As part of the UK’s effort to combat climate change, deep reductions in carbon emissions will be required from existing social housing. This thesis explores the viability of achieving such a goal through a case-study approach, focusing on Peabody, a large housing association operating in London. A model was developed for Peabody’s existing housing stock that quantifies the impacts of technical carbon reduction interventions on stock carbon emissions, Peabody’s expenditure and residents’ fuel bills for the period up to 2030. A participant observation study, conducted from 2006 to 2009, explored the impact of contextual factors influencing the viability of Peabody carrying out the considered technical interventions. The model study found that the Greater London Authority’s target of achieving 60% emission cuts by 2025 could be achieved, but only through extensive stock refurbishment, including a widespread use of solid wall insulation. An external context of substantial reductions in the carbon intensity of the national grid and constrained resident demand for energy is also required. Even where considerable financial support for refurbishment from Government was assumed, the model provided evidence of a funding gap of tens of millions of pounds which would need to be bridged if the required measures were to be carried out. The participant observation study found that the prohibitive cost of carrying out carbon reduction measures is the key barrier currently holding back progress. Other significant issues are related to Government policy, including the inability to raise income from residents to offset refurbishment spending, and the lack of a long term framework to drive action to reduce emissions from existing UK housing. By coupling an analysis of technical interventions with analysis of their financial and political viability, this thesis demonstrates that the achievement of deep emission cuts from Peabody’s existing stock is certainly possible, but requires changes in Government policy and increased efforts from all stakeholders concerned if it is to come to pass.

Transportation planning and urban development in the United States have synchronously emerged over the past few decades to encompass goals associated with sustainability, improved connectivity, complete streets and mitigation of environmental impacts. These goals have evolved in tandem with some of the relatively more traditional objectives of supply-side improvements such as infrastructure and capacity expansion. Apart from the numerous federal regulations in the US transportation sector that reassert sustainability motivations, metropolitan planning organizations and civic societies face similar concerns in their decision-making and policy implementation. However, overall transportation planning to incorporate these wide-ranging objectives requires characterization of large-scale transportation systems and traffic flow through them, which is dynamic in nature, computationally intense and a non-trivial problem. Thus, these contemporary questions lie at the interface of transportation planning, urban development and sustainability planning. They have the potential of being effectively addressed through state-of-the-art transportation modeling tools, which is the main motivation and philosophy of this thesis. From the research standpoint, some of these issues have been addressed in the past typically from the urban design, built-environment, public health and vehicle technology and mostly qualitative perspectives, but not as much from the traffic engineering and transportation systems perspective---a gap in literature which the thesis aims to fill. Specifically, it makes use of simulation-based dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) to develop modeling paradigms and integrated frameworks to seamlessly incorporate these in the transportation planning process. In addition to just incorporating them in the planning process, DTA-based paradigms are able to accommodate numerous spatial and temporal dynamics associated with system traffic, which more traditional static models are not able to. Besides, these features are critical in the context of the planning questions of this study. Specifically, systemic impacts of suburban and urban street pattern developments typically found in US cities in past decades of the 20th century have been investigated. While street connectivity and design evolution is mostly regulated through local codes and subdivision ordinances, its impacts on traffic and system congestion requires modeling and quantitative evidence which are explored in this thesis. On the environmental impact mitigation side, regional emission inventories from the traffic sector have also been quantified. Novel modeling approaches for the street connectivity-accessibility problem are proposed. An integrated framework using the Environmental Protection Agency's regulatory MOVES model has been developed, combining it with mesoscopic-level DTA simulation. Model demonstrations and applications on real and large-sized study areas reveal that different levels of connectivity and accessibility have substantial impacts on system-wide traffic---as connectivity levels reduce, traffic and congestion metrics show a gradually increasing trend. As regards emissions, incorporation of dynamic features leads to more realistic emissions inventory generation compared to default databases and modules, owing to consideration of the added dynamic features of system traffic and region-specific conditions. Inter-dependencies among these sustainability planning questions through the common linkage of traffic dynamics are also highlighted. In summary, the modeling frameworks, analyses and findings in the thesis contribute to some ongoing debates in planning studies and practice regarding ideal urban designs, provisions of sustainability and complete streets. Furthermore, the integrated emissions modeling framework, in addition to sustainability-related contributions, provides important tools to aid MPOs and state agencies in preparation of state implementation plans for demonstrating conformity to national ambient air-quality standards in their regions and counties. This is a critical condition for them to receive federal transportation funding. / text

