Environmental impacts of household appliances in Europe and scenarios for their impact reduction     

Roland Hischier  Francesca Reale  Valentina Castellani  Serenella Sala 《Chemie der Erde / Geochemistry》2012

Assessing the environmental impact due to consumption of goods and services is a pivotal step towards achieving the sustainable development goal related to responsible production and consumption (i.e. SDG 12). Household appliances plays a crucial role and should be assessed in a systemic manner, namely considering all life cycle stages, technological efficiency, and affluence aspects. The present study assess the impact of such household appliances used in Europe, and tests scenarios of potential impact reduction at various scales. Life cycle assessment is applied to 14 different household appliances (ranging from dishwashers to television devices) selected to build a set of representative products, based on their economic value and diffusion in households in Europe. Related impacts are calculated with the Environmental Footprint method for calculating a Consumer Footprint “appliances” for the baseline year 2010. A number of scenarios encompassing eco-solutions on a technical level, changes in consumption pattern, behavioral changes, as well as the combination of all these aspects are run to estimate the Consumer Footprint related to household appliances for the year 2030, compared against this baseline scenario. The baseline Consumer Footprint is confirming the importance of the use phase in leading the impacts in almost all impact categories. Testing different scenarios concludes that there is a reduction of the impact for most of the categories (with up to 67% for the ozone depletion potential, and still around 35% for the global warming potential), while two of the here examined impact categories (i.e. land-use and mineral resource depletion) show an overall potential that is even negative – i.e. the results of all scenarios are higher than the ones of the 2010 baseline scenario. The increase in purchase and use of such appliances may offset energy efficiency benefits in some of the examined categories. Hence, the assessment of sustainability of appliances consumption should always include several scales, from the efficiency of the products (micro scale), to the improvement of the energy mix (meso scale), up to accounting for socio-economic drivers and patterns of consumption affecting the overall appliances stock (macro scale).  相似文献   

Landslides in Valles Marineris (Mars): A possible role of basal lubrication by sub-surface ice   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Fabio Vittorio De Blasio 《Planetary and Space Science》2011,59(13):1384-1392

There is much interest on the occurrence of water and ice in the past history of Mars. Because landslides on Mars are much better conserved than their terrestrial counterparts, a physical examination and morphological analysis can reveal significant details on the depositional environment at the instant of failure. A study of the landslides in Valles Marineris based on their physical aspect is presented and the velocity of the landslides is calculated with a stretching block model. The results show that the landslides were subject to strong basal lubrication that made them travel at high speed and to long distances. We use physical analysis to explore the four alternative possibilities that the natural lubricant of the landslides in Valles Marineris was either ice, deep water, a shallow carpet of water, or evaporites. Examination of the furrows present on the surface of the landslide deposits shows that either sub-surface ice or evaporites were likely present on the floor of Valles Marineris during the mass failures.  相似文献   

Relativistic effects on the solar radius     

V. Castellani  S. Degl'Innocenti  G. Fiorentini 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》1999,302(3):L53-L54

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A pulsational approach to near-infrared and visual magnitudes of RR Lyr stars     

G. Bono  F. Caputo  V. Castellani  M. Marconi  J. Storm  S. Degl'Innocenti 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2003,344(4):1097-1106

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Theoretical insights into the RR Lyrae K-band period–luminosity relation     

G. Bono  F. Caputo  V. Castellani  M. Marconi  J. Storm 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,326(3):1183-1190

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Architecture,structural and tectonic significance of the Seagap fault (offshore Tanzania) in the framework of the East African Rift     

David Iacopini  Stefano Tavani  Sara Pentagallo  Vittorio Maselli  Marina Dottore Stagna  Cynthia Ebinger  David Reynolds  Arjan van Vliet 《Basin Research》2023,35(1):387-412

The Southeastern portion of the East African Rift System reactivates Mesozoic transform faults marking the separation of Madagascar from Africa in the Western Indian Ocean. Earlier studies noted the reactivation of the Davie Fracture Zone in oceanic lithosphere as a seismically active extensional fault, and new 3D seismic reflection data and exploration wells provide unprecedented detail on the kinematics of the sub-parallel Seagap fault zone in continental/transitional crust landward of the ocean-continent transition. We reconstruct the evolution of the seismically active Seagap fault zone, a 400-km-long crustal structure affecting the Tanzania margin, from the late Eocene to the present day. The Seagap fault zone is represented by large-scale localized structures affecting the seafloor and displaying growth geometries across most of the Miocene sediments. The continuous tectonic activity evident by our seismic mapping, as well as 2D deep seismic data from literature, suggests that from the Middle-Late Jurassic until 125 Ma, the Seagap fault acted as a regional structure parallel to, and coeval with, the dextral Davie Fracture Zone. The Seagap fault then remained active after the cessation of both seafloor spreading in the Somali basin and strike-slip activity on the Davie Fracture Zone, till nowaday. Its architecture is structurally expressed through the sequence of releasing and restraining bends dating back at least to the early Neogene. Seismic sections and horizon maps indicate that those restraining bends are generated by strike-slip reactivation of Cretaceous structures till the Miocene. Finally based on the interpretation of edge-enhanced reflection seismic surfaces and seafloor data, we shows that, by the late Neogene, the Seagap fault zone switched to normal fault behaviour. We discuss the Seagap fault's geological and kinematic significance through time and its current role within the microplate system in the framework of the East African rift, as well as implications for the evolution and re-activation of structures along sheared margins. The newly integrated datasets reveal the polyphase deformation of this margin, highlighting its complex evolution and the implications for depositional fairways and structural trap and seal changes through time, as well as potential hazards.  相似文献   

