• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close
• PL close
• AT close
• Sustainability close

Progressive urban density affects city centers especially and results in growing congestion, lack of parking spaces, and increasing environmental costs of transportation, causing increased air pollutant emissions and noise. These phenomena reduce the attractiveness of the city and result in a degradation of the quality of life for its residents. In light of these phenomena, there is a clear need for intelligent management of urban space using new technologies that would be complementary to existing intelligent transportation systems. Expanding information resources obtained from mobile cameras will have a positive impact on increasing the efficiency of transportation management and use of limited space in city centers. It will also have an impact on reducing external transport costs and increasing the quality of logistics services provided in the city. The main aim of the paper is to develop a concept of a transport management system in cities using mobile vision systems mounted on unmanned aerial vehicles. The model will concern the cases of lane occupation by freight vehicles and the analysis of parking spaces in the city in order to improve their management. The results of the developed model will contribute to the automation of the parking space management process and increase the efficiency of the use of city parking space resources.

The intense growth of cities affects their inhabitants to a considerable extent. The issues facing the traveling population include congestion and growing harmful emissions. Urban transport requires changes towards eco-friendly solutions. However, even though new forms of traveling (sharing services) are being implemented, their integration with public transport remains problematic. On account of the large number of available services combined with the absence of their integration, city inhabitants are faced with the dilemma of choosing between one or several transport modes which would enable them to make the given trip. The main goal of this article is to propose a model for integration of different transport services which could support those who intend to travel in the decision-making process. Therefore, the parameters of a model of urban sharing services were identified and classified. The parameters discussed in the paper with reference to an extensive literature review describe how individual sharing services are functioning. What has also been identified is the location-specific factors as well as those related to the potential area of operation which affect the integration with public transport. In order to take all the relevant parameters into account and find a solution to the problem at hand, a multi-criteria decision-making approach has been proposed. To this end, scores and weights determining their impact on the model have been established. For purposes of the solution in question, the relevant calculations were conducted by referring to an actual need to travel between selected locations.

Examining selected aspects of labour market performance in the Polish tourism sector can extend our knowledge of hotel company attitudes in connection with COVID-19. The aims of this article are to present selected determinants of labour market performance in the Polish tourism sector (with particular emphasis on the hotel industry) in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic and to address the following research question: how did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the functioning of hotel companies in the key tourist region of Poland—Zachodniopomorskie province? The research methods used in the study included critical analysis of source literature, survey method, correspondence analysis method, and analysis of primary and secondary data, mainly from official statistics. The survey was conducted in January 2022. Information was collected from 129 respondents using surveys. The results of the research presented in the article reveal that the observed long-term upward trend in the national labour market has been halted by the pandemic and that (among the various accommodation facilities) hotels are the most vulnerable to changes in the tourism labour market. The authors’ contributions to the literature are the identification of the extent to which businesses from the hotel industry have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the determination of the impact of the pandemic on selected employment-related aspects of business operations in Zachodniopomorskie province.

Energy transition is one of the basic actions taken to counteract and prevent climate change. The basic assumption of energy-related changes is its sustainable use according to the closed-loop model, as well as moving away from fossil fuels, in particular from coal, the combustion of which contributes to excessive harmful carbon dioxide emissions. One of the most popular solutions towards green energy is nuclear energy. Its use allows for a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions harmful to the environment and climate, but it also involves the generation of radioactive waste that requires appropriate processing. This paper presents the results of the flotation removal of barium(II) ions from a dilute aqueous solution using ionized acyclic polyethers. The basic factors determining the efficiency and kinetics of the process were defined. It has been shown that as the acidity of the attached polyether molecules increases: the flotation rate constant 1 (0.1667 min−1) < 3 (0.2468 min−1) < 2 (0.3616 min−1) and the separation degree Ba2+: 1 (86.8%) < 3 (99.3%) < 2 (99.4%). The presented results of ion flotation tests may facilitate the collective or selective separation of radioactive isotopes, i.e., Cs-137, Sr-90, Ba-133 and Co-60, from radioactive wastewater in the future. The results of the experimental work described in the article can also be used to develop individual processes for separating mixtures of radioactive isotopes (radioactive wastewater) into individual components (isotopes) and subjecting them to subsequent transformation processes. The obtained results allow us to claim that the tested organic compounds can be used in the future in the selective treatment of hazardous wastewater, which will translate into a reduction in unit costs of industrial processes. The selective recovery of individual pollutants is the basis for the next step in waste management, i.e., designing a cheap method of waste disposal, which also directly affects the economics of the process and its use in industrial conditions.

