An environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed to compare four typical milk production systems of the Po Valley: drinking milk (A); Parmigiano-Reggiano more intensive (B); ...Parmigiano-Reggiano less intensive (C) and Grana Padano (D). The input and output data were collected directly from the farmers by way of questionnaires.
The results indicated that the total GHG emissions from the analysed farms, with biological allocation, were: 1.47, 1.35, 1.49 and 1.50 kg CO2 eq. kg−1 FPCM (Fat Protein Corrected Milk) for farm A, B, C and D respectively. Excluding Land Use Change (LUC) emissions and Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) sequestration, total GHG emissions were reduced to 1.02, 1.11, 1.26 and 1.20 kg CO2 eq. kg−1 FPCM for farm A, B, C and D respectively. These reductions were mostly due to the GHG emissions associated to the LUC from imported soybean meal, while the contribution of SOC sequestration to the total GHG emissions was found to be negligible.
When LUC emissions from imported soybean meal were not included in the analysis, lower GHG emissions were associated to higher milk yield, feed self-sufficiency and feed efficiency. However, when LUC emissions were included in the analysis, the highest level of these parameters did not always lead to a reduction of the total GHG emissions because the higher use of maize silage was associated with an increase in the use of imported soymeal.
The results of this LCA also indicated that marine eutrophication, freshwater eutrophication, non-renewable energy use, land occupation and total biodiversity loss decreased as the level of intensification of the production system increased. Conversely, local biodiversity loss, instead, increased if the milk yield per cow increased. We can conclude that, in the specific context analysed, the increase in productivity may lead to a trade-off between global impacts (such as GHG emissions) and local impacts (e.g. local biodiversity and eutrophication).
•A LCA to compare milk production for Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano and drinking milk was carried out.•There is a negative correlation between GHG emissions (without LUC emissions) and milk yield.•With LUC emissions the increase of milk yield, does not always lead to a reduction of GHG emissions.•The increase in milk yield leads to trade-offs between global impacts and local impacts.
In this paper, the updating of the landslide inventory of Tuscany region is presented. To achieve this goal, satellite SAR data processed with persistent scatter interferometry (PSI) technique have ...been used. The updating leads to a consistent reduction of unclassified landslides and to an increasing of active landslides. After the updating, we explored the characteristics of the new inventory, analysing landslide distribution and geomorphological features. Several maps have been elaborated, as sliding index or landslide density map; we also propose a density-area map to highlight areas with different landslide densities and sizes. A frequency-area analysis has been performed, highlighting a classical negative power-law distribution. We also explored landslide frequency for lithology, soil use and several morphological attributes (elevation, slope gradient, slope curvature), considering both all landslides and classified landslide types (flows, falls and slides).
In the last decade, the importance of exploiting Chile's Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) has increased significantly, as fossil fuel prices have risen and concerns regarding climate change issues ...grown, posing an important threat to its economy. However, to date, the advancement of Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) in the country has been very limited due to various barriers. For this reason, identifying and mitigating the main barriers that hamper the advancement of RETs is necessary to allow the successful deployment of these technologies. Based on data collected from a questionnaire survey and interviews conducted among the major renewable project developers, the authors identify and rank the major barriers to the adoption of renewable energy technologies in Chile. Our findings show that the most significant barriers include "grid connection constraints and lack of grid capacity", "longer processing times for a large number of permits", "land and/or water lease securement" and "limited access to financing". Furthermore, we discuss the most critical barriers in detail together with policy recommendations to overcome them.
The European Union (EU) relies largely on bioenergy to achieve its climate and energy targets for 2020 and beyond. Special focus is placed on utilization of biomass residues, which are considered to ...cause low environmental impacts.
We used the dataset from the latest European Commission document on the sustainability of solid and gaseous biomass (SWD2014 259), complementing those results by: i) designing three pathways for domestic-heat production using forest logging residues, with different combustion technologies; ii) expanding the analysis to include forest carbon stock development with and without bioenergy; iii) using absolute climate metrics to assess the surface temperature response by the end of the century to a bioenergy and a reference fossil system; iv) including multiple climate forcers (well-mixed GHG, near term climate forcers and surface albedo change); iv) quantifying life cycle impacts on acidification, particulate matter emissions and photochemical ozone formation; v) reviewing potential risks for forest ecosystem degradation due to increased removal of residues.
