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Feature Papers in Resources and Sustainable Utilization
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Feature Papers in Resources and Sustainable Utilization

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2021) | Viewed by 13821

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Dimitrios Komilis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Kimmeria Campus, GR 671 32 Xanthi, Greece
Interests: municipal solid waste management; composting; biorefining of solid waste; life cycle analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a new Special Issue entitled “Feature Papers in Resources and Sustainable Utilization”. This is an important collection of high-quality reviews and original papers that cover recent advances in our understanding of resources and sustainable utilization. Only contributions from the Editorial Board and papers from distinguished scholars in the field invited by Editorial Board Members, Guest Editors, or the Editorial Office will be accepted in this Special Issue. Researchers are welcome to contact the Editorial Office to be invited.

Dr. Dimitrios Komilis
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 286 KiB  
Article
Resource Scarcity and Sustainability—The Shapes Have Shifted but the Stakes Keep Rising
by Alan Randall
Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5751; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105751 - 20 May 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4072
Abstract
The objective is to provide an interpretive reading of the literature in resource scarcity and sustainability theory from the nineteenth century to the present time, focusing on shifts that have occurred in problem definition, conceptual framing, research tools applied, findings, and their implications. [...] Read more.
The objective is to provide an interpretive reading of the literature in resource scarcity and sustainability theory from the nineteenth century to the present time, focusing on shifts that have occurred in problem definition, conceptual framing, research tools applied, findings, and their implications. My reading shows, as one would expect, that the discourse has become more technical and the analysis more sophisticated; special cases have been incorporated into the mainstream of theory; and, where relevant, dynamic formulations have largely supplanted static analysis. However, that is barely scratching the surface. Here, I focus on more fundamental shifts. Exhaustible and renewable resource analyses were incorporated into the mainstream theory of financial and capital markets. Parallels between the resources and environmental spheres were discovered: market failure concepts, fundamental to environmental policy, found applications in the resources sector (e.g., fisheries), and renewable resource management concepts and approaches (e.g., waste assimilation capacity) were adopted in environmental policy. To motivate sustainability theory and assessment, there has been a foundational problem shift from restraining human greed to dealing with risk viewed as chance of harm, and a newfound willingness to look beyond stochastic risk to uncertainty, ambiguity, and gross ignorance. Newtonian dynamics, which seeks a stable equilibrium following a shock, gave way to a new dynamics of complexity that valued resilience in the face of shocks, warned of potential for regime shifts, and focused on the possibility of systemic collapse and recovery, perhaps incomplete. New concepts of sustainability (a safe minimum standard of conservation, the precautionary principle, and planetary boundaries) emerged, along with hybrid approaches such as WS-plus which treats weak sustainability (WS) as the default but may impose strong sustainability restrictions on a few essential but threatened resources. The strong sustainability objective has evolved from maintaining baseline flows of resource services to safety defined as minimizing the chance of irreversible collapse. New tools for management and policy (sustainability indicators and downscaled planetary boundaries) have proliferated, and still struggle to keep up with the emerging understanding of complex systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Resources and Sustainable Utilization)
12 pages, 1491 KiB  
Article
A Comparison of Two-Stage and Traditional Co-Composting of Green Waste and Food Waste Amended with Phosphate Rock and Sawdust
by Edgar Ricardo Oviedo-Ocaña, Angélica María Hernández-Gómez, Marcos Ríos, Anauribeth Portela, Viviana Sánchez-Torres, Isabel Domínguez and Dimitrios Komilis
Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1109; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031109 - 21 Jan 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2946
Abstract
The composting of green waste (GW) proceeds slowly due to the presence of slowly degradable compounds in that substrate. The introduction of amendments and bulking materials can improve organic matter degradation and end-product quality. However, additional strategies such as two-stage composting, can deal [...] Read more.
