Q Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics
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In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde eine HPLC-Methode mit der dazugehörigen Probenvorbereitung entwickelt, welche es ermöglicht Essigsäure und Acrylsäure in komplexen Matrizes wie Deponiesickerwasser zu bestimmen. Hauptaugenmerk lag dabei auf der Matrixreduzierung, die bei 96 % lag. Die Wiederfindung der Analyten Essigsäure und Acrylsäure liegt bei der beschriebenen Methode bei ca. 100 %.
Intelligent use of energy is one of the keys to success for an energy revolution. To meet this challenge, smart meters are suitable tools because INTELLIGENT use of energy means not only to use efficiency technology, but also to determine load shifting potentials and use them accordingly. Especially farms with high power consumption are becoming increasingly concerned about reducing energy costs due to rising energy prices and need a systematic analysis of their operational energy flow. To find solutions for farms, the NaRoTec e.V., the TH Köln, and the Machinery Ring Höxter-Warburg have joined forces with partners and launched the project "Intelligent Energy in Agriculture", which is funded by the state of NRW. The aim of the project is to be able to give individual advice recommendations for energy optimization of agricultural holdings. This will be achieved inter alia through an operational energy audit and current measurements in different operating ranges. To achieve this, smart meters were installed in selected energy-intensive dairy and pig farms. As part of the project, the installed smart meter information about the consumption of various plants and their components were analyzed, regularities and adaptability in loading history identified, and the energy efficiency of the equipment and systems used verified (especially pumps, ventilators, feeding systems). Then recommendations were formulated to shift electricity-intensive processes to times with low electricity costs and high intrinsic power production. The resulting findings will be used as the basis for intelligent energy management in the further course of the project. Overall, efficiency streamlining measures in the field of ventilation and lighting systems, flexible dry feeding systems by decoupling power purchase and consumption, as well as energy savings and related CO2 savings were determined.
The present thesis research was focused on the assessment of hydrological drought in the Tempisque-Bebedero catchment system in Costa Rica as part of the TropiSeca project framework. The study area is in the province of Guanacaste and has an extension of 5449.94 Km2, the region is characterized by a defined wet and dry season resulting in a marked seasonality in precipitation and streamflow regime which provokes frequent periods of water deficits considered as drought.
The main objective of this research is to conduct an analysis on hydrological drought in the study area through the understanding of the behavior of hydrological cycle and its implications for the rice sector by applying different drought indices such as Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Streamflow Drought Index (SDI). From the values obtained in the calculation of drought indices were studied the temporal distribution and spatial distribution based on the characterization of drought periods in terms of frequency, severity, duration, and seasonality.
For the characterization of meteorological drought in the study area an approach based on area average precipitation was implemented to calculate a regional representative SPI for each sub-basin, in contrast, hydrological drought was assessed using only two streamflow gauges data provided by the ICE from 1973 until 2003.
As result, Tempisque showed longer drought periods in comparison with Bebedero whose mean duration was lower but the number of drought events were more frequent. In terms of spatial distribution, it could be found that the upper basin experienced extreme meteorological drought periods at high time scales tied to a severe streamflow deficit probably justified by its low permeability due to geological characteristics that allow a slow movement of groundwater.
Additionally, one of the aims of this thesis was to analyze the existence of correlation between precipitation and streamflow anomalies with rice yield and, to determine the influence of ENSO in climate variability using Sea Surface Temperature indices; in this phase of the research was found that climate patterns in the catchment system exhibited a significant influence by ENSO events with a significance level of 99% (r > 0.7) showing an important dependence of meteorological drought periods presented during the period 1980-2016.
In terms of temporal behavior of rice yield anomalies was revealed moderate correlation coefficients (r < 0.4) in both watersheds due to in most of the cases the response of water deficit did not have significant impact in terms of magnitude as expected; in some periods in which drought period was present categorized as mild-drought, rice yield had a considerable decreasing compared with those in which was categorized as extreme event; these differences can be justified mostly because crop yield depends not only on weather, but also on variety of seed used and its coping capacity to periods of water scarcity, fertilizers, soil moisture, farming techniques, sowing date, temperature, irrigation, use of pesticides etc.
The results of this thesis can be used to motivate future researches in the elaboration of crop models to predict yields based on physiological processes during plant development considering water requirement to take enough measures to mitigate the effects of drought periods. Furthermore, it should be considered to implement a drought monitor system in the area as an important tool of early warning system and as an indicator for the efficient water resources management.
