Editor’s Choice Articles

Hermetia illucens is an efficient bioconverter able to grow on various different organic materials, producing larvae, which are a good source of protein and fat with applications in the animal feed and biochemical industries. This fly’s capacity to reduce huge amounts of waste presents an interesting opportunity to establish a circular food economy. In this study, we assessed the suitability of using organic wastes from cricket and locust farming to rear H. illucens. Larvae developed until adult emergence on all the wastes, with a mean survival of over 94%. Cricket waste allowed faster development of heavier larvae than locust waste. Substrate reduction was particularly interesting on cricket waste (<72%), while locust waste was only reduced by 33%. The nutritional composition of the larvae reflected that of the growing substrates with a high protein and fat content. These results demonstrate the potential of using H. illucens to reduce and valorise waste generated when farming various insects through the production of a larval biomass for use as a protein meal in animal feeds or industrial applications. Full article

Soils in arid and semi-arid environments are threatened by salinization. A cost-effective and efficient way to reclaim saline land is through leaching. This will be most effective in situations where direct human impact is the cause for salinity, e.g., in environments affected by industrial use or land rehabilitation following mining. Irrigation, which is the most common means of achieving salt leaching, is not feasible for the reclamation of mine sites’ salt-affected soils located in remote areas, and thus, land reclamation largely relies on natural climatic conditions. This study was conducted to assess the effect of different climatic conditions of semi-arid environments on spatio-temporal salt leaching from brine-affected soil, and investigate the efficacy of the reduction of soil bulk density as a reclamation technique for saline land experiencing water scarcity. Three regions (represented by the Australian cities of Roma, Mount Isa, and Quilpie) representing semi-arid environments of Australia were selected, and their climatic scenarios (23 years) were applied to a validated HYDRUS-1D model. A brine-affected soil typical to Queensland, Australia, was chosen for this study. The investigations established that a greater number of individual high rainfall events resulted in a greater reduction of salinity in Roma (96%) and Mount Isa (93.31%) compared with Quilpie (58.75%), in which the soil salinity approached a level (<2 dS m⁻¹) that was suitable for sustaining plant growth. Soil salinity reduced to 8 dS m⁻¹ under the climatic conditions of the Quilpie region. This study also demonstrated that the success of salt leaching from a brine-affected soil is a consequence of a sensitive response to the depth of individual rainfall events rather than rainfall distribution and the total amount of rainfall, and is controlled by the physical properties of the soil. Where climatic conditions cannot solely assist with salt leaching, reclamation may be successful by reducing soil bulk density. Full article

Agricultural mechanization in developing countries has taken at least two contested innovation pathways—the “incumbent trajectory” that promotes industrial agriculture, and an “alternative pathway” that supports small-scale mechanization for sustainable development of hillside farming systems. Although both pathways can potentially reduce human and animal drudgery, the body of literature that assesses the sustainability impacts of these mechanization pathways in the local ecological, socio-economic, cultural, and historical contexts of hillside farms is either nonexistent or under-theorized. This paper addresses this missing literature by examining the case of Nepal’s first Agricultural Mechanization Promotion Policy 2014 (AMPP) using a conceptual framework of what will be defined as “responsible innovation”. The historical context of this assessment involves the incumbent trajectory of mechanization in the country since the late 1960s that neglected smallholder farms located in the hills and mountains and biased mechanization policy for flat areas only. Findings from this study suggest that the AMPP addressed issues for smallholder production, including gender inequality, exclusion of smallholder farmers, and biophysical challenges associated with hillside farming systems, but it remains unclear whether and how the policy promotes small-scale agricultural mechanization for sustainable development of agriculture in the hills and mountains of Nepal. Full article

In recent years, the intensification of drought and unsustainable management and use of water resources have caused a significant decline in the water level of the Urmia Lake in the northwest of Iran. This condition has affected the lake, approaching an irreversible point such that many projects have been implemented and are being implemented to save the natural condition of the Urmia Lake, among which the inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) project from the Zab River to the lake could be considered an important project. The main aim of this research is the evaluation of the IBWT project effects on the Gadar destination basin. Simulations of the geometrical properties of the river, including the bed and flow, have been performed, and the land cover and flood map were overlapped in order to specify the areas prone to flood after implementing the IBWT project. The results showed that with the implementation of this project, the discharge of the Gadar River was approximately tripled and the water level of the river rose 1 m above the average. In April, May, and June, about 952.92, 1458.36, and 731.43 ha of land adjacent to the river (floodplain) will be inundated by flood, respectively. Results also indicated that UNESCO’s criteria No. 3 (“a comprehensive environmental impact assessment must indicate that the project will not substantially degrade the environmental quality within the area of origin or the area of delivery”) and No. 5 (“the net benefits from the transfer must be shared equitably between the area of origin and the area of water delivery”) have been violated by implementing this project in the study area. The findings could help the local government and other decision-makers to better understand the effects of the IBWT projects on the physical and hydrodynamic processes of the Gadar River as a destination basin. Full article

Electricity from the combination of photovoltaic panels and wind turbines exhibits potential benefits towards the sustainable cities transition. Nevertheless, the highly fluctuating and intermittent character limits an extended applicability in the energy market. Particularly, batteries represent a challenging approach to overcome the existing constraints and to achieve sustainable urban energy development. On the basis of the market roll-out and level of technological maturity, five commercially available battery technologies are assessed in this work, namely, lead–acid, lithium manganese oxide, nickel–cadmium, nickel–metal hydride, and vanadium redox flow. When considering sustainable development, environmental assessments provide valuable information. In this vein, an environmental analysis of the technologies is conducted using a life cycle assessment methodology from a cradle-to-gate perspective. A comparison of the environmental burden of battery components identified vanadium redox flow battery as the lowest environmental damage battery. In terms of components, electrodes; the electrolyte; and the set of pumps, motors, racks, and bolts exhibited the greatest environmental impact related to manufacturing. In terms of materials, copper, steel, sulphuric acid, and vanadium were identified as the main contributors to the midpoint impact categories. The results have highlighted that challenging materials 4.0 are still needed in battery manufacturing to provide sustainable technology designs required to the future urban planning based on circular economy demands. Full article

Across urban environments, vegetated habitats provide refuge for biodiversity. Gardens (designed for food crop production) and nurseries (designed for ornamental plant production) are both urban agricultural habitats characterized by high plant species richness but may vary in their ability to support wild pollinators, particularly bees. In gardens, pollinators are valued for crop production. In nurseries, ornamental plants rarely require pollination; thus, the potential of nurseries to support pollinators has not been examined. We asked how these habitats vary in their ability to support wild bees, and what habitat features relate to this variability. In 19 gardens and 11 nurseries in California, USA, we compared how local habitat and landscape features affected wild bee species abundance and richness. To assess local features, we estimated floral richness and measured ground cover as proxies for food and nesting resources, respectively. To assess landscape features, we measured impervious land cover surrounding each site. Our analyses showed that differences in floral richness, local habitat size, and the amount of urban land cover impacted garden wild bee species richness. In nurseries, floral richness and the proportion of native plant species impacted wild bee abundance and richness. We suggest management guidelines for supporting wild pollinators in both habitats. Full article

