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The objective of this paper is to explain novel sustainable robotics solutions for cities. Those new proposals appear under the ECHORD++ project which is a good tool to meet academia and industry with the objective of providing innovative technological solutions. In this paper, authors explain the tool as well as the methodology to promote robotics research in urban environments, and the on-going experience will demonstrate that huge advances are made in this field. Peer Reviewed

The aim of this paper was to investigate the role of public institutions in the pursuit of sustainable development in a case study of international relevance: Taranto’s ILVA steel plant, which is one of the biggest steel and iron centres in Europe. The case study was analysed through investigating the different aspects of sustainable development in the four phases of development of the steel plant, from public direct management to private management. The analysis, based on a series of unstructured data, was carried out by applying a triple bottom line approach and the total interpretative structuring model (TISM). Evidence shows how—in the absence of stable, coherent, strong and present public institutions, capable of reading the forces of the local and international context and of intervening with regulatory actions inspired by a planned and interiorized economic strategy—the market, left in the hands of the private entrepreneur only, is destined to fail, and the paths of multidimensional sustainable development stray away from the ambitions of modern states.

The levels of production diseases (PD) and the cow replacement rate are high in dairy farming. They indicate excessive production demands on the cow and a poor state of animal welfare. This is the subject of increasing public debate. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of production diseases on the economic sustainability of dairy farms. The contributions of individual culled cows to the farm’s economic performance were calculated, based on milk recording and accounting data from 32 farms in Germany. Cows were identified as ‘profit cows’ when they reached their individual ‘break-even point’. Data from milk recordings (yield and indicators for PD) were used to cluster farms by means of a principal component and a cluster analysis. The analysis revealed five clusters of farms. The average proportion of profit cows was 57.5%, 55.6%, 44.1%, 29.4% and 19.5%. Clusters characterized by a high proportion of cows with metabolic problems and high culling and mortality rates had lower proportions of profit cows, somewhat irrespective of the average milk-yield per cow. Changing the perception of PD from considering it as collateral damage to a threat to the farms’ economic viability might foster change processes to reduce production diseases.

Green hydrogen will play a key role in building a climate-neutral energy-intensive industry, as key technologies for defossilising the production of steel and basic chemicals depend on it. Thus, policy-making needs to support the creation of a market for green hydrogen and its use in industry. However, it is unclear how appropriate policies should be designed, and a number of challenges need to be addressed. Based on an analysis of the ongoing German debate on hydrogen policies, this paper analyses how policy-making for green hydrogen development may support industry defossilisation. For the assessment of policy instruments, a simplified multi-criteria analysis (MCA) is used with an innovative approach that derives criteria from specific challenges. Four challenges and seven relevant policy instruments are identified. The results of the MCA reveal the potential of each of the selected instruments to address the challenges. The paper furthermore outlines how instruments might be combined in a policy package that supports industry defossilisation, creates synergies and avoids trade-offs. The paper’s impact may reach beyond the German case, as the challenges are not specific to the country. The results are relevant for policy-makers in other countries with energy-intensive industries aiming to set the course towards a hydrogen future.

As a result of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), several countries committed to phasing down coal electricity as soon as possible, deactivating hundreds of power plants in the near future. CO$_2$-free electricity can be generated in these plants by retrofitting them for iron combustion. Iron oxides produced during the process can be collected and reduced back to metallic iron using H$_2$, in a circular process where it becomes an energy carrier. Using clean energy in the recycling process enables storage and distribution of excess generated in periods of abundance. This concept uses and scales up existing dry metal cycle technologies, which are the focus of extensive research worldwide. Retrofitting is evaluated here to determine feasibility of adding these material requirements to markets, in the context of current plans for decarbonization of steel industry, and policies on hydrogen and renewable electricity. Results indicate that not only for a single power plant, but also on larger scales, the retrofitting plan is viable, promoting and supporting advancements in sustainable electricity, steel industry and hydrogen production, converging necessary technological and construction efforts. The maturation and first commercial-scale application of iron combustion technology by 2030, together with developing necessary reduction infrastructure over the next decades, would pave the way for large-scale retrofitting and support the phasing out of coal in many regions. The proposed plan represents a feasible solution that takes advantage of existing assets, creates a long-lasting legacy for the industry and establishes circular energy economies that increase local energy security.

Agricultural land abandonment due to biophysical and socioeconomic constraints is increasing across Europe. Meanwhile there is also an increase in bioenergy demand. This study assessed woody crop performance on several relevant types of marginal agricultural land in Europe, based on field experiments in Latvia, Spain and Ukraine. In Latvia, hybrid aspen was more productive than birch and alder species, and after eight years produced 4.8 Mg ha−1 y−1 on stony soil with sandy loam texture, when best clone and treatment combination was selected. In Spain, Siberian elm produced up to 7.1 Mg ha−1 y−1 on stony, sandy soil with low organic carbon content after three triennial rotations. In Ukraine, willow plantations produced a maximum of 10.8 Mg ha−1 y−1 on a soil with low soil organic carbon after second triennial rotation. The productivity was higher when management practices were optimized specifically to address the limiting factors of a site. Longer rotations and lower biomass yields compared to high-value land can be expected when woody crops are grown on similar marginal agricultural land shown in this study. Future studies should start here and investigate to what extent woody crops can contribute to rural development under these conditions.

Access to reliable and affordable energy is vital for sustainable development. In the off-grid areas of developing countries, decentralized energy solutions have received increasing attention due to their contributions to reducing poverty. However, most of the rural population in many developing countries still has little or no access to modern energy technologies. This paper assesses the factors that determine the successes and failures of decentralized energy solutions based on local harmonized case studies from heterogeneous contexts from Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. The case studies were analyzed through the coupled lenses of energy transition and the Water–Energy–Food Security (WEF) Nexus. The findings indicate that access to modern decentralized energy solutions has not resulted in complete energy transitions due to various tradeoffs with the other domains of the WEF Nexus. On the other hand, the case studies point at the potential for improvements in food security, incomes, health, the empowerment of women, and resource conservation when synergies between decentralized energy solutions and other components of the WEF Nexus are present.