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Engineered cementitious composites (ECCs) are special types of fibre-reinforced cementitious composites (FRCC) with higher strain capacity which can be achieved with low fibre volume as low as 2% and total elimination of coarse aggregates. Due to the outstanding performance of ECCs, they are suitable for various construction and repair applications. However, in order for ECCs to achieve their properties; a high amount of binder which is primarily composed of Portland cement (PC) is used alongside a special type of ultrafine silica sand (USS) which is different from the conventional natural fine aggregates. The production of PC is known to be detrimental to the environment due to its high carbon dioxide emissions coupled with the high consumption of natural resources. Thus, the high use of PC content in ECCs posed a sustainability threat. Similarly, the USS used in ECCs are not readily available everywhere and are expensive. The processing of the USS coupled with its transportation over long distances would also increase the cost and embodied carbon of ECCs. Hence, in order to promote more development and applications of ECCs for various applications; this dissertation aims to provide innovative ways to improve the sustainability of ECCs and their performances. This dissertation offers four solutions to improve the sustainability of ECCs which are (i) use of unconventional industrial by-products as partial replacement of PC (ii) total replacement of PC in ECCs with alternative sustainable binders (iii) replacement of USS in ECCs with recycled materials and (iv) the use of supplementary cementitious materials to replace a high volume of PC. The findings from this study revealed sustainable ECCs with acceptable mechanical and durability performance can be achieved with the use of alternative binders or replacement of the conventional USS used in ECC mixtures. The sustainability and cost assessment of the ECCs indicated that the incorporation of industrial by-products such as blast furnace slag (BFS) especially at higher content is beneficial to reducing the negative environmental impact and economic burden associated with ECCs compared to the conventional ECC. The sustainability index and cost index of the ECCs further showed that the use of BFS is more beneficial when the sustainability and cost of the ECCs are compared with the corresponding performance. Similarly, the use of recycled materials as an alternative to USS was found to result in a significant reduction in the embodied carbon and cost of ECCs. The use of recycled materials such as expanded glass (EG) as aggregates in ECCs was also found to improve the thermal insulation properties of ECCs making such ECC suitable for the production of building envelope elements.

Abstract As main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, power and transportation are crucial sectors for energy system decarbonization. Their interaction is expected to increase significantly: plug-in electric vehicles add a new electric load, increasing grid demand and potentially requiring substantial grid upgrade; hydrogen production for fuel cell electric vehicles or for clean fuels synthesis could exploit the projected massive power overgeneration by intermittent and seasonally-dependent renewable sources via Power-to-Hydrogen. This work investigates the infrastructural needs involved with a broad diffusion of clean mobility, adopting a sector integration perspective at the national scale. The analysis combines a multi-node energy system balance simulation and a techno-economic assessment of the infrastructure to deliver energy vectors for mobility. The article explores the long-term case of Italy, considering a massive increase of renewable power generation capacity and investigating different mobility scenarios, where low-emission vehicles account for 50% of the stock. First, the model solves the energy balances, integrating the consumption related to mobility energy vectors and taking into account power grid constraints. Then, an optimal infrastructure is identified, composed of both a hydrogen delivery network and a widespread installation of charging points. Results show that the infrastructural requirements bring about investment costs in the range of 43–63 G€. Lower specific costs are associated with the exclusive presence of FCEVs, whereas the full reliance on BEVs leads to the most significant costs. Scenarios that combine FCEVs and BEVs lie in between, suggesting that the overall power + mobility system benefits from the presence of both drivetrain options.

Some Parties (Countries) to the UNFCCC decided to include the carbon uptake by harvested wood products (HWP) in a new general accounting framework after 2012 (post Kyoto). The analysis aims to make a comparison between the cascaded use of HWP and the use of wood for energy. We combine the new HWP framework with an assumed increased 50 million m3harvest level in Canada and evaluate the impact of the GHG emissions over a 100-year period. Our reference case assumes all harvested wood is an immediate CO2emission (IPCC default) and no substitution effects, i.e. annual GHG emissions of 41 million tonnes CO2eq. In our wood utilization scenario's, harvested trees are allocated (in varying shares) to three end-products: construction wood, paper products and pellets for power production. In comparison with our base case, a combination of fossil fuel substitution, material substitution and temporary carbon uptake by HWP leads to significant decreases in GHG emissions. All scenario's show annual GHG emission between 18 and 21 million tonnes CO2eqexcept for triple use without recycling (at least 24 million tonnes CO2eq). We conclude that GHG emissions of our scenarios are substantially lower than IPCC default. However, it is difficult to incorporate one single method to account for GHG uptake and emissions by HWP, due to end use efficiency and recycling options. Further GHG allocation over individual countries is not straightforward and needs further research. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Green energy technologies (GETs) are environmentally friendly in nature, making a promising contribution to attaining net-zero carbon goals. Although the Pakistani government has begun using GETs to minimize the adverse effects of carbon emissions, consumers' adoption rate is quite low. There are few studies examining consumers' desire to adopt GETs in the country. This study attempts to fill this research gap and also contributes by adding three novel factors to the theory of planned behavior (i.e., green energy technology awareness, openness to experience, and green energy technology discomfort) to comprehensively analyze the impact of various factors influencing consumers' desire to adopt GETs. For this purpose, the study establishes a systematic research framework. Data were collected from (n = 330) households in the five major cities (Peshawar, Abbottabad, Mardan, Mingora, and Swabi) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province via an inclusive questionnaire survey. The formulated hypotheses are evaluated and scrutinized using structural equation modeling. The results reveal that environmental concern (β = 0.245), green energy technology awareness (β = 0.362), openness to experience (β = 0.256), and green energy technology benefits (β = 0.225) positively affect consumers' desire to adopt GETs. On the other hand, green energy technology costs (β = 0.325) and green energy technology discomfort (β = 0.395) have a negative effect on consumers' adoption of GETs. The research findings emphasize the importance of increasing recognition of GETs, reforming policy frameworks, and providing budget-friendly and user-friendly technologies. Research limitations and future research perspectives are also addressed.

Wind energy projects provide clean energy so that they should be increased to reach the sustainable development goals of the countries. However, current decision-making process should be improved for the effectiveness of these projects. Thus, critical factors should be considered to understand the significant indicators of the performance of the wind energy projects. This article aims to determine the factors that should be considered when deciding on wind energy investments. In this context, 9 different criteria belonging to 3 dimensions (project, firm, market) are determined based on literature review. Later, an analysis is carried out by using hesitant interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy (IVIF) Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) to identify the most important factors. Furthermore, 4 different investment strategies in Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) matrix have been determined as alternatives. To determine which of these strategies is suitable for wind energy investments, the hesitant IVIF multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA) method has been considered. Additionally, a comparative evaluation is also performed by using technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) methodology. Similarly, sensitivity analysis is also made by considering 9 different cases. The analysis results of different methodologies are quite similar which shows the coherency and reliability of the findings. It is concluded that firm-based factors play the most significant role. It is also identified that technical development, financial performance and organizational effectiveness are the most significant criteria to make investment decision on wind energy projects. Furthermore, due to the market growth potential, it is recommended that wind energy investors increase their investments and strengthen their position in the market.

Climate change and rising global temperatures pose significant challenges for natural resource management. While developed economies have made progress in addressing these issues, emerging economies are still striving to achieve carbon neutrality, sustainable resource use, and environmental sustainability. This research aims to identify the factors driving carbon emissions in emerging economies over the past three decades. The study establishes a long-run relationship among the factors under investigation by employing various panel diagnostic methods. Non-parametric approaches are used to account for the non-symmetric distribution of panel data. The findings reveal that natural resource components have asymmetric impacts on carbon emissions, with oil rents reducing emissions and mineral rents increasing them. Economic growth and agricultural value added are identified as significant contributors to carbon emissions in the region. On the other hand, renewable energy consumption plays a crucial role in achieving carbon neutrality targets. Gross capital formation exhibits a mixed influence on carbon emissions, being positive and significant in lower quantiles and significantly negative in upper quantiles. These estimates are robust and align with existing literature. The study recommends sustainable resource abstraction and utilization, renewable energy production and consumption improvements, and enhanced capital formation. By providing empirical evidence and policy recommendations, this research contributes to understanding the relationship between these factors and their impact on carbon emissions, facilitating effective strategies for sustainable development and environmental preservation. Xinyang Normal University