Urban water systems and, in particular, wastewater treatment facilities are among the major energy consumers at municipal level worldwide. Estimates indicate that on average these facilities alone may require about 1% to 3% of the total electric energy output of a country, representing a significant fraction of municipal energy bills. Specific power consumption of state-of-the-art facilities should range between 20 and 45 kWh per population-equivalent served, per year, even though older plants may have even higher demands. This figure does not include wastewater conveyance (pumping) and residues post-processing. On the other hand, wastewater and its byproducts contain energy in different forms: chemical, thermal and potential. Until very recently, the only form of energy recovery from most facilities consisted of anaerobic post-digestion of process residuals (waste sludge), by which chemical energy methane is obtained as biogas, in amounts generally sufficient to cover about half of plant requirements. Implementation of new technologies may allow more efficient strategies of energy savings and recovery from sewage treatment. Besides wastewater valorization by exploitation of its chemical and thermal energy contents, closure of the wastewater cycle by recovery of the energy content of process residuals could allow significant additional energy recovery and increased greenhouse emissions abatement. Full article

The main objective of this work is to evaluate the properties of hot asphalt mixtures that have been manufactured with different recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) percentages (0%, 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% of the fraction 5–13 mm) and asphalt (4%, 4.5% and 5%). Dense asphalt mixtures were made; partially replacing the natural aggregate (NA) fraction between 5 and 13 mm. Marshall specimens were manufactured to determine the main properties of the asphalt concrete (AC) in terms of density, voids, stability and deformation. Additionally, the optimal asphalt content (OAC) was determined, and measured the water sensibility, the stiffness modulus and the permanent deformation. The results corroborate the potential for using these sources of construction and demolition waste (CDW) as a RCA in asphalt concrete and show that the hot asphalt mixtures with up to 40% substitution of natural aggregate by recycled aggregate in the fraction 5–13 mm present good behavior. Full article

The Pantanal biome integrates the lowlands of the Upper Paraguay Basin (UPB), which is hydrologically connected to the biomes of the Cerrado and Amazon (the highlands of the UPB). The effects of recent land-cover and land-use (LCLU) changes in the highlands, combined with climate change, are still poorly understood in this region. Here, we investigate the effects of soil erosion in the Brazilian Pantanal under climate and LCLU changes by combining different scenarios of projected rainfall erosivity and land-cover management. We compute the average annual soil erosion for the baseline (2012) and projected scenarios for 2020, 2035, and 2050. For the worst scenario, we noted an increase in soil loss of up to 100% from 2012 to 2050, associated with cropland expansion in some parts of the highlands. Furthermore, for the same period, our results indicated an increase of 20 to 40% in soil loss in parts of the Pantanal biome, which was associated with farmland increase (mainly for livestock) in the lowlands. Therefore, to ensure water, food, energy, and ecosystem service security over the next decades in the whole UPB, robust and comprehensive planning measures need to be developed, especially for the most impacted areas found in our study. Full article

Changes in land use, which accompany the development of towns, generate a transitional zone on the border between areas of urban and rural use, which—due to its complex (unspecified, fuzzy) land use—cannot be identified either as a rural or an urban area. In order to prevent the unplanned development, it should go according to plan, in line with the spatial order principles, making a coherent whole, taking into account all functional, socio-economic, cultural, as well as aesthetic factors and requirements. This paper describes studies and analyses of the fuzzy set theory applicability in studies of land use in areas around towns. The main aim of the study was to present the methodology, which employs fuzzy logic to identify and locate a transitional zone between rural and urban areas. This study dealt with the transitional zone at the junction of the urban and rural area and its parameters, which affect the type of land use. The attributes of the transitional zone were defined based on an analysis of current land use methods in areas under direct urbanisation pressure. The study was conducted in the city of Olsztyn (Poland) and on its outskirts, directly exposed to the impact of the developing city, with an area of 202.4 km², within an 8-km radius of the city centre. The study determined the impact of individual forms of land use on the development of urban or rural use. The degree of each type of use—urban or rural—allowed for developing a fuzzy town and country model, identifying the urban investment border and its spatial dispersion, as well as identifying and locating the transitional zone between urban and rural areas. Moreover, land cover models based on the Corine land cover (CLC) data as well as high-resolution layers (HRL) impervious and canopy data were developed. The borders of urban investment determined on the basis of the fuzzy set theory assumptions, CLC, and HRL data were also identified and verified. Full article

Nowadays, it is better understood that the benefits of green infrastructure include a series of ecosystem services, such as cooling, water storage and management, recreation and landscaping, among others. Green technologies are still developing to provide sustainable solutions to the problems that modern cities and peri-urban areas face at an ever-increasing rate and intensity. Constructed wetlands technology is an established green multi-purpose option for water management and wastewater treatment, with numerous effectively proven applications around the world and multiple environmental and economic advantages. These systems can function as water treatment plants, habitat creation sites, urban wildlife refuges, recreational or educational facilities, landscape engineering and ecological art areas. The aim of this article is to highlight the synergies between this green technology and urban areas in order to reconnect cities with nature, to promote circularity in the urban context and to apply innovative wetland designs as landscape infrastructure and water treatment solutions. This approach could be a step further in the effort to mitigate the current degradation process of the urban landscape. Following the concept of green infrastructure, the article presents and suggests ways to integrate wetland technology in the urban environment, namely: (i) stormwater and urban runoff management (storage and treatment of water during storm events) to provide protection from flood incidents, especially considering climate change, (ii) innovative low-impact infrastructure and design solutions for urban wastewater treatment, and (iii) wetland technology for habitat creation and ecosystem services provision. Full article

(PE)-UHPFRC, a novel strain hardening ultra high-performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) with low clinker content, using Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW-PE) fibers, was developed for structural applications of rehabilitation. A comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out to study the environmental impact of interventions on an existing bridge using PE-UHPFRC compared with conventional UHPFRC and post-tensioned reinforced concrete methods in three categories of global warming potential (GWP), cumulative energy demand (CED), and ecological scarcity (UBP). The results showed 55% and 29% decreases in the environmental impact of the PE-UHPFRC compared with reinforced concrete and conventional UHPFRC methods, respectively, which highlighted the effectiveness of this material for the rehabilitation/strengthening of structures from the viewpoint of environmental impact. Full article

In support of Food-Energy-Water Systems (FEWS) analysis to enhance its sustainability for New Mexico (NM), this study evaluated observed trends in beef cattle population in response to environmental and economic changes. The specific goal was to provide an improved understanding of the behavior of NM’s beef cattle production systems relative to precipitation, temperature, rangeland conditions, production of hay and crude oil, and prices of hay and crude oil. Historical data of all variables were available for the 1973–2017 period. The analysis was conducted using generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity models. The results indicated declining trends in beef cattle population and prices. The most important predictors of beef cattle population variation were hay production, mean annual hay prices, and mean annual temperature, whereas mean annual temperature, cattle feed sold, and crude oil production were the most important predictors for calf population that weigh under 500 lb. Prices of beef cattle showed a strong positive relationship with crude oil production, mean annual hay prices, rangeland conditions, and mean annual precipitation. However, mean annual temperature had a negative relationship with mean annual beef prices. Variation in mean annual calf prices was explained by hay production, mean annual temperature, and crude oil production. This analysis suggested that NM’s beef cattle production systems were affected mainly and directly by mean annual temperature and crude oil production, and to a lesser extent by other factors studied in this research. Full article

