Search Results (1,212)

The construction sector plays a central role in global resource depletion and waste generation, with construction and demolition activities accounting for more than one-third of total waste produced in the European Union. Despite growing interest in circular construction, one of the major barriers to large-scale material reuse is the lack of reliable information on the type, quantity, location, and availability of secondary materials during the early stages of a project. The research addresses this gap between architectural design and planning decision-making by providing a replicable workflow for urban scale circular economy strategies. This study presents the application of a spatially explicit bottom-up Material Stock Analysis (MSA) to quantify and map the embedded materials within an urban district of Milan. The adopted methodology combines municipal GIS datasets, historical cartography, building archetype classification, and literature-derived material intensity coefficients. The result is the estimation of stock amounts disaggregated by material type and the creation of a secondary material cadaster, that allows us to visualize their distributions and generate material-specific spatial analyses and heat maps. Applied to the Porta Vittoria district in Milan, the workflow reveals that masonry accounts for over 66% of the total embedded mass, underscoring the need to factor the reuse of masonry and brick materials into the early design phases, from material selection to architectural concept. Ultimately, the study equips architects, urban planners, and policymakers with decision-support information to steer design and governance toward circular future cities. Full article

Cities in climatic transition zones face coupled radiative and evaporative stresses, and their carbon emission mechanisms differ significantly from those in humid regions. Taking Xi’an, a typical megacity in the transition zone, as a case study, this research utilises a 500 m × 500 m grid to integrate multi-source data for carbon emission accounting. By applying spatial autocorrelation and the Multi-scale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) model, this study examines the spatial heterogeneity of carbon emissions and the mechanisms through which urban planning influences them. The results indicate that carbon emissions in Xi’an exhibit a “core–periphery” agglomeration pattern, with commercial land use exhibiting the highest emission intensity. Carbon emissions and land surface temperature are spatially coupled, consistent with a hypothesised positive feedback loop of the “dry heat island” effect. Morphological factors exhibit spatial non-stationarity: floor area ratio is positively associated with emissions in the old city centre, whereas mutual shading among super-high-rise buildings in the High-Tech Zone coincides with a weaker effect. Building density shows a positive association only where ventilation is limited. Land use mix and blue–green spaces show non-linear negative associations with emissions, with higher marginal benefits in arid–hot environments. This study proposes carbon reduction strategies for the renewal of old urban areas, business cores, and new ecological districts, providing empirical evidence and decision-making references for low-carbon spatial planning in cities within the climatic transition zone. Full article

The aim of this review is to provide a critical synthesis of peer-reviewed literature focusing exclusively on MSWI, rather than the broader field of Waste-to-Energy, based on a search in Scopus and a structured narrative synthesis. The methodology comprised eight Scopus queries defined for the main analytical axes of MSWI, deduplication, screening according to the established eligibility criteria, a layered corpus design, and domain-specific weighting of evidence within the framework of a structured narrative synthesis. This yielded 5435 unique records after deduplication, from which the main time window of 2010–2026 and a layer of publications from 2019 to 2026 were extracted. The review shows that the net balance of MSWI does not result from a single parameter or a single evaluation metric, but from the interplay between feedstock variability, combustion management, air pollution control (APC) configuration, residue management, and the utilisation of recovered heat and energy. Modern APC systems have reduced stack emissions, but do not eliminate the significance of transient states or the transfer of pollutants to fly ash and APC residues. Bottom ash exhibits conditional potential for material and metal recovery, whilst fly ash and APC residues remain the main constraint on recovery pathways. Environmental, climatic, health and economic assessments remain highly sensitive to system boundaries, functional units, counterfactual scenarios, the local energy mix, the quality of exposure reconstruction and integration with district heating. The added value of the review lies in maintaining MSWI as the sole analytical core and integrating the process, emissions, residues and system assessments within a single interpretative framework focused on comparability, trade-offs and the MSWI system balance. Full article

The invasive expansion of the oak lace bug (Corythucha arcuata) represents a major threat to European oak forests, yet the synergistic roles of climatic stressors remain poorly understood. This study investigates the phenological plasticity and adaptive thermoregulation of C. arcuata in the specific microclimatic conditions of the Rășinari Forest District, Romania. Monitoring across an altitudinal gradient (525–825 m) identified a complex voltinism, characterized by a highly successful second generation (G₂) and a restricted third generation (G₃, <12% emergence due to early frosts). By utilizing a physiological time scale (GDD), we demonstrated that G₂ exhibits a 15% temporal compression in development duration compared to G₁. A critical tipping point for host vulnerability was identified at a De Martonne Aridity Index (I_Ar) value of 20. Below this threshold, oak trees underwent a linear physiological decline, with a 74.5% decrease in chlorophyll content and a 58.8% accumulation of soluble sugars. These findings support the metabolic bait hypothesis, where drought-stressed foliage becomes a high-quality nutritional resource. Furthermore, we established a critical thermal threshold of 32 °C, which triggers active vertical migration from the sun-exposed canopy to shaded interiors to avoid heat stress. Our results provide a predictive framework for sustainable forest management, identifying aridity as an injury amplifier that facilitates pest impacts under a warming climate. Full article

