biomass Archives

Triharmony/Trilemma of Nutrients Assets in tropical peatland

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Osaki and colleagues have developed an innovative nutrient management system for tropical peatland in high groundwater levels, known as AeroHydro culture.

Peatland soils and water are characterised by low nutrient concentrations. Despite this, biomass in native tropical peatlands is abundant and has adequate nutrients. At Hokkaido University, Sumitomo Forestry Co Ltd, Japan, and BRIN, Indonesia, scientists studying nutrient cycling in peatlands have developed an innovative nutrients management system for agriculture. Their approach – AeroHydro culture – involves cultivation using high groundwater […]

Phytoremediation: Using native vegetation to stabilise heavy metal contaminants at polluted sites

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Madeleine Günthardt-Goerg and Pierre Vollenweider are researching how the properties of trees can be used to develop sustainable management strategies to phyto-stabilise contamination at metal-polluted sites through phytoremediation.

Elevated concentrations of heavy metals at polluted sites represent serious human health hazards and environmental threats. Persistent metal pollution is hard to remedy but one possible and effective method is phytoremediation, using plants to stabilise the metal pollution and ameliorate the contaminated soil properties. Across 20 years of research, Drs Madeleine Günthardt-Goerg and Pierre Vollenweider of the Swiss Federal Institute […]

A delicate balance: Should we return green crop residues to the soil?

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Researchers from INRAE have studied the decomposition of crop residues, correlating N20 emissions and greenhouse gases to understand the sustainability of this agricultural practice

Returning crop residues to soil for decomposition is considered a common management practice, but it can result in increased emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas. Dr Gwenaëlle Lashermes, Dr Sylvie Recous, and Engr Gonzague Alavoine, from INRAE, the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, investigated in collaboration with European partners the decomposition of nine […]

Cellulose nanodefects: The key to biofuels and biomaterials of the future

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Cellulase enzymes use defects as ‘stepping stones’ to initiate degradation of cellulose fibre.

Cellulose is a renewable polymer that can be used to produce biofuels and other bio-based materials. However, the potential of cellulose to displace petroleum-derived products had been limited by incomplete knowledge of its nanoscale characteristics. Recent research by Dr Peter Ciesielski and Dr Michael Crowley, both from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, has advanced our understanding of nanoscale defects that […]

Sustainable water purification using biomass

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Nanoscale cellulose materials obtained from the chemical treatment of biomass are very effective agents for the removal of toxic species from water, including heavy metal ions. Professor Benjamin S. Hsiao and his collaborators at Stony Brook University have developed a simple, inexpensive and environmentally friendly approach to preparing nanostructured cellulose for water purification, based on a nitro-oxidation reaction carried out […]