2020
3D printing: An emerging opportunity for soil science
The soil, at the interface between geosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere, is a particularly challenging object to study. The ecological and environmental impacts of soil functioning encourage soil scientists to exploit new technologies to generate new data or develop new research protocols. Among these technologies, 3D printing is a promising technology for improving the understanding of soils. The general principle of 3D printing is to build parts by adding materials layer by layer following a three-dimensional solid model. The 3D printing technology makes it possible to produce almost any geometrically complex shape or feature in a wide range of materials. Its interest lies in its ability to produce customized objects easily and rapidly in an endlessly reproducible 3D-arrangement. A large number of techniques and materials are available, which differ in their principles, advantages, and shortcomings.
In this article, we present the main challenges and opportunities of using 3D printing in soil science. To this end, we present a review of the literature from 2000 to 2019 to identify and understand recent applications of 3D printing in this field. We first describe applications such as the manufacturing of agricultural equipment and laboratory devices in soil science, the development of new construction materials, or the geotechnical characterization of soil as a construction base. However, none of these applications requires replication of the soil functional properties as opposed to applications that would be dedicated to improving the understanding of soil functioning. We detail here the challenges and opportunities of building soil models that reproduce its physical, chemical, biological properties, and its dynamics in contact with living organisms.
Plastic recycling in additive manufacturing: a systematic literature review and opportunities for the circular economy
Despite the remarkable and rapid progress made in the development of 3D printing in recent years, this technology is still underused in the field of soil science. In particular, very few applications focus on the functioning of the soil itself as an ecological compartment. Indeed, several technical limitations have still to be overcome. 3D printed objects must be biocompatible, chemically and mechanically stable, and must be spatially resolved on the microscale. Many efforts are being made by the 3D printing community to push these boundaries. This paves the way for the wider use of 3D printing in soil science. In the near future, the availability of additive manufactured soil models, with strict and controlled composition and structure, will provide researchers with an irreplaceable opportunity to conduct reproducible experiments and better understand soil functioning factors.
The rapid technical evolution of additive manufacturing (AM) enables a new path to a circular economy using distributed recycling and production. This concept of Distributed Recycling via Additive Manufacturing (DRAM) is related to the use of recycled materials by means of mechanical recycling process in the 3D printing process chain. This paper aims to examine the current advances on thermoplastic recycling processes via additive manufacturing technologies. After proposing a closed recycling global chain for DRAM, a systematic literature review including 92 papers from 2009 to 2019 was performed using the scopus, web of science and springer databases. This work examines main topics from six stages (recovery, preparation, compounding, feedstock, printing, quality) of the proposed DRAM chain. The results suggested that few works have been done for the recovery and preparation stages, while a great progress has already been done for the other stages in order to validate the technical feasibility, environmental impact, and economic viability. Potential research paths in the pre-treatment of recycled material at local level and printing chain phases were identified in order to connect the development of DRAM with the circular economy ambition at micro, meso and macro level. The development of each stage proposed using the open source approach is a relevant path to scale DRAM to reach the full technical potential as a centerpiece of the circular economy.
Challenges and trends in the valuation of ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems: a systematic revision
Climate change, the loss of ecosystems, the increase of poverty, the rise of marginality within rural communities and the decrease of food security, are global concerns in need of urgent attention. In this regard, an important number of studies focus on studying the way agro-ecosystems may face such challenges, as they provide ecosystem services (ES), which generate higher levels of resilience, adaptability, productivity and self-sufficiency. Hence, the valuation of ecosystem services plays a relevant role in the decision-making process toward the design and management of agro-ecosystems. Nevertheless, the assignment of value to these ES is usually done exclusively under the economic-monetary dimension, thus leaving other dimensions of value aside. Objective. To propose a hierarchical structure of Ecosystem Services assessment that integrates the value dimensions principles and criteria. Methodology. The method employed to define the hierarchical structure was a comprehensive literature review the fields of Agroecology and Ecological Economics, based on information search strategy and classification. 182 scientific publications were full paper screened within the period between 2000 and 2017. Implications. Outcomes of this work provide a foundation for further discussion of ES assessments and its potential application in agro-ecosystem and specific contexts. Conclusion. There is an important number of studies identifying the significance of ES in agroecosystems from different dimensions. Nevertheless, such works do not associate their importance with the value of such services. Therefore, it remains a challenge for research projects to achieve relating their contributions to their multidimensional valuation.
