Environmental Impact Analysis Research Articles

Evaluation of the environmental impacts and economical study of Solar Salt in CSP-parabolic trough technology

ABSTRACT The performance of a concentrated solar power plant is strongly driven by its heat storage capacity and is evolving through the development of new salt mixtures. Molten nitrates, which have already proved their high potential, can be further improved in terms of economic and environmental aspects, with the mitigation of toxic compounds and a higher electricity generation capability. In this work, stability range and energy density characterisations were performed on the nitrate ‘Solar’ salt, along with its life cycle assessment, environmental impact, and cost analysis.

Analysis of Engineering Performance and Environmental Impact of Asphalt Pavement Debonding and Ice Suppression Materials

Aiming at the maladies of high labor intensity, the low efficiency of ice and snow removal, and environmental pollution in traditional ice-deicing and snow-melting methods, we successfully developed a material that can effectively reduce the adhesive force between ice and snow with the pavement, aimed at the characteristics of the road ice de-icing and snow melting. According to the evaluation index and method of de-icing performance, we determined the ratio of the three components of the film-forming component, the adhesive component, the modified ice suppression component, and the preparation technology. It has no perfect evaluation index and method for the viscosity-reducing and ice-defending materials at present, this paper further evaluates the performance of the viscosity-reducing and ice-defending materials from the aspects of ice-deicing performance, durability, and environmental performance. The results show that the viscosity-reducing and ice-defending material has good permeability and water resistance. The material still has good ice-deicing performance after seven rounds of cycle tests at the same time, indicating that it has a good slow-release performance. It is verified that the viscosity-reducing and ice-defending materials have good durability using the low-temperature accelerated test. Finally, from the analysis and evaluation of the environmental protection performance of the viscosity-reducing and ice-defending materials, the materials have no effect on the growth of plants and their average corrosion rate is much lower than the average corrosion rate of the snow melting test piece, which means that the viscosity-reducing and ice-defending materials have good environmental performance.

Konsultasi Publik Kegiatan Revitalisasi Gedung Cagar Budaya

The Wharen Huis Building is a building protected by Law Number 11 of 2010 and the Mayor of Medan Decree Number 433/28.K/X/2021. As a preservation and protection effort that will create an optimal function while protecting or maintaining the authenticity of the Wharen Huis Building as a Cultural Heritage of Medan City, the Government of Medan City through the Housing, Residential Areas and Spatial Planning Office of Medan City plans to revitalize the Wharen Huis Cultural Heritage Building by not violating the applicable theories and regulations related to historic building conservation efforts. The Wharen Huis Heritage Building Revitalization/Restoration Activity Plan consists of 3 (three) stages of activity, namely the pre-construction stage, the construction stage, and the operational stage. Each stage of these activities is predicted to have an impact on the environment. Based on the Regulation of the Minister of State for the Environment No. 4 of 2021, the Revitalization of the Wharen Huis Cultural Heritage Building must have a Type C Environmental Impact Analysis (AMDAL). Referring to Government Regulation Number 22 of 2021, those in charge of businesses and/or activities in preparing an EIA must go through the stages of public consultation. The results of the public consultation obtained input related to building ownership, transportation circulation and support for the preservation of cultural heritage. Public consultation activities obtained several important issues that became input in public consultation activities, including the following 1. Regarding the revitalization of the Wharen Huis Cultural Heritage Building, the Medan City Government should be able to coordinate or communicate with the building owner in terms of managing the building, 2. In its construction, there will be an impact that the circulation of transportation passing through the building must be disturbed, it should be necessary to place parking bags to the west of the building that still exists and 3. we are very enthusiastic and supportive in revitalizing this building as an example for the public interest and become something different in terms of learning historical buildings in Medan City.

The Determinants of Environmental Quality in Indonesia

Purpose This research analyzes the determinants of environmental quality in 32 Indonesian provinces in the period between 2013-2019. Design/methodology/approach This research method used an ordinal logistic regression analysis approach where the dependent variable consists of cumulative predicate categories based on the EQI assessment interval as determined by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. Findings This study finds that the per capita GDRP and poverty have positive and significant effects on the Environmental Quality Index. However, The Human Development Index and expenditures in environmental and forestry functions have negative and significant effects. Research limitations/implications Based on the findings, the local and central government, through the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in cooperation with business people required to conduct the Environmental Impact Analyses, should participate in PROPER. Originality/value This study will show how the inter-components of economic development, social development, income and expenditure on environmental and forestry functions affect each category of the Environmental Quality Index (EQI) predicate.

