• Energy Research
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Abstract Breakthrough alternative technologies are urgently required to alleviate the critical need to decarbonise our energy supply. We showcase non-conventional approaches to battery and solar energy conversion and storage (ECS) system designs that harness key attributes of immiscible electrolyte solutions, especially the membraneless separation of redox active species and ability to electrify certain liquid–liquid interfaces. We critically evaluate the recent development of membraneless redox flow batteries based on biphasic systems, where one redox couple is confined to an immiscible ionic liquid or organic solvent phase, and the other couple to an aqueous phase. Common to all solar ECS devices are the abilities to harvest light, leading to photo-induced charge carrier separation, and separate the products of the photo-reaction, minimising recombination. We summarise recent progress towards achieving this accepted solar ECS design using immiscible electrolyte solutions in photo-ionic cells, to generate redox fuels, and biphasic “batch” water splitting, to generate solar fuels.

The goal of this study is to determine the difference in CO2 emissions between 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, more specifically during lockdown periods during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the beginning of the pandemic, most countries were forced into lockdowns, and a countless number of people had to continue their daily work from home in isolation. Previously, people would go to an office or to school and leave their houses empty for eight hours, without having lights or any electronics on. Because of this, there should be a direct correlation between electricity usage before and during lockdowns, as a private residence should have higher electricity consumption during 2020-2021, when they are at home. Using machine learning, we will investigate to see if COVID-19 affected CO2 emissions as a result of more electricity usage in private residences. A model will be made to predict what the CO2 emissions would be for 2019-2020, based on electricity usage data from 2020-2021. Then, the real CO2 emissions from 2019-2020 will be compared with the model’s predicted values, and the difference will indicate if COVID-19 caused an inconsistency between actual and predicted CO2 emissions. Factors that were taken into account when making a model were independent variables relating to outdoor conditions, the number of people living in the house, and the temperature that the thermostat is set at, making the response variable CO2 emissions.

<p>Farmers all over the world spend millions of dollars to partially control plant diseases that attack their crops using agrochemicals that pollute the environment. Plant diseases reduces crop yield, quality and shelf life. Enhancing the inherent ability of plants to resist diseases using elicitors and minerals is one of the neglected, sustainable, low cost and environmental friendly approaches to ensure the continued supply of food and fiber.Therefore the aim of this paper is to evaluate the composition of the elicitors and minerals in autoclaved and unautoclaved water extract of Pleurotus osteratus spent mushroom substrate and the effects of its application on the management of African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV), growth and yield of cassava. The treatments for this investigation comprised of Pleurotus osteratus water extract spent mushroom substrate (POWESMS), Pleurotus osteratus autoclaved spent mushroom substrate (POAWESMS) and untreated cassava plants as control. The mineral compositions and the elicitors in the treatments were evaluated using standard procedures. The data generated were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) at (p=0.05). The results obtained from this investigation revealed significant differences in the values of resistant elicitors and minerals. Significant differences were also recorded for the growth, yield parameters and disease severity evaluated at 4 weeks interval. The results showed that unautoclaved water extract performed significantly better than the autoclaved in reducing ACMD severity which did not translate to higher crop yield.</p>

The use of pesticides and fertilizers in agricultural practice is the main source of soil and groundwater contamination. S-Triazines are among the herbicides most used in the world for selective weed control in several types of crops. The homeostatic capability of an agroecosystem to remove a triazinic herbicide, simazine, was assessed in microcosms treated with the herbicide in presence/absence of urea fertilizer. The latter, as well as a fertilizer, is also one of the last by-products before simazine mineralization. The biodegradation, in terms of disappearance of 50% of the initial concentration (DT50), was compared to the degradation and metabolite formation occurring in sterilized soil. Moreover, the bacterial community response was assessed in terms of abundance and community structure by the epifluorescence direct count method and fluorescence in situ hybridization, respectively. The results show that the microbial community has a primary role in simazine degradation and that this process is due to the presence of a microbial pool working in succession and of which the metabolism may be modulated by exogenous sources of nitrogen, like urea. The latter influences the degradative pathway with a greater formation and accumulation of the desethyl simazine metabolite, which is a hazardous contaminant of soil and groundwater ecosystems, as well as its parent compound.