THIS RESEARCH STUDIES THE BIODEGRADATION OF SUNFLOWER-TYPE VEGETATIVE OIL IN TWO PROPOSED ACTIVATED SLUDGE SYSTEMS, THE FIRST ONE TO BIOLOGICALLY TREAT AN INFLUENT CONTAINING ONLY VEGETATIVE OIL AND THE SECOND ONE TO TREAT A MIXTURE OF VEGETABLE OIL PLUS SACCHAROSE. THE PURPOSE OF THESE ANALYSES IS TO EVALUATE THE DIFFERENTIAL IMPACT CAUSED BY THE SOLUBLE SUBSTRATE SACCHAROSE ON THE REMOVAL OF VEGETATIVE OIL. VEGETATIVE OIL BIODEGRADATION IN BOTH SYSTEMS WAS STUDIED AND QUANTIFIED VIA INTEGRAL MASS BALANCE, AND RELEVANT OPERATING PARAMETERS WERE MONITORED. THIS EXPERIMENTATION BASED ON THE MASS BALANCE ESTIMATION OF BIODEGRADED VEGETATIVE OIL SERVES AS A REFERENCE TO UNDERSTAND THE EFFECT OF SOLUBLE SUBSTRATES PRESENT IN MIXED WASTEWATER ON OIL BIODEGRADATION. INFORMATION WAS GENERATED ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE TWO ACTIVATED SLUDGE TREATMENT SYSTEMS. BOTH INFLUENTS WERE PRE-STIRRED BEFORE THEY ENTERED THE BENCH-SCALE ACTIVATED SLUDGE PLANTS. THE WORKING RANGE FOR SUNFLOWER OIL CONCENTRATION WAS 120 TO 520 MG/L FOR THE INFLUENT WITH SUNFLOWER OIL AND 180 TO 750 MG/L FOR THE INFLUENT WITH SUNFLOWER OIL AND SACCHAROSE. BIODEGRADATION WAS IN THE ORDER OF 56 TO 72% AND 47 TO 67%, RESPECTIVELY. THE REMOVAL OF SUNFLOWER OIL IN BIODEGRADATION AND FLOTATION WAS IN THE ORDER OF 90% IN BOTH SCENARIOS.

CURRENT CARBON CAPTURE AND UTILIZATION (CCU) TECHNOLOGIES REQUIRE HIGH ENERGY INPUT AND COSTLY CATALYSTS. HERE, AN EFFECTIVE PATHWAY IS OFFERED THAT ADDRESSES CLIMATE ACTION BY ATMOSPHERIC CO2 SEQUESTRATION. INDUSTRIALLY RELEVANT HIGHLY REACTIVE ALKALI CELLULOSE SOLUTIONS ARE USED AS CO2 ABSORPTION MEDIA. THE LATTER LEAD TO MINERALIZED CELLULOSE MATERIALS (MCM) AT A TAILORABLE CELLULOSE-TO-MINERAL RATIO, FORMING ORGANIC-INORGANIC VISCOUS SYSTEMS (VISCOSITY FROM 10(2) TO 10(7) MPA S AND STORAGE MODULUS FROM 10 TO 10(5) PA). CO2 ABSORPTION AND CONVERSION INTO CALCIUM CARBONATE AND ASSOCIATED MINERALS TRANSLATE TO MAXIMUM ABSORPTION OF 6.5 GCO(2) G(CELLULOSE)(-1), TRACKING INVERSELY WITH CELLULOSE LOADING. CELLULOSE LEAN GELS ARE EASILY CONVERTED INTO DRY POWDERS, SHOWN AS A FUNCTIONAL COMPONENT OF CERAMIC GLAZES AND CEMENTITIOUS COMPOSITES. MEANWHILE, CELLULOSE-RICH GELS ARE MOLDABLE AND EXTRUDABLE, YIELDING STONE-LIKE STRUCTURES TESTED AS ARTIFICIAL SUBSTRATES FOR CORAL REEF RESTORATION. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) SUGGESTS NEW CCU OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUILDING MATERIALS, AS DEMONSTRATED IN UNDERWATER DEPLOYMENT FOR CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION.

