Search Results (15,675)

This research presents an integrated framework for operational planning of low-power robotic agricultural systems, which combines digital twins, uncertainty modeling with triangular fuzzy numbers, and multi-objective optimization in a coherent structure. The goal is to balance energy consumption, carbon emissions, operational delay, and crop yield under variable and uncertain field conditions. The proposed framework was evaluated using real and simulated data, various operational scenarios, and comparative analyses. The results showed that this approach reduced energy consumption from 248.6 to 191.5 kWh and carbon emissions from 132.4 kg CO₂ to 96.8 kg CO₂, while increasing crop yield from 148.7 to 178.4 kg/day, compared to the deterministic baseline model. Also, the use of digital twins improved the quality of decision-making in different scenarios by about 6 to 7 percent, and fuzzy modeling significantly increased the stability of results at higher levels of uncertainty. The findings show that the proposed framework can be an effective tool for sustainable, smart, and energy-efficient agriculture. Full article

Calcium carbide slag is a highly alkaline solid waste generated during acetylene production, but its long-term accumulation causes land occupation and persistent environmental risks such as soil alkalinization and water pollution. To support circular economy and carbon emission reduction goals, in this study, we develop an integrated physical decontamination–mineralization process combining calcination, magnetic separation, sedimentation, and CO₂ mineralization. After calcination, magnetic separation, and 8 h of gravity sedimentation, the removal efficiency of Si reaches about 67% (residual Si content reduces to 0.43%), while those of Fe and Al are 75.4% and 74.2%, respectively. The purified calcium-rich slurry is then used for CO₂ mineralization. Under a solid-to-liquid ratio of 10% and a CO₂ flow rate of 0.4 L/min, CO₂ is fixed as carbonate solids, yielding calcite-type CaCO₃ with 97.88% ± 0.35% purity. This process is centered on physical separation and uses no acids, alkalis, or ammonium salts, avoiding secondary pollution while achieving waste valorization and permanent CO₂ sequestration. In this study, we provide a scalable, low-impact pathway for alkaline solid waste valorization and carbon emission reduction, contributing to sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12) and climate action (SDG 13). Full article

Neuroinflammation is increasingly recognized as a key modulator of therapeutic response and adverse events in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), especially during anti-amyloid-β (Aβ) monoclonal antibody (Aβ-mAb) treatment. We applied longitudinal translocator protein (TSPO) positron emission tomography (PET) to evaluate TSPO-associated neuroinflammatory responses to chronic Aβ-mAb therapy and their modulation by the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) agonist pioglitazone. App^NL-G-F knock-in mice underwent TSPO-PET and Aβ-PET imaging at 5, 7.5, and 10 months of age across four treatment arms: placebo, Aβ-mAb, pioglitazone, and combination therapy. TSPO-PET detected early and progressive neuroinflammatory responses to Aβ-mAb that appeared lower with pioglitazone co-treatment. Both mono- and combination therapy were associated with altered temporal and spatial dynamics of the TSPO-PET signal. In addition, we applied a previously validated microglia desynchronization index based on TSPO-PET connectivity, which captured individual variation in regional TSPO-PET organization and correlated with cognitive performance. Together, TSPO-PET and its regional synchronicity can quantify longitudinal, region-specific treatment effects, which may help differentiate harmful from adaptive neuroinflammatory responses. These findings highlight the potential of TSPO-PET as a stratification biomarker to optimize therapeutic interventions. TSPO-PET therefore enables in vivo tracking of treatment-associated neuroinflammatory responses during anti-Aβ immunotherapy and provides a non-invasive framework for evaluating combination strategies targeting amyloid pathology and immune regulation in AD. Full article

