It is intended to study new methods for sustainability impact assessment, adopting several indicators of sustainability to evaluate the environmental value of natural resources.
Ecological scarcity is a reality and the sustainability indicators analysis is a useful tool that helps us to decide more wisely how to live in an age of scarcity.
Detailed research activities of the RES group
Tutelage of soil and ground waters from pollutants
Various aspects have been studied relating the phenomenon of migration of pollutants through the soil towards the ground-waters. Several case studies have been carried out on landfills.
- Two software products, SEEP/W and CTRAN/W, were used in tandem to analyze the contaminant transport for unsaturated conditions.
- Geophysical investigations, aimed at the detection of possible leaks originating from an urban solid landfill, were carried out. The objective of the subsurface geophysical investigation was to use non invasive methods to delineate buried waste zones;
- Environmental accounting was carried out using several approaches: the emergy analysis; the ecological footprint; the life cycle assessment.
Case studies:
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Modelling of contaminant migration in unsaturated soil
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Study of the soil migration of nitrate form agriculture practice: application of
SEEP/W and CTRAN/W software.
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Geochemical and geophysical characterisation of a municipal solid waste landfill
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Electric tomography for the detection of leachate pockets in landfills.
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Environmental accounting of a landfill: application of the emergy analysis
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Environmental accounting of a landfill: comparison of emergy analysis and ecological footprint
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Life cycle assessment of a landfill.
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Emergy analysis of an incinerator to be installed in east Sicily.
Tutelage of natural ecosystems
Several studies have been carried out for the environmental accounting of the of ecosystems value:
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Tutelage of coastal wetlands in south-east Sicily.
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Environmental accounting of an eco-village: the emergy approach.
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Environmental accounting of an eco-village: the ecological footprint approach.
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Reuse of treated waste waters: eMergy analysis.
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Constructed wetland for waste water treatment: case study in Alcantara river park.
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Non invasive geophysical methods applied to a natural wetland in south Sicily.
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Environmental accounting of a new tourist site on the mount Etna: eMergy analysis.
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Environmental accounting of a new tourist site on the mount Etna: eMergy analysis.

Other methods of environmental tutelage
Several case studies were carried out in order to evaluate the environmental impact of anthropic activities
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Calculation of the environmental protection index (Ep) of a company producing composite materials.
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Life cycle assessment of an aluminium bar produced by the firm Etnall S.p.A.
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Environmental accounting of the aluminium productive cycle by using the emergy analysis.
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Environmental accounting of a cruise ship
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Environmental accounting of the aqueduct of Catania.
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LCA of a prefabricated concrete shed produced by a sicilian firm