Search Results (197)

Non-conventional water sources (saline and brackish water) are viable options for crop cultivation. Current salt-tolerance research largely focuses on Na⁺ and Cl⁻, while other ions in these waters remain ill-understood. Synthetic seawater was a representative of saline and brackish water in a Design of Experiments (DoE) treatment design used to evaluate the effects of factors [synthetic seawater (0, 15, 30, or 45%, v/v, Instant Ocean^®), total inorganic nitrogen (0, 14, or 28 mM; 1 NH₄⁺:8 NO₃⁻ ratio), potassium (0, 9, or 21 mM), calcium (0, 2, or 5 mM), silicon (0, 0.03, or 0.09 mM) and zinc (0, 0.05, or 2 mM)] on seedlings for two varieties of Brassica juncea [‘Carolina Broadleaf’ (CB) and ‘Florida Broadleaf’ (FB)] using a hydroponic assay. In 30–45% synthetic seawater, 0.09 mM of silicon or 2 mM of calcium alleviated salt stress. In FB, 0.04–0.06 mM of silicon was optimal for the production of new leaves. The CB variety showed greater production of new leaves with 0.09 mM of silicon and 28 mM of potassium. Potassium and calcium are components of seawater, and a sodium chloride assay would not account for their interactions without a multivariate approach to evaluate salt tolerance. The seedling assay identified factors and established criteria for larger-scale harvest experiments. Full article

This research is focused on water governance problems in La Marina Alta District, in the province of Alicante (southeastern Spain). The district has a public management body, Consorcio de Abastecimiento y Saneamiento de Aguas de los Municipios de La Marina Alta (CASAMA), which has been inoperative since its creation in 1987. Although La Marina Alta has sufficient water resources in situations of hydrological normality, they are significantly affected by the impacts of climate change, insufficient water treatment technology and the absence of storage and regulation infrastructure. As a consequence, periods of scarcity and overexploitation of aquifers, together with high-demand situations, have generated scenarios of a lack of drinking water with reputational damage and uncertainty for the future of agricultural operations. Thus, the aim of this work is to propose the adoption of integrated water resource management strategies that will increase the resilience of this sub-basin in La Marina Alta. To this end, the contribution of new non-conventional resources to the water pool, combined with an efficient network of infrastructure, and all this supported by effective governance structures, would be essential to achieve a sustainable balance between demand and supply, preserving the environmental values of the territory. Full article

We conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed scientific bibliography published between 2010 and 2023, concerning the exploitation of Non-Conventional Water Resources (NCWR) in the Mediterranean Basin. The goal was to enhance our understanding of NCWR uses, reveal knowledge gaps, and identify future trends, risks, and challenges. The methodology comprised the inclusion, mining, filtering, and grouping of key elements retrieved from the surveyed items, followed by the deciphering of their intra-cluster variability and the links between them. Of the 978 publications harvested from the SCOPUS pool, 193 were eventually selected to form the NCWR database. The latter extends to 282 entries, each for an individual, i.e., single method and study area, application, compiled by 24 attributes per registry. The study provides insight on (i) the technologies most frequently implemented, (ii) the geographical distribution and spatial scale of the applications, (iii) their temporal trends, (iv) their objectives, (v) their relationship with nature and society. The work aims to fuel the discussion on improving policy-making, resource management, and adaptation to the climate crisis. Full article

The use of natural materials as adsorbents and the environmentally friendly removal of pollutants and azo dyes from water are important topics today. The goal of this research work was to assess the utility of Luffa cylindrica (L. cylindrica) as a natural and non-conventional adsorbent for azo dyes in water on a large scale (2 L). An azo dye (AD) at a concentration of 0.250 g/L was removed from the solution at a rate of 63.07% using 10.0 g/L doses of L. cylindrica, and the maximum adsorption capacity of L. cylindrica was 25.25 mg/g. L. cylindrica desorbed 95.8% of the AD in 0.1 M NaOH. Thermodynamically, the adsorption occurs through pseudo-second-order kinetics and the behaviors adjust better to the Langmuir isotherm. The analysis of variance (p-value < 0.05) shows that the contact time and the concentration of AD significantly influence the adsorption capacity and removal of AD. Few studies have examined the environmentally friendly removal of azo dyes from water using a natural non-conventional adsorbent. Full article