In coastal residential areas, the combined effects of high temperature, high humidity, and weak wind conditions during summer intensify outdoor heat exposure and reduce pedestrian thermal comfort. To investigate the influence mechanisms of tree height and spatial layout on pedestrian-level thermal comfort, this study selected a typical residential community in Chengyang District, Qingdao, as the research site. Based on field meteorological observations, an ENVI-met model was established and validated. Using the existing composite greening scenario as the baseline, three tree layout types (row, cluster, and free layouts) and four height scenarios (4 m, 6 m, 8 m, and 10 m) were configured to quantitatively compare variations in physiological equivalent temperature (PET) under different planting schemes. The results indicate that tree configuration significantly affects summer thermal comfort. Its regulatory mechanism is governed not only by air temperature reduction but also by shortwave radiation interception, longwave radiation accumulation, and shading continuity. Although low-to-medium height trees can reduce local air temperature through transpiration, their limited canopy height and shading continuity restrict their ability to effectively attenuate direct shortwave radiation at pedestrian level, and in some cases may even increase mean radiant temperature (Tmrt) and PET. In contrast, 10 m tall trees arranged in row and cluster layouts can form continuous shaded cores, with the 10 m cluster layout demonstrating the best overall performance by significantly reducing Tmrt and PET. The free layout, characterized by dispersed canopies and fragmented shading, provides relatively limited thermal comfort improvement. The findings suggest that residential greening optimization should strengthen the coordination between tree height, canopy structure, and activity spaces. Tall trees should be prioritized in children’s play areas, elderly resting areas, residential entrances, main pedestrian pathways, and west-facing sun-exposed zones, while integrating building shadows and road orientation to create a continuous yet not overly enclosed shading network, thereby enhancing summer thermal adaptability in residential areas. Full article

Old residential communities, characterized by dense built environments, high levels of population aging, and insufficient public services, represent critical hotspots of urban heat risk. Taking old residential communities in the central urban area of Guangzhou as the study area, this study integrates multi-source data, including social, economic, and urban infrastructure information, to develop a heat risk assessment framework encompassing four dimensions: heat hazard, heat exposure, heat vulnerability, and heat adaptation. The model is validated using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Results reveal a significant non-linear relationship between the comprehensive heat risk index and the prevalence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (R² = 0.739), indicating strong explanatory power for health risks. Spatially, heat risk exhibits a center–periphery gradient, with high-risk areas concentrated in older central districts. Heat adaptation is identified as a key regulatory factor that can either mitigate or amplify risk accumulation. Based on the spatial heterogeneity of different neighborhood types, targeted mitigation strategies are proposed, providing scientific support for urban renewal and heat resilience governance. Full article

Urban green spaces (UGSs) are increasingly recognised as critical infrastructure for mitigating climate extremes and promoting public health; indeed, the microclimatic mechanisms through which vegetation structure translates into measurable improvements in human comfort at the neighbourhood scale are of significant interest, particularly in the context of new urban developments. This study examines the cooling effects of an urban redevelopment project in the Marconi district of Imola, Italy, using ENVI-met (Version 6.0.0, ENVI-met GmbH, Essen, Germany) simulations to compare ex ante (current) and ex post (planned) scenarios under extreme heat conditions. Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) was computed at the pedestrian level for both standard adult and elderly models to assess spatial patterns of thermal comfort. The results demonstrate that tree canopies are the primary determinant of local cooling, with newly planted trees reducing PET by up to 3.5 °C at the core of the regenerated block and by 1–2 °C along adjacent pavements, while grass and low vegetation provided negligible mitigation. However, new buildings generated localised warming bands of 0.5–2 °C along façades, revealing a trade-off between densification and outdoor liveability. Elderly populations experienced slightly stronger thermal stress near buildings, highlighting spatial concentrations of vulnerability. These findings reinforce the need to prioritise tree planting and canopy management as core climate adaptation strategies, while simultaneously addressing near-building heat accumulation through integrated design approaches such as façade greening and ventilation preservation. The study demonstrates the value of spatially explicit microclimate simulation for evidence-based urban planning, contributing to the development of sustainable and liveable urban environments. Full article

