Resources, Volume 10, Issue 5 (May 2021) – 16 articles

Based on the analysis and interpretation of maps, remote sensing data published in the literature, and environmental reconnaissance, this article discusses environmental transformations in the Wojkowice area in southern Poland (up to the year 2020). A comprehensive analysis was carried out concerning spatial development, mining activity, hydrogeological conditions and the biotic environment. The current state of the hydrogeological conditions was also characterized. Mining activity in the vicinity of the studied town caused significant changes in its relief, which contributed to its area dropping by about 5 m. In fact, these terrain forms are overgrown by various forms of vegetation that colonized these areas both naturally and as a result of forest reclamation. The contemporary vegetation of Wojkowice differs from the potential natural vegetation, which is an indicator of the complete anthropogenization of the natural environment. Over 100 years of industrial activity in Wojkowice has also contributed to a strong transformation of the groundwater. There has been a quantitative depletion of usable groundwater in the Triassic and Carboniferous formations. With inflows to the ore mines of up to 17 m³/min, the groundwater table has dropped by more than 60 m. The aquifer of Muschelkalk has been practically drained. At present, wells extract the waters from the Röth aquifer. There has been a major transformation of groundwater chemistry. The waters of the Triassic carbonate complex are anthropogenically transformated and are characterized by increased mineralization, multi-ionic types and usually with a quality class III and IV, and, therefore, they require some treatment. Full article

In an ongoing project, low-investment measures for the optimization of district heating systems are analyzed. The optimization strategies are collected in a catalog, which is the core of a guideline. The application of this guideline is demonstrated using two concrete district heating networks as examples. In this study, the improvement of an analog controlled district heating substation by an electronic controller is investigated. High supply temperatures and heat losses are often a challenge in district heating networks. The district heating substations have a major influence on the network return temperatures. The comparison of the two substation setups with analog and electronic controllers is carried out by laboratory measurement. It can be shown that the return temperatures can be reduced by an average of 20 K in winter and transition, as well as 16 K in summer. The district heating network losses are calculated for one of both specific district heating networks. They are calculated from the ratio of network losses to generated energy. The generated energy is the sum of network losses and consumer demand. The thermal losses of the network can be reduced by 3%. The volume flow in the heating network can be reduced to a quarter. Therefore, the pumping energy requirement drops sharply since these changes cubically affect the volume flow. Full article

District heating is seen as an important concept to decarbonize heating systems and meet climate mitigation goals. However, the decision related to where central heating is most viable is dependent on many different aspects, like heating densities or current heating structures. An urban energy simulation platform based on 3D building objects can improve the accuracy of energy demand calculation on building level, but lacks a system perspective. Energy system models help to find economically optimal solutions for entire energy systems, including the optimal amount of centrally supplied heat, but do not usually provide information on building level. Coupling both methods through a novel heating grid disaggregation algorithm, we propose a framework that does three things simultaneously: optimize energy systems that can comprise all demand sectors as well as sector coupling, assess the role of centralized heating in such optimized energy systems, and determine the layouts of supplying district heating grids with a spatial resolution on the street level. The algorithm is tested on two case studies; one, an urban city quarter, and the other, a rural town. In the urban city quarter, district heating is economically feasible in all scenarios. Using heat pumps in addition to CHPs increases the optimal amount of centrally supplied heat. In the rural quarter, central heat pumps guarantee the feasibility of district heating, while standalone CHPs are more expensive than decentral heating technologies. Full article

Biological invasions are of complex solution, consuming resources for their control and eradication. However, in many of the documented processes that are available, this is an attempt with no solution in sight. The possibility of increasing the pressure over these species while creating value chains has been presented as a method for ensuring the sustainability of their control and eradication processes. In the case of invasive forest species in Portugal, such as Acacia dealbata Link, this control is becoming increasingly important. In addition to the negative impacts on biodiversity, the proliferation of this species has economic implications due to its competition with forest production species such as Pinus pinaster Aiton and Eucalyptus globulus Labill. Another critical aspect to be considered is the increase of the risk of rural fires, which is enhanced by the accumulation of low-value biomass around production forests. In this work, the possibility of using this species as a vehicle for the capture and sequestration of carbon in the medium and long-term was evaluated from a perspective of providing ecosystem services as a measure to mitigate climate change. However, due to its highly heliophilous character, it was found that the growth capacity of this species is rapidly conditioned by the position of each tree within a stand, not being able to maintain that capacity in the medium and long term. Full article

