• Energy Research
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* Technical Challenges - Technology is relatively simple and has high conversion efficiency. * Cost Challenges - Despite efficiency, levelised costs are high, due to mainly 2 factors (1) the input cost of raw material is high, and (2) operating costs are high due to feedstock (methanol) and distillation operations. Selling oilcake has a significant effect on final product cost, with a 50% oilcake internal subsidy reducing the costs by R 6,500/ t (0.65 R/kWh). This would bring production cost into line with current range of diesel prices. * Environmental Challenges - Greenhouse gas savings are significant provided land use changes are carbon neutral. Limiting cultivation to subsistence cropland should assist with this goal. * Social and Institutional Challenges - Conversion of subsistence farmers in former homeland areas, with high reliance on cattle and maize, to a cash crop with side products for own consumption and cattle feed will require significant community involvement. Cooperative farming and marketing channels need to be investigated.

Abstract Activated carbon is commonly used as a material for contaminant-adsorption processes in aqueous systems. However, its use is more restricted to charcoal than to coal, for the most part, in view of the fact of the higher cost (~ 40%) if the mineral is a fossil fuel which needs to be extracted from the earth by mining. For this reason, the peach stone that comes from alimentary industrial tailings can be a good choice for the separation of pollutants from aqueous suspensions and other soluble substances. The purpose of this research was the development of a low-cost filter, using stones to remove atrazine from water. Appraisal and characterization studies were performed along with batch experiments to investigate dosing effects of the activated carbon, atrazine concentration, contact time, and adsorption pH on removal procedures. From the results of the experiment, an excellent removal of the analyte in question was observed under conditions that can be considered as close as possible to the environment, such as pH = 6.5, room temperature and 10 minutes of agitation time, always choosing the best alternative with the lowest cost of energy and time. Batch system application has been recommended as versatile for utilization in seasonal problems such as pesticide contamination.

A subset of the Field Crop Boundaries data set, showing all subsistence farmland used for crop cultivation. Prepared by SAEON from data provided by DAFF.

Data on cropland was obtained from the global data set produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Data set was obtained as a raster image, and clipped to the boundaries of South Africa, before being converted to a vector layer. The BioEnergy Atlas bases its analyses on mesozones (Planning zones of approximately 50 km2, with relatively homogeneous attributes). This data set aggregates FAO Cropland to mesozones for planning purposes. The FGGD land cover occurrence maps are global raster data layers with a resolution of 5 arc-minutes. Each pixel in each map contains a value representing the percentage of the area belonging to the land

These are the soil quality data for each county (listed by fips code) for each scenario

The data consists of annual measurements of standing aboveground plant biomass, annual aboveground net primary productivity and annual soil respiration between 1998 and 2012. Data were collected from seven European shrublands that were subject to the climate manipulations drought and warming. Sites were located in the United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands (NL), Denmark ( two sites, DK-B and DK-M), Hungary (HU), Spain (SP) and Italy (IT). All field sites consisted of untreated control plots, plots where the plant canopy air is artificially warmed during night time hours, and plots where rainfall is excluded from the plots at least during the plants growing season. Standing aboveground plant biomass (grams biomass per square metre) was measured in two undisturbed areas within the plots using the pin-point method (UK, DK-M, DK-B), or along a transect (IT, SP, HU, NL). Aboveground net primary productivity was calculated from measurements of standing aboveground plant biomass estimates and litterfall measurements. Soil respiration was measured in pre-installed opaque soil collars bi-weekly, monthly, or in measurement campaigns (SP only). The datasets provided are the basis for the data analysis presented in Reinsch et al. (2017) Shrubland primary production and soil respiration diverge along European climate gradient. Scientific Reports 7:43952 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep43952 Standing biomass was measured using the non-destructive pin-point method to assess aboveground biomass. Measurements were conducted at the state of peak biomass specific for each site. Litterfall was measured annually using litterfall traps. Litter collected in the traps was dried and the weight was measured. Aboveground biomass productivity was estimated as the difference between the measured standing biomass in year x minus the standing biomass measured the previous year. Soil respiration was measured bi-weekly or monthly, or in campaigns (Spain only). It was measured on permanently installed soil collars in treatment plots. The Gaussen Index of Aridity (an index that combines information on rainfall and temperature) was calculated using mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature. The reduction in precipitation and increase in temperature for each site was used to calculate the Gaussen Index for the climate treatments for each site. Data of standing biomass and soil respiration was provided by the site responsible. Data from all sites were collated into one data file for data analysis. A summary data set was combined with information on the Gaussen Index of Aridity Data were then exported from these Excel spreadsheet to .csv files for ingestion into the EIDC.

