scholarly journals Comparison of Greenhouse Energy Requirements for Rose Cultivation in Europe and North Africa

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Cola ◽  
Luigi Mariani ◽  
Stefania Toscano ◽  
Daniela Romano ◽  
Antonio Ferrante

The ornamental plant production in greenhouses is widespread. A quantitative assessment of greenhouse energy consumption and its variability in space and time is strategic to improve the sustainability of the cultivation. The specific environmental features of the cultivation areas can strongly affect the sustainability of the production. A dynamic simulation model of greenhouse energy balance with an hourly time step was developed and parameterized for a state-of-the-art greenhouse to evaluate the heating requirements for cut-flower roses. This ornamental crop has been used as model species for its high energy requirement for flower production. The energy demand for rose production has been analyzed with an energy balance model with an hourly time step. After a preliminary analysis on the period 1973–2019, the final analysis was carried out on the 30-year period (1990–2019), representative of the current climate. Results show a gradient southwest–northeast of energy needs with relevant effects on economic and environmental sustainability. More specifically, four large sub-areas are identified, namely the central-southern Mediterranean (yearly requirements below 600 MJ m−2 year), the northern Mediterranean, and the area influenced by the mitigating effect of the Atlantic Ocean (600–1200), the central-European area (requirements of 1200–1800), and the Northern European area (above 1800).

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 793-817
Author(s):  
M. A. Bashir ◽  
T. Hata ◽  
A. W. Abdelhadi ◽  
H. Tanakamaru ◽  
A. Tada

Abstract. The availability of the actual water use from agricultural crops is considered as the key factor for irrigation water management, water resources planning, and water allocation. Traditionally, evapotranspiration (ET) has been estimated in the Gezira scheme by multiplying the reference evapotranspiration (ETo) by crop coefficient (kc) which is derived from the phenomenological crop stages. Recently, advanced developed energy balance models assist to estimate ET through remotely sensed data. In this study Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images were used to estimate spatial distribution of daily, monthly and seasonal ET for irrigated sorghum in the Gezira scheme, Sudan. The daily ET maps were also used to estimate kc over time and space. Results of remotely sensed based energy balance were compared with actual measurements conducted during 2004/05 season. The daily actual ET values estimated using the energy balance model during the satellite acquisition dates (28 July, 29 August, 16 October and 17 November) were 4.7, 5.5, 7.1 and 2.7 mm/day, while the average seasonal evapotranspiration for irrigated sorghum estimated to be around 596 mm. The remotely estimated kc values in the initial, crop development, mid-season and late-season stages were 0.62, 0.85, 1.15, and 0.48 respectively. On the other hand the widely used tradition kc values during the pervious mention stages are 0.55, 0.94, 1.21 and 0.65, respectively. This research shows that remotely sensed measurements can help objectively analyzed the irrigation water requirement for different field crops on daily and seasonal time step. Moreover, the remotely sensed real-time data availability provides the system managers with information that not previously available.


Author(s):  
X. Chen ◽  
Z. Su ◽  
Y. Ma

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> A global monthly evapotranspiration (ET) product without spatial-temporal gaps for 2000&amp;ndash;2017 is delivered by using an energy balance (EB) algorithm and MODIS satellite data. It provides us with a moderate resolution estimate of ET without spatial-temporal gaps on a global scale. The model is driven by monthly remote sensing land surface temperature and ERA-Interim meteorological data. A global turbulent exchange parameterization scheme was developed for global momentum and heat roughness length calculation with remote sensing information. The global roughness length was used in the energy balance model, which uses monthly land-air temperature gradient to estimate the turbulent sensible heat, and take the latent heat flux as a residual of the available energy. This study produced an ET product for global landmass, at a monthly time step and 0.05-degree spatial resolution. The performance of ET data has been evaluated in comparison to hundreds flux sites measurements representing a broad range of land covers and climates. The ET product has a mean bias of 3.3&amp;thinsp;mm/month, RMSE value of 36.9&amp;thinsp;mm/month. The monthly ET product can be used to study the global energy and hydrological cycles at either seasonal or inter-annual temporal resolution.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 97 ◽  
pp. 01042
Author(s):  
Anna Lis

The WHO report shows that air in the majority of cities in the world is polluted to a large extent. Air pollution is one of the basic environmental causes of premature deaths in the world. The main source of air pollution in cities is the low emission associated with fuel combustion to generate heat for buildings heating, communication and industry. The existing buildings in Poland are characterized by high energy and, consequently, ecological potential. The aim is to estimate predicted energetic and ecological effects of activities that adapt existing residential buildings to the requirements for the thermal protection of buildings in Poland and presenting the possibility of using renewable energy sources. The energy demand for heating buildings at 60-70 kWh/(m2rok) has been adopted. The calculations show that as a result of this adjustment, the energy demand for heating in residential buildings may decrease by an average of around 67% compared to 2011. Such actions will reduce the overall emissions of air pollution from households by reducing the energy requirement for heating apartments from about 30% to about 67%, depending on the type of pollutant.


