Industries across the world are making a transition from fossil resources to renewable biological feedstock for the production of chemicals, fuels, and materials, as a strategy to promote sustainable ...development and economic growth. However, limited biomass availability can halt the expansion of bio-based sectors, unless alternative raw materials are employed and cascading uses are implemented on a large scale. Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) can contribute to feedstock diversification and improved biomass conversion efficiencies along supply chains, although concerns arise about their actual viability and competitiveness. A systematic review of Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and related process-based approaches is carried out to evaluate the sustainability of advanced bio-based technologies, defined as those that use either non-food feedstock or circularity principles –or both– for delivering diverse products. A classification scheme is proposed to categorise KETs based on the feedstock employed (plant residues and perennials, designer crops, algae, or biological waste) or the underlying technological configuration (enzyme/microbial assisted processing or biorefineries). Results show that producing biofuels and biochemicals from perennial plants, lignocellulosic residues and algae has advantages in terms of greenhouse gas emissions relative to their fossil counterparts, while trade-offs occur with other environmental impacts and sustainability dimensions. Cradle-to-cradle systems can deliver additional sustainability gains, but their implementation poses technical and socio-political challenges. Further harmonisation of LCA methodologies is desirable to compare KETs in different sectoral, geographical and policy contexts. In spite of the diversity of outcomes and approaches, this review provides an overview of advanced bio-based technologies, while shedding light on the often overestimated sustainability benefits of the bioeconomy.
•Sustainability evaluation of bio-based KETs through systematic review of 173 studies.•Classification scheme to categorise KETs based on feedstock vs. technological setup.•Most studies find CO2 savings relative to fossil counterparts but trade-offs occur.•Cradle-to-cradle systems in integrated biorefineries are promising solutions.•Lack of harmonization of LCA methodologies hinders comparative and social analyses.
Main conclusion
The diversification of food crops can improve our diets and address the effects of climate change, and in this context the orphan crop Chinese yam shows significant potential as a ...functional food.
As the effects of climate change become increasingly visible even in temperate regions, there is an urgent need to diversify our crops in order to address hunger and malnutrition. This has led to the re-evaluation of neglected species such as Chinese yam (
Dioscorea polystachya
Turcz.), which has been cultivated for centuries in East Asia as a food crop and as a widely-used ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. The tubers are rich in nutrients, but also contain bioactive metabolites such as resistant starches, steroidal sapogenins (like diosgenin), the storage protein dioscorin, and mucilage polysaccharides. These health-promoting products can help to prevent cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and disorders of the gut microbiome. Whereas most edible yams are tropical species, Chinese yam could be cultivated widely in Europe and other temperate regions to take advantage of its nutritional and bioactive properties. However, this is a laborious process and agronomic knowledge is fragmented. The underground tubers contain most of the starch, but are vulnerable to breaking and thus difficult to harvest. Breeding to improve tuber shape is complex given the dioecious nature of the species, the mostly vegetative reproduction via bulbils, and the presence of more than 100 chromosomes. Protocols have yet to be established for in vitro cultivation and genetic transformation, which limits the scope of research. This article summarizes the sparse research landscape and evaluates the nutritional and medical applications of Chinese yam. By highlighting the potential of Chinese yam tubers, we aim to encourage the adoption of this orphan crop as a novel functional food.
Innovation types in the bioeconomy Bröring, Stefanie; Laibach, Natalie; Wustmans, Michael
Journal of cleaner production,
09/2020, Letnik:
266
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Many factors such as fossil resource scarcity and new technological developments have brought the bioeconomy, an economy based on the use of biomass or bio-based processes, into the focus. Although ...many authors and national strategies view bioeconomy innovations as a key for a sustainable economy transition, a conceptual framework that describes innovation types (ITs) in the bioeconomy profoundly is lacking, thus challenging the successful development of technology and innovation management (TIM) strategies and research. Against this backdrop, we aim to fill this gap by conceptualizing four ITs specific to the bioeconomy, namely I) Substitute Products, II) New (bio-based) Processes, III) New (bio-based) Products, and IV) New Behavior. These types are discussed against existing frameworks dealing with sustainability-oriented innovations (SOIs) emphasizing the particularities of the bioeconomy. Moreover, we derive implications for each type as commercialization challenges that are discussed with bioeconomy experts from natural sciences and economics to improve the external validity of the proposed typology. In total, this is the first approach to conceptualize innovation types in the bioeconomy, filling the structural void in bioeconomy research and innovation management. The here presented typology can be applied as a guiding principle for future research avenues, monitoring the evolution of the bioeconomy as well to design innovation strategies by researchers, policy makers and managers.
