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ABSTRACT: Thermo-electrochemical cells (TECs) are a new kind of energy conversion device that can convert thermal energy into electricity. TECs can be integrated with supercapacitors (SCs) to store the generated electricity. TECs consist of two major components namely electrodes and electrolyte. The selection of appropriate electrode materials with rational nanostructured design should improve the thermoelectrochemical performance of the TECs. In this study, bilayer of nickel cobalt selenide nanowires was successfully grown on activated carbon cloth (NCS/ACC) via one step hydrothermal method and its electrochemical performance was evaluated and compared with nickel selenide (NS/ACC) and cobalt selenide on activated carbon cloth (CS/ACC). NCS/ACC exhibited the best electrochemical performance compared to other electrodes, leading to its further investigation in an asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) configuration with activated carbon (AC) as the cathode. The NCS/ACC ASC demonstrated superior rate capability with 85% capacitive retention after 10,000 cycles, along with a high specific energy (28 Wh kg-1) and specific power (646 W kg-1). Subsequently, the NCS/ACC electrode was employed in a thermo-electrochemical cell (TEC) for heat to electricity conversion, revealing a Seebeck coefficient of -2 mV/K with high reversibility. Thereby, NCS/ACC electrode can be a suitable candidate for bi-functional applications, showcasing its efficacy in both supercapacitors and heat to electricity conversion technologies. KEYWORDS: Heat to electricity conversion; Supercapacitors; Electrodes; Metal selenide; Thermo-Electrochemical Cell. TRANSLATE is a €3.4 million EU-funded research project that aims to develop a new nanofluidic platform technology to effectively convert waste heat to electricity. This technology has the potential to improve the energy efficiency of many devices and systems, and provide a radically new zero-emission power source. The TRANSLATE project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 964251, for the action of 'The Recycling of waste heat through the Application of Nanofluidic ChannelS: Advances in the Conversion of Thermal to Electrical energy'. More information can be be found on the TRANSLATE project website: https://translate-energy.eu/

Project TradeRES - New Markets Design & Models for 100% Renewable Power Systems N/A

In these times of constant precariousness and insecurity, debates on the need for environmental sustainability are on the increase. There is a need to regenerate urban areas both by transforming the existing heritage while respecting historical memory, and by proposing "renewed" neighbourhoods with smartness, according to the use of renewable energy sources, eco-building, intelligent mobility, with a view to ecological transition. Immediate responses are needed to resource depletion on the one hand and the need to protect the quality of natural and environmental capital on the other. To achieve these goals, cities are called upon to play the role of drivers of sustainable development. By enhancing ecological quality, sustainability and resilience, cities will make a decisive contribution to the well-being of their citizens and the growth of local development. The design reference is the "green city", which focuses on the quality of the urban environment, the circularity of resources, mitigation of the causes of climate change and green growth and redevelopment, with a multi-sector methodological approach integrated with planning and based on the BPCI method "Bioclimatic Park City Immersive" (this means immerge the city into a bioclimatic park). This green approach already appears in the international policy documents Global Green New Deal by UNEP in 2008 and Towards Green Growth by OECD in 2010. [1] The key factors and methodologies of intervention are based on the interaction between Green Economy, Green City and Adaptive and Resilient Design, whose proposals can support the overcoming of urban/environmental degradation in terms of physical recovery, environmental rehabilitation and energy improvement, integrated with the enhancement of the existing heritage.

The world of business is rapidly changing, not only thanks to digitization and technological transformation, but also to address challenges related to the environment and climate change, and to reduce its impact in terms of waste, emissions, and raw materials. The COVID-19 crisis and the European Green New Deal have also accelerated this transformation process. In this context, companies must be able to evaluate their commitment and contribution to sustainable development, and to adopt lower impact business models. To achieve this aim, companies need easy and accessible measurement tools. The tools currently available are based on quantitative or statistical approaches and require the process of large amounts of data. This approach is easily accessible to large companies, while small companies or craft businesses may be scared off, as they may lack the structures and expertise. This study fills this gap by presenting an innovative and easy-to-access methodology for assessing sustainability in companies. Through a qualitative assessment of interdependence among nine categories grouping multiple environmental, social, and governance indicators, companies can evaluate their impact on the 17 SDGs and on the 3 ESG dimensions. The result can be used by the companies to design strategies for their businesses and plan future actions to improve circular models, thanks to the awareness and benefits gained from the analysis. The methodology has been applied to the case study of Ohoskin © 2021,

