Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) is a method used to detect and quantify nu-cleic acids even when present in exceptionally low numbers. While it has proven to be valuable for clinical studies, it has failed to be widely adopted for environmental and applied studies. Due to the complexity of the chemical and biological composition of environmental samples, protocols tailored to clinical studies are not appropriate, and results are difficult to interpret. We used en-vironmental DNA samples originating from field studies to determine a protocol for environ-mental samples. Samples included field soils which had been inoculated with the soil fungus Rhizophagus irregularis (environmental positive control), field soils that had not been inoculat-ed and the targeted fungus was not naturally present (environmental negative control), and root samples from both field categories. To control for the effect of soil inhibitors, we also in-cluded DNA samples of an organismal control extracted from pure fungal spores (organismal positive control). Finally, we included a no-template control consisting only of the PCR reaction reagents and nuclease free water instead of template DNA. Using original data, we examined which factors contribute to poor resolution in root and soil samples and propose best practises to ensure accuracy and repeatability. Furthermore, we evaluated manual and automatic threshold determination methods and we propose a novel protocol based on multiple controls that is more appropriate for environmental samples.

Although the positive relationship between religion and environmental behavior is well-argued, empirical research about the relationship between religion and public pro-environmental behavior is relatively lacking. This paper aims to explore the group differences in the influence of religion on public pro-environmental behavior and the mediating role of environmental risk perception in religion and public pro-environmental behavior. Using the Chinese General Social Survey data in 2013 for empirical analysis, this study’s results show that there are group differences in the impact of religion on public pro-environmental behavior. Women with religious beliefs are more willing to engage in public pro-environmental behavior than those without religious beliefs. Religious believers over the age of 45 are more willing to participate in public pro-environmental behavior than those without religious beliefs. Political participants with religious beliefs are more willing to practice public pro-environmental behavior than those without religious beliefs. In addition, we found that environmental risk perception can act as partial mediation in religious and public pro-environmental behavior. In other words, religious beliefs are deeply embedded in local political and social culture. In order to correctly understand the relationship between religion and public pro-environmental behavior, it is necessary to consider religion in a specific cultural background.

Environmental legislation is moving towards global standards for ease of application and to impose sanctions and penalties when necessary, without compromising human health and biota. International environmental measures for control and monitoring of atmospheric air only monitor emissions of SO_x, NO_x, O₃, and Pb. In general, most research work in air pollution done using the analysis of elements in rainwater show analysis of trace metals such as Na, Mg, Zn, and Mn. In this work, trace metals in the rainwater at the city of Goiânia, capital of the State of Goiás, were analyzed. Goiânia is a large city set in a predominantly agricultural province located in central Brazil. Presence of trace metals in rainwater was detected, indicating atmospheric air pollution levels higher than occupational limits set by WHO.

The conserved cyanobacterial protein PipX is part of a complex interaction network with regulators involved in essential processes that include metabolic homeostasis or ribosome assembly. Because PipX interactions depend on the relative levels of their different partners and of the effector molecules binding to them, in vivo studies are required to understand the physiological significance and contribution of environmental factors to regulation of PipX complexes. Here we have used the NanoBiT complementation system to analyse regulation of complex formation in Synechococcus elongatus between PipX and each of its two best characterized partners, PII and NtcA. Our results confirm previous in vitro analysis on regulation of PipX-PII and PipX-NtcA complexes by 2-oxoglutarate and on regulation of PipX-PII by the ATP/ADP ratio, showing the disruption of PipX-NtcA complexes by increased levels of ADP-bound PII in Synechococcus elongatus. The demonstration of a positive role of PII on PipX-NtcA complexes under the initial response to nitrogen starvation or the impact of a PipX point mutation on the activity of PipX-PII and PipX-NtcA reporters are further indications of the sensitivity of the system. This study reveals additional regulatory complexities in the PipX interaction network, opening the way to future research in cyanobacteria.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a technique developed to measure possible environmental impacts during the manufacture and use of a given product or service. Additive Manufacturing (AM) has proven to be suitable in several industries, especially wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), offering many advantages such as delivery time and reduction in terms of material waste, energy consumption and equivalent CO₂ emissions (CO₂e). This study aimed to develop a methodology to evaluate environmental indicators during the life cycle assessment, from gate-to-gate, in the production of two low-alloy carbon steel metal parts (flanges) using ER-90 wire and allowed identifying the main stages that most influence environmental indicators. The total energy consumption in the production of flanges 1 and 2 were, respectively, 10,239.0 MJ, 12,754.0 MJ and the total carbon footprint, respectively, 714.1 kgCO₂e kg^-1 and 749.3 kgCO₂e kg^-1.

Wind power output is highly dependent on the wind speed at the selected site, therefore wind-speed distribution modeling is the most important step in the assessment of wind energy potential. This study aims at accurate evaluation of onshore wind energy potential in seven coastal cities in the south of Iran. Six Probability Distribution Functions (PDFs) were examined over representative stations. It has been deduced that the Weibull function, which was the most used PDF in similar studies, was only applicable to one station. Here, Gamma offered the best fit for three stations and for the other ones, Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) performed better. Considering the ranking of six examined PDFs and the simplicity of Gamma, it was identified as the effective function in the southern coasts of Iran bearing in mind the geographic distribution of stations. Besides, six turbine power curve functions were contributed to investigate the capacity factor. That was very important, as using only one function could cause under- or over-estimation. Then, stations were classified based on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory system. Last but not least, examining a range of wind turbines enabled scholars to extend this study into the practice and prioritize development of stations considering budget limits.

The present study identified the influence of green advertising and eco-labels on the attitude and environmental awareness of millennials who purchase ecological products in shopping centers in Ecuador. The research was quantitative, correlational and with a cross-sectional design. A total of 430 millennials participated in the study. A 20-question survey was applied in person outside the shopping centers of Quito and Guayaquil - Ecuador. The convergent and discriminant validity of the research model was verified using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Models (SEM). SPSS 20 and AMOS 24 programs were used for statistical analysis. The results show that green advertising influences environmental attitudes (β: 0,245) and awareness (β: 0,110) and specifically influences purchasing behaviour (β: 0,154) for green products. Although eco-labels do not directly influence purchasing behaviour (β: 0,128), they influence the attitudes (β: 0,406) and ecological awareness (β: 0,277) of millennials who buy organic products. This article is one of the first studies to identify the relationship between green advertising elements and green product purchasing behaviors among millennials in a developing country, concluding that marketing strategies based on green advertising and eco-labels have an impact on the attitude and environmental awareness of millennials, but only advertising directly affects purchasing behaviour while eco-labels do not. This research has social implications since it corroborates that millennials are concerned about environmental problems and are willing to contribute to sustainability.

It was believed that the construction of large dams in the upper tributary basin of the Chao Phraya River (CPR) has caused sediment load reduction in the CPR system by 75–85%. Based on historical and observed river flow and sediment data measured during 1922–2019, we investigated the effects of three large dams, the Sirikit, Naresuan, and Khwae Noi dams, on river runoff and sediment loads supplied to the CPR using Mann-Kendall (MK) test and the double mass curve (DMC). Results from this study revealed that the Nan River contributed approximately 40% and 57% of the runoff and total sediment load (TSL) to the CPR, respectively. The water regulation by the Naresuan diversion dam has mainly caused the reduction on annual runoff and TSL downstream of each dam. The results from this study also reveal that the sediment load observed at the headwater (C.2) of the CPR still increased after the construction of the Sirikit dam due to the expansion of irrigation areas downstream of the dam and the channel improvement in the lower reach of Nan River. After the three major dams were operated, the sediment load at C.2 reduced by 31% compared that discharging during the pre-construction period.

Environmental tax is the climate policy that offers, in theory, the easiest way for carbon reduction. But in practice, implementation has proven complicated despite public demand for policy action on climate change. This research investigates to reframe environmental taxes in ways more personally engaging to create a moral foundation, and massive participation. As people show rising demand, we aimed to design a tool that responds to public expectations and operates directly at source on emission reducers, viz the trees. Drawing on research from environmental taxes and the evidence of measures taken, we reasoned that an environmental fiscal policy may not intend necessarily to punish the “bads”, but rather might reward the positive attitude and direct it to act. Consequently, we focused on tax reliefs and designed Green Aid, that can address people’s attitude to take active participation into account by incorporating virtuous behaviours into tax relief. Green Aid Tax relief works embedded in the Green Aid Participation Scheme that bears directly on a source of environmental recovery and organizes the global call to public action in a sustained, structured, and collective participation to forestation. Green Aid bridges the action of contributing to carbon reduction with immediate, tangible, and direct benefits. It can be an alternative environmental tax, able to address and operate directly at source on emission reducers and secure effectiveness in carbon reduction and efficiency in terms of public acceptance and viability at a global level.

The deterioration and destruction of the environment is becoming more and more considerable and greater efforts are needed to stop it. To accomplish this feat, all members of society must identify with environmental problems, with collective environmental action being one of the most relevant means of doing so. From this perspective, the analysis of the psychosocial factors that lead to participation in environmental collective action emerges as a priority objective in the research agenda. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the role of "environmental identity" as conceptualized by Clayton, as a central axis for explaining environmental collective action. The inclusion of the latter in the theoretical framework of the SIMCA model gives rise to the model that we have called EIMECA. Two studies were conducted, and the results reveal that environmental identity, a variety of negative affects, as well as group efficacy accompanied by hope for a simultaneous additive effect, are critical when it comes to predicting environmental collective action.

Lead exposure is associated with poor cognitive development in children. Very few studies in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have studied blood lead levels (BLLs) and non-gasoline sources of exposure in children. Data from a birth cohort in Benin (2011-2013) suggested that 58% of one-year-old children had BLLs > 50 ug/L. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of elevated BLLs (>50 µg/L and >100 µg /L) among 425 of these children at six-years-of-age in 2016-18 and to compare BLLs between age one-year and six-years and study sources of lead at six years. BLLs were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Multiple linear regression and quantile regressions were used to study potential sources of lead. The prevalence of BLLs >50 µg/L in children was 59.5% [Geometric Mean (GM) 56.4 µg/L, 95% CI: 54.1 - 58.7] at six years of age compared to 54.8% [GM 56.5 µg/L, 95% CI: 53.4-59.6] at one year of age. The prevalence of children with BLLs >100 µg/L decreased from 14.4% at one year of age to 8.2% at six years of age. After adjustment for all other covariates, consumption of peanut more than once per month was significantly associated with a 22.0% (95% CI: 4.6, 42.5) increment in BLLs at six years compared with no consumption. Consumption of bushmeat killed by lead bullets at six years was associated with an increase in the higher percentiles of BLLs (P75) compared with the absence of this source. Other potential sources of lead associated with BLLs with marginal significance were consumption of rice, paternal occupational exposure, and the presence of activity with the potential use of lead. This prospective cohort confirms the persistently high prevalence of elevated BLLs in children residing in a rural region in the south of Benin as well as the presence of multiple and continuous sources of lead. These results highlight the need for prevention programs to reduce and eliminate lead exposure in children.

Background: This study examines the relationship between energy usage, health issues, and pro-environmental behavior (PEB) in Kyrgyzstan, amidst the country's commitment to transition from coal-based energy to renewable sources in line with the Paris Agreement. The purpose is to investigate citizens' attitudes towards PEB and their intentions to engage in environmentally friendly actions, focusing on gas, electricity, and coal. Methods: Drawing upon the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework, a survey was conducted among 1,455 respondents to explore attitudes towards PEB and energy sources' impact on health issues. Results: Decarbonization efforts in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia are in their early stages, with coal remaining a primary energy source. The study emphasizes the importance of governmental policies and citizen action in achieving decarbonization goals. Rising electricity costs outweigh the increase in indirect energy costs for food, posing challenges for households in adapting to changing energy dynamics. Conclusions: Targeted interventions and communication strategies are crucial to promote pro-environmental behavior and facilitate the transition to sustainable energy sources. Understanding the relationships between health concerns, air pollution awareness, PEB, and energy source choices can inform policymakers and organizations in their efforts to ensure a sustainable and healthy future for Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries.

