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Cloud computing and sustainability have become part of a core strategy in organizations globally and locally, since their characteristics assist both businesses and individuals to become unique and exclusive in their work and study. Businesses and individuals should integrate sustainability in their strategy and to include cloud computing technology as a tool for sustainable work, especially in the Information Technology (IT) departments to cut costs and increase efficiencies and productivity. This paper examines European organizations' awareness of cloud computing and sustainability opportunities and risks, via an online survey targeting 56 Information Technology managers in Europe. A Cloud Computing Conceptual model was developed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate the survey results. The study results confirmed that cloud computing technology opportunities, including sustainability in the organization's strategy, will enhance their job performance and job satisfaction, use and awareness; however, security, privacy and risks are still a major concern.

In this work we assess the pathways for environmental improvement by the coal utilization industry for power generation in Australia. In terms of resources, our findings show that coal is a long term resource of concern as coal reserves are likely to last for the next 500 years or more. However, our analysis indicates that evaporation losses of water in power generation will approach 1000 Gl (gigalitres) per year, equivalent to a consumption of half of the Australian residential population. As Australia is the second driest continent on earth, water consumption by power generators is a resource of immediate concern with regards to sustainability. We also show that coal will continue to play a major role in energy generation in Australia and, hence, there is a need to employ new technologies that can minimize environmental impacts. The major technologies to reduce impacts to air, water and soils are addressed. Of major interest, there is a major potential for developing sequestration processes in Australia, in particular by enhanced coal bed methane (ECBM) recovery at the Bowen Basin, South Sydney Basin and Gunnedah Basin. Having said that, CO2 capture technologies require further development to support any sequestration processes in order to comply with the Kyoto Protocol. Current power generation cycles are thermodynamic limited, with 35-40% efficiencies. To move to a high efficiency cycle, it is required to change technologies of which integrated gasification combined cycle plus fuel cell is the most promising, with efficiencies expected to reach 60-65%. However, risks of moving towards an unproven technology means that power generators are likely to continue to use pulverized fuel technologies, aiming at incremental efficiency improvements (business as usual). As a big picture pathway, power generators are likely to play an increasing role in regional development; in particular EcoParks and reclaiming saline water for treatment as pressures to access fresh water supplies will significantly increase.

Understanding the relationship between climate and crop productivity is a key component of projections of future food production, and hence assessments of food security. Climate models and crop yield datasets have errors, but the effects of these errors on regional scale crop models is not well categorized and understood. In this study we compare the effect of synthetic errors in temperature and precipitation observations on the hindcast skill of a process-based crop model and a statistical crop model. We find that errors in temperature data have a significantly stronger influence on both models than errors in precipitation. We also identify key differences in the responses of these models to different types of input data error. Statistical and process-based model responses differ depending on whether synthetic errors are overestimates or underestimates. We also investigate the impact of crop yield calibration data on model skill for both models, using datasets of yield at three different spatial scales. Whilst important for both models, the statistical model is more strongly influenced by crop yield scale than the process-based crop model. However, our results question the value of high resolution yield data for improving the skill of crop models; we find a focus on accuracy to be more likely to be valuable. For both crop models, and for all three spatial scales of yield calibration data, we found that model skill is greatest where growing area is above 10-15 %. Thus information on area harvested would appear to be a priority for data collection efforts. These results are important for three reasons. First, understanding how different crop models rely on different characteristics of temperature, precipitation and crop yield data allows us to match the model type to the available data. Second, we can prioritize where improvements in climate and crop yield data should be directed. Third, as better climate and crop yield data becomes available, we can predict how crop model skill should improve.

Providing access to electricity for the roughly 3 billion people who currently have no access or limited access to reliable service is a fundamental social and economic development challenge. A significant part of this population lives far away from the power grid, mostly in rural areas, where mini-grids could go far in meeting this enormous demand.

Abstract A key challenge for heavy industry in emerging economies is how to meet international greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards since they are often based on the conditions and capacities of manufacturing in advanced countries. Firms in developing nations are typically cost-driven and reliant on older, less efficient technology: very few have achieved the relevant targets. Cement making underscores the point: no study to date has specifically quantified, in technical and financial terms, the gap between existing firm performance and global GHG emission standards. We examine Indonesia's largest cement manufacturing facility to investigate what needs to be done to overcome the discrepancy. The article starts by reviewing key contextual issues such as the facility's location, scale, organisational configuration, available materials, energy use, and technological capacities. The plant's direct emission intensity is 0.69 t CO2e/t cement, higher than the global target for 2030 (0.55 t CO2e/t). Analysis reveals six potential emissions reduction activities: (1) utilizing fly ash as a clinker substitute; (2) employing limestone as a clinker substitute; (3) using biomass from rice husks as an alternative fuel; (4) adding pre-heating stages in kilns; (5) waste heat recovery for power generation; and (6) using refused-derived fuel from municipal solid waste as an alternative fuel. These measures, if adopted in full, could reduce GHGs at the facility by up to 33%, or a total of 34,145,190 t CO2e over a 10-year timeframe (2020–2030). This abatement action would leave the facility's direct emissions intensity to 0.48 t CO2e/t cement. In present values, assuming a 10% discount rate, they would result in savings of US$415 million for a US$94 million outlay. Despite the apparent technical and financial advantages, all measures together are unlikely to be adopted, since the plant studied is well advanced in its lifecycle and the parent company is experiencing financial constraints common to those in developing nations.

