• Energy Research
• 12. Responsible consumption close
• 14. Life underwater close
• CA close

Alcoholism and alcohol abuse represent a significant medical and societal problem, and have been thoroughly investigated in humans as well as using animal models. A less well understood aspect of alcohol related disorders is the possible effect of this drug on offspring whose parents were exposed prior to conception. The zebrafish has been successfully employed in alcohol research, however, the effect of exposing the parents to alcohol before fertilization of the eggs on offspring has not been demonstrated in this species. In this proof of concept study, we attempt to address this hiatus. We exposed both adult male and female zebrafish to 0.0% (control) or 0.5% (vol/vol) alcohol chronically for 7 days, subsequently bred the fish within their respective treatment group, collected the fertilized eggs, allowed them to develop, and tested the behavior of free-swimming offspring at their age of 7-9 days post-fertilization. We conducted the analysis in two genetically distinct quasi-inbred strains of zebrafish, AB and TL. Although gross morphology and general activity of the fish appeared unaffected, we found significant behavioral alterations in offspring of alcohol exposed parents compared to offspring of control parents in both strains. These alterations included robustly increased duration and reduced frequency of immobility, increased turn angle, and increased intra-individual variance of turn angle in offspring of alcohol exposed parents in both strains. The mechanisms underlying these behavioral effects or whether the effects are due to exposure of the father, the mother, or both to alcohol are unknown. Nevertheless, our results now set the stage for future studies with zebrafish that will address these questions.

Interest in biomass to produce heat, power, liquid fuels, hydrogen, and value-added chemicals with reduced greenhouse gas emissions is increasing worldwide. Gasification is becoming a promising technology for biomass utilization with a positive environmental impact. This review focuses speci-fically on woody biomass gasification and recent advances in the field. The physical properties, chemical structure, and composition of biomass greatly affect gasification performance, pretreatment, and handling. Primary and secondary catalysts are of key importance to improve the conversion and cracking of tars, and lime-enhanced gasification advantageously combines CO2 capture with gasification. These topics are covered here, including the reaction mechanisms and biomass characterization. Experimental research and industrial experience are investigated to elucidate concepts, processes, and characteristics of woody biomass gasification and to identify challenges.

Summary The steam alternating solvent (SAS) process involves multiple cycles of steam and solvent (e.g., propane) injected into a horizontal well pair to produce heavy oil. These solvent-based methods entail a smaller environmental footprint with reduced water usage and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the lack of understanding regarding the influences of reservoir heterogeneities, such as shale barriers, remains a significant risk for field-scale predictions. Additionally, the proper design of the process is challenging because of the uncertain heterogeneity distribution and optimization of multiple conflicting objectives. This work develops a novel hybrid multiobjective optimization (MOO) workflow to search a set of Pareto-optimal operational parameters for the SAS process in heterogeneous reservoirs. A set of synthetic homogeneous 2D is constructed using data representative of the Cold Lake reservoir. Next, multiple heterogeneous models (realizations) are built to incorporate complex shale heterogeneities. The resultant set of SAS heterogeneous models is subjected to flow simulation. A detailed sensitivity analysis examines the impacts of shale barriers on SAS production. It is used to formulate a set of operational/decision parameters (i.e., solvent concentration and duration of solvent injection cycles) and the objective functions (cumulative steam/oil ratio and propane retention). The nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) is applied to search for the optimal decision parameters. Different formulations of an aggregated objective function, including average, minimum, and maximum, are used to capture the variability in objectives among the multiple realizations of the reservoir model. Finally, several proxy models are included in the hybrid workflow to evaluate the defined objective functions to reduce the computational cost. Results of the optimization workflow reveal that both the solvent concentration and duration of the solvent injection in the early cycles have significant impacts. It is recommended to inject solvent for longer periods during both the early and late SAS stages. It is also noted that cases with higher objective function values are observed with more heterogeneities. This work offers promising potential to derisk solvent-based technologies for heavy oil recovery by facilitating more robust field-scale decision-making.

Abstract The accumulation of waste biomass and plastic and the inefficient combustion of low-quality coal is a major cause of energy loss and air pollution in rural China. This paper reports for the first time an experimental and multi-perspective analysis on an industrial scale co-pyrolysis of waste biomass and plastic. The results show that the resulting biochar product had a low calorific value of ≥21.0 MJ/kg, which meets the national standard for commercial solid fuel (GB/T 31862–2015). The calorific value of the produced gas was over 10 MJ/m3 and met the requirements of the national standard for residential heating and cooking (GB/T 13612–2006). The products of the co-pyrolysis can replace 1100 t of standard coal per annum, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, sulfur dioxide emissions, smoke, and other contaminants at the rate of 1720 t, 5–6 t, and 320 kg, respectively, as well as reducing smoke pollution. In addition, through the recycling of 750 t of plastic waste per annum for use in the co-pyrolysis, this method can reduce the white pollution of 50–66.7 km2 of farmland in the local area. The present study can guide the optimization of such systems and lead to adequate flexibility in the co-pyrolysis of different wastes to generate economic and socioenvironmental benefits.

