Search results for "mediterranean"
showing 10 items of 3196 documents
Hypericum scruglii sp. nov. (Guttiferae) from Sardinia
2010
A new species of Hypericum (Guttiferae) from Sardinia, H. scruglii, is described and illustrated. It occurs on damp soil, near springs or streams with freshwater, where it grows with numerous hygrophytes. This diploid species (2n � 16) belongs to the sect. Adenosepalum and is closely related to H. tomentosum, a species widespread in the west Mediterranean region. During field investigations in Sardinia, very peculiar populations of Hypericum L. were found occuring on damp soils and limited to calcareous substrates. These plants showed a close morphological and ecological relationship with H. tomentosum L., a species belonging to sect. Adenosepalum Spach. As emphasized by Robson (1996), the …
Limonium cophanense (Plumbaginaceae), a new species from Sicily
2016
Limonium cophanense is described and illustrated as a new species from the rocky coast of northwestern Sicily. It is a very rare and localized chamaephyte occurring near the sea on calcarenitic substrate, where it grows together with other halophytes. Its morphology, ecology, conservation status and relationships with the species belonging to the L. bocconei group are also examined.
Green Extraction Strategies for Sea Urchin Waste Valorization
2021
Commonly known as “purple sea urchin,” Paracentrotus lividus occurs in the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean. This species is a highly appreciated food resource and Italy is the main consumer among the European countries. Gonads are the edible part of the animal but they represent only a small fraction (10–30%) of the entire sea urchin mass, therefore, the majority ends up as waste. Recently, an innovative methodology was successfully developed to obtain high-value collagen from sea urchin by-products to be used for tissue engineering. However, tissues used for the collagen extraction are still a small portion of the sea urchin waste (<20%) and the remaining part, main…
Oilseed Brassica species for fuel production in Mediterranean environments: First field results and technical evaluations
2008
Energy is a major constraint of developed and under-development countries, and the sustainable production of biofuels for use in industrial and domestic sectors has been implemented successfully in many parts of the world. For a number of reasons, some Brassica species, such as B. napus, B. juncea or B. carinata, seem especially interesting as biofuel crops for Mediterranean environments, and many studies and researches have been carried out in order to ensure a successful introduction of them inside the current farming systems. In this work we report the first results of the field trials performed in 2006/07 in the experimental farm “Sparacia” (Cammarata – AG – Sicily), representative of t…
Desalination in small islands: the case study of Lampedusa (Italy)
2018
Desalination represents a common solution to overcome the water scarcity in small island. A case study is presented, considering the island of Lampedusa, located at south of Sicily (Italy). As many small islands in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Lampedusa presents a small standalone electrical grid, entrusted to old diesel engines. For more, the renewable energy sources are extremely underdeveloped in this territory. Lampedusa is regularly affected by water scarcity, so freshwater is produced by desalination plant and sometimes transported by boat from Sicily. As sustainable solution, the paper firstly analyses the energy demand for desalination and then proposes the installation of a…
Energetic Sustainability Using Renewable Energies in the Mediterranean Sea
2016
The paper is focused on the analysis of the electrical energy sector in the Maltese islands, focusing on the employment of Renewable Energies in order to increase its energy independence. The main renewable source here proposed is wave energy: thanks to its strategic position, Malta will be able to generate electrical energy through the use of an innovative type of Wave Energy Converter (WEC) based on the prototype of linear generator designed and developed by the University of Palermo. This new technology will be able to cut down the electrical energy production from traditional power plants and, consequently, the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Wave energy source and off-shore photovoltai…
Sustainability of the Renewable Energy Extraction Close to the Mediterranean Islands
2017
The aim of this work is to explore the possibility of transitioning a fuel powered island to a renewable powered one. This transition is analyzed for the real MV/LV distribution system of the island of Pantelleria, in the Mediterranean Sea. Particularly, this work is focused on a renewable source nowadays totally unused: wave energy. Thanks to the innovative generator prototype designed by Department of Energy of University of Palermo (Italy), wave energy is able to represent a primary source for the production of electric energy in the Mediterranean islands. The procedures applied in the present article, as well as the main equations used, are the result of previous applications made in di…
Fortifying the Island at the time of the viceroy Ferrante Gonzaga (1536-1546): sites, master builders and designers, clients
2015
Abstract The ten-year government of Ferrante Gonzaga marks a crucial time in the process of modernization of fortifications on the largest island of the Western Mediterranean. Even if the cornerstones of the strategy pursued and the projects undertaken to realize an adequate defense system have already been highlighted by previous studies, and it is well-known how much the viceroy himself and the royal engineer Antonio Ferramolino participated in resolving the longstanding problem, new interesting data emerge from research on the archival collections of Tribunale del Real Patrimonio, kept in the State Archive of Palermo. Using this mostly unpublished documentation, the paper focus on buildi…
DRIFTS Sensor: Soil Carbon Validation at Large Scale (Pantelleria, Italy)
2013
A fast and accurate measurement of soil carbon is needed in current scientific issues. Today there are many sensors suitable for these purposes, but choosing the appropriate sensor depends on the spatial scale at which the studies are conducted. There are few detailed studies that validate these types of measures allowing their immediate use. Here it is validated the quick use of a sensor in execution at Pantelleria, chosen for size, use and variability of the parameter measured, to give an operational tool for carbon stocks studies. The DRIFT sensor used here has been validated in the first 60 cm of the soil of the whole island, and it has shown predictivity higher than 90%.
Renewable energy sources to fulfill the global energy needs of a country: The case study of Malta in Mediterranean Sea
2016
The paper shows the advantages using different energy resources for the islands of Malta. Moreover, this work is focused on the analysis of the wave energy potential along Malta's coasts. This important resource can be exploited to produce electrical energy using an innovative Point Absorber based on a new generator prototype realized by University of Palermo. The use of renewable source will reduce greenhouses emissions and increase the energy independence of Malta. The procedures applied in the present article, as well as the main equations used, are the result of previous applications made in different technical fields that show a good replicability [1]-[7].