Banana inflorescences are usually discarded, but there has been interest in managing this by-product to turn it into a product with added value. Herein, the inflorescences of seven cultivars were processed into flour and evaluated for their physicochemical characteristics. The weight of the inflorescences ranged from 681.3 to 1245.4 g, with bracts accounting for more than 40%. The Prata Anã cultivar had the largest inflorescence. The part of the inflorescence was the main factor differentiating the flours, with the effect of the cultivar dependent on the part processed. All flours had high levels of fiber (27.70–41.91 g/100 g) and carbohydrates (19.30–33.96 g/100 g). The palm flours were differentiated by their higher levels of protein (17.4–19.4 g/100 g), and the flower flours by their higher levels of lipids (5.89–7.97 g/100 g). The bract flours had a higher water holding capacity (5.62–6.78%) and browning index (40.7–42). The bract and flower flours were less dissimilar. Results revealed the high nutritional quality of the flours and the prospect of using them as a non-conventional food source. Understanding the differences between banana inflorescence flours expands their possible uses and promotes sustainable agricultural production in terms of efficient banana by-product management. Full article

Three-finger toxins (TFTs), including neurotoxins and cytotoxins, form one of the largest families of snake venom proteins and interact with various biological targets. Neurotoxins target proteinaceous receptors while cytotoxins interact mainly with the lipids of cell membranes and to a lesser extent with carbohydrates. However, no data about the interaction of TFTs with nucleic acids can be found. To detect this interaction, we applied spectrophotometry, ion-paired HPLC and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). Using spectrophotometry, we found that TFTs from cobra venom increased the optical density of an RNA solution in a time-dependent manner indicating toxin interaction with RNA. A decrease in the net negative charge of the RNA molecule upon interaction with neurotoxin II from cobra venom was revealed by ion-pair HPLC. EMSA showed decreased electrophoretic mobility of both RNA and DNA upon addition of different TFTs including the non-conventional cobra toxin WTX and water-soluble recombinant human three-finger protein lynx1. We suggest that the interaction with nucleic acids may be a common property of TFTs, and some biological effects of TFTs, for example, cytotoxin-induced apoptosis in cancer cell lines, may be mediated by interaction with nucleic acids. Full article

Water management in arid regions faces significant challenges due to limited water resources and increasing competition among sectors. Climate change (CC) exacerbates these issues, highlighting the need for advanced modeling tools to predict trends and guide sustainable resource management. This study employs Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) software to develop a Decision Support System (DSS) to evaluate the impact of climate change and water management strategies on the Triassic aquifer of “Sahel El Ababsa” in southeast Tunisia up to 2050. The reference scenario (SC0) assumes constant climatic and socio-economic conditions as of 2020. CC is modeled under RCP4.5 (SC1.0) and RCP8.5 (SC2.0). Additional scenarios include Seawater Desalination Plants (SDPs) (SC3.0 and SC4.0), water harvesting techniques (SC5.0) to highlight their impact on the recharge, and irrigation management strategies (SC6.0). All these scenarios were further developed under the “SC1.0” scenario to assess the impact of moderate CC. The initial aquifer storage is estimated at 100 Million cubic meters (Mm³). Under (SC0), storage would decrease by 76%, leaving only 23.7 Mm³ by 2050. CC scenarios (SC1.0, SC2.0) predict about a 98% reduction. The implementation of the Zarat SDP (SC3.0) would lead to a 45% improvement compared to reference conditions by the end of the simulation period, while its extension (SC4.0) would result in a 69.5% improvement. Under moderate CC, these improvements would be reduced, with SC3.1 showing a 59% decline and SC4.1 a 35% decline compared to the reference scenario. The WHT scenario (SC5.0) demonstrated a 104% improvement in Triassic aquifer storage by 2050 compared to the reference scenario. However, under CC (SC5.1), this improvement would be partially offset, leading to a 29% decline in aquifer storage. The scenario maintaining stable agricultural demand from the Triassic aquifer under CC (SC6.1) projected an 83% decrease in storage. Conversely, the total “Irrigation Cancellation” scenario (SC7.1) under CC showed a significant increase in aquifer storage, reaching 59.3 Mm³ by 2050—an improvement of 250% compared to the reference scenario. The study underscores the critical need for alternative water sources for irrigation and integrated management strategies to mitigate future water scarcity. Full article

