| 1. |
- Carvalho, Ricardo L., et al.
(författare)
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Bioenergy strategies to address deforestation and household air pollution in western Kenya
- 2019
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Ingår i: European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Proceedings. - : ETA-Florence Renewable Energies. ; , s. 1536-1542
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Over 640 million people in Africa are expected to rely on solid-fuels for cooking by 2040. In Western Kenya, cooking inefficiently persists as a major cause of burden disease due to household air pollution. The Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) system and the Life-Cycle Assessment tool Simapro 8.5 were applied for analyzing biomass strategies for the region. The calculation of the residential energy consumption and emissions was based on scientific reviews and original data from experimental studies. The research shows the effect of four biomass strategies on the reduction of wood fuel use and short-lived climate pollutant emissions. A Business As Usual scenario (BAU) considered the trends in energy use until 2035. Transition scenarios to Improved Cookstoves (ICS), Pellet-fired Gasifier Stoves (PGS) and Biogas Stoves (BGS) considered the transition to wood-logs, biomass pellets and biogas, respectively. An Integrated (INT) scenario evaluated a mix of the ICS, PGS and BGS. The study shows that, energy use will increase by 8% (BGS), 20% (INT), 26% (PGS), 42% (ICS) and 56% (BAU). The BGS has the lowest impact on global warming, particle formation, terrestrial acidification, fossil resource scarcity, water consumption, as well as on eutrophication followed by the PGS and INT.
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| 2. |
- Carvalho, Ricardo Luís, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental Sustainability of Bioenergy Strategies in Western Kenya to Address Household Air Pollution
- 2020
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Ingår i: Energies. - : MDPI. - 1996-1073. ; 13:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Over 640 million people in Africa are expected to rely on solid-fuels for cooking by 2040. In Western Kenya, cooking inefficiently persists as a major cause of burden of disease due to household air pollution. Efficient biomass cooking is a local-based renewable energy solution to address this issue. The Life-Cycle Assessment tool Simapro 8.5 is applied for analyzing the environmental impact of four biomass cooking strategies for the Kisumu County, with analysis based on a previous energy modelling study, and literature and background data from the Ecoinvent and Agrifootprint databases applied to the region. A Business-As-Usual scenario (BAU) considers the trends in energy use until 2035. Transition scenarios to Improved Cookstoves (ICS), Pellet-fired Gasifier Stoves (PGS) and Biogas Stoves (BGS) consider the transition to wood-logs, biomass pellets and biogas, respectively. An Integrated (INT) scenario evaluates a mix of the ICS, PGS and BGS. In the BGS, the available biomass waste is sufficient to be upcycled and fulfill cooking demands by 2035. This scenario has the lowest impact on all impact categories analyzed followed by the PGS and INT. Further work should address a detailed socio-economic analysis of the analyzed scenarios.
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| 3. |
- García-López, Naxto, et al.
(författare)
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An integrated agroforestry-bioenergy system for enhanced energy and food security in rural sub-Saharan Africa
- 2024
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Ingår i: Ambio. - 0044-7447 .- 1654-7209.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Most people in rural sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity and rely on traditional, inefficient, and polluting cooking solutions that have adverse impacts on both human health and the environment. Here, we propose a novel integrated agroforestry-bioenergy system that combines sustainable biomass production in sequential agroforestry systems with biomass-based cleaner cooking solutions and rural electricity production in small-scale combined heat and power plants and estimate the biophysical system outcomes. Despite conservative assumptions, we demonstrate that on-farm biomass production can cover the household’s fuelwood demand for cooking and still generate a surplus of woody biomass for electricity production via gasification. Agroforestry and biochar soil amendments should increase agricultural productivity and food security. In addition to enhanced energy security, the proposed system should also contribute to improving cooking conditions and health, enhancing soil fertility and food security, climate change mitigation, gender equality, and rural poverty reduction.
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| 4. |
- Hansson, Alva, et al.
(författare)
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Reduced bronchoalveolar macrophage phagocytosis and cytotoxic effects after controlled short-term exposure to wood smoke in healthy humans
- 2023
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Ingår i: Particle and Fibre Toxicology. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1743-8977. ; 20:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Exposure to wood smoke has been shown to contribute to adverse respiratory health effects including airway infections, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. A preceding study failed to confirm any acute inflammation or cell influx in bronchial wash (BW) or bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) 24 h after wood smoke exposure but showed unexpected reductions in leukocyte numbers. The present study was performed to investigate responses at an earlier phase, regarding potential development of acute inflammation, as well as indications of cytotoxicity.Methods: In a double-blind, randomised crossover study, 14 healthy participants were exposed for 2 h to filtered air and diluted wood smoke from incomplete wood log combustion in a common wood stove with a mean particulate matter concentration of 409 µg/m3. Bronchoscopy with BW and BAL was performed 6 h after exposure. Differential cell counts, assessment of DNA-damage and ex vivo analysis of phagocytic function of phagocytosing BAL cells were performed. Wood smoke particles were also collected for in vitro toxicological analyses using bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) and alveolar type II-like cells (A549).Results: Exposure to wood smoke increased BAL lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (p = 0.04) and reduced the ex vivo alveolar macrophage phagocytic capacity (p = 0.03) and viability (p = 0.02) vs. filtered air. BAL eosinophil numbers were increased after wood smoke (p = 0.02), while other cell types were unaffected in BW and BAL. In vitro exposure to wood smoke particles confirmed increased DNA-damage, decreased metabolic activity and cell cycle disturbances.Conclusions: Exposure to wood smoke from incomplete combustion did not induce any acute airway inflammatory cell influx at 6 h, apart from eosinophils. However, there were indications of a cytotoxic reaction with increased LDH, reduced cell viability and impaired alveolar macrophage phagocytic capacity. These findings are in accordance with earlier bronchoscopy findings at 24 h and may provide evidence for the increased susceptibility to infections by biomass smoke exposure, reported in population-based studies.
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