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Bioplastics are alternatives of conventional petroleum-based plastics. Bioplastics are polymers processed from renewable sources and are biodegradable. This study aims at conducting an environmental impact assessment of the bioprocessing of agricultural wastes into bioplastics compared to petro-plastics using an LCA approach. Bioplastics were produced from potato peels in laboratory. In a biochemical reaction under heating, starch was extracted from peels and glycerin, vinegar and water were added with a range of different ratios, which resulted in producing different samples of bio-based plastics. Nevertheless, the environmental impact of the bioplastics production process was evaluated and compared to petro-plastics. A life cycle analysis of bioplastics produced in laboratory and petro-plastics was conducted. The results are presented in the form of global warming potential, and other environmental impacts including acidification potential, eutrophication potential, freshwater ecotoxicity potential, human toxicity potential, and ozone layer depletion of producing bioplastics are compared to petro-plastics. The results show that the greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, through the different experiments to produce bioplastics, range between 0.354 and 0.623 kg CO2 eq. per kg bioplastic compared to 2.37 kg CO2 eq. per kg polypropylene as a petro-plastic. The results also showed that there are no significant potential effects for the bioplastics produced from potato peels on different environmental impacts in comparison with poly-β-hydroxybutyric acid and polypropylene. Thus, the bioplastics produced from agricultural wastes can be manufactured in industrial scale to reduce the dependence on petroleum-based plastics. This in turn will mitigate GHG emissions and reduce the negative environmental impacts on climate change.

The paper describes formation and spreading of dense shelf waters in the Adriatic Sea (North Adriatic Dense Water, NAdDW) during the winter of 2012 as a consequence of an intense and long cold air outbreak of northeasterly Bora winds. As a result, during February 2012 northern Adriatic Sea water temperature dropped to about 6 degrees C and density exceeded 1030 kg/m(3), most likely the maximum value since 1929. NAdDW dynamics has been investigated by means of a 3-D ocean-wave coupled model running on a high resolution and eddy-permitting grid. The numerical experiments have relied on the Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment-Transport (COAWST) system forced one-way with atmospheric forcings provided by the model COSMO-17. A suite of observational data has been used to characterize the Bora event and evaluate numerical model performance. At sub-basin scales, the newly formed waters flowing southerly have produced a water renewal of the northern Adriatic, as more than 50% of water volumes have left the basin. Dense waters volume transports, evaluated through different Adriatic cross-sections, have been modulated by tides (damped for the densest water masses) and reached about 1 Sv. The contribution of wave-induced forcings has been quantified and examined, indicating that these represent a major driving mechanism during NAdDW production and spreading phases. This work provides evidence that NAdDW is spread accordingly with two different mechanisms: at early stages of its formation, the wind-driven ocean circulation pushes newly formed waters to leave the northern basin with relatively high speeds (about 0.30 m/s). Later on, remaining NAdDW leaks slowly out (0.09 m/s as average) from the production site. Residence times of dense waters in the north, middle, and south Adriatic Sea are also documented. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In a former study, a German lignite extract exhibited toxicity to Danio rerio and Caenorhabditis elegans and was shown to have mutagenic and dioxin-like activity. Besides the comparatively low content of known toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), highly intensive peaks of m/z 274 and m/z 324 were observed during the chromatographic analysis. These compounds are assumed to be alkylated chrysenes and picenes (3,3,7-trimethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrochrysene, 1,2-(1'-isopropylpropano)-7-methylchrysene and an isomer of the latter, 1,2,9-trimethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropicene and 2,2,9-trimethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropicene). These compounds are intermediates in the diagenetic formation of chrysene and picene from triterpenoids. Due to their general high abundance in lignites and the toxicity observed for the lignite extract, the mechanism-specific toxicity and bioavailability of these compounds were investigated in the present study using the approach of effect-directed analysis. After the separation of the compounds from other PAH, their mutagenic activity (Ames Fluctuation test) and dioxin-like activity (EROD activity) were studied. Both, mutation induction factor (up to 2.9±2.7) and dioxin-like activity (Bio-TEQ of 224±75 pg/g; represents the amount (pg) 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin per g coal that would provoke the same toxic effect) were rather low. Bioavailability estimated by the bioaccumulation test with Lumbriculus variegatus was also very limited. Based on the obtained results, the environmental risk of the highly abundant alkylated chrysenes and picenes in lignites is concluded to be low.

