Search results for "Bioeconomy"
showing 10 items of 30 documents
Potential impacts of a future Nordic bioeconomy on surface water quality
2020
AbstractNordic water bodies face multiple stressors due to human activities, generating diffuse loading and climate change. The ‘green shift’ towards a bio-based economy poses new demands and increased pressure on the environment. Bioeconomy-related pressures consist primarily of more intensive land management to maximise production of biomass. These activities can add considerable nutrient and sediment loads to receiving waters, posing a threat to ecosystem services and good ecological status of surface waters. The potential threats of climate change and the ‘green shift’ highlight the need for improved understanding of catchment-scale water and element fluxes. Here, we assess possible bio…
Mitigating forest biodiversity and ecosystem service losses in the era of bio-based economy
2018
Abstract Forests play a crucial role in the transition towards a bioeconomy by providing biomass to substitute for fossil-based materials and energy. However, a policy-policy conflict exists between the desire to increase the utilization of bio based renewable resources and the desire to protect and conserve biodiversity. Increasing forest harvest levels to meet the needs of the bioeconomy may conflict with biodiversity protection and ecosystem services provided by forests. Through an optimization framework, we examined trade-offs between increasing the extraction of timber resources, and the impacts on biodiversity and non-wood ecosystem services, and investigated possibilities to reconcil…
The essentials of marine biotechnology
2021
Coastal countries have traditionally relied on the existing marine resources (e.g., fishing, food, transport, recreation, and tourism) as well as tried to support new economic endeavors (ocean energy, desalination for water supply, and seabed mining). Modern societies and lifestyle resulted in an increased demand for dietary diversity, better health and well-being, new biomedicines, natural cosmeceuticals, environmental conservation, and sustainable energy sources. These societal needs stimulated the interest of researchers on the diverse and underexplored marine environments as promising and sustainable sources of biomolecules and biomass, and they are addressed by the emerging field of ma…
Fragrant bioethanol: A valued bioproduct from orange juice and essential oil extraction
2018
Abstract We identify the composition of a less known, yet important bioproduct obtained in relatively high amount during orange fruit processing for juice and essential oil extraction comprised of bioethanol dissolving valued terpenes. Green cosmetic, perfume and biosolvent applications are anticipated.
A Contribution to Environmental Protection Through the Valorisation of Kitchen Biowaste
2022
The worldwide interest in Renewable Energy Sources (RES) is gathering momentum. Anaerobic Digestion (AD) process is steadily growing, as more people are setting up bioreactors in order to produce biogas and digestate. AD process is the fermentation of solid biowaste in the absence of oxygen and is zero emission, i.e. it is CO2 neutral. The aim of this work is to test HomeBiogas 2.0, i.e. a revolutionary equipment that used the kitchen biowaste from the canteen of the agricultural institute of Marsala (Trapani, Italy). This equipment works as a continuous flow bioreactor: the waste is fed in one end, while biogas and digestate come out from the other. The process continuously took place at a…
Mildred Pierce e i margini della crisi
2013
Protagonista del romanzo di James M. Cain (1941) e della trasposizione cinematografica di Michael Curtiz con Joan Crawford nel 1945, e poi televisiva Todd Haynes con Kate Winslet nel 2011, Mildred Pierce è stata oggetto di indagini all’interno di diversi approcci degli studi culturali, all’incrocio tra film studies, gender studies e women studies, che hanno sottolineato la reiterata importanza del modello di donna veicolato dal personaggio, che mina la stabilità istituzionale, politica e culturale dell’ordine patriarcale. Quando la crisi sembra aprire una crepa nel sistema fallogocentrico occidentale, creando uno spazio all’azione femminile, la violenta repressione cui Mildred viene ad ogni…
Finnish forest-based companies in transition to the circular bioeconomy : drivers, organizational resources and innovations
2020
Abstract Forest-based businesses are the center of the transition to the sustainable and competitive circular bioeconomy in Finland. This study explores the transition of Finnish FBS firms to new business models, with a focus on the organizational resources and capabilities needed for transition. It also identifies the important elements in the business environment and the role of innovations in this process. The study uses thematic interviews with managers from various FBS firms and companies from interfacing sectors, all of which have operations in Finland. Despite the differences between firms, the study finds many common drivers and resources that FBS companies highlight as significant …
Regional sustainability transition through forest-based bioeconomy? Development actors' perspectives on related policies, power, and justice
2022
Forests and forest-based bioeconomy have central roles in the contemporary sustainability transition. However, the transition towards a bioeconomy is loaded with tensions regarding economic growth, ecological integrity, and social justice. These tensions reproduce varying transition discourses. Political actors at the level of the European Union (EU) and nation states take part in the processes creating the discourses and aim to govern the forest bioeconomy-based transition in certain directions viewed as favourable. The transition tensions are strongly felt in regions that are rich with forest resources but poor in terms of economic and political power, called ‘forest peripheries’. In this…
Polymers of Limonene Oxide and Carbon Dioxide: Polycarbonates of the Solar Economy
2018
Limonene epoxide (1,2 limonene oxide) readily reacts with carbon dioxide in a ring opening copolymerization reaction with insertion of CO2 and formation of polycarbonates of exceptional chemical and physical properties. Both poly(limonene carbonate) and poly(limonene dicarbonate) can be synthesized using low cost Zn or Al homogeneous catalysts. This study addresses selected relevant questions concerning the technical and economic feasibility of limonene and carbon dioxide polymers en route to the bioeconomy.
GREEN ECONOMY: THE DEVELOPMENT OF MARGINAL AREAS IN THE HORIZON 2020 STRATEGY
2014
Bioeconomy refers to a system based on the smart utilization of biological resources based on sources from land and sea as industrial input and production of food. The Bioeconomy will also contribute to limiting the negative impacts on the environment, reduce the heavy dependency on fossil resources, mitigate climate change and move Europe towards a post-petroleum society. The work aims to investigate how the territorial marginality linked to socio-economic disparities can be a competitive advantage for the challenges proposed by the bioeconomy innovation strategy. An example of a Sicilian bio-cluster is indicated for a significant product differentiation and functional integration of agric…