Refrigerated road transport (RRT) vehicles are large users of energy, and reportedly have relatively high leakage of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant gases, both of which contribute to global warming. The experience obtained from widespread research in leak reduction in stationary refrigeration systems can be instructive in combatting leakage in RRT systems, which has received less focus to date. This paper will take an integrated approach to develop and describe a preliminary model for sustainable RRT systems. It will first review lessons learned about refrigerant leakage in stationary systems in an effort to identify problematic/leak prone components common to transport refrigeration systems. This will then be followed by a survey of recent studies conducted in modelling transport refrigeration systems to advance energy efficiency. Initial results from the model illustrate the need to improve the efficiency of the refrigeration system, together with preventative maintenance of the box structure and refrigeration system as a whole.

Fashion products made from repurposed materials (e.g., backpacks made from pineapple leaves) have become more prevalent nowadays, and their environmental sustainability is one of the core advantages. Yet, it is currently unclear how consumers respond to products made from repurposed materials. We conducted three experiments to examine the effects of three material features, namely function, sustainability, and distinguishability, on consumer preferences for fashion products made from repurposed materials. The results indicate that, when the function of repurposed materials is as good as that of conventional materials, consumers prefer a product made from repurposed materials over the same product made from conventional materials. Also, consumers in general prefer repurposed materials to be less visually distinguishable. Finally, when the sustainability of the repurposed products is emphasized, consumers appear more likely to choose products made from repurposed materials, even when these products have an inferior function. In conclusion, to promote fashion products made from repurposed materials, marketers may emphasize the function and sustainability of repurposed materials, and producers may manufacture repurposed materials that visually resemble conventional materials.

