Synergies of solar energy use in the desalination of seawater: A case study in northern Chile

Cultured bacteria addition is one of the technologies used for odor control and FOG (fat, oil, and grease) removal in wastewater collection systems. This study investigated the efficiency of bacterial addition on wastewater odor control by conducting a set of full scale trials in a 60,000 cubic meter per day system for a period of two years. The objectives of this study were: (i) to identify factors that could impact wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) operations due to the effect of bacterial addition in the collection system, (ii) to estimate/understand the level of those impacts, and (iii) to present some interesting findings from the completed case study. The plant operation data before and during the bacterial addition were reviewed. The application of the cultured bacteria presented in the study was found to have significant impacts on the operation of the WWTP in terms of influent biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS) loading, primary settling, sludge production, energy use, dissolved sulfides concentration, and methane production.

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A Comprehensive Framework for Standardising System Boundary Definition in Life Cycle Energy Assessments

Buildings ◽

10.3390/buildings11060230 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 230

Author(s):

Hossein Omrany ◽

Veronica Soebarto ◽

Jian Zuo ◽

Ruidong Chang

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Energy Use ◽

Embodied Energy ◽

Building Energy Efficiency ◽

System Boundary ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Energy Assessment ◽

Boundary Definition ◽

Comprehensive Framework

This paper aims to propose a comprehensive framework for a clear description of system boundary conditions in life cycle energy assessment (LCEA) analysis in order to promote the incorporation of embodied energy impacts into building energy-efficiency regulations (BEERs). The proposed framework was developed based on an extensive review of 66 studies representing 243 case studies in over 15 countries. The framework consists of six distinctive dimensions, i.e., temporal, physical, methodological, hypothetical, spatial, and functional. These dimensions encapsulate 15 components collectively. The proposed framework possesses two key characteristics; first, its application facilitates defining the conditions of a system boundary within a transparent context. This consequently leads to increasing reliability of obtained LCEA results for decision-making purposes since any particular conditions (e.g., truncation or assumption) considered in establishing the boundaries of a system under study can be revealed. Second, the use of a framework can also provide a meaningful basis for cross comparing cases within a global context. This characteristic can further result in identifying best practices for the design of buildings with low life cycle energy use performance. Furthermore, this paper applies the proposed framework to analyse the LCEA performance of a case study in Adelaide, Australia. Thereafter, the framework is utilised to cross compare the achieved LCEA results with a case study retrieved from literature in order to demonstrate the framework’s capacity for cross comparison. The results indicate the capability of the framework for maintaining transparency in establishing a system boundary in an LCEA analysis, as well as a standardised basis for cross comparing cases. This study also offers recommendations for policy makers in the building sector to incorporate embodied energy into BEERs.

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Energy-use Assessment and Energy-saving Potential Analysis in an Underground Coal Mine: A Case Study

2021 IEEE Kansas Power and Energy Conference (KPEC) ◽

10.1109/kpec51835.2021.9446232 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Manoj Kumar ◽

Tanmoy Maity ◽

Mukesh Kumar Kirar

Keyword(s):

Energy Saving ◽

Coal Mine ◽

Energy Use ◽

Underground Coal Mine ◽

Potential Analysis ◽

Energy Saving Potential

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Effect of climate change to solar energy potential: a case study in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey

Environmental Science and Pollution Research ◽

10.1007/s11356-021-14681-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kadir Bakirci ◽

Yusuf Kirtiloglu

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Solar Energy ◽

Eastern Anatolia ◽

Energy Potential

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A Framework for Assessing Commitment Indicators in Sustainable Development Decisions

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13095234 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 5234

Author(s):

Mustafa S. Al-Tekreeti ◽

Salwa M. Beheiry ◽

Vian Ahmed

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Performance Indicators ◽

Energy Use ◽

Capital Projects ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Corporate Leaders ◽

Corporate Decisions ◽

Waste Energy ◽

Infrastructure Project

Numerous decision support systems have been developed to address the decision-making process in organizations. However, there are no developed mechanisms to track commitment down the line to the decisions made by corporate leaders. This paper is a portion of a study that establishes a framework for a comprehensive metric system to assess commitment to Sustainable Development (SD) decisions down the line in capital projects, and sets the groundwork for further development of performance indicators for SD outcomes. This ultimately leads to investigating the relationship between commitment to corporate decisions and better project performance in SD parameters. Hence, this study explores the literature to extract relevant parameters that reflect the degree of the project participants’ commitment to SD decisions and to develop commitment indicators. The study created then validated an index to track this commitment along the project stages: the Sustainable Development Commitment Tracking Tool (SDCTT). The SDCTT was tested on an infrastructure project case study. In this paper, techniques relevant to the first stage of projects (planning and definition) are presented. The SDCTT is the groundwork for the future development of performance indicators for SD outcomes, and within the postulated model should ultimately contribute towards reducing project waste, energy use, and carbon emissions.

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