Recent climate change has resulted in the reduction of several surface water bodies (SWBs) all around the globe. These SWBs, such as streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, reservoirs, and creeks have a positive impact on the cooling of the surrounding climate and, therefore, reduction in SWBs can contribute to the rise of land surface temperature (LST). This study presents the impact of SWBs on the LST across Bangladesh to quantify their roles in the rapid temperature rise of Bangladesh. The moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) LST and water mask data of Bangladesh for the period 2000–2015 are used for this purpose. Influences of topography and geography on LST were first removed, and then regression analysis was conducted to quantify the impact of SWBs on the LST. The non-parametric Mann–Kendall (MK) test was used to assess the changes in LST and SWBs. The results revealed that SWBs were reduced from 11,379 km² in 2000 to 9657 km² in 2015. The trend analysis showed that changes in SWBs have reduced significantly at a 90% level of confidence, which contributed to the acceleration of LST rise in the country due to global warming. The spatial analysis during the specific years showed that an increase in LST can be seen with the reduction of SWBs. Furthermore, the reduction of 100 m² of SWBs can reduce the LST of the surrounding regions from −1.2 to −2.2 °C. Full article

Many cities aim to increase urban forest cover to benefit residents through the provision of ecosystem services and to promote biodiversity. As a complement to traditional forest plantings, we address opportunities associated with “emerging urban forests” (i.e., spontaneously developing forests in cities) for urban biodiversity conservation. We quantified the area of successional forests and analyzed the species richness of native and alien plants and of invertebrates (carabid beetles, spiders) in emerging forests dominated by alien or native trees, including Robinia pseudoacacia, Acer platanoides, and Betula pendula. Emerging urban forests were revealed as shared habitats of native and alien species. Native species richness was not profoundly affected by the alien (co-)dominance of the canopy. Instead, native and alien plant species richnesses were positively related. Numbers of endangered plants and invertebrates did not differ between native- and alien-dominated forest patches. Patterns of tree regeneration indicate different successional trajectories for novel forest types. We conclude that these forests (i) provide habitats for native and alien species, including some endangered species, (ii) allow city dwellers to experience wild urban nature, and (iii) support arguments for adapting forests to dynamic urban environments. Integrating emerging urban forests into the urban green infrastructure is a promising pathway to sustainable cities and can complement traditional restoration or greening approaches. Full article

Energy use in agricultural production has been increasing faster than in many other sectors of the world economy. Owing to high energy consumption during the production of agricultural inputs, with mineral nitrogen fertilizers in particular, it is often questioned as to whether agricultural production is still energy efficient. The objective of this research was to evaluate the energy efficiency of different intensity systems for the production of semi-dwarf winter triticale cultivar ”Twingo”. Cultivar “Twingo” entered the Polish National List in 2012 as one of the best yielding. For this reason, it was used in this experiment to examine its response to basic agrotechnical factors. The field experiment was conducted in the Agricultural Experiment Station in Tomaszkowo in 2013–2015. Low-input, medium-input and high-input production systems were evaluated. The compared systems differed in nitrogen fertilization rates and the level of fungicide protection. The highest output/input ratio was noticed growing winter triticale in low-input production system. The most energy-consuming operation during winter triticale production in the compared systems was mineral fertilization. The high-input production system was significantly lower energy efficiency than the other systems (6.21, medium-input 5.95, low-input 8.19). The energy return on investment (EROI) ratio was low, but above 1, in all the analyzed technologies (low-input 1.30, medium-input 1.14, high-input 1.15). The energy value of the bioethanol produced was higher than the energy inputs into the production of raw material and its processing. The conversion of winter triticale grain to bioethanol proved that the EROI reached the most favorable value for the low-input production system. Full article

This experimental research aimed to examine potential production and utilization of RDF derived from mixed municipal solid waste using bio-drying technology to be used as a substitute fuel for the traditional fuel currently used in cement plants in Jordan. The characteristics of RDF produced were identified and compared with limits and criteria set by some European countries. An economic model for RDF utilization in cement industry was created. The model proposes six different options resulting from adding RDF as a substitute fuel for the petcoke fuel currently used. A cost analysis for each option proposed was performed to estimate the economic and environmental savings of RDF utilization in cement industry. At the end of the bio-drying process, the mass of dried waste directed to the landfill was reduced by about 35%. In the case of the recovery of RDF materials from dried waste, the mass of waste to be landfilled was reduced by 69%. The bio-drying process allowed an increase in the heating value of waste (LHV) by 58% to reach 15.58 MJ/kg, as a result of the reduction of waste moisture. RDF produced had high calorific value, low water content, and satisfactory chlorine content. With regard to the concentration of the heavy metals, all of the RDF samples tested had lower concentrations than those values set by some European countries. The findings showed that adding 15% RDF as a substitute fuel, equaling 4.92 tons/h, to the fuel used in cement kilns will save 486 USD/h in petcoke costs, with 2.27 tons/h of CO₂ being emitted into the atmosphere at a net saving of 389 USD/h. Full article

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 aspires to “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, and the introduction of an explicit urban goal testifies to the importance of urbanisation. The understanding of the process of urbanisation and the capacity to monitor the SDGs require a wealth of open, reliable, locally yet globally comparable data, and a fully-fledged data revolution. In this framework, the European Commission–Joint Research Centre has developed a suite of (open and free) data and tools named Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) which maps the human presence on Earth (built-up areas, population distribution and settlement typologies) between 1975 and 2015. The GHSL supplies information on the progressive expansion of built-up areas on Earth and population dynamics in human settlements, with both sources of information serving as baseline data to quantify land use efficiency (LUE), listed as a Tier II indicator for SDG 11 (11.3.1). In this paper, we present the profile of the LUE across several territorial scales between 1990 and 2015, highlighting diverse development trajectories and the land take efficiency of different human settlements. Our results show that (i) the GHSL framework allows us to estimate LUE for the entire planet at several territorial scales, opening the opportunity of lifting the LUE indicator from its Tier II classification; (ii) the current formulation of the LUE is substantially subject to path dependency; and (iii) it requires additional spatially-explicit metrics for its interpretation. We propose the Achieved Population Density in Expansion Areas and the Marginal Land Consumption per New Inhabitant metrics for this purpose. The study is planetary and multi-temporal in coverage, demonstrating the value of well-designed, open and free, fine-scale geospatial information on human settlements in supporting policy and monitoring progress made towards meeting the SDGs. Full article

