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Technical and economic developments in battery and fast-charging technologies could soon make fuel cell electric vehicles, which run on hydrogen, superfluous in road transport

Plants are sessile organisms that suffer from a multitude of challenges such as abiotic stress or the interactions with competitors, antagonists and symbionts, which influence their performance as well as their eco-physiological and biochemical responses in complex ways. In particular, the combination of different stressors and their impact on plant biomass production and the plant's ability to metabolically adjust to these challenges are less well understood. To study the effects of mineral nitrogen (N) availability, interspecific competition and the association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on biomass production, biomass allocation patterns (root/shoot ratio, specific leaf area) and metabolic responses, we chose the model organism Plantago lanceolata L. (Plantaginaceae). Plants were grown in a full factorial experiment. Biomass production and its allocation patterns were assessed at harvest, and the influence of the different treatments and their interactions on the plant metabolome were analysed using a metabolic fingerprinting approach with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight-mass spectrometry. Limited supply of mineral N caused the most pronounced changes with respect to plant biomass and biomass allocation patterns, and altered the concentrations of more than one third of the polar plant metabolome. Competition also impaired plant biomass production, yet affected the plant metabolome to a much lesser extent than limited mineral N supply. The interaction of competition and limited mineral N supply often caused additive changes on several traits. The association with AMF did not enhance biomass production, but altered biomass allocation patterns such as the root/shoot ratio and the specific leaf area. Interestingly, we did not find significant changes in the plant metabolome caused by AMF. A targeted analysis revealed that only limited mineral N supply reduced the concentrations of one of the main target defence compounds of P. lanceolata, the iridoid glycoside catalpol. In general, the interaction of competition and limited mineral N supply led to additive changes, while the association with AMF in any case alleviated the observed stress responses. Our results show that the joint analysis of biomass/allocation patterns and metabolic traits allows a more comprehensive interpretation of plant responses to different biotic and abiotic challenges; specifically, when multiple stresses interact.

Global crises such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic do not affect cities uniformly. These crises converge in urban areas and often interact through their primary and secondary impacts with the vulnerability of urban populations. This paper investigates urban development dynamics and socio-environmental vulnerability in a megalopolis in the Global South, São Paulo (Brasil). Our goal is to assess the connections between urbanisation and risk exposure, a gap in vulnerability research when considering climate and health hazards. We implement an innovative mixed methods research design using thematic, hot spots, and survival analysis techniques. Two focus groups at the central and peripheral regions of the city provide qualitative data, while open data sets and COVID-19 case microdata (n= 1,948,601) support the quantitative methods. We find a complex system of relationships between urbanisation and risk exposure. Socioeconomic vulnerability characteristics of the population do not explain exposure entirely but significantly contribute to risk-prone location choices. Additionally, social vulnerability factors such as low income and social segregation are highly concentrated in São Paulo, coinciding with substantial COVID-19 fatality rates during 25 months of the pandemic. Finally, qualitative analysis helps us overcome the limitations of quantitative methods on the intraurban scale, indicating contrasting experiences of resilience and resistance during the health crisis. While the low-income group faced mental health and food security issues, the upper-middle-income sample took advantage of opportunities arising during the pandemic to improve work and well-being. We argue that these results demonstrate potential synergies for climate adaptation and health policies in combating socio-environmental vulnerability at the community scale. Environmental justice is thus paramount for global development agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals, Sendai Framework, and the Paris Agreement.

A new route to synthesize the Mg(NH2)2–2LiH composite is proposed starting from magnesium waste alloy and LiH, after a multi-step treatment. This is an effective way to convert magnesium waste into light weight hydrogen storage materials.