Abstract Global environmental change is driven by food production. Biogas from food waste is a better source of clean energy. Ghana’s energy strategy targets a 10% increase in renewable energy and modern biomass in the national electricity generation mix. Studies on the assessment of electricity generation potential and economic feasibility of biogas to electricity projects in Ghana’s major cities are scarcely available. This study assesses the electricity generation potential of biogas from food waste through anaerobic digestion technology. The municipal solid waste generation potential of Accra and Kumasi was estimated from 2020 to 2039. The potential theoretical methane yield from food waste was calculated using Buswell’s equation. The study analyzed anaerobic digestion projects’ economic feasibility using the total life cycle cost, net present value, investment payback period, levelized cost of energy, and internal rate of return methods. A sensitivity analysis based on two scenarios (optimistic and pessimistic) was performed to analyze the influence of changes in the composition of food waste, per capita waste generation rate, population growth rate, per capita GDP growth rate, discount rate, capacity factor, electricity generation efficiency, waste collection efficiency, and methane production potential on the economic feasibility of the projects. The main findings indicate that the amount of waste generation in Accra during the project life cycle is 899,000 t/y to 3,359,000 t/y, while that of Kumasi is 915,000 t/y to 3,159,000 t/y. The power generation potential of the project in Accra ranges from 80.43 to 300.49 GWh/y, and in Kumasi ranges from 60.63 to 209.31 GWh/y. Economically, the project is feasible in Accra and Kumasi. The net present value of the project in Accra and Kumasi is $217,800,000 and $156,100,000. The sensitivity analysis shows that the project is infeasible in all the cities with a discount rate exceeding 20%. When the discount rate exceeds 20%, the project becomes highly infeasible in Accra compared to Kumasi. This study will offer itself as scientific guidance for investment in biogas to electricity projects in Ghana’s cities.

The effect of thermal pre-treatment on sludge anaerobic digestion (AD) efficiency was studied at different total solids (TS) concentrations (20.0, 30.0 and 40.0 g TS/L) and digestion times (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 days) for primary, secondary and mixed wastewater sludge. Moreover, sludge pre-treatment, AD and disposal processes were evaluated based on a mass-energy balance and corresponding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Mass balance revealed that the least quantity of digestate was generated by thermal pre-treated secondary sludge at 30.0 g TS/L. The net energy (energy output-energy input) and energy ratio (energy output/energy input) for thermal pre-treated sludge was greater than control in all cases. The reduced GHG emissions of 73.8 × 10(-3) g CO2/g of total dry solids were observed for the thermal pre-treated secondary sludge at 30.0 g TS/L. Thermal pre-treatment of sludge is energetically beneficial and required less retention time compared to control.

Abstract The building industry has been developing measures for reducing operational emissions in the fight against climate change. Some of these well-intentioned measures may result in higher embodied emissions, potentially more than offsetting reductions achieved during operation. This research evaluates the effectiveness of different levels of application of five passive energy efficiency measures to reduce life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in high-rise residential buildings in Toronto, Canada, while considering projected future climate and GHG intensity of energy sources. Through combining and automating life cycle assessment and energy simulation on a visual programing interface, the study evaluates 16,128 envelope variants, examining 56 wall, 12 roof, 6 window assemblies and 4 window-to-wall ratios (WWRs). Decreasing the WWR is found to be the most effective measure to reduce total envelope related GHG emissions (by about 28%). Increasing wall and roof insulation with GHG intensive materials (e.g., extruded polystyrene [XPS]), and increasing spandrel wall insulation potentially augment total emissions, depending on the scenario. Higher trade-offs between embodied and operational emissions are found when highly efficient electric HVAC systems are implemented (e.g., heat pumps). Results demonstrate it is imperative to assess both embodied and operational emissions during the design process of building envelopes to effectively reduce GHG emissions.

The offshore wind industry is expanding rapidly around the world due to several factors enabling this source of renewable energy. Stronger wind resources in offshore areas, lack of social and geographical constraints related to onshore wind power, the evolution of technology, and increasing demand for electricity in coastal regions as a result of a massive increase in population are some of the factors favoring the use of wind energy. The assessment of the potential global capacity that considers the different economic, environmental, and social factors and the dynamics of market, policy, and technology are vital for estimating the competitiveness of offshore wind energy in the future energy profile. There are several studies and technical reports that evaluate the potential of offshore wind energy in different countries or regions. They used a different source of data, metrics, and quantitative approaches in appraising the potential offshore wind power capacity and its cost efficiency. The critical factors that have been considered are geographical, technical, economic, environmental, and social and market elements. This paper provides a systematic review for analyzing the studies that address the potential offshore wind energy around the world and published during the 2000–2016 period. This study highlights the key criteria for assessing the potential for offshore wind energy deployment and the related tools and methods.

ABSTRACTOur research explores more holistic ways of understanding and creating sustainable enterprises. Enterprises and business school scholars are two primary actors in this research endeavor. Enterprises are moving towards sustainability but with a partial and selective understanding of global sustainability. Business school scholars generally study sustainability in their respective functional areas, such as management, accounting, finance and marketing, with some notable exceptions. We suggest that transdisciplinarity offers a unique real‐world problem‐solving framework that crosses disciplinary boundaries and the academic–practitioner divide. We explore the nature of transdisciplinarity and its application to corporate sustainability. We argue that enterprise sustainability requires trans‐functional, trans‐disciplinary, trans‐stakeholder, trans‐aesthetic and trans‐human knowledge that is possible through transdisciplinarity. We provide an example of transdisciplinary work in art and sustainable enterprise. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment