Petróleo: energia do presente, matéria-prima do futuro?

Nowadays oil and coal account for most of world energy generation. The near future offers few perspectives of change in the world energy matrix. The process of fossil fuel combustion used today is extremely inefficient, as a good deal of ener-gy is wasted. While a technological revolution in the energy area doesn't come, we have to work on raising the efficiency level, and on understanding better this wonderful raw material which oil is. We have history to teach us: at the end of the XIX century the main product obtained from oil was kerosene for lighting, and gas was thrown away. The biggest doubt is still about the potential for innovation in the oil area, which is already very developed. That is true as regards the use of oil as fuel, but not as a supplier of raw materials. Today Petrobras has become a new sponsor and organizer of scientific and technological research in the area of oil and energy in Brazil, focusing on the future of the oil industry.Hoje, o petróleo e o carvão são responsáveis pela maior parte de geração de energia no mundo. No futuro próximo há poucas perspectivas de mudanças da matriz energética mundial. O processo de combustão de combustíveis fósseis atualmente empregados é extremamente ineficiente sendo boa parte da energia perdida. Enquanto uma revolução tecnológica na área de energia não chega, temos que trabalhar na eficiência e melhor conhecer essa maravilhosa matéria-prima que é o petróleo. A história nos ensina: no fim do século XIX o principal produto obtido do petróleo era o querosene para iluminação, e a gasolina era jogada fora. A grande dúvida ainda é sobre o potencial de inovação nessa área já tão desenvolvida que é a do petróleo. Isso é verdade em termos do uso de petróleo como combustível mas não como um supridor de matérias-primas. A Petrobras hoje tornou-se um novo financiador e organizador de pesquisas científicas e tecnológicas na área de petróleo e energia no Brasil, focando o futuro da indústria do petróleo

Web Atlas como Herramienta para la Gestión Integrada Costera: de los Datos al Conocimiento Práctico

Despite the importance of coastal areas to sustainable development, they are poorly known by the public or even by decision-makers. This undermines consistent action towards their protection. Existing data and information, published in very complex language, tend to be restricted to academic use. The Coastal Web Atlas as the one developed here is a tool that makes this information more accessible to managers, by preserving, integrating, comparing, and sharing data as smart maps. The spatial analysis based on multiple impact indicators facilitates the correlation of causes and effects. The Coastal Web Atlas is available to a broad audience and it could be a strong instrument for spatial planning and oversight. The authors propose to improve coastal area management by using colors on maps to decode scientific language to friendly language and to publish it on a geoportal. This technology promotes the use of collected data and enables collaborative work. A pilot experiment is being developed in the Santos Port Region, at the São Paulo state coast, Brazil: http://santoswebatlas.com.brA pesar de la importancia de las áreas costeras para el desarrollo sostenible, ellas son poco conocidas por el público o incluso por los tomadores de decisiones. Esto socava una acción constante para su protección. Los datos y la información existentes, publicados en un lenguaje muy complejo, tienden a restringirse al uso académico. El Coastal Web Atlas, tal como se presenta aquí, es una herramienta que hace la información más accesible para los administradores, preservando, integrando, comparando y compartiendo datos en forma de mapas inteligentes. El análisis espacial basado en múltiples indicadores de impacto facilita la correlación entre causas y efectos. Un web Atlas Costero disponible para una amplia audiencia es una herramienta poderosa para la planificación y evaluación espacial. Los autores proponen mejorar la gestión de la zona costera utilizando colores en mapas para decodificar el lenguaje científico en un lenguaje amigable y publicarlo en un geoportal. Esta tecnología permite el uso de datos recopilados previamente y la construcción como un trabajo colaborativo. Se está desarrollando un experimento piloto en la Región del Puerto de Santos, en la costa del estado de São Paulo, Brasil: http://santoswebatlas.com.br

Intracellular biosynthesis and removal of copper nanoparticles by dead biomass of yeast isolated from the wastewater of a mine in the brazilian Amazonia

In this study was developed a natural process using a biological system for the biosynthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) and possible removal of copper from wastewater by dead biomass of the yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa. Dead and live biomass of Rhodotorula mucilaginosa was used to analyze the equilibrium and kinetics of copper biosorption by the yeast in function of the initial metal concentration, contact time, pH, temperature, agitation and inoculum volume. Dead biomass exhibited the highest biosorption capacity of copper, 26.2 mg g(-1), which was achieved within 60 min of contact, at pH 5.0, temperature of 30°C, and agitation speed of 150 rpm. The equilibrium data were best described by the Langmuir isotherm and Kinetic analysis indicated a pseudo-second-order model. The average size, morphology and location of NPs biosynthesized by the yeast were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The shape of the intracellularly synthesized NPs was mainly spherical, with an average size of 10.5 nm. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of the copper NPs confirmed the formation of metallic copper. The dead biomass of Rhodotorula mucilaginosa may be considered an efficiently bioprocess, being fast and low-cost to production of copper nanoparticles and also a probably nano-adsorbent of this metal ion in wastewater in bioremediation processFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo - FAPES

