The overall energy sector calls for a transformation from a fossil-based system to a low-carbon one. At a technology level, significant efforts have been made to provide energy solutions that contribute to a sustainable energy system. However, the actual suitability of these solutions is often not checked. In this sense, the assessment of energy systems from a life-cycle perspective is of paramount importance when it comes to effectively planning the energy sector. While environmental issues are commonly addressed through the use of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, the comprehensive evaluation of the economic and social aspects of energy systems often remains ignored or underdeveloped. This book consists of a set of scientific works addressing the analysis of energy systems from a (life-cycle) technical, economic, environmental and/or social standpoint. Case studies at and beyond the technology level are included, some of them involving a combination of life cycle and non-life cycle approaches for the thorough evaluation of energy systems under the umbrella of sustainability.

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The pandemic period has caused severe socio-economic damage, but it is accompanied by environmental deterioration that can also affect economic opportunities and social equity. In the face of this double risk, future generations are ready to be resilient and make their contribution not only on the consumption side, but also through their inclusion in all companies by bringing green and circular principles with them. Policy makers can also favor this choice.

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This is a Special Issue of Atmosphere presenting recent results of experimental and theoretical investigations of atmospheric compositions and clouds, largely based on remote sensing.

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Circular solutions are essential to tackle the eminent challenges of depleting resources and emerging environmental problems. The complex nature of material and energy systems and the changing of economic and technological conditions differ among countries and, therefore, lead to the application of vastly different practices in developed and rapidly developing countries of the world. A wide variety of theoretical approaches can be used to facilitate a shift from the linear use of resources to circular systems, e.g., circular product planning, life cycle planning, sharing and platform economy, refurbishing, and remanufacturing, to name but a few. The introduction and examination of circular solutions can be based on theoretical models in order to guarantee ensure successful application. Successful application of innovative technology approaches, business solutions, and organizational development can be facilitated through theoretical models and new scientific results that support innovation processes. This Special Issue reprint focuses on sustainable and innovative methods which help and enable the proper use and recovery of resources. We present a collection of research papers, reviews, research reports, and case studies that introduce or discuss circular solutions for the sustainable use of resources.

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Forest ecosystems are often disturbed by agents such as harvesting, fire, wind, insects and diseases, and acid deposition, with differing intensities and frequencies. Such disturbances can markedly affect the amount, form, and stability of soil organic carbon in, and the emission of greenhouse gases, including CO2, CH4, and N2O from, forest ecosystems. It is vitally important that we improve our understanding of the impact of different disturbance regimes on forest soil carbon dynamics and greenhouse gas emissions to guide our future research, forest management practices, and policy development. This Special Issue provides an important update on the disturbance effects on soil carbon and greenhouse gas emissions in forest ecosystems in different climate regions.

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After successful government-led afforestation projects, what are the challenges for forest management in the face of climate change in East Asia? This reprint presents studies from the natural and social sciences related to forest conservation, engineering, disaster sociology, and forest policy in China and Japan. The papers cover a range of topics, including forest owners' attitudes, forest resource utilization, evaluation of forestry mechanization and forest roads, characteristics of damage from torrential rains, resilience of rural communities, economic transformation, and others.

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A Smart City is the perfect environment to study and exploit the interactions between actors because its architecture already integrates vaious elements to collect data and connect to its citizens. Furthermore, the proliferation of web platforms (e.g., social media and web fora) and the increased affordability of sensors and IoT devices (e.g., smart meters) make data related to a large and diverse set of users accessible, as their activities in the digital world reflect their real-life actions. These new technologies can be of great use for the stakeholders as, on the one hand, they provide them with semantically rich inputs and frequent updates at a relatively cheap cost and, on the other, form a direct channel of communication with the citizens. To fully exploit these new data sources, we need both novel computational methods (e.g., AI, data mining algorithms, knowledge representation) that are suitable for analyzing and understanding the dynamics behind energy consumption and also a deeper understanding of how these methods can be integrated into the existing design and decision processes (e.g., human-in-the-loop processes).Therefore, this Special Issue welcomed original multidisciplinary research works about AI, data science methods, and their integration in existing design/decision-making processes in the domain of energy consumption in Smart Cities.

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The world needs an accelerated energy transition to meet sustainable development goals. Energy planning has a critical role in providing the information that can guide decision-makers, and energy planning methods continue to evolve rapidly. This Special Issue provides new insights for long-term energy planning, drawing on the Clean Energy Ministerial Long Term Energy Planning Scenarios initiative and the IRENA LTES network.