As the core pillar of international trade, the global shipping industry has seen its carbon and pollutant emissions become a key challenge in global environmental governance. Statistics indicate that ship carbon emissions account for 3% of the world’s total anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, while contributing 20% of global NO_x and 12% of SO₂ emissions, posing a serious threat to coastal ecosystems and public health. In response to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) “Net Zero Framework” and national green shipping policies, the transformation of ship power systems toward low-carbon and zero-carbon operation has become an inevitable trend. This paper systematically reviews the research progress and application status of green energy materials for ships, focusing on the working principles, technical characteristics, and engineering application cases of solar photovoltaic (PV) materials, wind energy utilization technologies, fuel cell materials, and alternative clean energy fuels (e.g., liquefied natural gas (LNG), methanol, and hydrogen energy). It also discusses the integration mode and optimization strategy of multi-energy hybrid power systems. The research findings show that solar photovoltaic technology has achieved large-scale application in coastal ships; hydrogen fuel cells are suitable for long-range ocean navigation scenarios due to their high energy density; LNG and methanol have become the current mainstream alternative fuels, relying on mature infrastructure; and hybrid energy systems can significantly improve power supply reliability and emission reduction efficiency through multi-energy complementarity. Finally, aiming at the existing bottlenecks (e.g., cost, energy storage, and safety) of various technologies, future development directions are proposed. This study provides a reference for the technological breakthrough and engineering practice of green energy power systems for ships and contributes to the realization of the “carbon neutrality” goal in the global shipping industry. Full article

Wheat straw is a plant-derived substrate rich in cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin and represents a major carbon input to agricultural soils. Mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) is the most stable soil carbon pool, yet how mineral structure regulates the stability of straw-derived MAOC through microbial processing remains unclear. Here, straw-derived MAOC was formed in artificial soils containing five clay minerals (halloysite, kaolinite, illite, vermiculite, and montmorillonite) during a two-year incubation, followed by a 45-day incubation with a standardized microbial community to quantify CO₂ emission and net carbon balance. Mineral type regulated MAOC mineralization (38.54–54.48 mg C g⁻¹ MAOC). Vermiculite produced the highest CO₂ emission but maintained a positive net carbon balance, whereas illite showed net carbon loss (−0.53 g kg⁻¹). Kaolinite, halloysite, and montmorillonite exhibited lower mineralization and retained net carbon. The 2:1 clay minerals enhanced interlayer interactions and favored accumulation of C=O and aromatic compounds, reflecting stronger microbial transformation and residue retention. In contrast, 1:1 minerals stabilized carbon via edge hydroxyl bonding, which restricted substrate accessibility and slowed decomposition. Cumulative mineralization decreased with initial MAOC carbon but increased with dissolved organic carbon and bacterial abundance. Net carbon retention increased with N-acetylglucosaminidase activity and fungal abundance, indicating joint microbial control via nutrient acquisition and fungal processing. Two contrasting stabilization regimes were observed: high turnover driven by vermiculite and halloysite, and strong protection dominated by montmorillonite and kaolinite. These differences indicate that MAOC stability is jointly constrained by mineral-regulated accessibility and microbial transformation processes. Full article

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries consistently rank among the highest per capita CO₂ emitters globally, yet rigorous empirical analysis of the structural drivers of these emissions in the post-Paris Agreement era remains scarce. This study investigates the determinants of CO₂ emissions per capita across six GCC economies—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—over the period 2015–2022, using pooled ordinary least squares (OLSs) and country fixed effects (FEs) panel regression models with country-clustered standard errors. The focal explanatory variable is energy use per capita, complemented by GDP per capita, trade openness, urbanization, foreign direct investment (FDI), and industry value added as controls. A quadratic income term explicitly tests the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. Results consistently show that energy use is the dominant driver of emissions. The EKC hypothesis is supported in the FE framework. The implied turning point of approximately USD 85,500 per capita (constant 2015 USD) is already exceeded by Qatar (panel mean: USD 114,835) and approached by the UAE (USD 71,434), while Bahrain (USD 55,681), Kuwait (USD 51,531), Saudi Arabia (USD 61,232), and Oman (USD 38,591) remain on the EKC’s rising slope, consistent with their continued emissions’ growth trajectories. Urbanization exerts a significant positive within-country effect on emissions. Trade openness reduces emissions in cross-sectional specifications, while FDI is systematically insignificant. These findings support energy efficiency reforms, renewable energy expansion, and low-carbon urban planning as the most effective policy levers for GCC decarbonization. Full article

