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Fields on fire
Farmer profit can be increased and air quality improved Although intentional use of fires to transform land has decreased globally ( 1 , 2 ), particularly among highly capitalized countries through regulatory and market-oriented approaches and moral suasion, regulatory strategies have been less effective in southern and eastern Asia (see table S21). Some densely populated agricultural regions in China and India buck the global trend, showing increases in agricultural fires ( 2 ). This is particularly true in northwestern India, where rice residue burning makes a substantial contribution to air pollution and short-lived climate pollutants ( 3 , 4 ). Regulations are in place to reduce agricultural fires, but burning continues because of uncertainty regarding policy implementation and regarding access and returns to alternative technologies. With the field burning season soon upon us, we synthesize emerging evidence on alternatives to burning, clarify the business case for alternative practices, identify remaining uncertainties, and discuss approaches to increase their widespread adoption. Often, there are difficult trade-offs between environmental improvement and profitable economic opportunities. The case of crop residue management in northwestern India does not appear to fit this pattern and provides lessons that may be useful elsewhere.
Journal Article
The biomass assessment handbook : energy for a sustainble evironment
\"The increasing importance of biomass as a renewable energy source has led to an acute need for reliable and detailed information on its assessment, consumption and supply. Responding to this need, and overcoming the lack of standardised measurement and accounting procedures, this best-selling handbook provides the reader with the skills to understand the biomass resource base, the tools to assess the resource, and explores the pros and cons of exploitation. This new edition has been fully updated and revised with new chapters on sustainability methodologies. Topics covered include assessment methods for woody and herbaceous biomass, biomass supply and consumption, remote sensing techniques, food security, sustainability and certification as well as vital policy issues. The book includes international case studies on techniques from measuring tree volume to transporting biomass, which help to illustrate step-by-step methods. Technical appendices offer a glossary of terms, energy units and other valuable resource data. \"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Efficient urea electrosynthesis from carbon dioxide and nitrate via alternating Cu–W bimetallic C–N coupling sites
Electrocatalytic urea synthesis is an emerging alternative technology to the traditional energy-intensive industrial urea synthesis protocol. Novel strategies are urgently needed to promote the electrocatalytic C–N coupling process and inhibit the side reactions. Here, we report a CuWO
4
catalyst with native bimetallic sites that achieves a high urea production rate (98.5 ± 3.2 μg h
−1
mg
−1
cat
) for the co-reduction of CO
2
and NO
3
−
with a high Faradaic efficiency (70.1 ± 2.4%) at −0.2 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that the combination of stable intermediates of *NO
2
and *CO increases the probability of C–N coupling and reduces the potential barrier, resulting in high Faradaic efficiency and low overpotential. This study provides a new perspective on achieving efficient urea electrosynthesis by stabilizing the key reaction intermediates, which may guide the design of other electrochemical systems for high-value C–N bond-containing chemicals.
Electrocatalytic urea synthesis is an emerging alternative technology to the traditional urea synthesis protocol. Here, a CuWO
4
catalyst with native bimetallic sites achieves efficient co-reduction of carbon dioxide and nitrate to urea by stabilizing intermediates of *NO
2
and *CO for C–N coupling.
Journal Article
Energy : the basics
\"People rarely stop to think about where the energy they use to power their everyday lives comes from and when they do it is often to ask a worried question: is mankind's energy usage killing the planet? How do we deal with nuclear waste? What happens when the oil runs out? Energy: The Basics answers these questions but it also does much more. In this engaging yet even-handed introduction, readers are introduced to: - the concept of 'energy' and what it really means - the ways energy is currently generated and the sources used - new and emerging energy technologies such as solar power and biofuels - the impacts of energy use on the environment including climate change Featuring explanatory diagrams, tables, a glossary and an extensive further reading list, this book is the ideal starting point for anyone interested in the impact and future of the world's energy supply. Harold Schobert is Professor of Fuel Science in the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at Penn State University. He is the author of Energy and Society 2nd Edition (CRC Press, 2011),\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Concurrent assessment of gait kinematics using marker-based and markerless motion capture
Kinematic analysis is a useful and widespread tool used in research and clinical biomechanics for the quantification of human movement. Common marker-based optical motion capture systems are time intensive and require highly trained operators to obtain kinematic data. Markerless motion capture systems offer an alternative method for the measurement of kinematic data with several practical benefits. This work compared the kinematics of human gait measured using a deep learning algorithm-based markerless motion capture system to those from a standard marker-based motion capture system. Thirty healthy adult participants walked on a treadmill while data were simultaneously recorded using eight video cameras and seven infrared optical motion capture cameras, providing synchronized markerless and marker-based data for comparison. The average root mean square distance (RMSD) between corresponding joint centers was less than 2.5 cm for all joints except the hip, which was 3.6 cm. Lower limb segment angles relative to the global coordinate system indicated the global segment pose estimates from both systems were very similar, with RMSD of less than 5.5° for all segment angles except those that represent rotations about the long axis of the segment. Lower limb joint angles captured similar patterns for flexion/extension at all joints, ab/adduction at the knee and hip, and toe-in/toe-out at the ankle. These findings indicate that the markerless system would be a suitable alternative technology in cases where the practical benefits of markerless data collection are preferred.
