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Ethylene oxide production process is one of the highest energy consumers in chemical industry, and therefore even a slight improvement in its overall efficiency can have a significant impact on the sustainability of the process. Efficiency improvement can be carried out using the exergy-aided pinch analysis outlined in this paper. The overall exergy loss distribution in different unit operations of an ethylene oxide process was first evaluated and mapped out in the form of “visualized exergetic process flowsheet”. An initial analysis of the four main functional blocks of the process showed that the exothermic reaction block contained the largest exergy loss (6043 and 428 kJ/kg of internal and external losses, respectively) which can be reduced by isothermal mixing, as well as increasing reaction temperature and reduction in pressure drop. The absorption block was also estimated to have the second highest contribution with total exergy losses of 3640 kJ/kg which were mainly due to the cooling column. These losses were then recommended to be reduced by improvements in the concentration and temperature gradients along the tower. Following the block-wise analysis, exergy analysis was then carried out for individual unit operations in each block to pinpoint the main sources of thermal exergetic inefficiency. Thermal solutions to reduce losses were also proposed in accordance with the identified sources of inefficiency, leading to a comprehensive list of cold and hot process streams that could be introduced to reduce losses. Finally, pinch analysis was brought into action to estimate the minimum energy requirements, to select utilities, and to design heat exchanger network. Thus, the methodology used in this work took advantage of both exergy and pinch analyses. The combined thermal-exergy-based pinch approach helped to set energy targets so that all the thermal possible solutions supported by exergy analysis were considered, preventing exclusion of any hot or cold process stream with high potential for heat integration during pinch analysis. Results indicated that the minimum cold utility requirement could be reduced from 601.64 MW (obtained via conventional pinch analysis) to 577.82 MW through screening of streams by the combined methodology.

Biomass is considered one of the most important options in the transition to a sustainable energy system with reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increased security of enegry supply. In order to facilitate this transition with targeted policies and implementation strategies, it is of vital importance to understand the economic benefits, uncertainties and risks of this transition. This article presents a quantification of the economic impacts on value added, employment shares and the trade balance as well as required biomass and avoided primary energy and greenhouse gases related to large scale biomass deployment on a country level (the Netherlands) for different future scenarios to 2030. This is done by using the macro-economic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model LEITAP, capable of quantifying direct and indirect effects of a bio-based economy combined with a spread sheet tool to address underlying technological details. Although the combined approach has limitations, the results of the projections show that substitution of fossil energy carriers by biomass, could have positive economic effects, as well as reducing GHG emissions and fossil energy requirement. Key factors to achieve these targets are enhanced technological development and the import of sustainable biomass resources to the Netherlands. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract In April 2012 Argentinean Government nationalized 51% of Repsol shares in YPF. Expropiation of YPF is a new step in a broad list of protectionist and interventionist decisions, such as the nationalization of Aerolineas Argentinas, nationalization of private pension plans, or the amendments of the Central Bank regulations to make the use of reserves more flexible. Institutions set the rules of the game for citizens and companies, allowing incentives and creating expectations. Nationalization of the above mentioned Argentinean companies has created legal uncertainty bringing a relevant increase in the risk premium as a result. Privatization of YPF and its later nationalization, together with the company shareholder composition, and resulting international disputes will be addressed in this article.