Coupling methane and bioactive polysaccharide recovery from wasted activated sludge: A sustainable strategy for sludge treatment

Bioactive polysaccharides (PSs) are valuable resources that can be extracted from waste activated sludge (WAS). The PS extraction process causes cell lysis that may enhance hydrolytic processes during anaerobic digestion (AD) and thus increase the methane production. Thus, coupling PSs and methane recovery from WAS could be an efficient and sustainable sludge treatment. In present study, we comprehensively evaluated this novel process from the efficiencies of different coupling strategies, properties of the extracted PSs, and environmental impacts. The results showed that when the PS extraction was before AD, it produced 76.03 ± 2.00 mL of methane per gram of volatile solids (VS) and afforded a PS yield of 6.3 ± 0.09% (w:w), with a PS sulfate content of 13.15% ± 0.06%. In contrast, when PS extraction was after AD, the methane production decreased to 58.14 ± 0.99 mL of methane per gram of VS and afforded a PS yield of 5.67% ± 0.18% (w:w) in VS, with a PS sulfate content of 2.60% ± 0.04%. When there were two PS extractions before and after AD, the methane production, PS yield and sulfate content were 76.03 ± 2.00 mL of methane per gram of VS, 11.54 ± 0.62% and 8.35 ± 0.12%, respectively. Then, the bioactivity of the extracted PSs was assessed by one anti-inflammation assay and three anti-oxidation assays, and statistical analysis revealed that these four bioactivities of PSs were influenced by their sulfate content, protein content and monosaccharide composition, especially the ratios of arabinose and rhamnose. Furthermore, the environmental impact analysis shows that S1 was the best in five environmental indicators compared with other three non-coupled processes. These findings suggest that the coupling PSs and methane recovery process should be further explored to determine its potential for large-scale sludge treatment.

Peranan Badan Pengelola Lingkungan Hidup dalam Pengembangan Potensi Sumber Daya Alam

The purpose of this study is to analyze the implementation of EIA in the Environmental Management Agency in the development of natural resource potential. Analyzed from the norms, concepts, and behavior of human resources contained in BPLHD West Java Province. The role theory proposed by Levinson was used to analyze the problems in this study. In his statement, that role covers three things including norms that become rules to guide someone in society, concepts that individuals will do in society as an organization, as well as individual behavior that is important for the social structure of society. This research is a qualitative research using descriptive method. Data was collected through observation, interviews, and documentation studies. Analysis of data in this study uses interpretations or interpretations of logic that are related to the context of Islamic Community Development. The results showed that the Regional Environmental Management Agency of West Java Province in the development of natural resource potential through Analysis of Environmental Impacts had standard rules issued by the Ministry of Environment, namely the Minister of Environment Regulation No. 08/2013, which regulates the rules and governance, the concept formulated, and the performance of its human resources. The Environmental Management Agency in developing natural resource potential through an analysis of environmental impacts, has an effect.

Fault Type Diagnosis of the WWTP Dissolved Oxygen Sensor Based on Fisher Discriminant Analysis and Assessment of Associated Environmental and Economic Impact

Sensor failures are common events in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) operations, resulting in ineffective monitoring and inappropriate plant management. Efficient aeration control is typically achieved by the dissolved oxygen (DO) control, and its associated sensor becomes critical to the whole WWTP’s reliable and economical operation. This study presents the Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA) used for fault diagnosis of the DO sensor of a currently operating municipal WWTP. Identification of the bias, drift, wrong gain, loss of accuracy, fixed value, complete failure minimum and maximum types of DO sensor fault was investigated. The FDA-proposed methodology proved efficiency and promptitude in obtaining the diagnosis decision. The consolidated fault identification showed an accuracy of 87.5% correct identification of the seven faulty and normal considered classes. Depending on the fault type, the results of the diagnosing time varied from 2.5 h to 16.5 h during the very first day of the fault appearance and were only based on observation data not included in the training data set. The latter aspect reveals the potential of the methodology to learn from incomplete data describing the faults. The rank of the fault type detection promptitude was: bias, fixed value, complete failure minimum, complete failure maximum, drift, wrong gain and loss of accuracy. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted during wastewater treatment, electrical energy quantity in association with costs spent in the WWTP water line and clean water effluent quality were ranked and assessed for the normal operation and for each of the DO sensor faulty regimes. Both for CO2 and N2O, the on-site emissions showed the most significant GHG contribution, accounting for about three-quarters of the total emissions. The complete failure maximum, fixed value and loss of accuracy were the DO sensor faults with the highest detrimental impact on GHG-released emissions. The environmental and economic study reveals the incentives of the proposed DO sensor faults identification for the WWTP efficient and environmentally friendly operation.