An estimated 14 percent of the total food produced for human consumption is lost, while 17 per cent is wasted. This is enough to feed around 1 billion people in a world where currently 811 million people are hungry and 3 billion cannot afford a healthy diet. The lack of effective refrigeration is a leading contributor to this challenge, resulting in the loss of 12 percent of total food production, in 2017. Moreover, the food cold chain is responsible for 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, including from cold chain technologies and food loss and waste due to lack of refrigeration. This report explores how food cold chain development can become more sustainable and makes a series of important recommendations. These include governments and other cold chain stakeholders collaborating to adopt a systems approach and develop National Cooling Action Plans, backing plans with financing and targets, implementing and enforcing ambitious minimum efficiency standards. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer - a universally ratified multilateral environmental agreement - can contribute to mobilizing and scaling up solutions for delivering sustainable, efficient, and environmentally friendly cooling through its Kigali Amendment and Rome Declaration. Reducing non-CO2 emissions, including refrigerants used in cold chain technologies is key to achieve the Paris Agreement targets, as highlighted in the latest mitigation report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). At a time when the international community must act to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, sustainable food cold chains can make an important difference.

As stated in the European Green Deal: "to tackle climate and environmental-related challenges is this generation defining task". Young generations represent a juncture between understanding the potential hazardous impact of climate change on society and local communities. In this frame, STEAM education in school proved its ability to nurture students' curiosity and cognitive resources, provide them with the right tools to understand the world's complexity and face the challenges that the current times are posing, like climate change, among many others. However, STEAM subjects are not always part of educational curricula: according to the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report 2018, more than 20% of pupils in the European Union has insufficient proficiency in reading, mathematics, or science. Such a lack of diversity in the offer may decrease pupils' motivation to pursue STEAM academic paths, often perceived as highly theoretical and complex. The improvement of STEAM education in secondary schools is the core objective of the Erasmus+ funded project "GIS4Schools", which aims at promoting a new innovative approach to foster the teaching of STEAM subjects in secondary schools across four different European countries: Italy, Portugal, Romania, and Spain. The project intends to introduce the education of GIS and satellite technologies for Earth Observation- rarely adopted in secondary schools- and applying them to the thematic area of Climate Change. GIS4Schools combines Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE) with Problem Based Learning (PBL) approaches to an interdisciplinary contextualisation of the science topic. Pupils actively contributes to the co-creation of new knowledge by assessing with GIS tools the impacts of specific climate challenges affecting their local community thanks to Copernicus products, Sentinels' satellite-derived information, and other ancillary data. The paper illustrates the genesis of the project, and more specifically, the process leading to the development of training packages for secondary schools' teachers and pupils. Furthermore, the paper explores which methodology and pedagogic approach must be adopted to transfer new knowledge from teachers to pupils. The paper also describes how the teaching of GIS and satellite technologies for Earth observation in secondary school can impact pupils' perception of STEAM subjects and how this can impact their future academic careers. Specific attention is also dedicated to the description of the innovative tools developed and applied for monitoring and evaluation.

Deliverable D1.4 is the result of the work carried out in Task 1.4 “Specifications of RESTORE Numerical Models and Virtual Use-Cases for Simulation” of WP1 (RESTORE Requirements Definition, Specifications and Analysis). It describes the relevant specifications for the numerical models developed within RESTORE Project, giving emphasis to the models that are used in the six defined virtual use-cases for RESTORE. For this, D1.4 gathers specifications, such as feasible computational effort, compatibility between models, adaptability to the web-platform, modularity and flexibility. The information provided here builds up on the general guideline of Deliverable D1.1 of the RESTORE overall concept, and focuses on its modelling, emphasizing the simulation concept of the project and the adaption of the simulation tools for the design of each Use-Case in an ad-hoc solution, considering the boundary conditions imposed by each specific application. In this context, the document provides the general basis to be considered as a guide during the project process modelling and use-cases implementation.

The MAGIC-CROPS database is an easy-to-use tool including 37 promising non-food species suited to marginal land as defined in the JRC’s report (EUR 23412 EN - 2008 and later modifications). Additionally, to biophysical constraints referred in the above-mentioned report, the MAGIC-CROPS database includes also information about the suitability of some species to soil contaminated by heavy metals. The present deliverable is the final version of the MAGIC-CROPS database and all the 37 crops are included. Twenty out of the 37 species included in the database are under-study in WP4 of the MAGIC project, so in the event that important new insights will come out after the publication of the present deliverable, the MAGIC-CROPS database will be updated accordingly by the end of the project (31.12.2021).