BIOMASS SUPPLY CHAIN ANALYSIS WITH DENSIFIED WASTE

ABSTRACT The possibility to vary the energy matrix, thus reducing the dependency on fossil fuels, has amplified the acceptance of biomass as an alternative fuel. Despite being a cheap and renewable option and the fact that Brazil is a major producer of waste from agriculture and forestry activities, the use of these materials has barriers due to its low density and low energetic efficiency, which can raise the costs of its utilization. Biomass densification has drawn attention due to its advantage in comparison to in natura biomass due to its better physical and combustion characteristics. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of biomass densification in distribution and transport costs. To reach this objective, a mathematical model was used to represent decisions at a supply chain that coordinates the purchase and sale of forestry and wood waste. The model can evaluate the options to deliver biomass through the supply chain combining demand meeting and low cost. Results point to the possibility of an economy of 60% in transport cost and a reduction of 63% in the required quantity of trucks when densified waste is used. However, costs related to the densifying process lead to an increase of total supply costs of at least 37,8% in comparison to in natura waste. Summing up, the viability of biomass briquettes industry requires a cheaper densification process.

Greenhouse gas emissions from peat and biomass-derived fuels, electricity and heat — Estimation of various production chains by using LCA methodology

More discussion is required on how and which types of biomass should be used to achieve a significant reduction in the carbon load released into the atmosphere in the short term. The energy sector is one of the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters and thus its role in climate change mitigation is important. Replacing fossil fuels with biomass has been a simple way to reduce carbon emissions because the carbon bonded to biomass is considered as carbon neutral. With this in mind, this thesis has the following objectives: (1) to study the significance of the different GHG emission sources related to energy production from peat and biomass, (2) to explore opportunities to develop more climate friendly biomass energy options and (3) to discuss the importance of biogenic emissions of biomass systems. The discussion on biogenic carbon and other GHG emissions comprises four case studies of which two consider peat utilization, one forest biomass and one cultivated biomasses. Various different biomass types (peat, pine logs and forest residues, palm oil, rapeseed oil and jatropha oil) are used as examples to demonstrate the importance of biogenic carbon to life cycle GHG emissions. The biogenic carbon emissions of biomass are defined as the difference in the carbon stock between the utilization and the non-utilization scenarios of biomass. Forestry-drained peatlands were studied by using the high emission values of the peatland types in question to discuss the emission reduction potential of the peatlands. The results are presented in terms of global warming potential (GWP) values. Based on the results, the climate impact of the peat production can be reduced by selecting high-emission-level peatlands for peat production. The comparison of the two different types of forest biomass in integrated ethanol production in pulp mill shows that the type of forest biomass impacts the biogenic carbon emissions of biofuel production. The assessment of cultivated biomasses demonstrates that several selections made in the production chain significantly affect the GHG emissions of biofuels. The emissions caused by biofuel can exceed the emissions from fossil-based fuels in the short term if biomass is in part consumed in the process itself and does not end up in the final product. Including biogenic carbon and other land use carbon emissions into the carbon footprint calculations of biofuel reveals the importance of the time frame and of the efficiency of biomass carbon content utilization. As regards the climate impact of biomass energy use, the net impact on carbon stocks (in organic matter of soils and biomass), compared to the impact of the replaced energy source, is the key issue. Promoting renewable biomass regardless of biogenic GHG emissions can increase GHG emissions in the short term and also possibly in the long term.

Um modelo de avaliação de fluxos de biomassa e carbono em madeireiras de comunidades isoladas da região amazônica

