ERE5.3

The EC HYPOS (HYdro-POwer-Suite) project (https://hypos-project.eu/) has the main goal of assessing the environmental impact of existing and future hydropower systems. The project will provide a suite of data analysis applications which integrates Earth Observation (EO) technologies and hydrological modelling. These include an online Decision Support Tool (DST) for investment planning and monitoring, as well as a subscription portal combining satellite data over time, current measurements and detailed estimates for present and near future assessments. A dedicated analysis on the “blue footprint” (i.e. the amount of water used to produce a service) of reservoirs is included for addressing sustainable monitoring solutions. Such analysis comprises the evaluation of the climate change effects on reservoirs management and hydropower production. For instance, extreme weather events like short-term heavy precipitations are connected with flooding and transport of large amounts of sediments in dammed reservoirs, with critical consequences for their management. Similarly, global warming can heat the surface of water bodies and induce higher evaporation rates, thus decreasing the amount of water available for energy production.  

In this study we present the first products from HYPOS project. These products are representative of what can be generated within the DST using elaboration techniques of EO data. Gridded products of water quality parameters (e.g. water turbidity, Chlorophyll-a concentration, suspended sediments concentration) are generated for the test sites of the project, which are small dammed reservoirs located in Switzerland, France, Albania and Georgia. These products are obtained using the Modular Inversion and Processing System (MIP), a sensor independent image processing chain based on radiative transfer models, which works in a multi-layer system, solving the light transfer in the atmosphere, at the water surface and inside the waterbody.

For the assessment of the “blue footprint” of a reservoir, the water loss due to evaporation is computed by applying a consolidated mass transfer evaporation method to EO data. The resulting evaporation rates are first compared with the outputs of semi-automatic evapotranspiration EO-based models (e.g. SEBAL), and then with the estimates ​​obtained from two different numerical models: a hydrological model (E-Hype) and a 3D hydrodynamic model (Delft3D). The key parameters influencing water evaporation rates, their behavior and the issues related to each approach are analyzed. The first comparison results are made for lake Garda, where a complete set of data is available for the production of evaporation maps.

How to cite: Matta, E., Bresciani, M., Giardino, C., Amadori, M., Heege, T., Schenk, K., Knauer, K., Bartosovar, A., Pechlivanidis, I., Ribeiro, M. L., Launay, M., Matos, J. P., Kelleher, D., Rüther, N., and Schwarzwälder, K. V. A.: The HYPOS project as a support to the hydroelectric sector, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-10919, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-10919, 2021.

Southeast Asia’s electricity supply largely depends on the hydropower resources of the Mekong, Chao Phraya, Irrawaddy, and Salween River Basins. Uncertain precipitation patterns, rising temperature, and other climate-driven changes are exposing these resources to unprecedented risks, prompting decision makers to re-evaluate existing reservoir management strategies through climate change risk assessments. These assessments are important in shaping the operators’ response to hydro-climatic variability and are necessary to ensure energy security in the region. In this study, we developed high-resolution, semi-distributed hydrological models to examine the potential changes of hydropower availability under projected future climate scenarios in the four largest river basins in South East Asia. Specifically, we relied on a novel variant of the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model that integrates reservoir operations into the routing scheme, warranting a more accurate representation of cascade reservoir systems. Climate change impacts were derived from the outputs of five Global Circulation Models (GCMs) forced by two Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs 2.6 and 8.5) emission scenarios in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). We find that hydropower generation would be altered significantly in all scenarios in terms of temporal variability and magnitude due to the changes in duration and magnitude of the summer monsoon. Our findings further stress the importance of exploring how the impact of climate change on hydropower availability propagates through water-energy systems and call for adaptive reservoir operation strategies.

How to cite: Dang, T. D., Ng, J. Y., and Galelli, S.: Assessing the impact of climate change on Southeast Asia’s hydropower availability, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-6929, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-6929, 2021.

