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Abstract In this work addition of ethanol to high viscosity jatropha methyl ester (JME) through port injection is investigated in order to determine its effect fuel viscosity reduction on diesel engine performance. In addition to viscosity alteration, the impact of ethanol addition on combustion characteristics such as combustion duration, ignition delay and emissions levels from diesel engines fuelled with blends of ethanol, diesel and JME is studied in particular. It is found that blending of oxygenated fuels with diesel modifies the chemical structure and physical properties which again alter the engine operating conditions, combustion parameters and emissions levels. However, the injection of only 5% ethanol through port injection allows for a total of 25% blending of biofuels into diesel yet keeping the fuel characteristics close to that of conventional diesel. However, both experimental and numerical results show that ethanol addition in JME blended diesel results in a slight increase in fuel consumption and thermal efficiency for the same power outputs as that of conventional diesel fuel. Also, the combustion characteristics with ethanol addition include improved maximum in-cylinder peak pressure, cumulative heat release (CHR) rate of heat release (ROHR), in-cylinder peak temperature and combustion duration. Regarding emission characteristics the experimental results show significant reduction in smoke, carbon monoxide (CO) and total hydrocarbon (THC) emissions with extended oxygen mass percentage in the fuel at higher engine loads. However, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions are found to increase at high loads although the common tradeoff between smoke and NOx is found to be more prominent for the oxygenated fuels.

In this study, levulinic acid (LA) was produced from rice straw biomass in co-solvent biphasic reactor system consisting of hydrochloric acid and dichloromethane organic solvent. The modified protocol achieved a 15% wt LA yield through the synergistic effect of acid and acidic products (auto-catalysis) and the designed system allowed facile recovery of LA to the organic phase. Further purification of the resulting extractant was achieved through traditional column chromatography, which yielded a high purity LA product while recovering ∼85% wt. Upon charcoal treatment of the resultant fraction generated an industrial grade target molecule of ∼99% purity with ∼95% wt recovery. The system allows the solvent to be easily recovered, in excess of 90%, which was shown to be able to be recycled up to 5 runs without significant loss of final product concentrations. Overall, this system points to a method to significantly reduce manufacturing cost during large-scale LA preparation.

Microalgae have tremendous potential for producing liquid renewable fuel. Many methods for converting microalgae to biofuel have been proposed; however, an economical and energetically feasible route for algal fuel production is yet to be found. This paper presents a review on the comparison of the most promising conversion pathways of microalgae to liquid fuel: hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), wet extraction and non-destructive extraction. The comparison is based on important assessment parameters of product quality and yield, nutrient recovery, GHG emissions, energy and the cost associated with the production of fuel from microalgae, in order to better understand the pros and cons of each method. It was found that the HTL pathway produces more oil than the wet extraction pathway; however, higher concentrations of unwanted components are present in the HTL oil produced. Less nutrients (N and P) can be recovered in HTL compared to wet extraction. HTL consumes more fossil energy and generates higher GHG emissions than wet extraction, while the production cost of fuel from HTL pathway is lower than wet extraction pathway. There is considerable uncertainty in the comparison of the energy consumption and economics of the HTL pathway and the wet extraction pathway due to different scenarios analysed in the assessment studies. To be able to appropriately compare methodologies, the conversion methods should be analysed from growth to upgradation of oil utilising sufficiently similar assumptions and scenarios. Based on the data in available literature, wet oil extraction is the more appropriate system for biofuel production than HTL. However, the potential of alternative extraction/conversion technologies, such as, non-destructive extraction, need to be further assessed.

It is now recognized that analytical chemistry must also be a target for green principles, in particular chromatographic methods which typically use relatively large volumes of hazardous organic solvents. More generally, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is employed routinely for quality control of complex mixtures in various industries. Acetonitrile and methanol are the most commonly used organic solvents in HPLC, but they generate an impact on the environment and can have a negative effect on the health of analysts. Ethanol offers an exciting alternative as a less toxic, biodegradable solvent for HPLC. In this work we demonstrate that replacement of acetonitrile with ethanol as the organic modifier for HPLC can be achieved without significantly compromising analytical performance. This general approach is demonstrated through the specific example analysis of a complex plant extract. A benchmark method employing acetonitrile for the analysis of Bidens pilosa extract was statistically optimized using the Green Chromatographic Fingerprinting Response (GCFR) which includes factors relating to separation performance and environmental parameters. Methods employing ethanol at 30 and 80°C were developed and compared with the reference method regarding their performance of separation (GCFR) as well as by a new metric, Comprehensive Metric to Compare Liquid Chromatography Methods (CM). The fingerprint with ethanol at 80°C was similar to or better than that with MeCN according to GCFR and CM. This demonstrates that temperature may be used to replace harmful solvents with greener ones in HPLC, including for solvents with significantly different physiochemical properties and without loss in separation performance. This work offers a general approach for the chromatographic analysis of complex samples without compromising green analytical chemistry principles.

