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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Hazards and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 21258

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Zdeněk Dvořák

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Guest Editor

Department of Technical Sciences and Informatics, Faculty of Security Engineering, University of Žilina, Žilina 010 26, Slovakia
Interests: transport; environmental risk; critical infrastructure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Zoran Čekerevac

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Faculty of Business and Law, “UNION-Nikola Tesla” University in Belgrade, Beograd 11000, Serbia
Interests: IT; management; transport; motor vehicles; engines

Prof. Dr. David Rehak

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Safety Engineering, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, 700 30 Ostrava, Czech Republic
Interests: critical infrastructure; resilience; protection; risk assessment; civil protection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The topic of environmental risk assessment in transport is multidisciplinary and very topical. Developed countries strive for sustainable transport and mobility with a minimal impact on the environment. The University of Žilina in the field of transport and mobility is currently continuing the long tradition of the unique Czechoslovak Technical University of Transport, where the issue of risk has long been given a significant amount of attention. Specifically, risk assessment, security research, vulnerability, and resilience all have a long tradition in the field. Recently, however, environmental challenges have also attracted researchers’ interest. The Web of Science database has registered more than 200 scientific articles on similar topics in the last three years, and the Scopus database has a total of more than 250 scientific articles. Thus, this topic is socially attractive and scientifically interesting.

In this Special Issue, the focus will be on the current green transport policy—specifically, sustainable transport aimed at environmental protection that creates social balance and economic sustainability. The content of this Special Issue can be divided according to the types of transport (air, sea, ship, rail, road) or according to other subdivisions into individual and public, and passenger and freight. Intermodal approaches that contribute significantly to reducing the impact of transport on the environment are especially welcome. A key area of current research is the application of SMART solutions throughout the logistics chain, as well as the challenges of intelligent transport systems, which have grown in importance in the last twenty years. We expect a minimum of 20 articles from different European countries in this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Zdeněk Dvořák
Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Zoran Čekerevac
Assoc. Prof. Dr. David Řehák
Guest Editors

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Keywords

environmental risk
smart cities
transportation

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 886 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Environmental Risk Assessment of Filling Stations Using the Principles of Security Management. A Case Study in the Slovak Republic

by Katarína Mäkká, Katarína Kampová, Tomáš Loveček and Katarína Petrlová

Sustainability 2021, 13(22), 12452; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212452 - 11 Nov 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3186

Abstract

The issue of environmental risk assessment currently deserves great attention. In order to protect the environment, maintain healthy living conditions, and prevent environmental damage, the member states of the European Union have adopted a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage. The directive classifies two types of operators with different liability regimes for environmental damage, namely, the regime with no-fault (strict) liability and liability for fault. With the adoption of the directive, among experts, operators and the general public have posed questions about how to assess the risk of environmental damage. At present, there is still no uniform procedure for assessing environmental risks, which would create a comprehensive methodological framework for assessment for this type of risk. Due to the non-existent risk assessment methodology for operators with strict liability regimes and the lack of a systematic search for risk sources, a risk assessment procedure is proposed that provides guidance in a sequence of several steps on how to implement the obligations arising from the adopted Environmental Liability Directive. The proposed procedure was verified on a specific operator with a strict liability regime. The environmental risk analysis performed through the proposed procedure provided information on possible operational problems and verified its applicability. Last but not least, the use of the proposed procedure makes it possible to identify serious sources of risk and to establish necessary preventive measures to prevent the occurrence of environmental damage. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Risk Assessment in Transport)

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19 pages, 1979 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Integrated Environmental Risk Assessment of Major Accidents in the Transport of Hazardous Substances

by Ales Bernatik, David Rehak, Valerio Cozzani, Pavel Foltin, Jarmil Valasek and Frantisek Paulus

Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 11993; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111993 - 29 Oct 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2652

Abstract

At present, the environmental risk assessment of major accidents is mainly carried out for stationary risk sources. Only marginal attention is paid to mobile risk sources, while the currently available methodologies require a relevant expertise and time for their application, which is only partially possible in most scenarios. In the present study, an integrated approach to environmental risk assessment in the transport of hazardous substances (iTRANSRISK) was developed. The approach proposed is based on the principle of index-based assessment of leakage scenarios involving toxic and flammable substances during transport, in the context of indexing environmental vulnerability. The key point of the method is the conversion of local-specific data concerning the risk potential of the transported substance, the consequences and the probability of a major accident, and environmental vulnerability assessment into a single entity. The created integral approach is proposed for the needs of carriers of the hazardous substances and the state administration bodies. The proposed approach is determined for the screening risk assessment at the beginning of the process of the planning a suitable transport routes and the results are for information only. An example of the application of the iTRANSRISK integrated approach is demonstrated considering an explosion scenario following a propane tanker leak (18 t) in a forested area, with moderately susceptible soils and no surface water or groundwater affected. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Risk Assessment in Transport)

