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Great efforts have been paid to improve engine efficiency as well as to reduce the pollutant emissions. The direct injection allows to improve the engine efficiency; on the other hand, the GDI combustion produces larger particle emissions. The properties of fuels play an important role both on engine performance and pollutant emissions. In particular, great attention was paid to the octane number. Oxygenated compounds allow increasing gasoline's octane number and play an important role in PM emission reduction. In this study was analyzed the effect of fuels with different RON and with ethanol and ethers content. The analysis was performed on a small GDI engine. Two operating conditions, representative of the typical EUDC cycle, were investigated. Both the engine performance and the exhaust emissions were evaluated. The gaseous emissions and particle concentration were measured at the exhaust by means of conventional instruments. Particle size distribution function was measured in the range from 5.6 nm to 560 nm by means of an Engine Exhaust Particle Sizer (EEPS). The results point out that the better result in terms of performance and emission reduction was observed for the high RON fuel. The fuels with ethanol as additive show a large fuel consumption and a not valuable effect on exhaust emissions

AbstractProjections show that biomass will remain important for reaching future EU renewable energy targets. In addition to using domestic biomass, European bioenergy markets will also partly rely on imports of biomass, in particular in trade‐oriented EU member states like the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark. There has been a lot of debate on the sustainability of (imported) biomass and how policy should deal with this. In this research, therefore, we defined long‐term strategies for sustainable biomass imports in European bioenergy markets. We used the input of different stakeholders in our approach through focus‐group discussions and a global survey, focusing on the following aspects: key principles of sustainable biomass trade, risks and opportunities of biomass trade, both for import regions (EU countries) and for sourcing regions, and practical barriers for trade. Overall we conclude that policies should be stable and consistent within a long‐term vision. An overall sustainability assurance framework of biomass production and use is key, but should ultimately apply to all end uses of biomass. Furthermore, the mobilization of biomass should be supported, as well as commoditization, considering the large diversity of biomass. Side impacts of biomass use should be monitored. Reducing investors’ risk perception is crucial for future developments in the biobased economy, and a clear policy to phase out fossil fuels, e.g. through a carbon tax, needs to be implemented. The results of this research are of interest for policy makers when deciding on long‐term strategies concerning sustainable bioenergy markets. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

We analysed the effect of applying Dutch thermal efficiency standards of residential dwellings, conversion efficiency, appliance fuel mixes and appliance ownership rates, to the UK residential sector. We found that although aggregate energy consumption does not change significantly, pollution emissions are reduced significantly. Thus, the primary difference between housing and appliance stocks in the two regions is in terms of fuel mixes. However, improved thermal efficiency does allow for increased dwelling warmth without increasing emissions. Adapting Dutch standards in the UK would lead to a one-time improvement of the environmental situation, after which the trend is continued.

This paper provides a review of the literature that applies the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to the assessment of the environmental performance of the life cycle of construction and demolition waste (CDW) management systems. This article is focused on generating a general mapping of the literature and on identifying the best practices in compliance with LCA framework and proposing directions for future LCA studies in this field. The temporal evolution of the research in this field and the aim of the studies have grown in parallel with the legal framework related to waste and energy efficiency of buildings. Most studies have been published in Europe, followed by USA. Asia and Australia, being at an incipient application stage to the rest of the world. Topics related to "LCA of buildings, including their EoL" and "LCA of general CDW management strategies" are the most frequently analysed, followed by "LCA of EoL of construction elements" and "LCA of natural material vs recycled material". Regarding the strategies, recycling off-site and incineration, both combined with landfill for the rejected fractions, are the most commonly applied. Re-use or recycling on-site is the strategy least applied. The key aspect when LCA is applied to evaluate CDW management systems is the need to normalise which processes to include in the system boundary and the functional unit, the use of inventory data adapted to the context of the case study and the definition of a common set of appropriate impact assessment categories. Also, it is important to obtain results disaggregated by unit processes. This will allow the comparison between case studies.

In 2011 the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) released a set of indicators for sustainable bioenergy. However, two important issues still remain unresolved. One of them is the definition of “sustainability”, and the other is the lack of a holistic assessment tool for drawing conclusions from the indicators. The aim of this paper is to provide clarification on the concept of sustainability in the context of the GBEP indicators, and to develop a holistic assessment tool for assessing the sustainability of bioenergy programmes. The GBEP indicators are diverse in terms of “what to measure”, and some of them are not sufficiently directly related to the concept of sustainability. This makes the indicators ambiguous regarding to sustainability assessment. This study identifies whether the GBEP indicators are concerned with strong or weak sustainability, and develops a tool based on Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) which can be used for assessing sustainability of bioenergy programmes using the GBEP indicators. The tool is demonstrated in an example for assessing the sustainability of biofuel production in a case study of Kyoto. We found that the biodiesel production in Kyoto performs well on the environmental pillar, but badly on the economic pillar, and based on the weights applied in this study the overall sustainability is better than diesel fuel. The holistic assessment tool provides practical information to policymakers on both ex-ante and ex-post policy evaluations.

Abstract Agriculture in the Black Sea catchment is responsible for a considerable share of the area's total water withdrawal and the majority of its total water consumption. It therefore plays a key role in sustainable water resources management. However, in the future water resources will be exposed to climate change. This assessment aims at identifying the most vulnerable regions and to explain the reasons of this vulnerability. It is based on a combination of the well-known Driver–Pressure–State–Impact–Response framework (DPSIR) and the vulnerability concept as defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Three distinctive climate change scenarios are used to assess their impacts on water resources for agriculture: (1) an increase in temperature; (2) a decrease in precipitation; and (3) a combination of the first and second scenarios. The data for this assessment is derived from a SWAT model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool). The results show that the regions of the Black Sea catchment are impacted by climate change differently. Some countries benefit from climate change (e.g., Turkey, Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Bulgaria) while others will encounter considerably worse agro-climatic conditions in the future (e.g., Montenegro, Austria, Bosnia–Herzegovina). Additionally, natural plant growth conditions mostly improve due to more suitable temperature conditions. In contrast, the deteriorating agricultural conditions mainly result from a diminishing irrigation potential that is caused by reduced precipitation. The conclusion emphasises the important role of the legal framework as well as more sustainable agronomic practices and proposes improvements for future assessment methods in this research field.

Central solar heating plants with seasonal storage (CSHPSS) are among the most promising technologies to save energy in the industrial and residential-commercial building sectors. This work introduces a systematic approach to optimize these systems according to economic and environmental criteria. Our method, which combines the TRNSYS 17 simulation software with life cycle assessment and multi-objective optimization, identifies optimal CSHPSS designs for any climatic condition and heating demand profile considering economic and environmental criteria simultaneously. The capabilities of this approach are illustrated through its application to a case study of a CSHPSS located in Barcelona (Spain), which satisfies a heating demand for a neighborhood of 1120 dwellings. Numerical results show that the CSHPSS plant leads to significant environmental and economic improvements compared to the use of a conventional natural gas heating system. Our tool can guide engineers and architects in the transition towards a more sustainable residential sector.

Abstract Global supply chains require integrated cost optimisation of sourcing, production and distribution through flexible networks of suppliers, manufacturers and logistics operators. The minimisation of environmental impacts of freight flows must be considered for sustainable development and should turn into a competitive advantage. To these aims, the paper presents a model integrating supply, production networks and sustainable freight transportation for strategic and tactical decision-making. Bill-of-Materials constraints are included in the model. The objective function considers sourcing, production and transportation costs as well as carbon dioxide emissions as environmental impacts of transport over a multimodal network. Computational experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the model for cost-emissions analysis.