Freight transportation is an integral element of various supply chains and has a complex and dynamical interrelationship with human economic activities. Modern logistical strategies paved way to the current supply chain organisation and logistics network design resulting in a more global economy and huge economies of scale. Recent trends of volatility of oil price have major implications in the movement of commodities across the supply chains. Likewise, climate change issues have presented urgent challenges in reducing carbon emissions for the transport and logistics sector. Pressure on the sector comes from both governments and consumers alike, demanding future sustainability as well as corporate environmental and social responsibility. The original contribution of this research is to investigate the system-wide dynamics of freight transportation and production in the context of supply chains. A theoretical framework called the ‘Geographic Adaptive Potential’ or GAP is built to understand how constraints in energy and emissions affect the production and distribution of commodities. The changes in the supply chain were investigated in four different components, namely a) the potential to shift to less energy and emissions intensive modes for long-haul freight, b) logistical strategies in the last leg of the chain or urban freight and c) local production and distribution, and d) the accessibility of potential customers to the markets. The design of the GAP components is in correspondence with the links of the supply chain. The analyses yielded an evaluation of the adaptive capacity of the freight transport and production system. For long-haul freight, a GIS-based model was created called the ‘New Zealand Intermodal Freight Network’ or NZIFN. It is an optimisation tool integrating the road, rail and shipping network of New Zealand and calculates that minimum time, operating costs, energy and emissions routes between 2 given locations. The case studies of Auckland to Wellington and Auckland to Christchurch distributions of non-perishable products established that even a marginal increase of rail and coastal shipping share produced around 10% reduction in both freight energy and greenhouse gas emissions. In the study of the last leg of the supply chain, the truck trip generation rates of different food stores were investigated. The strongest factors influencing the trip rates to a store are its size and product variation, the latter being a new parameter introduced in the dissertation. It is defined as the total number of brands for 6 chosen commodities commonly found in the stores. The trip rates together with the truck type and distance travelled were used to compute the freight energy usage of the stores. Results revealed that supermarkets consume the most energy for their delivery operations but relative to its physical size, they are more energy efficient than smaller stores. This is due to the utilisation of advanced logistical strategies such as freight consolidation and the effective use of distribution centres. The localised production chapter was explored in the context of Farmers’ markets and their difference with the conventional supermarket distribution system. Using a freight transport energy audit, the energy intensities of both systems were compared. The findings showed that Farmers’ markets were more energy-intensive than supermarkets owing to the low volumes of goods delivered to the market and the lack of freight consolidation effort in the system. The study on the active mode access of potential customers to both Farmers’ markets and supermarkets captured the interplay between freight and personal transport and is the final component of GAP. The results of the ArcGIS based model called ‘Active Mode Access’ or AMA demonstrated that both Farmers’ markets and supermarkets have the same level of accessibility for walking or biking customers. However, the calculations also showed that almost 87% of New Zealanders have no AMA to stores and are at risk for fuel price increase. Finally, the key result of this dissertation is the assessment that there is actually limited adaptive capacity of the freight transport and production system. This is due to network infrastructure and geographical constraints as well as commodity type and mode compatibility and other operational concerns. Due to these limitations, the GAP model assessed that reduction in energy and allowable emissions will ultimately reduce the amount of commodities moved in the system.

