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Abstract An international workshop was held in Richland, Washington, United States of America, in October, 1980 to discuss progress on development of the acid digestion process for treating combustible nuclear waste. The workshop was attended by participants from nine member countries of the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD/NEA). The status of the acid digestion development programs of various countries is discussed in this paper. The acid digestion process has been developed and demonstrated on an engineering scale in several countries and appears to be especially applicable to treatment of combustible wastes containing high levels of transuranic contamination, where there is potential for recovering the transuranic radionuclides. Because the process takes place at a relatively low temperature, the plutonium contained in the residue is in a form that can be readily recovered using standard leaching techniques. The process is adaptable to a wide variety of combustible wastes, such as cellulosics, plastics, rubber materials, and ion exchange resin. While the process has been developed and demonstrated on an engineering scale primarily for transuranic contaminated wastes, the process is also adaptable to beta-gamma wastes such as reactor ion exchange resins.

Abstract The Renewable energy power generation capacity has been rapidly increasing in China recently. Meanwhile, the contradiction between power supply and demand is becoming increasingly more prominent due to the intermittence of renewable energies. On the other hand, on the mitigation of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in China needs immediate attention. Power-to-Gas (PtG), a chemical energy storage technology, can convert surplus electricity into combustible gases. Subsurface energy storage can meet the requirements of long term storage with its large capacity. This paper provides a discussion of the entire PtG energy storage technology process and the current research progress. Based on the comparative study of different geological storage schemes for synthetic methane, their respective research progress and limitations are noted. In addition, a full investigation of the distribution and implementation of global PtG and CO2 capture and storage (CCS) demonstration projects is performed. Subsequently, the opportunities and challenges of the development of this technology in China are discussed based on techno-economic and ecological effects analysis. While PtG is expected to be a revolutionary technology that will replace traditional power systems, the main issues of site selection, energy efficiency and the economy still need to be adequately addressed. Additionally, based on the comprehensive discussion of the results of the analysis, power-to-gas and subsurface energy storage implementation strategies, as well as outlook in China are presented.

The failure to fully internalize externalities from production and consumption, including on future generations, is supposed to be at the core of the perceived failure to ensure (ecological) sustainability within the realm of antitrust enforcement. While some argue that sustainability should constitute a goal in itself that must be balanced against economic efficiency in antitrust analysis, we instead want to explore whether and how sustainability can be incorporated into a consumer welfare approach. We make a key distinction between what we term an individualistic and a collective consumer welfare analysis. Within an individualistic consumer welfare analysis, consumers’ willingness-to-pay is measured ceteris paribus, holding other consumers’ choices fixed. In a collective consumer welfare analysis, consumers may express their willingness-to-pay also for the choices of others and, thereby, also for the reduction of externalities on themselves. Borrowing from environmental and resource economics, we also discuss more indirect ways of incorporating such externalities. And we critically assess the possibility of ‘laundering’ consumers’ sustainability preferences in the light of supposed biases and cognitive limitations. Finally, we relate our analysis to the Draft Horizontal Guidelines of the European Commission, published in March 2022. antitrust, consumer welfare, conjoint analysis, contingent valuation, Draft EU Horizontal Guidelines, environmental economics, externalities, laundering preferences, sustainability, willingness-to-pay

Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) is a field of key emerging technologies. CCU can support the economy to decrease the dependency on fossil carbon raw materials, to stabilize electricity grids and markets with respect to a growing share of fluctuating renewable energy. Furthermore, it can contribute to mitigate anthropogenic CO2 emissions. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research has provided substantial financial support for research and development projects, stimulating research, development, and innovations in the field of CO2 utilization. This review provides an overview over the most relevant funding measures in this field. Examples of successful projects demonstrate that CCU technologies are already economically viable or technologically ready for industrial application. CCU technologies as elements of a future "green economy" can contribute to reach the ambitious German sustainability targets with regard to climate protection as well as raw material productivity.