As in every workplace, human sustainability in dental enterprises is connected to air and water quality, eco-friendly and naturally designed working spaces and 4R’s culture. Purpose of this study is to access the preferences and knowledge on circular economy and green building construction in a sample of students and dentists in Greece. Students (N1=93) and dentists (N2= 126) filled in e-questionnaires from April to December 2022. The response rate was 17,88% for N1 and 1.94% for N2. Data revealed that both students and dentists lack knowledge on circular economy (N1=67.7%, N2=68,25%), EU regulations on amalgam disposal (N1=64.5%, N2=58.73%) and plastic recycling (N1=76.34%, N2=76,98) while they do recycle at home (N1= 80.6%, N2=82.54%) and have participated in voluntary environmental actions (N1=58.1%, N2=66.67%). Gender influences the importance of factors related to green dental practices, with women students being more prone to answer positively as important for increase costs for network changes (p=0.02), lack of environmental awareness of manufacturers (p=0.057), and poor wastewater management (p=0.01). Students from urban areas are more prone to answer positively for lack of state financial support (p=0.02), low level of green design in the building (p=0.03), low direct financial benefit of a green dental office (p=0.04), low benefit to the reputation of the green dental office (p=0.02), lack of continuing education training seminars on green dentistry (p=0.05). For dentists, no significant relationships were observed except of a weak positive relationship in increase in costs for changes related to utility networks (p=0.08) while increased wasteful energy (p=0.12) and waste of dental materials (p=0.19) seemed important only for dentists in urban areas. Women dentists were more prone to answer positively on wasting energy (p=0.024) and use of unapproved disinfection products (p=0.036). The findings contribute ideas and solutions on green dental office buildings and sustainable behaviors through educational activities and social perspective of factors such as age, experience in dentistry, gender, and urbanism. It also inspires future multi-disciplinary research on dental quality assurance, psychology of environmentalism, economics, and behavioral science in dentistry.

Ethanol produced from various biobased sources (bioethanol) has been gaining high attention lately due to its potential to cut down net emissions of carbon dioxide while reducing burgeoning world dependence on fossil fuels. Global ethanol production has increased more than six-fold from 18 billion liters at the turn of the century to 110 billion liters in 2019 (1,2). Sugar cane and corn have been used as the major feedstocks for ethanol production. Lignocellulosic biomass has recently been considered as another potential feedstock. This paper reviews recent developments and current status of commercial production of ethanol across the world. The review includes the ethanol production processes used for each type of feedstock, both currently practiced at commercial scale and newly developed technologies, and production trends in various regions and countries in the world.

A simple approach to enable water-management agencies employing free data to achieve the goal of using a single set of predictive equations for water-quality retrievals with satisfactory accuracy is proposed. Multiple regression-derived equations based on surface reflectance, band ratios, and environmental factors as predictor variables for concentrations of Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Nitrogen (TN), and Total Phosphorus (TP) were derived using a hybrid forward-selection method that considers Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) in the forward-selection process. Landsat TM, ETM+, and OLI/TIRS images were jointly utilized with environmental factors, such as wind speed and water surface temperature, to derive the single set of equations. The coefficients of determination of the best-fitting resultant equations varied from 0.62 to 0.79. Among all chosen predictor variables, ratio of reflectance of visible red (Band 3 for Landsat TM and ETM+, or Band 4 for Landsat OLI/TIRS) to visible blue (Band 1 for Landsat TM and ETM+, or Band 2 for Landsat OLI/TIRS) has a strong influence on the predictive power for TSS retrieval. Environmental factors including wind speed, remote sensing-derived water surface temperature, solar altitude, and time difference (in days) between the image acquisition and water sampling were found important in water-quality parameter estimation.

This study investigated the impact of quarrying as an environmental ethical crisis. To get a deeper understanding of the adverse impact on the environment and on the quality of life of the people living in the community around the quarry, I explored the workers from the community, and the members of the community-based organisation’s experiences. I adopted a utilitarian perspective and Pinchot’s conservation as ethical systems that determines morality based on the greatest good for the greatest number. The company's disrespect for the community and ignorance of the laws governing quarry activities is the root of the ethical dilemma.

This study examines the complex relation among environmental taxes, productive capacities, urbanization, and their collective effects on environmental quality in Africa, drawing on two decades of data from twenty African countries. It situates the study within the broader discourse on sustainable development and economic growth, emphasizing the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework to examine the relationship between economic development, characterized by urban expansion and increased productive capacities, and the adoption of environmental taxes amidst the continent’s diverse economic and environmental environments. Using advanced econometric techniques, including the Cross-Section Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model and the Dynamic Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (DCCEMG) estimator, the study addresses data challenges such as cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity. The results provide important insights into the dynamics of environmental quality in relation to economic and urban growth and the role of environmental taxation. The study proposes tailored policy strategies aimed at strengthening sustainable development initiatives in line with international agreements such as the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. These strategies advocate for a nuanced application of environmental taxes and the promotion of productive capacities to enhance environmental sustainability across the African continent.

In China, environmental pollution generated via industrialization as well as the profound changes in the social structure and gradual maturation of the social hierarchy have jointly contributed to the Chinese people's increased environmental consciousness and appeals for environmental justice (EJ). Because of the absence of an EJ theory and a lack of empirical research focused on China, this paper proposes a ‘Pyramid Model’ for China’s EJ research that involves the following three factors: basic demographic and socioeconomic factors, U.S.-based EJ principles, and Chinese characteristics. A nationwide pilot analysis of environmental inequity at the prefecture level is conducted by empirically studying the association of demographics and socioeconomic status with sources of industrial pollution in China. The prefecture-based results are shown to be robust and indicate that areas inhabited by ethnic minorities and western regions in China carry disproportionate environmental burdens. However, a different picture for migrants is presented, revealing that Chinese migrants are not currently exposed to greater levels of industrial pollution, and relevant interpretations of these findings are provided. The results also show that environmental inequality associated with income level, which is observed in the U.S., does not occur in China.

Long-term storage may reduce the nutritional quality of brown rice, so the present study was aimed to evaluate the nutritive values and application in pig diets. In Exp.1, 18 Landrace × Yorkshire (L × Y) barrows with initial body weight (IBW) of 25.48 ± 3.21 kg were randomly assigned to three treatments, which included corn diet, one-year stored brown rice (BR1) diet and six-year stored brown rice (BR6) diet, to determine the digestible energy (DE) and metabolisable energy (ME) value of stored brown rice. In Exp. 2, 24 barrows (L × Y; IBW: 22.16 ± 2.42 kg) fixed with ileal T-cannula were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments, including corn diet, two stored brown rice diets and nitrogen-free diet, to evaluate the amino acid (AA) digestibility of stored brown rice. In Exp. 3 and 4, 108 crossbred weaned piglets (L × Y; IBW: 9.16 ± 0.89 kg) and 90 crossbred growing pigs (L × Y; IBW: 48.28 ± 3.51 kg) were allotted to 3 treatment diets, including control diet and two stored brown rice diets, respectively, to investigate the application of stored brown rice in weaned piglet and growing-finishing pig diets. Results showed that: 1) The DE and ME of corn and stored brown rice showed no significant differences (P > 0.05), while the apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of arginine, histidine, aspartic acid, and the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of arginine and histidine were higher in stored brown rice compared to corn (P < 0.05). 2) Compared with the control diet, the stored brown rice diets showed no significant effects on growth performance, nutrient apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) and serum biochemical indices (P > 0.05), but decreased digestive enzymes activities in duodenum, jejunum and ileum of piglets (P < 0.05). 3) Compared with the control diet, the stored brown rice diets showed no significant effects on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, fatty acids profiles in the longissimus dorsi muscle of growing-finishing pigs (P > 0.05). In conclusion, the brown rice stored for 6 years under good conditions has no obvious changes in available energy and nutrient values. Although it may reduce digestive enzyme activity in small intestine of the piglets, the stored brown rice showed no obvious adverse effect on growth performance and meat quality, and can be effectively used in pig diet.

Issues related to safe and abundant energy production have been prominent in recent years. This is particularly tr ue when society considers how to increase the quality of life by providing low-cost energy to citizens. A significant concern of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) relates to the environmental effects of energy production and energy use associated with climate change. Efforts to reduce fossil fuel use and increase the use of renewable energy, together with the price volatility of fossil fuels, have seriously impacted the economics of many of the oil-producing countries, particularly the Gulf States, which has led to efforts to make their economies more diverse and less dependent on oil production.

Shared public buildings have become centers of innovation, integrating advanced technologies to meet evolving societal needs. With a heightened emphasis on occupants’ health and well-being, these buildings serve as hubs for technological convergence, facilitating seamless connectivity and intelligent data analysis and management. Within this context, environmental monitoring emerges as a foundational element, pivotal to all aspects of building management. This article provides findings from the nationally funded RE-START project, which focuses on shared public buildings, with special regard to educational and medical facilities. The project explores enhanced indoor air quality monitoring, focusing in particular on CO2 concentration that is directly correlated with occupancy, as a fundamental element for developing health and safety protocols, energy efficiency strategies, integration of smart building technologies, and data-driven energy management. The intersection of environmental monitoring, energy efficiency, security, and IoT technologies in in indoor spaces are relevant. The outcomes of the study reveal the delicate nature of all the involved components, that need to be carefully developed in an integrated manner.

The paper presents the final results from the research project “Urban Abacus of Building Energy performances (Abaco Urbano Energeticodegli Edifci – AUREE)” aimed at supporting the renovation and energy efficiency enhancement of urban building heritage financed by the “Ricerca Sistema Elettrico (MISE) program”. The crux of AUREE project is a Web – GIS GeoBlog portal with customized semantic dashboards aimed at sharing information on urban built environment and promoting the participation of local stakeholders to its improvement. As the latest development of this research, a workflow integrating the AUREE portal with BIM authoring and an open source IoT platform has been implemented and applied to an experimental case study concerning a public building in Carbonia (Italy). The headquarters of the sustainable energy research center Sotacarbo was selected as case study. The presented results proved that it was possible to create an open system, which could be easily consulted by "non-expert" users as well, to make available real-time monitoring data obtained from IoT sensors measuring the energy consumption, the indoor environmental conditions and the usage profiles of public buildings. The proposed open system could also be suitable to be later used as an effective tool to support the rising “energy communities”.

To solve the problem of energy constraint and spectrum scarcity for cognitive radio wireless sensor networks (CR-WSNs), an underlay decode-and-forward relaying scheme is considered, where the energy constrained secondary source and relay nodes are capable of harvesting energy from a multi-antenna power beacon (PB) and using that harvested energy to forward the source information to the destination. Based on the time switching receiver architecture, three relaying protocols, namely, hybrid partial relay selection (H-PRS), conventional opportunistic relay selection (C-ORS), and best opportunistic relay selection (B-ORS) protocols are considered to enhance the end-to-end performance under the joint impact of maximal interference constraint and transceiver hardware impairments. For performance evaluation and comparison, we derive exact and asymptotic closed-form expressions of outage probability (OP) and throughput (TP) to provide significant insights into the impact of our proposed protocols on the system performance over Rayleigh fading channel. Finally, simulation results validate the theoretical results.

Risk management for technological hazards mainly focuses on the consequences on human lives. Although technological risk analysis evaluates environmental vulnerability, it does not reflect the consequences on environmentally exposed elements, such as rivers, water springs, flora, and fauna. This paper's objective was to propose a conceptual framework and create a multidisciplinary evaluation model for environmental risk analysis in the oil and gas industry. Initially, the problem was approached from a global perspective to justify the necessity of a holistic environmental risk analysis methodology in the oil industry, using environmental risk factors as well as underlying factors, such as environmental fragility and lack of resilience. The holistic assessment was carried out based on probabilistic risk analysis methodologies to obtain a holistic environmental risk index, HERI. This methodology was applied to an oil and gas industry company in Colombia. This allowed greater disaggregation of the results to establish priorities for risk reduction actions and identify the company's weaknesses.

The broad and rapid application of new genomic techniques (NGTs) such as CRISPR-Cas has led to a fast increase in the number of genetically modified crops. With the recently published EU Commission’s (EC) regulatory proposal on plants generated with NGTs (July 5, 2023) the process of admission of such genetically modified plants is aimed to get accelerated and simplified. NGT plant applications shall be categorized based on their molecular characteristics into category 1 NGT (NGT1) and category 2 NGT (NGT2), which is in divergence from the current legislation centered around Directive 2001/18/EC. In the regulatory proposal NGT2 plants are envisioned to undergo a reduced risk assessment while for NGT1 plants no risk assessment is foreseen at all. To demonstrate were the path of the proposal leads to in practice, we applied the proposed criteria for categorization to a list of NGT plant applications that are currently in the commercialization pipeline. A key finding is that out of those plant applications affected by the EC proposal, 94% would be classified as NGT1 and thus would receive a market approval without risk assessment, monitoring and sufficient labeling provisions. The remaining 6% of applications would be classified as NGT2 plants for which, in deviation from the current regulation, an adapted risk assessment is proposed. A screening of intended traits in the pipeline highlights that certain NGT1 plants can pose similar environmental risks (e.g. invasiveness) compared to other genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as defined in Directive 2001/18/EC. For example, NGT1 applications based on RNAi technology can exhibit insecticidal effects with potential side effects on non-target organisms (i.e. other insects). Our quantitative and case-specific elaboration on how the current EC regulatory proposal would affect the environment, health or consumer protection will be informative for decision makers and politicians.

