Ana Arias Calvo’s Post

Synthetic biology applies engineering principles to biology, enabling the redesign of biological systems to address environmental challenges. 💡💭 We have teamed up with the The Australian Academy of Science on a submission to the Productivity Commission inquiry into circular economy opportunities. Our joint submission highlights strategies to reduce waste, enhance advanced recycling and promote remanufacturing technologies. These initiatives aim to support Australia's transition to net zero emissions while building resilient and sustainable industries. ♻️✨ #CoESB #SyntheticBiology #CircularEconomy #Sustainability #NetZero #Innovation Australian Research Council Ed Husic MP Read it here 👇

🔄Can the future economy be circular ?🔄 I am happy to share that another paper from my PhD research was recently published in the journal Circular Economy 🍃 Thanks to Patricia Güereca, Ricardo Bello-Mendoza and Rolando Chamy for their efforts and collaboration. 🔃 We assessed environmental impacts of wastewater treatment plants in Santiago, Chile, comparing scenarios of increasing resource recovery to enable a circular economy, with Life Cycle Assessment 🔁 with statistical significance of results included, a novelty for LCA studies 🍃 The main discussion points that arose: - how can we improve methodological consensus for interpreting LCA results ? -how can we incorporate wastewater emerging and biological contaminants in LCA inventory databases ? Lets talk LCA 🗣️

2024 APRU SWM Global ESG & Sustainability Lecture Series The APRU SWM Global ESG and Sustainability Lecture Series is designed to provide a sound foundation in principles of sustainability, and to unify research across ecology, conservation, environmental health and waste management with a focus on the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. Session 1, happening on April 23 at 9 am (UTC+9), will focus on South Australia's leading role in hydrogen, metals, and minerals. Professor Michael Goodsite from The University of Adelaide will discuss the environmental challenges and opportunities in this field. Attendees will learn about how South Australia is dealing with these issues and what it means for the future. This session will be easy to understand and offer valuable insights for anyone interested in these topics. A panel discussion is scheduled following the lecture and all the participants are welcome to join the discussion. Session 1: South Australia as a Hydrogen, Metals, and Minerals Leader: Environmental Challenges and Opportunities Speaker: Prof. Michael Goodsite, Director, The Institute for Sustainability, The University of Adelaide, Australia Date and Time: April 23 at 9 am (UTC+9, Time converter) Our Panelists: Prof. Shumi Akhtar, The University of Sydney Business School, Australia Prof. Jingzheng Ren, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China Dr. Gustavo Fimbres, The University of Sydney, Australia For more information: Prof. Yong Sik Ok, The Chair and Program Director, APRU SWM Program Contact: APRU SWM Program (aprusustainablewastemanagement@gmail.com)

Sustainability and Environmental Awareness in the World of Separation Science In this interview, Dwight Stoll of Gustavus Adolphus College discusses the importance of sustainability and environmental awareness in separation science. Link: https://lnkd.in/e3u9kbag

🔍 Techno-Economic Assessment vs. Life-Cycle Analysis: What is the difference? I’m frequently struck by how often techno-economic assessment (TEA) and life-cycle analysis (LCA) are mistaken for one another, even in academic discussions. While many people grasp the benefits and fundamental principles of LCA, the purpose and value of TEA often remain less understood. Let's clear things up: Techno-economic assessment (TEA): - Focuses on the economic feasibility of a technology. - Estimates capital investment and operating costs, and evaluates the market potential and economic viability of a new process (e.g. biofuel production facility). - Helps in understanding the financial aspects and commercial potential of technological innovations when scaled up. - Key metrics include cost of production, return on investment, and payback period. - Answers the question: Is this technology financially viable? Life-cycle analysis (LCA): - Examines the environmental impacts of a product or process. - Typically considers all stages from raw material extraction, production, use, and disposal. - Aims to quantify impacts like carbon footprint, energy use, and waste generation. - Key metrics include global warming potential, energy consumption, and resource depletion. - Answers the question: What are the environmental consequences of this technology? Both tools are used to inform decision-making, although from different angles. TEA supports financial investment decisions, while LCA aids in environmental strategy development. Both provide critical insights for process optimisation. For example, an LCA may identify hotspots of environmental impact that coincide with cost drivers highlighted by TEA, enabling simultaneous improvements in cost and sustainability. Ideally, both should be used when evaluating a new promising technology. For instance, an environmentally sustainable solution identified by LCA might not be financially feasible when examined by TEA, and vice versa. Combining both tools ensures that we address economic and environmental trade-offs, fostering truly sustainable innovations. Let's ensure we are using these technology evaluation tools appropriately to drive both economic and environmental progress towards net zero. #TechnoEconomicAssessment #LifeCycleAnalysis #Research #Sustainability #EconomicFeasibility #EnvironmentalImpact

Happy Ram Navami. Our article “Implementing Sustainable Methods in Natural Products Research” in Trends in Chemistry (CellPress) is online now (https://lnkd.in/gmZ4rahc). In this, we highlighted the importance of green approaches to attain sustainability, starting from collection to NADES-based extraction and finally, conversion of generated waste into useful products. # Green # NADES #sustainability # natural product research.  