Supply-chain GHG savings of the three pathways analysed ranged between 80% and 96% compared to a natural gas system, above the 70% threshold suggested by the EU. However, the climate impact of bioenergy should be assessed by considering also the non-bioenergy uses of the biomass and by including all climate forcers.
We calculate the Surface Temperature Response to bioenergy and fossil systems by means of Absolute Global surface Temperature Potential (AGTP) metric. Domestic heating from logging residues is generally beneficial to mitigate the surface temperature increase by 2100 compared to the use of natural gas and other fossil sources. As long as residues with a decay rate in the forest higher than 2.7%*yr−1 are considered as feedstock, investing now in the mobilization of residues for heat production can reduce the temperature increase by 2100 compared to all the fossil sources analysed, both in case of bioenergy as a systemic change or in case of bioenergy as a transitory option.
Furthermore, several environmental risks are associated with the removal and use of forest logging residues for bioenergy. These issues concern mostly local air pollution, biodiversity loss and, mainly for stumps removal, physical damage to forest soils.
Forest logging residues are not free of environmental risks. Actions promoting their use should consider: (i) that climate change mitigation depends mainly on the decay rate of biomass under natural decomposition and time and rate of technology deployment, (ii) whether management guidelines aimed at protecting long-term forest productivity are in place and (iii) whether proper actions for the management of adverse effects on local air pollution are in place.
•Supply-chain GHG emissions savings compared to natural gas above 80% for all pathways.•Climate impact of heat from logging residues is mostly caused by well-mixed GHG.•Heat from residues with a decay rate higher than 2.7%*yr−1 causes lower temperature increase than natural gas by 2100.•Actions for mitigation of adverse impacts on local air pollution should be in place.•Harvesting guidelines should be implemented to protect long-term forest productivity.
Within the framework of FP7, an EU-funded SafeLand project, a questionnaire was prepared to collect information about the use of remote sensing for landslide study and to evaluate its actual ...application in landslide detection, mapping and monitoring. The questionnaire was designed using a Google form and was disseminated among end-users and researchers involved in landslide studies in Europe. In total, 49 answers from 17 different European countries were collected. The outcomes showed that landslide detection and mapping is mainly performed with aerial photos, often associated with optical and radar imagery. Concerning landslide monitoring, satellite radars prevail over the other types of data. Remote sensing is mainly used for detection/mapping and monitoring of slides, flows and lateral spreads with a preferably large scale of analysis (1:5000-1:25 000). All the compilers integrate remote sensing data with other thematic data, mainly geological maps, landslide inventory maps and DTMs and derived maps. According to the research and working experience of the compilers, remote sensing is generally considered to have a medium effectiveness/reliability for landslide studies. The results of the questionnaire can contribute to an overall sketch of the use of remote sensing in current landslide studies and show that remote sensing can be considered a powerful and well-established instrument for landslide mapping, monitoring and hazard analysis.
The European Union relies largely on bioenergy to achieve its climate and energy targets for 2020 and beyond.
We assess, using Attributional Life Cycle Assessment (A-LCA), the climate change ...mitigation potential of three bioenergy power plants fuelled by residual biomass compared to a fossil system based on the European power generation mix. We study forest residues, cereal straws and cattle slurry.
Our A-LCA methodology includes: i) supply chains and biogenic-CO2 flows; ii) explicit treatment of time of emissions; iii) instantaneous and time-integrated climate metrics.
Power generation from cereal straws and cattle slurry can provide significant global warming mitigation by 2100 compared to current European electricity mix in all of the conditions considered.
The mitigation potential of forest residues depends on the decay rate considered. Power generation from forest logging residues is an effective mitigation solution compared to the current EU mix only in conditions of decay rates above 5.2% a−1. Even with faster-decomposing feedstocks, bioenergy temporarily causes a STR(i) and STR(c) higher than the fossil system.
The mitigation potential of bioenergy technologies is overestimated when biogenic-CO2 flows are excluded. Results based solely on supply-chain emissions can only be interpreted as an estimation of the long-term (>100 years) mitigation potential of bioenergy systems interrupted at the end of the lifetime of the plant and whose carbon stock is allowed to accumulate back.
Strategies for bioenergy deployment should take into account possible increases in global warming rate and possible temporary increases in temperature anomaly as well as of cumulative radiative forcing.
•Bioenergy LCAs should be dynamic, include all climate forcers and multiple metrics.•Excluding biogenic-CO2 overestimates bioenergy climate change mitigation potential.•Power from straw and slurry mitigates climate change compared to fossil alternative in 2100.•Decay rates of forest residues influence magnitude of climate change mitigation.•Power from slow-decaying forest residues increases global warming rate and magnitude in 2100.
