Mobilizing Sustainable Bioenergy Supply Chains

Analysis of the five globally significant supply chains conducted by IEA Bioenergy inter-Task teams – boreal and temperate forests, agricultural crop residues, biogas, lignocellulosic crops, and cultivated grasslands and pastures in Brazil – has confirmed that feedstocks produced using logistically efficient production systems can be mobilized to make significant contributions to achieving global targets for bioenergy. However, the very significant challenges identified in this report indicate that changes by all key members of society in public and private institutions and along the whole length of supply chains from feedstock production to energy product consumption are required to mobilize adequate feedstock resources to make a sustainable and significant contribution to climate change mitigation and provide the social and economic services possible. Notably, this report reveals that all globally significant bioenergy development has been underpinned by political backing, which is necessary for passing legislation in the form of mandates, renewable energy portfolios, carbon trading schemes, and the like. The mobilization potential identified in this report will depend on even greater policy support than achieved to date internationally.JRC.F.8-Sustainable Transpor

Bioactivação de fármacos mediada pela trametes versicolor lacase

Trabalho final de mestrado para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Química e BiológicaEste trabalho teve como objectivo avaliar a capacidade da enzima Trametes versicolor lacase (TvL) em mimetizar as reacções de biotransformação de fármacos, levadas a cabo pelo citocromo P450 (CYP). A TvL tem a grande vantagem de ser acessível comercialmente e a baixo preço. Para este estudo escolheram-se vários fármacos cujos efeitos adversos estão ligados ao fenómeno de bioactivação , do próprio fármaco ou de metabolitos de Fase I a metabolitos reactivos quinóides. Numa primeira aproximação, testou-se a capacidade da TvL em oxidar os fármacos Nevirapina (NVP), Trimetoprim (TMP) e Paracetamol (APAP) a compostos quinóides capazes de reagir com bionucleófilos (por exemplo, a glutationa (GSH) e a N-acetil-cisteína (NAC)). Foi possível identificar por espectrometria de massa (MS) os mono -aductos e os di-aductos de GSH e NAC do APAP. As mesmas condições foram testadas para a oxidação dos metabolitos fenólicos 2-OH-NVP e 8-OH-Efavirenz (8-OH-EFV), dos fármacos anti-HIV NVP e Efavirenz (EFV). Ao contrário do que que aconteceu com o 8 -OH-EFV, a oxidação do 2-OH-NVP mediada pela TvL resultou na formação da quinona-imina correspondente. Tendo sido identificados por MS não só os produtos de hidrólise deste metabolito reactivo como também um aducto formado com a lisina. Testou-se ainda a capacidade do sistema TvL/ácido 2,2’-azino-bis(3-etilbenzotiazolina-6-sulfónico) (ABTS) oxidar posições benzílicas, que são também posições de oxidação catalisadas pelo CYP. Esta capacidade foi comprovada pela formação do metabolito hidró xi-benzílico do fármaco Etravirina (ETV), que foi confirmada por espectrometria de massa de alta resolução. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que a TvL pode ser utilizada como um sistema de oxidação capaz de mimetizar algumas das vias metabólicas catalisadas pelo CYP. Desta forma, pode-se antecipar a utilidade deste sistema em estudos de toxicologia molecular, dado o baixo custo desta enzima.Abstract: This work aimed to evaluate the enzyme's ability Trametes versicolor laccase (TvL) to mimic the drug biotransformation reactions, carried out by cytochrome P450(CYP). The TvL has the great advantage of being available commercially and at a low price. For this study were chosen several drugs whose side effects are linked to the phenomenon of bioactivation, of the drug itself or of Phase I metabolites into quinoid reactive metabolites. In a first approach, we tested the ability of TvL to oxidize Nevirapine (NVP), Trimethoprim (TMP) and Paracetamol (APAP) to quinoid compounds capable of reacting with bionucleophiles (eg. glutathione (GSH) and Nacetyl-cysteine (NAC)). It was identified by mass spectrometry (MS) mono-adducts and di-adducts of GSH and NAC with APAP. The same conditions were tested for the oxidation of phenolic metabolites 2-OH-NVP and 8-OH-Efavirenz (EFV), of the anti-HIV drugs NVP and EFV. Contrasting with what was observed with the 8-OH-EFV, the oxidation of 2-OH-NVP mediated by TvL resulted in formation of the corresponding quinone-imine. This was attested through the identification by MS, not only of the hydrolysis products derived from the reactive metabolite, but also one lysine adduct. It also tested the ability of TvL to mimic benzylic oxidations catalyzed by CYP. This ability was evidenced by the formation of hydroxy-benzylic metabolite of the antiHIV Etravirine, a reactionmediated by 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)(ABTS). The formation of this metabolite was evidenced upon analysis by high resolution mass spectrometry. Taken together, these results suggest that TvL can mediate the oxidation reactions mirroring the CYP metabolic pathways, which anticipates the usefulness of this system for molecular toxicology studies.N/

Carbon balances of bioenergy systems using biomass from forests managed with long rotations: bridging the gap between stand and landscape assessments

