0000000000126271
AUTHOR
Jan Stebila
Non-Waste Technology for Utilization of Tree Branches
The trees (e.g., fruit or decorative) growing on the homestead plots of private households provide opportunities for sustainable biomass obtained from pruned branches every year. Profitable production of fuel material requires high-performance equipment and methods by which wood chips can be produced at low cost. The practice of chopping tree branches shows that not all chopping machines are suitable for use on homestead plots. This research gives the five-year test results of a developed and patented tree branch chopping machine under special operating conditions. The machine was tested under the conditions of the homestead plot of a private household in the Poltava region, and the enginee…
Fossil Fuel and Biofuel Boilers in Ukraine: Trends of Changes in Levelized Cost of Heat
An increase in the share of renewables in heat supply systems is a promising direction to reach sustainable development goals and decarbonization. Decision makers should consider various factors, including energy market prices, the availability of biofuels, boiler and auxiliary equipment costs, logistic costs, and the taxation system. In the European Union, the energy crisis causes a rapid increase in fossil fuel prices. Moreover, the use of fossil fuels results in greenhouse gas emissions, which threatens the achievement of sustainable development goals. We studied the influence of the delivery cost and the value of environmental tax rates on the levelized cost of heat. Low-capacity boiler…
Detoxification of Copper and Chromium via Dark Hydrogen Fermentation of Potato Waste by Clostridium butyricum Strain 92
The accumulation of various types of waste containing both organic and inorganic metal-containing compounds is extremely hazardous for living organisms. The possibility of polymer degradation, biohydrogen synthesis, and metal detoxification via the dark fermentation of model potato waste was investigated. For this purpose, the strict anaerobic strain was isolated and identified as Clostridium butyricum. The high efficiency of dark hydrogen fermentation of potatoes with yield of hydrogen in 85.8 ± 15.3 L kg−1 VSpotato was observed. The copperand chromium salts solutions were added to the culture fluid to obtain the concentrations of 50, 100, and 200 mg L−1 Cu(II) and Cr(VI) in the active pha…
Histological Change in Cucumber Tissue and Cellulase Activity of Plectosphaerella melonis Strain 502
In the last ten years, many countries around the world recorded a new disease of the Cucurbitaceae, the agent of which was P. melonis. The ability of P. melonis 502 to form intracellular mycelium in the epidermal and parenchymal tissues of roots was shown. Leading tissues (xylem and phloem) did not colonize, which indicates the impossibility of plant vessel clogging and shows the fungus’s biochemical effects on plants, which causes the process of pathogenesis. P. melonis 502 is able to develop in a wide range of pH values, while the pH-optimum is 8.5. P. melonis 502 is able to adjust the pH of the medium to the optimal value—8.5. We also showed that cellulase enzyme synthesis de…