Christos Vlachokostas

Increased biomass burning due to the economic crisis in Greece and its adverse impact on wintertime air quality in Thessaloniki.

The recent economic crisis in Greece resulted in a serious wintertime air pollution episode in Thessaloniki. This air quality deterioration was mostly due to the increased price of fuel oil, conventionally used as a source of energy for domestic heating, which encouraged the residents to burn the less expensive wood/biomass during the cold season. A wintertime sampling campaign for fine particles (PM2.5) was conducted in Thessaloniki during the winters of 2012 and 2013 in an effort to quantify the extent to which the ambient air was impacted by the increased wood smoke emissions. The results indicated a 30% increase in the PM2.5 mass concentration as well as a 2-5-fold increase in the concentration of wood smoke tracers, including potassium, levoglucosan, mannosan, and galactosan. The concentrations of fuel oil tracers (e.g., Ni and V), on the other hand, declined by 20-30% during 2013 compared with 2012. Moreover, a distinct diurnal variation was observed for wood smoke tracers, with significantly higher concentrations in the evening period compared with the morning. Correlation analysis indicated a strong association between reactive oxygen species (ROS) activity and the concentrations of levoglucosan, galactosan, and potassium, underscoring the potential impact of wood smoke on PM-induced toxicity during the winter months in Thessaloniki.

Transportation cost analysis of the Hellenic system for alternative management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

This work presents an ex post analysis of the reverse logistics system for the alternative management of WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) in Greece, in view of the system’s initiation in 2004. The aim was to predict how this system would provide guidelines concerning facility locations for WEEE collection and to calculate the transportation costs for WEEE management. A mathematical mixed integer linear programming model of the system was developed on the basis of both extensive survey of international cases and careful considerations of both the national EEE market, as well as the national and local waste management conditions, practices and possibilities.

Willingness to pay for reducing the risk of premature mortality attributed to air pollution: a contingent valuation study for Greece

Development of strategies to control urban air pollution is a complex and multi–disciplinary process. In most real life cases, relevant policy making is characterised by the lack of information related to the economic value of the health consequences attributed to air pollution. This information is important to possess reliable economic estimates for the benefit arising from the application of the proposed strategies. This paper presents a contingent valuation approach in order to elicit the willingness–to–pay (WTP) for reducing the risk of premature mortality attributed to air pollution based on an easy–to–comprehend questionnaire. The economic value of increasing life expectancy by saving one year of life loss through improving air quality is estimated for Thessaloniki, Greece, which is considered one of the most polluted –if not the most polluted– cities within Europe, especially with respect to airborne particles. A sample of approximately 800 residents was chosen and a face–to–face interview was conducted using a hypothetical open–ended question designed to elicit the respondents WTP. Change in life expectancy was well understood and the results showed that 78.2% of respondents were able to express their WTP. The mean WTP to save one Year of Life Loss (YOLL) is approximately 920 € per person per year, which corresponds to a Value of a Life Year (VOLY) that is approximately 41 000 €.

Willingness to pay for more sustainable e-waste management: a contingent valuation study in greece

Management of Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE also called e-waste) has become an issue of critical importance recently also in the frame of industrial ecology besides waste management per se, mostly due to their content in hazardous materials and the extensive implications of any intervention in a broad industrial spectrum. The effectiveness of any landfill diversion scheme depends on its acceptance by the local community and the industry, as well as adequate funding. This paper presents a contingent valuation approach in order to examine public environmental awareness and to assess the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the environmentally sound management of WEEE in Greece, based on a suitable, customized and easy-to-comprehend questionnaire. The survey revealed a still relative public ignorance on the subject and a reluctantly limited WTP. The latter is mostly triggered by the fact that respondents believed that associated expenses should be covered either by authorities or manufacturers (protest votes). However, based on the responses of those declaring a positive WTP, the average fee respondents are willing to pay exceeds the current recycling fee. Thus, existing recycling fees could be potentially increased in order to cover additional expenses for the development of infrastructure in areas not currently included in the national WEEE recycling program, as well as to provide the public with a dense network of disposal sites/bins in an effort to boost participation and WEEE recycling rates.

Re-designing industrial products on a multi-objective basis: a case study

Environmentally conscious product design has received significant attention recently. Apart from new products’ development, environmental considerations may also apply for products that manufacturers have already launched in the market. In this case, manufacturers can also make use of their considerable experience gained over the phases following product design (eg production, use, end-of-life, etc) in order to promote substantial improvements as regards their re-designed products’ performance. This paper presents a methodological framework for manufacturers based on Multiple Objective Integer Programming in order to re-design industrial products. The proposed approach includes re-designed products cost, environmental impact, weight and ease of disassembly. The methodology is applied to a real-world case study, that of netMod network terminal.

Involving decision-makers in the transformation of results into urban sustainability policies

Mind mapping tools are used to stimulate thinking about sustainability and define its significance for urban planning. Such tools are based on keywords that are identified and structured through dialogue-based procedures. The approach can be used also for switching between highlighting sectorial aspects, such as territorial management and urban design, social and economic cohesion and cross-sectorial aspects, such as sustainable mobility and energy efficiency. This paper emphasizes a structured dialogue with desicion-makers at national, regional and local levels, aimed at identifying what decision-makers really need to decide and the key barriers to the implementation of existing urban sustainability tools. This study was organized in four discrete steps. Initially, what EU urban sustainability projects can deliver (studies, methodologies, tools, policies, etc.) was identified. The deliverables were evaluated against certain criteria and categorized into cross-cutting aspects (territorial management and urban design, social and economic cohesion) and sectorial aspects (sustainable mobility, energy efficiency). The structured dialogue was implemented in parallel with the evaluation of the deliverables in order to match them with decision-makers’ needs, priorities and expectations. The ultimate goal was to develop and make available an operational Decision Support System (DSS) for public Authorities and urban planners, which combines their needs, priorities and expectations (structured dialogue results) with existing deliverables, developed within the framework of EU projects that up to now have had a low transferability and applicability rate.

Strategic planning for climate change mitigation and adaptation: the case of Greece

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to put forward a methodological framework to provide a comparative assessment of available mitigation and adaptation strategies against climate change. Mitigation options aim at minimizing CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, in an effort to reduce the rate of increase in global temperature. On the other hand, adaptation options relate to the ability of the natural or human systems to handle the impact of the climate change and to adjust to its effects, seeking to eliminate the adverse consequences and take advantage of any beneficial outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology focuses on specific parameters, leading to the most efficient package of alternatives for the area of Greece. The selection of the “optimal” ranking of alternatives in a defined strategy is a sophisticated procedure, and a multi-criteria decision-making process was established. A questionnaire was designed and used as input to the overall framework, based on specific decision cr...

Self-Sustained, Independent Trifold Solar Energy Conversion System for Isolated Locations in Hot Climate Areas

This paper proposes two configurations for a hybrid solar energy conversion device that can be used as a self-sustained, independent power generation system in isolated locations in hot climate areas. Given the strong dependence of photovoltaic cell conversion efficiency on operation temperature, the cooling of the backside becomes imperative, increasing not only electrical, but also the overall solar energy conversion efficiency. The hybrid system provides now electricity and hot hater for domestic applications. To further improve electrical efficiency, a thermoelectric generator module is added to the system, harvesting the thermal energy that otherwise would be regarded as waste heat and rejected to environment. The optimization of the parameters that influence the total efficiency demonstrate the strong connection between the three parts of the system, PV-TE-DHW.