In this article we investigate the impact of “Renewable Electricity Output” on green economy in the context of circular economy for 193 countries in the period 2011-2020. We use data from World Bank ESG framework. We perform Panel Data with Fixed Effects, Panel Data with Random Effects, WLS, and Pooled OLS. Our results show that Renewable Electricity Output is positively associated, among others, to “Adjusted Savings-Net Forest Depletion” and “Renewable Energy Consumption” and negatively associated, among others, to “CO2 Emission” and “Cooling Degree Days”. Furthermore, we perform a cluster analysis implementing the k-Means algorithm optimized with the Elbow Method and we find the presence of 4 clusters. Finally, we confront seven different machine learning algorithms to predict the future level of “Renewable Electricity Output”. Our results show that Linear Regression is the best algorithm and that the future value of renewable electricity output is predicted to growth on average at a rate of 0.83% for the selected countries.

This study inscribes itself in the global discussion on the nurturing of pro-environmental behaviors among young people for a sustainable future. Here we focus on students' interest in Ecosystem Services and Sustainability to explain their awareness and optimism about the environmental issues of air pollution, water shortage and green gas emission in 50 countries around the world. To this end, we use the cross-sectional survey data of the OECD's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015, along with seemingly unrelated bi-variate weighted ordered Probit modeling with country specific effects. The results show that in addition to factors such as age, gender, immigration status, and economic, social and cultural status, interest in the biosphere is a significant determinant of students' environmental awareness and optimism. In fact, a one level increase in students' interest in ecosystem services and sustainability raises on average their awareness level by 15.3% for the issue of air pollution, 15.7% for the issue of water shortage, and 24.6% for the issue of green gas emission. Although students' interest in the biosphere seems to not have a significant effect on their expectations about the issue of green gas emission, it does however raise their level of optimism by 0.8% for the issue of air pollution, and 0.2% for the issue of water shortage. Furthermore, every one level increase in students' environmental awareness leads to 17.3% more optimism about the issue of air pollution, 15.8% more optimism about the issue of water shortage, and 17.4% more optimism about the issue of green gas emission. Therefore, relying on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), our results imply that governments and policy makers can successfully leverage young people interests in the biosphere to effectively achieve their goals for sustainability.

The world is facing an energy crisis. Governments are seeking to provide universal energy access and guarantee energy security while trying to mitigate climate change. One possible solution is energy transitions towards low carbon energy systems. Among other things (physical infrastructure, public policy and regulatory enablers and knowledge and capacities) changes in the energy systems require a well informed and participative citizenship. Within this context the concept of energy literacy appears. Energy literacy is the understanding of how energy is generated, transported, stored, distributed and used, awareness about its environmental and social impacts and the knowledge to use it efficiently in the different sectors of the economy. This paper provides a systematic literature review in the Web of Science’s Core Collection. Most of the work done around energy literacy addresses its evaluation among different groups, particularly students at different levels, and the construction, application and evaluation of tools for improving energy literacy. Other frequently studied issues are the influence of energy literacy in decision making, its drivers and conceptual research about the topic. Energy enables citizens to effectively contribute to energy efficiency and sustainable development, nevertheless energy literacy is not strongly correlated to energy consumption habits.

The term sustainable energy is very familiar to all of us yet its exact definition or meaning has so far been vague. To date the widely adopted definition of sustainable energy has been inspired by the definition of sustainable development formulated more than 30 years ago in the Our Common Future - the UN’s Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. The current definition conceals the true spirit of the Report and this has some ramifications. It raises the question as to whether we have put too much emphasis on attaining the future dimension of sustainability in the middle of the situation where the energy survivability is in fact the real issue in many parts of the world. In this paper the role of energy in sustaining livelihoods of low income communities is discussed. Existing definition of sustainable energy that the whole world seems to have embraced is looked at critically and its downsides exposed. The identified pillars of sustainable energy and the associated issues is discussed and the need for an additional pillar, i.e. affordability is discussed and called for. This paper will argue that global definition of sustainable energy seems inappropriate and should be jettisoned and a more realistic definition should be formulated, adopted and embraced at local (i.e. national or regional) level taking into account local attributes and factors. The current push for a transition from the reliance on conventional energy sources to ‘cleaner’ energy sources (generally associated with renewable energy) has further exacerbated the issue of energy affordability that has made the conditions even more dire for so many groups of the world population. In the midst of this situation, those who push for a rushed energy transition seem to be those who also produce unsustainably high carbon footprint but who can easily offset their carbon foot-print through the ‘net-zero’ concept.

Earth’s climate cannot be ignored any longer. Policies are vital in order to mitigate the negative effects of climate change. The energy crisis created by the Russo-Ukrainian war and pandemic affected the EU and its member states. The focus is more than ever on its energy policies and independence. The EU revised the energy strategy in response to Russia’s blackmail, and it sped up all the processes for energetic independence from Russia. This benefited the climate change policies the most, as all the measures involved reducing energy consumption and increasing renewables, thus contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As a member state of the EU, Romania is committed to complying with EU regulations. With a high degree of energy independence compared with the other EU members, Romania plans to become a regional energy provider and modernize the energy infrastructure internally as a response to Russia’s unprovoked aggression. The measures that the EU and Romania implemented after the war started in 2022 have come to fruition, and the effects are becoming visible a year later. This study aims to study the energy strategy of Romania in correlation with the EU strategy in the turbulent period of pandemics and war between 2019 and 2023, with the latest available data.

The paper presents modelling of relationships between wind velocity distributions observed in Poland and technical requirements for wind power stations design. The wind velocities distributions for various locations in Poland are determined, and expressed in Weibull distribution parameters. Theoretical computations concerning the dependence of wind power station as function of wind speed and aire physical properties are presented. Conclusions important for design of power stations fitted to atmospheric conditions in Poland are given. Wind power plants have been an important source of electricity generation for many years.Wind power modelling with the use of wind speed is used to improve the accuracy of forecasts and analyses of the power production of wind farms.

This article presents the results of research on the influence of polymetallic dust aerial emissions on the pollution levels in the soil and plants by heavy metals which have been under impact of the “Severonickel” smelter complex on the Kola peninsula (Russia) for many years. Research using soil- and bio-indicators was carried out at fixed measuring points in the years 1980-1999 (high aerotechnogenic emissions) and 2000-2019 (low aerotechnogenic emissions). The organic horizon (forest litter) of the Al-Fe-humus podzol, leaves of Vaccinium myrtillus L., V. vitis-idaea L., V. uliginosum L., Empetrum hermaphroditum Hagerup and one-year old Scots pine needles Pinus sylvestris L. as well as tree rings of Pinus sylvestris L. were used for bioindication research. The content of heavy metals was determined by the AAS method. During these time periods, the volume of atmospheric emissions of sulfur dioxide decreased 5 fold, polymetallic dust by 3.5 times, while the level of forest litter pollution by heavy metals in the buffer zone increased by 2 times, and did not change significantly in the impact zone. The decrease in atmospheric emissions of pollutants led to a 1.5- fold increase in the width of the annual rings of pine trunks in the impact zone, while in the buffer zone the differences were insignificant. At present, the content of Ni and Cu in the leaves of the wild dwarf-shrubs and pine needles in the impact zone has decreased by 5 times compared with 1980-1999 due to a decrease in polymetallic dust on the leaf surface.

Introduction. Environmental Health in a Global World at New York University was re-designed as a class participatory effort, challenging undergraduate students to understand environmental hazards and the resultant adverse health outcomes by embracing the inherent complexity of environmental risks and proposing solutions. Methods. Following introductory lectures, students are placed into teams and assigned a specific perspective, or avatar, which includes learning to see the challenge from the perspective of a technical expert such as a biologist, an engineer, or an anthropologist. The teams then design specific systems maps to visualize the complex interactions that lead to adverse health outcomes after a given environmental exposure. The maps highlight potential leverage points, where relatively minor interventions can provide a disproportionate benefit in health outcomes. The teams then explore potential interventions and identify the potential unintended consequences of those actions, develop and advocate for innovative new strategies to mitigate risk and improve outcomes. Results and Discussion. Over the past 5 years we have taught this methodology to over 680 students with strong, student-oriented results. The teams created and presented more than 100 strategies, addressing a diverse set of environmental challenges that include water contamination, gun violence, air pollution, environmental justice, health security, and climate change. Developing the strategies helped the students understand environmental threats in a more holistic way, provided them with some agency in finding solutions, and offered an opportunity for them to improve their presentation skills. The responses in course evaluations have been enthusiastic, with many students reporting a deep impact on their college experience.

There is consensus over the fact that urban green areas contribute to the quality of life of their inhabitants. So, efficient city management must assess whether the population has access to green areas and their quality in relation to vegetation, facilities or furnishings, for example. Therefore, the objective set is to establish the environmental justice of urban parks in Tarragona (Spain) by developing a Park Quality Index (PQI) and the sociodemographic characteristics (level of studies, Human Development Index [HDI], home sale and rental prices) of the population living within 300 metres of a park. To prepare this, a GIS-integrated Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) has been produced. The results show that the green areas have low accessibility and availability and that most parks obtain an average-low PQI, with the best- valued aspect being the vegetation and the worst the facilities. As for the degree of environmental justice, a casual relationship emerges between the PQI and the indicators used. The average value of the home sale prices is the one that shows the greatest correlation. These results can be used together with participatory procedures as a basis for identifying places with greater inequality, and for selecting the more effective actions that enable increasing environmental justice with respect to green areas.

Bats play important ecosystem roles. Anthropogenic activities cause the decrease and loss of biological diversity and, consequently, the loss of these ecosystem services. One way of measuring local habitat conditions and relating the landscape to biodiversity. Our objective is to investigate how the bat community is influenced by this change in the landscape. Collections were carried out at five points and 76 individuals of 12 species are sampled. Although the points present a high variation in relation to land use, we did not observe any correlation between species richness and guilds with land use. However, the difference in the composition of the guilds is related to the variation in land use, in which 74% of the variation in the abundance of guilds is related to the different patterns of land use. At SENAI, even though it was the place with the greatest anthropic impact, it was the one with the greatest abundance of species, while the points Module two and Sítio Jaburu had the greatest abundance of guilds. This result corroborates the idea that ecosystem services are dependent on habitat maintenance, since the greater the heterogeneity the greater the difference in the composition of the trophic guilds.

Governance is one of the most essential instruments for environmental management. Biodiversity is in the core field of environmental governance. Yet environmental authorities are persistently challenged the loss of biodiversity as a very important global issue for several years due to high dependent exposure to risks. The study attempts to relook at the key governance tools that strengthen policies towards managing biodiversity within and around the national park’s survey in Moulvibazar district. The study showed that biodiversity related legislation amended was the highest in Bangladesh for the period of 2010 to 2016. The growth of policy instruments maximized at but in low environmental governance services within the same period. The study assessed that the existing environmental policy instrument is inadequate and sluggish for effective conservation, compared with several others governance tools and various performances are still below par. Governance knowledge is indispensable for biodiversity management but such knowledge is poorly identified. These results reflect the importance of effective governance for transparency that the State provides. The research is to represent a dynamic and adaptable framework that can be applied for collective governance relevant to policy integration, participation and enforcement in order to foster environmental conservation sustainability.

Background: Dengue incidence has grown dramatically around the world in recent years. It transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. Many factors contributed to the vector densities such as environmental and sociological factors. Objective: This study is aimed at determining the environmental and sociological factors contributing to dengue cases. Methods: The study used questionnaire survey involving 379 respondent with dengue history. Result: The study showed that there is significant association between the time departs to work and mobility of respondents (95%CI = 2.779 and 5.594, p < 0.0001). Similarly, there is significant association between the time of arrival to work and mobility of respondents (95%CI = 1.617 and 2.155, p < 0.0001). Moreover, the type of housing and the surrounding vegetation were the environmental factors that showed significant values; p = 0.023, and p = 0.017. Conclusion: The study indicated the factors contributed are patient who lived in independent houses and the time of mobility patient.

The Universe at last scattering is locally treated as an unbound gas. The internal kinetic energy of the gas effectively constitutes a scalar energy field. The gas’s adiabatic expansion is entropic, giving repulsive entropic pressure. Gas kinetic energy is converted into entropic energy gain (63%) and isoentropic work against gravity (37%) at a constant 63:37 ratio. A three-term expression of the gas’s Hubble parameter is derived and found to be exclusively dependent on its mass density. At last scattering, this model gives a Hubble constant that is 125% of the value found from the ΛCDM model. After partition of Universal mass into the cosmic web of galaxies and the intergalactic medium (IGM), expansion came mostly from the IGM, presently comprising about 84% of total Universal mass and 90% of its volume. The onset of star formation within the cosmic web increased the IGM’s kinetic energy through the action of starlight, giving free electrons as an additional repository. Many of these free electrons are suprathermal. Suprathermal energy from both electrons and protons comprises about half of the IGM’s total kinetic energy and is expressed in the ΛCDM model as “dark energy” Λ. Entropic pressure derives from thermodynamic laws not found within general relativity.

