The gendered impact of the financial crisis:Struggles over social reproduction in Greece

The global financial crisis has triggered a dramatic transformation of employment in the weakest Eurozone economies. This is evidenced in deteriorating work conditions, limited employee negotiating power, low pay, zero-hours contracts and, most importantly, periods of prolonged unemployment for most of the working population, especially women. We offer a critical analysis of the boundaries of formal and informal, paid and unpaid, productive and reproductive work, and explore how austerity policies implemented in Greece in the aftermath of the global financial crisis have transformed women’s everyday lives. In contributing to critical discussions of neoliberal capitalism and recent feminist geography studies, our empirical study focuses on how women’s struggles over social reproduction unfold in the public and private spheres. It proposes that women’s temporary retreat to unpaid work at home constitutes a form of resistance to intensifying precarisation, and, at times, contributes to the emergence of new collective forms of reproduction.</p

Electrochemical Looping Green Hydrogen Production by Using Water Electrochemically Treated as a Raw Material for the Electrolyzer

In this study, the applicability of an integrated-hybrid process was performed in a divided electrochemical cell for removing organic matter from a polluted effluent with simultaneous production of green H2. After that, the depolluted water was reused, for the first time, in the cathodic compartment once again, in the same cell to be a viable environmental alternative for converting water into energy (green H2) with higher efficiency and reasonable cost requirements. The production of green H2 in the cathodic compartment (Ni-Fe-based steel stainless (SS) mesh as cathode), in concomitance with the electrochemical oxidation (EO) of wastewater in the anodic compartment (boron-doped diamond (BDD) supported in Nb as anode), was studied (by applying different current densities (j = 30, 60 and 90 mA cm&minus;2) at 25 &deg;C) in a divided-membrane type electrochemical cell driven by a photovoltaic (PV) energy source. The results clearly showed that, in the first step, the water anodically treated by applying 90 mA cm&minus;2 for 180 min reached high-quality water parameters. Meanwhile, green H2 production was greater than 1.3 L, with a Faradaic efficiency of 100%. Then, in a second step, the water anodically treated was reused in the cathodic compartment again for a new integrated-hybrid process with the same electrodes under the same experimental conditions. The results showed that the reuse of water in the cathodic compartment is a sustainable strategy to produce green H2 when compared to the electrolysis using clean water. Finally, two implied benefits of the proposed process are the production of green H2 and wastewater cleanup, both of which are equally significant and sustainable. The possible use of H2 as an energetic carrier in developing nations is a final point about sustainability improvements. This is a win-win solution

Electro-Refinery in Organics to Produce Energy Carriers: Co-Generation of Green Hydrogen and Carboxylic Acids by Glycerol Electrooxidation Using Dimensionally Stable Anode

The urgency to decarbonize fuels has contributed to a rise in biofuel production, which has culminated in a significant increase in the waste quantity of glycerol produced. Therefore, to convert glycerol waste into high-value products, electrochemical oxidation (EO) is a viable alternative for the co-generation of carboxylic acids, such as formic acid (FA) and green hydrogen (H2), which are considered energy carriers. The aim of this study is the electroconversion of glycerol into FA by EO using a divided electrochemical cell, driven by a photovoltaic (PV) system, with a dimensionally stable anode (DSA, Ti/TiO2-RuO2-IrO2) electrode as an anode and Ni-Fe stainless steel (SS) mesh as a cathode. To optimize the experimental conditions, studies were carried out evaluating the effects of applied current density (j), electrolyte concentration, electrolysis time, and electrochemical cell configuration (undivided and divided). According to the results, the optimum experimental conditions were achieved at 90 mA cm&minus;2, 0.1 mol L&minus;1 of Na2SO4 as a supporting electrolyte, and 480 min of electrolysis. In this condition, 256.21 and 211.17 mg L&minus;1 of FA were obtained for the undivided and divided cells, respectively, while the co-generation of 6.77 L of dry H2 was achieved in the divided cell. The electroconversion process under the optimum conditions was also carried out with a real sample, where organic acids like formic and acetic acids were co-produced simultaneously with green H2. Based on the preliminary economic analysis, the integrated-hybrid process is an economically viable and promising alternative when it is integrated with renewable energy sources such as solar energy

Energia da Biomassa: termoconversão e seus produtos

In this book, the authors briefly present a description of the main pyrolysis process, the pretreatment of biomass, the characteristics of biomass, and pyrolysis products through an upgraded methods and its application. The book is divided into ten chapters dedicated to showing the potential of the thermochemical process to convert biomass into biogas, bio-oil, pyrolysis water, and biochar, which are products that can be used as intermediates in the chemical industry, in agriculture, or as biofuels. The critical knowledge of the characteristics of the biomass and possible pretreatment methods before pyrolysis can be used to help determine the routes to obtain products with superior economic value. The main types of thermal conversion, the technologies, reactors, and catalyst used to upgrade the bio-oil into biofuels, is presented is a didactic form. The characterization of classic and new techniques is addressed in order to clarify the main information obtained about the chemical characteristics of biomass and pyrolysis products. The content also shows the importance and main applications of pyrolysis products for the economy and the environment.</jats:p