•Identification of four distinct innovation types in the bioeconomy.•Allocation of specific challenges for the different innovation types.•Innovation types allow the evaluation of sustainability performance of bio-based innovation.•Provision of a structure for a firms technology portfolio.•Framework for foresight of potential challenges and requirements for a certain innovation type.
Transformative societal change can both be triggered and influenced by both macro-level political means and the emergence of technologies. Key enabling technologies and therein biotechnology hold the ...power to drive those changes forward, evolving from breakthrough academic discoveries into business activities. Due to its increasing empirical relevance, we picked genome editing as an example for an emerging technology and extracted publication, patent, and company data from the years 2000 to 2020. By drawing upon social network analysis, we identify major networks and clusters that are dominating the respective time and layer. Based on these networks, we draw vertical connections between scientific knowledge, patented technologies, and business activities to visualize the interlevel relationships between actors through technological development. Thereby, we identify network dynamics of the emergence of genome editing, the most important actors and clusters evolving, and its spread into different areas.
As new technologies based on renewable raw materials and biological principles are becoming available, bioeconomic transformation could help to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development ...Goals (SDGs). However, bioeconomic transformation is not necessarily sustainable. To design effective enabling and regulatory governance frameworks for bio-based transformation, policy makers have to identify potentially game-changing future technologies and assess associated sustainability gains and risks. Drawing on the concept of key enabling technologies (KETs) put forward by the European Commission (EC) in 2009, this paper defines KETs for the bioeconomy. Based on an international expert survey, we identified KET criteria for bioeconomic transformation and developed overarching super-categories describing technology pathways and criteria dimensions according to the existing society–environment–economy triangle. In this way, this study contributes not only in providing advice allowing new technologies to foster but also in elucidating relationships between the regional origin and the perceived future of bio-based technology development. Moreover, bioeconomy KET visions from different stakeholders have been analyzed, thus providing a basis for future technology research, evaluation, politics, and management.
•Identification of perceived criteria for promising sustainable bio-based technologies.•Revealing technologies perceived by experts as potential KETs for the bioeconomy.•Elucidation of bioeconomy type based distribution of bioeconomy visions.•Stakeholder background dependent opinions on bioeconomy technologies and criteria.
Zusammenfassung
In Reaktion auf die häufigen Misserfolge bei der Projektentwicklung bemüht sich die deutsche Bau- und Immobilienwirtschaft sowie die öffentliche Hand seit längerer Zeit, ...partnerschaftlich ausgerichtete Projektorganisationsformen in Form von Wertschöpfungspartnerschaften zu etablieren, die an das amerikanische Construction Management at risk (CM at risk) angelehnt sind. Während diese Form der Immobilienbeschaffung im angloamerikanischen Raum zur Reduzierung von Ineffizienzen beigetragen hat und die Vorteilhaftigkeit durch empirische Analysen belegt ist, wird das Effizienzsteigerungspotenzial dieser Beschaffungsvariante in Deutschland bislang sehr kritisch beurteilt. Die Erfahrungen der Projektbeteiligten mit CM at risk fallen in Abhängigkeit der individuellen Ausgestaltung der Projektstruktur sehr unterschiedlich aus.