Comprehensive utilization of crop straw (CUCS) is a critical pathway toward sustainable agricultural development, synergizing food security and carbon neutrality goals. However, there remains a lack of systematic empirical evidence regarding its macro-level productivity associations and the conditions under which they materialize. Based on China’s provincial panel data from 2011 to 2023, this paper takes the CUCS pilot policy launched in 2016 as a quasi-natural experiment and employs the difference-in-differences (DID) model to examine the association between CUCS and grain yield, along with its moderating factors and environmental co-benefits. This study yields four main findings. First, CUCS is associated with higher grain yield in pilot regions, and this finding remains robust after a series of endogeneity and robustness checks. Second, the positive association between CUCS and grain output appears to be moderated by fiscal support and innovation–entrepreneurship. The relationship is more pronounced in regions with higher fiscal expenditures on agriculture and environmental protection, as well as more agricultural patents and agricultural enterprises. Third, heterogeneity analysis suggests that the CUCS–grain output association tends to be stronger in regions with richer groundwater resources and more agricultural meteorological observation stations. Fourth, extended analysis indicates that CUCS is also associated with lower particulate matter and agricultural carbon emissions, a pattern consistent with synergistic environmental benefits. By integrating economic and environmental dimensions into a unified analytical framework, this study provides empirical evidence on the contribution of comprehensive straw utilization to grain output and highlights the enabling role of fiscal and innovation environments. These findings offer integrated evidence from China for the policy evaluation of climate-smart agriculture and contribute to the broader sustainable development agenda. Full article

China is the world’s largest producer of hydrogen, and it has the potential to export renewable hydrogen and its derivatives. Japan has set ambitious targets for developing a hydrogen-based society but is facing cost challenges. There is strong potential for China and Japan to cooperate regarding renewable hydrogen across the value chain. This study evaluates the cooperation opportunities from the 3E perspective (energy security, economics, and the environment). It estimates the renewable hydrogen production potential in both countries, as well as the economics and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the production and export of renewable hydrogen from China to Japan using proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology. The renewable hydrogen production potential in China is estimated to be 12.00 Mt/year by 2035 in the base case of this study, providing a strong foundation for exports to Japan. The levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) using PEM technology and onshore wind is estimated at 4.27 USD/kg H₂ in China and 11.01 USD/kg H₂ in Japan for projects built in 2025. Even after accounting for liquefaction costs in China, transport costs from China to Japan (Chifeng—Dalian—Kobe) and regasification costs in Japan, renewable hydrogen produced in China remains more cost-effective than that produced in Japan. In terms of GHG emissions, when renewable hydrogen is produced using wind power, and wind power is also used for liquefaction and other electricity-consuming processes, the total emissions within the case study boundary amount to 2.24 kg CO₂-eq/kg H₂, below Japan’s low-carbon hydrogen threshold of 3.4 CO₂-eq/kg H₂. This study also discusses the challenges which are critical to facilitating cooperation, particularly in regards to coordinating standards and certification systems between the two countries. Full article

The construction sector accounts for approximately 36% of global final energy consumption and close to 40% of total CO₂ emissions, making it a primary target of international climate policy. Despite this growing attention, the indigenous building traditions of the Ecuadorian Andes remain virtually absent from the international scientific literature on vernacular sustainability. This study presents a systematic field documentation and bioclimatic assessment of vernacular bahareque dwellings in the Kichwa-Saraguro community of Ilincho, canton of Saraguro, province of Loja, Ecuador (2700 m a.s.l.). A field survey of 30 dwellings identified five morphological typologies—I-1P, I-2P, 2B, L, and C—with typology C, a compact C-shaped block with a three-sided portal, accounting for 53.3% of the sample. A structured multi-criteria framework of 48 bioclimatic indicators distributed across eight categories, adapted to the cold-temperate mountain climate of the study area, was applied to quantify each typology’s bioclimatic performance. All typologies exceeded 75% overall compliance on the global Bioclimatic Performance Index (BPI), with typology C achieving the highest value (88.5%). Categories F (Materials and construction) and H (Cultural and social aspects) scored 100% across all typologies, reflecting system-level properties of the bahareque constructive system rather than morphological differences between typological variants; a supplementary morphological BPI restricted to Categories A–E and G is reported. An exploratory, uncalibrated energy simulation of typology C provided indicative evidence consistent with the expected thermal behavior of a high-thermal-mass bahareque envelope, with simulated minimum temperatures in the sleeping area within the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 55-2013 comfort range (T-min 18.80 °C). Collectively, these findings contribute quantified bioclimatic documentation of vernacular bahareque architecture in Ilincho, identifying attributes—encompassing solar control, spatial compactness, high-thermal-mass envelope performance, and use of locally sourced low-embodied-energy materials—that may inform sustainable rural housing discussions in the Ecuadorian Andes and comparable high-altitude mountain contexts. Its documentation in the indexed scientific literature constitutes a step toward recognizing this constructive heritage as a practical resource for low-carbon building policy. Full article

