Every three years, the World Energy Council explores possible developments of the global energy system under different scenarios. Tom Kober, head of the Energy Economics Group at PSI and one of the lead authors of the study, explains what the individual projections mean and how global warming could be mitigated. Since 2010, the World Energy Council has been developing these World Energy Scenarios and publishing them every three years…
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Lignin is the most abundant aromatic polymer in nature and as such is an attractive source of aromatic molecules. Efficient lignin utilization will also likely play a key role in the economic success and sustainability of biomass valorization schemes. However, traditional strategies for lignin isolation and depolymerization suffer from repolymerization issues, which result in low yield of low molecular weight fragments…
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We studied and compared the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) and depolymerization of aldehyde-stabilized lignin and 4-propylguaiacol (PG), a model lignin monomer. We demonstrated by liquid phase adsorption that PG HDO catalyzed by Ru/C can be achieved in isooctane but not in 1,4-dioxane due to competitive solvent binding to the active sites. Unfortunately, alkanes cannot be used as solvents for real lignin due to limited solubility…
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A novel method for the determination of linear and cyclic siloxane compounds (L2, L3, D3, D4, D5, and D6) in biogas was developed by combining gas chromatography (GC) with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Using a continuous liquid quench sampling system, biogas samples were collected from a Swiss biogas production plant processing manure and mixed organic wastes. Although significant…
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Heterogeneous catalysis has long been a workhorse for the chemical industry and will likely play a key role in the emerging area of renewable chemistry. However, renewable molecule streams pose unique challenges for heterogeneous catalysis due to their high oxygen content, frequent low volatility and the near constant presence of water. These constraints can often lead to the need for catalyst operation in harsh liquid phase conditions, which…
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In the energy sector, decisions and technology implementations often necessitate a mid- to long-term perspective. Thus, reliable assessments of future resource availability are needed to support the decision-making process. In Switzerland, similarly to other countries, only a limited part of the available wet biomass feedstock is currently used for anaerobic digestion. Understanding potential future trajectories of the available biomass amount is…
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