Greenhouse Gas Reduction

The integration of renewable energy sources in building design is a crucial strategy for promoting sustainability and reducing the environmental impact of buildings. By incorporating technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, and geothermal systems, the construction industry can significantly reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper explores the fundamental principles and criteria for utilizing renewable energy in sustainable building design. It highlights the benefits, challenges, and strategies for effective implementation. Through an extensive review of current literature and detailed case studies, the study demonstrates how renewable energy contributes to more sustainable and energy-efficient buildings.

In our paper the transition of infrared radiation through the earth's atmosphere and windows made of heat insulation glass is compared. Special attention is paid to double heat insulating window glass with IR reflective coating and argon filled interspace. The possible reduction of heat losses and the resulting reduction of pollution is outlined.

In the EU's waste strategy, the order for sustainable waste actions is: reduction, reuse and recycling. Recovery has recently been added as a fourth action, and it is applied to the waste types that cannot be reused or recycled. Thus, recovery remains the last option before final landfilling. The annual amount of municipal waste from households in Finland is 2.5 million tons. Waste collection and utilization is organized relatively well, but still 1.1 million tons are disposed of to landfill. A recent survey on mixed waste quantity and quality showed that almost 65% of its content is bio-based. Energy recovery from this waste in combined incineration plants for district heat and electricity (CHP) may serve as an additional measure for greenhouse gas reduction in local communities. Since buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of energy consumption, it is important to reduce energy consumption. In Finland, due to the long heating season, the energy production method and heat source are extremely important for greenhouse gas reduction. This paper discusses energy recovery from waste in a case study of a new residential area in southern Finland. All the buildings fulfil current Finnish energy requirements and represent typical wooden frame construction with rendering façades. It is assumed that the households will be connected to the local district heat system, in which heat is produced partly in gasdriven heat plants and partly in a municipal waste incineration plant. We show that energy recovery from waste should not be underestimated, because it is a valuable means of greenhouse gas reduction, especially in local communities.

Graphene and its derivatives, such as graphene oxide (GO), are materials that, at room temperature, have excellent electrical, thermal and optical properties. In the GO reduction process, it is necessary to add reducing and stabilizing agents such as hydrazine (N2H4), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), sodium borhydride (NaBH4), ascorbic acid (AA) and others. Although they present excellent graphene deoxygenation conditions, they are highly toxic. The toxicity of these agents directly affects the user with a risk to health and the environment, especially when discarded in inappropriate places for waste disposal. In this sense, natural products are being used as a viable alternative to avoid the use of these toxic reducing agents and contribute to sustainable development. This article aims to present a review of the materials and methods used to reduce GO using natural extracts. Scientific research on the process of reducing graphene with natural products is a growing area and has proven to be a sustainable solution for production. Among the raw materials used, açaí, piquiá and tucumã stand out, which in addition to reducing costs due to their much lower purchasing value, present an alternative route to the use of conventional reducing agents.

Vietnam plays an important role in bearing global food security. However, Vietnamese rice farmers face several challenges, including pressures to develop sustainable livelihoods while reducing the environmental impacts of their production activities. Various Vietnamese agricultural restructuring policies were promulgated to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly practices to generate high value added for rice farmers, but the farmers are reluctant to adopt them because of perceived lack of demand. Decreasing consumption of rice in Asia and increasing demands in Europe shaped Vietnamese rice exporting policies. New trade agreements, such as the UK–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, offer new target markets for Vietnamese rice farmers. This research provides empirical evidence related to the preferences of UK consumers for ethical attributes for floating rice imported from Vietnam. Floating rice represents a traditional method of rice cultivation that relies on the natural floodi...

