Avaliação técnica e econômica da implantação de sistemas fotovoltaicos no Aeroporto Internacional de Belém

O presente trabalho apresenta uma avaliação técnica e econômica para a instalação de um sistema fotovoltaico conectado à rede (SFCR) para a eletrificação do Aeroporto Internacional Val-de-Cans, localizado na cidade de Belém – Pará - Brasil. Trata-se de da avaliação de implantação de um projeto piloto na Região Norte, onde estuda-se a implantação de um SFCR na cobertura do Terminal Aeroportuário, em uma área de aproximadamente 16.000 m². A avaliação técnica foi realizada com auxílio dos dados meteorológicos e do consumo de energia elétrica referentes ao período de 2011 a 2012, da elaboração de duas opções de projeto de SFCR, sendo a primeira proposta com 191 subsistemas utilizando módulos de silício policristalinos, totalizando uma potência nominal de 2,3 MWp (nas condições padrões) e a segunda proposta com 82 subsistemas utilizando módulos de silício amorfo, totalizando uma potência nominal de 1,04 MWp (nas condições padrões). Na avaliação técnica utilizou-se também um software para simular o desempenho dos sistemas propostos durante um ano, destacando-se a avaliação de perfis de irradiância para um dia ensolarado e outro nublado. A avaliação econômica baseou-se nos projetos elaborados, sendo decisiva na escolha do sistema fotovoltaico mais indicado para a implantação, pois a proposta 1 possui um investimento inicial de R$ 14.970.089,48, estimando-se a redução da energia consumida da concessionária pelo terminal aeroportuário em no máximo 34%, referente ao mês com maior irradiação solar, e em 24% no mês com menor irradiação solar. A proposta 1 se pagará, sem o auxílio de outras fontes contribuintes, em aproximadamente 21 anos. Já a proposta 2 possui um custo de investimento inicial de R$ 10.067.826,13, reduzindo a energia consumida da concessionária pelo terminal aeroportuário em no máximo 15% no mês de maior irradiação solar, e em 11% no mês de menor irradiação solar, contudo, essa proposta não se pagará sem o auxílio de outras fontes contribuintes. Como resultado, pretende-se demonstrar o percentual de redução do consumo de energia elétrica fornecida pela concessionária, além de divulgar esta alternativa energética promissora e contribuir para a preservação do meio ambiente.

Análise termoeconômica da produção de biodiesel: aspectos técnicos, econômicos e ecológicos

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Chitosan/tripolyphosphate nanoparticles loaded with paraquat herbicide: An environmentally safer alternative for weed control

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Sound absorption coefficient in situ: An alternative for estimating soil loss factors

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Feeding, body condition and reproductive investment of Astyanax intermedius (Characiformes, Characidae) in relation to rainfall and temperature in a Brazilian Atlantic Forest stream

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Botanical extracts: alternative control for silverleaf whitefly management in tomato

Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) biotype B is one of the most limiting pests of tomato crops in the world. Tomato yield is currently dependent on the use of pesticides, which are problematic to farmers, consumers and the environment. A promising alternative to reduce the harmful effects caused by the indiscriminated use of synthetic insecticides is the use of insecticides of botanical origin. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of 3% (w/v) aqueous extracts from different structures of thirteen botanical species on the behavior of B. tabaci biotype B adults, as well as insecticidal activity of such aqueous extracts on B. tabaci eggs, nymphs, and adults infesting tomato plants. A distilled water solution was used as a negative control, and thiamethoxam insecticide (18 g/100 L of water) as a positive control. Leaf extract of Toona ciliata was observed to have the most efficient inhibitory effect in tests of extracts on whitefly behavior. Furthermore, the use of leaf extract of Toona ciliata led to the most drastic reduction in the number of adults and eggs on tomato leaflets. Leaf extract of Piper aduncum led to the greatest observed ovicidal effect (78.00% of non-hatched nymphs); however it was not effective against nymphs and adults. The leaf extracts of Trichilia pallida, Trichilia casaretti, and Toona ciliata showed the highest control indexes (67.9, 60.3, and 55.1%, respectively). For adults mortality, T. pallida was the most effective (72.8%). Our results indicate that application of extracts of T. pallida, T. ciliata, and T. casaretti are promising strategies to manage B. tabaci biotype B on tomato.