The composting of green waste (GW) proceeds slowly due to the presence of slowly degradable compounds in that substrate. The introduction of amendments and bulking materials can improve organic matter degradation and end-product quality. However, additional strategies such as two-stage composting, can deal with the slow degradation of green waste. This paper evaluates the effect of two-stage composting on the process and end-product quality of the co-composting of green waste and food waste amended with sawdust and phosphate rock. A pilot-scale study was developed using two treatments (in triplicate each), one being a two-stage composting and the other being a traditional composting. The two treatments used the same mixture (wet weight): 46% green waste, 19% unprocessed food waste, 18% processed food waste, 13% sawdust, and 4% phosphate rock. The traditional composting observed a higher degradation rate of organic matter during the mesophilic and thermophilic phases and observed thermophilic temperatures were maintained for longer periods during these two phases compared to two-stage composting (i.e., six days). Nonetheless, during the cooling and maturation phases, the two treatments had similar behaviors with regard to temperature, pH, and electrical conductivity, and the end-products resulting from both treatments did not statistically differ. Therefore, from this study, it is concluded that other additional complementary strategies must be evaluated to further improve GW composting. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Resources and Sustainable Utilization)
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27 pages, 7366 KiB  
Article
Multi-Energy School System for Seasonal Use in the Mediterranean Area
by Antonino D’Amico, Domenico Panno, Giuseppina Ciulla and Antonio Messineo
Sustainability 2020, 12(20), 8458; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208458 - 14 Oct 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1906
Abstract
School buildings represent an energy-consuming sector of real estate where different efficiency actions are necessary. The literature shows how the design of a multi-energy system offers numerous advantages, however, there are problems related to the integration of cogeneration units with renewable energy sources [...] Read more.
School buildings represent an energy-consuming sector of real estate where different efficiency actions are necessary. The literature shows how the design of a multi-energy system offers numerous advantages, however, there are problems related to the integration of cogeneration units with renewable energy sources due to the low flexibility of the first one and the high degree of uncertainty of the latter. The authors provide an alternative solution through the analysis of a case study consisting of a multiple energy system in three Sicilian schools, focusing on the system’s operational strategy, on the design and sizing of components and trying to exploit the energy needs complementarity of buildings instead of integrating the conventional energy storage systems. Not considering school activities in summer, it was decided to install a cogeneration unit sized on winter thermal loads, whereas the electricity demand not covered was reduced with photovoltaic systems designed to maximize production for seasonal use and with loads concentrated in the morning hours. The effectiveness of this idea, which can be replicated for similar users and areas, is proved by a payback time of less than 11 years and a reduction of 31.77% of the CO2 emissions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Resources and Sustainable Utilization)
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21 pages, 6307 KiB  
Article
The Reuse of Waste Heaps from Extraction Sites: An Architectural Methodology
by Katia Talento, Miguel Amado and José Carlos Kullberg
Sustainability 2020, 12(16), 6548; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166548 - 13 Aug 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4093
Abstract
Nowadays, the rehabilitation of quarries is a widespread practice. It stems from the most significant environmental concern in the management of non-renewable resources. However, reusing quarry waste in the process of regeneration represents the aspect less prevalent. This procedure results from the non-commercialized [...] Read more.
Nowadays, the rehabilitation of quarries is a widespread practice. It stems from the most significant environmental concern in the management of non-renewable resources. However, reusing quarry waste in the process of regeneration represents the aspect less prevalent. This procedure results from the non-commercialized material, accumulated in huge piles of waste, that constitute invasive elements of the landscape. Because of the intense industrial activity, the wastes further contribute to the degradation of the sites. The result of the waste abandonment could be reversed if this discarded material is considered as a product in the landscape requalification process. Mixing theoretical concepts with practical examples, this article proposes an application methodology to reuse the waste material in the landscape and architectural domains. This new contribution highlights the importance of considering scrap accumulations as an integral part of the architectural project, filling the existing gap in both architectural and theoretical domains. There is not any similar schematization in the literature and the idea of dealing with the mounds of wastes has been only slightly approached until now. The reached outcomes are demonstrative of the possibility of working with the waste heaps in architecture, creating a solid basis for further investigations not documented yet. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in Resources and Sustainable Utilization)
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