Search Results (1,131)

Climate change is a problem for all of us and must be tackled as a priority, not just as the responsibility of national economic policies. It has not only environmental but also economic and social consequences. Climate change can change people’s daily lives, strongly affecting their health and mood. It will reshape the way the economy works, affect the way we use our resources, and impact on the state of our environmental assets. Emissions are one of the most important causes of global warming and are largely responsible for adverse changes in the ecosystem. Many businesses will need to fundamentally transform their operations to become climate neutral. Entire sectors will have to innovate and abandon current (polluting) solutions in order to allow businesses to do business in new and greener ways. This requires money, skills, knowledge, innovation and of course, leadership commitment. This paper sets out to examine the business case for greening. The study focuses on the behavior of enterprises and draws conclusions on environmental awareness by comparing two countries. The paper presents the results of quantitative primary research on a Hungarian and a Slovak sample, using a pre-tested standardized questionnaire survey. We analyzed responses from 427 enterprises in the Hungarian sample and 181 in the Slovak sample. The results show which enterprises in each country can be relied on most to implement sustainable, green policies and what the main challenges are in terms of promoting more sustainable behavior among enterprises in the two countries under study. Full article

One way to manage sewage sludge, which is consistent with the assumptions of the European Green Deal, is to use it in agriculture. The study focused on the possibility of using soil enzyme activity and the GMea index (the geometric mean of enzyme activities) in connection with the total organic carbon (TOC) and the total nitrogen (TN) content to assess the quality of fallow light soil after exogenous organic matter (EOM) fertilization. Exogenous organic matter in the form of stabilized municipal sewage sludge was introduced into the soil. The experiment included five variants: one control site and four sites with 30, 75, 150, and 300 Mg ha⁻¹ of sewage sludge added to the soil. The contents of TOC, TN and heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd) in the soil material were assayed. In addition, the activity of soil enzymes, i.e., neutral phosphatase, urease, protease and dehydrogenase, was examined, and the geometric mean of the enzyme activities (GMea index) was calculated. Fertilization of light soil with sewage sludge resulted in an increase in TOC and TN proportionally to the EOM dose. The addition of sewage sludge increased the content of tested heavy metals in the soil and did not exceed the levels considered acceptable. The introduction of sewage sludge contributed to the stimulation of biological life in the soil. This was evidenced by an intensification of soil enzyme activity. However, individual enzymes showed a different response to EOM fertilization, while GMea showed a significant increase in the quality of the fallowed soils as the EOM rate increased to 150 Mg ha⁻¹. Full article

This research presents a system dynamics model to study the interaction among demand and supply evolutions, government regulations, sustainable adoption trends, investments in different decarbonization technologies, and environmental requirements for the European Aluminum Rolled Product Supply Chain (ARPSC). It allows stakeholders to assess the quantitative impact of investing in decarbonization technologies on supply chain sustainability. Investing in decarbonization technologies reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The most substantial GHG emission reductions can be achieved if upstream ARPSC actors invest according to an aggressive investment strategy between 2031 and 2040. However, even with an aggressive investment strategy, investing in decarbonization technologies alone is likely to be insufficient to achieve the European Green Deal goals. Furthermore, barriers to investment in decarbonization technologies and a low rate of progress in doubling the European Union’s circularity rate may put extra stress on achieving the European Green Deal goals for the European ARPSC. Instead, ARPSC actors will additionally need to optimize the recycling of aluminum rolled products and adopt strategies for resource sufficiency, e.g., by sharing cars and using packaging multiple times. Full article

According to conclusions agreed to in the 1995 Report of the World Summit for Social Development and the 2015 Sustainable Development Summit, seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs) have been ratified and published as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In 2022, the 8th Environment Action Programme was legally agreed upon, following the six European Green Deal priorities. These SDGs serve as a constant reminder of the importance of globally coordinated actions in compliance with the theory of sustainable development. However, more than a constant reminder, this international agreement should become the foundation for necessary change. On 22 July 2024, the daily global average temperature reached a new record high. The EU treaties signed between 1951 and 2007 laid the foundation for the creation of EU environmental policy. However, those EU treaties, along with environmental policy, form merely a non-binding and minimum set of priorities without any sanctions imposed for illegal practices. In 2021, EU member countries adopted the European Climate Law as the first legally binding document seeking to achieve goals set by the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal. Any further EU sustainable development policies are dependent on global cooperation as a key element of survival. With the EU’s dependent on the rest of the world for its energy, the forcing of any obligatory change will be hard to achieve. This proves the importance of the 17th SDG, agreed in 2015. Only global partnership for sustainable development can prevent further damage to our ecosystem and achieve priorities set by the EU and UN agendas. The review aims to present the connection between sustainable development (SD) goals defined by the European Commission, for which the most important aspects are the need to meet the environmental requirements to protect future needs in the long run, and to confront the shortcomings of European law-making practices, in which most crucial reforms are presented as non-binding legal acts. Finally, in 2024 members of the European Parliament established an extended list of environmental crimes to be regarded as punishable offences and replaced the Environmental Crime Directive, making criminal activities and offences potentially legally punishable; however, it is yet to be seen how this initiative will be incorporated within the national legislations of each EU member country and to what extent. Full article

Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament, also known as the Taxonomy Regulation, facilitates environmentally sustainable investments. It is part of the concept of the European Green Deal and a ‘tool’ for financial institutions, enterprises, and investors, facilitating the assessment of the environmental impact of a particular project. The Regulation contains the criteria an activity must meet to be considered environmentally sustainable. The role of the Taxonomy Regulation is to enable the flow of public and private capital towards ecological and sustainable activities. The document does not need to be implemented into the legal order of individual EU member-states, which results in its direct application. The main financial instruments enabling the achievement of the goals of the Taxonomy Regulation may be green bonds and other forms of capital raising by entrepreneurs and forest ownership structures. The assumption of the Regulation is to achieve the principles of sustainable environmental activity when spending funds obtained from private investors. It is an issue of key significance to identify the areas of management and financial accounting in the operational activities of forest enterprises that can be qualified for the Taxonomy Regulation. Forestry activities, including the processes mentioned therein, the objectives of the New EU Forest Strategy, and the LULUCF Regulation, are to play an essential role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The role of forestry in the supply chain in its broad sense is also considered. Forestry and forest management can receive capital for sustainable development due to the threat resulting from exclusions that strengthen the protective function of the forest (the protection of biodiversity). These processes will occur at the expense of production and numerous social functions. Full article

The transition to sustainability in agriculture faces significant challenges, especially to balance environmental goals with the practical demands of food production. This paper examines two different case studies that reveal the complexities of agricultural regulation. The first case focuses on the valorization of agri-food residual biomasses, highlighting the potential to transform food waste into valuable bioproducts such as bioenergy and biofertilizers. Despite the clear environmental and economic benefits, the absence of specific European regulations hinders the widespread adoption of these practices. Without clear rules for achieving “end-of-waste” status, the development and marketing of bio-based products remain restricted. The second case study examines the European Union’s unsuccessful effort to implement the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation (SUR), which aimed to reduce pesticide use by 50% by 2030. Although the regulation sought to align agricultural practices with the EU’s Green Deal, it triggered widespread protests from farmers concerned about the potential economic losses and decreased productivity. These two cases, one showing under-regulation and the other over-regulation, highlight the need for balanced and practical regulatory frameworks that promote sustainability without imposing unrealistic demands on stakeholders. This paper ends with recommendations to harmonize regulations across Europe, ensuring that both innovation in agricultural waste management and practical pesticide reduction strategies are implemented in a way that supports farmers and producers, minimizing economic disruptions and encouraging sustainable agricultural practices. Full article

Marginal areas (MAs) can show scarce disaster resilience in the context of climate change. Proactive adaptation to climate change (ACC) based on green infrastructure (GI) has the potential to increase the disaster resilience of the MAs. The scientific literature has scarcely addressed research on methods and guidelines for promoting ACC and GI to increase the resilience of MAs. No previous research has focused on a method to set a reference scheme for implementation guidelines concerning the use of GI as an ACC approach to deal with the effects of a changing climate in Italian MAs. In this regard, this study aims to provide planners and public administrations with an appropriate scheme to foster the mainstreaming of ACC and GI into the planning of MAs. To do so, we proposed and applied a methodological approach consisting of the scrutiny of the scientific and grey literature with the purpose of distilling a set of key elements (KEs) that need to be considered as a reference scheme for implementation guidelines. As main findings, we identified ten KEs relevant to drafting guidelines for integrating ACC and GI into planning tools, e.g., a clear definition of GI, participative approaches, public–private cooperation, and others, that will be tested in ongoing research. Full article

