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Lignin is often the most difficult portion of plant biomass to degrade, with fungi generally thought to dominate during late stage decomposition. Lignin in feedstock plant material represents a barrier to more efficient plant biomass conversion and can also hinder enzymatic access to cellulose, which is critical for biofuels production. Tropical rain forest soils in Puerto Rico are characterized by frequent anoxic conditions and fluctuating redox, suggesting the presence of lignin-degrading organisms and mechanisms that are different from known fungal decomposers and oxygen-dependent enzyme activities. We explored microbial lignin-degraders by burying bio-traps containing lignin-amended and unamended biosep beads in the soil for 1, 4, 13 and 30 weeks. At each time point, phenol oxidase and peroxidase enzyme activity was found to be elevated in the lignin-amended versus the unamended beads, while cellulolytic enzyme activities were significantly depressed in lignin-amended beads. Quantitative PCR of bacterial communities showed more bacterial colonization in the lignin-amended compared to the unamended beads after one and four weeks, suggesting that the lignin supported increased bacterial abundance. The microbial community was analyzed by small subunit 16S ribosomal RNA genes using microarray (PhyloChip) and by high-throughput amplicon pyrosequencing based on universal primers targeting bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic communities. Community trends were significantly affected by time and the presence of lignin on the beads. Lignin-amended beads have higher relative abundances of representatives from the phyla Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria compared to unamended beads. This study suggests that in low and fluctuating redox soils, bacteria could play a role in anaerobic lignin decomposition.

Single-well experimental design for studying residual trapping of supercritical carbon dioxide Yingqi Zhang 1 , Barry Freifeld 1 , Stefan Finsterle 1 , Martin Leahy 2,3 , Jonathan Ennis-King 2,3 , Lincoln Paterson 2,3 , Tess Dance 2,3 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA,USA CSIRO Petroleum, Clayton, Victoria, Australia Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies, Australia Abstract The objective of our research is to design a single-well injection withdrawal test to evaluate residual phase trapping at potential CO 2 geological storage sites. Given the significant depths targeted for CO 2 storage and the resulting high costs associated with drilling to those depths, it is attractive to develop a single well test that can provide data to assess reservoir properties and reduce uncertainties in the appraisal phase of site investigation. The main challenges in a single-well test design include (1) difficulty in quantifying the amount of CO 2 that has dissolved into brine or migrated away from the borehole; (2) non-uniqueness and uncertainty in the estimate of the residual gas saturation (S gr ) due to correlations among various parameters; and (3)the potential biased S gr estimate due to unaccounted heterogeneity of the geological medium. To address each of these challenges, we propose (1) to use a physical-based model to simulation test sequence and inverse modeling to analyze data information content and to quantify uncertainty; (2) to jointly use multiple data types generated from different kinds of tests to constrain the S gr estimate; and (3) to reduce the sensitivity of the designed tests to geological heterogeneity by conducting the same test sequence in both a water-saturated system and a system with residual gas saturation. To perform the design calculation, we build a synthetic model and conduct a formal analysis for sensitivity and uncertain quantification. Both parametric uncertainty and geological uncertainty are considered in the analysis. Results show (1) uncertainty in the estimation of S gr can be reduced by jointly using multiple data types and repeated tests; and (2) geological uncertainty is essential and needs to be accounted for in the estimation of S gr and its uncertainty. The proposed methodology is applied to the design of a CO 2 injection test at CO2CRC’s Otway Project Site, Victoria, Australia. 1. Introduction and Objective The geologic sequestration of anthropogenic greenhouse gases to mitigate climate change is receiving increasing attention as a means to reduce atmospheric emissions and the related impacts as a result of continued use of fossil fuels. The ability of a host formation to effectively trap CO 2 determines the suitability of a proposed site for long-term CO 2 sequestration. Four trapping mechanisms have been identified (IPCC, 2005): structural trapping, residual phase trapping, solubility trapping and mineralization trapping. This study focuses on residual phase trapping, i.e., the immobilization of individual bubbles or relatively small blobs of the CO 2 -rich phase. TheCO 2 bubbles are either trapped by capillary forces or are stuck in local trapping structures or dead-end portions of the pore space, preventing further CO 2 migration in response to pressure gradients or buoyancy forces. (CO 2 saturation can be reduced below the residual value by processes other than viscous flow, e.g., by compression or dissolution.) A parameter referred to as residual gas saturation (S gr ) is used to characterize the tendency of a geologic formation to trap some of the non-wetting phase in its pore space. The residual gas saturation is a property of the interaction between the porous medium and the fluids, mostly reflecting the size and shape of its pores and their connectivity. However, residual gas saturation is not a static parameter; it depends on the sequence of hysteretic drainage and imbibition processes, i.e., it is history-dependent, with different values at each point in the storage formation as the fluid saturation changes during CO 2 injection and redistribution. Only its maximum value S grmax (associated with the primary imbibition curve) can be considered as a formation parameter independent of the dynamic system

