Topic Review
Biodegradable Polymer-Supported Titanium Dioxide Photocatalysts
During the past two decades, immobilization of titanium dioxide (TiO2), a well-known photocatalyst, on several polymeric substrates has extensively gained ground since it limits the need of post-treatment separation stages. Taking into account the numerous substrates tested for supporting TiO2 photocatalysts, the use of biodegradable polymer seems a hopeful option owing to its considerable merits, including the flexible nature, low price, chemical inertness, mechanical stability and wide feasibility. 
  • 1.1K
  • 12 Aug 2021
Topic Review
3D Printed Electromagnetic Vibration Harvesters
Energy harvesting is the utilisation of ambient energy in order to power electronics such as wireless sensor nodes (WSN) or wearables without the need of batteries. This allows to operate the node over a much longer time period compared to battery-powered devices along with lower maintenance efforts. Furthermore, the low-maintenance requirements allow to operate these WSNs in environments with limited or no accessibility.
  • 1.1K
  • 05 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Clean Development Mechanism
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is one of the Flexible Mechanisms defined in the Kyoto Protocol (IPCC, 2007) that provides for emissions reduction projects which generate Certified Emission Reduction units (CERs) which may be traded in emissions trading schemes. The market crashed in 2012 when the value of credits collapsed and thousands of projects were left with unclaimed credits. The struggle about what to do with the old credits sank the 2019 COP 25 in Madrid. The CDM, defined in Article 12 of the Protocol, was intended to meet two objectives: "Annex I" parties are the countries listed in Annex I of the treaty, the industrialized countries. Non-Annex I parties are developing countries. The CDM addresses the second objective by allowing the Annex I countries to meet part of their emission reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol by buying Certified Emission Reduction units from CDM emission reduction projects in developing countries. Both the projects and the issue of CERs units are subject to approval to ensure that these emission reductions are real and "additional." The CDM is supervised by the CDM Executive Board (CDM EB) under the guidance of the Conference of the Parties (COP/MOP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The CDM allows industrialized countries to buy CERs and to invest in emission reductions where it is cheapest globally. Between 2001, which was the first year CDM projects could be registered and 7 September 2012, the CDM issued 1 billion Certified Emission Reduction units. As of 1 June 2013, 57% of all CERs had been issued for projects based on destroying either HFC-23 (38%) or N2O (19%). Carbon capture and storage (CCS) was included in the CDM carbon offsetting scheme in December 2011. However, a number of weaknesses of the CDM have been identified. Several of these issues were addressed by the new Program of Activities (PoA), which moves to approving 'bundles' of projects instead of accrediting each project individually. In 2012, the report Climate Change, Carbon Markets and the CDM: A Call to Action said governments urgently needed to address the future of the CDM. It suggested the CDM was in danger of collapse because of the low price of carbon and the failure of governments to guarantee its existence into the future. Writing on the website of the Climate & Development Knowledge Network, Yolanda Kakabadse, a member of the investigating panel for the report and founder of Fundación Futuro Latinamericano, said a strong CDM is needed to support the political consensus essential for future climate progress. "Therefore we must do everything in our hands to keep it working," she said.
  • 1.1K
  • 17 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Valorization of Bread Waste into Value-Added Products
Bread is a universal food that is sold and consumed across the entire social and geographical spectrum. Bread waste is currently of increasing interest, as it is considered a huge global issue with serious environmental impacts and significant economic losses that have become even greater in the post-pandemic years due to an increase in cereal prices, which has led to higher production costs and bread prices. Meanwhile, many efforts have been initiated in the past decades to investigate methods of repurposing bread residues into fuel and chemicals such as bioethanol, biohydrogen, succinic acid, and various added-value products that can be exploited in versatile industries.
  • 1.1K
  • 09 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Life Cycle Assessment of Embodied Carbon in Buildings
The environment demands a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as building and construction are responsible for more than 40% of the energy consumed worldwide and 30% of the world’s GHG emissions. Many countries have aligned themselves with the Paris agreement, following its target of achieving net zero carbon emissions, although some governments are focused on the operational energy efficiency part of the equation instead of the whole equation. Building embodied carbon assessments can be compared to the more widely used and standardized life cycle assessment approach in terms of methodology (LCA), which focuses on quantifying carbon emissions throughout a building’s life cycle.
  • 1.1K
  • 02 Dec 2022
Topic Review
NOx Emission Reduction and Recovery
Since its first confirmed case at the end of 2019, COVID-19 has become a global pandemic in three months with more than 1.4 million confirmed cases worldwide, as of early April 2020. Quantifying the changes of pollutant emissions due to COVID-19 and associated governmental control measures is crucial to understand its impacts on economy, air pollution, and society. We used the WRF-GC model and the tropospheric NO2 column observations retrieved by the TROPOMI instrument to derive the top-down NOx emission change estimation between the three periods: P1 (January 1st to January 22nd, 2020), P2 (January 23rd, Wuhan lockdown, to February 9th, 2020), and P3 (February 10th, back-to-work day, to March 12th, 2020). We found that NOx emissions in East China averaged during P2 decreased by 50% compared to those averaged during P1. The NOx emissions averaged during P3 increased by 26% compared to those during P2. Most provinces in East China gradually regained some of their NOx emissions after February 10, the official back-to-work day, but NOx emissions in most provinces have not yet to return to their previous levels in early January. NOx emissions in Wuhan, the first epicenter of COVID-19, had no sign of emission recovering by March 12. A few provinces, such as Zhejiang and Shanxi, have recovered fast, with their averaged NOx emissions during P3 almost back to pre-lockdown levels.
  • 1.1K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Gas Hydrate Technology
Innovating methods for treating industrial wastewater containing heavy metals frequently incorporate toxicity-reduction technologies to keep up with regulatory requirements. This research reviews the latest advances, benefits, opportunities and drawbacks of several heavy metal removal treatment systems for industrial wastewater in detail. The conventional physicochemical techniques used in heavy metal removal processes with their advantages and limitations are evaluated. A particular focus is given to innovative gas hydrate-based separation of heavy metals from industrial effluent with their comparison, advantages and limitations in the direction of commercialization as well as prospective remedies. Clathrate hydrate-based removal is a potential technology for the treatment of metal-contaminated wastewater. In this research, a complete assessment of the literature is addressed based on removal efficiency, enrichment factor and water recovery, utilizing the gas hydrate approach. It is shown that gas hydrate-based treatment technology may be the way of the future for water management purposes, as the industrial treated water may be utilized for process industries, watering, irrigation and be safe to drink. 
  • 1.1K
  • 15 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Microbial Mats: Extraterrestrial Life Models
Extant microbial mats already present on Earth provide useful working analog models for the exploration of life in extraterrestrial hydrospheres.
  • 1.1K
  • 08 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Microalgae-Based Biorefineries: Challenges and Future Trends
Microalgae-based biorefineries allow the simultaneous production of microalgae biomass enriched in a particular macromolecule and high-added and low-value products if a proper selection of the microalgae species and the cultivation conditions are adequate for the purpose. 
  • 1.1K
  • 30 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Iron Ore Reduction with Hydrogen
The steel industry represents about 7% of the world’s anthropogenic CO2 emissions due to the high use of fossil fuels. The CO2-lean direct reduction of iron ore with hydrogen is considered to offer a high potential to reduce CO2 emissions, and this direct reduction of Fe2O3 powder is investigated in this research.
  • 1.1K
  • 18 Sep 2021
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