Considering the EU's commitment to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, new tools and investments are needed to achieve this goal. Starting from this goal, the decision was made to develop a hybrid utility vehicle with a multifunctional role, which can also be used in closed spaces such as tunnels or underground parking lots or outside, contributing to the goal of zero carbon emsions. This machine will be the basis for the further development of an electric plug-in machine with increased autonomy. The machine will use a hybrid drive with a diesel engine and an electric motor coupled to a hydrostatic transmission in a closed circuit. The machine can work in heavy environments with a lot of dust, moisture or rugged terrain where the electric motors mounted in the wheel of the vehicle do not give very good results. The traction is done on all four wheels of the machine using wheel hydraulic motors with radial pistons. This type of engine ensures a high torque at low speeds, necessary for the types of work performed. The article presents the structure of this machine, the hydraulic scheme of the actuation, the configuration of the energy group powered by a LiFePO4 battery, through an inverter and the control system of the machine.

The article is a review of papers, presentations, expert opinions concerning a just transition of post-mining areas in the light of technical, economic, ecological and social aspects, which were the subject-matter of the International Scientific-and-Technical Conference, organized by the KOMAG Institute of Mining Technology in Gliwice, Poland and the IHP Hydraulics and Pneumatics Research Institute in Bucarest, Romania. The Conference participants concentrated their discussions both on the social effects of transition, on the economic aspects of activities concerning a collaboration of circummining companies as well as on technical and technological challenges in the mines already closed down or in those which are currently subject to the closing-down processes. Some possibilities of a reorientation of the mining plants towards generating and storage of green energy were presented. It should be borne in mind that a transition of the European Economy in the direction of more green and climate friendly is one of the most important objectives determined by the European Union. In particular, it is a big challenge for mining regions such as Silesia in Poland. The transition process includes a liquidation of underground workings and of the surface infrastructure and a series of indispensable activities oriented onto a restoration of the natural environment and a protection of mining plants areas against hazards which may occur after a termination of their operation. The article is ended with some information concerning a role research institutes in the just transition of post-mining areas and a new strategy of KOMAG as GREEN INSTITUTE.

The climate change is probably the greatest challenge humanity is facing today. In order to protect future generations from the catastrophic effects of the process, actions to achieve climate neutrality are being taken worldwide. These actions include development of renewable energy sources. Renewable energy depends on weather conditions, which results in a mismatch between supply and demand for energy. Use of energy storage is the technical solution to minimize this issue. The paper presents topics related to the potential storing of surplus electricity produced from renewable energy sources (RES) in the form of compressed air. The article also shows worldwide solutions for energy storage using compressed air. As part of the work, three variants of a warehouse consisting of standardly available pneumatic units were considered. The conducted analyzes made it possible to determine the energy efficiency of such a system. It can be observed that greater efficiency is achieved by using large flow compressors and the operation of the pneumatic motor at a higher supply pressure. In addition, it can also be said that the greatest losses are associated with the operation of the compressor, which generates large amounts of heat during operation. Increasing the efficiency of the energy storage system can be achieved by utilizing the heat generated in the compression process.

This paper presents a concept of mechanical design, for a slow-speed kinetic energy storage device. It is an attempt to present the problem of using the device to cooperate with small-scale household RES. Calculations allowing for selection of rotating mass along with determination of effective revolutions of the rotating mass are presented. The 3D model gives an overview of the main structural nodes of the device in the mechanical part. Due to large axial load resulting from the mass of the rotor and other components and subassemblies, a simple FEM simulation of the structure base was performed. Preliminary calculations of the magnetic bearing, acting as an axial bearing, were also carried out.

Laboratory and industrial studies have established the total impact of environmentally hazardous substances, taking into account the distance from the source of emissions and the specific consumption of explosives. With the help of physicochemical analysis and biological testing, the dependence of the change in the conditional indicator of damage to bioindicators with an increase in the distance from the source of emission and the specific annual consumption of explosives was revealed. A methodology for calculating the environmental assessment of the state of atmospheric air around the mine ventilation shaft has been developed. The exponential dependence of the influence of surface concentrations of environmentally hazardous substances on the damage of bioindicators at the cellular and organismic levels has been established, which makes it possible to assess the state of atmospheric air at industrial sites of iron ore mines. The proposed technology of sand drilling, which involves the use of emulsion explosives in mining ore deposits in chamber development systems will reduce emissions of environmentally hazardous substances into the atmosphere and increase the level of environmental safety of iron ore mines.

An expert assessment of the existing means of keeping roof rocks in the area of work of people and machines was carried out. On the basis of computer modeling of the processes of interaction of rocks of mine workings with arched design options, variants of the design of the roof and their elements for temporary fastenings support are proposed. The parameters of the four sectional support are presented. Temporary arched support was used in the area of operation of the roadheader, which helps to reduce a number of technological operations and the use of manual labor and to increase the safety of service personnel. The results of research aimed at the design improvement of the machine are described. The obtained parameters are checked by calculations and design solutions. The results can be applied in the passage of subway tunnels and other similar workings, in the construction of tunnels of roads and railways. The design of the device has the ability to adjust in height depending on the condition of the roof of the workings.

Any newly created area includes human-created habitats such as the mineral material of post-coal mining spoil heaps undergoing natural colonization and ecosystem development during the succession processes of vegetation colonization. The study of the factors that influence the succession dynamics, and the mechanisms behind this, have a long history (including the species-area relationship or Arrhenius equation). Nevertheless, the list of scientific questions is increasing. One of the significant issues in the study of these processes is the relationship between factors influencing the Biodiversity–Ecosystem Functioning (BEF) relationships. The main prerequisite is the relationships between the plant species' assemblage mechanisms including diversity and the variety of assembly rules concerning the environmental abiotic habitat processes and these properties are not straightforward. At the large scale, parameters such as age and area of the colonized sites are considered to be important. These relationships are more complicated in newly established post-mineral excavation habitats where novel ecosystems are developing. Regardless of the degree of disturbances, vegetation re-establishes in such environments, as a result of spontaneous succession, by the colonization and establishment of the best-adapted organisms. In the habitats of post-coal mining spoil heaps with pure oligotrophic mineral conditions, the non-analogous, newly formed composition of flora, fauna, and saprophytes has been stated in many previous field studies. This study aimed to explore the biodiversity versus area size relationships, in particular, it investigated the species composition and diversity found in the development of the spontaneous vegetation formed during primary succession on mineral substrate habitats of post-coal mining spoil heaps of different area sizes. We tested the hypothesis: species diversity of the vegetation patches on coal mine spoil heaps becomes more diverse on larger sites over time. These results indicate that the area size of the spoil heap significantly affects the diversity of the vegetation. Regardless of which of the characteristics of the vegetation type (dominant species) is compared, the vegetation on the heaps differs depending on its area size.