Since 2018, pedestrians in many U.S. cities have been sharing sidewalk space with dockless shared e-scooters. The introduction of e-scooters has received pushback from pedestrians. Complaints reported in the media include e-scooters blocking walkways and sidewalks when parked illegally as well as safety concerns from pedestrians who do not feel safe around moving e-scooters. However, little is known beyond a few initial studies on e-scooter parking and anecdotes about pedestrian perceptions of e-scooter safety. Our case study from Rosslyn, Virginia, helps shed light on these two issues. First, we conducted a survey of 181 e-scooter riders and non-riders asking about their perceived safety around riders of e-scooters and experiences of sidewalks blocked by e-scooters. We found highly divergent responses about safety and sidewalk blocking perceptions from riders and non-riders. Second, we conducted an observational study of 606 parked e-scooters along three mixed-use corridors in Rosslyn to investigate the relationship between the built environment and e-scooter parking. We found that 16% of 606 observed e-scooters were not parked properly and 6% (36 e-scooters) were blocking pedestrian right-of-way. Moreover, our survey showed that e-scooter trips in Rosslyn replaced trips otherwise taken by Uber, Lyft, or a taxi (39%), foot (33%), bicycle (12%), bus (7%), or car (7%). Full article

Although urbanization has contributed to improving living conditions, it has had negative impacts on the natural environment in urbanized areas. Urbanization has changed the urban landscape and resulted in increasing land surface temperature (LST). Thus, studies related to LST in various urban environments have become popular. However, there are few LST studies focusing on mountain landscapes (i.e., hill stations). Therefore, this study investigated the changes in the landscape and their impacts on LST intensity (LSTI) in the tropical mountain city of Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka. The study utilized annual median temperatures extracted from Landsat data collected from 1996 to 2017 based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) interface. The fractions of built-up (BL), forested (FL) and agricultural (AL) land, were calculated using land use and cover maps based on urban–rural zone (URZ) analysis. The urban–rural margin was demarcated based on the fractions of BL (<10%), and LSTI that were measured using the mean LST difference in the urban–rural zone. Besides, the mixture of land-use types was calculated using the AL/FL and BL/FL fraction ratios, and grid-based density analysis. The results revealed that the BL in all URZs rapidly developed, while AL decreased during the period 1996 to 2017. There was a minimal change in the forest area of the Nuwara Eliya owing to the government’s forest preservation policies. The mean temperature of the study area increased by 2.1 °C from 1996 to 2017. The magnitude of mean LST between urban–rural zones also increased from 1.0 °C (1996) to 3.5 °C (2017). The results also showed that mean LST was positively correlated with the increase and decrease of the BL/FL and AL/FL fraction ratios, respectively. The grid-based analysis showed an increasing, positive relationship between mean LST and density of BL. This indicated that BL density had been a crucial element in increasing LST in the study area. The results of this study will be a useful indicator to introduce improved landscape and urban planning in the future to minimize the negative impact of LST on urban sustainability. Full article

Environmental change is subject to discussion among scientists, practitioners, and policymakers. As increasing threats to both environment and society are on the agenda, alternative management approaches are gaining importance. This paper focuses on the influence of policy changes on flood risk management. There is evidence that shifts in settlement patterns and population growth might influence the dynamics of flood damage and loss. There is increased pressure to intensify land use, but also to keep free spaces for hazard mitigation and adaptation. In this paper, we focus on new regulative and management approaches associated with the implementation of the European (EU) Floods Directive in Austria. The concept of tipping points, which are defined as turning points for system change, has been applied. Based on semi-structured interviews we evaluate whether or not the implementation of the EU Floods Directive has triggered a system change in flood risk management. Our results show that triggers for change are past flood events and a general need for action rather than the implementation of the directive itself. Changes related to the EU Floods Directive are likely to happen in the long-term; however, these cannot yet be determined. The main challenges are associated with transparency and communication between policymakers and the affected society. So far, the requirements of the first policy cycle of the directive have been fulfilled. The second policy cycle will show further outcomes and potential needs. Full article

Nutrient recovery from source-separated human urine has been identified by many as a viable avenue towards the circular economy of nutrients. Moreover, untreated (and partially treated) urine is the main anthropogenic route of environmental discharge of nutrients, most concerning for nitrogen, whose release has exceeded the planet’s own self-healing capacity. Urine contains all key macronutrients (N, P, and K) and micronutrients (S, Ca, Mg, and trace metals) needed for plant growth and is, therefore, an excellent fertilizer. However, direct reuse is not recommended in modern society due to the presence of active organic molecules and heavy metals in urine. Many systems have been proposed and tested for nutrient recovery from urine, but none so far has reached technological maturity due to usually high power or chemical requirements or the need for advanced process controls. This work is the proof of concept for the world’s first nutrient recovery system that powers itself and does not require any chemicals or process controls. This is a variation of the previously proposed microbial electrochemical Ugold process, where a novel air cathode catalyst active in urine conditions (pH 9, high ammonia) enables in situ generation of electricity in a microbial fuel cell setup, and the simultaneous harvesting of such electricity for the electrodialytic concentration of ionic nutrients into a product stream, which is free of heavy metals. The system was able to sustain electrical current densities around 3 A m^–2 for over two months while simultaneously upconcentrating N and K by a factor of 1.5–1.7. Full article

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of using natural raw materials that have not been used for the production of biostimulants of plant growth. These products can effectively contribute to overcome the challenge posed by the increasing demand for food. Ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) was chosen to prepare innovative biostimulants. The expected outcome of this research was to generate products that show beneficial effects on white head cabbage growth, development, and nutritional quality. The results proved that higher plants (mugwort, calendula, purple coneflower, chamomile, basil, giant goldenrod, comfrey, dandelion, and valerian) can be successfully used for the production of biostimulants. For example, products based on common dandelion showed the highest biostimulating activity. In a group treated with 2.5% flower extract, cabbage shoots were 37% longer, whereas in a group treated with 0.5% leaves extract, roots were longer by 76% as compared with a control group treated with water. Biostimulants based on common mugwort (at a dose of 0.5%) and common dandelion (root) (at a dose of 1.0%) increased the mass of cabbage shoots and roots by 106% and 246%, respectively. The majority of biostimulants increased the content of photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll and carotenoids) and decreased the content of polyphenols. Botanical extracts also showed varied impact on the antioxidant activity of cabbage. Taking into account the benefits for a wide scope of applications, it is expected that the utilization of these types of products should increase in the future. These products can play a key role in sustainable agriculture. Full article

There can be two broad objectives of transport corridor development: to improve efficiency in the transport and logistics processes in the corridor, and to generate economic development in the corridor region, capitalizing on improved connectivity and transport networks. This paper focuses on the second objective of corridor development. A transport corridor can become a tool for spatially balanced and more sustainable economic development and human well-being in the corridor region. Considering the promise of this approach, this paper undertakes a critical review of transport infrastructure development studies undertaken in Sub-Saharan and South Asian countries to find evidence of infrastructure development impacts. Evidence gathered from the review suggests that transport infrastructure development can have significant positive impacts on economic growth, income, poverty, employment, equity, and inclusion. However, there can be important trade-offs between economy and welfare and environmental quality, and the distribution of impacts can be uneven. The paper also considers how some of the transport corridor development issues are addressed and complementary interventions that may be required, and, finally, discusses lessons learned from the review and their policy implications which can be useful for future corridor designs, and provides suggestions of research studies to fill the current knowledge gaps. Full article

