Consumption Of Non-renewable Resources Research Articles

Current development of geopolymer cement with nanosilica and cellulose nanocrystals

The cement industry has contributed large amounts of CO2 emissions and is responsible for the consumption of non-renewable natural resources. Geopolymer based cement has emerged as an environmentally friendly alternative to construction materials because it can be produced from industrial waste. Similar to ordinary portland cement, geopolymer cement can be strengthened with nanomaterials. This paper presents a review of nanosilica and cellulose nanocrystals in geopolymer cement. The addition of nanosilica can improve the properties of pozolan which is able to bind calcium-hydroxide so that the resistance to sulfate corrosion will also be better and nanosilica can also increase chemical reactions due to its surface area. Nano-sized cellulose-based particles can fill the smallest gaps in cement paste that cannot be treated by other micro or macro sized materials. This paper also presents an overview of the latest advances in the production of geopolymer cement that reinforced by nanosilica and cellulose nanocrystals as promising sustainable construction materials.

Control and Simulation Analysis on Grid Side of a Doubly-Fed Induction Generator Wind Turbine using Different Controllers

In today’s world scenario electrical energy is playing a crucial and important role in development of any nation. Large and Enormous consumption of non-renewable resources which made them scarce in quantity and increase in cost due to which it has created demand for renewable energy resources. Due to the current requirements for the expansion of renewable energy as sources of electrical energy, wind energy conversion is getting much interest all over the world. The regular traditional wind turbines have fixed turning speeds, while DFIG enables wind turbine to operate in various speeds. In this paper using MATLAB/SIMULINK we study the performance of DFIG using different conventional intelligent controllers. In this paper we use P, PI, PID PI+FUZZY Logic and PID+FUZZY Logic controllers to study the DFIG. The result demonstrates the effectiveness of controllers in boosting the system performance.

Industrial policy of increasing resource efficiency and the achievement of the sustainable development goals

Global trends in economic development definitively reflect priorities of the sustainable development. Over recent decades the global economy has enjoyed a successfully functioning mechanism for balancing economic and resource and environmental priorities based on the concept of the Best Available Techniques (BAT). The research aims to formulate the industrial policy on modernising resource-intensive industries with regard to the BAT principles and involvement of the secondary resources in economic cycles. The author suggests taking these technologies as standards based on which regulators develop obligatory requirements for industry, determine directions and target indicators of reforms. This will allow motivating enterprises to innovate, launch and implement programmes for production modernisation. Methodologically, the research relies on the theories of economic growth, system efficiency, non-cooperative games, technological waves, resource management, and the concept of sustainable development. The author employs analysis and synthesis methods to ensure a systematic and complex approach to framing the industrial policy on increasing resource efficiency. The researcher elaborates on the content of the environmental industrial policy of the Russian Federation (EIP) according to which it is a horizontal tool of industrial policy meant to maintain the improvement of resource efficiency both at microeconomic and macroeconomic levels by introducing BAT and bringing secondary resources into economic cycles. Instead of supporting an unlimited use of natural resources, the state centres its attention on the implementation of new technologies and solutions that maintain the recycling of the secondary resources. Such industrial policy is in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It promotes economic development, industrialisation and innovations, favours transition to responsible models of production and consumption and reduction of the negative impact on the environment. To evaluate the effectiveness of the environmental industrial policy, the researcher suggests considering resource efficiency as a parameter measured in the natural units (consumption of non-renewable resources). In addition, the paper presents the results of the case study demonstrating practical implementation of the EIP tools for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Dependence of public health on energy consumption: a cross-regional analysis

The authors test the hypothesis that there is a link between the consumption of non-renewable resources of the leading economies in the European region in terms of value-added industry and health. They performed a ranking correlation analysis on key indicators of population health and volumes of consumption of renewable and non-renewable resources in individual countries. The researchers assumed a slight relationship between the rate of healthy years of life and the production of renewable energy resources, making a positive contribution to the country’s environmental situation. Among the compared countries, those characterized by high consumption of primary energy resources are proportionally more productive and renewable energy resources. The analysis shows that differences in the health indicators of the regions’ population cause other more important factors than the studied ones. Some dependencies can be seen in analyzing the causes of death among the population of countries, for example, by cardiovascular diseases. The risk factor for this illness is air pollution caused by excessive consumption of non-renewable energy resources. The authors recommend considering the indicator of ecological footprint in the ratings of life quality in the regions. Compared to countries with lower welfare rankings, this parameter is too high for leaders. Under investigation, the authors considered the x3 weight for the health indicator in the Legatum Prosperity Index.

