scholarly journals A Methodology for Assessing Environmental Benefits from LNG Transition: The Case of Regione Sardegna

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (2-4) ◽  
pp. 409-413
Author(s):  
Davide Borelli ◽  
Francesco Devia ◽  
Corrado Schenone ◽  
Federico Silenzi ◽  
Federico Sollai ◽  
...  

The use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is crucial for reaching the pollution reduction objectives that have been set by the new European laws. The widespread use of LNG allows for the reduction of air-polluting emissions in many fields, from residential to industrial and transport sectors. The European Project SIGNAL is aimed towards supporting and bolstering the diffusion of LNG usage, especially in port areas and in regions that are not connected to the main continental NG network (e.g. islands or border regions) where LNG is still a convenient alternative to the construction of distribution infrastructures. Considering that the impact of primary LNG consumption is strongly affected by the efficiency of technologies employed in energy conversion, it differs from sector to sector and from country to country. For this reason, it is useful to evaluate the environmental benefits deriving from the conversion to LNG fed technologies, to assess the effective emission reductions. In the present paper, a simple yet fast and reliable methodology to assess the environmental benefits is presented. The methodology is relying on the application of the Emission Factors available on the Emission Factor Database developed by the European Union, integrated with other national databases or literature studies, in case of lacking data. Moreover, in the present paper, the case study of Regione Sardegna is presented. Starting from the regional energy needs, it is possible to evaluate the current emissions levels amount for five selected pollutants (PM 2.5, PM10, CO, CO2, NOx, SOx). Then, two different scenarios are forecasted, with a 10-year timespan: a low LNG widespread and a high penetration one. Then, the emission levels for the two cases are evaluated and compared to the base case. Overall, the use of LNG is helpful towards the reduction of air emissions, especially for PM2.5, PM10, and SOx. The emissions for CO and NOx can anyway increase up to 5.5% when a single sector is analyzed, depending on the level of technology development of the considered sector.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3199
Author(s):  
Laith Shalalfeh ◽  
Ashraf AlShalalfeh ◽  
Khaled Alkaradsheh ◽  
Mahmoud Alhamarneh ◽  
Ahmad Bashaireh

An increasing number of electric vehicles (EVs) are replacing gasoline vehicles in the automobile market due to the economic and environmental benefits. The high penetration of EVs is one of the main challenges in the future smart grid. As a result of EV charging, an excessive overloading is expected in different elements of the power system, especially at the distribution level. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of EVs on the distribution system under three loading conditions (light, intermediate, and full). For each case, we estimate the maximum number of EVs that can be charged simultaneously before reaching different system limitations, including the undervoltage, overcurrent, and transformer capacity limit. Finally, we use the 19-node distribution system to study these limitations under different loading conditions. The 19-node system is one of the typical distribution systems in Jordan. Our work estimates the upper limit of the possible EV penetration before reaching the system stability margins.


2022 ◽  
pp. 333-354
Author(s):  
Sanela Arsić ◽  
Aleksandra Fedajev

The European Union (EU) consists of 27 economies characterized by different economic structures, living standards, demographic dynamics, technology development, and other factors shaping their sustainable development patterns. This chapter aims to examine the impact of total investments and R&D investments on the sustainable development of EU economies and determine how these financial investments impact sustainable competitiveness in the global market. The assessment of the sustainable development performances was performed for the period from 2008 to 2019 using the linear regression model. The key findings pointed out that total investments and R&D investments had different impacts on sustainable competitiveness aspects in old member states (OMS) and new member states (NMS). The results could help policymakers understand, adjust, and optimize sustainable competitiveness to secure economic growth in all regions and reduce the differences between OMS and NMS.


2012 ◽  
pp. 75-98
Author(s):  
Rosaria Viscecchia ◽  
Antonio Stasi ◽  
Maurizio Prosperi

Modern lifestyle is one among the most relevant causes of alimentary disorder and environmental problems. Preventing both of them implies a win-win strategy for the improvement of social wellness (i.e. health and environmental benefits). A suitable strategy could be addressed to the partial substitution of caloric food (e.g. beef meat), which is also responsible for a large amount of greenhouse gas (ghgs) emissions, with less caloric food (e.g. vegetables), which is proved of exerting a lower impact on climate change. The analysis is referred to the Italian case study, based on data from the Italian Statistical Institute (istat). The relationship between obesity and ghgs emissions is here explained experimentally through a 5-stage methodology. In the first step, a regression model (ols method) is adopted to explain obesity rate in terms of ratio of people consuming meat more than once a week, and the ratio of people consuming vegetables less than once a day. The outcome of this analysis allows simulating a policy target in terms of obesity abatement, provided by a reasonable change in food demand. In the third step, a meta-analysis of Life Cycle Assessment (lca) studies has been performed in order to calculate the CO2 emissions of the food types we considered. In the fourth step, the observed change in food demand from the previous step is combined with lca indicators, in order to evaluate the impact of food industry on climate change. Finally, in the fifth step, the benefits of the obesity reduction are calculated considering the cost saving for health care of the obesity, which amounts to 1.700 Eur per person. In addition, the value of the CO2 emission have been compared with the value of the European Union Allowance (eua) of CO2 emissions, which was evaluated in 2009 in terms of 21.45 eur/t CO2. Consequently, we found that the effect of the policy can be estimated in terms of 1,032 Million eur, of which the impacts on human health is the most important (about 1.020 Million eur). The study shows the evidence that the consumption of food with low content of calories has a most relevant effect in the reduction of obesity, but very limited economic effect in terms of CO2 emissions.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 3452
Author(s):  
Maria Anna Cusenza ◽  
Teresa Maria Gulotta ◽  
Marina Mistretta ◽  
Maurizio Cellura

