“The image captures perhaps the most special—and craziest—moment of my life,” Caballero says in a statement, reflecting on the excitement and astonishing timing that enabled him to document the Bryde’s whale feeding on a baitball—a tight, spherical gathering that fish form to help protect themselves from predators. Caballero’s photo was chosen as the top image from more than 15,000 entries across categories from underwater to surf to drone shots.
2nd Place Overall Winner: Jade Hoksbergen. A northern gannet, one of the largest seabirds in British waters, dives into the water to catch its prey near Isle of Noss, Shetland, Scotland
Second place was awarded to Jade Hoksbergen, who captured a northern gannet torpedoing into the sea for a meal, and third place saw Thien Nguyen Ngoc’s aerial view of a fishing boat amid swirling smoke and its swathe of green netting.
Explore more of our favorite finalists from this year’s contest, and see the entire gallery on the competition’s website. Follow updates about forthcoming exhibitions on Instagram.
3rd Place Overall Winner: Thien Nguyen Ngoc. A fishing boat off Hon Yen, Vietnam, sends a long trail of smoke that perfectly aligns with the shape of the green nets under the surfaceWinner, Ocean Portfolio Award: Shane Gross. Baby plainfin midshipman fish, still attached to their yolk sacs, in British Columbia, CanadaSecond Place, Wildlife Category: Rafael Fernández Caballero. A marine iguana sits on a rock in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Unlike other iguanas around the world, these are the only ones that have evolved to swim and feed underwater, holding their breath for up to 60 minutesHighly Commended, Adventure Category: Byron Conroy. A scuba diver explores the Silfra fissure in Iceland, the tectonic boundary between the North American and Eurasian platesHighly Commended, Wildlife Category: Jake Wilton. In Papua New Guinea’s Conflict Islands, conservation efforts have transformed former poachers into protectors, boosting turtle hatchling numbers. Amid this success, a rare leucistic green sea turtle was found among the nestsSecond Place, Human Connection Category: Romeo Bodolai. A fisherman uses a traditional fishing technique in MyanmarHighly Commended, Fine Art Category: Pietro Formis. A juvenile African pompano, captured in Anilao, Philippines, looks very different from its adult versionHighly Commended, Adventure Category: Tobias Friedrich. Every winter, orcas and humpback whales come to Northern Norway to feed on Atlantic herring. This huge humpback filled its mouth with the small fish, before swimming past the divers closely
The Politecnico di Milano, coordinator of the Waste Oils RecycLe and Development (WORLD) project, proposes a circular and sustainable process to turn used vegetable oil into a valuable resource.
Vegetable oil is used widely around the world, and cooking and food preservation is said to generate a huge amount of waste oil. Around four million tonnes of used vegetable oil are produced in Europe each year, representing just 4% of the total global amount of the widespread product. If not properly disposed of, the waste can lead to significant environmental impacts.
The goal of the WORLD project is to optimise waste vegetable oil treatment processes while improving the quality of end products, reducing waste and fostering European independence in the supply of critical raw materials.
The project proposes to recycle used vegetable oil, yielding materials used as bio-lubricants, air purification devices and fine chemical components from petroleum-free precursors. These applications are presented as a supply chain parallel to their well-known use in the production of biodiesel, although this is limited by law to 10% and concerns only the purest fraction of the waste.
In addition to economic and technological benefits, the project has a strong social and environmental impact: raising awareness of correct waste oil collection can reduce public costs related to incorrect disposal and prevent environmental damage. In addition, a life cycle analysis (LCA) will be conducted to assess the best strategies to minimise ecological, economic and social impacts by adopting a ‘zero waste’ approach.
The project study was published by the British Royal Society of Chemistry in the international journal RSC Sustainability.
“We started by observing that the waste vegetable oil recycling industry is currently based on simple decantation and filtration processes, without adequate scientific optimisation. We therefore analysed two alternative techniques — bentonite treatment and water washing — to improve their efficiency and reduce their environmental impact,” explained study co-author Andrea Mele, from the ‘G. Natta’ Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano.
“Through an experimental approach based on the design of experiments (DoE) methodology and multivariate statistical analysis, we optimised key parameters such as temperature, pH, bentonite concentration and oil-to-water ratio. The results showed that washing with water at 75°C and pH 6 guarantees the best performance in terms of yield, productivity and environmental sustainability, minimising the production of waste and the carbon impacts of the process,” continued co-author Alberto Mannu, who recently transferred from the Politecnico di Milano to the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Brescia.
Thanks to the WORLD project, a mathematical model developed from the collected data yields predictions of equivalent CO2 emissions according to operating conditions, providing the recycling industry with a practical tool for optimising processes in line with environmental certification standards.
This scientifically validated approach marks a step forward in the transition towards an efficient and sustainable circular economy. It is said to form part of the key principles of green chemistry, open new prospects for sustainability and efficiency, and may be highly competitive from a technical/economic perspective in models of the circular economy.
The WORLD project was funded by the European Union under the H2020-MSCA program. The consortium, which is coordinated by Politecnico di Milano, includes the Universities in Burgos (Spain) and Dunkirk (France), LUT University (Finland), and the Universities of Sassari and Brescia, together with non-academic partners in Spain and Italy.
The honorees in our eighth year of the GreenBiz 30 Under 30 represent an array of geographies across most continents — from the United Arab Emirates to the United States.
The post The 2023 GreenBiz 30 Under 30 appeared first on Trellis.
The self-described “madcap” artist’s elaborately ornamented home evokes a whimsical fairytale dwelling.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article In ‘Electric Garden,’ Ricky Boscarino Leads a Tour of His Whimsical Handbuilt Home appeared first on Colossal.
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