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The solar radiation is a critical input parameter when working with solar energy and radiation dependent surface processes. In this study, we present preliminary results from an inter-comparison between hourly values from a pyranometer, MSG-SEVIRI sensor and two meso-scale models, WRF and RAMS, in clear and cloudy sky conditions. Cloudy sky condition is the most important because the attenuation of solar radiation in the atmosphere is strongly dependent on the cloud variability. Bias and RMSE errors are evaluated at a coastal site in the Mediterranean area. These statistics show the tendency of both models to overestimate short-wave radiation.

Over the recent years, great attention has been focused on ethanol as alternative fuel for both port fuel injection (PFI) and Direct Injection (DI) spark ignition (SI) engines. The higher octane number allows to operate with high compression ratio improving the engine efficiency, and the larger oxygen content contribute to reduce PM emissions. Ethanol can be both blended and dual fueled with gasoline. In this latter case, ethanol and gasoline are separately injected. The aim of this study is to analyze the different methods of ethanol fueling in order to understand the configuration that better exploit the ethanol effect on the reduction of soot formation. To address this issue, the particle emissions from both the ethanol/gasoline blend, E30, and the ethanol/gasoline dual fuel, EDF, were evaluated. In this latter case, ethanol was direct injected and gasoline was injected in the intake duct. For both the operating configurations, the same percentage of ethanol was supplied: 30 %v/v ethanol. The experimental activity was performed in a small displacement single cylinder engine and the tests were carried out at 3000, 4000 and 5000 rpm under full load condition. The particle emissions were measured downstream of a three way catalyst (TWC) by a smoke meter. Particle sizing and counting was performed in the size range from 5.6 nm to 560 nm by an Engine Exhaust Particle Sizer (EEPS). For E30 the particle emissions are larger than for EDF because of the different contribution of gasoline. In EDF the better evaporation and mixing of gasoline, typical of PFI configuration, coupled with the soot reduction tendency of ethanol lead to low particle emissions

Food supply chains are increasingly asked to deliver sustainable products in a sustainable manner. Sustainability affects every segment of the supply chain and it is a key driver of innovation today. Even so, many companies are still reluctant to more environment-friendly investments. Public procurement through its "power of purchase" is one of the most influential means through which the state can effect behavioural change in economy and society. Forcing sustainable improvements in its suppliers, public procurement can have a huge influence over the food system, but organisational innovation is needed in logistics and supply chain management. In the food sector, fish supply chain is one of the most critical in terms of sustainability due to the overexploitation of oceans' resources, the decline in wild fish stocks and the big amount of waste generated along the chain from the ship to the consumers' plate. In this paper we report on our experience in innovating the logistics and the management of the fish supply chain for the school canteens of the city of Rome, in which around 150.000 pupils have lunch every day. The innovation consists of the introduction of fresh, organic, farmed fish of locally grown species transformed in attractive recipes, accurately studied based on the nutritional needs and the level of appreciation of the young consumers, instead of frozen, few wild fish presented in boring and tasteless preparations such as boiled fillets and breaded sticks. Examining the barriers and the solutions adopted, we explain how public procurement can become a creative force for sustainable development in the fish supply chain. A qualitative case study methodology is used where catering managers and staff, fish suppliers and distributors, food procurement officers, dieticians and nutritionists are interviewed. The innovations in logistics, organisation and management are defined in interaction with all the actors of the chain involved in the research and implemented under several different conditions. Observations of the feasibility of the supply chain, from production to consumption, are conducted to assess the results. Findings show an example of good practice in the area of sustainability in the food supply chain and illustrate the substantive progress that can be made in achieving supply chain sustainability. At the same time, the paper provides the specific challenges in developing a management model in which the power is more balanced along the chain and where a holistic approach requires to be taken to reach sustainable improvements. Considering the scarcity of work examining empirically the issue of sustainability in food supply chains, this study demonstrates the evolutionary process and its stages based on the examination of the Rome school canteens' supply chain and the sustainability approach it has taken with its suppliers. The author also illustrates a range of key implications that need to be considered by both managers and policy makers and it provides a range of areas where further research is required.

In this work we introduce the rationale behind the ongoing compilation of a parallel measurements database, in the framework of the International Surface Temperatures Initiative (ISTI) and with the support of the World Meteorological Organization. We intend this database to become instrumental for a better understanding of inhomogeneities affecting the evaluation of long-term changes in daily climate data. Long instrumental climate records are usually affected by non-climatic changes, due to, e.g., (i) station relocations, (ii) instrument height changes, (iii) instrumentation changes, (iv) observing environment changes, (v) different sampling intervals or data collection procedures, among others. These so-called inhomogeneities distort the climate signal and can hamper the assessment of long-term trends and variability of climate. Thus to study climatic changes we need to accurately distinguish non-climatic and climatic signals. The most direct way to study the influence of non-climatic changes on the distribution and to understand the reasons for these biases is the analysis of parallel measurements representing the old and new situation (in terms of e.g. instruments, location, different radiation shields, etc.). According to the limited number of available studies and our understanding of the causes of inhomogeneity, we expect that they will have a strong impact on the tails of the distribution of air temperatures and most likely of other climate elements. Our abilities to statistically homogenize daily data will be increased by systematically studying different causes of inhomogeneity replicated through parallel measurements. Current studies of non-climatic changes using parallel data are limited to local and regional case studies. However, the effect of specific transitions depends on the local climate and the most interesting climatic questions are about the systematic large-scale biases produced by transitions that occurred in many regions. Important potentially biasing transitions are the adoption of Stevenson screens, relocations (to airports) efforts to reduce undercatchment of precipitation or the move to automatic weather stations. Thus a large global parallel dataset is highly desirable as it allows for the study of systematic biases in the global record. We are interested in data from all climate variables at all time scales; from annual to sub-daily. High-resolution data is important for understanding the physical causes for the differences between the parallel measurements. For the same reason, we are also interested in other climate variables measured at the same station. For example, in case of parallel air temperature measurements, the influencing factors are expected to be global radiation, wind, humidity and cloud cover; in case of parallel precipitation measurements, wind and wet-bulb temperature are potentially important. Metadata that describe the parallel measurements is as important as the data itself and will be collected as well. For example, the types of the instruments, their siting, height, maintenance, etc. Because they are widely used to study moderate extremes, we will compute the indices of the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI). In case the daily data cannot be shared, we would appreciate contributions containing these indices from parallel measurements. For more information: http://tinyurl.com/ISTI-Parallel

