Assessment of the Feedstock Availability for Covering EU Alternative Fuels Demand

Modern economies rely on the efficiency of their transportation sector; however, the environmental impact of the sector remains a growing concern. Among the various proposed solutions, the production and deployment of alternative fuels is a major option. However, concerns exist that the actual availability of sustainable feedstock might lower the current level of ambition. This paper addresses this issue by reviewing recent studies and policy targets, to match forecasts for expected demand and feedstock availability for road, aviation, and maritime sectors in the EU in 2030. The existing literature is fragmented and based on a variety of different approaches, and a consistent assessment of the potential overall demand for transport is still missing. In spite of the challenges posed by the numerous uncertainties, this research provides an estimate of potential European demand for alternative fuels that ranges between 20 and 33 Mtoe. We aimed to answer the question about the availability of sustainable feedstock to cover this potential demand. The analysis confirmed, even under very conservative assumptions, that feedstock may not be the major barrier today. Other issues, such as the feedstock costs, the price volatilities, the existing logistical infrastructures, etc., are relevant aspects contributing to the puzzle. Whilst feedstock is present across European regions, a critical element which requires detailed analysis at the implementation value chain level is the effectiveness of its sustainable mobilisation alongside the synergies and trade-offs that may arise.

An Integrated View of Homologous Emissions of Greenhouse Gases and Air Pollutants in China

Background: Air pollution in China has raised great concerns due to its adverse effects on air quality, human health, and climate. Emissions of air pollutants (APs) are inherently linked with CO2 emissions through fossil-energy consumption. Knowledge of the characteristics of APs and CO2 emissions and their relationships is fundamentally important in the pursuit of co-benefits in addressing air quality and climate issues in China. However, the linkages and interactions between APs and CO2 in China are not well understood.Results: Here, we conducted an ensemble study of six bottom-up inventories to identify the underlying drivers of APs and CO2 emissions growth and to explore their linkages in China. The results showed that, during 1980-2015, the power and industry sectors contributed 61–79% to China’s overall emissions of CO2, NOx, and SO2. In addition, the residential and industrial sectors were large emitters (77–85%) of PM10, PM2.5, CO, BC, and OC. The emissions of CH4, N2O and NH3 were dominated by the agriculture sector (46–82%), while the share of CH4 emissions in the energy sector increased since 2010. During 1980-2015, APs and greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions from residential sources generally decreased over time, while the transportation sector increased its impact on recent emissions, particularly for NOx and NMVOC. Since implementation of stringent pollution control measures and accompanying technological improvements in 2013, China has effectively limited pollution emissions (e.g., growth rates of –10% per year for PM and –20% for SO2) and slowed down the increasing trend of carbon emissions from the power and industrial sectors. We also found that areas with high emissions of CO, NOx, NMVOC, and SO2 also emitted large amounts of CO2, which demonstrates the possible common sources of APs and GHGs. Moreover, we found significant correlations between CO2 and APs (e.g., NOx, CO, SO2, and PM) emissions in the top 5% high-emitting grid cells, with more than 60% common/overlapped grid cells during 2010–2015. Conclusions: We found significant homology in spatial and temporal aspects for CO2, and NOx, CO, SO2, and PM emissions in China. We targeted sectorial and spatial APs and GHGs emission hot-spots, which help for management and policy-making of collaborative reductions of them. This comprehensive analysis over 6 datasets improves our understanding of APs and GHGs emissions in China during the period of rapid industrialization from 1980 to 2015. This study helps elucidate the linkages between APs and CO2 from an integrated perspective, and provides insights for future synergistic emissions reduction.

Investigation of the Contribution of Deceleration Fuel Cut-off and Start/Stop Technologies to Fuel Economy by Considering New European Driving Cycle

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released into the atmosphere cause climate change and air pollution. One of the main causes of GHG emissions is the transportation sector. The use of fossil fuels in internal combustion engine vehicles leads to the release of these harmful gases. For this reason, since 1992, several standards have been introduced to limit emissions from vehicles. Technologies such as reducing engine sizes, advanced compression-ignition or start/stop, and fuel cut-off have been developed to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. In this study, the contribution of deceleration fuel cut-off and start/stop technologies to fuel economy has been examined considering the New European Driving Cycle. Therefore, the fuel consumption values were calculated by creating a longitudinal vehicle model for a light commercial vehicle with a diesel engine. At the end of the study, by using the two strategies together, fuel economies of 17.5% in the urban driving cycle, 3.7% in the extra-urban cycle, and 10% in total were achieved. CO2 emissions decreased in parallel with fuel consumption, by 10.1% in total.

Tourism Entrepreneurial Prospects in Bardiya, Nepal: Challenges and Way-forwards

In the present context of Nepal, tourism is a new cultural expression and performance of national formation. Nepal is ready to deliberately utilize in a modern world as a means of creating a sense of identity and solidarity. The country has developed policies that directly influence and continue to shape tourism activities in Nepal. Despite plethora of literature available in Nepalese tourism sector still less has been paid attention on tourism entrepreneurial prospects and not much talked about regional and sectorial tourism prospects including Bardiya District, which is potential destination for national and international tourist for many causes. Thus, this study aims to identify tourism entrepreneurial prospects along with its challenges and potential recommendation for tourism entrepreneurial development in Bardiya District. This study is based on explanatory research design where local residents residing in Thakurbaba Municipality have been interviewed using structured questionnaire. Primary data were collected with 290 respondents selected using convenience sampling methods. Result indicates that 40% of the local people want to participate on tourism activities and want to get involved in accommodation services (31%), travel guide (26%), service foods (22%), transportation sector (18%), and other services (3%). It also finds that the major challenges in development of tourism entrepreneurship in Bardiya is lack of efficient management of transportation within the municipality and security of tourists. Hence, more investment on infrastructure will help to promote tourism entrepreneurial prospects in Bardiya.

“I'm Your Leader Now, but Do You Trust Me?”

Leadership succession is inevitable for most family businesses. To effectively face this challenging transition, next-generation leaders need to have the ability to gain their employees' trust which is typically very challenging due to previous generation' influence on the business. The chapter explores how trust in family leaders can impact succession when a business is passed from one generation to the next. This chapter presents two comparative examples of family business cases operating in the transportation sector in Italy. In the first business, the succession already took place and the next-generation leader is running the firm, while in the other firm, the incumbent generation is still in charge of the company and is not passing the baton. Results show that the incumbent and next-generation leader's perception of their leadership style correspond to non-family employees' perceptions. However, employees' trust in the incumbent is higher than the trust in the successor.

Potential Deployment and Integration of Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier Technology within Different Industries

The deployment of hydrogen as an infrastructure fuel and an energy vector across a range of industries is expected to aid with meeting decarbonisation goals and achieving net zero emissions. For the transition towards a low carbon hydrogen economy, not only the production of hydrogen needs to be addressed, but also its transportation and storage. Liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) are an attractive solution for the storage and transportation of hydrogen to allow a reliable and on-demand hydrogen supply, enabling industrial decarbonisation. This work describes the potential deployment and integration of LOHCs within different industries. These include: the transportation sector; steel and cement industries; the use of stored hydrogen to produce fuels and chemicals from flue gases, and a system integration of fuel cells and LOHCs for energy storage.