CHILE BEGINS TO INCORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY PRINCIPLES IN ITS STATE POLICIES AT THE SECTOR LEVEL, WHICH HAS CREATED A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THE BUILDING SECTOR, BY ENCOURAGING IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ON THE INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS IN THE LIFE CYCLE OF BUILDINGS. THIS ARTICLE SHOWS A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS IN ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS BETWEEN THE TWO MOST COMMON CONSTRUCTION SOLUTIONS PROPOSED BY THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN PLANNING IN CHILE: (A) STRUCTURAL WALL OF RADIATA PINE AND (B) REINFORCED CONCRETE WALL. FOR THIS ANALYSIS, WAS USED A COMPUTER TOOL NAMED ÁBACO-CHILE, WHICH ALLOWS THE INTEGRATION OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA FROM ANY BUILDING PROJECTS BUDGET. ÁBACO-CHILE TOOL WAS DESIGNED TO INCORPORATE, ON EACH BUDGET ITEM, AN ECONOMIC COST, A SOCIAL COST AND ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS OF CONTAINED ENERGY AND CARBON FOOTPRINT, USING THE FIRST CHILEAN-SITE SPECIFIC ENVIRONMENTAL DATABASE. THE RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS SHOW THAT THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL COST AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS EVALUATED ARE MUCH HIGHER ON ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION IN THE CASE OF THE REINFORCED CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION SOLUTION, SURPASSING ALMOST 70 TIMES THE VALUES OF THE STRUCTURAL WALL OF RADIATA PINE. CONSIDERING THESE RESULTS, IT IS POSSIBLE TO CONCLUDE THAT ABACO-CHILE IS A USEFUL TOOL TO IDENTIFY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS IN THE EARLY DESIGN STAGE OF ANY BUILDINGS PROJECT AND ALSO THAT THIS ANALYSIS ALLOWS AN ADVANCE INCORPORATION OF SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA IN BUILDINGS PROJECTS IN CHILE.

EL DESIERTO DE ATACAMA EN EL NORTE DE CHILE POSEE DE LAS MAYORES TASAS MUNDIALES DE RADIACIÓN SOLAR Y ALBERGA GRAN ACTIVIDAD MINERA, LA CUAL HA ACTIVADO IMPORTANTES INVERSIONES EN PLANTAS SOLARES FOTOVOLTAICAS (FV) PARA SUPLIR SUS NECESIDADES ELÉCTRICAS. LA INTRODUCCIÓN MASIVA DE ESTAS CENTRALES TIENE EL PROPÓSITO DE ALCANZAR CERCA DE UN 25% DE LA MATRIZ NACIONAL AL AÑO 2050. EN ESTE CONTEXTO, ESTE TRABAJO PRESENTA LOS RESULTADOS DEL EFECTO DE LA ENERGÍA SOLAR EN EL PERFIL AMBIENTAL, ECONÓMICO Y SOCIAL DE LA GENERACIÓN ELÉCTRICA EN CHILE CONSIDERANDO UN ESCENARIO AL AÑO 2050, USANDO EL ENFOQUE DE CICLO DE VIDA, BAJO CONDICIONES DE SEQUÍA POR CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO. LOS RESULTADOS MUESTRAN QUE LAS CENTRALES FV CONTRIBUYEN A REDUCIR LOS IMPACTOS EN CALENTAMIENTO GLOBAL, ECOTOXICIDAD MARINA Y POTENCIAL DE EUTROFIZACIÓN, DEPENDENCIA A LA IMPORTACIÓN, Y TOXICIDAD HUMANA, MIENTRAS EL COSTO ELÉCTRICO NIVELADO Y COSTO TOTAL DE CAPITAL PRESENTAN VARIACIONES MÁS DISCRETAS.

THE NEED TO GET AN APPROPRIATE QUANTIFICATION OF THE SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS INVOLVES THE USE OF SITE-SPECIFIC INFORMATION THAT COULD COME FROM SEVERAL SOURCES, AFFECTING ITS QUALITY. THIS STUDY ANALYSES THE QUALITY AND SOURCES TO BUILD EIGHT ENVIRONMENTAL, SEVEN SOCIAL AND FOUR ECONOMIC INDICATORS FOR EIGHT ELECTRICITY GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES IN 2005, 2009 AND 2015 AS REFERENCE YEARS, FOLLOWING THE ISO 14.040-44:2006 LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT APPROACH. THE RESULTS SHOW FOR THE THREE DIMENSIONS IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES AMONG THE PERIODS, REACHING OVER 400% OF REDUCTION IN 2015 IN CASE OF ACIDIFICATION FOR COAL POWER PLANTS, THANKS TO ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS. FOR LEVELIZED ELECTRICITY COST AND CORRUPTION INDEX, THE VARIATIONS REACH AROUND 40% AND 30%, MAINLY FOR FOSSIL FUEL-BASED POWER PLANTS. THESE CHANGES SUPPORT THE NEED TO HAVE A CENTRALIZED, RELIABLE AND ACCURATE DATA SYSTEM OF REGISTRATION, IN ORDER TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE ELECTRICITY SYSTEM IN CHILE.