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This reprint is mainly aimed at economists involved in the energy market. Energy market processes have an enormous impact on people's day-to-day economic activities. The economics of sustainability leads the way in theorizing how best to prevent environmental degradation whilst also fostering positive economic development. For these reasons, the focus of this reprint is mainly on pollution and the energy transition. Works on energy resources and future-oriented solutions that reduce the consumption of classical energy resources are explored in the reprint. Papers relating to contemporary accounting and the stock market are also presented. The geographical area of the works showcased here essentially covers the entire eastern hemisphere of the globe (Asia, Africa and Europe). They are mainly empirical studies, although in one case a bibliometric analysis is included.

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This reprint is a collection of research that contributes to a better understanding of energy transfer related to alternative vehicles. The hybridization of power units and alternative propulsion systems are the mainly developed technology in the automotive field today. The modernization of conventional propulsion sources is justified by the increasingly stringent economic, ecological, and comfort requirements. The common link in any renewable energy source or propulsion system today is electric motors. Their correct use in propulsion offers the possibility of reducing or eliminating harmful emissions both in the form of toxic compounds and noise or unwanted vibrations. The research works were related to energy transfer in both hybrid and electric vehicles, and conversion of energy from renewable sources such as photovoltaic installations to power alternative vehicles. However, you will also find in this reprint papers that are related to modules of alternative propulsion such as drivetrain efficiency analysis, ways of energy accumulation in batteries, and influence of the charging method on the energy consumption of a vehicle during its life cycle.

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Primary energy consumption around the world has been increasing steadily since the Industrial Revolution and shows no signals of slowing down in the coming years. This trend is accompanied by the increasing pollutant concentration on the Earth’s biosystems and the general concerns over the health and environmental impacts that will ensue. Air quality, water purity, atmospheric CO2 concentration, etc., are some examples of environmental parameters that are degrading due to human activities. These ecosystems can be safeguarded without renouncing industrial development, urban and economic development through the use of low environmental impact technologies instead of equivalent pollutant ones or through the use of technologies to mitigate the negative impact of high emissions technologies. Pollutant abatement systems, carbon capture technologies, biobased products, etc. need to be established in order to make environmental parameters more and more similar to the pre-industrialization values of the planet Earth. In 15 papers international scientists addressed such topics, especially combining a high academic standard coupled with a practical focus on green processes and a quantitative approach to environmental impacts.

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Financial Crises - Challenges and Solutions examines why and how financial crises occur and what can be learned from past crises. It puts forth possible solutions to avoid the recurrence of crises and offers empirical evidence and policy implications, making it a useful resource for researchers in finance.

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The increasing concern regarding environmental issues has led to the adoption of stringent regulations worldwide to facilitate the urgent move towards green mobility and sustainable transportation. In this regard, electrified powertrains are bound to replace conventional thermal engines to reduce greenhouse gases and pollutant emissions. The synergy between the internal combustion engine and the electric unit in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) significantly reduces fuel consumption and emissions while maintaining high vehicle performance and driving comfort. Moreover, unlike pure electric vehicles, the hybrid electric powertrain fulfills even the most demanding energetic requirements, ranging from light- and heavy-duty vehicles to agricultural machinery, vessels, and aircraft, thus becoming the optimal sustainable solution in the short term. Nonetheless, the full potential of HEVs can only be exploited using a multidisciplinary approach to design the mechanical and electrical equipment and implement the optimal energy management strategy. This Special Issue, “Frontiers in Hybrid Vehicles Powertrain”, provides a broad perspective on the current challenges and research trends of the hybrid electric powertrain collecting nine peer-reviewed papers dealing with the main mechanical, electrical, controls, and energetic issues of HEVs.

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Metallurgy involves the art and science of extracting metals from their ores and modifying the metals for use. With thousands of years of development, many interdisciplinary technologies have been introduced into this traditional and large-scale industry. In modern metallurgical practices, modelling and simulation are widely used to provide solutions in the areas of design, control, optimization, and visualization, and are becoming increasingly significant in the progress of digital transformation and intelligent metallurgy. This Special Issue (SI), entitled “Metallurgical Process Simulation and Optimization”, has been organized as a platform to present the recent advances in the field of modelling and optimization of metallurgical processes, which covers the processes of electric/oxygen steel-making, secondary metallurgy, (continuous) casting, and processing. Eighteen articles have been included that concern various aspects of the topic.