Abstract Liquid fuels are likely to remain the main energy source in long-range transportation and aviation for several decades. To reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, liquid biofuels can be blended to fossil fuels – or used purely. In this paper, coconut methyl ester, standard diesel fuel (EN590:2017), and their blends were investigated in 25 V/V% steps. A novel turbulent combustion chamber was developed to facilitate combustion in a large volume that leads to ultra-low emissions. The combustion power of the swirl burner was 13.3 kW, and the air-to-fuel equivalence ratio was 1.25. Two parameters, combustion air preheating temperature and atomizing air pressure were adjusted in the range of 150–350 °C and 0.3–0.9 bar, respectively. Both straight and lifted flames were observed. The closed, atmospheric combustion chamber resulted in CO emission below 10 ppm in the majority of the cases. NO emission varied between 60 and 183 ppm at straight flame cases and decreased below 20 ppm when the flame was lifted since the combustion occurred in a large volume. This operation mode fulfills the 2015/2193/EU directive for gas combustion by 25%, which is twice as strict as liquid fuel combustion regulations. The 90% NO emission reduction was also concluded when compared to a lean premixed prevaporized burner under similar conditions. This favorable operation mode was named as Mixture Temperature-Controlled (MTC) Combustion. The chemiluminescent emission of lifted flames was also low, however, the OH* emission of straight flames was clearly observable and followed the trends of NO emission. The MTC mode may lead to significantly decreased pollutant emission of steady-operating devices like boilers, furnaces, and both aviation and industrial gas turbines, meaning an outstanding contribution to more environmentally friendly technologies.

Cogeneration of heat and electricity is an important pillar of energy and climate policy. To plan the production and distribution system of combined heat and power (CHP) systems for residential heating, suitable methods for decision support are needed. For a comprehensive feasibility analysis, the integration of the location and capacity planning of the power plants, the choice of customers, and the network planning of the heating network into one optimization model are necessary. Thus, we develop an optimization model for electricity generation and heat supply. This mixed integer linear program (MILP) is based on graph theory for network flow problems. We apply the network location model for the optimization of district heating systems in the City of Osorno in Chile, which exhibits the “checkerboard layout” typically found in many South American cities. The network location model can support the strategic planning of investments in renewable energy projects because it permits the analysis of changing energy prices, calculation of break-even prices for heat and electricity, and estimation of greenhouse gas emission savings.

Sustainable development goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 are geared toward sustainable development through various pathways, one being reducing inequality as covered in SDG 10. Inequalities are a threat to health and wellbeing of populations and a planet Earth in which we live. This rapid review aims to identify key issues that are likely to exacerbate inequalities around the six SDGs directly related to One Health, which are SDG 3, 6, 11, 13, 14 and 15, and suggest some actions that may help to address them using inclusive governance taking into account the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Informed by the literature on SDGs and using the “inclusive development concept” by Gupta and Vegelin, literature search was done in Google Scholar, PubMed Central, as well as, searching of references in the relevant articles identified using search terms from the six SDGs that are directly related to One Health. In the context of the SDGs, in order to achieve One Health through inclusive governance, and tackle inequalities, the following needs to be considered and addressed: increasing number of armed conflicts; ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; ensuring availability of water and sanitation facilities; improving city and urban areas planning to cope with climate change; improving governance arrangements for addressing climate change factoring gender and human rights; multisectoral planning for conservation of oceans, seas, and marine resources; balancing trade regulation of wildlife trade with conservation efforts; need for a research collaborative involving experts from environmental sciences, wildlife, agriculture and human health to study and develop scientific evidence on contribution of changes in land use practices to occurrence of zoonotic diseases; and need of a legislation for promoting animal welfare to protect public health. Also, inclusion of people with disabilities in the use of digital technologies is critical.

Abstract The housing growth programme could offer an opportunity for accelerating the deployment of decentralised renewable energy systems (DRES) in the UK. The Government hopes to leverage private sector investment into DRES as part of new housing projects. The aim of this paper is to assess whether current regulatory and funding frameworks are sufficient to achieve this. The question is explored by drawing on the experience of developers, local authorities, energy utilities and service companies operating in the largest housing growth region in the UK–Thames Gateway. Their experience suggests that the current low intervention approach will be insufficient to generate the shift required in both industries. In order to be more successful economic and regulatory instruments should focus on producers (house-builders and energy providers) rather than consumers (households). Tighter regulation is needed to ensure that producers have a responsibility to install DRES as part of new developments, to enable connection to the grid, to ensure a sustained financial return from investment and revenue is spent on the expansion of new renewable energy infrastructure. This regulatory framework must be under-pinned by substantial funds focused on producers. Greater intervention is needed if DRES is to be included in new housing development.