Search Results (11,158)

Battery-electric and hybrid ships combine battery energy storage systems with networked control, machine learning state estimation, digital twins, high-capacity charging, and, in some applications, second-life cells. These configurations introduce risks for which maritime approval instruments may lack verifiable acceptance criteria. This paper defines a Regulatory Readiness Level (RRL) from 0 (unrecognised) to 4 (verifiable acceptance) and applies it to nine frontier risks in three families: cyber-physical, AI-driven, and second-life/lifecycle. The assessment covers IMO, EMSA, IACS, IEC, UL, NFPA, and battery requirements of five classification societies, using instruments in force on 31 July 2026. No risk reaches RRL 4 under the study’s target. Median readiness is RRL 2: one risk is at RRL 0, two at RRL 1, four at RRL 2, and two at RRL 3. The two RRL 3 cases illustrate different limitations: state-of-health estimation is verified periodically without qualification between tests, whereas mixed-chemistry and mixed-state-of-health packs are addressed through prohibition rather than qualification. Baseline priority places AI3, auditability of AI safety functions, first, with AI2 and SL1 in the next band; SL1 is sensitive to aggregation. Ordinal dominance excludes CP2, CP3, and SL1 from the lead without assuming equal spacing. Sensitivity analysis shows that uncertainty in readiness classification has a larger effect on ranking than uncertainty in severity and exposure. Adjacent-sector assurance mechanisms provide templates for maritime incorporation, and the paper proposes an acceptance objective, verification method, and regulatory vehicle for each risk. Full article

Island power systems must decarbonize without the flexibility that an interconnection provides. The Canary Islands have advanced their decarbonization target to 2040, yet Tenerife still generates about 80% of its electricity from oil, and the route to the target remains unresolved. This work addresses a specific technical question: how far can firm synchronous capacity be withdrawn before the ability of the grid to absorb renewable output, rather than the rate of renewable deployment, becomes the binding constraint? Hourly simulations built with the EnergyPLAN energy-balance model, calibrated against the 2023 Tenerife system to within 0.1 percentage points, compare six pathways to 2050: a Business-As-Usual (BAU) baseline, the official Canary Energy Transition Plan (PTECan), and four intermediate scenarios (S01–S04) that retain a synchronous backup plant but convert it to renewable ammonia, while replacing part of the fossil petrol used in road transport with synthetic petrol. Three contributions follow. First, a paired-simulation protocol runs every milestone year twice—once without corrective constraints and once at a technically feasible operating point—so that the renewable energy the system cannot absorb is measured rather than inferred: it reaches 32% of renewable output under BAU by 2050, 42–45% under PTECan and 75–76% in the intermediate scenarios. Second, a sectoral decomposition of emissions exposes a displacement effect: under PTECan, road-transport emissions reach zero by 2040 while total emissions fall only from 4.81 to 4.39 MtCO₂, because they migrate to a conventional plant that grows to 7.29 TWh. Third, decarbonizing that plant instead raises renewable penetration above 62% from 2040 and cuts per-vehicle emissions to 0.509 tCO₂ (S01). The synthesis of the imported synthetic fuels lies outside the system boundary, so the comparison rests on a tank-to-wheel basis; within that boundary and under the assumptions adopted here, a transport mix that includes synthetic fuels appears technically more feasible for an isolated system than full electrification, provided that renewable expansion is planned jointly with a mechanism to absorb the surplus. Full article

Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology has had a strong impact on many industries, including the biomedical and automotive industries and, more recently, the construction industry. Achieving the 2050 carbon neutrality targets calls for change, especially in the most energy-intensive production sectors. This study has three objectives: to identify global trends in 3D-printed construction related to LCA and LCC; to compare the economic and environmental performance of 3D-printed construction with conventional methods; and to examine the applied system boundaries and existing methodological gaps. This study conducted a comprehensive review of these documents to compare the LCA of 3D printing and alternative methods, evaluate LCA and cost findings, and examine life-cycle system boundaries. We noted a substantial rise in interest since 2021 alongside advances in additive manufacturing. The comparative evidence was highly heterogeneous, and the reported GWP differences could not be pooled or interpreted as a common effect size. Within-study outcomes varied according to the functional unit, system boundary, reference lifetime, material formulation, structural application, geographical context, and comparison baseline. In some studies, changing the functional unit or comparator altered and occasionally reversed the apparent environmental advantage. Lower impacts were reported in particular scenarios combining 3D printing with low-carbon binders, material-efficient geometries, or recycled and earth-based materials. Accordingly, construction 3D printing shows conditional sustainability potential rather than an inherent or uniformly demonstrated environmental advantage. However, the impacts vary strongly according to the assumptions of the researchers. Wall thickness, mix design, machine type, and the definition of functional units can fundamentally shift conclusions. Overall, the evidence shows sustainability potential for 3D printing, while critical barriers remain in methodology selection and incomplete system-level evaluation. Full article

Waste, energy and water (WEW) management is a significant challenge in Chitungwiza’s high schools; thus, they cannot model responsible environmental stewardship. Formulating a strategic sustainability management framework for the educational sector, integrating management principles, is paramount. Existing literature is analysed through the PRISMA method to achieve the protracted goal. Approximately 58 peer-reviewed scholarly journals, on persistent and incipient trends in WEW management, form the basis of this paper. We conclude that current management frameworks are designed for well-resourced contexts and emphasise top-down implementation, thereby limiting their adaptability to the socio-economic constraints of peri-urban schools, such as those in Chitungwiza Municipality. A strategic, contextually relevant, and sustainable WEW management framework, viable for high schools in Chitungwiza, is recommended to be co-designed through participatory processes of all stakeholders. This fosters ownership and enhances the adaptability of resource management strategies to the municipality’s needs. A critical research paucity in the literature is addressed by this review paper, namely: the absence of WEW sustainability management frameworks specific to educational institutions in resource-constrained environments like peri-urban Zimbabwe. Stakeholders to benefit from this study include, and are not limited to: educators, school administrators, parents, learners, municipal authorities, educational and environmental policy makers and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education together with its line ministries, whose active involvement in co-designing and enactment of the WEW sustainable management framework is indispensable. This paper examines the evolving landscape in WEW management in Zimbabwe’s high schools. It argues that a locally contextualised management framework, grounded in inclusivity, unlocks potential for sustainable resource management. The review paper’s findings note participatory opportunities and governance challenges in engrafting sustainability within the high schools of Chitungwiza. This review engages with the broader sustainability management discourse with its empirical lens explicitly focusing on the Chitungwiza Municipality’s high schools, with the insights intended to make a case-based contribution rather than some universally generalisable findings. Full article

This review examines energy-storage applications in renewable-integrated maritime and transport systems, with particular emphasis on ports and maritime infrastructures, complemented by a cross-sector perspective on relevant developments in smart-city energy systems and logistics networks. A structured literature search and screening procedure informed by selected elements of the PRISMA 2020 framework was employed to support transparent identification and organization of relevant literature. Smart-city and logistics evidence used for broader cross-sector interpretation is distinguished from the literature retained through the structured screening process and is not included in the quantitative thematic frequencies reported for the screened literature. The review comparatively examines battery energy storage systems, hydrogen-based storage, fuel cells, and hybrid configurations in relation to storage duration, operational flexibility, technological maturity, infrastructure requirements, efficiency considerations, and deployment barriers. The synthesis indicates that batteries are particularly suited to short-duration, high-response applications, whereas hydrogen-based pathways provide long-duration storage and sector-coupling capability at the expense of additional conversion stages and infrastructure requirements. Hybrid architectures therefore emerge as an important pathway for combining short-term flexibility with longer-duration energy autonomy. These findings are integrated into a cross-sector perspective linking renewable generation, storage, ports, maritime transport, logistics infrastructures, and urban-energy systems. Full article

