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This paper evaluated the environmental effects of socially responsible investments (SRIs) in European countries and analyzed the differentiation between them in terms of SRIs and selected features in the environmental dimension. The first section of the paper discusses contemporary trends in Europe and in certain European countries, whilst the second compares SR environmental investments and environmental factors in selected European countries from a multidimensional perspective. The aim of the study was to identify and evaluate these trends as well as to find similarities and differences between European countries, and subsequently to indicate groups of countries with similar approaches to pro-ecological investments. In order to solve the problem, descriptive and multidimensional statistical methods were used, namely correspondence analysis (CA). Although the research results clearly revealed upward tendencies in the volume of SR environmental investments in the analyzed period, they nonetheless represent a relatively low share in the total number of socially responsible investments. The overall growth in SRIs in Europe may have resulted from the more intense activities of policymakers in some countries as a consequence of concluding agreements reached during the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in 2015. The results of the study also revealed no significant correlations between SR environmental investments and environmental variables among the European countries analyzed; hence, there is no substantial evidence that investors’ assets contribute to the improvement of the environment.

This study focuses on formulating the most sustainable concrete by incorporating recycled concrete aggregates and other products retrieved from construction and demolition (C&D) activities. Both recycled coarse aggregates (RCA) and recycled fine aggregates (RFA) are firstly used to fully replace the natural coarse and fine aggregates in the concrete mix design. Later, the cement rich ultrafine particles, recycled glass powder and mineral fibres recovered from construction and demolition wastes (CDW) are further incorporated at a smaller rate either as cement substituent or as supplementary additives. Remarkable properties are noticed when the RCA (4–12 mm) and RFA (0.25–4 mm) are fully used to replace the natural aggregates in a new concrete mix. The addition of recycled cement rich ultrafines (RCU), Recycled glass ultrafines (RGU) and recycled mineral fibres (RMF) into recycled concrete improves the modulus of elasticity. The final concrete, which comprises more than 75% (wt.) of recycled components/materials, is believed to be the most sustainable and green concrete mix. Mechanical properties and durability of this concrete have been studied and found to be within acceptable limits, indicating the potential of recycled aggregates and other CDW components in shaping sustainable and circular construction practices. The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support from EU Horizon 2020 Project VEEP ‘‘Cost-Effective Recycling of C&DW in High Added Value Energy Efficient Prefabricated Concrete Compo-nents for Massive Retrofitting of our Built Environment” (No.723582).

The assessment of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and air pollutants emitted to and removed from the atmosphere ranks high on international political and scientific agendas. Growing international concern and cooperation regarding the climate change problem have increased the need to consider the uncertainty in inventories of GHG emissions. The approaches to address uncertainty discussed in this special issue reflect attempts to improve national inventories, not only for their own sake but also from a wider, system analytic perspective. They seek to strengthen the usefulness of national emission inventories under a compliance and/or global monitoring and reporting framework. The papers in this special issue demonstrate the benefits of including inventory uncertainty in policy analyses. The issues raised by the authors and featured in their papers, along with the role that uncertainty analysis plays in many of their arguments, highlight the challenges and the importance of dealing with uncertainty. While the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly stresses the value of conducting uncertainty analyses and offers guidance on executing them, the arguments made here in favor of performing these studies go well beyond any suggestions made by the IPCC to date. Improving and conducting uncertainty analyses are needed to develop a clear understanding and informed policy. Uncertainty matters and is key to many issues related to inventorying and reducing emissions. Considering uncertainty helps to avoid situations that can create a false sense of certainty or lead to invalid views of subsystems. Dealing proactively with uncertainty allows for the generation of useful knowledge that the international community should have to hand while strengthening the 2015 Paris Agreement, which had been agreed at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, considering uncertainty does not come free. Proper treatment of uncertainty is demanding because it forces us to take the step from “simple to complex” and to grasp a holistic system view. Only, thereafter, can we consider potential simplifications. That is, comprehensive treatment of uncertainty does not necessarily offer quick or easy solutions for policymakers. This special issue brings together 13 papers that resulted from the 2015 (4th) International Workshop on Uncertainty in Atmospheric Emissions, in Cracow, Poland. While they deal with many different aspects of the uncertainty in emission estimates, they are guided by the same principal question: “What GHGs shall be verified at what spatio-temporal scale to support conducive legislation at local and national scales, while ensuring effective governance at the global scale?” This question is at the heart of mitigation and adaptation. It requires an understanding of the entire system of GHG sources and sinks, their spatial characteristics and the temporal scales at which they react and interact, the uncertainty (accuracy and/or precision) with which fluxes can be measured, and last but not least, the consequences that follow from all of the aforementioned aspects, for policy actors to frame compliance and/or global monitoring and reporting agreements. This bigger system context serves as a reference for the papers in the special issue, irrespective of their spatio-temporal focus, and is used as a guide for the reader.

Nowadays about 60% of world production and consumption of plastics are polyolefines. They are used as packaging, in building engineering, automotive industry or electronic engineering. High calorific value and proper Chemical composition of polyolefines (based on carbon and hydrogen) make them ideal for use in a wide range of applications. The polyolefines can be used as a substitute for coke in blast-furnace processes. This paper outlines thermal decomposition of PE-LD, PE-HD, PP which are used in agriculture and packaging from household. Thermogravimetry (TG) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) were used as analytical methods.

