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Earth observation (EO) data are useful tools to analyse geomorphological processes, among which slow-moving landslides triggered by rainfall. EO data are also used to evaluate climate change and to assess its impact on geomorphological processes and geo-hydrological phenomena. The latter is the topic of the Project OT4Clima (Innovative Earth Observation technologies to study Climate Change and its impact on the environment) joined by CNR-IRPI within a consortium that includes other CNR institutes, universities and private companies. The OT4CLIMA project moves from the awareness that the impacts of climate change on the environment need to be better observed, understood, and modelled, especially at a regional scale, in order to put in place appropriate and effective risk mitigation strategies. Within the project, the CNR-IRPI group works on the development of rigorous methods and procedures for evaluating the impact of climate and its change on landslides, in particular on those characterized by a slow cinematic, at a regional scale. The test site is represented by four catchments located in the Basilicata region, southern Italy, namely the basins of the Bradano, Basento, Agri, and Sinni rivers. Long-term rainfall series gathered from 22 rain gauges located in the four catchments are analysed to evaluate the presence of temporal trends. To this aim, non-parametric and statistical tests are applied to the series. Historical landslide information is gathered from the analysis of the IFFI (Inventario dei Fenomeni Franosi in Italia) database, the Idrogeo platform (https://idrogeo.isprambiente.it/app/) and the AVI (Aree Vulnerate in Italia) catalogue. Only some types of landslide movements are considered, namely rotational-translational slides, slow slides/flows, complex movements. Moreover, Copernicus Sentinel-1 images are employed to detect the spatial and temporal distribution of slow earth surface deformations. The obtained results are used for checking the completeness of the landslide inventories. More in detail, the deformation maps of the test site are obtained by means of the application of the SBAS (Small BAseline Subset) technique to three datasets of Sentinel-1 images: t146 ascending orbit and t51 and t124 descending orbits, for the period 2015-2020. Then, a comparative analysis of rainfall data with displacement series is carried out with the aim of identifying clusters of satellite measurements with homogeneous behaviour likely correlated to variations in the rainfall regime. In particular, only the points with a mean velocity in the observation higher than 0.1 cm/year are considered to be moving. Moreover, only the displacement series of points located in areas mapped as landslides - as for the historical inventories - and sited within the influence regions of each rain gauge in the study area are analysed. A 10-km circular buffer centred in the stations are used to define the influence region of each station. The displacement series are analysed and compared to the rainfall series to search for correlations and to evaluate the effects of climate drivers on slow moving landslides.

Why are small islands more vulnerable to the global and major ordeal of climate change? How do they face this huge challenge and what can we learn from their experience? These are among the crucial questions examined by Carola Klöck and Michael Fink in their recently coedited volume entitled Dealing with Climate Change on Small Islands: Toward Effective and Sustainable Adaptation, published by Universitätsverlag Göttingen. Interview by Miriam Périer, CERI.

The importance of emission control has increased sharply due to increased need of energy from combustion. However, biomass utilization in energy production is not free from problems because of physical and chemical characteristics which are substantially different from conventional energy sources. In this situation, the quantity and quality of emissions as well as used renewable source as wood or corn grain are often unknown. To assess this problem the paper addresses the objectives to quantify the amount of greenhouse gases during the combustion of corn as compared to the emissions in fossil combustion (natural gas, LPG and diesel boiler). The test was carried out in Friuli Venezia Giulia in 2006-2008 to determine the air pollution (CO, NO, NO2, NOx, SO2 and CO2) from fuel combustion in the family boilers with power between 20-30 kWt. The flue gas emission was measured with a professional semi-continuous multi-gas analyzer, (Vario plus industrial, MRU air Neckarsulm-Obereisesheim). Data showed a lower emission of fossil fuel compared to corn in family boilers in reference to pollutants in the flue gas (NOx, SO2 and CO). In particular way the biomass combustion make a higher concentration of carbon monoxide (for a incomplete combustion because there aren’t a good mixing between fuel and air) and nitrogen oxides (in relation at higher content of nitrogen in herbaceous biomass in comparison of another fuel). Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 1296-1304

