Environmental impact estimation of ceramic lightweight aggregates production starting from residues

Within a circular economy approach, this study investigates the environmental impact of lightweight aggregates (LWAs) produced starting from different mixes of different clays with brewery sludge and cattle bone flour ash (CBA), used as poring and fertilizing agents, respectively. The environmental impact was evaluated by means of release tests, insulation capacity, carbon footprint (CFP), and particulate matter emission during pellet firing. Release tests representative of LWAs realistic application showed very high release of phosphate and satisfactory release of potassium. The thermal insulation of the LWAs was tested by thermal imaging camera and resulted highly variable depending on the composition, with the mix containing CBA performing best. This latter composition leads also to the smallest CO₂ equivalent emission, due to the calorific power of CBA, allowing lower consumption of fossil fuels during the LWA production. Finally, total particulate emissions during the thermal treatment resulted similar in terms of mass for all mixes, while differences in terms of particle morphology and composition occurred. Samples containing residue resulted with a quite good release behavior, CFP, and insulation properties, but higher emission of particles, particularly when glass is added.     

Combined Decarbonization of Electrical Energy Generation and Production of Synthetic Fuels by Renewable Energies and Fossil Fuels

Power generation from renewable energy sources and fossil fuels are integrated into one system. A combination of technologies in the form of a carbon capture utilization (CCU)-combined power station is proposed. The technology is based on energy generation from fossil fuels by a coal power plant with CO₂ recovery from exhaust gases, and pyrolysis of natural gas to hydrogen and carbon, completed by reverse water-gas shift for the conversion of CO₂ to CO, which will react with hydrogen in a Fischer-Tropsch synthesis for synthetic diesel. The carbon from the pyrolysis can replace other fossil carbon or can be sequestered. This technology offers significant CO₂ savings compared to the current state of technology and makes an environmentally friendly use of fossil fuels for electricity and fuel sectors possible.     

Simulation of integrated novel PSA/EHP/C process for high-pressure hydrogen recovery from Coke Oven Gas

This paper introduces a novel Coke Oven Gas (COG) hydrogen purification/compression system based on the technologies of Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) and Electrochemical Hydrogen Purification and Compression (EHP/C). As the EHP/C tolerates O₂, N₂ and CH₄ impurities, PSA can be utilized solely for CO and CO₂ removal (other COG impurities were not considered in this work). A relaxation of PSA hydrogen purity could significantly enhance its recovery rate. In this study, the suitability of traditional hydrogen PSA as part of the hybrid PSA/EHP/C approach was investigated. Aspen Adsorption and Matlab were used to model the PSA and EHP/C systems, respectively. The effect of adsorption pressure, purge-to-feed-ratio (P/F-ratio) and adsorption time within cycle on PSA performance is reported. This study found that breakthrough of non-detrimental components is typically accompanied with poisonous CO. Hence, the CO removal with traditional H₂-PSA resulted into high purity product. In a two-bed PSA, 36.3% of hydrogen was recovered at 99.9988% purity and 0.18 ppm CO. Subsequently, as a result, the EHP/C purification capability was merely utilized, but polished this hydrogen to >99.999% purity. Simultaneously, hydrogen was isothermally compressed to 20 MPa, consuming a marginal 2.42 kWh/kg. Compared to mechanical compression, this is 31.6% more energy efficient. Recovering hydrogen from by-product COG was found to save 0.5 kg CO₂/kg H₂ compared to hydrogen produced from natural gas. Conventional hydrogen PSA, utilizing 70% Activated Carbon and 30% Molecular Sieve 5A, was found not to be effective to target the removal of CO specifically. To increase synergy between PSA and EHP/C, the PSA requires adequate design and operation using appropriate adsorbents and cycle steps to target elimination of CO. An increased EHP/C catalyst tolerance for CO also contributes to higher flexibility.     

