Environment – Page 197 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

A Wiki for the Biofuels Research Community

By Guest PostOctober 31, 20101 commentEnvironmentbiofuels, biorefinery, blake simmons, carbon neutral, daniel klein marcuschamer, gasoline, global warming, green, harvey blanch, jbei, joint bioenergy institute, lignocellulosic biorefineries, parameters, piotr oleskowicz popiel, sustainable fashion, technoeconomic model, wiki based platform

Blake Simmons (left) and Harvey Blanch of the Joint BioEnergy Institute led the development of a technoeconomic model for optimizing biorefinery operations. Image cedit: Roy Kaltschmidt, Berkeley Lab Public Affairs

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have created a technoeconomic model that should help accelerate the development of a next generation of clean, green biofuels that can compete with gasoline in economics and well as performance. This on-line, wiki-based model enables researchers to pursue the most promising strategies for cost-efficient biorefinery operations by simulating such critical factors as production costs and energy balances under different processing scenarios.

“The high production cost of biofuels has been the main factor limiting their widespread adoption,” says JBEI’s Daniel Klein-Marcuschamer. “We felt that a model of the biorefinery operation that was open, transparent about the assumptions it uses, and updatable by the community of users could aid in guiding research in the direction where it is most likely to reduce the production cost of biofuels.” (more…)

Whales Help Researchers Take Winter Temperature of Greenland’s Coastal Waters

By Guest PostOctober 29, 2010Environmentarctic flow, arctic whale, baffin bay, ecosystem, greenland, kristin laidre, north atlantic current, ocean temperatures, polar science center, unicorn horn, university of washington

WASHINGTON — Scientists using sensors attached to a type of Arctic whale known for its unicorn-horn-like tooth have detected continued warming of the southern Baffin Bay off West Greenland. The temperatures of the waters have continued to rise since wintertime ocean temperatures were last effectively measured there in the early 2000s, the researchers reported October 23 in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Oceans, a publication of the American Geological Union (AGU).

Temperatures in the study were collected by narwhals, a medium-sized whale species, during missions in 2006 and 2007. The animals were tagged with sensors that recorded ocean depths and temperatures during feeding dives from the surface pack ice to the seafloor, as deep as 1,773 meters, or more than a mile. (more…)

The Next Carbon Capture Tool Could be New, Improved Grass

By Guest PostOctober 27, 2010Environmentbioenergy crops, bioenergy plant, carbon capture tool, genetically engineered plants, grass miscanthus

Berkeley Lab scientist analyzes role of bioenergy crops to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (more…)

Mountain Vegetation Impacted by Climate Change

By Guest PostOctober 26, 2010Environmentclimate change, ecological systems, ecosystems, forests, herbaceous, low elevations, mountain vegetation, oregon, siskiyou mountains, species, stress-adapted, stresses, U.S. Geological Survey

Climate change has had a significant effect on mountain vegetation at low elevations in the past 60 years, according to a study done by the University of California at Davis, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and U.S. Geological Survey.

This information may guide future conservation efforts in helping decision makers develop regional landscape predictions about biological responses to climate changes. (more…)

Soot From Space Tourism Rockets Could Spur Climate Change

By Guest PostOctober 24, 2010Environmentaerospace corporation, carbon dioxide emissions, climate impact, complex global pattern, darin toohey, global climate change, michael mills, NASA, solar energy, space tourism rockets, stratospheric layer, university of colorado

WASHINGTON—Rocket exhaust could become a significant contributor to global climate change in coming decades, according to a new study. The research finds that soot emitted by rockets — not their carbon dioxide emissions — has the greater potential to contribute to global climate change in coming decades. (more…)

Plants Play Larger Role Than Thought in Cleaning up Air Pollution

By Guest PostOctober 24, 2010Environment, Natureair-polluting chemicals, anne-marie schmoltner, aspens, atmospheric chemistry, chemicals, ecosystem services, Environment, human health, infection, metabolic cycle, ovocs, oxygenated volatile organic compounds, poplars, thomas karl, toxic substances, trees, white blood cells

*Chemicals known as oxygenated volatile organic compounds (oVOCs) affect environment, human health*

About the image: Poplars, aspens, other trees provide extensive “ecosystem services.” Image credit: USDA

Vegetation plays an unexpectedly large role in cleansing the atmosphere, a new study finds. (more…)

Climate Change May Create Tipping Points for Populations, Not Just Species

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2010Environmentalpine, Arctic, biological effects of climate change, climate change, climate warms, daniel doak, duke university, earth, ecological challenges, ecologist, mountains of colorado, national science foundation, new mexico, nsf, plants, plants and animals, saran twombly, william morris

*Researchers measure survival, reproduction of thousands of arctic and alpine plants over six years*

As Earth’s climate warms, species are expected to shift their geographical ranges away from the equator or to higher elevations.

While scientists have documented such shifts for many plants and animals, the ranges of others seem stable. (more…)

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