Economic benefits through system integration of electric waste collection vehicles: Case study of grid-beneficial charging and discharging strategies

In this paper, we investigate the economic benefits of an energy community investing in small-scale photovoltaics (PVs) when local energy trading is operated amongst the community members. The motivation stems from the open research question on whether a community-operated local energy market can enhance the investment feasibility of behind-the-meter small-scale PVs installed by energy community members. Firstly, a review of the models, mechanisms and concepts required for framing the relevant concepts is conducted, while a clarification of nuances at important terms is attempted. Next, a tool for the investigation of the economic benefits of operating a local energy market in the context of an energy community is developed. We design the local energy market using state-of-the-art formulations, modified according to the requirements of the case study. The model is applied to an energy community that is currently under formation in a Greek municipality. From the various simulations that were conducted, a series of generalizable conclusions are extracted.

Download Full-text

Practical IoT-Enabled Monitoring Platform for Solid Waste Collection: A case study for the municipality of Baba Hassen, Algiers, Algeria

2021 IEEE International IOT, Electronics and Mechatronics Conference (IEMTRONICS) ◽

10.1109/iemtronics52119.2021.9422640 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Aouache Mustapha ◽

Zaid Bousmina ◽

Ilyes Keskas ◽

Zakarya Guettatfi ◽

Abdelfetah Hentout ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solid Waste ◽

Waste Collection ◽

Solid Waste Collection ◽

Monitoring Platform

Download Full-text

Evaluating the economic benefits of moving from a single building to a community approach for sustainable urban redevelopment: Lisbon neighborhood case study

Journal of Cleaner Production ◽

10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126810 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 126810

Author(s):

Joana Pedro ◽

Anabela Reis ◽

Carlos Silva ◽

Manuel Duarte Pinheiro

Keyword(s):

Urban Redevelopment ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Community Approach

Download Full-text

A Questionnaire Case Study of Opinions of Chinese Agricultural Workers on the Coordinated Control of Emissions of Ammonia

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13041994 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 1994

Author(s):

Muxue Liang ◽

Hong Liao ◽

Yue Huang ◽

Zifang Qiao ◽

Chenchen Tan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Implementation Process ◽

Coordinated Control ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Nitrogen Fertilizers ◽

Equivalent Diameter ◽

National Bureau ◽

Ammonia Emissions ◽

Particulate Pollution ◽

Primary Particles

So far, China’s particulate pollution control is principally focused on primary particles and sulfur dioxide from coal combustion. The contribution of ammonia emissions to particulate matter with an aerodynamic equivalent diameter of less than or equal to 2.5 microns (PM2.5) has been increasingly emphasized. As a world-famous agricultural country with 523 million farmers (2017, National Bureau of Statistics of China), approximately 70.0–90.0% of China’s ammonia emissions come from agriculture. With such a huge population, agriculture industrialization (socioeconomic policies and technology upgrades to reduce ammonia emissions from fertilizers and livestock) has a large potential but is more vulnerable to costs compared to other industries. We need a solution involving both economic benefits and environmental protection. For this purpose, we sent out an anonymous questionnaire consisting of 16 questions to 420 farmers and conducted a field visit survey in a rural area of Jiangsu Province. Through statistical analysis, we found that the use of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture, which are an important source of ammonia through volatilization, is normal (200/420 × 100% = 47.62% of farmers use such fertilizers). Among the 420 farmers surveyed, 90.71% of them have knowledge of air pollution from agricultural activities and 92.15% of them have certain understanding of agricultural industrialization policies, indicating that coordinated control of ammonia emissions can be achieved together with policy propaganda. Through factor analysis and correlation analysis, we find that the early propaganda of policies can help farmers to be more willing to accept the policies. The correlation coefficient between awareness of pollution and policy approval is 0.94, and that between policy publicity and policy approval is 0.95. Generally speaking, the promotion of policies is worth carrying out during the implementation process.

Download Full-text

Architecture For Automation System Metrics Collection, Visualization and Data Engineering – HAMK Sheet Metal Center Building Automation Case Study

Open Engineering ◽

10.1515/eng-2019-0065 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 561-570

Author(s):

Khoa Dang ◽

Igor Trotskii

Keyword(s):

System Integration ◽

Data Analytics ◽

Building Energy ◽

Facility Management ◽

Automation System ◽

Building Energy Efficiency ◽

Building Automation ◽

Automation Systems ◽

Integration Data

AbstractEver growing building energy consumption requires advanced automation and monitoring solutions in order to improve building energy efficiency. Furthermore, aggregation of building automation data, similarly to industrial scenarios allows for condition monitoring and fault diagnostics of the Heating, Ventilations and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. For existing buildings, the commissioned SCADA solutions provide historical trends, alarms management and setpoint curve adjustments, which are essential features for facility management personnel. The development in Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0, as well as software microservices enables higher system integration, data analytics and rich visualization to be integrated into the existing infrastructure. This paper presents the implementation of a technology stack, which can be used as a framework for improving existing and new building automation systems by increasing interconnection and integrating data analytics solutions. The implementation solution is realized and evaluated for a nearly zero energy building, as a case study.

