scholarly journals An Assessment of the Environmental Impacts of Transgenic Triploid Populus tomentosa in Field Condition

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Guo ◽  
Nan Lu ◽  
Zijing Luo ◽  
Yuhan Sun ◽  
Shaowu Jin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Field Trial ◽  
Pollen Viability ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Populus Tomentosa ◽  
Transgenic Trees ◽  
Allelopathic Activity ◽  
Transgenic Lines ◽  
Triploid Populus Tomentosa ◽  
The Impact

Populus tomentosa grow rapidly, but are salt susceptible. To quickly and efficiently gain new poplar breeds with better salt resistance, a DREB transcription factor derived from Atriplex hortensis was transformed into triploid Populus tomentosa by our lab, which significantly improved the salt tolerance of host plants. However, environmental impacts of transgenic plants must be assessed before large-scale cultivation in China. Here, we conducted a field trial of AhDREB1 transgenic and non-transgenic triploid Populus tomentosa to assess the impact of transgenic trees on rhizospheric soil microbial communities and allelopathic activity of leaves. No significant differences in the number of soil microbes present were detected between the transgenic lines and the non-transgenic controls. The allelopathic activity of leaves from both the transgenic and non-transgenic lines varied with sampling time, but did not differ significantly between the transgenic and non-transgenic lines. These results indicate that the impact on the environment of AhDREB1 transgenic P. tomentosa did not differ significantly from that of the non-transformed controls for the variables observed in this field trial. We also investigated the persistence of AhDREB1 genes in decomposing transgenic poplar leaf on the soil under natural conditions for five months, and our data indicated that fragments of the genetically modified DNA were not detectable in the field after more than two months. We used a triphenyl tetrazolium chloride test (TTC) (or pollen germination method) and hybridization to test the pollen viability and fertility, respectively, of the transgenic and non-transgenic trees and the results showed that the pollen viability of both the transgenic and non-transgenic trees was extremely low in 2016; the receptor plant may have been sterile.

PENERAPAN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DALAM PENGELOLAAN WAKAF PRODUKTIF

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masruchin Masruchin
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Religious Activities ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Local Society ◽  
Business Units ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact ◽  
A Company ◽  
Social And Environmental Impacts

Corporate Social Responsibilityis a concept that a company has various forms of responsibility to all stakeholders including consumers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment in all aspects of the company's operations that include economic, social, and environmental aspects. Therefore CSR is closely related to "sustainable development", in which a company, in carrying out its activities must base its decisions not only on the impact on economic aspects, such as the level of profits or dividends (profits), but also must consider the social and environmental impacts that arise from that decision, both for the short term and the longer term.Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor (PMDG), in managing its Productive Waqf by establishing business units which mostly involve workers from the local society around PMDG. They are employed according to their skills. This is a form of implementing CSR in order to help advance and improve the welfare of the local society. The existence of these various business units is one of the educational facilities and as a form of CSR application which is actually intended to educate in the fields of independence, entrepreneurship, sincerity and sacrifice.PMDG involvement in social activities that are useful for the local society such as infrastructure development and village facilities, regeneration of students who are from around PMDG to be able to get higher education with funding from the PMDG, doing guidance to the local society through various religious activities, educational and economic activities is a form of PMDG responsibility to the local society environment and also to all stakeholders such as students, Ustadz, employees, so as to provide social and environmental impacts for the short term and the longer term.Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibilityandproductive waqf.

scholarly journals Assessing the Economic and Environmental Impacts of Alternative Renewable Portfolio Standards: Winners and Losers

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3319
Author(s):  
Jamal Mamkhezri ◽  
Leonard A. Malczynski ◽  
Janie M. Chermak
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
The State ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Renewable Portfolio Standard ◽  
County Level ◽  
Renewable Portfolio Standards ◽  
Energy Potential ◽  
Output Analysis ◽  
The Impact

State-mandated renewable portfolio standards affect substantial portions of the total U.S. electricity supply. Renewable portfolio standards are environmentally motivated policies, yet they have the potential to greatly impact economy. There is not an agreement in the literature on the impact of renewable portfolio standards policies on regional economies, especially on job creation. By integrating various methodologies including econometrics, geographic information system, and input–output analysis into a unique system dynamics model, this paper estimates the economic and environmental impacts of various renewable portfolio standards scenarios in the state of New Mexico, located in Southwestern U.S. The state is endowed with traditional fossil fuel resources and substantial renewable energy potential. In this work we estimated and compared the economic and environmental tradeoffs at the county level under three renewable portfolio standards: New Mexico’s original standard of 20% renewables, the recently adopted 100% renewables standard, and a reduced renewable standard of 10%. The final one would be a return to a more traditional generation profile. We found that while the 20% standard has the highest market-based economic impact on the state as a whole, it is not significantly different from other scenarios. However, when environmental impacts are included, the 100% standard yields the highest value. In addition, while the state level economic impacts across the three scenarios are not significantly different, the county-level impacts are substantial. This is especially important for a state like New Mexico, which has a high reliance on energy for economic development. A higher renewable portfolio standard appears to be an economic tool to stimulate targeted areas’ economic growth. These results have policy implications.