Heavy trucks contribute significantly to climate change, and in 2020 were responsible for 7% of total Swedish GHG emissions and 5% of total global CO2 emissions. Here we study the full lifecycle of cargo trucks powered by different energy pathways, comparing their biomass feedstock use, primary energy use, net biogenic and fossil CO2 emission, and cumulative radiative forcing. We analyse battery electric trucks with bioelectricity from standalone or combined heat and power (CHP) plants, and pathways where bioelectricity is integrated with wind and solar electricity. We analyse trucks operated on fossil diesel fuel and on dimethyl ether (DME). All energy pathways are analysed with and without carbon capture and storage (CCS). Bioelectricity and DME are produced from forest harvest residues. Forest biomass is a limited resource, so in a scenario analysis we allocate a fixed amount of biomass to power Swedish truck transport. Battery lifespan and chemistry, the technology level of energy supply, and the biomass source and transport distance are all varied to understand how sensitive the results are to these parameters. The scenario spans 100 years into the future. We find that pathways using electricity to power battery electric trucks have much lower climate impacts and primary energy use, compared to diesel and DME based pathways. The pathways using bioelectricity with CCS result in negative emissions leading to global cooling of the earth. The pathways using diesel and DME have significant and very similar climate impact, even with CCS. The robust results show that truck electrification and increased renewable electricity production is a much better strategy to reduce the climate impact of cargo transport and much more primary energy efficient than the adoption of DME trucks. This climate impact analysis includes all fossil and net biogenic CO2 emissions as well as the timing of these emissions. Considering only fossil emissions is incomplete and could be misleading. This dataset contains data on 4 metrics (primary energy use, biomass feedstock use, cumulative CO2 emissions, and cumulative radiative forcing) resulting from scenario modeling of cargo truck use in Sweden powered by different energy pathways. The energy pathways include battery electric trucks powered by bioelectricity, solar photovoltaic electricity and wind electricity, and internal combustion trucks powered by fossil diesel and dimethyl ether. The scenario spans 100 years into the future. The Excel sheet "tables" contains input data for the scenario modeling, with sources listed where applicable. The remaining sheets contains the modeled results and generated figures that are also a published in the associated article Sathre & Gustavsson (2023). Refer to the method description and reference list in the included documentation files for details. Tunga lastbilar bidrar kraftigt till klimatförändringarna och stod 2020 för 7% av de totala svenska växthusgasutsläppen och 5% av de totala globala CO2-utsläppen. Här studerar vi hela livscykeln för lastbilar som drivs av olika energivägar, jämför deras användning av biomassaråvaror, primär energianvändning, biogena och fossila CO2-utsläpp netto och kumulativ strålningstvingning. Vi analyserar batterielektriska lastbilar med bioel från fristående eller kraftvärmeverk och vägar där bioel integreras med vind- och solkraft. Vi analyserar lastbilar som drivs med fossilt dieselbränsle och med dimetyleter (DME). Alla energivägar analyseras med och utan avskiljning och lagring av koldioxid (CCS). Bioelektricitet och DME produceras av skogsavverkningsrester. Skogsbiomassa är en begränsad resurs, så i en scenarioanalys avsätter vi en fast mängd biomassa för att driva svenska lastbilstransporter. Batteriets livslängd och kemi, tekniknivån för energiförsörjning och biomassakällan och transportavståndet varierar alla för att förstå hur känsliga resultaten är för dessa parametrar. Scenariot sträcker sig 100 år in i framtiden. Vi finner att vägar som använder el för att driva batterielektriska lastbilar har mycket lägre klimatpåverkan och primär energianvändning, jämfört med diesel- och DME-baserade vägar. De vägar som använder bioelektricitet med CCS resulterar i negativa utsläpp som leder till global kylning av jorden. Vägarna med diesel och DME har betydande och mycket liknande klimatpåverkan, även med CCS. De robusta resultaten visar att elektrifiering av lastbilar och ökad förnybar elproduktion är en mycket bättre strategi för att minska godstransporternas klimatpåverkan än införandet av DME-lastbilar, och mycket mer primärenergieffektiv. Denna klimatkonsekvensanalys omfattar alla fossila och biogena CO2-utsläpp samt tidpunkten för dessa utsläpp. Att bara ta hänsyn till fossila utsläpp är ofullständigt och kan vara missvisande. Detta dataset innehåller data om 4 mätvärden (primär energianvändning, biomassaråvara, kumulativa CO2-utsläpp och kumulativ strålkraftspåverkan) som härrör från scenariomodellering av lastbilsanvändning i Sverige som drivs av olika energivägar. Energivägarna inkluderar batterielektriska lastbilar som drivs av bioelektricitet, solcellselektricitet och vindkraft samt förbränningsbilar som drivs av fossil diesel och dimetyleter. Scenariot sträcker sig 100 år in i framtiden. På arket "tables" i Excelfilen återfinns den indata som använts i modelleringen med angivna källor där detta är tillämpligt. Övriga ark innehåller resultat samt figurer som också publiceras i den samhörande artikeln Sathre & Gustavsson (2023). Se metodbeskrivning samt referenslista i tillhörande dokumentationsfiler för detaljer.

Refining Estimates of Land for Biomass (RELB) was a project commissioned and funded by the ETI. As part of the RELB project,The ETI commissioned the project team to complete three case studies of farms growing bioenergy crops. This workbook covers the data and calculations for the Brackenthwaite Farm SRC Willow case study