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During recent decades, observations of several variables provide evidence of the ongoing anthropogenic climate change in the Mediterranean region, particularly increase of mean and extreme temperatures, and dry environmental conditions. Climate projections show that the region will among the most affected regions by climate change, specifically regarding precipitation and the hydrological cycle, but also mean warming and heat extremes (in both the terrestrial and marine environment), sea level rise and sea water acidification. Basin-wide, annual mean temperatures are now 1.5°C above the preindustrial level. In the last decades dry conditions have become more frequent and a large reduction of glaciers across high mountains of the Mediterranean has occurred at a progressively increasing pace. Mediterranean Sea waters have become warmer and saltier, Mediterranean sea level has risen at a rate (1.4 mm yr-1) similar to the global trend at centennial scale. In the future, the regional average warming will exceed the global mean value by 20% and it might reach 5.6°C at the end of the 21st century in the RCP8.5 high emission scenario. Heat waves and warm temperature extremes will intensify. Total annual precipitation is expected to decrease over most of the region (the average reduction rate is approximately 4% per each degree of global warming). However, magnitude and spatial distribution of changes are uncertain, because of differences among models. Dry conditions will be further enhanced by increasing evapotranspiration over land. At the same time, the inter-annual variability of the hydrological cycle will increase, with longer dry spells especially in the southern areas. Extreme precipitation events will become more intense over large parts of the northern Mediterranean areas. Mediterranean mean sea level is projected to be at the end of the 21st century in the range from 20 to 110 cm higher than at the end of the 20th century, depending on the level of anthropogenic emissions. Sub-regional and local relative sea level rise will be further modulated by vertical land motions and regional circulation features (with deviations in the order of 10 cm from the basin average). Therefore, though in the future milder marine storms are expected, coastal hazards, floods and erosion will increase, because of mean sea level rise. Widespread seawater warming will continue. Annual mean surface temperature will increase 2.7-3.8°C and 1.1-2.1°C in one century under the RCP8.5 and the RCP4.5 scenarios, respectively. Marine heat waves will become longer, more intense than today and their spatial extent will increase. Seawater acidification will continue, with a pH reduction that might larger than 0.4 units at the end of the 21st century

The new challenges posed at the European level, with the Next Generation EU, and at the national level, with the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, increase the priority of measuring spatial transformation through specific indicators. For this purpose, it is crucial to measure the effect of the transformations provided by current planning with respect to the goals of 2030 Agenda to assess their sustainability/unsustainability and, if necessary, propose improvements in the field of territorial planning. The work presented describes a research experience developed in collaboration with the Abruzzo Region, in Southern Italy, to support regional activities for the drafting of the Regional Sustainable Development Strategy (RSDS). The proposed methodology consists of a dynamic analysis through which it is possible to assess the positioning of regional planning in relation to the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Such position can be evaluated by carrying out a coherence analysis between the objectives of the Abruzzo Region's Plans and those of 2030 Agenda together with the selection of a set of indicators useful for monitoring the sustainability of territorial transformations expected by regional planning. In particular, the first recognition of the sustainability indicators was carried out from the ones proposed by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA). UPLanD - Journal of Urban Planning, Landscape & environmental Design, Vol 6 No 1: Contemporary Urbanism

The main goal of this review is to emphasize the emerging role of the scientific community of applied geophysics in supporting actions for urban planning. We analyse the new scenario related to the global urbanization process and its impact on environmental sustainability and resilience to natural disasters of urban areas. A selected list of case-studies concerning the application of geophysical methods for the subsurface exploration in historical cities of Italy and megacities located in Asia and south America are described and discussed. The analysis clearly demonstrates that the geophysical surveys are assuming a great relevance to manage the underground urban environment and to adopt new strategies for the mitigation of geological risks. The sensor synergy strategy, the novel algorithms for the tomographic imaging and the capability to explore the subsoil with a multi-resolution approach are the key of success of the urban geophysics. Finally, the innovative aspects of the CLARA project funded by MIUR for promoting the integration of the remote and ground-based technologies for surface and subsurface imaging in urban areas are presented and discussed.

