Explore the vast range of titles available.

There is strong evidence that wood-based products are typically associated with lower fossil-based emissions over their lifecycle than functionally equivalent products made from other materials. However, the potential impact of large-scale material substitution at the market level remains challenging to quantify and is subject to assumptions and system boundary considerations. This paper presents a systematic review covering 44 peer-reviewed studies that quantify the substitution impacts of wood use at the level of a region or sector, to assess the commonalities and differences in scopes, system boundaries and key assumptions. We estimated the average and range of market-level substitution impacts and identify the caveats and knowledge gaps for such assessments. The results indicate an average substitution factor of 0.55 tonnes of fossil C avoided per tonne of C contained in wood harvested, with a range of 0.27–1.16 tC/tC for baseline scenarios covering all wood flows. This value depicts the average efficiency of avoided fossil emissions per unit of wood used for a certain wood use structure based on published studies but is of limited practical use as it is strictly context specific. A direct comparison between studies is complicated because a notable proportion of the studies provided insufficient information to estimate substitution factors or were not transparent in their assumptions, such as specifying which wood product is assumed to substitute for which non-wood product. A growing number of studies focus on policy-relevant analyses of the climate change mitigation potential associated with marginal changes in wood use, but market dynamics are generally considered to a limited extent. To further support decision-making, future studies could focus on changes in those end uses where increased substitution impacts could realistically be expected, while considering the various market dynamics and uncertainties.

Onshore petroleum drilling operations produce a significant amount of drilling waste, particularly top-hole cuttings (THC) from the top-hole drilling phase. These cuttings are categorized as non-hazardous waste and are typically disposed of by landfilling in the drilling site without being utilized for other purposes. This study aims to explore the potential utilization of drilling waste as a raw material substitution in clay brick production. The physicochemical properties of THC were preliminarily examined, revealing that at depths shallower than 1,000 meters from the surface, THC primarily comprised sand and loamy sand with particles smaller than 0.06 mm (45-48% by weight). The pH was measured at 9.21 (at a soil/water ratio of 1:1), and electrical conductivity (EC) was recorded at 134.9 μS/cm (at a soil/water ratio of 1:5). X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD) identified quartz as the primary component in THC, consistent with its predominance in the sand composition. The analysis showed that levels of heavy metals such as cadmium, manganese, lead, chromium, and zinc were within permissible limits according to Thai Soil Quality Standards for residential and agricultural purposes, with manganese content peaking at 85.3016±7.7491 mg/kg in the cutting samples. In clay brick production trials, varying proportions of THC were added as a substitute for sand at weights ranging from 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%. Bricks containing 30% by weight THC demonstrated water adsorption capacities meeting TIS standards - specifically TIS 77-2545-Class A and TIS 153-2545-Class B standards. Leaching tests indicated that these bricks met waste management standards relevant to petroleum activities. This study concludes that top-hole drilling cuttings could effectively serve as a suitable raw material substitute in clay brick production processes. The study offers an environmentally sustainable solution to repurpose drilling waste that would otherwise be disposed of in landfills. In terms of economic viability, implementing this approach could lead to cost savings through reduced disposal expenses for drilling waste and potentially lower demand for traditional raw materials used in brick production.

The new CUBES (Charles University Beamline for Electron Spectroscopy) beamline will be installed at Elettra 2.0 and will substitute the existing Material Science beamline. The energy range spans from 20 to 1500 eV (with a possible extension to 1800-2000 eV). The FWHM bandwidth is 100 meV in the range 20 eV - 200 eV. From 200 eV to 1500 eV the FWHM bandwidth gradually increases to 500 meV. Depending on the selected energy, the spot size on the sample varies from 0.2 mm to <1 mm. The optical design of CUBES is described in this paper.

While there is strong demand for cement because of its widespread use in modern society, its production is a source of international concern due to the large amounts of energy required and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced in the process. These GHGs deplete the ozone layer and speed up global warming. Therefore, it is important to investigate several methods of handling this issue, and material replacement has been proposed as the best option among many others. In this study, we examine the different strategies that have employed material substitution to reduce energy use and GHG emissions during the past decade. In this study, we provided an overview of the cement production processes and outlined the various material replacement choices available to us (including waste or recycled materials and other materials). This study found that partial (1–60%) and total material substitution in cement production processes have been reported to lower energy consumption by 5.5% to 40% and greenhouse gas emissions by 1% to 94%. This highlights the importance of material substitution in cement production for reducing energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases.

This study tries to find out the hotspots of the Spanish cement sector in 2010 by the life cycle assessment (LCA) and evaluates some improvement scenarios where best available technologies and substitution measures are taken into consideration. The document presents an environmental LCA of the cement production using the 2011 International Reference Life Cycle Data System method recommended by the European Commission. Attending to the clinker production by stage, fossil fuel combustion is the most important source in terms of impacts. Besides, limestone’s calcination is crucial attending to the climate change. Electricity consumption is also relevant both in human toxicity with cancer effects and freshwater eutrophication (FE). Accordingly, solutions deployed lead to reductions in different impact categories. Fossil fuel substitution scenario achieves to reduce 33 and 37 % photochemical ozone formation and acidification (A), while material substitution scenario leads to reduce 10–13 % each impact category. On the other hand, fossil fuel substitution scenario entails an increase of 10 % in FE. Considering the ideal case of applying all these improvements together, reductions go from 15 % in FE to 49 % in A, respectively. To face the problems derived from fossil fuel combustion, a fuel shift is needed to reach less contaminant options such as biomass and bio-waste. Material substitution is another good solution for the industry, but it requires a change in the demand and further research to ensure the properties of cement. Authors recommend taking into consideration the collateral increase of the FE due to the phosphates increase coming from the alternative fuels combustion.