Vietnam plays an important role in bearing global food security. However, Vietnamese rice farmers face several challenges, including pressures to develop sustainable livelihoods while reducing the environmental impacts of their production activities. Various Vietnamese agricultural restructuring policies were promulgated to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly practices to generate high value added for rice farmers, but the farmers are reluctant to adopt them because of perceived lack of demand. Decreasing consumption of rice in Asia and increasing demands in Europe shaped Vietnamese rice exporting policies. New trade agreements, such as the UK–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, offer new target markets for Vietnamese rice farmers. This research provides empirical evidence related to the preferences of UK consumers for ethical attributes for floating rice imported from Vietnam. Floating rice represents a traditional method of rice cultivation that relies on the natural floodi...

Recovering energy from municipal solid waste (MSW) is one of the most important issues of energy management in developed countries. This raises even more interest as world fossil fuel reserves diminish and fuel prices rise. Being one of main processes of waste disposal, anaerobic digestion can be used as a means to reduce fossil fuel and electricity consumption as well as reducing emissions. With growing demand for cooling in Turkey, especially during warm seasons and considering the energy costs, utilizing heat-driven absorption cooling systems coupled with an anaerobic digester for local cooling purposes is a potentially interesting alternative for electricity driven compression cooling. The aim of this article is to study the viability of utilizing biogas obtained from MSW anaerobic digestion as the main fuel for heating facilities of Gazi University, Turkey and also the energy source for an absorption cooling system designed for the central library of the aforementioned campus. ...

The shrimp industry plays a leading role in aquaculture development in Vietnam. Currently, the government is running a credit subsidy program to support farmers investing in improved production methods. This paper aimed to investigate white-legged shrimp farmers' willingness to invest in improved production methods and to examine whether the current government policy for the sector is in line with farmers' preferences using a discrete choice experiment. The results show that farmers do not care about the environmental impacts but emphasize increased yields and more successful crops as the main drivers of their willingness to invest. There is a mismatch between the current subsidized interest rate and farmers' required interest rate. These findings suggest that to promote better investment in improved production methods, the government should focus on the regulatory framework, monitoring and control of environmental impacts, and reevaluate the size of the credit subsidy.

Vietnam plays an important role in bearing global food security. However, Vietnamese rice farmers face several challenges, including pressures to develop sustainable livelihoods while reducing the environmental impacts of their production activities. Various Vietnamese agricultural restructuring policies were promulgated to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly practices to generate high value added for rice farmers, but the farmers are reluctant to adopt them because of perceived lack of demand. Decreasing consumption of rice in Asia and increasing demands in Europe shaped Vietnamese rice exporting policies. New trade agreements, such as the UK–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, offer new target markets for Vietnamese rice farmers. This research provides empirical evidence related to the preferences of UK consumers for ethical attributes for floating rice imported from Vietnam. Floating rice represents a traditional method of rice cultivation that relies on the natural floodi...

Vietnam plays an important role in bearing global food security. However, Vietnamese rice farmers face several challenges, including pressures to develop sustainable livelihoods while reducing the environmental impacts of their production activities. Various Vietnamese agricultural restructuring policies were promulgated to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly practices to generate high value added for rice farmers, but the farmers are reluctant to adopt them because of perceived lack of demand. Decreasing consumption of rice in Asia and increasing demands in Europe shaped Vietnamese rice exporting policies. New trade agreements, such as the UK–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, offer new target markets for Vietnamese rice farmers. This research provides empirical evidence related to the preferences of UK consumers for ethical attributes for floating rice imported from Vietnam. Floating rice represents a traditional method of rice cultivation that relies on the natural floodi...

Vietnam plays an important role in bearing global food security. However, Vietnamese rice farmers face several challenges, including pressures to develop sustainable livelihoods while reducing the environmental impacts of their production activities. Various Vietnamese agricultural restructuring policies were promulgated to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly practices to generate high value added for rice farmers, but the farmers are reluctant to adopt them because of perceived lack of demand. Decreasing consumption of rice in Asia and increasing demands in Europe shaped Vietnamese rice exporting policies. New trade agreements, such as the UK–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, offer new target markets for Vietnamese rice farmers. This research provides empirical evidence related to the preferences of UK consumers for ethical attributes for floating rice imported from Vietnam. Floating rice represents a traditional method of rice cultivation that relies on the natural floodi...