Influence of production methods and transport distances on the Greenhouse Gas-Balance of organic apple juice

Organic farming is the most adequate system for the production of food and other agricultural 9 products to sustain ecological and environmental sources. Ecologically produced foods are 10 becoming more and more popular; accordingly, the demand for organic products is growing. In 11 addition to the renunciation of the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, the philosophy of 12 this type of food production includes as well the benefits of seasonal and regional goods such 13 as short ways of production and distribution. 14 In the present study the total emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the production of 15 organic apple juice from two different regions were investigated. The goal of the analysis is to 16 clarify whether extensive agricultural production methods in terms of the degree of 17 mechanisation used in the cultivation of apples have a greater influence on the total emissions 18 produced by the apple juice value-added chain in comparison to potentially longer 19 transportation distances to the fruit processing company. For this reason organic apples from 20 Germany’s “Altes Land” region were compared with organic apples from the Southern 21 Carpathians (Romania) under the restriction that the pressing of the fruits takes place in a 22 German facility. The apples from “Altes Land” region are produced with highly mechanised 23 production methods and are due to the restriction comparatively nearby to the fruit processing 24 plant. In contrast the apples from the Southern Carpathians are produced primarily by hand, but 25 need long-distance transports to the German fruit processing plant. 26 The scope of the investigation was the whole value-added chain from the cultivation of the 27 apples to the delivery of the juice to the retailer, whereby the emissions of the respective 28 upstream chain were analysed in addition to the direct emissions. Despite the very extensive 29 agricultural cultivation methods used in the Southern Carpathians, which could be assumed not 2 30 to produce any GHG emissions, the apple juice from these apples were associated with higher 31 total emissions (782 g CO2e/l apple juice) than apples from the “Altes Land“ region 32 (630 g CO2e/l apple juice). The reason for this is the long distance over which the Romanian 33 apples needed to be transported to the fruit processing plant, which exceeded the GHG 34 emissions saved during the apple cultivation in this region. Another result of this study made 35 clear that the post-harvest processing produced the greatest amount of GHG emissions in the 36 apple juice value-added chain (more than 50%.apple juice production, greenhouse gas balance, transportation, organic farming, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis,

Regression-Based Model Error Compensation for Hierarchical MPC Building Energy Management System

One of the major challenges in the development of energy management systems (EMSs) for complex buildings is accurate modeling. To address this, we propose an EMS, which combines a Model Predictive Control (MPC) approach with data-driven model error compensation. The hierarchical MPC approach consists of two layers: An aggregator controls the overall energy flows of the building in an aggregated perspective, while a distributor distributes heating and cooling powers to individual temperature zones. The controllers of both layers employ regression-based error estimation to predict and incorporate the model error. The proposed approach is evaluated in a software-in-the-loop simulation using a physics-based digital twin model. Simulation results show the efficacy and robustness of the proposed approachComment: 8 pages, 4 figures. To be published in 2023 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications (CCTA) proceeding

Midlatitude ClO during the maximum atmospheric chlorine burden : in situ balloon measurements and model simulations

Chlorine monoxide (ClO) plays a key role in stratospheric ozone loss processes at midlatitudes. We present two balloonborne in situ measurements of ClO conducted in northern hemisphere midlatitudes during the period of the maximum of total inorganic chlorine loading in the atmosphere. Both ClO measurements were conducted on board the TRIPLE balloon payload, launched in November 1996 in Le´on, Spain, and in May 1999 in Aire sur l’Adour, France. For both flights a ClO daylight and night time vertical profile could be derived over an altitude range of approximately 15–31 km. ClO mixing ratios are compared to model simulations performed with the photochemical box model version of the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS). Simulations along 24-h backward trajectories were performed to study the diurnal variation of ClO in the midlatitude lower stratosphere. Model simulations for the flight launched in Aire sur l’Adour 1999 show a good agreement with the ClO measurements. For the flight launched in Le´on 1996, a similar good agreement is found, except at around ~ 650 K potential temperature (~26km altitude). However, a tendency is found that for solar zenith angles greater than 86°–87° the simulated ClO mixing ratios substantially overestimate measured ClO by approximately a factor of 2.5 or more for both flights. Therefore we conclude that no indication can be deduced from the presented ClO measurements that substantial uncertainties exist in midlatitude chlorine chemistry of the stratosphere. An exception is the situation at solar zenith angles greater than 86°–87° where model simulations substantial overestimate ClO observations

The impact of transport across the polar vortex edge on Match ozone loss estimates

