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Oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) were pretreated by aqueous ammonia soaking for ethanol production. Pretreated EFB, which were pretreated at the optimal conditions of 60 °C, 12 h, and 21% (w/w) aqueous ammonia, showed 19.5% and 41.4% glucose yields during an enzymatic digestibility test for 96 h when using 15 and 60 FPU of cellulase, respectively. Using the pretreated EFB, simultaneous saccharification and fermentation for 168 h with 5% (w/v) glucan loading and 60 FPU of cellulase and 30 CBU of β-glucosidase per gram glucan resulted in ethanol production of 18.6 g/L titer, 65.6% of theoretical maximum yield, and 0.11 g/L/h of productivity.

Acidogenic anaerobic fermentation route was explored for the production of bioethanol and volatile fatty acids (VFA) from the press mud (PM) obtained from sugar mill. Slurry was prepared from PM having 10% of total solids and the same was hydrolyzed under acidic thermal conditions. Both press mud slurry (PMS) and pre-treated press mud slurry (PTPMS) was used as feedstock with mixed microbial consortia (MMC) and enriched mixed microbial consortia (EMMC). Mix of bioethanol and VFA were obtained in all the four cases (PMS-MMC, PMS-EMMC, PTPMS-EMC and PTPMS-EMMC), but, bioethanol and VFA yield of 0.04 g/g and 0.27 g/g, respectively obtained from PTPMS with EMMC was found to be comparatively higher. Control experiments carried out with glucose yielded bioethanol and VFA of 0.042 g/g and 0.28 g/g, respectively demonstrating that the organism was using reducible sugars in the feedstock for the generation of bioethanol by simultaneously producing the VFA from COD.

Plastic film mulching (FM) became a general practice to enhance crop productivity and its net primary production (NPP), but it can increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The proper addition of organic amendments might effectively decrease the impact of FM on global warming. To evaluate the feasibility of biomass addition on decreasing this negative influence, cover crop biomass as a green manure was incorporated with different recycling levels (0-100% of aboveground biomass) under FM and no-mulching. The net global warming potential (GWP) which integrated with soil C stock change and GHG (N2O and CH4) fluxes with CO2-equivalent was evaluated during maize cultivation. Under the same biomass incorporation, FM significantly enhanced the grain productivity and NPP of maize by 22-61 and 18-58% over no-mulching, respectively. In contrast, FM also highly increased the respired C loss, which was 11-95% higher than NPP increase, over no-mulching. Irrespective with biomass recycling ratio and mulching system, negative NECB which indicates the decrease of soil C stock was observed, mainly due to big harvest removal. FM decreased more soil C stock by 57-158% over no-mulching, but its C stock was clearly increased with increasing biomass addition. FM significantly increased total N2O and CH4 fluxes by 4-61 and 140-600% over no-mulching, respectively. Soil C stock changes mainly decided net GWP scale, but N2O and CH4 fluxes negligibly influenced. As a result, FM highly increased net GWP over no-mulching, while this net GWP was clearly decreased with increasing biomass application. However, cover cropping, and its biomass recycling was not enough to compensate the negative impact of FM on global warming. Therefore, more biomass incorporation might be essential to compensate this negative effect of FM.

Seagrass systems of the Western Pacific region are biodiverse habitats, providing vital services to ecosystems and humans over a vast geographic range. SeagrassNet is a worldwide monitoring program that collects data on seagrass habitats, including the ten locations across the Western Pacific reported here where change at various scales was rapidly detected. Three sites remote from human influence were stable. Seagrasses declined largely due to increased nutrient loading (4 sites) and increased sedimentation (3 sites), the two most common stressors of seagrass worldwide. Two sites experienced near-total loss from of excess sedimentation, followed by partial recovery once sedimentation was reduced. Species shifts were observed at every site with recovering sites colonized by pioneer species. Regulation of watersheds is essential if marine protected areas are to preserve seagrass meadows. Seagrasses in the Western Pacific experience stress due to human impacts despite the vastness of the ocean area and low development pressures.

The influence of various solvents (H2O, CH3OH, and C2H5OH) on product distribution and nature of products during hydrothermal liquefaction of sargassum tenerrimum algae has been examined. Hydrothermal liquefaction was performed using H2O (260, 280 and 300°C) and organic solvents CH3OH and C2H5OH (280°C) for 15min. The use of organic solvents significantly increased the yield of bio-oil. In the case of liquefaction with CH3OH and C2H5OH, the bio-oil yield was 22.8 and 23.8wt.% respectively whereas the bio-oil yield was 16.33wt.% with H2O. GC-MS analysis of the liquid products indicated the presence of various organic compounds including aromatics, nitrogenated and oxygenated compounds and higher selectivity amount of ester compounds were observed in the presence of alcoholic solvents. NMR and FT-IR showed that present of solvents have an effect on the decomposition of sargassum tenerrimum algae.