Environmental policy and firms’ expenditure on energy and other purchased inputs may both be relevant to industrial performance. However, it remains unclear whether greater environmental policy stringency is systematically associated with such expenditure-based input measures and how these measures relate to sectoral economic performance. This study examines these relationships in the EU paints and coatings industry using fixed-effects panel models for 24 EU Member States over 2008–2020. Expenditure-based input measures are represented by energy-purchase intensity and purchased-input intensity, while economic performance is measured by gross value added and labour productivity. The results show that purchased-input intensity is strongly and negatively associated with gross value added and labour productivity. Additional robustness analyses show that this relationship also holds for gross operating surplus but does not extend to turnover growth, indicating that its interpretation should be confined primarily to value-added-related performance measures. Energy-purchase intensity is negatively associated with gross value added in simpler specifications, but it becomes statistically insignificant after year effects are included. Environmental policy stringency is positively associated with gross value added and more weakly associated with labour productivity. No systematic association is found between environmental policy stringency and either energy-purchase or purchased-input intensity, and the moderation analyses provide no evidence that policy stringency systematically conditions their associations with economic performance. Overall, the findings suggest that environmental policy stringency and expenditure-based input measures capture empirically distinct dimensions of sectoral performance. The results also show that the strong negative association of purchased-input intensity is specific to value-added-related performance measures and should not be interpreted as evidence of a general effect on sectoral economic performance. Full article

Ficus species are recognized for their nutritional and phytochemical diversity; however, the infructescences of Ficus benjamina and Ficus mathewsii remain underutilized. This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional composition, volatile and phenolic profiles, radical-scavenging capacity, and effects on cell viability of these two species. Both species exhibited distinct nutritional profiles: F. benjamina showed higher carbohydrate, energy, and mineral contents, whereas F. mathewsii exhibited 3.3-fold higher DPPH^• radical-scavenging capacity and 4.3-fold higher total phenolic content than F. benjamina. The volatile profiles shared several compounds, with only a few detected exclusively in one species. Sesquiterpenes exhibited the greatest diversity, with 16 compounds, accounting for more than 47% of the total chromatographic area in both species. In the cell viability assay, only F. benjamina at 50% caused a reduction in cell viability to approximately 50%. Ten phenolic metabolites were annotated by UPLC–QTOF–MS/MS, including six flavonols (quercetin, kaempferol, rutin, narcissin, nicotiflorin, and quercitrin), two flavones (rhoifolin and schaftoside), one flavanone (naringin), and one phenolic acid (chlorogenic acid). The presence of kaempferol and chlorogenic acid was corroborated by 1D and 2D NMR analyses. Overall, F. mathewsii exhibited higher phenolic content and radical-scavenging capacity, whereas F. benjamina showed higher mineral content. Further studies on nutrient bioavailability are needed to assess the potential applications of these infructescences in the food, nutraceutical, or pharmaceutical sectors. Full article

Climate change poses significant threats to water availability, energy security, and food production in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), undermining sustainable development and increasing the vulnerability of communities that are dependent on climate-sensitive resources. In response, the Water–Energy–Food (WEF) nexus has emerged as an integrated framework for addressing the interdependencies among these critical sectors while enhancing climate resilience. This study mapped and synthesized existing evidence on WEF nexus approaches to climate change adaptation in SSA through a scoping review. Guided by the Arksey and O’Malley framework and reported in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, the review involved a systematic search of Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, Wiley Online Library, Google Scholar, and relevant grey literature sources. The findings revealed a growing body of research on WEF nexus-based adaptation, with studies predominantly concentrated in Southern Africa, particularly South Africa. Major integrated resource management approaches identified include climate-smart agriculture, integrated water-resources management, renewable energy integration, nexus-based planning, governance and policy integration, and community-based adaptation. Reported outcomes include enhanced climate resilience; improved water, energy, and food security; strengthened livelihoods; increased resource-use efficiency; and improved institutional coordination. However, implementation remains constrained by fragmented governance systems, limited financing, inadequate data, technical capacity deficits, and weak stakeholder engagement. Key enabling factors include policy coherence, institutional collaboration, technological innovation, climate finance, and capacity-building. The review concludes that the WEF nexus provides a valuable framework for advancing climate adaptation and sustainable resource management in SSA. Full article