The inherited ‘EIA’ process at Brexit is based on a ‘Project’ period from Inception tothe start of construction works. The ‘Incompleteness’ of the process covers andidentifies stages that will impact on the environmental cycle: construction period,operational life, de-commissioning and a return to acceptable environmental footprint.A master environment structure-plan framework is required to commence with theupgrading of the complete ‘EIA’ process, embracing separate limbs for the UK’spriority environmental targets for climate change, and other major adverse effectswhich result in serious ‘harm’ to the UK environment. The identification of the processfor ‘incompleteness’ requires effective sustainability, and inclusion of effectivemanagement tools, for the essential ‘monitoring/control/recording’ proceduresthroughout the project life and the natural environmental cycle. This will allow theopportunity for a new approach to a structured ‘Suite of EIAR Directives’, to enable a‘EIAR’ regime that ‘will remain fit and proper for UK purpose’.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has been proving suitable to support or even replace traditional manufacturing in several industries, offering many advantages such as delivery time and reduction in terms of material waste, energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study aimed to carry out a comparative assessment of the life cycle, from gate to gate, in the production of a low alloy carbon steel flange part using ER-90 wire. The methods utilized were Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) and conventional manufacturing (CM) by forging, and comparative factors were energy demands, GHG emissions and generated solid waste. The total energy consumption in WAAM was 10,239.40 MJ, total carbon footprint in CO2 equivalent (CO2e) was 714.1 kgCO2e kg-1, and generated solid waste was 68.6 kg, respectively, 90%, 95% and 76% lower than consumption calculated in conventional manufacturing.

Temperature differences between the atmosphere and river water allow rivers to be used as a hydrothermal energy source. The river-water heat pump system is a relatively non-invasive renewable energy source; however, effluent discharged from the heat pump can cause downstream temperature changes which may impact sensitive fluvial ecosystems. In this study, the water temperature recovery distance of the effluent was estimated for a river section in the Han River Basin, Korea, using the heat transfer equation and the Environmental Fluid Dynamic Code (EFDC) model. Results showed that, compared to the EFDC model, the heat transfer equation tended to overestimate the water temperature recovery distance due to its simplified assumptions. The water temperature recovery distance could also be used as an objective indicator to decide the reuse of downstream river water. Furthermore, as the river system was found to support an endangered fish species that is sensitive to water environment changes, care should be taken to exclude the habitats of protected species affected by water temperatures within water temperature recovery distance.

Even though, graphene family materials (GFMs) hold great promise for various applications, there are still significant knowledge gaps in ecotoxicology and environmental risk assessment associated with their potential environmental impacts. Here, we provide a critical perspective on published ecotoxicity studies of GFMs based on a meticulous bibliometric research. Analysis of the available data revealed that to date, ecotoxicity studies with GFMs have been carried out predominantly using freshwater species (82%), while their effects on marine or terrestrial or-ganisms are understudied. Three groups of organisms were found dominating ecotoxicological research: fish (39%), algae (20%) and arthropoda (20%) predominantly applying small, planktonic crustaceans. It was also revealed that despite their widespread detection in different environ-mental compartments the potential impacts of GFMs in complex test systems with hierarchical trophic organisation or in trophic transfer studies are significantly under-represented. One of the main causes was identified as the difficulties in the physicochemical characterisation of GFMs in complex terrestrial test systems or in aquatic micro- and mesocosm studies containing a sediment phase. The lack of tools for adequate characterisation of GFMs in these complex test systems may discourage researchers from conducting experiments under environmentally relevant test condi-tions. However, in the coming years, fundamental research about these complex test systems will con-tinue to better understand the mechanism behind GFMs toxicity affecting organisms in different environmental compartments and to ensure their safe and sustainable use in the future.

In this article we investigate the role of “Renewable Energy Consumption” in the context of Circular Economy. We use data from the World Bank for 193 countries in the period 2011-2020. We perform several econometric techniques i.e., Panel Data with Fixed Effects, Panel Data with Random Effects, Pooled OLS, WLS. Our results show that “Renewable Energy Consumption” is positively associated among others to “Cooling Degree Days” and “Adjusted savings: net forest depletion” and negatively associated among others to “GHG net emissions/removals by LUCF” and “Mean Drought Index”. Furthermore, we perform a cluster analysis with the application of the k-Means algorithm optimized with the Silhouette Coefficient and we find the presence of two clusters. Finally, we compare eight different machine learning algorithms to predict the value of Renewable Energy Consumption. Our results show that the Polynomial Regression is the best algorithm in the sense of prediction and that on average the renewable energy consumption is expected to growth of 2.61%.

This article aims to assess the benefits of floor-slab insulation measures using extruded polystyrene (XPS) and polyisocyanurate (polyiso) insulation materials at various levels of insulation thicknesses for a detached residential building. The EnergyPlus simulation analysis was carried out within the seven energy zones (represented by eight locations) of South Africa in accordance with the South African national code for building energy efficiency (SANS10400-XA). The energy savings and payback periods due to use of the insulation over a lifecycle period of 50 years were assessed. Cape Town (zone 4) behaved differently from other locations and hardly benefitted from the application of floor-slab insulation measures. Generally, polyiso insulation performed better than XPS, for vertical gap insulation. For vertical gap insulation, lower insulation thicknesses required higher insulation depths to maximize energy savings. Similarly, lower insulation thicknesses required higher perimeter insulation widths to maximize energy savings, for the horizontal perimeter insulation method. The locations that benefitted most from vertical gap floor-slab insulation were Pretoria (zone2), Kimberley (zone6), Nelspruit (zone3), Fraserburg (zone7), Welkom (zone1), Mthatha (zone5), Ixopo (zone5H) and Cape Town (zone4) in that order. This order was almost similar with those for the horizontal perimeter floor-slab insulation and horizontal full floor-slab insulation methods.

Following an updated outlook of global energy production and utilization, we show through selected examples from both developing and developed countries how distributed generation from renewable energy sources, and from solar energy in particular, is the key solution to ending energy poverty across the world. Guidelines aimed at policy makers suggest a systems view of energy that will be instrumental in guiding the transition from fossil fuels to combustion-free renewable energy for all energy end uses.

This analysis focuses on identifying the most efficient and cost-effective method of supplying power to a remote site, exploring photovoltaics (PV) and small wind turbines as primary power sources, and evaluating battery banks and hydrogen storage fuel cell systems as potential storage options. The hydrogen storage system converts surplus renewable power into hydrogen through an elec-trolyzer, storing it for later use in a fuel cell when renewable sources produce less power, enabling efficient energy storage during peak production periods. A sensitivity analysis of wind speed and hydrogen subsystem cost was conducted to evaluate the hydrogen storage system's performance. The optimal system graph suggests that the hydrogen subsystem must significantly decrease in cost to rival the battery bank, and in most cases, both the hydrogen system and battery bank were recommended together, offering reliable and efficient power for the remote site. While the battery bank is presently the more feasible option for powering the remote site, continuous monitoring and evaluation of both systems, considering site location, energy needs, and available resources, are essential to determine the most suitable power supply approach as technology advances and costs evolve over time.

The water and wastewater sectors are energy-intensive, and so a growing number of utility companies are seeking to identify opportunities to reduce energy use. Though England’s water sector is of international interest, in particular due to the early experience with privatisation, for the time being very little published data on energy usage exists. We analyse telemetry data from Thames Water Utilities Ltd. (TWUL), which is the largest water and wastewater company in the UK and serves one of the largest mega-cities in the world, London. In our analysis, we (1) break down sectoral energy use into their components, (2) present a statistical method to analyse the long-term trends in use, as well as the seasonality and irregular effects in the data, (3) derive energy-intensity (kWh m³) figures for the system, and (4) compare the energy-intensity of the network against other regions in the world. Our results show that electricity use grew during the period 2009 to 2014 due to capacity expansions to deal with growing water demand and storm water flooding. The energy-intensity of the system is within the range of reported figures for systems in other OECD countries. Plans to improve the efficiency of the system could yield benefits in lower the energy-intensity, but the overall energy saving would be temporary as external pressures from population and climate change are driving up water and energy use.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is increasingly prevalent in the quantification of environmental status in the building sector, following new legislative frameworks. Countries need to quantify and assess their environmental impacts as a previous base for regulation and decision making. In this context, standardised national data sets are being developed, based on consensus with manufacturers: sectoral Environmental Product Declarations. This study focuses on assessing these EPDs with the aim of providing relevant information for global decision-making, focusing on consistency and pointing out shortcomings. An assessment has been carried out both at national level, considering all sectoral EPDs and declared products, and at international level, with three common building materials (brick, steel and concrete). The results highlight the lack of traceability in the development and assessment of uncertainty, resulting in substantial discrepancies in reported impacts, especially in the later stages of the life cycle (up to 90% difference). Meanwhile, impacts such as Global Warming Potential or total renewable and non-renewable primary energy use show homogeneous values in the cradle-to-gate stages with differences generally less than 10%. The analysis of sectoral EPDs should be a design guide with environmental sustainability criteria, as the last section of this study attempts to focus on.

Energy citizenship is increasingly receiving attention and highlights the transformation from passive to active energy consumers who are aware of and responsible for the energy transition. The topic is often associated with energy communities, which are regarded as organizations that allow citizens to directly engage in energy and broader sustainability initiatives. The objective of the article is to examine the extent of public and private engagement in the energy transition among cooperative members as well as the propensity of energy communities to promote empowerment and inclusivity. To this end, we employ a mixed-methods approach, involving a sample of 5402 participants and 20 qualitative interviews in two prominent energy cooperatives in Europe, Ecopower in Flanders and è nostra in Italy. Our results show that although a small group of members demonstrate strong and active engagement, the majority of members prefer to engage informally, while still benefitting from the empowerment provided by their cooperative. Interestingly, one subset of members is more closely aligned with the role of financial investors. Eventually, flexibility in defining and framing expectations of member engagement can play a crucial role in promoting inclusivity within energy communities, especially by bringing closer those relatively less familiar with the issue.

The evolution of transportation has been inextricably tied to the progress of civilization. Through innovation, the automobile business has been working to improve safety, quality, and compliance with environmental regulations. Electric vehicles have made significant strides in this area, but optimizing their efficiency requires a special focus because they expend energy that can be recovered in a variety of ways. Energy harvesting, a cutting-edge technology that captures wasted energy from vehicles, has recently received a lot of attention as it constitutes a means to improve the efficiency of electric vehicles. Dissipated energy can be converted into electricity using regenerative energy recovery systems and put to various uses. This study tenders a thorough examination into energy recovery technologies which could be applied to the various types of energy dissipated in electric vehicles. Firstly, the paper investigates the possible sources of energy recoverable from an electric vehicle, as well as the various types of energy dissipated. Secondly, the article examines the energy recovery technologies most frequently used in vehicles, categorizing them according to the type of energy and application. Finally, it determines that with further research and development, energy harvesting holds considerable potential for improving the energy efficiency of electric vehicles. New and innovative methods for capturing and utilizing wasted energy in electric vehicles can be established. The potential benefits of applying energy recovery systems in electric vehicles is a vital issue for the automobile industry to focus on due to the potential benefits involved. The ongoing progress currently being made in this field is expected to play a significant role in shaping the future of transportation.

Large-scale integration of solar energy technologies in Rome’s built environment epitomizes the needed general adoption of distributed generation via functionalization of buildings of all size and end use across the world, to become active energy generators and no longer energy users only. This paper identifies selected technology solutions and critical policy and educational initiatives to effectively achieve within the next decade (2018-2027) the widespread uptake of decentralized solar energy systems in the built environment on a global scale.

The Philippines has the highest HIV incidence rate in the Asia-Pacific region. Previous studies identified multilevel factors contributing to this phenomenon. This scoping review describes the extent of the literature on HIV contributory factors and identifies gaps to guide directions for HIV prevention research. The keywords HIV incidence, individual, sociocultural, environmental factors, and Philippines, were used to search for evidence on Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. A total of 1,017 peer-reviewed articles published in the English language from 2014 to 2024 were reviewed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Scoping Review protocol. Thirty articles were included in this review. The majority of the available evidence was quantitative studies published between 2020 and 2024. Individual, sociocultural, economic, educational, political, and environmental factors shaped the Philippines’ HIV epidemic. Low levels of HIV knowledge, low testing rates, high-risk sex behaviors, stigma, lifestyle, location, lack of HIV education in schools, conservative society, and restrictive policies are HIV contributing factors. The Philippine HIV epidemic is multifactorial. Identifying the contributory factors is crucial in developing targeted interventions for high-risk populations. A dedicated HIV research program is needed to provide evidence-based information to guide the development of HIV preventive programs and research.