Sufficient supplies of critical raw materials (CRMs) for rapidly developing technologies, e.g., Li-ion batteries, wind turbines, photovoltaics, digitization, etc., have become one of the main economic challenges for the EU. Due to growing import dependency and associated risk of supply disruptions of these raw materials from third countries, there is a need to encourage their domestic production. This is an important starting point for EU value chains crucial for the sustainable economic growth of the whole Union. This contribution has evaluated the possibilities of CRMs supply from the EU’s primary sources. A three-step approach, including an assessment of CRMs’ importance for the EU’s economic growth, their significance in at least two of the three strategic industrial sectors (i.e., renewable energy, e-mobility, defense and aerospace), and their potential availability from EU mineral deposits, has been applied. Results of the analysis have shown that, of 29 critical mineral raw materials (according to the 2020 EC list), the potential to develop manufacturing from the Union mineral deposits exists for 11 CRMs, i.e., cobalt, graphite (natural), HREE, LREE, lithium, magnesium, niobium, PGMs, silicon metal, titanium, and tungsten, while some other CRMs, namely gallium, germanium, indium, and vanadium can be recovered as by-products. Measures to mitigate EU import dependency have been also proposed. Full article

There are many studies which implement and assess existing measurement manners and document the progress of entities towards the circular economy (CE) at various levels, or present or propose new possibilities of measurement. The majority of them refer to the micro level. The aim of this paper is to conduct a multidimensional comparative analysis of the implementation of circular economy by EU countries. After an in-depth critical analysis of the literature, CE indicators which were proposed by the European Commission were adopted as a basis. Owing to the research population-Member States of the European Union (EU-28), focusing on the said indicators was declared reasonable in all aspects. The classification of EU countries according to the level of their advancement in the concept of CE was adopted as a main research task. In order to do so, a relevant index of development of circular economy was created (IDCE). This will allow us, inter alia, to trace changes in the spatial differentiation of advancement of the EU countries in implementing CE over the years, to identify CE implementation leaders as well as countries particularly delayed in this regard. The comparative analysis was conducted by means of statistical methods. On the basis of the analyses, it was concluded that among all EU countries, those of the old EU are the most advanced in terms of CE. The analysis confirmed significant rising trends for IDCE only in the case of Belgium and The Netherlands. Full article

Secure and sustainable supply of minerals is important for the stable development of a country’s economy, as well as the global economy. Poland’s economic performance—as a dynamically developing country—is also largely dependent on the availability of minerals and security of their supplies both from internal sources and form imports. In Poland, 42 key minerals—i.e., those of fundamental importance for the proper functioning of the economy and satisfying the living needs of the society—have been recently indicated. From among them, 19 key minerals have been recognized by authors as having a proven resource base in Poland and—on the other hand—having moderately- or strongly growing domestic consumption trends. An assessment of the mineral resource base for their production, a sufficiency of the resources of developed deposits, as well as possible means of undeveloped deposits safeguarding were analyzed and discussed. It was found that the long-term needs of the Polish industry can be satisfied only for some of them: coking coal, copper, and silver, as well as numerous industrial and construction minerals. Moreover, existence of a sufficient resource base and appropriate means of their safeguarding may potentially have a significant impact on Poland’s and Europe’s minerals security, in particular regarding several minerals for which Poland is an important supplier to the European market, i.e., coking coal, copper, silver, and elemental sulfur. Full article

The problem of the optimal placement and sizing of photovoltaic power plants in electrical power systems from high- to medium-voltage levels is addressed in this research from the point of view of the exact mathematical optimization. To represent this problem, a mixed-integer nonlinear programming model considering the daily demand and solar radiation curves was developed. The main advantage of the proposed optimization model corresponds to the usage of the reactive power capabilities of the power electronic converter that interfaces the photovoltaic sources with the power systems, which can work with lagging or leading power factors. To model the dynamic reactive power compensation, the $\eta$-coefficient was used as a function of the nominal apparent power converter transference rate. The General Algebraic Modeling System software with the BONMIN optimization package was used as a computational tool to solve the proposed optimization model. Two simulation cases composed of 14 and 27 nodes in transmission and distribution levels were considered to validate the proposed optimization model, taking into account the possibility of installing from one to four photovoltaic sources in each system. The results show that energy losses are reduced between 13% and 56% as photovoltaic generators are added with direct effects on the voltage profile improvement. Full article