Maintaining the productivity and technological quality of sugarcane during ratoon cycles represents a constant challenge for the sugarcane-energy sector, driving the adoption of biostimulants. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the effects of different biostimulants on the biometric development, yield, and technological quality of second-ratoon sugarcane. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with four treatments and four replications: (1) Control; (2) Ascophyllum nodosum; (3) A. nodosum + nutrients; and (4) Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Rhizophagus irregularis). Tiller density, stalk height, stalk diameter, stalk weight, productivity, total recoverable sugars (TRS), and sugar yield were evaluated. Data were subjected to analysis of variance (Tukey’s test, p ≤ 0.05) and principal component analysis (PCA). Tiller density was not affected by the treatments; however, biostimulation with A. nodosum alone proved to be the most effective treatment, yielding the highest stalk height (2.35 m), stalk weight (1.48 kg), TRS (146.06 kg t⁻¹), and sugar yield (14.52 t ha⁻¹), representing a 19.5% increase in sugar yield compared to the control. Inoculation with R. irregularis matched A. nodosum in productivity but resulted in lower TRS, indicating a sucrose dilution effect. A. nodosum combined with nutrients did not surpass the control across production variables. PCA confirmed the distinct separation and superiority of the isolated A. nodosum treatment along the growth and productivity axis, further demonstrating that these inputs operate through distinct physiological mechanisms. In conclusion, the A. nodosum-based biostimulant (applied alone) constitutes the most promising strategy to simultaneously enhance yield and technological quality in sugarcane ratoon crops. Full article

The construction sector is under increasing pressure to reduce natural-resource consumption and the environmental impact associated with Portland cement production. In this context, ashes generated by biomass combustion and thermal power plants may represent secondary resources for mineral binder-based construction materials, provided that their characteristics and performance are adequately established. This study comparatively characterized sunflower husk ash (SHA) and thermal power plant electrofilter ash (EFA) from Romanian sources. The experimental program comprised scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, pH and electrical-conductivity measurements, and preliminary sieve-based dimensional screening. The two ashes exhibited substantially different profiles. SHA was heterogeneous, strongly alkaline, highly conductive, and rich in K-, Ca-, Mg-, sulphate-, chloride-, and phosphate-bearing constituents, whereas EFA showed a predominantly silico-aluminous and iron-bearing profile, lower conductivity, and crystalline phases including quartz, hematite, and anhydrite. These results demonstrate that SHA and EFA cannot be treated as interchangeable ash-based materials and provide a basis for selecting subsequent investigations. They do not, however, establish pozzolanic activity, supplementary cementitious performance, or compatibility with specific construction applications. Validation in cementitious or lime-based systems must therefore include reactivity, workability, mechanical performance, dimensional stability, durability, and soluble-salt-related testing. Full article

The trend toward the decarbonization of the energy sector is changing the structure of generating capacity through the widespread introduction of renewable energy sources. Modern wind and solar power plants are integrated into electric power systems via inverters. In recent years, electrical devices based on fully controlled transistors have become widely used to control electric power system modes, including FACTS devices, as well as to manage technological processes in industrial power supply systems. The resulting short- and long-term deviations in power quality indicators (PQIs) from standard values lead to significant errors in digital signal processing (DSP) within intelligent electronic devices (IEDs). This is due to the use of generally accepted assumptions in DSP. IEDs perform protection, automation, and control functions, and their malfunction can contribute to the initiation and escalation of accidents. In electric power systems, deviations in current and voltage signals from nominal values are also possible due to electromechanical and electromagnetic transients. This article presents a developed method for DSP of industrial-frequency currents and voltages. This method differs from existing approaches by using stochastic dithering and low-bit quantization. To illustrate the advantages of the developed method, simulations were performed, and the results thereof are presented in the article. Using this method improves the accuracy of DSP by compensating for deviations in PQI in industrial-frequency currents and voltages. The stability of the response parameters of protection, automation and control devices in various circuit and operating modes will contribute to the reliable operation of electric power systems at this stage of their development. The developed method can be implemented in intelligent electronic devices from various manufacturers without requiring hardware modifications, affecting only the DSP algorithms in the measuring elements. Full article

