The potential of bio-methane as bio-fuel/bio-energy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: a qualitative assessment for Europe in a life cycle perspective.

Anaerobic digestion is a well known process that (while still capable of showing new features) has experienced several waves of technological development. It was "born" as a wastewater treatment system, in the 1970s showed promise as an alternative energy source (in particular from animal waste), in the 1980s and later it became a standard for treating organic-matter-rich industrial wastewater, and more recently returned to the market for its energy recovery potential, making use of different biomasses, including energy crops. With the growing concern around global warming, this paper looks at the potential of anaerobic digestion in terms of reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Calorimetry: a tool for assessing microbial activity under aerobic and anoxic conditions.

For many years, calorimetric measurements have been used for understanding, modelling, controlling, and optimising chemical reactions. Calorimetry could be as well utilised to investigate biological processes, which however, involve very small amount of heat and therefore require very sensitive instruments. For this purpose, a Mettler Toledo RCI (Reaction calorimeter) was modified, changing both hardware and software, increasing its resolution up to 5 10m W/l.