Solar irradiation that is received on a terrestrial surface at minor scale of an hour does not have many records, since the current solar irradiation databases generally only have data recorded on a daily (most) and hourly (some less) scale. For places where there are no records of solar irradiation, there are a lot of methods that are used to synthetically or artificially generate these data, and again they are usually methods that generate data on a daily or hourly scale. Currently, for all types of applications, especially in the field of photovoltaic solar energy, irradiation data are needed at minor scale of an hour. In this case, there are very few methods to generate such data. For this purpose, a new methodology to generate series of solar irradiation at temporal high-resolution. In this paper, it is presented on a 10-min basis. A comparative study with real data has been done and the conclusion, as it will be explained is that the proposed methodology provides very good results. Full article

The human influence on the river ecosystem has increased in recent years to feed the growing demand for water to communities by constructing different water structures. It is essential to understand the potential impacts of water structures on river hydrologic regimes. Thus, this study investigates the influence of the cascade dams located upstream of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River on the river ecosystem. The study was carried out for the period 2003–2015 for both Cuntan and Miaohe stations. The analysis was conducted considering two periods, pre-impact; before the dam construction and post-impact; after the dam construction. The assessment was carried out using “Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration.” The results of this study revealed that the cascade dams built upstream of Three Gorges Dam has both positive and negative impacts at both stations. Flows were found to have positive impacts in July while low in October for both stations. The 1-day minimum flows were found to decrease by 7% over Miaohe Station while the 1-day maximum was decreased up to 2% in Cuntan. Overall, the results of the study indicate that there are undesirable impacts which should be adjusted to maintain the river ecosystem at an acceptable level compared to its natural state. It is expected that the findings of the study can guide water managers to adjust the hydropower operation sustainably. Full article

Accurate, year-by-year crop distribution information is a key element in agricultural production regulation and global change governance. However, due to the high sampling costs and insufficient use of historical samples, a supervised classifying method for sampling every year is unsustainable for mapping crop types over time. Therefore, this paper proposes a method for the generation and screening of new samples for 2018 based on historical crop samples, and then it builds a crop mapping model for that current season. Pixels with the same crop type in the historical year (2013–2017) were extracted as potential samples, and their spectral features and spatial information in the current year (2018) were used to generate new samples based on clustering screening. The research result shows that when the clustering number is different, the number and structure of new generated sample also changes. The sample structure generated in Luobei County was not balanced, with the ‘other crop’ representing less than 3.97%, but the structure of southwest Hulin City was more balanced. Based on the newly generated samples and the ground reference data of classified year, the classification models were constructed. The average classification accuracies of Luobei County in 2018 based on new generated samples and field samples were 69.35% and 77.59%, respectively, while those of southwest Hulin City were 80.44% and 82.94%, respectively. Combined with historical samples and the spectral information of the current year, this study proposes a method to generate new samples. It can overcome the problem of crop samples only being collected in the field due to the difficulty of visual interpretation, effectively improve the use of historical data, and also provide a new idea for sustainable crop mapping in many regions lacking seasonal field samples. Full article

In 2015, member countries of the United Nations adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the Sustainable Development Summit in New York. These global goals have 169 targets and 232 indicators based on the three pillars of sustainable development: economic, social, and environmental. However, substantial challenges remain in obtaining data of the required quality and quantity to populate these indicators efficiently. One promising and innovative way of addressing this issue is to use Earth observation (EO). The research reported here updates our original work to develop a Maturity Matrix Framework (MMF) for assessing the suitability of EO-derived data for populating the SDG indicators, with a special focus on those indicators covering the more social and economic dimensions of sustainable development, as these have been under-explored in terms of the contribution that can be made by EO. The advanced MMF 2.0 framework set out in this paper is based on a wide consultation with EO and indicator experts (semi-structured interviews with 38 respondents). This paper provides detail of the evolved structure of MMF 2.0 and illustrates its use for one of the SDG indicators (Indicator 11.1.1). The revised MMF is then applied to published work covering the full suite of SDG indicators and demonstrates that EO can make an important contribution to providing data relevant to a substantial number of the SDG indicators. Full article

Ammonia (NH₃), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from livestock farms contribute to negative environmental impacts such as acidification and climate change. A significant part of these emissions is produced from the decomposition of slurry in livestock facilities, during storage and treatment phases. This research aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the additive “SOP LAGOON” (made of agricultural gypsum processed with proprietary technology) on (i) NH₃ and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, (ii) slurry properties and N loss. Moreover, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method was applied to assess the potential environmental impact associated with stored slurry treated with the additive. Six barrels were filled with 65 L of cattle slurry, of which three were used as a control while the additive was used in the other three. The results indicated that the use of the additive led to a reduction of total nitrogen, nitrates, and GHG emissions. LCA confirmed the higher environmental sustainability of the scenario with the additive for some environmental impact categories among which climate change. In conclusion, the additive has beneficial effects on both emissions and the environment, and the nitrogen present in the treated slurry could partially displace a mineral fertilizer, which can be considered an environmental credit. Full article

The rapid development of cities has brought new challenges and opportunities to traditional traffic management. The usage of smart cards promotes the upgrading of intelligent transportation systems, and also produces considerable big data. As an important part of the urban comprehensive transportation system, Nanjing metro has more than 1 million inbound and outbound records of traffic smart cards used by residents every day. How to process these traffic data and present them visually is an urgent problem in modern traffic management. In this study, five working days with normal weather conditions in Nanjing were selected, and the swiping records of the smart cards were extracted, and the space–time characteristics were analyzed. In terms of time analysis, this research analyzed the 24-h fluctuation of daily average passenger flow, peak hour coefficient of passenger flow, 24-h fluctuation of passenger flow on different metro lines, passenger flow intensity on different metro lines and passenger flow comparison at different stations. In spatial analysis, this study uses thermodynamic charts to represent the inflow and outflow of passengers at different stations during early and evening peak periods. The analysis results and visualized images directly reflect the area where Nanjing metro congestion is located, and also shows the commuting characteristics of residents. It can solve the problem of urban congestion, carry out the rational layout of urban functional areas, and promote the sustainable development of people and cities. Full article

