Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability最新文献

{"title":"Technical feasibility of powering U.S. manufacturing with rooftop solar PV","authors":"Amir T. Namin, M. Eckelman, J. Isaacs","doi":"10.1088/2634-4505/acb5bf","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/acb5bf","url":null,"abstract":"The use of renewable electricity is vital for the decarbonization of industry. Industrial firms source renewables through off-site power purchase agreements or on-site installations, though the latter currently supplies <0.1% of industrial electricity demand in the U.S. Manufacturing buildings typically have large, flat rooftops that are ideal for solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays. This study investigates the feasibility of using rooftop solar PV to cover the net annual electricity needs of industry across all U.S. states and manufacturing sectors. Modeled electricity supply intensity for solar PV arrays is compared with the electricity demand per unit of floorspace for average manufacturing buildings derived from the U.S. Department of Energy Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey. Results show that, depending on geographical location, rooftop solar PV can completely fulfill the electricity requirements of 5%–35% of manufacturing sectors considered on a net annual basis (assuming net metering). Furniture, textiles, and apparel manufacturing can be powered through on-site means in nearly every location, representing 2% of U.S. manufacturing electricity use and 6% of floorspace. Considering seasonal potential during summer months expands the list of feasible sites, particularly in the U.S. Southwest. Compared to off-site sourcing of renewable energy, pursuing on-site PV installations can also enable manufacturers to maintain limited operations during periods of grid disruption, especially when coupled with on-site energy storage. Overall, the results indicate a substantial physical opportunity for industrial firms to expand rooftop solar PV from currently low levels to help meet decarbonization goals.","PeriodicalId":309041,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126116712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sustainability infrastructure insights from a campus sustainability survey","authors":"A. Hicks, Melissa Nergard","doi":"10.1088/2634-4505/acc354","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/acc354","url":null,"abstract":"The physical and social infrastructure of an environment influences the ability of that place to be sustainable. To evaluate the sustainability culture and literacy of a university environment, a campus sustainability survey was deployed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison). This inaugural survey provided a snapshot in time of the sustainability literacy and culture of the university during the Fall 2021 semester. Results of the survey found a high level of sustainability literacy, however the awareness of social and physical infrastructure which support the campus sustainability culture was largely based on environmental actions and concerns. The survey results also reaffirmed the challenge of what actions are perceived to be sustainable and urgent by the campus community, versus which have real and measurable impact. There is also an unsurprising tension between what is desired by the campus community and what is achievable in the same resource constrained environment of the survey respondents. The survey also identified a need to further increase communication channels of the actions which are already occurring on the UW-Madison campus. Acknowledging that in a mesocosm the size and scale of the UW-Madison campus, and its overwhelming amount of general communication, that targeted communications plans are necessary to reach more of the information channels of the campus community.","PeriodicalId":309041,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125656312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Proposing an LCA methodology for the assessment of neighbourhood refurbishment measures","authors":"Simon Slabik, M. Storck, Caya Zernicke, A. Hafner","doi":"10.1088/2634-4505/acbfdc","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/acbfdc","url":null,"abstract":"Environmental impacts of new construction in the built environment have been determined for considerable time using life cycle assessments (LCAs). However, the significance of the existing building stock is neglected when considering environmental impacts at the level of embodied energy. Today alone, most of the buildings that will remain in place in 2050 are already in existence. For achieving national and international climate protection goals, the LCA of refurbishment measures is crucial. Thus, the link between building LCAs, which are conducted based on EN 15978, and refurbishment measures is established and ultimately transferred to the neighbourhood level. This paper provides a methodology in accordance with applicable standards to make use of a large activation potential in neighbourhoods. An initial focus is on the survey of the area to be investigated. The subdivision and typologisation of the building stock based on established toolboxes within the neighbourhood as well as the description of the implemented measures are besides in the focus of the methodology. Multiple scenarios for existing buildings in the neighbourhood combined with a consistent framework enables LCA to be