Ascertaining the Environmental Advantages of Pavement Designs Incorporating Recycled Content through a Parametric and Probabilistic Approach.

Reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) is a widely used end-of-life (EoL) material in asphalt pavements to increase the material circularity. However, the performance loss due to using RAP in the asphalt binder layer often requires a thicker layer, leading to additional material usage, energy consumption, and transportation effort. In this study, we developed a parametric and probabilistic life cycle assessment (LCA) framework to robustly compare various pavement designs incorporating recycled materials.

Mitigating Grand Challenges in Life Cycle Inventory Modeling through the Applications of Large Language Models.

The accuracy of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies is often questioned due to the two grand challenges of life cycle inventory (LCI) modeling: (1) missing foreground flow data and (2) inconsistency in background data matching. Traditional mechanistic methods (e.g.

Chitin Nanofibers Enable the Colloidal Dispersion of Carbon Nanomaterials in Aqueous Phase and Hybrid Material Coassembly.

Chitin nanofibrils (ChNF) sourced from discarded marine biomass are shown as effective stabilizers of carbon nanomaterials in aqueous media. Such stabilization is evaluated for carbon nanotubes (CNT) considering spatial and temporal perspectives by using experimental (small-angle X-ray scattering, among others) and theoretical (atomistic simulation) approaches. We reveal that the coassembly of ChNF and CNT is governed by hydrophobic interactions, while electrostatic repulsion drives the colloidal stabilization of the hybrid ChNF/CNT system.

Microalgae Commercialization Using Renewable Lignocellulose Is Economically and Environmentally Viable.

Conventional phototrophic cultivation for microalgae production suffers from low and unstable biomass productivity due to limited and unreliable light transmission outdoors. Alternatively, the use of a renewable lignocellulose-derived carbon source, cellulosic hydrolysate, offers a cost-effective and sustainable pathway to cultivate microalgae heterotrophically with high algal growth rate and terminal density. In this study, we evaluate the feasibility of cellulosic hydrolysate-mediated heterotrophic cultivation (Cel-HC) for microalgae production by performing economic and environmental comparisons with phototrophic cultivation through techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment.

Life cycle assessment of bamboo products: Review and harmonization.

Bamboo is considered a promising solution to mitigate climate change because of its carbon sequestration capability and versatile applications. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used to evaluate the environmental performance of various bamboo products. This study compared the Global Warming Potential (GWP) values of bamboo products with those of the corresponding benchmark materials (e.

Improving litterfall production prediction in China under variable environmental conditions using machine learning algorithms.

Litterfall production is a major process within forest ecosystems that plays a crucial role in the global carbon cycle. Accordingly, studies have explored the abiotic and biotic features that influence litterfall production. In addition to traditional statistical models, the rapid development of nonparametric and nonlinear machine learning models, such as random forest (RF), light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM), and categorical boosting (CatBoost), have provided new methods of predicting the production of forest litterfall.

Global scenarios of resource and emission savings from material efficiency in residential buildings and cars.

Material production accounts for a quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Resource-efficiency and circular-economy strategies, both industry and demand-focused, promise emission reductions through reducing material use, but detailed assessments of their GHG reduction potential are lacking. We present a global-scale analysis of material efficiency for passenger vehicles and residential buildings.

Electrocatalysis for Chemical and Fuel Production: Investigating Climate Change Mitigation Potential and Economic Feasibility.

The manufacture of goods from oil, coal, or gas to everyday consumer products comprises in more or less all cases at least one catalytic step. Compared to conventional hydrothermal catalysis, electrocatalysis possesses the advantage of mild operational conditions and high selectivity, yet the potential energy savings and climate change mitigation have rarely been assessed. This study conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) for the electrocatalytic oxidation of crude glycerol to produce lactic acid, one of the most common platform chemicals.

Meta-analysis and Harmonization of Life Cycle Assessment Studies for Algae Biofuels.

Algae biodiesel (BioD) and renewable diesel (RD) have been recognized as potential solutions to mitigating fossil-fuel consumption and the associated environmental issues. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used by many researchers to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of these algae-derived fuels, yielding a wide range of results and, in some cases, even differing on indicating whether these fuels are preferred to petroleum-derived fuels or not. This meta-analysis reviews the methodological preferences and results for energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and water consumption for 54 LCA studies that considered algae BioD and RD.

A solvent-free approach to extract the lipid fraction from sewer grease for biodiesel production.

Fats, oils and greases (FOG) are the number one cause of sewer pipe blockage and have been mostly disposed of as a waste until recently. This study investigated a low cost and environmentally friendly approach to extract the lipid fraction (fatty acids and glycerides for biodiesel production) from sewer grease (SG), i.e.

Review of Water Consumption and Water Conservation Technologies in the Algal Biofuel Process.

Although water is one of the most critical factors affecting the sustainable development of algal biofuels, it is much less studied as compared to the extensive research on algal biofuel production technologies. This paper provides a review of the recent studies on water consumption of the algae biofuel process and presents the water conservation technologies applicable at different stages of the algal biofuel process. Open ponds tend to have much higher water consumption (216 to 2000 gal/gal) than photobioreactors (25 to 72 gal/gal).

Converting campus waste into renewable energy - a case study for the University of Cincinnati.

This paper evaluates the implementation of three waste-to-energy projects at the University of Cincinnati: waste cooking oil-to-biodiesel, waste paper-to-fuel pellets and food waste-to-biogas, respectively. The implementation of these waste-to-energy (WTE) projects would lead to the improvement of campus sustainability by minimizing waste management efforts and reducing GHG emissions via the displacement of fossil fuel usage. Technical and economic aspects of their implementation were assessed and the corresponding GHG reduction was estimated.