The paradox of sustainable innovation: the ‘Eroom’ effect (Moore’s law backwards)

Innovation has been widely acknowledged as a key mechanism for addressing sustainable development concerns. However, less attention has focused on downstream commercialization challenges such as achieving increasingly complex and stringent regulatory approval. Such challenges may hinder the development of more sustainable technologies, especially those coming from smaller or publically funded institutes. As well, they may obstruct the development of applications that could provide societal benefits, but may only have limited commercial viability due to small market niches or applicability to customers with limited financial means. We explore this apparent paradox using the concept of the Eroom effect (Moore’s Law backwards), i.e. where improved price performance due to technological advances are outweighed by increasing costs of regulatory approval and other commercialization costs. We illustrate this phenomenon with two cases of publically funded institutes, one developing transgenic cotton, and the other lignin transformation technology that can replace petroleum-based feedstocks in a number of industrial applications. We discuss the unintended consequences of the Eroom effect and conclude with implications for industry, policy and NGOs

De nouvelles voies de valorisation pour redynamiser la filière ricin au Brésil

Contact: [email protected] audienceThirty years ago, Brazil was the world’s biggest producer of castor beans/castor oil. For various reasons, the areas cultivating castor beans were substantially reduced, and it is now a distant third behind the principal producers, India and China. Castor oil is a very strategic industrial raw material, but its production is complicated by the presence of toxic substances and allergens in the beans and thus in the seed cake by-product of oil extraction. Castor plants are suitable for semiarid zones and for small producers. The European Union, especially France, has successfully attempted cultivation of this plant but for the reasons above-mentioned decided to limit itself to importing castor oil. As part of a scientific agreement, Embrapa (through Labex) and Cirad (through its fat and oil research team) considered ways of contributing to the resumption of castor bean production in Brazil. The following possibilities are being or can be explored: a new concept for oil extraction (using acetone as the solvent) with the simultaneous production of an oilseed cake with reduced or no allergenic problems; lipase production from this biomass as well as the production of high value biomolecules. Methods of adding value to the oilseed cake that could be pursued involve the development of cooking-extrusion, or other processes to increase its utilisation as feed and manure. On the other hand, the expression of allergen-free genetic material is also worth considering. Finally, the production of CLA (conjugated linoleic acids), which have nutritional and therapeutic properties, represents another way of promoting the castor crop since these can be directly obtained from castor oil dehydration, under suitable catalysis, at competitive pricesLe présent article propose différentes voies potentielles pour valoriser la culture du ricin au Brésil et les produits qui en sont issus. Cette valorisation pourrait s’envisager au niveau d’une part de l’utilisation du tourteau, actuellement très handicapée par la présence d’allergènes, en proposant de concevoir un nouveau procédé d’huilerie et, d’autre part, au niveau de la production de biomolécules à haute valeur ajoutée, notamment celle des acides linoléiques conjugués (CLA) à partir de l’huil

Critical periods of weed control in naturally green colored cotton BRS Verde

Cotton with naturally colored fiber is increasing as a commercial crop due specially to its textile processing with reduced environmental impact, as dying is not necessary. The critical period of weed control and the weed community were studied in a field with the naturally green colored fiber cv. BRS Verde cultivated in Missao Velha, Brazil. Without weed control during all the cycle, a reduction of 82.9% in yield was observed. The critical period of weed control was between 31 and 74 days after emergence for a reduction of 5% in yield. The weed community was composed of 21 species, with higher relative importance and dominance of monocotyledonous species. The beginning of the critical period was found to be more influential on yield than the ending. Thus, defining the right moment to start weed control can be more important to yield than determining the moment to cease it. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Volume de recipientes e composição de substratos para produção de mudas de mamoneira Recipients volume and substrate composition for castor seedlings production

A mamoneira (Ricinus communis L.)é uma oleaginosa bem adaptada ao cultivo na região semi-árida por sua rusticidade e resistência ao estresse hídrico. Seu plantio é tradicionalmente feito por sementes, mas o uso de mudas pode se tornar atraente como estratégia para melhor aproveitamento da curta estação chuvosa. Para adoção desta tecnologia, a definição de aspectos técnicos como volume de recipientes, composição do substrato e período de permanência da muda no viveiro são fundamentais para o êxito da técnica. Conduziu-se experimento em casa-de-vegetação da Embrapa Algodão em Campina Grande, com sementes da cultivar de mamona de porte médio BRS Nordestina, em delineamento de blocos casualizados com 4 repetições e 25 tratamentos em distribuição fatorial 5², sendo os fatores cinco volumes de recipientes e cinco composições de substratos. Entre 15 e 43 dias após a emergência (DAE) foram feitas cinco coletas destrutivas semanais para obtenção de dados de altura, diâmetro caulinar, área foliar, número de folhas e matéria seca da parte aérea e radicular. Com os dados obtidos calculou-se o tamanho da folha. Detectaram-se efeitos significativos dos tratamentos em todas as variáveis estudadas. O crescimento das mudas estabilizou-se aproximadamente aos 36 DAE, independente do volume do recipiente. Os substratos compostos por mistura de areia com esterco bovino ou casca de amendoim propiciaram o melhor crescimento das mudas, enquanto aqueles contendo bagaço de cana ou mucilagem de sisal foram os piores. Recipientes de 2 L de volume foram os mais adequados para a produção de mudas de mamoneira.<br>Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is an oilseed crop well adapted for growing at semi-arid region for its rusticity and resistance to water deficit. It is usually planted by seeds, but planting by seedling can become attractive as a strategy for better use of the short rainy season. Before the adoption of this technology some aspects have to be set in order to succeed, such as recipient volume, substrate composition and period of seedling at nursery. A trial was run in greenhouse at Embrapa Algodão, Campina Grande, Paraíba State, Brazil, in a randomized block design with four replications and 25 treatments in 5² factorial distribution of five recipient volumes and five substrate compositions. Between 15 and 43 days after emergence, five destructive measurements were weekly performed for obtaining data on plant height, stem diameter, leaf area, number of leaves and dry weight of shoot and roots. Significant effects of treatments were detected on all variables analyzed. Seedlings growth stabilized about 36 days after emergence regardless recipient volume. Substrates composed by soil mixed to peanut hulls or bovine manure propitiated the best seedlings growth, while those ones containing sugarcane bagasse or agave mucilage were the worst. Recipients with 2 L of volume were the most appropriated to castor seedlings production