Abstract This paper aims to present a feasibility study of the innovative plant for methanol synthesis from carbon dioxide-sequestered by fossil fuel power plant and hydrogen, which is produced by water electrolyzer employing the over-production on the electrical grid. The thermo-economic analysis is performed in the framework of the MefCO2 H2020 EU project and it is referred to the German economic scenario, properly taking into account the real market costs and cost functions for different components of the plant. Three different plant capacities for methanol production (4000 10,000 and 50,000 ton/year) have been investigated, assuming an average cost for electrical energy to feed electrolysers and analyzing the influence of the most significant parameters (oxygen selling option, methanol selling price and electrolysers’ capital cost) on the profitability of the plant. The analysis has been performed in W-ECoMP, software for the thermo-economic analysis and plant optimization developed by the University of Genoa.

Abstract The present work attempts to devise an efficient method utilizing an on-grid photovoltaic-thermal heat pump water heater (PV-THPWH) integrated with a real-time variable frequency controller to achieve the goal of energy-efficient buildings. The prime focus is to reduce the grid's dependence on the compressor's energy-intensive operation by employing a feedback-controlled variable frequency drive (VFD). Additionally, the possibilities involved with addressing the electrical and thermal energy requirements of an energy-efficient building was investigated utilizing the proposed system. R-32 refrigerant in the photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) evaporator coils of the heat pump assembly help to cool the photovoltaic (PV) panel while delivering the absorbed heat in the condenser to heat water contained inside the storage tank. Outdoor experiments and theoretical investigations of the combined system were carried out to appraise the dynamic behavior under varying solar irradiation and ambient temperature conditions. The observations conveyed that the PV-THPWH system succeeded in reducing the PV panel operating temperature by 25%, which resulted in a 20% increment in PV power output. Also, the performance indicators, such as the instantaneous energy efficiency and instantaneous PV efficiency, were found to increase by 15% and 34%, respectively, resulting in an average coefficient of performance of 6.4. For a clear sky day, the recorded total PV energy output was 4.67 units, while the VFD compressor consumption was 3.42 units, and the surplus 1.25 units were sent to the grid. Furthermore, the economic analysis reported a payback period of 2.3 years for the developed PV-THPWH system.

The Nigerian government is committed to sustaining rice production to meet national demand. Nevertheless, political tension and climate-induced stressors remain crucial constraints in achieving policy targets. This study examines whether climate change and political instability significantly threaten rice production in Nigeria. First, we employed nonparametric methods to estimate the country's rainfall and temperature trends between 1980Q1 and 2015Q4. Second, we employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique to examine the effects of climate change and political instability on rice production. The results show that while temperature has an increasing pattern, rainfall exhibits no significant trend. The findings from the ARDL estimate reveal that rice production responds negatively to temperature changes but is less sensitive to changes in rainfall. In addition, political instability adversely affects rice production in Nigeria. We argue that Nigeria's slow growth in rice production can be traced back to the impact of climate change and political tension in rice farming areas. As a result, reducing the overall degree of conflict to ensure political stability is critical to boosting the country's self-sufficiency in rice production. We also recommend that farmers be supported and trained to adopt improved rice varieties less prone to extreme climate events while supporting them with irrigation facilities to facilitate rice production.

AbstractCoral reefs across the world have been seriously degraded and have a bleak future in response to predicted global warming and ocean acidification (OA). However, this is not the first time that biocalcifying organisms, including corals, have faced the threat of extinction. The end‐Triassic mass extinction (200 million years ago) was the most severe biotic crisis experienced by modern marine invertebrates, which selected against biocalcifiers; this was followed by the proliferation of another invertebrate group, sponges. The duration of this sponge‐dominated period far surpasses that of alternative stable‐ecosystem or phase‐shift states reported on modern day coral reefs and, as such, a shift to sponge‐dominated reefs warrants serious consideration as one future trajectory of coral reefs. We hypothesise that some coral reefs of today may become sponge reefs in the future, as sponges and corals respond differently to changing ocean chemistry and environmental conditions. To support this hypothesis, we discuss: (i) the presence of sponge reefs in the geological record; (ii) reported shifts from coral‐ to sponge‐dominated systems; and (iii) direct and indirect responses of the sponge holobiont and its constituent parts (host and symbionts) to changes in temperature andpH. Based on this evidence, we propose that sponges may be one group to benefit from projected climate change and ocean acidification scenarios, and that increased sponge abundance represents a possible future trajectory for some coral reefs, which would have important implications for overall reef functioning.