ANALISIS PENATAAN PEMUKIMAN DI SENTANI KABUPATEN JAYAPURA

The handling of slum settlements has been mandated through Presidential Regulation No. 18 of 2020 concerning the 2020-2024 National Medium Term Plan Development Plan (RPJMN). Sentani City as the center of government in Jayapura Regency also needs to make arrangements for existing slum settlements. This was followed up through the Decree of the Regent of Jayapura Regency No. 188.4/332 of 2020 concerning Determination of the Location of Slum Housing and Slum Settlement in Jayapura Regency in 2020. This study aims to identify and analyze the condition of slum settlements in Jayapura Regency and develop strategies and handling them. Primary data collection was done through direct observation, documentation and field interviews. Secondary data through coordination with related parties, information through the media and related research journals. Data analysis was carried out qualitatively. The results showed that there were 49.09% of houses that were uninhabitable, only 10.38% of drinking water was provided for households, there were 3,655 households that had not been served by electricity, still high house construction and construction without environmental impact analysis and building permit regulations, unavailability of public cemeteries owned by local governments, high cases of land grabbing and blocking, many environmental roads are in a damaged condition, inadequate drainage in residential areas, there are still many lands and lands that have not been certified and land management has not been optimal. The strategy and handling of slum settlements in Jayapura Regency is referring to the Jayapura Regency's 2017-2022 medium-term development vision, potential area of Jayapura Regency, the problem of the uneven distribution pattern of infrastructure and facilities in the Jayapura Regency area and the prospect of developing new residential areas..

Ease of Business Licensing Based on the Job Creation Law (Study of Public Participation in Preparation of AMDAL Document)

<span lang="IN">The omnibus law of the Job Creation Act changes several laws and regulations, including Law Number 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management (<em>UU PPLH</em>). This study found that changes in provisions related to Environmental Impact Analysis (<em>Amdal</em>) in Law No. 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation, with those previously regulated in Law No. 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management. Such as the definition of Amdal, the role of environmental observers, the elimination of objections and community involvement, the <em>Amdal</em> Assessment Commission, the Feasibility Test Team, and cancellation based on court decisions. This research is normative legal research that examines in detail library materials such as books, scientific journals, laws and other information that is considered related to this research. This study argues that public participation in the preparation of the <em>Amdal</em> document must be carried out by the initiator and the government considering that public participation is the obligation of the initiator and the government in addition to being a good right of the community.</span>

Life cycle assessment-based environmental impact analysis of a tier 4 data center: A case study in Turkey

Data centers are responsible for 1% of the global electricity consumption, leading to significant greenhouse gas emissions. This study is considered to be the first in the literature which uses life cycle assessment to investigate the environmental impacts of a tier-4 data center operation. The impacts were calculated via CCaLC software with Ecoinvent2 database by using CML2001 method. Office supplies, electricity, water and fuel consumption, direct emissions, and end-of-life treatment where applicable were considered in the system boundaries. The results show that more than 98% of the environmental impacts are caused by the electricity consumption in the data center. It was found out that improvements made in cooling and uninterrupted power supply systems have the potential to reduce the annual impacts by approximately 15% on average. Compared to the average data center in the United States, the data center analyzed in this study was found to have approximately 20% higher impact scores. The main conclusion of this study is that it is evident that governments should provide incentives such as tax deductions to promote energy efficiency and/or renewable energy utilization in the data centers for better impact mitigation.

Environmental impact analysis of surface printing and 3D inkjet printing applications using an imine based covalent organic framework: A life cycle assessment study

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are emerging materials with structural modularity that allows their application in many fields. The aim of this work is to determine the environmental impact of using an imine based covalent organic framework (RT-COF-1) for both surface printing (Case A) and 3D inkjet printing (Case B) by applying Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Experimental data on RT-COF-1 synthesis as well as results obtained by simulation of their precursors production, 1,3,5-tris-(4-aminophenyl) benzene (TAPB) and 1,3,5-benzenetricarbaldehyde (BTCA), are used. LCA results show that monomer synthesis is the most important contributor to environmental impacts in both case studies. On the other hand, the contribution of solvents used in Case A is also remarkable. The comparison between both case studies indicates that the environmental impacts of Case B is lower than that of Case A (reduction within 5%–65%). Finally, LCA results of Case B are compared to other materials used for 3D-printing, such as polymerizable ionic liquids (PILs). The results show that RT–COF–1 compares favourably with PILs in five of nine impact categories, being especially relevant the reductions achieved in the abiotic depletion and acidification potential (>90%), in the primary energy consumption (⁓35%) and carbon footprint (⁓50%), suggesting the potential of RT–COF–1 as 3D-printing material from an environmental perspective. This work is a first step for further research to highlight the main environmental burdens of using COF-based materials in this application.