The use of biodiesel blends in heavy-duty diesel engines changes the relationship between engine operating conditions, fuel properties, and exhaust emissions, which may limit the reliability of data-driven emission models trained under a single fuel condition. This study investigates the cross-fuel transferability of virtual emission sensors for a heavy-duty diesel engine operating on B7 and B20 fuel blends. The analysis was carried out for three target signals: nitrogen oxides concentration, hydrocarbon concentration, and dry carbon dioxide concentration, using data from the World Harmonized Transient Cycle (WHTC) and World Harmonized Stationary Cycle (WHSC) tests. A structured modelling workflow was developed, including signal time alignment, construction of baseline, dynamic, and memory-based features, feature selection, and separate evaluation scenarios: within-domain, cross-cycle, and cross-fuel transfer. Three tree-based regression algorithms were compared: Random Forest (RF), Histogram-Based Gradient Boosting (HGB), and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost). XGBoost achieved the best predictive performance in the source domain and was selected as the reference model. The results showed that a change in cycle characteristics led to a significant decrease in predictive performance, whereas the transition from B7/WHTC to B20/WHTC resulted in a clearly smaller drop in the evaluation metrics. The relationship between engine operating signals and emission response remained partially transferable across fuels. The highest stability was observed for carbon dioxide, intermediate stability for nitrogen oxides, and the lowest stability for hydrocarbons. The findings support the development of robust data-driven virtual sensing methods for emission monitoring and calibration of heavy-duty diesel engines operating with biodiesel blends. Full article

Global warming and climate change have considerably enhanced worldwide environmental concerns since the 1970s. Therefore, researchers have extensively researched the nexus between renewable energy utilization and CO₂ emissions in the literature. However, the influence of afforestation and energy productivity along with renewable and nuclear electricity generation on CO₂ emissions has not been explored sufficiently in the associated literature regarding the multiple effects of these actors on the decarbonization process. Thus, this article analyzes the short- and long-term effects of afforestation, energy productivity, renewable and nuclear electricity production on CO₂ emissions in the BRICS states over the 1993–2021 term via robust bootstrap cointegration and causality tests. The findings confirm a cointegration interplay among CO₂ emissions, afforestation, energy productivity, renewable and nuclear electricity generation. Further, the cointegration coefficients demonstrate a negative influence of afforestation, energy productivity, renewable electricity generation on CO₂ emissions in most of the BRICS states in the long term, but a negative effect of nuclear electricity production only in China and the Russian Federation. The findings of causality examination also uncover that afforestation, energy productivity, and generation of renewable and nuclear electricity are effective tools in reducing CO₂ emissions, but their long-term effects are found to be relatively higher than short-term effects. These findings indicate that promotion of afforestation, along with energy productivity and electricity from renewables and nuclear sources is highly useful for curbing CO₂ emissions in the short and long term. Full article

The emission of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) from formaldehyde (CH₂O) during ammonia-assisted selective catalytic reduction (NH₃-SCR) remains a critical challenge for aftertreatment of bio-hybrid fuel combustion exhaust. The mechanistic details of HCN formation are still poorly understood, especially on widely deployed commercial catalysts like Cu-SSZ-13. In this work, we employed density functional theory calculations in combination with the Energetic Span Model to elucidate HCN formation pathways from CH₂O in the presence of NO₂ and H₂O over Cu-SSZ-13. The results revealed the HCN formation pathway with intermediate methylene imine as the dominant one under typical reaction conditions. These findings resonate very well with reports of hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) formation during NH₃-SCR with CH₂O, for which methylene imine is a critical intermediate. Turnover frequency (TOF) estimations highlighted the strong influence of NO₂ and H₂O: higher NO₂ concentrations promoted CO selectivity and suppressed HCN by oxidizing CH₂O to HCOOH, while lower H₂O enhanced HCN formation. These findings establish a detailed mechanistic framework for HCN emission on Cu-SSZ-13 and suggest that controlling NO₂/NO_x ratios and water content can mitigate HCN formation during NH₃-SCR. Full article

