De promessa a realidade: como o etanol celulósico pode revolucionar a indústria da cana-de-açúcar: uma avaliação do potencial competitivo e sugestões de política pública

Bibliografia: p. 286-289Anexos: p. 289-294Após um longo período de desenvolvimento tecnológico em nível mundial, o etanol celulósico ou de segunda geração (E2G) atingiu o estágio de plantas comerciais. O Brasil, por conta dos projetos fomentados pelo Plano Conjunto BNDES-Finep de Apoio à Inovação Tecnológica Industrial dos Setores Sucroenergético e Sucroquímico (PAISS), tem atualmente uma capacidade instalada de produção de E2G de cerca de 140 milhões de litros por ano. Contudo, tal volume ainda pode ser considerado pequeno quando comparado à demanda interna de combustíveis, hoje suprida com volumes relevantes de gasolina importada. Assim, com o objetivo de fomentar a implementação de mecanismos de política pública que acelerem os investimentos em novas plantas de E2G, este artigo apresenta, baseado em premissas discutidas com diversas empresas e especialistas, estimativas sobre o potencial de melhoria de eficiência e redução de custos de produção do E2G em diferentes cenários tecnológicos. Se bem-sucedidas, tais políticas ajudariam a alterar o atual paradigma tecnoeconômico da indústria da cana-de-açúcar, resgatando sua competitividade

Brazilian biofuel program: An overview

897-904Brazilian National Bio-Fuel Program comprises ProAlcool and Biodiesel; the former was initiated in 1975 to substitute gasoline for sugarcane alcohol in automobile use. ProAlcool passed through intensive changes due to fluctuant social-economics situation and public policies, which are fundamental to definitely install the use of biomass and make it competitive to face traditional fossil fuels. The production of flex fuel cars is bringing great promise for ProAlcool, not only for Brazilian market but also for rest of the world. In parallel, program of vegetable oils – OVEG, conceived in 1983, gave significant contribution to the automotive applications of vegetable oils (biodiesel) in vehicles. The fleet tested ran more than one million km at that time. The results demonstrated the technical feasibility of using vegetable oils in diesel engines

Delayed colorectal cancer care during covid-19 pandemic (decor-19). Global perspective from an international survey

Background The widespread nature of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been unprecedented. We sought to analyze its global impact with a survey on colorectal cancer (CRC) care during the pandemic. Methods The impact of COVID-19 on preoperative assessment, elective surgery, and postoperative management of CRC patients was explored by a 35-item survey, which was distributed worldwide to members of surgical societies with an interest in CRC care. Respondents were divided into two comparator groups: 1) ‘delay’ group: CRC care affected by the pandemic; 2) ‘no delay’ group: unaltered CRC practice. Results A total of 1,051 respondents from 84 countries completed the survey. No substantial differences in demographics were found between the ‘delay’ (745, 70.9%) and ‘no delay’ (306, 29.1%) groups. Suspension of multidisciplinary team meetings, staff members quarantined or relocated to COVID-19 units, units fully dedicated to COVID-19 care, personal protective equipment not readily available were factors significantly associated to delays in endoscopy, radiology, surgery, histopathology and prolonged chemoradiation therapy-to-surgery intervals. In the ‘delay’ group, 48.9% of respondents reported a change in the initial surgical plan and 26.3% reported a shift from elective to urgent operations. Recovery of CRC care was associated with the status of the outbreak. Practicing in COVID-free units, no change in operative slots and staff members not relocated to COVID-19 units were statistically associated with unaltered CRC care in the ‘no delay’ group, while the geographical distribution was not. Conclusions Global changes in diagnostic and therapeutic CRC practices were evident. Changes were associated with differences in health-care delivery systems, hospital’s preparedness, resources availability, and local COVID-19 prevalence rather than geographical factors. Strategic planning is required to optimize CRC care