A Amazônia tem imensos recursos florestais, abrigando um terço das florestas tropicais do mundo. A Amazônia brasileira compreende uma área maior que 5 milhões de km², o que corresponde a 61 % do território brasileiro. A região norte produz 72,45% da madeira em tora do Brasil, o estado do Pará contribui com 55,47% de acordo com IBMA (2007). A exploração madeireira na Amazônia é caracterizada como “garimpagem florestal”, ou seja, os exploradores entram na floresta selecionam as toras de valor comercial e a retiram. Passando-se certo tempo, eles voltam novamente a essa área e a exploram, esse processo de exploração está acontecendo em um intervalo de tempo cada vez menor. A Amazônia legal abrigava 833 serrarias circulares em 1998. Essas serrarias estavam localizadas principalmente no estuário amazônico (71%) – nos furos e tributários dos rios Amazonas, Xingu, Tocantins e Pará. Essas processadoras familiares consumiram conjuntamente 1,3 milhões de metros cúbicos de madeira em tora (5% da produção da Amazônia). Neste trabalho estimou-se o balanço de carbono em serrarias do estuário do rio Amazonas e foi desenvolvido o ciclo de vida do carbono para uma serraria no estuarino amazônico. Foi identificado que no processo produtivo da comunidade há um caminho bem definido do recurso natural (biomassa/madeira): exploração florestal, transporte de biomassa, transformação (empresas madeireiras) / processos produtivos, geração e utilização de resíduos, transporte de madeira processada, comercialização/mercado. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os recursos energéticos através do fluxo (inputs e outputs) da madeira e da energia no processo. Para isso, desenvolveu um modelo que simulou os fluxos de carbono, da madeira e a área afetada pela exploração. Neste trabalho criou-se um modelo específico onde se avaliou o fluxo de carbono para o cenário estudado; a avaliação do impacto ambiental foi alcançada, onde obteve um valor positivo, uma captura de carbono cerca de 55 tCO₂/mês, mesmo com a baixa eficiência do sistema produtivo, em torno de 36% conclui-se que o sistema atual de exploração não polui mas poderia ser melhorado a fim de alcançar uma maior eficiência do processo produtivo. Enquanto ao resíduo gerado aproximadamente 64% do volume de madeira que entra na serraria conseguira gerar aproximadamente 1240 kW de energia elétrica mensal.