The geographic and economic contexts play a major role in decision-making when it comes to municipal solid waste management. In the present study, simulations are carried out using the Waste and Resource Assessment Tool for the Environment (WRATE) software academic version 3.0.1, based on the Ecoinvent database (version 2) to assess the greenhouse gas emissions released by 1 ton of municipal solid waste with a typical composition characterizing upper middle-income countries, with an organic fraction of approximately 50% by weight. The variation over time (2000 to 2022) with no intended transformation in the management strategy is first analyzed, then several transformations are applied by varying the waste management routes (open dumping, landfilling, recycling and composting) as well as the energy recovery integration. The results are then discussed based on the waste categories and the performed operations (landfilling, recycling, transportation, treatment and recovery). The results revealed that the most promising scenario includes limited open dumping that does not exceed 10%, landfilling with at least 20% energy recovery, and major fractions addressed to composting and recycling. Overall, this scenario returns a negative carbon footprint with a value of approximately−0.35 tons of CO₂-Eq/ton of MSW. Results are mostly applicable to countries with similar waste composition and infrastructure levels; preconditions include source segregation, compost markets, and landfill gas infrastructure. Full article

The healthcare sector is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. Little is known about the impact of individual clinical practices on overall emissions; more granular healthcare emissions data are needed to identify opportunities for resource stewardship. Our objective was to deploy an interdisciplinary team to perform Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) comparing carbon emissions attributable to a novel home-care program for premature infants to those attributable to routine care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). We used LCA methodology to compare the carbon footprint of two weeks of traditional care of infants in our NICU to that of those enrolled in an institutional alternative care program known as “Hope Grows at Home,” which transitions eligible infants requiring nasogastric feeds to the home setting with ongoing NICU team support. Our analysis showed that in-home care produces 77 kg of CO₂ emissions (kgCO₂e) per infant over a 14-day period, as compared to in-hospital care, which produced 338 kgCO₂e. Transportation to a healthcare facility accounted for the majority of emissions in both groups (292 kgCO₂e for NICU care and 58 kgCO₂e for home care). This finding is likely impacted by our facility’s rural location. Home care reduced solid waste emissions by approximately 94% relative to NICU care (1.74 vs. 26.97 kgCO₂e per term), reflecting the home setting’s reuse of feeding syringes and bottles that are routinely single-use in the hospital. Prospective data collection strategies for infants enrolled in home care will further refine our results. Exploring additional interdisciplinary collaborations may facilitate similar analyses, offering more insight into environmental stewardship opportunities within healthcare. Full article

In recent years, there has been an urgent need for integrated solutions to synergistically manage industrial solid waste stockpiling and CO₂ emissions. Single-component solid waste mineralization, such as those using only fly ash (FA) or carbide slag (CS), often encounters performance bottlenecks, typically characterized by a compressive strength of less than 2 MPa and a carbonation efficiency of under 10%. Furthermore, a systematic quantitative understanding of the synergistic interactions within multi-component systems remains absent. This study employs Response Surface Methodology to investigate the interactive effects of solid waste ratios, the water-to-solid ratio, and alkali content, aiming to elucidate the synergistic mineralization mechanism and overcome the bottlenecks of single solid waste mineralization. Under optimized conditions—specifically, 34% CS, 30% phosphogypsum (PG), a water-to-solid ratio of 0.48, and an alkali content of 27%—the system achieved a 7-day compressive strength of 3.5 MPa and a CO₂ mineralization efficiency of approximately 16%, representing a significant improvement over typical single solid waste mineralization materials. Microstructural and spectroscopic analyses indicate that CS serves a dual function as both a calcium source for CaCO₃ precipitation and an alkaline activator for FA. FA constructs a dense aluminosilicate network via pozzolanic reactions, while SO₄²⁻ released from PG promotes the formation of ettringite, facilitating efficient pore filling and early strength development. Additionally, it was observed that surface pores were filled with more products compared to the interior, forming a gradient pore structure that is dense on the outside and sparse on the inside. The AFt and silicate gel were identified as the key microstructural driver for the performance enhancement. This study not only explores the ternary synergistic mechanism of FA, CS, and PG but also provides a viable pathway for developing high-performance solid waste-based mineralization materials that combine mechanical properties with efficient CO₂ sequestration. Full article