The main challenge for concrete industry - and in general for construction materials - is to serve the two major needs of human society, the protection of the environment, on one hand, and the requirements of buildings and infrastructures by the world?s growing population, on the other. In the past concrete industry has satisfied these needs well. However, for a variety of reasons, the situation has changed dramatically in the last years. First of all, the concrete industry is the largest consumer of natural resources. Secondly, Portland cement, the binder of modern concrete mixtures, is not as environmentally friendly. The world's cement production, in fact, contributes to the earth's atmosphere about 7% of the total CO2 emissions, CO2 being one of the primary greenhouse gas (GHG) responsible for global warming and climate change. As a consequence, concrete industry in the future has to face two antithetically needs. In other words, how the concrete industry can feed the growing population needs being - at the same time - sustainable? The answer to this question is represented by the ?3R-Green Strategy? widely discussed in the first chapter of this PhD thesis: Reduction in consumption of gross energy for construction materials production, Reduction in polluting emissions and Reduction in consuming not renewable natural resources. In particular, this thesis is focused on the alternative binders to Portland cement such as alkali-activated slag cements and calcium sulphoaluminate cement-based binders in order to manufacture sustainable mixtures for special applications such as repair mortars, lightweight reinforced plasters and concretes for slabs on ground. The experimental results show the feasibility of manufacturing both EN 1504-3 R3 class mortars and Portland-free concretes for jointless slabs on ground with calcium sulphoaluminate cement, supplementary cementitious materials (fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag) and hydrated lime instead of Portland cement. Moreover, alkali-activated mortars and concretes seem to be a reasonable alternative to natural hydraulic lime-based and/or traditional Portland cement-based mixtures for rehabilitation or restoration of ancient masonry buildings and existing concretes structures. Finally, a new sustainability index was developed taking into account the environmental impact, the performances and the durability of mixtures. In particular, in the environmental impact section, the natural raw materials consumption, the greenhouse gas emissions and the energy consumption have been considered. Furthermore, depending on the applications and the environments, design parameters and properties related to durability have been assigned to each mixture. less

An ecological- and biological-based urban planning model, which focuses on the health of the people living in the city, is aimed at improving and prospering the welfare level of the society. The best scenario for creating more sustainable living spaces is to direct people's behavior towards a more environmentally friendly system. For this purpose, the "sustainable green campus" model has been considered at Kirklareli University. Kirklareli University, which was established in 2010 in Kirklareli city. The Green Campus Model covers the renovation of the indoor and outdoor areas of Kirklareli University, Kayali Campus, and its human-oriented, ecological, and environmentally friendly development. The sustainable green campus model includes the evaluation of the spatial and social living areas of Kirklareli University within the framework of sustainability. With the green campus approach, it aims to be a sustainable, environmentally oriented campus where renewable energy sources are used, naturally energy consumption can be controlled, and recycling and treatment systems are used effectively. © Peter Lang AG 2020.

The project between tthe Deutsche Biomasseforschungszentrum (DBFZ) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) focuses on the pr rovision of alternative fuels by thermochemical conversion. Biogenic residues and wastes which are not used yet or which could be utilised more efficiently are studied. The selection of possible feedstock was supported by a techhnical potential analysis including the competition to th he food industry. The technical suitability of raw materials for the fast pyrolysis (FP) process was of special in nterest. As a possible feedstock following types of biomass were studied: corn stover, corn cobs, biogenic floating re efuse (river Rhine and Baltic Sea), scrap wood, bark, rape s straw, sunflower straw, draff, diverse residues of flour production and hay. A process development unit (PDU) with a biomass feeding rate of 10 kg/h and a twin screw m mixer reactor was used for all experiments. It was found that different types of biomass form different char, condensate e and gas yields due to varying ash levels and lignocellulosic composition. Elemental formulas for feedstock, char, organic condensate and gas were estimated independent on t the feedstock due to similar elemental compositions. Pyrolysis gas analysis during the experiments gave information on the mass yields. A CO/CO2-ratio of 1 (i.e. wood) corresponds to organic condensate yields of about 50 wt.-%%, whereas a ratio of 0.3-0.7 (straw) corresponds to 18-32 wt. .-% respectively. Proceedings of the 20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 18-22 June 2012, Milan, Italy, pp. 973-977

In this study, the energy, exergy, environmental, enviroeconomic, exergoenvironmental (EXEN), Exergoenviroeconomic (EXENEC) analyses are performed to a solar collector. The enviroeconomic (energy based environmental analysis), EXEN (exergy based environmental analysis) and EXENEC (exergy based environmental and economic analysis) analyses are firstly conducted in this kind of system in the literature. It is found that most of the energy and exergy are lost by the radiation. The major reason is the big temperature difference between sky and glass surface of the collector. Furthermore, the energy efficiency (25.40%) of the system is higher than the corresponding exergy efficiency (0.732%). Also, the solar exergy of the system is the maximum exergy input rate, and most of it is destructed in the system due to the irreversibility. It shows the major disadvantages of the solar collector system. The EXEN result (0.0727 kg CO2/day) is lower than the corresponding environmental one (0.0777 kg CO2/day). The enviroeconomic result (0.00112 $/day) is higher than the EXENEC result (0.00105 $/day). So, exergy based EXENEC method is more reliable. It can be generally concluded that the solar collector systems can be assessed more effectively by using the exergy and economy based EXEN and EXENEC methods, respectively due to the consideration of the environmental condition and useful energy into calculation. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd

The devolatilization of solid fuels is of crucial importance for all thermo­chemical processes and is the basic step in gasification and combustion models. Here a structural model is developed to provide an Advanced tool for Biomass and Coal Devolatilization (ABCD model), even in blend. The main features are founded on the original approach of the CPD (Chemical Percolation Devolatilization) model by Fletcher [1]. The ABCD model extends the approach also to biomass fuels. Further improvements of the ABCD model are: (i) a population balance between n­mers in liquid metaplast; (ii) elemental balance closure with the speciation of light gases, hetero­species and tar composition; (iii) introduction of secondary reactions of tar­cracking and crosslinking. The ABCD model results agree with a selection of experimental data (from homemade and literature works) on different biomasses. The results reported in this paper encouraged IFRF in continuing the experimental campaign for the validation of the model by extending the Solid Fuel DataBase SFDB. The inclusion of ABCD in comprehensive codes (e.g., Reactor Network Analysis, RNA [2]) and process models is valuable because it gives detailed distribution of pyrolysis products in a wide range of conditions with a low computational cost. Proceedings of the 18th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 3-7 May 2010, Lyon, France, pp. 923-930

The aim of the joint activity between CNR ITAE and University of Malta, funded in the framework of a bilateral agreement is the preliminary study of the possible application of thermally-activated technologies for the refrigeration of fish on-board of fishing vessels, with particular attention to the Mediterranean area. In such a context, the two partners, given their expertise in the adsorption and absorption cooling technologies, dedicated the first year of the joint project on several activities needed to define possible integration solutions on-board. The following report is then organized as follows: - Section 3 reports an analysis of the state-of-the-art concerning existing refrigeration systems currently employed in the fishing vessels' application as well as innovative activities recently performed on the possible integration of thermally-driven technologies for the refrigeration. - Section 4 focuses on the definition of possible integration between the waste heat recovered from the engines of the fishing vessel and the sorption technology for refrigeration. This analysis takes into account different possible applications, in terms of refrigeration temperatures as well as capacities. Furthermore, different possible waste heat streams at different temperature levels are investigated. - Section 5 identifies the typical working boundary conditions under which the fishing vessel operates, in terms of cooling demand, also considering different climatic zones (i.e. different geographical areas in which the vessel operates) and vessels' typology. - Section 6 investigates possible working pairs, both for adsorption and absorption technologies, which are promising for the given boundary conditions in Section 5. This activity is needed to set the operational limits that each technology and working pair cannot overcome. - Section 7 reports the calculations performed for each working pair and operating conditions, both taking into account thermodynamic constraints as well as analysing literature results on different prototypes realized and tested. - Section 8 introduces a dynamic model, implemented in TRNSYS environment, of an absorption refrigerator, which was validated and will be used in the following activities to investigate the defined schematics in Section 4. - Section 9 defines the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will be used in the following activities to compare the achievable results of the different configurations.

A recent addition to the anthropogenic sources of underwater noise is offshore wave energy converters. Underwater noise was recorded from the Wavestar wave energy converter located at Hastholm, Denmark (57°7.73´N, 8°37.23´E). The Wavestar is a full-scale test and demonstration converter of the absorber type. During recordings the converter was operating close to maximum power output (nominal capacity of 110 kW). During operation the independently operating absorbers float semi-submerged in the water and wave-generated up-and-down motion is converted into hydraulic pressure by means of pistons connected to the arms of the absorbers. The hydraulic pressure then in turn drives the generator. A 57 minute sequence of noise from the converter was recorded by a Loggerhead datalogger deployed in 7 m deep water 25 m from the converter. This sequence contained recordings of ambient noise, the converter in full operation and start and stop of the converter. Median broad band (10 Hz – 20 kHz) sound pressure level (Leq) was 123 dB re. 1 Pa, irrespective of status of the wave energy converter (stopped, running or starting/stopping). The most pronounced peak in the third-octave spectrum was in the 160 Hz band during start and stop of the converter, attributed to the hydraulic pump responsible for lifting and lowering the absorbers. Less pronounced, but still statistically significant differences were seen in the bands 125, 160, 200 and 250 Hz when operation and ambient were compared. No statistically significant noise above ambient could be detected above the 250 Hz band. The absolute increase in noise above ambient was very small. L50 third-octave levels in the four bands with the converter running were thus only 1-2 dB above ambient L50 levels.The noise recorded 25 m from the wave energy converter was barely detectable above ambient noise and only in the range 125-250 Hz. Harbour seals have good low frequency hearing and third-octave levels of the converter noise are well above their hearing threshold. Harbour seals are thus expected to be able to hear the converter noise, although the elevation in noise levels is so low (1-2 dB) that it is likely to be close to inaudible even at the close range where recordings were obtained. In contrast to seals, harbour porpoises have poor low frequency hearing and it seems unlikely that the converter noise would have been audible to porpoises. Wave energy converters come in different designs and work according to different principles. Other types of converters could be expected to be noisier, perhaps also to generate noise at other frequencies than those reported from the Wavestar. Therefore the conclusion that noise levels from the Wavestar are unlikely to affect seals and porpoises cannot be generalised. Nevertheless, the results clearly demonstrate that it is possible to harvest wave energy in a way which does not add substantially to the increasing levels of anthropogenic noise in the ocean.