• Energy Research
• 12. Responsible consumption close
• 6. Clean water close
• NL close
• University of Twente close

‘Productive Uses of Energy and gender in the Street Food Sector’, is a title of our four year project which is part of the DFID funded ENERGIA Gender and Energy Research programme. This research focuses on male and female owned micro enterprises preparing and selling food in Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa. This sector provides livelihoods for many women and men in these countries and this project provides the gender and energy nexus analysis. One of the primary goals of this project is to influence energy policy making and implementation in the focus countries.

To reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the European Union (EU) has targets for utilizing energy from renewable sources. By 2030, a minimum of 3.5% of energy in the EU���s transport sector should come from renewable biological sources, such as crop residues. This paper analyzed EU���s ���advanced bioethanol��� potential from wheat straw and maize stover and evaluated its environmental (land, water, and carbon) footprint. We differentiated between gross and net bioethanol output, the latter by subtracting the energy inputs in production. Results suggest that the annual amount of the sustainably harvestable wheat straw and maize stover is 81.9 Megatonnes (Mt) at field moisture weight (65.3 Mt as dry weight), yielding 470 PJ as gross (404 PJ as net) advanced bioethanol output. Calculated net advanced bioethanol can replace 2.95% of EU transport sector���s energy consumption. EU���s advanced bioethanol has a land footprint of 0.28 m2 MJ���1 for wheat straw and 0.18 m2 MJ���1 for maize stover. The average water footprint of advanced bioethanol is 173 L MJ���1 for wheat straw and 113 L MJ���1 for maize stover. The average carbon footprint per unit of advanced bioethanol is 19.4 and 19.6 g CO2eq MJ���1 for wheat straw and maize stover, respectively. Using advanced bioethanol can lead to emission savings, but EU���s advanced bioethanol production potential is insufficient to achieve EU���s target of a minimum share of 3.5% of advanced biofuels in the transport sector by 2030, and the associated water and land footprints are not smaller than footprints of conventional bioethanol.

Ambitious international targets are being developed to protect and restore biodiversity under the Convention on Biological Diversity's post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and the European Union's Green Deal. Yet, the land system consequences of meeting such targets are unclear, as multiple pathways may be able to deliver on the set targets. This paper introduces a novel scenario approach assessing the plural implementations of these targets. The Nature Futures Framework (NFF) developed by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services aims to illustrate the different, positive ways in which society can value nature. It therefore offers a lens through which the spatial implementation of sustainability targets may be envisioned. We used CLUMondo, a spatially explicit model, to simulate plural land system scenarios for Europe for 2050. The model builds on current land system representations of Europe and explores how and where sustainability targets can be implemented under projected population trends and commodity demands. We created three different scenarios in which the sustainability targets are met, each representing an alternative, normative view on nature as represented by the NFF, favoring land systems providing strong climate regulation (Nature for Society), species conservation (Nature for Nature), or agricultural heritage features (Nature as Culture). Our results show that, irrespective of the NFF view, meeting sustainability targets will require European land systems to drastically change, as natural grasslands and forests are forecast to expand while productive areas are projected to undergo a dual intensification and diversification trajectory. Despite each NFF perspective showcasing a similar direction of change, 20% of Europe's land area will differ based on the adopted NFF perspective, with hotspots of disagreement identified in eastern and western Europe. These simulations go beyond existing scenario approaches by not only depicting broad societal developments for Europe, but also by quantifying the land system synergies and trade-offs associated with alternative, archetypal, interpretations and values of how nature may be managed for sustainability. This quantification exemplifies a means towards constructive dialogue, on the one hand by acknowledging areas of contention, and bringing such issues to the fore, and on the other by highlighting points of convergence in a vision for a sustainable Europe.

Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is a technology to generate power from mixing waters with different salinity. The net power density (i.e. power per membrane area) is determined by 1) the membrane potential, 2) the ohmic resistance, 3) the resistance due to changing bulk concentrations, 4) the boundary layer resistance and 5) the power required to pump the feed water. Previous power density estimations often neglected the latter three terms. This paper provides a set of analytical equations to estimate the net power density obtainable from RED stacks with spacers and RED stacks with profiled membranes. With the current technology, the obtained maximum net power density is calculated at 2.7 W/m2. Higher power densities could be obtained by changing the cell design, in particular the membrane resistance and the cell length. Changing these parameters one and two orders of magnitude respectively, the calculated net power density is close to 20 W/m2