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The uncertainties surrounding climate change raise crucial questions about the ability of forest ecosystems to buffer against current and future climate-induced global changes while continuing to provide essential ecosystem services, as demanded by society and advocated by future policies such as the European Green Deal. Climate-induced extremes could profoundly affect medium- to long-term forest dynamics—including growth, competition, and mortality—along with forest structure and biodiversity. In this era of unprecedented climate shifts, understanding the intricate responses of forest ecosystems to these changes is paramount. In this Special Issue, we collected 13 studies that introduce new methods, novel applications, and innovative designs to: i) model the impacts of climate change on medium- to long-term forest dynamics; ii) assess the impacts of climate change on the delivery of crucial ecosystem services across all forest ecosystems; and iii) analyze, assess, and quantify the impact of climate-induced disturbances on the forest carbon cycle, water dynamics, and overall forest productivity, utilizing data-driven, modelling, and dynamic approaches.

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Carbon-based materials, such as chars, activated carbons, one-dimensional carbon nanotubes, and two-dimensional graphene nanosheets, have shown great potential for a wide variety of applications. These materials can be synthesized from any precursor with a high proportion of carbon in its composition. Although fossil fuels have been extensively used as precursors, their unstable cost and supply have led to the synthesis of carbon materials from biomass. Biomass covers all forms of organic materials, including plants both living and in waste form and animal waste products. It appears to be a renewable resource because it yields value-added products prepared using environmentally friendly processes. The applications of these biomass-derived carbon materials include electronic, electromagnetic, electrochemical, environmental and biomedical applications. Thus, novel carbon materials from biomass are a subject of intense research, with strong relevance to both science and technology. The main aim of this reprint is to present the most relevant and recent insights in the field of the synthesis of biomass-derived carbons for sustainable applications, including adsorption, catalysis and/or energy storage applications.

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The role that combustion plays in the world’s energy systems will continue to evolve with the changes in technological demands. For example, the challenges that we face today are more focused on the conservation of energy and addressing environmental concerns, which together necessitate cleaner and more efficient combustion processes using a range of fuel sources. This book includes contributions to highlight the recent progress in theory and experiments, development, and demonstration of technologies and systems involving combustion processes, for the production, storage, use, and conservation of energy.

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Satellite measurements of night-time lights are widely recognized as a valuable indicator of human activity on Earth. These measurements capture the amount of light emitted from Earth at night and provide significant insights into a range of fields, including urbanization processes, socio-economic dynamics, local and regional GDP, economic impacts of conflicts, effects of epidemics on economic activity, and the various impacts of natural and man-made disasters. This reprint includes 16 articles that were published in the Remote Sensing Special Issue “Remote Sensing of Night-Time Light” and that highlight novel research on the remote sensing of night-time lights. The reprint aims to stimulate progress in the remote sensing research domain related to the utilization of night-time lights in a wide range of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary domains, including urban studies, ecology, economics, oceanography, sociology, epidemiology, and more.

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Energies is open to submissions for a Special Issue on “Renewable Energy Production from Energy Crops and Agricultural Residues”. Biomass represents an important source of renewable and sustainable energy production. Its increasing consumption is mainly related to the increase in global energy demand and fossil fuel prices, but also to a lower environmental impact compared to non-renewable fuels. These factors take RED II directives into consideration. In the past, forestry interventions were the main supply source of biomass, but in recent decades two others sources have entered the international scene. These are dedicated energy crops and agricultural residues, which are important sources of biomass for biofuel and bioenergy. Below, we consider four main value chains: • Oil crops: Oil production from non-food oilseed crops (such as camelina, Crambe, safflower, castor, cuphea, cardoon, etc.), oil extraction, and oil utilization for fuel production. • Lignocellulosic crops: Biomass production from perennial grasses (miscanthus, giant reed, switchgrass, reed canary grass, etc.), woody crops (willow, poplar, Robinia, eucalyptus, etc.), and agricultural residues (pruning, maize cob, maize stalks, wheat chaff, sugar cane straw, etc.), considering two main transformation systems: 1. Electricity/heat production 2. Second-generation ethanol production • Carbohydrate crops (cereals, sweet sorghum, sugar beets, sugar cane, etc.) for ethanol production. • Fermentable crops (maize, barley, triticale, Sudan grass, sorghum, etc.) and agricultural residues (chaff, maize stalks and cob, fruit and vegetable waste, etc.) for production of biogas and/or biomethane.