The reduction of CO2 emission into the atmosphere as a result of human activity is one of the most important environmental challenges to face in the next decennia. Emission of CO2, related to the use of fossil fuels, is believed to be one of the main causes of global warming and climate change. In this scenario, the production of biomethane from organic waste, as a renewable energy source, is one of the most promising strategies to reduce fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emission. Unfortunately, biogas upgrading still produces the greenhouse gas CO2 as a waste product. Therefore, this work presents a case study on biogas upgrading, aimed at the simultaneous purification of methane and CO2 via different steps, including CO2/methane separation by polymeric membranes. The original objective of the project was the biogas upgrading to distribution grid quality methane, but the innovative aspect of this case study is the further purification of the captured CO2, transforming it from a useless by-product to a pure gas with food-grade quality, suitable for commercial application in the food and beverage industry. The study was performed on a pilot plant constructed by Tecno Project Industriale Srl (TPI) Italy. This is a model of one of the largest biogas production and purification plants. The full-scale anaerobic digestion plant (Montello Spa, North Italy), has a digestive capacity of 400.000 ton of biomass/year and can treat 6.250 m3/hour of biogas from FORSU (organic fraction of solid urban waste). The entire upgrading process consists of a number of purifications steps: 1.Dehydration of the raw biogas by condensation. 2.Removal of trace impurities such as H2S via absorption. 3.Separation of CO2 and methane via a membrane separation process 4.Removal of trace impurities from CO2. The gas separation with polymeric membranes guarantees complete simultaneous removal of microorganisms. The chemical purity of the different process streams was analysed by a certified laboratory and was compared with the guidelines of the European Industrial Gases Association and the International Society of Beverage Technologists (EIGA/ISBT) for CO2 used in the food industry. The microbiological purity was compared with the limit values defined in the European Collaborative Action. With a purity of 96-99 vol%, the purified methane respects the legal requirements for the household network. At the same time, the CO2 reaches a purity of >98.1% before, and 99.9% after the final distillation process. According to the EIGA/ISBT guidelines, the CO2 proves to be chemically and microbiologically sufficiently pure to be suitable for food-grade applications.

Traditional large appliances absorb a large share of residential electricity consumption and represent important targets of energy policy strategies aimed at achieving energy security. Despite being characterized by rather mature technologies, this group of appliances still offers large potential in terms of efficiency gains due to their pervasive diffusion. In this paper we analyse the electricity consumption of a set of four traditional 'white goods' in a panel of ten EU countries observed over 21 years (1990-2010), with the aim of disentangling the amount of technical efficiency from the overall energy saving. The technical efficiency trend is modelled through a set of technology components representing both the invention and adoption process by the means of specific patents weighted by production and bilateral import flows, which allows to overcome the rigid Stochastic Frontier framework in modelling the effect of technical change. Our results show that the derived energy demand and inefficiency trends are both related to changes in the amount of available technology embodied in energy efficient appliances. The effect is significant both in its domestic and international components and suggests an active role of innovation and trade policies for achieving efficiency targets which directly impact the amount of electricity consumed by households.

In the framework of the waste circular economy, anaerobic digestion (AD) is a promising treatment option, due to both renewable energy and fertilizer production. Nevertheless, in mesophilic conditions a part of the organic carbon fed is not degraded, reducing the possibility to fully exploit the waste energy potential, and opening the research to advanced processes that can increase AD efficiency. In this study, AD of food waste was investigated in thermophilic conditions. Scope of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of a mild thermal pre-treatment on the solubilisation of complex organics and the digestion enhancement potential in terms of H2 and CH4 conversion rates. Thermal pre-treatment promoted complex organics solubilisation (soluble COD up to +40%) in particular with reference to starch and hemi-cellulose fraction. The high amount of released sugars was rapidly transformed into H2 in the first hours of AD, with high yields (up to 2.6 mol H2/mol glucose) and significant gain with respect to untreated waste. Ultimate methane yield was not affected by the substrate pre-treatment, but the positive impact was shown by the increase in anaerobic biodegradability, and kinetics. Proceedings of the 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 12-15 June 2017, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 926-931

