Highlights on the 2022 CLIMACT Starting Grants (Part 1)

The seminar will be held online, with the usual Zoom link: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/63821341998

Irrigation practices and their impact on greenhouse gas emissions

Greenhouse gases (GHG), particularly nitrous oxide and methane, are produced by soil microorganisms. The production is related to microbial activity that occurs in the absence of oxygen. Therefore, waterlogged soils tend to produce higher fluxes of these GHG. In irrigated mountain grassland (such as in Wallis), automated irrigation that optimises water use and plant growth has been deployed as part of the ODILE project. By reducing soil water content, automated irrigation also has the potential to reduce GHG production from these grasslands.

For one growing season, we applied three levels of irrigation to a grassland and monitored GHG emissions and soil microbial activity. We found that automated irrigation optimised grass growth and minimised GHG emissions. This success story will be expanded in the future to more locations in Wallis.

Presented by Rizlan Bernier-Latmani I Full professor at the Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, ENAC, EPFL

Monitoring urban ecosystem services

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of urban built and green areas on carbon fluxes and local climate. Specifically, we aim to answer the following simple yet still open question: how should urban (green) areas be configured to minimise urban heat, maximise water recharge, and act as a carbon sink? Answering such a question is crucial for providing greener, healthier, and more sustainable environments for a growing urban population. As a first step, we deployed a flux-tower at the roof of the Géopolis building (UNIL). Initial monitoring results will be presented, as well as an outlook for future research.

Presented by Gabriele Manoli I Assistant professor at the Laboratory of Urban and Environmental Systems, ENAC, EPFL

Designing microbial communities for the environmental- and climate-friendly degradation of end-of-life bioplastics

Bioplastics have a great potential to replace petroleum-based plastics, moreover some of them show a higher biodegradability, forming a closed cycle whereby material used to produce them can be redirected back into soil biomass via microbial degradation.

The project aims to reduce the environmental persistence of undegraded bioplastics by directing the bioplastic-derived carbon stock for longer-term storage in form of soil microbial biomass. The preliminary and literature data reveal the existence of bacterial species that can enzymatically break-up chemical bonds in specific biopolymers and incorporate monomeric units of the polymer into their biomass.

Presented by Horst Pick I Senior scientist in chemistry and chemical engineering, SB & ENAC, EPFL

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