Abstract Worldwide the search for new raw materials that are suitable for the production of energy pellets is increasing. Each new raw material undergoes evaluation through various analytical processes and quality assessments before being considered for use as energy pellet. In recent times, the raw materials such as agricultural, forestry, and food waste, as well as the surpluses originating from the agri-food production have become very popular for the production of energy pellets. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of using lignocellulosic raw materials such as chamomile waste, birch sawdust, pea waste, and soybean waste for the production of pellets. In this study, we focused on the production of thermal energy from pellets by assessing the pellets in accordance with the required standards. The results have shown that lignocellulosic raw materials can be used to produce good quality energy pellets. The proportion of individual raw materials determines the individual strength characteristics of pellets and the suitability of pellets to produce thermal energy.

Abstract The innovation of this research was a holistic approach to the problem of linking the biometric characteristics of six energy plants species and the distribution of moisture along the shoot‘ height and determination of linear models of particle sizes in relation to the moisture. The median biometric parameters values for growth phases I and II were as follows: shoot weight: 63 g and 65 g; stalk weight: 45.1 g and 43.8 g; plant length: 1273 mm and 2157 mm; shoot centre of gravity: 698 mm and 968 mm; slenderness ratio 147 and 215, respectively. For big bluestem and Spartina pectinata the largest values were for slenderness ratio and for phase II amounted to 403 and 410, respectively but most other parameters were the smallest values. Regarding the shoots’ growth, the greatest influence was on the stalks by increasing their lengths more than their diameters. The highest difference in the plant length between harvest terms was observed for Spartina pectinata which increased from 793 mm to 2257 mm (by 185%). The lengths of the Jerusalem artichoke, miscanthus and big bluestem plants also significantly increased: from 1345 mm to 2920 mm (117%), 1214 mm to 2065 mm (70%) and 1064 mm to 1779 mm (67%), respectively. Positive correlation coefficient values between parameters (shoot weight, leaf weight, stalk weight and plant length) indicate that to characterize of plant shoots the shoot mass and plant slenderness could be used. The Rosin-Rammler function fit the chopped plan material size distribution data with an R 2 = 0.909–0.991. All the biomass particle sizes belonged to the “very poorly sorted” category (2.00 mm ≤ σ ig ≤ 4.00 mm), and the particle size distributions were “fine skewed” (0.1 ≤ GS is ≤ 0.3) and “mesokurtic” (0.90 ≤ K gs ≤ 1.11). For grasses relation of particle sizes vs. moisture for phase II (August for Spartina and big bluestem or October for miscanthus) was inverted to phase I (June) with slope coefficients −0.11 and 0.09, respectively. For leaf plants direction of the relation was preserved, wherein for phase II (all plants harvested in October) the growth dynamic was lower than for phase I and slope coefficients of the lines were 0.17 and 0.04, respectively. Moisture content of leafy plants was high, and its distribution along the shoots’ heights was different than that for grasses. Varied values of particle size and weight of plant components, together with the change in moisture along the height of the plants, will impact the diversity of the dynamic loads of elements and working units of forage harvesters and can be useful to explain these results.

The activity of enterprises in the energy sector is complicated by the complexity and capital intensity of the resources and processes used. In the current market conditions, an additional challenge is the implementation of sustainable development, including, in particular, environmental and social goals. These circumstances require efficient and effective management, and this is possible, inter alia, thanks to the use of the project management. However, this approach requires not only implementation, but also professional monitoring and control, which is considered and diagnosed in this article. The purpose of this article is to: (a) verify the programme management areas subject to the monitoring and control process; (b) identify and evaluate the effectiveness of the most frequently used methods in the process of monitoring and control of the programme implementation. A qualitative study using a structured interview was conducted among 21 experts involved in the implementation of programmes from the energy sector. The authors found that energy companies monitor and control programmes in key, but traditional areas such as lead times, costs, risks and benefits. They less often refer to ‘soft’ areas of management, such as: work, communication or quality. In terms of the monitoring and control methodology used, significant discrepancies were found between the methods considered effective and those that are most often used in practice. This requires decisive improvement actions. At the same time, it is worth emphasising that the majority of managers prefer compact and quantifiable forms of monitoring and control, such as: earned value method, Gantt chart and comparing plans to results in individual areas. The sector also lacks a systemic approach to programme management, which should be distinguished from single project management, which is why the authors presented their own approach to solving this problem.

European harmonisation of construction products provides a uniform expression of performance aspects relevant for essential characteristics coming from notified technical building regulations of the EU Member States. Since the current regulation has been in force for over seven years, this study evaluates further possibilities of its evolution, including a more efficient approach to implementing environmental sustainability aspects. The provided research is based on qualitative analysis of the past and current legislation, official documents, related guidance, judgements, scientific articles and the author’s practical experience coming from participation in the European committees, organisations and standardisation activities. Various legislative techniques and regulatory tools that could be potentially used to review the Construction Products Regulation are analysed and compared with regards to their impact on the inclusion of environmental sustainability principles. Therefore, the objective of this research is to provide substantive grounds that can be directly or indirectly used in the policymaking processes on the European and national level.