Author(s):  
A. Chhabra ◽  
V. Madhava Rao ◽  
R. R. Hermon ◽  
A. Garg ◽  
T. Nag ◽  
...  

India is predominantly an agricultural and rural country. Across the country, the villages vary in geographical location, area, human and livestock population, availability of resources, agricultural practices, livelihood patterns etc. This study presents an estimation of net energy balance resulting from primary production vis-a-vis energy consumption through various components in a "Rural Ecosystem". Seven sites located in different agroclimatic regions of India were studied. An end use energy accounting "Rural Energy Balance Model" is developed for input-output analysis of various energy flows of production, consumption, import and export through various components of crop, trees outside forest plantations, livestock, rural households, industry or trade within the village system boundary. An integrated approach using field, ancillary, GIS and high resolution IRS-P6 Resourcesat-2 LISS IV data is adopted for generation of various model inputs. The primary and secondary field data collection of various energy uses at household and village level were carried out using structured schedules and questionnaires. High resolution multi-temporal Resourcesat-2 LISS IV data (2013&ndash;14) was used for generating landuse/landcover maps and estimation of above-ground Trees Outside Forests phytomass. The model inputs were converted to energy equivalents using country-specific energy conversion factors. A comprehensive geotagged database of sampled households and available resources at each study site was also developed in ArcGIS framework. Across the study sites, the estimated net energy balance ranged from &minus;18.8 Terra Joules (TJ) in a high energy consuming Hodka village, Gujarat to 224.7 TJ in an agriculture, aquaculture and plantation intensive Kollaparru village, Andhra Pradesh. The results indicate that the net energy balance of a Rural Ecosystem is largely driven by primary production through crops and natural vegetation. This study provides a significant insight to policy relevant recommendations for Energy Sustainable Rural India.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3990
Author(s):  
Alessia Amato ◽  
Marianna Mastrovito ◽  
Alessandro Becci ◽  
Francesca Beolchini

The agriculture sector produces significant amounts of organic residues and the choice of the management strategy of these flows affects the environmental sustainability of the sector. The scientific literature is rich with innovative processes for the production of bio-based products (BBP) from agriculture residues, aimed at the implementation of circular economy principles. Based on literature data, the present paper performed a life cycle assessment and assessed the environmental sustainability of five processes for the exploitation of rice and wheat straw, tomato pomace, and orange peel. The analysis identified as significant issues the high energy demand and the use of high impact organic solvent. The comparison of BBP with conventional products showed higher environmental loads for the innovative processes that used organic residues (except for rice straw case). The obtained results do not want to discourage the circular strategy in the agriculture sector, but rather to draw the attention of all stakeholders to the environmental sustainability aspects, focusing on the necessity to decrease the electricity demand and identify ecological agents to use in BBP manufacturing, in agreement with the most recent European policies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessa Nas ◽  
Franziska Büsing ◽  
Franziska A. Hägele ◽  
Mario Hasler ◽  
Manfred J. Müller ◽  
...  

AbstractBody weight control is thought to be improved when physical activity and energy intake are both high (high energy turnover (ET)). The aim of the present study was to investigate the short-term impact of ET on fat balance during zero energy balance (EB), energetic restriction (ER) and overfeeding (OF). In a randomised crossover study, nine healthy men (BMI: 23·0 (SD 2·1) kg/m2, 26·6 (SD 3·5) years) passed 3 × 3 d in a metabolic chamber: three levels of ET (low, medium and high; physical activity level = 1·3−1·4, 1·5−1·6 and 1·7−1·8) were performed at zero EB, ER and OF (100, 75 and 125 % of individual energy requirement). Different levels of ET were obtained by walking (4 km/h) on a treadmill (0, 165 and 330 min). Twenty-four-hour macronutrient oxidation and relative macronutrient balance (oxidation relative to intake) was calculated, and NEFA, 24-h insulin and catecholamine secretion were analysed as determinants of fat oxidation. During EB and OF, 24-h fat oxidation increased with higher ET. This resulted in a higher relative fat balance at medium ET (EB: +17 %, OF: +14 %) and high ET (EB: +23 %, OF: +17 %) compared with low ET (all P < 0·05). In contrast, ER led to a stimulation of 24-h fat oxidation irrespective of ET (no differences in relative fat balance between ET levels, P > 0·05). In conclusion, under highly controlled conditions, a higher ET improved relative fat balance in young healthy men during OF and EB compared with a sedentary state.


2009 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 657-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Humberto R. Silva ◽  
Rahul Bhardwaj ◽  
Patrick E. Phelan ◽  
Jay S. Golden ◽  
Susanne Grossman-Clarke

Abstract A simple energy balance model is created for use in developing mitigation strategies for the urban heat island effect. The model is initially applied to the city of Phoenix, Arizona. There are six primary contributions to the overall energy balance: incident solar radiation, anthropogenic heat input, conduction heat loss, outgoing evapotranspiration, outgoing convection, and outgoing emitted radiation. Meteorological data are input to the model, which then computes an urban characteristic temperature at a calculated time step for a specified time range. The model temperature is shown to have the same periodic behavior as the experimentally measured air temperatures. Predicted temperature changes, caused by increasing the average urban albedo, agree within 0.1°C with comparable maximum surface temperature predictions from the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5). The present model, while maintaining valid energy-balance physics, allows users to quickly and easily predict the relative effects of urban heat island mitigation measures. Representative mitigation strategies, namely changes in average albedo and long-wavelength emissivity are presented here. Increasing the albedo leads to the greater reduction in daytime maximum temperatures; increasing the emissivity leads to a greater reduction in nighttime minimum temperatures.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lissa Ventura-Antunes ◽  
Suzana Herculano-Houzel

AbstractNeuronal densities vary enormously across sites within a brain. Does the density of the capillary bed accompany the presumably larger energy requirement of sites with more neurons, or with larger neurons, or is energy supply constrained by a mostly homogeneous capillary bed? Here we find evidence for the latter across various sites in the mouse brain and show that as a result, the ratio of capillary cells per neuron, and thus presumably blood and energy supply per neuron, decreases uniformly with increasing neuronal density and therefore smaller average neuronal size across sites. Additionally, we find that local capillary density is also not correlated with local synapse densities, although there is a small but significant correlation between lower neuronal density (and therefore larger neuronal size) and more synapses per neuron within the restricted range of 6,500-9,500 across cortical sites. Further, local variations in the glial/neuron ratio are also not correlated with local variations in number of synapses per neuron or local synaptic densities. These findings suggest that it is not that larger neurons, neurons with more synapses, or even sites with more synapses demand more energy, but simply that larger (and thus fewer) neurons have more energy available per cell, and to its synapses as a whole, than smaller (and thus more numerous) neurons due to competition for limited resources supplied by a capillary bed of fairly homogeneous density throughout the brain.Significance StatementThe brain is an expensive organ and at rest already uses nearly as much energy as during sensory activation. To ultimately determine whether the high energy cost of the brain is driven by an unusually high energy demand by neurons or constrained by capillary density in the organ, we examine whether sites in the mouse brain with more neurons, larger neurons, or more synapses have more capillary supply, and find instead that capillary density is mostly homogeneous across brain structures. We propose that neurons are constrained to using what energy is available, with little evidence for adjustments according to local demand, which explains its high risk of ischemia and vulnerability to states of compromised metabolism, including normal aging.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sepideh Mostafavi ◽  
Novin Balafkan ◽  
Ina Katrine Nitschke Pettersen ◽  
Gonzalo S. Nido ◽  
Richard Siller ◽  
...  

Post-mitotic tissues with high-energy demand rely on ATP generated by the mitochondrial respiratory chain through the process of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). There is common agreement that mitochondrial content and OXPHOS activity increase as cells exit from pluripotency state to meet the higher energy requirement of differentiated tissues such as heart. In this study, we examined the hypothesis that mitochondrial expansion during differentiation is necessary to compensate for higher energy demand in differentiated cells. We assessed mitochondrial and cellular metabolism during differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to cardiac progenitors and further to functional cardiomyocytes. Contrary to expectations, we found that mitochondrial content decreased progressively during mesoderm differentiation. Nevertheless, we found that there was increased mitochondrial activity and higher levels of ATP-linked respiration, which we suggest more than compensate for the lower mitochondrial number. Our findings support a model whereby mitochondrial maturation during cardiomyocyte differentiation depends on increased efficiency of ATP generation through OXPHOS not increased mitochondrial biogenesis. Thus, the timing of the mitochondria expansion during cardiomyocyte differentiation will have to be revisited in light of these findings.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 6056 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Masłoń ◽  
Joanna Czarnota ◽  
Aleksandra Szaja ◽  
Joanna Szulżyk-Cieplak ◽  
Grzegorz Łagód

The improvement of energy efficiency ensuring high nutrients removal is a great concern for many wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The energy balance of a WWTP can be improved through the application of highly efficient digestion or its intensification, e.g., through the introduction of the co-substrates with relatively high energy potential to the sewage sludge (SS). In the present study, the overview of the energetic aspect of the Polish WWTPs was presented. The evaluation of energy consumption at individual stages of wastewater treatment along with the possibilities of its increasing was performed. Additionally, the influence of co-digestion process implementation on the energy efficiency of a selected WWTP in Poland was investigated. The evaluation was carried out for a WWTP located in Iława. Both energetic and treatment efficiency were analyzed. The energy balance evaluation of this WWTP was also performed. The obtained results indicated that the WWTP in Iława produced on average 2.54 GWh per year (7.63 GWh of electricity in total) as a result of the co-digestion of sewage sludge with poultry processing waste. A single cubic meter of co-substrates fed to the digesters yielded an average of 25.6 ± 4.3 Nm3 of biogas (between 18.3 and 32.2 Nm3/m3). This enabled covering the energy demand of the plant to a very high degree, ranging from 93.0% to 99.8% (98.2% on average). Importantly, in the presence of the co-substrate, the removal efficiency of organic compounds was enhanced from 64% (mono-digestion) to 69–70%.


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