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Wood biomass is turned into industrial fuel through chipping. The efficiency of chipping depends on many factors, including chipper knife wear. Chipper knife wear was determined through a long-term follow-up study, conducted at a waste wood recycling yard. Knife wear determined a sharp drop of productivity (>20%) and a severe decay in product quality. Dry sharpening with a grinder mitigated this effect, but it could not replace proper wet sharpening. Increasing the frequency of wet sharpening sessions determined a moderate increase of knife depreciation cost, but it could drastically enhance machine performance and reduce biomass processing cost. Since benefits largely exceed costs, increasing the frequency of wet sharpening sessions may be an effective measure for reducing overall chipping cost. If the main goal of a chipper operator is to increase productivity and/or decrease fuel consumption, then managing knife wear should be a primary target. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

It is recognised that several constraints such as the lack of knowledge and expertise of farmers, land users and policy makers concerning agroforestry systems establishment and management hamper the adoption of agroforestry systems (Camilli et al. 2017). AFINET project acts at EU level in order to direct research results into practice and promote innovative ideas to face challenges and solve practitioners' problems. AFINET proposes an innovative methodology based on the creation of a European Interregional Network, linking different Regional Agroforestry Innovation Networks (RAINs). RAINs represent different climatic, geographical, social and cultural conditions and enclose a balanced representation of the key actors with complementary types of expertise (farmers, policy makers, advisory services, extension services, etc.). The Italian RAIN is focused on the Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) value chain, with the main aim to promote agroforestry management of local olive orchards. Olive trees are still managed traditionally, often in marginal sites, with minimal mechanization and relatively low external inputs such as chemical treatments in comparison to other crops. The presence of permanent crops (olive trees) guarantees a partially tree cover reducing hydrogeological risk. Soil management usually keeps natural grassing reducing soil carbon emission and increasing soil fertility (Bateni et al. 2017). Intercropping with cereals and/or fodder legumes and livestock can also be practiced in olive orchards, increasing the complexity of the olive tree multifunctional system. Moreover, olive orchards can be managed as agroforestry systems since they can be intercropped with arable crops (cereals, legumes) and/or combined with livestock (sheep, poultry). The RAIN process, involving local stakeholders, highlighted the main bottlenecks of the EVOO value chain related to communication and dissemination of knowledge, technical and management aspects, market and policy. In order to contrast bottlenecks and exploit opportunities of the olive oil supply chain, the identified innovations are: i) adoption of best practices: testing and experimenting innovative agroforestry systems introducing different crop/animals species and varieties; ii) improve the management of the olive orchards: encouraging and increasing the organic production; iii) valorisation of olive processing residues: identifying and testing innovative products (bio-materials, olive paste as example); iv) arise the awareness among consumers: educating people about the benefits of olive oil consumption, creating networks among stakeholders, improving marketing and commercialization. Creating a Bio-district, defined as a geographical area where farmers, citizens, tourist operators, associations and public authorities enter into an agreement for the sustainable management of local resources, emerged a powerful tool to implement the innovation in the local EVOO value chain.

Wet-laying is a mature technology that is applied in large scale for the manufacture of nonwovens, including paper products. However, it usually uses large volumes of water and is energy-intensive. Here we used foam-laying to substantially diminish the volume of water consumed in the formation of fiber networks (5-fold reduction) and to reduce the water content of the nonwovens produced before drying, achieving a reduced energy demand. The prospects of foam-laying were evaluated by comparing foam-laid and wet-laid webs of two types of wood fibers: stiff (lignin-containing) or flexible (lignin-free). Also, the effect of foaming agent type (anionic, cationic, nonionic, and amphoteric) was elucidated. Reference webs were produced by conventional wet-laying, with or without surfactants. Foam-laying was effective in producing a more uniform areal mass distribution (better formation) after wet-pressing. This effect was more evident for the webs synthesized with the flexible fibers. Unlike the layered network structures that were obtained by wet-laying, foam-laid webs exhibited a more felted network, with fibers positioned in the out-of-plane direction. As a result, higher air permeability, web porosity, and light scattering coefficients were measured for the foam-laid webs. The enhanced porosity (lower density) was related to the effect of bubbles during foam-laying and the reduction in surface tension of the foamed-fiber dispersion. The resistance to delamination of low-density webs obtained by foam-laying in the out-of-plane direction was preserved. However, the reduction in tensile strength and modulus of foam-laid webs were determined, owing to the reduced density of the formed structures. Notably, the type of foaming agent used played a minor role as far as the resultant properties of the webs, making the process flexible in terms of the selection of environmentally friendly alternatives. Overall, we compared the physico-mechanical properties of fiber networks formed by web- and foam-laying, depending on fiber type and foaming agent, yielding a property space that is useful in the design of lightweight structures (nonwovens, including paper). The prospects of water and energy savings by foam-laying are the major benefits in the sustainable use of fibers for the assembly of porous materials, such as lightweight nonwoven and paper products.

