Biomass for Energy Country Specific Show Case Studies

In many domestic and industrial processes, vast percentages of primary energy are produced by the combustion of fossil fuels. Apart from diminishing the source of fossil fuels and the increasing risk of higher costs and energy security, the impact on the environment is worsening continually. Renewables are becoming very popular, but are, at present, more expensive than fossil fuels, especially photovoltaics and hydropower. Biomass is one of the most established and common sources of fuel known to mankind, and has been in continuous use for domestic heating and cooking over the years, especially in poorer communities. The use of biomass to produce electricity is interesting and is gaining ground. There are several ways to produce electricity from biomass. Steam and gas turbine technology is well established but requires temperatures in excess of 250 °C to work effectively. The organic Rankine cycle (ORC), where low-boiling-point organic solutions can be used to tailor the appropriate solution, is particularly successful for relatively low temperature heat sources, such as waste heat from coal, gas and biomass burners. Other relatively recent technologies have become more visible, such as the Stirling engine and thermo-electric generators are particularly useful for small power production. However, the uptake of renewables in general, and biomass in particular, is still considered somewhat risky due to the lack of best practice examples to demonstrate how efficient the technology is today. Hence, the call for this Special Issue, focusing on country files, so that different nations’ experiences can be shared and best practices can be published, is warranted. This is realistic, as it seems that some nations have different attitudes to biomass, perhaps due to resource availability, or the technology needed to utilize biomass. Therefore, I suggest that we go forward with this theme, and encourage scientists and engineers who are researching in this field to present case studies related to different countries. I certainly have one case study for the UK to present

Aufsätze zu Internationalem Handel, Prognose und dem Containerschiffnetzwerk

Seaborne vessels transport approximately 70% of global trade by value according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. The grounding of the 400-meter long container ship “Ever Given” and the ensuing blockage of the Suez Canal for six days in March 2021 clearly demonstrated the importance of a wellfunctioning maritime transport sector for the flow of goods. Container ships play a particularly crucial role in this transportation network as they transport 66% of the maritime cargo by value. At the same time, the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which was developed to avoid collisions at sea using high frequency radio signals, generates extremely recent information on ships’ positions, course and draught. The essays below have in common that they utilize the daily positions of all approximately 6,000 container ships after the year 2015 for economic analysis. The studies rely on the data to develop and test methods for forecasting trade flows, to investigate the impact of oil prices on trade costs and to quantify the disruptive effects of tropical cyclones and piracy on maritime shipping and trade. The first chapter uses the AIS data to derive 880 time series at the port and sea area level to reflect seaborne cargo flows. Using a combination of the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator and the partial least squares, the paper demonstrates that these time series can reliably forecast unilateral and bilateral trade flows. The second chapter dervies a highly dimensional data for shipping that sllows the study of trade costs from container shipping. Oil prices are caculated to increase the time of transportation and increase freight rates. The following chapter investigates the effects of tropical cyclones on internaitonal trade and the container shipping network. In the last chapter, research finds that maritime piracy reduces global trade flows

Grain legume production and use in European agricultural systems

ISBN(print) 978-0-12-812419-2; Editor DL SparksThere is a great demand for high-protein materials for livestock feed in Europe and European agriculture has a deficit of about 70% high-protein materials of which 87% is met by imported soybean and soy meal. This reflects the fact that grain legumes are currently under represented in European agriculture and produced on only 1.5% of the arable land in Europe compared with 14.5%on aworldwide basis. Several grain legumes have the potential to replace at least some of the soya currently used in the diets of monogastric animals, ruminants, and fish. There are also opportunities for greater use of legumes in new foods. Here we review the contribution of ecosystem services by grain legumes in European agriculture startingwith provisioningservices in termsof food and feed and moving on to the contribution theymake to both regulating and supporting serviceswhich are in part due to the diversity which these crops bring to cropping systems. We explore the need to understand grain legume production on the time scale of a rotation rather than a cropping season in order to value and manage the agronomic challenges of weed, pests, and diseases alongside themaintenance or improvement of soil structure, soil organic matter, and nutrient cycling. A review of policy interventions to support grain legumes reveals that until very recently these have failed to make a difference in Europe. We contrast the European picture with the interventions that have allowed the development of grain legume production in both Canada and Australia. Whether farmers choose to grow more legumes will depend on market opportunities, the development of supply chains, and policy support aswell as technicalimprovementsof grainlegumeproductionsuchas breeding of new varieties and management development to improve yield stability. However, to really increase the production of grain legumes in Europe, the issues are far more wide reaching than agronomy or subsidy and require a fundamental rethinking of value chains to move grain legumes from being niche products to mainstream commodities.Peer reviewe

The IPBES regional assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services for Europe and Central Asia

