Evaluation Of Environmental Benefits Research Articles

Autonomous Driving Parking Robot Systems for Urban Environmental Benefit Evaluation

Many countries are now taking environmental issues seriously and working towards neutral. Therefore, this study aims to reduce carbon emissions by suggesting ways to reduce the use of passenger cars and induce the use of public transportation and walking modes. To this end, a valet parking robot system was designed in a transfer car park outside Seoul. The effect of the system was quantified. By implementing the valet parking robot system in the transfer parking lots, the time to find a parking space and the time to park after finding a parking space are reduced when using existing parking lots. In other words, the valet parking robot system can reduce out-of-vehicle time, and the reduction in travel time can induce a modal shift from existing car users to public transport. Furthermore, by reducing the number of cars in the city center, vehicle kilometer traveled(VKT) will be reduced, and the emission of pollutants that cause air pollution will also be reduced due to less traffic on public roads in the city center. This study analyzes this quantitatively and concludes that the implementation of a valet parking robot system can have a positive environmental impact.

A review of the photothermal-photovoltaic energy supply system for building in solar energy enrichment zones

The application of solar PT-PV technology is an important way to achieve clean energy supply and energy conservation and emission reduction in building field. Simultaneously meeting the thermal and electric need of building is one of the main development directions of solar PT-PV energy supply system. The core objective is to build the efficient and stable energy supply system and effectively evaluate their benefit. The major objective of this study was to provide a comprehensive literature review to classify, analyze the performance and evaluate the benefit of different solar PT-PV energy supply system for building. This review summarized the latest research result on solar PT, solar PV, solar PT-PV comprehensive utilization, solar thermal/electric energy supply system based on HES, and the system composition, system characteristic, system optimization and technical innovation were also discussed. Additionally, a detailed discussion was conducted on the efficiency optimization of solar PT-PV energy supply system, as well as the current efficiency situation and the method for improving the efficiency. Sequentially, the economic and environmental benefit evaluation standard and calculation method of solar PT-PV energy supply system was summarized, specifically in terms of operating cost, energy cost, and carbon emission reduction in common building. Finally, the challenge of optimizing the performance for solar PT-PV energy supply system in solar energy enrichment zones was summarized, and the development direction and application prospect of the system in building field was proposed.

BIPV Generation Efficiency Optimal Scheme—— Take Jiangning District of Nanjing City for Example

Building Integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) is more and more applied to the construction field with its advantages of being close to the load center, saving urban land and building materials. Especially under the current goal of 'carbon peak' and 'carbon neutrality', the integration of photovoltaic buildings is one of the important ways to achieve the effective application of renewable energy in buildings. But at present, the lack of relevant application cases of the technology, many owners interested in BIPV have remained on the sidelines. This paper mainly focuses on the economic and environmental benefit evaluation of the roof and curtain wall system of BIPV. By comparing the economic benefits and investment payback period, the owners provide the optimal investment plan, and analyzes the significance of 'two-carbon policy' by calculating the environmental benefits of BIPV. In this paper, Jiangning District of Nanjing city is taken as the pilot object to analyze the benefit of BIPV, and proposed the optimal design strategy of building photovoltaic integration suitable for this area through the benefit comparison of different schemes. In the roof and curtain wall benefit evaluation when we use the photovoltaic garden analysis site for solar radiation estimates, and then get the whole life cycle of photovoltaic system capacity, as the basis of economic benefit evaluation, then through the query related data to save the total coal as the basis of environmental benefit evaluation, combined with the project investment payback period, economic benefits and environmental benefits of comprehensive evaluation of the final plan. Through the above economic benefits and environmental benefits data comparison, photovoltaic roof has more investment value than photovoltaic curtain wall in both economic and environmental aspects. Taking Jiangning District of Nanjing city as an example, this paper illustrates the broad prospect of BIPV, and also provides a relatively clear data support and case reference for the promotion of BIPV nationwide in the future.

