It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Airborne virus infectivity can be reduced by up to 99.98% by commercially available NPBI-based air purifiers, per experiment using real-world concentrations of COVID-19 strains, flu and RSV viruses
THE DRAWING ILLUSTRATES THE DELIVERY OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IONS INTO A ROOM. IONS GENERATED BY THE IN-DUCT NPBI DEVICE (A) ARE DELIVERED INTO THE ROOM THROUGH DIFFUSERS (B) ON THE SUPPLY SIDE OF THE HVAC SYSTEM.
Airborne virus infectivity can be reduced by up to 99.98% by commercially available NPBI-based air purifiers, per experiment using real-world concentrations of COVID-19 strains, flu and RSV viruses
Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. All research and 3rd party laboratory testing was funded entirely by GPS Air. Edward Sobek is an employee of GPS Air and Dwayne Elias is a paid expert consultant for GPS Air.
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is not only one of the most important long-lived greenhouse gases but also the current main stratospheric ozone-depleting substance. China is among the top N2O-emitting countries, so it is important to identify and quantify N2O sources to support making mitigation strategies. However, existing national inventories focus on either single or short-term N2O sources, and fail to provide long-term and full-scale N2O profiles including both natural and anthropogenic sources.
The total N2O emissions in China were 2126.1 Gg N2O yr−1 for 2010–2020, with 18.2% and 81.8% from natural and anthropogenic sources, respectively (Figure 1). Agriculture was the largest N2O sources, accounting for 46.3 of the total emissions, among which 22.5% was caused by synthetic nitrogen fertilizer applications. Industry, energy, and waste accounted for 15.5%, 14.5%, and 5.4% of the total emissions, respectively, with adipic acid production, electricity, and wastewater treatment being their individual largest N2O sources.
Chinese N2O emissions increased from 889.6 Gg N2O yr-1 in 1980 to 2295.0 Gg N2O yr-1 in 2020, while agriculture made the largest contribution to this increase. However, this study revealed that agriculture N2O emissions declined steadily since the release of the Zero Growth in Fertilizer Plan in 2015 by the Chinese government. In the meantime, industrial and energetic sources exceeded agriculture and became the fastest-accelerating N2O sources in China due to the increasing demand for adipic acid and fossil fuels (Figure 2).
“This FAN 2020 dataset will provide up-to-date information for improving national N2O inventory and further support developing point-targeted mitigation policies. We think it will contribute to the global and national climate actions within the framework of SDG 13”, says Dr. Jing Wei from Sun Yat-sen University in Zhuhai, one of the leaders of this study.
Dr. Wenping Yuan and Dr. Jing Wei from Sun Yat-sen University, made the plan to produce a long-term dataset of full-scale N2O emissions in China and designed the experiment. Ms. Minqi Liang, a PhD candidate, Ms. Zheyan Zhou, a Master’s candidate, and Ms. Peiyang Ren, a PhD candidate at Sun Yat-sen University, collected the raw data and performed the calculation. All the authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript.
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See the article:
Four decades of full-scale nitrous oxide emission inventory in China. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwad285
Kyoto, Japan -- As with the business of logistics, where having multiple routes to deliver goods to the same destination raises reliability, network-dependent consumerism depends on multiple networks having a host computer with multiple connections operating in sync.
With digital platforms for business becoming the norm, industry experience reminds us of the risks when relying on a single network and concentrating on only a few operators.
A research group including Kyoto University studied the relationship between single-homing consumers -- who use only one particular platform -- and multi-homing consumers. The team presented a new framework demonstrating whether proportionately more multi-homing consumers lead to significant efficiency gains when integrating two business platforms.
"Our study is related to the economics of imperfect competition, a field covering various market-related issues that has become increasingly important as information and communication technology advances," says first author Takanori Adachi of KyotoU's Graduate School of Management and Graduate School of Economics.
The platform used in a single-homing situation naturally takes on a dominant role for consumers. However, there is a growing tendency to focus on the multi-homing's need for policy guidance when considering the nature of digital regulation and policy because, proportionately, more consumers use multiple platforms.
