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The Brazilian project Carne Carbono Neutro (CCN) assumes that a more sustainable beef will increase its value for the consumers. The paper aims to verify this assumption and to suggest a communication strategy supporting the CCN valorization. An online survey involving 506 Brazilian consumers showed three different classes of consumers with significantly different attitudes towards environmental issues. Price and quality always strongly influence their demand for beef. A communication campaign should focus on the CCN lower beef environmental impact and beef price/quality issues. Social media on internet and education programs in schools and different institutions should be used. International Journal on Food System Dynamics, Vol 11, No 4 (2020)

The INTENSSS PA project, funded by Horizon 2020, the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation of the European Union, aims to support the local authorities involved and their stakeholders to develop an innovative integrated sustainable energy planning concept through a participatory, interdisciplinary and multilevel process. By building individual and institutional capacity of the actors involved, using the Regional Living Lab approach, the concept will be applied in order to develop seven sustainable integrated energy plans. In this first article the project activities and the results achieved so far are preliminary described, anticipating a more extensive and detailed publication on the project planned for the December edition of UPLand – Journal of Urban Planning Landscape & Environmental Design. UPLanD - Journal of Urban Planning, Landscape & environmental Design, GREEN 2.0

2nd generation biofuels gained more importance in recent years since they enable greenhouse gas emission reductions in the transport sector on a larger scale. One promising way to produce alternative fuels is the Biomass-to-Liquid (BtL) process with the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis which produces synthetic hydrocarbons that could directly be used as liquid fuels in an existing infrastructure. One major issue of this process is the production cost. Within the European COMSYN project (Compact Gasification and Synthesis process for Transport Fuels), a new BtL process concept is developed that aims to reduce biofuel production cost up to 35 % compared to alternative routes.

Perennial rhizomatous grasses (PRGs) are seen as a feasible opportunity to produce second generation biofuels. Among PRGs, giant reed (Arundo donax L.) is a promising energy crop, particularly for the Mediterranean environment characterized by low precipitation and high evapotranspiration rates during the summer period. The species is in fact robust and able to thrive in a wide range of soil types and under drought conditions. However, it remains a major challenge to better understand the yield potential and the crop responses to marginal soils, such as those where water and nutrients may represent limiting factors. In this work we evaluated giant reed aboveground and belowground biomass partitioning, from the establishment to the third year, in a marginal soil. Giant reed showed a significant increment of the rhizome biomass, reaching values of about 16 t ha-1 in the third year. Maximum total aboveground biomass increased steeply from the first to the second year, while a slight increase was highlighted from the second to the third one (20 t ha-1). Furthermore, our data suggest that, in a limiting environment, after three years the crop was not fully established yet. In conclusion, giant reed shows quite a good adaptability to marginal land, in particular those characterized by a low water retention capacity. Proceedings of the 20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 18-22 June 2012, Milan, Italy, pp. 515-519

{"references": ["M. Salamanca, F. Mondragon, J. R. Agudelo, P. Benjumea, and A. Santamaria, \"Variations in the chemical composition and morphology of soot induced by the unsaturation degree of biodiesel and a biodiesel blend,\" Combust. Flame, vol. 159, no. 3, pp. 1100\u20131108, 2012.", "P. Benjumea, J. R. Agudelo, and A. F. Agudelo, \"Effect of the degree of unsaturation of biodiesel fuels on engine performance, combustion characteristics, and emissions,\" Energy and Fuels, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 77\u201385, 2011.", "A. A. Refaat, \"Correlation between the chemical structure of biodiesel and its physical properties,\" Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol., vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 677\u2013694, 2009.", "H. K. Imdadul, H. H. Masjuki, M. A. Kalam, N. W. M. Zulkifli, M. Kamruzzaman, M. M. Shahin, and M. M. Rashed, \"Evaluation of oxygenated n-butanol-biodiesel blends along with ethyl hexyl nitrate as cetane improver on diesel engine attributes,\" J. Clean. 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Rutz and R. Janssen, \"Overview and Recommendations on Biofuel Standards for Transport in the EU (Contribution to WP 3.2 and WP 5.5),\" Munchen, Germany, 2006.\n[13]\tL. F. Ramirez-Verduzco, J. E. Rodriguez-Rodriguez, and A. del Rayo Jaramillo-Jacob, \"Predicting cetane number, kinematic viscosity, density and higher heating value of biodiesel from its fatty acid methyl ester composition,\" Fuel, vol. 91, no. 1, pp. 102\u2013111, 2012.\n[14]\tA. Sch\u00f6nborn, \"Influence of the molecular structure of biofuels on combustion in a compression ignition engine,\" University College London, 2009.\n[15]\tB. Ham, R. Shelton, B. Butler, and P. Thionville, \"Calculating the lodine value for marine oils from fatty acid profiles,\" J. Am. Oil \u2026, no. 20, pp. 1445\u20131446, 1998.\n[16]\tM. J. Murphy, J. D. Taylor, and R. L. Mccormick, \"Compendium of Experimental Cetane Number Data,\" Natl. Renew. Energy Lab., no. August, pp. 1\u201348, 2004."]} Hardly any neat biodiesel satisfies the European EN14214 standard for compression ignition engine application. To satisfy the EN14214 standard, various additives are doped into biodiesel; however, biodiesel additives might cause other problems such as increase in the particular emission and increased specific fuel consumption. In addition, the additives could be expensive. Considering the increasing level of greenhouse gas GHG emissions and fossil fuel depletion, it is forecasted that the use of biodiesel will be higher in the near future. Hence, the negative aspects of the biodiesel additives will likely to gain much more importance and need to be replaced with better solutions. This study aims to satisfy the European standard EN14214 by blending the biodiesels derived from sustainable feedstocks. Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) and Animal Fat Oil (AFO) are two sustainable feedstocks in the EU (including the UK) for producing biodiesels. In the first stage of the study, these oils were transesterified separately and neat biodiesels (W100 & A100) were produced. Secondly, the biodiesels were blended together in various ratios: 80% WCO biodiesel and 20% AFO biodiesel (W80A20), 60% WCO biodiesel and 40% AFO biodiesel (W60A40), 50% WCO biodiesel and 50% AFO biodiesel (W50A50), 30% WCO biodiesel and 70% AFO biodiesel (W30A70), 10% WCO biodiesel and 90% AFO biodiesel (W10A90). The prepared samples were analysed using Thermo Scientific Trace 1300 Gas Chromatograph and ISQ LT Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS). The GS-MS analysis gave Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) breakdowns of the fuel samples. It was found that total saturation degree of the samples was linearly increasing (from 15% for W100 to 54% for A100) as the percentage of the AFO biodiesel was increased. Furthermore, it was found that WCO biodiesel was mainly (82%) composed of polyunsaturated FAMEs. Cetane numbers, iodine numbers, calorific values, lower heating values and the densities (at 15 oC) of the samples were estimated by using the mass percentages data of the FAMEs. Besides, kinematic viscosities (at 40 °C and 20 °C), densities (at 15 °C), heating values and flash point temperatures of the biomixture samples were measured in the lab. It was found that estimated and measured characterisation results were comparable. The current study concluded that biomixture fuel samples W60A40 and W50A50 were perfectly satisfying the European EN 14214 norms without any need of additives. Investigation on engine performance, exhaust emission and combustion characteristics will be conducted to assess the full feasibility of the proposed biomixture fuels.

