Non-fossil Resources Research Articles

Mixed Matrix Pt-Carbon Nanofiber Polyethersulfone Catalytic Membranes for Glucose Dehydrogenation.

The advancement of technologies for producing chemicals and materials from non-fossil resources is of critical importance. An illustrative example is the dehydrogenation of glucose, to yield gluconic acid, a specialty chemical. In this study, we propose an innovative production route for gluconic acid while generating H2 as a co-product. Our concept involves a dual-function membrane, serving both as a catalyst for glucose dehydrogenation into gluconic acid and as a means to efficiently remove the produced H2 from the reaction mixture. To achieve this two membranes were developed, one catalytically active and one dense aimed at H2 removal. The catalytic membrane showed significant activity, yielding 16 % gluconic acid (t=120 min) with a catalyst selectivity of 93 % and stable performance over five consecutive cycles. Incorporating the H2 separating membrane showed the significance of H2 removal in driving the reaction forward. Its inclusion led to a twofold increase in gluconic acid yield, aligning with Le Chatelier's principles. As a future prospect the two layers can be combined into a dual-layer membrane which opens the way for a new production route to simultaneously produce gluconic acid and H2, using high-throughput reactors such as hollow-fiber systems.

AN EVOLVING ENERGY PARTNERSHIP: THE EUROPEAN UNION AND AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijan is a fossil fuel exporter that the EU has paid special attention to since it began prioritizing energy security. This study analyzes the EU’s positioning of Azerbaijan within its foreign energy policy. The article presents a chronological analysis of the significant events and dynamics of the past two decades from both EU and Azerbaijan perspectives, with reference largely to official documents. The gradual rise of Azerbaijan on the EU energy agenda is attributed to the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil resources and the Russia-Ukraine energy crises. The article also focuses on the specific example of how Azerbaijan’s advantage in energy bargaining has created an exception in the EU’s normative neighborhood relations. Most recently, this energy partnership relationship has been evolving to include non-fossil resources as well.

Cobalt clusters decorated CoxMn1−xO nanocomposites for improving the efficiency of syngas to lower olefins with lower CO2 emission

Fischer-Tropsch synthesis has long been the most important means to convert non-fossil resources to high value-added products, i.e., lower olefins. However, the selectivity tends to be low. In the past decades, the efforts devoted to improving the selectivity toward lower olefins have been rewarded, but the selectivity toward undesired CO2 is overlooked and normally over 40%, resulting in a poor carbon usage effectiveness. Here, we describe CoxMn1−xO nanocrystals to achieve a high selectivity (65.4%) toward lower olefins and a remarkably low CO2 selectivity of only 13.7%. Such superior performance is due to the formation of stable Co0 clusters (<1 nm) as active sites, which facilitate the activation of CO and weaken the C-C coupling to generate lower olefins, and suppress water-gas shift reaction to minimize CO2 emission. Our work represents a conceptual advance to the design of highly efficient catalysts for superior lower olefins selectivity by taking CO2 into account.

Yellow, red, and brown energy: leveraging water footprinting concepts for decarbonizing energy systems

As the energy system changes, metrics used to describe energy use for modelling, socioenvironmental assessment, and other applications should be continually evaluated to ensure ongoing relevance and applicability. Decarbonization highlights the need for fit-for-purpose assessment tools as energy systems undergo an expected transition from mostly fossil to mostly nonfossil resources. Energy use has historically been a high-quality proxy for socioenvironmental impacts of interest, but this characteristic depends on the relatively stable historical relationship between energy use (typically measured as exchanges of marketed energy resources and carriers like natural gas and electricity) and these impacts—a relationship that is increasingly weak. Already, energy use metrics used in tools like energy footprinting and life cycle assessment have developed maladaptations to include nonfossil resources, including many flow resources. For example, nonmarketed energy use is typically ignored; metrics like heat rate are applied to nonthermal resources in ways with limited physical meaning; and definitional exceptions are made without clear justification. Part of the challenge is that energy is a conserved quantity with highly variable quality, but energy footprint metrics have historically implicitly assumed that all energy, and energy use, is the same. The assessment community can improve the clarity and value of energy use quantification under decarbonization by drawing on the experience of footprinting with another highly heterogeneous conserved resource: water. This discussion introduces the concept of a yellow, red, and brown energy footprint framework as an expansion of traditional energy footprinting and analogue of the green, blue, and grey water footprinting framework.