This paper presents a preliminary study of the characterization of real waste from slaughterhouses as well as their rendering products (protein and fat) through different pyrolytic techniques: thermogravimetric analysis (TG), analytical pyrolysis in a pyroprobe equipment and hydrothermal liquefaction process (HTL). The experiments have allowed a deeper knowledge about the thermal behavior of these wastes under different conditions: slow pyrolysis up to 800°C (TG), flash pyrolysis at 500°C and room pressure (pyroprobe) and slow pyrolysis at 290°C and 110-130bar (HTL batch reactor). Experiments with each one of the materials (real waste, PAP and fat) as well as some mixtures have been performed. Gas chromatography and mass spectrometry techniques were used to identify the pyrolytic products obtained. The results indicate that fatty acids and fatty esters are the major group obtained in the pyrolysis of fat samples, followed by aliphatic hydrocarbons. In the case of PAP pyrolysis, heterocyclic aromatic compounds, which includes typical products coming from protein degradation, is the major group obtained. Oxygenated aliphatics are also obtained in high amounts. In the case of the HTL experiments, significant glycerine amounts were detected in the aqueous phase. The yield of biocrude obtained under HTL conditions is about 30%, with a high proportion of nitrogenated compounds (amides, pyrrole and pyridine derivatives). Generation of amides is much higher under HTL conditions than in the analytical pyrolysis runs while the proportion of acids is reduced.