Protection of surface water quality plays a crucial role for sustainable urban watershed management since the wash-off from impervious contaminated surfaces generates transport phenomena from a range of pollutants (like nutrients, such as total nitrogen (N_tot) and total phosphorus (P_tot)). This leads to the consequent reduction of water quality, and to phenomena, such as eutrophication and the presence of algae blooms. For this reason, a comprehensive understanding of nutrient build-up and wash-off is essential for efficient stormwater treatment design. However, data scarcity could represent one of the main limitations in this context. This manuscript presents a methodological framework able to tackle such limitations by an in-depth investigation of the main factors that influence the build-up and wash-off from impervious surfaces, including rainfall, watershed, and drainage-network characteristics. The outcomes highlight the key role played by the antecedent dry period, among the rainfall characteristics, and the width of the overland flow path, among the catchment/drainage characteristics. It is also confirmed as appropriate to use suspended solids as a surrogate for the investigation of the behavior of other pollutant species. Additionally, the capability of this approach in assessing modeling performance was successfully tested. The results of the present study are expected to contribute valuable knowledge for defining effective management strategies to minimize stream pollution and protect the health of aquatic ecosystems in urban watersheds characterized by data scarcity. Full article

The preference and the development of electromobility are included among the priorities of transport policies in many European countries. This article deals with the issue of electric vehicle operation from the point of view of the environmental impact of electric power production, specifically the energy effectiveness of its production by utilizing primary power production sources. Differences in the effectiveness of the conversion of mixed forms of energy into electricity and their share in the process directly affect the final level of greenhouse gases (GHG) production, and thus the ecological footprint of electric vehicle operations. The specification of energy consumption and GHG production is based on the principles of the EN 16 258: 2012 standard, which considers legislative-regulated power plant effectiveness values, statistical values of GHG emissions from electricity production, and real energy consumption values of an electric vehicle fleet. The calculation takes into account the share of primary sources and the efficiency of electricity production and effectiveness of electricity distribution in each of the evaluated countries. The specific research study is performed by comparing measured parameters for individual countries chosen from the Central Europe region. The results of the study show that the quantification of the positive environmental consequences of increasing electromobility varies greatly in different countries, which means full-scale deployment of electromobility does necessarily deliver the sustainability of transport that was expected from it. Full article

The hypothesis of this paper is that the circular economy (CE) has the potential to (re)balance the conflict within urban spatial planning between ‘place as a location’ and the ‘organization of space’. The former dominates the latter following a shift from a Fordist towards a finance and real-estate driven regime. A consequence is that existing manufacturing areas are increasingly transformed into residential and commercial areas. However, this conflicts with the rationale of CE, namely that to end the linear economy, externalized activities, such as the (re)manufacturing of waste, should be internalized again, especially within urban regions. Emphasized by the EU, The Netherlands have the ambition to become fully circular in 2050. To test our hypothesis, we focus on two ongoing circular area developments in Amsterdam and Utrecht. By performing a discourse-institutional analysis, we detect in both case studies a change in discourse towards CE. Our results show that in contrast to our hypothesis, the concept of circularity is not emphasizing the ‘organization of space’, but even accelerating ‘space as a location’, increasingly transforming urban industrial areas into circular built residential and commercial areas. We conclude with spatial policy recommendations regarding the ambitions of a future CE. Full article

The Passive House (PH) concept is considered an efficient strategy to reduce energy consumption in the building sector, where most of the energy is used for heating and cooling applications. For this reason, energy efficiency measures are increasingly implemented in the residential sector, which is the main responsible for such a consumption. The need for professionals dealing with energy issues, and particularly for architects during the early stages of their architectural design, is crucial when considering energy efficient buildings. Therefore, architects involved in the design and construction stages have key roles in the process of enhancing energy efficiency in buildings. This research work explores the energy efficiency and optimized architectural design for residential buildings located in different climate zones in Spain, with an emphasis on Building Performance Simulation (BPS) as the key tool for architects and other professionals. According to a parametric analysis performed using Design Builder, the following optimal configurations are found for typical residential building projects: North-to-South orientation in all the five climate zones, a maximum shape factor of 0.48, external walls complying with the maximum U-value prescribed by Spanish Building Technical Code (0.35 Wm⁻²K⁻¹) and a Window-to-Wall Ratio of no more than 20%. In terms of solar reflectance, it is found that the use of light colors is better in hotter climate zones A4, B4, and C4, whereas the best option is using darker colors in the colder climate zones D3 and E1. These measures help reaching the energy demand thresholds set by the Passivhaus Standard in all climate zones except for those located in climates C4, D3 and E1, for which further passive design measures are needed. Full article

Biomass is playing an increasingly important role as a source of renewable energy. The aim of this study has been to identify the potential applicability of straw from agricultural crops to generate energy within the district of Braniewo, in the province Warmia and Mazury, Poland. The study covered the years 2015 to 2017. Based on statistical data, and using appropriate equations and norms, the structure of crop production and the number of livestock in the mentioned district were analysed; the potential production volume of straw was estimated, from which the amount needed for animal production (feed and bedding) was deducted, while the organic substance balance in soil was calculated. An annual average amount of straw remaining to be used for energy purposes in the district of Braniewo is about 41,531 t of straw, equivalent to about 60,222 GJ of energy (24,088 t of coal). In addition to the above analyses, a survey was conducted among local farmers, which showed their opinions about barriers to and opportunities for growing crops for energy purposes and using renewable energy resources. The survey results justify the claim that there is certain potential among farmers in the district of Braniewo to grow crops for energy purposes. Full article

Prairies or grasslands together with areas designated as agricultural lands are one of the largest types of land cover and land use that exist today. While prairies provide habitat to a wide variety of animals and organisms, and agricultural lands support human populations, these lands, especially those in the immediate vicinities of large urban areas, are giving way to urbanization at alarming rates. In particular, prairies are often viewed as wastelands because their benefit to the effective functioning of the urban ecosystem is often not fully understood. On the other hand, many agricultural lands are being converted for several urban uses because of the high economic returns from their sale. In this study, we classified SPOT (Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre) satellite data of the study area using the supervised maximum likelihood classification approach in order to investigate the loss of prairies and agricultural lands due to urban expansion in six sub-watersheds in the Kansas City metropolitan area of the States of Kansas and Missouri in the U.S. Based on the classified maps, we computed the magnitude and rate of urban expansion, and the proportion of loss in prairies and agricultural lands that was a result of urban expansion. Results from the 22-year study revealed that in all six sub-watersheds, agricultural lands and grassland were depleted at alarming rates with no sustainable effort to conserve them. These results provide baseline information that can support a data-driven and sustainable path for urban expansion in the examined sub-watersheds. Full article

The growing demand for passenger and freight transport in cities, resulting from the population growth in urbanized areas, has led to increasing problems with congestion, environmental pollution and, as a consequence, to a decrease in quality of life. This problem was noticed by the European Commission, which began to promote the concept of sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs). The efficient implementation of SUMPs requires tools for its evaluation. However, in the literature, most proposed assessment tools relate mainly to passenger transport, omitting the freight transport. The purpose of this paper is to utilize a multiple criteria analysis with the use of the Promethee method in order to assess the level of advancement of selected European Union (EU) capital cities in the field of sustainable urban mobility plan formulation and implementation. This method has been applied on the basis of a survey conducted among representatives of 15 EU capital cities and analyses of transportation plans. This research shows that cities that have a comprehensive transport plan consistently collaborate with different stakeholder groups, have implemented the greatest number of measures in the field of sustainable urban transport, and have achieved the best results in terms of safety and NO₂ (nitrogen oxides) and PM (particulate matter) emissions. Full article