Post-assessment in policy-based strategic environmental assessment: Taking China's agricultural support and protection subsidy policy as an example

As the top-level component of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) system, policy-based strategic environmental assessment (SEA) plays an important role in avoiding the negative environmental impacts of policy implementation. However, the development of policy-based SEA in China is relatively slow due to institutional and technical difficulties. In fact, the effective inclusion of policy-based SEA in the early stage of policy decision-making will continue to face major and long-term practical resistance in the future, such that conducting policy-based SEA on a large-scale will be difficult. Therefore, this study proposes a chain-type post-assessment framework suitable for assessing the environmental impact of policies under implementation from the perspective of policy life cycle assessment to promote policy-based SEA to cover more policies. This framework includes five parts, namely, policy analysis, impact identification, impact analysis, cause exploration, and policy recommendations. This framework follows a typical model with environmental impact analysis as the core and incorporates the concept of system optimization. Following this framework, this study conducts an EIA of China's agricultural support and protection subsidy policy (ASPSP). The study finds that the framework demonstrated good applicability in the post-assessment of policies under implementation. In the future, to promote the establishment and development of policy-based SEA in China, work should be conducted from the following aspects: promotion of the policy EIA into law, establishment of an assessment framework throughout the policy life cycle, and strengthening the research on methods. Through case studies, this study finds that China's ASPSP, which is beneficial to the environment in terms of policy design, lacks a prominent positive impact on the eco-environment and even has a negative impact. This is related not only to unreasonable policy design but also to deviation from policy implementation under the joint action of policy implementers, policy object, and the policy implementation environment. In the future, while continuing to optimize and adjust policies, work should be conducted in terms of optimizing the policy implementation environment, improving policy implementation methods, and strengthening the foundation of policy implementation to improve policy effectiveness.

Nata de fique: A cost-effective alternative for the large-scale production of bacterial nanocellulose

Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) is a biopolymer with an expanding market due to its properties. One important aspect related to BNC production is the culture medium composition, which is rich in carbon and nitrogen, and it represents 30% of the total cost of production. The aim of this work was to evaluate the use of fique juice, a by-product of the fique fiber isolation process, as an alternative source to produce BNC using the Komagataeibacter medellinensis strain, denominated as nata de fique. First, the fique juice was chemically characterized to determine its nutrient content. The nata de fique yield was calculated as gram of dry cellulose per littler of the medium; the physicochemical characterization of the nata de fique was analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-Ray diffraction and BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) surface area analysis. Finally, the environmental impact and financial analysis were also determined. It was found that using fique juice as a culture medium, the BNC production yield was 2.2 g BNC/L medium compared to BNC-HS, which was 1.14 g BNC/L medium, due to the chemical composition of fique juice, which presented a higher content of nitrogen and additives like Mg2+ and Ca2+. In the morphological analysis, the same nanoribbon structure was observed, and no changes in the crystalline parameters were detected. Nevertheless, there was a slight decrease in the thermal stability temperature, the crystalline index, and the surface area in the BNC produced with fique juice, due to the presence of some remaining impurities after the purification step. In the environmental analysis, nata de fique decreased the water consumption, carbon footprint, and raw material consumption, and the BNC production cost was twice cheaper than the HS culture medium. This research demonstrates that nata de fique is an alternative source of BNC regarding economic and environmental impact.

SUSTAINABLE FASHION FROM PRODUCT SERVICE SYSTEM PERSPECTIVE: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Fast fashion perpetuates the perception that clothing products are cheap and are easily disposed of. Consequently, the fashion industry contributes great concern for environmental impact. Product-service system (PSS) may serve as an integrated product-service solution to support sustainable fashion. While there is an increasing trend in PSS studies, the literature studies in fashion PSS remains limited. This paper aims to explore the research topics in fashion PSS studies by examining topics addressed in fashion PSS literature, how PSS may contribute to sustainability in the context of the fashion industry, as well as positive and negative value perceived consumers in adopting PSS fashion. The research is conducted through literature review retrieved from Scopus and analyzed according to the aim of this paper. The results show that topics addressed in fashion PSS are related to potential drivers and barriers to adopt PSS fashion, business model, environmental impact, and life cycle analysis. The role of PSS in the fashion context is product and use-oriented. The consumer perception on adopting PSS fashion is classified as emotional, functional, social, financial, environmental, and psychological aspects.