"In addition, an increase in the degree of multi-homing needs a more considerable reduction in the cost for allowing a business consolidation. It also creates higher barriers to entry for new platform firms," explains Mark Trembley of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
"We must note, therefore, under multi-homing situations, competition authorities may need to be more cautious about potential harms of platform mergers and entry barriers," adds Susumu Sato of Hitotsubashi University.
Researchers must often make do with scant data availability on platform businesses.
"We were delighted that our deductive arguments based on economic theory models and public databases, such as the one used in this study, effectively provided us a clearer picture of how platform economics performs in the real world," says Adachi.
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The paper "Platform Oligopoly with Endogenous Homing: Implications for Mergers and Free Entry" appeared on 9 October 2023 in The Journal of Industrial Economics, with doi: 10.1111/joie.12345
About Kyoto University
Kyoto University is one of Japan and Asia's premier research institutions, founded in 1897 and responsible for producing numerous Nobel laureates and winners of other prestigious international prizes. A broad curriculum across the arts and sciences at undergraduate and graduate levels complements several research centers, facilities, and offices around Japan and the world. For more information, please see: http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en
Platform Oligopoly with Endogenous Homing: Implications for Mergers and Free Entry
Experts urge a united global vision, definitions and targets for ‘responsible sourcing’ of minerals needed for green transition
4-year EU-funded project offers roadmaps for key industry sectors: Renewable energy, mobility, and electric and electronic equipment, advice to governments, civil society; Special cases: Latin America, Africa, China
IN A REPORT, THE FOUR-YEAR EU-FUNDED RE-SOURCING PROJECT PROPOSES ADOPTING THE GLOBAL VISION OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND REDUCED RESOURCE CONSUMPTION BY 2050 AND OUTLINES A SERIES OF INTERIM MILESTONES AND TARGETS FOR THREE KEY INDUSTRIAL SECTORS: RENEWABLE ENERGY, MOBILITY, AND ELECTRIC AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT.
Experts have delivered a sweeping prescription to governments, civil society and industry for a globally coordinated approach to the responsible sourcing of raw materials needed to achieve a circular green economy.
In a report, the four-year EU-funded RE-SOURCING project proposes adopting the global vision of a circular economy and reduced resource consumption by 2050 and outlines a series of interim milestones and targets for three key industrial sectors: renewable energy, mobility, and electric and electronic equipment.
The report (at https://bit.ly/3uqXlqT from 22 November) acknowledges several firms and governments are showing leadership in responsible sourcing to address troubling global environmental, social and economic issues, including:
Biodiversity and habitat protection, land, air and water pollution, climate change
Access to clean water, air & health care, gender equality, human rights, respecting land rights, labour rights, and safeguarding the artisanal and small-scale miners
Corruption and money laundering, promoting sustainable growth and development, and enabling national / local industrial development
At the same time, they underline that “the corporate behaviour that existed in the preceding century is no longer acceptable. More responsible and sustainable practices need to be undertaken and evidenced.”
Adds the report that the underlying message from stakeholders across the board is that “industry and its supply chains must incorporate and reflect societal values in their operations and business management” and “power imbalances, where they impede the ability of a group to affect the decisions that impact them, need to be addressed.”
Lead author Masuma Farooki says achieving responsible sourcing begins with a universally accepted definition and commonly agreed targets for 2050, proposing the following in the report:
1: Circular economy and decreased resource consumption
2: Meeting the Paris Agreement climate goals and environmental sustainability
3: Social sustainability and responsible production
4: Responsible procurement
5: Level-playing field and international cooperation
International cooperation, the report notes, means helping companies, regions, and countries improve practices and achieve agreed standards. A level playing field “is paramount for achieving all other targets.”
The report strongly underlines the need to address the power imbalance between local communities, workers and other affected stakeholders in decision-making, enabling their meaningful participation in decision-making.
