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The world, society and education are constantly evolving, and to respond to these changes, the main governmental institutions have been proposing different global strategies to focus efforts in the same direction. Currently, the United Nations and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) have presented a series of indicators that could help to minimise the environmental, economic and social instability we are experiencing. In this sense, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been described as a fundamental factor. Specifically, in previous work, we argued that physical education (PE) could be a good tool to contribute to SDGs. Based on this, no research analysing the voices of Physical Education Teachers (PET) on how this contribution could be made has been identified in previous literature. Therefore, the objectives of this research are: (1) to analyse the voices and opinions of active PETs in terms of the knowledge they have about Sustainable Development (SD); (2) to determine their opinions about the contribution that PE could make to SDGs; and finally, (3) to identify the challenges and limitations of pedagogical action of SD in PE. For this purpose, a qualitative analysis through a semi-structured interview with 41 active PETs was carried out. The main findings will be presented and discussed around four themes: (a) agreement on the concept of sustainability; (b) PE can contribute to the achievement of SDGs; (c) ambiguity in applying SDGs to PE lessons; and (d) teachers’ constraints on how to implement SDGs in PE. It seems to indicate that PETs do not have a multidimensional vision of sustainable development. While they recognise the potential of PE to contribute to SDGs through awareness raising and student learning, they point to its pedagogical and formative constraints as the main barriers to being able to contribute. They pointed to a lack of knowledge on how to do so, guidelines on how to integrate ESD, lack of involvement, shortage of time or resources in school physical education.

It is now environmentally desirable and legally mandatory to add renewable fuels such as ethanol or ethyl tert-butyl ether to gasoline. However, biofuels affect, among other properties, the distillation curve of gasoline, which is subject to strict regulations. This work presents a simple mathematical model capable of accurately predicting the influence that the addition of these oxygenates has on the distillation curve. In order to address this issue, it is essential to find a simple mathematical correlation between the boiling temperatures of the hydrocarbons present in gasoline and the properties (boiling temperature and volume or molar concentration of ethanol) of the corresponding azeotropic mixtures formed with ethanol. Power functions have been assumed to model the temperature composition diagrams of the vapour-liquid equilibrium. Experimental data previously published by these and other authors have been used to fit and validate the model. The results provided by the mathematical model can be of great interest to understand the process of fuel evaporation in spark-ignition engines or the adjustment of distillation cuts in refineries, in order to comply with the regulations, in terms of the distillation curve, after adding ethanol or ethyl tert-butyl ether.

The aim of this report is to demonstrate and evaluate the potential of tall wheatgrass (Elytrigia elongata) to avoid GHG emissions and obtain lower economic costs in marginal areas of Spain. Our research built scenarios based on experimental plots (2 and 3 years growth) in 3 locations of Spain with completely different climate conditions (provinces of Girona, Soria and Palencia). In our experiences, we achieved an adequate establishment and biomass production, and assumed a rank of biomass yields until the end of the life cycle that is usually accepted to be about 15 years in many other studies in United States, Argentina and Eastern Europe where tall wheatgrass is extensively cultivated in marginal areas for sheep livestock production. Using our experimental plots and statistical information for economic inputs costs, we built 5 different scenarios per region considering a large range of biomass yields of tall wheatgrass. The analysis included a comparison with annual grasses economic costs calculated for a wide range of biomass yields of a previous study. We estimated GHG emissions savings for tall wheatgrasses and used our previous study (which had GHG emissions savings as well). Savings were calculated replacing natural gas electricity with electricity from biomass combustion in real power plants in Spain. In a wide range of yields, the results suggest that marginal areas might present a better performance with tall wheatgrass compared to annual winter grasses (cereals whole plant cuttings), thus producing biomass yields with higher GHG savings and lower economic costs at the farm level. Proceedings of the 20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 18-22 June 2012, Milan, Italy, pp. 217-229

In this study, air concentrations of BaP in two different seasons (winter 2015 and summer 2016) and BaP levels in ground vegetation from Tarragona County were used as control simulations performed with the WRF-CHIMERE air quality modelling system, in order to reproduce the incidence of that hazardous chemical in air and soils. The CTM was validated for the present climatology, showing a good ability to represent air and soil concentrations of BaP over the target domain (petrochemical, chemical, urban and background sites), particularly in the winter. Then, the variation of the BaP concentrations in air and soils were simulated for the time series 1996-2015 and for the climate change scenario RCP8.5 (2031-2050). While an increase is projected for the levels in air, particularly in chemical and remote sites where the variation can go up to 10%, in terms of soil deposition the findings are the opposite, with an evident decrease in soil BaP concentrations, particularly for background sites. Finally, a potential health effect of BaP for the local population (lung cancer) was assessed. Although according to the projections the EU threshold for BaP atmospheric incidence (1 ng m-3) will not be reached by 2050, there will be an increase in the life-time risk of lung cancer, particularly in the most populated areas within the simulation domain.

Abstract In recent years, the overall energy consumption is increasing significantly and the energy consumption in the building sector represents over 30% of the global ones in developed countries. Thermal energy storage (TES) using phase change materials (PCM), which are materials able to store high amounts of energy as latent heat, is suggested as a possible solution to decrease the energy consumption. The authors of this paper developed materials able to encapsulate/stabilize PCM in addition to isolate an industrial residue from the steel recycling process: electrical arc furnace dust (EAFD). This waste is a hazardous dust, and when it is combined with a polymeric matrix produce dense sheet materials suitable for multilayered constructive systems. In this paper the physical, mechanical, thermal and acoustical characterization of two new materials with EAFD and PCM in a polymeric matrix for constructive system is presented. The results are compared with those obtained for one commercial dense sheet material available in the market, Texsound commercialized by TEXSA (Spain). The new dense sheet materials developed in this paper have similar acoustic properties compared to the results obtained for the commercial material and are competitive with it, even better because the new material incorporates PCM which increases the thermal inertia of final constructive system.

Abstract The Mediterranean region is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change. The majority of climate models forecast a rise in temperatures and less rainfall, which have been observed in recent decades. These changes will affect several vegetation properties, especially phenological dynamics and traits, by increasing drought intensity and recurrence. In this climate change context, the present study aims to assess the evolution of vegetation state and its relation with the climate dynamics in the Mediterranean forest region of northeast Tunisia using Land Surface Phenology (LSP) metrics and the vegetation index (NDVI) analysis from 2000 to 2017. To conduct this work, we used precipitation and temperature data from the two closest weather stations and 16-day NDVI composite images from the MODIS satellite source, with 250-m spatial resolution. Three phenological metrics— start of season (SOS), end of season (EOS), and length of season (LOS) — were obtained and compared for different vegetation types. The LSP variation in response to climatic metrics was also analyzed. The results showed that the LSP in our study area changed significantly during the 2000–2017 period, which includes an average 7.8 days delay in the SOS, an average advance in the EOS by 5 days, and LOS shortened by an average 12.8 days. Autumn (Pr_9) and spring (Pr_3 and P3_4) precipitations, as well as maximum temperature (Tx9+10), represent the best climate parameters to explain the changes in LSP. Both the NDVI and SPEI showed a significant high correlation (p

AbstractBackgroundN2O is a powerful greenhouse gas emitted in nitric acid plants, and emission control technologies are required.ResultsA 0.25%Rh/50%Ce0.9Pr0.1O2/γ‐Al2O3 catalyst has been prepared and tested for N2O decomposition in a real nitric acid plant gas stream. The catalyst is active enough to achieve 100% N2O removal, maintaining a constant catalytic activity after 40 h operation without deactivating. Characterization of the fresh and used catalyst, using different techniques, revealed no changes during the N2O decomposition experiments: (i) XRD and Raman spectroscopy show the fluorite structure of the Ce–Pr mixed oxide before and after the catalytic tests, (ii) the crystal size of the Ce–Pr mixed oxide particles and the BET surface area of the catalyst is maintained, evidencing no sintering of ceria particles, (iii) H2‐TPR indicates that the reducibility of the catalyst is similar before and after the catalytic tests, revealing chemical stability, and (iv) TEM and XPS analysis indicated the high stability of the rhodium particle size and oxidation state.ConclusionAn active and stable catalyst with formulation 0.25%Rh/50%Ce0.9Pr0.1O2/γ‐Al2O3 has been prepared and successfully tested for N2O decomposition in a real nitric acid plant gas stream. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry

Capítulos en libros The smart city is a sustainable and efficient urban center that provides high quality of life to its inhabitants with an optimal management of its resources, where clean and cost effective energy generation is a key issue. Under this setting, distributed generation can provide an adequate tool to deal with energy reliability and to successfully implement renewable sources; nevertheless, selection and scaling of energy systems, considering location, is not a trivial task. Frequently, the stakeholders analyze only one or two "popular" generation systems, and then calculate the output and return of investment in a simplified and approximated approach. This practice could lead the stakeholder to an inadequate technology mix. To tackle this problem, this paper reviews and models most common energy sources for distributed generation in a smart city context. Then, a technical economic analysis is developed for 2 cases, a household and a district, considering not only renewable sources but also efficient non-renewable technologies. The results of the numerical analysis help to assess the more adequate generation systems for a given application, energetic demand, and geographical characteristics. A well-developed analysis is essential for a better understanding of the available technologies and their synergies; as a result, the investors can choose the appropriate solutions, maximizing overall benefits. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion