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The ethanolic fermentation of liquid fractions (hydrolysates) issued from dilute acid pre-treatment of olive tree biomass by Pichia stipitis is reported for the first time. On the one side, P. stipitis has been reported as the most promising naturally occurring C5 fermenting microorganism; on the other side, olive tree biomass is a renewable, low cost, and lacking of alternatives agricultural residue especially abundant in Mediterranean countries. The study was performed in two steps. First, the fermentation performance of P. stipitis was evaluated on a fermentation medium also containing the main inhibitors found in these hydrolysates (acetic acid, formic acid, and furfural), as well as glucose and xylose as carbon sources. The effect of inhibitors, individually or in a mixture, on kinetic and yield parameters was calculated. In a second step, hydrolysates obtained from 1% (w/w) sulfuric acid pre-treatment of olive tree biomass at 190ºC for 10 min were used as a real fermentation medium with the same microorganism. Due to inhibition, effective fermentation required dilution of the hydrolysate and either overliming or activated charcoal treatment. Results show that ethanol yields obtained from hydrolysates, ranging from 0.35 to 0.42 g/g, are similar to those from synthetic medium, although the process proceeds at lower rates. Inhibiting compounds affect the fermentation performance in a synergistic way. Furfural is rapidly assimilated by the yeast; acetic acid and formic acid concentrations decrease slowly during the process. Activated charcoal or overliming detoxification improve the fermentability of diluted hydrolysates.

ABSTRACTPlant heme oxygenases (HOs) regulate biosynthesis of phytochrome which accounts for photo‐acceptance and ‐morphogenesis. Recent studies have demonstrated that plant HOs also regulate many other physiological processes including response to environmental stimuli. To elucidate the mechanism by which HOs regulate plant adaptation to heavy metal exposure, three novel HOs genes were isolated from rapeseed (Brassica napus) and their expression patterns were analysed. Alignment of deduced protein sequences revealed that the three BnHOs share high identity with their corresponding orthologos (AtHO1‐3) from Arabidopsis. To investigate whether the BnHO regulates plant tolerance to Hg toxicity, we constructed B. napus transgenic plants overexpressing BnHO‐1. Under Hg stress, the transgenic plants had 1.41–1.59 folds higher biomass than the untransformants. However, overexpression of BnHO‐1 resulted in less accumulation of Hg in some lines of transformants than in untransformants. The transgenic plants show lower abundance of reactive oxygen species and attenuated oxidative injury compared with the untransgenic plants. We cloned the promoter sequences of BnHO‐1 from B. napus. Analysis revealed that the 1119 bp fragment contains a conserved Cd responsive element (CdRE) and others responding to multiple environmental stimuli. Transient expression in tobacco leaves showed differential responses to heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Pb, Hg and Cd).

This article examines land-use, market and welfare implications of lignocellulosic bioethanol production in Hawaii to satisfy 10% and 20% of the State's gasoline demand in line with the State's ethanol blending mandate and Alternative Fuels Standard (AFS). A static computable general equilibrium (CGE) model is used to evaluate four alternative support mechanisms for bioethanol. Namely: (i) a federal blending tax credit, (ii) a long-term purchase contract, (iii) a state production subsidy financed by a lump-sum tax and (iv) a state production subsidy financed by an ad valorem gasoline tax. We find that because Hawaii-produced bioethanol is relatively costly, all scenarios are welfare reducing for Hawaii residents: estimated between -0.14% and -0.32%. Unsurprisingly, Hawaii.s economy and its residents fair best under the federal blending tax credit scenario, with a positive impact to gross state product of $49 million. Otherwise, impacts to gross state product are negative (up to -$63 million). We additionally find that Hawaii-based bioethanol is not likely to offer substantial greenhouse gas emissions savings in comparison to imported biofuel, and as such the policy cost per tonne of emissions displaced ranges between $130 to $2,100/tonne of CO2e. The policies serve to increase the value of agricultural lands, where we estimate that the value of pasture land could increase as much as 150% in the 20% AFS scenario.

Abstract In this paper, the prevention of negative technogenic impact on the environment of oil sludge by using it as a secondary resource is considered. Oil sludge from various objects of oil fields in Kazakhstan (Mangystau region) has been studied. The possibilities of using oil (after its separation from oil sludge by bioremidiation) as a partial substitute for bitumen base in the production of modified bitumen are considered. The main physical and mechanical characteristics of modified bitumen are determined. The results confirm that the modified bitumen prepared with oil sludge and oil separated by bioremiation method meets the requirements for polymer-bitumen binder to Kazakhstan standards and is suitable for the production of modified bitumen in its physico-chemical characteristics.

