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According to the renewable energy directive 2009/28/EC, the European Union Member States should increase by 2020 the use of renewable energy to 20% of gross final energy consumption and to reach a mandatory share of 10% renewable energy in the transport sector. This study aims to quantify the impact of 2020 bioenergy targets on the land use in the EU, based on the projections of the National Renewable Action Plans in four scenarios: Scenario 1. Bioenergy targets according to NREAPs; Scenario 2. Bioenergy targets according to NREAPs, no second generation biofuels; Scenario 3. Bioenergy targets according to NREAPs, reduced import of biofuels and bioliquids; Scenario 4. Bioenergy targets according to NREAPs, high imports of biofuels and bioliquids. This study also considers the credit for co-products generated from biofuel production. The analysis reveals that the land used in the EU for bioenergy would range between 13.5 Mha and 25.2 Mha in 2020. This represent between 12.2% and 22.5% of the total arable land used and 7.3% and 13.5% of the Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA). In the NREAPS scenario, about 17.4 Mha would be used for bioenergy production, representing 15.7% of arable land and 9.4% of UAA. The increased demand from biofuels would lead to an increased generation of co-products, replacing conventional fodder for animal feed. Considering the co-products, the land used for bioenergy would range between 8.8 Mha and 15.0 Mha in 2020 in the various scenarios. This represent between 7.9% and 13.3% of the total arable land used in the EU and 4.7% and 8.0% of the UAA. In the NREAPS scenario, when co-products are considered, about 10.3 Mha would be used for biofuels, bioliquids and bioenergy production, representing 9.3% of arable land and 5.6% of agricultural land. This study further provides detailed data on the impact on land use in each Member State.

Abstract The central role of occupants for achieving energy savings in residential buildings is increasingly recognised. Simulation programmes able to take into account occupant behaviour are considered to be powerful tools for bridging the gap between the predicted and the actual energy consumption for new buildings. Nevertheless, the majority of residential buildings that will constitute the housing stock in 2050 have already been built today, therefore occupant behaviour and building simulation tools need to be fully exploited for supporting the renovation of existing housing stock. The aim of this paper is to explore the role of occupant behaviour modelling in supporting decision-makers dealing with the design of renovation strategies for residential buildings. An Italian multi-family public housing building is assumed as case study to estimate the influence of three dimensions linked with occupant behaviour – management of the thermostat, management of the heating system, variation of building characteristics – on energy heating consumption. The results show that, while the occupant behaviour influences the heating loads up to 1/3 in case of high level of building retrofit, the less the building is renovated, the higher is the behavioural impact in absolute terms of energy reduction. Therefore, in order to be effective, renovation strategies are required to design appropriate informative instruments at an early stage to support behaviour changes towards responsible energy consumption.

The paper proposes a critical assessment of municipal solid waste gasification today, starting from basic aspects of the process (process types and steps, operating and performance parameters) and arriving to a comparative analysis of the reactors (fixed bed, fluidized bed, entrained bed, vertical shaft, moving grate furnace, rotary kiln, plasma reactor) as well as of the possible plant configurations (heat gasifier and power gasifier) and the environmental performances of the main commercially available gasifiers for municipal solid wastes. The analysis indicates that gasification is a technically viable option for the solid waste conversion, including residual waste from separate collection of municipal solid waste. It is able to meet existing emission limits and can have a remarkable effect on reduction of landfill disposal option.

This article concerns a field study about the use of non-invasive manual lighting and shading control to save energy in listed buildings. The system was chosen to limit cabling and masonry work. The test room consists of an individual office located in a historical building in Southern Italy. The room was retrofitted with two roller shades (semi-transparent and blackout) and six LED-based pendants provided with step-dimming and three Correlated Colour Temperature options. Shading and lighting could be remotely controlled from the desk by six subjects who took part in the test for two weeks each. Behavioural interventions and a set back to default setting at the end of the working day were adopted to improve the test subjects’ energy behaviour. The results show that energy for lighting could be reduced between 15% and 71% compared to European benchmark, with wide range accounting for variability of individual preference and weather conditions. The savings are due to the computer-based work, the communication and engagement campaign, as well as the default settings. The findings suggest that simple manually controlled systems are energy and economic viable solution for listed buildings, since the system accommodates users’ needs, and proper training is provided to the users.

