Achieving the Carbon-Neutral Production of Magnesia and Silica Products Using a HCl-Based Process in Serpentine Feedstock

Magnesia is mainly produced from carbonate sources (magnesite (MgCO3)), and seawater brines (MgCl2). The calcination of magnesite and the precipitation of brine using quicklime (CaO) are processes that have significant CO2 footprints, even before considering the burning of hydrocarbons required to meet the energy demand. There are also significant amounts of silica-based magnesia raw materials available worldwide, such as serpentine, dunite, and olivine. It is possible to produce synthetic MgO of high purity using a HCl-based process. HCl can be fully recycled and reused. If a carbon-neutral heating source such as electricity, synthetic fuel, or plasma is used for the pyrohydrolysis process, the result is the production of MgO via a carbon-neutral process.

The Relative Importance of Niche Process and Neutral Process in the Community Assembly of Subtropical Karst Forest: A Perspective on the Changes of Species Distribution Patterns at Different Scales

Background and aimsThe importance of niche processes and neutral processes to community assembly has been affirmed by most studies, although their relative importance needs to be determined in many systems. Moreover, as the spatial scale changes, the ecological processes that determine the community pattern may differ. We tested these ideas in subtropical karst forest in southwestern China in order to aid efforts of community reconstruction.MethodsTo test the importance of niche-based and neutral mechanisms we compared the fit six models to the observed SAD of the plot at three different sampling scales (10 m × 10 m, 20 m × 20 m, 50 m × 50 m). We also used spatial autocorrelation and distance-based Moran's eigenvector maps (dbMEM) combined with variation partitioning to further determine the relative contribution of the niche process and the neutral process under different sampling scales.ResultsThe neutral theoretical and statistical models fit the observed species abundance distribution curve best at each sampling scale. And variation partitioning showed that although the contribution of spatial structure was lower at larger sampling scales, it was still important, suggesting that neutral processes drive community structure at all sampling scales. In contrast, habitat filtering and interspecies competition may lead to a net weakening of the contribution of the niche process to the species abundance pattern of the community because they act in opposite directions. ConclusionsIn the restoration and reconstruction of local karst forest communities, environmental heterogeneity, inter-species relationships, and geographic spatial differences should all be considered.

Teaching with Microbes: Lessons from Fermentation during a Pandemic

As evidenced by classroom experiences in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, microbes are “good to teach with” not only within microbiology and related fields but across a variety of academic disciplines. Thinking with microbes is not a neutral process but one shaped by social, political, and economic processes.

Gendered and generational dynamics of domestic automations

Automation in the home is often presented as a value neutral process which makes life easier, more efficient and more productive. As recent research on the introduction of domestic technologies has revealed, these technologies are rarely value neutral and often work to reinforce gender dynamics in the household. This article examines the gendered and generational dimensions of how smart and automated technologies are being integrated into homes. Drawing upon 3 years research conducted between 2015 and 2017 in 11 households in Melbourne, Australia, we examine how households manage the storing and transfer of digital material and digital devices (images, videos and files from smartphones, tablets and laptops). Digital materials move within households and between different family members, and these processes are governed by often unstated rules, including changes in the life course. By examining the relationships between gendered and generational roles and automation in the household, we highlight the importance of smaller scale interpersonal relationships, which influences the negotiation of automation in emotionally laden contexts of families. Automated decision making may both support and challenge gendered norms around technology ownership and management.

Digitalization of Religion in Russia: Adjusting Preaching to New Formats, Channels and Platforms

Examining the “digital” as a challenge to one of the most traditional spheres of private and public life of Russians, the chapter is focused on institutional aspects of the religion digitalization in the theoretical frame of mediatization. Normatively, digitalization as such does not contradict the dogmatic teaching of any traditional for Russia religion, in Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism theologically it is being considered as a neutral process with good or bad consequences depending on human will. Therefore, functionally digital technologies are seen by religious institutions as a shaping force, one more facility (channel, tool, space, network) for effective preaching while the core of religious practices still remains based on non-mediated interpersonal communication.

Communication, the media and deliberation

Part of the processes analysed in chapters 6 and 7 concerns the communication and mediation of ideas and policies. This is not an innocent or neutral process, but something which can affect deeply the content of any field being communicated and mediated. This chapter examines two dimensions of these activities. One focus is on the media, including the range of communication fields affecting planning. Particular study is made of the role of the press centrally and locally. The impending demise of the local press in Britain is studied, noting the problematic effects for the public understanding of planning. The second focus is on the actual and potential roles of public deliberation and participation. It is argued that there is scope to improve this considerably, working on the foundation of extensive experience built up nationally and internationally over recent decades.

Qualitative Evaluation of the STOEMP Network in Ghent: An Intersectoral Approach to Make Healthy and Sustainable Food Available to All

The STOEMP network is, to our knowledge, one of the first initiatives to bring different sectors together in a municipality so as to increase accessibility to healthy and sustainable foods for all, with particular attention for the disadvantaged population. This qualitative study aimed to gain an in-depth insight into how the STOEMP network aims to reach its goal of making healthy, sustainable food available to everyone, through an intersectoral, collaborative process, exploring the facilitators and challenges of taking a systems-oriented approach to achieving this. Interviews were conducted among 15 stakeholders of the STOEMP network between March–July 2019 in Ghent (Belgium). Factors that facilitated the development and work of the network are reported, including having an external, neutral process manager, shared values, multisector engagement, enthusiasm, resources, and sense of ownership, as well as the barriers that were faced, such as time issues, uncertainty regarding continuation and funding, and discrepancy in visions. These issues reflect the strengths and challenges of taking a systems approach that aims to formulate solutions to widening access to healthy and sustainable foods. STOEMP would like to influence policy and thereby strengthen its impact, but needs further discussions to collectively formulate exact needs.

Mapping (Un)Common Space of Ethical Gradualism in the Era of the Anthropocene

One of the main objectives of this article is to clarify how – taking into account that mapping (un)common worlds into one (un)common space is not an axiologically neutral process – one can avoid the pitfalls of thinking by adopting “either or” thinking modes, i.e. one can avoid choosing either radical anthropocentrism or radical eco-centrism as a starting point when mapping space in the era of the Anthropocene. In this context, I raise a hypothesis that such a methodological shift is possible if one succeeds, by developing some moral capacities, in applying the principle of ethical gradualism into an interspecies context.