Total sugars in atmospheric aerosols: an alternative tracer for biomass burning

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Male dimorphism of a neotropical arachnid: harem size, sneaker opportunities, and gonadal investment

Serracutisoma proximum is a harvestman with alternative male morphs. Large males use sexually dimorphic second legs in fights for the possession of territories on the vegetation, where females oviposit. Small males have short second legs and do not fight but rather sneak into the territories and copulate with egg-guarding females. We investigated the presence of male dimorphism across 10 populations of S. proximum, compared gonadal investment between male morphs, and assessed if the distribution of the sneakers is influenced by harem size. In all populations, there was male dimorphism, indicated by the bimodal distribution of the leg II length/body length. Gonadal investment did not differ between morphs and was not affected by male size, second leg length, and morph relative frequency in the populations. We found 361 territories, 90.0% containing 1 male, 9.7% containing 2 males (dyads), and 0.3% containing 3 males. The probability of encountering dyads increased with the number of females present in the territories. Moreover, the proportion of sneakers in territories containing dyads was higher than would be expected by chance. One possible reason for the ubiquity of alternative morphs in S. proximum could be the high mating opportunities experienced by sneakers in spatially structured populations with a resource defense polygyny system. Additionally, the high frequency of successful invasions by sneakers and hence the high sperm competition risk for both morphs may explain the similarity in gonadal investment between male morphs.

Sustainable inorganic Binders and Their Applications in Building Engineering: A Green Alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement

In the last decades, the building materials and construction industry has been contributing to a great extent to generate a high impact on our environment. As it has been considered one of the key areas in which to operate to significantly reduce our footprint on environment, there has been widespread belief that particular attention now has to be paid and specific measures have to be taken to limit the use of non-renewable resources.The aim of this thesis is therefore to study and evaluate sustainable alternatives to commonly used building materials, mainly based on ordinary Portland Cement, and find a supportable path to reduce CO2 emissions and promote the re-use of waste materials. More specifically, this research explores different solutions for replacing cementitious binders in distinct application fields, particularly where special and more restricting requirements are needed, such as restoration and conservation of architectural heritage. Emphasis was thus placed on aspects and implications more closely related to the concept of non-invasivity and environmental sustainability. A first part of the research was addressed to the study and development of sustainable inorganic matrices, based on lime putty, for the pre-impregnation and on-site binding of continuous carbon fiber fabrics for structural rehabilitation and heritage restoration. Moreover, with the aim to further limit the exploitation of non-renewable resources, the synthesis of chemically activated silico-aluminate materials, as metakaolin, ladle slag or fly ash, was thus successfully achieved. New sustainable binders were hence proposed as novel building materials, suitable to be used as primary component for construction and repair mortars, as bulk materials in high-temperature applications or as matrices for high-toughness fiber reinforced composites.

Alternative reproductive tactics, sexual selection and the effects of inbreeding in the ant Hypoponera opacior

