Electricity generation and GHG emission reduction potentials through different municipal solid waste management technologies: A comparative review

Industrial Ecolog

Environmental impact assessment of olive pomace oil biodiesel production and consumption: A comparative lifecycle assessment

The well-to-wheel environmental impacts of olive pomace oil biodiesel (B20 and B100) and conventional petroleum diesel were compared using life cycle assessment. Moreover, energy and economic analyses of olive pomace oil biodiesel production was conducted throughout its life cycle. Human Health, Ecosystem Quality, Climate Change and Resources were the selected end-point impact categories. Comparing biodiesel with petroleum diesel, significant environmental tradeoffs exist between the Climate Change and Resources damage categories. Moreover, biodiesel was found to require some corrective practices (in the view of agricultural and combustion stages) in order to be more eco-friendly in all the mentioned damage categories. Having pursued the suggestions of this study, for the B100, the minimum reduction rates of 30-32% and 24-26% in the Human Health and Ecosystem Quality damage categories could be expected, respectively. While for the B20, these reduction rates would be at least 19-22% and 14-16%, respectively. This could be promising especially for the B20 blend as a good alternative for petroleum diesel. On the other hand, lifecycle energy assessment revealed promising energy indices (e.g., fossil energy ratio of 1.22-1.33). Finally, economic analysis showed a benefit-to-cost ratio of 1.45 revealing the economic viability of olive pomace oil biodiesel production

Triggers of change as facilitators to achieve sustainable, resilient, and adaptive cities

open access articleThis paper proposes pathways and triggers of change for city representatives and decision makers to consider for enabling transition to sustainable, resilient and adaptive cities. It investigates a range of triggers of change, including regulatory, structural/operational, behavioural, awareness, and resources. A conceptual framework for identifying the triggers of change is presented that was developed under a participatory process and tested during stakeholder dialogues with representatives from 15 cities from 12 European countries. The framework comprises of the following three steps: 1. Indicator-based vulnerability assessment, conducted to analyse city vulnerability and problem identification; 2. Constructed visions of the underpinning factors; and 3. Backcasting exercise, to detect the triggers of change. Following a prioritisation exercise across our European sample, regional differences and the prominence of the following patterns in supporting triggers of change have been noted. In Mediterranean region main triggers were public decision and political leadership, regulatory framework (including building codes, accountability, pricing, taxation, penalties and incentives) and learning from disasters triggers of change. Whereas in the Southern-Central region: adaptive multi-level governance, horizontal and vertical improved relationships governance were the main triggers of change. These patterns and framework are applicable to other cities, and indeed to other topics (e.g. mitigation, sustainability, etc.) that support implementation on the ground to achieve truly sustainable, resilient and adaptive cities. We acknowledge the challenges in deriving universally applicable triggers of change, however the study identifies eight overarching triggers of change that can facilitate the transformation of cities