Bioremediation of PAHs - Limitations and soultions

Introduction 1.1 Occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the environment Worldwide industrial and agricultural developments have released a large number of natural and synthetic hazardous compounds into the environment due to careless waste disposal, illegal waste dumping and accidental spills. As a result, there are numerous sites in the world that require cleanup of soils and groundwater. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one of the major groups of these contaminants (Da Silva et al., 2003). PAHs constitute a diverse class of organic compounds consisting of two or more aromatic rings with various structural configurations (Prabhu and Phale, 2003). Being a derivative of benzene, PAHs are thermodynamically stable. In addition, these chemicals tend to adhere to particle surfaces, such as soils, because of their low water solubility and strong hydrophobicity, and this results in greater persistence under natural conditions. This persistence coupled with their potential carcinogenicity makes PAHs problematic environmental contaminants (Cerniglia, 1992; Sutherland, 1992). PAHs are widely found in high concentrations at many industrial sites, particularly those associated with petroleum, gas production and wood preserving industries (Wilson and Jones, 1993). 1.2 Remediation technologies Conventional techniques used for the remediation of soil polluted with organic contaminants include excavation of the contaminated soil and disposal to a landfill or capping - containment - of the contaminated areas of a site. These methods have some drawbacks. The first method simply moves the contamination elsewhere and may create significant risks in the excavation, handling and transport of hazardous material. Additionally, it is very difficult and increasingly expensive to find new landfill sites for the final disposal of the material. The cap and containment method is only an interim solution since the contamination remains on site, requiring monitoring and maintenance of the isolation barriers long into the future, with all the associated costs and potential liability. A better approach than these traditional methods is to completely destroy the pollutants, if possible, or transform them into harmless substances. Some technologies that have been used are high-temperature incineration and various types of chemical decomposition (for example, base-catalyzed dechlorination, UV oxidation). However, these methods have significant disadvantages, principally their technological complexity, high cost , and the lack of public acceptance. Bioremediation, on the contrast, is a promising option for the complete removal and destruction of contaminants. 1.3 Bioremediation of PAH contaminated soil & groundwater Bioremediation is the use of living organisms, primarily microorganisms, to degrade or detoxify hazardous wastes into harmless substances such as carbon dioxide, water and cell biomass Most PAHs are biodegradable unter natural conditions (Da Silva et al., 2003; Meysami and Baheri, 2003) and bioremediation for cleanup of PAH wastes has been extensively studied at both laboratory and commercial levels- It has been implemented at a number of contaminated sites, including the cleanup of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989, the Mega Borg spill off the Texas coast in 1990 and the Burgan Oil Field, Kuwait in 1994 (Purwaningsih, 2002). Different strategies for PAH bioremediation, such as in situ , ex situ or on site bioremediation were developed in recent years. In situ bioremediation is a technique that is applied to soil and groundwater at the site without removing the contaminated soil or groundwater, based on the provision of optimum conditions for microbiological contaminant breakdown.. Ex situ bioremediation of PAHs, on the other hand, is a technique applied to soil and groundwater which has been removed from the site via excavation (soil) or pumping (water). Hazardous contaminants are converted in controlled bioreactors into harmless compounds in an efficient manner. 1.4 Bioavailability of PAH in the subsurface Frequently, PAH contamination in the environment is occurs as contaminants that are sorbed onto soilparticles rather than in phase (NAPL, non aqueous phase liquids). It is known that the biodegradation rate of most PAHs sorbed onto soil is far lower than rates measured in solution cultures of microorganisms with pure solid pollutants (Alexander and Scow, 1989; Hamaker, 1972). It is generally believed that only that fraction of PAHs dissolved in the solution can be metabolized by microorganisms in soil. The amount of contaminant that can be readily taken up and degraded by microorganisms is defined as bioavailability (Bosma et al., 1997; Maier, 2000). Two phenomena have been suggested to cause the low bioavailability of PAHs in soil (Danielsson, 2000). The first one is strong adsorption of the contaminants to the soil constituents which then leads to very slow release rates of contaminants to the aqueous phase. Sorption is often well correlated with soil organic matter content (Means, 1980) and significantly reduces biodegradation (Manilal and Alexander, 1991). The second phenomenon is slow mass transfer of pollutants, such as pore diffusion in the soil aggregates or diffusion in the organic matter in the soil. The complex set of these physical, chemical and biological processes is schematically illustrated in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 1, biodegradation processes are taking place in the soil solution while diffusion processes occur in the narrow pores in and between soil aggregates (Danielsson, 2000). Seemingly contradictory studies can be found in the literature that indicate the rate and final extent of metabolism may be either lower or higher for sorbed PAHs by soil than those for pure PAHs (Van Loosdrecht et al., 1990). These contrasting results demonstrate that the bioavailability of organic contaminants sorbed onto soil is far from being well understood. Besides bioavailability, there are several other factors influencing the rate and extent of biodegradation of PAHs in soil including microbial population characteristics, physical and chemical properties of PAHs and environmental factors (temperature, moisture, pH, degree of contamination). Figure 1: Schematic diagram showing possible rate-limiting processes during bioremediation of hydrophobic organic contaminants in a contaminated soil-water system (not to scale) (Danielsson, 2000). 1.5 Increasing the bioavailability of PAH in soil Attempts to improve the biodegradation of PAHs in soil by increasing their bioavailability include the use of surfactants , solvents or solubility enhancers.. However, introduction of synthetic surfactant may result in the addition of one more pollutant. (Wang and Brusseau, 1993).A study conducted by Mulder et al. showed that the introduction of hydropropyl-ß-cyclodextrin (HPCD), a well-known PAH solubility enhancer, significantly increased the solubilization of PAHs although it did not improve the biodegradation rate of PAHs (Mulder et al., 1998), indicating that further research is required in order to develop a feasible and efficient remediation method. Enhancing the extent of PAHs mass transfer from the soil phase to the liquid might prove an efficient and environmentally low-risk alternative way of addressing the problem of slow PAH biodegradation in soil.

Approach to the use of indicators for the assessment of the environmental level of construction products

The European construction industry is supposed to consume the 40% of the natural European resources and to generate the 40% of the European solid waste. Conscious of the great damage being suffered by the environment because of construction activity, this work tries to provide the building actors with a new tool to improve the current situation. The tool proposed is a model for the comprehensive evaluation of construction products by determining their environmental level. In this research, the environmental level of a construction product has been defined as its quality of accomplishing the construction requirements needed by causing the minimum ecological impact in its surrounding environment. This information allows building actors to choose suitable materials for building needs and also for the environment, mainly in the project stage or on the building site, contributing to improve the relationship between buildings and environment. For the assessment of the environmental level of construction products, five indicators have been identified regarding their global environmental impact through the product life cycle: CO2 emissions provoked during their production, volume and toxicity of waste generated on the building site, durability and recycling capacity after their useful life. Therefore, the less environmental impact one construction product produces, the higher environmental level performs. The model has been tested in 30 construction products that include environmental criteria in their description. The results obtained will be discussed in this article. Furthermore, this model can lay down guidelines for the selection of ecoefficient construction products and the design of new eco-competitive and eco-committed ones

The Policy Framework for the Promotion of Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in Europe: a Critical Assessment. Bruges European Economic Policy (BEEP) Briefing 19/2008

This paper reviews the current EU policy framework in view of its impact on hydrogen and fuel cell development. It screens EU energy policies, EU regulatory policies and EU spending policies. Key questions addressed are as follows: To what extent is the current policy framework conducive to hydrogen and fuel cell development? What barriers and inconsistencies can be identified? How can policies potentially promote hydrogen and fuel cells in Europe, taking into account the complex evolution of such a disruptive technology? How should the EU policy framework be reformed in view of a strengthened and more coherent approach? The paper concludes that the current EU policy framework does not hinder hydrogen development. Yet it does not constitute a strong push factor either. EU energy policies have the strongest impact on hydrogen and fuel cell development even though their potential is still underexploited. Regulatory policies have a weak but positive impact on hydrogen. EU spending policies show some inconsistencies. However, the large scale market development of hydrogen and fuel cells will require a new policy approach which comprises technology specific support as well as a supportive policy framework with a special regional dimension.

Integrated assessment of bioelectricity technology options

Power generation from biomass is a sustainable energy technology which can contribute to substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, but with greater potential for environmental, economic and social impacts than most other renewable energy technologies. It is important therefore in assessing bioenergy systems to take account of not only technical, but also environmental, economic and social parameters on a common basis. This work addresses the challenge of analysing, quantifying and comparing these factors for bioenergy power generation systems. A life-cycle approach is used to analyse the technical, environmental, economic and social impacts of entire bioelectricity systems, with a number of life-cycle indicators as outputs to facilitate cross-comparison. The results show that similar greenhouse gas savings are achieved with the wide variety of technologies and scales studied, but land-use efficiency of greenhouse gas savings and specific airborne emissions varied substantially. Also, while specific investment costs and electricity costs vary substantially from one system to another the number of jobs created per unit of electricity delivered remains roughly constant. Recorded views of stakeholders illustrate that diverging priorities exist for different stakeholder groups and this will influence appropriate choice of bioenergy systems for different applications.

Data compilation on the biological response to ocean acidification: environmental and experimental context of data sets and related literature

The exponential growth of studies on the biological response to ocean acidification over the last few decades has generated a large amount of data. To facilitate data comparison, a data compilation hosted at the data publisher PANGAEA was initiated in 2008 and is updated on a regular basis (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.149999). By January 2015, a total of 581 data sets (over 4 000 000 data points) from 539 papers had been archived. Here we present the developments of this data compilation five years since its first description by Nisumaa et al. (2010). Most of study sites from which data archived are still in the Northern Hemisphere and the number of archived data from studies from the Southern Hemisphere and polar oceans are still relatively low. Data from 60 studies that investigated the response of a mix of organisms or natural communities were all added after 2010, indicating a welcomed shift from the study of individual organisms to communities and ecosystems. The initial imbalance of considerably more data archived on calcification and primary production than on other processes has improved. There is also a clear tendency towards more data archived from multifactorial studies after 2010. For easier and more effective access to ocean acidification data, the ocean acidification community is strongly encouraged to contribute to the data archiving effort, and help develop standard vocabularies describing the variables and define best practices for archiving ocean acidification data.