The aim of the paper: to investigate the effect of microclimatic factors on the process of ammonia emission from manure, and evaluate possibilities to reduce ammonia emission from cowsheds by controlling these factors. The completed analysis of microclimatic factors in various naturally ventilated cowsheds revealed patterns of variation in ammonia concentration depending on air temperature in the barn. While analysing the process of ammonia evaporation from the manure, the effect of interacting environmental factors on the intensity of evaporation was evaluated. The effect of temperature, ventilation intensity and drying of manure surface on the intensity of ammonia evaporation process from manure was determined and proved. Theoretical and experimental presumptions were made for the investigation of the effect of the crust formation at the manure surface on ammonia diffusion process. Based on the obtained results, ammonia emission from naturally ventilated cowsheds with various engineering solutions can be predicted, and equipment reducing the ammonia emission from them can be installed. / Darbo tikslas ˗ Ištirti mikroklimato veiksnių įtaką amoniako emisijos procesui iš mėšlo ir įvertinti galimybes juos valdant sumažinti amoniako emisiją iš karvidžių. Ištyrus mikroklimato veiksnius įvairiose natūraliai vėdinamose karvidėse, nustatyti amoniako koncentracijos kaitos dėsningumai priklausomai nuo oro temperatūros tvarte. Analizuojant amoniako garavimo iš mėšlo procesą, įvertinta tarpusavyje sąveikaujančių aplinkos veiksnių komplekso įtaka garavimo intensyvumui. Nustatyta ir įrodyta temperatūros, vėdinimo intensyvumo ir mėšlo paviršiaus džiūvimo įtaka amoniako garavimo iš mėšlo proceso intensyvumui. Sukurtos teorinės ir eksperimentinės prielaidos tirti mėšlo paviršiuje besiformuojančios plutos įtaką amoniako difuzijos procesui. Pagal gautus rezultatus galima prognozuoti amoniako emisiją iš natūraliai vėdinamų karvidžių su įvairiais inžineriniais sprendimais ir diegti priemones mažinančias amoniako emisiją iš jų.

Kiekvienasis metais vis didėjant autotransporto kiekiui keliuose, didėja ir jų į aplinką išmetamų teršalų kiekiai. Todėl galime numanyti, jog Lietuvoje autotransportui išaugus 2,5 karto per paskutinį dešimtmetį tiek kartų išaugo ir į aplinką išmetamų kenksmingų deginių kiekiai, kurie labiausiai jaučiami didžiuosiuose miestuose ar miesteliuose. Greta Kelmės miesto yra keli dideli cheminės oro taršos šaltiniai: kelias Ryga-Kaliningradas, Kelmė – Raseiniai ir pagrindinė miesto sankryža, kur susidaro didžiausi teršalų kiekiai. Šiais keliais nuolat juda intensyvūs autotransporto srautai, kurių dalis patenka į Kelmės miestą. Todėl buvo atliktas autotransporto srautų įtakos Kelmės miesto aplinkos orui tyrimas: ištirti autotransporto srautai Kelmėje; išmatuota anglies monoksido kiekiai ore; teoriškai apskaičiuoti autotransporto amžiaus ir jo eksploatacinių parametrų įtaka deginių kiekiui ir jų sudėčiai; eksperimentiškai ištirta autotransporto cheminė tarša. / The volume of vehicle traffic, growing every year, increases the emissions of toxic substances and pollutes the environment. Consequently, the road traffic in Lithuania has increased by 2.5 times over the last decade. Big cities and small towns have noticed the effect of harmful exhaust emissions on the environment and people health most. A large number of chemical sources of air pollution are located near Kelme city: road Riga – Kaliningrad, Kelme – Raseiniai and the main city crossroads, which produces the most significant contaminants. These roads are constantly moving the intense flows of motor vehicles, the part of which falls within the town of Kelme. Therefore the aim of our research was to study the impact of the road traffic on the air quality in Kelme city, to investigate the traffic flows, to measure the concentration of carbon monoxide in the air, theoretically calculate the impact of vehicle age and its operating parameters on the exhaust emissions and its composition. The experimental research revealed the chemical pollution of the vehicles .

Corporate environmental responsibilities of organizations have become an eminent consideration among organizational managers and scholars in recent years. Environmental issues have gained much momentum that virtually every group of stakeholders is now demanding environmental efficiency from contemporary organizations. This study investigated environmental practices of two logistics companies in Sweden with the aim to shed light on the measures taken by these companies in response to the environmental impacts of their business activities. We investigated: How and why are logistics service providers in Sweden responding to the demand for environmental responsible business practice?   Based on a qualitative research design, a case study was conducted with DHL and PostNord AB. The results of the study show that the case companies perform environmental practices to reduce the carbon emissions of their business operations due to stakeholders demand. The findings identify stakeholders such as, customers, the Swedish government and shareholders/investors as those that exert the most pressure on the case companies regarding their environmental practices and initiatives.