China’s water shortage problem is becoming increasingly severe. Improving water use efficiency is crucial to alleviating China’s water crisis. This paper evaluates the water use efficiency of 31 provinces and municipalities in China by using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method. When the usual DEA model has too many indexes selected, it will cause the majority of the decision making units (DMUs) efficiency values be one, which leads to invalid evaluation results. Therefore, by using the entropy weight method, a new synthetic set of indexes is constructed based on the original indexes. The new synthetic set of indexes retains the full information of the original indexes, and the goal of simplifying the number of indexes is achieved. Simultaneously, by empowering the original indexes, the evaluation using synthetic indexes can also avoid the impact of industrial structure and labor division on water use efficiency. The results show that in China’s northeastern grain producing areas, water use efficiency is higher due to the high level of agricultural modernization. The provinces in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River have the lowest water use efficiency due to water pollution and water waste. In general, China’s overall water use efficiency is low, and there is still much room for improvement. Full article

Agriculture sustainability assessment is conducive to promoting sustainable agriculture construction and sustainable development. Modern agriculture and modern small-peasant production have different requirements for agriculture sustainability. Related studies provided assessment frameworks for many parts of the world. However, existing frameworks have distinct limitations and are not applicable to modern small-peasant economy (MSE) areas, such as China. The purpose of this study is regarding China as an example to construct a healthy farmland system assessment framework (HFSAF), to assess smallholder farmland systems’ sustainability. HFSAF’s theoretical basis, indicator system, data preparation methods, multi-level aggregation rule and results description method are presented in this paper. HFSAF is a multi-level indicator system with adjustable parameters, covering environment, economy and society aspects, including three dimensions, nine visions, 15 themes and 40 basic indicators. Taking Da’an City, Jilin Province, China as the study area to implement HFSAF. The assessment results prove HFSAF can be used to assess agricultural sustainability in MSE areas with limited agro-resource supplies, to assist the sustainable decision-making and regional agriculture remold. Full article

One of the major challenges toward the reliable and safe operation of the Multi-Terminal HVDC (MT-HVDC) grids arises from the need for a very fast DC-side protection system to detect, identify, and interrupt the DC faults. Utilizing DC Circuit Breakers (CBs) to isolate the faulty line and using a converter topology to interrupt the DC fault current are the two practical ways to clear the DC fault without causing a large loss of power infeed. This paper presents a new topology of a fast proactive Hybrid DC Circuit Breaker (HDCCB) to isolate the DC faults in MT-HVDC grids in case of fault current interruption, along with lowering the conduction losses and lowering the interruption time. The proposed topology is based on the inverse current injection technique using a diode and a capacitor to enforce the fault current to zero. Also, in case of bidirectional fault current interruption, the diode and capacitor prevent changing their polarities after identifying the direction of fault current, and this can be used to reduce the interruption time accordingly. Different modes of operation of the proposed topology are presented in detail and tested in a simulation-based system. Compared to the conventional DC CB, the proposed topology has increased the breaking current capability, and reduced the interruption time, as well as lowering the on-state switching power losses. To check and verify the performance and efficiency of the proposed topology, a DC-link representing a DC-pole of an MT-HVDC system is simulated and analyzed in the PSCAD/EMTDC environment. The simulation results verify the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed HDCCB in improving the overall performance of MT-HVDC systems and increasing the reliability of the DC grids. Full article

Tourism, and particularly residential tourism, has led to a change in the urban and demographic model of towns along the European Mediterranean coastline. Water as a resource limited and limiting for the growth of tourism is a popular topic in the scientific literature. However, the incorporation of non-conventional resources (desalination) has meant, in theory, that this limitation has been overcome. The aims of this paper are: (a) to identify the different tourism models existing in coastal towns in Alicante province and characterize them according to their water consumption from 2002–2017; and (b) analyse the hydrosocial cycle, highlighting the measures aimed at satisfying water demand and identifying the limitations related to these hydrosocial systems. To this end, different types of information have been processed, and various basic indicators have been analysed. The results revealed the increase in the resilience of this region to natural aridity and drought events. This was possible because the demand management and the use of desalinated water. However, this has generated other problems associated (energetics, environmental) due to maintenance of a non-sustainable territorial model based on an accelerated real estate development. Full article

Selection of appropriate empirical reference evapotranspiration (ET_o) estimation models is very important for the management of agriculture, water resources, and environment. Statistical metrics generally used for performance assessment of empirical ET_o models, on a station level, often give contradictory results, which make the ranking of methods a challenging task. Besides, the ranking of ET_o estimation methods for a given study area based on the rank at different stations is also a difficult task. Compromise programming and group decision-making methods have been proposed in this study for the ranking of 31 empirical ET_o models for Peninsular Malaysia based on four standard statistical metrics. The result revealed the Penman-Monteith as the most suitable method of estimation of ET_o, followed by radiation-based Priestley and Taylor and the mass transfer-based Dalton and Meyer methods. Among the temperature-based methods, Ivanov was found the best. The methodology suggested in this study can be adopted in any other region for an easy but robust evaluation of empirical ET_o models. Full article

This study presents a comparative analysis of the housing indicators used by the single-family housing rating systems (SHRSs), in which the residential urban environment (RUE) influences buildings’ certification scores, emphasizing the relationships of six systems developed by middle-income countries (MICs)—BEST, CASA, GBI, BERDE, Green Homes, and LOTUS—and the two most-recognized rating systems, BREEAM and LEED. The aim is to provide new housing indicators that are capable of bringing the concept of sustainability into the cities of MICs. The results reveal that the percentage of influence that single-family housing (SFH) can achieve in the metric established by each system is relatively low. However, considering all of the identified indicators, this influence could increase to 53.16% of the total score in multi-criteria evaluations. Furthermore, a significant lack of indicators for mandatory criteria evaluations was found, with CASA being the only system that considers their inclusion. This paper identifies 37 indicators for multi-criteria assessments and two for mandatory-criteria assessments, providing new perspectives on several topics. Furthermore, the methodology established to obtain the indicators could be useful for other researchers in the identification of new sustainable indicators. Full article

In order to fulfil the UK government’s ambitious goal of 80% reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 compared to the levels of 1990s, unprecedented measures for improving the energy efficiency of buildings are needed. This study investigates the impact of a specific type of Low-emissivity (Low-E) window film—Thinsulate Climate Control 75—on the holistic energy consumption of an existing United Kingdom (UK) hotel building. Building modelling and energy simulation software EDSL TAS is used to conduct the study. The result of the simulations demonstrates that by applying Thinsulate films, savings in heating, cooling, and total energy consumptions are achieved by 3%, 20%, and 2.7%, respectively. Also 4.1% and 5.1% savings are achieved in annual CO₂ emissions and total energy costs, respectively, while the initial costs may be an issue. This study found that application of Low-E window films results in slightly better energy performance of the hotel regarding its heating-dominant climate. The study also recommends using average annual actual energy consumption data for a time range, instead of picking a single year’s data for validating purposes. Full article

