Rossano Albatici

The increasing adoption of solar power plants requires the consideration of different aspects involved in the transformation of landscape. In this view, recent studies encourage public engagement and landscape integration strategies in the decision-making process to ensure an accepted and inclusive energy transition. However, there is limited knowledge on how to include landscape considerations in the planning processes, specifically on public perception and values. This work aims to assess five licensed solar farms in the region of Central Macedonia (Greece) based on the opinion of the inhabitants. The paper presents the results of an online and onsite questionnaire administered in different villages around the study area in October 2022. The survey utilized the potential benefits and impacts, as well as siting criteria and spatial configuration strategies, taken from literature to describe public perception and preferences. The methodology consists of three phases: investigation of public perception on solar farms; operationalization of the results to make them spatially explicit; overall suitability of the areas and mitigation strategies. The results illustrate the prioritization of the perceived impacts and benefits of photovoltaic installations and highlight the different levels of suitability of the areas and possible mitigation measures. The proposed approach is complementary to the planning processes taking into account societal considerations.

Fluorocarbons are an important category of greenhouse gas emissions, and currently, their use is prohibited due to their significant contribution to the global ozone depletion potential (ODP). During this century, they will continue to emit greenhouse gases into the environment since they are present in the thermal insulation foam and HVAC systems in existing buildings; however, proper disposal of these banks of CFCs/HFCs from existing buildings can limit their effects on the environment. However, there are no studies that have investigated quantifying the achievable environmental savings in this case. In this study, a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted to evaluate, for the first time in the literature, the environmental savings achievable through the removal and disposal of CFC/HFC banks from buildings including damage-related emissions. To cope with the scarcity of data, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis techniques are applied. The results show that, for the selected archetype building, the largest annual emissions of CFCs/HFCs come from the external thermal insulation of the envelope. The removal of this material can lead to an additional significant reduction in the GWP (up to 569 kgCO2eq/m2) and the ODP (up to 117 × 10−3 kgCFC-11eq/m2), i.e., higher than that achievable by reducing energy consumption through energy retrofit measures (276 and 0, respectively). Thus, CFC/HFC banks should not be neglected in LCA studies of existing buildings due to their possible significant impact on a building’s ecoprofile.