Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy

https://link.springer.com/journal/10098

List of Papers (Total 389)

Twenty years of energy policy in Europe: achievement of targets and lessons for the future

The different energy transition efforts in the EU-27 countries are analysed, paying special attention to the achievement of set energy targets and the real influence on energy dependence and GHG reduction. Various methodologies were used, ranging from construction of timelines to geo-statistical analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the implementation of machine...

Innovative fertilizers and soil amendments based on hydrochar from brewery waste

Hydrothermal carbonization is one of the new ways to produce valuable products from waste materials. The aim of this study was to develop a novel method for the production of hydrochars from brewery residues for agricultural applications. Waste materials treated at 140 °C, 170 °C, and 200 °C were used as a source of renewable nitrogen and as delivery agents of fertilizer...

Ground lemon and stevia leaves as renewable functional fillers with antioxidant activity for high-density polyethylene composites

The development of new sustainable material solutions in the processing of thermoplastic polymers concerns both the application of biopolymers and the use of valorized plant derivatives as fillers and modifiers of petrochemical polymers. Herein, the possibility of using unprocessed raw parts of two commonly used in the food industry leaves, i.e., lemon (LL) and stevia (ST), as...

Floating offshore wind projects development in South Korea without government subsidies

The South Korean government is encouraging the active participation of power generation companies in the offshore wind power project by announcing the renewable energy certificates (REC) weighting plan. However, from a long-term perspective, the offshore wind power must be able to generate profits without government support to demonstrate its business feasibility and attract the...

Implementation of sustainable development goals in the cosmetics industry based on the example of cleansing cosmetics containing a surfactin-rich digestate extract

The implementation of sustainable development goals in the cosmetics industry is focused primarily on the phase of product design and the formulation of fully functional cosmetics based on raw materials of natural origin. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of using a surfactin-rich digestate extract—a raw material of biotechnological origin—as an...

Application of the data envelopment analysis technique to measure the environmental efficiency of the 27 countries of the European Union during the period 2012–2020

In the last decade, we have experienced a changing geopolitical context that has caused changes in the energy context. In addition, human activity contributes to global warming or sea level rising, i.e., climate change. A set of action policies have been implemented to continue fighting against this environmental situation (such as the Paris Agreement, the COP27, or the European...

Performance evaluation of single stand and hybrid solar water heaters: a comprehensive review

In this review, flat plate and concentrate-type solar collectors, integrated collector–storage systems, and solar water heaters combined with photovoltaic–thermal modules, solar-assisted heat pump solar water heaters, and solar water heaters using phase change materials are studied based on their thermal performance, cost, energy, and exergy efficiencies. The maximum water...

From leather wastes to leather: enhancement of low quality leather using collagen recovered from leather tanned wastes

Leather industry produces huge amounts of solid wastes. In the last decade, several methods for the recovery and valorization of these wastes were developed, mainly focused on the extraction of collagen using chemical methods. The extracted collagen, due to its poor quality, is mostly used in agriculture as a nitrogen source ingredient of fertilizers. This study aims to apply...

Cost and water footprint trade-off in a supply chain optimization model

Water footprint (WF) is an appropriate tool to help any water-intensive industrial system to adapt to climate change. WF is a metric where the direct and indirect freshwater consumption of a country, firm, activity, or product are quantified. Most of existing WF literature emphasizes the assessment of products, not the optimal decision making in the supply chain. To address this...

Designing a dairy supply chain network considering sustainability and resilience: a multistage decision-making framework

The crucial role of sustainable development and resiliency strategies is undeniable in today’s competitive market space, especially after the Coronavirus outbreak. Hence, this research develops a multistage decision-making framework to investigate the supply chain network design problem considering the sustainability and resiliency dimensions. In this way, the scores of the...

Mine water as a source of energy: an application in a coalfield in Laciana Valley (León, NW Spain)

Mine water can be a renewable and economical source of geothermal and hydraulic energy. Nine discharges from closed and flooded coal mines in the Laciana Valley (León, NW Spain) have been studied. Various technologies for the energy use of mine water, as well as the influence of factors such as temperature, the need for water treatment, investment, potential customers and...