IPF is a progressive lung disorder characterized by fibroblast proliferation and myofibroblast differentiation. Although neutrophil accumulation within IPF lungs has been negatively correlated with ...outcomes, the role played by neutrophils in lung fibrosis remains poorly understood. We have demonstrated previously that NE promotes lung cancer cell proliferation and hypothesized that it may have a similar effect on fibroblasts. In the current study, we show that NE(-/-) mice are protected from asbestos-induced lung fibrosis. NE(-/-) mice displayed reduced fibroblast and myofibroblast content when compared with controls. NE directly both lung fibroblast proliferation and myofibroblast differentiation in vitro, as evidenced by proliferation assays, collagen gel contractility assays, and αSMA induction. Furthermore, αSMA induction occurs in a TGF-β-independent fashion. Treatment of asbestos-recipient mice with ONO-5046, a synthetic NE antagonist, reduced hydroxyproline content. Thus, the current study points to a key role for neutrophils and NE in the progression of lung fibrosis. Lastly, the study lends rationale to use of NE-inhibitory approaches as a novel therapeutic strategy for patients with lung fibrosis.
This work analyzes the environmental impacts of milk production in an intensive dairy farm situated in the Northern Italy region of the Po Valley. Three manure management scenarios are compared: in ...Scenario 1 the animal slurry is stored in an open tank and then used as fertilizer. In scenario 2 the manure is processed in an anaerobic digestion plant and the biogas produced is combusted in an internal combustion engine to produce heat (required by the digester) and electricity (exported). Scenario 3 is similar to scenario 2 but the digestate is stored in a gas-tight tank.
In scenario 1 the GHG emissions are estimated to be equal to 1.21kgCO2eq.kg−1 Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM) without allocation of the environmental burden to the by-product meat. With mass allocation, the GHG emissions associated to the milk are reduced to 1.18kgCO2eq.kg−1 FPCM. Using an economic allocation approach the GHG emissions allocated to the milk are 1.13kgCO2eq.kg−1 FPCM. In scenarios 2 and 3, without allocation, the GHG emissions are reduced respectively to 0.92 (−23.7%) and 0.77 (−36.5%)kgCO2eq.kg−1 FPCM. If land use change due to soybean production is accounted for, an additional emission of 0.53kgCO2eq. should be added, raising the GHG emissions to 1.74, 1.45 and 1.30kgCO2eqkg−1 FPCM in scenarios 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
Primary energy from non-renewable resources decreases by 36.2% and 40.6% in scenarios 2 and 3, respectively, with the valorization of the manure in the biogas plant.
The other environmental impact mitigated is marine eutrophication that decreases by 8.1% in both scenarios 2 and 3, mostly because of the lower field emissions.
There is, however, a trade-off between non-renewable energy and GHG savings and other environmental impacts: acidification (+6.1% and +5.5% in scenarios 2 and 3, respectively), particulate matter emissions (+1.4% and +0.7%) and photochemical ozone formation potential (+41.6% and +42.3%) increase with the adoption of a biogas plant. The cause of the increase is mostly emissions from the CHP engine. These impacts can be tackled by improving biogas combustion technologies to reduce methane and NOx emissions. Freshwater eutrophication slightly increases (+0.8% in both scenarios 2 and 3) because of the additional infrastructures needed.
In conclusion, on-farm manure anaerobic digestion with the production of electricity is an effective technology to significantly reduce global environmental impacts of dairy farms (GHG emissions and non-renewable energy consumption), however local impacts may increase as a consequence (especially photochemical ozone formation).
•Biogas from manure is a valid option for GHG emission mitigation.•GHG emissions of an intensive dairy farm in Northern Italy amount to 1.21kgCO2eq.kg−1 FPCM.•If manure is digested in a biogas plant, GHG emissions decrease by 23.7 % if the digestate is stored in an open tank.•If manure is digested in a biogas plant, GHG emissions decrease by 36.5 % if the digestate is stored in a gas tight tank.•Manure digestion in a biogas plant significantly influences other local environmental impacts.
What are the complications of transvaginal ethanol sclerotherapy for the treatment of endometriomas?
Sclerotherapy is a reliable, minimally invasive method applicable in outpatient procedures but ...with specific and potential life-threatening complications that need to be identified and prevented.
