scholarly journals Evaluation of Carbon Footprint in a Waste Recovery/Recycle Facility

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Furkan Demirtas ◽  
Nuray Ates
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Co2 Emission ◽  
Tier 2 ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Waste Collection ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Waste Recovery ◽  
Electricity Use ◽  
Clean Environment ◽  
Reduce Emissions

The greatest danger for a healthy world is releasing greenhouse gases into the environment as a result of the industrialization activities in all countries. These released gases play an important role in damaging the health of human beings as well as of destroying nature. In addition to sustainable development practices in order to reduce emissions, it is also necessary to implement clean environment rules. In this study, the carbon footprint of a Waste Recovery/Recycle Facility within the borders of Kayseri Province as results of its operations was evaluated. Correspondingly, the amount of carbon footprint of transportation of waste collection, heating, and electricity usage in the plant site during operations has been examined. Tier 1 and Tier 2 methodologies developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were used to determine the carbon footprint of the facility. As a result, transportation activity due to waste collection contributes to the highest share of carbon footprint with 76.8%. The carbon footprint, which is caused by consumption of natural gas for heating with 23.1%, follows the transportation. Electricity usage has a share of less than 0.1%. The total CO2 emission of the plant was 132711 tons, while the CO2 emission amounts of transportation, heating and electricity use were found to be 102000 tons, 30700 tons and 11 tons, respectively.

scholarly journals Life-Cycle Assessment of Carbon Footprint of Bike-Share and Bus Systems in Campus Transit

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Sishen Wang ◽  
Hao Wang ◽  
Pengyu Xie ◽  
Xiaodan Chen
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Co2 Emission ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Transit System ◽  
Two Systems ◽  
Bus System ◽  
Bike Share

Low-carbon transport system is desired for sustainable cities. The study aims to compare carbon footprint of two transportation modes in campus transit, bus and bike-share systems, using life-cycle assessment (LCA). A case study was conducted for the four-campus (College Ave, Cook/Douglass, Busch, Livingston) transit system at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ). The life-cycle of two systems were disaggregated into four stages, namely, raw material acquisition and manufacture, transportation, operation and maintenance, and end-of-life. Three uncertain factors—fossil fuel type, number of bikes provided, and bus ridership—were set as variables for sensitivity analysis. Normalization method was used in two impact categories to analyze and compare environmental impacts. The results show that the majority of CO2 emission and energy consumption comes from the raw material stage (extraction and upstream production) of the bike-share system and the operation stage of the campus bus system. The CO2 emission and energy consumption of the current campus bus system are 46 and 13 times of that of the proposed bike-share system, respectively. Three uncertain factors can influence the results: (1) biodiesel can significantly reduce CO2 emission and energy consumption of the current campus bus system; (2) the increased number of bikes increases CO2 emission of the bike-share system; (3) the increase of bus ridership may result in similar impact between two systems. Finally, an alternative hybrid transit system is proposed that uses campus buses to connect four campuses and creates a bike-share system to satisfy travel demands within each campus. The hybrid system reaches the most environmentally friendly state when 70% passenger-miles provided by campus bus and 30% by bike-share system. Further research is needed to consider the uncertainty of biking behavior and travel choice in LCA. Applicable recommendations include increasing ridership of campus buses and building a bike-share in campus to support the current campus bus system. Other strategies such as increasing parking fees and improving biking environment can also be implemented to reduce automobile usage and encourage biking behavior.

A Computational Investigation of Piston Bowl Geometry for a Large Bore Two-Cycle Diesel Engine

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Dolak ◽  
Deep Bandyopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Diesel Engine ◽  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Spray Angle ◽  
Tier 2 ◽  
Piston Bowl ◽  
Cylinder Test ◽  
Advanced Combustion ◽  
Combustion Simulation ◽  
Reduce Emissions

The objective of this research was to optimize an Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) large-bore, two-cycle diesel engine (710 cubic inches of displacement per cylinder) at high load to minimize soot, nitrogen oxide (NOx) and fuel consumption. The variables considered were the number of spray-hole nozzles per injector, including spray angle and piston bowl geometry, for a range of injection pressures. Analytical simulations were conducted for a calibrated EMD 710 Tier 2 engine and a few of the top-performing cases were studied in detail. CONVERGE™, a commercially available, advanced combustion simulation software was used in this analysis. A surface deforming tool, Sculptor®, was used to obtain various piston bowl geometries. MiniTab® was utilized for statistical analysis. Results show that optimal combinations of injection variables and piston bowl shape exist to simultaneously reduce emissions and fuel consumption compared to Tier 2 EMD 710 engines. These configurations will be further tested in a single-cylinder test cell and presented later. This investigation shows the importance of bowl geometry and spray targeting on emissions and fuel consumption for large-bore, two-stroke engines with high power density.