conducted. The connection of the spatial component by a demarcated neighbourhood and the connection with the structural dimension by buildings enables a holistic view of refurbishment measures in the urban environment. As a link between the individual building and the municipality, the neighbourhood serves as a meso level.","PeriodicalId":309041,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability","volume":"183 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121951054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Results from a survey of life cycle assessment-aligned socioenvironmental priorities in US and Australian communities hosting oil, natural gas, coal, and solar thermal energy production","authors":"E. Grubert","doi":"10.1088/2634-4505/acbeda","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/acbeda","url":null,"abstract":"Large energy infrastructure is often socially and environmentally disruptive, even as it provides services that people have come to depend on. Residents of areas affected by energy development often note both negative and positive impacts. This reflects the multicategory nature of socioenvironmental outcomes and emphasizes the importance of careful, community-oriented decision making about major infrastructural transitions for processes like decarbonization. Quantitative tools like life cycle assessment (LCA) seek to collect and report comprehensive impact data, but even when successful, their value for decision support is limited by a lack of mechanisms to systematically engage with values-driven tradeoffs across noncommensurable categories. Sensitivity analyses designed to help decision makers and interested parties make sense of data are common in LCA and similar tools, but values are rarely explicitly addressed. This lack of attention to values—arguably the most meaningful set of decision inputs in such tools—can lead to overreliance on single issue (e.g. climate change impact) or proxy (e.g. monetized cost) outputs that reduce the value of holistic evaluations. This research presents results from preregistered hypotheses for a survey of residents of energy-producing communities in the United States (US) and Australia, with the goal of with the goal of uncovering energy transition-relevant priorities by collecting empirical, quantitative data on people’s priorities for outcomes aligned with LCA. The survey was designed to identify diverse value systems, with the goal of making it easier for users to identify and consider value conflicts, potentially highlighting needs for further data collection, system redesign, or additional engagement. Notably, results reveal remarkably consistent priority patterns across communities and subgroups, suggesting that the common LCA practice of equal prioritization might be masking decision-relevant information. Although this effort was designed specifically to support research on energy transitions, future work could easily be extended more broadly.","PeriodicalId":309041,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability","volume":"76 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124056281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"US power sector carbon capture and storage under the Inflation Reduction Act could be costly with limited or negative abatement potential","authors":"E. Grubert, Frances Sawyer","doi":"10.1088/2634-4505/acbed9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/acbed9","url":null,"abstract":"The United States’ (US) largest-ever investment in expected climate mitigation, through 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), relies heavily on subsidies. One major subsidy, the 45Q tax credit for carbon oxide sequestration, incentivizes emitters to maximize production and sequestration of carbon oxides, not abatement. Under IRA’s 45Q changes, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is expected to be profitable for coal- and natural gas-based electricity generator owners, particularly regulated utilities that earn a guaranteed rate of return on capital expenditures, despite being costlier than zero-carbon resources like wind or solar. This analysis explores investment decisions driven by profitability rather than system cost minimization, particularly where investments enhance existing assets with an incumbent workforce, existing supplier relationships, and internal knowledge-base. This analysis introduces a model and investigates six scenarios for lifespan extension and capacity factor changes to show that US CCS fossil power sector retrofits could demand $0.4–$3.6 trillion in 45Q tax credits to alter greenhouse gas emissions by −24% ($0.4 trillion) to +82% ($3.6 trillion) versus business-as-usual for affected generators. Particularly given long lead times, limited experience, and the potential for CCS projects to crowd or defer more effective alternatives, regulators should be extremely cautious about power sector CCS proposals.","PeriodicalId":309041,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130728422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dynamic criticality for infrastructure prioritization in complex environments","authors":"Ryan M Hoff, Alysha M. Helmrich, A. Dirks, Yeowon Kim, Rui Li, M. Chester","doi":"10.1088/2634-4505/acbe15","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/acbe15","url":null,"abstract":"As infrastructure confront rapidly changing environments, there is an immediate need to provide the