Reservoir sedimentation has a prominent impact on the hydropower performance in the future and is a growing concern for hydropower stakeholders. Sedimentation caused by soil erosion is influenced by various parameters. Reservoir sedimentation is one of the most challenging problems that affect hydroelectric production since it overall causes a reduction of the reservoir capacity that overcomes the annual increase in storage volume and implies a dangerous net loss of energy. The first part of this study examined various Italian reservoirs (50 dams) to determine sedimentation rates and storage capacity loss based on available bathymetric surveys. All the reservoirs studied here have reached an average age of 74 years as of 2019, with the highest loss of capacity observed at 90% and the highest annual sediment yield of 2471 m³/km²/year. Out of all the reservoirs studied, 25% of them already have reached their half-life as of 2019. The second part of this study extended the work to the specific case study of the Ceppo Morelli hydropower plant. The study was carried out to analyse the water-sediment interaction, future sediment load and prioritizing of critical soil erosion areas using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The distinguishing feature of this work lies in the possibility to exploit remote sensing data (i.e. actual/potential evapotranspiration) to successfully calibrate hydrological models in scarce data regions. Simulation results indicated that the discharge and sediment load entering Ceppo Morelli reservoir will decline and the rate of reduction of latter is higher than that of former for all the future climate scenarios implemented. This analysis will provide a starting point for management and prioritization of adaptation and remediation policies for addressing the issue of reservoir sedimentation. These results are part of the RELAID project funded through PRIN-Italy. The aim of this project is to integrate updated knowledge on hydrologic, hydraulics, and sedimentation processes to address the water and flood risk management of impounded Italian rivers through a holistic paradigm.

Keywords: reservoir sedimentation; hydropower; hydrological modeling; RELAID; Italy

How to cite: Patro, E. R. and Michele, C. D.: Assessment of Reservoir Storage Capacity Loss and Investigating the Effects of Climate Variability on Reservoir Sedimentation in Italy, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-2651, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-2651, 2021.

Considering the lack of a comprehensive assessement of hydropower potential in the Upper Indus basin, we developed and implemented a systematic framework to explore four different classes of hydropower potential. Our framework uses high-resolution discharge generated by a coupled cryosphere-hydrology model as the bio-physical boundary conditions to estimate theoretical potential. Thereafter, diverse context-specific constraints are implemented stepwise to estimate the technical, economic and sustainable hydropower potential. The successive classes of hydropower potential integrate considerations for various water demands under the water-energy-food nexus, multiple geo-hazard risks, climate change, environmental protection, and socio-economic preferences. We demonstrate that the nearly two thousand Terawatt-hour of theoretical potential available annualy in the upper Indus can be misleading because a majority of this is technically and economically not viable. Even smaller potential remains if we account for the various sustainability constraints that vary spatially. Our concept of the sustainable hydropower potential enables decision makers to look beyond the energy sector when selecting hydropower projects for development to achieveenergy security under the Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7).The generated portfolio of sustainable hydropower projects is superior to the current portfolio based on outdated studies because our method looks beyond theoretical possibilities and excludes projects that conflict with management objectives under other SDGs. The spatial maps with potential and the cost curves for hydropower production provide a science-based knowledge base for hydropower development in the Indus basin. Our method could similarly be adapted to inform hydropower development in other basins across the globe.

How to cite: Dhaubanjar, S., F. Lutz, A., Gernaat, D., Nepal, S., Pradhananga, S., Khanal, S., Bhakta Shrestha, A., and Immerzeel, W.: Quanitification of sustainable hydropower potential in the Upper Indus basin, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-14452, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14452, 2021.

Given the ongoing and planned hydropower development projects in the Amazon River basin, appalling losses in biodiversity, river ecology and river connectivity are inevitable. These hydropower projects are proposed to be built in exceptionally endemic sites, setting records in environmental losses by impeding fish movement, altering flood pulse, causing large-scale deforestation, and increasing greenhouse gas emissions. With the burgeoning energy demand combined with the aforementioned negative impacts of conventional hydropower technology, there is an imminent need to re-think the design of hydropower to avoid the potentially catastrophic consequences of large dams. It is certain that the Amazon will undergo some major hydrological changes in the near future because of the compounded effects of climate change and proposed dams, if built with the conventional hydropower technology. In this study, we present a transformative hydropower outlook that integrates low-head hydropower technology (e.g., in-stream turbines) and multiple environmental aspects, such as river ecology and protected areas. We employ a high resolution (~2km) continental scale hydrological model called LEAF-Hydro-Flood (LHF) to assess the in-stream hydropower potential in the Amazon River basin. We particularly focus on quantifying the potential and feasibility of employing instream turbines in the Amazon instead of building large dams. We show that a significant portion of the total energy planned to be generated from conventional hydropower in the Brazilian Amazon could be harnessed using in-stream turbines that utilize kinetic energy of water without requiring storage. Further, we also find that implementing in-stream turbines as an alternative to large storage-based dams could prove economically feasible, since most of the environmental and social costs associated with dams are eliminated. Our results open multiple pathways to achieve sustainable hydropower development in the Amazon to meet the ever-increasing energy demands while minimizing hydrological, social, and ecological impacts. It also provides important insight for sustainable hydropower development in other global regions. The results presented are based on a manuscript under revision for Nature Sustainability.

