The conversion of the energy supply to renewable sources (wind, photovoltaics) will increase the volatility in electricity generation in the future. In order to ensure a balanced power balance in the power grid, storage is required - not only for a short time, but also seasonally. The bidirectional coupling of existing energy infrastructure with the power grid can help here by using the electricity in electrolysis systems to produce hydrogen. The hydrogen can be mixed with natural gas in the existing infrastructure (gas storage, pipelines) to a limited extent or converted directly to methane in a gas-catalytic reaction, methanation, with carbon dioxide and/or carbon monoxide. By using the natural gas infrastructure, the electricity grids are relieved and renewable energies can also be stored over long periods of time. Another advantage of this technology, known as “Power-to-Gas”, is that the methane produced in this way represents a sink for CO₂ emissions, as it replaces fossil sources and CO₂ is thus fed into a closed cycle.

Research in the field of Power-to-Gas technology is currently addressing technological advances both in the field of electrolysis and for the subsequent methanation, in particular to reduce investment costs. In the field of methanation, load-flexible processes are to be developed that are adapted to the fluctuating supply of hydrogen. The profitability of the Power-to-Gas process chain can be increased through synergistic integration into existing industrial processes. For example, an integrated smelting works offers a promising infrastructural environment, since, on the one hand, process gases containing carbon are produced in large quantities and, on the other hand, the oxygen as a by-product from the water electrolysis can be used directly. Such concepts suggest an economic application of Power-to-Gas technology in the near future.

Horticulture is a widespread activity in family farming in the Transamazonian region—Pará, with emphasis on production aimed at the family’s own consumption. The lettuce cultivar Vanda (Lactuca sativa L.) represents a significant part of this production, which prioritizes the use of internal labor. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the development of lettuce CV Vanda grown in beds using organic compost and chemical fertilization (NPK). The criteria considered to evaluate this performance were: Root system development, plant height and total fresh mass production. The best averages in relation to root development occurred in the plots cultivated with organic compost in the proportion of 5 kg/m², due to its characteristics as a fertilizer and soil conditioner. The cultivation with the use of NPK provided the best averages in relation to the production of total fresh mass and plant height, results that were mainly attributed to the extra supply of nitrogen in the covering fertilization, which consisted in the addition of 10 g urea per square meter via soil. Statistical analysis showed no statistically significant difference regarding plant height for both treatments. And in relation to root development, the difference was statistically significant.

The cambucizeiro (Campomanesia phaea), belonging to the Myrtaceae family, is a native plant of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The description of the characteristics of the cambucizeiro fruits is important to support new genetic improvement works and its commercial exploitation, especially regarding the processing of the fruit. The present work aimed to perform the morphological and chemical characterization of the cambucizeiro fruits. Fifty-eight accessions, from different locations in the Atlantic Forest and Serra do Mar in the state of São Paulo, were collected, propagated by seeds and one specimen of each accessory is at the Seedling Production Center in São Bento do Sapucaí (SP). Forty fruits from each access were collected in May and submitted to the following analyses: longitudinal and transversal diameter, total fruit fresh mass, number and mass of seeds, total soluble solids, % citric acid, ratio, firmness, vitamin C and coloration. Fruit conformation varies intensely among accessions. The number of seeds is not a good indicator for the relation with the fruit mass, but the mass of one thousand seeds. Some accessions have high soluble solids content, but, on the other hand, the vast majority have fruits with high acidity. Cambuci is an excellent source of vitamin C. The fruits of the accessions are green in color, persisting an opaque shade when ripe.

The effects of different storage temperatures (2, 4 and 8 ℃) and their corresponding optimal heat treatment conditions on the quality, physiological and biochemical indexes of Cucumber Fruits during storage were studied by using the quadratic regression orthogonal rotation combination design. The effects of different storage temperatures (2, 4 and 8 ℃) and their corresponding optimal heat treatment conditions on the chilling injury, hardness, weightlessness rate, polyphenol oxidase (PPO), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), H₂O₂, super oxygen anion free radical (O^2-), ASA and GSH were determined. The results showed that heat treatment could inhibit chilling injury, while heat treatment combined with 4 ℃ low temperature storage could effectively inhibit the decline of fruit hardness and weight loss rate, delay the increase of peroxidase (POD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities, inhibit the increase of H₂O₂ and superoxide anion free radical O^2- and significantly inhibit the browning of cucumber, delay the decline of ascorbic acid and maintain the content of GSH, it was beneficial to adjust the balance of active oxygen system. The results showed that under the storage condition of 4 ℃, the hot water treatment condition of cucumber was 39.4 ℃ and 24.3 min, which could delay the senescence of cucumber fruit and better maintain the quality of cucumber fruit.

In this paper silver nanoparticles (NPs) which are synthesized by a simple plasma arc discharge method, that is a kind of electrochemical methods, are examined. The method is very simple and silver NPs are obtained very fast by means of two polished silver plates and electrochemical cell. The effects of changing some terms of the experiment including using Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), temperature and the medium of experiment on oxygen percent and crystalline structure of silver NPs have been studied by transmission electron microscopy, UV-visible spectrophotometery, and X-ray diffraction. Water medium gets larger nanoparticles with less oxygen content compare to air medium. The size of synthesized nanoparticles become smaller and they also become more spherical by using H₂O₂ in air medium. In water medium, the size and concentration of the silver crystallite increase by temperature growth and adding H₂O₂  respectively. 

The importance of improving industrial transformation processes for more efficient ones is part of the current challenges. Specifically, the development of more efficient processes in the production of biofuels, where the reaction and separation processes can be intensified, is of great interest to reduce the energy consumption associated with the process. In the case of Biodiesel, the process is defined by a chemical reaction and by the components associated to the process, where the thermochemical study seeks to develop calculations for the subsequent understanding of the reaction and purification process. Thus, the analysis of the mixture of the components using the process simulator Aspen Plus V9^® unravels the thermochemical study. The UNIFAC-DMD thermodynamic method was used to estimate the binary equilibrium parameters of the reagents using the simulator. The analyzed aspects present the behavior of the components in different temperature conditions, the azeotropic behavior and the determined thermochemical conditions.