Relevance of methodological choices for accounting of land use change carbon fluxes

Accounting for carbon fluxes from land use and land cover change (LULCC) generally requires choosing from multiple options of how to attribute the fluxes to regions and to LULCC activities. Applying a newly developed and spatially explicit bookkeeping model BLUE (bookkeeping of land use emissions), we quantify LULCC fluxes and attribute them to land use activities and countries by a range of different accounting methods. We present results with respect to a Kyoto Protocol-like "commitment" accounting period, using land use emissions of 2008-2012 as an example scenario. We assess the effect of accounting methods that vary (1) the temporal evolution of carbon stocks, (2) the state of the carbon stocks at the beginning of the period, (3) the temporal attribution of carbon fluxes during the period, and (4) treatment of LULCC fluxes that occurred prior to the beginning of the period. We show that the methodological choices result in grossly different estimates of carbon fluxes for the different attribution definitions. ©2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved

Design and performance evaluation of a Double-pass solar drier for drying of red chilli (Capsicum annum L.)

Performances of a new designed Double-pass solar drier (DPSD) were compared with those of a typical cabinet drier(CD) and a traditional open-air sun drying for drying of red chilli in central Vietnam. The drying times (including nights) to reach the desired moisture content of 10% (on a wet basis) were 32 and 73 h respectively. During open-air sun drying the desired moisture content of 10% (on a wet basis) could not be reached even after 93 h of drying (including nights). The overall drying efficiencies of DSPD and CD to reach the desired moisture content of 10% (on a wet basis) were 24.04% and 11.52% respectively while the overall drying efficiency of open-air sun drying to reach the desired moisture content of 15% (on a wet basis) was 8.03%. Further, ASTA colour value of the solar dried products from the DSPD was higher than those from CD and open-air sun drying. Similar results were obtained for mycotoxins occurrence. Contamination by aflatoxin B1 was significantly lower in dried chilli from DPSD (<0.250 μg kg−1) when compared to traditional open-air drying technique (11.980 μg kg−1). The drying cost per one kilogram of chilli was 39% lower in case of DPSD (0.077 US$/kg) as compared to CD (0.126 US$/kg). The Double-pass solar drier was found to be technically suitable and economically viable for drying of red chillies in central Vietnam

The local impact of macrofauna and land‐use intensity on soil nutrient concentration and exchangeability in lowland tropical Peru

Agricultural expansion is a major driver of deforestation which has negative consequences for biodiversity and habitat stability. While sustainable farming is known to be beneficial for biodiversity and crop resilience, little is known about the impact of macrofauna and land‐use intensity on soil quality. In this study, we examine the relative effects of (a) soil macrofauna and (b) land use (primary forest, agroforestry, and annual crop) on element depletion rates, concentration, and exchangeability in standardized soil. We used microcosms with two different mesh sizes, 0.25 mm and 5andnbsp;mm, to exclude and include macrofauna, respectively. The microcosms were incubated for up to a year throughout which samples were collected without replacement. Macrofauna did not have a significant impact on any of the soil parameters which is likely to be due to the low diversity of termites in the sites. Land‐use intensity significantly affected cation depletion rates whose effects increased in order of primary forestandlt;agroforestryandlt;annual crop. At the end of the study, soil Mg+2andnbsp;concentration and Ca/Mg ratio in the agroforestry site differed from other land‐use sites. Our results suggest that both bottom‐up and top‐down interactions have major effects on soil conditions, and the results should therefore be used to advise future research and policy around land‐use management.</p

The local impact of macrofauna and land‐use intensity on soil nutrient concentration and exchangeability in lowland tropical Peru

Agricultural expansion is a major driver of deforestation which has negative consequences for biodiversity and habitat stability. While sustainable farming is known to be beneficial for biodiversity and crop resilience, little is known about the impact of macrofauna and land‐use intensity on soil quality. In this study, we examine the relative effects of (a) soil macrofauna and (b) land use (primary forest, agroforestry, and annual crop) on element depletion rates, concentration, and exchangeability in standardized soil. We used microcosms with two different mesh sizes, 0.25 mm and 5 mm, to exclude and include macrofauna, respectively. The microcosms were incubated for up to a year throughout which samples were collected without replacement. Macrofauna did not have a significant impact on any of the soil parameters which is likely to be due to the low diversity of termites in the sites. Land‐use intensity significantly affected cation depletion rates whose effects increased in order of primary forest&lt;agroforestry&lt;annual crop. At the end of the study, soil Mg+2 concentration and Ca/Mg ratio in the agroforestry site differed from other land‐use sites. Our results suggest that both bottom‐up and top‐down interactions have major effects on soil conditions, and the results should therefore be used to advise future research and policy around land‐use management.</p

Novel approach for manufacture of single-grain EuBCO/Ag bulk superconductors via modified single-direction melt growth

AbstractDespite the success of top‐seeded melt growth (TSMG) and TSIG, some key aspects of their manufacture need to be addressed including the presence of microstructural defects, inhomogeneities in trapped field and the difficulty of growing large‐diameter bulk monoliths. Recently, a promising new method single‐direction melt growth (SDMG) appears to address the majority of the shortcomings of TSMG and TSIG. Single‐grain EuBCO/Ag bulk with the highest peritectic temperature to date was grown by modified SDMG. This remarkable achievement was made possible by lowering the peritectic temperature of the precursor composition by the addition of silver and by using single‐grain EuBCO fabricated by TSMG as a seed. The EuBCO/Ag bulk grown by SDMG has demonstrated significant improvements in comparison to a reference TSMG sample. A reduction of approximately 30% in defect area (associated primarily with porosity), as well as a significantly enhanced homogeneity of trapped field and critical temperature, was observed. Furthermore, the critical current density curves exhibit a considerable improvement, particularly in the 2–5 T field range. The SDMG technique has considerable potential for scale‐up for the fabrication of large‐diameter bulk single grains, with only growth along the c‐axis involved during the thermal process.</jats:p

CO2 storage potential of sedimentary basins of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Baltic States

It has been increasingly realised that geological storage of CO2 is a prospective option for reduction of CO2 emissions. The CO2 geological storage potential of sedimentary basins with the territory of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and the Baltic States is here assessed, and different storage options have been considered. The most prospective technology is hydrodynamic trapping in the deep saline aquifers. The utilisation of hydrocarbon (HC) fields is considered as a mature technology; however storage capacities are limited in the region and are mainly related to enhanced oil (gas) recovery. Prospective reservoirs and traps have been identified in the Danube, Vienna and East Slovakian Neogene basins, the Neogene Carpathian Foredeep, the Bohemian and Fore-Sudetic Upper Paleozoic basins, the Mesozoic Mid-Polish Basin and the pericratonic Paleozoic Baltic Basin. The total storage capacity of the sedimentary basins is estimated to be as much as 10170 Mt of CO2 in deep saline aquifer structures, and 938 Mt CO2 in the depleted HC fields. The utilisation of coal seams for CO2 storage is related to the Upper Silesian Basin where CO2 storage could be combined with enhanced recovery of coal-bed methane