The Role of Forages in Sustainable Cropping Systems of Southern Australia

The historical context, recent trends, and possible future role of forages in cropping systems are reviewed. Three recent themes will be developed: 1) The successful exploitation of genetic diversity resulting in commercial development of new legume species as pasture cultivars with specific traits better suited to the needs of current farming systems. 2) Improved understanding of key soil processes under grazed pastures, particularly soil water and soil nitrogen, and how these processes impact on indicators of sustainability like deep drainage and nitrate leaching. 3) An emerging capacity for predicting the effect of pasture-crop sequences on soil processes, crop growth and grain yield. In response to changing economic pressures and threats to sustainability, new farming systems involving forages are continually evolving. Increasing cropping intensity has placed pressure on pasture-crop systems that rely on self-regeneration of annual legumes following crops. One response has been the emergence of phase cropping systems, where a sequence of pasture years is followed by a sequence of cropping years. Another response has been an expansion in the area of lucerne grown in rotation with crops. In the future, forages in cropping systems will continue to fulfil the traditional roles of diversifying farm income through livestock production and supporting the cropping enterprise through maintenance of soil fertility. But increasingly, forages will be utilised to maintain the sustainability of agricultural production systems. Examples include competitive forages as a component of integrated weed management and high water use forages for reducing recharge and the associated spread of dryland salinity

economic feasibility of methanol synthesis as a method for co2 reduction and energy storage

Abstract In this paper, a thermo-economic analysis concerning a methanol production plant is performed. In particular, this study was developed with the aim of evaluating the opportunity and viability of obtaining methanol from the chemical reaction between recycled CO2, emitted from a fossil-fuel power station, and hydrogen produced by water electrolysis. This solution can represent an interesting carbon dioxide reduction method and methanol as a product can be considered an energy storage means. As a first step, a thermodynamic analysis is performed in order to determine the mass and energy flows of the plant; then, a feasibility analysis concerning a large size methanol production plant is performed taking into account three different economic scenarios (Germany, Italy, and China). In order to evaluate the economic viability, the total investment cost and payback period are calculated in all the scenarios. Different methanol and electrical energy prices are considered, to take into proper account the influence of these parameters on mid-term future scenarios. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis, considering different oxygen selling prices and PEM electrolyzer capital costs, were performed

Universality of three-body systems in 2D: parametrization of the bound states energies

Universal properties of mass-imbalanced three-body systems in 2D are studied using zero-range interactions in momentum space. The dependence of the three-particle binding energy on the parameters (masses and two-body energies) is highly non-trivial even in the simplest case of two identical particles and a distinct one. This dependence is parametrized for ground and excited states in terms of {\itshape supercircles} functions in the most general case of three distinguishable particles.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, published versio

Techno-economic analysis for the integration of a power to fuel system with a CCS coal power plant

In this paper, an analysis of the integration of a carbon capture unit and a power to fuel system for methanol synthesis with a coal power plant is presented from the energetic, environmental and economic standpoints. The study is carried out in three different sections. In the first part, the impact of the integration of a carbon capture system (CCS ) and of a power to fuel plant (PtF) for methanol production is investigated in terms of plant average efficiency, fuel consumption,CO2 emissions. In the second part, the annual fixed and variable costs of the power plant, and the annual cost of electricity (COE) are assessed for different plant configurations. Additionally, future scenarios are analyzed considering the impact of European policies on the CO2 emission\u2019s cost, defined by the European Emission Trading System (ETS). Finally, an economic feasibility analysis of the power to fuel plant is performed and the methanol production is evaluated. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to evaluate the impact of the most affecting parameters (electrical energy cost, the methanol selling price and the capital cost of the electrolyzer) in terms of Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

Evaluation with Simulation of Lucerne-Based Cropping Systems to Combat Dryland Salinity in Australia

Dryland salinity is one of the most significant forms of land degradation that farmers face in Australia. There are currently 2.5 million ha affected by dryland salinity in Australia, and this may rise to 15 million ha over the next 30 to 100 years if no action is taken. National field experiments suggest that adoption of cropping systems that integrate deep-rooted perennials, such as lucerne, are important to reduce dryland salinity. This paper reports simulation results with APSIM (The Agricultural Production Systems Simulator), that have been used to explore climate, soil and agronomic factors affecting effectiveness of lucerne-based phase and companion cropping systems in sustaining crop yield and reducing deep-water drainage in South Australia