The constituent countries of the MENA region---defined in this thesis in conformity with the regional definition of the International Energy Agency and encompassing 17 Muslim countries in North Africa, in the Levant, on the Arabian Peninsula, and Iran---have developed very rapidly over the past decade. Two figures best exemplify the region's tremendous transformation: Total population has expanded by more than 20% and its aggregate economic output has more than doubled. As much as this development is desirable, said development trends have also dramatically reshaped the energy policy environment in the MENA region and began causing problems of their own---affecting the region's large oil exporters and its energy importers alike. Having traditionally enjoyed high energy security and handsome resource rents by virtue of their abundant and cheap fossil fuels, new realities in the domestic energy systems demand a new policy focus on domestic energy issues. Energy challenges have emerged which threaten security of supply, fiscal stability, and environmental integrity. The challenges differ in magnitude from country-to-country and reflect the specific national conditions and circumstances. However, given the similarity in the underlying drivers and the governing energy policies, the energy challenges resemble each other across borders. More specifically, ballooning domestic energy demand consumes a rising share of national energy production and thus increasingly imperils the constant flow of the much needed proceeds from oil and gas exports. In the MENA countries with less abundant hydrocarbon resources, domestic demand growth has heightened energy dependence and, to make matters worse, the tighter supply situation in the energy exporting neighbors may eventually also lead to a discontinuation of the preferential supply agreements which they have benefitted from in the past. As a further corollary of demand growth, massive capital-intensive infrastructure investments are necessary to keep pace with the growth on the demand side. The regional tradition to sell energy commodities domestically at prices non-competitive prices or even below cost, however, limits the national energy sectors' own capability of mustering the required capital. Finally, the universally observable heavily fossil fuel-dominated national energy mixes in the region render the study countries vulnerable to supply shocks. The virtually complete reliance on the regionally available hydrocarbons for meeting energy demand is also a principal contributor to environmental degradation and at the core of the large carbon footprint of energy consumption in MENA countries. Given current policies in combination with the emerging demographic and economic trends, these challenges must be expected to become more severe in the years to come. Rising living standards, especially in the region's expanding urban population, are likely to boost per capita energy consumption. The projected, continued demographic and economic growth will further drive commodity demand. And the supply side cannot be counted on to mitigate the challenges under given policies. On the contrary. Although no reliable production projections are available, it stands to reason that production from the region's most prolific oil and gas fields---some of which have been producing for several decades now---will increasingly require the use of costly secondary and tertiary recovery methods and that some will eventually [...]

In this paper we evaluate the relationships between household expenditures and the environmental impact categories climate change, acidification, eutrophication and smog formation, by combining household expenditures with environmentally extended input–output analysis. Expenditure elasticities are examined with regression analysis, and are compared and interpreted on the basis of insight at the product level. With data from the Netherlands in the year 2000, we find that environmental impact increases with increasing household expenditures, although the degree to which the environmental impact increases differs per impact category. Climate change and eutrophication increase less than proportionally with increasing expenditures. Acidification increases nearly proportionally with increasing expenditures, whereas smog formation increases more than proportionally. It appears that the mix of necessities and luxuries to which an environmental impact is related is essential in explaining the relationship.

In the recent years, some experimental forms of housing (cohousing and social housing) have developed in Italy, which also take on the features of real energy communities. These initiatives have been planned and implemented thanks to the active participation and investments of the people involved in the project. Their primary aim is to implement new form of shared housing, but by adopting renewable generation systems and sharing both energy production and consumption, they are contributing to foster the energy transition process. In this research, we studied the management of the energy resource and the social interactions among the cohousers. Moreover, we analysed the social impacts on the surrounding territory in order to know as they can widespread the clean energy technologies and social innovation processes. To do this, we compared two experiences of collaborative housing: the first one, active since some years in Northern Italy, is a bottom-up initiative set up by the voluntary action of some families and individuals. Its goal is to share common spaces and activities, but also to produce and use renewable energy with a view to economic and environmental sustainability. The second one is a social cohousing, established in Messina (Southern Italy) and implemented by the Fondazione di Comunità di Messina. The project involves people who live in socio-economic difficulties. Through the ESCO Solidarity & Energy, the Fondazione has designed and applied energy systems to allow the tenants to become prosumers and prosumagers.

Treball Final de Grau en Finances i Comptabilitat. Codi: FC1049. Curs acadèmic: 2019/2020 In recent years there has been a rise in businesses investing in social and ethical issues. The sustainable development goals published in 2015 by the UN provide a globally agreed framework to make the world more sustainable. Companies have been given the opportunity to help the environment and society through their actions whilst increasing their value and return and improving their reputation. A method for doing so is by following the principles of responsible investment and incorporating environmental, social and governance criteria into long-term businesses strategies. Spanish banks are actively working to achieve the sustainable development goals by investing in sustainable finance, social projects, housing programmes, etc. to meet societal needs whilst extending their market scope and achieving corporate growth and financial success. The main focus of their actions lays with two specific goals: ending poverty and providing decent work and economic growth for all.