As part of the EU H2020 Blue-Cloud project activities are undertaken for developing and deploying a Blue-Cloud cyber infrastructure with smart federation of multidisciplinary data repositories, analytical tools, and computing facilities. This infrastructure will facilitate exploration and demonstration of the potential of cloud based open science, supporting research for understanding and better managing the many aspects of ocean sustainability, ranging from sustainable fisheries to ecosystem health to pollution, in support of the EU Green Deal and also in connection with UN Decade of the Oceans and G7 Future of the Oceans initiatives. This document provides an initial version and guidance towards the delivery of a final Blue-Cloud Service Exploitation and Sustainability Plan for the Blue-Cloud assets. While these Blue-Cloud assets are still under development, the process of defining the way forward for their future exploitation after Project end (2022) will benefit from an early consideration and discussion, engaging all Project Partners. Also, additional input from external stakeholder dialogue and consultations as being undertaken in the framework of the Blue-Cloud Roadmap to 2030 development needs to be taken into account. The Roadmap analyses will provide recommendations for the future capitalization and further development of the results of the Blue-Cloud Project in the medium (2025) and long-term (2030). This document is the first release of the Blue-Cloud Service Exploitation and Sustainability Plan and it gives present understanding as well as will serve as guiding framework for further analyses, discussion, and identifying the key elements that will need to be addressed during the remainder of the Project with input and feedback from all Partners. This process should deliver the 2nd and final release of the Blue-Cloud Service Exploitation and Sustainability Plan by July 2022. The goal of the final Blue-Cloud Service Exploitation and Sustainability Plan is at one hand, to define an exploitation model and to secure with partners the operation and exploitation of the Blue-Cloud results in the 3 years following the project end, and on the other hand, to explore and pave the way to longer sustainability, supported by major stakeholders. For the latter there is clear synergy and interaction with the Blue-Cloud Roadmap 2030 development. Moreover, sustainability perspectives will motivate partners to ensure and commit to the planned short-term operation and exploitation. The path to definition of the Blue-Cloud sustainability model is a process founded on 3 main pillars, supported by the project outcomes and research results and obtained with a consortium-wide commitment: Pillar 1: problem/solution fit and vision/solution fit of the Blue-Cloud framework ��� demonstrating ability to solve needs of target end-users, moving up the MRL (Market Readiness Level) scale to show proof of traction. This pillar is equivalent to MRL 5 and 6 ("open beta with pipeline customers" and "market traction"). Pillar 2: demonstrating customer understanding of Blue-Cloud, gathering evidence of satisfaction through validation scoring and marketing evidence of concrete benefits gained (e.g. testimonials from pilots and their users; subsequently through the open pilot stream). Equivalent to MRL 7 ("proof of satisfaction: both for customers and within the team"). Pillar 3: Proof of scalability with evidence of satisfied market needs and evidence of willingness to cover resources needed for a post-project continuation of services. Equivalent to MRL8 ("proof of scalability") demonstrated through the Blue-Cloud joint exploitation plan. Throughout its duration, Blue-Cloud will seek for demonstration of early market traction, which it will subsequently transform into a business plan. For this purpose, the current workplan of the Blue-Cloud project includes not only scientific and technical developments on the planned Blue-Cloud services, but also extensive activities for marketing and promotion of the Blue-Cloud assets to all major stakeholders, from project partners, targeted users, and potential funders. This includes activities for evaluating the defined MRL through KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) on the market penetration and the fitness of the market model for establishing a stable position, demonstrating incremental growth and anticipated added-values and impacts. Therefore, this initial Blue-Cloud Service Exploitation and Sustainability Plan identifies and describes all elements which are considered relevant. Also, it identifies where further activities are needed to provide firm answers and decisions. The document starts with describing the overall methodology and process that have been followed to prepare this plan, making optimal use of the Horizon Result Booster (HRB) instrument of the EU and provided business consultancy services, while engaging all Blue-Cloud beneficiaries in the process. It continues with sketching the European marine data landscape and the foreseen position of the Blue-Cloud platform and its services. The overall aims and concept are formulated, and a description is given of the planned Blue-Cloud services, the so-called Key Exploitable Results (KER). Next, an initial market analysis is worked out, reporting on the results of a Joint Workshop with Blue-Cloud beneficiaries to draft a Lean Canvas Business Model, and identifying different Blue-Cloud stakeholders and their interest and potential benefits. This is followed by giving an overview of the Marketing Media Mix (MMM), an extensive portfolio of marketing and promotion activities, which is applied in the Blue-Cloud project, since its start, to reach out to potential stakeholders and to make them aware and informed about the Blue-Cloud developments and resulting services and to collect KPIs relevant for the three pillars (see above). The next chapter looks into the organization of management and operation of each of the planned Blue-Cloud services and the associated roles and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of beneficiaries. Although this is still premature, since the majority of Blue-Cloud services are under development, whereby the organisation of their exploitation is still to be determined. Next, categories of costs for the exploitation phase are explored, followed by assessing the expected added-values and impacts of the Blue-Cloud services for different stakeholders and considering ways for measuring these as KPIs. Overall, the Blue-Cloud philosophy is not to aim for commercial services, but for public services, which are valued and appreciated by authorities, such as EU and Member States as major stakeholders, in a positive balance. This requires achieving success towards potential users and collecting convincing evidence of usage and impacts (see three pillars above). Aligned with this, another interactive Joint Workshop with all Blue-Cloud beneficiaries was held to brainstorm about these added-values and impacts and ways for monitoring. Finally, a draft is given of the initial exploitation and sustainability strategy and a summary of actions, which need to be deployed in the remaining project period in order to provide further answers and insights. This initial Services Exploitation and Sustainability Plan makes use of a number of already available Blue-Cloud deliverables [1], [2], [3], and [4], and the insights that these provide. Also use is made of the discussions between Blue-Cloud WP6 core partners in their regular WP6 meetings. And a lot of synergy is found in the activities and discussions for formulating a Blue-Cloud Roadmap 2030 with ambitions for the medium and long term, and organising input and engagement from major stakeholders for a future upscaling and funding of the Blue-Cloud services, aiming for a long-term sustainability and expansion of the Blue-Cloud initiative, e.g. by means of a portfolio of EU funded projects and synergies with other projects and initiatives. Complementary, the Blue-Cloud exploitation and sustainability plan is aiming for making arrangements for securing the short term (3 years after the project) with an outlook to the medium term. For that reason, the Blue-Cloud Service Exploitation and Sustainability Plan aims for developing a set of agreements between the respective Blue Cloud operators, in which they will guarantee that each of the Blue-Cloud services will be kept operational and available for use by researchers for at least 3 years after the Blue-Cloud project end, under prevailing conditions. However, currently there are still a number of questions which need to be answered as part of planned project activities. These should give sufficient input for completing the exploitation and sustainability insights and upgrading this initial plan into a final plan, Deliverable D6.5, as planned later near the end of the Blue-Cloud project.

