scholarly journals Assessment of Sustainability of Bio Treated Lignocellulose-Based Oleogels

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 267
Author(s):  
Carmen Fajardo ◽  
Alba Blánquez ◽  
Gabriela Domínguez ◽  
Antonio M. Borrero-López ◽  
Concepción Valencia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Agricultural Residues ◽  
Molecular Techniques ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Renewable Raw Materials ◽  
Sequencing Technologies ◽  
Phylogenetic Composition ◽  
Eukaryotic Organisms

The development of biological strategies to obtain new high-added value biopolymers from lignocellulosic biomass is a current challenge for scientific community. This study evaluates the biodegradability and ecotoxicity of new formulated oleogels obtained from fermented agricultural residues with Streptomyces, previously reported to show improved rheological and tribological characteristics compared to commercial mineral lubricants. Both new oleogels exhibited higher biodegradation rates than the commercial grease. Classical ecotoxicological bioassays using eukaryotic organisms (Lactuca sativa, Caenorhabditis elegans) showed that the toxic impact of the produced bio-lubricants was almost negligible and comparable to the commercial grease for the target organisms. In addition, high throughput molecular techniques using emerging next-generation DNA-sequencing technologies (NGS) were applied to study the structural changes of lubricant-exposed microbial populations of a standard soil. Results obtained showed that disposal of biomass-based lubricants in the soil environment did not substantially modify the structure and phylogenetic composition of the microbiome. These findings point out the feasibility and sustainability, in terms of biodegradability and eco-safety, of the new bio-lubricants in comparison with commercial mineral greases. This technology entails a promising biological strategy to replace fossil and non-renewable raw materials as well as to obtain useful biopolymers from agricultural residues with potential for large-scale applications.

scholarly journals Decision Support System to Implement Units of Alternative Biowaste Treatment for Producing Bioenergy and Boosting Local Bioeconomy

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 2306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Vlachokostas ◽  
Charisios Achillas ◽  
Ioannis Agnantiaris ◽  
Alexandra V. Michailidou ◽  
Christos Pallas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Optimal Location ◽  
Agricultural Residues ◽  
Local Acceptance ◽  
Biowaste Treatment

Lately, the model of circular economy has gained worldwide interest. Within its concept, waste is viewed as a beneficial resource that needs to be re-introduced in the supply chains, which also requires the use of raw materials, energy, and water to be minimized. Undeniably, a strong link exists between the bioeconomy, circular economy, bioproducts, and bioenergy. In this light, in order to promote a circular economy, a range of alternative options and technologies for biowaste exploitation are currently available. In this paper, we propose a generic methodological scheme for the development of small, medium, or large-scale units of alternative biowaste treatment, with an emphasis on the production of bioenergy and other bioproducts. With the use of multi-criteria decision analysis, the model simultaneously considers environmental, economic, and social criteria to support robust decision-making. In order to validate the methodology, the latter was demonstrated in a real-world case study for the development of a facility in the region of Serres, Greece. Based on the proposed methodological scheme, the optimal location of the facility was selected, based on its excellent assessment in criteria related to environmental performance, financial considerations, and local acceptance. Moreover, anaerobic digestion of agricultural residues, together with farming and livestock wastes, was recommended in order to produce bioenergy and bioproducts.

scholarly journals DNA barcoding and metabarcoding of standardized samples reveal patterns of marine benthic diversity

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (7) ◽  
pp. 2076-2081 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthieu Leray ◽  
Nancy Knowlton
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Size Fraction ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Oyster Reefs ◽  
Ecological Studies ◽  
Marine Life ◽  
Operational Taxonomic Units ◽  
Sequencing Technologies ◽  
Ground Truthing ◽  
Eukaryotic Organisms

Documenting the diversity of marine life is challenging because many species are cryptic, small, and rare, and belong to poorly known groups. New sequencing technologies, especially when combined with standardized sampling, promise to make comprehensive biodiversity assessments and monitoring feasible on a large scale. We used this approach to characterize patterns of diversity on oyster reefs across a range of geographic scales comprising a temperate location [Virginia (VA)] and a subtropical location [Florida (FL)]. Eukaryotic organisms that colonized multilayered settlement surfaces (autonomous reef monitoring structures) over a 6-mo period were identified by cytochrome c oxidase subunit I barcoding (>2-mm mobile organisms) and metabarcoding (sessile and smaller mobile organisms). In a total area of ∼15.64 m2 and volume of ∼0.09 m3, 2,179 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were recorded from 983,056 sequences. However, only 10.9% could be matched to reference barcodes in public databases, with only 8.2% matching barcodes with both genus and species names. Taxonomic coverage was broad, particularly for animals (22 phyla recorded), but 35.6% of OTUs detected via metabarcoding could not be confidently assigned to a taxonomic group. The smallest size fraction (500 to 106 μm) was the most diverse (more than two-thirds of OTUs). There was little taxonomic overlap between VA and FL, and samples separated by ∼2 m were significantly more similar than samples separated by ∼100 m. Ground-truthing with independent assessments of taxonomic composition indicated that both presence–absence information and relative abundance information are captured by metabarcoding data, suggesting considerable potential for ecological studies and environmental monitoring.

scholarly journals Nut Shells as Adsorbents of Pollutants: Research and Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria I. Papadaki ◽  
Didilia Ileana Mendoza-Castillo ◽  
Hilda Elizabeth Reynel-Avila ◽  
Adrian Bonilla-Petriciolet ◽  
Stavros Georgopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Natural Waters ◽  
Activated Carbons ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Gas Generation ◽  
Cashew Nut ◽  
Bio Oil ◽  
Acid Blue

Shells, kernels, and other wastes have been investigated by researchers as potential adsorbents for a number of pollutants like methylene blue (MB), Remazol Rot RB, acid blue 80, acid blue 324, or as raw materials for the production of activated carbons and biochars to serve the same objective. Activated carbons formed by such wastes have been found to remove different heavy metals like uranium, arsenic, and cadmium while their biochars removed others like lead and copper. Furthermore, the production of these adsorbents can be combined with additional ways of valorization of this type of waste like bio-oil or bio-gas generation or even added-value materials extraction. In this work, conducted research on the ability of pistachio, pecan, cashew nut, and castor seed shells to selectively adsorb and thus remove pollutants from synthetic wastewaters is being shown. This type of research needs to be expanded in order to incorporate competitive adsorption, adsorbents regeneration, and recovery of adsorbates and to evaluate their performance with real wastewaters, before they find their way to large scale applications for the removal of the respective compounds from natural waters and wastewaters. An appropriate life cycle assessment is also necessary for the evaluation of the environmental benefits arising from their use.

scholarly journals Sustainable Development of the Labor Market in the European North of the Russian Federation

2021 ◽  
Vol 244 ◽  
pp. 11058
Author(s):  
Lyudmila Pushkareva ◽  
Mikhail Pushkarev
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
European North ◽  
World Markets ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Mining Complex

The economy of the European North of the Russian Federation is predominantly based on the use of natural resources. The mining complex remains the leading one in its structure. Its specialization focused on the production of raw materials and the export of products with low added value increases the dependence of the socio-economic situation on the conditions in world commodity and raw materials markets. The economies of the regions under consideration have some common features: the economies are export-oriented. Consequently, the economy depends on world prices for relevant products, conditions in world markets, and a number of political factors. The work revealed a change in the amount of labor force in recent years, assessed structural changes in the economy that affect the dynamics of employment and the level of qualifications. The quality of life of the population in the regions of the European North of Russia is also assessed in this paper.

scholarly journals Diversification as a strategic direction for sustainable development of enterprises in the agricultural sector of the economy