In einer empirischen Studie wurden die in Deutschland praktizierten Gestaltungsformen von CM at risk hinsichtlich ihres Organisationsaufbaus, des Verfahrensablaufs sowie der eingesetzten Instrumente zur Gestaltung und Steuerung untersucht. Die Analyse zeigt neben der starken Heterogenität der Abwicklungsmodelle, dass Organisationsaufbau und Verfahrensablauf häufig in einem deutlichen Gegensatz zur partnerschaftlichen Grundphilosophie der Wertschöpfungspartnerschaft stehen und zum Teil ungeeignete Steuerungs- und Vergütungsmechanismen eingesetzt werden. Die starke Heterogenität in der organisatorischen und vertraglichen Ausgestaltung von CM at risk führt zwangsläufig zu sehr unterschiedlichen Ergebnissen in Bezug auf die Effizienz und damit den Erfolg der Wertschöpfungspartnerschaft.
Die Studie legt die komplexen Kausalzusammenhänge zwischen der institutionellen Ausgestaltung von CM at risk und dem Verhalten der ökonomischen Akteure während der Projektabwicklung offen und identifiziert die kritischen Erfolgsfaktoren zur Gestaltung und Steuerung einer effizienten Wertschöpfungspartnerschaft.
Dieser Beitrag liefert erstmals ein umfassendes Bild über die organisatorische und vertragliche Ausgestaltung, die Problemfelder in der Praxis sowie die kritischen Erfolgsfaktoren von CM at risk in der deutschen Bau- und Immobilienwirtschaft. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung sind die Voraussetzung für die Entwicklung eines theoretischen Modells und leisten somit einen innovativen Beitrag zur Standardisierung und erfolgreichen Etablierung von CM at risk in Deutschland.
ZusammenfassungIn Reaktion auf die häufigen Misserfolge bei der Projektentwicklung bemüht sich die deutsche Bau- und Immobilienwirtschaft sowie die öffentliche Hand seit längerer Zeit, ...partnerschaftlich ausgerichtete Projektorganisationsformen in Form von Wertschöpfungspartnerschaften zu etablieren, die an das amerikanische Construction Management at risk (CM at risk) angelehnt sind. Während diese Form der Immobilienbeschaffung im angloamerikanischen Raum zur Reduzierung von Ineffizienzen beigetragen hat und die Vorteilhaftigkeit durch empirische Analysen belegt ist, wird das Effizienzsteigerungspotenzial dieser Beschaffungsvariante in Deutschland bislang sehr kritisch beurteilt. Die Erfahrungen der Projektbeteiligten mit CM at risk fallen in Abhängigkeit der individuellen Ausgestaltung der Projektstruktur sehr unterschiedlich aus.In einer empirischen Studie wurden die in Deutschland praktizierten Gestaltungsformen von CM at risk hinsichtlich ihres Organisationsaufbaus, des Verfahrensablaufs sowie der eingesetzten Instrumente zur Gestaltung und Steuerung untersucht. Die Analyse zeigt neben der starken Heterogenität der Abwicklungsmodelle, dass Organisationsaufbau und Verfahrensablauf häufig in einem deutlichen Gegensatz zur partnerschaftlichen Grundphilosophie der Wertschöpfungspartnerschaft stehen und zum Teil ungeeignete Steuerungs- und Vergütungsmechanismen eingesetzt werden. Die starke Heterogenität in der organisatorischen und vertraglichen Ausgestaltung von CM at risk führt zwangsläufig zu sehr unterschiedlichen Ergebnissen in Bezug auf die Effizienz und damit den Erfolg der Wertschöpfungspartnerschaft.Die Studie legt die komplexen Kausalzusammenhänge zwischen der institutionellen Ausgestaltung von CM at risk und dem Verhalten der ökonomischen Akteure während der Projektabwicklung offen und identifiziert die kritischen Erfolgsfaktoren zur Gestaltung und Steuerung einer effizienten Wertschöpfungspartnerschaft.Dieser Beitrag liefert erstmals ein umfassendes Bild über die organisatorische und vertragliche Ausgestaltung, die Problemfelder in der Praxis sowie die kritischen Erfolgsfaktoren von CM at risk in der deutschen Bau- und Immobilienwirtschaft. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung sind die Voraussetzung für die Entwicklung eines theoretischen Modells und leisten somit einen innovativen Beitrag zur Standardisierung und erfolgreichen Etablierung von CM at risk in Deutschland.