Jordan is deemed as one of the least water-endowed regions in the world. The acute water shortage, accompanied with changing climatic conditions have necessitated the increasing use of treated wastewater (TWW), predominantly in irrigated agriculture sector. This is especially true with the upper Zarqa River. The ample supply of TWW resources can be found there; paradoxically, the practical implementation of TWW reuse is hindered by the enforcement of irrigation water quality standard, compounding pressure on the dwindling groundwater resources. In light of the large potential source of TWW, this study aims to supply knowledge on maximizing the safe reuse of TWW while minimizing the environmental impacts within the local environment of the upper Zarqa River. A SWOT analysis was conducted to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of TWW reuse for agriculture in the local context. In recognition of the projected growth in the treated effluent to more than 135 MCM in the coming ten years, and how it would affect the water use on the study region, several plausible development scenarios were proposed based on expected developments on the ground. Considering the vital role of TWW in sustaining multiple ecosystem services, this study addresses the need to review current standard, encourages managed aquifer recharge with TWW, recommends crops type modification, and enhances knowledge on suitable practices at farm level. Each of these factors is needed in order to deliver a range of ecosystem services to sustain the local rural communities and to advance them in the face of profound challenges, thereby leading to its stability and increased productivity.
Located in the Urubamba mountain range, the Chicón glacier is the third highest tropical glacier of this area and the source of water for the Chicón watershed. Moreover, from this watershed four communities obtain water for human consumption and agriculture, which is their main economic activity. In the last years glacier retreat is evident in the area and threatens the livelihoods of the people because it affects the availability of fresh water.
The general objective of this research is to analyse the perception of people living in this watershed to climate change, disaster risk, and ecosystem-based solutions. The specific objectives are to identify natural hazards and climate change effects in the community, to recognise potential ecosystem services suitable for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) and Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR), and to assess to which climate change effects and disasters the communities are vulnerable based on their own perception. The methodological steps are based on literature review, expert interviews, questionnaires to the community, a workshop and field observations.
The results show that people perceive changes in the climate such as increase in temperature, less precipitation and shifts of the rainy and the dry season. The climate-related disasters that were identified are Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), droughts, frosts and hailstorms. However, GLOFs are not frequent in the area and drought is the hazard that people consider will be more frequent. Additionally, pests were identified as biological hazards. Several ecosystems services can be obtained for EbA and Eco-DRR from forests, especially if native trees such as Qiwiña (Polylepis spp.), Chachacoma (Escallonia resinosa) and Aliso (Alnus jorullensis) are used in ecosystem management. Finally, the hypothesis was partially accepted since people in the study area are to some extent aware of climate change impacts, but only partially understand causes and effects. Further, they recognize most of the ecosystem services that forests provide. Therefore they are starting to implement ecosystem-based solutions in the watershed with the support of external institutions.
Anaerobic Digestion of spent grains: Potential use in small-scale Biogas Digesters in Jos, Nigeria
(2014)
In order to ascertain biogas yield potential and applicability of spent grains (SG)1 in small-scale biogas production, laboratory batch fermentation was performed with various masses of dry and wet SG using sewage sludge (SS)2 and digested maize silage (DMs) 3 as inoculums. Different volumes of biogas and CH4 were measured with higher volumes observed for batch fermentation with DMs in com-parison to those produced by SS. Results from the study reveals minimum biogas yield of 118.10 L/kg
VS and maximum yields of 769.46 L/kg VS, which are indicative of the possible use of SG for domestic biogas production in Jos, Nigeria. The study established the fact that the use of both dry and wet SG results in the yield of a useful amount of biogas having 40 - 60 % CH4 content depending on the inoculum and amount of volatile solids present. Using the parameters of dry matter and volatile solids contents analysed for SG and DMs, it was estimated that a reactor volume of 6.47 m3 would be capable of meeting the daily cooking needs of rural households in Jos, Nigeria.
In Sierra Leone, at the moment 10 out of the total 14 districts are faced with the problem of large-scale land investments for industrial agriculture (oil palm, sugarcane…). The production is mainly for the local, regional and world market. There are quite many of these investments in the planning stage, while some are extending their operations by taking more land from communities or are already at the production stage. Studies and media reports have claimed a number of negative impacts felt in communities hosting these companies, ranging from loss of land, food insecurity, increase in poverty to loss of livelihoods, environmental degradation as well as social and cultural problems. The goal of this thesis is to examine the impacts of the operations of “Socfin Agriculture Company” on food security of local communities in Malen Chiefdom, Pujehun District of Sierra Leone.
Both quantitative and qualitative research methods are used for data collection, analyses, and interpretation of results. The research uses household income and expenditure to compare household food security before and after the start of the company’s operations. It examines consequences of community’s loss of land to support household food production versus casual wage earn from employment created by the company to meet household food security.