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) During the day, flying animals exploit the environmental energy landscape by seeking out thermal or orographic uplift, or extracting energy from wind gradients.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 However, most of these energy sources are not thought to be available at night because of the lower thermal potential in the nocturnal atmosphere, as well as the difficulty of locating features that generate uplift. Despite this, several bat species have been observed hundreds to thousands of meters above the ground.7, 8, 9 Individuals make repeated, energetically costly high-altitude ascents,10, 11, 12, 13 and others fly at some of the fastest speeds observed for powered vertebrate flight.14 We hypothesized that bats use orographic uplift to reach high altitudes,9,15, 16, 17 and that both this uplift and bat high-altitude ascents would be highly predictable.18 By superimposing detailed three-dimensional GPS tracking of European free-tailed bats (Tadarida teniotis) on high-resolution regional wind data, we show that bats do indeed use the energy of orographic uplift to climb to over 1,600 m, and also that they reach maximum sustained self-powered airspeeds of 135 km h−1. We show that wind and topography can predict areas of the landscape able to support high-altitude ascents, and that bats use these locations to reach high altitudes while reducing airspeeds. Bats then integrate wind conditions to guide high-altitude ascents, deftly exploiting vertical wind energy in the nocturnal landscape.

The results of SeaCH4NGE include a detailed analysis of the chemical composition of seaweeds, including heavy metals and nutritional composition. This elucidated that iodine was the main concern prior to feeding trials. Chemical analysis of the compounds that may be responsible for methane reduction showed that for the seaweeds investigated the reduction seen in-vitro was likely due to compounds called phlorotannins rather than bromoform. The in-vitro screening of the seaweeds showed a some reduction of methane, but the reduction was seaweed species dependent. The reduction was dose dependent, i.e. higher amount of seaweed inclusion resulted in larger methane reduction in-vitro. The same two seaweed species were used for a Rusitec experiment (in-vitro) which is a very comprehensive analysis which provides additional information. The in-vivo trial carried out showed that feeding A. nodosum and Fucus vesiculosus to cattle has a relatively small effect on methane emission or yield. However, phlorotannins are known to have other beneficial effects when consumed by ruminants. The report further contains responses from a questionnaire to UK cattle farmers regarding their stance on seaweed supplementation and environmental matters. This report is closed until 31.12.2023. ____ Niðurstöður SeaCH4NGE fela í sér ítarlega greiningu á efnasamsetningu þangs, þ.m.t þungmálma og næringarsamsetningu. Joð styrkur reyndist helsti takmarkandi þáttur varðandi þang sem fóðurbæti. Líklegt er að sú metan minnkun sem sást með tilraunum á metanframleiðslu á rannsóknarstofu (in vitro) væri vegna efnasambanda sem kallast flórótannín frekar en brómóforms sem er þekkt efni sem getur minnkað metanframleiðslu jórturdýra. In vitro skimun þangsins sýndi hóflega minnkun metans, en lægri metanframleiðsla var háð þangtegundum. Lækkunin var skammtaháð, þ.e.a.s. með því að nota meira magn af þangi mátti sjá meiri metan minnkun in vitro. Sömu tvær þangtegundirnar voru notaðar við Rusitec tilraun (in vitro) sem er mjög yfirgripsmikil greining sem veitir frekari upplýsingar. In-vivo rannsókn á kúm sýndi að fóðrun nautgripa með A. nodosum og Fucus vesiculosus hefur tiltölulega lítil áhrif á losun metans. Hins vegar er vitað að flórótannín hafa önnur jákvæð áhrif þegar þau eru neytt af jórturdýrum. Skýrslan inniheldur einnig könnun sem var gerð á viðhorfi breskra kúabænda til þörungagjafar og loftslagsmála. Þessari skýrsla er lokað til 31.12.2023. Funding: EIT Food

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) No abstract provided.

Accepted version of the final manuscript and data files for import into openLCA There is still a remaining error in the datasets. Please contact the authors before re-using the files This update contains the inventory data as described in the underlying corrigendum to the original publication from 2018 for direct import and re-use in LCA software (JSON-LD format; exported from openLCA). The LCI data are updated to ecoinvent 3.71., and the error in the electrolyte model is corrected (V2O5 content was double in the original dataset, overstimating the corresponding environmental impacts). Import into openLCA using the JSON-LD format should maintain all default providers except those that suffered changes between the ei versions