AbstractPlanetary health provides a perspective of ecological interdependence that connects the health and vitality of individuals, communities, and Earth's natural systems. It includes the social, political, and economic ecosystems that influence both individuals and whole societies. In an era of interconnected grand challenges threatening health of all systems at all scales, planetary health provides a framework for cross‐sectoral collaboration and unified systems approaches to solutions. The field of allergy is at the forefront of these efforts. Allergic conditions are a sentinel measure of environmental impact on human health in early life—illuminating how ecological changes affect immune development and predispose to a wider range of inflammatory noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). This shows how adverse macroscale ecology in the Anthropocene penetrates to the molecular level of personal and microscale ecology, including the microbial systems at the foundations of all ecosystems. It provides the basis for more integrated efforts to address widespread environmental degradation and adverse effects of maladaptive urbanization, food systems, lifestyle behaviors, and socioeconomic disadvantage. Nature‐based solutions and efforts to improve nature‐relatedness are crucial for restoring symbiosis, balance, and mutualism in every sense, recognizing that both personal lifestyle choices and collective structural actions are needed in tandem. Ultimately, meaningful ecological approaches will depend on placing greater emphasis on psychological and cultural dimensions such as mindfulness, values, and moral wisdom to ensure a sustainable and resilient future.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) from underground mines is a major environmental problem. The disposal of coal combustion by-products (CCB) is also a major national problem due to the large volumes produced annually and the economics associated with transportation and environmentally safe disposal. The concept of returning large volumes of the CCB to their point of origin, underground mines, and using the typically alkaline and pozzolanic attributes of the waste material for the remediation of AMD has been researched rather diligently during the past few years by various federal and state agencies and universities. As the result, the State of Maryland initiated a full-scale demonstration of this concept in a small, 5-acre, unmapped underground mine located near Friendsville, MD. Through a cooperative agreement between the State of Maryland and the U.S. Department of Energy, several geophysical techniques were evaluated as potential tools for the post-injection evaluation of the underground mine site. Three non-intrusive geophysical surveys, two electromagnetic (EM) techniques and magnetometry, were conducted over the Frazee Mine, which is located on Winding Ridge near Friendsville, MD. The EM surveys were conducted to locate ground water in both mine void and overburden. The presence of magnetite, which is naturally inherent to CCB'S due to the combustion process and essentially transparent in sedimentary rock, provided the reason for using magnetometry to locate the final resting place of the CCB grout.

Globally, soil organic matter (SOM) contains more than three times as much carbon as either the atmosphere or terrestrial vegetation. Yet it remains largely unknown why some SOM persists for millennia whereas other SOM decomposes readily--and this limits our ability to predict how soils will respond to climate change. Recent analytical and experimental advances have demonstrated that molecular structure alone does not control SOM stability: in fact, environmental and biological controls predominate. Here we propose ways to include this understanding in a new generation of experiments and soil carbon models, thereby improving predictions of the SOM response to global warming.

This study was initiated after members of the Puna community brought to the attention of the Historic Preservation Office that major lava tube systems extended from the Pahoa area into at least portions of the former Puna Forest Reserve. They were concerned that planned geothermal exploration and development could damage these lava tubes which they said contained extensive evidence of past Hawaiian use including fortifications, shrines, platforms and burials. Geothermal development is currently being planned by Campbell Estate and True Geothermal Energy Company in the southern portion of the former Reserve which has been designated by the State of Hawaii as one of the three Geothermal Sub-Zones in Puna. To demonstrate these claims, two staff members of the Historic Sites Section were shown examples in a lava tube makai of the Campbell Estate boundary. After reviewing the archaeological and historical reports commissioned for geothermal exploration, it was agreed that if these lava tubes did extend inland and continued to contain archaeological sites or burials then the potential of significant sub-surface sites had not been adequately addressed in the Historic Sites Section review process. Most reports acknowledged the possibility of lava tubes in the area and that they could contain burials, but no tube systems were ever identified or explored during any of the field surveys. These surveys primarily assessed the presence or absence of cultural properties that occur on the surface or as deposits within the soil layer. With the assistance of the Division of Water Resource Management (DWRM), the Historic Sites Section agreed to conduct this survey because those community members who came forward requested that this information be handled by a neutral party. They asked that documentation occur in such a manner that it could be kept as confidential as possible while still providing enough information to protect any sites from damage. The survey had three major aims. The first was to establish whether or not the lava tubes continued into the land now held by Campbell Estate or the Geothermal Sub-Zone. The second was to assess the extent to which any lava tube systems found contained archaeological remains or burials and, if so, to evaluate their general significance. The third was to define, if possible, any patterns in the distribution of the lava tube systems or the archaeological remains within them. Such patterns can allow general predictions to be made about which areas are most likely to have similar tube systems with significant archaeological sites. This is of particular importance in this region where large portions of the former Forest Reserve and the Geothermal Sub-Zone have not been inspected, and conducting extensive surveys is extremely difficult because of dense vegetation, hazardous conditions and poor ground visibility. One of the authors (Stone) has a background in Hawaiian lava tube biology, so we were able to include a preliminary survey of the invertebrate fauna found in these underground ecosystems.

SummaryHigh biomass crops have recently attracted significant attention as an alternative platform for the renewable production of high energy storage lipids such as triacylglycerol (TAG). While TAG typically accumulates in seeds as storage compounds fuelling subsequent germination, levels in vegetative tissues are generally low. Here, we report the accumulation of more than 15% TAG (17.7% total lipids) by dry weight in Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) leaves by the co‐expression of three genes involved in different aspects of TAG production without severely impacting plant development. These yields far exceed the levels found in wild‐type leaf tissue as well as previously reported engineered TAG yields in vegetative tissues of Arabidopsis thaliana and N. tabacum. When translated to a high biomass crop, the current levels would translate to an oil yield per hectare that exceeds those of most cultivated oilseed crops. Confocal fluorescence microscopy and mass spectrometry imaging confirmed the accumulation of TAG within leaf mesophyll cells. In addition, we explored the applicability of several existing oil‐processing methods using fresh leaf tissue. Our results demonstrate the technical feasibility of a vegetative plant oil production platform and provide for a step change in the bioenergy landscape, opening new prospects for sustainable food, high energy forage, biofuel and biomaterial applications.