Background: Edible insects, such as Tenebrio molitor larvae (TM), offer a sustainable protein alternative to meet increasing dietary demands. The aim of this study is to investigate the functionalization of durum wheat pasta through the incorporation of TM flour (0–30%), focusing on how the addition of this non-conventional ingredient affects pasta production processing and its technological and chemical characteristics. Methods: Pasting properties, color, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and reducing sugars were determined for dry and cooked pasta. Texture profile and cooking properties were assessed for cooked samples. Results: The insect flour contributed to enhance polyphenols content in pasta, which increased from 0.06 and 0.03 mg_GAE/g up to 0.19 and 0.10 mg_GAE/g for dry and cooked pasta, respectively, and remained constant after the production process. The addition of TM flour altered the microstructure of wheat macromolecules, forming complex molecules, such as amylose–lipid complexes, and hydrogen and electrostatic interactions between proteins and polysaccharides, contributing to improved molecular stability and bioactivity. The pasta produced with insect flour up to 10% showed water absorption capacity, cooking properties, and consistency comparable to those of traditional pasta. Moreover, the addition of TM flour led to a reduction in peak viscosities from 2146.5 cP to 911.5 cP and roughness of pasta. Conclusions: The findings demonstrated the potential of TM flour as a unique source of bioactive compounds enhancing both the nutritional and functional properties of durum wheat pasta. Overcoming processing challenges through the optimization of product formulation and process parameters is crucial for exploring the production of insect flour enriched pasta at industrial scale while maintaining product uniformity and satisfying consumers expectations. Full article

The increasing global demand for renewable energy sources for electricity generation, coupled with the urgent need to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, has made the transition to cleaner alternatives more critical in recent years due to the environmental degradation caused by fossil fuel consumption. Among renewable energy sources, wave energy stands out as one of the most promising options because its resource, ocean waves, is inexhaustible. To harness wave energy, one effective device is the oscillating water column (OWC), which converts the kinetic energy of waves into electrical power. Despite the significant capacity of wave energy, particularly through the implementation of OWCs, the environmental and socio-economic impacts remain insufficiently studied. This research addresses this gap by analyzing the potential impacts associated with the deployment of wave energy systems, such as OWCs. Specifically, a sustainability assessment of OWCs was conducted, and a cause-and-effect matrix was developed using Conesa’s methodology to evaluate the impacts linked to their design, installation, operation, maintenance, and disassembly phases. The results obtained revealed that the majority of impacts caused by an OWC are moderate. Notably, the most significant positive effects are related to improvements in the quality of life of communities benefiting from the technology studied. The findings underscore the sustainability of OWCs in harnessing wave energy to generate electricity. Full article

Urban carbon emissions account for 75% of the total social emissions and are a key area for achieving the country’s “dual carbon” goals. This study takes the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City as a case, constructs a multi-dimensional carbon emission accounting model, integrates six systems, including buildings, transportation, water systems, solid waste, renewable energy, and carbon sinks, and proposes a comprehensive research method that takes into account both long-term prediction and a short-term dynamic analysis. The long-term emission trends under different scenarios are simulated through the KAYA model. It is found that under the enhanced low-carbon scenario, the Eco-City will reach its peak in 2043 (2.253 million tons of CO₂) and drop to 2.182 million tons of CO₂ in 2050. At the same time, after comparing models, such as random forest and support vector machine, the XGBoost algorithm is adopted for short-term prediction (R² = 0.984, MAE = 0.195). The results show that it is significantly superior to traditional methods and can effectively capture the dynamic changes in fields, such as buildings and transportation. Based on the prediction results, the study proposes six types of collaborative emission-reduction paths: improving building energy efficiency (annual emission reduction of 93800 tons), promoting green travel (58,900 tons), increasing the utilization rate of non-conventional water resources (3700 tons), reducing per capita solid waste generation (14,400 tons), expanding the application of renewable energy (288,200 tons), and increasing green space carbon sinks (135,000 tons). The total annual emission-reduction potential amounts to 594,000 tons. This study provides a valuable reference for developing carbon reduction strategies in urban areas. Full article

Salinity and water scarcity are among the major environmental challenges requiring the use of non-conventional water sources and the adoption of salt-tolerant crops. We assessed the impact of irrigation with different concentrations of NaCl: 50 mM and 150 mM on the growth parameters and yield of triticale, soil salinity, distribution of active root density, and concentrations of Na⁺ and NO₃⁻ ions at harvest compared to freshwater under zero leaching conditions. Irrigation was applied on a daily basis based on weight measurements of micro-lysimeter pots. Growth parameters, including plant height, LAI, number of leaves, number of tillers, and soil salinity, were observed across the growing season. Spatial distributions of soil salinity, normalized root length density (NRLD), concentrations of Na⁺ and NO₃⁻ in soil profile were measured in two dimensions. The results indicate that irrigating with 150 mM of NaCl H₂O significantly affected the crop growth, causing salts, particularly Na⁺, to reside in the topsoil, reducing NRLD with soil depth, crop water demand, and NO₃⁻ uptake. The application of 150 mM and 50 mM of NaCl H₂O reduced crop water use by 4 and 2.6 times as well as grain yield by 97% and 42%, respectively, compared to freshwater. This shows that irrigation with concentration equal to or higher than 150 mM NaCl will result in very low production. To achieve higher yield and crop water productivity, irrigation with NaCl concentration of 50 mM or less is recommended to grow triticale in marginal regions with limited freshwater resources. Full article