Climate change and solar geoengineering have different implications for drought. Climate change can “speed up” the hydrological cycle, but it causesgreater evapotranspiration than the historical climate because of higher temperatures. Solar geoengineering (stratospheric aerosol injection), on the other hand, tends to “slow down” the hydrological cycle while reducing potential evapotranspiration. There are two common definitions of drought that take this into account; rainfall-only (SPI) and potential-evapotranspiration (SPEI). In different regions of Africa, this can result in different versions of droughts for each scenario, with drier rainfall (SPI) droughts under geoengineering and drier potential-evapotranspiration (SPEI) droughts under climate change. However, the societal implications of these different types of drought are not clear. We present a systematic review of all papers comparing the relationship between real-world outcomes (streamflow, vegetation, and agricultural yields) with these two definitions of drought in Africa. We also correlate the two drought definitions (SPI and SPEI) with historical vegetation conditions across the continent. We find that potential-evapotranspiration-droughts (SPEI) tend to be more closely related with vegetation conditions, while rainfall-droughts (SPI) tend to be more closely related with streamflows across Africa. In many regions, adaptation plans are likely to be affected differently by these two drought types. In parts of East Africa and coastal West Africa, geoengineering could exacerbate both types of drought, which has implications for current investments in water infrastructure. The reverse is true in parts of Southern Africa. In the Sahel, sectors more sensitive to rainfall-drought (SPI), such as reservoir management, could see reduced water availability under solar geoengineering, while sectors more sensitive to potential-evapotranspiration-drought (SPEI), such as rainfed agriculture, could see increased water availability under solar geoengineering. Given that the implications of climate change and solar geoengineering futures are different in different regions and also for different sectors, we recommend that deliberations on solar geoengineering include the widest possible representation of stakeholders.

This study addresses the synthesis of sustainability-related considerations in packaging design curricula by means of educational interventions. The core of the research revolves around an educational module for students in packaging design and development. This research targets the current late-stage integration of sustainability considerations in product-packaging development processes. The combination of the front-end involvement of sustainability considerations with the focus on educational interventions in product-packaging development is lacking in currently available research. The educational interventions which are tested in representative educational environments—as presented in this article—address the required focus on the balance in decisions and criteria, trade-offs, and team dynamics within multidisciplinary product-packaging development teams. The educational framework targets five perspectives of packaging sustainability: (1) managerial decision making, (2) life cycle assessment (LCA), (3) consumer purchase behavior, (4) recycling efficiency and effectiveness, and (5) plastic recycling chain redesign. This research’s main contribution is bridging the gap between implementing new scientific insights in the field of sustainable packaging from various perspectives, and practicing by applying the relevant knowledge in this field, by means of a design synthesis approach. This research derives findings from both an extensive introspective analysis and expert analysis of the results of the educational module.

Rice is a staple food crop of India and is grown on 44 Mha (2011–12), 58.6% of which are irrigated. An inevitable phenomenon which looms over all aspects of human life and affects rice production in India is drought. Assessing drought damage using geospatial datasets available in the public domain, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), can provide specific and local ecoregion information for developing drought-resistant rice varieties. Based on multi-temporal NDVI data and field observations in 2009, we developed a methodology to identify and map drought-affected areas in India. A long-term (10-year) average of NDVI during the rainy (kharif) season (June–October) was compared with NDVI from a known drought year (2002–03) to identify changes in rice area. Rainfall data from the Tropical Rainfall Monitoring Mission (TRMM) was used to support the drought analysis. Spectral matching techniques were used to categorise the drought-affected rice areas into three classes – severe, moderate, and mild based on the intensity of damage assessed through field sampling. Based on these ground survey samples, spectral signatures were generated. It was found that the rice area was about 16% less in the drought year (2002–03) than in a normal year (2000–01). A comparison of the MODIS-derived rice area affected by drought in 2002 for each state and district against the difference in the kharif season harvested rice area between 2000 and 2002 (from official statistics) revealed a substantial difference in harvested area in 2002 that was largely attributable to drought. An 84.7% correlation was found between the MODIS-derived drought-affected area in 2002 and the reduction in harvested area from 2000–01 to 2002–03. Good spatial correlation was found between the drought-affected rice areas and reduction of rice harvested areas in different rice ecologies, indicating the usefulness of such geospatial datasets in assessing abiotic stress such as drought and its consequences.

The development of an effective, realistic, and sustainable microbial biorefinery depends on several factors, including as one of the key aspects an adequate selection of microbial strain. The oleaginous red yeast Rhodotorula sp. has been studied as one powerful source for a plethora of high added-value biomolecules, such as carotenoids, lipids, and enzymes. Although known for over a century, the use of Rhodotorula sp. as resource for valuable products has not yet commercialized. Current interests for Rhodotorula sp. yeast have sparked from its high nutritional versatility and ability to convert agro-food residues into added-value biomolecules, two attractive characteristics for designing new biorefineries. In addition, as for other yeast-based bioprocesses, the overall process sustainability can be maximized by a proper integration with subsequent downstream processing stages, for example, by using eco-friendly solvents for the recovery of intracellular products from yeast biomass. This review intends to reflect on the current state of the art of microbial bioprocesses using Rhodotorula species. Therefore, we will provide an analysis of bioproduction performance with some insights regarding downstream separation steps for the extraction of high added-value biomolecules (specifically using efficient and sustainable platforms), providing information regarding the potential applications of biomolecules produced by Rhodotorula sp, as well as detailing the strengths and limitations of yeast-based biorefinery approaches. Novel genetic engineering technologies are further discussed, indicating some directions on their possible use for maximizing the potential of Rhodotorula sp. as cell factories. KEY POINTS: • Rhodotorula sp. are valuable source of high value-added compounds. • Potential of employing Rhodotorula sp. in a multiple product biorefinery. • Future perspectives in the biorefining of Rhodotorula sp. were discussed.