scholarly journals Environmental and Social Pressures in Mining. Results from a Sustainability Hotspots Screening

Resources ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Di Noi ◽  
Andreas Ciroth
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Social Lca ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Material Supply ◽  
Toxic Emissions ◽  
Social Pressures ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Eu

In recent years, increased interest and actions have been taken to better understand, and mitigate, sustainability impacts of mining activities, by both industry and policy. The present work reports on a sustainability hotspots screening performed for the EU Horizon 2020 “Integrated Mineral Technologies for More Sustainable Raw Material Supply” (ITERAMS) project, which foresees a more efficient water recycling, tailings valorization, and minimization of environmental footprint. The focus of this paper is on social and environmental issues in mining. Different methodologies were explored, starting from a qualitative causal loop modelling. Afterwards, an environmental and social LCA screening was performed using well-accepted databases and methods, thus completing results with a literature research. The main findings related to the importance of the supply chain, the vulnerability of local communities, and the toxic emissions from tailings offer a starting point to reflect on the specific social, socio-economic, and environmental context which may influence these issues. A better understanding of the environmental and social pressures associated with mining is not only crucial to orient the sustainability assessment foreseen for the ITERAMS project, but also to contribute in terms of methodology to the challenges tackled by policy and research worldwide towards a more sustainable mining.

Characterization of Waste from the Production of Titanium Dioxide (UOW) for Reuse in Other Processes

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 590-600
Author(s):  
José da Silva Andrade Neto ◽  
Nilson Santana de Amorim Júnior ◽  
Vitor Souza Santos ◽  
Bruna Bueno Mariani ◽  
Diana Dayse Mariano de Albuquerque ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Titanium Dioxide ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Ceramic Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Industrial Processes ◽  
New Materials ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
Expected Performance ◽  
Starting Point

The reuse of waste generated in several industrial processes through the development of new materials for civil construction has been shown to be a viable alternative to meet environmental issues. New products can be developed that satisfy the expected performance and durability requirements while including this material. The main starting point for the development of projects that seek the safe use of these wastes is an extensive characterization. Unreacted Ore Waste (UOW), a waste generated during the production of titanium dioxide (TiO2), was characterized in terms of its physical, chemical, mineralogical, environmental, and radiological, as well as thermal properties. There is currently no effective reuse plan for UOW and it is disposed of in industrial landfills. From the characterization, possible routes for using UOW are identified, such as its addition to mortars with photocatalytic potential, and its use as a raw material in the production of Portland cement and ceramic materials.

The Emergent Learning Model

2021 ◽  
pp. 38-52
Keyword(s):  
Bologna Process ◽  
Critical Dimension ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Digital Environments ◽  
Funding Programme ◽  
The Eu

This chapter synthesises the earlier work on modelling learning and tries to create a design toolkit for anyone who wants to design for learning. However, the conceptual starting point for this chapter is the desire expressed in the EU Bologna Process to integrate “informal,” “non-formal,” and “formal” learning. The authors believe that the process the EU carried out, which led to the Horizon 2020 funding programme, was mistaken. The critical dimension of this lies in whether one examines these three dimensions of learning by starting with the existing formal structures of education or if one starts with the largely unexamined processes of learning. Education assumes that learning is an automatic by-product, an epiphenomenon, of the education system and so does not need to be defined separately. As has been seen in the chapters based on an ethnographic study of learning in digital environments and on learner-modelling (Chapters 1 and 2), learning has not been sufficiently discussed or described in much academic literature focused on education.

Automation of Process Control in Chemical Plant

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-12
Author(s):  
Agus Sugiarta ◽  
Houtman P. Siregar ◽  
Dedy Loebis
Keyword(s):  
Process Control ◽  
Pid Control ◽  
Control Algorithm ◽  
Chemical Engineering ◽  
Chemical Plant ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Material Supply ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Inherent Problem

Automation of process control in chemical plant is an inspiring application field of mechatronicengineering. In order to understand the complexity of the automation and its application requireknowledges of chemical engineering, mechatronic and other numerous interconnected studies.The background of this paper is an inherent problem of overheating due to lack of level controlsystem. The objective of this research is to control the dynamic process of desired level more tightlywhich is able to stabilize raw material supply into the chemical plant system.The chemical plant is operated within a wide range of feed compositions and flow rates whichmake the process control become difficult. This research uses modelling for efficiency reason andanalyzes the model by PID control algorithm along with its simulations by using Matlab.

