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Using 40-year experiment data from a mono-modal rainfall area of northern Togo, we analyzed soil fertility dynamics when 2 and 3-year fallows were alternated with 3-year rotation of groundnut, cotton and sorghum. The control treatment consisted to continuous cultivate the soil in a rotation of groundnut/cotton/sorghum without fallow periods. For each rotation, two fertilisation rates were applied: no fertilisation and mineral fertiliser application during the cropping and/or the fallow periods. Yields of unfertilised crops, which averaged 1 t ha-1 during the first years of cultivation, were often nil in the long-term. In the long-term, yields of fertilised cotton and sorghum decreased by 32 and 50 %, respectively compared to the average of 2.4 and 1.6 t ha-1 obtained during the first decade of cultivation. The long-term decline in crop productivity was mitigated when fallow periods were alternated with cropping periods, and consequently there was partial compensation in terms of production for the unproductive fallowed plots. Long-term yields of fertilised cotton and sorghum in the periodically fallowed plots were 40 and 50 % higher than those in continuously cropped plots, respectively; they were 90 and 60 % higher than those in continuously cropped plots without fertilisation. Like for crop productivity, soil C, N and exchangeable Ca and Mg decreased less in periodically fallowed plots than in continuously cropped plots. The limited soil C decline when fallows were alternated with crops appears to be the consequence of no-tillage period rather than the effect of the highest C inputs to the soil.

Great efforts have been paid to improve engine efficiency as well as to reduce the pollutant emissions. The direct injection allows to improve the engine efficiency; on the other hand, the GDI combustion produces larger particle emissions. The properties of fuels play an important role both on engine performance and pollutant emissions. In particular, great attention was paid to the octane number. Oxygenated compounds allow increasing gasoline's octane number and play an important role in PM emission reduction. In this study was analyzed the effect of fuels with different RON and with ethanol and ethers content. The analysis was performed on a small GDI engine. Two operating conditions, representative of the typical EUDC cycle, were investigated. Both the engine performance and the exhaust emissions were evaluated. The gaseous emissions and particle concentration were measured at the exhaust by means of conventional instruments. Particle size distribution function was measured in the range from 5.6 nm to 560 nm by means of an Engine Exhaust Particle Sizer (EEPS). The results point out that the better result in terms of performance and emission reduction was observed for the high RON fuel. The fuels with ethanol as additive show a large fuel consumption and a not valuable effect on exhaust emissions

AbstractProjections show that biomass will remain important for reaching future EU renewable energy targets. In addition to using domestic biomass, European bioenergy markets will also partly rely on imports of biomass, in particular in trade‐oriented EU member states like the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark. There has been a lot of debate on the sustainability of (imported) biomass and how policy should deal with this. In this research, therefore, we defined long‐term strategies for sustainable biomass imports in European bioenergy markets. We used the input of different stakeholders in our approach through focus‐group discussions and a global survey, focusing on the following aspects: key principles of sustainable biomass trade, risks and opportunities of biomass trade, both for import regions (EU countries) and for sourcing regions, and practical barriers for trade. Overall we conclude that policies should be stable and consistent within a long‐term vision. An overall sustainability assurance framework of biomass production and use is key, but should ultimately apply to all end uses of biomass. Furthermore, the mobilization of biomass should be supported, as well as commoditization, considering the large diversity of biomass. Side impacts of biomass use should be monitored. Reducing investors’ risk perception is crucial for future developments in the biobased economy, and a clear policy to phase out fossil fuels, e.g. through a carbon tax, needs to be implemented. The results of this research are of interest for policy makers when deciding on long‐term strategies concerning sustainable bioenergy markets. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

SUMMARYWe demonstrated experimentally that coconut husk ash is an excellent mineral fertilizer for immature coconut hybrids on developed peat, providing potassium (K) in particular. Coconut husk ash performed as well as potassium chloride (KCl) in a proportion of 2–2.5 to 1. At four years, 99% of coconut palms fertilized with husk ash, 92% of coconut palms fertilized with KCl and 26% of control palms were sexually differentiated. The cumulative yield in the first two harvesting years more than trebled between control palms (26 nuts per tree) and the palms fertilized with KCl (93 nuts per tree) or husk ash (105 nuts per tree). This is an important result, given the intensity of K deficiency and the increasing cost of imported fertilizers. Although coconut husk ash will never totally replace K fertilizer, it can recycle a substantial proportion of nutrients in a coconut plantation. It now remains to optimize its use on an estate level, by examining the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of its mass production and determining conditions for maximum efficiency.