Artículos en revistas Este estudio analiza cómo las estrategias de responsabilidad social corporativa ambiental (ECSR) contribuyen a mejorar la innovación entre las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYMES) mediante el desarrollo de recursos tecnológicos. Probamos nuestras hipótesis durante un período de ocho años utilizando un panel de 2.405 pymes industriales en España. Encontramos empíricamente que ECSR impulsa la construcción de los recursos tecnológicos de las empresas, lo que resulta en una mejora de su esfuerzo tecnológico o I + D y resultados en términos de innovación de productos y procesos. ECSR intensifica la innovación para empresas innovadoras y cataliza el inicio de la innovación para empresas que antes no innovaban, y los efectos resultantes se mantienen en el tiempo. Contribuimos a la literatura analizando los efectos de ECSR en la promoción de la innovación de las empresas más allá de la conocida influencia en la innovación verde. Además, examinamos el área de investigación descuidada de las estrategias ambientales de las PYME. Nuestros hallazgos fortalecen el valor innovador instrumental de ECSR, específicamente para las PYMES. This study analyzes how environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) strategies contribute to enhancing innovativeness among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by developing technological resources. We test our hypotheses over an eight-year period using a panel of 2,405 industrial SMEs in Spain. We empirically find that ECSR drives the building of firms’ technological resources, which results in an enhancement of their technological effort or R&D and outcomes in terms of product and process innovation. ECSR intensifies innovation for innovative firms and catalyzes the inception of innovation for previously non-innovating firms, and the resultant effects are sustained over time. We contribute to the literature by analyzing the effects of ECSR in promoting the innovation of firms beyond the well-known influence on green innovation. Further, we examine the neglected research area of the environmental strategies of SMEs. Our findings strengthen the instrumental innovative value of ECSR, specifically for SMEs. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This research proposes an innovative solar thermal plant able to generate mechanical power through an optimized system of heliostats with Scheffler-type solar receivers coupled with screw-type steam expanders. Scheffler receivers appear to perform better than parabolic trough collectors due to the high compactness of the focal receiver, which minimizes convective and radiative heat losses even at high vaporization temperatures. At the same time, steam screw expanders are volumetric machines that can be used to produce mechanical power with satisfactory efficiency also by admitting two-phase mixtures and with further advantages compared to steam turbines: low working fluid velocities, low operating pressures, and avoidance of overheating. This study establishes a mathematical model to assess the energetic advantages of the planned solar thermal power system by evaluating the solar-to-electricity efficiency for different off-design working conditions. For this purpose, a numerical model on the Scheffler receiver is initially investigated, thus assessing all the energy losses which affect the heat transfer phase. A thermodynamic model is then developed to evaluate the energy losses and performance of the screw expander under real working conditions. Finally, parametric optimization of the solar energy conversion is performed in a wide range of operating conditions by establishing thermodynamic formulations related to the whole solar electricity generation system. Water condensation pressure and vaporization temperature are so optimized with respect to global energy conversion efficiency which, under the best operating conditions achieved in this research, rises from 10.9% to 14.4% with increasing solar irradiation intensity. Hence, the combined use of screw expanders and Scheffler receivers for solar thermal power system application can be a promising technology with advantages over parabolic dish concentrators. Novelty statement: This research proposes an innovative direct steam solar power plant based on an SRC, with water utilized as both heat transfer and working fluid, equipped with Scheffler solar receivers as a thermal source and screw expanders as work-producing devices. Technical studies and energy assessments of this kind of SEGS at part-load operation do not exist in scientific literature; after reviewing the literature, it was determined that volumetric expanders have been rarely combined with Scheffler receivers for solar thermal power system application. In effect, combined use of screw expanders and Scheffler-type solar concentrator in a direct steam solar power system represents a completely new plant configuration; however, as a promising DSG solar system, at present numerical model of this new sort of SEGS is lacked in literature and the optimum operating conditions have yet to be defined. For this reason, the chief objective of this paper is to define a first parametric optimization of all thermodynamic variables involved to maximize global efficiency of the proposed solar thermal power generation system for ordinary working conditions.