scholarly journals Reducing environmental impacts from garments through best practice garment use and care, using the example of a Merino wool sweater

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen G. Wiedemann ◽  
Leo Biggs ◽  
Quan V. Nguyen ◽  
Simon J. Clarke ◽  
Kirsi Laitala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Impact Category ◽  
Fashion Industry ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Multiple Users ◽  
Washing Machines ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Purpose Garment production and use generate substantial environmental impacts, and the care and use are key determinants of cradle-to-grave impacts. The present study investigated the potential to reduce environmental impacts by applying best practices for garment care combined with increased garment use. A wool sweater is used as an example because wool garments have particular attributes that favour reduced environmental impacts in the use phase. Methods A cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to compare six plausible best and worst-case practice scenarios for use and care of a wool sweater, relative to current practices. These focussed on options available to consumers to reduce impacts, including reduced washing frequency, use of more efficient washing machines, reduced use of machine clothing dryers, garment reuse by multiple users, and increasing number of garment wears before disposal. A sixth scenario combined all options. Worst practices took the worst plausible alternative for each option investigated. Impacts were reported per wear in Western Europe for climate change, fossil energy demand, water stress and freshwater consumption. Results and discussion Washing less frequently reduced impacts by between 4 and 20%, while using more efficient washing machines at capacity reduced impacts by 1 to 6%, depending on the impact category. Reduced use of machine dryer reduced impacts by < 5% across all indicators. Reusing garments by multiple users increased life span and reduced impacts by 25–28% across all indicators. Increasing wears from 109 to 400 per garment lifespan had the largest effect, decreasing impacts by 60% to 68% depending on the impact category. Best practice care, where garment use was maximised and care practices focussed on the minimum practical requirements, resulted in a ~ 75% reduction in impacts across all indicators. Unsurprisingly, worst-case scenarios increased impacts dramatically: using the garment once before disposal increased GHG impacts over 100 times. Conclusions Wool sweaters have potential for long life and low environmental impact in use, but there are substantial differences between the best, current and worst-case scenarios. Detailed information about garment care and lifespans is needed to understand and reduce environmental impacts. Opportunities exist for consumers to rapidly and dramatically reduce these impacts. The fashion industry can facilitate this through garment design and marketing that promotes and enables long wear life and minimal care.

scholarly journals Overexpression of vesicle-associated membrane protein PttVAP27-17 as a tool to improve biomass production and the overall saccharification yields in Populus trees

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhavi Latha Gandla ◽  
Niklas Mähler ◽  
Sacha Escamez ◽  
Tomas Skotare ◽  
Ogonna Obudulu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Protein ◽  
Biomass Production ◽  
Enzymatic Saccharification ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Populus Tremula ◽  
Transgenic Trees ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Glucose Yield ◽  
Transgenic Lines ◽  
Wild Type Control

Abstract Background Bioconversion of wood into bioproducts and biofuels is hindered by the recalcitrance of woody raw material to bioprocesses such as enzymatic saccharification. Targeted modification of the chemical composition of the feedstock can improve saccharification but this gain is often abrogated by concomitant reduction in tree growth. Results In this study, we report on transgenic hybrid aspen (Populus tremula × tremuloides) lines that showed potential to increase biomass production both in the greenhouse and after 5 years of growth in the field. The transgenic lines carried an overexpression construct for Populus tremula × tremuloides vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP)-associated protein PttVAP27-17 that was selected from a gene-mining program for novel regulators of wood formation. Analytical-scale enzymatic saccharification without any pretreatment revealed for all greenhouse-grown transgenic lines, compared to the wild type, a 20–44% increase in the glucose yield per dry weight after enzymatic saccharification, even though it was statistically significant only for one line. The glucose yield after enzymatic saccharification with a prior hydrothermal pretreatment step with sulfuric acid was not increased in the greenhouse-grown transgenic trees on a dry-weight basis, but increased by 26–50% when calculated on a whole biomass basis in comparison to the wild-type control. Tendencies to increased glucose yields by up to 24% were present on a whole tree biomass basis after acidic pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification also in the transgenic trees grown for 5 years on the field when compared to the wild-type control. Conclusions The results demonstrate the usefulness of gene-mining programs to identify novel genes with the potential to improve biofuel production in tree biotechnology programs. Furthermore, multi-omic analyses, including transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic analyses, performed here provide a toolbox for future studies on the function of VAP27 proteins in plants.

scholarly journals The Impact of Microclimate on the Reproductive Phenology of Female Populus tomentosa in a Micro-Scale Urban Green Space in Beijing

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3518
Author(s):  
Xiaoyi Xing ◽  
Li Dong ◽  
Cecil Konijnendijk ◽  
Peiyao Hao ◽  
Shuxin Fan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Spatial Variation ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Populus Tomentosa ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Reproductive Phenology ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Micro Scale ◽  
The Impact