The Regional Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for Europe and Central Asia produced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) provides a critical analysis of the state of knowledge regarding the importance, status, and trends of biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people. The assessment analyses the direct and underlying causes for the observed changes in biodiversity and in nature’s contributions to people, and the impact that these changes have on the quality of life of people. The assessment, finally, identifies a mix of governance options, policies and management practices that are currently available to reduce the loss of biodiversity and of nature’s contributions to people in that region. The assessment addresses terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal biodiversity and covers current status and trends, going back in time several decades, and future projections, with a focus on the 2020-2050 period

Reindeer Husbandry and Global Environmental Change

This volume offers a holistic understanding of the environmental and societal challenges that affect reindeer husbandry in Fennoscandia today. Reindeer husbandry is a livelihood with a long traditional heritage and cultural importance. Like many other pastoral societies, reindeer herders are confronted with significant challenges. Covering Norway, Sweden and Finland – three countries with many differences and similarities – this volume examines how reindeer husbandry is affected by and responds to global environmental change and resource extraction in boreal and arctic social-ecological systems. Beginning with an historical overview of reindeer husbandry, the volume analyses the realities of the present from different perspectives and disciplines. Genetics, behavioural ecology of reindeer, other forms of land use, pastoralists’ norms and knowledge, bio-economy and governance structures all set the stage for the complex internal and externally imposed dynamics within reindeer husbandry. In-depth analyses are devoted to particularly urgent challenges, such as land-use conflicts, climate change and predation, identified as having a high potential to shape the future pathways of the pastoral identity and productivity. These futures, with their risks and opportunities, are explored in the final section, offering a synthesis of the comparative approach between the three countries that runs as a recurring theme through the book. With its richness and depth, this volume contributes significantly to the understanding of the substantial impacts on pastoralist communities in northernmost Europe today, while highlighting viable pathways to maintaining reindeer husbandry for the future. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of both the natural and social sciences who work on natural resource management, global environmental change, pastoralism, ecology, social-ecological systems, rangeland management and Indigenous studies

Strategic analysis and optimization of bioethanol supply chains

In modern times, the interest in renewable energy has been increasing considerably in response to the growing energy demand and to the simultaneous concern about global warming effects. The urgency of this issue is related to dissociation between the perspective of a steady growth in demand for fuel and its supply, which is projected to become ever more uncertain and expensive. The phenomenon of climate change is widely recognized as a consequence of the increased concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere caused by anthropogenic activity, and to which the transport sector is a significant contributor. Among biofuels, biomass-based ethanol has been in a leading position for substituting petroleum-based road-fuels. Even if its actual carbon footprint is still debated, it is generally acknowledged a reduction in net GHG emissions with respect to oil. The complexity of the context discussed previously, guides us to the transition towards a more sustainable transport system which requires the adoption of effective quantitative tools able to encompassing the problem to the whole production chain (supply chain), that may help defining a more comprehensive view of biofuels. In dealing with such problems involving high decisional level, the analytical modelling is recognized as the best optimization option, particularly in the initial phase of design of unknown infrastructures in order to cope with a comprehensive management of production systems taking into account all supply chain stages. Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) in particular, emerges as one of the most suitable tools in determining the optimal solutions of complex supply chain design problems where multiple alternatives are to be taken into account. In this sense, the multi-objective MILP (moMILP) enables simultaneous consideration of conflicting criteria (i.e., financial, environmental) to assist the decisions of interested parties on biofuels industry at strategic and tactical levels. Moreover, this complex analysis is addressed effectively by incorporating the principles of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) within supply chain analysis techniques aiming at a quantitative assessment of the environmental burdens of each supply chain stage. Accordingly, the main purpose of the research presented in this Thesis is to cover this gap of knowledge in the literature. In the context of the development and adoption of bioenergy systems, the overall objective of this work is to provide quantitative and deterministic tools to analyze and optimize the supply chain as whole, to thereby identify the most suitable and feasible strategies for the development of future road transport systems. In this sense, the research design for this Thesis begins with the development and analysis of a multi-period moMILP modelling framework for the design and the optimization of bioethanol supply chain where economics and environmental sustainability (GHG emissions reductions potential) for first generation ethanol is addressed, considering possibilities of several technologies integration (including biogas production). Then, the analysis is focused on the general interactions of market policies under the European Emission Trading System in order to enhance the bioethanol market development trends to boost sustainable production of bioethanol. Next, a comprehensive modelling analysis to predict commodity price evolution dynamics and to extend the price forecasts to other goods related to bioethanol production is addressed. An assessment of the impact on the supply chain design of the recent proposed by the European Commission to amend the existing Directive in terms of accountability technique for biofuels is analyzed and discussed. Besides, multi-criteria decision making tools to support strategic design and planning on biofuel supply chains including several Game Theory features are evaluated. Finally to close up, the main achievements of the Thesis are exposed as well as the main shortfalls and possible future research lines are outlined. Models capabilities in steering decisions on investments for bioenergy systems are evaluated in addressing real world case studies referring to the emerging bioethanol production in Northern Italy