Food production, preservation, distribution and organic food waste deposal, consume a considerable amount of energy and contribute to the total CO2 emission [1]. This associated to the use of traditional fossil fuel energies are the main cause of environmental pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. In this contest it's necessary to reduce the CO2 emission, making the food chain more sustainable trough the use of renewable energy. The biogas obtained from the anaerobic digestion of biomass based on the organic wastes of food is one of the most promising alternative energy. The biogas upgrading still produces the greenhouse gas CO2 as waste product. This work presents a case study, aimed at biogas upgrading with simultaneous purification of methane, CO2 and concomitant re-use of CO2 in the food industry. The objective was to evaluate the feasibility of biogas upgrading to distribution grid quality methane, via different purification steps, including CO2/CH4 separation by polymeric membranes. The innovative aspect is the further purification of CO2 from a useless by-product to a food-grade quality gas for commercial application in the food and beverage industry. The chemical purity of gas streams was compared with the guidelines of the European Industrial Gases Association and the International Society of Beverage Technologists (EIGA /ISBT) for CO2 used in the food industry. The microbiological purity was compared with the limit values defined in the European Collaborative Action [3,4]. The chemical and microbiological analysis of CO2 was proved to be suitable for food-grade applications. References: 1. I.E. Grossmann, Comput. Chem. Eng. 29 (2004) 29-39 2. P. Roy, J. Food Eng. 90 (2009) 1-10 3. P. Carrer et al., Science of the total environment, 270 (2001) 1-3. 4.EIGA_Spezifikationen

Underground Built Heritage (UBH), such as quarries and caves, dismissed infrastructure, religious sites and human settlements, represents an outstanding cultural landscape to preserve, re-use and share, respectfully of the inherited values and traditions of different cultural contexts. This resource's valorisation finds relevant barriers in the lack of adequate scientific and technical knowledge, technological capabilities and financial resources. The COST Action "Underground4value"promotes a change of perspective, through the establishment of a wide network of academics, practitioners, decision-makers, and innovators. It introduces new practices and behaviours for developing community engagement, with more effective coalitions of 'actors' encouraged and facilitated in their collaborative relationships. Success-stories, such as Matera (IT), Göreme (TR), and Postojna (SI), emphasise the importance of the consensus on the values to protect and carry on to future generations and which attributes carry these values. Only with such consensus, UBH would become a strategic opportunity at neighbourhood, urban and regional level.

The paper introduces the COST ACTION "Underground Built Heritage as catalyser for Community Valorisation (Underground4value)" (2019-2023). The action aims at establishing and implementing an expert network to promote a balanced and sustainable conservation of the underground heritage, and realise its potential in urban and rural areas for regeneration policies. In particular, it investigates four case studies per year on underground regeneration policies, and provides knowledge on main technical and organisational barriers to the underground regeneration and correlated solutions, by also developing new training modules. The action advances, on the one side, in the classification of artificial cavities, by linking the typologies to their functions and potential re-uses and promotes archaeological and historical research for each case study. On the other side, it introduces technological innovation, by promoting 3D computer modelling of UBH, as a primary thrust for underground heritage research and development (e.g. 'seeing through the ground'), as well as detailed high-resolution reconstructions with the integration of different sensing techniques. The paper focuses on how cultural, scientific and technical knowledge of the underground built heritage, and specifically technological innovation, may assist local communities' decision-making, guaranteeing continuity of use and significance to the underground historic fabric, revitalisation of the public realm and skills development for townspeople. In particular, this approach pioneers socially and environmentally innovative solutions, by stimulating, developing and supporting processes of local community co-evolution and co-creation, which allows communities to explore alternative social trajectories in an adaptive, forward-looking manner, such as the Strategic Transition Management (STM). These tools can stimulate and facilitate local communities' empowerment and connect natural, social, cultural, political and economic environments, gauging impacts across different spheres of life, and grasping the importance not only of 'hard' but also of 'soft' infrastructures.

The "Green Deal" that most of the countries all of around the world are planning for the near future represents the biggest challenge and opportunity of this century to change the approach of producing energy for promoting ever more the sustainable development, the environmental friendly processes and renewable sources exploitation. Hydrogen will be part of this revolution and it is expected that it will represent the green energy carrier of the future. Currently, the role and the perspectives of the hydrogen utilization as energy vector may be resumed by the concepts of the so-called "hydrogen economy", which is driving the creation of new energy infrastructures, able to exploit renewable feedstocks instead of the derived of the fossil fuels. The aforementioned scopes seem to be particularly ambitious, especially for countries in which the utilization of derived fossil fuels is quite impressive. Nevertheless, the transition from a fossil fuel-based to a sustainable and green society is already started and it will allow safer and cleaner industrial processes and improve the quality of the human life as well. This special issue aims to collect selected scientific contributions presented in the framework of Hypothesis XVI conference, particularly dealing with the promotion of the following topics: hydrogen production from renewable energy sources, residual biomass and electrolysis, life cycle assessment and sustainability of hydrogen energy, membrane engineering applied to hydrogen generation and purification processes, and other emerging applications useful for the sustainable energy production, particularly devoted to promoting high operational efficiency and simplicity, low energy requirements and low environmental impact.