The linear economy for plastic packaging, which currently leads to excessive carbon dioxide emissions and leakage into the environment, needs to be reformed to a greener circular model which is ...resource efficient and environmentally benign. This requires a system-wide redesigning of rules and incentives that apply to the plastics value chain, from product design to recycling and end-of-life options. This article identifies areas where green chemistry can contribute. Substituting plastics derived from fossil resources, with bio-based alternatives from renewable resources can reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, produce plastics that are easier to recycle to the virgin polymer and, at the end of their useful life, biodegrade in the environment. The underpinning chemo- and biocatalytic technologies for the production and recycling of plastics are reviewed and priorities suggested for future development.
The solution to plastic pollution is not less chemistry but more, greener chemistry in a circular bio-based economy.
Air transport describes an inevitable part in the day to day life of the modern world. It is highly responsible for the worldwide social contacts and business developments. The use of petroleum fuels ...as energy source for air transport is not sustainable. Aviation is one of the leading contributors to the total greenhouse gas emissions. Also, the fossil fuel prices are becoming more volatile day by day. So it is very essential to introduce and industrialize alternative aviation fuels generated from renewable resources, especially biomass. A number of industrial commitments and collaborations have emerged to find alternative ways to reach bio aviation fuels. Research on the conversion of biomass based sources to bio jet fuels is of current interest. The main concern is the production of biojet fuel, from renewable resources, with relatively low greenhouse gas life cycle and sustainability with affordable price. The present paper overviews the opportunities and challenges in the development of alternative fuels for aviation. The production process, feedstock used and the most promising global projects are also reviewed.
Solid composite electrolytes (SCEs) that combine the advantages of solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) and inorganic ceramic electrolytes (ICEs) present acceptable ionic conductivity, high mechanical ...strength, and favorable interfacial contact with electrodes, which greatly improve the electrochemical performance of all‐solid‐state batteries compared to single SPEs and ICEs. However, there are many challenges to overcome before the practical application of SCEs, including the low ionic conductivity less than 10−3 S cm−1 at ambient temperature, poor interfacial stability, and high interfacial resistance, which greatly restrict the room temperature performance. Herein, the advances of SCEs applied in all‐solid‐state lithium batteries are presented, including the Li ion migration mechanism of SCEs, the strategies to enhance the ionic conductivity of SCEs by various morphologies of ICEs, and construction methods of the low resistance and stable interfaces of SCEs with both cathode and anode. Finally, some typical applications of SCEs in lithium batteries are summarized and future development directions are prospected. This work presents how it is quite significant to further enhance the ionic conductivity of SCEs by developing the novel SPEs with the special morphology of ICEs for advanced all‐solid‐state lithium batteries.
Herein, the advantages and ionic transport mechanisms of solid composite electrolyte (SCE) as well as the relationship between morphology of ceramic fillers and ionic conductivity of SCE are reviewed. Recent progress and strategies to settle interfacial issues for high‐performance all‐solid‐state lithium metal batteries with SCE are also concluded and future research directions of SCEs are proposed.
The permanence of land management practices adopted under agri-environmental schemes (AESs) is often questioned. This paper investigates the drivers of farmers' decisions as to whether to maintain ..."proenvironment" practices beyond the duration of a contract, and in particular the effect of social norms. Our results, based on the stated intentions of 395 French farmers, show that both pecuniary and nonpecuniary motivations drive farmers' decisions, which are also significantly influenced by information about a social norm. Therefore "nudging" farmers, by conveying information to them on other farmers' proenvironmental practices, appears to be a means of maintaining the long-run benefits of AESs.
In a tele-coupled and globalized World, understanding the links between demand for wood products and land use is becoming challenging. World's economies are increasingly open and interconnected, and ...international trade flows of wood products are continuously growing. The increasing resource consumption of humanity is increasingly dependent on international trade. In this context, the study of forest products demand from a global-multi-regional perspective emerges as a critical issue to achieve the goal of sustainable consumption and production. In this paper, we introduce a novel accounting framework for assessing the forest footprint of nations. The method combines Multi-regional Input-Output techniques and detailed data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on production, consumption and bilateral trade of primary, intermediate and final wood products, advancing with respect to existing approaches with these practical distinctions for more accurate computations. The approach tracks resource flows along the global supply chain and provides detailed information on the production, transformation, international trade, and final use of 20 forest products in 223 countries, having also much wider coverage than most previous studies. We test this framework to analyse forest footprint of nations in the year 2014, showing that 22 Million hectares (Mha) of forest were harvested for the extraction of roundwood for global demand, being 9.1 Mha to satisfy the foreign demand of wood products (42% of the total forestland harvested area). Harvested forestland is concentrated in America (32%), Asia (29%) and Europe (28%), representing Africa (7%) and Oceania (4%). More than 50% of the reported forest area harvested worldwide is located in USA (15%), China (14%); Russia (11%) and Canada (8%). In terms of forest footprint, Asia shows the highest share of the total forest footprint (44%), followed by America (25%), Europe (21%), Africa (7%) and Oceania (2%). Country-wise, half is concentrated in China (24%), USA (16%), India (5%), and Russia (5%).