Overview on bio-based building material made with plant aggregate

Global warming, energy savings, and life cycle analysis issues are factors that have contributed to the rapid expansion of plant-based materials for buildings, which can be qualified as environmental-friendly, sustainable and efficient multifunctional materials. This review presents an overview on the several possibilities developed worldwide about the use of plant aggregate to design bio-based building materials. The use of crushed vegetal aggregates such as hemp (shiv), flax, coconut shells and other plants associated to mineral binder represents the most popular solution adopted in the beginning of this revolution in building materials. Vegetal aggregates are generally highly porous with a low apparent density and a complex architecture marked by a multi-scale porosity. These geometrical characteristics result in a high capacity to absorb sounds and have hygro-thermal transfer ability. This is one of the essential characteristics which differ of vegetal concrete compared to the tradition mineral-based concretes. In addition, the high flexibility of the aggregates leads to a non-fragile elasto-plastic behavior and a high deformability under stress, lack of fracturing and marked ductility with absorbance of the strains ever after having reached the maximum mechanical strength. Due to the sensitivity to moisture, the assessment of the durability of vegetal concrete constitutes one of the next scientific challenging of bio-based building materials.

Safe lipid nanocapsule-based gel technology to target lymph nodes and combat mediastinal metastases from an orthotopic non-small-cell lung cancer model in SCID-CB17 mice

International audience

CHARACTERIZING AND IMPROVING PRODUCTION OF FERMENTABLE SUGARS AND CO-PRODUCTS FROM A FOREST PRODUCT INDUSTRY WASTEWATER STREAM

Hardboard processing wastewater was evaluated as a feedstock in a bio refinery co-located with the hardboard facility for the production of fuel grade ethanol. A thorough characterization was conducted on the wastewater and the composition changes of which during the process in the bio refinery were tracked. It was determined that the wastewater had a low solid content (1.4%), and hemicellulose was the main component in the solid, accounting for up to 70%. Acid pretreatment alone can hydrolyze the majority of the hemicellulose as well as oligomers, and over 50% of the monomer sugars generated were xylose. The percentage of lignin remained in the liquid increased after acid pretreatment. The characterization results showed that hardboard processing wastewater is a feasible feedstock for the production of ethanol. The optimum conditions to hydrolyze hemicellulose into fermentable sugars were evaluated with a two-stage experiment, which includes acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. The experimental data were fitted into second order regression models and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed. The results of the experiment showed that for this type of feedstock enzymatic hydrolysis is not that necessary. In order to reach a comparatively high total sugar concentration (over 45g/l) and low furfural concentration (less than 0.5g/l), the optimum conditions were reached when acid concentration was between 1.41 to 1.81%, and reaction time was 48 to 76 minutes. The two products produced from the bio refinery were compared with traditional products, petroleum gasoline and traditional potassium acetate, in the perspective of sustainability, with greenhouse gas (GHG) emission as an indicator. Three allocation methods, system expansion, mass allocation and market value allocation methods were employed in this assessment. It was determined that the life cycle GHG emissions of ethanol were -27.1, 20.8 and 16 g CO2 eq/MJ, respectively, in the three allocation methods, whereas that of petroleum gasoline is 90 g CO2 eq/MJ. The life cycle GHG emissions of potassium acetate in mass allocation and market value allocation method were 555.7 and 716.0 g CO2 eq/kg, whereas that of traditional potassium acetate is 1020 g CO2/kg.