flexibility to pivot resources and how infrastructures are prioritized. Yet infrastructures are often categorized based on static criticality framings. We describe dynamic criticality as the flexibility to reprioritize infrastructure resources during disturbances. We find that the most important prerequisite for dynamic criticality is organizational adaptive capacity characterized by flexible goals, structures, sensemaking, and strategies. Dynamic capabilities are increasingly important in the Anthropocene, where accelerating conditions, uncertainty, and growing complexity are challenging infrastructures. We review sectors that deployed dynamic management approaches amidst changing disturbances: leadership and organizational change, defense, medicine, manufacturing, and disaster response. We use an inductive thematic analysis to identify key themes and competencies and analyze capabilities that describe dynamic criticality. These competencies drive adaptive capacity and open up the flexibility to pivot what is deemed critical, depending on the particulars of the hazard. We map these competencies to infrastructure systems and describe how infrastructure organizations may build adaptive capacity toward flexible priorities.","PeriodicalId":309041,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129926109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"OWEFE—open modeling framework for integrated water, energy, food, and environment systems","authors":"Julian Fleischmann, P. Blechinger, L. Ribbe, Alexandra Nauditt, Jean H. El Achkar, Kapil Tiwari, R. Kuleape, Werner Platzer","doi":"10.1088/2634-4505/acbcee","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/acbcee","url":null,"abstract":"The integrated approach to managing the fundamental resources for human life, namely, water, energy, food, and the environment as their irreplaceable foundation, presents a profound opportunity for sustainable development. However, despite their huge potential, integrated water, energy, food, and environment systems (iWEFEs) are rarely put into practice because of, among others, complexity and a lack of uniform and openly available models to describe, configure and simulate such systems. To fill this gap, we present the open modeling framework for integrated water, energy, food, and environment systems (OWEFEs) based on the open energy modeling framework. OWEFE follows an open, cross-sectoral, and modular design approach to address crucial challenges for the project development of iWEFEs. In this study, we apply OWEFE for the first time to model a wastewater biogas system and an agrivoltaics system. The results of the OWEFE-based models are in the range of a conventional approach respectively of on-site measurements indicating the framework’s capability to model diverse iWEFEs. The wide application of the framework can improve the assessment, planning, and configuration of iWEFEs for sustainable and integrated infrastructure development.","PeriodicalId":309041,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability","volume":"8 5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128993874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Determinants of household waste disposal practices and implications for practical community interventions: lessons from Lilongwe","authors":"P. Kalonde, Alick Chisale Austin, Treaser Mandevu, Prince Justice Banda, Andsen Banda, M. Stanton, Mengshi Zhou","doi":"10.1088/2634-4505/acbcec","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/acbcec","url":null,"abstract":"Open waste disposal has a negative effect on local ecology, economy, and public health. Understanding factors influencing waste disposal decisions is necessary for developing solutions to curb open waste disposal. This paper discusses the associations between household’s social demographic and spatial characteristics with preference for domestic waste disposal. The paper also utilizes this knowledge practical community action. This was achieved by gathering and examining a novel dataset of the waste disposal patterns of 200 randomly chosen households in Malawi. We observed that households were likely to dispose of their waste openly when the residential unit was closer to an existing open waste disposal site. A multinomial logistic regression model showed that the likelihood of choosing waste disposal methods, such as private garbage collection services, is higher when the household head is a woman, the housing unit is owned by the occupants, or in situations where a fence is present around the housing unit. We presented these findings to the neighborhood community development committee. A short-term community waste management plan was created using a participatory community planning approach. The plan included co-designing waste disposal solutions with landlords, setting up community waste bylaws, and intensifying civic education activities. In conclusion, our study provides insights into the factors that influence households’ disposal behavior. This unique case study highlights a potential approach for developing waste management policies using a bottom-up approach.","PeriodicalId":309041,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115074101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reducing oil and gas well leakage: a review of leakage drivers, methane detection and repair options","authors":"Khalil El Hachem, Mary Kang","doi":"10.1088/2634-4505/acbced","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/acbced","url":null,"abstract":"Oil