The Match method for the quantification of polar chemical ozone loss is investigated mainly with respect to the impact of the transport of air masses across the vortex edge. For the winter 2002/03, we show that significant transport across the vortex edge occurred and was simulated by the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere. In-situ observations of inert tracers and ozone from HAGAR on the Geophysica aircraft and balloon-borne sondes, and remote observations from MIPAS on the ENVISAT satellite were reproduced well by CLaMS. The model even reproduced a small vortex remnant that remained a distinct feature until June 2003 and was also observed in-situ by a balloon-borne whole air sampler. We use this CLaMS simulation to quantify the impact of transport across the vortex edge on ozone loss estimates from the Match method. We show that a time integration of the determined vortex average ozone loss rates, as performed in Match, results in a larger ozone loss than the polar vortex average ozone loss in CLaMS. The determination of the Match ozone loss rates is also influenced by the transport of air across the vortex edge. We use the model to investigate how the sampling of the ozone sondes on which Match is based represents the vortex average ozone loss rate. Both the time integration of ozone loss and the determination of ozone loss rates for Match are evaluated using the winter 2002/2003 CLaMS simulation. These impacts can explain the majority of the differences between CLaMS and Match column ozone loss. While the investigated effects somewhat reduce the apparent discrepancy in January ozone loss rates reported earlier, a distinct discrepancy between simulations and Match remains. However, its contribution to the accumulated ozone loss over the winter is not large

Implicit Incorporation of Heuristics in MPC-Based Control of a Hydrogen Plant

The replacement of fossil fuels in combination with an increasing share of renewable energy sources leads to an increased focus on decentralized microgrids. One option is the local production of green hydrogen in combination with fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). In this paper, we develop a control strategy based on Model Predictive Control (MPC) for an energy management system (EMS) of a hydrogen plant, which is currently under installation in Offenbach, Germany. The plant includes an electrolyzer, a compressor, a low pressure storage tank, and six medium pressure storage tanks with complex heuristic physical coupling during the filling and extraction of hydrogen. Since these heuristics are too complex to be incorporated into the optimal control problem (OCP) explicitly, we propose a novel approach to do so implicitly. First, the MPC is executed without considering them. Then, the so-called allocator uses a heuristic model (of arbitrary complexity) to verify whether the MPC's plan is valid. If not, it introduces additional constraints to the MPC's OCP to implicitly respect the tanks' pressure levels. The MPC is executed again and the new plan is applied to the plant. Simulation results with real-world measurement data of the facility's energy management and realistic fueling scenarios show its advantages over rule-based control.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. To be published in IEEE 3rd International Conference on Power Electronics, Smart Grid, and Renewable Energy (PESGRE 2023) proceeding

Origin and Evolution of Enzymes with MIO Prosthetic Group: Microbial Coevolution After the Mass Extinction Event

After major mass extinction events, ancient plants and terrestrial vertebrates were faced with various challenges, especially ultraviolet (UV) light. These stresses probably resulted in changes in the biosynthetic pathways, which employed the MIO (3,5-dihydro-5-methylidene-4H-imidazole-4-one)-dependent enzymes (ammonia-lyase and aminomutase), leading to enhanced accumulation of metabolites for defense against UV radiation, pathogens, and microorganisms. Up to now, the origin and evolution of genes from this superfamily have not been extensively studied. In this report, we perform an analysis of the phylogenetic relations between the members of the aromatic amino acid MIO-dependent enzymes (AAM), which demonstrate that they most probably have a common evolutionary origin from ancient bacteria. In early soil environments, numerous bacterial species with tyrosine ammonia-lyase genes (TAL; EC 4.3.1.23) developed tyrosine aminomutase (TAM; EC 5.4.3.6) activity as a side reaction for competing with their neighbors in the community. These genes also evolved into other TAL-like enzymes, such as histidine ammonia-lyase (HAL, EC 4.3.1.3) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL; EC 4.3.1.24), in different bacterial species for metabolite production and accumulation for adaptation to adverse terrestrial environmental conditions. On the other hand, the existence of phenylalanine aminomutase (PAM; EC 5.4.3.10) and phenylalanine/tyrosine ammonia-lyase (PTAL; EC 4.3.1.25) strongly indicates the horizontal gene transfer (HGT) between bacteria, fungi, and plants in symbiotic association after acquiring the PAL gene from their ancestor

Application of Pareto Optimization in an Economic Model Predictive Controlled Microgrid

