Sustainable Upgrading Research Articles

Rural Social Security, Precautionary Savings, and the Upgrading of Rural Residents’ Consumption Structure in China

Based on the 2012 and 2018 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data, this paper explores the influence mechanism between rural social security, precautionary savings, and the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure in China from theoretical and empirical perspectives. The results show that China’s rural social security can significantly promote the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure, and 1.79% of the positive effect of China’s rural social security on the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure in China is realized through the mediating effect of precautionary saving; the robustness of the regression results is tested by a placebo test and substitution matching method. Through further research, it is found that the promotion effect of China’s rural social security on the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure in China varies by region and age. In order to promote the sustainable upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure, rural social security policies should be further improved, and new rural social pension insurance policies should be formulated according to local conditions, which will ultimately promote the economic development of rural areas.

Unleashing lignin potential through the dithionite-assisted organosolv fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass

The development of biomass pretreatment approaches that, next to (hemi)cellulose valorization, aim at the conversion of lignin to chemicals is essential for the long-term success of a biorefinery. Herein, we discuss a dithionite-assisted organosolv fractionation (DAOF) of lignocellulose in n-butanol and water to produce cellulosic pulp and mono-/oligo-aromatics. The study frames the technicalities of this biorefinery process and relates them to the features of the obtained product streams. We comprehensively identify and quantify all products of interest: solid pulp (acid hydrolysis-HPLC, ATR-FTIR, XRD, SEM, enzymatic hydrolysis-HPLC), lignin derivatives (GPC, GC–MS/FID, 1H–13C HSQC NMR, ICP-AES), and carbohydrate derivatives (HPLC). These results were used for inspecting the economic feasibility of DAOF. In the best process configuration, a high yield of monophenolics was reached (∼20 wt%, based on acid insoluble lignin in birch sawdust). Various other lignocellulosic feedstocks were also explored, showing that DAOF is particularly effective on hardwood and herbaceous biomass. Overall, this study demonstrates that DAOF is a viable fractionation method for the sustainable upgrading of lignocellulosic biomass.

A three-echelon based sustainable supply chain scheduling decision-making framework under the blockchain environment

The Supply Chain Scheduling (SCS) decision making is a challenging task under the blockchain environment because the supply chain is composed of multi-players in all layers. To utilise the information sharing by multiplayers with equal rights in all layers to maximise the supply chain’s utility for reducing the carbon emission, this study proposed a three-echelon supply chain integrated scheduling model that considers the production capacity and multi-product with different delivery time factors. The objective is to minimise the total cost incurred in production and transportation under the blockchain environment. To cope with the complexity arising from multiplayers with equal rights in all layers, a metaheuristic based sequential brain storm optimisation (SBSO) algorithm with a novel encoding scheme and the hybrid crossover and mutation strategy is proposed to enhance the performance. A case study comparing the proposed decision-making framework with the artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC) and the backtracking search algorithm (BSA) is conducted, and results show the superiority of the proposed framework. With the help of the proposed SCS decision-making framework, not only can the SCS decision be made, but also the low efficient nodes within the supply chain under the blockchain environment can be identified for potential sustainable upgrading.

Sustainable Upgrade of Bioderived Glycerol to Solketal through Acetalization over Metal-Free Mordenite Catalysts

In the current work, acetalization of crude glycerol to produce valuable solketal, a renewable fuel additive, is studied over metal-free mordenite-based catalysts. The perfect combination of the appropriate acidity and suitable porosity is required to achieve optimum solketal yield from glycerol. The property–activity correlation was established through various physicochemical characterizations, and reaction parameters were optimized to maximize the solketal yield. The modified mordenite catalyst showed exceptionally high catalytic activity toward the acetalization of crude glycerol and as high as 99% yield of solketal was achieved under mild reaction conditions, i.e., a reaction temperature of 60 °C, a time of 4 h, and atmospheric pressure. The catalyst showed tolerance for water and other impurities present in crude glycerol in addition to excellent recyclability up to three cycles without any regeneration treatment. The economical, easy-to-prepare, recyclable, metal-free, moisture-tolerant nature of the catalyst makes it a promising catalyst candidate to be used at a larger scale. The catalytic process has the potential to utilize crude glycerol obtained from biodiesel plants for the synthesis of biofuel additives solketal. This highlights the industrial and environmental significance of this work.