Green Internet of Things and Big Data Application in Smart Cities Development

This study reveals that increases in the global population command an augmented demand for products and services that calls for more effective ways of using existing natural resources and materials. The recent development of information and communication technologies, which had a great impact on many areas, also had a damaging effect on the environment and human health. Therefore, societies are moving toward a greener future by reducing the consumption of nonrenewable materials, raw materials, and resources while at the same time decreasing energy pollution and consumption. Since information technology is considered a tool for solving ecological difficulties, the green Internet of things (G‐IoT) is playing a vital role in creating a sustainable home. Extensive data analysis is required to obtain a valuable overview of the large and diverse data generated by the G‐IoT. The gathered information will facilitate forecasting, decision‐making, and other activities related to smart urban services and then contribute to the incessant development of G‐IoT technology. Therefore, even if sustainable and smart cities become an actuality, the G‐IoT approach and the knowledge gained through big data (BD) analysis will make cities more sustainable, safer, and smarter. The goal of this article is to combine innovation in technological development with the main focus on resource sharing in creating cities that improve the quality of life while reducing pollution and realizing more efficient use of the raw materials. In the practice of big data science, it is always of interest to provide the best description of the data under consideration. Recent studies have pointed out the applicability of the statistical distributions in modeling data in applied sciences. In this article, we introduce a new family of statistical models to provide the best description of the life span of the wireless sensors network’s data. Based on the proposed approach, a special submodel called new exponent power‐Weibull distribution is studied in detail. The applicability of the proposed model is shown by analyzing the life span of the wireless sensors network’s data.

Establishing the multi-criteria roadmap and metrics for the evaluation of active films for food packaging

Food industry is one of the sectors with the highest production volume, with disposable plastic films being the most widespread packaging method. The production of these packaging materials is characterized by a linear process, based on an abusive consumption of non-renewable fossil resources and with significant environmental problems. This management model must be modified according to the principles of green and sustainable chemistry: circularity, reduction of waste streams, appropriate use of resources, increase in the useful life of products and use of renewable natural resources. To achieve this, the early stages of product design, which must consider the applicability of the packaging product, its efficiency and its impact on the environment and on the consumer, are crucial. Within this framework, this report provides a roadmap based on holistic criteria together with quantitative metrics to analyze the opportunities and challenges of bioactive food packaging prototypes. Five main categories have been selected for analysis: packaging evaluation, environmental, circularity, economic and social criteria. The multi-decision criteria map will help researchers and stakeholders to examine the suitability of bio-based packaging from environmental, technical and consumer health preservation perspectives.

Selective Surfaces of Ilmenite for Use in Solar Absorbers

The world is moving at a fast pace in the consumption of non-renewable natural resources, causing several ecological problems. The search for the cost reduction by implementing renewable energies implies in the optimization of the manufacturing processes parameters of consolidated technologies, such as solar thermal energy collectors. One of the applications of selective surfaces is to improve performance of solar absorbers. The purpose of this work is to produce selective coatings with high absorption in range of UV/Vis and low emittance in the IR range. It was prepared a selective surface composed of ilmenite deposited on substrates of AISI 304 stainless steel using technique of cathodic cage plasma nitriding/deposition for application in solar thermal absorbers. Ilmenite was initially characterized by X-Ray Diffractometry (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence (FRX) and Thermal Analysis (TGA). The coatings produced were optically characterized in range UV/Vis/IR and emittance and data on the roughness parameters of the films were obtained by Optical Profilometry. Selective surfaces with high solar absorbance (87%) compared with state-of-the-art commercial ones (70-80%) and low thermal emission (14%) compared with state-of-the-art commercial ones (20-30%) were obtained by validating the potential of ilmenite to produce selective surfaces for thermal solar collectors.

Research progress on mechanical properties of geopolymer recycled aggregate concrete

Abstract In the global construction industry, with the growth of population, two important construction problems have to be faced, namely, the excessive consumption of non-renewable resources and the massive accumulation of construction waste. In order to solve these problems, geopolymer recycled aggregate concrete (GRAC) arises at the historic moment. On the one hand, using geopolymers produced by industrial wastes to completely or partially replace cement can reduce cement consumption, thus reducing CO2 emissions. On the other hand, recycled concrete made of recycled aggregate can consume accumulated construction waste and save non-renewable materials and land resources. The combination of the two materials can protect the environment to the greatest extent and save resources. This article reviews the current research on the mechanical properties of GRAC, makes a systematic analysis of GRAC materials, reaction mechanisms, and evaluation indicators, and also discusses the application prospects of GRAC, and strives to make contributions to the field and industry.

