Spanish Plants Research Articles

Assessment of Climate Change Impacts and Water Restrictions on Solar Tower Plants

Climate projections under the high-emission representative concentration pathway “RCP-8.5” scenario are used to show the effects of global warming on the energy production of two similar concentrated solar tower power plants in Spain and Chile from 2025 to 2060. Results show a reduction of the annual energy production of almost 1.8% for Chile and an increase of almost 6% in the Spanish plant, but an increase of 10% water consumption due to both the increase in dry- and wet-bulb temperatures and changes in the direct normal irradiation caused by climate change. When the effect of water restrictions is included in the model caused by the foreseen reduction in water availability in Spain, the increase of the annual energy production is only 2%. Finally, the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) calculated during the whole power plant lifetime (35 years) with respect to the LCOE obtained at the beginning of the project is increased by 1.1% in the Chilean plant, whereas in the Spanish plant, it can be reduced more than 2.5% if there are no water restrictions, while a reduction of 0.4% is expected in a scenario with water restrictions. Results show that careful consideration of climate projections should be considered to properly estimate the economic viability of solar tower plants.

Exploring the potential of concentrating solar power technologies for vertical farming in arid regions: The case of Western Iraq

Indoor vertical farming can address future food insecurity by reducing land use and environmental dependence positively mitigating the environmental impacts associated with conventional agriculture. However, its high energy consumption and environmental impact raise concerns. This paper explores the use of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) to power vertical farming in Iraq's arid regions, using abundant solar resources to reduce environmental impact and energy costs. The study evaluates the feasibility and benefits of integrating CSP technologies into sustainable agricultural practices, considering factors like implementation costs, energy production, and water usage. The study utilized the system advisor model (SAM) to carry out the techno-economic assessment by relocating existing commercial CSP plant in Seville, Spain to six Iraqi locations, following a comprehensive technical site assessment. The energy production level, capacity factor (CF), and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of the initial Spanish plant were lower than five of the six selected locations. Haditha and Ar Rutbha cities have the highest annual energy output, 123 GWh and 122 GWh, respectively, surpassing Seville's original plant output, which at 110 GWh performed less than Iraq locations. Next, comparisons are made between conventional farming and vertical farming (VF) cultivation. The study focuses on Romaine lettuce as the benchmark crop due to its prevalence in vertical farms and its suitability for arid climates. VF shows the potential to achieve yields between 41 and 68 kg/m2/y, 63 to 104 times higher than conventional farming in Western Iraq. VF's year-round cultivation with artificial lighting results in 83 times greater energy demands, requiring 25 kWh/kg/y. The findings emphasize the potential of CSP technologies to support sustainable agriculture in Iraq's arid regions. These findings demonstrate the possibility of utilizing solar power for sustainable agriculture in Iraq, offering valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders seeking cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions.

Polyester recycler to build Spanish plant

Polyester recycler to build Spanish plant

Polyester recycler to build Spanish plant

Polyester recycler to build Spanish plant

Application of Untargeted Metabolomics to Determine Volatile Compounds from the Spanish Plant Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Used as Tea

One-hundred and seven different volatile compounds were identified in the samples of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi collected from nine locations in Spain. This plant is commonly brewed and used as tea. Volatile compounds profile was detected using solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The most interesting compounds detected from an antioxidant capacity point of view were esters, phenols, and aromatics compounds. All samples were discriminated by principal component analysis. The insolation and altitude of harvest areas, and latent structures were considered for interpretation of results. Discriminant analysis was applied to control the type and concentration of metabolites and determine the best plant antioxidant profiles of volatile compounds from plant origin. Moreover, a heatmap displayed correlations between detected compounds. The discriminant analysis led to 20 quality markers being identified for the analysed plants. The strongest antioxidant capacity was obtained in the samples from Pina de Montalgrao and Loarre (collected in September) for ORAC (33.11 ± 0.61 g Trolox/g sample) and DPPH (IC50 = 711 ± 12 µg/g) methods, respectively. The plant with the highest total phenolic content was Loarre collected in September (171.9 ± 19.4 mg GAE/g DW) and November (177.1 ± 11.0 mg GAE/g DW).

Meat-packer JBS invests in cellular meat

JBS, which calls itself the world’s largest protein company, is taking a majority stake in the Spanish cell-based meat firm BioTech Foods. The $100 million investment will include a plant in Spain and a research center in Brazil, where JBS is based. JBS expects the Spanish plant to reach commercial production by 2024 and plans to eventually add a plant at the R&D center. While this is JBS’s first foray into cultivated meat, which is grown from animal cells, competitors Tyson and Cargill have made similar investments.

Checklist of the vascular plants of the Cantabrian Mountains

We present the first standardized list of the vascular flora of the Cantabrian Mountains, a transitional zone between the Eurosiberian and Mediterranean biogeographic regions in northwestern Spain. The study area comprises 15000 km2 divided in UTM grid cells of 10 km x 10 km, for which we revised occurrence data reported in the Spanish Plant Information System (Anthos) and the online database of Iberian and Macaronesian Vegetation (SIVIM). We used a semi-automatic procedure to standardize taxonomic concepts into a single list of names, which was further updated by expert-based revision with the support of national and regional literature. In the current version, the checklist of the Cantabrian Mountains contains 2338 native species and subspecies, from which 56 are endemic to the study area. The nomenclature of the checklist follows Euro+Med in 97% of taxa, including annotations when other criteria has been used and for taxa with uncertain status. We also provide a list of 492 non-native taxa that were erroneously reported in the study area, a list of local apomictic taxa, a phylogenetic tree linked to The Plant List, a standardized calculation of Ellenberg Ecological Indicator Values for 80% of the flora, and information about life forms, IUCN threat categories and legal protection status. Our review demonstrates how the Cantabrian mountains represent a key floristic region in southern Europe and a relevant phytogeographical hub in south-western Europe. The checklist and all related information are freely accessible in a digital repository for further uses in basic and applied research

Why Go Green? Exploring Antecedents of Implementing Green HRM

Green HRM (GHRM) is an emerging research topic linked to organizations’ efforts to manage environmental issues, which are critical parts of corporate social responsibility. Given the scarcity of empirical research, we first developed a measure of GHRM and explored its internal structure. We next invoked the behavioral and upper echelons perspectives to consider the influence of proactive green strategies, high performance work systems (HPWS), and plant managers’ perceptions of discretionary slack on the implementation of GHRM. We also examined the interactive effect of proactive green strategy and HPWS as well as the interaction between prior emission and plant managers’ perception of discretionary slack. We tested our hypotheses in 129 Spanish plants using phone surveys and a secondary archival database. Our data suggests GHRM to be a two-factor construct consisting of what we label as branding-oriented GHRM and high investment GHRM. Proactive green strategy predicted both dimensions while HPWS was only associated with the adoption of high investment GHRM. Proactive green strategy and HPWS had opposite interactive effects on the two types of GHRM. Prior emissions enhanced the relationship between plant manager’s perception of discretionary slack and high investment GHRM.

How effective are the protected areas to preserve endangered plant species in a climate change scenario? The case of three Iberian endemics

Climate change has emerged as the main threat to global biodiversity and even the protected areas (PAs) are not immune to this problem. Here, we have focused on PAs with the aim of assessing the impacts of climate change on their habitat suitability and their effectiveness to protect threatened species, in this case three endemic Spanish plants: Isatis platyloba, Rhaponticum exaltatum and Succisella microcephala. We used the machine-learning technique called Maxent that is able to protect the potential species distribution under four future climate scenarios. Our results show a strong reduction of the potential areas with high suitability for Isatis platyloba. By contrast, for Rhaponticum exaltatum and Succisella microcephala our results suggested an increase of potential habitats. Regarding to the PAs specially designed to protect some important populations of these species, most of them would be located in areas with high suitability for all species in the future. Our study supports the necessity of the proposed Plant Micro-reserves to guarantee the preservation of these three species and, most importantly, can serve as a model to evaluate the efficiency of a given PA in protecting any species taking into account the climate change scenario. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2021.1918777.

Micropropagation and cryopreservation by vitrification of the Spanish endemic medicinal plant Sideritis leucantha Cav. subsp. leucantha (Lamiaceae)

