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Recent calls to do climate policy research with, rather than for, stakeholders have been answered in non-modelling science. Notwithstanding progress in modelling literature, however, very little of the scenario space traces back to what stakeholders are ultimately concerned about. With a suite of eleven integrated assessment, energy system and sectoral models, we carry out a model inter-comparison for the EU, the scenario logic and research questions of which have been formulated based on stakeholders' concerns. The output of this process is a scenario framework exploring where the region is headed rather than how to achieve its goals, extrapolating its current policy efforts into the future. We find that Europe is currently on track to overperforming its pre-2020 40% target yet far from its newest ambition of 55% emissions cuts by 2030, as well as looking at a 1.0-2.35 GtCO2 emissions range in 2050. Aside from the importance of transport electrification, deployment levels of carbon capture and storage are found intertwined with deeper emissions cuts and with hydrogen diffusion, with most hydrogen produced post-2040 being blue. Finally, the multi-model exercise has highlighted benefits from deeper decarbonisation in terms of energy security and jobs, and moderate to high renewables-dominated investment needs.

Abstract The relationship between human health and well-being, energy use and carbon emissions is a foremost concern in sustainable development. If past advances in well-being have been accomplished only through increases in energy use, there may be significant trade-offs between achieving universal human development and mitigating climate change. We test the explanatory power of economic, dietary and modern energy factors in accounting for past improvements in life expectancy, using a simple novel method, functional dynamic decomposition. We elucidate the paradox that a strong correlation between emissions and human development at one point in time does not imply that their dynamics are coupled in the long term. Increases in primary energy and carbon emissions can account for only a quarter of improvements in life expectancy, but are closely tied to growth in income. Facing this carbon-development paradox requires prioritizing human well-being over economic growth.

Integrating novel software systems in our society, economy and environment can have far-reaching effects. As a result, software systems should be designed in such a way as to maintain or improve the sustainability of their intended socio-technical systems. However, a paradigm shift is required to raise awareness of software professionals on the potential sustainability effects of software systems. While Requirements Engineering is considered the key for driving this change, requirements engineers lack the knowledge, experience and methodological support for acting as facilitators for a broader discussion on sustainability effects. This paper presents a question-based framework for raising awareness of the potential effects of software systems on sustainability, as the first step towards enabling the required paradigm shift. An evaluation study of the framework was conducted with four groups of computer science students. The results of the study indicate that the framework is applicable to different types of systems and helps to facilitate discussions about the potential effects that software systems could have on sustainability.

Abstract Carbon-footprint from transport and power generation can significantly be improved when carbon free or reduced carbon energy carries are utilised that are compatible with the current technology of the internal combustion (IC) engines. The current study focuses on the reduction of diesel engine CO2 emissions by improving ammonia and hydrogen combustion through the incorporation of alternative fuel, diethyl glycol diethyl ether (DGE) as an oxygenated fuel blend and combustion enhancer. The aim of the work is to study the potential synergies between DGE and two carbon free energy vectors H2 and NH3 in reducing the environmental effects and contribute in decarbonising internal combustion engines. DGE's ignition properties (i.e. high cetane number) improved the H2 and NH3 combustion efficiencies via counteracting their high auto-ignition resistances, and also contributing in lowering the unburnt H2 and NH3 emissions to the atmosphere. This led in the reduction of CO2 by up 50% when 60–70% of diesel fuel is replaced with DGE, H2 and NH3. Synergetic effects were also found between DGE and the gaseous fuels (i.e. hydrogen and ammonia) simultaneously decreasing the levels of PM, NOx, HC and CO emitted to the atmosphere; thus mitigating the health and environmental hazards associated to diesel engines.

AbstractSteam gasification of biochars has emerged as a promising method for generating syngas that is rich in hydrogen. In this study four biochars formed via intermediate pyrolysis (wood pellet, sewage sludge, rapeseed and miscanthus) were gasified in a quartz tubular reactor using steam. The dynamic behaviour of the process and effects of temperature, steam flow and particle size were studied. The results show that increases in both steam flow and temperature significantly increase the dry gas yield and carbon conversion, but hydrogen volume fraction decreases at higher temperatures whilst particle size has little effect on gaseous composition. The highest volume fraction of hydrogen, 58.7%, was obtained at 750 °C from the rapeseed biochar.

Additive manufacturing has drawn significant attention in both academia and industry due to its capabilities and promising potential in various sectors. However, the adoption of this technology in large-scale construction is still limited due to the numerous existing challenges. In this work, a comprehensive review of large-scale automated additive construction, its challenges, and emerging advances with a focus on robotic solutions and environmental sustainability is presented. The potential interrelations of the two topics are also discussed. A new classification scheme of available and emerging robotic solutions in automated additive construction is presented. Moreover, the vision of environmental sustainability is explored through three lenses: process, material, and printed large-scale structures/buildings. Finally, the current challenges and potential future directions are highlighted. The provided state of the art and challenges can be used as a guideline for future research on large-scale automated additive construction.

AbstractGrasslands absorb and release carbon dioxide (CO2), emit methane (CH4) from grazing livestock, and emit nitrous oxide (N2O) from soils. Little is known about how the fluxes of these three greenhouse gases, from managed and natural grasslands worldwide, have contributed to past climate change, or the roles of managed pastures versus natural grasslands. Here, global trends and regional patterns of the full greenhouse gas balance of grasslands are estimated for the period 1750 to 2012. A new spatially explicit land surface model is applied, to separate the direct effects of human activities from land management and the indirect effects from climate change, increasing CO2 and regional changes in nitrogen deposition. Direct human management activities are simulated to have caused grasslands to switch from a sink to a source of greenhouse gas, because of increased livestock numbers and accelerated conversion of natural lands to pasture. However, climate change drivers contributed a net carbon sink in soil organic matter, mainly from the increased productivity of grasslands due to increased CO2 and nitrogen deposition. The net radiative forcing of all grasslands is currently close to neutral, but has been increasing since the 1960s. Here, we show that the net global climate warming caused by managed grassland cancels the net climate cooling from carbon sinks in sparsely grazed and natural grasslands. In the face of future climate change and increased demand for livestock products, these findings highlight the need to use sustainable management to preserve and enhance soil carbon storage in grasslands and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from managed grasslands.