• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close
• 7. Clean energy close
• 11. Sustainability close
• 3. Good health close
• UA close

Purpose. In modern conditions of energy consumption growth and a rapid increase in energy prices the actual problem is the development and implementation of energy efficiency programs and resource-saving conversion in to a source to provide the needs of industry and municipal power. The paper aims to solve the urgent problem of energy saving and efficient use of fuel-energy ones and heat supply system optimization on the basis of Uman National University of Horticulture (UNUH). Methodology. The work investigated the process of heating and hot water supply in the course of 2007-2015 years. Implementation of current problems of energy saving is grounded on the scientific-practical and efficient assurance of fuel and energy usage. At the same time energy-saving technologies are viewed as a priority direction of the energy sector development, reduction of man-induced impact on the environment and as a way of improving the competitiveness of the national economy. Findings. Statistical data acquisition and analyzing of gas flow and outside air temperature for nine years was carried out. On the basis of this analysis, the problem was identified and specific targets for its solutions were set. Originality. Scientific novelty lies in solving the problem of energy saving and efficient use of fuel resources in Ukraine through the use of a systematic approach, the methodology development of efficient use of different fuels and optimization of local heating operation, applying contemporary automation and control systems. Firstly it was in detail analyzed and conducted the comprehensive assessment of various factors influence on energy conservation. It takes into account the human factor, professionalism and responsibility of the operators of boilers and their superiors, as well as the relevant control services. Practical value. For UNUH campus hybrid use of solid fuel and gas boilers was carried out. Decentralization of the university heating system has been conducted through the restoration of 350 individual heating systems in residential buildings, remote departments and campus dormitories. The conclusions propose the list of activities upon the real economy of fuel and energy resources, and measures to overcome the economic and political crisis in the country.

The paper represents the analysis, which has helped to establish the usage of gas hydrate technologies in the methane conversion. This gas could be obtained in different ways. Possibilities and sources for the gas obtaining have been demonstrated. Use of other environmentally friendly sources to support operation in such systems in terms of joint energy complex has been considered. The necessary kinetic connections to provide operational sustainability of all the constituents have been given. The approach helps evaluate quantitatively the priority of its physicochemical transformations to obtain gas hydrates artificially. It is possible to transport methane at considerable distances when it is solidified. Actually, in this case there is no necessity to build costly compressor stations and pipelines for its transportation to consumers. The approach is extremely important for mining regions as it helps prolong the operating period and working out of the abandoned and off-balance coal reserves. In this case, it is proposed to apply special gasification technologies tending to maximum methane recovery. The proposed solutions give the possibility to define the trends of our further research. They will be highlighted in the following authors’ studies.

AbstractBackgroundThis study characterized the prevalence, drinking patterns, and sociodemographic characteristics of U.S. adult subpopulations with distinct drinking trajectories during the COVID‐19 pandemic's first 42 weeks.MethodsAdult respondents (n = 8130) in a nationally representative prospective longitudinal study completed 21 biweekly web surveys (March 2020 to January 2021). Past‐week alcohol drinking frequency (drinking days [range: 0 to 7]) and intensity (binge drinking on usual past‐week drinking day [yes/no]) were assessed at each timepoint. Growth mixture models identified multiple subpopulations with homogenous drinking trajectories based on mean drinking days or binge drinking proportional probabilities across time.ResultsFour drinking frequency trajectories were identified: Minimal/stable (72.8% [95% CI = 71.8 to 73.8]) with <1 mean past‐week drinking days throughout; Moderate/late decreasing (6.7% [95% CI = 6.2 to 7.3) with 3.13 mean March drinking days and reductions during summer, reaching 2.12 days by January 2021; Moderate/early increasing (12.9% [95% CI = 12.2 to 13.6) with 2.13 mean March drinking days that increased in April and then plateaued, ending with 3.20 mean days in January 2021; and Near daily/early increasing (7.6% [95% CI = 7.0 to 8.2]) with 5.58 mean March drinking days that continued increasing without returning to baseline. Four drinking intensity trajectories were identified: Minimal/stable (85.8% [95% CI = 85.0% to 86.5%]) with <0.01 binge drinking probabilities throughout; Low‐to‐moderate/fluctuating (7.4% [95% CI = 6.8% to 8%]) with varying binge probabilities across timepoints (range:0.12 to 0.26); Moderate/mid increasing (4.2% [95% CI = 3.7% to 4.6%]) with 0.39 April binge drinking probability rising to 0.65 during August–September without returning to baseline; High/early increasing trajectory (2.7% [95% CI = 2.3% to 3%]) with 0.84 binge drinking probability rising to 0.96 by June without returning to baseline. Males, Whites, middle‐aged/older adults, college degree recipients, those consistently working, and those above the poverty limit were overrepresented in various increasing (vs. minimal/stable) frequency trajectories. Males, Whites, nonmarried, those without college degree, 18 to 39‐year‐olds, and middle aged were overrepresented in increasing (vs. minimal/stable) intensity trajectories.ConclusionsSeveral distinct U.S. adult sociodemographic subpopulations appear to have acquired new drinking patterns during the pandemic's first 42 weeks. Frequent alcohol use assessment in the COVID‐19 era could improve personalized medicine and population health efforts to reduce drinking.