Dioxin Like Compounds Bulk Deposition on Corn (Zea mais) and Alfa Alfa (Medicago sativa): Modelled Levels on Derived Silage and Hay and Their Relevance for Dairy Production     

Gianfranco Brambilla  Stefania Paola De Filippis  Vittorio Esposito  Gaetano Settimo 《洁净——土壤、空气、水》2013,41(2):113-118

Dioxin‐like compounds from regular, occasional or fugitive airborne sources of emission may fall out on fodders close to be harvested for silage and hay production. In this way, a prolonged long‐term intake of contaminated forages in dairy animals may be envisaged, able to determine a rise of the background contamination in milk. We simulated different risk scenarios taking into account the inventoried bulk dry depositions in rural areas of the aforesaid contaminants, silage and hay biomass production per hectare, forages regimen in dairy animals, and the congeners carry‐over rate (COR) from forages to milk. Considering atmospheric depositions >10 pg I‐TE m^?2 day^?1 and accounting for a 30% COR, dairy milk could rise up to the PCDD/F level of 3 pg WHO₁₉₉₈‐TE g^?1 fat. The modelling indicates that in rural areas bulk emissions should be selectively minimised, accounting for the calendar of the different agricultural practices, because of their potential impact on the fodders. Since environmental factors play a non‐negligible role in food production, a stronger harmonisation between I‐TE and WHO_1998–2005‐TE scales with respect to dioxin‐like polychlorobiphenyl congeners inclusion is envisaged. This will allow the prevention of the human indirect exposure to such contaminants when released in the air.  相似文献   

Seismic performance of R/C frames with overstrength discontinuities in elevation   总被引：2，自引：1，他引：1  

Gennaro Magliulo  Vittorio Capozzi  Roberto Ramasco 《Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering》2012,10(2):679-694

The paper presents the results of a research study concerning the seismic response and design of r/c frames with overstrength discontinuities in elevation. The discontinuities are obtained assigning overstrengths either to the beams or to the columns of a “regular frame” (assumed as reference). Two “regular frames” are designed: one according to the Eurocode 8 (EC8) medium ductility class (DCM) rules and the other one according to the EC8 high ductility class (DCH) rules. For all frames the criteria of vertical strength irregularity of many international seismic codes are applied. Non linear static and dynamic analyses are performed; mechanical non linearity is concentrated at the element ends. These analyses are carried out according to EC8 provisions: for non linear static analysis the N2 method is applied; in the case of non linear time-history analyses, seven real earthquakes, selected in order to fit on average the elastic design spectrum, are used as input. The seismic response of frames characterised by the assigned overstrength is not very different with respect to the “regular frame” one; furthermore all the frames satisfy the Ultimate Limit State, verified by the application of non linear static and dynamic analyses. This demonstrates that the sensitivity of frames, designed according to EC8 medium and high ductility classes, to overstrength vertical variations is low. Consequently, international code provisions on vertical strength regularity should be reviewed.  相似文献   

Long term monitoring of photosystem II herbicides--correlation with remotely sensed freshwater extent to monitor changes in the quality of water entering the Great Barrier Reef, Australia     

Kennedy K  Schroeder T  Shaw M  Haynes D  Lewis S  Bentley C  Paxman C  Carter S  Brando VE  Bartkow M  Hearn L  Mueller JF 《Marine pollution bulletin》2012,65(4-9):292-305

Photosystem II (PSII) herbicides are used in large quantities on agricultural lands adjoining the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Routine monitoring at 14 sites in inshore waters of the GBR using passive sampling techniques detected diuron (32-94% of sampling periods) at maximum concentrations of 1.7-430ng L(-1) in the relatively pristine Cape York Region to the Mackay Whitsunday Region, respectively. A PSII herbicide equivalent (PSII-HEq) index developed as an indicator for reporting was dominated by diuron (average contribution 89%) and typically increased during the wet season. The maximum PSII-HEq indicates the potential for photosynthetic inhibition of diatoms, seagrass and coral-symbionts. PSII herbicides were significantly positively correlated with remotely sensed coloured dissolved organic matter, a proxy for freshwater extent. Combining these methods provides for the first time the potential to cost-effectively monitor improvements in water quality entering the GBR with respect to exposure to PSII herbicides.  相似文献   

On the evolution of the Horizontal Branch stars of metal-poor Globular Clusters     

V. Castellani  A. Renzini 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1968,2(3):310-314

The actual knowledge on Horizontal Branch stars of the metal-poor Globular Clusters of our Galaxy suggests that these stars evolve along the Horizontal Branch from the very blue stars towards lower effective temperature.From this behaviour it follows that a substantial mass loss occurs at the He-flash. On the basis of a gravitational thermalization of Horizontal Branch stars any recent observational data concerning NGC 7006 are re-examined. It is pointed out that today it is not necessary to leave the hypothesis of a strong correlation between the metal and helium content for our Galaxy.At present at the Osservatorio Astronomico, Bologna.  相似文献