Lead in perovskite solar cells is a potential environmental and health hazard if it is released from accidentally damaged panels. Now, the encapsulation of perovskite solar cells with self-healing polymers is shown to significantly reduce the risk of lead leakage from hail impact under a variety of weather conditions.

Abstract Integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants have been looked to as a key technology for the 21st century in order to realize high efficiency and good environmental performance for electricity generation, replacing existing coal fired power plants. Following successful completion of a 200 ton/d pilot project in Nakoso, IGCC technology development in Japan is moving from the stage of a feasibility study to a detailed study to allow final decisions for demonstration plant construction. The feasibility study, jointly conducted by the domestic electric power companies, found MHI's IGCC technology to have several advantages in efficiency and reliability. In parallel with the study, a number of R&D tests have been executed as a national project to facilitate scaling up from the pilot plant to the demonstration plant. This paper introduces the current status of the MHI's IGCC technological development.

Abstract Alternative fuel vehicles (AFV) may help to reduce global CO2 emissions from the transport sector. One obstacle for AFV market diffusion is the lack of refueling infrastructure which prevents potential users from buying AFVs. Meanwhile infrastructure suppliers await market developments before investing in an extensive infrastructure roll-out. This mutual interaction has been a field of research for several years and a variety of modeling approaches have been applied. This paper aims at reviewing models of combined AFV and refueling infrastructure market diffusion and pointing out research gaps. We retrieve stylized facts which models should account for from empirical studies on natural gas vehicles, user acceptance analyses on AFVs and technical restraints of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Ten interaction models are evaluated with respect to the identified aspects. We find that simulation is the most common approach for an interaction model. Besides, the majority of the examined stylized facts is covered by the models. However, models for FCEVs could be improved by reflecting the transport of fuel to refueling infrastructure while new models on PEVs should include charging duration, frequency and charging station ownership.

Abstract The possibility to employ spatially resolved optical emission spectroscopy (SROES) as a diagnostic tool for the prediction of the transition from microcrystalline to amorphous silicon growth was investigated. The transition was achieved by increasing the silane fraction in the mixture and was identified through the solar cell performance. A drastic change of the shape of the emission profiles, characterized by an enhancement of the production of species closer to the substrate, was observed in the transition region when increasing the silane fraction. Calculations of the probability of various species to reach the surface have shown that the change of the shape of the radical generation distribution in space finally leads to an increase of the contribution of highly reactive, highly sticking radicals like SiH2 to the film growth. On the other hand less reactive species like H atoms are less affected by the shape of their generation profiles. Their probability to reach the surface drops because of the increase of the collision frequency. Both these factors can explain the transition to amorphous silicon growth and the relation between emission profiles and the transition indicating a clear potential for using SROES in thin film solar cell performance optimization.

Recently, studies have appeared pointing out that aerosols can dominate the total amine emission from amine based PCCC pilot plant scale installations. For the design of countermeasure types (upstream or downstream of the PCCC installation), it is crucial to have an idea of the aerosol size distribution and numbers entering or leaving the absorber. This study is the first to present this kind of data and should serve future installations when designing aerosol emission countermeasures. H2SO4 aerosols entering the absorber are observed to be extremely small (i.e. <0.2μm) with number concentrations exceeding 1E8cm-3. The aerosols grow in size as they travel through the absorber through the taking up of water and amine to sizes close to but staying below 1μm. However, despite the fact that most of the aerosols (expressed in number concentrations) are well below 1μm, most of the water (and thus amine) is found in the aerosol sizes between 0.5 and 2μm. Therefore, if one aims at designing efficient countermeasures, eliminating this size fraction is crucial. This amine emission stream is therefore very difficult to remove using water washes as aerosols are known to travel through water wash sections. Moreover, also classical demisters show very little efficiency for these small aerosol sizes and are therefore believed not to be suitable for the removal of aerosols. This information will therefore serve future installations when designing aerosol emission countermeasures. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.