Modeling of Carbon Dioxide Measurement on Cement Plants

2012 ◽  
Vol 610-613 ◽  
pp. 2120-2128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Xia Peng ◽  
Liang Huang ◽  
Yu Bo Zhao ◽  
Pan Chen ◽  
Lu Zeng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Co2 Emission ◽  
Firing Process ◽  
Input Output ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Measurement ◽  
Key Steps ◽  
Furnace Slag ◽  
Reducing Co2 Emission

Input-output model on cement plants were established. Carbon dioxide emissions of key steps and carbon footprint of products were calculated and predicted using the input-output model. The results showed that CO2 emission in the plant (the production of the plant is 1320000t a year) reached 910000 t a year and CO2 emission per ton product is 0.689 ton. Over 80% of the total CO2 was emitted during the process of firing，so the firing process is the key step for reducing CO2 emission in the cement plant. Carbon footprint of three kinds of cement products including ordinary portland cement, portland pozzolan cement and portland blast furnace slag cement are 0.76, 0.59, 0.72 respectively.

scholarly journals The Energy and Carbon Footprint of an Urban Waste Collection Fleet: A Case Study in Central Italy

Recycling ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Alessio Quintili ◽  
Beatrice Castellani
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Municipal Solid Waste ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Waste Collection ◽  
Solid Waste Collection

Municipal solid waste collection and transport are functional activities in waste management, with a significant energy and carbon footprint and a significant effect on the urban environment. An issue related to municipal solid waste collection and transport is their regional and municipal implementation, affected by sorting and recycling strategies at local level. An efficient collection is necessary to optimize the whole recycling process. The present paper shows the results of an energy, environmental, and economic evaluation of a case study, analyzing the fleet used for municipal solid waste collection and transport in 10 municipalities in Central Italy. The current scenario was compared with alternative scenarios on the basis of some parameters for performance evaluation: vehicles’ energy consumption, carbon footprint, routes, and costs. Results show that for passenger cars, the alternative scenario based on an entire fleet of dual compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles led to a reduction of the CO2 emissions (−2675 kgCO2eq) in the analyzed period (January–August 2019) and a reduction of the energy consumption (−1.96 MJ km−1). An entire fleet of CNG vehicles led to an increase of CO2 emissions: +0.02 kgCO2eqkgwaste−1 (+110%) for compactors (35–75 q) and +0.09 kgCO2eqkgwaste−1 (+377%) for compactors (80–180 q). Moreover, both categories report a higher fuel consumption and specific energy consumption. For waste transport high-capacity vehicles, we propose the installation of a Stop-Start System, which leads to environmental and energy benefits (a saving of 38,332 kgCO2eq and 8.8 × 10−7 MJ km−1kgwaste−1). On three-wheeler vehicles, the installation of the Stop-Start System is completely disadvantageous.

scholarly journals Life-Cycle Assessment and Monetary Measurements for the Carbon Footprint Reduction of Public Buildings

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Rosa Trovato ◽  
Francesco Nocera ◽  
Salvatore Giuffrida
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Co2 Emission ◽  
Temperate Climate ◽  
Residual Value ◽  
Public Buildings ◽  
Energy Retrofit ◽  
Low Co2 ◽  
Study Results

