Global change analyses are facilitated by the growing number of remote-sensing datasets that have both broad spatial extent and repeated observations over decades. These datasets provide unprecedented power to detect patterns of time trends involving information from all pixels on a map. However, rigorously testing for time trends requires a solid statistical foundation to identify underlying patterns

Land surface temperature (LST) is a crucial parameter for hydrology, climate monitoring, and ecological and environmental research. LST products from thermal infrared (TIR) satellite data have been widely used for that. However, TIR information cannot provide LST data under cloudy-sky conditions. All-sky LST can be estimated from microwave measurements, but their coarse spatial resolution, narrow swaths

Despite its critical importance to carbon storage modeling, forest vertical structure remains poorly characterized over large areas. Canopy height estimates from current satellite missions such as ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2) offer promise to close this knowledge gap, but their validation is critically important to inform their measurement uncertainties and scientific utility

Phosphogypsum is a by-product from the phosphoric acid industry following the wet process. Known for its low cost, this process generates large amounts of phosphogypsum, the management of which has so far remained problematic due to the impurities it contains including heavy metals, radionuclides and acidic residuals. It is above all, its acidic nature that hinders its use as a road material since

Different climate characteristics put forward different requirements for the performance of air conditioning system. Climatic division has been proposed to facilitate the selection or design of HVAC systems to match indoor cooling/heating loads of buildings better. However, humidity parameter and distinction of sensible and latent loads are usually ignored, bringing problems to the operation and control

Groundwater is an important source of water, and the assessment of its hydrochemical characteristics, quality, and health risks is of great practical significance to ensure safe water use for residents and stable socioeconomic development. This study used high-density groundwater sampling data (1398 water samples) for Weifang to assess the groundwater quality and the health risks associated with drinking

The literature on Sustainable Business Models (SBMs) has grown, identifying different archetypes to capture the variety of business models applied. Little is known, however, regarding to what extent such SBMs are effectively driving sustainable performance. This paper addresses this gap by exploring how SBMs relate to sustainability performance, considering both overall sustainable performance and

To improve the flexibility of energy systems, a bi-level optimization model with operation feedback under demand response scenarios was proposed, with the aim of determining a planning program for regional energy systems. The upper level was the planning optimization whose purpose is to minimize its total cost and maximize its average exergy efficiency. The lower level was the operation optimization

Carbon neutrality is a long-term climate goal in the context of global warming and can be achieved by reducing carbon emissions and increasing carbon sinks. Vegetation has a very important and irreplaceable role in increasing carbon sinks, but it is often destroyed, especially in desertification and mining areas. Therefore, restoration of the vegetation in these areas is essential. Seeking the optimal

Recently, alkali-activated binders have emerged as a promising sustainable solution in the construction industry. There is great demand to promote the development of one-part alkali-activated materials (OP-AAMs) to overcome the hazardous, irritating, and corrosive nature of alkaline activator solutions while sustaining their superior engineering properties. This study's main objective is to reduce

Metagenomic sequencing, basing on whole genomic analysis, was carried out to explain the taxonomic and functional patterns of microbial communities in co-digestion and mono-digestions with corn straw and pig manure. Bacteroides graminisolvens and Clostridium stercorarium, the dominant species for corn straw degradation, and Proteiniphilum acetatigenes, emphasizing on protein decomposition, performed

A reduction of demand for electrical power in peak periods, commonly called peak shaving, is beneficial for customers from the economic point of view. However, it is also of considerable importance for the National Power System operation in terms of grid stability. This research focuses on the issue of nationwide potential of peak shaving by PV installations in office buildings in Poland. It is assumed

The climate mitigation benefits of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) relative to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) are highly dependent on the carbon intensity of the electricity consumed during their production and use-phase. A consistent and dynamic approach to grid-mix regionalization of BEV life-cycle assessments in Europe is therefore necessary to offer accurate guidance to consumers

While the deployment of technological innovation was able to avert a devastating global supply chain fallout arising from the impact of ravaging COronaVIrus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, little is known about potential environmental cost of such achievement. The aim of this paper is to identify the determinants of logistics performance and investigate its empirical linkages with economic and environmental

The Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessment (AESA) framework is an emerging field in environmental research that aims at comparing the estimated environmental burden generated by a system on its life cycle to the carrying capacity that can be assigned to this system, i.e. the amount of impacts that it can cause without causing unacceptable impairment of ecosystem functional integrity. This

In the past 25 years, we have conducted more than 20 laboratory and field studies related to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in animal production. From millions of first-hand and real-world H2S data points, we found that sulfur (S) source, release mechanism, and ventilation are three critical factors affecting toxic H2S concentrations. Source of S determines how much H2S mass can be potentially produced. Sulfur

The new material, compacted graphite iron, plays a key role in the reliability of engine and the realization of high emission standard, but it is a difficult-to-machine material. In high-speed milling process of compacted graphite iron, thermal crack induced by thermal stress is the main reason for tool breakage and chipping. In order to reveal the initiation and propagation mechanisms of thermal cracks

The low activity of waste cementitious powder from construction and demolition waste (CDW) is the main reason that limits its application in cementitious materials, and thus, this work investigates the utilization of thermal activation treatment in improving the properties of waste cementitious powder and its newmade mortar. The un-treated waste powder mainly consists of inert hydrated products, quartz

Productive activity in the North Sea Region (NSR) is expected to intensify, diversify, and expand further offshore. Pressure to decarbonize and “electrify” the existing and emerging industries of the ocean economies offer an opportunity as the electrification of the seas has captured the imagination of industry and policymakers as a pathway to achieving sustainable growth. Using the methods of morphological

China may require a long time to transition its power system from a planned one to a completely competitive market. Priority power generation (PPG), as a special type of power in the transitional period, is of great importance to incentivise power generation entities to participate in the market and promote power system reforms. However, the allocation of PPG currently relies excessively on the subjective

This study aims to systematically go through the various factors that prevent the implementation and diffusion of new closed-loop solutions and, thus, the transformation towards a circular economy. These factors are studied in the context of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management. WEEE management offers an interesting context to study this, as technologies and political pressures

Herein, an innovative slow-release fertilizers (SRFs) were developed using a bio-based and waterborne polymeric coating containing starch-g-poly(styrene-co-butylacrylate) latex reinforced with natural char nanoparticles (NCNPs). Several SRF samples were prepared via coating the urea granules with the latex formulations containing different amounts of NCNPs, and their urea release rates were evaluated

Introduction Hospitals in the Netherlands generate approximately 1.3 million kg of waste from the polypropylene (PP) wrapping paper (WP) used to wrap surgical instruments each year. The aim of this study was to develop a method to recycle WP waste into new medical devices. Methods WP was recovered from Maasstad Hospital, Netherlands. The WP was melted into bars, granulated, and mixed with virgin material

Free Nitrous Acid (FNA) pre-treatment is a promising technology demonstrated effective in improving waste activated sludge degradability and anaerobic digestion (AD) performance. Pre-treatment conditions including FNA concentration and treatment duration determine operational and capital cost of full-scale implementation, which have not been studied in long-term experiments. The knowledge of FNA pre-treatment