AbstractIn the wake of the growing threats to humanity from climate change, we analyzed the information and communications technology (ICT)/education—environmental nexus from three distinct blocs including BRICS, MINT, and the G7 economies between 1990 and 2020. Two models were examined to reach the study's objectives. The first model evaluates whether education and ICT are essential for environmental sustainability via potential reduction in carbon emission. On the other hand, the second model fills an existing gap in extant studies by examining the prospect of education and ICT in influencing citizens on the importance of transition to renewable energy usage. Driscoll and Kraay estimator was employed as a panacea tool for cross‐sectional dependence and slope homogeneity while the fixed effect approach provides sufficient robustness checks on the findings. While some outcomes vary per bloc, others are relatively similar across the three blocs. Education level in school enrollment perspectives shows a negative significant pollution reduction effect across the three blocs, while only the G7 bloc performed better from human capital perspectives. The combined sample bloc shows that ICT also significantly reduces carbon emission, however, an individual bloc analysis refutes this stance for the MINT bloc. Additionally, while renewable energy cushions emissions in all the blocs, rapid urbanization, shows a positive CO2 emission impact except in the G7 bloc. Last, ICT and education significantly boost renewable energy usage only in the G7. Hence, governments and stakeholders in the blocs should gravitate toward greater investments in quality education and greener ICT infrastructures for a sustainable environment.

Abstract Urban transformation is vital to global sustainable development as humans increasingly come to dwell in cities. Within cities, the mobility sector promises the highest potential of carbon emission reduction. The disruptive business innovation brought about by the advent of app-based smart-sharing systems is emancipating collaborative consumption of mobility at larger and deeper scales, ranging from car-pooling, expanded electric vehicle (EV) use to bike-sharing. Synchronizing the existing yet under-realized low-carbon transport modes in cities, such as public transport, with emerging and diversifying app-based sharing mobility business models, offers huge potential to transform urban mobility toward sustainability. Yet, the rapid business expansion and innovation of the sharing mobility companies have profoundly challenged existing socio-economic relationships, knowledge systems and physical infrastructures in cities. This study explores the synergy between the social-ecological innovation in the sharing economy and the sustainable development of urban systems, using empirical data from three business cases in the emerging sharing mobility sector – in modes of ride-sharing, EV-sharing and bike-sharing - of Shanghai, China. It indicates that there is a strong co-evolution mechanism between the transformation towards more sustainable city at the macro-level and the business ecosystem innovation towards greener and smarter transport at the meso-level. We argue that the two level transformations, triggered by the disruptive innovation of the sharing economy and led by urban transformation towards sustainability, mutually influence each other and re-enforce sustainable values and practices in the fast changing urban context and business innovations in Shanghai.

There are some risks in renewable energy investments, such as legal, technology and financial issues. Hence, appropriate actions should be taken to minimize these risks. However, each of the measures to be taken for the management of risks creates new costs for businesses. Therefore, to ensure the financial sustainability of the projects, measures for the most important risks should be taken at the first stage. Because of this situation, it is vital to make a priority analysis for the risks faced by renewable energy projects so that it can be possible to increase the effectiveness of risk management. Accordingly, in this study, it is aimed to examine the risks and rewards regarding sustainable investment decisions for renewable energy projects. In this scope, a novel model is generated by integrating different techniques. In this process, the evaluations of six different experts are taken into consideration. First, missing evaluations for the sustainable investment decisions in renewable energy are estimated with neuro decision-making and collaborative filtering. Secondly, the weights of the risk factors of sustainable energy investments are computed with neuro quantum spherical fuzzy (QNSLF) DEMATEL with golden cut. Thirdly, reward alternatives for sustainable decision making are analyzed with Neuro QNSLF TOPSIS with golden cut. This study contributes to literature by determining the most important risks for renewable energy projects by an original decision-making model. Another important novelty of this study is that a new technique called neuro decision-making has also been developed. In this technique, the facial expressions of the experts who evaluate are taken into consideration. It is defined that technological changes have the greatest significance. Additionally, governmental incentives are found as the most essential reward to improve sustainable investments in renewable energy. Thus, for the effective management of these risks, appropriate actions should be taken. It is also obvious that the competitiveness of companies that fall behind this new technology will decrease. In this context, these enterprises need to take the necessary measures to manage the technology risk to be sustainable in the long term.