How to cite: Chaudhari, S., Brown, E., Quispe-Abad, R., Moran, E., Mueller, N., and Pokhrel, Y.: In-stream turbines for sustainable hydropower development in the Amazon river basin, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-3781, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-3781, 2021.

Average mined ore grades are constantly decreasing and easily accessible high-grade mineral deposits have already been mined out. Together with the ever-increasing demand for raw materials, a sustainable supply is becoming very challenging for the mining industry. Ores are being exploited in very large operations and in more and more extreme environments. The presence of high temperatures, poisonous gasses or other harmful substances, water, geotechnical instabilities, etc., limits the possibilities for humans to work in such environments, and increases the costs of mining. New paradigm of ore prospection and extraction is needed, and the use of robotics and automation provides a potential solution.

The mid-term vision of mines of the future is that humans would not need to be present at the extraction sites anymore. Mining machinery will become remotely controlled or semi-automated. This would significantly reduce the costs of mining operations and eliminate the risks associated with humans working in life-threating environments. The main challenges are related to sensing of the surroundings and the presentation of such data in a virtual reality model, the machine-human-machine and machine-machine communication, positioning, energy supply and similar. This technology can transform the mining industry in a similar way as the development of construction machines transformed the construction sector in the last century.

In the long-term vision the mines will be completely automated. Mining machines will be able to sense its environment, allowing them to make decisions autonomously. They will also be able to self-assemble, repair, and perhaps even produce their own copies underground. Robots of the mines of the future will be specialised in a similar way workers are specialised today. Ore processing will be accompanied by an autonomous ore processing system at the site of extraction, which will enable the delivery of concentrate or even ingots to the surface and leave the waste material underground. With such systems highly selective low-environmental impact mining of many currently uneconomical ore bodies could become feasible and would allow mining in ultra-deep environments which are today far beyond our reach. With such mining system, mining of extra-terrestrial bodies could also become a reality, and could even put an end to mining on Earth altogether. Many challenges need to be addressed, including energy supply, locomotion, communications, environmental awareness, big data handling and processing, automated decision-making systems, new rock-cutting technologies, ore transport systems, machine and software maintenance and adaptation, etc.

Humanity is already taking first steps towards this vision. Several international projects have been funded on the topic of sensing, using remotely controlled machines or autonomous robots to perform dangerous exploration or mining tasks: iVAMOS!, UNEXMIN, ROBOMINERS, AutoFlyMap, ROBUST, RODEO,  BADGER, Real-Time Mining, MINERAL EYE and others (funded by the Horizon2020), BlueHarvesting, FIREM-II, HoloMine, UNDROMEDA and others (funded or co-funded by the EIT RawMaterials), or several industrially-funded projects such as Longwall automation mining, A3R, MSRBOTS, ARIDuA, and many others. Many companies which develop robots or other automatic equipment for mines are also emerging, including Unexmin Georobotics, EXPLORA, Equipois, Sandvik, Superdroid Robots, National Robotics Engineering Center, BROKK and others.

How to cite: Žibret, G.: Vision of the mine of the future, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-8352, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-8352, 2021.

Cobalt is a transition metal with a trace element abundance in the Earth’s crust (26.6 ppm). It forms mainly sulfides like carrollite, siegenite and linneite and enters the cobaltite-gersdorffite solid solution and di-tri-arsenides safflorite, rammelsbergite and skutterudite while erythrite and asbolane are secondary Co phases. Cobalt is a Critical Raw Material for the EU, strategically important due to its use in the industry (batteries, superalloys, catalysts etc.).

Italy hosts several Co-bearing hydrothermal deposits, which were variably exploited in the past. In this work we focus on the Co-Fe-Ni hydrothermal veins emplaced within the metabasites of the Lanzo Valleys ophiolite complex in the western sector of the Alpine belt. The vein system is collectively called “Punta Corna mining complex”, and was exploited for Fe, Ag and later Co in the past (Castelli et al., 2011, Moroni et al., 2019).

A detailed field survey of the past cobalt mining works was carried out in summer 2019, followed by sampling, mostly inside mining tunnels and from waste dumps in order to increase data about this poorly known vein system.  Preliminary data comprise transmitted and reflected light study in thin section, XRD and EMPA analyses of selected samples.

Four deposition stages have been recognized in the samples, in agreement with preliminary results in Moroni et al. (2019), with Co enrichment occurring during the third stage. Detected Co phases are skutterudite, safflorite and secondary erythrite. Other common metallic minerals are löllingite, tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite, with Fe carbonate, quartz and baryte as gangue minerals.