The refurbishment of the building stock is a key strategy towards the achievement of the climate and energy goals of the European Union. This study aims at evaluating the energy and environmental impacts associated with retrofitting a residential apartment to improve its vertical envelope thermal insulation. Two insulation materials, stone wool and cellulose fibers, are compared. The life cycle assessment methodology is applied assuming 1 m2 of retrofitted vertical envelope as functional unit. Moreover, to estimate the net energy and environmental benefits achievable in the retrofitted scenario compared with the non-retrofitted one, a second analysis is performed in which the system boundaries are expanded to include the building operational phase, and 1 m2 of walkable floor per year is assumed as reference. The results show that the use of cellulose fibers involve lower impacts in most of the assessed categories compared to stone wool, except for abiotic resource depletion. In detail, the use of cellulose fibers allows to reduce the impact on climate change up to 20% and the consumption of primary energy up to 10%. The evaluation of the net energy and environmental benefits shows the effectiveness of the retrofit energy policies.


2009 ◽  
pp. 171-180
Author(s):  
Giancarlo Fiorito

- In 2008 new car registrations in the European Union with 14.7 million vehicles, marked a decline of 2.1 million units, compared to the previous year. The sharp fall in new vehicle registrations in January ( 40%) confirmed the impact of the economic crisis on the Italian car market, causing a major alert for the potential consequences on this sector's employment. The alarming situation of the car sector has led all EU governments to approve both industry support measures and demand incentives for consumers. The latter, in particular, are motivated by the downward trend in consumer purchase of durable goods, mainly attributed to both income level and increasing uncertainty. In the early weeks of 2009, car firms have temporarily shut down some of their facilities while the parking lots for the storage of new vehicles are full of unsold cars. The present article briefly describes the Italian and global car market, with an eye to the more-or-less induced, technological developments. It also includes a forecast for the coming years and a synthetic picture of the State support measures in some EU countries and in the United States. Finally, it summarizes the main opinions about the recent initiatives. Keywords: car industry, subsidies, incentives, technology development, natural gas Vehicles Parole chiave: industria automobilistica, sussidi, incentivi, sviluppo tecnologico, veicoli a gas naturale Jel Classification: H20, L62, L98, Q58


2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Leonori ◽  
Manuel Muñoz ◽  
Carmelo Vázquez ◽  
José J. Vázquez ◽  
Mary Fe Bravo ◽  
...  

This report concerns the activities developed by the Mental Health and Social Exclusion (MHSE) Network, an initiative supported by the Mental Health Europe (World Federation of Mental Health). We report some data from the preliminary survey done in five capital cities of the European Union (Madrid, Copenhagen, Brussels, Lisbon, and Rome). The main aim of this survey was to investigate, from a mostly qualitative point of view, the causal and supportive factors implicated in the situation of the homeless mentally ill in Europe. The results point out the familial and childhood roots of homelessness, the perceived causes of the situation, the relationships with the support services, and the expectations of future of the homeless mentally ill. The analysis of results has helped to identify the different variables implicated in the social rupture process that influences homelessness in major European cities. The results were used as the basis for the design of a more ambitious current research project about the impact of the medical and psychosocial interventions in the homeless. This project is being developed in 10 capital cities of the European Union with a focus on the program and outcome evaluation of the health and psychosocial services for the disadvantaged.


