The impact of the board of directors on business climate change management: case of Brazilian companies

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - The corporate sector is one of the main emitters in the world due to the production process and therefore is identified as a major...     

Recovery of different waste vegetable oils for biodiesel production: A pilot experience in Bahia State,Brazil

In Brazil, and mainly in the State of Bahia, crude vegetable oils are widely used in the preparation of food. Street stalls, restaurants and canteens make a great use of palm oil and soybean oil. There is also some use of castor oil, which is widely cultivated in the Sertão Region (within the State of Bahia), and widely applied in industry. This massive use in food preparation leads to a huge amount of waste oil of different types, which needs either to be properly disposed of, or recovered. At the Laboratorio Energia e Gas-LEN (Energy & Gas lab.) of the Universidade Federal da Bahia, a cycle of experiments were carried out to evaluate the recovery of waste oils for biodiesel production. The experiences were carried out on a laboratory scale and, in a semi-industrial pilot plant using waste oils of different qualities. In the transesterification process, applied waste vegetable oils were reacted with methanol with the support of a basic catalyst, such as NaOH or KOH. The conversion rate settled at between 81% and 85% (in weight). The most suitable molar ratio of waste oils to alcohol was 1:6, and the amount of catalyst required was 0.5% (of the weight of the incoming oil), in the case of NaOH, and 1%, in case of KOH.The quality of the biodiesel produced was tested to determine the final product quality. The parameters analyzed were the acid value, kinematic viscosity, monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, free glycerine, total glycerine, clearness; the conversion yield of the process was also evaluated.     

Cancer incidence in people with residential exposure to a municipal waste incinerator: An ecological study in Modena (Italy), 1991–2005

We conducted a retrospective ecological study to assess cancer incidence during the period 1991–2005 in proximity of a municipal waste incinerator (MWI) in Modena (Italy). We identified three bands of increasing distance from the MWI, up to a radius of 5 km and used the residence as surrogate marker of the exposure. Residential history for Modena’s population was reconstructed and residents were associated to the most appropriate census unit. Age-standardized incidence ratios (ASR) and standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were estimated for all cancers and selected sites. Variations in cancer incidence were investigated using space and space–time scan statistic. Deprivation index was taken into account as potential confounding factor. During the 15-year study period, 16,443 new cases of cancer were diagnosed among residents in Modena. The space–time clustering test identified three significant clusters but their shapes were not associable to the MWI exposition. The purely spatial analysis not showed statistically significant clusters. The SIR computed for all cancers and selected sites did not show any excess of risk in the area closest to the plant. Higher SIR for leukaemia was found in the second band from MWI (2–3.5 km) for females (SIR, age and DI adjusted: 1.35, 95%CI: 1.01–1.79) and for both sexes (SIR, age and DI adjusted: 1.28, 95%CI: 1.03–1.57), but not a spatial trend was observed, thus excluding a possible link with MWI. In conclusion, bearing in mind the intrinsic limits of the study, the results suggest that there is no detectable increase of cancer risk for people living in proximity to the Modena MWI.     

Assessing and Mitigating the Effects of Windblown Soil on Rare and Common Vegetation

Acting under the auspices of the US Endangered Species Act, we quantified wind erosion and its effects on rare and common plant species on a semi-arid military installation in Hawaii. Our goal was to develop management strategies, based on local data, to aid the conservation of rare and common indigenous plants and their habitats. We collected windblown soil coming off of roads and other disturbed soils to assess likely impacts to plants occurring at certain heights and distances from disturbed surfaces. We then subjected plants in a glasshouse to windblown dust treatments, designed from our field data to simulate erosion events, and evaluated the effect of these treatments on photosynthesis and survival. We also designed several field experiments to examine the in-situ effects of windblown soil and soil substrate on germination, growth rate, and survival of indigenous and nonindigenous plants. We conclude from these experiments that most direct effects of windblown soil to plants can be effectively mitigated by locating roads and training areas at least 40 m from sensitive plant habitats and through vegetation management to maintain at least 11% aerial cover on disturbed surfaces. Effects of soil type on germination, growth, and survival was species-specific, emphasizing the importance of species trials prior to, or during, rehabilitation efforts.     

Radioactivity in trinitite six decades later

The first nuclear explosion test, named the Trinity test, was conducted on July 16, 1945 near Alamogordo, New Mexico. In the tremendous heat of the explosion, the radioactive debris fused with the local soil into a glassy material named Trinitite. Selected Trinitite samples from ground zero (GZ) of the test site were investigated in detail for radioactivity. The techniques used included alpha spectrometry, high-efficiency gamma-ray spectrometry, and low-background beta counting, following the radiochemistry for selected radionuclides. Specific activities were determined for fission products (90Sr, 137Cs), activation products (60Co, 133Ba, 152Eu, 154Eu, 238Pu, 241Pu), and the remnants of the nuclear fuel (239Pu, 240Pu). Additionally, specific activities of three natural radionuclides (40K, 232Th, 238U) and their progeny were measured. The determined specific activities of radionuclides and their relationships are interpreted in the context of the fission process, chemical behavior of the elements, as well as the nuclear explosion phenomenology.     

Biogenic Emissions by Oak Trees Common to Mediterranean Ecosystems

The experimental site was a Mediterranean type forest located in Viols-en-Laval near Montpellier (France). The principal species studied were Quercus ilex and Quercus pubescens. The determination of biogenic emissions was carried out by the enclosure method, which consists in enclosing an intact branch in a Teflon cuvet. The evolution of global terpenic emissions were recorded on June 1995.For Quercus ilex it appears that most terpenic emissions take place during the diurnal period. The evolution of terpenic emission rates versus light (PAR), internal temperature within the cuvet, CO2 exchange and transpiration (H2O) were carried out. A close relation between terpene emission and light-triggered physiological activities, was always found. It is obvious that there was no simple correlation between the leaf temperature and the terpenic emission. The temperature of the leaves does not seem to play a significant role in the regulation of the monoterpenic emission. This behaviour allows us to conclude that light with its effect on assimilation and stomatal behaviour is the most important factor for monoterpenic emission by Quercus ilex like for Quercus pubescens which is an isoprene emitter.     

Adsorption of picloram on clays nontronite,illite and kaolinite: equilibrium and herbicide-clays surface complexes

The picloram (PCM) adsorption on nontronite, illite and kaolinite was studied at pH 3, 5 and 7. The adsorption isotherms had well-fitted to Langmuir and Freundlich models equations. The interactions of PCM with the clay mineral surfaces exhibited an anionic profile adsorption, with a decrease in adsorption when the pH increases. The PCM adsorption capacity increases in the following order: kaolinite?<?illite?<?nontronite. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of PCM-clay samples revealed that the picloram molecule does not enter into the clays basal space. The interaction of PCM with clays surface sites through nitrogen of the pyridine ring was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Due to the anionic form of PCM, the adsorption onto the external and edges surface sites of the clay minerals was proposed.