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The Ecological Footprint of Construction Materials—A Standardized Approach from Hungary

Zoltán Major Cecília Szigeti Daniel Robert Szabo Áron Szennay

Publication Name: Resources

Publication Date: 2023-01-01

Volume: 12

Issue: 1

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

Due to the large volume and mass of materials used, the construction industry is one of the sectors with the highest environmental impact. However, to provide good quality, affordable, and low-energy housing, the business case must be maintained. Accordingly, we aimed to develop and test a calculator to measure the ecological footprint of the embodied carbon in materials used in construction projects in a standardized way, without the need for environmental or even civil engineering expertise, and thus in a way that is accessible to SMEs. The novelty of our research is that although there are calculators for measuring the environmental impact (e.g., carbon footprint) of the construction industry, and there is a methodology for calculating the ecological footprint of construction, there is no free, easy-to-use, online calculator for calculating the ecological footprint of embodied carbon in materials available to all enterprises. In other words, this approach extends our previously developed corporate ecological footprint calculator with the environmental impacts of material usage. The study summarises the baseline research for an ecological footprint calculator, tested on two new condominium buildings and the energy renovation of five condominium buildings, built with a prefabricated technology typical in Hungary and other post-socialist countries. Based on our results and in accordance with former literature sources, most of the ecological footprint of new construction projects is determined by materials with high mass and volume, in particular, concrete, steel, and masonry; so it is not necessary to take into account all construction materials in a calculator in a detailed way. We also conclude that renovation and ongoing maintenance, as well as preservation, are recommended for structurally sound buildings, as embodied carbon in materials in the case of an energy upgrade of an existing condominium building has an environmental impact of 0.3–0.8 global hectares per dwelling, depending on the technical content, while in the construction of a new building, this value is between 10.49–14.22 global hectares. Our results can help investors and clients in their decisions, and policymakers in determining urban development directions.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3390/resources12010015

Hungarian Battery Production – Public Opinion on Sustainability, Labor Market and the Environmental Protection

Szonja Jenei Szilvia Módosné Szalai Sándor Remsei

Publication Name: Chemical Engineering Transactions

Publication Date: 2023-01-01

Volume: 107

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: 691-696

Description:

Transportation in the 20th century was linked to hydrocarbons. The first steps of the transition to electric propulsion are currently underway. Technical experts are still debating whether this is the ideal solution while producing the batteries required for the method has begun. One of the main areas of high-speed industrialization is Hungary. The government's intention is clear, primarily to increase GDP and create jobs. The population knows that jobs can only be filled by foreign, immigrant workers and is extremely worried about possible accidents during production and destruction. The research aims to explore the opinions in detail and examine the possibilities of approximating different positions. This quantitative study found that the respondents would like to live at an unrealistically large distance from such facilities. Many people want the battery factories to be banned or the investments to be stopped, and the fact that very few people are informed from the literature plays a significant role. The greatest fear is experienced among the middle-aged, and we justify our findings with social facts and negative events. In order to resolve the tensions, it is recommended to educate the masses on the one hand, and on the other hand, stricter control, and more significant sanctions. These methods ensure that negotiations between the population, civil organizations, and companies end with a compromise created by a debate supported by arguments in civilized conditions.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3303/CET23107116

Develping artificial intelligence technology to support cattle identification, animal health and welfare solutions

Szabó István Tőzsér János Tarr Bence

Publication Name: Magyar Allatorvosok Lapja

Publication Date: 2023-01-01

Volume: 145

Issue: 11

Page Range: 651-660

Description:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an important tool for optimising breeding processes in several areas of animal production. In this thesis, we have presented examples from the literature, mainly for the identification and counting of cattle. The individual identification of animals, the monitoring of their behaviour and the control of their movements support a number of conclusions from both animal welfare and veterinary point of view. Automation of the processing of captured images has also become essential. This process is supported by Artificial Intelligence. Deep learning and neural networks are excellent tools for segmenting images and processing their content based on different features. Convolutional neural networks are specifically powerful for such tasks and we have seen that further developments of these networks (e.g. Faster R-CNN) allow even more efficient image analysis procedures. Processing animal images can be a major step forward for automatic analysis and identification of livestock. It also allows early intervention in the event of disease. In the context of individual identification, it is important to underline that, when complemented with other measurement options, e.g. sensor measurements, it offers even more complex applications that have not been available so far.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.56385/magyallorv.2023.11.651-660

A Preliminary Investigation into Alternative Wine Packaging for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction in Hungary

Boglárka Eisingerné Balassa Agnes Csiba-Herczeg Réka Koteczki

Publication Name: Chemical Engineering Transactions

Publication Date: 2023-01-01

Volume: 103

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: 343-348

Description:

Based on sustainability aspects, the wine industry is under increasing global pressure regarding the packaging of wine. This means that, in the case of everyday wines, instead of glass wine bottles, they should find an alternative option that has a less burdensome impact on the environment and is more accessible. To investigate this, a scenario analysis was carried out using data from a Hungarian winery to examine two possible scenarios. The winery provided the sales share of each packaging type for 2022. In the scenarios, the rates of packaging types were varied in terms of the degree of acceptance of alternative packaging in each country. After determining the packaging ratios, GHG (greenhouse gas emission) was calculated for one million bottles, which would make the first scenario a more sustainable approach, as emissions would be 16 % lower than the emission of 2022 sales volume. Overall, the greater uptake of alternative packaging results in lower emissions in terms of production.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3303/CET23103058

Energy Management Systems in Smart Cities: A Review from the Perspective of Complex Networks Design

Lukács Balázs Jean Pimentel Istvan Drotar

Publication Name: Chemical Engineering Transactions

Publication Date: 2023-01-01

Volume: 107

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: 679-684

Description:

Smart cities are a very promising concept for achieving the sustainability of urban settlements. This is especially true for sustainability related to general aspects of energy management, e.g., generation, transformation, distribution, and storage. Despite their considerable potential, smart cities are complex systems in nature, as numerous individuals and subsystems participate in their performance. Because of this complexity, numerous challenges are presented for the conception of this type of system, i.e., during its design stage. The contribution provides a brief literature review that focuses on energy management in smart cities. Initially, an overview of the field is provided by analyzing the co-occurrence of keywords in the literature available in the SCOPUS database. Subsequently, strategies for energy management in smart cities, modeling approaches, and challenges and opportunities are discussed. For this, the work refers to earlier literature reviews that describe in detail relevant subjects from the perspective of networks design and optimization. The review aims at helping interested readers recognize the systematic tools available for the design of energy systems as well as the challenges offered in this rapidly evolving area, thereby contributing to the advancement of sustainable and efficient energy solutions within the context of urban environments.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3303/CET23107114

Terrain Depth Estimation for Improved Inertial Data Prediction in Autonomous Navigation Systems

Áron Ballagi Norbert Marko Tamas Sziranyi

Publication Name: Iavvc 2023 IEEE International Automated Vehicle Validation Conference Proceedings

Publication Date: 2023-01-01

Volume: Unknown

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: Unknown

Description:

The prediction of terrain elevation values is a key task when it comes to off-road dynamics and inertial data estimation. A reliable elevation map can help in the estimation of future vehicle states and thus extend the response time window for autonomous navigation and control. We trained a deep learning model that is able to successfully predict top-down terrain depth maps in an off-road setting using a lightweight monocular depth estimation network. The labels were generated using a custom preprocessing algorithm to aid single image depth model training. Unlike other elevation estimation algorithms, our work can predict terrain variation from a higher camera setting without the use of a multi-sensor system. The network is also shown to work outside of the training data domain. The code will be available at https://www.github.com/norbertmarko/terrain-depth.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1109/IAVVC57316.2023.10328139

Composting of medicinal and aromatic plant waste: challenges and opportunities

E. Lakatos Babett Greff András Sáhó Miklós Posgay Ágnes Nagy

Publication Name: Recent Trends in Solid Waste Management

Publication Date: 2023-01-01

Volume: Unknown

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: 115-136

Description:

Aromatic plants have been extensively used for their medicinal and culinary properties by the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and food industries. Along with the prosperous development of the herbal industry, however, enormous amounts of solid biomass have been generated, creating an environmental hazard. Since the waste material generated during harvesting, pre-processing, or extraction may retain its nutritional value, it can be converted to compost or vermicompost. Nonetheless, the addition of herbal residues to the feedstock material may negatively influence biodegradation due to the lower nitrogen content, increased lignocellulose content, and the remaining bioactive compounds. Overall, this book chapter discusses the current challenges that herbal waste composting/vermicomposting faces, provides insights into the process optimisation, and summarises the potential beneficial effects of mature compost.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-443-15206-1.00003-7

The Realization of a Circular Economy in the Construction Industry and Its Adaptation to EU Standards in Hungary

Adrienn Buruzs K. Kozma

Publication Name: Chemical Engineering Transactions

Publication Date: 2023-01-01

Volume: 107

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: 535-540

Description:

Transforming the linear economy into a circular one in the construction sector is not an easy task. Such a radical change entails a major transformation of the current production and consumption patterns, which in turn will have a significant impact on the economy, the environment, and society. The European Commission sees great potential in the recycling and reuse of construction and demolition waste (CDW) and has also emphasised the importance of this waste stream in its directives on the circular economy. This paper first presents the concept of CDW and its regulatory characteristics. It then introduces the types and sources of CDW. Third, based on an analysis of the literature, the paper identifies the possible links between the CDW and the circular economy and current trends and practices of recovery, reuse, and recovery. Finally, through the examples presented, it gives an overview of the current situation and trends in Hungary and makes recommendations for future development opportunities for the practitioners to help them adapt to recent changes. The options for doing this are important, but the problems that may hinder this process also need to be examined. In this article, the author seeks to find answers to this question.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3303/CET23107090

How the Categorisation of SDG Targets into ESG Pillars can Inform the Corporate SDG Report

Robert Rickards Bence Lukács

Publication Name: Chemical Engineering Transactions

Publication Date: 2023-01-01

Volume: 107

Issue: Unknown

Page Range: 193-198

Description:

In this research, SDG standards are mapped to the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) pillars through Triple-Bottom Line (TBL) groupings based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines and accounting items, which allow SDG standards to be harmonised with the ESG pillars. Two methodologies developed in the literature for classifying SDG standards into TBL groupings were also used to create a ranking scheme. This scheme can help companies determine which SDG standards are most important for their sustainability reporting. Companies report on the steps they have taken towards sustainability and the sustainability aspects of their operations in their ESG sustainability reports. In many cases, their reporting includes information on SDGs, which, like ESG reporting, does not have a standard disclosure methodology, so announcements are made with different information, in different formats, by different companies. To make SDG reporting more consistent, harmonisation with existing ESG reporting methodologies could be identified as a forward step in this field because it would help to produce more informed, consistent SDG reporting. In addition to integrating SDGs into ESG reporting methodologies, SDGs also could be integrated into ESG scoring methodologies, which would be more relevant to stakeholders and the stock market. The paper will review ESG reporting and scoring methodologies, with a particular focus on which methodology is most appropriate for harmonisation. By defining the integration methodology, the study contributes to the public policy discussion about sustainable reporting.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.3303/CET23107033