Topic Review
Eco-efficiency
The term eco-efficiency was first proposed in 1990 by Schaltegger and Sturm. However, it was in 1991 that the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) was responsible for introducing one of the main concepts of eco-efficiency to the world. The term was defined as the delivery of economically competitive goods and services that meet the needs of society in terms of quality of life and that the entire process of manufacturing and availability for consumption, that is, throughout its life cycle, should have the least possible impact on the environment.
  • 2.3K
  • 13 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Culture in Maintenance Management of Public Buildings
Culture is one of the significant elements that influence the behavior of doing things the right way, without which there is a hindrance to the attainment of set goals. It has also been stated that culture is essential to maintaining public buildings, which is significant to national development. However, the level of abandonment and deterioration of public buildings is high due to a lack of culture among stakeholders in the maintenance process.
  • 2.3K
  • 08 Jun 2022
Topic Review
PEC Reactors for Water/Wastewater Treatment
Now and in the coming years, how we use and treat water, greywater and wastewater will become more important. A suitably designed photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) reactor is one potential solution. The photoexcitation of suitable semiconducting materials in aqueous environments can lead to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS can inactivate microorganisms and degrade a range of chemical compounds. In the case of heterogeneous photocatalysis, semiconducting materials may suffer from fast recombination of electron–hole pairs and require post-treatment to separate the photocatalyst when a suspension system is used. To reduce recombination and improve the rate of degradation, an externally applied electrical bias can be used where the semiconducting material is immobilised onto an electrically conducive support and connected to a counter electrode. These electrochemically assisted photocatalytic systems have been termed “photoelectrocatalytic” (PEC). The term is stated in the IUPAC Recommendations 2011 as “electrochemically assisted photocatalysis. The role of the photocatalyst is played by a photoelectrode, often a semiconductor”. A short description of photocatalysis is included as it can be beneficial for those unfamiliar with the topic, before moving onto PEC. This entry is adapted from https://doi.org/10.3390/w13091198
  • 2.3K
  • 20 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Liquid Hydrogen
Decarbonization plays an important role in future energy systems for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and establishing a zero-carbon society. Hydrogen is believed to be a promising secondary energy source (energy carrier) that can be converted, stored, and utilized efficiently, leading to a broad range of possibilities for future applications. 
  • 2.3K
  • 27 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Weather Radar
The history of Weather Radar (abbreviation of RAdio Detecting And Ranging) begins during World War II, when military radar operators noticed extraneous echoes showing up on their display. David Atlas was one of the pioneers of radar meteorology, along with John Stewart Marshall, Walter Palmer and Richard Doviak. Weather radars send pulses of electromagnetic energy into the atmosphere, a microsecond of long microwave radiation to identify the presence of hydrometeors.
  • 2.2K
  • 17 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Chlorinated Aliphatic Hydrocarbons
Chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) are ubiquitous contaminants whose presence in groundwater has persisted for many decades, mainly due to the physical-chemical characteristics of these compounds. In particular, CAHs belong to Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (DNAPLs), for which contamination scenarios differ significantly from Light NAPLs scenarios, where the separate phase floats at the top of the water table due to its lower density than water.
  • 2.1K
  • 28 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Addressing, Assessing and Improving Water Security
Water security is about managing too much, too little and/or too polluted water. Water security is about the increasing importance of sustainable management of water resources, drinking water and human well-being and protection of life and property from water-related disasters. Water security is about the health of ecosystems and economic development.  A groundwork of this broad and multi-faceted concept is presented to facilitate understanding, measuring and improving water security. 
  • 2.1K
  • 25 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Integration of Offshore Wind with Tidal Energy
Reducing the cost of electricity generation and integrating renewable energy sources are two essential factors in encouraging the development of novel ideas to tackle the lack of enough electricity and proposing alternatives for fossil fuels. Compared with onshore wind energy resources, offshore wind fields have many advantages, such as persistent wind, faster-flowing speed, higher uniformity, and longer available time per year, flat sea surface, and low turbulence intensity, which promotes the vigorous development of the offshore wind power industry.
  • 2.0K
  • 09 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Chelating Agents in Soil Remediation
The Fenton process is an efficient treatment for removing many organics pollutants in aqueous systems at acidic pH (2.8-3.5). However, the in-situ application of this technology for soil remediation (where pHs around neutrality are required) presents important limitations, such as catalyst (iron) availability and oxidant (H2O2) stability. The addition of chelating agents (CAs) makes iron soluble at circumneutral pH by forming complexes with Fe, and thus, enabling Fenton reactions under these conditions. This strategy, called chelate-modified Fenton process (MF), can be employed to overcome the challenges identified in conventional Fenton.
  • 1.9K
  • 09 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Microalgae-Based Biorefineries: Challenges and Future Trends
Microalgae-based biorefineries allow the simultaneous production of microalgae biomass enriched in a particular macromolecule and high-added and low-value products if a proper selection of the microalgae species and the cultivation conditions are adequate for the purpose. 
  • 1.9K
  • 30 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Design and Operation Mode of Zigzag Air Classifier
The zigzag (ZZ) classifier is a sorting and classification device with a wide range of applications (e.g. recycling, food industry). Due to the possible variation of geometry and process settings, the apparatus is used for various windows of operation due to the specifications of the separation (e.g. cut sizes from 100 µm to several decimetres, compact and fluffy materials as well as foils).