SUSTAINABLE FASHION FROM PRODUCT SERVICE SYSTEM PERSPECTIVE: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Fast fashion perpetuates the perception that clothing products are cheap and are easily disposed of. Consequently, the fashion industry contributes great concern for environmental impact. Product-service system (PSS) may serve as an integrated product-service solution to support sustainable fashion. While there is an increasing trend in PSS studies, the literature studies in fashion PSS remains limited. This paper aims to explore the research topics in fashion PSS studies by examining topics addressed in fashion PSS literature, how PSS may contribute to sustainability in the context of the fashion industry, as well as positive and negative value perceived consumers in adopting PSS fashion. The research is conducted through literature review retrieved from Scopus and analyzed according to the aim of this paper. The results show that topics addressed in fashion PSS are related to potential drivers and barriers to adopt PSS fashion, business model, environmental impact, and life cycle analysis. The role of PSS in the fashion context is product and use-oriented. The consumer perception on adopting PSS fashion is classified as emotional, functional, social, financial, environmental, and psychological aspects.

Assessing sustainability hotspots in the production of paper-based printed electronics

Novel printed electronics are projected to grow and be manufactured in the future in large volumes. In many applications, printed electronics are envisaged as sustainable alternatives to conventional (PCB-based) electronics. One such application is in the semi-quantitative drug detection and point-of-care device called ‘GREENSENSE’ that uses paper-based printed electronics. This paper analyses the carbon footprint of GREENSENSE in order to identify and suggest means of mitigating disproportionately high environmental impacts, labeled ‘sustainability hotspots’, from materials and processes used during production which would be relevant in high-volume applications. Firstly, a life cycle model traces the flow of raw materials (such as paper, CNCs, and nanosilver) through the three ‘umbrella’ processes (circuit printing, component mounting, and biofunctionalization) manufacturing different electronic components (the substrate, conductive inks, energy sources, display, etc) that are further assembled into GREENSENSE. Based on the life cycle model, life cycle inventories are modeled that map out the network of material and energy flow throughout the production of GREENSENSE. Finally, from the environmental impact and sustainability hotspot analysis, both crystalline nanocellulose and nanosilver were found to create material hotspots and they should be replaced in favor of lower-impact materials. Process hotspots are created by manual, lab-, and pilot-scale processes with unoptimized material consumption, energy use, and waste generation; automated and industrial-scale manufacturing can mitigate such process hotspots.

Cell-level coupling of a mechanistic model to cellular automata for improving land simulation

ABSTRACT The land use and land cover change (LUCC) process is crucial for climate and environmental change studies. Cellular automata (CA) models based on machine learning techniques have commonly been used to simulate LUCC. However, conventional CA models can only capture the historical relationship between driving forces and LUCC through statistics. Climate change significantly affects LUCC, especially natural vegetation. The statistical relationship between driving forces and LUCC may change with the climate. Furthermore, the existing coupled models of CA and mechanistic models are only loosely coupled in terms of the quantity of land demand provided by mechanistic models, which denotes that mechanistic models do not directly guide CA models in simulating spatial land dynamics. Thus, herein, a novel model that couples Lund Potsdam Jena (LPJ), a mechanistic model, and CA at the cell level is proposed to consider the mechanisms and statistics in LUCC simulations. The proposed coupled model (LPJ-FLUS) is validated by comparison with two historical LUCC simulations in China from 2001 to 2010 and 2015. The results show that the proposed coupled model affords higher simulation accuracy, especially on natural vegetation, compared to the two conventional CA models. The overall Figure of Merit value of the LPJ-FLUS model in the historical LUCC simulations is about 5% higher than that of the conventional CA model, reaching 23.37%, and is even 8% higher for some natural vegetation types. The proposed model is employed to predict the future LUCC under two SSP-RCP scenarios in China from 2015 to 2100. The simulation results show that the proposed model effectively combines the strengths of LPJ and CA, retaining the high spatial resolution of CA while representing the spatial possibilities of LUCC under different future climate scenarios assessed by LPJ. The quantitative validation results show that the simulation results of the LPJ-FLUS model are more spatially correlated with the LPJ model than those of conventional CA models. The proposed LPJ-FLUS model is a valuable attempt toward tightly coupling mechanistic and CA models at the cell level. Additionally, it has promising potential for high spatial resolution LUCC simulations and environmental impact analysis under future extreme climate scenarios.