Abstract Agriculture in the Black Sea catchment is responsible for a considerable share of the area's total water withdrawal and the majority of its total water consumption. It therefore plays a key role in sustainable water resources management. However, in the future water resources will be exposed to climate change. This assessment aims at identifying the most vulnerable regions and to explain the reasons of this vulnerability. It is based on a combination of the well-known Driver–Pressure–State–Impact–Response framework (DPSIR) and the vulnerability concept as defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Three distinctive climate change scenarios are used to assess their impacts on water resources for agriculture: (1) an increase in temperature; (2) a decrease in precipitation; and (3) a combination of the first and second scenarios. The data for this assessment is derived from a SWAT model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool). The results show that the regions of the Black Sea catchment are impacted by climate change differently. Some countries benefit from climate change (e.g., Turkey, Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Bulgaria) while others will encounter considerably worse agro-climatic conditions in the future (e.g., Montenegro, Austria, Bosnia–Herzegovina). Additionally, natural plant growth conditions mostly improve due to more suitable temperature conditions. In contrast, the deteriorating agricultural conditions mainly result from a diminishing irrigation potential that is caused by reduced precipitation. The conclusion emphasises the important role of the legal framework as well as more sustainable agronomic practices and proposes improvements for future assessment methods in this research field.

Forest biomass is one of the main contributors to the EU's renewable energy target of 20% gross final energy consumption in 2020 (Renewable Energy Directive). Following the RED, new sustainability principles are launched by the European energy sector, such as the Initiative Wood Pellet Buyers (IWPB or SBP). The aim of our study is the investigation of the quantitative impacts from IWPB's principles for forest biomass for energy only. We deploy a bottom up method that quantifies the supplies and the costs from log harvest until forest chip delivery at a domestic consumer. We have a reference situation with existing national (forest) legislation and voluntary certification schemes (scenario 1) and a future situation with additional criteria based on the IWPB principles (scenario 2). Two country studies were selected for our (2008) survey: one in Finland with nearly 100% certification and one in Leningrad province with a minor areal share of certification in scenario 1. The sustainable potential of forest resources for energy is about 54 Mm3 (385 PJ) in Finland and about 13.5 Mm3 (95 PJ) in Leningrad in scenario 1 without extra criteria. The potential volumes reduce considerably by maximum 43% respectively 39% after new criteria from the IWPB, like a minimum use of sawlogs, stumps and slash for energy, and by an increased area of protected forests (scenario 2A Maximum extra restrictions). In case sawlogs can be used, but instead ash recycling is applied after a maximum stump and slash recovery (scenario 2B Minimum extra restrictions), the potential supply is less reduced: 5% in Finland and 22% in Leningrad region. The estimated reference costs for forest chips are between €18 and €45 solid m-3 in Finland and between €7 and €33 solid m-3 in the Leningrad region. In scenario 2A, the costs will mainly increase by €7 m-3 for delimbing full trees (Finland), and maximum €0.3 m-3 for suggested improved forest management (Leningrad region). In scenario 2B, when ash recycling is applied, costs increase by about €0.3 to €1.6 m-3, depending on the rate of soil contamination. This is an increase of 2%, on top of the costs in scenario 2A.