Standard environmental evaluation framework reveals environmental benefits of green light optimized speed advisory: A case study on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

Green Light Optimized Speed Advisory (GLOSA) is a cutting-edge technology for intelligent transportation and is being increasingly applied on the ground worldwide. However, evaluating the environmental benefits of vehicles using GLOSA has become a challenge owing to the complexity and unpredictability of real-traffic. Here, a standardized environmental benefit evaluation framework for GLOSA is first proposed, which combined standard driving cycle (DC) database and high-precision emission models. The DC database was constructed using Markov chain approach. The database has certain randomness and diversity while considering the real driving characteristics. The plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) CO2 and NOx emission models were constructed based on machine learning approach. These models have good generalization ability and prediction accuracy, with 0.87 and 0.80 R2 on the test set, respectively. In the constructed model, vehicle specific power (VSP) and state of charge (SOC) were identified as the most significant features affecting CO2 and NOx emissions. According to the evaluation results, the use of GLOSA reduces the emission factors of CO2 and NOx by 16.3% and 18.4%, respectively, when the initial SOC of PHEV is 20%. When the initial SOC is 50%, the emission factors of CO2 and NOx of the PHEV with GLOSA are reduced by 22.1% and 26.6%, respectively. The generality of this framework solves the different evaluation scales problem due to the randomness traffic. The framework serves the construction of intelligent and clean transportation while also assisting in the promotion, optimization, and recognition of GLOSA's limits.

A comparative life cycle assessment of different spent coffee ground reuse strategies and a sensitivity analysis for verifying the environmental convenience based on the location of sites

Spent Coffee Ground (SGC) represents the most abundant waste generated in coffee beverage preparation and instant coffee production, with a total annual amount estimated at 60 million tons worldwide. These quantities justify the need to enhance and reuse this waste, by implementing successful circular economy strategies. For this purpose, the production of compost, biofuels, and the incorporation of limited quantities of SCG in the bricks-making process represents a promising solution, which can avoid the impacts due to its disposal but also, result in lower greenhouse gas emissions. The present study aims to assess the environmental performance of different SCG reuse scenarios, compared to traditional landfill disposal. To evaluate environmental impacts, a comparative Life Cycle Assessment is performed among the aforementioned scenarios. The results showed that in terms of emissions to air, all the reuses investigated involve benefits compared to landfill, resulting in a decrease of 18% in composting, 1% in biodiesel production, and 76% in bricks-making. For this purpose, the success and real applicability of circular economy models are influenced by numerous factors, including distances and transport, which represent crucial elements in the evaluation of environmental benefits. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis was implemented, to evaluate the maximum break-even distances within which the analyzed scenarios guarantee an environmental benefit, compared to landfill disposal. According to the obtained results and considering a distance of 100 km for the transport of SCG to the landfill, the calculated break-even distances are 500 km for composting, 150 km for biodiesel production, 1800 km for bricks-making; for longer distances, the additional impacts due to transport would cancel out the benefits deriving from the reuse of waste. Finally, the calculated break-even distances were compared with the average distances of the real sites in the Italian scenario, resulting in average distances for composting and brick production less than the break-even ones (40 km and 460 km respectively). On the other hand, the average distance among biodiesel production plants in Italy (500 km) is much higher than the calculated break-even one.

Quantitative evaluation of landscape architecture environmental benefits based on multi-criteria decision-making

Aiming at the problems of large spatial accuracy error and long evaluation time in the quantitative evaluation of environmental benefits of landscape architecture, a new research method for quantitative evaluation of environmental benefits of landscape architecture is proposed. The grey relational analysis method is used to calculate the weights of environmental benefit evaluation indexes and establish an evaluation index system. The multi-dimensional decision-making method is applied to the construction of the environmental benefit decision matrix. After the index weights are clarified, the weighted decision matrix is established to calculate the distance of the standard solutions of different environmental benefit evaluation indexes to obtain the quantitative assessment results of environmental benefits. Comparative experiments show that the spatial accuracy error is no more than 4%, the change curve of the environmental benefit evaluation index is relatively close to the average change curve, and the benefit evaluation time is less than 2 s.

Assessing the impact of telework enhancing policies for reducing car emissions: Exploring calculation methods for data-missing urban areas – Example of a medium-sized European city (Besançon, France)

Teleworking has been identified as a potential key lever for reducing air pollution. Yet, evaluating the atmospheric outcomes of teleworking enhancing policies remains difficult, especially when official databases on telework, household equipment and car emissions are incomplete or nonexistent. Here we propose several techniques to efficiently assess the impact of an increase in teleworking rates, and to explore the resulting bias, in a typical medium-sized European metropolitan area where few data are available: Besançon, France. Population and cartographical data are introduced in an individual-based daily mobility simulation model. We then calculate the resulting emissions for twenty atmospheric pollutants, using three different methodologies that aim to compensate, with different precision levels, for the lack of accurate information regarding vehicle fleets. Our results confirms the efficiency of telework for reducing emissions, with an average reduction of −0.42% in emission for an increase of 1% in teleworking rate. The precision level of data used strongly impacts the estimated quantity of air pollutant emissions (up to a factor ten). Failing to correctly account for inequalities in teleworking rate and equipment between socio-occupational categories introduces strong bias in the results which may degrade the correct evaluation of environmental benefits of teleworking enhancing planning policies.

