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SummaryEnvironmentally extended multiregional input‐output (EE MRIO) tables have emerged as a key framework to provide a comprehensive description of the global economy and analyze its effects on the environment. Of the available EE MRIO databases, EXIOBASE stands out as a database compatible with the System of Environmental‐Economic Accounting (SEEA) with a high sectorial detail matched with multiple social and environmental satellite accounts. In this paper, we present the latest developments realized with EXIOBASE 3—a time series of EE MRIO tables ranging from 1995 to 2011 for 44 countries (28 EU member plus 16 major economies) and five rest of the world regions. EXIOBASE 3 builds upon the previous versions of EXIOBASE by using rectangular supply‐use tables (SUTs) in a 163 industry by 200 products classification as the main building blocks. In order to capture structural changes, economic developments, as reported by national statistical agencies, were imposed on the available, disaggregated SUTs from EXIOBASE 2. These initial estimates were further refined by incorporating detailed data on energy, agricultural production, resource extraction, and bilateral trade. EXIOBASE 3 inherits the high level of environmental stressor detail from its precursor, with further improvement in the level of detail for resource extraction. To account for the expansion of the European Union (EU), EXIOBASE 3 was developed with the full EU28 country set (including the new member state Croatia). EXIOBASE 3 provides a unique tool for analyzing the dynamics of environmental pressures of economic activities over time.

Concentrating solar power plant will be a key component of the future energy systems in which the share of renewable energy is extremely high. A major challenge of this technology is, however, its intermittent power output, slowing down its rate of implementation in the global energy matrix. As such, waste incineration is a popular technology in the developed countries as a smart measure for the disposal of municipal waste and generating free energy. In this study, a hybrid configuration of a concentrating solar power plant accompanied with a waste incineration unit is proposed. In the proposed system, the waste incinerator offers a variable heating duty in order to regulate the power output of the concentrating solar power plant. The hybrid plant is designed for a case study in Denmark and is thermodynamically analyzed. The results of the simulations are presented and discussed. It is shown that the hybrid system can pave the bed for increasing the share of solar thermal power and bringing more waste incinerators to the electricity market. A 10 MWe hybrid power plant may prevent up to 8000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emission per month. The overall efficiency of the hybrid system is expected to be 24%.

Nature-based solutions may actively reduce hydro-meteorological risks in urban areas as a part of climate change adaptation. However, the main reason for the increasing uptake of this type of solution is their many benefits for the local inhabitants, including recreational value. Previous studies on recreational value focus on studies of existing nature sites that are often much larger than what is considered as new NBS for flood adaptation studies in urban areas. We thus prioritized studies with smaller areas and nature types suitable for urban flood adaptation and divided them into four common nature types for urban flood adaptation: sustainable urban drainage systems, city parks, nature areas and rivers. We identified 23 primary valuation studies, including both stated and revealed preference studies, and derived two value transfer functions based on meta-regression analysis on existing areas. We investigated trends between values and variables and found that for the purpose of planning of new NBS the size of NBS and population density were determining factors of recreational value. For existing NBS the maximum travelling distance may be included as well. We find that existing state-of-the-art studies overestimate the recreational with more than a factor of 4 for NBS sizes below 5 ha. Our results are valid in a European context for nature-based solutions below 250 ha and can be applied across different NBS types and sizes.

The design and assessment of net-zero buildings commonly focus exclusively on the operational phase, ignoring the embodied environmental impacts over the building life cycle. An analysis is presented on the consequences of integrating embodied impacts into the assessment of the environmental advantageousness of net-zero concepts. Fundamental issues needing consideration in the design process - based on the evaluation of primary energy use and related greenhouse gas emissions - are examined by comparing three net-zero building design and assessment cases: (1) no embodied impacts included, net balance limited to the operation stage only; (2) embodied impacts included but evaluated separately from the operation stage; and (3) embodied impacts included with the operation stage in a life cycle approach. A review of recent developments in research, standardization activities and design practice and the presentation of a case study of a residential building in Norway highlight the critical importance of performance indicator definitions and system boundaries. A practical checklist is presented to guide the process of incorporating embodied impacts across the building life cycle phases in net-zero design. Its implications are considered on overall environmental impact assessment of buildings. Research and development challenges, as well as recommendations for designers and other stakeholders, are identified.

SummaryAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), the COVID‐19 pandemic has been the greatest challenge to humanity since World War II. Spain is one of the countries experiencing severe consequences from the COVID‐19 pandemic outbreak. In such a situation, when the population is quarantined, hospitals are crowded, and industries are shutting down; energy supply becomes a critical and “hard to predict” service. In this way, the study of the impact of COVID‐19 on the selling price of electricity in Spain is highlighted more comprehensively. Given the high level of uncertainty in global energy markets, there is a research gap that needs to be filled, that is, the creation of new decision support mechanisms that can reduce risks and ensure more significant forecasting for investments and energy management to deal with seemingly unprecedented effects experienced through the current pandemic. This study examines and develops econometric models to determine the impact of COVID‐19 on the Spanish electricity market. This article's main result is a framework that predicts the dynamic electricity market's behavior during shifting periods, that is, the COVID‐19 pandemic period. Noteworthy that the result of this article is useful in electricity market management and strategic developments.

Abstract Combustion of hydrocarbon fuels with pure oxygen results in a different flue gas composition as combustion with air. Standard CFD spectral gas radiation models for air combustion are out of their validity range. The series of three articles provides a common spectral basis for the validation of new developed models. In part A of the series gas cell transmissivity spectra in the spectral range of 2.4–5.4 μm of water vapor and carbon dioxide in the temperature range from 727 to 1500 ° C and at different concentrations were compared at a nominal resolution of 32 cm −1 to line-by-line models from different databases, two statistical-narrow-band models and the exponential wide band model. The two statistical-narrow-band models EM2C and RADCAL showed a good agreement with a maximal band transmissivity deviation of 3%. The exponential-wide-band model showed a deviation of 6%. The new line-by-line database HITEMP2010 had the lowest band transmissivity deviation of 2.2% and was recommended as a reference model for the validation of simplified CFD models.

The release of critical ash-forming elements during the pyrolysis and combustion of corn stover has been investigated through controlled lab-scale experiments supported by multicomponent and multiphase thermodynamic equilibrium calculations. Fuel samples were treated under isothermal conditions ranging from 500 to 1150 °C, under both pyrolysis and combustion atmospheres. The volatilized material was quantified by means of mass balances based on char and ash elemental analysis, compared to a corresponding feedstock fuel analysis. Close relations between the observed K and Cl release are found, suggesting that Cl is the main facilitator for K release through sublimation of KCl, determined to begin as the reaction temperature approaches 700–800 °C. K is present in abundance relative to Cl, and the K release is found to cease as the fuel reaches complete dechlorination. In addition, around 50 wt % of the Cl is released at temperatures below 500 °C, presumably as HCl formed through ion-exchange reactions with ...