Characterization and potential valorization of industrial food processing wastes

Valorization and utilization of industrial food processing waste as value added products, platform chemicals and biofuels, are needed to improve sustainability and reduce waste management costs. Various industrial food waste stream samples were characterized with respect to their physico-chemical characteristics and elemental composition. A subset of starchy food wastes and milk dust powder were evaluated in batch fermentation to acetone, a useful platform chemical. Production levels were similar to acetone produced from glucose but were achieved more quickly. Lactose concentration negatively affected fermentation and led to 50 % lower acetone concentration from milk dust powder than from starchy wastes. Uncooked starch waste can produce 20 % more acetone than cooked and modified starch waste. Fatty waste and mineral waste can be digested anaerobically generating biogas. Calorific value of soybean waste was 40 MJ/kg sufficiently high for biodiesel production. Low C/N ratios of wastewater and solids from food processing waste makes them unsuitable for anaerobic digestion but these waste types can be converted thermochemically to hydrochar and used as soil amendments. Low calorific content (10–15 MJ/kg) vegetable wastes also are not ideal for energy production, but are rich in flavonoids, antioxidants and pigments which can be extracted as valuable products. A model mapping food waste characteristics to best valorization pathway was developed to guide waste management and future cost and environmental impact analyses. These findings will help advance food industry knowledge and improve sustainable food production through valorized processing waste management.

Geotechnical and environmental radioactivity investigations at Al Sādis Min Uktōber city, Cairo municipality (Egypt), for the high-speed railway construction

The present study aims to evaluate the possibility of constructing a new high-speed railway (HSR) at Al Sādis Min Uktōber city, Cairo (Egypt): geotechnical and environmental radiological hazards are estimated from several collected soil and water samples. A variety of laboratory geotechnical tests such as grain size, free swelling test, liquid and plastic limits, chemical analysis and uniaxial compression strength are applied to sixty-one drill holes. A geotechnical examination of the coarse-grained soil at the foundation level classified it as poorly graded soil. The results of the investigation of fine-grained soil at the foundation level shown that the liquid limit ranges from 22% to 55%, the plastic limit ranges from 12% to 28%, the plasticity index varies from 11% to 33%, free swelling varies from 51% to 71%. Mechanically, the uniaxial compressive strength values on rock samples range from 6.96 MPa to 142.39 MPa. The radioactive study is performed to detect the 226Ra, 232Th, and 40 K activity concentrations of the soil samples: their mean values are 34 ± 10 Bq·kg−1, 14 ± 5 Bq·kg−1 and 552 ± 20 Bq·kg−1, respectively. The values of radiological hazard indexes are not exceeded the permissible limits: e.g. the mean value of absorbed dose rate is 47 ± 6 nGy h−1; the annual gonadal dose equivalent is 0.3 ± 0.04 mSv·y−1; the lifetime cancer risk is 02 ± 0.2·10−3. Thus, the soil in the studied railway area is safe to use in building materials and infrastructure applications: the radiological hazards and the geotechnical studies confirmed the studied area is suitable to construct a new community having a HSR. According to the SWOT-PEST and environmental impact analyses, the construction of the HSR meets the criteria of the Kyoto Protocol, the EU Climate and Energy policy, and other international treaties.

Environmental and Economic Impact of an Innovative Biocide-Free Antifouling Coating for Naval Applications.

The work provides an economic sustainability and environmental impact analysis for the validation of a biocide-free antifouling coating for marine applications able to reduce fuel consumption during navigation, CO2 emissions, and the overall environmental impacts associated with shipping, thanks to the reduction of incrustation and the avoidance of biocides release into the water. The results, related to the life cycle of the coating of a motor yacht, with an average sailing life of 25 years, show around 8.8% reduction in overall costs compared to a conventional paint, thanks to a more efficient antifouling action, which reduces the annual fuel consumption by ~13,700 kg/y, or ~9.6%. This leads to a reduction in CO2 emissions, associated with fuel consumption, of ~43.3 ton/y, as well as a lowering of the overall environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of the paint, by almost 10% for the most impactful damage classes, ensuring a greater environmental sustainability of the innovative coating, for the overall service life of the yacht on which it is applied.