A novel biomass polyurethane-based composite coating with superior radiative cooling, anti-corrosion and recyclability for surface protection

Towards the irreversible increase of energy demands, the development of non-fossil, bio-renewable, and sustainable resources has become a necessary and important strategy. Herein, a biomass polyurethane (PU) prepolymer derived from Jatropha oil (JO) resource was successfully synthesized. To endow this bio-PU material with desired functionalities, the hybrid nanoparticles with different proportions of barium sulfate (BaSO4) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) were incorporated into PU matrix. After UV curing treatment, the resultant composite coatings possessed superior UV blocking and infrared radiative cooling properties, where the reflectance of the optimal one reached 97.30 % in the UV (200–380 nm) region, and the maximum temperature difference of surfaces before and after loading coating was up to 20.8 °C as exposing 60 min under infrared irradiation, significantly reducing the heat radiation on the protected material. Besides, the coatings exhibited excellent anti-corrosion even immersing in strong acid, alkali, and salt solutions for 30 days, and the recyclability and secondary use of this coating was synchronously confirmed through the repeated processing. Finally, the adhesion of these coatings on the surface protection of multiple materials was demonstrated, including metal, plastic, wood, and glass substrates. Overall, from biomass JO raw material to PU-based functional coatings, this work not only enriches the synthetic strategy of biomass polymer derived from the non-fossil resource, but also paves the way for further applications in surface protection with multi-characteristic composite coatings.

Environmental impact assessment of high-speed railway tunnel construction: A case study for five different rock mass rating classes

Although rail is usually considered the cleanest and most energy-efficient motorized transport, the emissions and energy consumption during the construction stage are commonly overlooked. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the environmental impact of the construction of 1 km of double-track high-speed railway tunnel for five different Rock Mass Rating (RMR) classes using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. The LCA is performed for seven selected environmental impact categories, using a tool developed by the authors. The categories assessed are: Global Warming Potential (100 years), Ozone Layer Depletion, Acidification Potential, Eutrophication, Photochemical Oxidation, Abiotic Depletion of Fossil Resources and Abiotic Depletion of Non-Fossil Resources. A cradle-to-site system boundary is adopted for this study, considering all activities up to construction but not taking into account maintenance, operation or decommissioning stages.The results show that for each of the five different RMR classes, the support, lining and infrastructure works account for at least 70% of the impact in each environmental impact category during the lifecycle of high-speed railway tunnels up to construction. Lining and infrastructure works are the main contributors to all the selected environmental impact categories for RMR classes S-I and S-II, contributing an average of 80% and 70% respectively. Support, lining and infrastructure works represent practically the entire environmental impact for the S-III class, with a total share of 85% in all impact categories. Finally, the support phase has the greatest impact in classes S-IV and S-V, with an average of 43% and 63% for each class respectively, due to the higher material quantities required to support poorer quality rocks. Specifically concrete, diesel and steel are responsible for between 89.3% and 99.9% in each environmental impact category, depending on the RMR class, whereas the impacts of other materials such as aggregates, wood and mortars account for less than 0.1%.A combination of the Life Cycle Assessment methodology considering the RMR index has been shown to provide valid benchmarking criterion when assessing the performance of a railway tunnel during the planning stages. Nevertheless, further research is required to fully understand the environmental impacts of this type of construction, as most of the literature only considers one environmental impact category, namely GWP100 (CO2e emissions).

The environmental impact of cement production in Europe: A holistic review of existing EPDs

With operational emissions of buildings being targeted with regulations, embodied emissions are becoming a greater area of opportunity in the quest to reduce the pollution coming from the built environment. The cement industry accounts for 5% of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, responsible for global warming, but it also has other negative effects on the environment which are sometimes overlooked. Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are increasingly being used as an accepted way of comparing the environmental performance of products in the construction industry. Nevertheless, they still face challenges, mainly in their standardisation efforts. EPDs present advantages to the comparison of a wide range of pollutant emissions, not only the ones responsible for global warming, but also ozone depletion, acidification of soil and water, eutrophication, formation of tropospheric ozone photochemical oxidants and abiotic depletion of fossil and non-fossil resources. This review paper looks at how the emission data in current EPDs for cement mixes is presented and compares the available information between mixes produced by different companies across several locations in Europe. It also explores the challenges this kind of comparison presents, emphasising the need for international standardization in the reporting of pollutant emissions.

Environmental Impacts of Renewable Insulation Materials

According to the IEA Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction 2019, one of the main industry sectors causing environmental impacts is the construction sector. Hence, construction materials from renewable resources are expected to have a large potential to decrease these impacts. In this study, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted for four different insulation materials from renewable feedstock: insulation made from pasture grass, seaweed, reed, and recycled jute fibres. Additionally, the effects on land use change were evaluated for pasture grass insulation using the LANCA® methodology. To put the LCA results in relation to those of non-renewable resources, a comparison of standardized LCA values for conventional insulation materials is presented. In general, the renewable insulation materials show fewer environmental impacts than their conventional counterparts. In particular, these materials have advantages regarding greenhouse gas emissions and their impact on climate change. Of the analyzed materials, seaweed showed the overall lowest emissions. It can be concluded that insulation materials from non-mineral, non-fossil, and non-wooden resources are still fairly niche in terms of market share, but they have extraordinary potential in decreasing the environmental impacts of construction ventures.

Anion Modulation of Pt-Group Metals and Electrocatalysis Applications.

Pt-group metal (PGM) electrocatalysts with unique electronic structures and irreplaceable comprehensive properties play crucial roles in electrocatalysis. Anion engineering can create a series of PGM compounds (such as RuP2 , IrP2 , PtP2 , RuB2 , Ru2 B3 , RuS2 , etc.) that provide a promising prospect for improving the electrocatalytic performance and use of Pt-group noble metals. This review seeks the electrochemical activity origin of anion-modulated PGM compounds, and systematically analyzes and summarizes their synthetic strategies and energy-relevant applications in electrocatalysis. Orientation towards the sustainable development of nonfossil resources has stimulated a blossoming interest in the design of advanced electrocatalysts for clean energy conversion. The anion-modulated strategy for Pt-group metals (PGMs) by means of anion engineering possesses high flexibility to regulate the electronic structure, providing a promising prospect for constructing electrocatalysts with superior activity and stability to satisfy a future green electrochemical energy conversion system. Based on the previous work of our group and others, this review summarizes the up-to-date progress on anion-modulated PGM compounds (such as RuP2 , IrP2 , PtP2 , RuB2 , Ru2 B3 , RuS2 , etc.) in energy-related electrocatalysis from the origin of their activity and synthetic strategies to electrochemical applications including hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR), N2 reduction reaction (NRR), and CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR). At the end, the key problems, countermeasures and future development orientations of anion-modulated PGM compounds toward electrocatalytic applications are proposed.

Analysis of the environmental impact of the production of building gypsum using natural and flue gas desulfurization gypsum in the Polish context

The production of construction products is associated with energy and raw materials consumption, including those of natural origin. Their use is associated with the generation of significant quantity of waste and the emission of greenhouse gases. Therefore, for the sustainable development of civilization, it is essential to reduce the environmental impact of construction products. Gypsum is one of the primary mineral binders, commonly used in construction. The study compares the effect on the environment of building gypsum made of natural raw materials and gypsum obtained in the flue gas desulfurization process. Nine environmental impact indicators were analyzed: global warming potential – GWP, stratospheric ozone layer depletion potential – ODP, soil and water acidification potential – AP, eutrophication potential – EP, tropospheric ozone formation potential – POCP, abiotic depletion potential for non-fossil resources – ADP-elements and fossil resources-ADP-fossil fuels, total use of renewable primary energy resources – PERT and total use of non-renewable primary energy resources – PENRT. Higher values of all considered indicators were obtained for building gypsum made of raw material from flue gas desulfurization processes. The environmental impact assessment was carried out using the Life Cycle Assessment [LCA] method and actual production data from 2017. The life cycle analyzed in this paper covered modules from A1 to A3, i.e., from the extraction/acquisition of raw materials to the finished product, delivered to the factory gate.