This paper summarises the main results from a recent research project focused on an innovative Alley Coppice (AC) land use system. We report on an AC system comprising standard trees for the production of valuable wood and the alley intercropping of short rotation coppice trees (SRC) for the production of bioenergy. Much of this work was carried out within the European project AgroCop (2012-2014) that combined field experimentation with bio-economic modelling. Two experimental plantations are located in Italy and France. The first plantation (9 years old) was used to study the intercropping of Pyrus spp. and Sorbus spp., as standard trees, with poplar SRC. Current measurements do not show any difference in stem height between intercropped standard trees and trees in pure plantation forestry. This was probably due to shading by the SRC canopy on standard trees. Nevertheless, this light competition has improved the stem form of standard trees, with a main bole almost straight and free of defects. In France, the poplar SRC crop was established into the alleys of a hybrid walnut tree plantation (18 years old) in a system we term: delayed alley coppice. Poplar growth was strongly limited by the shade of the walnut trees, although some microclimatic mitigation of water stress was observed on poplar shoots during the peak of summer heat. Biophysical modelling was conducted with the calculation tool YDEAL, comparing AC (hybrid walnut intercropped with poplar SRC) vs SRC monoculture vs walnut forestry monoculture. Simulations were performed on a 60 years rotation cycle of AC (harvesting cycle for the standard trees), and three cycles of 20 years for the poplar SRC, with triennial coppicing. Three growth condition scenarios were studied, namely poor, medium and optimum site conditions, mostly according to average yield data of poplar SRC (6, 10 and 15 t dry matter ha-1 year-1, respectively). The financial analysis was performed using a calculation tool named FinAC. The AC system could be as profitable as the forestry monoculture, in the best financial and environmental scenarios, with the wood price determining absolute system profitability. AC can provide a landowner with a periodical annual income during the growth of standard trees. The feasibility of AC is partly limited by wood market uncertainty, the use of farmland for a medium-long period with the same culture, and the current difficulty in estimating AC profitability. AC could be used as a temporary system (10-15 years) to improve the stem form and wood quality of standard trees

Tourism is the third largest socio-economic activity in the EU and thus it can be considered an engine for development, producing many positive impacts, from trade sector to employment. At the same time, it can produce many negative impacts because it is configured according to the model of linear economy. A deep analysis of impacts produced by tourism sector and its great potential in contributing to the achievement of SDGs are presented. The aim of this paper is to identify a tourism development/management model able to produce multidimensional benefits and, simultaneously, reduce (environmental, social and economic) costs. In this perspective, the circular economy is proposed as a model able to contribute to make tourism more sustainable. This model necessarily requires appropriate evaluation tools, indicators and knowledge. Aestimum, Aestimum 70 (2017)

The purpose of this work was to set up a new method to optimize land allocation of energy crops. The approach take into account land vulnerability to the impacts of crop production chains. The present study is the advance of the work presented by Di Virgilio et al. (2010) in the last EU-Biomass Conference. Whereas in the first presentation we included only one impact category (eutrophication), this time we propose a method to assemble two impact categories (eutrophication plus human toxicity). Impact categories were estimated through LCA procedures, while land vulnerabilities to these categories were assessed using geographic information tools (GIS). Unlike the eutrophication only, adding the human toxicity resulted in a significant different allocation of energy crops. Rapeseed, wheat, sunflower and sorghum showed similar environmental risks, while giant reed and switchgrass showed the lowest environmental risks. Maize confirmed the most threatening crop thus to be allocated in the lowest vulnerability lands. Reasonably, food and feed crops must be prioritizing on energy crops, nonetheless the remarkable environmental benefits provided by energy crops should be taken into great account in rethinking a land allocation of all crops towards maximizing farmers and environmental gains. Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 2393-2397

The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) accounts an increase of the total annual anthropogenic GHG emissions between 2000 and 2010 that directly came from the transport sector. In 2010, 14% of GHG emissions were released by transport and fossil-fuel-related CO2 emissions reached about 32 GtCO2 per year. The report also considers adaptation and mitigation as complementary strategies for reducing the risks of climate change for sustainable development of urban areas. This paper describes the on-road traffic emission estimated in the framework of a Sardinian regional project [1] for the town of Sassari (Sardinia, Italy), one of the Sardinian areas where the fuel consumption for on-road transportation purposes is higher [2]. The GHG emissions have been accounted (a) by a calculation-based methodology founded on a linear relationship between source activity and emission, and (b) by the COPERT IV methodology through the EMITRA (EMIssions from road TRAnsport) software tool [3]. Inventory data for annual fossil fuel consumption associated with on-road transportation (diesel, gasoline, gas) have been collected through the Dogane service, the ATP and ARST public transport services and vehicle fleet data are available from the Public Vehicle Database (PRA), using 2010 as baseline year. During this period, the estimated CO2 emissions accounts for more than 180,000 tCO2. The calculation of emissions due to on-road transport quantitatively estimates CO2 and other GHG emissions and represents a useful baseline to identify possible adaptation and mitigation strategies to face the climate change risks at municipal level.