Throughout its life-cycle, wood contributes to climate change mitigation through carbon storage and material and energy substitution. Focusing on wood use for piles, check dams, paved walkways, guardrails, and noise barriers, we quantified the nationwide potential for climate change mitigation in civil engineering in Japan through 2050. To assess mitigation potential, we examined life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are avoided by storing carbon in wood and forests, substituting wooden materials for non-wooden materials (cement, concrete, steel, and asphalt), and substituting processing residue and waste wood salvaged from defunct civil engineering structures for fossil fuels (heavy oil). Our projections suggest that there will be a maximum potential domestic log volume of 6.80 million m3/year available for civil engineering use in Japan in 2050, and that it would be possible to produce this volume while increasing Japan’s forest resources over the long term. A maximum nationwide avoided GHG emissions potential of 9.63 million t-CO2eq/year could be achieved in 2050, which is equivalent to 0.7% of Japan’s current GHG emissions. The breakdown of avoided emissions is 73%, 19%, and 8% for carbon storage, material substitution, and energy substitution, respectively, with the greatest contributions coming from carbon storage through the use of log piles.

For this special issue, sustainability and safety are discussed through the tropes of both material and work process substitution. As an architecture and industrial design team, we examine the potential of William McDonough’s and Michael Braungart’s “cradle to cradle” material methodology, and David Pye’s “the workmanship of certainty” as relevant to the construction industry. Locating and revisiting the tenets of Gottfried Semper’s Stoffwechseltheorie, alongside contemporary critiques, demonstrates that if historically, material and technique substitution led to architectural innovation, the same conditions exist today. To demonstrate a contemporary Stoffwechsel (material substitution) a formwork prototype was constructed at the University of Canberra’s Workshop 7, by substituting timber with plastic, and 3D-printing the formwork. This prototype demonstrates a type of “technical nutrient” that is both recyclable as plastic, and reusable as formwork. This reveals the potential of substituting materials and processes not only to achieve material recovery, but rather, aiming for material recycling, reuse, or upcycling, therefore reducing socio-environmental risks in construction.

This study aimed to develop a multi-objective optimization model of the wheat flour supply chain considering raw material substitution in which supplier capacity and product demand were considered in uncertain conditions. There are four objectives to be achieved: to minimize the total cost and to maximize product quality, reliability, and local flour usage. We established multi-objective fuzzy mixed integer non-linear programming to solve the problem and used non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA) II methods to found the best solution. The result provides a referral for a decision maker to design the optimal substituted wheat flour supply chain.

Purpose: This study describes an empirical study demonstrating the application of circular economy (CE) to respond to an urgent call to reduce plastic waste by utilizing waste from the furniture industry.Design/methodology/approach: this study employed the measurements of environmental impacts of plastic and wood-based toothbrushes using a life cycle assessment, complemented by an analysis of the wood substitution design process from a CE perspective.Findings: The findings from this study not only shed light on quantifying the benefits of product valorization improvement and retention but also provide a means of weighing the value against raw materials and production costs.Research limitations/implications: The developed model is still limited to the use of waste to replace existing product materials. This study also did not include other industrial waste such as agro-industrial waste or other degradable materials which may open up many chances for further studies.Practical implications: The study’s primary contribution is a design rationale that assists the substitution of plastic material with wood waste, using toothbrushes as a case example of the substituted products.Social implications: This newly developed material can give potential income sources for the communities.Originality/value: The novelty of this study lies to the substitution model of non-degradable materials to a more environmentally-friendly material which is studied thoroughly from functional analysis, design alternatives, and evaluation based on environmental, economic, and social aspects especially in case of personal care products (toothbrush).

Over recent years, enthusiasm towards the manufacturing of biopolymers has attracted considerable attention due to the rising concern about depleting resources and worsening pollution. Among the biopolymers available in the world, polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the highest biopolymers produced globally and thus, making it suitable for product commercialisation. Therefore, the effectiveness of natural fibre reinforced PLA composite as an alternative material to substitute the non-renewable petroleum-based materials has been examined by researchers. The type of fibre used in fibre/matrix adhesion is very important because it influences the biocomposites’ mechanical properties. Besides that, an outline of the present circumstance of natural fibre-reinforced PLA 3D printing, as well as its functions in 4D printing for applications of stimuli-responsive polymers were also discussed. This research paper aims to present the development and conducted studies on PLA-based natural fibre bio-composites over the last decade. This work reviews recent PLA-derived bio-composite research related to PLA synthesis and biodegradation, its properties, processes, challenges and prospects.