Recent research on CO2 capture is focusing on the optimization of CO2 absorption using amines (mainly monoethanolamine—MEA) in order to minimize the energy consumption of this very energy-intensive ...process and improve the absorption efficiency. Process optimization is always required and this research is worth and necessary. However, the main concern arises when thinking of the overall process: solvent production, solvent use and regeneration, and environmental effects related to its use/emissions. The production of MEA from ammonia involves important CO2 emissions during the Haber–Bosch process. The regeneration of the solvent after the absorption is also an indirect source of CO2 related to the use of fuels (i.e., combustion processes for energy supply). Thus, the evaluation of the overall balance of CO2 emitted and captured is essential to determine the efficiency of the process. In addition, other environmental impacts associated to the toxicity and environmental fate of the solvent have to be considered. The use of MEA and other amines in CO2 capture is a point of concern and a global application does not seem to be the best strategy.
This review aims at giving an overview of the main implications of using MEA as absorption solvent for CO2 capture together with the last advances in research to improve the conventional absorption process. Furthermore, alternatives of using other solvents and/or using other technology and their advantages and weak points will be briefly provided. An approach oriented to produce CO2-based products with economic value that can be re-integrated in a closed carbon loop, reducing the use of fresh materials and decreasing the production cost, should be the final objective of current research on CO2 capture.
Mitigating non‐point source nitrogen in coastal estuaries is economically, environmentally, logistically, and socially challenging. On Cape Cod, Massachusetts, nitrogen management includes both ...traditional, centralized wastewater treatment and sewering as well as a number of alternative technologies. We conducted semi‐structured interviews with 37 participants from governmental and non‐governmental organizations as well as related industries to identify the barriers and opportunities for the use of alternative technologies to mitigate nitrogen pollution. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and then analyzed using content analysis and rhetorical analysis. Cost and technical capacity to reduce nitrogen were the most discussed considerations. Beyond those, there were a slew of additional considerations that also impacted whether a technology would be installed, permitted, and socially accepted. These included: maintenance and monitoring logistics, comparisons to sewering, co‐benefits, risk/uncertainty, community culture, extent of public engagement, permitting/regulatory challenges, and siting considerations. The insights about these additional considerations are valuable for transferring to other coastal areas managing nutrient impairments that may have not yet factored in these considerations when making decisions about how to meet water quality goals.
•The sources and influencing factors of spices flavors were introduced.•Ultrasound-assisted processing is noted to yield the most flavorful compounds.•Some methods can alleviate the heat generated by ...ultrasound.•Ultrasonic atomization extraction has been used to detect flavor compounds.
Spices are widely used to add unique flavors to food; such uniqueness may, however, suffer significant loss during processing, which is in many cases needed to preserve or transform spices into food ingredients. Here, the effects of ultrasound-assisted drying, extraction and microencapsulation on flavor of spices along with selected progresses made on ultrasonic detection of the flavor are reviewed. Flavors of some spices, e.g., laurel, onion and peppermint, dried with the aid of ultrasound are noted to be better than those of shade-dried, infrared, microwave and hot-air dried products. Ultrasound-assisted extraction can be effectively used to extract essential oils or oleoresins from spices. Compared with selected extraction methods, the variety of flavor substances obtained via ultrasound-assisted extraction is richer and their concentrations are also higher, making the flavors of the extracts stronger. Ultrasound-assisted microencapsulation has noted to increase the compound embedding and loading ratios, resulting in better maintenance of flavor over a longer period of time. Ultrasound has finally proved to be an efficient, green, economical and sensitive flavor detection technology for spices.
Display omitted
•Phosphates provide important function to processed meat systems.•Replacement of phosphates in processed meats requires innovative approaches.•Alternative ingredients struggle to ...replicate the function of inorganic phosphates.•Pairing novel processing techniques with alternative ingredients may be promising.
