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Abstract The rapidly growing construction industry has accelerated water and energy scarcity in China, threatening its sustainable development. This study integrates multi-regional input-output (MRIO) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to investigate the water-energy nexus in the construction industry at the provincial level through the entire industrial supply chain. Results show that the construction industry accounts for 8.97% and 27.20% of virtual water and embodied energy in China, respectively. The western area experiences the most energy- and water-intensive construction processes given its backward economy and outdated technological development. The northern area faces great challenges with regard to energy intensity improvements, whereas the central regions suffer from large pressure relating to inefficient water use. The manufacture of non-metallic mineral products, smelting, and the pressing of metals are the largest suppliers of virtual water and embodied energy. The efficiency assessment results demonstrate that Jiangsu and Zhejiang are two DEA-effective regions. China has achieved a relatively high level of scale efficiency but suffers from backward technology.

Spatial planning has to deal with trade-offs between various stakeholders’ wishes and needs as part of planning and management of landscapes, natural resources and/or biodiversity. To make ecosystem services (ES) trade-off research more relevant for spatial planning, we propose an analytical framework,which puts stakeholders, their land-use/management choices, their impact on ES and responses at the centre. Based on 24 cases from around the world, we used this framing to analyse the appearance and diversity of real-world ES trade-offs. They cover a wide range of trade-offs related to ecosystem use, including: land-use change, management regimes, technical versus nature-based solutions, natural resource use, and management of species. The ES trade-offs studied featured a complexity that was far greater than what is often described in the ES literature. Influential users and context setters are at the core of the trade-off decision-making, but most of the impact is felt by non-influential users. Provisioning and cultural ES were the most targeted in the studied trade-offs, but regulating ES were the most impacted. Stakeholders’ characteristics, such as influence, impact faced, and concerns can partially explain their position and response in relation to trade-offs. Based on the research findings, we formulate recommendations for spatial planning.

Deposits formation on heat transfer surfaces is one of the main problems associated to biomass co-combustion. It reduces plant efficiency and availability and increases maintenance costs. It is obvious that an increasing amount of low-temperature melting components in fuel ash accelerates and aggravates this process. Research is done to evaluate the validity of thermal analysis methods to characterise fusion of biomass and waste ashes. Laboratory ashes from a set of biomass and waste fuels are leached in successive steps. The original and the leached ashes are analysed by Thermo-Mechanical Analysis (TMA). Traces obtained from TMA show to be promising ash fingerprints to classify deposition tendencies. Additionally Simultaneous Thermal Analysis (STA) is performed on selected samples. Furthermore, improved chemical equilibrium calculations are proposed to predict the proportion of melted species resulting from combustion of biomass fuels. The model takes into account the reactivity of the inorganic matter in the fuel as issued from ash leaching.

Mining residues have been accumulated for centuries due to excavation and mining processes, causing environmental degradation worldwide. Their application in cementitious products is a feasible alternative to waste disposal. Electrodialytic technologies can promote a safer reuse of mining residues in the construction sector, coupling economic advantages due to the possible removal of toxic elements and the recovery of critical raw materials. The application of treated mining residues in construction products, namely their effects on physico-mechanical properties, in comparison to raw residues and cement uses needs to be addressed. This work presents a study of cement-based mortars with the incorporation of mining residues treated with an electrodialytic process in comparison to raw mining residues. The replacement percentages studied were 0, 10, 25 and 50% of the binder in volume. Tests were conducted to evaluate fresh and hardened properties of mortars considering physical, microstructural and mechanical performances. Results show the viability of applying mining residues after the electrodialytic treatment as mortars materials in rendering, plastering, joint repointing, bedding masonry or screed requirements, with improved thermal conductivity and eco-efficiency.

Environmental problems that seriously affect both natural systems and social development of human beings have drawn extensive attention from governing authorities all around the world, and become an urgent issue to be addressed. Ports play a significant role in the international shipping which inevitably influence the global environment. Thus, the concept of green port is developed to mitigate the negative impacts of inappropriate port operations on environment. This paper analyzes the current status of green port development worldwide. An evaluation model for quantitative measurement of green port development is established based on the Drivers, Pressures, States, Impacts and Responses (DPSIR) framework. The weight of each index composing the evaluation model is calculated through an analytical hierarchy process method, and the evaluation results of the investigated ports with respect to each index are aggregated using an evidential reasoning approach. The evaluation model is further demonstrated through a comparative analysis of five major ports in China. The novel model developed along with the methods applied in this paper can provide significant insights for the comparative evaluation on the development of green ports in other countries and/or regions, as well as a powerful tool to conduct self-assessment of green port development. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd.

Direct Load Control (DLC) is an effective instrument for achieving a guaranteed load curtailment. Unfortunately, if a customer considers that personal discomfort outweighs money savings after DLC shutting down of home appliances, DLC solution can be rejected. This paper proposes the way to remediate customer comfort concerns by pre-storing additional energy in electric loads before their disconnection from the grid. We take electric tank water heaters as an illustrative example of residential loads with storage. To illuminate our approach we first show how to balance electric consumption for pre-storing with user thermal discomfort for a single water heater. Then, we illustrate how the approach can be scaled-up to a multiple-boiler scenario, when ten remotely controlled boilers act next to fifty non-controlled boilers. The simulations for the latter case show that the expected user thermal discomfort can be significantly reduced at the cost of a reasonable increase of electricity demand preceding DLC event.