Journal Article
Desert energy : a guide to the technology, impacts, and opportunities
\"This book examines the key technologies being deployed in an effort to tap the potential presented by world's deserts for siting large-scale solar power applications, and surveys the feasibility of such projects given the remoteness and the hostility of these environments Focusing on large scale photovoltaics and concentrating solar thermal power, it explains how the systems work, projects that are being planned, the required scales, and the technical difficulties they need to overcome to function effectively. It then moves on to examine the economics of such projects (including financing) and the social and environmental effects they may have. Illustrated throughout by reference to built or planned projects, and written in a clear, jargon-free style, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the development of large scale solar applications\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Topologically guided tuning of Zr-MOF pore structures for highly selective separation of C6 alkane isomers
As an alternative technology to energy intensive distillations, adsorptive separation by porous solids offers lower energy cost and higher efficiency. Herein we report a topology-directed design and synthesis of a series of Zr-based metal-organic frameworks with optimized pore structure for efficient separation of C6 alkane isomers, a critical step in the petroleum refining process to produce gasoline with high octane rating. Zr
6
O
4
(OH)
4
(bptc)
3
adsorbs a large amount of
n
-hexane but excluding branched isomers. The
n
-hexane uptake is ~70% higher than that of a benchmark adsorbent, zeolite-5A. A derivative structure, Zr
6
O
4
(OH)
8
(H
2
O)
4
(abtc)
2
, is capable of discriminating all three C6 isomers and yielding a high separation factor for 3-methylpentane over 2,3-dimethylbutane. This property is critical for producing gasoline with further improved quality. Multicomponent breakthrough experiments provide a quantitative measure of the capability of these materials for separation of C6 alkane isomers. A detailed structural analysis reveals the unique topology, connectivity and relationship of these compounds.
The separation of C6 alkane isomers is crucial to the petroleum refining industry, but the distillation methods in place are energy intensive. Here, the authors design a series of topologically-guided zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks with optimized pore structures for efficient C6 alkane isomer separations.
Journal Article
Chemistry of sustainable energy
\"Meeting global energy demand in a sustainable fashion will require not only increased energy efficiency and new methods of using existing carbon-based fuels but also a daunting amount of new carbon-neutral energy. Nathan S. Lewis and Daniel G. Nocera Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Lewis and Nocera 2006) The image on the cover is that of the solar-powered airplane Solar Impulse high over Belgium in 2011. The goal of Solar Impulse is grand: to fly both night and day relying solely upon solar energy. More broadly, however, Solar Impulse is meant to inspire: it is an innovation that has risen to a technological challenge to demonstrate that clean and sustainable energy can be achieved. It is an inspiration that is much needed when the impacts of global climate change are all around us. Based on the globally averaged temperature, 2012 was the tenth-warmest year since record-keeping began in 1880, and 2001-2012 rank among the 14 warmest years in this 133-year period. In the United States, 2012 was the warmest on record for the contiguous states and one of the most extreme with respect to temperature, precipitation, and tropical cyclones; 2013 promises to continue with respect to extreme weather events (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2012). Where is this climate change coming from? Overwhelming evidence points to the increasing amount of greenhouse gases--particularly carbon dioxide--in our atmosphere, a result of our insatiable consumption of fossil fuels (Bernstein et al. 2008). While writing this text, the alarming milestone of 400 ppm atmospheric CO2 was surpassed--an ominous harbinger of climate change to come\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Environmental co-benefits and adverse side-effects of alternative power sector decarbonization strategies
A rapid and deep decarbonization of power supply worldwide is required to limit global warming to well below 2 °C. Beyond greenhouse gas emissions, the power sector is also responsible for numerous other environmental impacts. Here we combine scenarios from integrated assessment models with a forward-looking life-cycle assessment to explore how alternative technology choices in power sector decarbonization pathways compare in terms of non-climate environmental impacts at the system level. While all decarbonization pathways yield major environmental co-benefits, we find that the scale of co-benefits as well as profiles of adverse side-effects depend strongly on technology choice. Mitigation scenarios focusing on wind and solar power are more effective in reducing human health impacts compared to those with low renewable energy, while inducing a more pronounced shift away from fossil and toward mineral resource depletion. Conversely, non-climate ecosystem damages are highly uncertain but tend to increase, chiefly due to land requirements for bioenergy.
There lacks a consistent and holistic evaluation of co-benefits of different mitigation pathways in studies on Integrated Assessment Models. Here the authors quantify environmental co-benefits and adverse side-effects of a portfolio of alternative power sector decarbonisation pathways and show that the scale of co-benefits as well as profiles of adverse side-effects depend strongly on technology choice.
Journal Article