Meat and meat products provide high levels of nutrition and many health benefits to consumers, yet a controversy exists regarding the use of non-meat additives, such as the inorganic phosphates that are commonly used in meat processing, and particularly their relationship to cardiovascular health and kidney complications. Inorganic phosphates are salts of phosphoric acid (e.g., sodium phosphate, potassium phosphate, or calcium phosphate), whereas organic phosphates are ester compounds (e.g., the phospholipids found in cell membranes). In this sense, the meat industry remains active in its efforts to improve formulations for processed meat products with the use of natural ingredients. Despite efforts to improve formulations, many processed meat products still contain inorganic phosphates, which are used for their technological contributions to meat chemistry including improvements in water-holding capacity and protein solubilization. This review provides a thorough evaluation of phosphate substitutes in meat formulations and other processing technologies that can help eliminate phosphates from the formulations of processed meat products. In general, several ingredients have been evaluated as replacements for inorganic phosphates with varying degrees of success such as plant-based ingredients (e.g., starches, fibers, or seeds), fungi ingredients (e.g., mushrooms and mushroom extracts), algae ingredients, animal-based ingredients (e.g., meat/seafood, dairy, or egg materials), and inorganic compounds (i.e., minerals). Although these ingredients have shown some favorable effects in certain meat products, none have exactly matched the many functions of inorganic phosphates, so the support of extrinsic technologies, such as tumbling, ultrasound, high-pressure processing (HPP), and pulsed electric field (PEF), may be necessary to achieve similar physiochemical properties as conventional products. The meat industry should continue to investigate ways to scientifically innovate the formulations of, and the technologies used in, processed meat products while also listening to (and acting upon) the feedback from consumers.
Display omitted
•Different types of solar chimney power plant systems are reviewed in this paper.•Various techniques toward system improvement have been categorized and discussed.•Developments in ...hybrid solar chimney power plant systems are reviewed.•Experimental, numerical and theoretical studies are summarized and main effective results are pinpointed.•Key important innovative ideas and strategies for improving basic components are studied alongside integrated apparatus inserting layouts.
Utilizing Solar Chimney Power Plants (SCPPs) for manufacturing clean and environment-friendly energy has drawn a lot of attention in recent years and has (over the passing decades) become one of the most promising solutions in the solar energy field. Low efficiency, construction difficulties and other required improvements have encouraged researchers to work on this system. Many researchers put their efforts into proposing an optimized configuration for the main components, whereas others have proposed innovative ideas and add-on accessories to improve solar chimney power plants from an efficiency or construction viewpoint. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the past few decades and includes analyses of the theoretical, experimental and numerical studies conducted focused on optimizing the main characters of the system, such as the chimney, collector and Power Conversion Unit (PCU) together with other recently suggested innovative ideas and alternative technologies to improve solar chimney power plants efficiency. Concurrently, other researchers focused on hybrid solar chimney power plants to produce the desired by-product such as distilled water and so make SCPPs more practical.
The US catfish industry has undergone significant technological advancements in an attempt to achieve cost efficiencies. This study monitored the progress of the adoption of alternative and ...complementary technologies in the US catfish industry. A 2019–2020 multi‐state in‐person survey in Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi (n = 68), revealed increased adoption of intensively aerated ponds (6,315 ha) and split ponds (1,176 ha). The adoption of alternative, more intensive, production practices has been accompanied by increased adoption of complementary technologies of fixed‐paddlewheel aeration, automated oxygen monitors, and hybrid catfish. As a result, the average aeration rate in the tristate region has increased to 7.8 kW/ha with 97% of catfish farms adopting automated oxygen monitors. About 53% of the water surface area in the tristate region was used for hybrid catfish production. Fingerling producers have also adopted a feed‐based, oral vaccine against Enteric Septicemia of Catfish, with 83% of the fingerling farms and 73% of the fingerling production area vaccinated against ESC in 2020. Increased adoption of productivity‐enhancing technologies in the US catfish industry explains the 59% increase in foodfish productivity from 2010 to 2019. Monitoring the progress of adoption of productivity‐enhancing technologies will guide researchers and Extension personnel involved in the refinement and dissemination of these technologies.
Glyphosate is a synthesis product and chemical substance that entered in the global market during the 70s. In the beginning, the molecule was used as an active principle in a wide range of ...herbicides, with great success. This was mainly due to its systemic and non-selective action against vegetable organisms and also to the spread of Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) crops, which over the years were specifically created with a resistance to glyphosate. To date, the product is, for these reasons, the most sprayed and most used herbicide in the world. Because of its widespread diffusion into the environment, it was not long before glyphosate found itself at the center of an important scientific debate about its adverse effects on health and environment. In fact, in 2015 the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France), an organization referred to as the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland), classified the substance as “likely carcinogenic” to humans. This triggered an immediate and negative reaction from the producer, who accused the Agency and claimed that they had failed to carry out their studies properly and that these conclusions were largely contradictory to published research. Additionally, in 2015, just a few months after the IARC monography published on glyphosate, the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority, Parma, Italy), another WHO related organization, declared that it was “unlikely” that the molecule could be carcinogenic to humans or that it could cause any type of risk to human health. The conflict between the two organizations of the World Health Organization triggered many doubts, and for this reason, a series of independent studies were launched to better understand what glyphosate’s danger to humans and the environment really was. The results have brought to light how massive use of the herbicide has created over time a real global contamination that has not only affected the soil, surface and groundwater as well as the atmosphere, but even food and commonly used objects, such as diapers, medical gauze, and absorbent for female intimate hygiene. How human health is compromised as a result of glyphosate exposure is a topic that is still very debatable and still unclear and unambiguous. This paper is a review of the results of the main independent recent scientific studies.