The results show a loss of household’s income sources and a significant decrease in households’ income. Households’ food crop production has reduced accompanied by a complete loss of cash crop farming. Households affected by the operations of the company have lost access to land and other natural resources that support food production. Furthermore, the company employs very few people in comparison to the total population of affected communities. Calculation of total wage earn from employment by the company cannot meet the staple food (rice) needs of the households. Also, households claimed a host of unfilled promises made by the company and national government at the onset of the operations of the company.
In conclusion, household food production is the most significant determinant for household food security, with regards to food availability, accessibility, utilization and stability of supply. Therefore, national government should carefully study and develop a framework that addresses food security of households impacted by the operations of the rapidly growing large-scale land investment companies and ensure a fair share of the local community in the economic development of the country and suggesting ways of improving access rights in the context of tenure.
Messverfahren zur Erfassung der potenziellen Ökotoxizität in anaeroben und aeroben Abbauprozessen
(2014)
In der vorliegenden Ausarbeitung werden die etablierten Verfahren zur Bestimmung der Ökotoxizität erläutert, mit dem Ziel weitere Bioaktivitätsparameter zur Charakterisierung der biologischen Prozesse bei der Forschungsgemeinschaft :metabolon zu integrieren.
Die Erfassung der Toxizität beruht bei den vorgestellten Methoden auf der Messung der Lumineszenz, der Sauerstoffverbrauchsrate oder der Zellzahl. In Abhängigkeit von den Eigenschaften der Schadstoffe sowie der biologischen Betriebsbedingungen der Behandlungsstufen ist die Auswahl der bestmöglichen Methode erforderlich.
In this paper a closed-loop substrate feed control for agricultural biogas plants is proposed. In this case, multi-objective nonlinear model predictive control is used to control composition and amount of substrate feed to optimise the economic feasibility of a biogas plant whilst assuring process stability. The control algorithm relies on a detailed biogas plant simulation model using the Anaerobic
Digestion Model No. 1. The optimal control problem is solved using the state-of-the-art multi-objective optimization method SMS-EGO. Control performance is evaluated by means of a set point tracking problem in a noisy environment.
Results show, that the proposed control scheme is able to keep the produced electrical energy close to a set point with an RMSE of 0.9 %, thus maintaining optimal biogas plant operation.
Mit Einführung der Deponieverordnung 2005 endete die Deponierung nicht-inerter Stoffe und biologisch aktiver Spezies. Im Zuge ihrer Durchsetzung traten neue Behandlungsmöglichkeiten dieser Stoffströme in das Zentrum der Betrachtung. Zu diesen Behandlungsmethoden zählt die anaerobe biologische Behandlung. Sie findet vor allem bei stark organisch geprägten Stoffströmen mit hohen Wassergehalten Anwendung (Kaltschmitt et al. 2009). Im Zuge der anaeroben Behandlung werden organische Kohlenstoffverbindungen hauptsächlich in CO2 und CH4 umgesetzt. Die anaerobe Behandlung reduziert so den organischen Anteil und das Volumen des Gärsubstrates. Im Gegenzug steigt der Wasseranteil des Gärsubstrates durch die Freisetzung von Zellwasser an. Verbindungen aus Phosphor und Stickstoff verbleiben im Gärsubstrat und machen es damit zu einem geeigneten Düngemittel für die Landwirt-schaft (Möller et al. 2009). Das Material unterliegt der Düngemittelverordnung, durch welche sowohl die Ausbringung als auch die Ansprüche an dessen Beschaffenheit geregelt werden. Um den anfallenden Gärrest für die Landwirtschaft nutzen zu können, muss daher eine Möglichkeit zur mittelfristigen Lagerung geschaffen werden (Raussen et al. 2008). Über das Verhalten im Zeitraum dieser Lagerung gibt es bisher nur wenige Untersuchungen. Grund hierfür ist vor allem die hohe Diversität des Presswassers. Dessen Eigenschaften werden durch die Betriebsparameter der Biogasanlage bestimmt und unterscheiden sich so deutlich von Anlage zu Anlage.
Die hier dargestellten Arbeiten sind Teil eines Forschungsvorhabens zur Untersuchung des Lagerungsverhaltens von Presswasser aus der Vergärungs- und Kompostierungsanlage Leppe. Diese verfügt über zwei Lagerungsbehälter mit einem Fassungsvermögen von je 3.500 m³. Bereits im Zuge der Planung wurde ein anaerober und aerober Betrieb vorgesehen. Neben den drei Rührwerken, mit denen die Durchmischung des Presswassers gewährleistet wird, sind zwei Injektionsbelüfter installiert.
Ziel der Untersuchungen war es, eine Datengrundlage zu schaffen, aufgrund derer über die Betriebsweise der Presswasserspeicher entschieden werden kann.