Anode with good electrocatalytic capabilities is more specifically required to reduce the ohimic losses during microbial fuel cell (MFC) operation. Highly conductive polymers viz., Polyaniline (PANi) and Polyaniline/Carbon nanotube (PANi/CNT) composite were prepared by in situ oxidative chemical polymerization method. Anodes were fabricated independently by coating PANi and CNT/PANi composites on the surface of SSM. The fabricated electrodes were evaluated as anode against stainless steel mess (SSM) as cathode during MFC operation. Maximum bioelectricity generation was observed in SSM-PANi/CNT-anode with power density of 48 mW/m2 and COD removal efficiency of 80% compared with SSM-PANi-anode (38 mW/m2; 65%) and SSM-anode (28 mW/m2; 58%). Bioelectrochemical characterization of the electrode materials using cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy showed high electrocatalytic activity of PANi/CNT composite electrode. The study concluded the efficiency of PANi/CNT composite electrodes as bioanode in operation of MFCs towards achieving increased bioelectricity production along with wastewater treatment.

Abstract A change in the thermal environment of an urban area affects health, living conditions, and energy consumption. In urban planning, urban parks are one of the methods for improving the thermal environment and saving cooling energy. Urban park construction can mitigate temperature, but it also causes urban development by increasing local attractiveness. To achieve efficient energy saving through parks in urban planning, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between building energy consumption and urban characteristics both before and after the construction of an urban park. This study targeted Seoul's Gyeongui line forest, which was recently converted into a linear park on the former railway as an urban regeneration project. We analyzed the relationship between energy consumption and urban characteristics using a regression model, focusing on the changes before and after the construction. In this study, urban characteristics include environment, building physical characteristics, and economic variables. The results show that the construction of the urban park reduced not only temperature but also building energy consumption. The energy reduction effect of the park was limited to a marginal distance. Meanwhile, the urban park construction caused land prices to rise and prompted new development, and this changed the urban characteristics of the area and affected energy consumption. Despite changes in urban characteristics, urban park planning is an effective methods of reducing the energy consumption involved in cooling urban areas. We recommend comprehensive consideration of the urban factors when making park policy to reduce urban temperature and energy consumption.

Abstract Globally, three-quarter of a billion people live without electricity. Besides, hundreds of million use a solar lantern for less than 4 h a day. Most of the access-deprived are in the Global South, predominantly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The United Nations framed the seventh Sustainable Development Goal to improve access. Solar photovoltaic powered mini-grids are increasingly extending better service to deprived regions. However, poor load-factor and expensive storage adversely affect viability. Also, these mini-grids do not support infrequent large loads to avoid further loss of load-factor. Electric cooking is efficient and non-polluting; water treatment facilities can save millions from contaminant and pathogen by providing clean water. Besides, both electric cooking and water treatment are less expensive than alternatives. But mini-grids frequently do not support these. Indeed, the presence of sustained productive loads favourably influences the mini-grid economy. This study investigates the role of critical household loads to deliver similar bearing on the mini-grid economy. Results underscore realisation of desirable impact with household collaboration under a demand-response program. Collaborative consumption can lower initial investment by 62% and reduce the unit energy cost to $0.23. Also, cooperation improves the mini-grid load factor and promotes viability. Additionally, fast deployment needs during and after Covid-19 remains inherently supported while mitigating the pandemic induced financial stress of both consumer and mini-grid operator. This study of 88 nation-states underscores that demand response in a mini-grid can not only improve affordability for all consumers, but it can also bring 186 million people within affordable access.

The article contains laboratory data comparing the rate of gasification of five types of woody plants—beech, oak, willow, poplar and rose. The gasification rate was determined thermogravimetrically. Carbon dioxide and steam were used as gasification gases. Willow wood was the most gasifiable, whereas rose wood the least.

Abstract Sugarcane is a major crop cultivated globally and the residue left over after the crop harvest and extraction of juice is a good biomass source that can be used for the production of several useful chemicals. The sugarcane bagasse is an excellent substrate for the production of various biochemicals and enzymes through fermentation. Now major interest is focused on the utilization of these residue for biofuel production. The sugarcane crop residue is rich in cellulose and hemicellulose, hence it can be used for the production of bioethanol and other liquid transportation fuels. The present review gives a detailed account of the availability of sugarcane residue and various commercially important products that can be produced from this residue. It also provides recent developments in R&D on the bioconversion of sugarcane crop residue for value added products.