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Topic Review
Environmental, Economic, and Social Impacts of Gasification Processes
Computer-based simulations have been used to enhance production processes, and sustainable industrial strategies are increasingly being considered in the manufacturing industry. In order to evaluate the performance of a gasification process, the Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) technique gathers relevant impact assessment tools to offer quantitative indications across different domains. Among LCT approaches, by far, the highest interest belonged to life cycle assessment (LCA), followed by life cycle cost (LCC). Only a few studies have addressed exergetic life cycle assessment (ELCA), life cycle energy assessment (LCEA), social impact assessment (SIA), consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA), and water footprint (WLCA). SimaPro® (PRé Consultants, Netherlands), GaBi® (sphere, USA), and OpenLCA (GreenDelta, Germany) demonstrated the greatest contribution. Uncertainty analysis (Monte Carlo approach and sensitivity analysis) was conducted in almost half of the investigations. Most importantly, the results confirm that it is challenging or impossible to compare the environmental impacts of the gasification process with other alternatives since the results may differ based on the methodology, criteria, or presumptions. While gasification performed well in mitigating negative environmental consequences, it is not always the greatest solution compared to other technologies.
  • 3.5K
  • 02 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Environmentally Friendly Smart Construction
Modern economic, social and environmental challenges require a new type of construction that ensures resilience, low construction costs and ease of maintenance. Material production, manufacturing of structural elements and final assembly should minimise the environmental impacts, such as greenhouse emissions and waste production. 
  • 341
  • 21 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Environmentally Friendly Vehicle Routing Problem
The growth of environmental awareness and more robust enforcement of numerous regulations to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have directed efforts towards addressing current environmental challenges. Considering the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), one of the effective strategies to control greenhouse gas emissions is to convert the fossil fuel-powered fleet into Environmentally Friendly Vehicles (EFVs). Given the multitude of constraints and assumptions defined for different types of VRPs, as well as assumptions and operational constraints specific to each type of EFV, many variants of environmentally friendly VRPs (EF-VRP) have been introduced. In this paper, studies conducted on the subject of EF-VRP are reviewed, considering all the road transport EFV types and problem variants, and classifying and discussing with a single holistic vision. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it determines a classification of EF-VRP studies based on different types of EFVs, i.e., Alternative-Fuel Vehicles (AFVs), Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Hybrid Vehicles (HVs). Second, it presents a comprehensive survey by considering each variant of the classification, technical constraints and solution methods arising in the literature.
  • 1.1K
  • 11 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Envisat
Envisat ("Environmental Satellite") is a large inactive Earth-observing satellite which is still in orbit. Operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), it was the world's largest civilian Earth observation satellite. It was launched on 1 March 2002 aboard an Ariane 5 from the Guyana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, into a Sun synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 790 km (490 mi) (± 10 km or 6.2 mi). It orbits the Earth in about 101 minutes, with a repeat cycle of 35 days. After losing contact with the satellite on 8 April 2012, ESA formally announced the end of Envisat's mission on 9 May 2012. Envisat cost €2.3 billion (including €300 million for 5 years of operations) to develop and launch. The mission is due to be replaced by the Sentinel series of satellites. The first of these, Sentinel 1, has taken over the radar duties of Envisat since its launch in 2014.
  • 656
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Enzymatic Biofuel Cells
Enzymatic biofuel cells can be considered as a promising solution to generate electricity from biological catalytic reactions. Indeed, enzymes show very good results as biocatalysts thanks to their excellent intrinsic properties, such as specificity toward substrate, high catalytic activity with low overvoltage for substrate conversion, mild operating conditions like ambient temperature and near-neutral pH. Furthermore, enzymes present low cost, renewability and biodegradability. The wide range of applications moves from miniaturized portable electronic equipment and sensors to integrated lab-on-chip power supplies, advanced in vivo diagnostic medical devices to wearable devices. Nevertheless, enzymatic biofuel cells show great concerns in terms of long-term stability and high power output nowadays, highlighting that this particular technology is still at early stage of development. 
