First Report of Fusarium asiaticum Causing Stem Rot of Ligusticum chuanxiong in China.

Ligusticum chuanxiong (known as Chuanxiong in China) is a traditional edible-medicinal herb, which has been playing important roles in fighting against COVID-19 (Ma et al. 2020). In March 2021, we investigated stem rot of Chuanxiong in six adjacent fields (~100 ha) in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. The disease incidence was above 5% in each field. Symptomatic plants showed stem rot, watersoaked lesions, and blackening with white hyphae present on the stems. Twelve symptomatic Chuanxiong plants (2 plants/field) were sampled. Diseased tissues from the margins of necrotic lesions were surface sterilized in 75% ethanol for 45 s, and 2% NaClO for 5 min. Samples were then rinsed three times in sterile distilled water and cultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 25ºC for 72 h. Fourteen fungal cultures were isolated from 18 diseased tissues, of which eight monosporic isolates showed uniform characteristics. The eight fungal isolates showed fluffy white aerial mycelia and produced yellow pigments with age. Mung bean broth was used to induce sporulation. Macroconidia were sickle-shaped, slender, 3- to 5-septate, and averaged 50 to 70 µm in length. Based on morphological features of colonies and conidia, the isolates were tentatively identified as Fusarium spp. (Leslie and Summerell 2006). To identify the species, the partial translation elongation factor 1 alpha (TEF1-α) gene was amplified and sequenced (O'Donnell et al. 1998). TEF1-α sequences of LCSR01, LCSR02 and LCSR05 isolates (GenBank nos. MZ169386, MZ169388 and MZ169387) were 100%, 99.72% and 99.86% identical to that of F. asiaticum strain NRRL 26156, respectively. The phylogenetic tree based on TEF1-α sequences showed these isolates clustered with F. asiaticum using Neighbor-Joining algorithm. Furthermore, these isolates were identified using the specific primer pair Fg16 F/R (Nicholson et al. 1998). The results showed these isolates (GenBank nos. MZ164938, MZ164939 and MZ164940) were 100% identical to F. asiaticum NRRL 26156. Pathogenicity test of the isolate LCSR01 was conducted on Chuanxiong. After wounding Chuanxiong stalks and rhizomes with a sterile needle, the wounds were inoculated with mycelia PDA plugs. A total of 30 Chuanxiong rhizomes and stalks were inoculated with mycelia PDA plugs, and five mock-inoculated Chuanxiong rhizomes and stalks served as controls. After inoculation, the stalks and rhizomes were kept in a moist chamber at 25°C in the dark. At 8 days post inoculation (dpi), all inoculated stalks and rhizomes exhibited water-soaked and blackened lesions. At 10 dpi, the stalks turned soft and decayed, and abundant hyphae grew on the exterior of infected plants, similar to those observed in the field. No disease symptoms were observed on the control plants. The pathogen was re-isolated from the inoculated tissues and the identity was confirmed as described above. Ten fungal cultures were re-isolated from the 10 inoculated tissues, of which nine fungal cultures were F. asiaticum, fulfilling Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. asiaticum causing stem rot of Chuanxiong in China. Chuanxiong has been cultivated in rotation with rice over multiple years. This rotation may have played a role in the increase in inoculum density in soil and stem rot epidemics in Chuanxiong. Diseased Chuanxiong may be contaminated with the mycotoxins produced by F. asciaticum, 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol or nivalenol, which may deleteriously affect human health. Therefore, crop rotations should be considered carefully to reduce disease impacts.

Wind turbine blade recycling: An evaluation of the European market potential for recycled composite materials.

The limited literature on the cost of various recycling methodologies for thermoset composites sets the background of this work, focusing mainly on the identification of an upper and lower economic value of glass fibre recovered from wind turbine blades recycling. The study briefly reviews the materials used by various original equipment manufacturers (OEM) for wind turbine blades. Successively, it provides an overview of the various recycling methods with interest in recovered materials, mechanical and physical properties, which are used, for estimating a maximum expected value. All recycling processes show a negative effect on mechanical properties with strength loss between 30% and 60%. Process energy demands are reviewed, and considerations are set forward to estimate the minimum cost of operating mechanical, pyrolysis and fluidized bed plants in Germany. Ultimately, current applications of recovered material and related markets are explored. Through interviews and secondary data, it is highlighted that despite the lower mechanical properties, grinded material finds applications in traditional processes, cement kilns and new products. It is also found that pyrolysed fibres can be used as insulation material and oils can be easy to distil. Pyrolysis is a relatively expensive process, thereby, distillation of the oils and energy recovery are necessary enablers towards commercial viability. Mechanically grinded material presents the lowest process cost with ca. €90/tonne, thus, below landfilling and incineration and falling within the attention of private businesses. Numerous markets are available for recovered materials from wind turbine blades, primarily for grinded products and secondly for pyrolysed glass fibre.

Transporting offshore wind power in the Western Gulf of Mexico: retrofitting existing assets for power transmission via green hydrogen-a review.