This study performs an exploratory comparative evaluation of various animal and vegetable protein and lipid sources, used as feed in the aquaculture industry. The ingredients studied include fishmeal (FM) and fish oil (FO) from fisheries by-products, meal and fat by-products from poultry slaughter, FM and FO from Peruvian anchovy capture, and soybean meal and oil. The boundaries studied include the production or capture, the ingredient processing unit and the transport to the unit that processes the ingredients into aquafeeds in Portugal. The LCA impact assessment method is the CML-IA baseline V3.04/EU25 and the results were obtained for the characterisation step. Some of the inventory data were collected from a Portuguese company (Savinor) that processes both by-products from local fisheries and by-products from poultry production. Savinor provided data specifically associated with the ingredients’ production. Obtained data were complemented with literature data from: fish capture and poultry production. Inventory data for the production of ingredients from Peruvian anchovy and soybeans were retrieved from literature. It was assumed that the transport of the ingredients produced from Peruvian anchovy, between Lima and Rotterdam, is made in a transoceanic vessel, and it is considered a transport by truck between Rotterdam and Ovar, for soybean ingredients and FM/FO produced from Peruvian anchovy. This paper shows that poultry meal and poultry fat from poultry slaughter by-products have the larger contribution to all environmental impact categories evaluated, being the production of poultry the life cycle stage that contributes most to the overall categories. On the other hand, FM and FO from Peruvian anchovy were the ingredients with a lower contribution to all impact categories, except for abiotic depletion category, for FM from Peruvian anchovy, and abiotic depletion, abiotic depletion (fossil fuels) and ozone layer depletion for FO from Peruvian anchovy. For these categories, soybean meal and oil had lower impacts, respectively. The ingredients were compared by classes (protein and lipid sources). A general conclusion is that soybean meal and oil and FM/FO from Peruvian anchovy appear to be very interesting options for aquafeeds from an LCA perspective. However, some limitations identified for this study, as, for instance, that it does not account for the environmental benefits associated with the use of the mentioned by-products, that would otherwise be considered wastes (i.e. by-products from the fish canning sector and poultry slaughter) shall be evaluated in future studies.

This review gathers information about the current legal requirements related to the emission of ammonia and greenhouse gases from animal housing in 21 out of the 28 EU countries and in 5 non-EU countries. Overall the review shows that most of the included countries have established substantial procedures to limit ammonia emission and practically no procedures to limit greenhouse gas emission. The review can also be seen as an introduction to the substantial initiatives and decisions taken by the EU in relation to ammonia emission from animal housing, and as a notification on the absence of corresponding initiatives and decisions in relation to greenhouse gases. An EU directive on industrial emissions from 2010 and an implementation decision from 2017 are the main general instruments to reduce ammonia emission from animal housing in the EU. These treaties put limits to ammonia emissions from installations with more than 2000 places for fattening pigs, with more than 750 places for sows and with more than 40,000 places for poultry. As an example, the upper general limit for fattening pigs is 2.6 kg ammonia per animal place per year. This review indicates that the important animal producing countries in the EU have implemented the EU requirements, and, that only a few countries with a large pig population, in relation to their geographical size, have implemented requirements that are stricter than what is required by the EU.

The EU policy of reducing the emissions of combustion generated pollutants entails climate induced deterioration to become more important. Moreover, products applied to preserve outdoor built heritage and their preliminary performance tests often turn out to be improper. In such context, the paper reports the outcomes of the methodology adopted to assess the durability and efficiency of nano-based consolidating products utilized for the conservation of carbonate artworks, performing field exposure tests on Carrara marble model samples in different sites in the framework of the EC Project NANOMATCH. Surface properties and cohesion, extent and penetration of the conservative products and their interactions with marble substrates and environmental conditions are here examined after outdoor exposure for eleven months in four different European cities and compared with the features of undamaged and of untreated damaged specimens undergoing the same exposure settings.