According to the European Data Strategy established in 2020, the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) is described as “the basis for a science, research and innovation data space… and will be connected and articulated with the sectoral data spaces”, being one of the 14 European Common Data Spaces. While current cross-sectoral interactions with the EOSC are realised through the association’s Health Data Task Force, advancements in other EU priorities, such as the Green Deal and the Digital Strategy, should be accelerated in the green and digital transitions and integrated by reinforcing each other to be climate-neutral by 2050. With this motivation, this paper systematically reviews data spaces and digital twins (DTs) within the context of research and innovation. Specifically, focusing on the relevance of the EOSC to the Green Deal Data Space (GDDS) and DTs of the Earth, the relationship between them is explored using a topic search with various keyword combinations in the Web of Science and CORDIS databases. Based on the selected scientific articles and projects, collaboration opportunities are mapped to connect relevant stakeholders. Furthermore, existing and developing service components that could contribute to technical building blocks for the GDDS are identified. In summary, key findings are highlighted, addressing the current gaps and opportunities among the GDDS initiatives presented in this review. Full article

Intelligent traffic control decision-making has long been a crucial issue for improving the efficiency and safety of the intelligent transportation system. The deficiencies of the Type-1 fuzzy traffic control system in dealing with uncertainty have led to a reduced ability to address traffic congestion. Therefore, this paper proposes a Type-2 fuzzy controller for a single intersection. Based on real-time traffic flow information, the green timing of each phase is dynamically determined to achieve the minimum average vehicle delay. Additionally, in traffic light control, various factors (such as vehicle delay and queue length) need to be balanced to define the appropriate reward. Improper reward design may fail to guide the Deep Q-Network algorithm to learn the optimal strategy. To address these issues, this paper proposes a deep reinforcement learning traffic control strategy combined with Type-2 fuzzy control. The output action of the Type-2 fuzzy control system replaces the action of selecting the maximum output Q-value of the target network in the DQN algorithm, reducing the error caused by the use of the max operation of the target network. This approach improves the online learning rate of the agent and increases the reward value of the signal control action. The simulation results using the Simulation of Urban MObility platform show that the traffic signal optimization control proposed in this paper has achieved significant improvement in traffic flow optimization and congestion alleviation, which can effectively improve the traffic efficiency in front of the signal light and improve the overall operation level of traffic flow. Full article

Thailand is a prominent global producer of mangoes, providing a wide range of mango cultivars and dealing with the challenge of managing biomass. Thus, biorefining mango peel to extract valuable components has the potential to reduce organic waste and create a new revenue source for the mango processing sector. This study aims to examine the physiology, physiochemical, and chemical characteristics in peel of nine Thai mango cultivars, along with the relationship between their characteristics. The Thai mango cultivars Mahachanok, Chok anan, and Rad exhibited a yellow appearance, while the other six cultivars appeared yellow-green. However, the firmness of the fruit was directly correlated with the firmness of the pulp. A proximate composition study revealed that the predominant constituent of mango peel was carbohydrates, comprising up to 75% of its composition. This was followed by fibre, which accounted for up to 13%. The Nga mango had the highest levels of total phenolic content (220 mgGAE/g) and total flavonoid content (5.5 mgCE/g). The primary phenolic acids identified in Thai mango peel were epicatechin, caffeic acid, catechin, and gallic acid. The Mahachanok cultivar exhibited the highest antioxidant activity, as determined by the ABTS and DPPH assays, with values of 85.67% and 85.78%, respectively. This study demonstrated the connections between the physiochemical characteristics of mangoes and their chemical compositions in different cultivars, indicating the possibility of choosing particular cultivars for extracting targeted bioactive compounds. The multivariate analyses revealed that there was no correlation between the physiochemical and chemical profiles of mangoes. This study highlights the significance of mango peel as a valuable by-product that has significant environmental and economic ramifications for the mango processing industry. Full article

Digital Building Logbooks (DBLs) are the EU repositories for all building-related data. Logbook implementation conveys challenges, but it must be recognised that relevant things already exist. This article bridges the gap at the data discovery level by assessing the existing data and comparing it with EU DBL studies. Action research is the methodology, employing Portugal as an example. A deductive approach and interpretivism are used, supporting the data discovery journey. When evaluating existing datasets with DBL EU guidelines data requirements, the findings demonstrate a match from 90.6% to 82.6%, depending on the level: cadastral parcel, building or building unit. Several additional observed datasets suit the DBL framework, constituting a path for future research. Insights into the dataset landscape from a specific perspective are offered. Given the deliverables’ characteristics, the study results can be generalised. The data discovery journey led to the understanding that duplicates and inconsistencies exist. A strategic approach for data sharing, governance and usage should be established to solve them, increasing digital maturity, integration and interoperability. Revising the legal framework is found to be paramount. Working from the existing elements and aligning them with data space assumptions can make DBL implementation more straightforward. Full article