Utilization of Cassava Maltodextrin for Eco-friendly Adhesive in the Manufacturing of Sorghum Bagasse Particleboard

The development of natural adhesives derived from non-fossil resources is very important for the future. This research aimed to develop natural adhesive from maltodextrin and compare it with other natural adhesives such as citric acid and malic acid for particleboard production. The effect of the adhesive raw materials on the physical and mechanical properties of the particleboards was investigated. The sweet sorghum and those natural adhesives were used in the manufacturing of particleboard. The resin content of the natural adhesive was 20 wt% base on air-dried particles. The dimension and density target of the boards were 30 x 30 x 0,9 cm3 and 0,8 g/cm3, respectively. The particleboards were prepared by hot pressing at 200°C for 10 min. The physical and mechanical properties of particleboards were evaluated based on Japanese Industrial Standard for particleboard (JIS A 5908-2003). The results showed that the density, moisture content, modulus of elasticity, and modulus of rupture met the requirements of the JIS A 5908-2003 standard, while the thickness swelling, water absorption, and internal bond did not meet the standard requirements. The results of FTIR analysis indicated the establishment of ester linkages due to the reaction between the natural adhesive and sorghum bagasse that contributed to the excellent physical and mechanical properties of the particleboard.Keywords: cassava, maltodextrin, natural adhesive, particleboard, sweet sorghum

Electrosynthesis of glycine from bio-derivable oxalic acid

Electrochemical hydrogenation of non-fossil resources to produce value added chemicals has great potential to contribute to realization of sustainable material supply. We previously demonstrated that TiO2 catalyzed electrochemical reduction of biomass-derivable α-keto acid in the presence of NH3 or NH2OH affords amino acids. In this work, we focused on oxalic acid, which is producible by chemical degradation of agro wastes, as a starting material for the electrosynthesis of an amino acid. We examined the electrocatalytic properties of various materials, including Cu, Pt, Ti foils, calcined Al, Co, Mo, Nb, Ni, Ti, V, W, Zr foils, and some TiO2 catalysts, by conducting linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) measurements, and found that Mo and Ti foil calcined at 450 °C show favorable catalytic features for the one-step glycine electrosynthesis from oxalic acid and NH2OH. Electrochemical reduction of oxalic acid at an applied potential of − 0.7 V using calcined Ti foil resulted in formation of glycine and glyoxylic acid oxime, i.e., intermediate of the glycine formation, with moderate Faradaic efficiency of 28 and 28%, respectively.

Environmental comparison of indoor floor coverings.

Appropriate selection of construction materials plays a major role in a building's sustainable profile. The study sets out a comparative life cycle assessment of indoor flooring systems of different nature. The flooring systems consisted of coverings and, where required, bonding material and/or impact soundproofing material. The following coverings were assessed: inorganic (natural stone and ceramic tiles), polymer (carpeting and PVC), and wood-based (laminate and parquet) coverings. The life cycle assessment scope was defined cradle to cradle, i.e. product stage, transport to the construction site, installation of all construction elements, use, and valorisation by recycling, as end-of-life transition scenario towards a circular economy. In the use stage, three scenarios were defined as a function of pedestrian traffic intensity, which determined maintenance, repair, and replacement operations and frequencies. The environmental impacts of the coverings product stage were taken from previously assessed and selected Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), as these are standardised public documents devised to provide environmental life cycle information. The method adopted in the study suggests that, though the use of EPDs as information source is interesting, erroneous conclusions may be drawn if the EPDs are not comparable and/or if the comparison is not made in the building context. The results indicate that the flooring systems with inorganic coverings performed best in the global warming, acidification, eutrophication, photochemical ozone creation, and abiotic depletion for fossil resources impact categories, whereas laminates performed best in the abiotic depletion for non-fossil resources and ozone layer depletion impact categories. The carpet flooring system performed worst in every impact category except photochemical ozone creation potential.