Sideritis leucantha Cav. subsp. leucantha is a Spanish endemic medicinal plant that faces conservation problems. Therefore, this work is aimed to develop a protocol for the in vitro propagation and cryopreservation of shoot tip explants of this species. The morphogenic responses were recorded using Murashige and Skoog medium containing 6-benzyladenine, 2-isopentenyladenine, kinetin, or thidiazuron for multiplication and 1-naphthaleneacetic acid or indole-3-butyric acid for rooting. Maximal shoot proliferation was observed with medium containing 0.088 M sucrose plus 0.22 or 0.44 μM 6-benzyladenine. The longest shoots and greatest number of nodes per shoot were obtained from cultures incubated on medium with 0.44 μM 2-isopentenyladenine. Optimal rooting was achieved with 1-naphthaleneacetic acid at concentrations of 0.05 μM (highest percentage of rooted shoots) and 0.26 μM (highest number of roots). The morphological traits of the regenerated plantlets did not differ from those of wild-type plants, and these plantlets were successfully adapted to ex vitro conditions. After cryopreservation by vitrification, the highest percentage of regenerated shoot tips (70 ± 6%) was obtained with the treatment consisting of 60 min of loading solution (0.4 M sucrose plus 2 M glycerol in liquid medium) followed by exposure to plant vitrification solution 2 for 30 min at room temperature and then immersion in liquid nitrogen for 60 min. This study constitutes the first work on the micropropagation of S. leucantha subsp. leucantha and the first work on the cryopreservation of Sideritis species. The results obtained could be applied commercially and also in the conservation for other species of Lamiaceae.

Common Vetch, Valuable Germplasm for Resilient Agriculture: Genetic Characterization and Spanish Core Collection Development.

Common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) is a legume used for animal feed because of its high protein content and great capacity for nitrogen fixation, making this crop relevant in sustainable agriculture. The Spanish vetch collection, conserved at the Spanish Plant Genetic Resources Center (CRF), is one of the largest collections of this species worldwide, including landraces, wild relatives mainly collected in Spain, and commercial cultivars, but also accessions of international origin. The analysis of the genetic diversity of this material, whose genome has not been sequenced yet, and the assembly of a representative collection could play a pivotal role in conserving and exploiting these genetic resources in breeding programs mainly in those focused on consequences and demands of climate change. In this work, a set of 14 simple sequence repeat (SSR) reference alleles for genetic diversity analysis of the CRF vetch collection has been developed, used for genotyping more than 545 common vetch accessions from all over the world and validated. All the tested markers were polymorphic for the analyzed accessions. Overall, at least 86 different loci were identified with 2–11 alleles per locus with an average of 6.1 alleles per locus. Also, the analyses of the generated SSR database support that most of these SSR markers are transferable across closely related species of Vicia genus. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that wild relatives have a higher genetic diversity than landraces. However, cultivars have similar diversity than landraces, indicating that genetic variability has been barely lost due to the breeding of this legume. Low differences of genetic variations between Spanish and non-Spanish accessions have been observed, suggesting a high degree of diversity within Spanish genotypes, which provide 95% of the total genetic variation, so we have focused our efforts on characterizing genotypes of Spanish origin that were further studied using storage protein profiles. Based on SSR, seed protein profiles, and agromorphological and passport data, a vetch core collection (VCC) containing 47 V. sativa accessions of Spanish origin has been established. In this collection, the characterization has been expanded using ISSR markers, and it has been reevaluated with new agromorphological data, including drought tolerance characters. This VCC presents a minimum loss of genetic diversity concerning the total collection and constitutes an invaluable material that can be used in future breeding programs for direct use in a resilient agricultural system.

Spanish broom (Spartium junceum L.) – feedstock for bioplastic and bioenergy industry

Spanish Broom (Spartium junceum L.) is a Mediterranean plant of various usage possibilities. Its fibres were known since ancient time but in some point of last century, more accurately in 1950s, their production was abandoned due to the negative economic effect. Another drawback was large time consumption, especially during the old tradition method – Spanish Broom maceration in salt water. Nowadays, due to technology development and ecological awareness, it is much easier to produce Spanish Broom fibres of enhanced quality. One of the fibre extraction methods is the one assisted with microwave oven. Demerit of such fibre production is in large residue content after obtaining fibres - approx. 90 % of initial Spanish Broom weight. Due to the need for finding sustainable solutions in the development of new materials, the usage of Spanish Broom fibres in the service of reinforcement for biopolymer poly (lactic acid) (PLA) matrix was investigated. Obtained results target our further research into the direction of Spanish Broom fibres and PLA application in the production of green composites. The aim of this research was to prove that developed product can be categorized under the biodegradable group by investigating its degradation properties using serine endopeptidase enzyme. The results show positive degradation effect while using 50 wt.% (on weight of material) enzyme concentration during a 5-day treatment. Stem residues of Spanish Broom plant derived from salty water and microwave maceration were further investigated for their potential as raw material for second-generation biofuel production. Examination of its energy properties consisted of determination of proximate and ultimate properties of the biomass. The results show low moisture content (6.5 % - 7.5 %), ash content below 5 % and higher values of fixed carbon and volatile matter content of 13.2 % and 75 %, respectively. Higher heating values that were determined (17.2 - 18.8 MJ/kg) indicate a high quality biomass that can be used most effectively in solid biofuel production.