Research addressing non-food biomass production from the perspective of land-use change and environmental impacts has expanded considerably since 2008. An exhaustive literature review followed by the identification within the resulting corpus of all references seelcing to quantify the consumption of nonrenewable resources yielded 29 articles, which were then examined in detail. Our goal was to describe, as precisely as possible, the methods and results of published research addressing land use change as it relates to the consumption of nonrenewable resources. We found that these articles were in fact more focused on the assessment of other environmental impacts, primarily greenhouse gas impacts, with fossil-fuel use appearing as a collateral result. All the articles employed a life cycle analysis approach; all considered the question of fossil-fuel consumption; and all concluded that a reduction in fossil fuel use was achieved through the substitution of biomass energy. According to the findings of this sub-corpus, biofuels produced from lignocellulosic biomass appear to be most effective in terms of reducing environmental impacts, but few direct comparisons with first-generation biofuels have been made. In general, differences in methodologies and in the assumptions adopted for different studies, particularly with respect to land-use change parameters, make comparisons among the selected studies difficult.

Current economic instruments aimed at climate change mitigation focus mainly on CO(2) emissions, but efficient climate mitigation needs to focus on other greenhouse gases as well as CO(2). This study investigates the distributional effects of climate change taxes on households belonging to different income and lifestyle groups; and it compares the effects of a CO(2) tax with a multiple GHG tax in the UK in terms of cost efficiency and distributional effects. Results show that a multi GHG tax is more efficient than a CO(2) tax due to lower marginal abatement costs, and that both taxes are regressive, with lower income households paying a relatively larger share of their income for the taxes than higher income households. A shift from a CO(2) tax to a GHG tax will reduce and shift the tax burden between consumption categories such as from energy-intensive products to food products. Consumers have different abilities to respond to the tax and change their behavior due to their own socio-economic attributes as well as the physical environment such as the age of the housing stock, location, and the availability of infrastructure. The housing-related carbon emissions are the largest component of the CO(2) tax payments for low income groups and arguments could be made for compensation of income losses and reduction of fuel poverty through further government intervention.

We analysed the effect of applying Dutch thermal efficiency standards of residential dwellings, conversion efficiency, appliance fuel mixes and appliance ownership rates, to the UK residential sector. We found that although aggregate energy consumption does not change significantly, pollution emissions are reduced significantly. Thus, the primary difference between housing and appliance stocks in the two regions is in terms of fuel mixes. However, improved thermal efficiency does allow for increased dwelling warmth without increasing emissions. Adapting Dutch standards in the UK would lead to a one-time improvement of the environmental situation, after which the trend is continued.

The energy crop sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is raising considerable interest as a source of either fermentable free sugars or lignocellulosic feedstock with the potential to produce fuel, food, feed and a variety of other products. Sweet sorghum is a C4 plant with many potential advantages, including high water, nitrogen and radiation use efficiency, broad agro-ecological adaptation as well as a rich genetic diversity for useful traits. For developing countries sweet sorghum provides opportunities for the simultaneous production of food and bioenergy (e.g. bio-ethanol), thereby contributing to improved food security as well as increased access to affordable and renewable energy sources. In temperate regions (e.g. in Europe) sweet sorghum is seen as promising crop for the production of raw material for 2nd generation bio-ethanol. The project SWEETFUEL (Sweet Sorghum: An alternative energy crop) is supported by the European Commission in the 7th Framework Programme to exploit the advantages of sweet sorghum as potential energy crop for bio-ethanol production. Thereby, the main objective of SWEETFUEL is to optimize yields in temperate and semi-arid regions by genetic enhancement and the improvement of cultural and harvest practices. Proceedings of the 18th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 3-7 May 2010, Lyon, France, pp. 200-206