Search results for " Biomass"
showing 10 items of 174 documents
Lead concentrations in feathers and blood of common blackbirds (Turdus merula) and in earthworms inhabiting unpolluted and moderately polluted urban …
2006
9 pages; International audience; Despite the dramatic decrease of atmospheric lead (Pb) concentrations in urban areas of most industrialised countries, we hypothesised that urban common blackbirds (Turdus merula) may still be contaminated by Pb concentrations of toxicological concern due to transfer from soil through the food chain. We sampled blackbirds and earthworms, one of their main preys, in Besan?, a middle-size city of Eastern France (where atmospheric Pb concentrations decreased from 0.5 microg/m(3) in 1987 to nearly 0 in 2002) and in a rural reference site. Lead concentrations were determined in the tissues of the different functional groups of earthworms (anecic, epigeous and end…
Influence of Elevated Pressure on the Torrefaction of Wood
2016
The use of pressurized reactors in industrial processes can improve efficiency and economics. Torrefaction is a partial pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass designed to result in a solid product with improved fuel properties for utilization in combustion and gasification. In this work, the influence of elevated pressure on the torrefaction of wood has been investigated. Wood samples were torrefied using a pressurized thermogravimetric reactor (PTGR) with pressures of 0.1 to 2.1 MPa. The results indicate that reactor pressure, particle size of feedstock, and wood species are all factors in torrefaction yield improvements. Torrefaction at 2.1 MPa pressure improved the higher heating value (ca…
Differential Responses of Nitrate Reducer Community Size, Structure, and Activity to Tillage Systems
2009
ABSTRACT The main objective of this study was to determine how the size, structure, and activity of the nitrate reducer community were affected by adoption of a conservative tillage system as an alternative to conventional tillage. The experimental field, established in Madagascar in 1991, consists of plots subjected to conventional tillage or direct-seeding mulch-based cropping systems (DM), both amended with three different fertilization regimes. Comparisons of size, structure, and activity of the nitrate reducer community in samples collected from the top layer in 2005 and 2006 revealed that all characteristics of this functional community were affected by the tillage system, with increa…
Comparison of different tillage systems in organic farming : effect of soil structure and organic matter repartition on soil micro-organisms and thei…
2009
Over the last decades, the surface traditionally ploughed has tended to decrease and replaced by shallow working tillage techniques without soil inversion, i.e., no tillage or reduced tillage with tines or discs. These techniques were mostly developed in conventional farming systems but nowadays they are also developed in organic farming systems. Nevertheless, these tillage techniques could generate crop nutrients deficiencies and a deterioration of soil structure, especially during the first years of their application. As the use of synthetic fertilizers is forbidden in organic farming, a decrease of the soil fertility could be very detrimental for crop growth. Indeed, soil micro-organisms…
Pretreatment of trace element-enriched biomasses grown on phytomanaged soils for bioethanol production
2017
Abstract Phytotechnologies are a set of sustainable, ecological options notably for alleviating pollutant linkages induced by contaminated soils. However, concerns exist regarding the processing of trace elements (TE)-enriched biomass and the fate of TEs in the end-products. The fractionation of phytoremediation TE-enriched non-woody lignocellulosic (tobacco) and woody (birch, willow) phytoremediation-borne biomasses was studied using ethanol organosolv, soda and dilute acid pretreatments. TE distribution in the process fractions (pulp, liquid effluents and lignin) was further examined. In dilute acid conditions, a wood pretreatment performed at 170 °C in the presence of 2% w/w of sulfuric …
Influence de différentes pratiques agricoles sur la qualité et la santé des sols : étude de cas sur des vergers slovènes irrigués ou en agriculture b…
2011
Underestimation of soil properties and poor understanding of soil conditions can have many negative consequences, which results in quality or quantity of yield, soil degradation or even environmental pollution. According to importance of agricultural practices, our study focused on their impact on soil quality and health. The research took place from November 2003 to October 2007 in apple orchards in north-eastern Slovenia where two frequent agricultural practices were investigated: (i) drip irrigation on Calcaric Cambisol and its effects on structural stability and microbial biomass at Gačnik experimental station and (ii) combination of organic fertiliser (Campo guano) and liming in organi…
Biogeographical patterns of soil molecular microbial biomass
2011
Affiche - résumé. Session GC: Microbes in the Changing Environmenl: Global Climate Change and Soif under Human Impact; International audience; The spatial organization of soil microbial communities over large areas and the identification of environmental factors structuring their distribution have been liUle investigated. The overall objective of this study was to determine the spatial paUerning of microbial biomass in soils on wide extent and to rank the environmental fiUers most influencing this distribution, by using the French Soil Quality Monitoring Network. This network covers ail the French terrilory and soils were sampled at2,150 sites along a systematic grid sampling. The soil DNA …
Forest accessibility, Madonie mountains (northern Sicily, Italy): implementing a GIS decision support system
2021
Valorisation and sustainable exploitation of woody biomass from cultivation interventions might be an important opportunity to track alternative development trails for rural communities in natural protected areas. The governance of Mediterranean protected areas is characterized by overlapping, sometimes conflicting institutions, stakeholders and regulations, causing negative impacts on decision-making processes. We present an open source GIS-based decision support system tool for mapping forest accessibility and optimizing woody biomass extraction. Two models were implemented to support forest managers during the decision-making process in designing and managing wood-energy supply chains. T…
Respirometric Index and Biogas Potential of Different Foods and Agricultural Discarded Biomass
2016
The biological stability of biomass is an important parameter for treatment plant design, process control or compost use. Measuring the biological reactivity of waste with the help of indicators such as respirometric indexes (RI) becomes an important tool to prevent the significant environmental impact of biodegradable wastes in accordance with European legislation. The aim of this paper is to show the importance of the RI technique as a tool to establish further uses of biomass such as fertilizer or biogas. The respirometric process length for different types of biomass (grape marc, apple pomace and olive pomace) was quantified. Higher moisture content seemed to favor the biological activi…
Complete Genome Sequence of a New Ruminococcaceae Bacterium Isolated from Anaerobic Biomass Hydrolysis
2018
ABSTRACT A new Ruminococcaceae bacterium, strain HV4-5-B5C, participating in the anaerobic digestion of grass, was isolated from a mesophilic two-stage laboratory-scale leach bed biogas system. The draft annotated genome sequence presented in this study and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated the affiliation of HV4-5-B5C with the family Ruminococcaceae outside recently described genera.