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This study evaluated the environmental conditions of two watersheds selected on the basis of similarities in land use. The environmental conditions of the watersheds were analyzed using two geoprocessing methods and in situ evaluations by applying the rapid assessment protocol (RAP). Geospatial image processing was used to analyze land use, slope, soil classification, and rainfall, while RAP was used to evaluate the connectivity and size of riparian corridors. The results revealed varied uses of land with the landscape matrix in both watersheds, composed of agriculture, pasture, and urban centers. Urban centers were defined as spots and riparian zones as corridors. The analysis of environmental fragility considering all the geospatial variables, classified both watersheds as having medium fragility. The most fragile sites were the urban centers, which had a high slope and degraded riparian zone. Onsite assessments have shown that corridors do not have the size required by legislation; they are fragmented and unstructured, and they contain exotic species. We also propose that a multi-factorial approach be used to evaluate watersheds, associating geospatial assessments and onsite analyses that consider the limitations pointed out in each protocol. This reduces sampling errors and shows the actual state of conservation in riparian zones.

Abstract. Regional land carbon budgets provide insights on the spatial distribution of the land uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and can be used to evaluate carbon cycle models and to define baselines for land-based additional mitigation efforts. The scientific community has been involved in providing observation-based estimates of regional carbon budgets either by downscaling atmospheric CO2 observations into surface fluxes with atmospheric inversions, by using inventories of carbon stock changes in terrestrial ecosystems, by upscaling local field observations such as flux towers with gridded climate and remote sensing fields or by integrating data-driven or process-oriented terrestrial carbon cycle models. The first coordinated attempt to collect regional carbon budgets for nine regions covering the entire globe in the RECCAP-1 project has delivered estimates for the decade 2000–2009, but these budgets were not comparable between regions, due to different definitions and component fluxes reported or omitted. The recent recognition of lateral fluxes of carbon by human activities and rivers, that connect CO2 uptake in one area with its release in another also requires better definition and protocols to reach harmonized regional budgets that can be summed up to the globe and compared with the atmospheric CO2 growth rate and inversion results. In this study, for the international initiative RECCAP-2 coordinated by the Global Carbon Project, which aims as an update of regional carbon budgets over the last two decades based on observations, for 10 regions covering the globe, with a better harmonization that the precursor project, we provide recommendations for using atmospheric inversions results to match bottom-up carbon accounting and models, and we define the different component fluxes of the net land atmosphere carbon exchange that should be reported by each research group in charge of each region. Special attention is given to lateral fluxes, inland water fluxes and land use fluxes.

This research presents a 100% renewable energy (RE) scenario by 2050 with a high share of electric vehicles on the grid (V2G) developed in Ecuador with the support of the EnergyPLAN analysis tool. Hour-by-hour data iterations were performed to determine solutions among various features, including energy storage, V2G connections that spanned the distribution system, and long-term evaluation. The high participation in V2G connections keeps the electrical system available; meanwhile, the high proportions of variable renewable energy are the pillar of the joint electrical system. The layout of the sustainable mobility scenario and the high V2G participation maintain the balance of the electrical system during most of the day, simplifying the storage equipment requirements. Consequently, the influence of V2G systems on storage is a significant result that must be considered in the energy transition that Ecuador is developing in the long term. The stored electricity will not only serve as storage for future grid use. Additionally, the V2G batteries serve as a buffer between generation from diversified renewable sources and the end-use stage.

Although the impacts of climate change on biodiversity are increasing worldwide, few studies have attempted to forecast these impacts on Amazon Tropical Forest. In this study, we estimated the impact of climate change on Amazonian avian assemblages considering range shifts, species loss, vulnerability of ecosystem functioning, future effectiveness of current protected areas and potential climatically stable areas for conservation actions. Species distribution modelling based on two algorithms and three different scenarios of climate change was used to forecast 501 avian species, organized on main ecosystem functions (frugivores, insectivores and nectarivores) for years 2050 and 2070. Considering the entire study area, we estimated that between 4 and 19% of the species will find no suitable habitat. Inside the currently established protected areas, species loss could be over 70%. Our results suggest that frugivores are the most sensitive guild, which could bring consequences on seed dispersal functions and on natural regeneration. Moreover, we identified the western and northern parts of the study area as climatically stable. Climate change will potentially affect avian assemblages in southeastern Amazonia with detrimental consequences to their ecosystem functions. Information provided here is essential to conservation practitioners and decision makers to help on planning their actions.

