Estudo térmico dos resíduos gerados da destilação atmosférica das misturas diesel/biodiesel de dendê

The growing world demand for energy supplied by fossil fuels, a major contributor to the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere and causing environmental problems, has been encouraging governments and international organizations to reflect and encourage the use of alternative renewable sources. Among these new possibilities deserves attention biodiesel, fuel cleaner and easy to reproduce. The study of new technologies involving that source is necessary. From this context, the paper aims at analyzing the thermal stability by thermogravimetric analysis, of the waste generated from atmospheric distillation of mixtures with ratios of 5, 10, 15 and 20% palm biodiesel in diesel with and without addition of BHT antioxidant. It was synthesized biodiesel through palm oil, via homogeneous catalysis in the presence of KOH, with and without the use of BHT and subsequently added to the diesel common indoor type (S1800) from a gas station BR. The diesel was already added with 5% biodiesel, and thus the proportions used for these blends were subtracted from the existing ratio in diesel fuel, resulting in the following proportions palm oil biodiesel: 0% (B5), 5% (B10), 10 % (B15) and 15% (B20). From atmospheric distillation analysis, performed in mixtures with and without BHT were collected residue generated by each sample and performed a thermal study from the thermogravimetric analysis at a heating rate of 10 °C.min-1, nitrogen atmosphere and heating to 600 ° C. According to the specifications of Resolution No. 7/2008 for biodiesel, it was found that the material was synthesized in accordance with the specifications. For mixtures, it was noted that the samples were in accordance with the ANP Resolution No. 42/2009. Given the TG / DTG curves of the samples of waste mixtures with and without BHT antioxidant was able to observe that they showed a single stage of thermal decomposition attributed to decomposition of heavy hydrocarbons and esters and other heavier constituents of the waste sample weighed. The thermal behavior of residues from atmospheric distillation of mixtures of diesel / biodiesel is very important to understand how this affects the proper functioning of the engine. A large amount of waste can generate a high content of particulate material, coke formation and carbonaceous deposits in engine valves, compromising their performance

Avaliação da resistência mecânica de material leve utilizando misturas de pedaços de pneus com solo do Distrito Federal

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Tecnologia, Departamento de Engenharia Civil e Ambiental, 2016.

Corporate social responsibility reporting in the mining sector of Tanzania:(Lack of) government regulatory controls and NGO activism

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing debate on governance, accountability, transparency and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the mining sector of a developing country context. It examines the reporting practices of the two largest transnational gold-mining companies in Tanzania in order to draw attention to the role played by local government regulations and advocacy and campaigning by nationally organised non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with respect to promoting corporate social reporting practices. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes a political economy perspective to consider the serious implications of the neo-liberal ideologies of the global capitalist economy, as manifested in Tanzania’s regulatory framework and in NGO activism, for the corporate disclosure, accountability and responsibility of transnational companies (TNCs). A qualitative field case study methodology is adopted to locate the largely unfamiliar issues of CSR in the Tanzanian mining sector within a more familiar literature on social accounting. Data for the case study were obtained from interviews and from analysis of documents such as annual reports, social responsibility reports, newspapers, NGO reports and other publicly available documents. Findings – Analysis of interviews, press clips and NGO reports draws attention to social and environmental problems in the Tanzanian mining sector, which are arguably linked to the manifestation of the broader crisis of neo-liberal agendas. While these issues have serious impacts on local populations in the mining areas, they often remain invisible in mining companies’ social disclosures. Increasing evidence of social and environmental ills raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the regulatory frameworks, as well as the roles played by NGOs and other pressure groups in Tanzania. Practical implications – By empowering local NGOs through educational, capacity building, technological and other support, NGOs’ advocacy, campaigning and networking with other civil society groups can play a pivotal role in encouraging corporations, especially TNCs, to adopt more socially and environmentally responsible business practices and to adhere to international and local standards, which in turn may help to improve the lives of many poor people living in developing countries in general, and Tanzania in particular. Originality/value – This paper contributes insights from gold-mining activities in Tanzania to the existing literature on CSR in the mining sector. It also contributes to political economy theory by locating CSR reporting within the socio-political and regulatory context in which mining operations take place in Tanzania. It is argued that, for CSR reporting to be effective, robust regulations and enforcement and stronger political pressure must be put in place.

La importancia de la educación ambiental ante la problemática actual

The dominant development system with its neoliberal policies and market-centered approaches contribute to aggravate the socio-environmental problems, under the context of the globalization of the market. For that reason, the concern about the sustainable development of the environment makes highly necessary the structuring of an environmental education that forms and informs about this problem. As a result, environmental education constitutes the educational process that deals with the relation between the human being and his/her environment (natural and man-made) and with itself, as well as the effects caused by this relation. In this way, environmental education must constitute an integral process, which plays its role throughout the whole teaching and learning intertwinement. For this reason it is necessary to establish an educational process that examines the relation of any topic or human being activity, within an analysis of the importance or incidence on social life, as it is the pedagogical part and its political essence.

