In accordance with the environmental concerns that national policies still address throughout the world, railways have been extensively studied to provide quantified indicators for assessing construction/operations practices. It is essential to take energy consumption, into account since energy can be measured worldwide, in addition to constituting a global environmental load that is time-limited as regards resource availability and known as a discriminating criterion in comparing transport infrastructure. This article introduces an innovative, generic and systemic method dedicated to determining the energy consumption of a railway line during the pre-project phase by taking into account the complete life cycle of the rail infrastructure, including construction, maintenance and operations. The method developed (called « PEAM ») focuses on assessing project variants during the design stage and therefore integrates both the geometric longitudinal constraints of the line and the thicknesses/volumes over the entire itinerary as design parameters for input into the various construction scenarios. PEAM combines methodologies stemming from Life Cycle Assessment with a consumption model derived from physical modeling. The models associated with this method are then applied to study the energy consumption of a new high-speed line located in France that also has major implications for the European connections currently under investigation as well. Two project variants are compared in terms of total energy for a 50-year service life and a given characteristic rail traffic, including passenger and freight flows. Results obtained reveal a 30 % difference between the two variants, which prior to applying PEAM were considered to be relatively similar.
In the light of the Green Deal and its ‘Farm to Fork’ and ‘Biodiversity’ strategies, the EU aims to find new ways to decrease GHG emissions through the EU Carbon Farming initiative stating that farming practices that remove CO2 from the atmosphere should be rewarded in line with the development of new EU business models. The Carbon farming initiative is a new approach and concludes that carbon farming can significantly contribute to climate change mitigation. As European Commission acknowledges that carbon farming is in its infancy and there is a lot to be addressed, in the years towards 2030, result-based carbon farming plots and schemes should be settled by the Member States and local governments; therefore, the existing solutions for reducing emissions through improved farming practices should be defined for each region. The research identifies carbon farming solutions in the agriculture sector – minimal/zero tillage, carbon sequestration in soils, biogas and biomethane production, perennial plant growing, and agroforestry and described.
The marketability of fish depends on the visual appearance of the fish, so the feed ingredient pigment contributes to the nutritional value and visual appearance of the product. The benefits of a natural pigment derived from microalgae are the ecological benefits, as the culture can fix carbon and release oxygen. The economic aspect is a benefit of synthetic pigments. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method was used to determine the environmental impact of natural and synthetic pigments. The results obtained from the LCA are expressed according to the impact categories defined by the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR). A sensitivity analysis was also carried out comparing the environmental impacts of electricity generated with hydropower or using a field mix from Norway for the natural pigment. The total single score value for natural pigment is 1.17E+01 mPt and the largest impact is from sodium nitrate and electricity. The sensitivity analysis results for electricity from the country mix is 1.82E+01 mPt. The total single score value for synthetic pigment is 8.24E−01 mPt, with the largest impact from methanol. Synthetic pigments have a lower environmental impact than natural pigments, but a sensitivity analysis shows that the environmental impact can be reduced by choosing an alternative to electricity. It should be noted that the comparison presented represents a general comparison of alternatives, as the input data is derived from a literature review.
As the consumption of fish in the human diet increases, a larger amount of production is needed. The growing demand for fish also has an impact on fish feed, its production efficiency and the sustainability of using raw materials. To evaluate the sustainability of raw materials and the impact on the environment, three protein alternatives are compared – black soldier fly, yellow mealworm and soybean. Each alternative has advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of black soldier fly and yellow mealworm are a valuable source of protein, sustainable growth (as feed can be used for food waste) and no need for arable land. Disadvantages of black soldier fly and yellow mealworm are price, an unbalanced diet can negatively affect growth, and nutritional value effect on the fish vary depending on fly or mealworm species. The advantages of soybeans are price, availability and high protein content, but the disadvantages are a lack of essential amino acids that affect the quality of fish and poor palatability. An LCA study has been carried out for the black soldier fly, yellow mealworm and soybean protein. From PEFCR most relevant impact categories are climate change, particulate matter, acidification, land use, eutrophication terrestrial and water use. The total single score value for black soldier fly protein is 1.43E+01 μPt, for yellow mealworm protein is 3.89E+02 μPt and for soybean protein is 9.72E+01 μPt. Large impact is from electricity consumption, used components for feed. Sensitivity analysis was performed for black soldier fly protein and yellow mealworm protein production, where feed composition was changed. In sensitivity analysis environmental impact is less from the new feed structure. The reason might be that the new feed structure has used food waste and wheat as feed ingredients.
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