Due to the need to diversify energy sources and transform the energy system and its decarbonization, new paths for obtaining raw materials are being sought. One of the potential options is to increase the use of grasses’ share in bioenergy production, which has a significant area potential. However, the diversified chemical composition of grasses and their anatomical heterogeneity mean that, between the various cultivars and species, the parameters determining their energetic usefulness may differ significantly, hence the key is to know the appropriate parameters at the variety level of a given species in order to effectively carry out the combustion process. In this experiment, a total of 23 varieties of seven grass species (Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), Red Fescue (Festuca rubra L.), Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), Meadow Fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.), Timothy (Phleum pratense L.), Common Bent (Agrostis capillaris L.), Sheep Fescue (Festuca ovina L.), which had not yet been evaluated in terms of energy utilization, were tested. Proximate analysis showed the average ash content was in the range of 5.73–8.31%, the content of volatile matter in the range of 70.99–82.29% and the content of fixed carbon in the range of 5.96–17.19%. Higher heating value and lower heating value of grasses ranged from 16,548–18,616 kJ∙kg−1, 15,428–17,453 kJ∙kg−1, respectively. The Sheep Fescue turned out to be the most useful species for combustion. It has been shown that there may be statistically significant differences in the parameters determining their combustion suitability between the various varieties of a given species of grass. Therefore the major finding of this work shows that it is necessary to need to know theparameters of a given variety is necessary to optimize the combustion process and maintain the full energy efficiency of the system (especially lower heating value).

The article discusses the issues of individual low-cost and sustainable tourism and its main goal is to confirm that individual low-cost travel is in fact a form of tourism within which the principles of sustainable tourism are implemented. It is a theoretical article based on desk research involving literature analysis. The study has confirmed that individual low-cost tourism and various other types related to it show relevant relationships with the ideas of sustainable development. These affinities are visible concerning economic, sociocultural, and environmentally balanced growth. However, the research results presented in the article are theoretical and need further empirical verification. Therefore, the authors treat this study as a work provoking discussion on the issue of the relationship between individual low-cost and sustainable tourism.

In the framework of this study, significant features of the formation of the strategic potential of the enterprise in a circular economy are identified. The characteristics and elements of the strategic potential of the enterprise, which can ensure its integrity and continuity of operations, are highlighted. The authors conducted and analyzed a theoretical review of the concept of the “circular economy” and its impact on business and resource conservation and environmental protection. The conditions for the transition to a circular economy at the macro level are formed. The key stages of ensuring the strategic potential of the enterprise, taking into account the internal and external environmental factors, are highlighted. The authors forecast the volume and dynamics of waste until 2027 using the Cobb–Douglas function. The mechanism of the formation of the strategic potential of the enterprise in the conditions of a circular economy is offered. This mechanism provides for the potential compliance with the strategic goals of the enterprise, as well as the rationality and balance of structural elements. Assessing the compliance of strategic potential with the developed strategy allows decisions to be made on the implementation of measures to meet the objectives of the enterprise, or to search for opportunities and reserves to improve its level. A set of measures aimed at the effective implementation of the proposed mechanism and the results of resource-efficient production is developed.

This article reviews existing research and discussions on urban policy in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis focuses on the first pandemic period in the European Union and the Middle East. A search was conducted in available databases and search engines (Scopus, Google Scholar). A critical bibliometric analysis of publications from the first pandemic period was carried out. The most frequent topics covered were spatial organization, transport, environment, and social issues. The analysis showed that the quantitative scope and depth of the selected topics in the European Union and the Middle East differ. Activities defined as “exploitative” should be considered a particularly interesting point of reference in both analyzed regions.