There are currently few data on the use of transvaginal ethanol sclerotherapy, and we mainly note septic complications.
A retrospective observational cohort study was carried out. The study was conducted at an academic hospital and included 126 women aged 31.9 ± 5.5 years (mean ± SD), between November 2013 and June 2021. We analyzed a total of 157 ethanol sclerotherapy treatment (EST), treated by 131 EST procedures, in 126 women.
The study included women with an indication for transvaginal ethanol sclerotherapy. Indications were women with at least one endometrioma over 10 mm, isolated or associated with other endometriosis locations, requiring treatment for pain or infertility before assisted reproductive treatment. We followed a standardized transvaginal ethanol sclerotherapy procedure consisting of an ultrasound-guided transvaginal puncture of one or more endometriomas under general anesthesia. The cyst content was completely removed and flushed with saline solution. Ethanol (96%) was injected at 60% of the initial volume of the endometrioma, remained in the cyst for 10 min and was then completely removed. Ethanol loss was defined as a loss of 5 ml or more than 10% of the initial volume of the injected ethanol. Failure was defined by the contraindication of endometrioma puncture because of interposition of the digestive tract, ethanol loss in the previous endometrioma treated (in case of multiple ESTs), failure to aspirate the endometriotic fluid, contraindication to start ethanol injection owing to saline solution leakage, or contraindication to continue ethanol injection owing to suspicions of ethanol leakage at sonography. Intraoperative complications were defined by ethanol loss, positive blood alcohol level, and ethanol intoxication. Postoperative complications were defined by fever, biological inflammatory syndrome, and ovarian abscess. Complications were classified according to the Clavien and Dindo surgical classification, which is a system for classifying postoperative complications in five grades of increasing severity.
We reported a total of 17/157 (10.8%) transvaginal ethanol sclerotherapy failures during 14/131 (10.7%) transvaginal ethanol sclerotherapy procedures in 13/126 (10.3%) women. In the same sets of data, complication was reported for 15/157 (9.5%) transvaginal ethanol sclerotherapy in 13/131 (9.9%) transvaginal ethanol sclerotherapy procedures in 13/126 (10.3%) women. Nine of 126 women (7.1%) had a grade I complication, one (0.8%) had a grade II complication (medical treatment for suspicion of pelvic infection), two (1.6%) had a grade III complication (ovarian abscess) and one (0.8%) had a grade IV complication (ethanol intoxication). We did not observe any grade V complications.
This was a retrospective study and pain assessment not considered. The benefit-risk balance of endometrioma transvaginal ethanol sclerotherapy was not evaluated.
Our study is the first to evaluate the complications of transvaginal ethanol sclerotherapy with such a large cohort of women in a standardized protocol. Transvaginal ethanol sclerotherapy seems to be an effective alternative to laparoscopic surgery in the management of endometriomas and limits the alteration of ovarian reserve. Transvaginal ethanol sclerotherapy is a reliable, minimally invasive method applicable on an outpatient basis. The majority of complications are Clavien-Dindo ≤IV, for which preventative measures, or at least early diagnosis and treatment, can be easily performed. The risk of ethanol intoxication is rare, but it is a life-threatening risk that must be avoided by appropriate implementation and promotion of the sclerotherapy procedures.
None.
Aix Marseille University's ethics committee registration number 2021-06-03-01.
This paper analyzes the distributional incidence of the excise tax on gasoline in Chile using Household Budget Surveys. The incidence is calculated with respect to both income and expenditure ...distributions in order to consider the potential differences between transitory and permanent income. The Suits Index is estimated as a measure of the degree of progressivity of the tax, and confidence intervals are calculated using a bootstrap methodology to statistically compare changes in the incidence given changes in the tax. The results show that the tax, contrary to the evidence for several developed countries, is slightly or moderately progressive, with a lower degree of progressivity observed in the calculations based on income than those based on expenditure. The simulation of the 25% reduction in the tax rate implemented in 2008 shows that, in terms of incidence, its effect is to reduce the progressivity of the gasoline tax, which is the opposite of what was sought by the government with this policy.
•Gasoline tax is an optimal tax and is a significant instrument of climate policy.•Despite its benefits, it faces political economy challenges in its implementation.•In the public discussion in developing countries the tax is considered regressive.•The estimation of the distributional incidence shows that it is slightly progressive.•Increases in gasoline taxes can reduce both negative externalities and inequality.
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