The possibility of band gap engineering (BGE) in RAlO3 (R = Y, La, Gd, Yb, Lu) perovskites in the context of trap depths of intrinsic point defects was investigated comprehensively using experimental and theoretical approaches. The optical band gap of the materials, E g, was determined via both the absorption measurements in the VUV spectral range and the spectra of recombination luminescence excitation by synchrotron radiation. The experimentally observed effect of E g reduction from ∼8.5 to ∼5.5 eV in RAlO3 perovskites with increasing R3+ ionic radius was confirmed by the DFT electronic structure calculations performed for RMIIIO3 crystals (R = Lu, Y, La; MIII = Al, Ga, In). The possibility of BGE was also proved by the analysis of thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) measured above room temperature for the far-red emitting (Y/Gd/La)AlO3:Mn4+ phosphors, which confirmed decreasing of the trap depths in the cation sequence Y → Gd → La. Calculations of the trap depths performed within the super cell approach for a number of intrinsic point defects and their complexes allowed recognizing specific trapping centers that can be responsible for the observed TSL. In particular, the electron traps of 1.33 and 1.43 eV (in YAlO3) were considered to be formed by the energy level of oxygen vacancy (VO) with different arrangement of neighboring YAl and VY, while shallower electron traps of 0.9-1.0 eV were related to the energy level of YAl antisite complexes with neighboring VO or (VO + VY). The effect of the lowering of electron trap depths in RAlO3 was demonstrated for the VO-related level of the (YAl + VO + VY) complex defect for the particular case of La substituting Y.

The article is devoted to main theoretical and practical questions concerning “green” investments in logistics infrastructure objects. This type of investments has certain peculiarities as it deals with the sphere which is related to any kind of business and human’s activity. Logistic infrastructure forms mobility. But no significant change in a separate facility will not give a significant result without a support to the relevant network and the highest intellectual level of its use. Planning of logistic infrastructure should be performed in such way that the positive effect on economic growth was maximal, and the negative impact on the environment is minimal. Thant’s why improving logistics infrastructure facilitates achieving sustainable goals as it works simultaneously for economic, environmental and social development. Thus it is extremely important to implement such tool from “green” economy concept as “green” investments towards logistics infrastructure objects. There were analyzed different theoretical approaches to the definition of “green” investments in the paper. The result of deep research of worlds’ best practical trends for “green” investing in logistics infrastructure objects is provided. There studied separately mentioned tendencies for all subtypes of hard logistics infrastructure: transport (electrification of vehicles, low-carbon transport systems, sustainable fuels), warehouse (automation, distribution centers decentralization, energy-efficient equipment and construction), packaging (suitable for processing packaging materials, moving from plastic to more environmental types of packaging), information infrastructure (energy-efficient servers, cloud computing, reducing the number of toxic materials and water required for the production of electronic devices), customs (The Green Customs Initiative), social (smart containers, automated food waste tracking systems and automated technologies of optical scanning). Also were studied main instruments to attract necessary finance support for “green” investments and analyzed ways how to implement them in Ukrainian market with its peculiarities.

This paper focuses on the visualization of eco problems and the latest green technologies, including energy-saving. Today, there are four color-graphic means in advertising: photography, graphics (drawing or computer graphics), font compositions, and often a combination of these. Our study considers the imagery and stylistics of eco poster as a type of public advertising, and ascertains that in the subject of energy-saving a light bulb as the visual stereotype prevails. The paper indicates the importance of system design thinking, the use of creative approaches in the educational process of designers (metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole, association, allegory also) in creating social appeals for a wide audience – from young children to the older generation. Moreover, it emphasized the social value of design, and the aesthetic, moral as well as communicative aspects of visual information of environmental orientation within the context of this study.