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (99) ◽  
pp. 326-336
Author(s):  
S. Sokolyuk ◽  
◽  
M. Koroteev ◽  
O. Zharun ◽  
O. Tupchiy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Environmental Safety ◽  
Financial Economic ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Industrial Processing ◽  
Agricultural Enterprises ◽  
Rational Combination

The diversification of the activities of agricultural enterprises is considered as a process of mastering the production of new or expanding the range of traditional types of products, which makes it possible to more fully realize the existing natural, biological, resource, production potential and helps to strengthen financial, economic and environmental safety, increases the competitiveness and efficiency of economic entities. Today, the need to diversify the activities of domestic agricultural enterprises is determined by a set of prerequisites, both general economic and specific. In modern realities, the overwhelming majority of farmers are focused on the production of the most liquid and least capital- and labor-intensive types of products with a short payback period. The economic results of agricultural enterprises in most cases directly depend on the efficiency of production of grain and oilseeds. Narrow specialization, and sometimes practically monoculture, increases the threats of agrobiological, ecological, and economic nature Diversification of their activities allows minimizing the risks of agricultural enterprises from unfavorable phenomena of agrotechnical and weather-climatic nature and unforeseen changes in market conditions. Optimization of the sectoral structure on the basis of a rational combination of the main, additional, and subsidiary industries ensures more efficient use of land and means of production, leads to the leveling of seasonality, and creates conditions for an enterprise to receive a guaranteed stable income. The priority for the diversification of large-scale agricultural production is its investment and innovative development with a rational combination of crop and livestock industries, the revival of the traditional for Ukraine industries of beet growing, vegetable growing, horticulture, cattle breeding, pig breeding, sheep breeding. Diversification of the activities of small and medium-sized producers provides for an orientation towards the production of products with a high level of labor intensity, environmentally friendly organic products, niche agriculture, the production of non-traditional agricultural products, green, agritourism, etc. The need to change the raw material nature of the agricultural sector of the Ukrainian economy determines the need to increase the industrial processing of agricultural raw materials. This will not only make it possible to obtain greater added value, but will also ensure the creation of additional jobs, will contribute to the growth of incomes of the population, and an increase in the revenues of budgets of all levels. The development of diversification processes guarantees a stable income and an increase in the profitability of agricultural producers and will also contribute to the implementation of national priorities for ensuring the country's food security, increasing employment, and solving social and material problems of peasants.

scholarly journals Biorefineries: Relocating Biomass Refineries to the Rural Area

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franka Papendiek ◽  
Hans-Peter Ende ◽  
Uta Steinhardt ◽  
Huber Wiggering
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Renewable Raw Materials ◽  
Platform Chemicals ◽  
Food And Feeding ◽  
To Come ◽  
Assessment Procedures ◽  
On Farm

The field for application of biomass is rising. The demand for food and feeding stuff rises while at the same time energy, chemicals and other materials also need to be produced from biomass because of decreasing fossil resources. However, the biorefinery ideas and concepts can help to use the limited renewable raw materials more efficiently than today. With biorefineries, valuable products, such as platform chemicals, can be produced from agricultural feedstock, which can subsequently be further processed into a variety of substances by the chemical industry. Due to the role they play as producers of biomass, rural areas will grow in importance in the decades to come. Parts of the biorefinery process can be relocated to the rural areas to bring a high added value to these regions. By refining biomass at the place of production, new economic opportunities may arise for agriculturists, and the industry gets high-grade pre-products. Additionally, an on-farm refining can increase the quality of the products because of the instant processing. To reduce competition with the food production and to find new possibilities of utilisation for these habitats, the focus for new agricultural biomass should be on grasslands. But also croplands can provide more renewable raw materials without endangering a sustainable agriculture, e.g. by implementing legumes in the crop rotation. To decide if a region can provide adequate amounts of raw material for a biorefinery, new raw material assessment procedures have to be developed. In doing so, involvement of farmers is inevitable to generate a reliable study of the biomass refinery potentials.