Abstract Besides the apparent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, other important factors contributing to the renewed interest in biofuels are energy security concerns and the need of sustainable transportation fuel. Nearly 30% of the annual CO2 emissions in the U.S. come from the transportation sector and more than half of the fuel is imported. Biofuels appear to be a promising option to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and the reliance on imported oil concomitantly. The interest on (ligno) cellulosic ethanol is gaining momentum as corn-based ethanol is criticized for using agricultural outputs for fuel production. Among many lignocellulosic feedstocks, woodchips is viewed as one of the most promising feedstocks for producing liquid transportation fuels. The renewable and carbon neutral nature of the feedstocks, similar chemical and physical properties to gasoline, and the low infrastructure cost due to the availability of fuel flex vehicles and transportation networks make (ligno) cellulosic bioethanol an attractive option. An in-depth LCA of woodchips shows that harvesting and woodchips processing stage and transportation to the facility stage emit large amount of environmental pollutants compared to other life cycle stages of ethanol production. Our analysis also found that fossil fuel consumption and respiratory inorganic effects are the two most critical environmental impact categories in woodchips production. We have used Eco-indicator 99 based cradle-to-gate LCA method with a functional unit of 4 m3 of dry hardwood chips production.

Coal bed Methane (CBM), a primary component of natural gas, is a relatively clean source of energy. Nevertheless, the impact of considerable coal mine methane emission on climate change in China has gained an increasing attention as coal production has powered the country's economic development. It is well-known that coal bed methane is a typical greenhouse gas, the greenhouse effect index of which is 30 times larger than that of carbon dioxide. Besides, gas disasters such as gas explosive and outburst, etc. pose a great threat to the safety of miners. Therefore, measures must be taken to capture coal mine methane before mining. This helps to enhance safety during mining and extract an environmentally friendly gas as well. However, as a majority of coal seams in China have low-permeability, it is difficult to achieve efficient methane drainage. Enhancing coal permeability is a good choice for high-efficiency drainage of coal mine methane. In this paper, a modified coal-methane co-exploitation model was established and a combination of drilling–slotting-separation–sealing was proposed to enhance coal permeability and CBM recovery. Firstly, rapid drilling assisted by water-jet and significant permeability enhancement via pressure relief were investigated, guiding the fracture network formation around borehole for high efficient gas flow. Secondly, based on the principle of swirl separation, the coal–water–gas separation instrument was developed to eliminate the risk of gas accumulation during slotting and reduce the gas emission from the ventilation air. Thirdly, to improve the performance of sealing material, we developed a novel cement-based composite sealing material based on the microcapsule technique. Additionally, a novel sealing–isolation combination technique was also proposed. Results of field test indicate that gas concentration in slotted boreholes is 1.05–1.91 times higher than that in conventional boreholes. Thus, the proposed novel integrated techniques achieve the goal of high-efficiency coal bed methane recovery.

Anaerobic digestion is a commercial reality for several kinds of waste. Nonetheless, anaerobic digestion of single substrates presents some drawbacks linked to substrate characteristics. Anaerobic co-digestion, the simultaneous digestion of two or more substrates, is a feasible option to overcome the drawbacks of mono-digestion and to improve plants economic feasibility. At present, since 50% of the publication has been published in the last two years, anaerobic co-digestion can be considered the most relevant topic within anaerobic digestion research. The aim of this paper is to present a review of the achievements and perspectives of anaerobic co-digestion within the period 2010-2013, which represents a continuation of the previous review made by the authors [3]. In the present review, the publications have been classified as for the main substrate, i.e., animal manures, sewage sludge and biowaste. Animal manures stand as the most reported substrate, agro-industrial waste and the organic fraction of the municipal solid waste being the most reported co-substrate. Special emphasis has been made to the effect of the co-digestion over digestate quality, since land application seems to be the best option for digestate recycling. Traditionally, anaerobic co-digestion between sewage sludge and the organic fraction of the municipal solid waste has been the most reported co-digestion mixture. However, between 2010 and 2013 the publications dealing with fats, oils and greases and algae as sludge co-substrate have increased. This is because both co-substrates can be obtained at the same wastewater treatment plant. In contrast, biowaste as a main substrate has not been as studied as manures or sewage sludge. Finally, three interdisciplinary sections have been written for addressing novelty aspects in anaerobic co-digestion, i.e., pre-treatments, microbial dynamics and modeling. However, much effort needs to be done in these later aspects to better understand and predict anaerobic co-digestion.