The financial and GHG cost of avoiding ILUC in biomass sourcing - a comparison between switchgrass produced with and without ILUC in Ukraine

Avoiding ILUC is becoming important. An important option is the use of land that would otherwise not be used for food or feed production. This generally means that lower quality or marginal land will be used. Switchgrass is one of the main perennial biomass crops that can produce high biomass yields under low input conditions and which can be established at low cost by seeds. In Ukraine this crop has in recent years been tested, yielding information that can be used to assess the cost and GHG balance of growing the crop, pelletizing, transport to the Netherlands and conversion into electricity. Results show that GHG emissions on low quality soil without ILUC are higher than for good quality soil grown switchgrass with ILUC. Analysis of the costs of growing switchgrass on low productive soils are 22% higher compared to high quality soils. It is concluded that ILUC avoidance needs to be quantified and rewarded

Spectral and luminescence properties of neodymium in chalcogenide glasses

Absorption and luminescence of chalcogenide glasses doped with neodymium were measured. Neodymium concentrations ≤ 2 wt% were achieved. Absorption spectra of the glass matrixes, matrixes with dopant (Nd3+) and impurities were measured. Luminescence spectra and the excited state lifetime of Nd3+ were also measured. It was shown that spectral properties of Nd3+ are similar regardless of which neodymium compound was used. However, these spectral properties differ when the base glass is either an oxide or a fluoride. It was found that the quantum yield of Nd3+ in the chalcogenide samples, approaches 100%. The viability of chalcogenide matrixes as laser hosts are discussed