scholarly journals Thermogravimetric analysis for characterization of the pellets produced with different forest and agricultural residues

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha Andreia Brand ◽  
Ricardo Ritter de Souza Barnasky ◽  
Carolina Alves Carvalho ◽  
Rodrigo Buss ◽  
Deyvis Borges Waltrick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Thermogravimetric Analysis ◽  
Thermal Degradation ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Combustion Process ◽  
Agricultural Residues ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Pinus Spp ◽  
Agricultural Materials

ABSTRACT: The pelleting of forest and agricultural materials, mainly because many residues from both industries can be used in this process, has been an alternative in obtaining added value products to energy generation. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the energy quality of the pellets produced from forest and agricultural residues as raw materials and to verify the utility of the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the differential thermogravimetric analysis (DTG) in characterizing the behavior of the pellets during the combustion process. Four residues were used: (1) Pinus spp. woodchips, (2) apple pruning residues, (3) aciculated dry branches of Araucaria angustifolia and (4) A. angustifolia empty-seeds. Chemical composition of the raw materials was determined and the physical and energetic properties of the pellets were analysed. Plus, the proximate analysis of the pellets was carried out. The samples were submitted to TGA with a heating rate of 20ºC min-1 from room temperature to 1000ºC, in a N2 atmosphere. The variation of chemical composition of each residue was determinant in the characterization of each stage of the thermal degradation. Stages and events of the degradation were closely linked to the chemical and energetic nature of the samples. Use of TGA to characterize the thermal degradation of the pellets produced with different forest and agricultural residues was demonstrated as an efficient technique to quantify and qualify the events that occurred in each stage of the combustion of these biofuels.

scholarly journals The Evolving Role of Next-Generation Sequencing in Screening and Diagnosis of Hemoglobinopathies

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahlem Achour ◽  
Tamara T. Koopmann ◽  
Frank Baas ◽  
Cornelis L. Harteveld
Keyword(s):  
Next Generation Sequencing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Genetic Diseases ◽  
Molecular Techniques ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Monogenic Disease ◽  
Clinical Genetics ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Generation Sequencing

During the last few years, next-generation sequencing (NGS) has undergone a rapid transition from a research setting to a clinical application, becoming the method of choice in many clinical genetics laboratories for the detection of disease-causing variants in a variety of genetic diseases involving multiple genes. The hemoglobinopathies are the most frequently found Mendelian inherited monogenic disease worldwide and are composed of a complex group of disorders frequently involving the inheritance of more than one abnormal gene. This review aims to present the role of NGS in both screening and pre- and post-natal diagnostics of the hemoglobinopathies, and the added value of NGS is discussed based on the results described in the literature. Overall, NGS has an added value in large-scale high throughput carrier screening and in the complex cases for which common molecular techniques have some inadequacies. It is proven that the majority of thalassemia cases and Hb variants can be diagnosed using routine analysis involving a combined approach of hematology, hemoglobin separation, and classical DNA methods; however, we conclude that NGS can be a useful addition to the existing methods in the diagnosis of these disorders.

China’s aluminium sector and prospects of global aluminium industry

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-11
Author(s):  
S. I. Korneev
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
International Markets ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Alumina Production ◽  
Aluminium Industry ◽  
Primary Aluminium

Using statistical data, this paper analyzes the evolution, current status and prospects of China’s aluminium industry: sufficiency of raw materials, bauxite mining, alumina production, capacity utilization, primary aluminium output, technological development. The analysis confirms that China will maintain its leading position at the global aluminium market in the long term. Thus, China will remain the world’s biggest importer of bauxites and alumina, the leading producer of alumina and primary aluminium, a big exporter of semi-finished products and aluminium compounds with a high added value. The growth of the country’s aluminium sector is a typical example of China’s global economic dominance policy — i. e. imports of raw materials, rising production and exports of final products, which are sweeping the national and international markets thanks to breakthrough technology and competitive prices. Being the key player at the global market for non-ferrous metals (primarily, aluminium), China, on one hand, generates an initial demand for them by using them in manufacturing and, on the other hand, the country is interested in low and stable prices. The main advantages of China’s aluminium industry include its large scale, low energy consumption, the capacity of the steadily growing internal market, available production facilities with a low wear level, a developed transport infrastructure and port facilities, an aggressive merge policy exercised at both the national and international markets, the government’s flexible currency policy, quick decision making, a high economic mobilization discipline. In the long run, only primary aluminium producers of comparable size and technology status (both the existing and the projected ones) will be able to survive the competition with their Chinese peers.

