The impact of household behavioral changes on GHG emission reduction in Lithuania

It is commonly understood that households must change their behavior to reduce problems related increased energy consumption and climate change therefore in the search of cheap GHG emission reduction measures households are an important target group because they are responsible for more than 20% of total energy consumption in developed countries. In addition waste management and responsible consumption of products are the key issues in GHG emission reduction.The aim of the paper is to assess GHG emission reduction potential in households in terms of behavioral changes towards sustainable consumption. The review of literature on analysis of households behavioral changes impact on GHG emission reduction was performed; the daily survey of household agenda and energy use records were performed in Lithuania for two scenarios – baseline and GHG emission reduction scenario including energy saving. GHG emission reduction potential in household was assessed based on daily survey data and energy consumption records by applying carbon calculator based on modified coefficients. Evaluated GHG emission reduction potential in households was compared with GHG emission reduction potentials in other sectors of Lithuania. Based on analysis performed in the paper the tools to promote household behavioral changes towards sustainable consumption were proposed.     

An overview of fruit and vegetable edible packaging materials

Various edible fruit and vegetable materials, including purees, residues, extracts, and juices, have been investigated in terms of their matrix‐forming properties to produce edible packaging materials to be applied to food products influencing their overall quality and improving the efficiency of synthetic packaging, thus leading to the reduction in amount of synthetic polymers used for each application. The potential of fruit and vegetables to be used as components of edible packaging materials is discussed. Such application of fruits and vegetables is possible thanks to the presence of matrix‐forming polysaccharides and proteins in their composition while the presence of bioactive compounds such as vitamins and polyphenols may confer, eg, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of active packaging materials. The development of edible fruit and vegetable packaging materials is a promising way of combining the barrier and mechanical properties of biopolymers with the nutritional and sensory properties. The application of fruit and vegetables as a component of edible packaging materials enables the utilization of raw materials with low commercial value. Edible packaging materials are a new method of their utilizing. There is also the possibility of just decreasing the amount of synthetic packaging waste by application of fruit and vegetable packaging materials simply as a passive or active layer partially replacing the non‐renewable materials.     

The effect of paraffin on fiber dispersion and mechanical properties of polyolefin–sawdust composites

This article reports on the influence of the paraffin (PAR) on the wood fiber (WF) dispersion in different polyethylene (low‐density polyethylene, high‐density polyethylene, recycled polyethylene) matrices, as well as on the melt flow behavior and mechanical properties of WF‐reinforced polyethylene (PE) composites. In the presence of paraffin, the composites showed improved tensile and flexural strength and modulus, but lower impact strength and elongation at break. The extent of improvement in mechanical properties depends on paraffin content and type of polyethylene; the most effective paraffin was in LDPE‐based composites. Paraffin‐treated WF showed lower moisture absorption ability in comparison with unmodified wood fiber. The phase segregation process was investigated for PE/PAR blends by DSC method. It was shown that an increase of paraffin concentration in the PE/PAR blend leads to a decrease of PE melting temperature and an increase of paraffin melting temperature; it indicates a net exchange of material from paraffin towards polyethylene. However, generally both components of PE/PAR blends remain immiscible. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 2385–2393, 2004     

Comparative assessment of policies targeting energy use efficiency in Lithuania

Energy efficiency is an important issue of European climate policy. Energy efficiency is measured by the energy intensity of an economy showing how much energy (expressed in kilograms of oil equivalent, kgoe) is used for the production of one unit (1000 EUR) of GDP. There are huge differences between EU old and new member states. Though there are some trends of energy intensity convergence between EU member states however the achieved decrease in energy intensity is attributable mostly to a loss of energy-intensive industrial capacities in the transformation process. There is a crucial difference between whether the energy intensity of a given economy decreases as a result of downscaling energy-intensive activities or because of increased energy efficiency in activities that are maintained. It is important to make sure that this distinction is made within the policy framework which at present is not the case. The aim of the paper is to assess policies targeting energy intensity decrease in Lithuania in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and efficacy and to select the best policies able to increase energy efficiency in activities that are maintained.