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with different grain size after grinding (fine and coarse) was recycled and used as aggregate for non-conventional lightweight cement mortars. The physical and mechanical characteristics were compared to conventional sand-based composites. The workability in the fresh state was evaluated. Accordingly, the composites showed decreases in fluidity with increases in PET percentage weight. Higher thermal insulation and lower mechanical strengths were observed with the increase in plastic dosage due to a density decrease and porosity increase in the composites. Finer grain size PET samples were more resistant (~12–24 MPa) than the coarse-grain samples (~3–23 MPa) due to the higher density and specific surface area of the aggregate. Conversely, higher thermal insulation was obtained with coarse PET addition (~0.6–0.2 W/mK vs. ~0.7–0.35 W/mK). A ductile behavior with discrete cracks after failure was observed after plastic addition to the mixture. Low wettability was observed in PET samples which, although more porous than the sand specimens, showed a hydrophobic behavior which contributed to water repellency. The reported physical, mechanical, thermal, wettability and microstructural features suggest the potential of these composites for both inside and outside applications of non-structural objects. Full article

Water scarcity presents one of the greatest challenges of our time. Especially in naturally water-scarce regions, the need for additional water resources is rising, requiring innovative and site-adapted technologies. The decision for a specific technology is mostly associated with high investment costs and a long life cycle time, which requires a conscientious and transparent decision-making process. In this review, such a framework is developed for selected non-conventional water technologies and strategically evaluated with the goal to support a sustainable technology application based on specific boundary conditions. This is achieved by a matrix-based assessment and the development of key indicators respecting the availability, applicability, environmental impact, scalability, and economic viability of the selected technologies. Based on a wide literature review, the developed methodology involves a systematic comparison of technologies for desalination, water reuse, groundwater utilization, agricultural reuse, and unconventional approaches like cloud seeding, dew water, and fog water harvesting. The developed indicators cover most parameters of the respective categories based on the individual designs. Subsequently, the different technologies are analyzed by a matrix-based evaluation, highlighting various strengths and weaknesses and providing insights into technology application based on regional conditions. The discussion interprets the findings, deriving implications for dry environments, acknowledging limitations, and suggesting pathways for future research. The matrix-based evaluation is illustrated by an example from the Jordan Valley for a brackish water desalination plant. Through this analytical framework, this study contributes to the discourse on sustainable water solutions and a transparent decision-making process, as well as offers valuable insights for policymakers, researchers, and industries during a decision-making progress. Full article

The demand for sustainable packaging has increased the interest in biopolymer coatings as alternatives to plastic-based barriers on paper and board. Alginate and chitosan offer promising barrier properties by improving gas barrier and grease resistance. However, their high viscosity at low solid contents presents challenges for uniform coatings, especially in possible future large-scale applications but also in existing research. This study evaluates spray coating, a non-conventional application method in the paper industry, to apply biopolymer coatings, an approach underexplored in previous studies. The effects of substrate surface energy and biopolymer surface tension on air permeability, grease resistance, and water vapor transmission were evaluated. Contact angle measurements showed that surface energy strongly influences the wetting behavior of these biopolymers, with hydrophilic substrates and lower-surface-energy liquids promoting better droplet spreading. This improved wetting resulted in better barrier performance at low application weights, further enhanced by surfactant addition. At higher application weights, surface energy had less impact on barrier properties. SEM imaging revealed drying defects at increased coat weights, affecting film integrity. These findings demonstrate the potential of spray coating as a scalable method for biopolymer application while highlighting the need for optimized drying conditions to enhance film uniformity and barrier performance. Full article

The water demand is increasing across all sectors, driven by intensive agriculture, overexploitation and urbanization, tourism, and industrial development. This trend is set to intensify in the context of climate variability, with an anticipated rise in the frequency and intensity of prolonged dry periods. As a result, conventional water resources, including surface and groundwater, are facing significant pressure and cannot meet the growing water needs. In contrast, unconventional (UWR) or non-conventional water resources, such as treated wastewater, salinized water, and rainwater harvesting are emerging as valuable and strategic resources and will play a pivotal role in the new era. Therefore, it is evident that the management of water resources must also include UWR to address the issue of water scarcity, with the ultimate goal of achieving a sustainable water future. This review aims to provide an overview of the currently and potentially available UWR in Greece. In addition to current trends and prospects, this study examines the utilization of unconventional resources in ancient Greek civilizations. The main conclusion is that in the context of the circular economy and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the use of unconventional water resources is crucial for facing the problems that are emerging. Full article