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The construction industry is responsible for a substantial fraction of materials and energy consumption, waste generation, CO2 and other pollutant emissions. Life cycle assessment (LCA) can be used to study and compare the environmental impacts of buildings under different scenarios. This study comparatively assesses the impact of several design options, envelope solutions and operational conditions on the energy life cycle (LC) of a single-family house in southern Europe (Portugal) taken as case-study. The following parameters are evaluated: location, orientation, building shape, windows placement and sizing, insulation level, exterior wall construction, operational pattern, ventilation level, heating system, and end-of-life (EoL) scenarios. The non-renewable primary energy (NRPE) results are presented for the total LC of the house. Afterward, the overall embodied energy is analyzed and the results are presented per component and LC process of the house, in order to assess the contribution of each component. Finally, different circular economy EoL scenarios are analyzed to assess their potential benefits. As buildings are typically unique, complex, and difficult to compare with each other, the results of this paper will contribute for future comparison purposes, in order to foster LCA studies devoted to Mediterranean houses.

Prior and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have resulted in substantial changes to everyday life. The pandemic and measures of its control affect mental health negatively. Self-reported data from 15,375 participants from 23 countries were collected from May to August 2020 during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two questionnaires measuring anxiety level were used in this study—the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and the State Anxiety Inventory (SAI). The associations between a set of social indicators on anxiety during COVID-19 (e.g., sex, age, country, live alone) were tested as well. Self-reported anxiety during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic varied across countries, with the maximum levels reported for Brazil, Canada, Italy, Iraq and the USA. Sex differences of anxiety levels during COVID-19 were also examined, and results showed women reported higher levels of anxiety compared to men. Overall, our results demonstrated that the self-reported symptoms of anxiety were higher compared to those reported in general before pandemic. We conclude that such cultural dimensions as individualism/collectivism, power distance and looseness/tightness may function as protective adaptive mechanisms against the development of anxiety disorders in a pandemic situation.

Abstract The goal of this research is to analyse the cost-effective opportunities in continental Portugal to achieve full decarbonisation of the electricity generation sector by 2050. Since interconnection with neighbouring Spain may be one of the key drivers to achieve a cost-effective low carbon pathway, combined with new generating technologies, we evaluate its importance by modelling the Portuguese system either as an isolated or as part of an integrated Iberian system. To design the low carbon roadmap for 2050 in Portugal, TIMES – The Integrated MARKAL-EFOM (MARKet ALlocation-Energy Flow Optimisation Model) System was used. It is an optimization partial equilibrium bottom-up model generator that finds the minimal cost solution for an energy system over a certain time period. Our approach accounts for the short term dynamics of supply and demand to enable a better match and optimize resources complementarities. The results show that modelling Portugal as an isolated system can lead to underinvestment and underuse of the country's endowment of renewable energy sources in the longer term, which reduces the efficiency of investment. The modelling of Portugal as an interconnected energy system can therefore have a significant impact on the design of a sustainable electricity system and lead to improved investment efficiency with lower costs risk.

This paper articulates a paradigm shift in the adoption of a critical ecopedagogy focused on substantive and systemic change within nature sports. In analyzing the unifying concept of nature sports, we propose an ontological shift towards genuine sustainability, a communion among people and with nature. These activities comprise a group of physical practices that have the potential to challenge participants in novel ways that provide an alternative to traditional sports and the ideological values associated with these dominant sports, such as competition and personal gain. Nature sports inscribe meaning on bodies in motion, with a blurring or erasure of boundaries, as participants become one with nature rather than seeking to exploit or conquer it. These novel and countercultural practices promise the possibility of systemic sustainability, as participants redefine sport in terms of relational equity and ecoliteracy. As a utopian project, this systems approach recognizes the nature-sport nexus as a living framework to honor culturally appropriate practices and traditions in building an ecological movement centered on environmental justice. In this way, nature sports offer an opportunity to reimagine sustainable development through the promotion of a circular, rather than linear, economy—an economy based on re-creation rather than exploitation and waste.

This study aims to identify and characterize the understanding of the concept of Sustainable Development in the official scientific educational documents of basic education in Portugal. Methodologically, it is a qualitative study that fits into the interpretive paradigm; its implementation is based on an interpretative-descriptive strategy of exploratory nature. The study involved the organization of the analysis corpus and the subsequent content analysis of the selected documents. The documents included in this corpus are the official educational documents on the teaching and learning of Natural Sciences in Basic Education (1st to 9th grade—ages 6 to 15): the Essential Learning and two transversal documents (the Student Profile on Leaving Compulsory Schooling and the Environmental Education Framework for Sustainability). The obtained results show that these documents frame and guide the implementation of Education for Sustainable Development, in all its dimensions, throughout basic education. However, this does not happen in an equitable way, neither in all documents nor in all years of schooling.

Abstract The need to develop innovative technologies that could replace fossil fuels and, consequently contribute to the reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases is now clear. In this circumstance, algal biofuels are generating considerable interest around the world. The purpose of this study is to provide an integrated assessment of microalgae potential as a source of biofuels, while comparing its costs with that from other emerging biofuel technologies. This article emphasizes the importance of emerging United States and European Union energy policies that will encourage the development of innovative, and sustainable technologies in their respective regions. An ample review of the scientific literature was carried out, contributing to the analysis of cost, economic and technical indicators. The results obtained allowed the detection of important gaps of information that need to be filled, in order to guide future investment decisions concerning this rising technology.

Creative tourism is a relatively new field of research with most attention directed to creative tourism activities in large cities. Little research has been conducted on creative tourism development strategies in extra-metropolitan contexts. The CREATOUR project aimed to improve understanding of the processes (under different conditions and situations) through which creative tourism activities can be developed, implemented, and made sustainable. This article reports on a national analysis of approaches developed by the project’s participating organizations to offer creative tourism initiatives. At an organizational level, we found five main models: Stand-alone offers, repeated; series of creative activities and other initiatives under a common theme; localized networks for creative tourism; small-scale festivals that include creative tourism activities; and creative accommodations. At a broader community level, creative tourism initiatives can inspire new ideas and avenues of activity and contribute to cultural vitality and potential regeneration dynamics through reinforcing distinctive elements of local identity, instigating flows and connections between the locale and the external, and serving as platforms for local collaboration, exchange, and development. In the time of COVID-19, enhancing connections with other organizations locally and regionally can contribute to wider initiatives and the development of community-based regeneration strategies.

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Engenharia Química apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia O estudo de novos tipos de energia e seus processos de produção tem sido encorajada devido ao elevado consumo energético global. A biomassa lenhocelulósica, devido à sua ubiquidade, tem sido alvo de extensos estudos com vista à produção de açúcares fermentáveis, produtos intermédios em diversos processos industriais, ou etanol. Adicionalmente, a nível industrial, são produzidas quantidades elevadas de lamas primárias que ainda podem ser reaproveitadas para a obtenção de produtos com valor acrescentado.Os processos biotecnológicos são processos de baixo custo energético e manutenção, o que os torna especialmente interessantes para aplicações e processos industriais. Dentro desses processos, encontra-se a hidrólise enzimática, um processo que recorre a enzimas, como a celulase, para transformar celulose em glucose, um açúcar fermentável, e a sacarificação e fermentação simultâneas, ou SSF, um processo que se foca na produção de bioetanol com recurso a leveduras, como a levedura Saccharomyces cerevisiae, que consomem os açúcares simples na sua atividade metabólica.O principal objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a viabilidade das lamas primárias, provenientes de uma fábrica de papel kraft, às quais foram adicionadas fibras recicladas, para a produção direta de açúcares fermentáveis, através do processo de hidrólise enzimática e para a produção de bioetanol, através da metodologia SSF.Observou-se que a partir do processo de hidrólise enzimática, a concentração máxima de glucose obtida para as lamas primárias foi de 15,2 g L-1, resultando num rendimento teórico de hidrólise de 64,6%. Posteriormente estudou-se a aplicação de um tratamento alcalino com fosfato monopotássico, um agente que permite remover tintas, onde se obteve uma concentração de açúcares de 19,6 g L-1 ao fim de 24 h de reação.Na metodologia SSF obtiveram-se concentrações máximas de etanol de 6,2 g L-1 para as lamas primárias sem tratamento e de 6,9 g L-1 para as lamas primárias com tratamento alcalino, para uma consistência de 3% de massa de suspensão. No entanto, para as lamas com o tratamento mencionado anteriormente, e para uma consistência superior, 6%, obteve-se uma concentração máxima de etanol de 11,8 g L-1. The study of new types of energy and their production processes has been encouraged due to the high global energy consumption. Lignocellulosic biomass, due to its ubiquity, has been the subject of extensive studies considering the production of fermentable sugars, intermediate compounds in various chemical processes, and ethanol production. Additionally, at an industrial level, high quantities of sludge are produced that can still be used to generate products with greater value.Biotechnological processes are processes with a low energy and maintenance cost, which make them especially valued for industrial applications and processes. Within these processes, enzymatic hydrolysis is a process that uses enzymes, like cellulose, to transform cellulose into glucose, a fermentable sugar, and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) is a process that produces bioethanol with the utilization of yeasts, like Saccharomyces cerevisiae, who consume simple sugars for their metabolism to produce ethanol.The primary objective of this work was to study the viability of the primary sludge, given by a kraft paper facility, to which were added recycled fibres, for the direct production of fermentable sugars, by the use of the enzymatic hydrolysis process, and for bioethanol production, by the use of the SSF methodology.The maximum sugar concentration observed in the enzymatic hydrolysis, for the primary non-treated sludge was 15,2 g L-1, which represents a theoretical hydrolysis yield of 64,6%. Meanwhile, by applying an alkaline treatment with the aid of monopotassium phosphate, an additive that allows ink removal, a maximum sugar concentration of 19,6 g L-1 was obtained, after 24 h.In the SSF methodology, the maximum ethanol concentration was 6,2 g L-1 for the non-treated primary sludge and 6,6 g L-1 for the treated sludge, both for a mass concentration of 3%. However, for a higher consistency, 6%, a maximum ethanol concentration of 11,8 g L-1 was obtained for the treated primary sludge.