Discerning the factors explaining the change in energy efficiency

Due to the high rates of energy consumption and its impact on environment over the last decades, policy decision-makers are increasingly recognising the need to take actions that allow to address problems associated with the deployment of non-renewable resources and climate changes. One field of action has been the promotion of measures that contribute to improve energy efficiency of countries. The purpose of this study is to identify the main factors explaining changes in energy efficiency applying the multiplicative Log Mean Divisia Index decomposition method for a set of countries (Portugal, UK, Brazil and China) with different socio-economic background and energy mix. The results show that overall energy efficiency trends display different patterns between countries and the same happens within each country from a sectoral perspective. Major drivers of improvements of overall energy efficiency were the intensity effect and the affluence effect, whereas the driver that hampered those improvements was the energy consumption per capita. Some policy implications derived from the results achieved are: policy decision-makers should support measures that promote the adoption of energy-saving technologies resulting from new technological developments; policy measures should be directed to raise awareness of end-users regarding energy efficiency and energy conservation efforts; policy measures promoting economic growth through the development (or expansion) of sectors of activity that consume less energy can also be implemented; finally, policy instruments may also be used to reduce the costs of implementing energy efficiency and energy-saving measures to households and firms.     

Landfill leachate enhances fermentative hydrogen production from glucose and sugarcane processing derivatives

Fermentation can use renewable raw materials as substrate, which makes it a sustainable method to obtain H₂. This study evaluates H₂ production by a mixed culture from substrates such as glucose and derivatives from sugarcane processing (sucrose, molasses, and vinasse) combined with landfill leachate. The leachate alone was not a suitable substrate for biohydrogen production. However, leachate blended with glucose, sucrose, molasses, or vinasse increased the H₂ production rate by 2.0-, 2.8-, 4.6-, and 0.5-fold, respectively, as compared with the substrates without the leachate. Determination of metals (Cu, Cd, Pb, Hg, Ni, and Fe) at the beginning and at the end of the fermentative assays showed how they were consumed during the fermentation and demonstrated improved H₂ production. During fermentation, Cu, Fe, and Cd were the most consumed leachate metals. The best substrate combination to produce H₂ was molasses and leachate, which gave high volumetric productivity—469 ml H₂/l h. However, addition of the leachate to the substrates stimulated lactic acid formation pathways, which lowered the H₂ yield. The use of leachate combined with sugarcane processing derivatives as substrates could add value to the leachate and reduce its polluting power, generating a clean energy source from renewable raw materials.     

The Influence of Artificial Photodegradation on Properties of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-<Emphasis Type="Italic">co</Emphasis>-3-hydroxyvalerate)(PHBV)/Graphite Nanosheets (GNS) Nanocomposites

The potential use of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)/graphite nanosheets (GNS) as a biodegradable nanocomposite has been explored. PHBV/GNS nanocomposites films were prepared by solution casting at various concentrations of GNS—0.25, 0.50 and 1.00 wt% GNS. The films were exposed to artificial ultraviolet radiation (UV) during 52 h. The effect of GNS on PHBV photodegradation was investigated and compared to neat PHBV film. The artificial photodegradation induced changes in physical (weight loss), chemical carbonyl index by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal degree of crystallinity and melting temperature by differential scanning calorimetry and morphological scanning electron microscopy characteristics. Based on the results obtained from aforementioned analyzes it was verified that GNS inhibits the oxidative degradation of PHBV matrix.     

Utilization of Waste Lignin and Hydrolysate From Chromium Tanned Waste in Blends of Hot-Melt Extruded PVA-Starch

The demand for biodegradable plastic material is increasing worldwide. However, the cost remains high in comparison with common forms of plastic. Requirements comprise low cost, good UV-stability and mechanical properties, as well as solubility and water uptake lead to the preparation of multi-component polymer blends based on polyvinyl alcohol and starch in combination with waste products that are hard to utilize—waste lignin and hydrolysate extracted from chromium tanned waste. Surprisingly the addition of such waste products into PVA gives rise to blends with better biodegradability than commercial PVA in an aquatic aerobic environment with non-adapted activated sludge. These blends also exhibited greater solubility in the water and UV stability than commercial PVA. Tests on the processing properties of the blends (melt flow index, tensile strength and elongation at break of the films) as well as their mechanical properties showed that materials based on these blends might be applied in agriculture (for example as the systems for controlled-release pesticide or fertilizer) and, somewhat, in the packaging sector.     