An ethanol-methyl- t-butyl ether (MTBE) fuel blend was used as a substitute for hydrated ethanol to improve the vehicle cold start and drivability characteristics during the warm-up period. The vehicle was tested in a cold box, reaching a lower ambient temperature limit of -6deg;C, which represents the most severe weather condition experienced in Brazil. Different concentrations of MTBE in ethanol were investigated. The results show satisfactory drivability characteristics for the tested conditions, comparable with those found in gasoline-fuelled vehicles, thus overcoming the existing cold start difficulties in production ethanol-fuelled vehicles.

Sugarcane biorefineries, despite their contribution to sustainable transportation fuels and mitigation of carbon emissions in the mobility sector, produce a large amount of carbon dioxide in their conversion processes. According to the Paris climate agreement, a carbon neutral energy system has to be launched in the years to come, and in this scenario, greenhouse gases emission free industrial processes and alternative carbon sources will be needed. Therefore, this paper presents the evaluation of carbon mass balance of a typical Brazilian ethanol mill to better understand its potential for energy and carbon yield improvement. Due to the fact that Brazilian sugarcane mills are evolving from first generation to integrated first and second generation plant, four different scenarios were analysed. For a first generation plant without (S-I) and with conversion of straw to electricity (S-II) and for the integrated plant (S-III), results of carbon mass balance showed that the harvested sugarcane carbon was mainly converted into CO2 and in a smaller proportion into ethanol. In the modelled cases S-I to S-III the conversion of sugarcane carbon into CO2 and ethanol ranged from 41% to 53% and 17%-22%, respectively. Because this carbon amount in the CO2 flows provides an interesting platform to both increase the bioenergy produced and the harvested carbon-to-fuels ratio, a fourth scenario (S-IV) that studies the integration of power-to-gas (PtG) technologies into the mill was also considered. PtG can increase the sugarcane fuels energy content from 9.3 kW/ha to 33.6 kW/ha using 1361.3 MWe of electricity, increasing the amount of sugarcane carbon transformed into sugarcane based fuels to 54% and converting CO2 into a high value added product.

Aim: Climate change and deforestation will redistribute the biodiversity in the next century. Species-specific differences in the response to such stressors will lead to distribution decoupling of interacting species, yet consequences for ecosystem services are poorly known. Here, we assess the potential effects of future niche mismatch on a key ecosystem service mediated by seed dispersal and pollination interactions in the Amazon: the sustainable exploitation of Brazil nuts. Location: The Amazon. Major taxa studied: Woody plant, medium-sized mammals, and insects. Time period: Present day, end of the 21st Century. Methods: Combining ecological niche models to simulations of tree cover loss and dispersal constraints, we compare the forecasted distribution of the plant to that of its interacting fauna of pollinators and seed dispersers. Results: Our projections indicate that climate change itself could have no or slightly negative effects on the distribution of the Brazil nut tree, expected to increase by 6% by year 2090. However, range contractions of nearly half of all the suitable climate for pollinators may lead up to 80% reduction on co-occurrence potential. In addition, local pollinator richness is expected to reduce by 20%, with likely consequences for pollination redundancy and resilience to subsequent environment changes. Although reductions on the suitable area of some seed dispersers were also forecasted in the future, potential co-occurrence with the plant and local species richness were mostly unabated in most of our projections. Main conclusion: The forecasted declines in pollinator diversity may hamper ecosystem function redundancy and threaten the long-term resilience of the services provided by Brazil nut trees. Such pervasive and indirect effects of climate change, often neglected and unaccounted for in most conservation assessments, may cascade into economies and human well-being worldwide.