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Technological development in coal gasification for power generation and for production of syngas in the frame of IGCC and poly-generation still continues. New conceptions of effective and efficient coal gasification appeared. The conceptions utilize combination of down-moving bed and fluidized bed with inner circulation, new variants of multi-stage entrained flow gasification and integration of IGCC processes with CO2 separation (IGCC+CCS and oxy-fuel IGCC). There are also attempts to integrate IGCC with high temperature fuel cells. Similarly as in combustion processes, metallic oxides are tested as oxygen transferring materials in gasification processes. Problems to be solved in new coal gasification technologies (IGCC, production of syngas and chemicals) are: cheaper oxygen separation from air, reliable feeding of coal into pressurized gasification reactors, efficient and safe gas cleaning and cooling.

In the Czech Republic, much attention is paid to the codification of special constitutional water protection and the constitutional right to water. These efforts respond to changes such as low rainfall and more frequent droughts and to forecasts stemming from climate change models. Since 2019, four parliamentary proposals have been submitted, all motivated by the need for greater water protection and prioritization of the public interest in water protection. Two of the proposals explicitly enshrine the constitutional right to drinking water, and rights of access to water, respectively. Water is a limited natural resource and at the same time essential element for the lives of present and future generations. The reason for the use of the constitutional law level may be that it is a society-wide interest, and its constitutional entrenchment will ensure its security and support further steps of the state. Opening up the issue of water protection at the constitutional level sends a clear signal for the need for water protection, but it is not a sufficient solution in itself. Besides that, it is necessary to carefully consider what specific measures should be reflected at the constitutional level and what goals should be promoted at this level. On the one hand, the submitted parliamentary proposals reflect the requirements of the internationally recognized right to water, but, on the other hand, they raise some problematic issues which should be subjected to a wider public debate.

Support of culture and sustainability of tangible cultural heritage are strongly debated issues due to their economical, cultural and identity-shaping outreach. Culture belongs to public sector, therefore, is financed from state resources. The question often asked is: Does it make sense to promote culture? The factual argument about the purpose of promoting culture and its effects is complex, but it is not impossible. The first part of the paper presents the results of the economical and social impacts of the conducted research in the field of culture. If we narrow down the view of the tangible cultural heritage protected by the Czech state, we get to 44,000 objects in the Czech Republic that have the status of cultural monuments. With this amount, the state’s financial support is either dispersed to small amounts or it is higher, however, one-off. Therefore, another important criteria for supporting monuments is their sustainability, which is closely related to the functional use of monuments. A significant number of them has lost its original role and it is important to choose a new one in order to preserve the monument for the next generations. The variables that influence the selection of the new purpose of the monuments are discussed in the second part of the article.

This paper deals with the importance of land use planning in relation to the need to address the impacts of climate change. It then examines the structure of land use planning instruments, specifically land use planning documentation and aspects of its hierarchical organization in the light of the existing and new Building Act. It reflects on the need for the preparation of some mitigation and adaptation measures in a national context. It also assesses the readiness of land and spatial planning legislation in terms of response to climate change through the goals and objectives of land use planning.

The work is focused on the gasification of brown coal in a fluidized-bed in the integrated gasification combined cycle. The usual gasification medium is a mixture of oxygen and water vapor. The specific objec-tive of the study was to examine the influence of water vapor and waste carbon dioxide in the gasification agent and the effect of the addition of waste wood biomass to the brown coal on the quality (composition, purity, yield, and calorific value) of producer gas.

The European Union called for the need to change the current model of production and consumption. From the linear model it seeks to move to the circular economy model. In this model traditional “take-make-use-dispose” approach is replaced by a reduction in input raw materials, a product durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability and waste reduction. The EU “circular economy package” adopted in 2018, brings specific requirements in the area of waste management. It requires an increase in recycling and a reduction in landfilling. The Czech legislation, following EU scheme, took into account the requirements of the circular economy in the “waste package” approved in December 2020.

The aim of case study of Pilsen is to assess what is the level of implementation of new ecohydrological management trends of cities in the Czech environment. There was used comparison with the development system of the concept „Water sensitive cities“ for the assessment of history, current status and future of ecohydrological management of the city of Pilsen. A more detailed discussion, what categories of ecohydrological tools are currently in Pilsen preferred, was made the analysis of the results of the expert´s assessment of the environment the city of Plzeň in the preparation of the strategic plan of the city. Analysis shows that the city administration provides water management to the level required to quality of life, is aware of the risks (e.g., an accident on the main source of water or flood risk) and trying to respond to the global challenge of adaptation to climate change. However, there is no simple structure, how to reconcile the splintered competative positions of municipal organizations with a share of the ecohydrological management of the city into a single concept.

The development of wind energy in the Czech Republic is significantly delayed compared to most European countries, and the current construction of wind turbines is characterized by marked regional differentiation. Differences in the rate of project implementation cannot be explained just by the physical-geographic and infrastructural conditions of the given territories, but are also related to different levels of social acceptance by politicians and local residents. The aim of the article was to find out, on the basis of statistical analysis of the data, what environmental and socio-economic factors affect the regional differences in the implementation of wind energy projects. The analysis revealed that wind energy is probably perceived more positively and accepted as an alternative to fossil fuels in environmentally-affected industrial regions. At the same time, in economically and socially depressed areas the economic motivation (money for municipalities) has a bigger effect, and local opposition is less mobilized due to lower civic engagement.

This book chapter interconnects theoretical debates on ‘public space’ and the issue of actual and possible effects of climate change on life in cities. Specifically, it focuses on how current environmental situation possibly influences the ways public space is understood in political decision making on urban level, and how sociological theory of the city includes it to the concept of public space. The chapter addresses wider audience beyond the discipline of sociology.\n

The article focuses on the applicability of human rights instruments in the protection against negative impacts of climate change. It follows from the findings that have been confirmed by international human rights bodies on human rights commitments of states in the field of environmental protection. The author identifies the main difficulties that arise for the application of human rights instruments from the specific characteristics of climate change, especially from a global spread of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions by a great number of state and non-state actors and their cumulative effects with emissions from natural sources, and from an unequal geographical distribution and diversity of its impacts. The text then concentrates in more detail on two selected issues of interlinking human rights and climate change: on the time lapse between the causes and consequences of climate change that leads to the need to take into account the interests of future generations within the concept of human rights, and on the extraterritorial character of impacts of greenhouse gas emissions that leads to considering that we need to surmount the current limitation of human rights obligations within the state territory resp. the state jurisdiction. In both issues, the current state of affairs in the theoretical elaboration and judicial interpretation are examined, especially with an eye for future solutions.