and gas wells (OGWs) with integrity failures can be a conduit for methane and contaminant leakage to groundwater aquifers, surface water bodies and the atmosphere. While there have been numerous reviews addressing OGW leakage, there is a gap in the literature regarding an examination of OGW leakage that encompasses both abandoned and active wells, as well as factors that impact leakage, methane emission measurements, and options for repairing leaks. Here, we review the literature to evaluate factors and policies affecting leakage of active and abandoned OGWs, studies quantifying OGW methane emissions, and leakage repair and emission reduction options. Furthermore, our review places a greater emphasis on abandoned oil and gas wells and does not focus on one well type, such as unconventional wells. Of the 38 factors in published literature reviewed here, studies find that 15 (39%) factors, including geographic location, well deviation, casing quality and plugging status consistently affect OGW leakage. For 15 (39%) factors, including surface casing depth, well elevation and land cover, one or two studies show that they do not affect OGW leakage. For the remaining eight (21%) factors, including well age, studies show conflicting results. Although increased frequency of well monitoring and repair can lead to reduced OGW leakage, several studies indicate that monitoring and repair requirements are not always enforced. Moreover, we find 13 studies quantifying OGW methane emissions to the atmosphere at the oil and gas wellhead scale across Canada and the United States with major gaps in the geographical distribution of the collected data. Moreover, although studies measuring abandoned wells include measurements from orphaned wells, available measurements do not differentiate between orphaned and abandoned OGWs, which is important for policy makers aiming to quantify methane emission reductions of plugging hundreds of thousands of orphaned wells. To repair OGW leakage, we find that most studies focus on well cement and casing repair. There are alternatives to cement and casing repair that only reduce methane emissions, such as soil methane oxidation, but their widespread applicability requires further study. Overall, our review of factors affecting OGW leakage can be used to identify OGWs with high leakage potential and guide OGW leakage monitoring and repair policies, thereby reducing climate and environmental impacts.","PeriodicalId":309041,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability","volume":"73 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124609937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate-smart infrastructure in the United States—what does it look like and how do we get it built?","authors":"D. Lashof, Jillian Neuberger","doi":"10.1088/2634-4505/acbc95","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/acbc95","url":null,"abstract":"The United States has committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 50%–52% below 2005 levels by 2030 and to net-zero emissions by 2050. This is in line with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 °C. Multiple studies show that achieving these targets is technologically feasible and would have net direct costs of less than 1% of GDP (and possibly negative), not accounting for climate benefits or other externalities. Robust federal, state, and local policies would be needed to ensure that infrastructure to enable decarbonization is built at the required pace and scale. Simultaneous investments in adaptation and resilience infrastructure, including upgrading green and grey infrastructure, will be needed to adapt to the consequences of climate change that can no longer be avoided and increase economic and social resilience to more frequent or severe extreme weather events. These kinds of climate smart infrastructure—infrastructure required to support rapid decarbonization and withstand unavoidable climate change impacts—are expansive and varied. Infrastructure investments to enable decarbonization include renewable and other zero- or near-zero-emissions electricity generation; short- and long-duration energy storage; robust and flexible electricity transmission and distribution; charging and refueling infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles; and clean hydrogen and carbon dioxide capture, transportation and storage. Infrastructure investments in adaptation include supporting infrastructure for extreme heat, drought, and wildfire resilience; coastal and inland flood resilience; and public health resilience. Physically deploying this infrastructure depends on a significant investment focused on addressing the causes and impacts of climate change, as well as an intentional effort to adopt processes and practices at all levels of government to facilitate such large-scale infrastructure deployment and reconstruction. Shifting from a status quo to a transformational approach to infrastructure investment and deployment will be essential to addressing the climate crisis. It will also provide an opportunity to rethink how to design and implement infrastructure in a way that increases equity and delivers for the communities it serves.","PeriodicalId":309041,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability","volume":"56 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125118043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}