Industrial development has implicitly led to the development of new systems that increase the ability to provide services and products in real time. Autonomous mobile robots are considered some of the most important tools that can help both industry and society. These robots offer a certain autonomy that makes them indispensable in industrial activities. However, some elements of these robots are not yet very well outlined, such as their construction, their lifetime and energy consumption, and the environmental impact of their activity. Within the context of European regulations (here, we focus on the Green Deal and the growth in greenhouse gas emissions), any industrial activity must be analyzed and optimized so that it is efficient and does not significantly impact the environment. The added value of this paper is its examination of the activities carried out by mobile robots and the impact of their electronic components on the environment. The proposed analysis employs, as a central point, an analysis of mobile robots from the point of view of their electronic components and the impact of their activity on the environment in terms of energy consumption, as evaluated by calculating the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The way in which the activity of a robot impacts the environment was established throughout the economic flow, as well as by providing possible methods of reducing this impact by optimizing the robot’s activity. The environmental impact of a mobile robot, in regard to its electronic components, will also be analyzed when the period of operation is completed. Full article

The development of healthy building technology has become a major trend in the global construction industry, especially in China, owing to accelerating urbanization and increasing health awareness among residents. However, an effective evaluation framework to quantify and evaluate the maturity of healthy building technology is lacking. This paper proposes a novel maturity evaluation model for healthy building technology. After analyzing the Driver–Pressure–State–Impact–Response (DPSIR) framework for asserting the maturity of healthy building in China, it constructs an evaluation indicator system, comprising five and twenty-seven first- and second-class indicators, respectively. Subsequently, this paper constructs an improved projection pursuit model based on border collie optimization. The model obtains evaluation results by mining evaluation data, thus overcoming the limitations of traditional evaluation models in dealing with complex data. The empirical research results demonstrate that China is in the optimization stage in terms of the level of maturity of healthy building technology. The weight of impact is as high as 0.2743, which is the most important first-level indicator. Strict green energy utilization policy requirements are the most important secondary indicator, with a weight of 0.0513. Notably, the model is more advanced than other algorithms. In addition, this paper offers some countermeasures and suggestions to promote healthy building in China. Developing and applying this model can promote and popularize healthy building technology in China and even the globe and contribute to a healthier and more sustainable living environment. Full article

The green, low-carbon transition is a broad and profound change. The low-carbon city pilot policy (LCCP) is one of the most important strategies in China, aimed at dealing with climate change and realizing the green, low-carbon transition. Therefore, a quantitative evaluation of the implementation effect of the pilot policy is conducive to better promoting low-carbon work in the pilot areas. Based on 283 cities in China from 2005 to 2021, this paper constructs a double-difference model to empirically test the implementation effect, long-term mechanisms, and industrial upgrading of the pilot policy. The results show that the LCCP significantly promotes high-quality economic development and employment stability. After a series of robustness and endogenic tests, the conclusions in this study are still valid. Further analysis of the findings in this paper shows that the pilot programs promote the optimization and upgrading of industrial structures. The mediating effect shows that the LCCP has established three long-term mechanisms: developing alternative industries, expanding the level of openness, and promoting innovation. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the pilot policy’s implementation effect is more significant in cities located in central and western regions, as well as in non-resource-based cities. This study proposes the continuation of the promotion and implementation of the pilot policy, an increase in financial funds and policy support, the need to strengthen the labor market’s adaptability and protection mechanisms, the adaptation to local conditions to promote policy implementation, and the need to step up efforts to publicize pilot policies. Full article

Buildings account for a significant portion of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, underscoring the urgent need for energy refurbishment and green procurement strategies. This study explores the potential of Living Labs, a collaborative and user-centered approach, to bridge knowledge gaps and foster innovation in these areas. The research employed a comprehensive methodology, including stakeholder surveys and statistical analyses, to evaluate knowledge enhancement in various domains such as green policies, mentoring, funding possibilities, and green public procurement. The results demonstrated statistically significant improvements in knowledge across different fields and stakeholder groups. This study contributes to the objectives of the European Green Deal by highlighting the role of Living Labs in advancing knowledge critical to achieving energy efficiency and sustainability targets. Based on these findings, several recommendations are proposed to further leverage the effectiveness of Living Labs in promoting the energy refurbishment of buildings and green public procurement. Full article