Topic Review
Challenges for Commercialization of Second-Generation Biorefineries
Second-generation biorefinery refers to the production of different types of biofuels, biomaterials, and biochemicals by using agri-based and other lignocellulosic biomasses as substrates, which do not compete with arable lands, water for irrigation, and food supply. From the perspective of transportation fuels, second-generation bioethanol plays a crucial role in minimizing the dependency on fossil-based fuels, especially gasoline. Significant efforts have been invested in the research and development of second-generation bioethanol for commercialization in both developing and developed countries.
  • 137
  • 26 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Energy Recovery from Residual Municipal Solid Waste
Among the technologies for the recovery of energy from waste, in particular residual municipal solid waste (rMSW), combustion is the most widely used thermo-chemical treatment process associated with thermal and electric power production by a steam cycle, named, shortly, Waste to Energy (WtE). 
  • 118
  • 26 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Dynamic Capabilities for Environmental Sustainability and Economic Sustainability
Economic growth and technological progress, while driving societal advancements, have also contributed to challenges such as inefficient resource utilization, social inequality, climate change, and unsustainable production. Given the dynamism of internal and external environments, the dynamic capabilities theory arises to enhance the understanding of strategic actions, particularly those aimed at gaining a competitive advantage. These capabilities are specific capabilities that contribute to both the company and market evolution through the integration of knowledge, both internal and external to the company.
  • 65
  • 21 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Integrated Approaches for Effective Utility Management
Water distribution systems are challenging to manage because they comprise complex networks with large numbers of interacting pipes, pumps, valves, and controls. These components are mostly hidden, usually of mixed ages and conditions, and management programs for maintenance and renewal are often inadequate. Despite these challenges and complexities, distribution systems are expected to deliver pressurized safe drinking water to households and other sites on a reliable basis. Comprehensive and integrated approaches to managing distribution systems are needed, but they face barriers due to the realities of variable management capacities in utility organizations around the world. The variation in these capacities to manage water utilities is a great barrier to improved management of all water subsystems, and it poses challenges to distribution system management because of their greater complexity. Another issue is posed by the difficulty of recruiting and equipping a capable workforce for the multiplexed problems of managing distribution systems.
  • 56
  • 21 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Multi-Criteria Decision-Making in Sustainable Development
Achieving sustainability, particularly in cleaner production, demands a multifaceted decision-making process influenced by numerous subjective criteria. Effective management is pivotal in shaping sustainable development worldwide, necessitating the selection, development, and evaluation of project managers with the requisite skills. Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) provides a systematic framework for evaluating alternatives based on multiple criteria, a necessity in today’s intricate decision-making. The research exploration focuses on two notable MCDM methods: the SWARA and the ARAS. These methods enable decision-makers to handle subjective criteria comprehensively.
  • 63
  • 20 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Resourceful Utilization Status for Decommissioned Power Batteries
With the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry, the number of power battery decommissioning is increasing year by year. The recycling of power batteries is of great significance for protecting the ecological environment, improving the efficiency of resource utilization, and ensuring the sustainable and healthy development of the new energy automobile industry.
  • 52
  • 20 Feb 2024
Topic Review
The Evolving Nature of Thermal Conversion Process
The environment today is confronted by an unending cascade of global anthropogenic and ecosystem-based challenges. Biomass is considered to have the potential to be utilized as an alternative energy source. The conversion of the high carbon content of biomass through thermochemical treatment resulted in better fuel properties of biochar production. Understanding the underlying thermal conversion process principles alongside the associated/exhibited operational challenges that are specific to biomass types is crucial for beginners.
  • 51
  • 18 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Nature-Inspired Designs in Wind Energy: A Review
The field of wind energy stands at the forefront of sustainable and renewable energy solutions, playing a pivotal role in mitigating environmental concerns and addressing global energy demands. Biomimetics, drawing inspiration from biological systems, has long intrigued engineers and designers, tracing back to Leonardo da Vinci’s studies of bird flight and even earlier to myths like Daedalus and Icarus. Historical references, including King Solomon’s throne adorned with mechanical creatures and the Talmud’s tales of the Golem, illustrate this enduring fascination.
  • 82
  • 07 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Passenger Cars Driven on Hilly Roads in Austria
Previous studies of road or railway infrastructures have shown that traffic emissions outweigh the environmental impacts of the product stage and construction stage over the entire life cycle. Traffic usage is therefore the main emitter over the life cycle (A1–C4). Due to the small number of sustainability assessment systems, the question of how to consider traffic emissions in detail in an integral life cycle assessment has arisen.
  • 55
  • 01 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Pulsed Flows and Patterned Surfaces Mitigate Membrane Fouling
Patterned membrane surfaces offer a hydrodynamic approach to mitigating concentration polarization and subsequent surface fouling. However, when subject to steady crossflow conditions, surface patterns promote particle accumulation in the recirculation zones of cavity-like spaces. In comparison, a rapidly pulsed crossflow induces mixing mechanisms (i.e., the deep sweep and the vortex ejection) that disrupt recirculation zones and reduce the rate of particle accumulation.
  • 44
  • 31 Jan 2024
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