Studies report different findings concerning the climate benefits of bioenergy, in part due to varying scope and use of different approaches to define spatial and temporal system boundaries. We quantify carbon balances for bioenergy systems that use biomass from forests managed with long rotations, employing different approaches and boundary conditions. Two approaches to represent landscapes and quantify their carbon balances–expanding vs. constant spatial boundaries–are compared. We show that for a conceptual forest landscape, constructed by combining a series of time-shifted forest stands, the two approaches sometimes yield different results. We argue that the approach that uses constant spatial boundaries is preferable because it captures all carbon flows in the landscape throughout the accounting period. The approach that uses expanding system boundaries fails to accurately describe the carbon fluxes in the landscape due to incomplete coverage of carbon flows and influence of the stand-level dynamics, which in turn arise from the way temporal system boundaries are defined on the stand level. Modelling of profit-driven forest management using location-specific forest data shows that the implications for carbon balance of management changes across the landscape (which are partly neglected when expanding system boundaries are used) depend on many factors such as forest structure and forest owners' expectations of market development for bioenergy and other wood products. Assessments should not consider forest-based bioenergy in isolation but should ideally consider all forest products and how forest management planning as a whole is affected by bioenergy incentives–and how this in turn affects carbon balances in forest landscapes and forest product pools. Due to uncertainties, we modelled several alternative scenarios for forest products markets. We recommend that future work consider alternative scenarios for other critical factors, such as policy options and energy technology pathways

Bioenergy for climate change mitigation : scale and sustainability

Funding Information: The authors are grateful for comments from three reviewers and the editor. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Biofuels: Environmental Consequences and Interactions with Changing Land Use: Chapter 8

The International SCOPE Biofuels Project gratefully acknowledges support from the United Nations Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, UNEP, the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future, the Biogeochemistry & Biocomplexity Initiative at Cornell University, an endowment provided to Cornell University by David R. Atkinson, and the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, and Energy

Bioenergy, Land Use Change and Climate Change Mitigation: Background Technical Report

The sustainable use of bioenergy presents a major opportunity to address climate change by reducing fossil carbon dioxide emissions. Practically all bioenergy systems deliver large greenhouse gas savings if they replace fossil-based energy causing high greenhouse gas emissions and if the bioenergy production emissions - including those arising due to land use change - are kept low. Bioenergy projects can lead to both direct and indirect land use change. The effects of indirect land use change are especially difficult to quantify and achieving a consensus on the extent of the impact is unlikely in the near future. Even so, it can be concluded that land use change can affect greenhouse gas balances in several ways, with both beneficial and undesirable consequences from bioenergy's contribution to climate change mitigation. However, bioenergy does not always entail land use change. The use of post-consumer organic residues and by-products from the agricultural and forest industries does not cause land use change if these materials are wastes, i.e. not utilised for alternative purposes. Food, fibre and bioenergy crops can be grown in intergrated production systems, mitigating displacement effects and improving the productive use of land. Lignocellulosic feedstocks for bioenergy can decrease the pressure on prime cropping land. The targeting of marginal and degraded lands can mitigate land use change associated with bioenergy expansion and also enhance carbon sequestration in soils and biomass. Stimulation of increased productivity in all forms of land use reduces the land use change pressure. Bioenergy's contribution to climate change mitigation needs to reflect a balance between near-term targets and the long-term objective to hold the increase in global temperature below 2°C (Copenhagen Accord). While emissions from land use change can be significant in some circumstances, the simple notion of land use change emissions is not sufficient reason to exclude bioenergy from the list of worthwhile technologies for climate change mitigation. Sound bioenergy development requires simple and transparent criteria that can be applied in a robust and predictable way. Policy measures implemented to minimise the negative impacts of land use change should be based on a holistic perspective recognising the multiple drivers and effects of land use change

Bioenergy, Land Use Change and Climate Change Mitigation: Report for Policy Advisors and Policy Makers

The report addresses a much debated issue - bioenergy and associated land use change, and how the climate change mitigation from use of bioenergy can be influenced by greenhouse gas emissions arising from land use change. The purpose of the report was to produce an unbiased, authoritative statement on this topic aimed especially at policy advisors and policy makers

Multifunctional biomass production systems - an overview with presentation of specific applications in India and Sweden

This perspective discusses multi-functional biomass production systems, which are located, designed, integrated and managed so as to provide specific environmental services, in addition to biomass supply. Besides discussing the general concept and outlining a range of different possible applications, we present in somewhat more detail specific applications of such systems for the cases of Sweden and India. The overall conclusion is that the environmental benefits from a large-scale establishment of multi-functional biomass production systems could be substantial. Given that suitable mechanisms to put a premium on the provided environmental services can be identified and implemented, additional revenues can be linked to biomass production systems and this could enhance the socioeconomic attractiveness and significantly improve the competitiveness of the produced biomass on the market. The provision of additional environmental services also contributes to local sustainable development, which is in many cases a prerequisite for local support for the production systems. (C) 2008 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Lt

The climate effect of increased forest bioenergy use in Sweden: evaluation at different spatial and temporal scales

Bioenergy from boreal forests managed for productive purposes (e.g., pulp, timber) is commonly held to offer attractive options for climate change mitigation. However, this view has been challenged in recent years. Carbon balances, cumulative radiative forcing, and average global temperature change have been calculated for a variety of bioenergy management regimes in Swedish forests, and the results support the view that an increased use of forest biomass for energy in Sweden can contribute to climate change mitigation, although methodological (e.g., spatial scales) and parameter value choices influence the results significantly. We show that the climate effect of forest-based bioenergy depends on the forest ecosystems and management, including biomass extraction for bioenergy and other products, and how this management changes in response to anticipated market demands; and on the energy system effects, which determine the fossil carbon displacement and other greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation effects of using forest biomass for bioenergy and other purposes. The public and private sectors are advised to consider information from comprehensive analyses that provide insights about energy and forest systems in the context of evolving forest product markets, alternative policy options, and energy technology pathways in their decision-making processes