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In view of the urgent need for carbon emission reduction, this Special Issue would like to collect research to share new ideas, innovations, trends, and experiences concerning the related issues of carbon tax, carbon trading, carbon offset, and other related methods of carbon emission reduction.

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This reprint includes research papers on different disciplines related to composites. It contains research related to new topics such as nanotubes, fibres, admixtures added in cement and concrete. Additionally self-healing and self-sensing issues are presented. Environmental, and thermal-related topics are also discussed. Studies related to consolidation topics and alkali activation of clays are included. This blend of traditional and modern building materials, all having a common ground, the use of new technologies for improving fresh and harden state properties, make this volume interesting.

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This special issue aims to contribute to the climate actions which called for the need to address Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, keeping global warming to well below 2°C through various means, including accelerating renewables, clean fuels, and clean technologies into the entire energy system. As long as fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil) are still used in the foreseeable future, it is vital to ensure that these fossil fuels are used cleanly through abated technologies. Financing the clean and energy transition technologies is vital to ensure the smooth transition towards net zero emission by 2050 or beyond. The lack of long‐term financing, the low rate of return, the existence of various risks, and the lack of capacity of market players are major challenges to developing sustainable energy systems.This special collected 17 high-quality empirical studies that assess the challenges for developing secure and sustainable energy systems and provide practical policy recommendations. The editors of this special issue wish to thank the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) for funding several papers that were published in this special issue.

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Construction is one of the main sectors that generates greenhouse gases. This industry consumes large amounts of raw materials, such as stone, timber, water, etc. Additionally, infrastructure should provide service over many years without safety problems. Therefore, their correct design, construction, maintenance, and dismantling are essential to reducing economic, environmental, and societal consequences. That is why promoting sustainable construction has recently become extremely important. To help address and resolve these types of questions, this book explores new ways of reducing the environmental impacts caused by the construction sector, as well promotes social progress and economic growth. The chapters collect the papers included in the “Sustainable Construction II” Special Issue of the Sustainability journal. The papers cover a wide spectrum of issues related to the use of sustainable materials in construction, the optimization of designs based con sustainable indicators, the life-cycle assessment, the decision-making processes that integrate economic, social, and environmental aspects, and the promotion of durable materials that reduce future maintenance

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Exceptional design loads on buildings and structures may have different causes, including high-strain natural hazards, man-made attacks and accidents, and extreme operational conditions. All of these aspects can be critical for specific structural typologies and/or materials that are particularly sensitive. Dedicated and refined methods are thus required for design, analysis, and maintenance under structures’ expected lifetimes. Major challenges are related to the structural typology and material properties. Further issues are related to the need for the mitigation or retrofitting of existing structures, or from the optimal and safe design of innovative materials/systems. Finally, in some cases, no design recommendations are available, and thus experimental investigations can have a key role in the overall process. For this SI, we have invited scientists to focus on the recent advancements and trends in the sustainable design of high-performance buildings and structures. Special attention has been given to materials and systems, but also to buildings and infrastructures that can be subjected to extreme design loads. This can be the case of exceptional natural events or unfavorable ambient conditions. The assessment of hazard and risk associated with structures and civil infrastructure systems is important for the preservation and protection of built environments. New procedures, methods, and more precise rules for safety design and the protection of sustainable structures are, however, needed.

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A total of 30 articles have been published in this special issue, and it consists of 27 research papers, 2 technical notes, and 1 review paper. A total of 104 authors from 9 countries including Korea, Spain, Taiwan, USA, Finland, China, Slovenia, the Netherlands, and Germany participated in writing and submitting very excellent papers that were finally published after the review process had been conducted according to very strict standards. Among the published papers, 13 papers directly addressed words such as sustainable, life cycle assessment (LCA) and CO2, and 17 papers indirectly dealt with energy and CO2 reduction effects. Among the published papers, there are 6 papers dealing with construction technology, but a majority, 24 papers deal with management techniques. The authors of the published papers used various analysis techniques to obtain the suggested solutions for each topic. Listed by key techniques, various techniques such as Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the Taguchi method, machine learning including Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), regression analysis, Strength–Weakness–Opportunity–Threat (SWOT), system dynamics, simulation and modeling, Building Information Model (BIM) with schedule, and graph and data analysis after experiments and observations are identified.

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