Corrigendum to: Nectar yeasts of two southern Spanish plants: the roles of immigration and physiological traits in community assembly.

Corrigendum to: Nectar yeasts of two southern Spanish plants: the roles of immigration and physiological traits in community assembly.

Plant Genebanks: Present Situation and Proposals for Their Improvement. the Case of the Spanish Network.

Genebanks were created by the middle of the twentieth century to preserve cultivated biodiversity when landraces began to be substituted by modern varieties. This move was generally accepted as a necessary step to safeguard the future. After about 75 years of collecting and maintaining genetic resources, the increasing ability of biotechnology to create new variability brings the roles of genebanks in the present and near future into question. As a continuation of several workshops that started in 2014, staff of some representative genebanks have met to discuss how the Spanish Plant Genetic Resources Network can be improved, identifying the following major shortcomings: lack of efficient coordination in the distribution of species among genebanks; too many genebanks; existence of detected and undetected duplicates; insufficient rate of regeneration; insufficient phenotyping, genotyping, and epiphenotyping; unsatisfactory rate of use by end users; and, insufficient funding. As a considerable increase in public funding is unlikely, we propose some strategies to increase the efficiency of the system. The most urgent tasks are to strengthen the rationalization of the network by establishing a clear hierarchy and functions, to improve the information in the base collection by deep characterization including not only phenotypes but also uses and utilities, to progressively replace the active collections with focused core collections constructed to meet users' needs, to optimize regeneration protocols, to limit new collecting expeditions of Spanish crop wild relatives to those growing in threatened habitats, and to develop user-friendly platforms to access germplasm documentation, including a unified system of descriptors and classification categories. Current advances in biotechnology, and especially those in gene editing will have without doubt an impact on the role of genebanks. However, the high number of genes and gene combinations created by evolution they hold cannot be produced by these techniques at present. So, these reservoirs of variability will continue to be indispensable for the near-medium future while the function of all the genes is unveiled. In turn, biotechnologies and gene editing will allow us to take advantage of the information held in genebanks in a more efficient and fast way, contributing to a better rationalization and functioning.

880. EUPHORBIA TUCKEYANA

Euphorbia tuckeyana is a dendroid spurge endemic to Cabo Verde. It belongs to E. subgenus Esula section Aphyllis subsection Macaronesicae, a monophyletic group of eleven species restricted to the Canaries, Madeira archipelago, the Selvagens islands, Cabo Verde, a small area of Atlantic Morocco, and Portugal, that have high horticultural potential for xeric gardens. Among them E. tuckeyana grows well in tropical environments with a summer rainy season. History of early collections and records is reviewed. The species has been previously depicted on one postage stamp and in papers focusing on the Cabo Verde flora. Three other phylogenetically distant groups of dendroid spurges, also with leaves spirally arranged in clusters located on stem tips, occur in the West Indies, Africa, and Asia. They also show high potential for tropical gardens. We present a previously unpublished ink-drawing of E. tuckeyana that was made by the great Spanish plant illustrator Eugeni Sierra Ràfols (1919–1999). The name is lectotypified with a specimen housed in the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris) that was collected by the Portuguese naturalist João da Silva Feijó in the late 18th century.

Quorum Sensing versus Quenching Bacterial Isolates Obtained from MBR Plants Treating Leachates from Municipal Solid Waste.

Quorum sensing (QS) is a mechanism dependent on bacterial density. This coordinated process is mediated by the synthesis and the secretion of signal molecules, called autoinducers (AIs). N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs) are the most common AIs that are used by Gram-negative bacteria and are involved in biofilm formation. Quorum Quenching (QQ) is the interference of QS by producing hydrolyzing enzymes, among other strategies. The main objective of the present study was to identify QS and QQ strains from MBR wastewater treatment plants. A total of 99 strains were isolated from two Spanish plants that were intended to treat leachate from municipal solid waste. Five AHL producers were detected using AHL biosensor strains (Chromobacterium violaceum CV026 and Agrobacterium tumefaciens NT1). Fifteen strains of seventy-one Gram-positive were capable of eliminating or reducing at least one AHL activity. The analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequence showed the importance of the Pseudomonas genus in the production of biofilms and the relevance of the genus Bacillus in the disruption of the QS mechanism, in which the potential activity of lactonase or acylase enzymes was investigated with the aim to contribute to solve biofouling problems and to increase the useful lifespan of membranes.

