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| openaire: EC/H2020/963646/EU//HELIOS Lithium titanate oxide (LTO) batteries have been under intensive research due to their stability, safety, and rapid charging characteristics. Nevertheless, uncertainties as to LTO-batteries behavior when used as a raw material in battery recycling still exist. This study provides a grave-to-gate life cycle inventory for a hydrometallurgical battery recycling process in which Li-battery waste materials nickel manganese cobalt (NMC), LTO, and graphite were used as feed. The simulation showed that NMC cathode materials and lithium from both battery waste fractions could be recovered. In contrast, the titanium present within LTO cannot be recovered by the recycling process. Nevertheless, the life cycle assessment (LCA) of the process demonstrated clear benefits of recycling battery materials, highlighted by the decrease in global warming potential, acidification, eutrophication, and ozone depletion potential. Additionally, two routes for hazardous waste management were simulated to ascertain the environmental impacts of hazardous waste management within the recycling process. Peer reviewed

Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors Ammonia is increasingly recognized as a viable alternative fuel that could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions without requiring major modifications to existing engine technologies. However, its high auto-ignition temperature, slow flame speed, and narrow flammability range present significant barriers, particularly under high-speed combustion conditions. This review explores the potential of ammonia as a sustainable fuel for internal combustion engines, focusing on its advantages and challenge. The review draws on a wide range of studies, from NH3 production, application, to the combustion mechanisms, that explore various strategies for enhancing NH₃ combustion in both spark ignition and compression ignition engines. Fundamentals and key approaches discussed include using hydrogen and hydrocarbon fuels as combustion promoters, which have been shown to improve ignition and flame propagation. Literature on fuel injection strategies, such as port fuel injection, direct injection, and dual-fuel injection, are examined to highlight their influence on NH₃-air mixing and combustion efficiency. Furthermore, the review delves into advanced ignition technologies, such as low-temperature plasma ignition, turbulent jet ignition, and laser ignition, which are explored for the potential to overcome the ignition difficulties associated with NH₃. After a comprehensive analysis based on the literature, the intelligent liquid-gas twin-fluid co-injection system (iTFI) emerges as a promising approach, offering improved combustion stability and efficiency through better fuel-air mixture preparation. By synthesizing the existing research, this review outlines the progress made in NH₃ combustion and identifies areas where further study is needed to fully realize its potential as a sustainable fuel. Peer reviewed

This paper analyzes stock returns' sensitivity to the newly introduced sustainability concerns index based on media indicators from LSEG MarketPsych for the US market from 2010 to 2023. While the results demonstrate that better ESG performance mitigates equities' sensitivity to sustainability concerns in society, the effects are mainly driven by firms' governance rather than environmental or social performance. This study underscores the vital role of good governance and management among ESG criteria for firms in promoting the stability of stock returns to changes in public concerns regarding sustainability issues. peerReviewed

The observed difference in the selectivity towards alkane, ketone, and alcohol hydrodeoxygenation products over Ru and Rh catalysts is explored using a combination of density functional theory and microkinetics. Using γ-valerolactone as a model compound, we investigate the reaction mechanism in order to identify selectivity determining species. The effect of the coadsorbed water molecule as well as the higher adsorbate surface coverage on reaction barriers and energies is explored as well. The performed calculations suggest that the desired alkane product is formed from a ketone intermediate on Ru, and through both ketone and alcohol on Rh, although the selectivity towars alkane on Rh is much lower than on Ru. peerReviewed

Scholars within management disciplines have shown a growing interest in digital transformation and sustainability phenomena to address global societal challenges. Indeed, previous studies have investigated the initial analysis of the intersection between these two emerging and intertwined topics. However, there has been no comprehensive or critical analysis of the relationships among these concepts. Nevertheless, a clear understanding of this phenomenon is key to developing rigorous and meaningful knowledge and enabling future research. Our critical review analyses 91 articles on digital transformation and sustainability research to address this issue. The findings propose a synthesis of the definition types of digital transformation and sustainability in four categories, from which only 16 articles show a relationship between both concepts. This study theoretically contributes to management research by uncovering issues and assumptions around the conceptualizations of digital transformation and sustainability at the corporate level. By doing so, we present a consolidation of conceived knowledge and clarify these interrelated concepts. Moreover, understanding and assessing these relationships will lead to a future research agenda and implications for practitioners. peerReviewed

Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors Climate targets require district heating companies to decarbonize heat production as well as data centers to improve their energy efficiency and waste heat utilization. This study includes an energyPRO software modeling of a district heating network with a planned 21 MW data center in the Ostrobothnia region in Finland to investigate the effect of data center waste heat in a district heating network. Five future scenarios with assumptions on electricity, fuel and carbon dioxide prices were modeled to analyze the reduction of district heating carbon dioxide emissions with data center waste heat and related cost savings. The results indicate that carbon dioxide emissions decrease cost-effectively as waste heat replaces the use of high-emission peat. In scenarios with higher biomass prices, the emissions and costs decrease the most with waste heat utilization. Interviews conducted with stakeholders highlight that district heating companies should not be dependent only on one data center due to the volatile nature of the industry and the heat production costs. They also underlined that the data center is expected to improve local economic activity and the international network of the region. The interviews also indicate that broad local support for the data center can be achieved due to the emission reductions and positive impacts on local employment and the economy. The use of local peat fuel was widely understood to be phased out due to climate policy. Peer reviewed

Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s) Energy grids and markets are in transition. Increased use of renewable energy sources (RES) introduces new stability challenges for power grids. Despite the substantial electrical consumption of mobile networks, they are yet to harness their inherent flexibility for aiding in the stability of the power grid. A noticeable research gap exists concerning measuring full activation time for fast frequency reserve (FFR) product while using batteries from mobile network base stations. Our objective is to demonstrate that mobile operators could use their existing infrastructure to participate in the reserve market of a contemporary power grid. Furthermore, it seeks to determine if the full activation time can meet the requirements of an FFR product. The system consists of a live mobile base station site with a mobile connection to the site, local controller, an existing battery, and a power system that, in combination, can function as part of a power grid balancing system. Our main finding indicates that the rectifier reaction time within an installed base station site infrastructure ranges from 5 to 8 s, and the time when the base station is entirely off from the grid varies from 7 to 10 s. This finding is significant since the activation time is too long for the base station power system controller to be used for FFR. The required full activation time for FFR is less than 1.3 s. In conclusion, power system vendors should investigate improvements for their equipment and software products to enable fast reserve market entry for their existing customers and stay competitive. Peer reviewed