The USA recently announced it is planning on deploying 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 (national goal for offshore wind). Part of this development will be in the Gulf of Mexico, which has both wind potential and pre-existing oil and gas pipelines, only a portion of which is currently being used. Examining whether these assets can be used to economically transport power back from future Gulf wind farms should be a first step for developers. The question of whether laying new high-voltage direct current submarine cable versus repurposing pipeline to transport wind power will be examined. This paper looks at the hydrogen market and its use to transport wind power, what it would take to retrofit pipeline to carry hydrogen, a cost analysis given available data, and a look at potential policy support. There is a need to assess pipelines individually; however, retrofitting existing infrastructure should be considered an alternative to laying new submarine transmission cables. Additionally, alleviating the issue of oil and gas stranded assets through pipeline reuse may provide political support in hastening the energy transition.

Using existing cold stores as thermal energy storage.

The industrial cold stores can act as thermal energy stores that can store the energy as passive thermal energy. The cold stores have intentions to contribute with flexible consumption but need some knowledge about the potential. By cooling the cold stores and the goods further down when the energy is cheaper, there is a potential of an attractive business case, especially if the elspot price can be predicted further into the future. The cold stores can provide flexibility by load shifting to the energy grid by moving their extensive energy use to off-peak hours. To fulfill the potential, it is necessary to measure some data in the cold stores to be able to control them and ensure food safety. A case study was tested and revealed that by cooling further in periods of low-cost electricity could results in 30% savings. With proper elspot price forecasting this percentage could reach up to 40%. Theoretically, by utilizing the full capacity of cold stores in Denmark for thermal energy storage, it is possible to use 2% of the average wind electricity production.

A multi-criteria linear model on carbon footprint in vertical farms and its relation to energy demand and operational costs.

Operational research is the scientific discipline - widespread in sciences like engineering, economics, sociology, politics - that applies advanced analytical methods to assist in decision-making. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the value of such methods to the research of the carbon footprint produced by vertical farms, in specific its decrease in regard to the pre- and post-operational energy consumption and cost that occurs throughout their lifecycle. A logistic structure was designed, dependent on specific parameters, such as the space, location, and fuel of the hydroponic unit that change during the research. This way, multiple possible scenarios could be studied. The results of each scenario were analysed and compared via a linear multi-criteria model. The results demonstrated strong dependencies (and softer links) between particular parameters, such as the choice of space and the food miles required for the product.

Hydroponics: are we moving towards that direction only because of the environment? A discussion on forecasting and a systems review.

During the evolution of the human, agriculture and land utilization was inevitably connected with survival in nature. Human activity was not only restricted to the production of agricultural products but also extended into many other sectors, such as the production of several industrial-made products, mining, and usage of fossil fuels as a standard method of generating electricity. However, the intense urbanization phenomenon ultimately caused, during the last few decades, the degradation of our natural environment. As a result, the quality (and quantity) of produced food we consume has significantly decreased. The need for the evolution of alternative methods of cultivation is constant and always a hot topic, especially in order to confront the multiple problems that conventional agriculture has. Hydroponics, an innovative cultivation method, comes to solve many of these problems.

Energy demand analysis via small scale hydroponic systems in suburban areas - An integrated energy-food nexus solution.

The study is a qualitative approach and looks into new ways for the effective energy management of a wind farm (WF) operation in a suburban or near-urban environment in order the generated electricity to be utilised for hydroponic farming purposes as well. Since soilless hydroponic indoor systems gain more and more attention one basic goal, among others, is to take advantage of this not typical electricity demand and by managing it, offering to the grid a less fluctuating electricity generation signal. In this paper, a hybrid business model is presented where the Distributed Energy Resources (DER) producer is participating in the electricity markets under competitive processes (spot market, real-time markets etc.) and at the same time acts as a retailer offering - based on the demand - to the hydroponic units for their mass deployment in an area, putting forward an integrated energy-food nexus approach.

Technoeconomic evaluation of urban plant factories: The case of basil (Ocimum basilicum).

Greece is currently in a turmoil, experiencing the effects of more than half a decade of economic crisis. Public health and welfare, jobs and wages, labor market concerning employment as long as employability of the work force, inequality, life satisfaction and housing, tourism and environment, economic and energy poverty are heavily impacted by Greece's disadvantageous economic situation. Real estate market could not have gotten away from the financial commotion, being currently in a halt after years of rapid decline. Fired from the present situation of Greece's real estate market, the present study is concerned with the investigation of alternative ways to support the local real estate market. With respect to sustainable development's ethics, the development, implementation, installation and operation of small, inexpensive plant factories within the urban environment is evaluated. Installations such are those, will encourage the penetration of a new market for the untapped buildings' resource, advancing new investing opportunities, promoting economic growth and productivity while creating a new labor market. The study will rely on the basic principles of Life Cycle Costing Assessment and develop a methodology upon which different scenarios will be evaluated against the "Do Nothing" scenario.