From Archive, Vol. 17, No. 53, Part (1): 301-318 https://buff.ly/3MVFuP2 The role of green productivity in achieving sustainable development An exploratory study at the State Company for Mishraq Sulfur Abstract: The research aimed to determine the impact of green productivity represented by its techniques (training technology, awareness program technology, adult learning method design technique, industrial field trip technology, waste prevention technology, resource conservation technology, waste management technology, design improvement technique) on promoting sustainable development in its dimensions represented (the economic dimension, the social dimension, the environmental dimension). In the General Company for Mishraq Sulfur. Accordingly, the research problem was identified in a more focused way with the following: What is the extent of the contribution of green productivity to the optimal exploitation of resources and the protection of the environment? To what extent are the individuals working in the researched companies aware of the importance of sustainable development? The nature of the relationship and the impact between green productivity and sustainable development? In order to achieve the goal of the research, a hypothetical model was developed that shows the hypothesis search scheme that was clarified by a group of hypotheses that were tested using some statistical means (SPSS) in presenting the results. (82) individuals from the General Company for Mishraq Sulfur, and the research reached a set of conclusions, the most prominent of which are: The existence of a positive emotional correlation and impact between green productivity and sustainable development at the macro and micro level in the researched company.

I am beyond ecstatic to share my latest paper on the Sociomaterial networks for a systemic #circulareconomy transition in an intermediate Global South city, published in the Journal of Cleaner Production. This publication is the result of the arduous field work undertaken during my doctoral journey with my esteemed coauthors Fernanda Solíz and Milena Alía Yépez Fuentes and the great theoretical support from one of my co-promoters and also co-author Marc Craps. Main highlights: • We propose a methodological bricolage to study systemic impacts of Sociomaterial Interaction Points (SMIPs) for socioeconomic insights in the CE. • We document the underestimated role of care in informal recycling value chains, most interestingly for intermediaries. • Roles, power dynamics and mental models must shift for a #circularsociety to work, particularly given the role of global value chains. • Intermediate Global South cities have very particular economic profiles that should be understood in establishing a CE strategy, in this case, promoting servitization business models should be prioritized. • Too many actors are invisible and are disconnected from the CE conversations due to lack of representation and connection to other relevant actors, including artisans and repairers that could have high potential to support the CE. • Environmental managers (gestores) have the highest betweenness centrality, meaning they can bridge the connections between government, private actors and informal value chains. In the link below you can read and download the full article until January 15. Some people who I hope could be interested in spreading the insights from this paper: Nancy Bocken Hervé Corvellec Martin Calisto Friant Julie Metta Jhoanna Rosales https://lnkd.in/engQtT9z This is part of a fantastic special issue on "Ways forward to promote resource equity: the role of cleaner production and circular economy as moderator; action or reaction to save the planet". check out the other papers published here: https://lnkd.in/e3jVXBPN

⭐ Super-interesting new article on a circular economy and society transition by Melanie Valencia, PhD, Marc Craps, Milena Alía Yépez Fuentes, and Fernanda Solíz. They provide insightful recommendations on how to foster an inclusive circularity transition in cities of the Global South, such as: ♻️ • Price externalities to level playing field of repairing and reuse local systems over imports. 🙋♀️ • Promote awareness of CE policy and participation in its implementation 👷♀️ • Leverage micro-interconnectedness for the informal sector and spatial distribution ☮️ • Integrate value-based education in curricula 🛠️ • Mainstream reuse and repair practices by showing TV tutorials 🌍 • Make circularity a default in global value chains, considering waste colonialism issues.

✍ Our ESR Federico Mundo recently published a perspective article entitled "on sustainability aspects of the synthesis of five-membered cyclic carbonates" on ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. In this work, cyclic carbonate synthetic protocols are compared by calculating the E-factors, an established metric to assess the quality of a chemical process by respect to waste generation. 🚮 This analysis was performed from the experimental details of the selected protocols, taking into account toxicity information of the chemicals. ⚗ 👏 Congratulations to all the authors: Federico Mundo, Michael A. R. Meier, Sylvain CAILLOL and Vincent Ladmiral for this work. 💶 Many thanks to Marie Curie Alumni Association, European Commission for funding and to Université de Montpellier, ICGM Montpellier, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Want to know more? Read our article here: 👇 https://lnkd.in/gPDRhyGY #MSCA #ResearchimpactEU #H2020 #innovation #OpenScience #NIPU #GreenChemistry #Sustainability #Syntheticmethods #Chemistry #Reseach #Polymerscience #CO2valorization #Efactor #greenmetrics #publication