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In this study, the energy, exergy, exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental (4E) analyses of a cogeneration system that combines photovoltaic thermal panels (PV/T), evacuated tube solar collectors, an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and energy storage systems are performed. The cogeneration model is built to meet the load demand of independent houses in remote areas and avoids excessive consumption of traditional energy and environmental pollution. Here, the exergoenvironmental analysis adopts the Eco-indicator-99 method and the all life cycle assessment method is used to calculate the environmental impact of each component. Two comparative studies are conducted to the 4E analyses. The first one compares the comprehensive performance of the battery storage and hydrogen production for energy storage. The results indicate that the cogeneration system using both batteries and hydrogen production for energy storage has the best overall performance. According the exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental analyses, its environmental impact is 23.6% lower than the cogeneration system using batteries alone and the PV/T can be fully utilized. In addition, the total cost rate is 6.2% lower than the cogeneration system using hydrogen production alone. The second case investigates the effect of adding the evacuated tube solar collectors between the PV/T and ORC on the cogeneration system. The analysis results demonstrate that the evacuated tube solar collectors can increase the heat source temperature of the ORC to increase the power generation of the ORC by 37.14%; however, the total cost rate of the cogeneration system increases by 3.7% and the environmental impact rate increases by 19.8%.

In consideration of the three pillars of sustainability, alongside the environment, social and economic dimensions interplay valuable insight into how society is molded and what key components should be considered. In terms of social sustainability, there are processes and framework objectives that promote wellbeing integral to the balance of people, planet, and profit. Economic practices consider the system of production, resource allocation, and distribution of goods and services with respect to demand and supply between economic agents. As a result, an economic system is a variant of the social system in which it exists. At present, the forefront of social sustainability research partially encompasses the impact economic practices have on people and society—with notable emphasis centered on the urban environment. Specific interdisciplinary analyses within the scope of sustainability, social development, competitiveness, and motivational management as well as decision making within the urban landscape are considered. This book contains nine thoroughly refereed contributions that interconnect detailed research into the two pillars reviewed.

Abstract This paper presents a cross-country benchmarking study of natural gas distribution to final consumers and compares two samples of companies in Italy and Ukraine. A 2-stage DEA procedure calculating efficiency of gas providers and identifying critical context factors and policy issues that affect it is implemented. Both countries are low performing in terms of operators’ technical and scale efficiency and there is room to design more efficient market configurations. Some issues need attention to develop an effective gas market policy: a) search for efficiency requires accurate investigation of its main drivers that depend on context factors; b) while greater efficiency is necessary to reduce cost and increase service quality, at different stages of progress of the reform process other goals may be more important; c) gas industry reform process should be planned adopting a systemic perspective as its development does not remain confined to the sector, but implies changes in the whole country economy, particularly when the gas market is of primary relevance to the economy; d) a more comprehensive package of reforms may be necessary to make gas market reform successful; e) even though the gas market reform is an economic process, it has unavoidably social and political implications.