Energy consumption in public buildings increased drastically over the last decade. Significant policy actions towards the promotion of energy efficiency in the building sector have been developed involving sustainable low-CO2-emission technologies. This paper presents the results of an economic–environmental valuation of a standard energy retrofit project for a public building in a Mediterranean area, integrating a life-cycle assessment (LCA) into the traditional economic–financial evaluation pattern. The study results show that simple retrofit of sustainable low-CO2-emission strategies such as wooden double-glazed windows, organic external wall insulation systems, and green roofs can reduce energy needs for heating and cooling by 58.5% and 33.4%, respectively. Furthermore, the implementation of an LCA highlights that the use of sustainable materials reduces the building’s carbon footprint index by 54.1% after retrofit compared to standard materials, thus providing an additional increase in the socio-environmental–economic–financial results of 18%. Some proposals are made about the accounting of the replacement costs and the residual value as requested in the logic of life-cycle cost (that is the economic extension of the LCA), namely concerning the method to take into account the replacement costs and the residual value. The economic calculation highlights the fundamental role played by tax benefits supporting the building energy retrofit, also in temperate climate zones, thus allowing the creation of environmental benefits in addition to remarkable cost savings.

scholarly journals Tracking the Spatial–Temporal Evolution of Carbon Emissions in China from 1999 to 2015: A Land Use Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 4531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Wang ◽  
Jie Pei ◽  
Jing Geng ◽  
Zheng Niu
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Temporal Evolution ◽  
National Level ◽  
Kuznets Curve ◽  
Annual Growth Rate ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Reduce Emissions

China has been a leader in global carbon emissions since 2006. The question of how to reduce emissions while maintaining stable economic growth is a serious challenge for the country. To achieve this, it is of great significance to track the spatial and temporal evolution of carbon emissions in China during recent decades, which can provide evidence-based scientific guidance for developing mitigation policies. In this study, we calculated the carbon emissions of land use in 1999–2015 using the carbon emissions factor method proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The Kuznets curve model was used to explore the influence of economic growth and urbanization on carbon emissions at the national and provincial levels. The results indicated that (1) China’s emissions increased from 927.88 million tons (Mt) in 1999 to 2833.91 Mt in 2015 at an average annual growth rate of 12.94%, while carbon sinks grew slightly, from 187.58 Mt to 207.19 Mt. Both emissions and sinks presented significant regional differences, with the Central and Southwest regions acting as the biggest emissions and sink contributors, respectively. (2) Built-up land was the largest land carrier for carbon emissions in China, contributing over 85% to total emissions each year; and (3) at the national level, the relationships between economic growth, urbanization, and carbon emissions presented as inverted U-shaped Kuznets curves, which were also found in the majority of the 30 studied provinces. While carbon emissions may be reaching a peak in China, given the disproportionate role of built-up land in carbon emissions, efforts should be devoted to limiting urbanization and the production of associated carbon emissions.

E-Waste Stream Analysis and Design Implications

2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minjung Kwak ◽  
Sara Behdad ◽  
Yuan Zhao ◽  
Harrison Kim ◽  
Deborah Thurston
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Waste Stream ◽  
Waste Collection ◽  
Waste Recovery ◽  
Analysis And Design ◽  
Multiple Generations ◽  
Incoming Stream ◽  
Take Back

The quantity and age of the incoming stream of “feedstock” from product take-back systems are known as the major sources of the uncertainty that complicates the e-waste recovery. This paper presents the results of an analysis of data from an incoming stream for an e-waste collection center and analyzes the quantity and age of e-waste by product type and brand. The analysis results point out receiving of outdated products and processing of multiple generations, and brands of products at the same time are among main obstacles to the e-waste recovery. The potential role of product design in overcoming those obstacles is discussed with emphasis on design for upgrade, repurpose, and commonality.

Communicating Climate Change across Workplace and Organizational Settings

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Dixon ◽  
Yanni Ma
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Climate Change Communication ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Change Communication ◽  
Reduce Emissions

Addressing climate change requires attention to a variety of communication contexts. While attention has been paid to top-down approaches aimed at individual-level behavior and the beliefs of the public at large, organizations in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors are increasingly recognized as integral players in solving the climate change challenges that we face today. For instance, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) characterize the commercial sector as having the highest potential to reduce emissions by 2020, suggesting that meaningful actions aimed at climate change mitigation must come from within organizations. However, the diverse nature of organizational communication poses challenges toward effective climate change communication. On the one hand, climate change communication can occur within organizations, where members’ individual behaviors and beliefs can have a significant impact on an organization’s energy consumption. On the other hand, organizations can communicate environmental issues directly to stakeholders and the public at large—though communication can be complicated by the fact that some organizations benefit from instilling doubt in the science of climate change. The complex nature of organizational-based climate change communication allows members of the for-profit and nonprofit sectors to play an important role in cultivating divergent views of climate change. Future research can help promulgate climate change-related awareness and action within organizational contexts.