This study grounded in the Affective Events Theory, explores how post-pandemic urban residents' nostalgic tourism influences environmental behaviors in rural areas. The article constructs a model of pro-environmental behavior in rural settings with nostalgic tourism as the antecedent variable, environmental responsibility and awe as mediators, ecological concern as a moderating variable, and pro-environmental behavior as the outcome variable. Analyzing 535 valid survey responses from urban residents and utilizing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test research hypotheses reveals that nostalgic tourism significantly impacts environmental responsibility and awe. Environmental responsibility mediates between nostalgic tourism and pro-environmental behavior, forming a serial mediation chain with awe psychology, and its mediating effect is significant. However, awe psychology forms a serial mediation chain between nostalgic tourism and pro-environmental behavior, and its mediating effect is insignificant. Notably, environmental concern does not moderate the relationship between environmental responsibility and pro-environmental behavior, indicating no support for this hypothesis. The positive role of nostalgic tourism in pro-environmental behavior at rural tourism destinations enriches theoretical research on the nexus between nostalgia and environmental behavior, providing insights into the sustainable development of rural environments and the operation of rural tourism.

Factors responsible of species distribution were intensively investigated in the past, including response at different spatial scales. The aim of the present research is to review the most relevant factors explaining chironomid species distribution focusing to factors operating at different spatial scales, such as latitude, longitude, altitude, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, nutrients acting at regional, country, water basin extension. Data including chironomid species abundances from different lentic and lotic waters from Italy and other surrounding countries were analyzed with different multivariate methods: partial canonical correspondence analysis and multiple discriminant analysis. Spatial analysis included univariate Moran’I correlograms, multivariate Mantel correlograms and Moran’s Eigenvectors Maps (MEM) calculation. The results confirmed previous conclusions, that is habitat type including different running waters reaches (kryal, krenal, rhthral, potamal) and different lake types is the most significant factor in separating chironomid assemblages and spatial factors act only as indirect influencers..

Humanity is currently facing several global problems, such as global warming, air pollution, water pollution, deforestation, desertification and land degradation, which are connected to the consequences of negative human activity. One of the possible and effective institutional tools for environmental protection is the environmental education of the general population. It is a relatively well-known and used environmental protection policy tool that governments of all developed countries have in their instrument mix. This qualitative analysis assigned itself the task of investigating whether the ability of environmental education can be affected by certain neuropsychological diseases in addition to thinking about the psychology of environmental education at large. In order to fulfill this main task, the authors asked themselves the following research questions: 1st - Is pedagogical psychology identical and also applicable in the case of environmental education? And 2nd - What effect do some neuropsychological disorders have on the ability of environmental education? Based on the study, analysis, selection and comparison of current professional scientific works obtained from the research activities of current researches on this topic, it is possible to accept the premise that the psychology of environmental education is basically the same as the general psychology of education and that neuropsychological diseases do indeed affect the ability of environmental education similarly to scholarly education.

Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) was most important flame retardant in Expanded Polystyrene foam and Extruded Polystyrene foam in the past forty years in the world. China was the major producer and user of HBCD, and the total HBCD production was about 0.3 million tons. Although HBCD has been completely banned in China in 2021 because of its long-range transport, bioaccumulation and toxicity, there's still a lot of residues in environment. Therefore, we reviewed multiple studies concerning the distribution of HBCD in diverse environmental matrices, such as air, dust, soil, water, sediment and biota. Results revealed that HBCD levels in different environments in China present a geographical variation and were at high level compared with other countries. In all environmental media, relatively high HBCD concentrations have been found in industrial and urban areas. Industrialization and urbanization are two important factors that influence the concentration and distribution of HBCD in the environment. In terms of isomer, γ-HBCD was the dominant isomer in soil, water, and sediment, while in the biota, α-HBCD was the predominant isomer.

Amaranth has the potential to support Malawi's food and nutrition security, income generation and livelihoods, and climate change resilience efforts. Due to the high genetic variability of Ama-ranth, there is a need to develop stable and high-yielding genotypes for sustainable production. To determine the degree of genetic stability in different environments, five Amaranth accessions were subjected to stability analysis. The experiment was carried out at three sites (Bunda, Bembeke, and Chipoka) for two seasons in 2020-2021 in the central region of Malawi. It was laid out in Ran-domized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replicates. Eberhart and Russell linear regres-sion model was used for stability analysis and Pearson correlation was used to test the relationship between variables. Environmental variance + (genotype x environment) was significant for four of the parameters studied, namely grain yield, plant height, leaf length, and leaf width, indicating the presence of a remarkable interaction between genotypes and environment. The results of a pooled analysis of variance showed significant differences at a 5% significance level among the Amaranth accessions, indicating inherent genetic variability. Using the linear regression model of Eberhart and Russell, accessions PE-LO-BH -01 and LL-BH -04 were identified as the highest yielding stable genotypes for leaf and grain yield, respectively. In addition, Bembeke site was the most favourable environment for all the accessions. Thus, to enhance the production of amaranth in Malawi, LL-BH-04 and PE-LO-BH-01 were put forward for release as varieties for grain and leaf respectively. These results will also guide and support for future breeding programs.

Mango flowering phenostages were recorded under global warming conditions to assess the relationship between environmental cues and flowering time shifts and their consequences on reproductive success. Phenological transition to floral destiny was studied in relation to standard metrological week and weather parameters. Shifting of phenostage was recorded in Bud swelling, which is important for the shoot transitioning from vegetative to flowering meristem. Variations were also recorded for panicle elongation and early anthesis. The critical temperature for Bud burst stage was estimated for Dashehari, Langra, Amrapali and Chausa while Chausa had the propensity for late flowering correlated with higher temperature. The shifting of phenological calendar in response to weather parameters was obvious and needed a bigger range of yearly data for arriving at the climatic drives. In general, the results revealed that flower intensity was positively correlated with temperature, sunshine hours and evaporation while humidity showed a negative correlation. Hermaphrodite Flower % is an important attribute affecting fruit set and yield and was found most variable in the two years in the case of the three alternate bearing cultivars. In conclusion, it can be inferred that weather parameters prevailing in subtropics affect flowering intensity and consequently its fate i.e.; fruit yield.

Ecological corridors function as a viable way to mitigate the environmental impact arising from forest fragmentation by interconnecting forest fragments through various techniques. In this context, the objective of this study is to propose a route for the implementation of an ecological corridor in the Itapemirim river watershed. The specific objectives were: (i) to delimit the permanent preservation areas (APP) of the Itapemirim river watershed and compare land use and land cover in the delimited areas; (ii) to calculate landscape ecology indices and select the forest fragments with the highest potential for ecological corridor implementation using Fuzzy logic; (iii) to assess costs and trace the best route for ecological corridor implementation, considering distance and physical impediments; (iv) to assess land costs and expropriation costs to delimit the ecological corridor in the study area. To map land use and land cover, the MapBiomas platform was used, based on Landsat 8 satellite images. The permanent preservation areas were delimited according to criteria established by Law No. 12.651 of May 25, 2012, which establishes parameters, definitions, and limits for APP. The characterization and structural quantification of some landscape ecology indices were performed using the QGIS 3.26 computational application, through the LecoS 3.0.1 plugin and Fragstats 4.2. The connected forest fragments were the Caparaó National Park, the Serra das Torres State Natural Monument, and the fragments selected through the application of Fuzzy logic to the landscape ecology indices. The corridor was delimited according to the lowest cost route, considering land use and land cover, APP, fragment potential, slope, and subnormal clusters. For each cost raster image, its respective statistical weights were calculated using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) hierarchical method, as well as for the analysis of priority areas for forest restoration, considering land use and land cover, APP, pedology, lithology, and biological importance. The interconnection between protected areas and fragments with the ecological corridor followed the orientation described by CONAMA nº 09/96. Based on the development of the work, the following results were identified: the highest land use and land cover class is pasture. Of the area designated for permanent preservation, 68.58% is in conflicting use with the legislation. The bare land value per hectare of the pasture class is the second highest among the bare land value per LULC values, representing 64.28% of the total. The priority area map showed that 31.86% of the area was classified as of very high or high importance and 42.97% as low or very low priority for forest restoration. Thus, it is concluded that the least cost path algorithm associated with the result generated by the multi-criteria decision method (AHP) constitutes an important tool for planning and implementing an ecological network by taking into account the primary factors for decision-making regarding the location of the best route.

Environmental literate citizenship is a lifelong learning process that aims to develop citizens who have the knowledge, skills, and commitment to make responsible decisions that will affect the quality of the environment. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the environmental literacy levels of nursing students in terms of sustainable environmental by considering the dimensions of environmental literacy. It was also aimed at understanding the correlation among dimensions of environmental literacy and revealing the factors affecting the dimensions of environmental literacy. This research was designed as a descriptive study in the survey model. A total of 278 nursing students participated in this research. It was revealed that students obtained a high score for use and concern from the dimensions of environmental literacy, their attitudes towards the environment were moderate; however, nursing students took the lowest points for the environmental knowledge component, which indicates that students need support in environmental knowledge. It was put forward that there were statistically significant differences based on gender and taking environmental related courses with dimensions of environmental literacy. All dimensions of environmental literacy were found to be positively correlated with each other, ranging from low to moderate relations.

The risk of lung cancer continues to elevate for both smokers and never-smokers. With the increasing morbidities and mortalities related to lung cancer, there is much interest on establishing other confounding factors that lead to lung cancer, other than smoking which is the most common cause. Some of the environmental factors have been identified as potential lung cancer causes. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review is to assess the relationship of environmental factors and lung cancer incidences by investigating various carcinogenic risks exposures that predispose an individual to lung cancer. The objective of this systematic review is thus to assess the evidence of relationship between environmental carcinogens and lung cancer incidence by systematically reviewing relevant studies. A standard criterion for the review methodology was formulated to guide the review process and data extraction. Online databases like PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus (EMBASE), Google Scholar, Web of Science, and CINAHL were systematically searched for articles published between 2000 and 2021 that explored potential environmental carcinogens that were believed to expose occupational workers and individuals within the environment with lung cancer risks. 25 studies were eligible based on the selection criteria, and were finally included in the systematic review among which four were case-control studies, seven were cohorts, five was prospective, four were previous systematic reviews and four were systematic analysis. Chemical exposures like pesticides were analyzed for their carcinogenesis. Air pollution was also discussed with particulate and coal being the core of evidence of association with lung cancer. Second hand smoke, Asbestos, metal compounds like copper, PVC dust particles and ionizing radiations also provided evidence of environmental carcinogenesis associating to lung cancer cases.

With the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization in China, environmental issues have become a knotty problem, especially issues related to air, water, and solid-waste pollution. These pollutants pose threats to the health of the population and to that of communities and have a vicious influence on the healthcare system. Additionally, pollution also exhibits spill-over effects, which means that pollution in the local region could affect the healthcare services in a neighbouring region. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the relationship between pollution and healthcare. A spatial autocorrelation analysis was conducted and spatial panel econometric models were constructed to explore the characteristics of pollution and healthcare services in China and the relationship between them using data on all 31 provinces over twelve consecutive years (2006-2017). The results showed that the utilization of healthcare services and environmental pollution were not randomly distributed; unsurprisingly, air pollution and solid-waste pollution were mainly found in parts of northern China, while water pollution was highest in southern and coastal China. In addition, environmental pollution exhibited spill-over effects on healthcare services. For example, a 1% increase in solid waste in one specific geographical unit was estimated to increase the inpatient visits per capita in adjacent counties by 0.559%. Specifically, pollution showed different degrees of influence on healthcare services, which means that the impact of environmental pollution on the number of outpatient visits is greater than on the number of inpatient visits. Our results provide the government with evidence for effectively formulating and promulgating policies, especially policies aimed at tackling spill-over effects among different regions.

