The involvement of universities is crucial to identify how Cleaner Production strategies are formed in practice so that companies integrate sustainability into their strategies. This paper discusses the experience of establishing and operating the Cleaner Production Center at the University of Cienfuegos. From 2008 to 2011, the University of Cienfuegos, the Free University of Brussels (Belgium) and the University of Leuven (Belgium) implemented a project, financially supported by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (Belgium) allowing establishing a Cleaner Production Center at the University of Cienfuegos. This first project was followed by a second University of Cienfuegos-University of Leuven one. So far, the collaboration allowed to establish a master program on Cleaner Production that constitutes a bridge between the university and the production and service sector, allowing to promote and implement cleaner production strategies. 34 master students graduated during two graduations and a third one is ongoing. Among the most important results of the master thesis were the yearly reduction of the emission of 60 000 t/a of carbon dioxide equivalent and of the electricity consumption by 400 MWh/a at a cement plant. Research activities on Cleaner Production were upgraded through the collaboration resulting in several publications in peerreviewed journals with impact factor. This type of North-South cooperation aided establishing and developing the center, by transferring expertise and experience and by providing part of the necessary funding which is difficult to raise by developing economies. This case study offers an interesting practice example about developing academic (training, research) values on Cleaner Production.
Lime production is characterized by large emissions of CO2 and by other environmental impacts.In Cuba this industry operates with outdated technology, resulting in low energy and material efficiency and in high environmental impacts. In order to improve the environmental performance of the lime industry in Cuba it is necessary to have an overview of the environmental impacts associated with the production process. This paper quantifies the environmental impacts of lime production in Cuba by means of LCA methodology in a cradle-to-gate evaluation. It also aims at establishing a benchmark for improvement by comparing the environmental impact of this industry in Cuba with a plant in an industrialized country. For the inventory evaluation the process of lime production was divided in five production stages. When necessary, the data was completed with literature sources. For the impact assessment the impacts in the following categories were considered: energy consumption, global warming, human toxicity, photoxidant formation and acidification. Results show that the calcination stage and the consumption of fuel, electricity and limestone are the main contributors to environmental impact of the production process. The economic assessment shows possibilities to improve the environmental performance while achieving cost reductions in the production process. The larger improvements in the environmental performance and cost saving can be achieved by improving the energy efficiency of the calcination stage. This can partially be accomplished with moderate investments.
ResumenIntroducción− El transporte automotor terrestre es un importante contribuyente del consumo de combustible a nivel mundial. Existen muchos factores relacionados con este consumo y también varias maneras de estudiarlo. Los ciclos de viaje basados en la modelación matemática son herramientas probadas para comprender, estimar y pronosticar el consumo de combustible.Objetivo− Los modelos matemáticos que se solucionan con los perfiles reales de coeficiente de resistencia al camino por las vías por las cuales circulan los vehícu-los brindan los resultados más exactos. Es por eso que la determinación experimental del coeficiente de resistencia del camino es el objetivo de la investigación.Metodología− Se diseña y construye un remolque, asimismo, se conducen experimentos de calibración estática y dinámica para conocer las cualidades de los sistemas que intervienen en la medición. Posteriormente, se realizan ensayos en un sector de vía para la verificación y, a continuación, se efectúan experimentos en carreteras de recubrimientos y pendientes variables.Resultados− Se establece el uso del instrumento para mediciones del coeficiente de resistencia al rodamiento en condiciones viales con valores del coeficiente de resistencia a la rodadura de 0,008-0,02 (recubrimientos viales con base de cemento o asfalto) y pendientes de 0-12o.Conclusiones− Los resultados demuestran que bajo este método se puede medir de manera precisa y exacta el coeficiente de resistencia del camino.Palabras clave− Camino, carretera, coeficiente, determinación, pendiente, resistencia, rodadura, remolque AbstractIntroduction− The fuel consumption of the ground vehicle transportations constitutes an important part in the total fuel consumption of the world. There are many factors related to this fuel consumption and several ways to study it. The drive cycles based on the mathematical modeling are tools to understand, to estimate and to predict the vehicle fuel consumption.Objective− Usually the simulating is most exact when the mathematical models are solved with the real profiles of way resistance coefficient. For that reason, the experimental determination of the coefficient of resistance of the road is the objective of this research.Methodology− A trailer was designed and built and statically and, in order to know the features of the systems that are involved in the coefficient measuring process, a group of experiments of static and dynamic was conducted. Later, a road sector for validation was calibrated and then others road with variation in slope and road surface was studied.Results− This method is able to measure the way resistance coefficient that corresponding with road conditions of values of rolling resistance of 0,008 -0,02 (made of asphalt or cement) and slopes of 0-12o.Conclusions− The results demonstrate that this method is accurate and precise for the determination of the way resistance coefficient
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