This paper presents an economic model predictive control approach for a linear microgrid model. The microgrid in grid-connected mode represents a medium-sized company building including storage systems, renewable energies and couplings between the electrical and heat energy system. Economic model predictive control together with Pareto optimization is applied to find suitable compromises between two competing objectives, i. e. monetary costs and thermal comfort. Using real-world data from 2018 and 2019, the model is simulated with auto-detection of the Pareto solution which is closest to the Utopia point. The results show that the Pareto optimization can either be used in real-time control of the microgrid, or to obtain suitable weights from long term simulations. Both approaches result in significant cost reductions

Computational-designed enzyme for β-tyrosine production in lignin valorization

Lignin is an underutilized sustainable source of aromatic compounds. To valorize the low-value lignin monomers, we proposed an efficient strategy, involving enzymatic conversion from trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acids to generate valued-added canonical and non-canonical aromatic amino acids. Among them, β-amino acids are recognized as building blocks for bioactive natural products and pharmaceutical ingredients due to their attractive antitumor properties. Using computational enzyme design, the (R)-β-selective phenylalanine aminomutase from Taxus chinensis (TchPAM) was successfully mutated to accept β-tyrosine as the substrate, as well as to generate the (R)-β-tyrosine with excellent enantiopurity (ee > 99%) as the unique product from trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid. Moreover, the kinetic parameters were determined for the reaction of four Y424 enzyme variants with the synthesis of different phenylalanine and tyrosine enantiomers. In the ammonia elimination reaction of (R)-β-tyrosine, the variants Y424N and Y424C displayed a two-fold increased catalytic efficiency of the wild type. In this work, a binding pocket in the active site, including Y424, K427, I431, and E455, was examined for its influence on the β-enantioselectivity of this enzyme family. Combining the upstream lignin depolymerization and downstream production, a sustainable value chain based on lignin is enabled. In summary, we report a β-tyrosine synthesis process from a monolignol component, offering a new way for lignin valorization by biocatalyst modification

Rutschsichere Böschungen: Ein Verbundprojekt am ZAFT entwickelt neue Lösungen für die Sanierung von rutschgefährdeten Oberflächen

Die Oberflächen von Erdbauwerken sind neben den von der Funktion abhängigen Beanspruchungen z. B. als Verkehrsdamm, Deponieböschung oder Deich, auch witterungsbedingten Einwirkungen ausgesetzt. Frost-Tau-Wechsel können zur Auflockerung der obersten Schichten führen und Tauperioden sowie starke Niederschläge zur Sättigung des Bodens. In letzter Zeit häufen sich Rutschungen der oberflächennahen Bereiche an Verkehrsdämmen, Lärmschutzwällen und teilweise auch an Deichen. Ursachen sind die unzureichende Festigkeit des Bodens, die fehlende Stabilisierung durch Bewuchs und Beanspruchungen durch abströmendes Wasser. Das Forschungsprojekt am ZAFT hat zum Ziel, die oberste Schicht von Böschungen zu verbessern. Es sollen wirtschaftliche Alternativen zu den klassischen Verfahren des Erd- und Grundbaus entwickelt werden, mit denen die flächendeckende Sicherung von Erdbauwerken möglich wird

Synthesis of (S)- and (R)-β-Tyrosine by Redesigned Phenylalanine Aminomutase

Phenylalanine aminomutase from Taxus chinensis (TchPAM) is employed in the biosynthesis of the widely used antitumor drug paclitaxel. TchPAM has received substantial attention due to its strict enantioselectivity towards (R)-β-phenylalanine, in contrast to the bacterial enzymes classified as EC 5.4.3.11 which are (S)-selective for this substrate. However, the understanding of the isomerization mechanism of the reorientation and rearrangement reactions in TchPAM might support and promote further research on expanding the scope of the substrate and thus the establishment of large-scale production of potential synthesis for drug development. Upon conservation analysis, computational simulation, and mutagenesis experiments, we report a mutant from TchPAM, which can catalyze the amination reaction of trans-p-hydroxycinnamic acid to (R)- and (S)-β-tyrosine. We propose a mechanism for the function of the highly conserved residues L179, N458, and Q459 in the active site of TchPAM. This work highlights the importance of the hydrophobic residues in the active site, including the residues L104, L108, and I431, for maintaining the strict enantioselectivity of TchPAM, and the importance of these residues for substrate specificity and activation by altering the substrate binding position or varying the location of neighboring residues. Furthermore, an explanation of (R)-selectivity in TchPAM is proposed based on the mutagenesis study of these hydrophobic residues. In summary, these studies support the future exploitation of the rational engineering of corresponding enzymes with MIO moiety (3,5-dihydro-5-methylidene-4H-imidazole-4-one) such as ammonia lyases and aminomutases of aromatic amino acids