ABSTRACT
A few industries, such as the beverage industry, have experienced some growth in sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, beverage companies alone generate over 200 million tonnes of biomass annually, which largely ends up as animal feed or in landfills. With the UK government's commitment to reduce its carbon footprint by at least 68% in 2030, many companies, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), are exploring options to reduce carbon emissions and develop roadmaps to become carbon neutral. It has thus become imperative for beverage companies to find value in or repurpose their waste. This paper unlocks the potential for improving the fuel properties of beverage waste through a blending process and explores the determination of optimal fractions for the blends via characterization. With an initial moisture content of 82 and 58 wt.% brewery spent grain (BSG) and spent coffee grounds (SCG), respectively, the pre-treatment process reduced moisture content by approximately 10-15 wt.%. The study concludes that biomass blending improved the fuel properties of the biomass, providing a competitive comparison with coal for energy applications.
ABSTRACT
To date, irregularity and lack of power supply remain a global problem in the rural areas of underdeveloped and developing countries. This paper proposes a new concept for rural electrification by using palm oil mills to co-produce biodiesel from sludge palm oil. We performed a case study based on a medium-sized palm oil mill in Central Kalimantan. Approximately 2.5 tonnes of biodiesel could be produced daily using an enzymatic batch process and potentially support around 1,375 households of 4 people each in the surrounding areas. Subsequently, we performed a techno-economic assessment to study the commercial feasibility of the concept for rural electrification using the enzymatic biodiesel as opposed to commercial diesel. A 10% price deduction was applied to incentivize the local community to use the co-produced biodiesel. From our analysis, the rural electrification concept was found to be commercially viable with a return on investment of 29% and a breakeven period of less than 4 years of operation. Barring the short-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the price fluctuations of diesel and crude palm oil, the long-term commercial prospect of this rural electrification concept is attractive as it financially benefits both the rural community and the mill operators.
ABSTRACT
East and South Asia are major hotspots of crop straw burning worldwide, with profound impacts on air quality and climate change. The Northeast China Plain (NECP) and Punjab, India, are two of the most fertile areas for crop production, which have large-scale agricultural fires during post-harvest seasons. Leveraging established fire-emission databases and satellite-retrieved agricultural fire spots, we show that, while the years 2018 and 2019 recorded low agricultural fire emissions in both the NECP and Punjab, probably due to the implementation of crop straw sustainable management, fire emissions markedly rebounded in 2020, reaching about 190% and 150% of 2019 levels, respectively. The COVID-19 lockdown measures somewhat disrupted eco-friendly crop straw management through restrictions on labor and transportation availability, such that farmers may have had to burn off crop wastes to clear up the land. We further demonstrate that the increased fire emissions in the NECP resulted in serious particulate matter pollution during the fire season in spring 2020, as opposed to considerable decreases in particles from fossil fuel emissions caused by the COVID-19 lockdown. This study suggests the unintended impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the agricultural sector and human health.
ABSTRACT
Crop residue burning (CRB) is a persistent issue in north India, every year it engulfs the whole of North India in its fumes. CRB results in severe negative aftermaths on both human health and the environment especially now when the Covid-19 pandemic is so rampant to cause respirational distress. The current study was being conducted to assess the state of crop residue burning in Punjab. The research was based on secondary data from the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, which spans the years 2016 to 2020. During the season, Kharif the number of stubble-burning cases decreased from 81042 to 71081 (a decrease of about 13 percent) from 2016 to 2020. This dwindling trend in cases is a good sign for environmental conservation. There has been an increase of 25% in stubble burning during the Rabi season from 2016 to 2020, incidences of stubble burning have reached an all-time high in the last five years, even during the widespread Covid 19 outbreak and may be because of labour shortages during Covid-19. The farmers who had previously embraced good crop residue management methods may resort to burning fields in the coming rice harvesting season due to additional challenges which exacerbating the problem. The government should focus on subsidizing crop residue technologies and effective behavior change approaches to tackle the problem unanimously with the help of farmers themselves. The study recommends mandatory diversification of the cropping cycle on a minimum acreage basis, shift to earlymaturing rice varieties as PAU suggested, and making paddy residue management technologies like happy seeder and super seeder widely available. Farmers should be incentivized accordingly for good agricultural practices rather than punished for burning.
ABSTRACT
Natural aggregates are being depleted due to the high demand for road and building construction and need to be replaced with alternative materials. This study investigated the potential of using Palm kernel shells (PaKS) as a partial replacement for natural aggregates (NA) and waste plastics (WP) as a binder. The physical and volumetric properties of the different asphaltic mixes (AM) were assessed using the Marshall Method. The bitumen content of the mix design samples was varied from 4.0% to 7.5% of the total weight of aggregates utilized. According to the Marshall parameters, at 5.5% bitumen content, the maximum Marshall Stability value of the different mix designs increased from 9.8 kN to 12.1 kN and the flow value increased from 3.0 mm to 3.7 mm. The experimental results based on the optimum bitumen content determined by the Marshall method demonstrate that PaKS and WP can be utilized to modify AM. However, additional tests will be needed to evaluate the use of this composition in road construction.