Na-ion batteries have been considered promising candidates for stationary energy storage. However, their wide application is hindered by issues such as high cost and insufficient electrochemical ...performance, particularly for cathode materials. Here, we report a solvent-free mechanochemical protocol for the in-situ fabrication of sodium vanadium fluorophosphates. Benefiting from the nano-crystallization features and extra Na-storage sites achieved in the synthesis process, the as-prepared carbon-coated Na
(VOPO
)
F nanocomposite exhibits capacity of 142 mAh g
at 0.1C, higher than its theoretical capacity (130 mAh g
). Moreover, a scaled synthesis with 2 kg of product was conducted and 26650-prototype cells were demonstrated to proof the electrochemical performance. We expect our findings to mark an important step in the industrial application of sodium vanadium fluorophosphates for Na-ion batteries.
The blue paradox McDermott, Grant R.; Meng, Kyle C.; McDonald, Gavin G. ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS,
03/2019, Letnik:
116, Številka:
12
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Most large-scale conservation policies are anticipated or announced in advance. This risks the possibility of preemptive resource extraction before the conservation intervention goes into force. We ...use a high-resolution dataset of satellite-based fishing activity to show that anticipation of an impending no-take marine reserve undermines the policy by triggering an unintended race-to-fish. We study one of the world’s largest marine reserves, the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), and find that fishers more than doubled their fishing effort once this area was earmarked for eventual protected status. The additional fishing effort resulted in an impoverished starting point for PIPA equivalent to 1.5 y of banned fishing. Extrapolating this behavior globally, we estimate that if other marine reserve announcements were to trigger similar preemptive fishing, this could temporarily increase the share of overextracted fisheries from 65% to 72%. Our findings have implications for general conservation efforts as well as the methods that scientists use to monitor and evaluate policy efficacy.
Oils and fats of vegetable and animal origin have been the most important renewable feedstock of the chemical industry in the past and in the present. A tremendous geographical and feedstock shift of ...oleochemical production has taken place from North America and Europe to southeast Asia and from tallow to palm oil. It will be important to introduce and to cultivate more and new oil plants containing fatty acids with interesting and desired properties for chemical utilization while simultaneously increasing the agricultural biodiversity. The problem of the industrial utilization of food plant oils has become more urgent with the development of the global biodiesel production. The remarkable advances made during the last decade in organic synthesis, catalysis, and biotechnology using plant oils and the basic oleochemicals derived from them will be reported, including, for example, ω‐functionalization of fatty acids containing internal double bonds, application of the olefin metathesis reaction, and de novo synthesis of fatty acids from abundantly available renewable carbon sources.
More than just a greasy spoon: Oils and fats are the most important renewable feedstock of the chemical industry. Recent and exciting advances in chemistry and biotechnology were made within the last 10 years concerning their utilization as a chemical feedstock. This progress in organic synthesis, catalysis, and biotechnology using plant oils and their derivatives is highlighted.
Using an innovative method that segregates oil shocks into supply, consumption demand, and inventory demand factors, we find empirical evidence that managerial ability can have a significant but ...varying influence on firm performance under these circumstances. Generally, high-ability managers are most beneficial to manufacturing firms during oil shocks. In the event of oil supply shocks that are associated with negative economic implications, talented managers strongly outperform in (i) energy, (ii) agriculture, forestry, & fishing, and (iii) services industries. However, during oil demand consumption shocks that are symbolic of economic growth, competent managers underperform in the (a) energy, (b) mining, (c) construction, (d) retail, and (e) services sectors. Notably, high-ability managers in energy firms are associated with significant outperformance and underperformance during oil supply and consumption shocks, respectively. It is probable that these adept managers employ more active hedging programs to reduce financial distress or minimize earnings volatility to safeguard against oil price downturns. Similarly, in other industries, it is plausible that skillful managers may actively engage in oil price risk management (e.g., reducing reliance, alternatives, hedging, etc.). During supply shocks, the associated benefits outweigh the costs, and vice versa during oil consumption demand shocks.
•Managerial ability can have a significant but varying impact on firm performances during oil shocks.•Talented managers are most beneficial to manufacturing firms during oil shocks.•High-ability managers in oil related firms outperform during demand shocks and underperform during supply shocks.•During oil demand shocks, skillful managers outperform in energy, agriculture, forestry, & fishing, and services industries.•During oil supply shocks, competent managers underperform in the energy, mining, construction, retail, and services sectors.
While preserving water quality by contracting with farmers has been examined previously, we analyze these arrangements from a different perspective. This study uses a transaction cost framework, in ...conjunction with detailed case studies of two water quality payment schemes, to examine factors that increase and decrease transaction costs in order to improve policy choice as well as policy design and implementation. In both the Munich and New York City cases, agreements with farmers to change land management practices resolved the water quality problems. In Munich, factors including lack of rural/urban antipathy, homogeneous land use, utilization of well-developed organic standards, and strong demand for organic products decreased transaction costs. Using existing organic institutions addressed a range of environmental issues simultaneously. Factors that decreased transaction costs in both cases included: highly sensitive land was purchased outright and the existence of one large “buyer”. Adequate lead time and flexibility of water quality regulations allowed negotiation and development of the watershed programs. Tourism and eco-labels allow urban residents to become aware of the agricultural production practices that affect their water supply. We conclude with recommendations based on the experiences of these cities, both of which have been proposed as models for other schemes.
► We compare approaches for nonpoint source water pollution in New York and Munich. ► We identify factors affecting transaction costs of contracting for ecosystem services. ► Using existing institutions, such as organic certification, reduces transaction costs. ► Homogeneous agents and a monopsony structure can decrease transaction costs.
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