Existing research has largely treated digital transformation and ESG performance as separate dimensions, while widely used ESG indicators are strongly driven by disclosure practices. This creates a measurement problem, as it remains unclear how companies’ underlying sustainability performance translates into effective digital transparency. This study addresses this gap by analyzing the relationship between ESG performance and ESG-related digital transparency, defined as companies’ capacity to disclose sustainability-related information through digital systems. We construct a novel ESG-Related Digital Transparency Index (EDTI), capturing key dimensions of disclosure, compliance, and firm capacity through a composite structure based on principal component analysis, in which the largest contribution is associated with the Digital Governance and Transparency sub-index. Using an unbalanced panel of 95 energy firms (2015–2024), based on annual data, and a dynamic panel model, the results show that digital transparency is highly persistent and positively associated with adjusted ESG performance. Environmental policies reinforce this relationship, while financial factors play a more limited role. Moreover, ESG performance amplifies the effect of environmental pressures, highlighting the role of interaction mechanisms. These findings show how substantive ESG capabilities translate into digital transparency, emphasizing the role of organizational and informational processes in firms’ sustainability-related digital development. Full article

In the pursuit of decarbonization and energy sustainability, hydrogen has emerged as an energy carrier with potential relevance to the energy transition. Its importance derives from advantages such as clean combustion, high energy density, and versatility compared with conventional fuels. Although numerous studies have investigated hydrogen production technologies and its role as the “energy of the future,” integrated analyses addressing production pathways, Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs), and its potential influence on the global energy sector remain limited. This study provides a descriptive synthesis of hydrogen as an energy carrier based on systematic bibliographic procedures and inductive and deductive analysis, examining its role in the energy transition, indicators of its consolidation, challenges, limitations, and prospects. The findings indicate that the contribution of hydrogen to decarbonization strongly depends on its production pathway. While green hydrogen offers significant potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, current hydrogen production remains predominantly dependent on fossil-based pathways. In addition, challenges throughout the hydrogen value chain, particularly in production, storage, transportation, and utilization, constrain overall efficiency and large-scale deployment. Technological advances and appropriate government policies may, however, support its consolidation as a key component of the energy transition. Full article

This study asks whether energy price shocks reach banking-sector credit risk differently across borrower types, combining three elements the literature has used separately: disaggregation by borrower, asymmetric modelling of energy prices, and a formal test of whether the asymmetries differ. Using monthly data for Türkiye, 2005–2026, we estimate nonlinear ARDL (NARDL) models for total, household and commercial non-performing loan (NPL) ratios across seven energy price indicators. The two portfolios respond asymmetrically in opposite directions: a 1 per cent cumulative rise in real consumer energy prices is associated with a 1.86 per cent higher household NPL ratio in the long run—about 0.6 percentage points for a typical year—while declines bring no measurable relief, whereas for commercial loans a 1 per cent cumulative decline is associated with a 3.54 per cent lower ratio and increases with no change. Joint estimation rejects the equality of the two asymmetry gaps (asymptotic p < 0.001; block-bootstrap p = 0.007), and the commercial response is carried by consumer rather than producer energy prices, pointing to a household-demand channel. The long-run elasticities are conditional on a level relationship the bounds test supports only weakly; the asymmetry tests do not depend on it, and the household result is the more securely established. Symmetry cannot be rejected for total NPLs, consistent with the two asymmetries offsetting: aggregate ratios can mask borrower-specific responses, and consumer energy price stability matters for banking-sector asset quality. Full article