In situ sampling allowed for the first time to map distribution of parageneses related to the different stages. Stage I, characterized by the deposition of siderite and ankerite, was detected in the western sector of Punta Corna. Stage II, characterized by baryte deposition, was not detected in any sample, but it was possible to observe baryte associated to siderite on the field in the western sector of Punta Corna. Stage III, characterized by Co-Fe-Ni arsenides, is developed mainly in the ore bodies of Punta Corna but extends also both to the West and to the East. Stage IV, characterized by base metal sulfides, covers the same area of stage III, with the exception of Speranza Mine, to the East of Punta Corna, where it was not detected. These studies are aimed to to evaluate the full extent of the ore system and better characterize the style of the mineralization.

References:

Moroni M., Rossetti P., Naitza S., Magnani L., Ruggieri G., Aquino A., Tartarotti P., Franklin A., Ferrari E., Castelli D., Oggiano G., Secchi F. (2019). Factors Controlling Hydrothermal Nickel and Cobalt Mineralization—Some Suggestions from Historical Ore Deposits in Italy. Minerals 2019, 9, 429.

Castelli, D., Giorza, A., Rossetti, P., Piana, F., Clerico, F. Le mineralizzazioni a siderite e arseniuri di cobalto-ferro-nichel del vallone di Arnàs (Usseglio, valli di Lanzo). In: Rossi M., Gattiglia A. (Eds.), Terre rosse, pietre verdi e blu cobalto. Miniere a Usseglio. Prima raccolta di studi. Museo Civico Alpino “Arnaldo Tazzetti”, Usseglio 2011, 14-21.

How to cite: Grieco, G., Moroni, M., Bussolesi, M., Cavallo, A., and Orizio, S.: Spatial distribution of the ophiolite-hosted Co–Ni–As-rich hydrothermal mineralization in the Punta Corna Mining complex, Lanzo Valleys, Northern Italy, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-7589, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-7589, 2021.

Blasting operations in quarries are accompanied by ground vibrations which can endanger buildings nearby. A production blast is made of several holes with a small distance to each other, which are blasted with a time delay, for the purpose of production and to reduce the ground vibrations. These production blasts produce a specific radiation pattern. It would be favorable to focus the ground vibrations to a less sensitive direction or area. We want to be able to predict the ground vibrations for a realistic inhomogeneous case at an area around the iron ore mine at mount Erzberg in Austria. Therefore a numerical forward modeling on a 3D model of the iron ore mine and its surrounding area was performed with a 3D elastic code with topography. The 3D model itself is the result of a tomographic travel time inversion. One problem is that the spectral response of a single blast is unknown and therefore we had to find a transfer function which transfers the numeric spectral response to the observed spectral response. After applying the transfer function the amplitude spectra of the numerical solution show a good match to the amplitude spectra of the observed production blasts. In this study, we investigate, if a reduction of ground vibrations can be achieved by blasting simultaneously two arrays with optimized time delays. To achieve that optimized time delays we developed a global search algorithm, based on Markov chain Monte Carlo method which finds potential blast configurations, with minimum impact to critical locations near the quarry. This study is part of the EU-funded project SLIM (Sustainable Low Impact Mining, www.slim-project.eu).

How to cite: Trabi, B., Bleibinhaus, F., and Tauchner, C.: Blast vibration reduction, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-14821, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14821, 2021.

Seismic vibrations induced by mine blasting are often a nuisance to residents and may even threaten the integrity of sensitive structure in the vicinity of mines. In this study we investigate the potential to reduce such vibrations through the interference with a second blast sequence. Assuming perfectly repeatable source wavelets and an acoustic, homogeneous model, we predict the radiation patterns of blast sequences with the Fourier shift theorem as a function of azimuth and incidence, and we benchmark those predictions with observations from a seismic array deployed at the iron ore mine Mt Erzberg, Austria. We then use our model to optimize the delay times of blast sequences with an inverse algorithm geared towards minimizing the predicted vibrations in certain target zones. Due to its symmetry, a single row of blasts has no azimuthal reduction potential. A second, quasi-simultaneous mine blast can, however, reduce blast-induced vibrations by up to 20% according to our model. In this study, we discuss the principles and the potential of this approach to vibration reduction. In a second study, we will present applied results obtained with a fully elastic model.

How to cite: Bleibinhaus, F. and Trabi, B.: Seismic radiation patterns of mine blasts, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-16018, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-16018, 2021.