Characterization and management of particular classes of waste at a regional level. case study: Marche region

There are various methods to analyse waste, which differ from each other according to the level of detail of the compositio. Waste composed by plastic and used for packaging, for example, can be classified by chemical composition of the polymer used for the specific product. At a more basal level, before dividing a waste according to the specific chemical material of which it is composed it is possible and also important to classify it according to the material category. So, if the secondary aim is to consider the particular polymer that constitutes a plastic waste, or what kind of natural polymer composes a specific waste made of wood, the first aim is to classify the product category of the material that makes up the waste, so, if it is wood made, or plastic, or glass made or metal, or organic. There are not specific instruments to make this subdivision, not specific chemical tests, but only a manual recognition of the material that makes up the product or waste. The first steps of this study is a recognition of the materials of which the waste is composed, the second is a the quantification of differentiated and unsorted waste produced in the area under study, the third is a mass balance of the portions of waste sent for recovery in order to obtain information on quantities that can be effectively recovered and ready for new life cycle as raw material; the fourth and last step is an environmental assessment that provides information on the environmental cost of the recovery process. This process scheme is applied to various specific kinds of waste from separate collection generated in a specific area with the aim to find a model analysis appliable to other portions of territory in order to improve knowledge of recovery technologies.

Neospora caninum excreted/secreted antigens trigger CC-chemokine receptor 5-dependent cell migration

Neospora caninum, the causative agent of neosporosis, is an obligate intracellular parasite considered to be a major cause of abortion in cattle throughout the world. Most studies concerning N. caninum have focused on life cycle, seroepidemiology, pathology and vaccination, while data on host-parasite interaction, such as host cell migration, mechanisms of evasion and dissemination of this parasite during the early phase of infection are still poorly understood. Here we show the ability of excreted/secreted antigens from N. caninum (NcESAs) to attract monocytic cells to the site of primary infection in both in vitro and in vivo assays. Molecules from the family of cyclophilins present on the NcESAs were shown to work as chemokine-like proteins and NcESA-induced chemoattraction involved G(i) protein signaling and participation of CC-chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5). Additionally, we demonstrate the ability of NcESAs to enhance the expression of CCR5 on monocytic cells and this increase occurred in parallel with the chemotactic activity of NcESAs by increasing cell migration. These results suggest that during the first days of infection, N. caninum produces molecules capable of inducing monocytic cell migration to the sites of infection, which will consequently enhance initial parasite invasion and proliferation. Altogether, these results help to clarify some key features involved in the process of cell migration and may reveal virulence factors and therapeutic targets to control neosporosis. (C) 2010 Australian Society for Parasitology Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Anaerobic degradation of linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) in fluidized bed reactor by microbial consortia in different support materials

Four anaerobic fluidized bed reactors filled with activated carbon (R1), expanded clay (R2), glass beads (R3) and sand (R4) were tested for anaerobic degradation of LAS. All reactors were inoculated with sludge from a UASB reactor treating swine wastewater and were fed with a synthetic substrate supplemented with approximately 20 mg l(-1) of LAS, on average. To 560 mg l(-1) COD influent, the maximum COD and LAS removal efficiencies were mean values of 97 +/- 2% and 99 +/- 2%, respectively, to all reactors demonstrating the potential applicability of this reactor configuration for treating LAS. The reactors were kept at 30 degrees C and operated with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 18 h. The use of glass beads and sand appear attractive because they favor the development of biofilms capable of supporting LAS degradation. Subsequent 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of samples from reactors R3 and R4 revealed that these reactors gave rise to broad microbial diversity, with microorganisms belonging to the phyla Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria, indicating the role of microbial consortia in degrading the surfactant LAS. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental assessment of residential buildings with an emphasis on water conservation

The construction, operation and demolition of buildings represent one of the most damaging human activities in the global environment nowadays and water use and conservation is one of the most representative environmental loads to be considered. Brazil, unlike some other countries, has not yet implemented its own body building environmental assessment. The development of an environmental assessment system requires the identification of the most important topics to be considered in each theme for each country or region, due to local environmental agenda. This article presents a summary of the main topics concerning water conservation considered in some international environmental building assessment systems and presents a proposal of topics to take into account in a Brazilian assessment system. Practical application: The civil construction industry is not only one of the biggest sectors in the economy but is also one of the greatest polluters. Along with standardisation, it is also necessary to establish measures to attract significantly higher levels in different topics related to sustainable construction. New mechanisms that allow users to recognise the difference between buildings with different sustainable performance levels need to be developed. This article will be used as a base for the development of a Brazilian system of assessment and rating for building environmental performance and sustainability in terms of water use and conservation.