Drivers for innovation in waste-to-energy technology.

This paper summarizes developments made in the field of waste-to-energy technology between the 1980s and the present. In the USA, many waste-to-energy systems were developed in the 1980s and early 1990s. These plants generated power relatively efficiently (typically 23%) in 60 bar/ 443 degrees C boilers. Unfortunately, the development came to a stop when the US Supreme Court rejected the practice of waste flow control in 1994. Consequently, waste was directed to mega-landfills, associated with very negative environmental impacts. However, given landfill taxes and increased fuel prices, new waste-to-energy projects have recently been developed. Attractive premiums for renewable power production from municipal waste have been introduced in several European countries. This triggered important innovations in the field of improved energy recovery. Examples of modern waste-to-energy plants are Brescia and Amsterdam with net efficiencies of 24 and 30%, respectively. Incineration is traditionally preferred in Japan due to space constraints. New legislation promoted ash melting or gasification to obtain improved ash quality. However, these processes reduce the efficiency in terms of energy, cost and availability. A new oxygen-enriched waste-to-energy system is under development in order to better achieve the required inert ash quality.     

A stress-strain model to evaluate the forest situation in Germany and the state of the art of damage research

The situation and the latest findings of forest damage research in Germany are discussed. A newly developed concept for this research is described. This concept allows to identify the drawbacks of the recent damage research concept but also the integration of results compiled up to now. The importance for including natural occurring stress factors such as climate, soil conditions or local situation of individual species is outlined.     

Split-hand/split-foot malformation with paternal mutation in the p63 gene

We report the prenatal diagnosis at 16 weeks' gestation of bilateral split-hand/split-foot malformation (SHSFM) with severe lobster claw deformity of hands and feet in a male fetus without associated malformations. A minor manifestation of SHSFM was present in the father with only mild bilateral foot involvement (syndactyly I–II; cleft II–III; left cutaneous syndactyly III–IV). Mutation analysis of the p63 gene on chromosome 3q27 showed a missense mutation 577A→G (predicting amino acid substitution K193E) in the father. This mutation has not been reported so far in SHSFM but resembles the previously reported 580A→G (predicting amino acid substitution K194E) in a family with SHSFM. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measuring water resource use efficiency of the Dong Nai River Basin (Vietnam): an application of the two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA)

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The recent growth of agriculture, industry and urban areas in Vietnam requires a large amount of water consumption as a production factor. This paper...     

Control of rumen methanogenesis

During the last decades, considerable research on methane production in the rumen and its inhibition has been carried out. Initially, as methane production represents a significant loss of gross energy in the feed (2–15%), the ultimate goal of such intervention in rumen fermentation was an increase in feed efficiency. A second reason favouring research on methane inhibition is its role in the global warming phenomenon and in the destruction of the ozone layer. In this review, the authors describe briefly several interventions for reducing methane emission by ruminants. The objective can be reached by intervention at the dietary level by ration manipulation (composition, feeding level) or by the use of additives or supplements. Examples of additives are polyhalogenated compounds, ionophores and other antibiotics. Supplementation of the ration with lipids also lowered methanogenesis. More biotechnological interventions, e.g., defaunation, probiotics and introduction of reductive acetogenesis in the rumen, are also mentioned. It can be concluded that drastic inhibition of methane production is not unequivocally successful as a result of several factors, such as: instantaneous inhibition often followed by restoration of methanogenesis due to adaptation of the microbes or degradation of the additive, toxicity for the host animal, negative effects on overall digestion and productive performance. Therefore, methanogenesis and its inhibition cannot be considered as a separate part of rumen fermentation and its consequences on the animal should be taken into account.     

The analysis of monitoring data with the aid of time-series analysis

Methods derived from time-series analysis are proposed for processing monitoring data. The necessity for the use of these methods is demonstrated. In a case study time-series analysis was applied to assess the impact of the closure of the Grevelingen estuary (S. W. Netherlands) in 1971 on a local wintering population of Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus) in the adjacent Oosterschelde estuary.Communication No. 328 of the Delta Institute for Hydrobiological Research.