Future of hydrogen economy: simulation-based comparison of LOHC systems

Hydrogen is one of the key components in renewable energy systems. Its storage and transport, however, are challenging. The Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) technology is a possible solution for this issue. With suitable organic components, hydrogen can be stored in a chemically bound form which is safer and has a higher energy density than other solutions. Furthermore, the...

Optimal maintenance for a waste-to-energy plant using DEMATEL: a case study

Waste-to-energy (WtE) plants are complex systems that requiring different types of maintenance to be reliable and available in functionality. The inadequacies of WtE plant lifetime maintenance may increase the production costs and negatively affect the competitiveness and the availability of WtE plants. To keep the efficiency of all the plant systems high and operating as...

Economic feasibility of adopting a hydroponics system on substrate in small rural properties

Objective is to analyze the economic feasibility of implementing a greenhouse in a hydroponics production system in substrate (sand) on a small family farm as an alternative to hydroponic cultivation using nutrient film technique (NFT). This case study was carried out in the Municipality of Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil. The location was specifically selected because...

Physico-chemical characterization of walnut shell biochar from uncontrolled pyrolysis in a garden oven and surface modification by ex-situ chemical magnetization

The shells of walnuts (WS) are major refuse in the global fruits and nuts trade. This, otherwise discarded, lignin-rich material can be carbonized to biochar—a value-added product with environmental applications such as carbon sequestration, soil amelioration, and pollutant adsorption. These applications are dictated by structural and chemical characteristics of the biochar...

Recovery of catalytic metals from leaching solutions of spent automotive catalytic converters using plant extracts

This study investigates the potential of hydroalcoholic extracts of Cistus ladanifer L., Erica Andevalensis and Rubus idaeus L. as a green method for the recovery of platinum group metals (PGMs) from both synthetic unimetallic solutions and multimetallic solutions obtained from the leaching of two different spent automotive catalytic converters (SACC). Experiments with...

Synthesis of bio-based materials from agricultural residues for treatment of petrochemical wastewater

4-Carboxybenzaldehyde (4-CBA), a major component of purified terephthalic acid wastewater, is toxic to living organisms and required to be removed before the discharge of treated wastewater in a natural water body. In this work, the adsorptive removal of 4-CBA was studied using bagasse fly ash (BFA), a waste product from the sugar industry. The adsorption capacity of BFA was...

A waste wet oxidation technique as a solution for chemical production and resource recovery in Poland

Effective municipal solid waste (MSW) management and waste-to-resource recovery has a key potential to play a vital role in economic growth of a country. MSW contains the different items of daily use that makes its composition mix in nature. Different waste-to-energy techniques are already available to treat this waste but these techniques always require some pretreatments such...

Prioritize rapidly scalable methane reductions in efforts to mitigate climate change

Methane emission reductions are crucial for addressing climate change. It offers short-term benefits as it holds high short-term reductions in radiative forcing. Efforts towards the reduction of methane emissions are already underway. In this study, we compared and analyzed the mitigation benefits of cutting large amounts of methane emissions from the oil and gas sector on short...

Solar-powered algal production on vegetable processing industry wastewater at pilot scale

Τhis paper proposed a sustainable treatment scheme for effluents from fruit and vegetable processing industries with high organic load that combined heterotrophic microalgae cultivation with microalgae spray drying producing end-products of commercial interest (biofertilisers and/or animal feed). A pilot plant was operated with feedstock from a fruit and vegetable processing...

Post-COVID-19 pandemic and the Paris agreement: a socioeconomic analysis and carbon emissions forecasting in developed and developing countries

The COVID-19 pandemic caused profound impacts on the global economy, resulting in a sharp drop in carbon emissions as energy demand fell. The emissions reduction due to past extreme events often follows with a rebound after the economy recovers, but the pandemic’s impacts on the long-term carbon emissions trend remain unknown. This study forecasts the carbon emissions of Group of...

Technical and economic approach to aim the feasibility of renewables in the Italian context

To date, despite the existence of the sustainability goals of the 2030 Agenda and the need for an energy transition, the results set is still quite far away from being achieved. The awareness of this situation moves many European countries to promote policies based on the use of renewable sources. This paper is aimed at illustrating the Italian legislative context, evaluating the...