 Nowadays, asbestos-containing wastes (ACW) still represent an important environmental problem and a severe health hazard due to the well know pulmonary diseases derived from asbestos fibres inhalation. Except for a very few cases, ACW are currently confined in controlled landfills, giving rise to increasingly high amounts of still hazardous wastes. A promising alternative to landfill confinement is represented by ACW inertization, but the high cost of the inertization processes so far proposed by the scientific community have hampered the creation of actually operative plants. In this paper, we explore the possibility to use an innovative process that ensures the obtainment of asbestos-free inert material in an exceptionally short processing time, thus greatly reducing cost-related problems. The efficacy of the inertization process has been verified through accurate mineralogical investigations on both chrysotile and crocidolite de-activated fibres, through X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Overall mineralogical, microstructural and granulometric characteristics of the inert bulk material suggest that it could be successfully re-used as a secondary raw material in ceramic industries. This innovative inertization procedure could therefore provide an effective and economically sustainable solution for ACW management.

How to cite: Marian, N. M., Giorgetti, G., Magrini, C., Capitani, G., Galimberti, L., Cavallo, A., Salvini, R., Claudio, V., and Viti, C.: From hazardous asbestos containing wastes (ACW) to new secondary raw material through a new sustainable inertization process: a multimethodological mineralogical study, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-10825, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-10825, 2021.

Nowadays municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) has become a widespread and consolidated technology for MSW treatment all over the world. Indeed, it allows to reach up to 90% of waste volume reduction, while also producing energy. However, the incineration process has some drawbacks, one of which is the production of different residues that must be disposed of. Specifically, particular attention must be paid to fly ash (FA), which generally represents one of the most dangerous residues. FA is collected by the flue gas purification system and counts for around the 5% w/w of total incinerated waste. MSWI FA is regulated as a hazardous waste, mainly due to high concentrations of heavy metals (Pb, Cr, Zn, Cd) and soluble salts (chlorides and sulfates). Moreover, the average size of FA particles can be as low as 50-20 µm, thus determining a high surface area, which can increase toxic elements release into the environment. Therefore, many preliminary physicochemical stabilization treatments have been proposed over the years for their possible reuse as construction materials (e.g. water washing, thermal treatment, etc..). However, a detailed characterization of the residue in terms of heavy metals speciation is often overlooked. Indeed, this represents necessary information in order to understand and control the residue behavior in a reuse scenario and to design stabilization treatments as effective as possible.

In this work the analysis of heavy metals distribution and speciation of Turin MSW FA has been conducted, by combining both experimental treatments and geochemical modelling. In particular, a 4-step sequential extraction method has allowed to evaluate how heavy metals are distributed among four fractions with different physicochemical properties and, then, to deduct preliminary considerations about their leaching availability. In addition, pH-dependant leaching tests coupled by geochemical modelling using Virtual MINTEQ software has provided a more detailed insight into heavy metals speciation, by proposing possible phases which are often not detected by bulk analytical techniques. Finally, a general assessment of the hazardousness of Turin FA is discussed.

How to cite: Bernasconi, D., Caviglia, C., Destefanis, E., Pastero, L., Bonadiman, C., Pavese, A., Agostino, A., and Boero, R.: Insight into municipal solid waste fly ash (MSWFA) heavy metals speciation by selective extractions and geochemical modelling, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-14169, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14169, 2021.

Municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) fly ash can represent a sustainable source of construction materials, but it needs to be treated in order to remove dangerous substances as chlorides, sulfates, and heavy metals. The concentration of salts and heavy metals in fly ash usually exceeds the law threshold and so they are considered a hazardous waste, unsuitable for reuse in concrete and civil engineering applications.In this work, a complete characterization of fly ash coming from a northern Italy thermovalorization plant was investigated, both on the solid and leachates composition, focused on the particle size, by X-Ray fluorescence and X-Ray diffraction on the solid matrices and ICP-MS analysis on the leachates.Using mechanical sieving on several subsamples of fly ash, six different particle size were separated and analyzed, and compared to the bulk fly ash composition.The most abundant elements are represented by Ca, Cl, S, and Si; trace elements and heavy metals are mainly represented by Zn, Fe, Al, Pb. The XRF and ICP-MS analysis show a general increasing trend, as the particle size decrease, of Na, K, Cl, S, as well as Cr, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sb, Zn, Ba, both on solid and leachates composition; on the contrary Ca and Si decrease.After leaching Cl and K decrease consistently, while it can be observed an increase of all the other elements, due to the weight loss attributable mainly to the leaching of Na-K chlorides, that is confirmed also by the X-Ray diffraction analysis.

How to cite: Destefanis, E., Caviglia, C., Agostino, A., Bernasconi, D., Pastero, L., Bonadiman, C., and Pavese, A.: MSWI fly ash particle size chemical and mineralogical characterization, before and after leaching tests, aimed to reuse., EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-14543, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14543, 2021.