Emissions and economic costs of cycling compact fluorescent lamps with integrated ballasts

This paper proposes a way to quantify the emissions of mercury (Hg) and CO2 associated with the manufacture and operation of compact fluorescent lamps with integrated ballasts (CFLis), as well as the economic cost of using them under different operating cycles. The main purpose of this paper is to find simple criteria for reducing the polluting emissions under consideration and the economic cost of CFLi to a minimum. A lifetime model is proposed that allows the emissions and costs to be described as a function of degradation from turning CFLi on and their continuous operation. An idealized model of a CFLi is defined that combines characteristics stated by different manufacturers. In addition, two CFLi models representing poor-quality products are analyzed. It was found that the emissions and costs per unit of time of operation of the CFLi depend linearly on the number of times per unit of time it is turned on and the time of continuous operation. The optimal conditions (lowest emissions and costs) depend on the place of manufacture, the place of operation and the quality of the components of the lamp/ballast. Finally, it was also found that for each lamp, there are intervals when it is turned off during which emissions of pollutants and costs are identical regardless of how often the lamp is turned on or the time it remains on. For CO2 emissions, the lamp must be off up to 5 minutes; for the cost, up to 7 minutes and for Hg emissions, up to 43 minutes. It is advisable not to turn on a CFLi sooner than 43 minutes from the last time it was turned off.

Quality assurance for precast plants and treatment of imperfections for architectural facades

Quality is the threshold or minimum level required to satisfy the consumer´s demands. In construction the quality is objective, and established by standards. It is very difficult to establish the costs of “no quality” in construction. Each precast unit shall be traceable to a specific set of quality control records.

Operational costs and reliability in a large rural electrification programme based on solar home systems

Experiences in decentralized rural electrification programmes using solar home systems have suffered difficulties during the operation and maintenance phase, due in many cases, to the underestimation of the maintenance cost, because of the decentralized character of the activity, and also because the reliability of the solar home system components is frequently unknown. This paper reports on the reliability study and cost characterization achieved in a large photovoltaic rural electrification programme carried out in Morocco. The paper aims to determinate the reliability features of the solar systems, focusing in the in-field testing for batteries and photovoltaic modules. The degradation rates for batteries and PV modules have been extracted from the in-field experiments. On the other hand, the main costs related to the operation and maintenance activity have been identified with the aim of establishing the main factors that lead to the failure of the quality sustainability in many rural electrification programmes.

Dust suppressant treatments. Quality control = Tratamientos supresores de polvo. Control de calidad

La emisión de polvo por efecto del viento desde depósitos de residuos mineros o industriales y el paso de vehículos en vías no pavimentadas, es un problema que afecta las actividades productivas; el ambiente y la salud de las personas que permanecen en el área contaminada. En Chile, en los últimos años la sensibilidad social y las exigencias ambientales han aumentado, así como la oferta de diferentes supresores y tecnologías de aplicación. Se han revisado las causas que provocan emisión de polvo y las tecnologías disponibles en Chile para la supresión de polvo, además de las metodologías y normativa para evaluar el desempeño de los materiales tratados con diferentes supresores. En algunos casos no es posible comparar propiedades de desempeño, como durabilidad, dosis a aplicar y frecuencia de las aplicaciones, entre otros aspectos. Los procedimientos descritos en la norma NCh3266-2012 permiten evaluar la erosión eólica en depósitos de residuos, sitios eriazos y caminos no pavimentados, entre otros, junto con evaluar el desempeño de diferentes tipos de supresores de polvo a partir de datos objetivos comparables. Esto permite seleccionar el supresor más adecuado, mejorar la eficiencia de los tratamientos, optimizar los costos y mejorar los procesos productivos. Palabras clave: Erosión-eólica, supresor de polvo, residuos-mineros, caminos-no pavimentados. Dust emissions by wind effect from mining deposits or industrial waste and passing vehicles on unpaved roads, is a problem that affects the productive activities; the environment and the health of those who remain in the contaminated area. The social sensitivity and environmental requirements on this issue in Chile have increased, as well as offering different suppressors and application technologies. Have been reviewed the causes of dust emission and technologies available in Chile for dust suppression, plus methodologies and standards for assessing the performance of the treated materials with different suppressors. In some cases it is not possible to compare performance properties such as durability, application dose and frequency of applications, among others aspects. The procedures described in the NCh 3266-2012 standard allows the assessment of wind erosion in waste deposits, vacant lots and unpaved roads, among others, along with evaluating the performance of different types of dust suppressants from comparable objective data. This allows selecting the most suitable suppressor, improve efficiency of treatments, optimize costs and improve production processes. Keywords: Wind-erosion, dust-suppressor, mining-waste, unpavedroads

New QR Survey Methodologies to Analyze User Perception of Service Quality in Public Transport: The Experience of Madrid

Customer Satisfaction Surveys (CSS) have become an important tool for public transport planners, as improvements in the perceived quality of service lead to greater use of public transport and lower traffic pollution. Until now, Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) enhancements in public transport have traditionally included fleet management systems based on Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) technologies, which can be used to optimize routing and scheduling, and to feed real-time information into passenger information channels. However, surveys of public transport users could also benefit from the new information technologies. As most customers carry their smartphones when traveling, Quick Response (QR) codes open up the possibility of conducting these surveys at a lower cost.This paper contributes to the limited existing literature by developing the analysis of QR codes applied to CSS in public transport and highlighting their importance in reducing the cost of data collection and processing. The added value of this research is that it provides the first assessment of a real case study in Madrid (Spain) using QR codes for this purpose. This pilot experience was part of a research project analyzing bus service quality in the same case study, so the QR code survey (155 valid questionnaires) was validated using a conventional face-to-face survey (520 valid questionnaires). The results show clearly that, after overcoming a few teething troubles, this QR code application will ultimately provide transport management with a useful tool to reduce survey costs

An integrated assessment of two decades of air pollution policy making in Spain: Impacts, costs and improvements

This paper analyses the effects of policy making for air pollution abatement in Spain between 2000 and 2020 under an integrated assessment approach with the AERIS model for number of pollutants (NOx/NO2, PM10/PM2.5, O3, SO2, NH3 and VOC). The analysis of the effects of air pollution focused on different aspects: compliance with the European limit values of Directive 2008/50/EC for NO2 and PM10 for the Spanish air quality management areas; the evaluation of impacts caused by the deposition of atmospheric sulphur and nitrogen on ecosystems; the exceedance of critical levels of NO2 and SO2 in forest areas; the analysis of O3-induced crop damage for grapes, maize, potato, rice, tobacco, tomato, watermelon and wheat; health impacts caused by human exposure to O3 and PM2.5; and costs on society due to crop losses (O3), disability-related absence of work staff and damage to buildings and public property due to soot-related soiling (PM2.5). In general, air quality policy making has delivered improvements in air quality levels throughout Spain and has mitigated the severity of the impacts on ecosystems, health and vegetation in 2020 as target year. The findings of this work constitute an appropriate diagnosis for identifying improvement potentials for further mitigation for policy makers and stakeholders in Spain.