Abstract Orange Peel Waste (OPW) is a widely produced residue whose management is complicated by its physical and chemical properties. Anaerobic digestion (AD), which is commonly used for the treatment and exploitation of many biodegradable wastes, is inefficient on OPW due to the presence of essential oils (mainly d -Limonene) as well as the low pH, which cause the process to be unstable. Here we explore the effect of alkaline pre-treatment of OPW and of the addition of granular activated carbon (GAC) and Zero Valent Iron (ZVI) in improving AD in two semi-continuous reactors at a laboratory scale. The addition and pre-treatment of ZVI/GAC were shown to help process stability up to a loading of 3 kgVS·m−3·d−1 and to increase methane production even at a sub-optimal pH. The investigation of the bacterial community, by high-throughput sequencing, has also increased our insight on their involvement in AD in the presence of ZVI, including its biotic oxidation. In addition, direct interspecies electron transfer was shown to play a role in the reactor supplemented with ZVI.

The building and construction sector is a large contributor to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and consumes vast natural resources. Improvements in this sector are of fundamental importance for national and global targets to combat climate change. In this context, vertical greenery systems (VGS) in buildings have become popular in urban areas to restore green space in cities and be an adaptation strategy for challenges such as climate change. However, only a small amount of knowledge is available on the different VGS environmental impacts. This paper discusses a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) between a building with green walls, a building with green facades and a reference building without any greenery system in the continental Mediterranean climate. This life cycle assessment is carried according to ISO 14040/44 using ReCiPe and GWP indicators. Moreover, this study fills this gap by thoroughly tracking and quantifying all impacts in all phases of the building life cycle related to the manufacturing and construction stage, maintenance, use stage (operational energy use experimentally tested), and final disposal. The adopted functional unit is the square meter of the facade. Results showed that the operational stage had the highest impact contributing by up to 90% of the total environmental impacts during its 50 years life cycle. Moreover, when considering VGS, there is an annual reduction of about 1% in the environmental burdens. However, in summer, the reduction is almost 50%. Finally, if the use stage is excluded, the manufacturing and the maintenance stage are the most significant contributors, especially in the green wall system.

AbstractClimate change effects along with anthropogenic activities present the main factors that threaten the existence of heritage sites across the north Nile Delta of Egypt close to the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. Observing the changes in the landscape close to the archaeological sites is an important issue for decision‐makers in terms of reducing the negative impact of natural events and human activities. The coastal heritage sites are becoming strongly threatened by the rising sea level phenomena that will happen due to global warming. Focusing on the distribution of the archaeological sites, this study aims to detect the areas at risk of shoreline erosion or accretion in the northern shoreline of the Nile Delta. In this study, the changes in the northern shoreline of the Nile Delta were observed and calculated during the last hundred years based on the integration between the old topographic maps from surveys in 1900, 1925 and 1945, optical satellite images captured by Landsat in 1972, 1986 and 2000; Sentinel2 2021; and the Radar SRTM data. The results of this study showed that the changes were enormous with a great shoreline erosion process over the last 121 years recorded along the shoreline in the periods between 1900–1925, 1925–1945, 1945–1972, 1972–1986, 1986–2000 and 2000–2021. The areas eroded were about 5.3, 4.7, 5.6, 8.9, 2.5 and 5.4 km2, respectively. Such negative movements caused the loss of two heritage sites, and the expected changes will lead to the loss of additional heritage sites in the next 500 years. Furthermore, a model was suggested for protecting the coastal heritage sites threatened by the risk of submergence. This study can help the decision‐makers to detect the coastal archaeological sites at risk and create innovative solutions for protecting these irreplaceable heritage sites.