ABSTRACT
To investigate the effect of COVID-19 on beef cattle production in China, in February 2020, 263 beef cattle farms 21 provinces of China were surveyed, covering the main areas of beef cattle production. The results showed that COVID-19 had a serious impact on Chinese beef cattle industry. In forage stock, 48% of the beef cattle farms had surpluses for I month;45% had less than 2 months of forage, and 95% had run out of by-products, such as distiller's grains. In fattening production. 95% of fattening cattle farms cannot buy stocker cattle as planned. The delay to sell fattening cattle increased the consumption of feed and forage. The markets for live cattle were closed, causing the decrease of cattle prices. In reproduction, brood cows missed one or two estrus cycles. In disease prevention and control, 70% of cattle farms almost ran out of medicines, and immunities cannot be carried out as planned. To solve these prominent problems, it was suggested that beef cattle farms should seriously implement the prevention and control requirements to ensure safety;prepare alternative plans for epidemic prevention and control in advance;improve the tine feeding and management system and standardized workflow, adjust the business strategy, etc. Additionally, it was also suggested that all layers of governments should open green channels for the farms to ensure the transportation of production means and products, supply special subsidy policies, and provide loans to help farm enhance confidence and resume production.
ABSTRACT
Interest in the biological role of bioactive compounds present in plant by-products has increased over the last few years. This study aimed to investigate the nutritive value and biological activities of Egyptian Grape leaves (GL), Grape seeds (GS) and Mulberry leaves (ML), as well as investigate the impact of P-irradiation for improving the utilization of these plant by-products. The dose level 5.0 kGy showed highest the content of crude protein (24.42, 19.41 and 13.50 mg/100 g), as well as crude fiber (34.26 and 21.18 mg/100 g) for ML, GL and GS, respectively. Mulberry leaves has a highest content of protein and fiber at dose 5.0 kGy compared with GL and GS. The highest total phenolic content was found in GS (9.75 mg/g DW), followed by GL (7.32 mg/g DW) and the lowest in ML (5.97 mg/g DW). While ML had a higher total flavonoids content (5.61 mg/g DW) than GS (4.88 mg/g DW) and GL (2.86 mg/g DW). Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were significantly increased at 5.0 kGy. The highest level (83.25% and 80.24%) of scavenging activity (DPPH %) and inhibition activity of HCT 116 cells was recorded at 5.0 kGy by GS. All extracts irradiated at 5.0 kGy exhibited varying degrees of antibacterial activity against (Gram+ve and Gram-ve), the GS followed by GL then ML showed strong antibacterial activity with a diameter of inhibition zone of 26.2, 24.5 and 19.7 mm, against L. monocytoganes, respectively and 24.4, 21.4 and 17.2 against S. typhimurium, respectively. This study suggests that P-irradiation is an effective technique to enhance the recovery of phenolics and flavonoids from GL, GS and ML. Also in current study, antioxidant, antibacterial and anticancer activity has been suggested to appear a clear positive relationship with the total phenolic material. This study has proved that the Egyptian GL, GS and ML are rich sources of valuable phytochemicals and nutrients that can serve as a potential source of nutraceuticals and multifunctional food additives (antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer). Phenolic compounds recovered from GL, GS and ML may have a potential role in fighting the COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
Horticultural waste management is global war that must be won particularly in Kenya. Utilisation of banana waste can mitigate the dwindling welfare of banana farmers in Kakamega County. Unlike India's preferred processing approach, on-farm management of banana waste was a cost-effective strategy compatible to Kenya given the Climate change and Covid-19 pandemics. Unfortunately, knowledge on fitting 7Rs denoted by reducing, rethinking, refusing, recycling, reusing, repairing and refilling strategy onto the banana waste generated;banana waste utilisation technologies;and challenges of on-farm banana waste management was scanty in Kakamega County. Therefore, this paper examined the influence of cost-effective banana waste management on the welfare of banana farmers in Kakamega County, Kenya. It particularly established the: on-farm and off-farm weight of banana waste;appropriate innovative on-farm banana waste utilisation;and on-farm banana waste management challenges experienced in Kakamega County, Kenya. Across sectional design was adopted. A purposive sample of 150 from 600 banana farmers with at least 100 banana plants was studied. Frequency tables and plates were used to analyse data Kakamega County. Primary data was complemented by Key informants and secondary sources. The results revealed that out of the 7Rs, reuse, reduce and refill (3Rs) facilitated banana waste management. The weights of peeled banana fruit and waste were 10.1% and 89.9% of the entire banana plant respectively. Banana waste was the driver of integrated organic innovative crop farming, animal husbandry and agro-forestry. Dogmatic beliefs and low agricultural innovation adoption rate hindered banana waste utilization. It is concluded that 7Rs minimized the quantity;enhanced utilization;and mitigated challenges of banana waste, culminating to the improved welfare of banana farmers. Adoption of optimal innovative cleaner banana production technologies to streamline the 7Rs was recommended to achieve sustainable banana waste management and improve livelihoods in Kenya.