Embodied energy analysis to understand environmental impact of brick industry in West Godavari region

The Indian construction industry is one of the largest in terms of volume of non-renewable resource consumption. In Sustainable buildings (i.e. for example construction materials like bricks, cement, iron) are designed based on efficient use of available natural resources, balancing environmental, economic and societal impacts to meet today’s design objective while considering future impacts. The energy consumption is required for the production of building materials or products. In the aspect of environmental sustainability, the embodied energy analysis is used as a construction design assessment tool. The process-based analysis study was found to be more suitable for the embodied energy evaluation of building materials, especially for the Indian construction industry. A case study was conducted to evaluate the energy consumption of brick industry in West Godavari region. From the life cycle assessment analysis, the total embodied energy of clay-fired brick was ranging between 4.9 GJ/m3 to 7.8 GJ/m3, and the total embodied energy of fly ash blocks and AAC blocks in rang between 2.4 GJ/m3 to 4.5 GJ/m3. Thus, comparing the embodied energy of fly ash, AAC blocks, and conventional bricks, it can be concluded that fly ash and AAC blocks overall provide a sustainable alternative.

Life-cycle assessment as a tool to evaluate the environmental impact of hot-dip galvanisation

Abstract Hot-dip galvanisation (HDG) is the method most commonly used to protect steel surfaces from corrosion. However, HDG involves very intensive consumption of energy and resources. This paper aims to evaluate the environmental performance and hotspots in the Spanish HDG sector using cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA). Two Spanish HDG industrial plants, with different galvanisation capacities and manufacturing processes, were selected for the case study. The LCA revealed that the consumption of energy, fuels and nonrenewable resources were the most relevant environmental burdens at both plants. Steel was the main contributor, as it had the greatest influence on the plants’ environmental profiles. The consumption of primary zinc and natural gas, used to dry and heat the molten zinc bath, also contributed to the impact of the HDG plants. This work proposes a normalisation to compare the Spanish sector against a European reference based on the average of 66 companies in 14 countries. The impacts of the Spanish HDG plants being studied were generally below the EGGA values, although the results are strongly influenced by the type of steel and the degree of material reuse implemented in the steel manufacturing process. The study lays the foundations for improvements in the resource efficiency and productivity of galvanisation plants. We propose alternatives such as the use of secondary zinc or modifications that will extend the lifespan of pickling baths, which would contribute to a more sustainable use of resources in the galvanising industry.

ТЕПЛОГИДРАВЛИЧЕСКИЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ ВЫСОКОТЕМПЕРАТУРНОЙ ЯЭУ ДЛЯ ПРОИЗВОДСТВА ВОДОРОДА И ДРУГИХ ТЕХНОЛОГИЧЕСКИХ ПРИЛОЖЕНИЙ

An important problem determining the development of clean energy is the involvement of hydrogen in the fuel cycle. At present, the main method of hydrogen production is steam methane conversion. In the long term, large-scale hydrogen production, this method is not viable due to the consumption of non-renewable resources and the emission of greenhouse gases. Alternative methods of hydrogen production by water splitting methods using thermochemical or electrolysis processes require a high-temperature heat source. Nuclear reactors can serve as the most widely used high-temperature heat sources. The performed neutron-physical and thermophysical studies have shown that there is a fundamental possibility to provide the required parameters of a high-temperature (900-950 °C) with a 600 MW (thermal) fast neutron reactor with a sodium coolant for hydrogen production. It’s possible on the basis of one of the thermochemical cycles or high-temperature electrolysis with a high coefficient of thermal utilization of energy. It is shown that the temperature regime of core fuel elements is determined by a large number of parameters that have a regular and statistical nature. The developed methodology and numerical program allows to take into account, in the fuel assemblies shaped during the campaign, the effect on the temperature distribution of the fuel element cladding and temperature irregularities along the fuel element perimeter in the interchannel exchange fuel assembly, the random distribution of channel cross-sections and the heat generation of fuel elements using the Monte Carlo method, also other factors. For various reactor operating regimes, zones with stable temperature stratification with large gradients and temperature fluctuations have been identified. The results obtained make it possible to judge the amplitude and frequency characteristics of temperature pulsations in these potentially dangerous areas. The relative small size, the type of coolant, the choice of fissile material and structural materials make it possible to create a reactor with inherent properties that ensure increased nuclear and radiation safety.