Inbreeding can lead to a fitness reduction due to the unmasking of deleterious recessive alleles and the loss of heterosis. Therefore, most sexually reproducing organisms avoid inbreeding, often by disperal. Besides the avoidance of inbreeding, dispersal lowers intraspecific competition on a local scale and leads to a spreading of genotypes into new habitats. In social insects, winged reproductives disperse and mate during nuptial flights. Therafter, queens independently found a new colony. However, some species also produce wingless sexuals as an alternative reproductive tactic. Wingless sexuals mate within or close to their colony and queens either stay in the nest or they found a new colony by budding. During this dependent colony foundation, wingless queens are accompanied by a fraction of nestmate workers. The production of wingless reproductives therefore circumvents the risks associated with dispersal and independent colony foundation. However, the absence of dispersal can lead to inbreeding and local competition.rnIn my PhD-project, I investigated the mating biology of Hypoponera opacior, an ant that produces winged and wingless reproductives in a population in Arizona. Besides the investigation of the annual reproductive cycle, I particularly focused on the consequences of wingless reproduction. An analysis of sex ratios in wingless sexuals should reveal the relative importance of local resource competition among queens (that mainly compete for the help of workers) and local mate competition among males. Further, sexual selection was expected to act on wingless males that were previously found to mate with and mate-guard pupal queens in response to local mate competition. We studied whether males are able to adapt their mating behaviour to the current competitive situation in the nest and which traits are under selection in this mating situation. Last, we investigated the extent and effects of inbreeding. As the species appeared to produce non-dispersive males and queens quite frequently, we assumed to find no or only weak negative effects of inbreeding and potentially mechanisms that moderate inbreeding levels despite frequent nest-matings.rnWe found that winged and wingless males and queens are produced during two separate seasons of the year. Winged sexuals emerge in early summer and conduct nuptial flights in July, when climate conditions due to frequent rainfalls lower the risks of dispersal and independent colony foundation. In fall, wingless sexuals are produced that reproduce within the colonies leading to an expansion on the local scale. The absence of dispersal during this second reproductive season resulted in a local genetic population viscosity and high levels of inbreeding within the colonies. Male-biased sex ratios in fall indicated a greater importance of local resource competition among queens than local mate competition among males. Males were observed to adjust mate-guarding durations to the competitive situation (i.e. the number of competing males and pupae) in the nest, an adaptation that helps maximising their reproductive success. Further, sexual selection was found to act on the timing of emergence as well as on body size in these males, i.e. earlier emerging and larger males show a higher mating success. Genetic analyses revealed that wingless males do not actively avoid inbreeding by choosing less related queens as mating partners. Further, we detected diploid males, a male type that is produced instead of diploid females if close relatives mate. In contrast to many other Hymenopteran species, diploid males were here viable and able to sire sterile triploid offspring. They did not differ in lifespan, body size and mating success from “normal” haploid males. Hence, diploid male production in H. opacior is less costly than in other social Hymenopteran species. No evidence of inbreeding depression was found on the colony level but more inbred colonies invested more resources into the production of sexuals. This effect was more pronounced in the dispersive summer generation. The increased investment in outbreeding sexuals can be regarded as an active strategy to moderate the extent and effects of inbreeding. rnIn summary, my thesis describes an ant species that has evolved alternative reproductive tactics as an adaptation to seasonal environmental variations. Hereby, the species is able to maintain its adaptive mating system without suffering from negative effects due to the absence of dispersal flights in fall.rn

Cost-Effectiveness of Alternative Retrofit Options to Support Decision Making

How to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of repair/retrofit intervention vs. demolition/replacement and what level of shaking intensity can the chosen repairing/retrofit technique sustain are open questions affecting either the pre-earthquake prevention, the post-earthquake emergency and the reconstruction phases. The (mis)conception that the cost of retrofit interventions would increase linearly with the achieved seismic performance (%NBS) often discourages stakeholders to consider repair/retrofit options in a post-earthquake damage situation. Similarly, in a pre-earthquake phase, the minimum (by-law) level of %NBS might be targeted, leading in some cases to no-action. Furthermore, the performance measure enforcing owners to take action, the %NBS, is generally evaluated deterministically. Not directly reflecting epistemic and aleatory uncertainties, the assessment can result in misleading confidence on the expected performance. The present study aims at contributing to the delicate decision-making process of repair/retrofit vs. demolition/replacement, by developing a framework to assist stakeholders with the evaluation of the effects in terms of long-term losses and benefits of an increment in their initial investment (targeted retrofit level) and highlighting the uncertainties hidden behind a deterministic approach. For a pre-1970 case study building, different retrofit solutions are considered, targeting different levels of %NBS, and the actual probability of reaching Collapse when considering a suite of ground-motions is evaluated, providing a correlation between %NBS and Risk. Both a simplified and a probabilistic loss modelling are then undertaken to study the relationship between %NBS and expected direct and indirect losses.