The world’s human population is reaching record longevities. Consequently, societies are experiencing the tangible impacts of prolonged longevity, such as increased retirement age. A major hypothesised influence on ageing patterns is resource availability and calorie restriction, considered by many to extend longevity in any organism. Here, we highlight challenges facing the field of calorie restriction research as it pertains to ageing and how more realistic environments can impact the role calorie restriction plays in longevity of species. We reviewed 120 peer-reviewed published studies to quantify calorie restriction effects on longevity. We show that calorie restriction research does not always have positive effects on ageing with 27% of studies having no, negative or neutral effects. Additionally, research is biased towards short-lived species and lacks realism. We argue that only by taking a more realistic approach can the impacts of calorie restriction on longevity under climate change be understood. We conclude by discussing Planarians and Hydra as model species that allow for future research to have a better understanding of calorie restriction effects on long-lived species, while incorporating climate change impacts. Steering future calorie restriction research towards integrating interaction effects across a broader range of species will begin addressing the challenges of calorie restriction research. Crucial insights from future research can contribute to the fundamental and translational understanding of human senescence.

Starting from the fact that the units of local self-government of the Republic of Serbia are not sufficiently oriented towards innovations related to human resources and the environment, the application of quantitative research tradition examines the positioning and understanding of certain procedures and decisions of human resources management regarding the functioning of the environmental protection system, on the one hand, and future strategies for changing the given system, on the other. A series of 105 face-to-face interviews were conducted during the whole of 2016 in 105 of the 191 municipalities in the Republic of Serbia. Examination of the attitudes of the local self-government was carried out using a specially designed closed electronic questionnaire. The results of the multivariate regressions show that the most important predictor of the possible improvement of the environment is the size of the municipality. The remaining variables (e.g., human resources policy, human resources service) did not have significant effects on the ability to improve the environment. In more than half of local self-governments, there was no clearly defined human resources strategy in the field of environmental protection, an environmental protection service, an Environmental Action Plan, as well as an employment plan for waste management in local governments, etc. The research has shown that top managers of local governments agree that the management of human resources in environmental protection represents a significant opportunity to improve the quality of the environment. The results of the research can be used to improve the organization of human resource competence in environmental protection and the quality of a working and sustainable environment in the area of local self-government.

Legionnaires’ disease is normally acquired by inhalation of legionellae from a contaminated environmental source. Water systems of large buildings, such as hospitals, are often contaminated with legionellae and therefore represent a potential risk for the hospital population. In this study, we demonstrated the constant presence of Legionella in water samples from the water system of a large university hospital in Messina (Sicily, Italy) consisting of 11 separate pavilions during a period of 15 years (2004-2018). In total, 1346 hot water samples were collected between January 2004 and December 2018. During this period, to recover Legionella spp. from water samples the standard procedures reported by the Italian Guidelines emanated in 2000 were adopted; from May 2015 to 2018 Italian Guidelines revised in 2015 (ISS, 2015), were used. The most water samples (72%) were positive to L. pneumophila serogroups 2-14 whereas L. pneumophila serogroup 1 accounted for the 18% and Legionella spp. for the 15%. Most of the positive samples were found in the buildings where are situated critical wards as ICU, Neurosurgery, Surgeries, Pneumology and Neonatal Intensive Unit Care. We highlighted the importance of a continuous monitoring of hospital water samples to prevent the potential risk of nosocomial legionellosis.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are thought to be potential incubators of antibiotic resistance. Persistence of commonly used antibiotics in wastewater may increase the potential for selection of resistance genes transferred between bacterial populations, some of which may pose a threat to human health. In this study, we measured the concentrations of ten antibiotics in wastewater plant influents and effluents, and in surface waters up- and downstream from two Charlotte area treatment facilities. We performed Illumina shotgun sequencing to assay the microbial community and resistome compositions at each site across four time points from late winter to mid-summer of 2016. Antibiotics are present throughout wastewater treatment, and elevated concentrations of multiple antibiotics are maintained in moving stream water downstream of effluent release. While some human gut and activated sludge associated taxa are detectable downstream, these seem to attenuate with distance while the core microbial community of the stream remains fairly consistent. We observe slight suppression of functional pathways in the downstream microbial communities, including amino acid, carbohydrate and nucleic acid metabolism as well as nucleotide and amino acid scavenging. Nearly all antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and potentially pathogenic taxa are removed in the treatment process, though a few ARG markers are elevated downstream of effluent release. Taken together, these results represent baseline measurements which future studies can utilize to help to determine which factors control the movement of antibiotics and resistance genes through aquatic urban ecosystems before, during and after wastewater treatment.

Background: Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) presents substantial health risks for pregnant women and newborn infants. Measurements of ETS include invasive and expensive biochemical tests as well as less invasive and lower-cost self-reported exposure and avoidance measures. Better understanding of self-report measures will help to select ETS assessments for evaluation. Methods: This analysis was conducted within the context of a tailored video intervention to reduce tobacco smoking and ETS exposure during pregnancy and after delivery, in the control group sample of 147 nonsmoking women. Measurements of salivary cotinine concentration, self-reported ETS exposure and avoidance behaviors were captured at 32 weeks gestation and 6 months postpartum. Results: Salivary cotinine concentration was significantly related to ETS avoidance among pregnant nonsmokers at 32 weeks gestation, but not ETS exposure. At 6 months postpartum, both the reported ETS exposure of the infant and maternal avoidance behaviors to reduce her infant’s exposure were associated with the infant’s salivary cotinine concentration. At 32 weeks gestation and 6 months postpartum, avoidance behaviors decreased as exposure increased. Discussion: This study suggests that for nonsmoking women during pregnancy, report of tobacco smoke avoidance is more valid than report of exposure. After delivery, self-reported ETS exposure or avoidance are associated with each other and biochemical measurement of salivary cotinine. These results provide researchers and clinicians with evidence to support inclusion of avoidance behaviors in the selection of ETS measure.

Data relating to the rate at which pesticide active substances dissipate on or within various plant matrices are important for a range of different risk assessments; however, despite the importance of this data, dissipation rates are not included in the most common online data resources. Databases have been collated in the past, but these tend not to be maintained or regularly updated. The purpose of the exercise described herein was to collate a new database in a format compatible with the main online pesticide database resource (the Pesticide Properties Database, PPDB), to validate this database in line with the Pesticide Properties Database protocols and thus ensure that the data is maintained and updated in future. Data was collated using a systematic review approach using several scientific databases. Collated literature was subjected to a quality assessment, and then data was extracted into an MS Excel spreadsheet. The outcome of the study is a database based on data collated from 1390 published articles covering over 400 pesticides and over 200 crops across a wide variety of different matrices (leaves, fruits, seeds etc.) for pesticide residues on the crop surface, as well as residues absorbed within the plant material. This data is now fully incorporated into the PPDB.

Background: Smoking, including environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure is a well-known risk factor for diabetes. Low socioeconomic status, especially lack of education, also is a risk factor for diabetes. Therefore, we assessed the association of education and smoking status, including ETS exposure, with the prevalence of diabetes. Methods: Data were from the 2007–2013 Korea National Health and Nutritional Evaluation Survey (KNHANES). Multivariable logistic regression examined associations between various lifestyle and health factors and prevalence of diabetes while controlling for potential confounding variables. Subgroup analysis was performed according to smoking status to determine factors associated with diabetes. Results: Of 19,303 individuals analyzed, 1,325 (11.4%) had diabetes. Greater average age, male sex, lower educational level, unemployment, and coexisting health problems were significantly associated with diabetes. Individuals with only elementary, middle, or high school level education had significantly greater odds ratios (p<0.05) compared to college graduates; smokers and nonsmokers exposed to ETS had significantly greater OR (p<0.05) than nonsmokers unexposed to ETS. Subgroup analysis of diabetics according to smoking status revealed significant associations (p<0.05) for diabetic nonsmokers exposed to ETS with female sex, single status, elementary level education, urban residence, National Health Insurance (NHI), hypertension, no alcohol intake, and no moderate physical activity. For diabetic smokers, there were significant associations (p<0.05) with elementary education, urban residence, lack of moderate physical activity, no alcohol intake, and NHI. Conclusions: The results suggested that smoking status, including ETS exposure, was associated with a higher prevalence of diabetes especially in populations with less education. Thus, we should direct efforts for controlling diabetes toward individuals with lower levels of education, and those who are smokers and nonsmokers exposed to ETS.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the incidence of breast (females), prostate, testicular and thyroid cancer in the Italian National Priority Contaminated Sites (NPCSs), served by cancer registries, where the presence of endocrine disruptors (EDs), reported to be linked to these tumors, was documented. Evidence of carcinogenicity of EDs present in NPCs was assessed based on evaluation by international scientific institutions/committees. Standardized Incidence Ratios (SIRs) were computed for each NPCS and cancer site with reference to the time window 1996-2005. Excess incidence of one or more cancer site at study was found in twelve out of fourteen NPCSs. Significantly increased SIRs were found for breast cancer in eight NPCSs, for prostate cancer in six, for thyroid cancer (both gender) in four and for testicular cancer in two. Non significantly increased SIRs were found in five NPCSs for testicular cancer and in two for thyroid cancer (males). Even if increased incidence of one or more cancer sites at study were found in several NPCSs, the ecological study design and the multifactorial etiology of the considered tumors do not allow reaching conclusions in terms of causal links with environmental contamination. In light of the observation of some excesses in SIRs, continuing epidemiological surveillance is warranted.

Small modular reactors (SMR) (&lt;300 MW) offer a potentially attractive nuclear energy option for the middle-east region (MER). Currently, the MER uses a significant amount of fossil fuel to process heat applications such as water desalination and in petroleum refineries and chemical plants, besides generating electricity. SMR technologies represent an opportunity to meet future energy demand in the MER. This paper discusses issues related to the future development and use of SMR technology in nuclear-renewable hybrid energy systems for application in the middle east. SMRs have also been examined as part of a resilient hybrid energy system that combines nuclear energy with renewable energy and traditional fossil energy to produce chemicals, fuels, and electricity. This paper presents the results of a techno-economic analysis of a Nuclear-Renewable-Conventional Hybrid Energy System. The paper concludes that SMR technology will be an essential feature of future hybrid energy systems for the MER.

Energy system modelling is an essential practice to assist a set of heterogeneous stakeholders in the process of defining an effective and efficient energy transition. From the analysis of a set of open source energy system models, it has emerged that most models employ an approach directed at finding the optimal solution for a given set of constraints. On the contrary, a simulation model is a representation of a system that is used to reproduce and understand its behaviour under given conditions, without seeking an optimal solution. Given the lack of simulation models that are also fully open source, in this paper a new open source energy system model is presented. The developed tool, called Multi Energy Systems Simulator (MESS), is a modular, multi-node model that allows to investigate non optimal solutions by simulating the energy system. The model has been built having in mind urban level analyses. However, each node can represent larger regions allowing wider spatial scales to be be represented as well. MESS is capable of performing analysis on systems composed by multiple energy carriers (e.g. electricity, heat, fuels). In this work, the tool’s features will be presented by a comparison between MESS itself and an optimization model, in order to analyze and highlight the differences between the two approaches, the potentialities of a simulation tool and possible areas for further development.

This study examines the dynamic relationship between Green Human Resource Management (Green HRM), Environmental Performance (EP), Green Employee Behavior (GEB), and Environmental Knowledge and Awareness (EKAW) within the Egyptian hospitality sector context. Using Pearson correlation coefficients and regression analyses on a sample of 400 staff members from hotels and tourist villages in Egypt, the study examines Green HRM practices’ influence on EP, mediated by GEB and moderated by EKAW. The findings reveal significant positive correlations between Green HRM practices and these mediators, indicating that comprehensive environmental strategies and incentive management are pivotal in promoting eco-friendly practices among employees. The study further confirms GEB and EKAW’s substantial mediating role in enhancing EP. The results also suggest that while EKAW and GEB independently contribute to EP, their interaction and the role of environmental awareness as a potential moderator warrant further examination. This research contributes to the literature on sustainable business practices by underscoring human resource strategies’ integral role in achieving environmental sustainability goals, highlighting the importance of incentivizing green practices, and cultivating an organizational culture that prioritizes EKAW. These insights are particularly valuable for organizations seeking to enhance their ecological footprint through effective Green HRM practices.

Current and dynamic developments in green technologies have led to several innovation practices in the manufacturing sector only to become the top approaches used for achieving and accelerating sustainable development (SD) in the current business markets. In addition, manufacturing firms is in need of green innovation to be able to monitor and control their operations and enhance their environmental performance. However, regardless of its many benefits, the level of green innovation adoption and implementation is still lower than expected among manufacturing industries. Thus, this study aimed to minimize the gap by developing and validating a study model underpinned by Resource based view and Institutional theories, along with the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework in combination to convince firms to adopt green innovation. The study gathered data from 179 respondents using a survey distributed to manufacturing firms, after which data was exposed to Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach, for analysis. Based on the approach deliverables, all the integrated constructs of the model, namely perceived benefits, top management support, coercive pressure, normative pressure and mimetic pressure all predicted green management accounting practices. Moreover, green management accounting practices were found to directly and significantly affect green environmental performance. The developed integrated model provides a clear implication to decision-makers, indicating the importance of adopting and using green practices and innovative technologies for enhancing environmental performance. Based on the results from the reviewed advanced green technologies studies, there is considerable connection between green management accounting practices and environmental performance in the context of developing economies.