Overproduction of single cell oil from xylose rich sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate by an engineered oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa IIPL32

Rise in global fuel demands and approaching towards the ‘peak-oil,’ liquid fuels from non-fossil resources are being considered as promising alternatives. Yeast single cell oil is gaining significant attention as feedstock for biofuels or oleochemicals over tree-borne or algal oil. In the present work, the oil-producing capacity of an oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosaIIPL32 has been enhanced to 1.18-fold by overexpressing the cytosolic malic enzyme through genome integration and cultivating the yeast on sugarcane bagasse derived xylose on 15 L fermenter scale. Detailed in silico modeling and docking study of the malic enzyme of R. mucilaginosa was also carried out to understand its interaction with cofactors involved in lipogenesis. Estimation of fuel properties revealed that the lipid produced by transformed yeast complies with fourteen out of the seventeen fuel properties in the EU, Indian and US standards. We conclude with the plausible use of the engineered yeast for industrial production of oil as an alternative to plant-borne oil for biofuel production in a lignocellulosic-biomass-based biorefinery.

Surface modification of H-ZSM-5 with organo-disilane compound for propylene production from dimethyl ether

Abstract The efficient modification of zeolites for improving their catalytic properties is a significant subject of microporous materials chemistry. H-ZSM-5 zeolite is a potent catalyst of the production of propylene as an important start material of a variety of chemical products, which is mainly obtained from fossil resources. Recently, the production of propylene using non-fossil carbon resources are desired because of the depletion risk of fossil fuels and global warming problem. Dimethyl ether (DME) conversion to propylene is actively studied using acid catalysts as an alternative synthetic route of propylene. This paper reports the propylene production from DME using H-ZSM-5 catalyst whose surface was modified with an organo-disilane compound, 1,4-bis(hydroxydimethylsilyl)benzene. An H-ZSM-5 catalyst surfacely modified with the disilane compound produced propylene from DME in higher yield than original (non-modified) H-ZSM-5. Air flow treatment at 480 °C effectively regenerated the modified H-ZSM-5 that was deactivated by coke formation during the reaction, and this regenerated catalyst had a nearly equivalent activity of the propylene production to the catalyst before deactivation. The polycyclic aromatic compounds formed from the benzene ring of the disilane compound that covered the exterior surface of H-ZSM-5 controlled the catalytic activity to increase the yield of propylene.

A roadmap for China to peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve a 20% share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy by 2030

As part of its Paris Agreement commitment, China pledged to peak carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions around 2030, striving to peak earlier, and to increase the non-fossil share of primary energy to 20% by 2030. Yet by the end of 2017, China emitted 28% of the world’s energy-related CO2 emissions, 76% of which were from coal use. How China can reinvent its energy economy cost-effectively while still achieving its commitments was the focus of a three-year joint research project completed in September 2016. Overall, this analysis found that if China follows a pathway in which it aggressively adopts all cost-effective energy efficiency and CO2 emission reduction technologies while also aggressively moving away from fossil fuels to renewable and other non-fossil resources, it is possible to not only meet its Paris Agreement Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments, but also to reduce its 2050 CO2 emissions to a level that is 42% below the country’s 2010 CO2 emissions. While numerous barriers exist that will need to be addressed through effective policies and programs in order to realize these potential energy use and emissions reductions, there are also significant local environmental (e.g., air quality), national and global environmental (e.g., mitigation of climate change), human health, and other unquantified benefits that will be realized if this pathway is pursued in China.

