Shale gas has now become a major competing source of energy in the international energy mix scenario. In the European Union, the “fracking” which is the technique of extraction shale gas is facing very strong opposition based on the associated potential health risks and environmental impacts which are not currently adequately regulated. The European Union Commission argues that the current regulatory system is enough for controlling the impacts of fracking on health and the environment. However, this article shows that the EU shale gas regulatory framework is not, “fit for purpose”. It will critically evaluate current European Union shale gas regulations and offer some recommendations for improvement.

This work is aimed to evaluate the applicability of solid portion of olive mill wastewater (OMW) for its utility as a renewable biofuel. A solar still unit was used to separate the solid residual from the liquid part of OMW. Three triplicate samples of solid residue were collected and tested for their calorific value, proximate analysis, and elemental analysis. The average calorific values obtained based on oxygen bomb calorimeter were 24 ± 0.65 kJ/g which agreed well with that obtained from elemental analysis (23 ± 1.3 kJ/g). This value is higher than that of refuse-derived fuel and lower than that of oil or natural gas but close to that of coal. Results of proximate analysis indicate a high combustible portion (83%) of OMW-Biofuel. The total amount of energy that can be produced from OMW-Biofuel in Jordan, expressed in terms of oil equivalent, accounts for <1.0% of the total imported oil by Jordan in 2014 and, if utilized, would result in annual savings of about US$ 17 million. These results suggest that the OMW-Biofuel can be applicable as a potential fuel.

Massive development in transportation sectors has accelerated fossil fuel energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles account for nearly 30% of global warming. We need clean energy for transportation sectors to meet their energy demand and avoid global warming. In this study, a wind energy system model was developed by integrating advanced technological and mathematical aspects to obtain a potential solution for the total energy demand of transportation sectors. Detailed analysis of the theoretical wind energy systems was modeled by a series of mathematical equations that were then proposed for use in transportation sectors to naturally meet their energy demand. To better explain this technology and its application in the transportation sectors, a sample experimental model of a car was also described as a hypothetical experiment. Interestingly, both the theoretical modeling and experimental analysis of the car confirm that a turbine can be a promising tool to utilize wind energy to generate electricity from self-renewing resources to power the car; importantly, wind energy is clean and globally abundant. The proposed wind energy system could be an innovative large-scale technology in energy science that can enable vehicles that produce energy from the wind when the vehicle is in motion, thus meeting 100% of the vehicle’s energy demand.

The local folk of Himalaya have natural coexistence with the forests and depend on these bounty natural resources for their livelihood. The present study was carried out on semi-nomadic pastoralist for the study of forest use patterns. The main source of livelihood was found to be homogeneous (pastoralism) within each settlement. The study records 26 tree species preferred for fuelwood consumption. Overall average fuelwood consumption was 20.09 ± 0.7 kg day⁻¹ family⁻¹. The average per capita fuelwood consumption was 2.77 kg day⁻¹. Average fuelwood consumption by very large families is significantly higher than small families. The principal component analysis explain lopping, extraction and anthropogenic activities for biomass extraction as a major factor of disturbance in forests. We also examined the present forest wood consumption rate and its implications in terms of potential deforestation and emission of greenhouse gases. The findings in the paper could form the basis for designing appropriate technologies and management policies in the region.

The studies on the electricity sector are usually focused on the supply side, considering consumers as price-takers, i.e. assuming no demand elasticity. The present paper highlights the role of consumers on the electricity sector, assuming that consumers react to electricity prices and make decisions. Many studies focused on the demand side disaggregate consumers by activities, leading to a highly complex analyse. In the present paper, consumers are divided by three main types. In the present paper, the Government makes decisions on the measures to implement to influence the production and the consumption. To study the impact of the Government decisions, the present paper studies and implements a tool: a decision support system. This tool is based on a conceptual model and assists the task of test and analyse the electricity sector using scenarios to obtain a set of performance indicators that would allow to make quantitative balance and to eliminate unfeasible measures. The performance indicators quantify the technical, environmental, social and economical aspects of the electricity sector and help to understand the effect of consumer practices, production technology and Government measures on the electricity sector. Based on the scenarios produced, it is possible to conclude that the price signal is important for consumers and it is a way to guide their behaviour. It is also possible to conclude that is preferable to apply incentives on supporting energy-efficiency measures implementation than on reduce the price of electricity sold to consumers.

Chitosan beads (CHB) were prepared and studied in a batch mode operation for the adsorption of Reactive Red 120 dye from aqueous solution. Characterization on the surface of CHB was achieved by using point of zero charge (pH_pzc) method, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Adsorbent dosage (0.02–1.5 g), initial pH solution (4–12), initial dye concentrations (30–400 mg/L), and contact time (2–500 min) were used as the function to optimize the adsorption equilibrium experiments that were carried out during the course of this study. The adsorption equilibrium data show that the adsorption process obeys the Langmuir model with maximum adsorption capacities of 114.9, 123.5 and 129.9 mg/g for 303, 313 and 323 K, respectively. The kinetics of the RR 120 adsorption was well-fitted to the pseudo-second-order kinetics. Thermodynamic parameters such as standard Gibbs free energy (∆G°), standard enthalpy (∆H°) and standard entropy (∆S°) were determined. The positive value of enthalpy indicates that the uptake of RR 120 onto CHB is endothermic in nature. The results obtained supported the use of CHB as an effective as well as favorable adsorbent in treating RR 120 dye.