Summary
Natural rubber biosynthesis occurs on rubber particles, i.e. organelles resembling small lipid droplets localized in the laticifers of latex‐containing plant species, such as Hevea ...brasiliensis and Taraxacum brevicorniculatum. The latter expresses five small rubber particle protein (SRPP) isoforms named TbSRPP1–5, the most abundant proteins in rubber particles. These proteins maintain particle stability and are therefore necessary for rubber biosynthesis. TbSRPP1–5 were transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana protoplasts and the proteins were found to be localized on lipid droplets and in the endoplasmic reticulum, with TbSRPP1 and TbSRPP3 also present in the cytosol. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation confirmed pairwise interactions between all proteins except TbSRPP2. The corresponding genes showed diverse expression profiles in young T. brevicorniculatum plants exposed to abiotic stress, and all except TbSRPP4 and TbSRPP5 were upregulated. Young Arabidopsis thaliana plants that overexpressed TbSRPP2 and TbSRPP3 tolerated drought stress better than wild‐type plants. Furthermore, we used rubber particle extracts and standards to investigate the affinity of the TbSRPPs for different phospholipids, revealing a preference for negatively charged head groups and 18:2/16:0 fatty acid chains. This finding may explain the effect of TbSRPP3–5 on the dispersity of artificial poly(cis‐1,4‐isoprene) bodies and on the lipid droplet distribution we observed in N. benthamiana leaves. Our data provide insight into the assembly of TbSRPPs on rubber particles, their role in rubber particle structure, and the link between rubber biosynthesis and lipid droplet‐associated stress responses, suggesting that SRPPs form the basis of evolutionarily conserved intracellular complexes in plants.
Significance Statement
Small rubber particle proteins (SRPPs) promote rubber particle stability and rubber biosynthesis although they are related to proteins involved in stress responses and lipid droplet organization. We provide insight into the assembly of SRPPs in rubber particles, their structural role in the organization of these organelles, and the link between rubber biosynthesis and lipid droplet‐associated stress responses. Our data indicate that SRPPs arise from evolutionarily conserved stress‐related proteins, and that they stabilize lipid droplets and influence their number and size. This process is mediated by specific interactions between SRPPs and the phospholipid membrane on the particle or droplet surface.
Nanofluids have been shown to be a promising method of oil removal in porous media, potentially impacting enhanced oil recovery or oil remediation efforts. The nanoparticles within these fluids ...improve oil removal by changing the rheology of the fluid, reducing interfacial tension or creating visco-elastic interfaces, and altering the wettability of the surfaces. Less studied is the unique ability of concentrated nanoparticles to drive the motion of contact lines through the structural disjoining pressure. Nanoparticles at relatively high volume fractions will concentrate at contact lines as shown in Figure 1.1 and produce a pressure, the structural disjoining pressure (SDP), which can reach magnitudes high enough to advance the contact line even in the absence of external agitation. We attempt to quantify the relationships between oil recovery as a function of time and nanofluid volume fraction as well as providing a clear picture of nanofluid spreading in a porous environment as a function of time. This is the first time that SDP induced EOR is visualized with a clear interface in a porous environment and promises to provide deep insight into the behavior of SDP in practical environments.High volume fraction nanofluids (15 % and above) have drastically increasing returns on oil recovery. This additional oil recovered by the nanofluids are due solely to SDP and not viscoelastic interfaces or interfacial tension reduction methods. A 30% volume fraction solution showed a 2.87X increase in oil recovery in comparison to DI water. High volume fraction nanofluids have the great potential to recover oil from low permeability environments. Most notably, SDP seems to work best in extreme low permeability geometries. Since more solid surfaces are closer together, wedge films can form in more three-phase contact regions, and thus drive the flow of the fluid through the low permeability regions through SDP.
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