The contamination of soils with metals applies, in particular, to areas related to industry, the mining of raw materials and ores, transport, and agriculture. Unlike organic materials, metals cannot degrade over time and need to be reduced, removed, or immobilized in soil. One of the remediation methods for soils contaminated with metals is phytoextraction, which uses plants’ ability to accumulate metals in their own tissues. Metals enter the plant organism through the roots and are transported to the aboveground parts, where they are accumulated. In this study, we evaluated the phytoaccumulative abilities of two plant species tested on soils from industrial areas contaminated with metals to different extents (Zn, Cd, Ni, Pb, Cr, and Cu). The research was conducted for three years under the conditions of a pot experiment. In order to obtain four soils with varying degrees of metal contamination, two soils from industrial areas, G1 (contaminated) and G2 (uncontaminated), were mixed in the following ratios: 1:1, 1:3, 1:7, and 1:9. In the phytoremediation process, Festuca rubra L. and Alyssum saxatile L. were tested. After analyzing the results of the bioconcentration factor (BCF) for the tested plants, it was noted that both of the tested plants accumulated Cd and Zn more easily, followed by Cu, Ni, and Cr, and then Pb to a lesser extent. The values of factors for Cd and Zn were correlated with the high mobility of these elements compared to other metals and their relatively easy uptake by plants. Alyssum saxatile L. has an ability to accumulate Cd compared to Festuca rubra L., which is confirmed by the BCF (0.764) and transfer factor (TF) (3.5) (for 1:7 combination) values. The calculated results for the BCFs for Alyssum saxatile L. are less than one for all tested metals, which allows us to state that Alyssum saxatile L. is not an accumulator. Full article

The agricultural processing industry usually generates a remarkable amount of by-products rich in bioactive compounds, which can be exploited for agri-food or nutraceutical applications. Pistachio’s hard shell is one of the major by-products from pistachio industrial processing. The aim of this work was the evaluation of pistachio shells as a potential source of natural antioxidants. We evaluated different extraction procedures by measuring total phenolic content, total flavonoid content and antioxidative activity (DPPH^•, TEAC and ORAC). The microwave-assisted ethanol extract turned out to be the most promising and was fractionated by XAD-16 column chromatography, affording six fractions analyzed through HPLC/ESI-MS/MS and ¹H-NMR to identify the main antioxidative constituents. Fractions Fr4–Fr6 demonstrated the highest antioxidant activity. Gallic acid and a monogalloylglusose isomer are the main phenolic constituents of Fr4. Both simple and complex phenolics, such as flavonoids and hydrolysable tannins, were identified in fractions Fr5 and Fr6; pentagalloylglucose and kaempferol, well-known for their antioxidant activity, are the most abundant constituents. The results highlighted that the proposed methodology can be an effective way to recover bioactive phenolic compounds from pistachio hard shell, making this by-product a promising source of compounds with potential applications in food and healthcare sectors. Full article

This paper presents the application of a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method for the ranking of smart cities. During the construction of the MCDM techniques, the importance of the decision-making approach for the linear ordering of 66 Polish cities with powiat status was presented. The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was used for evaluation. The method has been verified by applying it to measure urban smartness. The TOPSIS method allowed compilation for a final ranking, taking into account publicly available indicators of the smart cities concept. The work uses data from the Local Data Bank Polish Central Statistical Office (LDB). The author conducted a literature review of research papers related to smart cities and MCDM methods dated from 2010 to 2020. Based on calculations using the TOPSIS method, the results obtained that the city of Krakow has the highest value to become a smart city. Full article

Modern management of water supply systems is based on a preventive strategy consisting of the prevention of failures and crisis situations. Water pipe failures resulting in a lack of water supply for a long period pose a threat to the water consumers safety. The aim of the work was to present the methodology and develop a risk map of lack of water supply to consumers. The article presents a failures simulation of the main pipes transporting treated water from the water treatment plant to the city carried out using the EPANET 2.0. software. The simulation results made it possible to determine the consequences of failures by determining the number of inhabitants (consumers) affected with lack of water supply as a result of failure of the main pipes near the water treatment plant WTP which, together with the failure rate, were used to prepare risk maps of lack of water supply. The developed method was presented on the water supply network located in Central and Eastern Europe. It was found that the highest risk of lack of water supply is related to the failure of the M3 main pipe, which transports water to the eastern and north-eastern parts of the city. It is recommended to modernize the M3 main pipe, which will reduce the number of failures resulting in a lack of water supply. Full article