Efficient activation of H2 on copper species immobilized by MCM-41 for selective hydrogenation of furfural at ambient pressure

Selective hydrogenation of furfural (FF) to furfuryl alcohol (FA) is a sustainable upgrading process for cellulosic carbohydrates. In this work, an inexpensive Cu catalyst was shown to clearly surpass the performance obtained under very harsh reaction conditions using the Cu-Cr industry catalyst. MCM-41 immobilized Cu species were reported as an efficient hydrogenation catalyst that can quantitatively convert FF to FA at 120 °C under 1 bar H2. Besides this catalyst exhibited considerable stability and reusability. XRD, N2 physisorption, TEM, H2-TPR, H2-TPD, XPS and in situ DRIFT-IR of CO adsorption were used to analyze the catalytic properties. With increasing the Cu loading (1−5 wt.%), Cu0, Cu1+ and Cu2+ species in a relatively constant fraction can be generated in the Cu/MCM-41 catalyst. One Cu species in the catalyst enabled to convert the same amount of FF per hour, and moreover, the number of active sites can well respect to the Cu loading. Cu0 and Cu1+ species as the catalytic active sites were found to be highly dispersed on the surface of ordered hexagonal mesopores of MCM-41 that may offer an abundant interface to the catalytic reaction. The metal-support interaction between active Cu species and mesoporous MCM-41 can enhance the catalytic performance under mild conditions.

Hydrodynamic analysis of full-scale in-situ biogas upgrading in manure digesters

The addition of hydrogen to anaerobic digesters is an emerging technique for the sustainable upgrading of biogas to biomethane with renewable electricity. However, it is critically dependent on the effective gas-liquid transfer of hydrogen, which is a sparingly soluble gas. Very little is known about the impact of liquid and gas flow and bubble size on gas-liquid transfer during H2 injection in full-scale anaerobic digesters. A computational fluid dynamic model was developed using a two-fluid approach for non-Newtonian liquid in the open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) platform, OpenFOAM. The newly developed model was validated against published experimental data-sets of a gas-mixed, laboratory-scale anaerobic digester, with good agreement between the numerical and experimental velocity fields. The hydrodynamics of the full-scale in-situ biomethanation system using venturi ejectors for H2 injection was then simulated to investigate gas-liquid dynamics, including gas-liquid mass transfer, at different operational conditions. Gas-liquid mixing is mainly controlled by the gas-plumes interaction, which promotes turbulence at the interaction zone, resulting in increasing gas bubbles mixing with the liquid and the gas-liquid interfacial area. However, beyond the plume interaction zone, the digester had flow short-circuiting and inactive zones. It was found that, due to this short-circuiting behaviour, an increase in gas flow-rate may not be an effective option in reducing inactive zones, although it can increase the gas-liquid interfacial area. Comparative analysis of the impact of gas flow and bubble size indicated that gas flow had a linear effect on both kLa and gas holdup, but that bubble size had a non-linear impact, with higher kLa values achieved at bubble sizes less than 2 mm. Comparison against measured data in the same system indicated the predicted kLa values were at the same level as measured kLa, at a bubble size of 2 mm.

Upgrading municipal lagoons in temperate and cold climates: Total nitrogen removal and phosphorus assimilation at ultra‐low temperatures

AbstractIn this study, a municipal lagoon with high wintertime effluent total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) concentrations was upgraded with a pilot‐scale nitrifying‐nitrifying‐denitrifying (NIT‐NIT‐DENIT) moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) treatment train to characterize its effluent over wintertime operation, investigate the feasibility of upgrading lagoons to achieve substantial biological total nitrogen removal across ultra‐low temperatures (0.6–3.0) and to investigate nitrification inhibition pathways in facultative lagoon systems at ultra‐low temperatures. Throughout the study, it was observed that the system substantially reduced total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) effluent concentrations by an average of 69.8 ± 24.5% and 74.7 ± 20.1%, respectively. Furthermore, it was observed that sulfide toxicity may play an important role in the inhibition of nitrifying organisms in lagoons. Finally, the MBBR treatment technology has emerged as a suitable and sustainable upgrade technology for existing lagoon and waste stabilization pond facilities operating in temperate, northern and cold climate countries.

Tailoring the Reactive Oxygen Species in Mesoporous NiO for Selectivity-Controlled Aerobic Oxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural on a Loaded Pt Catalyst

The base-free aerobic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in water to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a sustainable upgrading process for cellulosic carbohydrates. A mesoporous NiO-supp...