Download Full-text

Blockchain, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Accounting Information Systems (AIS): Research on e-Procurement and System Integration

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11156792 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (15) ◽

pp. 6792

Author(s):

Alessio Faccia ◽

Pythagoras Petratos

Keyword(s):

Information Systems ◽

Enterprise Resource Planning ◽

System Integration ◽

Case Study Research ◽

Accounting Information ◽

Resource Planning ◽

Security And Privacy ◽

Accounting Information Systems ◽

Erp System

Accounting information systems (AISs), the core module of any enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, are usually designed as centralised systems. Nowadays, the continuous development and applications of blockchain, or more broadly—distributed ledger technology (DLT), can change the architecture, overcome and improve some limitations of centralised systems, most notably security and privacy. An increasing number of authors are suggesting the application of blockchain technologies in management, accounting and ERPs. This paper aims to examine the emerging literature on this field, and an immediate result is that blockchain applications can have significant benefits. The paper’s innovative contribution and considerable objective are to examine if blockchain can be successfully integrated with AIS and ERPs. We find that blockchain can facilitate integration at multiple levels and better serve various purposes as auditing compliance. To demonstrate that, we analyse e-procurement systems and operations using case study research methodology. The findings suggest that DLT, decentralised finance (DeFI), and financial technology (FinTech) applications can facilitate integrating AISs and ERP systems and yield significant benefits for efficiency, productivity and security.

Download Full-text

Bioclimatic and Regenerative Design Guidelines for a Circular University Campus in India

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13158238 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 8238

Author(s):

Noemi Bakos ◽

Rosa Schiano-Phan

Keyword(s):

Construction Industry ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Design Guidelines ◽

University Campus ◽

Design Strategies ◽

Regenerative Design ◽

Governmental Institutions ◽

Social Environmental

To transform the negative impacts of buildings on the environment into a positive footprint, a radical shift from the current, linear ‘make-use-dispose’ practice to a closed-loop ‘make-use-return’ system, associated with a circular economy, is necessary. This research aims to demonstrate the possible shift to a circular construction industry by developing the first practical framework with tangible benchmarks for a ‘Circular University Campus’ based on an exemplary case study project, which is a real project development in India. As a first step, a thorough literature review was undertaken to demonstrate the social, environmental and economic benefits of a circular construction industry. As next step, the guideline for a ‘Circular University Campus’ was developed, and its applicability tested on the case study. As final step, the evolved principles were used to establish ‘Project Specific Circular Building Indicators’ for a student residential block and enhance the proposed design through bioclimatic and regenerative design strategies. The building’s performance was evaluated through computational simulations, whole-life carbon analysis and a circular building assessment tool. The results demonstrated the benefits and feasibility of bioclimatic, regenerative building and neighbourhood design and provided practical prototypical case study and guidelines which can be adapted by architects, planners and governmental institutions to other projects, thereby enabling the shift to a restorative, circular construction industry.

Download Full-text

Extending Multilevel Statistical Entropy Analysis towards Plastic Recyclability Prediction

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13063553 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 3553

Author(s):

Philippe Nimmegeers ◽

Alexej Parchomenko ◽

Paul De Meulenaere ◽

Dagmar R. D’hooge ◽

Paul H. M. Van Steenberge ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Circular Economy ◽

Real Life ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Entropy Analysis ◽

Waste Collection ◽

Statistical Entropy ◽

Waste Streams ◽

Material Component ◽

Future Work

Multilevel statistical entropy analysis (SEA) is a method that has been recently proposed to evaluate circular economy strategies on the material, component and product levels to identify critical stages of resource and functionality losses. However, the comparison of technological alternatives may be difficult, and equal entropies do not necessarily correspond with equal recyclability. A coupling with energy consumption aspects is strongly recommended but largely lacking. The aim of this paper is to improve the multilevel SEA method to reliably assess the recyclability of plastics. Therefore, the multilevel SEA method is first applied to a conceptual case study of a fictitious bag filled with plastics, and the possibilities and limitations of the method are highlighted. Subsequently, it is proposed to extend the method with the computation of the relative decomposition energies of components and products. Finally, two recyclability metrics are proposed. A plastic waste collection bag filled with plastic bottles is used as a case study to illustrate the potential of the developed extended multilevel SEA method. The proposed extension allows us to estimate the recyclability of plastics. In future work, this method will be refined and other potential extensions will be studied together with applications to real-life plastic products and plastic waste streams.

Download Full-text