  • 1.1K
  • 22 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Fermentation of Woody Biomass
As greenhouse gas emissions are continuously increasing, research is now privileging greener and more sustainable human activities. An attractive strategy in the pursuit of sustainability is the valorization of lignocellulosic biomasses for the production of bioethanol. This approach relies on the bioconversion of wood and agricultural waste, which are abundant globally. They represent considerable sources of fermentable sugars that can be recovered through enzymatic hydrolysis. However, the presence of lignin in wood waste makes it more recalcitrant to enzymatic hydrolysis, and reduces the efficiency of the bioconversion process. Therefore, a pretreatment preceding hydrolysis is highly necessary in order to disrupt the resistant structure of woody biomass. The type and severity of the pretreatment affect the outcomes of the hydrolysis and fermentation steps, just as they strongly influence the overall process costs. Given this context, bioenergy production from this biomass is a promising alternative method of sustainably responding to energy demands while reducing the amounts of waste left in nature. 
  • 555
  • 13 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Enzymatic Methods for Salivary Biomarkers Detection
A biomarker, also known as a biological marker, is any molecule, substance, or measurable process in the body or in one of its components that can support the diagnosis, prognosis, prediction, or response to the treatment of a disease. Recent technological advances have made it possible to detect and quantify biomarkers in saliva samples. Enzymatic assays as a cost-effective alternative to overcome the limitations of current methods for the quantification of biomarkers in saliva.
  • 656
  • 14 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Enzymatic Paper-Based Point-of-Care Testing for Type-2 Diabetes
A point-of-care (POC) can be defined as an in vitro diagnostic test that can provide results within minutes. It has gained enormous attention as a promising tool for biomarkers detection and diagnosis, as well as for screening of chronic noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus type 2 is one of the metabolic disorders that has grown exponentially in recent years, becoming one of the greatest challenges to health systems. Early detection and accurate diagnosis of this disorder are essential to provide adequate treatments. Diabetes-monitoring tools must be accessible and affordable; thus, POC platforms are attractive, especially paper-based ones. Paper-based POCs are simple and portable, can use different matrixes, do not require highly trained staff, and are less expensive than other platforms. These advantages enhance the viability of its application in low-income countries and hard-to-reach zones.
  • 612
  • 15 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Enzymatic Transesterification in Biodiesel Production
       Biodiesel constitutes an attractive source of energy because it is renewable,  biodegradable, and non-polluting. Up to 20% biodiesel can be blended with fossil diesel and is being produced and used in many countries. Biodiesel is produced through the transesterification reaction of fat waste with a short-chain alcohol, usually methanol, in the presence of a catalyst. Animal fats, usually found as waste from slaughterhouses, meat processing industry, and cooking facilities, constitute an important waste with costly treatment that can be reduced if used as feedstock for biodiesel production. Animal fat waste represents near 6% of total feedstock used to produce biodiesel through alkaline catalysis transesterification after its pretreatment. Lipase transesterification has some advantages such as the requirement of mild conditions, absence of pretreatment, no soap formation, simple downstream purification process and generation of high quality biodiesel. However, it has some disadvantages like the cost of the enzyme, its poor stability, and the enzyme deactivation by alcohol, that can be partly overcome through enzyme immobilization. A few companies are using liquid lipase formulations and, in some cases, immobilized lipases for industrial biodiesel production.        Biodiesel constitutes an attractive source of energy because it is renewable,  biodegradable, and non-polluting. Up to 20% biodiesel can be blended with fossil diesel and is being produced and used in many countries. Biodiesel is produced through the transesterification reaction of fat waste with a short-chain alcohol, usually methanol, in the presence of a catalyst. Animal fats, usually found as waste from slaughterhouses, meat processing industry, and cooking facilities, constitute an important waste with costly treatment that can be reduced if used as feedstock for biodiesel production. Animal fat waste represents near 6% of total feedstock used to produce biodiesel through alkaline catalysis transesterification after its pretreatment. Lipase transesterification has some advantages such as the requirement of mild conditions, absence of pretreatment, no soap formation, simple downstream purification process and generation of high quality biodiesel. However, it has some disadvantages like the cost of the enzyme, its poor stability, and the enzyme deactivation by alcohol, that can be partly overcome through enzyme immobilization. A few companies are using liquid lipase formulations and, in some cases, immobilized lipases for industrial biodiesel production.
  • 2.3K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Enzyme Based Biosensors
Enzyme-based biosensors were the earliest biosensors. In 1962, Clark proposed the idea of enzyme electrodes for a glucose sensor. Subsequently, enzyme-based biosensors have been experimenting a massive growth in several applications.
  • 7.3K
  • 29 Oct 2021
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