Sustainable Coal Supply Chain Management Using Exergy Analysis and Genetic Algorithm

Abstract Environmental threats of coal usage in the electricity production combined with the consumption of renewable and non-renewable resources had led to worldwide energy challenges. The cost of coal mining and economical and environmentally sustainable usage of mined coal could be optimized by efficient management of coal supply chain. This paper provides a mathematical model for improving coal supply chain sustainability including the cost of exergy destruction (entropy). In the proposed method, exergy analysis is used to formulate the model considering not only economic costs but also destructed exergy cost, while genetic algorithm is applied to efficiently solve the proposed model. In order to validate the proposed methodology, some numerical examples of coal supply chains are presented and discussed to show the usability of the proposed exergetic coal supply chain model and claim its benefits over the existing models. According to the results, the proposed method provides 17.6% saving in the consumed exergy by accepting 2.7% more economic costs. The presented model can be used to improve the sustainability of coal supply chain for either designing new projects or upgrading existing processes.

Natural Resource Consumption and Lockdown

Resource consumption is about the consumption of non-renewable or renewable resources. Water, oil, natural gas, environmental degradation, deforestation, resource depletion, energy consumption etc. unsustainable consumption by steadily increasing population may lead to resource depletion. Natural resource management is the management of natural resources like water, land soil, plants and animals. With a particular focus on how management focus on living styles for present and future generations. India is fast moving towards crisis of ground water(GW) overdose. National per capita annual availability of water has reduced 15% from 2001 to 2011. A common man has important role in natural resource management. Even being at home he might be consuming or conservating natural resources in terms of fuel for vehicle, gas for kitchen, water for bath, electricity for light and gadgets. Two things need to be focused one the environment in which we live and other our own body.We need to know how much we consume our natural resources daily so we consume less and conserve more, we can leave behind a healthy future for generations to come. We need to know what natural resources are and out of them what actually we daily consuming even being at home. Lockdown has increased or decreased consumption of natural resources, how much our life style depleting these natural resources and how to conserve it for future generations, is central theme of this paper. Awareness, conservation of natural resources and its consumption in home, is analyzed in the paper.

Hybrid biocomposites from polypropylene, sustainable biocarbon and graphene nanoplatelets

Polypropylene (PP) is an attractive polymer for use in automotive parts due to its ease of processing, hydrophobic nature, chemical resistance and low density. The global shift towards eliminating non-renewable resource consumption has promoted research of sustainable biocarbon (BioC) filler in a PP matrix, but this material often leads to reduction in composite strength and requires additional fillers. Graphene nano-platelets (GnPs) have been the subject of considerable research as a nanofiller due to their strength, while maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MA-g-PP) is a commonly used compatibilizer for improvement of interfacial adhesion in composites. This study compared the thermo-mechanical properties of PP/BioC/MA-g-PP/GnP composites with varying wt.% of GnP. Morphological analysis revealed uniform dispersion of BioC, while significant agglomeration of GnPs limited their even dispersion throughout the PP matrix. In the optimal blend of 3 wt.% GnP and 17 wt.% BioC biocontent, tensile strength and modulus increased by ~19% and ~22% respectively, as compared to 20 wt.% BioC biocomposites. Thermal stability and performance enhancement occurred through incorporation of the fillers. Thus, hybridization of fillers in the compatibilized matrix presents a promising route to the enhancement of material properties, while reducing petroleum-based products through use of sustainable BioC filler in composite structures.

Dynamic network based on eugenol-derived epoxy as promising sustainable thermoset materials

Permanently crosslinked polymer networks, such as fully cured thermosets derived from fossil-based epoxies, cannot be reuse after damage and/or recycled since they cannot be reprocessed by heating or solubilization as non-crosslinked thermoplastics. As a result, they are not really sustainable materials, generating non-renewable resources consumption, CO2 emissions and plastic pollution. Herein we employed a strategy to tackle the lack of sustainability in conventional thermosets by the development of a promising partially biobased epoxy for numerous applications, integrating a covalent adaptable network using associative dynamic chemistry and catalyst free mechanism. This strategy is based in two sustainable approaches. First, vegetal biomass has been used as a renewable resource for the synthesis of epoxy systems from epoxidized eugenol oil. Then, the crosslinking reaction with a diamine integrating disulfide bonds to attain a thermally induced reorganizable eugenol-derived epoxy network in a dynamic way by disulfide metathesis reaction. The viscoelastic behavior characterization of eugenol-derived epoxy network displays a fast macroscopic flow with a stress relaxation time of 37 s at 230 °C, suggesting an interesting melt-reprocessability of this network at high temperatures in short times. Moreover, this strategy has a strong potential for the progress of sustainable plastic applications as yield a synthetic procedure to develop stiff thermosets (storage modulus of around 1 GPa at glassy state) with high renewable carbon contents (around 70 wt%), enhanced thermal properties (Tg of around 190 °C) and additional properties such as promising reshaping, repairing and recycling capability.