Transparency is also fundamental. Consumers need to know how elements of the products they buy are derived, with adequate information to choose sustainably sourced products.
Key points in the report include:
Companies should not pass along to communities and workers the costs of negative impacts, such as pollution and land degradation
To reduce corruption and the financing of violence that have often accompanied extractive activity, transparency is needed in financial payments and material flows in supply chains
Standards and guidelines based on multi-stakeholder consultations, as well as certification schemes, and government regulations and legislation, are needed, citing several examples from the US and Europe
Among many recommendations to policymakers:
Strengthen international cooperation to develop harmonized mining standards for responsible extraction
Enable responsible mining in Europe (no more ‘burden-shifting’ to other regions)
Update mining regulations based on existing voluntary certification schemes
Eco-design policies for solar PVs and wind turbines
Lower taxes on, and give preference to, goods manufactured with higher social and environmental standards
Recycling:
Support recycling activities and create markets for secondary raw materials
Require Life Cycle Assessments for all new technologies/products
Develop and implement environmental regulations for wind turbine and solar PV manufacturing and recycling
Wider Policy:
Harmonize environmental policies of EU Member States and coordinate responsible sourcing reporting criteria
Protect human rights defenders and support civil society capacity building
Make supply chain due diligence mandatory for all
Ensure that raw materials and products imported from outside the EU fulfill the same sustainability requirements as operations inside the EU
Recommendations for industry include:
Mining:
Fleet electrification and decreased energy intensity
Plan for mine closure from the beginning of project development
Support local procurement
Manufacturing:
Include eco-design from the beginning of product development to improve recyclability
Include ‘social life cycle assessment’ in product development
Firmly eliminate modern slavery and forced labour in the supply chain of solar PV and wind turbines
Recycling:
Improve collaboration between supply chain stages, research, and academia to substitute non-recyclable materials
Cooperate with other sectors to improve reuse of non-recyclable materials.
Corporate strategies:
Environment and climate reporting, including greenhouse gas accounting and reporting for the entire supply chain
Tailor-made climate protection projects
International application of environmental and social standards
The report provides specific roadmaps and recommendations for policymakers and companies in the renewable energy, mobility sector, and the electronic product sectors.
It also takes a special look at three regions: Latin America, Africa, and China.
Latin American mining projects can face particularly strong opposition from local communities. According to the Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas 2023), 45% of reported conflicts worldwide are in Latin America, where projects are often located near sensitive, biodiverse ecosystems, many of which are home to vulnerable communities.
A key regional priority, therefore, is “strengthening of social capital and civil society trust in the mining sector with focus on the local communities.”
African regional challenges include “trustful and transparent collaboration” by industry, local governments, and others. “If the mining sector, communities, supply chain and governments work together, the outlook for the industry on the continent will be bright”
Among other key considerations for Africa: supporting and improving artisanal and small-scale mining operations, which plays a crucial role in obtaining many raw materials essential for the green transition.
China, meanwhile, dominates the critical green-energy technology minerals supply chain with rising investments abroad. A recent report associated China, however, with over 100 human rights abuses, environmental harms, workers’ rights violations and other allegations over the past two years in Indonesia, Peru, Congo, Myanmar, Zimbabwe and other countries.
It also notes China’s creation of guidelines to align companies’ due diligence with international standards.
The report adds that similar allegations are made against mining operations linked to Canadian, USA, UK, Australian and European companies and investors.
In the end, the report cautions, “the findings just underline growing concerns that the green transition to renewable energy is repeating unjust business practices that have long dominated fossil-fuel and mineral extractions.”
Comments
Stefanie Degreif, OEKO Institute, Germany: “Significant and systemic changes are needed now and over the next decades to achieve climate targets and make the lithium-ion battery chain more responsible and sustainable. There is no time to waste - we need to act now! Changes are needed and cannot be postponed to the next generation or next legislation period”
Andreas Endl, Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), Austria: “Over the course of the last four years, we investigated closely and informed decision makers about the fast-moving and immensely dynamic discourse on responsible sourcing. While progress has been made on many fronts with stricter legislation and successful business cases, we still have to go a long way to improve the livelihoods of affected people and respect the integrity of the environment”
Michael Tost, Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria: “A sustainable energy transition can be successfully achieved only if all actors including policy makers, industry, and civil society realize their responsibility in openly discussing and engaging with affected communities to create trust.”