As the cost of conventional energy continues to rise, and concerns over the environment grow, there is a growing interest in sustainable energy. It is believed that conventional energy will only last for around 50 years, making it essential to find a renewable energy source that is safe and feasible to replace fossil fuels. Solar energy is a superior alternative to conventional energy, as it is renewable and produces green energy that can be used directly. The maritime industry has found itself at the forefront of an evolving environmental consciousness, driven by the imperative to mitigate the carbon footprint left in the wake of ships. In this journey towards sustainability, solar energy has emerged as a beacon of hope, harnessing the boundless energy of the sun to wean vessels off their dependence on fossil fuels. Technological advancements have made solar power more accessible, and we can now see the use of solar panels on large ships and small crafts to reduce fuel usage and emissions. Solar panels are also increasingly used to power homes and businesses, and many countries are implementing policies to encourage their use. Solar energy is a key solution in reducing our dependence on non-renewable energy sources and combating climate change. However, the adoption of solar energy is but a stepping stone towards maritime sustainability, as the integration of CO2 capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies promises to amplify the industry's environmental impact to unprecedented heights.

Energy imbalance gap (EIG) is defined as the average daily difference between energy intake (EI) and energy expenditure (EE). This study aimed to examine the associations between EIG and sociodemographic and anthropometric variables in the adolescent population of eight Latin American countries. A total of 680 adolescents aged 15 to 18 were included in this study. EI was estimated using two non-consecutive 24-hour dietary recalls. EE was predicted from Schofield equations using physical activity levels obtained through the long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Sociodemographic data and anthropometric measurements were also obtained. A descriptive analysis and multilevel linear regression models were used to examine associations between variables. The mean EI, EE, and EIG were 2091.3 kcal, 2067.8 kcal, and 23.5 kcal, respectively. Argentina and Colombia had the highest EI and EIG, whereas Chile and Costa Rica had the lowest EI and EIG. Males had a higher EI (2262.4 kcal) and EE (2172.2 kcal) than females (1930.1 kcal and 2084.5 kcal), respectively (p<0,05). Overweight subjects had a lower EIG than did underweight and normal-weight subjects (p<0,05). Subjects with high SES had a lower EE (2047.0 kcal) than those with low SES (1963.7 kcal) (p<0,05). Sex and BMI were associated with EIG in adolescents from Latin America.

A comprehensive Energy Audit of a Maintenance facility was performed to assess its energy performance and identify scope for improvement. The facility’s Energy Use Intensity (EUI) for 2022 was 404 kWh/m2 — more than double the Benchmark EUI for Maintenance facilities (151 kWh/m2) recommended by EnergyStar. Furthermore, the Load Factor for 2022 was 0.22, which is lower than the recommended minimum of 0.75 for an efficient building. The audit encompassed an in-depth evaluation of the building's structural and operational characteristics, comprising HVAC systems, lighting, building envelope, and energy-intensive machinery. An energy model of the building was developed to emulate the baseline building energy performance for 2022. Following the energy model's development and validation, an analysis was conducted to identify energy-intensive areas and opportunities for optimization. Energy Efficiency Measures were then formulated, focusing on improving energy efficiency while focusing on energy consumption reduction and GHG emission reduction. Results demonstrated the potential of Energy Audits and Modeling to enable significant reductions in energy consumption and promote sustainable building practices. Among the Energy Efficiency Measures considered, re-sizing and decarbonizing HVAC equipment contributed the most to energy savings, with a 100% decrease in natural gas and 37% decrease in electricity use annually.

The analysis presented is based on actual GHU energy demand. The special feature of this load is the existence of strong daily fluctuations in energy consumption, especially during the summer months. This study presents a methodology for managing such loads with the main objective of maximizing the operating efficiency of MG.

In the last 20 years, the share of renewable energy sources in the production of electricity in the European Union has doubled, from about 15% to almost 35%. The main driver of this development has been the increase in the share of wind energy and solar photovoltaic energy. The authors aim to analyze the influencing factors that affect the energy transition process applied to nautical tourism, from polluting energy to renewable solar energy. The authors' research approach consists in using the framework offered by the energy transition process from the perspective of the socio-technical and economic approach, by applying the qualitative research method with a deductive approach. The tool used to achieve the objective was the semi-structured interview. The research unitarily, holistically, and specifically approaches the problem of energy transition from polluting sources to renewable ones offered by solar energy, in the case of nautical tourism with direct implications on the specific industry in the Netherlands. The research results are structured in the fields of technology, governance, economics, and user preferences. This research has the potential to provide support to find optimal solutions that encourage users to accelerate the energy transition process by adopting sustainable solutions for nautical tourism.

Sustainability of current energy policies and known mid-term policies are analised in their multiple facets. First an overview is given about the trend of global energy demand and energy production, analysing the share of energy sources and the geographic distribution of demand, on the basis of statistics and projections published by major agencies. The issue of sustainability of the energy cycle is finally addressed, with specific reference to systems with high share of renewable energy and storage capability, highlighting some promising energy sources and storage approaches.

Since the requirements in terms of power of the electronic applications range wide, the developed Energy Harvesting (EH) systems limit their availability to the less power demanding applications. However, this paper focuses on increasing the energy levels collected in the EH system so that it can be included in more demanding applications in terms of power. Therefore, an electronic system capable of grouping many single harvesting channels into one single system is analyzed in this paper. This multi-harvester electronic system is able to manage efficiently the energy collected by multiple vibratory transducers. The paper includes a comparison of its performance against some of the State-of-the-Art EH energy management circuits that interface the transducers. The method employed to demonstrate the intrinsic efficiency of each of the electronic circuits tested was based on experimental tests, where the average power transferred from several identical and simultaneous electric sources to a single storage element was measured. It was found out that only one energy management circuit was able to increase the transferred energy in a linear way while new input electric sources were added.

The global energy transition is motivated largely by the need to combat climate change. Other reasons include limits to available fossil fuels, energy-related environmental impacts of many kinds, and societal goals such as equity and providing sustainable energy for the poor. This transition will significantly change the world both technically, economically and socially. It is taking shape with characteristics which prioritise certain types of policy, interventions and solutions, as well as certain actors and institutional forces. More fundamentally, it embodies underlying assumptions about what constitutes a desirable type of economy and society. Briefly stated, the energy transition is being geared to a conventional economic growth-focused type of development; including the not unchallenged concept of green growth. Not everyone, however, would agree on those priorities or the underlying assumptions. We point out various constraints and limitations which this approach places on the energy transition. Whilst much of the change being initiated is positive, we argue that different views, which lie closer to discourses such as strong sustainability (1), deep ecology (2) and ecological economics (3, 4) might prioritise differently and offer both necessary and desirable outcomes. Given the predominant focus on energy and climate, equally essential goals such as equity and eradication of poverty appear to be at particular risk of being missed. Building on examples and recent experience we argue that achieving global sustainable energy, not least the societal goals, remains unlikely within socio-political frameworks permeated by the imperatives of market-driven growth, the commodification of resources, and intense competitive dynamics. Technology and economics, the themes of this issue, have far-reaching societal implications and outcomes. We argue that it is essential that they be considered within the broad context discussed here.

There is increasing demand from stakeholders for tools to support outcome-based approaches in environmental management. For such tools to be useful, understanding user requirements is key. In Scotland, UK, stakeholders were engaged in the development of an Environmental Decision Support System (EDSS) to support the management of land and freshwater resources for multiple policy outcomes. A structured participatory engagement process was employed to determine stakeholder requirements, establish development principles to fulfil these requirements and road-test prototypes. The EDSS specification that emerged from this bottom-up process was spatially-explicit, free at the point of use, and touch and mobile device compatible. This application, which is under development, does not closely resemble most existing published EDSS. We suggest that there is a mismatch between the way scientists typically conceptualise EDSS and the kinds of applications that are likely to be useful to decision-makers on the ground. Interactive mobile and web-based geospatial information services have become ubiquitous in our daily lives, but their importance is not reflected in current literature on EDSS. The current focus in environmental management on adaptive, stakeholder-centred strategies based on outcomes offers an opportunity to make better use of these new technologies to aid decision-making processes.

Paper presents the energy policy of the Republic of Serbia with special attention to the energy situation on the government controlled territory. South Serbian autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija is under UN jurisdiction since the 1999 according to UNSC Resolution 1244. Renewable energy sources are rarely used in Serbia with exception of energy from hydropower plants, but in this sector priorities in geothermal and energy coming from biomass recently increased. In natural gas sector, Serbia has the deal with Russia for construction of South Stream gas-line through Serbia and for construction of the first underground storage in depleted gas reservoir in Banatski Dvor. In 2008, Serbia also sold 51% of the government founded petroleum industry – NIS which has exclusive monopoly for exploitation of crude oil. Serbian government has complete monopoly in electric power sector. Electric power infrastructure became technologically obsolete, and operative efficiency is at very low level. Serbia has not yet decided whether Serbian Electric Power Industry – EPS will be privatized. District heating sector mostly natural gas fuelled is highly inefficient and it is in jurisdiction of local municipalities but also has social component dictated by central government.

The purpose of the evaluation of the Peruvian energy generation system is to project the electricity generation and demand until the year 2050. To achieve this, three alternative scenarios have been defined and analyzed using the LEAP (Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning) software. The scenarios are as follows: the first one, Business-as-Usual scenario, based on normal trends according to historical data and referencing projections made by Peruvian state entities; the second one is focused on Energy Efficiency, the highlighted characteristic is taking into consideration the efficient conditions in transmission and distribution of electric energy; and the third one, centered on Geothermal Energy, focused on the development of this type of energy source and prioritizing it. The primary purpose of this analysis is to identity advantages and disadvantages inherent in each scenario in order to get the best of each one. In this way, the intention is to propose solutions based on Peru’s national reality or possible uses of the country’s energy potential to supply its energy demand. Currently, Peru’s energy demand relies on fossil fuels, hydraulic, and thermal energy. However, there is the possibility of transforming this system into a sustainable one, by strengthening existing and growing energy sources such as solar and wind energy, and new technologies for hydraulic and thermal energy, in addition to considering geothermal energy as the main energy source in the third scenario. The new system mentioned satisfactorily indicate that the CO2 equivalent emissions decrease significantly in the third scenario, with a 15.8% reduction compared to the first scenario and a 9.7% reduction in comparison to the second. On the other hand, the second scenario shows a 5.6% decrease in CO2 emissions compared to the first, resulting from improvements in technology and energy efficiency without requiring significant modifications or considerable investments, as in the third scenario.

The integration of the increasing share of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) requires the availability of suitable energy storage systems to improve the grid flexibility, and Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) systems could be a promising option. In this study, a CO2-free Diabatic CAES system is proposed and analysed. The plant configuration is derived from a down-scaled version of the McIntosh diabatic CAES plant, where the natural gas is replaced with green hydrogen, produced on site by a Proton Exchange Membrane electrolyser powered by a Photovoltaic power plant. In this study, the components of the hydrogen production system are sized to maximize the Self-Consumption share of PV energy generation and the effect of the design parameters on the H2-CAES plant performance are analysed on a yearly basis. Moreover, a comparison between the use of natural gas and hydrogen in terms of energy consumption and CO2 emissions is discussed. The results show that the proposed hydrogen fuelled CAES can effectively match the generation profile and the yearly production of the natural gas fuelled plant by using all the PV energy production, while producing zero CO2 emissions.

“Energy” is probably the most important term in science and technology. The reason is energy can be converted while it is overall conserved, and thereby correlates changes of a wide variety. Despite its successful use in many areas over more than a century, an analysis of current literature shows that definitions of what energy is and explanations why it is conserved are inconsistent. With regard to energy forms not even a definition was found, and examples given are often wrong. Looking at two interacting objects in the most simple situations, with energy conservation but without conversion, a consistent understanding of energy and its conservation can be derived. Based on it, the systematic set of energy forms with a clear definition of each is then presented.

In this paper, solar irradiance and wind speed forecasts were performed considering time horizons ranging from 10 min to 60 min, under a 10 min time-step. Global horizontal irradiance (GHI) and wind speed were computed using four forecasting models (Random Forest, k-Nearest Neighbours, Support Vector Regression, and Elastic Net) to compare their performance against two alternative dynamic ensemble methods (windowing and arbitrating). Forecasting models and dynamic forecasting ensembles were implemented in Python for performance evaluation. The performance comparison between the prediction models and the dynamic ensemble methods was carried out by evaluating the RMSE, MAE, R² and MAPE, to evaluate whether the dynamic ensemble forecasting method obtained greater. According to the results obtained windowing dynamic ensemble method was the most efficient among the tested. For the wind speed data, by varying its parameter λ (from 1 to 100), a variable performance profile was obtained, where from λ =1 to λ = 74, windowing proved to be the most efficient, reaching maximum efficiency for λ = 19. Windowing was the best method for the GHI analysis, reaching its best performance for λ = 1. The efficiency gain using windowing was 0.56% when using the wind speed model and 1.96% for GHI.

