Publications by authors named "I Ihara"

An effective strategy for utilizing anaerobic digestates is required to promote biomass power generation. We developed an anaerobic digestate tablet using liquid dairy cattle manure derived from a small mesophilic anaerobic digester installed on a dairy farm. Anaerobic digestate tablets are intended for use in the fertilization of oligotrophic coastal seas to promote primary production.

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Article Synopsis
  • * A review of 170 academic papers from 2013 to 2023 highlights the importance of not only recycling but also implementing waste sorting at the source and optimizing landfill and thermal treatment practices.
  • * The study calls for integrating waste management into the circular economy, enhancing citizen involvement in reducing waste, promoting recycling efforts, and seeking financial support from global organizations to overcome socio-economic and infrastructural challenges.
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The rising amount of waste generated worldwide is inducing issues of pollution, waste management, and recycling, calling for new strategies to improve the waste ecosystem, such as the use of artificial intelligence. Here, we review the application of artificial intelligence in waste-to-energy, smart bins, waste-sorting robots, waste generation models, waste monitoring and tracking, plastic pyrolysis, distinguishing fossil and modern materials, logistics, disposal, illegal dumping, resource recovery, smart cities, process efficiency, cost savings, and improving public health. Using artificial intelligence in waste logistics can reduce transportation distance by up to 36.

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New technologies, systems, societal organization and policies for energy saving are urgently needed in the context of accelerated climate change, the Ukraine conflict and the past coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. For instance, concerns about market and policy responses that could lead to new lock-ins, such as investing in liquefied natural gas infrastructure and using all available fossil fuels to compensate for Russian gas supply cuts, may hinder decarbonization efforts. Here we review energy-saving solutions with a focus on the actual energy crisis, green alternatives to fossil fuel heating, energy saving in buildings and transportation, artificial intelligence for sustainable energy, and implications for the environment and society.

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Anaerobic digestate is an organic effluent from biogas plants that generate renewable energy from organic waste under anaerobic conditions. Cement-bonded digestate composites with digestates based on animal manure and food waste based were subjected to sustained release property tests to investigate their utility as nutrient carriers for phytoplankton grown in oligotrophic coastal seas. Batch experiments showed that inorganic phosphate, ammonium nitrogen, and dissolved organic nitrogen species were released from the cement-bonded digestate composite.

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