Shahrzad Manoochehri, World Resources Forum Association, Switzerland: “Due to the complexity and interconnected nature of mineral value chains, achieving responsible sourcing at a global level requires mutual understanding, a fair competitive environment, and the establishment of shared common goals that are respected by all stakeholders across different regions.”
Background
In 1998, amid mounting internal and external pressures, nine international mining companies united to establish the Global Mining Initiative. Their goal was to understand and transform their operations per societal expectations. A surge in community discord, violent incidents, opposition to mining projects, accusations of corruption and bribery, and the threat of nationalization by host governments had pushed these companies to act. Reputational damage and share price concerns further fueled their drive for change.
Simultaneously, international policy and politics began to emphasize securing a sustainable future and acknowledging the dire consequences of environmental damage.
Consumer awareness and citizenship advocacy also started pushing for more sustainable public policies, making the environmental agenda a central political topic. Businesses and investors, initially slowly and later in growing numbers, began to prioritize sustainable sourcing practices within their supply chains.
Addressing corruption and bribery in the extractive sector became a significant government issue. This collective but not necessarily coordinated movement aimed to transform behaviours in the extractive sector and its associated supply chains.
Today, the green transition and the shift toward renewable energy, heavily relies on mineral consumption. However, the adverse impacts on ecosystems, human rights, and economic inequality are no longer acceptable. The mining sector and its associated supply chains are steadfastly committed to becoming more responsible in their operations, with sustainability as a core objective.
Responsible sourcing (RS) practices have emerged as a vital tool in achieving these objectives and minimizing negative impacts within mineral supply chains. By 2023, RS is no longer a distant ideal but a practical reality for businesses and policymakers, and it is increasingly demanded by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
To tackle the growing challenge of implementing RS, the RE-SOURCING Global Stakeholder Platform was initiated in 2020. Funded under the European Union's Horizon 2020 program, this four-year project, coordinated by the Institute for Managing Sustainability at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, assembled international partners within and outside the EU to create the RE-SOURCING Platform, including OEKO Institut (Germany), World Resources Forum Association (Switzerland), Montanuniversität Leoben (Austria), Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia), MineHutte Intelligence (UK), SOMO (Netherlands), WWF (Germany), EIT Raw Materials (Germany), Luleå University of Technology (Sweden, AHK Business Center (Chile) and SRK Consulting (South Africa).
The project's vision was to advance the understanding of RS as a mandatory requirement in mineral supply chains among EU and international stakeholders. This involved fostering the development of a globally accepted definition of RS, facilitating the implementation of RS practices through knowledge exchange, creating visions and roadmaps and Good Practice Guidance for three key EU sectors – renewable energy, mobility, and electronics – and advocating for RS in international political arenas.
The RE-SOURCING Project focused on:
Facilitating a globally accepted definition of RS.
Brainstorming incentives to support RS and responsible business conduct
Enabling exchanges of information and promoting RS among stakeholders
Fostering the emergence of RS in international political fora
Supporting the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials
Outputs of the RE-SOURCING Project were tailored to:
EU and international business stakeholders:
Increased capacity of decision-makers to implement responsible business conduct.
Better understanding and awareness of RS in three key sectors: renewable energy, mobility, and electrical and electronic equipment.
Facilitated implementation of lasting and stable sectoral framework conditions for RS.
EU policymakers:
Increased capacity for RS policy design and implementation.
Innovative ideas on policy recommendations for stimulating RS in the private sector.
Better understanding and awareness of RS in three key sectors: renewable energy, mobility, and electrical and electronic equipment.
Civil society:
Integration of sustainable development and environmental agendas into the RS discourse.
