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Implementing a circular economy aimed at reusing resources is becoming increasingly important for industry. Microalgae fit within a circular economy by being able to bioremediate nutrient waste and as a source of biomass for several commercial applications. Here, we report a novel validation of a circular economy concept using microalgae at a relevant industrial scale with a new two-phase process. During the first phase biomass was grown autotrophically, biomass was then concentrated using membrane technology for the second phase where mixotrophic conditions were applied to boost growth further. Microalgae cultures were able to grow (13.8 g/L), uptake and bioremediate nutrients (Nitrogen > 134 mg/L/day) from an anaerobic digestion side-stream (digestate), obtaining high quality microalgae biomass (>45% protein content) suitable for use as animal feed, closing the circular economy loop for industrial applications.

Abstract Coal energy landscapes have changed dramatically over the last decades, including geographic shifts in production and consumption, technological changes that have reduced labour demand and led to relatively new mining practices (e.g. invasive mountain-top approaches), changed economic footprints, a shutdown of capacities or a complete end of mining in many regions with massive impacts on regional and local economies, community well-being, social capital, et cetera. Then the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia´s invasion of Ukraine have fundamentally affected the global economy, disrupted energy markets, and shattered existing estimates about development trends, challenging the progress and speed of the low-carbon energy transition and coal phase-out. This article provides a brief reflection on the changing landscapes of coal and their possible futures, and serves as an introduction to the Special Issue of Moravian Geographical Reports on “The death of coal in the energy transition? Regional perspectives”.

Because of the high cost, the development of prefabricated buildings in China is slow. As a significant part of the total cost of prefabricated buildings, the cost of prefabricated components has a great impact on the total cost. In this paper, the influencing factors of component production cost are analyzed in detail from five aspects of labor cost, material cost, machinery cost, external environment condition and internal production management arrangement, and the index system of influencing factors of production cost is constructed. Using the analytic hierarchy process model, the influencing factors are determined as: material cost > labor cost > machinery cost > internal production and management arrangement > external environment condition, and then it is put forward Corresponding cost control measures for component production.

In this study, our aim was to explore the potential energy savings obtainable from the recycling of 1 tonne of Construction and Demolition Waste (C&DW) generated in the Metropolitan City of Naples. The main fraction composing the functional unit are mixed C&DW, soil and stones, concrete, iron, steel and aluminium. The results evidence that the recycling option for the C&DW is better than landfilling as well as that the production of recycled aggregates is environmentally sustainable since the induced energy and environmental impacts are lower than the avoided energy and environmental impacts in the life cycle of recycled aggregates. This LCA study shows that the transition to the Circular Economy offers many opportunities for improving the energy and environmental performances of the construction sector in the life cycle of construction materials by means of internal recycling strategies (recycling C&DW into recycled aggregates, recycled steel, iron and aluminum) as well as external recycling by using input of other sectors (agri-food by-products) for the manufacturing of construction materials. In this way, the C&D sector also contributes to realizing the energy and bioeconomy transition by disentangling itself from fossil fuel dependence.

Aluminum industry is an energy intensive and high pollution industry that recently rapidly developed in China. Circular economy (CE) development in the aluminum industry has significant achievements in easing the environmental pressure and facilitating green development in the last decade. Following a stepwise analytic framework, this study aims to elaborate the manner in which CE measures function in upgrading the aluminum industry. Xinfa Industrial Park (XFIP), the largest aluminum production base in China, was chosen as the case study. The CE measures were summarized, and 10 year in-depth data were collected to reveal the changes in the system structure and overall performance of the XFIP. Results show that the mean nodal degree and the flexibility of the industrial symbiosis network increased due to the extended and coupled industry chains. Furthermore, overall performance improved, as reflected in the significant increase of industrial added value, the reduction of energy and fresh water consumption intensities and the enhancement of solid waste utilization efficiency. The CE development pattern of the XFIP sets an example for other industrial parks to upgrade their economic and environmental performances.

Abstract In order to further promote the development of the new energy vehicle industry, Parallel Management regulation for corporate average fuel consumption and new energy vehicle credits for passenger vehicles (dual-credit scheme) have been proposed by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in September 2017. This study attempted to investigate the impact of dual-credit scheme on the penetration of new energy vehicles and the short-term strategies of the automotive industry. For this purpose, a market analysis model is proposed based on game theory and the credit market equilibrium to quantify the effects of the credit trading mechanism. Four categories of automakers are considered. The obtained results show that: (i) The dual-credit scheme is indeed an effective policy solution that enables the expansion of the volume of NEV market. (ii) The dual-credit scheme can accelerate the elimination of outdated technologies with lower driving mileage, and it can also promote the adoption of technologies with longer driving mileage. (iii) The dual-credit scheme allows all automakers to achieve their targets in a market efficient manner.

A key factor in social development and sustainable urban expansion is the establishment of sustainable and affordable transport systems. This study aims to investigate the impact of transport infrastructure investment on environmental degradation and economic growth and to test the validity of the EKC hypothesis in China, India, Russia, and Japan over the period 1995-2020. The results show that GDP has a significant positive effect, and GDP2 and GDP3 have significant adverse effects on environmental degradation, respectively. These results confirm the validity of the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in selected emerging Asian economies. Rail infrastructure investment has significant adverse effects, while road infrastructure investment and aviation infrastructure investment have significant positive effects on environmental degradation. Likewise, the impact of investment in transport infrastructure system (roads, rail, and aviation) on economic growth is positive and statistically significant. Country-level estimates confirm the validity of the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in China, India, and Russia, while the N-shaped EKC is only valid in Japan. Investments in rail infrastructure based on modern rail systems that run on electricity are believed to be less polluting in the transport mix, help create sustainable and safe transport systems, and reduce emissions at the urban and intercity levels in emerging Asian countries. In addition, the growing impact of free trade on environmental pollution should be strengthened to harmonize the strict enforcement of environmental conditions dominated by trade agreements.

Abstract The energy cascade utilization of municipal solid waste (MSW) is an important subject to realize sustainable development. The gasification-based option has shown great potential in resource recovery with high-efficiency conversion. In this study, the techno-environmental-economic performance of Waste-to-Power (WtP) and Waste-to-Fuel (WtF) technologies, including MSW integrated gasification combined cycle (MIGCC), MSW-to-hydrogen (MTH), MSW-to-synthetic natural gas (MTNG) and MSW incineration to energy (MTE), is analyzed and evaluated based on the Aspen Plus simulation. The results show that MTH process owns the highest exergy efficiency with 46.7%, followed by MTNG (43.7%), MIGCC (28.6%) and MTE (18.9%). The MTH and MTNG processes appear to be more environmentally friendly than MTE in terms of global warming potential (GWP). The levelized profit of MSW (LPOM) for MIGCC process is the lowest under current market conditions. By comparison, the MTH process exhibits the best economic performance in resisting the fluctuation of electricity sales tariff, carbon tax and MSW subsidy price. In addition, MTH process could be regarded as a promising alternative path to produce hydrogen because of its economic advantage than coal-to-hydrogen and biomass-to-hydrogen processes.