Harmonised life-cycle indicators of nuclear-based hydrogen

When comparing the life-cycle environmental performance of hydrogen energy systems, significant concerns arise due to potential methodological inconsistencies between case studies. In this regard, protocols for harmonised life cycle assessment (LCA) of hydrogen energy systems are currently available to mitigate these concerns. These protocols have already been applied to conventional hydrogen from steam methane reforming as well as to a large number of both fossil and renewable hydrogen options, allowing robust comparisons between them. However, harmonised life-cycle indicators of nuclear-based hydrogen options are not yet available in the literature. This study fills this gap by using the recently developed software GreenH₂armony® to calculate the harmonised carbon, energy and acidification footprints of nuclear-based hydrogen produced through different pathways (viz., low-temperature electrolysis, high-temperature electrolysis, and thermochemical cycles). Overall, the harmonised case studies of nuclear-based hydrogen show a generally good performance in terms of carbon footprint and acidification, but an unfavourable performance in terms of non-renewable energy footprint.     

生态足迹分析方法与城市生态安全

生态足迹分析方法对于测度城市生态安全具有可借鉴的意义,将这一方法进行整合,将有较好的应用前景。文章探讨了生态足迹的产生、发展及其应用,并在此基础上提出了用于城市生态安全测度的初步模式。     

中国水资源研究热点及发展趋势

目前水资源问题已经成为制约中国经济社会可持续发展的重要因素。运用中国知网“指数”功能,综述近年来中国国家自然科学基金和社会科学基金等资助的146篇关于水资源研究相关文献,归纳出5个水资源热点研究领域：水资源承载力、水资源安全、水资源生态、虚拟水和水足迹,对其代表理论、评价方法、主要研究领域和研究发展方向进行综述。总结出中国水资源研究发展的3个趋势：1）加强水资源领域交叉融合研究;2）在水资源安全、水生态服务功能研究等领域注重构建完整的研究框架;3）在研究成熟的领域加强评价方法创新。     

石油型资源城市低碳发展路径研究

采用基于能源消费的碳排放和不同土地利用的碳承载能力计算石油型资源城市的生态赤字,并结合不同产业空间划分对8个石油型资源城市不同产业空间碳足迹进行测算。研完结果显示:(1)我国石油型资源城市现阶段的生产性土地面积远远不足以补偿碳足迹,生态赤字为1 957.39hm~2,相当于研究区域总面积的近3倍。(2)生态赤字总量最大的为东营,其次为大庆,总量最小的是玉门和任丘。而人均生态赤字较大的城市为东营和克拉玛依,最小的是茂名和濮阳。(3)不同产业空间碳足迹总量上,工业空间碳足迹最大,占碳足迹总量的48%:其次为生活、商业空间,占42%;其他空间碳足迹一共占到10%。因此,石油型资源城市短时期内应走"支柱产业广化深化"低碳发展路线,并在此基础上制定"渐去资源化"和"多元化"的长期低碳转型目标。     

Numerical simulations of the energy performance of a PEM water electrolysis based high-pressure hydrogen refueling station

The present paper proposes an energy analysis on a hydrogen production and storage system. The dynamic and multi-physical investigation is inherent to an energy system composed of a PEM electrolyzer, a diaphragm compressor, a gaseous storage system, ancillaries, and control procedures. To perform this investigation, a model previously developed by the authors has been used. The case-study simulation shows how the electrolyzer has the predominant rate, accounting for 88.5% of the daily 24-h energy demand (13 MWh). The electrolyzer specific energy consumption for 205 kg of hydrogen generated resulted to be 56.3 kWh/kg. The other components have required 1.5 MWh, with a specific energy of about 7.5 kWh/kg. The overall system efficiency resulted to be 52.9%, including all the components and their energy consumption and guaranteeing 14.9 metric tons of avoided carbon dioxide.     

Does moving towards renewable energy cause water and land inefficiency? An empirical investigation

This study investigates the effect of renewable energy production on water and land footprint in 58 developed and developing countries for the period of 1980–2009. Utilizing the ecological footprint as an indicator, the fixed effects, difference and system generalized method of moment (GMM) approaches were employed and eight different models were constructed to achieve robustness in the empirical outcomes. Despite the use of different methods and models, the outcome was the same whereby GDP growth, urbanization, and trade openness increase the water and land footprint. Moreover, renewable energy production increases the water and land inefficiency because of its positive effect on ecological footprint. Additionally, based on the square of GDP it is concluded that the EKC hypothesis does not exist while the square of renewable energy production indicates that renewable energy production will continue to increase water and land footprint in the future. From the outcome of this study, a number of recommendations were provided to the investigated countries.