Trade Law and Responsible Investment

There is broad international agreement that investment flows to the agricultural sector in developing countries need to be increased. In addition, there is broad agreement that such investments need to be responsible, and that they will only be responsible and beneficial to poor people if they contribute to the prudent development of the agricultural sector. Less studied is the link between responsible investment and trade. In this brief, the assumption is made that responsible investment flows presume a responsible trade regime, i.e. a trade regime that contributes to the prudent development of the agricultural sector in developing countries. Such a prudent, sustainable trade regime will promote investments in the agricultural sector that are responsible to the people involved and to the environment. It builds the “channel” through which investments flow. By contrast, an unsustainable trade framework will create an investment climate that promotes problematic investment practices.

CAN CHINA USE ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES INSTEAD OF COAL TO PROVIDE MORE ELECTRICITY BY 2030?

Following the rapid growth of China's economy, energy consumption, especially electricity consumption of China, has made a huge increase in the past 30 years. Since China has been using coal as the major energy source to produce electricity during these years, environmental problems have become more and more serious. The research question for this paper is: "Can China use alternative energies instead of coal to produce more electricity in 2030?" Hydro power, nuclear power, natural gas, wind power and solar power are considered as the possible and most popular alternative energies for the current situation of China. To answer the research question above, there are two things to know: How much is the total electricity consumption in China by 2030? And how much electricity can the alternative energies provide in China by 2030? For a more reliable forecast, an econometric model using the Ordinary Least Squares Method is established on this paper to predict the total electricity consumption by 2030. The predicted electricity coming from alternative energy sources by 2030 in China can be calculated from the existing literature. The research results of this paper are analyzed under a reference scenario and a max tech scenario. In the reference scenario, the combination of the alternative energies can provide 47.71% of the total electricity consumption by 2030. In the max tech scenario, it provides 57.96% of the total electricity consumption by 2030. These results are important not only because they indicate the government's long term goal is reachable, but also implies that the natural environment of China could have an inspiring future.

Paternal inheritance of growth in fish pursuing alternative reproductive tactics

In species with indeterminate growth, age-related size variation of reproductive competitors within each sex is often high. This selects for divergence in reproductive tactics of same-sex competitors, particularly in males. Where alternative tactics are fixed for life, the causality of tactic choice is often unclear. In the African cichlid Lamprologus callipterus, large nest males collect and present empty snail shells to females that use these shells for egg deposition and brood care. Small dwarf males attempt to fertilize eggs by entering shells in which females are spawning. The bourgeois nest males exceed parasitic dwarf males in size by nearly two orders of magnitude, which is likely to result from greatly diverging growth patterns. Here, we ask whether growth patterns are heritable in this species, or whether and to which extent they are determined by environmental factors. Standardized breeding experiments using unrelated offspring and maternal half-sibs revealed highly divergent growth patterns of male young sired by nest or dwarf males, whereas the growth of female offspring of both male types did not differ. As expected, food had a significant modifying effect on growth, but neither the quantity of breeding substrate in the environment nor ambient temperature affected growth. None of the environmental factors tested influenced the choice of male life histories. We conclude that in L. callipterus growth rates of bourgeois and parasitic males are paternally inherited, and that male and female growth is phenotypically plastic to only a small degree.

A virtual environment for the assessment and the rehabilitation of the visuo-constructional ability in dementia patients

This study proposes a VE that offers a reliable diagnosis of the stage of cognitive decline in dementia patients and assists the delay of this decline in terms of the visuo-constructional ability. The proposed VE, in the case of the assessment, presents a visuo-constructional completion task, which requires spatial perception, motor memory and the perception of the target object. In the case of the rehabilitation the VE uses sound as audio-feedback that, with the aid of the music perception, tends to develop an enhancement in the visuo-construction ability of the dementia patients that can be generalized even outside of the VE. The study examined 30 subjects that were normal controls (N), 30 patients suffering from memory disorders (Age-Associated Memory Impairment--AAMI) and 30 suffering from Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The results showed that there is a significant correlation between the performance in the visuo-constructional task and the dementia diagnosis. It also seems that the visuo-constructional ability of the (AD) patients can be statistically improved by the audio experience in the VE. The empirical results of this study offer an alternative diagnosis and treatment of dementia patients and could share some light in the brain sub-systems that are responsible for the visuo-constructional ability. Further studies are required in order to investigate the nature of this phenomenon more.