Progressive urban density affects city centers especially and results in growing congestion, lack of parking spaces, and increasing environmental costs of transportation, causing increased air pollutant emissions and noise. These phenomena reduce the attractiveness of the city and result in a degradation of the quality of life for its residents. In light of these phenomena, there is a clear need for intelligent management of urban space using new technologies that would be complementary to existing intelligent transportation systems. Expanding information resources obtained from mobile cameras will have a positive impact on increasing the efficiency of transportation management and use of limited space in city centers. It will also have an impact on reducing external transport costs and increasing the quality of logistics services provided in the city. The main aim of the paper is to develop a concept of a transport management system in cities using mobile vision systems mounted on unmanned aerial vehicles. The model will concern the cases of lane occupation by freight vehicles and the analysis of parking spaces in the city in order to improve their management. The results of the developed model will contribute to the automation of the parking space management process and increase the efficiency of the use of city parking space resources.

Sustainable electricity generation is one of the major current challenges for our society. In this context, the evolution of nanomaterials and nanotechnologies has enabled the fabrication of microscopic devices to produce clean energy from a great variety of renewable sources. To expand the possibilities of energy generation, we have designed and fabricated bioinorganic generators capable to produce electricity by conversion of chemical energy from renewable fuel sources. Unlike traditional generators, the systems described herein produce mechanical energy through enzyme-driven gas production which generates vibration and pressure that are thus converted into electricity by the action of a piezoelectric component properly integrated into the device. Our generators are able to produce an electric ernergy from different renewable sources like glucose, ethanol, and amino acids, attaining energy outputs around 250 nJ cm–2 and reaching maximum open-circuit voltages of up to 1 V. In addition, the produced energy can be easily regulated by adjusting both enzyme and fuel concentration which can tune the electrical output according to the application. The systems described herein propose a new concept for self-sufficient energy harvesting that bridges biocatalysis and piezoelectricity, where the energy production is based on the piezoelectric effect triggered by enzymatic action rather than on the enzyme-driven electron transfer that governs biofuel cells. Although the electric output is too low yet to be considered an alternative for energy production, this technology opens the door to power small devices. We envision the utilization of this technology in such remote locations where mechanical energy is lacking but there are chemical energy reservoirs. We would like to acknowledge Marie-Curie Actions (NANOBIENER project), IKERBASQUE foundation for funding F.L.-G., and the support of COST Action CM1303 Systems Biocatalysis. We also acknowledge HERGAR foundation for the funding. Peer reviewed

Abstract Separating the effects of environmental factors and spatial distance on microbial composition is difficult when these factors covary. We examined the composition of ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi along elevation gradients on geographically distant mountains to clarify the effect of climate at the regional scale. Soil cores were collected from various forest types along an elevation gradient in southwestern Japan. Fungal species were identified by the internal transcribed spacer regions of the rDNA using direct sequencing. The occurrence of fungal species in this study was compared with a previous study conducted on a mountain separated by ∼550 km. In total, we recorded 454 EM fungi from 330 of 350 soil cores. Forty-seven fungal species (∼20% of the total excluding singletons) were shared between two mountains, mostly between similar forest types on both mountains. Variation partitioning in redundancy analysis revealed that climate explained the largest variance in EM fungal composition. The similarity of forest tree composition, which is usually determined by climatic conditions, was positively correlated with the similarity of the EM fungal composition. However, the lack of large host effects implied that communities of forest trees and EM fungi may be determined independently by climate. Our data provide important insights that host plants and mutualistic fungi may respond to climate change idiosyncratically, potentially altering carbon and nutrient cycles in relation to the plant–fungus associations.

AbstractElevated CO2 concentration has been reported to decrease grain nutrient concentrations and thus worsen nutritional deficiency and hidden hunger. One nutritional aspect is mineral content, yet mineral bioavailability can be limited by the presence of phytic acid. Given that future climate scenarios predict elevated global temperature driven by elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations, we used Temperature by Free‐Air CO2 Enrichment (T‐FACE) field experiments to investigate whether elevated temperature alters the effects of elevated CO2 on grain mineral concentrations, grain mineral yields, and their bioavailability in a range of wheat and rice genotypes. We found that the negative effects of elevated CO2 were compensated for by positive effects of elevated temperature. As a result, the combined elevated CO2 and elevated temperature increased concentrations of some minerals by up to ~15% in both rice and wheat relative to control conditions. Moreover, the combined elevated CO2 and elevated temperature did not significantly change total yields of some minerals despite lower grain yields. The combined CO2 and temperature elevation increased phytic acid concentration in rice by 18.1% but decreased it in wheat by 3.5%. The mineral bioavailability, estimated as the mole ratio of phytic acid to minerals in rice and wheat grains, was limited by the combined CO2 and temperature elevation in only a few cases. Our results indicate that under future climate conditions of elevated temperature and CO2, the nutritional quality of rice and wheat with respect to minerals may remain unchanged.