1,721,108 research outputs found
The environmental burdens of maize silage production : influence of different ensiling techniques
No full textLivestock production has a major impact on the environment. Feed production is one of the major environmental hotspots of livestock production and its eco-assessment becomes a key issue of the whole cattle chain. Yearly about 150,000. tons of silage are produced worldwide and they are mainly used as animal feeding and for biogas production.The aim of this study is to evaluate, using the LCA methodology, the environmental impact of maize silage production using different ensiling techniques: bunkers silos and bag silos. The results highlight that the production of the chopped maize is responsible for the main part of the environmental burdens of maize silage (more than 88% for all the evaluated impact categories) while ensiling is responsible for a small share of the overall impact. However, maize silage stored in silobag, compared to the one stored in bunker silo, shows lower environmental impact for all the evaluated impact categories (from -5% to -9%). Such difference is mainly explained by lower dry matter losses occurring through the use of silobag. A sensitivity test has been performed in order to gauge the influence of the value of dry matter losses on the systems analyzed. Results of the sensitivity analysis highlight the pivotal role played by such parameter on the overall eco-profile of maize silage: the decrease of the impact of maize silage is in fact directly proportional to dry matter losses reduction
Thermal Programmed Decomposition Analysis : high sensitivity determination of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and methane by gaschromatography.
No full textConfronto tra modelli per la stima delle emissioni da fertilizzanti : il caso del mais da granella
Full text linkLa valutazione della performance ambientale dei prodotti agricoli e alimentari non può prescidere da una stima affidabile delle emissioni associate all’utilizzo di fertilizzanti, spesso fattori decisivi in alcune categorie quali l’eutrofizzazione e l’acidificazione. Il presente studio si propone di valutare, attraverso la LCA, la performance di una coltura, prendendo in considerazione due differenti modelli per la stima delle emissioni associate all’applicazione dei fertilizzanti
IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY OF THE AGRO-FOOD SECTOR THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF THE LCA METHODOLOGY
Full text linkOver the last years, the interest in the environmental impacts associated with food systems has strongly grown. Several works have confirmed the relative importance of “food and beverages consumption” in contributing to environmental impacts. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, livestock accounts for 18% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. In the EU, food consumption accounts for 20-30% of various environmental impacts and, in the case of eutrophication, more than 50%.
Consumers are now changing their behaviour to integrate environmental considerations into lifestyle choices. The environmental aspect is now one of the variables taken into consideration by consumers during the purchasing process.
LCA provides a methodological framework, a supporting tool for evaluating and improving the environmental performance of food systems.
Given the importance of the environmental aspects associated with goods production, and being food consumption one of the major causes for resource use and environmental impact by modern households, the focus of this work has been the application of the LCA methodology to agro-food products in order to:
1. Depict the environmental profile of some food products, identifying the environmental hotspots associated with their production;
2. Evaluate different technical solutions in a chain optimisation perspective
The following products/processes have been evaluated: wine, cereals (maize, wheat, triticale and rice), fresh-cut salad, pasta cooking.
The case studies presented in this work provide a clear demonstration of how LCA can be used on agro-food products to identify environmental hotspots and evaluate possible ameliorative solutions.
In the light of increasing the sustainability of food production, it is in fact crucial, on the one hand, to measure the impacts produced by food products and identify the most critical phases on which intervene to obtain relevant improvements and, on the other hand, to quantify such improvements, assessing different alternative solutions
Homogeneous catalysis by transition metal complexes. Part V. Hydroformylation of 1-octene catalyzed by [h5-C5H5M(CO)2]2 species (M = Fe,Ru)
No full textThe hydroformylation of 1-octene catalysed by [η5-C5H5M(CO)2]2 (MFe,Ru) has been studied under 100 atm of a one to one H2-CO mixture in the temperature range 120 - 175°C. Effects such as the total pressure, the H2 to CO molar ratio, and the catalyst concentration have also been investigated in the case of the ruthenium complex
Infrared analytical evidence of oxygen-induced formation of Fe(CO)5 from CO and steel walls of an in situ DRIFT cell
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Low oxidation states ruthenium chemistry. V. The oxidation of cyclohexene catalyzed by tris(triphenylphosphine)ruthenium dichloride and related complexes
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