scholarly journals Recycling Agricultural Wastes and By-products in Organic Farming: Biofertilizer Production, Yield Performance and Carbon Footprint Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 3824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariangela Diacono ◽  
Alessandro Persiani ◽  
Elena Testani ◽  
Francesco Montemurro ◽  
Corrado Ciaccia
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Co2 Emission ◽  
Agricultural Waste ◽  
Organic Fertilizer ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Municipal Waste ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Energy Output ◽  
Footprint Analysis ◽  
Municipal Waste Compost

The Circular Economy concept implies the re-design of existing production systems in agriculture, by promoting agricultural waste recycling. In an organic zucchini—lettuce rotation, two different agroecological tools were considered: biofertilizer and presence or absence of green manure (GM+ and GM−). In particular, we compared: (i) anaerobic digestate from cattle manure, co-composted with vegetable wastes, with the presence of GM (AD GM+); (ii) olive pomace compost, re-composted, with the presence of GM (OWC GM+); (iii) municipal waste compost with GM (MWC GM+); (iv) municipal waste compost without GM (MWC GM−). These materials were tested with a commercial organic fertilizer without GM (COF GM−) as a positive control. The objectives were: (i) assessing the environmental sustainability of biofertilizers through carbon footprint analysis by greenhouse gas—GHG—emissions; (ii) evaluating the agronomic performance on the vegetable rotation, by energy output assessment. The total carbon emissions of biofertilizers production was 63.9 and 67.0 kg of CO2 eq Mg−1 for AD and OWC, respectively. The co-composting and re-composting processes emitted 31.4 and 8.4 kg CO2 per Mg of compost, respectively. In AD the ventilation phase of composting accounted for 37.2% of total emissions. The total CO2 emission values for the two-crop cycles were the highest in COF GM− and the lowest in OWC GM+, due to different fertilizer sources. On the average of the treatments, the input that induced the highest CO2 emission was irrigation (37.9%). The energy output assessment for zucchini and lettuce highlighted similar performance for all the treatments. Our findings demonstrated the validity of the tested processes to recycle agro-industrial wastes, and the potential of agroecological practices (GM) to mitigate GHG emissions.

scholarly journals Inventory of Spatio-Temporal Methane Emissions from Livestock and Poultry Farming in Beijing

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 3858
Author(s):  
Yixuan Guo ◽  
Yidong Wang ◽  
Shufeng Chen ◽  
Shunan Zheng ◽  
Changcheng Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Field Survey ◽  
Tier 2 ◽  
Ch4 Emission ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Enteric Fermentation ◽  
Ch4 Emissions ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Poultry Farming ◽  
Feeding Systems

Livestock and poultry farming sectors are among the largest anthropogenic methane (CH4) emission sources, mainly from enteric fermentation and manure management. Previous inventories of CH4 emission were generally based on constant emission factor (EF) per head, which had some weaknesses mainly due to the succession of breeding and feeding systems over decades. Here, more reliable long-term changes of CH4 emissions from livestock and poultry farming in Beijing are estimated using the dynamic EFs based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 2 method, and high-resolution spatial patterns of CH4 emissions are also estimated with intensive field survey. The results showed that the estimated CH4 emissions derived by dynamic EFs were approximately 13–19% lower than those based on the constant EF before 2010. After 2011, however, the dynamic EFs-derived CH4 emissions were a little higher (3%) than the constant EF method. Temporal CH4 emissions in Beijing had experienced four developing stages (1978–1988: stable; 1989–1998: slow growth; 1999–2004: rapid growth and reached hot moments; 2005–2014: decline) during 1978–2014. Over the first two decades, the contributions of pigs (45%) and cattle (46%) to annual CH4 emission were similar; subsequently, the cattle emitted more CH4 compared to the pigs. At a spatial scale, Shunyi, Daxing, and Tongzhou districts with more cattle and pigs are the hotspots of CH4 emission. In conclusion, the dynamic EFs method obviously improved the spatio-temporal estimates of CH4 emissions compared to the constant EF approach, and the improvements depended on the period and aquaculture structure. Therefore, the dynamic EFs method should be recommended for estimating CH4 emissions from livestock and poultry farming in the future.

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