Effects of temperature and light intensity on morphological and phytochemical characters and antioxidant potential of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium L.)

The effect of temperature and light intensity on the growth and the production of active ingredients of Artemisia absinthium L. was studied. To this purpose, young plants of two wormwood accessions with different geographical origin were grown for 14 weeks in climatic chambers under two controlled conditions identified as "warm" and "cold", respectively. Both the tested environments (warm, with temperature from 18 °C/10 °C to 27 °C/19 °C and 16 klx light intensity, and cold, with increasing temperature from 13 °C/8 °C to 18 °C/10 °C and 8 klx light intensity) were with 14h day/10h night rhythm. The results showed that the leaf blade thickness of both accessions increased and an approximately 50% higher biomass was achieved in the “warm” chamber. Volatile compounds were accumulated in both the wormwood accessions, but some differences, mostly quantitative, in the chemical composition of their essential oils could were observed. In particular, it was found that Spanish accession was a “cis-epoxy-ocimene” chemotype, while the Hungarian accession had a variable profile with sabinene and â-myrcene as the most characteristic components. The ratio of cis-chrysanthenyl acetate grew from 8.0% (in the “cold” chamber) to 13.8% (in the “warm” chamber) in the Spanish plants, while sabinene increased from 2.3% to 10.8% and β-myrcene rose from 8.0% to 16.5% in the “warm” and “cold” chambers, respectively in the Hungarian samples. The total phenolic content (44% increase) and the FRAP antioxidant capacity (77% increase) were detected under higher temperature conditions, especially in the Spanish accession. In this respect, significant differences between the accessions appeared only in the “warm” chamber.

Spain and Coal, the Environment and eu Law

Mining of indigenous Spanish coal has been heavily subsidized ever since 1986, and recently, the European Commission authorized a further amount of State aid of 2.3 billion in order to facilitate the closure of uncompetitive coal mines in Spain by 2018. These subsidies are paid regardless of the facts that: the indigenous coal is of minor quality and not needed to ensure safe energy supply in Spain; the combustion of coal is causing excessive greenhouse gas emissions and most coal-fired Spanish power plants are widely exceeding regular eu emission limit values; considerable investments will have to be made, in order to eventually comply with the requirements of eu law. However, supposed that these investments are made, there is no reason for the plant owners to participate in a coal phase-out. The present article provides a detailed analysis of these critical aspects of Spanish and European coal policy.

Sizing Study of Second Life Li-ion Batteries for Enhancing Renewable Energy Grid Integration

Renewable power plants must comply with certain codes and requirements to be connected to the grid, being the ramp-rate compliance one of the most challenging requirements, especially for photovoltaic or wind energy generation plants. Battery-based energy storage systems represent a promising solution due to the fast dynamics of electrochemical storage systems, besides their scalability and flexibility. However, large-scale battery energy storage systems are still too expensive to be a mass market solution for the renewable energy resources integration. Thus, in order to make battery investment economically viable, the use of second life batteries is investigated in the paper. This paper proposes a method to determine the optimal sizing of a second life battery energy storage system (SLBESS). SLBESS performance is also validated and, as an ultimate step, the power exchanged with the batteries is calculated during one-year operation. The power profile obtained is further used to define the cycling patterns for laboratory testing of second life batteries and to study their ageing evolution when used for the power smoothing renewable integration application. Real photovoltaic energy generation data from a Spanish plant were used for the study.

A combined approach of methods for determining the regional assessment of the disjunct plant Primula pedemontana in Spain

The aim of this study was to conduct a regional threat-status assessment for Primula pedemontana Thomas ex Gaudin in Spain. This is an Alpine plant with a single isolated Iberian population. A major field survey was made to monitor the species in Spain with a view to preventing its possible disappearance. For that purpose, a habitat study was carried out, regional population size and population structure were determined, and major threats and conservation actions were identified. Besides, habitat suitability maps were drawn up for the present and for 2025 and the percentage of potential habitat loss was calculated in order to estimate their possible evolution. The number of mature individuals, calculated as a trapezoidal fuzzy number, was [9179; 10820; 19002; 22342]. Extent of occurrence and area of occupancy calculated were 2.5 and 0.16 km2, respectively. The regional IUCN category obtained for P. pedemontana was “Critically Endangered”. The percentage of potential habitat loss was estimated at 10.9% for 2025. The authors consider that this species is among the priority Spanish plants for conservation, and that it should be included in the “Spanish List of Wild Species under the Special Protection Scheme”.