• Energy Research
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Abstract Previous studies indicate electricity consumption is increasing in new and green buildings highlighting the importance of investigating parameters affecting that increase. The majority of previous studies also focused on studying commercial or residential buildings emphasizing the need to study energy consumption in other building types. This study analyzed historical energy consumption data in a representative sample of thirty schools in Manitoba, Canada. It showed that the decrease in gas consumption for heating in new schools was counteracted by a statistically significant increase in their electricity consumption. Three cases study schools were selected for further analysis of their electricity consumption. Within each school, one classroom, the gymnasium, as well as spaces with significant community use, were sub-metered to collect real-time electricity consumption data. Results indicated total electricity consumption increased in the newest school, although sub-metered spaces in older schools consumed more electricity. Variations in electricity consumption between sub-metered spaces were attributed to occupant behaviour. The study is the first to provide an in-depth investigation of electricity consumption in Canadian school buildings and consider the potential effect of typically overlooked parameters such as occupant behaviour on their overall energy consumption.

Biogas is one of the most attractive renewable resources due to its ability to convert waste into energy. Biogas is produced during an anaerobic digestion process from different organic waste resources with a combination of mainly CH4 (~50 mol/mol), CO2 (~15 mol/mol), and some trace gasses. The percentage of these trace gases is related to operating conditions and feedstocks. Due to the impurities of the trace gases, raw biogas has to be cleaned before use for many applications. Therefore, the cleaning, upgrading, and utilization of biogas has become an important topic that has been widely studied in recent years. In this review, raw biogas components are investigated in relation to feedstock resources. Then, using recent developments, it describes the cleaning methods that have been used to eliminate unwanted components in biogas. Additionally, the upgrading processes are systematically reviewed according to their technology, recovery range, and state of the art methods in this area, regarding obtaining biomethane from biogas. Furthermore, these upgrading methods have been comprehensively reviewed and compared with each other in terms of electricity consumption and methane losses. This comparison revealed that amine scrubbing is one the most promising methods in terms of methane losses and the energy demand of the system. In the section on biogas utilization, raw biogas and biomethane have been assessed with recently available data from the literature according to their usage areas and methods. It seems that biogas can be used as a biofuel to produce energy via CHP and fuel cells with high efficiency. Moreover, it is able to be utilized in an internal combustion engine which reduces exhaust emissions by using biofuels. Lastly, chemical production such as biomethanol, bioethanol, and higher alcohols are in the development stage for utilization of biogas and are discussed in depth. This review reveals that most biogas utilization approaches are in their early stages. The gaps that require further investigations in the field have been identified and highlighted for future research.

Abstract The use of electric bus fleets has become a topical issue in recent years. Several companies and municipalities, either voluntarily or to comply with legal requirements, will transition to greener bus fleets in the next decades. Such transitions are often established by fleet electrification targets, which dictate the number of electric buses that should be in the fleet by a given time period. In this paper we introduce a comprehensive optimization-based decision making tool to support such transitions. More precisely, we present a fleet replacement problem which allows organizations to determine bus replacement plans that will meet their fleet electrification targets in a cost-effective way, namely considering purchase costs, salvage revenues, operating costs, charging infrastructure investments, and demand charges. We account for several charging infrastructure options, such as slow and fast plug-in stations, overhead pantograph chargers, and inductive (wireless) chargers. We refer to this problem as the electric bus fleet transition problem, and we model it as an integer linear program. We apply our model to conduct computational experiments based on several scenarios. We use real data provided by a public transit agency in order to draw insights into optimal transition plans.

The city of Leh was the capital of the Kingdom of Ladakh from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries. Over time, due to wars, politics, and isolation, the capital city fell into a state of disrepair soon after the royal family was exiled. An explosion in tourism over the last few decades has seen a revival in the local community but most of the benefits including generated tourism revenue have been directed towards development outside the historical boundary of Leh. The residents of what is now known as Leh Old Town suffer from poverty, lack of basic infrastructures such as drainage, and limited access to water. Additionally, Leh Old Town was also placed under World’s Monument Watch in 2008 due to issues related to low-scale modern construction and urgent need of repair for 55% of the historic buildings. Climate change has also been cited as a cause of concern due to issues related to faster melting glaciers and flash floods due to the lack of a drainage system. The main aim of this practicum is to study and demonstrate the role that landscape architects can play in the rehabilitation of historical alpine settlements that have been adversely affected by anthropological factors such as politics, climate change, and over-tourism. It does so by highlighting the cultural and architectural heritage of the Old Town of Leh, known as Kharyog in Ladakhi, and demonstrating the use of indigenous construction materials and methods that have been superseded by modern materials imported from other parts of the country. It also aims to study how the positive effects of tourism can be distributed equally throughout a community to improve the quality of life for the residents of Leh Old Town.

1. A More Sustainable City Hopes for cities to solve the social, environmental, and economic problems of the early 21st century loom large over discourses on sustainability in the United States. On a rapidly urbanizing planet, it is often argued, the global challenge of creating a more sustainable kind of living can best be tackled in cities and by urban actors. Besides the widespread notion of an emerging urban era, this focus on cities can be explained by the common assumption that these ar...

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) are required to be achieved by 2030, and measurement indicators are needed to properly visualize individual efforts toward SDGs. Here, we developed a Japanese version of the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire (SCQ), the most well-known individual measure of SDGs, and examined its reliability and validity. Three online surveys were conducted with 1,268 Japanese adults. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Japanese version of the SCQ consists of two single-level factors: sustainability knowingness/attitude and sustainability behavior. These two factors demonstrated sufficient internal consistency by Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficient, which ensured measurement reliability. Additionally, cocorrelations with other scales indicated that the higher the level of sustainability knowledge and attitude, the less positive attitude toward climate change and the higher the level of sustainability behavior, indicating the construct validity of these factors. These results indicate that the Japanese version of the SCQ is reliable and valid.

Understanding the impacts of climate on food systems is vital to identifying the most effective food system interventions to support climate-smart agriculture. The study examines how climate change is affecting food systems and what can be done to mitigate its effects. Two methodological approaches were combined in the study. The first was an Asia-wide regional consultation and forum to explore a range of initiatives that transform food systems among stakeholders working in Myanmar. The second method was an in-depth food systems study employing qualitative methods in Htee Pu Village in the Myanmar Central Dry Zone, a research site of IIRR since 2017. Key informant interviews (KII) and focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted to capture insights and data. Food systems consist of components, drivers, actors, and elements that interact with one another and other systems such as social, health, and transportation. The Myanmar food system is complex. Making it sustainable and transformative requires a mix of different approaches implemented at various scales from local to national. It also requires actions that engage various actors in the system from producers to consumers. The study of the local food system of Htee Pu Village indicates that the village has a rural and traditional food system and that climate change is one of its key food system drivers. Climate change negatively impacted farming and agricultural practices and disrupted the input supply of the local food systems. The role of intermediaries such as traders and consolidators is critical in the supply and distribution of food in the Central Dry Zone. Improved and more connected roads are essential for the supply and distribution of food for the village. The informal market outlets serve as the primary food source or sale points for households. Household diets are inadequate in quantity as the population remains highly dependent on their crops for their diets due to relatively low income. Climate adaptation must be embedded in the local level management to mitigate the effect of climate change in food production in the longer term.