Biosynthesis and uptake of copper nanoparticles by dead biomass of Hypocrea lixii isolated from the metal mine in the Brazilian Amazon Region

A biological system for the biosynthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) and uptake of copper from wastewater, using dead biomass of Hypocrea lixii was analyzed and described for the first time. The equilibrium and kinetics investigation of the biosorption of copper onto dead, dried and live biomass of fungus were performed as a function of initial metal concentration, pH, temperature, agitation and inoculum volume. The high biosorption capacity was observed for dead biomass, completed within 60 min of contact, at pH 5.0, temperature of 40 °C and agitation speed of 150 rpm with a maximum copper biosorption of 19.0 mg g(-1). The equilibrium data were better described using the Langmuir isotherm and kinetic analysis indicated that copper biosorption follows a pseudo-second-order model. The average size, morphology and location of NPs biosynthesized by the fungus were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). NPs were mainly spherical, with an average size of 24.5 nm, and were synthesized extracellularly. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirms the presence of metallic copper particles. Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) study revealed that the amide groups interact with the particles, which was accountable for the stability of NPs. This method further confirmed the presence of proteins as stabilizing and capping agents surrounding the copper NPs. These studies demonstrate that dead biomass of Hypocrea lixii provides an economic and technically feasible option for bioremediation of wastewater and is a potential candidate for industrial-scale production of copper NPs.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP - 2010/52305-1

Modelling the technical potential of bioelectricity production under land use constraints: A multi-region Brazil case study

In Brazil, bioelectricity generation from sugarcane bagasse and black liquor is regarded as a sustainable electricity supply option. However, questions regarding land use, investment decisions, and demand for paper, ethanol and sugar make its future role uncertain. The aim of this paper is to present a novel modelling framework based on a soft-link between a multi-sectoral Brazilian integrated assessment model (MUSE-Brazil) and an electricity portfolio optimisation model (EPOM). The proposed framework is capable of dynamically simulating sectoral electricity demand, regional bioenergy production under land use constraints and optimal power sector technological shares in each of the electricity subsystems. Considering Brazil under a 2 °C carbon budget, two scenarios based on economic attractiveness of producing second-generation ethanol have been investigated. Under the scenario where second-generation ethanol is not produced, outputs indicate that by 2050, Brazil would increase sugarcane and wood production by 68% and 49% respectively without causing direct or indirect deforestation. Agriculture intensification is evidenced as an alternative for reducing land use disruptions. Bioelectricity share is projected to remain around 9–10%. However, if second generation ethanol becomes cost-effective, thus limiting bagasse availability, the share of bioelectricity production would decrease to approximately 7.7%, with natural gas-fired plants playing a stronger role in the future power system expansion, causing an increase on electricity sector emissions

Dual antibacterial mechanism of [K4K15]CZS-1 against Salmonella Typhimurium: a membrane active and intracellular-targeting antimicrobial peptide

Salmonella genus is a leading cause of food-borne infections with strong public health impact and economic ramifications. The development of antimicrobial resistance added complexity to this scenario and turned the antibiotic drug discovery into a highly important challenge. The screening of peptides has served as a successful discovery platform to design new antibiotic candidates. Motivated by this, the antimicrobial and cytotoxic properties of three cruzioseptins against Salmonella Typhimurium and RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cells, respectively, were investigated. [K4K15]CZS-1 was the most potent antimicrobial peptide identified in the screening step with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 16 μg/mL (7.26 μM) and moderate cytotoxicity. From a structural point of view, in vitro and in silico techniques evidenced that [K4K15]CZS-1 is a α-helical cationic antimicrobial peptide. In order to capture mechanistic details and fully decipher their antibacterial action, we adopted a multidimensional approach, including spectroscopy, electron microscopy and omics analysis. In general lines, [K4K15]CZS-1 caused membrane damage, intracellular alterations in Salmonella and modulated metabolic pathways, such as the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, fatty acid biosynthesis, and lipid metabolism. Overall, these findings provide deeper insights into the antibacterial properties and multidimensional mode of action of [K4K15]CZS-1 against Salmonella Typhimurium. In summary, this study represents a first step toward the screening of membrane-acting and intracellular-targeting peptides as potential bio-preservatives to prevent foodborne outbreaks caused by Salmonella

Emergy analysis of oil production from microalgae

The use of microalgae and cyanobacteria for the production of biofuels and other raw materials is considered a very promising sustainable technology due to the high areal productivity, potential for CO2 fixation and use of non-arable land. The production of oil by microalgae in a large scale plant was studied using emergy analysis. The joint transformity calculated for the base scenario was 1.32E + 5 sej/J, the oil transformity was 3.51E + 5 sej/J, the emergy yield ratio (EYR) was 1.09 and environmental loading ratio was 11.10 and the emergy sustainability index (ESI) was 0.10, highlighting some of the key challenges for the technology such as high energy consumption during harvesting, raw material consumption and high capital and operation costs. Alternatives scenarios and the sensitivity to process improvements were also assessed, helping prioritize further research based on sustainability impact. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved