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AbstractSlaughterhouses generate highly polluted effluents, and if not treated before discharge can cause major adverse environmental and public health impacts. Treatment of this waste by anaerobic digestion can reduce those impacts while producing a potentially valuable source of energy. The purpose of this study was to investigate this process efficiency under pilot operating conditions for a more accurate scaling up. Blood waste from a slaughterhouse was treated in a pilot‐scale digester of 30 dm3 total volume under mesophilic temperature conditions. Operating parameters such as pH, alkalinity, organic loading, volatile fatty acids, biogas composition, total and volatile solids were monitored in order to study the behavior of the fermentation process. The results show that no significant inhibition were caused by the accumulation of volatile fatty acids, due to the high buffering capacity of treated sludge. An efficient reduction of organic matter was obtained with a COD decrease of about 67% within 40 days of fermentation. The biogas produced was of a good quality with high CH4 yields (above 70%) and low CO2 yields, corresponding to a biomethane potential of 225.9 dm3 CH4/kg TVS. Logistic model described accurately the methane production kinetic and enables an easy process scaling up for industrial applications.

AbstractThe co‐occurrence of chronic pain and alcohol use disorders (AUDs) involves complex interactions between genetic and neurophysiological aspects, and the research has reported mixed findings when they both co‐occur. There is also an indication of a gender‐dependent effect; males are more likely to use alcohol to cope with chronic pain problems than females. Recently, a new conceptualization has emerged, proposing that the negative affective component of pain drives and maintains alcohol‐related behaviors. We studied in a longitudinal fashion alterations in alcohol drinking patterns and pain thresholds in a mouse model of chronic neuropathic pain in a sex‐dependent manner. Following partial denervation (spared nerve injury [SNI]), stimulus‐evoked pain responses were measured before chronic alcohol consumption, during drinking, during a deprivation phase, and following an episode of excessive drinking. During the course of alcohol drinking, we observed pronounced sex differences in pain thresholds. Male mice showed a strong increase in pain thresholds, suggesting an analgesic effect induced by alcohol over time, an effect that was not observed in female mice. SNI mice did not differ from sham‐operated controls in baseline alcohol consumption. However, following a deprivation phase and the reintroduction of ethanol, male SNI mice but not female mice showed more pronounced excessive drinking than controls. Finally, we observed decreased central ethanol sensitivity in male SNI mice but not in females. Together with our finding, that ethanol is able to decrease a pain‐induced negative affective memory we come to following conclusion. We propose that a lower sensitivity to the intoxicating effects of alcohol together with the ability of alcohol to reduce the negative affective component of pain may explain the higher co‐occurrence of AUD in male chronic pain patients.

Abstract Biodiesel has gained the forefront of our focus on renewable transportation fuels. This article provides a comprehensive review on the sources used as feedstock and their classification based on generation or type (edible, non-edible, waste resources and animal fats) along with a variety of classical and modern oil extraction techniques. The technical aspects of the various biodiesel production methods currently implemented to the best of our knowledge are discussed here, which include in-situ biodiesel production, both catalysed (homogeneous and heterogeneous systems) and uncatalysed classical production approaches, with emphasis on how each of these approaches are affected by their reaction parameters. The review also highlights the observed drawbacks of each process with a view to assessing the implementation of supercritical and superheated technologies as an alternative, economically feasible advancement. Supercritical process (SCP) has shown great prospect in the obtainment of high quality biodiesel from a wide range of high to low grade feedstock with minimal impacts on the presence of water or FFAs (free fatty acids). From available literature it is shown that these do not affect the process significantly, and various other supercritical fluids such as methyl acetate, tert-butyl methyl ether (MTBE) and dimethyl carbonate can also be used to avoid glycerol formation. The process however, suffers from high initial implementation cost being the most prominent drawback, among others like thermal degradation of the fuel. Another promising technique, the superheated vapour technology (SHV) has emerged as an alternative, with limited literature proving the superiority of either of these processes to be inconclusive. In future works, researchers need to look into various aspects such as developing a spiral reactor for heat recovery, using software based optimization for eliminating redundant experiments analysing production cost for industrial scale-up and improving the fuel’s oxidative stability by adding antioxidants for convenient long-term storage and use.

AbstractRemittances to the Philippines constitute a prominent part of its economy. However, remittances' effects on its environment have not been researched. In this regard, this research examines the direct and indirect impacts of remittance inflows on the Philippines' environmental sustainability for the 1977–2016 period by proposing a multivariate model, and by utilising the augmented ARDL and VECM methods to estimate this model. Our findings indicate that remittance inflows threaten environmental sustainability in the long‐run both directly and indirectly through boosting income and energy (oil) consumption. The results additionally imply that income and energy consumption also increase the ecological footprint of the Philippines in the long‐run. However, economic globalisation's long‐run impact is insignificant, yet its short‐run impact is significantly negative on the country's level of environmental degradation. Additionally, the findings reveal that the feedback hypothesis is valid between income and energy consumption in the long‐run, but the neutrality hypothesis is valid in the short‐run. This research's findings reveal that remittance inflows' impact on the environment is significant, and can occur through direct and various indirect channels, therefore, these inflows should be an integral part of sustainability policies in the Philippines, as ignoring them could cause further environmental decline.

Abstract Recharging infrastructure (RI) deployment plays a vital role in improving the public recharging availability for transport electrification. Decarbonizing transportation using low-emission electricity requires massive RI network. Even though the consumers are reluctant to purchase electric vehicles (EVs) until RIs are sufficiently placed, the investors are not willing to invest in RIs due to recharging demand uncertainties. Therefore, a scientific planning framework is needed to ensure the sustainable deployment of EV-RIs in complex networks. In this study, a lifecycle thinking-based multi-period infrastructure-planning framework is proposed to develop sustainable public EV-RIs in an urban context. This framework consists of a temporal model to find the dynamic EV-RI demands, a stochastic model to obtain travel distances, and a multi-objective optimization model to select the best desirable capacities and locations for potential EV-RIs. A case study of a typical medium-scale municipality in Canada was assessed using the proposed framework and validated using conventional infrastructure planning scenarios. The geo-processing data, regional travel behaviors, and recharging characteristics were used as model inputs. The results of the case study showed that the proposed framework can be used to estimate multi-period public recharging demands, minimize lifecycle costs, maximize service coverage and infrastructure utilization, and ensure reasonable paybacks compared to conventional planning approaches. Moreover, this framework can be used to compare different investment assistances, which are required in the early stages of the RI deployment process to encourage investors. Furthermore, government and private institutions can use this framework to identify recharging demands, permitting, and developing RIs in the long-run.

Abstract The residential sector accounts for most of energy-consumption in developing countries in the form of traditional energy. The use of commercial energy is nominal and confined mostly to urban areas where fuelwood is already monetized. A model, based on an end-use/process analysis approach, is developed on a spreadsheet, which is capable of simulating scenarios to address issues of increasing traditional energy-demand caused by population growth, sustainable supply capacity of the existing energy resources, potential for development of new and renewable energy resources, technology. This paper is divided into two parts: general energy issues and the modelling approach, and the application of this approach to Nepal in the context of fuelwood-supply sustainability.

The sustainability assessment methodology has to be demonstrated in order to become the tool in the engineering practice. This chapter is devoted to the attempt to evaluate the sustainability of energy systems and show how it can be used in the everyday engineering practice. Obviously, this type of approach has its limitation due to the lack of data for the serious consideration of the system. But it should be anticipated that these excises might serve as guidance for eventual future applications. Also, it should be emphasised that this type of methodology will become an useful tool only if it proves to be justified in the engineering practice.

Abstract This study aims to assess the efficiency of the fossil fuel taxation scheme currently in effect in Switzerland. To this end, the concept of implicit CO2 prices is introduced, based on which prices for different fossil fuel uses are derived. Implicit CO2 prices are defined as the difference between actual prices paid by consumers and efficient domestic fuel prices. Efficient domestic fuel prices, in turn, consist of private production costs, a uniform value added tax and only local external costs, not including external costs due to CO2 emissions and global climate change. The resulting prices differ substantially, which suggests that there is considerable cost-saving potential in reducing CO2 emissions in Switzerland. For passenger cars and air traffic, the implicit prices are negative. For these uses, higher fuel charges would therefore be beneficial from a purely domestic perspective, i.e., without considering the negative repercussions of global warming.

Trace elements can have profound adverse effects on the health of people burning coal in homes or living near coal deposits, coal mines, and coal-burning power plants. Trace elements such as arsenic emitted from coal-burning power plants in Europe and Asia have been shown to cause severe health problems. Perhaps the most widespread health problems are caused by domestic coal combustion in developing countries where millions of people suffer from fluorosis and thousands from arsenism. Better knowledge of coal quality characteristics may help to reduce some of these health problems. For example, information on concentrations and distributions of potentially toxic elements in coal may help delineate areas of a coal deposit to be avoided. Information on the modes of occurrence of these elements and the textural relations of the minerals in coal may help to predict the behavior of the potentially toxic trace metals during coal cleaning, combustion, weathering, and leaching.