Urban systems are important consumers of resources and producers of wastes derived from the lifestyles and daily needs of their citizens. The quantification of environmental impacts arising from urban metabolism (UM) plays a key role in the design of more sustainable cities and in the...

This study aims to evaluate the environmental consequences and energy requirements of a biogas production system and its further conversion into bioenergy by means of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. To do so, an Italian biogas plant operating with pig slurry and two energy crops...

There is currently limited experience on the introduction of new commercial crops as a source of raw material for energy uses. The present paper analyses the introduction and development of commercial willow plantations in Sweden during the period 1986–2005. A general framework is constructed...

type="main" <title type="main">Summary</title> <p>Sustainable manufacturing has increasingly included design for environment methodologies with the objective of improving the environmental performance of products over their entire life cycles. Current European Union (EU) directives on eco-design focus on the use phase of...</p>

Two energy production systems using short rotation coppice (SRC) willow chips were evaluated: bioethanol production via enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis and electricity production following a biomass integrated gasification combined cycle scheme.

Liquid biofuels provide one of the few options for fossil fuel substitution in the short to medium-term and they are strongly being promoted by the European Union as transport fuel (such as ethanol) since they have the potential to offer both greenhouse gas (GHG) savings and energy security. A...

A renewable biofuel economy is projected as a pathway to decrease dependence on fossil fuels as well as to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. Ethanol produced on large-scale from lignocellulosic raw materials is considered the most potential next generation automotive fuel. In this paper,...

One of the main challenges faced by mankind in the 21st century is to meet the increasing demand for energy requirements by means of a more sustainable energy supply. In countries that are net fossil fuel importers, expectation about the benefit of using alternative fuels on reducing oil imports...

Biofuel use seems to have certain environmental, energy and socioeconomic advantages versus fossil fuel consumption. The substitution of fossil fuels with biofuels can be a useful tool to fulfil the Spanish and European policy in relation to mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and...