Surface-functionalized mesoporous gallosilicate catalysts for the efficient and sustainable upgrading of glycerol to solketal

Hybrid gallosilicate catalysts prepared in a continuous one-pot procedure are proposed as active and reusable solids in the conversion of glycerol into solketal

Chitosan-Derived Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Electrocatalyst for a Sustainable Upgrade of Oxygen Reduction to Hydrogen Peroxide in UV-Assisted Electro-Fenton Water Treatment

The urgency to move from critical raw materials to highly available and renewable feedstock is currently driving the scientific and technical developments. Within this context, the abundance of nat...

Non-Energy Valorization of Residual Biomasses via HTC: CO2 Capture onto Activated Hydrochars

This study aims to investigate the CO2 sorption capacity of hydrochar, obtained via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC). Silver fir sawdust was used as a model material. The batch runs went at 200 °C and up to 120 min. The hydrochar was activated with potassium hydroxide impregnation and subsequent thermal treatment (600 °C, 1 h). CO2 capture was assayed using a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) process. The morphology and porosity of hydrochar, characterized through Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BET-BJH) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses, were reported and the sorbent capacity was compared with traditional sorbents. The hydrochar recovered immediately after the warm-up of the HTC reactor had better performances. The Langmuir equilibrium isotherm fits the experimental data satisfactorily. Selectivity tests performed with a model biogas mixture indicated a possible use of hydrochar for sustainable upgrading of biogas to bio-methane. It is conceivably a new, feasible, and promising option for CO2 capture with low cost, environmentally friendly materials.

How do Clusters Foster Sustainable Development? An Analysis of EU Policies

Sustainable development is one of the fundamental and most important objectives of the worldwide policy. The conducted research shows that sustainable development (SD) is increasingly important in the consciousness of the EU countries, which can be viewed through a prism of the undertaken projects. This paper raises the issue of clusters and their significance in the development of a sustainable economy. The article explores trends in the European Union policy related to sustainable development and clusters. The purpose of this study is to find an answer to the following questions: How can clusters contribute to sustainable development and what are the key factors that ensure this process? To achieve the goal of the article a systematic study of the literature and reports was carried out. Moreover, the analysis of the activity of European clusters in the context of sustainable development was performed. Next, the examples of cluster projects focused on sustainable development were presented. It was shown that the clusters contribute a smarter and sustainable development by succeeding in technological and scientific results, developing new technologies for emerging industries, creating new business activities, enticing major technology companies, and connecting local firms into world-class value systems. Furthermore, the clusters participate actively in sustainable development as they promote knowledge creation, joint learning, technology transfer, as well as collaboration, and sustainable innovations. Finally, clusters facilitate the sustainable upgrading of small and medium enterprises and encourage the participation of stakeholders in the process of sustainable development.

Sustainable Business Model Based on Digital Twin Platform Network: The Inspiration from Haier’s Case Study in China

Sustainability and digitalization have become the main direction of transformation of enterprises. Building a digital twin platform network can provide enterprises with a comprehensive view of products, manufacture, supply chain, customer experience, and profitability, which is conducive to the construction of a sustainable business model. The purpose of this paper is to study how enterprises use digital twin platform networks to generate economic, social and environmental benefits in various dimensions and their coupling relationships. Based on the literature review, this paper constructs a five-dimensional framework of a sustainable business model, and analyses the coupling relationship between dimensions. Using Haier as a way to verify the five-dimensional framework, it explores the dynamic mechanism of the Haier digital twin platform network, constructs an integrated framework based on coupling perspective and compares it with other two home appliance enterprises. The study shows that, through the digital twin platform network, enterprises can remove the disadvantage of focusing on a single product life cycle, and form a comprehensive network, so as to promote overall sustainable upgrades. This paper draws generic strategies and digital transformation suggestions for enterprises to innovate the sustainable business model. The conclusion enriches the research on sustainable business models both theoretically and practically and provides a feasible reference for the transformation of enterprises in digital economy environment.