•Provides insights into the role of incumbent firms in shaping markets for alternative technologies.•Comparative case analysis incorporating two heavy vehicle manufacturers and two alternative ...technology platforms.•Develops a conceptual framework that links firm-level capabilities with system-level market processes.•The framework makes it possible to map how incumbents deploy market-shaping capabilities to shape favorable future markets.•The analysis shows how incumbents mobilize resources and engage key stakeholders to create different kinds of value.
This paper analyzes how incumbent firms act to shape markets for new technology alternatives. It introduces a framework that highlights important linkages between the dynamic market-shaping capabilities of individual firms and market-shaping processes on a system level. The framework is used to analyze the endeavors of two large heavy vehicle manufacturers to introduce two technology platforms—electrified trucks and trucks fueled by liquefied gas—as alternatives to traditional diesel-fueled trucks. The analysis shows how incumbent firms deploy market-shaping capabilities to claim legitimate positions in envisioned future markets. The paper concludes by pointing to the dynamism of market interactions in sustainability transitions, showing how firms induce system-level reconfigurations and how such reconfigurations induce changes at the level of the firm.
Integration of alternative technological concepts such as switching to alternative fuels, advanced energy efficiency, and carbon capture and storage in existing industrial energy systems can prove ...highly effective at minimizing emissions; however, their adoption is low since solutions using these concepts raise costs considerably. The hypothesis of this work is a hierarchical combination of these concepts can reduce mitigation cost. To this end a mixed method approach is applied combining energy simulation with a novel Mixed Integer Linear Programming model developed to explore 48 alternative solutions to make industrial energy systems more sustainable. The method was applied to the most common industrial energy systems configurations. Results show that the added cost of integrating alternative technological concepts are lowered when energy efficiency
via
direct heat recovery is explored first in an optimization-based hierarchy of options. The hierarchy is advanced energy efficiency before fuel and technology switching or integrating carbon capture and storage. This means process integration can pay for steeper reductions in carbon emissions. Integrating alternative technological concepts optimally and hierarchically reduced emissions by 61%, and costs by 55.7% compared to a partial integration for a heat-only business-as-usual industrial energy systems. Even though switching to an alternative fuel (blue hydrogen) reduces carbon emissions by 72%, costs increase by at least 3% compared to a system using fuel gas and fuel oil. A hierarchical integration of blue hydrogen reduces cost by 47% and carbon emissions by 88.7%. Partial integration of carbon capture and storage reduces carbon emissions by 36% but costs increase by 89%, with full integration using optimization and the hierarchy costs only increase by 6.3%. Therefore, the cost-effectiveness of integrating alternative technological concepts is highly influenced by the hierarchy which seeks to minimize demand for energy from industrial processes first, then increase the supply efficiency of industrial energy systems, and before switching to alternative fuels and technologies.
Dans cet article nous analysons les débats qui se tiennent au sein d’un plan d’action publique visant à identifier des leviers pour réduire la consommation de pesticides dans l’agriculture française. ...Nous montrons que la définition d’alternatives à cette technologie controversée est le théâtre de mises en concurrence entre différentes solutions candidates. Alors qu’une approche portée par les agronomes en faveur d’une transformation systémique des pratiques agricoles s’impose dans un premier temps, nous analysons les ressorts de l’irruption et du succès d’une approche concurrente, portée notamment par l’industrie des intrants agricoles et fondée sur la mise au point de produits de substitution aux pesticides. Dans le prolongement des travaux abordant la construction des problèmes publics, l’attention portée à la définition des solutions proposées en réponse à ces problèmes invite à s’interroger sur les temporalités dissonantes auxquelles sont soumis les décideurs publics et les acteurs technoscientifiques, et aux difficultés de ces derniers à faire face aux injonctions d’opérationnalisation de leurs travaux.
PDF