The spatial variation of poplars’ reproductive phenology in Beijing’s urban area has aggravated the threat of poplar fluff (cotton-like flying seeds) to public health. This research explored the impact of microclimate conditions on the reproductive phenology of female Populus tomentosa in Taoranting Park, a micro-scale green space in Beijing (range <1 km). The observed phenophases covered flowering, fruiting, and seed dispersal, and ENVI-MET was applied to simulate the effect of the microclimate on SGS (start day of the growing season). The results showed that a significant spatial variation in poplar reproductive phenology existed at the research site. The variation was significantly affected by the microclimate factors DMT (daily mean temperature) and DMH (daily mean heat transfer coefficient), with air temperature playing a primary role. Specifically, the phenology of flowering and fruiting phenophases (BBB, BF, FF, FS) was negatively correlated with DMT (−0.983 ≤ r ≤ −0.908, p <0.01) and positively correlated with DMH (0.769 ≤ r ≤ 0.864, p < 0.05). In contrast, DSD (duration of seed dispersal) showed a positive correlation with DMT (r = 0.946, p < 0.01) and a negative correlation with DMH (r = −0.922, p < 0.01). Based on the findings, the increase in air convection with lower air temperature and decrease in microclimate variation in green space can be an effective way to shorten the seed-flying duration to tackle poplar fluff pollution in Beijing’s early spring.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of Households in Santiago, Chile: Environmental Hotspots and Policy Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2525
Author(s):  
Camila López-Eccher ◽  
Elizabeth Garrido-Ramírez ◽  
Iván Franchi-Arzola ◽  
Edmundo Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Resource Scarcity ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Freshwater Eutrophication

The aim of this study is to assess the environmental impacts of household life cycles in Santiago, Chile, by household income level. The assessment considered scenarios associated with environmental policies. The life cycle assessment was cradle-to-grave, and the functional unit considered all the materials and energy required to meet an inhabitant’s needs for one year (1 inh/year). Using SimaPro 9.1 software, the Recipe Midpoint (H) methodology was used. The impact categories selected were global warming, fine particulate matter formation, terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, freshwater ecotoxicity, mineral resource scarcity, and fossil resource scarcity. The inventory was carried out through the application of 300 household surveys and secondary information. The main environmental sources of households were determined to be food consumption, transport, and electricity. Food consumption is the main source, responsible for 33% of the environmental impacts on global warming, 69% on terrestrial acidification, and 29% on freshwater eutrophication. The second most crucial environmental hotspot is private transport, whose contribution to environmental impact increases as household income rises, while public transport impact increases in the opposite direction. In this sense, both positive and negative environmental effects can be generated by policies. Therefore, life-cycle environmental impacts, the synergy between policies, and households’ socio-economic characteristics must be considered in public policy planning and consumer decisions.

scholarly journals Environmental potential of carbon dioxide utilization in the polyurethane supply chain

2015 ◽  
Vol 183 ◽  
pp. 291-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas von der Assen ◽  
André Sternberg ◽  
Arne Kätelhön ◽  
André Bardow
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Supply Chain Optimization ◽  
Environmental Evaluation ◽  
Impact Reduction ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Utilization ◽  
Systematic Exploration ◽  
The Impact

Potential environmental benefits have been identified for the utilization of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a feedstock for polyurethanes (PUR). CO2 can be utilized in the PUR supply chain in a wide variety of ways ranging from direct CO2 utilization for polyols as a PUR precursor, to indirect CO2 utilization for basic chemicals in the PUR supply chain. In this paper, we present a systematic exploration and environmental evaluation of all direct and indirect CO2 utilization options for flexible and rigid PUR foams. The analysis is based on an LCA-based PUR supply chain optimization model using linear programming to identify PUR production with minimal environmental impacts. The direct utilization of CO2 for polyols allows for large specific impact reductions of up to 4 kg CO2-eq. and 2 kg oil-eq. per kg CO2 utilized, but the amounts of CO2 that can be utilized are limited to 0.30 kg CO2 per kg PUR. The amount of CO2 utilized can be increased to up to 1.7 kg CO2 per kg PUR by indirect CO2 utilization in the PUR supply chain. Indirect CO2 utilization requires hydrogen (H2). The environmental impacts of H2 production strongly affect the impact of indirect CO2 utilization in PUR. To achieve optimal environmental performance under the current fossil-based H2 generation, PUR production can only utilize much less CO2 than theoretically possible. Thus, utilizing as much CO2 in the PUR supply chain as possible is not always environmentally optimal. Clean H2 production is required to exploit the full CO2 utilization potential for environmental impact reduction in PUR production.

The impact of nanoscale zero-valent iron particles on soil microbial communities is soil dependent

2019 ◽  
Vol 364 ◽  
pp. 591-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
María T. Gómez-Sagasti ◽  
Lur Epelde ◽  
Mikel Anza ◽  
Julen Urra ◽  
Itziar Alkorta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Zero Valent Iron ◽  
Iron Particles ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Nanoscale Zero Valent Iron ◽  
The Impact
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