The arising environmental concerns make emission reduction from combustion devices one of the greatest challenges of the century. Modern dry low-NOx emission combustion systems often operate under lean premixed turbulent conditions. In order to design and operate these systems efficiently, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of combustion process in these devices. In premixed combustion, flame speed determines the conversion rate of fuel. The flame speed under highly turbulent conditions is defined as turbulent flame speed. Turbulent flame speed depends on laminar flame speed, which is a property of the combustible mixture. The goal of this thesis is to estimate laminar flame speed and NOx emissions under certain conditions for specific industrial gas turbines. For this purpose, an in-house one-dimensional code, GENE-AC, is used. At first, a data validation is performed in order to select an optimized chemical reaction mechanism which can be used safely with the fuels of interest in gas turbines. Results show that GRI-Mech 3.0 performs well in most cases. This mechanism is selected for further simulations. Secondly, laminar flame speed is calculated using GRI-Mech 3.0 at SGT-800 conditions. Results show that at gas turbine conditions, increasing ambient temperature and fuel to air ratio enhances flame speed, mainly due to faster reaction rates. Moreover, laminar flame speed is highly affected by fuel composition. In particular, adding hydrogen to a fuel changes chemical processes significantly, because hydrogen is relatively light and highly diffusive. Calculations are conducted over a range of equivalence ratios and hydrogen fractions in methane at atmospheric as well as gas turbine operating conditions. Results reveal some trends for changes in laminar flame speed, depending on hydrogen content in the mixture. The final part of the thesis involves the development of a reactor network model for the SGT-700 combustor in order to predict NOx emissions. The network model is built in GENE-AC based on results from available computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of the combustor. The model is developed for full load conditions with variable pilot fuel ratios. The NOx emissions are predicted using GRI-Mech 3.0 mechanism. A parametric study shows the dependency of NOx emissions on equivalence ratio and residence time. For SGT-700 running on natural gas, NOx emissions are fitted to measurement data by tuning equivalence ratio and residence time. The model is then tested for a range of ambient temperatures and fuel compositions. It is found that, although the model can correctly predict the trends of ambient temperature and fuel effects on NOx emissions, these effects are to some extent over-estimated. Using future engine tests and amending calibration can improve the results.

Research goal. We seek to validate optimal composition of straw biomass fuel and energy efficiency of straw utilization for energy needs, to assess straw biomass fuel preparation technology in respect to energy efficiency, and to determine emissions that are generated during straw combustion. Research objectives. The following objectives were planned to reach the goal of the research: 1) Process analysis of preparation of biomass fuel (pellets and briquettes) for burning, 2) Validation of mixture of lime additive (CaO) into straw biomass fuel, 3) Property analysis of prepared biomass fuel, 4) Measurement and assessment of emissions generated while burning straw biomass fuel, 5) Assessment of energy consumption by straw pellet production equipment. / Tyrimų tikslas. Pagrįsti šiaudų biokuro optimalios sudėties paruošimo ir panaudojimo energinėms reikmėms efektyvumą, atlikti šiaudų biokuro paruošimo technologijos energinį vertinimą ir nustatyti deginimo metu išskiriamas emisijas. Tyrimų uždaviniai. Tyrimų tikslui pasiekti numatyta: 1) Atlikti šiaudų biokuro (briketų ir granulių) paruošimo deginimui technologinę analizę; 2) Pagristi kalkių priedo (CaO) įmaišymo į šiaudų biokuro sudetį tikslingumą; 3) Ištirti pagaminto šiaudų biokuro savybes; 4) Nustatyti ir įvertinti šiaudų biokuro deginimo metu išskiriamas emisijas; 5) Įvertinti šiaudų granulių gamybos technologinės įrangos energijos sanaudas.