The aim of this work is the development of a methodology for the technical and environmental assessment of biowaste valorization in 2G biorefineries. Italy was chosen as case study, considering years 2016–2017. Approach: the Italian context was evaluated through the following key parameters: Gross domestic power, climate, demography, and population density distribution described the Italian framework. The four most abundant biowaste categories were defined through their amounts and geo-localization: wastewater and sewage sludge (WSS, 4.06 Mt/y), organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW, 1.7 Mt/y), agricultural livestock waste (ALW, 5.7 Mt/y), and waste deriving from the food industry (FIW, 2.6 Mt/y). The geo-localization and quantitative evaluations of the available biowaste amounts were aimed at defining the dimension and localization of the biorefinery plant and at optimizing supply and transport chains, while the qualitative characteristic were aimed to evaluate the most promising process among thermo-valorization (TH) and anaerobic digestion (AD). Results: All considered biowastes were appropriate for biorefinery processes, since carbon content exceeds 40% and the carbon–nitrogen ratio was between 10 and 30. All biowaste categories were evaluated as feedstocks for two biorefinery processes: anaerobic digestion (AD) and thermo-valorization (TH) with energy recovery. Compared to TH, AD achieved in all cases the best performances in terms of produced energy and avoided CO₂ emissions. The primary energy production of AD and TH for WSS, OFMSW, ALW, and FIW were respectively: 7.89 vs. 2.4 kWh/kg; 8.7 vs. 2.6 kWh/kg; 10.85 vs. 5.5 kWh/kg; and 12.5 vs. 7.8 kWh/kg. The main findings of this work were: the adoption of AD was technically more suitable than TH; AD increased the avoided CO₂ emissions of 10%–89.9% depending on biowaste category. Full article

This paper addresses the problem of noise in spa protection areas. Its aim is to determine the delimitation of the areas that exceed a permissible noise level around the sanatorium on the example of a health resort in Inowrocław. The determination of the exceedance of permissible noise levels allows us to develop directly effective local policy tools to be included in planning documents. In order to reduce noise infiltration, it is important to define environmental priorities. Taking into account their impact on the health of users in the protection area, environmental priorities enable us to introduce additional elements to street architecture. In order to properly manage space, in accordance with the idea of sustainable development, zones of environmental sensitivity—and their socio-environmental vulnerability—have been designated for assessing damage (exceeding permissible noise in health facilities) and defining methods of building resilience (proper management). This has provided the basis for a natural balance optimized for the people living in these areas. To achieve the goal above, non-linear support vector machine (SVM) networks were used. This technique allows us to classify the linearly inseparable data and to determine the optimal separation margin. The boundaries of the areas which exceeded permissible noise levels (separation margin) were estimated on the basis of noise pollution maps, created by means of the SVM technique. Thus, the study results in establishing buffer zones where it is possible to use varied land utilization in terms of form and function, as described in the planning documents. Such an activity would limit the spread of noise. Full article

Urban shrinkage has become a common pathway (not only) in post-socialist cities, which represents new challenges for traditionally growth-oriented spatial planning. Though in the post-socialist area, the situation is even worse due to prevailing weak planning culture and resulting uncoordinated development. The case of the city of Ostrava illustrates how the problem of (in)efficient infrastructure operation, and maintenance, in already fragmented urban structure is exacerbated by the growing size of urban area (through low-intensity land-use) in combination with declining size of population (due to high rate of outmigration). Shrinkage, however, is, on the intra-urban level, spatially differentiated. Population, paradoxically, most intensively declines in the least financially demanding land-uses and grows in the most expensive land-uses for public administration. As population and urban structure development prove to have strong inertia, this land-use development constitutes a great challenge for a city’s future sustainability. The main objective of the paper is to explore the nexus between change in population density patterns in relation to urban shrinkage, and sustainability of public finance. Full article

The emerging concept of sustainable welfare attempts to integrate environmental sustainability and social welfare research. Oriented at a mid-term re-embedding of Western production and consumption norms into planetary limits, it suggests the development of “eco-social” policies in the rich countries. In this theoretical context, this article empirically investigates the relationships between attitudes towards welfare and climate policy in 23 countries. Using 2016 data from the European Social Survey, we explored patterns of synergy between both kinds of policies as well as effects of crowding-out, where support for one kind of policy involves refusing the other. Since previous research addressed the role of welfare states and their institutional foundations in establishing environmentally sustainable societies, we studied how attitudes towards welfare and climate policies differ according to welfare regime affiliation. Additionally, we examined how a range of socio-demographic and political factors such as class, education, income, and political position shape people’s views on welfare and climate policy goals. The results of a multiple correspondence analysis indicate that the simultaneous support of welfare and climate policies follows welfare regime lines in that this support is the highest among social-democratic countries. However, also some conservative and Mediterranean countries score high in this regard. At the individual level, people with a higher education, employees in socio-cultural professions, and voters of moderate left and green parties display the highest mutual support for welfare and climate policies. Full article

Notwithstanding that indoor farming is claimed to reduce the environmental pressures of food systems, electricity needs are elevated and mainly associated with lighting. To date, however, no studies have quantified the environmental and economic profile of Light Emitting Diodes (LED) lighting in indoor farming systems. The goal of this study is to quantify the effect of varying the red (R) and blue (B) LED spectral components (RB ratios of 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 4) on the eco-efficiency of indoor production of lettuce, chicory, rocket and sweet basil from a life cycle perspective. The functional unit of the assessment was 1 kg of harvested fresh plant edible product, and the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) method was employed for impact assessment. Even though most of the materials of the LED lamp and electronic elements were imported from long distances (14,400 km), electricity consumption was the largest contributor to the environmental impacts (with the LED lamps being the main electricity consumers, approximately 70%), apart from the resources use indicator, where the materials of the lamps and the mineral nutrients were also relevant. RB0.5 was the most energy-efficient light treatment but had the lowest eco-efficiency scores due to the lower crop yields. Full article

Governments at different levels need to appreciate the environmental impacts of socioeconomic activities within their boundaries. They also need to decide relevant environmental policies after carefully examining future pathways based on the relationship between the environment and the economy. This study focuses on Japanese basic administrative divisions (i.e., municipalities) and attempts to quantify the annual environmental efficiency of processes and socioeconomic activities within each of these divisions using life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) concepts. A key element of the LCIA is the integration of different environmental loads across various impact categories, such as global warming, air pollution, and land use, and their representation through a simple indicator. First, we conduct annual environmental impact assessments for all Japanese municipalities based on reliable, verifiable, and comparable statistical information. Next, we estimate the environmental efficiency of socioeconomic activities within each division by dividing the gross regional product (GRP) with the environmental damage amounts calculated through LIME2, an LCIA-based tool tailored for Japan. Assessment results for each municipality are visualized on maps of Japan in order to highlight the spatial distribution of the values for each indicator. The findings of this study can aid local, regional, and national governments in Japan to inform environmental policy design and decision-making at different spatial levels. Full article