The paper offers a foundation upon which to build a better approach to integrate archeology and cultural heritage into the policy dialogue for climate related migration, both internally to the United States and internationally. First, the paper provides a survey of the pillars of climate change policy, mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage, and how cultural heritage, archeology, and historic preservation are addressed within these three areas. It then delves further into the active role the cultural heritage community has fostered within the United States and internationally to better inform climate policy and action. It does so in part by synthesizing the work of the Pocantico Working Group on Climate Migration and Cultural Heritage, an international network of cultural leaders, archeologists, and scholars. Finally, the paper presents next steps into effectively incorporating cultural considerations into policy and legal options for addressing internal migration and relocation in the context of climate change. It is the intent of this brief piece to offer a groundwork reading of current frameworks for cultural heritage and climate change policy upon which future scholars can and should build towards finding effective ways of including heritage in climate action at the national and international levels. At its core, climate change is the modern story of the human journey. It is a story about the looming reality of losing the very things that connect us to our past and the tangible and intangible cultural heritage assets that construct the contours of our identities today.

Climate change is a current phenomenon: the temperatures rise, rainfall patterns are changing, glaciers melt and the average global sea level is rising. It is expected that these changes will continue and that the extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts, will become more frequent and intense. The impact and vulnerability factors for nature, for the economy and for our health are different, depending on the territorial, social and economic aspects. The current scientific debate is focused on the need to formulate effective policies for adaptation and mitigation to climate change. The city plays an important role in this issue: it emits the most greenhouse gas emissions (more than 60% of the world population currently lives in urban areas) and the city is more exposed and vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Urban planning and territorial governance play a crucial role in this context: the international debate on the sustainability of urban areas is increasing. It’s necessary to adapt the tools of building regulations to increase the quality of energy - environment of the cities. Tema. Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, 2014: INPUT 2014 - Smart City: planning for energy, transportation and sustainability of the urban system

The solar radiation is a critical input parameter when working with solar energy and radiation dependent surface processes. In this study, we present preliminary results from an inter-comparison between hourly values from a pyranometer, MSG-SEVIRI sensor and two meso-scale models, WRF and RAMS, in clear and cloudy sky conditions. Cloudy sky condition is the most important because the attenuation of solar radiation in the atmosphere is strongly dependent on the cloud variability. Bias and RMSE errors are evaluated at a coastal site in the Mediterranean area. These statistics show the tendency of both models to overestimate short-wave radiation.

The relationship between cities and energy consumption has been of great interest for the scientific community for over twenty years. Most of the energy consumption, indeed, occurs in cities because of the high concentration of human activities. Thus, cities are responsible for a big share of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2). However, the debate on this topic is still open, mainly because of the heterogeneity of published studies in the selection, definition and measurement of the urban features influencing energy consumption and CO2 emissions, as well as in the choice of the energy sectors to be considered, in the territorial scale of analysis, and in the geographical distribution of the sample. Therefore, the goal of this research is to systematize and compare the approach, methodology and results of the relevant literature on the relationship between cities and energy consumption over the last twenty years. Furthermore, this critical review identifies the knowledge gap between what is known and what is still under debate and, based on that, it proposes a conceptual framework that will help to outline a new direction for future research and support local policy makers in the definition of strategies and actions that can effectively reduce urban energy use and CO2 emissions. Tema. Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, Vol 10, No 3 (2017): Methods, tools and best practices to increase the capacity of urban systems to adapt to natural and man-made changes