An approach to evaluation of environmental benefits for ecological mining areas based on ant Colony algorithm

This study firstly applies ant colony algorithm to optimize the classification index formulas and comprehensive index formulas related to the environmental benefits of ecological mining areas and builds an environmental benefits evaluation model. Then taking the ecological mining area of China Pingmei Shenma Energy Chemical Group as an example, the simulation software MATLAB is used to evaluate the environmental benefits from four aspects: system structure, resource utilization, environmental effects and economic results, thus the environmental benefits grades of the mining area before and after ecological construction are confirmed. With this research, the author’s endeavor is to provide a new objective evaluation method to check if the construction of ecological mining areas can realize the goal of coordinated development of economy, society and environment of coal industry.

What are the environmental advantages of circulating fluidized bed technology? ——A case study in China

In this paper, the environmental cost and environmental benefit evaluation system of circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology is established by analyzing the environmental damage caused by coal-fired power generation and comparing circulating fluidized bed boilers with ordinary coal-fired boilers. Among them, the environmental cost is mainly the cost of desulfurization equipment and sellout equipment. Environmental benefits include internal environmental benefits and external environmental benefits. The internal environmental benefits mainly include the cost savings from desulfurization and denitrification to reduce the emission of polluting gases and the benefits from the comprehensive utilization of the ash from the circulating fluidized bed boiler. The external environmental benefits mainly include the reduction of occupied farmland, the emission of waste gas caused by spontaneous combustion of coal gangue and the pollution of water resources. After measuring the environmental costs and benefits of CFB technology, this paper further estimated its value. On this basis, particle swarm optimization (PSO) with extreme learning machine (ELM) intelligent algorithm was used to predict the scenario of thermal power generation and evaluate the environmental benefits of CFB units in the future through further calculation.

Evaluation of Environmental Benefits Caused by Reservation-Based Shared Parking: A Case Study of Beijing, China

With the help of accurate parking navigation systems, sharing vacant private parking spaces with public travelers may have the potential of reducing the number of cruising vehicles and contribute to traffic emission reduction. However, the quantitative effects of such a measure are still relatively unknown in traffic management. In this article, we firstly established an optimal allocation model of shared parking spaces, which is a pure integer linear programming model of maximizing the number of served public vehicles to avoid cruising for parking. Further, the parking space allocation model was expanded to an estimation model that quantifies the effect of emission reduction. Secondly, a branch-and-cut algorithm was introduced as the core algorithm to solve the proposed models. Finally, detailed sensitivity analysis, based on empirical data collected by electronic parking toll collections and questionnaire surveys in Beijing, China, evaluated the proposed model and algorithm. The results indicate that shared parking can not only effectively reduce the cruising time and the number of vehicles, but also has significantly a positive effect on emission reduction. This research is helpful to provide theoretical support for alleviating parking pressure and environmental problems.

基于LCA理论的厂拌热再生沥青混合料环境效益评价

基于LCA理论的厂拌热再生沥青混合料环境效益评价

Benefit Evaluation of Integrated Energy System in China

This paper proposes a benefit evaluation method for the integrated energy system in China. Firstly, the energy, economic, social, and environmental benefit evaluation indices are presented and quantified. And then, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to get the weight of different indices. Finally, based on the benefit evaluation index system established by this paper, the comprehensive evaluation index score of the integrated energy system is computed. The proposed method is verified by the results of case studies, which is of great guiding significance to the planning and formulation of relevant government policies required by integrated energy system.

Comparative Life Cycle Energy and GHG Emission Analysis for BEVs and PhEVs: A Case Study in China

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are seen as the most promising alternatives to internal combustion vehicles, as a means to reduce the energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation sector. To provide the basis for preferable decisions among these vehicle technologies, an environmental benefit evaluation should be conducted. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) are two most often applied batteries to power these vehicles. Given this context, this study aims to compare life cycle energy consumption and GHG emissions of BEVs and PHEVs, both of which are powered by LFP and NMC batteries. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses are conducted, concerning electricity generation mix, lifetime mileage, utility factor, and battery recycling. BEVs are found to be less emission-intensive than PHEVs given the existing and near-future electricity generation mix in China, and the energy consumption and GHG emissions of a BEV are about 3.04% (NMC) to 9.57% (LFP) and 15.95% (NMC) to 26.32% (LFP) lower, respectively, than those of a PHEV.