Under the global energy transition and the decarbonisation of building heating, cross-seasonal thermal energy storage has emerged as a crucial technology to address the seasonal mismatch between renewable energy supply and demand. This study proposes and evaluates a modular composite thermal storage system that integrates thermochemical and phase change storage modulars. An intelligent control strategy is adopted to achieve functional decoupling and coordinated operation. Taking a residential district in Beijing, China, as a case study, three system scenarios are constructed: a full thermal storage system, a hybrid storage system supplemented with off-peak electricity, and a fully electric system. The results show that the hybrid system maintains the same annual solar energy utilisation as the full storage system while reducing the levelised cost of heat by 33%. The modular strategy reduces the scale of the storage system and enhances operational flexibility. Among the three scenarios, the hybrid system achieves the best balance in terms of storage efficiency, grid interaction, and cost-effectiveness. This study provides strategic insights and design references for the engineering application of cross-seasonal thermal storage systems, contributing positively to the decarbonisation of district heating. Full article

As Sweden advances toward large-scale hydrogen production for industrial applications, low-grade waste heat (≈80 °C) from electrolyzers becomes available. A proposed solution is to integrate this heat between the two condensers in a combined heat and power plant. This can be done with different configurations, which were setup and studied. At full load, introducing 15 MW of heat increased electrical power output and cycle efficiency by up to 169 kW and 0.173% points, respectively. The same configuration under part-load showed the best improvement up to 11 MW of added heat, providing up to 302 kW in power output compared to the reference part-load case without waste heat. At a further increase in heat input at part-load, the best configuration shifted. At 15 MW of heat input, the best case resulted in a 393 kW reduction in electric output relative to the reference case. This is still significantly better than using a heat pump, which would require up to 1.43 MW for the same heat utilization. The results show that direct integration of electrolyzer waste heat into CHP plants can enhance electrical efficiency and power output without increasing electricity consumption, offering a viable and relatively simple alternative to heat pump-based solutions in district heating systems. Full article

This paper examines the costs and benefits of decarbonisation policy in the Polish energy generation sector. Accordingly, the analysis focuses on the costs of transforming the national energy mix up to 2050, as well as the environmental benefits associated with reducing emissions from electricity and district heating generation. The study addresses the question of which energy production structures are optimal at different levels of global warming costs, given the uncertainty surrounding the magnitude of human impact on the climate. The results indicate that relatively low SCC justify only a limited optimal reduction in CO₂ emissions. Full decarbonisation of the Polish energy sector, corresponding to a 100% reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2050, becomes socially optimal only at an SCC of around €165/tCO₂. Simulations conducted for different EUA price levels allow for the construction of a MAC curve, which can be used to identify the economically optimal scope of decarbonisation policy. Due to its heavy reliance on coal and the high-emission starting point of its energy transition, Poland faces particularly high investment requirements. Achieving climate neutrality in the energy sector by 2050 is estimated to require approximately €228 billion in investment, including substantial expenditures on RES, the construction of nuclear power plants, and the development of energy storage infrastructure. Full article

Efficient and precise control of district heating (DH) networks is a critical pathway for achieving energy optimization and carbon emission reduction. This study proposes a systematic approach integrating data augmentation, hybrid model forecasting, and cost optimization. First, a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) is employed to generate scenarios from limited meteorological and operational data, constructing an expanded dataset. Based on this, a personalized load forecasting model utilizing a dynamically weighted LSTM–Prophet combination is developed. This model assigns personalized weights to each heating station to accommodate the operational requirements of different functional zones. Validated using a district heating network in Tianjin, the results indicate that with an optimal weight of w = 0.9, the average relative error for load forecasting at Heating Station566 is −0.65%. Furthermore, the K-means algorithm is used to cluster the scenario database. The resulting typical scenarios are input into the LSTM–Prophet model to obtain real-time loads for each station, and a cost optimization model based on the APSO algorithm is subsequently constructed. Evaluated using a representative day, the optimized system achieves a reduction in distribution-stage cost of approximately 270,600 RMB, with a saving rate of 38%. Full article

Indoor temperature time series in district-heating buildings are often contaminated by anomalies embedded in nonstationary, multiscale thermal dynamics. This study proposes a hybrid Empirical Wavelet Transform and Long Short-Term Memory (EWT-LSTM) framework for adaptive anomaly detection and localized reconstruction. Evaluated on 15 min interval data from 45 residential units over a 112-day heating season, the framework operates via a highest-frequency branch for anomaly detection and a full-modal branch for signal repair. Quantitative results show that the EWT Highest-Frequency LSTM (EWT(HF)-LSTM) achieved the best anomaly discrimination among decomposition variants with an average F1-score of 0.531. For anomaly repair, the full EWT-LSTM produced the highest fidelity with a localized Root Mean Square Error ($RMS{E}_a$) of 0.818 °C. Furthermore, thermal comfort validation demonstrated that EWT-LSTM successfully prevented the severe comfort degradation of up to −82% in Exceeded Degree-Hours caused by unstable Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD)-based reconstructions. These concrete results confirm that the proposed framework effectively provides clean, physically coherent temperature data for downstream district heating operations. Full article