Abstract Smart building concepts are a relevant topic for the Ukrainian building sector. Although the current policy is mostly dedicated to the improvement of the current energy-saving situation in the building stock, the concept discussed could provide valuable inputs in the realization of the existing strategy. For an assessment of the expected positive impact of the implementation of smart indicators on building operation and renovation processes, as well as the predictions of scenarios of the range of the application of smart instruments, the research presented proposes a thorough analysis of the building stock in Ukraine and, in a real pilot case, the assessment of smart-readiness indicators (SRI) for a complex multi-family building. The case scenarios used, which are derived on the basis of SRI and a processed questionnaire among the habitants, are considered as the reference foundation for a practical application and disseminating the concept for similar cases.

In this study, the characterization of several bacterial diseases affecting silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.), common ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.), white poplar (Populus alba L.), and white willow (Salix alba L.) in Ukraine were described. The typical symptoms, features of pathogenesis, and characteristics of the causative agents of the most common bacterial diseases of these tree species were shown. The following types of bacterioses were noted to be especially dangerous, namely, bacterial wetwood, fire blight, bacterial canker, and tuberculosis. Bacterial necrosis of the bark was a less dangerous disease. At the same time, all of the listed types of bacterioses were registered within the forest areas of the investigated region. The study revealed that bacterial wetwood of birch and poplar was caused by Lelliottia nimipressuralis; the bacterial canker of poplar is Pseudomonas syringae (Pseudomonas syringae f. populi and Pseudomonas cerasi); the fire poplar blight is caused by Pseudomonas cerasi (P. syringae); the common ash tuberculosis is caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. savastanoi; and the bacterial wilt of the willow is caused by Brenneria salicis. The phenomenon of the introduction of microorganisms of different functional orientations as well as the formation of conditions for their activity in the rhizosphere of plants have been studied. In the future, it will provide the development of effective methods for the rapid identification of causative agents of bacterioses and plant protection measures based on multi-functional microbiological preparations based on highly effective strains of microorganisms.

ABSTRACT The growing interest in alternative fuels based on plant oils has led to the search for new plant species. Given this, during 2015–2020, oil from 12 varieties of oilseed radish was studied using standard research protocols. The average content of the dominant fatty acids in the oils studied was: [cis-9] oleic (C 18:1) 33.95% (Cv = 14.2%), [cis-9,12] linoleic (C 18:2) 16.20% (Cv = 20.8%), [cis-13] erucic (C 22:1) 15.18% (Cv = 17.9%), [cis-9, 12, 15] α-linolenic (C 18:3) 13.33% (Cv = 18.5%) and palmitic (C 16:0) 5.42% (Cv = 18.5%), with a monounsaturated fatty acid content of 59.69% and a ratio of polyunsaturated/monounsaturated fatty acids of 0.508. The studied varieties were ranked in the order of increasing suitability as a component of biofuels: ‘Zhuravka’ < ‘Raiduha’ < ‘Lybid’ < ‘Olga’ < ‘Iveya’ < ‘Ramonta’ < ‘Alpha’ < ‘Tambovchanka’ < ‘Fakel’ < ‘Snizhana’ < ‘Sabina’ < ‘Nika’. The technological suitability of oil from the ‘Zhuravka’ variety was confirmed based on analysis of its physicochemical parameters when subjected to polymerization (at 280 °C) and oxypolymerization (at 120 and 150 °C). Under these conditions the basic parameters of the oil varied within the technological limits that determine its suitability for thermodynamic combustion processes in systems with controlled pressure and temperature.

The paper presents the comparative analysis of the amount of waste generated in Ukraine and European countries (except for radioactive waste) based on the official EU and Ukrainian statistical data. The data on waste generation are compiled according to the following classification: by economic activity and household, waste category, grades of hazard, and regions. In Ukraine, 352.3 million tons of waste was generated in 2018. By 2018, almost 13 billion tons of waste had been accumulated at the managed dumpsites, including about 12 million tons of hazardous and over 200 million tons of household waste. In the European Union, 2.6 billion tons of waste was generated in 2018. Over 70% of it was generated by 10 countries: Germany, France, England, Poland, Romania, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Finland. By economic activity, the largest amounts of waste in Ukraine are generated by the mineral extraction and processing industry, the smallest – from water treatment and construction. In the EU countries, these values are somewhat different. For example, in Germany and France, the largest amounts of waste are generated from construction and manufacturing, the smallest – from agriculture, forestry and fishery. By waste category, the waste generated both in the EU countries and in Ukraine is mineral and solid waste. In Ukraine, the largest amounts of waste are produced and accumulated in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions which accommodate large enterprises for extraction and mineral processing of iron and manganese ores, titanium-zirconium placers, coal, dolomite, and metallurgical limestone, as well as metallurgical and ferroalloy plants.