Modelling of environmental benefit evaluation of energy transition to multi-energy complementary system

After the Paris Agreement has been signed, many countries increase their efforts to promote the green and low-carbon development for achieving sustainable development. As the driving force of economic and social development, energy also faces a huge challenge, providing more clean energy while reducing the harm to environment. A possible path of energy transition is the multi-energy complementary system which can increase the energy efficiency in addition to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and critical air pollutants (CAPs) compared to transitional energy supply pattern. Meanwhile, it will create many new economic growth points. This paper presents a multi-dimensional, multi-perspective and realizable analysis framework of environmental benefit evaluation of energy transition to multi-energy complementary system. As a typical developing country pursuing sustainable development, a typical multi-energy complementary project in China is took as an example to demonstrate the application of the framework and related methods proposed to assess the environmental benefit. The results indicate that the emission reduction effect is 0.03 million tonnes (Mt) of CAPs and 26 Mt of GHG in 2017. The proposed framework can effectively help China identify the effect of multi-energy complementary system, which is helpful to make idea arrangement and program development for next step action against tackling climate change and haze pollution. This presented framework is also helpful for the countries like China to make decisions in taking measures to promote the energy transition.

Comparative life cycle assessment of alternative strategies for energy recovery from used cooking oil

The separate collection of Used Cooking Oil (UCO) is gaining popularity through several countries in Europe. An appropriate management of UCO waste stream leads to substantial benefits. In this study, we analyse two different possibilities of UCO energy reuse: the direct feed to a reciprocating internal combustion engine (ICE) for cogeneration purpose, and the processing to generate biodiesel. Concerning biodiesel production, we analyse four among conventional and innovative technologies, characterised by different type and amount of used chemicals, heat and electricity consumptions and yields. We perform a systematic evaluation of environmental benefits and drawbacks by applying life cycle assessment (LCA) analysis to compare the alternatives.For the impact assessment, two methods are selected: the Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Cumulative Exergy Consumption (CExC). Results related only to the processing phases (i.e. not including yet the avoided effects) show that the recovery of UCO in cogeneration plant has in general lower values in terms of environmental impacts than its employment in biodiesel production.When products and co-products substitution are included, the savings obtained by the substitution of conventional diesel production, in the biodiesel cases, are significantly higher than the avoided effects for electricity and heat in the cogeneration case. In particular, by using the UCO in the biodiesel production processes, the savings vary from 41.6 to 54.6 GJex per tUCO, and from 2270 to 2860 kg CO2eq per tUCO for CExC and GWP, respectively. A particular focus is put on sensitivity and uncertainty analyses. Overall, high uncertainty of final results for process impacts is observed, especially for the supercritical methanol process. Low uncertainty values are evaluated for the avoided effects. Including the uncertain character of the impacts, cogeneration scenario and NaOH catalysed process of biodiesel production result to be the most suitable solutions from the process impacts and avoided effects perspective.

The effects of ecological investments in the power industry and their financial structure: a case study for Poland

Almost 90 per cent of total electric energy produced in Poland derived from burning coal. Minimizing negative environmental impact is especially important when using lignite energy production. The paper presents ecological benefits of modern energy production methods. The evaluation of environmental benefits has been conducted in consistency with norms ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, with the assistance of assessments methods included in the SimaPro 7 software. The calculations were based on the assessment procedure of Ecoindicator 99. The method allows for estimating the environmental impact of each stage of the energy production process, especially when it comes to the impact category of fossil fuels. This aspect is particularly important for the study of the environmental impact of electricity production in Polish coal-fired power plants. The LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) has been carried out to examine the impact of electric energy production of one of the biggest power plants in Poland. The results show that modernization of energy blocks as well as the greenhouse gas reducing installations would significantly reduce the negative impact of the electric energy production.

