Environmental Research Institute - Journal Articles
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Conceptual climate modelling(Elsevier B.V., 2024-07-31) Krauskopf, Bernd; Keane, Andrew; Budd, ChrisModelling the climate is notoriously difficult and generally associated with high-dimensional general circulation models that may be quite unwieldy from the mathematical perspective. At the other end of the spectrum are seemingly simple conceptual models that focus on underlying mechanisms, such as the roles of different types of delayed feedback loops and/or switching phenomena for a specific climate phenomenon. This special issue is designed to highlight the usefulness of conceptual modelling in climate. It presents a number of conceptual climate models, discusses the mathematical techniques available for their analysis, and showcases how relevant insights can be gained from them, including informing more realistic modelling of the climate.Item Manipulation of sward diversity is a more effective management strategy than addition of microbial inoculants in intensively managed grassland(Springer Nature, 2024-07-24) Ikoyi, Israel; Duff, Aoife M.; Finn, John A.; Wall, David P.; Kostic, Tanja; Lucic-Mercy, Eva; Sessitsch, Angela; Brennan, Fiona; Horizon 2020 Framework ProgrammeBackground and aims: Diversifying grassland sward composition and application of microbial inoculants are potential alternative routes to facilitate enhanced nutrient acquisition by plants, but their relative effects have been rarely tested in grasslands. In a two-year field experiment, we investigated the impact of inoculants and sward types on forage yield, nutrient uptake, and the soil microbiome. Methods: We implemented a fully factorial experiment with inoculants (eight levels; arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), Paraburkholderia phytofirmans PsJN and Bacillus sp. P5 (P5), applied singly and in combination), and sward types (three levels: grass-only, grass and legume, mixture of grass, legume, and herb) as the two factors. Results: In both years, there was a very strong effect of sward type, with the grass + legume and grass + legume + herb swards having much higher yields and nutrient uptake (N, P, K, S, Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu) than grass-only. Generally, there was no effect of the inoculants on yield and nutrient uptake, with limited exceptions involving AMF + P5. The best-performing microbial inoculant increased forage yield by 597 kg/ha/year, while switching from grass-only to one of the other sward types increased forage yield by 3932 kg/ha/year (grass + legume) and 4693 kg/ha/year (grass + legume + herb). The inoculants persisted in plots for > 1 year after application. Inoculants and sward type significantly affected the overall prokaryotic and fungal community structures. Conclusion: Overall, under controlled field plot conditions, including legumes and herbs in a grass sward proved to be a far better farm-scale management strategy for increasing grassland forage yield and nutrient uptake than the application of microbial inoculants.Item Integrating short term variations of the power system into integrated energy system models: A methodological review(Elsevier Ltd., 2017-03-27) Collins, Seán; Deane, John Paul; Poncelet, Kris; Panos, Evangelos; Pietzcker, Robert C.; Delarue, Erik; Ó Gallachóir, Brian Pádraig; SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine; Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch OnderzoekIt is anticipated that the decarbonisation of the entire energy system will require the introduction of large shares of variable renewable electricity generation into the power system. Long term integrated energy systems models are useful in improving our understanding of decarbonisation but they struggle to take account of short term variations in the power system associated with increased variable renewable energy penetration. This can oversimplify the ability of power systems to accommodate variable renewables and result in mistaken signals regarding the levels of flexibility required in power systems. Capturing power system impacts of variability within integrated energy system models is challenging due to temporal and technical simplifying assumptions needed to make such models computationally manageable. This paper addresses a gap in the literature by reviewing prominent methodologies that have been applied to address this challenge and the advantages & limitations of each. The methods include soft linking between integrated energy systems models and power systems models and improving the temporal and technical representation of power systems within integrated energy systems models. Each methodology covered approaches the integration of short term variations and assesses the flexibility of the system differently. The strengths, limitations, and applicability of these different methodologies are analysed. This review allows users of integrated energy systems models to select a methodology (or combination of methodologies) to suit their needs. In addition, the analysis identifies remaining gaps and shortcomings.Item Dichotomous impacts on social and environmental sustainability: Competitiveness and development levels matter(Emerald, 2020-05-21) Doyle, Eleanor; Perez Alaniz, Mauricio; Environmental Protection Agency; Environmental Protection Agency, IrelandPurpose: Whereas in developed countries, sustainability primarily focuses on environmental topics, in developing countries the issues of poverty, development and equity are equally, if not more, important. The purpose of this paper is to apply measures of social and environmental sustainability to assess sustainable development for the period 2005–2015 across a sample of 94 countries for which relevant data are available. Countries include two groups: developed and developing countries. Design/methodology/approach: Using the index-based approach introduced by the World Economic Forum in its Global Competitiveness Project, a range of indicators are collected for estimating trends in both social and environmental sustainability. For the panel of data identified, a dynamic panel data estimator method is applied to the data set constructed. This paper presents the empirical results identifying key competitiveness factors related to social and environmental sustainability (separately and combining both aspects in a comprehensive sustainability framework). Findings: This study explores how sustainable competitiveness offers a comprehensive assessment of the inter-related dynamics of the social, the environmental and economic building blocks of sustainable development simultaneously. Performance impacts are found to differ substantially across two groups of countries depending on their development level. This highlights the challenges in shaping and achieving sustainable development goals. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is novel in examining the intersections between economic competitiveness and environmental and social sustainability addressing an identified research gap. In addition, the paper investigates the most important competitiveness pillars focusing on both strengths and weaknesses in sustainable competitiveness across developed and developing countries.Item Guanidine functionalized porous SiO2 as heterogeneous catalysts for microwave depolymerization of PET and PLA(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2024-03-06) Casey, Éadaoin; Breen, Rachel; Pareras, Gerard; Rimola, Albert; Holmes, Justin D.; Collins, Gillian; Science Foundation IrelandChemical recycling is an important strategy to tackle the growing global problem of plastic waste pollution. The development of metal-free catalysts for depolymerization of plastics is attractive as it avoids the use of metal salts, which are potentially damaging to the environment. Here we report a metal-free heterogeneous catalyst for the glycolysis of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and methanolysis of polylactic acid (PLA). The catalysts are synthesized by covalent surface modification of mesoporous silica (SiO2) with guanidine ligands and evaluated under conventional thermal and microwave-assisted heating. A surface bound cyanoguanidine ligand was found to be the best catalyst leading to 100% PET conversion with 80% BHET yield. The nature of the catalyst support material influenced the catalytic performance of the guanidine ligands with porous SiO2 supports outperforming activated carbon in conventional thermal glycolysis, while the opposite trend was observed with microwave assisted glycolysis. Dedicated density functional theory (DFT) computations were performed to simulate the depolymerization processes, obtain the free energy profiles of the reaction mechanisms, and identify the important role of hydrogen bonding in the reaction mechanism.