Extracting Maximum Power from PV Model using Fuzzy Logic Technique

Electricity has become an inseparable part of our daily lives, its domain approach is boundless. Due to continuous use of energy resources (both renewable and non- renewable), it is our priority to conserve our resources. What is extracting power through PV cell? Solar energy is inexhaustible and can be extracted to electrical energy which eases the high consumption of non renewable resources. How to maximize the solar energy? Maximum energy can be obtained by some external aid in the form of MPPT. Why do we incorporate different techniques in a MPPT? To control the maintenance of operating point of PV array at its maximum peak Optimization of renewable energy has drastically increased over the past few decades and now capable of conservation at a higher level. Solar energy is prime example of renewable source. Not more than 50% solar irradiance is converted to solar energy without any external aid (MPPT). These techniques are mentioned in the literature work below and the respective algorithms as well.

Product-oriented Direct Cleavage of Chemical Linkages in Lignin.

Lignin is one of the most important biomacromolecules in the plant biomass and the largest renewable source of aromatic building blocks in nature. Selectively producing value-added chemicals from the catalytic transformation of renewable lignin is of strategic significance and meet sustainability targets owing to the excessive consumption of non-renewable petroleum resource, but remains a long-term challenge owing to the complexity of lignin structure. This Minireview provides a summary and perspective of the extensive research that provides insight into selectively catalytic transformations of lignin and its derived monomers via directed scissor of chemical linkages (C-O and C-C bonds) with product-oriented targets. Furthermore, some challenges and opportunities of lignin catalytic transformation are provided based on existing problems in this field for readers to discuss future research directions.

Re-cycling of construction and demolition waste and steel slag: characterization of the durability

The main objective of the study was to evaluate the durability of a crushed concrete aggregate, processed from construction and demolition waste and an inert siderurgical aggregate for construction, processed from electric arc furnace steel slag, with a view to boosting their re-cycling, minimizing the consumption of non-renewable natural resources and preserving the capacity of landfills. Both recycled aggregates were selected based on their high availability worldwide and to be generally associated with suitable engineering properties. However, in many cases, their acceptance by the end-users continues to be very low. One reason for continuing this distrust is the lack of knowledge about the durability of both materials. In natural aggregates, durability has been considered as an important mechanical property in the evaluation of their performance, but it has not been studied in recycled aggregates; so, slake durability tests were carried out. Their durability was compared with the behaviour of two reference natural aggregates, a basalt and a limestone. To complement the durability results obtained, macropetrographic and micropetrographic examinations as well as physical characterizations were performed. The results of the tests showed that, under the test conditions adopted, both recycled aggregates present durability which foresees their use in civil engineering applications.

Is the Transition to Bioeconomy a Sustainable Solution in Fast-fashion Industry, Considering the Overconsumption? - Premises for Future Research

AbstractThe main objective of the paper is to inquire if bioeconomy is a “saving” sustainable solution to major problems caused by fast-fashion industry - consumption of non-renewable and scarce natural resources, waste generation, pollution - in the actual conditions of overconsumption and consumption intensification due to accelerated increase of global population. A closer look reveals that not only that fast-fashion industry is not bridging the gap to sustainability, but also that its transit to bioeconomy (which is the main alternative proposed by global organisms to increase sustainability) may deepen the global issues wanted to be solved, if the current business models are maintained. Insides evidence that individual overconsumption outpaces the fast-fashion industry’s efforts to create a sustainable bio-economic system, thus is imperative to redesign the business models to use less important natural resources and to reduce the environmental impact, while in parallel discourage the overconsumption. Consequently, fast-fashion business models need to have a sustainable holistic approach and incorporate sustainable measures, which are able to shift the consumer behaviour from overconsumption to sustainable choices, in their marketing objectives, strategies and actions. Based on the findings, premises for future research were proposed.

Biocatalysis of formaldehyde to L-xylose

It is of great significance to use biosynthesis to transform the inorganic substance formaldehyde into organic sugars. Most important in this process was to find a suitable catalyst combination to achieve the dimerization of formaldehyde. In a recent report, an engineered glycolaldehyde synthase was reported to catalyze this reaction. It could be combined with engineered D-fructose-6-phosphate aldolase, a "one-pot enzyme" method, to synthesize L-xylose using formaldehyde and the conversion rate could reach up to 64%. This process also provides a reference for the synthesis of other sugars. With the increasing consumption of non-renewable resources, it was of great significance to convert formaldehyde into sugar by biosynthesis.