Establishment of a global level playing field for RS in international political fora and business agendas.
Enhanced understanding and awareness of RS in three key sectors: renewable energy, mobility, and electrical electronic equipment.
Throughout the project, numerous reports, executive summaries, policy briefings, Good Practice Guidance, workshops, events, and webinars were conducted, ultimately informing a final report.
The move to responsible sourcing is now an integral part of the global conversation on sustainability, and it's reshaping the way industries operate and impact the world.
According to the report: “The proposed RS framework is adaptable and allows for diverse pathways based on regional priorities. It aims to coordinate and consolidate various RS approaches without losing their unique features, providing a common destination while accommodating different speeds of progress.”
The report presents “a Rights-Based Approach framework for responsible sourcing in mineral supply chains, aiming to consolidate and align existing approaches, promote international cooperation, and ensure equitable distribution of benefits while accommodating regional variations.”
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METHOD OF RESEARCH
Systematic review
Understanding the strength development mechanism of chemically treated sandy soil
Researchers provide insights into how the chemical injection process increases soil strength, paving the way to advancement of next-generation construction
DESPITE THE USE OF CHEMICAL TREATMENT FOR STRNEGTHENING SANDY SOILS, AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW IT GAINS STRENGTH IS LACKING. NOW, SCIENTISTS HAVE STUDIED HOW SANDY SOIL IS MADE STRONGER THROUGH THE INJECTION OF CHEMICALS. THE IMAGE ABOVE SHOWS THE DYNAMIC CHANGES IN THE MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF HYDROGELS OVER TIME, AS REVEALED THROUGH THEORETICAL MODELING.
CREDIT: SHINYA INAZUMI FROM SHIBAURA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, JAPAN
Chemical injection is a process that enhances sand strength and its water-sealing capacity, making sandy soil suitable for various applications in construction. However, a unified understanding of how this process results in increased strength remains elusive. Some studies in the past have suggested that chemical injection separates soil particles, which causes volume expansion. This creates pockets of vacuum, resulting in "negative pressure," which pulls soil particles together and strengthens it. Increased tensile strength (which determines the load the soil can endure) is also thought to influence this behavior. Other studies have proposed that shrinkage of hydrogels (water-retaining polymeric structures) leads to soil particle compression and confinement, imparting strength to the soil. However, there is still a lack of clear understanding of the underlying mechanism behind strength development of sandy soils.
Now, a team of scientists from Japan, led by Professor Shinya Inazumi from the Department of Civil Engineering at Shibaura Institute of Technology, has conducted a thorough investigation into the behavior of chemically injected sandy soil. Talking about the motivation behind this study, Prof. Inazumi says, “We were driven by a passion for sustainable development and the desire to contribute to safer and more efficient construction practices, particularly in the context of climate change and increasing urbanization.” Additionally, the researchers were also motivated by the goal of advancing geotechnical engineering, with the hope that it can have implications for public safety, by enabling the development of technologies that mitigate the risk of natural disasters. Their work was published in the journal Gels on 27 October, 2023.
In this study, the researchers first chemically injected sand-gel and hydrogel mixtures with an acidic solution, and conducted various tests. This included the consolidation drainage triaxial compression tests which isolate and measure the “cohesive strength” and the “angle of internal friction” in chemically enhanced soils. This testing method was chosen for its ability to provide accurate insights into soil behavior under static conditions, which is crucial for the safety and reliability of construction soil.
Additional techniques for mechanistic and structural analysis included unconfined compression tests, small-angle X-ray scattering, volume shrinkage studies, and theoretical modeling. Notably, this study marks the first instance of independent examination of the effects of dilatancy and hydrogel shrinkage on soil strength development. This distinction holds significance for the field, offering the potential to guide more targeted and efficient soil treatment methods.
The experiments revealed that the enhancement of strength in chemically treated sandy soil can be attributed to increased cohesion and the internal friction angle of the soil particles. Moreover, this improvement exhibits no long-term strength loss, and interestingly, the initial weakness of untreated sandy soil can be traced back to the hydrogel itself.