Recent trends and fundamental insights in the methanol-to-hydrocarbons process

The production of high-demand chemical commodities such as ethylene and propylene (methanol-to-olefins), hydrocarbons (methanol-to-hydrocarbons), gasoline (methanol-to-gasoline) and aromatics (methanol-to-aromatics) from methanol—obtainable from alternative feedstocks, such as carbon dioxide, biomass, waste or natural gas through the intermediate formation of synthesis gas—has been central to research in both academia and industry. Although discovered in the late 1970s, this catalytic technology has only been industrially implemented over the past decade, with a number of large commercial plants already operating in Asia. However, as is the case for other technologies, industrial maturity is not synonymous with full understanding. For this reason, research is still intense and a number of important discoveries have been reported over the last few years. In this review, we summarize the most recent advances in mechanistic understanding—including direct C–C bond formation during the induction period and the promotional effect of zeolite topology and acidity on the alkene cycle—and correlate these insights to practical aspects in terms of catalyst design and engineering. The conversion of methanol — which can be produced from non-fossil resources — to important chemical commodities such as olefins and aromatics allows for the diversification of organic feedstocks beyond petrochemicals. This Review covers recent discoveries about the mechanism of this process and discusses how these link to practical aspects in reaction engineering.

Assessing supply risks for non-fossil mineral resources via multi-criteria decision analysis

Criticality assessments of raw materials are inherently based on multiple criteria, which justifies the use of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to aid the interpretation of the data by providing a comprehensive evaluation. A structured and transparent selection procedure is firstly introduced in this paper to choose eight supply risk assessment criteria to evaluate the security of supply for thirty-one raw materials used in automotive manufacturing. A synergic combination of MCDA methods is then proposed for the classification of raw materials in risk classes according to the supply risk criteria. Risk classes are recommended following from a robustness analysis based on stochastic and optimisation MCDA methods where risk levels assigned to the raw materials are firstly visualised on a relative frequency basis. The sorting of the raw materials is also refined by narrowing down the best and worst plausible classes when justifiable constraints on criteria weights are accounted for in the modeling. For example, the robustness analysis suggests that rare earth elements and tellurium have a high eventuality of supply chain disruption, closely followed by indium, germanium and boron. Conversely, the results suggest that the risk of supply disruption for iron, copper, zinc and aluminium is mostly medium-low or low. The proposed step-wise decision support approach can be used as a complementary tool to the existing life cycle assessment methods for a more comprehensive assessment of the short-term availability of natural resources.

Multi-criteria evaluation of renewable and nuclear resources for electricity generation in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan's electricity generation depends heavily on fossil fuels. Renewables and other non-fossil resources provide potential alternatives to diversify the electricity generation system. In this paper, various potential local non-fossil fuel resources, hydro, solar, wind, biomass and uranium are reviewed and an assessment framework for prioritizing these resources is established. A multi-criteria decision making approach, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based on expert opinion, is utilized for developing the assessment model, using four main criteria of technical, economic, social and environmental aspects and thirteen sub-criteria. The review reveal that Kazakhstan has ample potential to develop a non-fossil fuel based electricity system. Furthermore, the model shows hydro to be the most favorable resource followed by solar; wind and nuclear are ranked third and fourth, respectively while biomass is found to be the least attractive option. It is also found that each resource is inclined towards a particular criterion; hydro towards social, solar towards economic, nuclear towards technical, with biomass and wind directed towards environmental. Besides reporting the use of the AHP model for the first time in the Kazakhstan context, the assessment carried out in this paper can assist decision-makers to articulate long-term energy policy for any country.

Why India Needs a National Electricity Council

India is the third largest electricity generator in the world after China and USA. India has already committed to its Nationally Determined Contributions submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for the period 2021–2030, which inter alia, includes a commitment, to achieve about 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030 with the help of technology transfer and low-cost international finance. However, India’s power sector is facing several major challenges as it makes a transition to a more environment-friendly energy mix. Since electricity is a concurrent subject as per the Constitution of India, there is an urgent need to create an empowered National Electricity Council (NEC) with pooled sovereignty to realize the goal – ‘One Nation-One Grid-One Price’. The proposed NEC will facilitate the evolution of a vibrant and self-sustaining power sector in India in a timely manner.