Development of a Framework for the Evaluation of the Environmental Benefits of Controlled Traffic Farming

Although controlled traffic farming (CTF) is an environmentally friendly soil management system, no quantitative evaluation of environmental benefits is available. This paper aims at establishing a framework for quantitative evaluation of the environmental benefits of CTF, considering a list of environmental benefits, namely, reducing soil compaction, runoff/erosion, energy requirement and greenhouse gas emission (GHG), conserving organic matter, enhancing soil biodiversity and fertiliser use efficiency. Based on a comprehensive literature review and the European Commission Soil Framework Directive, the choice of and the weighting of the impact of each of the environmental benefits were made. The framework was validated using data from three selected farms. For Colworth farm (Unilever, UK), the framework predicted the largest overall environmental benefit of 59.3% of the theoretically maximum achievable benefits (100%), as compared to the other two farms in Scotland (52%) and Australia (47.3%). This overall benefit could be broken down into: reducing soil compaction (24%), tillage energy requirement (10%) and GHG emissions (3%), enhancing soil biodiversity (7%) and erosion control (6%), conserving organic matter (6%), and improving fertiliser use efficiency (3%). Similar evaluation can be performed for any farm worldwide, providing that data on soil properties, topography, machinery, and weather are available.

An Evaluation of Environmental Benefits of Time-Dependent Green Routing in the Greater Buffalo–Niagara Region

This article conducts a realistic assessment, using a real-world case study, of the likely environmental benefits of an intelligent transportation systems (ITS) strategy that provides dynamic route guidance to travelers based on the lowest emission or fuel consumption routes. Several features distinguish this study from previous reported research. First, the research utilizes a realistic case study of a medium-sized metropolitan area in the United States. Second, the research applies the latest state-of-the-art models on both the transportation and the environmental modeling sides, through the development of an integrated model combining the Transportation Analysis and Simulation System (TRANSIMS) model and the Multi-Scale Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator model (MOVES). The integrated model is then used to approximate “green user equilibrium,” and to investigate the impact of market penetration on the likely environmental benefits of green routing. Third, the article also proposes a “targeted” traveler selection strategy whereby travelers with the greatest potential to reduce emissions or fuel consumption are selected for rerouting. Results indicate that green routing could result in significant reductions in emissions, but that this naturally comes at the expense of an increased travel time. For one scenario that considered assuming a traffic stream of only passenger cars, green routing resulted in an almost 13% reduction in carbon monoxide (CO) emissions, and a corresponding 8% increase in travel time. The results also indicate that tangible emissions reductions are achievable at low to medium market penetration levels for green routing applications, especially when travelers with the largest likely emissions savings are targeted.

Valoração econômica dos benefícios ambientais percebidos pela população da bacia do Educandos provenientes do PROSAMIM

A poluição ambiental observada ao longo de anos nos igarapés de Manaus (Amazonas-Brasil), associado ao processo de degradação social da população que vive nessas áreas foi o que motivou a concepção do Programa Social e Ambiental dos Igarapés de Manaus PROSAMIM. O Programa busca a recuperação ambiental dos igarapés e a melhoria social das famílias que vivem em situação de risco nas margens. O objetivo principal da pesquisa consistiu em avaliar economicamente os benefícios ambientais percebidos pela população da bacia do Educandos provenientes do PROSAMIM, usando o Método de Valoração Contingente MVC para estimar a disposição a pagar das pessoas pela melhoria ambiental obtida. Foi estimado um tamanho de amostra correspondente a 1.070 questionários, levando em conta um erro de 3% e um nível de significância de 5%. Concluiu-se que a disposição a pagar mensal das pessoas é R$13,73 e o valor econômico total para a melhoria ambiental relativa à execução do PROSAMIM é R$ 46.325.074,92 por ano. Analisando a influência de variáveis socioeconômicas na probabilidade de aceitar pagar por benefícios ambientais foi observado que somente o nível de renda apresenta significância estatística e o coeficiente angular positivo da variável, indica que a probabilidade de aceitar pagar o valor sugerido é maior em pessoas que têm o nível de renda mais alto. Finalmente, pode ser concluído que as ações do PROSAMIM têm gerado melhorias significantes para a população da cidade de Manaus, tanto do ponto de vista social quanto ambiental.

A game-theoretic analysis of implementation of cleaner production policies in the Chinese electroplating industry

Cleaner production plays an important role in minimizing the consumption of water, raw materials, energy, and the generation of waste during industrial processes. Tax breaks, equipment subsidies and penalties are often considered the main policy tools for promoting enterprises to adopt cleaner production technologies, especially in Chinese electroplating industry. However, the results of these policies implementation are confronting with some uncertainty because of the conflicts of the interest between players involved. This paper presents a framework for analyzing the conflicts between a local government and a potentially polluting firm by using game theory. We enriched the model by adding policy variables, such as psychological costs ( m), environmental benefit evaluation ( E), and reward local government for its implementation ( R), to change the payoffs, which can improve the current policies. Using theoretical and numerical analysis, the effects of subsidies, penalties and other policy variables on implementation of cleaner production were obtained.