Suchergebnisse

Nowadays, most countries of the world are implementing the transition to the low-carbon economy which implies the need to carry out a full-scale eco-modernization of the energy sector. Green energy may be identified as one of the core concerns of energy sector modernization as it allows a considerable decrease in emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Therefore, nuclear and renewable energy may become key areas of global energy development in the near future, which is also in agreement with circular economy concepts. However, public opinion (and other controversial visions/aspects) is one of the barriers to their development. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between attitudes towards nuclear and renewable energy in two countries: a EU country (Italy) and a non-EU country (Russia), considering the level of their development. The authors conducted a survey among residents regarding their attitude towards nuclear and renewable energy, as well as their attitude to the present energy policy. The cluster analysis technique was used to analyze the results. The obtained results confirmed the dependence between the level of development of nuclear and renewable energy and the public attitude towards it. The national energy policy also might influence public opinion on the development of nuclear or renewable energy. The authors identified public attitude as one of the key factors in the development of energy and the achievement of environmental and social sustainability. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. ; Funding: The research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 22-28-01740, https://rscf.ru/en/project/22-28-01740/ (accessed on 6 December 2021).

Abstract: Strategies for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management can be sustainable only because of site-specific analyses and choices that take into account not only financial but also environmental costs. Generally, a correct approach should use different scenarios based on the environmental, social, economic and technological conditions of the specific area and on its expected potential. The aim of this paper is to presents an innovative model for the implementation of integrated MSW management approach which can result extremely useful where the MSW systems have to be refined or even designed such in the case of low-income countries. The proposed approach provides the best solid waste (SW) allocation/distribution among the available treatments and disposal options minimizing at the same time the total cost by means of an optimization procedure. The environmental impacts of potential scenarios are simultaneously estimated by means of a tailored Life Cycle Assessment procedure. The LCA tool in the model focus on the specific impacts from a SW management scenario that makes the model more explicit with respect to traditional LCA application. Additional tools allow, through site-specific numerical models, to provide also a preliminary evaluation of local impacts when required (e.g. atmospheric emissions). Such a model can be useful as a supporting tool in decision making for both governmental and non-governmental institutions involved in the planning of more sustainable eco-friendly strategies for MSW management. Graphic Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].