The sandstones with a laminated structure are common building materials. Lamination is macroscopically expressed as colour and grain size variations observed both in the deposit and within individual beds; therefore, the properties of such sandstones are diverse depending on the spatial distribution of the binding mass and framework components. For the terrestrial sandstones of different genesis, four types of laminae have been distinguished based on petrographic studies. They have a siliceous binder or a mixed ferruginous–siliceous–argillaceous binder with different proportions of these components. In laminae of types I–III, the grain framework is built mainly of quartz grains, and in type IV, it is accompanied by numerous lithoclasts and feldspars. Knoop hardness and CERCHAR abrasivity were tested in each lamina variety, and the results were correlated with the equivalent quartz content and the longitudinal ultrasonic wave velocity measured perpendicular and parallel to the lamination. The proposed research methodology was not used in previous studies on terrestrial laminated sandstones. The results explain a strong dependence between mineral composition, structure of laminae, and technical parameters of rocks. The knowledge of this relationship facilitates the selection of rocks that meet the relevant technical requirements and helps to optimally manage the resources of sandstone deposits. Full article

Good governance requires efficiency and effectiveness in public sector management, a sound legal framework, enhanced coordination, credibility, and transparency of the actions that support financial stability. Connecting these actions, there are significant interlinkages between government spending management and economic development. The research conducted within this paper is set to assess the overall relationships within general government spending management, with a keen focus on government support for environmental protection and good public governance at the European Union (EU) level. The study investigates the cumulative effects of good public governance dimensions on economic welfare and poverty lessening. The dataset covers the period 1995–2017, and the methodological credentials are based on the structural equation modelling technique. The main results indicate that not only does government expenditure (including environmental support) shape good public governance, but the enhancements in good governance dimensions also have important spillovers on government spending regarding significant bidirectional connections. As for the overall implications, the estimations show that only general government expenditure has induced welfare increases, while environmental support does not generate the same positive effects. Ultimately, the all-embracing impact of considered governance dimensions is beneficial, leading to a downsizing of poverty within the EU. Full article

Circular economy has emerged as a sustainable alternative to the traditional, linear, extract-produce-use-dump economy. The scientific society, practitioners, policymakers, and business sectors are all actively taking part in driving the transition toward circular economy in their own sectors. Every sector is striving to address the environmental issues of their own area, and to find solutions to the problem of resource scarcity. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies on the general status of circular economy research and applied projects. Finland aims to be a global pioneer in this field, which is why there is a tremendous boost in research in various fields of sustainable materials management. Therefore, there is a need to have a better perspective of the research society’s efforts to accelerate the transition to circular economy. The objective of this paper is to review scientific research and practices of circular economy transition in Finland, in order to categorize and analyze them. The paper aims to give an insight into the current status and provide a comprehensive understanding of the trend changes during the past 20 years. The analysis shows that there is growing attention to circular economy in many research fields, researchers and practitioners in all fields have responded to the need of the society. However, the recycling-based ‘end-of-pipe’ interpretation of circular economy is still more dominant than developing and implementing strategies for circular product design, dematerializing society, and developing service-based business models. It is important to bear in mind that circular economy is about much more than improved resource flows and waste management practices. Achieving a circular economy needs the engagement of the society, it needs invention and innovation and it also requires the creation of new technologies, products, services, and business models. This study gives a comprehensive perspective at the national level and addresses the key actions and sectors which require more investment and attention from the scientific community to boost the transition toward circular economy. There are some limitation in this study derived from the method of data collection and selection of databases. Due to this, there may be valuable works that were not published, or only in the Finnish language and were, therefore, not identified in this study. Full article

Events that change the global economy rapidly, without warning, in principle strongly affect mining, which is one of the pillars of global development. After the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, the mining pillar seems to be relatively stable. In this study, thanks to the meeting of an international team, it was possible to collect and compare a set of data on the impact on mining. In contrast to the general assessments of the stability of the mining sector, the authors decided to assess the impact of Covid-19 at individual stages of the mining project life cycle. In this way, it was possible to identify the most impacted fragments of the mining pillar. It was assessed that the highest influence of Covid-19 is observed in projects implementing feasibility studies and in projects for the development of new mines. The same is true of extracting residual resources in mines prior to the closure decision. The medium impact was confirmed at the exploration and discovery stage. The authors conclude that the impact on the current mining production is smaller and the effects in this case are short term, which is mainly due to a continued strong demand for minerals in China, which has balanced the weaker demand in other parts of the world. On the other hand, stopping the exploration and development of new mines will have a long-term impact, including an increased possibility of disruption of the future security of supplies of raw materials. Full article