THE STANDARD OF LIVING OF HOUSEHOLDS IN POLAND COMPARED TO OTHER EU MEMBER STATES

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 634-638
Author(s):  
Joanna Szwacka Mokrzycka
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Economic Condition ◽  
Standard Of Living ◽  
Consumption Expenditure ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Financial Condition ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Structure Of Consumption ◽  
The Eu

The objective of this article is to present the standard of living of households in Poland in comparison with other EU member states. The starting point for analysis was the economic condition of Poland against the background of other EU member states. The next step consisted of assessment of the standard of living of inhabitants of individual EU member states on the basis of financial condition of households and the structure of consumption expenditure. It was found that the differences within the EU in terms of economic development and the standard of living of households still remain substantial.

scholarly journals DEEPER COMPREHENSION OF BASIC ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES THROUGH SERIOUS GAME

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 881-890
Author(s):  
Michal Kozderka ◽  
Bertrand Rose
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Failure Analysis ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Serious Game ◽  
Financial Loss ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Basic Comprehension

AbstractDuring the last three decades we observe growing use of ecodesign, but we observe also misuse of ecodesign methods, leading often to time and financial loss. In coherence with several failure analysis and with our observation, we base our work on a hypothesis: Misuse of ecodesign is often caused by lack of basic comprehension of environmental issues: Non linearity of the processes, their inertia and their excessive costs.Building on this hypothesis, we decided to enhance our education program with an innovative serious game. The goal is to achieve comprehension of the basic environmental issues. Innovation of the game lies in revealing to students at the end of the game, that the fictive initial situation of the game corresponded to a starting point of a real catastrophe. Students can thus not only compare their decisions with those of real leaders, but also to understand how and why bad decisions were taken.Experiments indicate that students who played the game tend to evaluate environmental problems, while those who followed a lecture tend to describe them. This trend (going further than to a description) seems to be useful in decision making and in deployment of ecodesign methods.

scholarly journals The Impact of the Implementation of Cohesion Policy on the Sustainable Development of EU Countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramona Pîrvu ◽  
Cristian Drăgan ◽  
Gheorghe Axinte ◽  
Sorin Dinulescu ◽  
Mihaela Lupăncescu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Cohesion Policy ◽  
Member States ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Official Data ◽  
The Eu

The impact of implementation of cohesion policy on the sustainable development of EU countries is of great interest and presents a number of actual challenges. This research aims to evaluate the impact and the effects of the cohesion policy among the Member States using hierarchical clustering analysis in order to identify how the selected variables affect the sustainable development adopted models. The variables used in the analysis were selected on the basis of official data provided by the European Commission, SDG Index and Dashboards Reports and the EU Cohesion Monitor. The results of the research have led to the grouping of the 28 Member States in a number of six clusters, identifying performers but also those countries that have a high potential for sustainable development or which require increased attention to be sustained in recovering existing gaps. The results of the study can be a starting point for policy makers and other stakeholders involved in their efforts to support sustainable development through effective and effective policies.

scholarly journals Confronting Energy Poverty in Europe: A Research and Policy Agenda

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 858
Author(s):  
Stefan Bouzarovski ◽  
Harriet Thomson ◽  
Marine Cornelis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Energy Poverty ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Multiple Strategies ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Research And Policy ◽  
The Eu

This paper scrutinizes existing policy efforts to address energy poverty at the governance scale of the European Union (EU) and its constituent Member States. Our main starting point is the recent expansion of energy poverty policies at the EU level, fuelled by the regulatory provisions of the Clean Energy for all Europeans Package, as well as the establishment of an EU Energy Poverty Observatory. Aided by a systematic and customized methodology, we survey the extensive scientific body of work that has recently been published on the topic, as well as the multiple strategies and measures to address energy poverty that have been formulated across the EU. This includes the principal mitigation approaches adopted by key European and national institutions. We develop a framework to judge the distributional and procedural justice provisions within the recently adopted National Energy and Climate Plans, as an indicator of the power, ability and resolve of relevant institutions to combat the causes and consequences of energy injustice. We also provide a research and policy agenda for future action, highlighting a series of scientific and decision-making challenges in the European and global context.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document