Trees on the move: using decision theory to compensate for climate change at the regional scale in forest social-ecological systems

Regional Environmental Change - The adaptation of social-ecological systems such as managed forests depends largely on decisions taken by forest managers who must choose among a wide range of...     

The impact of global change on economic values of water for Public Irrigation Schemes at the São Francisco River Basin in Brazil

Economic values of water for the main Public Irrigation Schemes in the sub-middle region of the São Francisco River Basin, in northeastern Brazil, are determined in this study using an integration of a global agro-economic land and water use (MAgPIE) with a local economic model (Positive Mathematical Programming). As in the latter, the water values depend on the crops grown, and as Brazilian agriculture is strongly influenced by the global market, we used a regionalized version of the global model adapted to the region in order to simulate the crop land use, which is in turn determined by changes in global demand, trade barriers, and climate. The allocation of sugarcane and fruit crops projected with climate change by the global model, showed an impact on the average yields and on the water costs in the main schemes resulting in changes in the water values locally. The economic values for all schemes in the baseline year were higher than the water prices established for agricultural use in the basin. In the future, these water values will be higher in all the schemes. The highest water values currently and in the future were identified in municipalities with a significant proportion of area growing irrigated sugarcane. Being aware of current water values of each user in a baseline year and in a projected future under global climate and socioeconomic changes, decision makers should improve water allocation policies at local scale, in order to avoid conflicts and unsustainable development in the future.     

Violence in environmental conflicts: the need for a multidimensional approach

Although studies on environmental conflicts have engaged with the subject of violence, a multidimensional approach has been lacking. Using data from 95 environmental conflicts in Central America, we show how different forms of violence appear and overlap. We focus on direct, structural, cultural, slow, and ecological forms of violence. Results suggest that the common understanding of violence in environmental conflicts as a direct event in time and space is only the tip of the iceberg and that violence can reach not only environmental defenders, but also communities, nature, and the sustainability of their relations.     

The humanitarian common logistic operating picture: a solution to the inter‐agency coordination challenge

Although significant progress has been made in developing the practice of humanitarian logistics, further improvements in efficiency and effectiveness have the potential to save lives and reduce suffering. This paper explores how the military/emergency services’ concept of a common operating picture (COP) can be adapted to the humanitarian logistics context, and analyses a practical and proven approach to addressing the key challenge of inter‐agency coordination and decision‐making. Successful adaptation could provide the mechanism through which predicted and actual demands, together with the location and status of material in transit, are captured, evaluated, and presented in real time as the basis for enhanced decision‐making between actors in the humanitarian supply network. Through the introduction of a humanitarian logistics COP and its linkages to national disaster management systems, local communities and countries affected by disasters and emergencies will be better placed to oversee and manage their response activities.     

Local air pollution and global climate change taxes: a distributional analysis for the case of Spain

Global climate change measures are difficult to implement. In this context, local air pollution measures may play an important role in the political agenda since their effects are felt more immediately by citizens. Distributional implications are one of the main barriers for implementing environmental policies. This paper explores the distributional implications of air pollution taxes and compares them to climate change taxes. For the comparison, both tax schemes were set to yield the same revenue. Methodologically, the study uses a top–down approach linking a macro model to a micro model. We find that taxes on local air pollutants are more regressive than those levied on CO₂. This is because the goods implicitly taxed have a greater weight in the consumer basket of low-income groups, even if the tax revenues are recycled. Furthermore, the revenue-neutral recycle scheme increases both taxes efficiency, but, at the same time, can increase regressivity.     

Riparian rehabilitation planning in an urban–rural gradient: Integrating social needs and ecological conditions

In the present context of global change and search for sustainability, we detected a gap between restoration and society: local communities are usually only considered as threats or disturbances when planning for restoration. To bridge this gap, we propose a landscape design framework for planning riparian rehabilitation in an urban–rural gradient. A spatial multi-criteria analysis was used to assess the priority of riversides by considering two rehabilitation objectives simultaneously—socio-environmental and ecological—and two sets of criteria were designed according to these objectives. The assessment made it possible to identify 17 priority sites for riparian rehabilitation that were associated with different conditions along the gradient. The double goal setting enabled a dual consideration of citizens, both as beneficiaries and potential impacts to rehabilitation, and the criteria selected incorporated the multi-dimensional nature of the environment. This approach can potentially be adapted and implemented in any other anthropic–natural interface throughout the world.