  • 1.9K
  • 27 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Low-GWP Refrigerants (Pure and Blended)
Low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants for the next-generation air conditioning systems have been investigated with target domestic applications. High-GWP refrigerants are mostly used in climate control applications such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and refrigeration systems. 
  • 1.9K
  • 15 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Paper-Based Sensors Application
Paper-based sensors are getting increasing attention for reliable indoor/outdoor onsite detection with non-expert operation due to low cost, portability, easy disposal, and high accuracy, as well as bulky reduced laboratory equipment. They have become powerful analysis tools in trace detection with ultra-low detection limits and extremely high accuracy, resulting in their great popularity in biological detection, environmental inspection, and other applications. However, the current paper-based sensors still encounter insufficiencies such as harsh storage, short shelf time, singleplex analyte detection, disability of holographic strain detection, and low reproducibility for direct detection of the actual sample without pretreatment. Efforts should be made to paper-based sensors with those concerns before their broad commercial application. 
  • 1.8K
  • 22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Energy Use in Hotels
Hotel chains are reported as one of the most energy-intensive sectors and a growing number of international studies on this theme have been developed. An understanding of energy consumption is crucial for the tourism sector because the high energy cost directly affects accommodation prices and the final profitability of companies.
  • 1.8K
  • 25 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Management of Sewage Sludge from Municipal Wastewater Purification
Municipal sewage sludge (MSS) is the residual material produced as a waste of municipal wastewater purification. It is a sophisticated multi-component material, hard to handle. For many years, it has been landfilled, incinerated, and widely used in agriculture practice. When unproperly discharged, it is very polluting and unhealthy. The rapidly increasing global amount of municipal sewage sludge produced annually depends on urbanization, degree of development, and lifestyle. Some diffused traditional practices were banned or became economically unfeasible or unacceptable by the communities. In contrast, it has been established that MSS contains valuable resources, which can be utilized as energy and fertilizer. Ambitious and costly plans for remediation, the modernization of regulations, collecting and purification systems, and beneficial waste management using a modern approach. The activated sludge process is the leading technology for wastewater purification, and anaerobic digestion is the leading technology for downstream waste. However, biological technologies appear inadequate and hydrothermal carbonization, already applicable at full scale, is the best candidate for playing a significant role in managing municipal sewage sludge produced by big towns and small villages.
  • 1.8K
  • 25 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Sustainability of HVAC Systems in Buildings
Increasing demand on heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems and their importance, as the respiratory system of buildings, in developing and spreading various microbial contaminations and diseases with their huge global energy consumption share have forced researchers, industries, and policymakers to focus on improving the sustainability of HVAC systems. 
  • 1.7K
  • 03 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Using Waste Plastics as Asphalt Modifier
The use of waste products in the production of asphalt binders and asphalt mixtures has become widespread due to economic and environmental benefits. In particular, the use of recycled waste plastic in asphalt binders and mixtures is gaining more attention. Overall, the incorporation of plastic waste into asphalt mixtures can significantly improve high-temperature performance and has potential economic and environmental benefits. The performance of modified asphalt is highly dependent on multiple factors, such as waste sources, waste plastic dosages, blending conditions, and the pretreatment methods for waste plastic.
  • 1.7K
  • 28 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Waste Plastic Thermal Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis is one of the most popular thermo-chemical treatment (TCT) methods known today. This is due to their immense impacts on the environment and their operational output. The significant role of pyrolysis with waste plastics as feedstock is trending. Most of these waste plastics which include high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polystyrene (PS), have continued to render our environment, our health and oceans in deplorable conditions. This entry presents an assurance into the current findings of waste plastic thermal pyrolysis (WPTP) and revealed some common research gaps and misconceptions surrounding this field. 
  • 1.7K
  • 04 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Green Bioprocessing of Algae-Derived Biopolymers
Algae-based biopolymers may be modified by adding additives, plasticizers, and compatibilizers to enhance the intermolecular force of contact between components, and boost material strength, flexibility, and durability. Moreover, biopolymers are widely used in cosmetics, medicines, and food packaging. Furthermore, algal biopolymer could be used as a food additive due to its high nutritional content.
  • 1.7K
  • 19 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Modeling Approaches of Biogas Production
Biogas production is a relevant component in renewable energy systems. Model approaches of biogas production show different levels of detail. They can be classified as white, gray, and black box, or bottom-up and top-down approaches. On the one hand, biogas modeling can supply dynamic information on the anaerobic digestion process, e.g., to predict biogas yields or to optimize the anaerobic digestion process. These models are characterized by a bottom-up approach with different levels of detail: the comprehensive ADM1 (white box), simplifications and abstractions of AD models (gray box), or highly simplified process descriptions (black box). On the other hand, biogas production is included in energy system models. These models usually supply aggregated information on regional biogas potentials and greenhouse gas emissions. They are characterized by a top-down approach with a low level of detail. Most energy system models reported in literature are based on black box approaches. Considering the strengths and weaknesses of the integration of detailed and deeply investigated process models in energy system models reveals the opportunity to develop dynamic and fluctuating business models of biogas usage. 
  • 1.7K
  • 29 Jul 2021
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