Utility disruptions may stem from insufficient power generation, inferior infrastructure, or secondary weather perils (e.g., tornadoes, floods, snowstorms) that take energy infrastructure offline. The latter present a unique risk that not all existing power options can mitigate. Regardless of their origin, power disruptions have the potential to cripple food supply chains and undermine food system sustainability. To prepare for managing future disruptions, food and beverage manufacturers may couple electrical microgrid and thermal district heating infrastructure with small modular reactors (SMRs) or smaller microreactor systems to form low-carbon power islands. Although SMR technology is a somewhat new source of energy and has not yet achieved commercial viability, it provides the potential to make food and beverage manufacturing more resilient and sustainable when it becomes broadly available. To assess the potential cost–benefit of activating such technology as a sustainability-oriented resilience investment, we conducted a technoeconomic downtime threshold analysis. The case assumes that the technology is the full-time power source and the SMR yields stronger returns as facility downtime or downtime costs rise. The analysis found the breakeven point to range from 12.3 h down to 613.2 h down annually for a 5 MW system, depending on facility scale and assumed downtime costs. At a representative downtime opportunity cost of $10,000/h, SMR adoption requires approximately 61.3 h (5 MW) of annual outages to break even, highlighting scale effects on feasibility. Incorporating a 20% thermal energy credit reduces required outage thresholds by roughly 20%, lowering the breakeven level to 49.1 h. These results highlight the potential role of SMR-enabled power islanding in supporting sustainable food manufacturing through improved energy resilience, low-carbon power, and thermal energy recovery. Full article

Studies were conducted on the effect of the partial substitution of nickel in an LaNi₅ alloy with germanium (5% by weight) or magnesium (3.3% by weight), in addition to surface modification using phosphomolybdic heteropolyacid (MPA) on the course of corrosion and passivation processes of hydrogen electrodes in a highly alkaline environment. The investigations were carried out by means of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and the potentiodynamic methods to analyse changes in the electrochemical parameters as a function of exposure time. The surface topography of the electrodes and chemical composition were investigated utilising a KEYENCE VHX-7000 digital microscope (Osaka, Japan) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy-dispersive spectroscopy EDS X-ray microanalysis attachment. The novelty of this work lies in the systematic, time-dependent comparison of the effects of bulk and surface modifications on the evolution of corrosion-passivation mechanisms of electrodes based on the LaNi₅ alloy. It has been shown that the Mg and Ge additives improve corrosion resistance in the initial stage of exposure but lead to destabilisation of the passive layer during prolonged electrolyte interaction. A different effect was observed for the MPA-modified electrodes, in which a stable protective layer forms, limiting corrosion while maintaining favourable hydrogen desorption kinetics. The obtained results indicate the key role of exposure time (>140 h) in shaping the corrosion mechanisms and emphasise the need for simultaneous optimisation of the alloy composition and surface properties in the design of durable hydrogen electrodes. Full article

The energy transition of district heating systems in Poland requires the simultaneous consideration of energy efficiency, operating costs, technical feasibility, and local environmental constraints. This study addresses an identified gap in the literature by combining real operational time series from a municipal district heating system with time-resolved market signals and site-specific resource constraints in a single OPEX-based operational screening framework. A case study is conducted for the city of Ustka using a configuration-based comparison of hybrid supply systems that include a gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) unit, air-source and ground-source heat pumps, thermal energy storage, and a peak-load boiler. The optimisation model was implemented in MS Excel using the GRG Nonlinear algorithm (Solver) and was driven by the district heating operational data for 2021–2022 together with electricity and natural gas prices from the Polish Power Exchange day-ahead market (TGE RDN), evaluated under both hourly and daily settlement assumptions. The results indicate an optimal capacity split of 1.2 MWel/1.3 MWth for the CHP unit and 1.5 MWel/3.0 MWth for the heat pump system, supported by a required peak boiler capacity of 8.23 MWth. Within the adopted OPEX-based assessment, the lowest value of the unit heat generation indicator was obtained for the CHP-led configuration with combined ground-source and air-source heat pumps (38.45–38.55 PLN/GJ). A distinctive element of the study is the explicit verification of whether an operationally favourable configuration remains practically feasible when local resource constraints are considered. The site assessment indicates limited practical feasibility of the borehole heat exchanger at the analysed location in Ustka, showing that the lowest OPEX result should not be interpreted as a final investment recommendation. The study provides a replicable approach for the Polish district heating operators to screen hybrid transition pathways under real market conditions and to avoid technology choices that are favourable in dispatch models but constrained in practice. From a sustainability perspective, the proposed framework supports more energy-efficient, resilient, and locally feasible district heating transition planning in municipal heat systems. Full article