EVALUACIÓN DEL RIESGO ANTE INCENDIOS FORESTALES EN LA CUENCA DEL RÍO TEMPISQUE, COSTA RICA

Los incendios forestales constituyen problemas que ocasionan grandes daños ambientales sobre los ecosistemas, uno de los mayores impactos en el ambiente son los efectos sobre el cambio climático, situación que acentúa los problemas globales que atentan la vida sobre el planeta. Notoriamente, se reconoce que los incendios son un agente constante de cambios sobre los paisajes naturales y por tanto su estudio reviste importancia, ya que afectan de una manera notable la vegetación, la fauna, el suelo y aumentan el peligro de desertificación, lo que conlleva a los problemas socioeconómicos. Este artículo tiene por objetivo determinar el riesgo ante incendios forestales en la cuenca del Río Tempisque en Costa Rica, a partir de variables explicativas como la proximidad a carreteras, tipos de usos de la tierra, focos de incendios, insolación y altitud sobre el nivel de mar, modeladas con técnicas de Evaluación Multicriterio (ECM) en un Sistema de Información Geográfica (SIG).Dado que el concepto riesgo se refiere a una condición de probabilidad, en este artículo se recrea escenarios en donde podría tener lugar el fuego, los cuales se correlacionan con eventos que se han presentando en años anteriores. Se debe advertir que no se considera la variable viento como factor dispersor del fuego, ya que el objetivo es determinar lugares con condición favorable a incendio sin mediar los factores que contribuyen en su distribución.Palabras claves: incendio forestal, problema ambiental, riesgo, modelaje, sistemas de información geográfica y evaluación multicriterio.AbstractForest fires are problems that cause environmental damage to ecosystems. One of the biggest impacts is on the atmosphere and their effects on climatic change, a situation that exacerbates globalproblems perpetrated on planet life. Historically, fires are recognized as a constant agent of change Julio César Moraga Peralta Evaluación del riesgo ante incendios forestalesen la cuenca del río Tempisque, Costa Rica on the natural landscape. Therefore, fire studies are important because of the significant effect of fire on vegetation, fauna and soils and the increased danger of desertification, leading to socioeconomicproblems.This article has as its objective to determine the risk before forest fires on the Tempisque RiverBasin in Costa Rica from explanatory variables such as proximity to roads, types of land uses, fireoutbreaks, isolation and altitude above sea level, using Multicriteria Evaluation (NDE) modeling techniques in a Geographic Information System.As the term risk refers to a condition of probability, this article recreates scenarios where a fire could occur, which correlate with events that have occurred in previous years. It should be noted that the variable of wind is not considered as a fire-scattering factor since the objective of this study is to identify places with conditions already favorable to fires without a contributing factor in their distribution.Key words: forest fire, environmental problems, risk, geographical information system, multicriteria evaluation modeling, Tempisque River Basin, Costa Rica

New bio-based polymers: from synthesis to characterization

The environmental problems caused by human activity are one of the main themes of debate of the last Century. As regard plastics, the use of non-renewable sources together with the accumulation of waste in natural habitats are causing serious pollution problems. For this reason, a continuously growing interest is recorded around sustainable materials, potential candidate for the replacement of traditional recalcitrant plastics. Promising results have been obtained with biopolymers, in particular with the class of biopolyesters. Their potential biodegradability and biobased nature is particularly interesting mainly for food packaging, where the multilayer systems normally used and the contamination by organic matter create severe recycling limits. In this framework, the present research has been conducted with the aim of synthetizing, modifying and characterizing biopolymers for food packaging application. New bioplastics based on monomers derived from renewable resources were successfully synthetized by two-step melt polycondensation and chain extension reaction following the “Green chemistry” principles. Moreover, well-known biopolyesters have been modified by blending or copolymerization, both resulting effective techniques to ad hoc tune the polymer final characteristics. The materials obtained have been processed and characterized from the chemical, structural, thermal and mechanical point of view; more specific characterizations as compostability tests, surface hydrophilicity film evaluation and barrier property measurements were conducted.

