ESRIG-EES colloquium: Sergio Garmendia Lemus, Alessandro Martulli and Ron Poort, MSc EES students
| When: | Th 29-08-2019 15:30 - 17:00 |
| Where: | 5159.0110, Energy Academy, Nijenborgh 6. |
Title: Design of competitive transport networks in Guadalajara, México. A sustainability and structural indicators review.
By: Sergio Garmendia Lemus, MSc EES student.
Summary: Public transportation is one of the major targets in sustainability agendas to tackle trade offs of atmospheric pollution. Nevertheless, not much attention has been focused on the improvement in quality and efficiency and its overall perception is lower if compared with the automobile. However, research community has been attracted by energy-efficient protocols and systems to enhance transportation efficiency and achieve the goal of smart and green cities. This research analyzes the implementation of a novel methodology for design of competitive public transport networks in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, Mexico (MAG).
The main core of this research rely on the design of an idealized transport network given the geographical conditions of the MAG and a comparison between the current and the proposed network. The methodological approach discussed evaluation categories based on sustainability indicators taking insights from Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for network analysis and network theory. Within the main findings, the idealized network has the potential to reduce considerably operational cost, energy consumption and emissions in respect with the current network. In addition a remarkable improvement was observed regarding accessibility by travel time reduction.
In order to test its applicability given the current demand and directions of trips, a validation method taking insights from novel literature in network theory was conducted. Based on the above mentioned approaches, potential improvements, limitations, concluding remarks and steps for further research are also suggested and discussed.
Title: Environmental and economic evaluation of end-of-life treatments for decommissioned wind turbine blades.
By: Alessandro Martulli, MSc EES student.
Summary:
In the last two decades wind energy has significantly developed by becoming one of the most promising source of renewable energy and the commitment to reduce GHG emission gives more importance to this energy source in the coming years. With the growing number of wind turbine installed, an increasing amount of it will need to be decommissioned and will reach the end-of-life. Most components of a wind turbine are already recyclable but blades represent a challenge due to the type of materials used and their complex composition (polymer composite reinforced with glass or carbon fibre).
Considering the approximate 20-25 years of lifetime as well as the growing dimensions of newly designed wind blades (to maximize power output), rising amount of decommissioned materials will be generated and the cumulative blade waste is predicted to be about 43 Mt in 2050. The most problematic aspect of the blades end-of-life treatment is the absence of a well-established technology since environmental and techno-economic concerns have been raised about their application. Three main routes for handling composite blades have been identified: landfill, incineration or recycling (mechanical, thermal or chemical).
This study provides a life-cycle analysis of wind blades with a specific focus on the end-of-life phase. In this respect, a comparison between the available recycling technologies and conventional methods for end-of-life treatment is carried out. Furthermore, an economic assessment of the different disposal routes as well as an evaluation of the profitability of investment in recycling technologies is presented.
Title: What is the potential for industrial ecology with regards to water management on the Emmtec industrial site?
By: Ron Poort, MSc EES student.
Summary:
Ever since global acceptance has arisen about future limitation of energy and raw materials consumption and the effects with regards to climate change, policy is being developed in order to stimulate sustainable use. Industries developed their own tools and strategies and apply these already on a large scale.
Water and energy reduction on industrial parks usually take place in the chain of individual production processes. That is why it might be plausible that improvements and savings are sub-optimal in the combined chain. The central question in this research therefore is: “What strategies for water and energy management are suitable for assessing sustainable industrial water and water-related energy management on Dutch chemical sites?”
This research consists of two parts: After a literature study about policy, strategies and tools with regards to sustainable water and related energy management a field study is performed in order to investigate the collective options for water and energy management at the industrial chemical business park Emmtec.
The results of the field study can be summarized in three main conclusions: In the area of reduction of water consumption there is a great potential at individual companies. Potential for exchange of (waste) water between companies is limited because of the different quality standards for specific water loops. Besides that there was insufficient information about the pollution levels of different part flows.
Water-related energy efficiency in the combined chain has a high potential and therefore close corporation is preferred. The potential for reuse of waste energy is significant. About 37 MW of waste energy is available for recovery but it needs strict alignment in the chain in order to achieve the best possible results. Given the objectives with regards to the reduction of greenhouse gases in the Climate Agreement extensive additional research is required in order to achieve the best collective result.
The chosen research strategy is applicable to the case study because bottlenecks that occur when water and energy loops are being closed on the location can be allocated in an early stage. This is done by interviewing the stakeholders and the setting of boundaries and wishes and demands. Sufficient communication and coordination can contribute to a widely supported planned approach of the potential saving measures.