2019
Application of Decision-Making Methods in Smart City Projects: A Systematic Literature Review
In the current era, Smart City projects have to deal with big social, ecological, and technological challenges such as digitalization, pollution, democratic aspirations, more security, etc. The higher involvement of multi-stakeholders in the different phases of the projects is one strategy, enabling a variety of perspectives to be considered and thus to develop a shared vision of the city. Paradoxically, the dynamic and multiple natures of stakeholders appear to be a source of complication and uncertainty in the decision-making process. This study aims to provide a better understanding of this paradox and uses a systematic literature review methodology, as an original big data analysis, in order to investigate decision-making methods, enabling communication between multi-stakeholders, especially the involvement of citizens, into various phases of Smart City projects. Beginning with 606 papers, a bibliometric process led to the selection of 76 of these articles. Detailed analysis of these documents generated a general map for applying different decision-making methods at various levels of decision and implementation phases
2018
Trends in design of distributed energy systems using hydrogen as energy vector: A systematic literature review
Currently, a significant transformation for energy systems has emerged as a result of the trend to develop an energy framework without fossil fuel reliance, the concerns about climate change and air quality, and the need to provide electricity to around of 17% of world population who lacks the service. Accordingly, the deployment of power plants located close to end-users and including multiple energy sources and carriers, along with the growing share of renewable energies, have suggested changes in the energy sector. Despite their potential capabilities, the design of distributed energy systems (DES) is a complex problem due to the simultaneous goals and constraints that need to be considered, as well as to the high context dependence of this kind of projects. For these reasons, in this work a systematic literature review of DES including hydrogen as energy vector, was made analyzing 106 research papers published between the years 2000–2018, and extracted from Scopus® and Web of Science databases. The aim was to identify how hydrogen is employed (technologies, uses) and the criteria that are evaluated (economic, technical, social and environmental) when these systems are designed, planned and/or operated. The results constitute a baseline information covering the type of technologies, equipment sizes and hydrogen applications, that could be valuable for the preliminary stages of research or project planning of DES involving hydrogen. Furthermore, other factors have also been identified, such as the focus on techno-economic issues, and the lack of considering socio/political aspects and the uncertainty about input data like weather conditions, energy prices and demands. Additionally, a more integrated approach is needed including all the hydrogen supply chain stages and project stakeholders, to tackle issues like safety of the energy systems that could produce consumer rejections.
2017
Key challenges and requirements for sustainable and industrialized biorefinery supply chain design and management A bibliographic analysis
Currently, a significant transformation for energy systems has emerged as a result of the trend to develop an energy framework without fossil fuel reliance, the concerns about climate change and air quality, and the need to provide electricity to around of 17% of world population who lacks the service. Accordingly, the deployment of power plants located close to end-users and including multiple energy sources and carriers, along with the growing share of renewable energies, have suggested changes in the energy sector. Despite their potential capabilities, the design of distributed energy systems (DES) is a complex problem due to the simultaneous goals and constraints that need to be considered, as well as to the high context dependence of this kind of projects. For these reasons, in this work a systematic literature review of DES including hydrogen as energy vector, was made analyzing 106 research papers published between the years 2000–2018, and extracted from Scopus® and Web of Science databases. The aim was to identify how hydrogen is employed (technologies, uses) and the criteria that are evaluated (economic, technical, social and environmental) when these systems are designed, planned and/or operated. The results constitute a baseline information covering the type of technologies, equipment sizes and hydrogen applications, that could be valuable for the preliminary stages of research or project planning of DES involving hydrogen. Furthermore, other factors have also been identified, such as the focus on techno-economic issues, and the lack of considering socio/political aspects and the uncertainty about input data like weather conditions, energy prices and demands. Additionally, a more integrated approach is needed including all the hydrogen supply chain stages and project stakeholders, to tackle issues like safety of the energy systems that could produce consumer rejections.
2016
Creativity support systems: A systematic mapping study
As part of the innovation process, creativity has become a critical dimension for organizations that wish to maintain their competitiveness. In order to foster the creativity potential within organizations, processes and systems need to be designed and integrated so that all stakeholders can participate in a coordinated and timely fashion, and despite the various dispersion levels that may separate them. Although many tools are already available on the market or being tested, a significant gap still exists between those products and the creativity process that they are supposed to support. To truly respond to the need for creativity in a distributed environment, it is suggested that the entire process be re-examined and understood so that future Creativity Support Systems can fulfil real needs. This paper is a systematic mapping study of the literature on existing digital tools dedicated to creativity. A thorough examination of over 49 digital tools is carried out, providing the action channel for emerging Creativity Support Systems that would better support collaboration diversity throughout the creative process.