scholarly journals Peranan, Peluang dan Kendala Pengembangan Agroindustri di Indonesia

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
NFN Supriyati ◽  
Erma Suryani
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Partnership Development ◽  
Processed Products ◽  
Simple Technology ◽  
Home Industries

<strong>English</strong><br />This article aimed to assessing the dynamics of the role of agroindustry, as well as assessing the threat and opportunity of the agroindustry development in Indonesia. Agroindustry was developed since mid of 1970’s. In the period of 1985-2000, the share of agroindustry in GDP increased from 3.7 percent to 12.73 percent. In the meantime, the role of agroindustry in labor absorption increased within the range of 0.2 percent to 8.53 percent. The increase in added value was not followed by the increase in labor absorption. Added value mostly came from large-scale industries which was relatively stagnant in the period of 1974-2003. About 90 percent the total home industries could only create around 6 percent of added value. This fact shows a huge gap between large-scale and small-scale/home industries. Opportunity to develop agroindustry is remain open, taking into account the availability of the raw materials and the increasing demand of the processed products. Agroindustry has a significant backward and forward linkages compared to the other sectors. The agroindustry development constraints, among others, are: (1) Assurance of quality and continuity of agricultural products; (2) Relatively poor human resources capacity; (3) Simple technology instead of modern technology used by most of the producers; and (4) Lack in partnership development among the large/medium-scale agroindustries and small-scale/home agroindustries.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Indonesian</strong><br />Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk menelaah dinamika peranan agroindustri, serta  kendala dan peluang pengembangannya di Indonesia. Agroindustri mulai dikembangkan sejak pertengahan tahun 1970an.  Dalam periode 1985-2000, peranan agroindustri dalam penciptaan PDB meningkat dari 3,7 persen menjadi 12,73 persen. Sementara itu, peranan agroindustri dalam penyerapan tenaga kerja meningkat dari 0,2 persen pada tahun 1985 menjadi 8,53 persen. Namun demikian, peningkatan peranan dalam penciptaan nilai tambah tidak diikuti oleh peningkatan penyerapan tenaga kerja. Peranan dalam penciptaan nilai tambah, sebagian besar berasal dari industri skala besar, dan tidak terjadi pergeseran yang signifikan dalam periode tahun 1974-2003. Sementara itu, industri rumah tangga yang jumlahnya sekitar 90 persen hanya mampu menciptakan nilai tambah sekitar 6 persen. Hal ini menunjukkan adanya ketimpangan yang sangat besar antara industri skala besar dan skala rumah tangga. Peluang pengembangan agroindustri masih terbuka, baik ditinjau dari ketersediaan bahan baku maupun dari sisi permintaan produk olahan. Disamping itu, agroindustri mempunyai keterkaitan ke belakang dan ke depan yang kuat dengan sektor lainnya. Kendala-kendala dalam pengembangan agroindustri, antara lain: (1) kualitas dan kontinyuitas produk pertanian kurang terjamin; (2) kemampuan SDM masih terbatas; (3) teknologi yang digunakan sebagian besar masih bersifat sederhana, sehingga menghasilkan produk yang berkualitas rendah; dan (4) belum berkembang secara luas kemitraan antara agroindustri skala besar/sedang dengan agroindustri skala kecil/rumah tangga.

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