2020 ◽  
pp. 50-64
Author(s):  
Kuladeep Kumar Sadevi ◽  
Avlokita Agrawal

With the rise in awareness of energy efficient buildings and adoption of mandatory energy conservation codes across the globe, significant change is being observed in the way the buildings are designed. With the launch of Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) in India, climate responsive designs and passive cooling techniques are being explored increasingly in building designs. Of all the building envelope components, roof surface has been identified as the most significant with respect to the heat gain due to the incident solar radiation on buildings, especially in tropical climatic conditions. Since ECBC specifies stringent U-Values for roof assembly, use of insulating materials is becoming popular. Along with insulation, the shading of the roof is also observed to be an important strategy for improving thermal performance of the building, especially in Warm and humid climatic conditions. This study intends to assess the impact of roof shading on building’s energy performance in comparison to that of exposed roof with insulation. A typical office building with specific geometry and schedules has been identified as base case model for this study. This building is simulated using energy modelling software ‘Design Builder’ with base case parameters as prescribed in ECBC. Further, the same building has been simulated parametrically adjusting the amount of roof insulation and roof shading simultaneously. The overall energy consumption and the envelope performance of the top floor are extracted for analysis. The results indicate that the roof shading is an effective passive cooling strategy for both naturally ventilated and air conditioned buildings in Warm and humid climates of India. It is also observed that a fully shaded roof outperforms the insulated roof as per ECBC prescription. Provision of shading over roof reduces the annual energy consumption of building in case of both insulated and uninsulated roofs. However, the impact is higher for uninsulated roofs (U-Value of 3.933 W/m2K), being 4.18% as compared to 0.59% for insulated roofs (U-Value of 0.33 W/m2K).While the general assumption is that roof insulation helps in reducing the energy consumption in tropical buildings, it is observed to be the other way when insulation is provided with roof shading. It is due to restricted heat loss during night.


2017 ◽  
pp. 114-127
Author(s):  
M. Klinova ◽  
E. Sidorova

The article deals with economic sanctions and their impact on the state and prospects of the neighboring partner economies - the European Union (EU) and Russia. It provides comparisons of current data with that of the year 2013 (before sanctions) to demonstrate the impact of sanctions on both sides. Despite the fact that Russia remains the EU’s key partner, it came out of the first three partners of the EU. The current economic recession is caused by different reasons, not only by sanctions. Both the EU and Russia have internal problems, which the sanctions confrontation only exacerbates. The article emphasizes the need for a speedy restoration of cooperation.


2019 ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
ROMAN PETROV

У статті досліджено вплив Суду Європейського Союзу (ЄС) на впровадження і застосування Угоди про асоціацію між Україною та ЄС, що викликало безпрецедентні політичні, економічні та правові реформи в Україні. Зокрема, розглядаються конституційні виклики, які постали перед державою під час виконання Угоди в правовій системі. Крім того, досліджено два питання. Перше – ефективне впровадження та застосування Угоди про асоціацію між Україною та ЄС в українській правовій системі. Друге – сумісність і відповідність Угоди Конституції України. Проаналізовано останні політичні та правові події в Україні через призму ефективної реалізації Угоди про асоціацію між Україною та ЄС і зростання проєвропейського правового активізму в державі. На закінчення стверджується, що Угода про асоціацію між Україною та ЄС посилює пристосованість національного конституційного устрою до цілей досягнення європейської інтеграції та застосування європейських спільних цінностей в Україні. Угода про асоціацію між Україною та ЄС створила стійку інституційну та правову основу для застосування acquis ЄС (правового доробку ЄС), включаючи прецедентне право ЄС та комплексне законодавче наближення між законодавством України та ЄС. Однак інституційні реформи, які вже відбулися, не можна вважати цілком достатніми. Верховній Раді України не вдалося запровадити основні та процедурні засади для застосування та впровадження Угоди в правовий порядок України. Однак ця прогалина частково заповнюється зростаючим судовим активізмом в Україні. Вітчизняні судді вже почали посилатися на Угоду про асоціацію між Україною та ЄС і відповідні частини acquis ЄС у своїх рішеннях, тим самим закладаючи основу для регулярного застосування загальних принципів права ЄС у процесі виконання й імплементації Угоди про асоціацію між Україною та ЄС.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-151
Author(s):  
Andrea Circolo ◽  
Ondrej Hamuľák

Abstract The paper focuses on the very topical issue of conclusion of the membership of the State, namely the United Kingdom, in European integration structures. The ques­tion of termination of membership in European Communities and European Union has not been tackled for a long time in the sources of European law. With the adop­tion of the Treaty of Lisbon (2009), the institute of 'unilateral' withdrawal was intro­duced. It´s worth to say that exit clause was intended as symbolic in its nature, in fact underlining the status of Member States as sovereign entities. That is why this institute is very general and the legal regulation of the exercise of withdrawal contains many gaps. One of them is a question of absolute or relative nature of exiting from integration structures. Today’s “exit clause” (Art. 50 of Treaty on European Union) regulates only the termination of membership in the European Union and is silent on the impact of such a step on membership in the European Atomic Energy Community. The presented paper offers an analysis of different variations of the interpretation and solution of the problem. It´s based on the independent solution thesis and therefore rejects an automa­tism approach. The paper and topic is important and original especially because in the multitude of scholarly writings devoted to Brexit questions, vast majority of them deals with institutional questions, the interpretation of Art. 50 of Treaty on European Union; the constitutional matters at national UK level; future relation between EU and UK and political bargaining behind such as all that. The question of impact on withdrawal on Euratom membership is somehow underrepresented. Present paper attempts to fill this gap and accelerate the scholarly debate on this matter globally, because all consequences of Brexit already have and will definitely give rise to more world-wide effects.


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