A Life Cycle Analysis was performed considering three existing power plants of comparable size operating with different sources of renewable energy: geothermal, solar and wind. Primary data were used for building the life cycle inventories. The geothermal power plant includes emissions treatment for removal of hydrogen sulfide and mercury. The scenario about the substitution of natural emissions from geothermal energy, with specific reference to the greenhouse effect, is also investigated performing a sensitivity analysis. The results are characterized employing a wide portfolio of environmental indicators employing the Recipe 2016 and the ILCD 2011 Midpoint+ methods; normalization and weighting are also applied using the Recipe 2016 method at endpoint level. The results demonstrate a good eco-profile of geothermal power plant with respect to other renewable energy systems and allow for a critical analysis to support potential improvements of the environmental performances.

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), residential buildings’ energy consumption accounts for almost 50% of the building stock electricity consumption. The electricity generation consumes over one-third of the daily oil production. KSA was ranked as one of the highest countries in fossil fuel consumption per capita in 2014. Moreover, the KSA’s economy heavily relies on fossil fuel sources, namely oil reservoirs, whereby depletion will negatively affect the future development of the country. The total electricity consumption is annually growing by approximately 5-8%, which would lead to identical oil consumption to oil production in 2035. Currently, the KSA government is concerned to generate more renewable energy using large renewable energy plants. The government is investing in energy generation through renewable sources, by financing large scale photovoltaic farms to stop an economic crisis that may occur in 2035. The existing building stock consumes around 80% of the total current Saudi electricity that is generated. According to the Saudi energy efficiency report, the primary energy consumption per capita is over three times higher than the world average. Therefore, the residential buildings need further assessment as to their current energy consumption. This research used a survey to explore current user behaviour in residential buildings energy performance in the city of Jeddah, KSA. The findings of the survey showed: • The buildings thermal properties were found to be poorly designed • The majority of users within the buildings prefer a room temperature of below 24 °C, which requires a massive amount of cooling • Due to the climate conditions and the cultural aspects of KSA, housing units are occupied for more than 18 hours per day • An increase in user awareness has helped to slightly improve residential buildings energy efficiency Knowing the current high energy consumption sources and causes and being able to define available opportunities for further developments on building thermal properties enhancements and how to increase user awareness to reach self-sustaining buildings is essential.

An energy diagnosis is a tool used to seek the improvement of energy saving measures, environmental conservation and energy efficiency, making relevant its implementation in any kind of buildings. For this article, an energy diagnosis of third level was carried out in buildings of the Instituto de Energías Renovables (IER) from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) through survey and census of the 36 buildings in the IER, in order to characterize current patterns of energy consumption and demand, and generating specific strategies towards savings and energy efficiency, such as indicators and corrective proposals within and non-financial investment.

The rise of fintech in the financial sector presents a transformative shift towards digitalization and sustainability, leveraging technologies like AI to minimize environmental footprint. Neobanks not only challenge traditional banking models but also offer innovative solutions that align with sustainable objectives. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of neobanks on global sustainability, from economic, environmental, and social point of view. A comprehensive literature review of existing literature and current sustainable practices of neobanks was conducted. We have found that neobanks significantly positively contribute towards environmental sustainability with reduced paper use and logistics requirements of banking services. By offering more accessible and affordable banking services they importantly contribute towards higher financial inclusion, and with innovative products towards more competitive and innovative financial markets. AI-based tools they employ are increasing financial literacy and social inclusion. We also highlight concerns regarding electronic waste management, potential high energy consumption, required digital literacy and cybersecurity risks. We conclude that despite the mentioned risks, neobanks importantly contribute to global sustainability in many ways, and will even more in the future. Our findings can help neobanks shape sustainable practices and guide policymaking, as well as spread awareness of sustainable impact of banking services.

As belonging to one of the most isolated continents on our planet, the microbial composition of different environments in Antarctica could hold a plethora of undiscovered species with potential for biotechnological applications. This manuscript delineates our discoveries after an expedition to the Bulgarian Antarctic Base "St. Kliment Ohridski" situated on Livingston Island, Antarctica. Amplicon-based metagenomics targeting the 16S rRNA genes and ITS2 region were employed to assess the metagenomes of the bacterial, fungal and archaeal communities across diverse sites within and proximal to the research station. The predominant bacterial assemblages identified included Oxyphotobacteria, Bacteroidia, Gammaprotobacteria and Alphaprotobacteria. A substantial proportion of cyanobacteria reads were attributed to a singular uncultured taxon within the family Leptolyngbyaceae. The bacterial profile of a lagoon near the base exhibited indications of penguin activity, characterized by a higher abundance of Clostridia, similar to lithotelm samples from Hannah Pt. Although most fungal reads in the samples could not be identified at the species level, noteworthy genera, namely Betamyces and Tetracladium, were identified. Archaeal abundance was negligible, with prevalent groups including Woesearchaeales, Nitrosarchaeum, Candidatus Nitrosopumilus and Marine Group II.

Background: Children's environmental health encompasses a wide range of factors that impact the well-being of children, including physical, chemical, biological, and social elements in their immediate environment. Safeguarding children from harmful substances is the crucial role of nursing students. Nursing students play a vital role as valuable resources for individuals, families, communities, and policymakers. This study aims to assess the knowledge and skills of nursing students concerning children's environmental health at academic institutions delivering nursing program in Nekemte town, Ethiopia. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was carried out from August 1–30, 2023, among nursing students in Nekemte Town, and 634 study participants were selected through simple random sampling. Data was entered into Epinfo version 6.4 and exported to STATA version 14 for analysis, and multicollinearity was checked. Finally, from the bivariate analysis, variables of < 0.2 were included in the multivariate analysis; an adjusted odd ratio with a 95% CI was computed; and variables with a P-value <0.05 in the multivariable analysis were taken as significant associated factors. Results: The overall nursing students' level of knowledge about children's environmental health was insufficient (56%). More than one-third (34%) demonstrate their skill towards children's environmental health insufficiently, and one-fourth (25%) and 27% of the learners conduct their craft to prevent children from ecological hazards to a good and better level, respectively. While gender of the participant, age of the participant, year of the study, training history of the participants, and field of study of the students were significantly associated variables with their knowledge of children's environmental health. Conclusion: The study reveals that nursing students' knowledge of children's environmental health is limited, with factors such as gender, age, training history, and field of study significantly influencing their understanding. Therefore, female students should be considered for more tutorials to be effectively knowledgeable regarding children’s environmental health.

With global climate change and resource constraints looming large, sustainable design has become a focus of attention for all industries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes and behavioural intentions of undergraduate fashion design students towards sustainable fashion practices. Undergraduate fashion design students (n = 441) from three universities in Guangdong Province, China, participated in this survey. By constructing different scales of environmental knowledge, attitude towards sustainable fashion practice and behavioural intention towards sustainable fashion practice, and by using structural equation modelling to analyse the relationship between environmental knowledge and sustainable fashion practice, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) environmental knowledge has a positive effect on attitude towards sustainable fashion practice (p＜0.05); (2) environmental knowledge has a positive effect on behavioural intention towards sustainable fashion practice (p＜0.05); (3) Subjective norms has a positive effect on behavioural intention towards sustainable fashion practice (p＜0.05). (4) Attitudes towards sustainable fashion practice play a mediating role in the relationship between environmental knowledge and intentions towards sustainable fashion practice behaviour (p＜0.05). The findings of this study have implications for environmental education for undergraduate fashion design students and for sustainable production in companies.

Environmental perception is a powerful tool for identifying community needs and potential within their surroundings. This study assessed tourists' environmental perception regarding solid waste and its impact on the Hurtado balneary, located in Valledupar, Colombia. From May to July 2023, the investigation delved into the environmental attitudes and behaviors of 769 balneary users by employing a combination of observation, photographic documentation, and a comprehensive 21-question online survey. The findings unveiled compelling insights: an overwhelming 98.8% of participants acknowledged the adverse effects of solid waste on the environment, with an impressive 98% demonstrating a willingness to participate in waste management efforts. Alarmingly, 42.13% exhibited limited awareness of waste management practices, reflecting a lack of public interest and commitment (41.61%). Statistically significant disparities emerged: 59% of waste items were not appropriately disposed of in designated receptacles. Reasons for this included a lack of a sense of belonging (50.2%) and inadequate environmental education (45.6%). 96% expressed the need for river conservation signage, while 59.8% had not engaged in environmental training. The implications of these results extend beyond the Hurtado balneary, potentially informing solid waste management strategies in other aquatic environments. Furthermore, this investigation aligns with three critical Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 12, emphasizing responsible consumption and production; SDG 13, addressing climate action; and SDG 15, advocating for life on land and below water. Keywords: Tourism; solid waste; surface water; environmental management.

Sri Lanka is a top producer of premium quality concentrated latex (CL), which becomes a base material for dipped rubber products such as gloves and condoms. The processing of CL is resource-intensive, requiring significant amounts of energy, fuel, water, and chemicals. This process leads to various environmental issues such as wastewater pollution, malodor, and greenhouse gas emissions. Several environmental life cycle assessments (ELCA) have been conducted at international and local levels to address the aforesaid issues. However, ELCAs encapsulating different environmental impact areas on CL processing in Sri Lanka are absent. The study revealed that electricity usage was the main hotspot of the environmental burden, significantly impacting Abiotic depletion (fossil fuels), Global warming potential, Ozone layer depletion, Photochemical oxidation, and Acidification. Heavy reliance on coal in the Sri Lankan power grid was identified as the root of this trend. The study suggested two viable options to mitigate the environmental impact: installing inverters to centrifuge separators and solar systems in the factories. The second option was deemed more effective, reducing Acidification, Photochemical oxidation, and Global Warming Potential by approximately 37%, 36%, and 28%, respectively. Relevant officials may immediately consider these improvement options and collaborate to pave the way to a sustainable natural rubber industry.

This study empirically examines the spatial spillover effect of various environmental regulations on green technology innovation using panel data from 284 county-level cities in China between 2007 and 2019. A geographical-economic spatial weight matrix is constructed, and the spatial Durbin model is employed to identify the specific characteristics of this spillover effect. The findings indicate that the spatial spillover effect of green technology innovation primarily occurs through geographical transmission. However, there is no significant spatial autocorrelation when using the economic distance weight matrix. Various types of environmental regulations influence the spatial spillover effect of green technology innovation in distinct ways. Specifically, Market-motivated environmental regulation exhibits a U-shaped relationship with the spatial spillover effect, while Command-controlled environmental regulation demonstrates an inverted U-shaped relationship, suggesting a complementary effect. Additional research shows that the upgrading of industrial structure acts as a mediator between command environmental regulation and the spatial spillover effect of green technology innovation. Government departments should comprehensively coordinate Market-motivated environmental regulation and Command-controlled environmental regulation, accurately assess the intensity of Command-controlled measures, and prevent the migration of green technology innovation elements caused by excessive regulatory measures within enterprises.

This review aims to describe an edible packaging system in food production. The growing global population, changes in climate and dietary patterns, as well as increasing need for environmental protection have created an increasing demand for waste-free food production. The need for durable and sustainable packaging materials has become significant to avoid food waste and environmental pollution. Edible packaging has emerged as a promising solution also to extend the shelf life of food products and reduce dependence on petroleum-based resources. In this review, the importance, composition, and functions of edible packaging materials, as well as their production methods, were described. The market value of edible packaging materials is expanding. It needs further research and development of edible packaging materials to increase sustainable, eco-friendly packaging practices significant for environmental protection and food safety.

Rat is one of the most commonly used model animals for biological research. The organs and systems of human being are somewhat similar to that of rat in structure as well as functions, making it a valuable choice for research experimentation in biological sciences. A number of studies have been conducted to evaluate the potential risks and toxicity of different elements on the physiology and histology of rats. There is need to address certain environmental factors affecting rats condition during experimentation. Reproduction along with its pathologies is under investigation on larger scale throughout the world, being central for the existence of a species. These studies focus on the major factors that influence reproductive function. Review of literature clearly indicated the unwanted consequences of over nutrition, malnutrition, high or low temperature, non-enriched housing, improper handling, intense or poor light exposure and environmental pollution on histology and hormonal profile of reproductive system of rats.