Despite occupying an area no greater than 8% of the earth’s surface, natural wetland ecosystems fulfill multiple ecological functions: 1. Soil formation and stabilization support, 2. Food, water, and plant biomass supply, 3. Cultural/recreational services, landscape, and ecological tourism, 4. Climate regulation, and 5. Carbon sequestration; with the last one being its most important function. They are subject to direct and indirect incident factors that affect plant productivity and the sequestration of carbon from the soil. Thus, the objective of this review was to identify the incident factors in the loss of area and carbon sequestration in marine, coastal, and continental wetlands that have had an impact on climate change in the last 14 years, globally. The methodology consisted of conducting a literature review in international databases, analyzing a sample of 134 research studies from 37 countries, organized in tables and figures supported by descriptive statistics and content analysis. Global results indicate that agriculture (25%), urbanization (16.8%), aquaculture (10.7%), and industry (7.6%) are incident factors that promote wetlands effective loss affecting continental wetlands more than coastal and marine ones. Regarding carbon sequestration, this is reduced by vegetation loss since GHG emissions raise because the soil is exposed to sun rays, increasing surface temperature and oxidation, and raising organic matter decomposition and the eutrophication phenomenon caused by the previous incident factors that generate wastewater rich in nutrients in their different activities, thus creating biomass and plant growth imbalances, either at the foliage or root levels and altering the accumulation of organic matter and carbon. It is possible to affirm in conclusion that the most affected types of wetlands are: mangroves (25.7%), lagoons (19.11%), and marine waters (11.7%). Furthermore, it was identified that agriculture has a greater incidence in the loss of wetlands, followed by urbanization and industry in a lower percentage.

Reverse osmosis is the leading technology for desalination of brackish water and seawater, important for solving the growing problems of fresh water supply. Thermal technologies such as multi-effect distillation and multi-stage flash distillation still comprise an important portion of the world’s desalination capacity. They consume substantial amounts of energy, generally obtained from fossil fuels, due to their low efficiency. Hybridization is a strategy that seeks to reduce the weaknesses and enhance the advantages of each element that makes it up. This paper introduces a review of the most recent publications on hybridizations between reverse osmosis and thermal desalination technologies, as well as their integration with renewable energies as a requirement to decarbonize desalination processes. Different configurations provide improvements in key elements of the system to reduce energy consumption, brine production, and contamination, while improving product quality and production rate. A combination of renewable sources and use of energy and water storage systems allow for improving the reliability of hybrid systems.

Thermal desalination is yet a reliable technology in the treatment of brackish water and seawater; however, its demanding high energy requirements have lagged it compared to other non-thermal technologies such as reverse osmosis. This review provides an outline of the development and trends of the three most commercially used thermal or phase change technologies worldwide: Multi Effect Distillation (MED), Multi Stage Flash (MSF), and Vapor Compression Distillation (VCD). First, state of water stress suffered by regions with little fresh water availability and existing desalination technologies that could become an alternative solution are shown. The most recent studies published for each commercial thermal technology are presented, focusing on optimizing the desalination process, improving efficiencies, and reducing energy demands. Then, an overview of the use of renewable energy and its potential for integration into both commercial and non-commercial desalination systems is shown. Finally, research trends and their orientation towards hybridization of technologies and use of renewable energies as a relevant alternative to the current problems of brackish water desalination are discussed. This reflective and updated review will help researchers to have a detailed state of the art of the subject and to have a starting point for their research, since current advances and trends on thermal desalination are shown.

Starch extraction from tubers and roots has long been an essential process, playing a crucial role in diverse industries ranging from alimentary to pharmacology. This review explores the different methods employed in starch extraction, including traditional techniques and the most innovative mechanical strategies. The methods show a good improvement in many aspects, such as an improvement in the efficiency of the process and an improvement in the yield, showing a value of 10.0–65.0% depending on the starch source. On the other hand, solvents such as NaOH are used in many mechanical processes for alkaline digestion to improve the extraction time. Ethanol and K₂S₂O₅ concentrations of 0.5% and 0.8% were used to prevent oxidation and modify some properties of the extracted starch. The use of many solvents has improved the optimization of the processes, providing the final extracted starch with more advantages and better quality. However, using enzymes such as cellulase in new and innovative ways has provided more advantages and a better efficiency and yield than the other methods. Each method has its advantages and challenges, highlighting the importance of understanding the diversity of different approaches and their impact on the yield, sustainability, environmental considerations, and quality of the extracted starch. As the world looks for more ecological approaches, this review shows the importance of critically evaluating the yield, efficiency, and environmental implications of the extraction methods, providing us with more ways of evaluating the methods used for starch extraction. The ecological impact is a crucial point when evaluating the innovation of a new extraction process, which is why methods such as ultrasound and pulsed electric-field-assisted techniques have been proposed. These methods have been presented as sustainable techniques called green technologies, offering more approaches and different advantages than the other methods. This review intends to investigate the complexities and considerations of starch extraction, providing a solid basis for decision-making regarding starch extraction. In a time where sustainability and product quality are crucial elements of industrial strategy formulation, an in-depth understanding of these methods becomes imperative to the development of responsible practices and efficiency in starch extraction.

Constructed or treatment wetlands (CWs) are a sustainable option to clean wastewater in the face of water pollution problems. Consequently, this study was aimed at reviewing and analyzing the use of CWs in Mexico. This involved types, sizes, and functionality in the removal of pollutants, as well as the main plant species that are used. Furthermore, 67 studies regarding CWs were found, which were classified according to the treatment area as microcosms, mesocosms, pilot scale, and full-scale at 18, 30, 25, and 27%, respectively. The most used types of CWs are those of subsurface flow (87%) versus free-water surface (13%), of which horizontal flow direction (58%) are the most common. Considering Full-Scale CWs, the pollutant removal reported for COD, BOD₅, TN, and TP oscillated between 50–90%, 60–90%, 30–90%, and 30–70%, respectively. Among the vegetation that is more used for Mexican CWs, 78 different species were detected; Typha and Cyperus hydrophytes species and ornamental flowering plants as Zantedeschia aethiopica., Canna genus., Heliconia genus, Hedychium coronarium, and Anturium andreanum species (plants with commercial value) were the most used plants. It was concluded that although there is an important advance in the use of ecotechnology as it is an attractive answer for decentralized wastewater treatment in Mexico, results revealed the need to migrate towards the use of CWs in full-scale size, in order to address real pollution problems. Thus, the further implementation of CWs in rural and urban regions with similar tropical and subtropical characteristics as in Mexico is suggested by the authors.

The aquaculture sector is experiencing remarkable growth, and its economic success depends mainly on an efficient production strategy and cost management, which are essential to guarantee the profitability and sustainability in this sector. The main objective of this study was to analyze the production costs and growth performance of Oreochromis niloticus in the most successful intensive production systems: Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS), Aquaponic System (AS), and Biofloc Technology (BFT). Data collection involved extensive searches in various academic and scientific databases, resulting in the selection of 52 published articles from 2008 to 2024, following a rigorous analysis of inclusion criteria. Results showed that the rentability of the aquaculture production systems for Tilapia production is underexplored in the scientific community, with less than 20% of articles reporting economic variables, while around 80% of them reported growing variables and water quality without considering economic variables. Costs associated with production and economic indicators must also be viewed as important indicators for aquaculture producers as a reference for the investment in RAS, AS, and BFT technologies. The research in the aquaculture field has seen a resurgence in studies on production, design, water quality, and the recent integration of technologies to increase production.