The use of pyrolysis-based wood conservation is a good alternative for the use of fossil-based creosotes. In this life cycle assessment (LCA) the environmental impact of a biorefinery approach of pyrolysis oil from forestry residues or maize digestate and its application as wood modification treatment is determined. The damage to ecosystems, damage to human health and the increased resource scarcity is studied using an attributional LCA and a sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. Based on data from an existing pyrolysis plant, it is shown that pyrolysis oil from maize digestate has a significantly higher environmental impact than pyrolysis oil from forestry residues. This is due to a lower energetic yield and a higher ash content in the feedstock. The biorefinery approach of using pyrolytic sugars as wood modification treatment shows significantly lower environmental impacts than the fossil-based creosotes, regardless of the selected end of life scenario, due to a lower toxicity and by a reduction of 82% of greenhouse gases. This shows that in addition to energy production, pyrolysis oil can be applied as biobased chemicals and materials, developing a sustainable platform based on pyrolysis oil.

Anaerobic digestion of animal manure is a potential bioenergy resource that avoids greenhouse gas emissions. However, the conventional approach is to use continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) with hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of greater than 30 d. Reactors with biomass retention were investigated in this study in order to increase the efficiency of the digestion process. Filtered pig slurry was used as a substrate in an expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor and fixed-bed (FB) reactor. The highest degradation efficiency (η_COD) and methane yield (MY) relative to the chemical oxygen demand (COD) were observed at the minimum loading rates, with MY = 262 L/kg_COD and η_COD = 73% for the FB reactor and MY = 292 L/kg_COD and η_COD = 76% for the EGSB reactor. The highest daily methane production rate (MPR) was observed at the maximum loading rate, with MPR = 3.00 m³/m³/d at HRT = 2 d for the FB reactor and MPR = 2.16 m³/m³/d at HRT = 3 d for the EGSB reactor. For both reactors, a reduction in HRT was possible compared to conventionally driven CSTRs, with the EGSB reactor offering a higher methane yield and production rate at a shorter HRT.

Exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) can cause detrimental health effects. The consumption of contaminated food is viewed as a major exposure pathway for humans, but the relationship between agriculture and PFASs has not been investigated thoroughly, and it is becoming a pressing issue since health advisories are continuously being reassessed. This semi-systematic literature review connects the release, environmental fate, and agriculture uptake of PFASs to enhance comprehension and identify knowledge gaps which limit accurate risk assessment. It focuses on the heavily agricultural state of Minnesota, USA, which is representative of the large Midwestern US Corn Belt in terms of agricultural activities, because PFASs have been monitored in Minnesota since the beginning of the 21st century. PFAS contamination is a complex issue due to the over 14,000 individual PFAS compounds which have unique chemical properties that interact differently with air, water, soil, and biological systems. Moreover, the lack of field studies and monitoring of agricultural sites makes accurate risk assessments challenging. Researchers, policymakers, and farmers must work closely together to reduce the risk of PFAS exposure as the understanding of their potential health effects increases and legacy PFASs are displaced with shorter fluorinated replacements.

Exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) can cause detrimental health effects. The consumption of contaminated food is viewed as the major exposure pathway for humans, but the relationship between agriculture and PFAS has not been investigated thoroughly, which becomes a pressing issue since health advisories are continuously being reassessed. This review connects the release, environmental fate and agriculture uptake of PFASs to enhance comprehension and identify knowledge gaps which limit accurate risk assessment. It focuses on the heavily agricultural state of Minnesota, USA, which is representative of the large Midwestern US corn-belt in terms of agricultural activities and because PFASs are being monitored in Minnesota since the beginning of the 21st century. PFAS contamination is a complex issue due to the over 14,000 individual PFAS compounds which have unique chemical properties that interact differently with air, water, soil, and biological systems. Moreover, the lack of field studies and monitoring of agricultural sites makes accurate risk assessments challenging. Researchers, policymakers and farmers must work closely together to reduce the risk of PFASs exposure as the understanding of the potential health effects increases and legacy PFASs are displaced with shorter fluorinated replacements.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are persistent contaminants detected in groundwater at closed municipal landfills in rural Minnesota, where legacy waste continues to release PFASs decades after closure. In this setting, contaminated groundwater used for irrigation creates a direct pathway for PFAS transfer into the food supply. This study evaluates remediation at the groundwater–irrigation interface through a unified techno-economic assessment comparing granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption and phytoremediation with Festuca rubra (F. rubra). Design influent concentrations were set at the 90th percentile (P90) of five representative PFASs measured in rural Minnesota landfill groundwater. Adsorption was simulated using a pore and surface diffusion model for single-bed and lead–lag configurations under fouling and non-fouling conditions. Phytoremediation was modeled using three complementary scenarios: a greenhouse-derived upper bound, a bioconcentration factor (BCF)-derived mechanistic case, and a decomposed scaling formulation. Unit costs were anchored to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency 2023 guidance and University of Minnesota (UMN) Extension data. Adsorption achieved compliance within weeks at $5.24–$8.00 m⁻³; phytoremediation showed lower per-volume cost ($0.43 m⁻³) but required centuries to multi-millennial timescales for long-chain PFASs. Cumulative cost was dominated by treatment duration rather than per-volume intensity, with adsorption more cost-effective when compliance timeframes are constrained. These findings highlight that remediation feasibility depends on alignment between treatment timescale and risk-management objectives rather than levelized cost alone.

Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are potential sites for decentralized water electrolysis because they combine water availability, operational infrastructure, and local integration options for electrolysis coproducts. This review evaluates three downstream pathways for electrolytically produced gaseous hydrogen (H₂): onsite energetic use, trailer-based compressed gaseous H₂ export, and pipeline-based delivery. The system boundary extends from the H₂ handover point downstream of the electrolyzer to the WWTP-side utilization or transfer interface. A process-chain-based techno-economic synthesis identifies pathway-specific technical functions, interfaces, and cost-relevant components, including gas conditioning, compression, storage, reconversion, transport infrastructure, metering, control, and safety systems. For onsite use, PEMFC operation is associated with flexible, electricity-oriented reconversion, whereas the investigated modular H₂ CHP configuration represents comparatively steady cogeneration with simultaneous electricity and heat supply. For trailer-based export, compression, storage configuration, payload, utilization, and transport distance are key technical and economic drivers. For pipeline delivery, throughput, distance, pressure management, and pipeline sizing determine system performance. A directly comparable transport study indicates that trailer-based delivery is favored at lower H₂ throughputs, whereas pipeline transport becomes more favorable at higher throughputs, with the crossover strongly dependent on transport distance. The synthesis supports site-specific assessment of gaseous H₂ utilization pathways in WWTPs.