Nanocomposites based on poly(caprolactone)-chitosan electrospun nanofibers and metallic oxide nanoparticles. Their potential use to adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants

Pollution of water bodies is one of the most common environmental problems today. Organic pollutants are one of the main drawbacks in this natural resource, among which the following stand out long-lived dyes, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides. This research aims at obtaining nanocomposites based on polycaprolactone-chitosan (PCL-CS) electrospun nanofibers (NFs) containing TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) for the adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants, using Rhodamine B as a model. The fabricated hybrid materials were characterized by FT-IR, TGA, DSC, SEM, TEM, tensile properties, and the contact angle of water drops. The photoactivity of the NFs was investigated using a batch-type system by following UV-Vis absorbance and fluorescence of rhodamine B (RhB). For this purpose, TiO2NPs were successfully ex-situ incorporated into the polymer matrix promoting good mechanical properties and higher hydrophilicity of the material. The results showed that CS in the NFs increased the absorption and degradation of RhB by the TiO2NPs. CS attracted the pollutant molecules to the active sites vicinity of TiO2NPs, favoring initial adsorption and degradation. In other words, a bait-hook-and-destroy effect was evidenced. It also was demonstrated that the sensitization of TiO2 by organic dyes (e.g., perylene derivative) considerably improves the photocatalytic activity under visible radiation, allowing the use of low amounts of TiO2. (≈0.05 g/1 g of fiber). Hence, the current study is expected to contribute with an environmentally friendly green alternative solution.

Risk assessment of liquid hydrogen tanks for heavy duty vehicles

The advent of the hydrogen economy has already been predicted but it does not represent a tangible reality yet. However, decarbonizing the global economy and particularly the energy sector is vital to limit global warming and reduce the incumbent environmental problems. Hydrogen is a promising zero-emission fuel that could replace traditional fossil fuels, playing a key role in the transition towards a more sustainable economy. At present, hydrogen-powered cars are already spread worldwide and the deployment of hydrogen buses seems to be the next goal in the decarbonization process of the transportation sector. In contrast with the undeniable benefits introduced by the use of this alternative fuel, given its hazardous properties, safety is a topic of high concern. The present study concerns the evaluation of the risks linked to the on board storage of hydrogen on hydrogen-powered buses in case of road accident. Currently, hydrogen can be stored on board as a high-pressure gas, as a cryogenic liquid or in cryo-compressed form. Those solutions are compared from a safety point of view. First, the final accidental scenarios that could follow the release of the fuel in case of a road crash are pointed out. Secondly, threshold values for the hazardous effects of each scenario are fixed and the corresponding damage distances are calculated thanks to the use of the software PHAST 8.4. Finally, indicators are quantified to compare the different options. Results are discussed to find out the safer solution and to evaluate whether the replacement of fossil fuels with hydrogen introduces new safety issues.

Boots on the Ground: At 40, growing Environmental Studies Program equips students to tackle real-world problems

Now 40, Colby’s Environmental Studies Program is growing exponentially, equipping students to tackle real-world problems.

Life-like forms in meteorites and the problems of environmental control on the morphology of fossil and recent protobionta / consulting editor, Bartholomew Nagy ; conference chairman, J. Joseph Lynch ; authors, E. Anders [et al.]

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Physical Health Problems and Environmental Challenges Influence Balancing Behaviour in Laying Hens

With rising public concern for animal welfare, many major food chains and restaurants are changing their policies, strictly buying their eggs from non-cage producers. However, with the additional space in these cage-free systems to perform natural behaviours and movements comes the risk of injury. We evaluated the ability to maintain balance in adult laying hens with health problems (footpad dermatitis, keel damage, poor wing feather cover; n = 15) using a series of environmental challenges and compared such abilities with those of healthy birds (n = 5). Environmental challenges consisted of visual and spatial constraints, created using a head mask, perch obstacles, and static and swaying perch states. We hypothesized that perch movement, environmental challenges, and diminished physical health would negatively impact perching performance demonstrated as balance (as measured by time spent on perch and by number of falls of the perch) and would require more exaggerated correctional movements.We measured perching stability whereby each bird underwent eight 30-second trials on a static and swaying perch: with and without disrupted vision (head mask), with and without space limitations (obstacles) and combinations thereof. Video recordings (600 Hz) and a three-axis accelerometer/gyroscope (100 Hz) were used to measure the number of jumps/falls, latencies to leave the perch, as well as magnitude and direction of both linear and rotational balance-correcting movements. Laying hens with and without physical health problems, in both challenged and unchallenged environments, managed to perch and remain off the ground. We attribute this capacity to our training of the birds. Environmental challenges and physical state had an effect on the use of accelerations and rotations to stabilize themselves on a perch. Birds with physical health problems performed a higher frequency of rotational corrections to keep the body centered over the perch, whereas, for both health categories, environmental challenges required more intense and variable movement corrections. Collectively, these results provide novel empirical support for the effectiveness of training, and highlight that overcrowding, visual constraints, and poor physical health all reduce perching performance.

Overview of the environmental control measures and problems in the food processing industries /

Mode of access: Internet.