This research study seeks to evaluate the techno-economic and environmental implications of a variety of aero-derivative marine gas turbine cycles that have been modelled for the propulsion of different types of merchant ships. It involves the installation and operation of gas turbine propulsion systems in different marine environmental conditions and aims to evaluate the effect of the aerodynamic and hydrodynamic variations expected to be encountered by these ships when they navigate across different climates and oceans along selected fixed trade routes. A combination of simulation tools developed in Cranfield University at the Department of Power and Propulsion including the validated gas turbine modelling and simulation code called “Turbomatch” and the “APPEM” simulation code for the analysis and Prediction of exhaust pollutants have been used along with the ongoing development of an integrated marine gas turbine propulsion system simulation platform known as “Poseidon”. It is the main objective of this research to upgrade the competence level of “Poseidon” so as to facilitate the conduct of a variety of longer and more complex oceangoing voyage scenarios through the introduction of an ambient temperature variation numerical module. Expanding the existing code has facilitated the prediction of the effect of varying aerodynamic and hydrodynamic conditions that may be encountered by gas turbine propulsion systems when such ships navigate through unstable ocean environments along their fixed trade routes at sea. The consequences of operating the marine gas turbines under ideal weather conditions has been investigated and compared with a wide range of severe operating scenarios under unstable weather and sea conditions in combination with hull fouling has been assessed. The techno-economic and environmental benefits of intercooling/exhaust waste heat recuperation of the ICR model have been predicted through the evaluation of different ship propulsion performance parameters in a variety of voyage analysis leading to the prediction of fuel consumption quantities, emission of NOx, CO2, CO and UHCs and the estimation of the HPT blade life as well. The different gas turbine cycle configurations of the research were found to respond differently when operated under various environmental profiles of the ship’s trade route and the number of units for each model required to meet the power plant capacity in each scenario and for each ship was assessed. The study therefore adds to the understanding of the operating costs and asset management of marine gas turbine propulsion systems of any ocean carrier and in addition it reveals the economic potentials of using BOG as the main fuel for firing gas turbine propulsion plants of LNG Carriers.

Atmospheric pollutants in the state of Qatar are derived from flaring and fugitive emissions due to a combination of new energy projects, operational conditions and plant operational problems. This research is the first attempt to quantitatively assess key atmospheric pollutants in Qatar, in accordance with the Kyoto agreements to reduce greenhouse gas production. Two datasets were analysed: 1. Between 2000 and 2002, data collected by industrial plants, as part of their own procedures, were assembled using a proforma questionnaire, to compile data on fuel consumption, fuel type, chemical characteristics, heat value, specific gravity etc, from industries in Qatar. The survey involved the oil & gas industry, petrochemical factories, power & desalination plants. Fuel data includes sulfur & nitrogen contents, chemical composition of flared gas and C content, some data compiled on road transport and fuel consumption. Analysis revealed significant atmospheric pollution. 2. Independent air-quality monitoring stations collected data between 2003 and 2005 to compare with data provided by industry. Three locations were chosen because of proximity to industrial plants: Mesaieed on the southeast coast, Dukhan on the west coast, and Halul Island, an offshore installation 30 km east of Qatar in the Arabian Gulf. Five key tropospheric pollutants (NO2, SO2, CO, O3 and PM10), wind speed and wind direction, were monitored hourly from three stations located near gas installations across Qatar. Registered levels of CO, NO2 and SO2 were within Qatari and European Standards. PM10, however, was higher than the standards in all three stations and measured daily O3 levels were sometimes higher than the reference for Halul Island. Therefore, in contrast to industry data, the monitoring sites showed much pollution is below (better than) accepted thresholds, the difference between the two datasets illustrating the complexity involved in correctly monitoring pollution, and the effect of wind direction and dispersal of pollutants. Therefore these results have stimulated a comprehensive response to pollution monitoring in Qatar between 2005 and the present day, leading to reduction in flaring and fugitive emissions over the last few years, by as much as 50% in some operations, as a result of more careful operational planning, upgrading and better controls applied to new and existing projects. This research therefore provided much of the stimulus for emission reduction in Qatar, currently being investigated under the Clean Development Mechanism and Technology Transfer.