This understanding of hydrogels at the molecular level holds immense potential in civil engineering and environmental management. For example, this breakthrough can be used in earthquake-prone regions to enhance building safety, impart seismic resilience, and diminish soil liquefaction risks. Furthermore, flood-prone areas also stand to benefit from this new understanding as the water-sealing properties of these treated soils can mitigate floods and safeguard human settlements and agriculture. In the long term, this technology can also protect coastal communities against rising sea levels, storm surges, and saltwater intrusion.
By stabilizing soil and increasing its water retention capacity, the present work yields numerous advantages across various other domains as well. This includes land reclamation, which is crucial for global food security, and pollution mitigation, which is important for curbing leaching into water bodies from landfills. Furthermore, it can also enhance the structural durability of civic infrastructure and ensure mining safety by preventing landslides. As Prof. Inazumi explains, “Our research promises to fill critical knowledge gaps in soil treatment, which can be translated into more efficient and durable construction practices, and ultimately benefit a wide range of industries.”
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Reference
Title of original paper: Strength Assessment of Water–Glass Sand Mixtures
About Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT), Japan
Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) is a private university with campuses in Tokyo and Saitama. Since the establishment of its predecessor, Tokyo Higher School of Industry and Commerce, in 1927, it has maintained “learning through practice” as its philosophy in the education of engineers. SIT was the only private science and engineering university selected for the Top Global University Project sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and will receive support from the ministry for 10 years starting from the 2014 academic year. Its motto, “Nurturing engineers who learn from society and contribute to society,” reflects its mission of fostering scientists and engineers who can contribute to the sustainable growth of the world by exposing their over 8,000 students to culturally diverse environments, where they learn to cope, collaborate, and relate with fellow students from around the world.
Professor Shinya Inazumi is a faculty member at The College of Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology in Tokyo, Japan. He earned his Ph.D. from Kyoto University and has an extensive academic record with over 105 publications and 350 citations. Prof. Inazumi specializes in civil, geotechnical, and environmental engineering and has earned several prestigious awards, including the “ICE Publishing Awards 2020 (Environmental Geotechnics Prize)” from the Institution of Civil Engineers, the “International Research Award” from the International Society for Scientific Network Awards, and the “MEXT Young Scientists’ Prize” from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2015.
In a seminal study published recently in the journal Eco-Environment & Health, have shown that natural processes, especially reactions involving certain reactive oxygen species, play a big role in how paddy soils release CO2. This adds to our understanding of the world's carbon balance.
Researchers embarked on a journey to decode several aspects of CO2 emissions. They investigated how CO2 releases and OH production differ across various paddy soils. Furthermore, they delved deep to discern the role of non-living processes in these emissions. A crucial part of their study was also dedicated to observing how the variety and nature of dissolved organic materials in the soil change upon short-term exposure to oxygen.
When oxygen was added to the soil, both CO2 releases and •OH production increased, especially in the top layers, showing how impactful oxygen is on the soil. The study found that living organisms play a major role in CO2 emissions, but during short periods when soil gets more oxygen, reactions from non-living things cause a quick rise in CO2. Additionally, the CO2 released is closely linked to the organic content in the soil's water, underscoring the interplay between the soil's solid and liquid components. Furthermore, after exposing the soil to oxygen, the makeup of these organic materials changed significantly, highlighting the importance of non-living processes in this transformation.
In conclusion, although living microbes play a pivotal role in CO2 emissions from paddy soils, non-living processes, particularly those involving •OH, hold equal significance. Recognizing the intricate interplay between organic carbon and both living and non-living contributors will empower us to devise more effective strategies against global warming.
Eco-Environment & Health (EEH) is an international and multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal designed for publications on the frontiers of the ecology, environment and health as well as their related disciplines. EEH focuses on the concept of "One Health" to promote green and sustainable development, dealing with the interactions among ecology, environment and health, and the underlying mechanisms and interventions. Our mission is to be one of the most important flagship journals in the field of environmental health.
