Nanotechnology Applications and Implications of Agrochemicals toward Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems.

The First International Conference on Nanotechnology Applications and Implications of Agrochemicals toward Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems was held in Beijing, China, on November 17-18, 2016 to address and exchange the latest knowledge and developments in nanotechnology of agrochemicals toward sustainable agriculture and food systems. World-leading scientists gathered to discuss a wide range of relevant topics. The purposes of this symposium introduction are to provide an introduction to the international conference, summarize in brief the contributions of papers that follow within this special issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, provide a synthesis of conference outcomes, and suggest future directions, including an important role of converging science and technologies to advance sustainable agriculture, food, and natural resource systems.

Conventional mesophilic vs. thermophilic anaerobic digestion: a trade-off between performance and stability?

A long-term comparative study using continuously-stirred anaerobic digesters (CSADs) operated at mesophilic and thermophilic temperatures was conducted to evaluate the influence of the organic loading rate (OLR) and chemical composition on process performance and stability. Cow manure was co-digested with dog food, a model substrate to simulate a generic, multi-component food-like waste and to produce non-substrate specific, composition-based results. Cow manure and dog food were mixed at a lower - and an upper co-digestion ratio to produce a low-fiber, high-strength substrate, and a more recalcitrant, lower-strength substrate, respectively. Three increasing OLRs were evaluated by decreasing the CSADs hydraulic retention time (HRT) from 20 to 10 days. At longer HRTs and lower manure-to-dog food ratio, the thermophilic CSAD was not stable and eventually failed as a result of long-chain fatty acid (LCFA) accumulation/degradation, which was triggered by the compounded effects of temperature on reaction rates, mixing intensity, and physical state of LCFAs. At shorter HRTs and upper manure-to-dog food ratio, the thermophilic CSAD marginally outperformed the biomethane production rates and substrate stabilization of the mesophilic CSAD. The increased fiber content relative to lipids at upper manure-to-dog food ratios improved the stability and performance of the thermophilic process by decreasing the concentration of LCFAs in solution, likely adsorbed onto the manure fibers. Overall, results of this study show that stability of the thermophilic co-digestion process is highly dependent on the influent substrate composition, and particularly for this study, on the proportion of manure to lipids in the influent stream. In contrast, mesophilic co-digestion provided a more robust and stable process regardless of the influent composition, only with marginally lower biomethane production rates (i.e., 7%) for HRTs as short as 10 days (OLR = 3 g VS/L-d).

Biochemical methane potential and biodegradability of complex organic substrates.

The biomethane potential and biodegradability of an array of substrates with highly heterogeneous characteristics, including mono- and co-digestion samples with dairy manure, was determined using the biochemical methane potential (BMP) assay. In addition, the ability of two theoretical methods to estimate the biomethane potential of substrates and the influence of biodegradability was evaluated. The results of about 175 individual BMP assays indicate that substrates rich in lipids and easily-degradable carbohydrates yield the highest methane potential, while more recalcitrant substrates with a high lignocellulosic fraction have the lowest. Co-digestion of dairy manure with easily-degradable substrates increases the specific methane yields when compared to manure-only digestion. Additionally, biomethane potential of some co-digestion mixtures suggested synergistic activity. Evaluated theoretical methods consistently over-estimated experimentally-obtained methane yields when substrate biodegradability was not accounted. Upon correcting the results of theoretical methods with observed biodegradability data, an agreement greater than 90% was achieved.

Life cycle assessment of biochar systems: estimating the energetic, economic, and climate change potential.

Biomass pyrolysis with biochar returned to soil is a possible strategy for climate change mitigation and reducing fossil fuel consumption. Pyrolysis with biochar applied to soils results in four coproducts: long-term carbon (C) sequestration from stable C in the biochar, renewable energy generation, biochar as a soil amendment, and biomass waste management. Life cycle assessment was used to estimate the energy and climate change impacts and the economics of biochar systems. The feedstocks analyzed represent agricultural residues (corn stover), yard waste, and switchgrass energy crops. The net energy of the system is greatest with switchgrass (4899 MJ t(-1) dry feedstock). The net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for both stover and yard waste are negative, at -864 and -885 kg CO(2) equivalent (CO(2)e) emissions reductions per tonne dry feedstock, respectively. Of these total reductions, 62-66% are realized from C sequestration in the biochar. The switchgrass biochar-pyrolysis system can be a net GHG emitter (+36 kg CO(2)e t(-1) dry feedstock), depending on the accounting method for indirect land-use change impacts. The economic viability of the pyrolysis-biochar system is largely dependent on the costs of feedstock production, pyrolysis, and the value of C offsets. Biomass sources that have a need for waste management such as yard waste have the highest potential for economic profitability (+$69 t(-1) dry feedstock when CO(2)e emission reductions are valued at $80 t(-1) CO(2)e). The transportation distance for feedstock creates a significant hurdle to the economic profitability of biochar-pyrolysis systems. Biochar may at present only deliver climate change mitigation benefits and be financially viable as a distributed system using waste biomass.