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15 pages, 3366 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Road Transport and Its Impact on Air Pollution during the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Katerina Vichova, Petr Veselik, Romana Heinzova and Radek Dvoracek

Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 11803; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111803 - 26 Oct 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 6656

Abstract

This paper discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air pollution. Many urban inhabitants were confined to their homes during the lockdown. This had an impact air pollution, due to a reduction the number of vehicles being operated in cities. People also limited the number of visits to shopping centers; additionally, sports venues were closed and cultural events cancelled. The COVID-19 pandemic therefore had a positive impact on air pollution. Several studies from around the world confirm this. The research presented here is based on hourly measurements of PM₁₀ and NO₂ concentrations measured in background ambient air at a specific intersection located in Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic. The aim of the paper is to confirm or exclude the hypothesis that the measured concentrations of PM₁₀ and NO₂ pollutants were lower during 2020 than in 2019, when states of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic were declared. The data were aggregated into monthly subsets and statistically analyzed. The data was graphically visualized and evaluated by means of exploratory data analysis. To compare the pollution levels in individual months, a parametric statistical analysis (two-sample t-test) was used. A statistically significant reduction was observed in the measured concentrations in 2020 compared to 2019 during periods when states of emergency were declared. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Risk Assessment in Transport)

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25 pages, 12299 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Impact Modeling for Transportation of Hazardous Liquids

by Zdenek Dvorak, Bohus Leitner, Michal Ballay, Lenka Mocova and Pavel Fuchs

Sustainability 2021, 13(20), 11367; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011367 - 14 Oct 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1865

Abstract

Modeling the effects of leakage in the transport of hazardous liquids is a highly topical issue, not only in the field of environmental engineering. This article’s introduction presents relevant information and statistical sources, analyzes selected scientific and professional publications, and characterizes the results of selected research projects. The applied approaches, methods, and results of our research specify the processes of developing and testing a theoretical model of spreading the impacts of leakage of hazardous liquids on biological components of the environment. The proposed model for predicting the environmental impacts of hazardous liquid (HL) leakage during transport is a crucial risk management tool in the planning of transport of dangerous goods. It also enables the creation of comprehensive information systems that monitor the transport unit in real-time, indicate the presence of significant habitats along the transport route, and draw attention to possible threats, in particular to the health and lives of people and the environment. The main result of the presented research is the application of a computational model for determining the parameters of the dangerous zone in case of HL leakage and its graphical plotting along the transport route, estimating the probability of impacting the selected place by leaking HL. The model application results are presented in the form of calculated frequency of impacting the set of points in the vicinity of the HL transport route. Defined standardized frequencies of HL infiltration above a specified limit in liters per square meter in the event of leakage of the entire volume of HL from a road tanker (leaked volume of 30 m³) form the basic set of information for creating relevant risk maps near busy traffic routes and subsequent selection of ecologically and spatially optimal routes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Risk Assessment in Transport)

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21 pages, 1439 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Risk Assessment of a Diesel Fuel Tank: A Case Study

by Alena Oulehlova, Irena Tušer and David Rehak

Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6537; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126537 - 8 Jun 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5467

Abstract

The article deals with the application of the environmental damage assessment procedure and H&V index II method to the diesel fuel tank storage facility in a sand mining company using a case study. The procedures enabled the researchers to semi-quantitatively assess the operated diesel fuel tank’s impact on the selected environmental components and the possible damage risk by the leakage of stored fuel. It was discovered, by assessing the operating conditions, the state of the environment at the mining facility, and the risk of a diesel fuel leakage accident, that it is not necessary for the company to implement further steps in the field of environmental damage minimization. The H&V index II method examined both the impacts of diesel fuel leakage on soil, biotic component, groundwater, surface water, and the impact of flammable substances on the biotic environmental component in six steps. Slight or significant impacts were identified depending on the environmental component during the determination of the accident severity. The accident severity, together with the estimated probability, was plotted in the risk matrix which resulted in acceptable risks for all affected environmental components. The results of both approaches showed that the diesel fuel leakage in the mining company represents an acceptable environmental risk in relation to the countermeasures implemented so far. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Risk Assessment in Transport)

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