Search results for "fossil"

Modern Electrochemical Aspects for the Synthesis of Value‐Added Organic Products

2017

The use of electricity instead of stoichiometric amounts of oxidizers or reducing agents in synthesis is very appealing for economic and ecological reasons, and represents a major driving force for research efforts in this area. To use electron transfer at the electrode for a successful transformation in organic synthesis, the intermediate radical (cation/anion) has to be stabilized. Its combination with other approaches in organic chemistry or concepts of contemporary synthesis allows the establishment of powerful synthetic methods. The aim in the 21st Century will be to use as little fossil carbon as possible and, for this reason, the use of renewable sources is becoming increasingly impo…

Emerging techniques in bioethanol production: from distillation to waste valorization

2019

Ethanol production from biomass, especially waste biomass, and the use of such ethanol as fuel can reduce fossil fuel consumption and ameliorate the hidden costs of burning fossil fuels such as its environmental impact. However, bioethanol production suffers from several limitations such as being energy-intensive and generating a sizeable amount of waste. This review briefly describes the aspects related to bioethanol production and focuses on both theoretical and practical approaches for process improvements. Several green emerging distillation techniques, such as ohmic-assisted hydrodistillation, membrane-assisted distillation, and heat integrated techniques, are shown to be energy-saving…

Torrefied versus conventional pellet production – A comparative study on energy and emission balance based on pilot-plant data and EU sustainability …

2015

Abstract Torrefaction is an emerging technology which enables greater co-firing rates of biomass with coal. To date however there has been a lack of real production data from pilot-scale torrefaction plants. Without such data any environmental benefits of torrefied pellet production are difficult to quantify. In this study data on consumable inputs from a semi-industrial torrefaction plant and the physical properties of produced pellets are used to analyse energy input and air emissions of torrefied pellet production and product transport. EU sustainability criteria are used to compare CO2-equivalent emissions from torrefied and conventional pellet production starting from harvesting of log…

HIGH-RESOLUTION PALAEONVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION OF ODP HOLE 963D (SICILY CHANNEL) DURING THE LAST DEGLACIATION BASED ON CALCAREOUS NANNOFOSSILS

2004

Abstract A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 963D (Sicily Channel) has been obtained on the basis of quantitative abundance fluctuations in the calcareous nannofossil assemblages. The studied hole is characterized by a very high sedimentary resolution and covers the last ca. 20 kyr. A new palaeoclimatic curve, based on the Gephyrocapsa muellerae/Upper Photic Zone (UPZ) group ratio, permitted the detection of the rapid climatic fluctuations that characterized the last deglaciation. Cold water masses occupied the Sicily Channel during the glacial period and the Younger Dryas, whereas they were generally warm during the Bolling–Allerod and the Holocene. An…

Charles Darwin and the Origin of Life

2009

When Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species 150 years ago he consciously avoided discussing the origin of life. However, analysis of some other texts written by Darwin, and of the correspondence he exchanged with friends and colleagues demonstrates that he took for granted the possibility of a natural emergence of the first life forms. As shown by notes from the pages he excised from his private notebooks, as early as 1837 Darwin was convinced that “the intimate relation of Life with laws of chemical combination, & the universality of latter render spontaneous generation not improbable”. Like many of his contemporaries, Darwin rejected the idea that putrefaction of preexisting organ…

A paleontological viewpoint on the "6th mass exinction".

2020

Decreasing Phanerozoic extinction intensity as a consequence of Earth surface oxygenation and metazoan ecophysiology

2021

The decline in background extinction rates of marine animals through geologic time is an established but unexplained feature of the Phanerozoic fossil record. There is also growing consensus that the ocean and atmosphere did not become oxygenated to near-modern levels until the mid-Paleozoic, coinciding with the onset of generally lower extinction rates. Physiological theory provides us with a possible causal link between these two observations-predicting that the synergistic impacts of oxygen and temperature on aerobic respiration would have made marine animals more vulnerable to ocean warming events during periods of limited surface oxygenation. Here, we evaluate the hypothesis that chang…

Zur Geschichte der nacheiszeitlichen Umwelt und der Kulturpflanzen im Land Brandenburg

2018

International audience; The results of pollenanalytical and archaeobotanical studies presented here show the development of veg-etation in the state of Brandenburg, which was characterized by the climate and the associated natural spread of plants as well as the use of the resource forest by man.The plant food of humans was first obtained by gathering and, since the beginning of permanent settle-ment in the Neolithic period, mainly by means of agriculture. The cultivation of plants continued over the millennia, with most archaeological cultures showing their typical inventory of crops. The dynamics of these developments require further research, as there are still many spatial and temporal …

La "Paléoshellomique" dans les starting-blocks

2021

Les Gonorynchiformes fossiles : distribution et diversité.

2007

8 pages; Longtemps placés dans les clupéiformes, les Gonorynchiformes ont rejoint les Ostariophysi au sein desquels ils représentent le groupe-frère des Otophysi. La monophylie du groupe est maintenant bien établie tant par les données morphologiques que moléculaires. De nos jours, quatre familles sont représentées par sept genres (dont cinq d'eau douce) et 35 espèces (dont 28 d'eau douce). Les Gonorynchiformes fossiles sont connus depuis le Crétacé basal (soit 145-140 millions d'années) jusqu'au Miocène basal (soit 23,5-20 millions d'années), et plusieurs taxons ont de grandes extensions temporelles. Ils sont représentés par environ 18 genres et 34 espèces. Avec moins de 50 localités fossi…