for receptor modelling through Positive Matrix Factorisation (PMF). In the same period, a meteorological and air quality modelling system was implemented based on the mesoscale numerical weather prediction model WRF and the chemical transport model CAMx to obtain meteorological and pollutant concentrations up to a resolution of 1.1 km. The source apportionment was evaluated by CAMx over the same period that was used for the monitoring campaign using the Particulate Source Apportionment Technology tool. Even if the source categorisations were changed (i.e., groups of time-correlated compounds in PMF vs. activity categories in CAMx), the PM2.5 source apportionment by PMF and CAMx produced comparable results. The different information provided by the two approaches (e.g., real-world factor profile by PMF and apportionment of a secondary aerosol by CAMx) was used jointly to elucidate the composition and origin of PM2.5 and to develop a more general methodology. When studying the primary and secondary components of PM, the main anthropogenic sources in the area were road transportation, energy production/industry and maritime emissions, accounting for 40% - 50%, 20% - 30% and 10% - 15%, of PM2.5, respectively.M. C. Bove; P. Brotto; F. Cassola; E. Cuccia; D. Massabò; A. Mazzino; A. Piazzalunga; P. PratiBove, MARIA CHIARA; Brotto, Paolo; Cassola, Federico; Cuccia, ELEONORA SIMONA; Massabo', Dario; Mazzino, Andrea; A., Piazzalunga; Prati, Paol

Particulate-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon sources and determinants in residential homes

Human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in indoor environments can be particularly relevant because people spend most of their time inside buildings, especially in homes. This study aimed to investigate the most important particle-bound PAH sources and exposure determinants in PM2.5 samples collected in 19 homes located in northern Italy. Complementary information about ion content in PM10 was also collected in 12 of these homes. Three methods were used for the identification of PAH sources and determinants: diagnostic ratios with principal component and hierarchical cluster analyses (PCA and HCA), chemical mass balance (CMB) and linear mixed models (LMMs). This combined and tiered approach allowed the infiltration of outdoor PAHs into indoor environments to be identified as the most important source in winter, with a relevant role played by biomass burning and traffic exhausts to be identified as a general source of PAHs in both seasons. Tobacco smoke exhibited an important impact on PAH levels in smokers' homes, whereas in the whole sample, cooking food and natural gas sources played a minor or negligible role. Nitrate, sulfate and ammonium were the main inorganic constituents of indoor PM10 owing to the secondary formation of ammonium sulfates and nitrates