Sustainable Urban Village in Wuhan

To understand the performance of urban villages in terms of justice and inclusivity, an investigation from bottom-up was launched in current study. Through semantic differential (SD) method, subjective feelings of residents, workers and tourists were collected and evaluated; overall feeling was positive. Study indicated that urban villages in China, like in East Lake Village, with diverse life styles at all levels of society and registering positive overall evaluation, are sustainable. It concluded that development of adjacent formal space of the city, autonomous formalization of villagers and low rent of informal housing are essential conditions for a sustainable urban village. Suggested strategies for sustainable upgrading and reconstruction of urban villages should recognize and respect various types of groups, incorporating different demands and usage of space to protect diverse life styles. These strategies may entail cleaning, lighting and coloring which are effective ways to improve environmental quality.

Quantitative simulation and verification of upgrade law of sustainable development in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration

The natural formation and development of urban agglomerations is a process in which core cities continue to unite their neighboring cities to enhance sustainability for their own sustainable development. The upgrade mechanism of sustainable development urban agglomeration is a nonlinear composite upgrade curve that is a function of time, increasing with the number of cities. In this paper, the sustainable upgrade function curve, upgrade rate, and upgrade speed of urban agglomerations were solved using a geometrical derivation, and the index system for measuring the upgrade capability of sustainable development of urban agglomerations was established. The dynamic change in economic sustainable upgrade capability, social sustainable upgrade capability, environmental sustainable upgrade capability, and comprehensive sustainable upgrade capability of a Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration from 2000 to 2015 was measured by technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution and a grey correlation method, and a comprehensive, intercity unite strength model and a unite threshold calculation method for urban agglomerations were established. The research shows that the economic sustainable upgrade capability, social sustainable upgrade capability, environmental sustainable upgrade capability, and comprehensive sustainable upgrade capability of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration all show a wave-like rising trend. The average annual upgrade speeds during 2000–2015 are, respectively, 2.4%. 1.67%, 1.1%, and 1.74%, with the intercity comprehensive unite strength of urban agglomerations maintaining a general increase; but there is a limit to the joint threshold. From 2000 to 2015, as the core city of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, Beijing, to enhance its sustainable upgrade capability, jointly developed with Tianjin, Langfang, and Baoding before 2000, Tangshan in 2002, Cangzhou in 2009, Zhangjiakou and Shijiazhuang in 2012, and Chengde in 2014. By 2015, the comprehensive unite strength between Beijing and four cities (Handan, Qinhuangdao, Hengshui, and Xingtai) was still lower than the unite threshold of 6.14. These four cities are relatively far from Beijing, and offer no substantial contribution to the sustainable upgrade capability of Beijing. Through multiple fittings of the upgrade curve using the long-term sequence index of the comprehensive sustainable upgrade capability of Beijing (the core city of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration) from 2000 to 2015, it was found that the simulated curve of the comprehensive sustainable upgrade function of the agglomeration was very similar to the curve of the comprehensive sustainable upgrade capability, which indicates that the simulation results are satisfactory. The future comprehensive sustainable upgrade capability of the agglomeration can be analyzed and predicted by the comprehensive sustainable upgrade function model. This study provides quantitative decision-supporting evidence for promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration and provides theoretical guidance and algorithms for determining the number of cities joined with the sustainable development of national urban agglomerations.

Assessing determinants of sustainable upgrade of existing buildings

PurposeEstimates show that close to 90% of the buildings we will need in 2050 are already built and occupied. The increase in the existing building stock has affected energy consumption thereby negatively impacting the environment. The purpose of this paper is to assess determinants of sustainable upgrade of existing buildings through the adoption and application of sustainable technologies. The study also ranks sustainable technologies adopted by the professionals who participated in the survey with an in-built case study.Design/methodology/approachAs part of the overall methodology, a detailed literature review on the nature and characteristics of sustainable upgrade and the sustainable technologies adopted was undertaken. A survey questionnaire with an in-built case study was designed to examine all the sustainable technologies adopted to improve energy consumption in Australia. The survey was administered to sustainability consultants, architects, quantity surveyors, facility managers and engineers in Australia.FindingsThe results show a total of 24 technologies which are mostly adopted to improve energy consumption in existing buildings. A factor analysis shows the main components as: lighting and automation, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HAVC) systems and equipment, envelope, renewable energy and passive technologies.Originality/valueThe findings bridge the gap in the literature on the adoption and application of sustainable technologies to upgrade existing buildings. The technologies can be adopted to reduce the excessive energy consumption patterns in existing buildings.

Sustainable upgrading for informal areas

The problem of informal areas is the most significant urban challenge facing third world countries. Most of the urban population has become informal areas dwellers. These areas consume many resources and suffer from bad conditions. Therefore the need arose to transform them into sustainable societies in order to save resources and improve their quality of life. This paper discusses the sustainability as means of achieving quality, efficiency and improvements in informal areas using the three pillars of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. It also aims at carrying out a comparative analysis of case studies for sustainable upgrading of informal areas in Brazil and India to observe the impact on their dwellers' life after upgrading. Analysis is examined on three levels: economic, social and environmental. Moreover, the comparison and evaluation of results ends with suggestions to be applied on Egyptian informal areas in order to achieve more efficient and sustainable upgraded areas.

Determinants of sustainable upgrade for energy efficiency – the case of existing buildings in Australia

The impact of existing buildings on the environment is on the rise; thus to achieve environmental sustainability requires sustainable upgrade (SU) of existing built facilities. Over the years, SU has focused on technologies with little attention given to the nature and conditions of existing buildings. The purpose of this paper is to identify existing building characteristics that impact SU. A detailed literature review on the nature and characteristics of existing buildings, as well as energy and environmental performance was undertaken. A survey questionnaire with all the determinants of existing buildings was administered to sustainability and construction professionals in Australia. The results show that size of building, age of building, U-value of wall, U-value of ceiling, area of external wall, thickness of insulation materials, occupancy, size of window opening, life span of sustainable technologies, and the type of building impact sustainable upgrade of existing buildings for energy efficiency.

Innovation in Urban Mobility as an Urban Solution towards More Sustainable Cities: The Case of Informal Urbanization

The main cities of emerging and developing countries (MCED) witness a growing economy accompanied by the continuous growth of its urban population and the chaotic urbanization, that is why the phenomenon of informal urbanization areas (IUA) is often associated with the MCED, IU areas generate a daily urban transport flows that contribute to multiple urban problems, mainly socio-economic issues, which impact the quality of urban life in negative way. The argument of the study refers to the possibility of achieving more sustainable cities through the using of innovation in UM (UM) as an urban solution. The study based on a theoretical study to define the intended meaning of innovation in UM, as well an empirical study through the analyzing of selected cases. The findings showed through lessons from practice that the using of innovative UM solutions is a sustainable upgrading approach that can contribute to achieve a better quality of urban life in the MCED with IU areas, also clarified the necessity to not to rely on this approach as a dominant approach but in integrated way with other traditional upgrading approaches, finally innovation in UM is not limited to the using of advanced and high tech solutions. Keywords: Innovation, Urban mobility, Sustainable cities, Informal urbanization

OPTIMIZING LIGHTING PERFORMANCE OF UNDERGROUND ACCOMMODATION FOR MUSLIM PILGRIMS IN THE HOLLY CITIES

Muslims from all over the world have grown familiar with the traditional sight of the Holy land on mount Mina and Arafat during the Hajj for hundreds of years; the view of the tents established in those areas has become the memorable, architectural style and an unchangeable heritage legacy of this yearly Islamic event. However, following trends showing yearly exponential increase in the number of pilgrims recently imposed the greatest challenge for operators and organizers of the pilgrimage. A proposal addressing the inevitable need to preserve the historical urban/ architectural context of Mina and Arafat, underground accommodations represent an imminent solution. Optimizing natural lighting, ventilation and air conditioning for underground accommodations are key parameters for an efficient and sustainable upgrade for the holy lands. This paper presents a Parans fiber optics, natural light transfer system integration designed to enhance daylight performance in Hajj underground proposed habitational spaces. The proposed upgrade aims to align with both “LEED V4” and the “IES Daylight availability” standards. The natural “daylighting analysis” is performed using ‘Radiance’ for a generic room. Firstly, architectural design and technical system integration details are presented for the proposed underground accommodations. Secondly, the effect of fiber optics’ system design on the space, lighting performance and energy efficiency is parametrically optimized and compared to the performance of traditional lighting, windows for a range of window to wall ratios (WWR) of equivalent mid-story high-rise south-facing spaces as reference base cases. Results demonstrate that Parans system integration achieved comparable results which meet “LEED v4” caliber and exceeds the “IES Daylight availability” criterions. Upgrading to multi-story underground residential spaces can maintain the historic contextual image of tents while reducing heat transferred through the envelope by 200 kWh/m2 annually and reduce cooling loads components by 80% decreasing the CO2 emissions monthly by 500–600 kg per unit.