scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Author

Karl R. Rábago

Other affiliations: Environmental Defense Fund
Bio: Karl R. Rábago is an academic researcher from Pace University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Renewable energy & Photovoltaic system. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 14 publications receiving 1210 citations. Previous affiliations of Karl R. Rábago include Environmental Defense Fund.

Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The role of life cycle assessment (LCA) is discussed in this paper, a tool used for measuring environmental sustainability and identifying environmental performance-improvement objectives, and an overview of applications of LCA to PLA production and how they are utilized.

962 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: To answer the question: ‘‘What makes NatureWorks PLA a more sustainable polymer?’’ the article addresses applications and marketing of PLA, costs, today’s and future renewable raw material resources, reduction of fossil fuels and the associated emissions of green house gases, waste management options, and manufacturing processes.
Abstract: Cargill Dow LLC produces a new packaging and fiber material – polylactide (PLA) – from annually renewable resources. The presence of the company and the PLA polymer on the industrial scene signals the emergence of a new model for industrial development in the twenty-first century. During the nineteenth century people relied predominantly on a wide range of natural materials, such as wood, hides, wool and starch, to provide the essentials of then-modern life. This picture changed significantly during the twentieth century, when people in developed countries experiencing the industrial revolution became almost totally dependent on fossil materials to produce the fuels, polymers and chemicals required for modern life. With exponential growth in the demand for fossil raw materials in both developing and developed countries today, the question increasingly posed is how we will derive the materials we will need in the twenty-first century. An increasingly broad range of experts and analysts have concluded that new – or in some very important ways, ‘‘old’’ – raw materials will become the foundation of packaging materials and fibers in a world challenged by the interrelated problems of depletion of fossil resources and of proliferation of global climate changing emissions, pollutants and solid wastes. A consensus remains that fossil resources will be required and used for quite some time, but it is also hardly doubted that maintaining and enhancing quality of life for a growing populationaround theglobe compels the developmentofnew technologies to produce packaging materials and fibers from new ‘‘old’’ resources like traditional agricultural crops (e.g., corn, wheat, sugar beets) and other grown biomass materials. It is in this new and renewed reality of renewable rawmaterials reliance that Cargill Dow LLC emerges. The objective of this paper is to answer the question: ‘‘What makes NatureWorks PLA a more sustainable polymer?’’ To answer this question the article addresses applications and marketing of PLA, costs, today’s and future renewable raw material resources, reduction of fossil fuels and the associated emissions of green house gases, waste management options, and manufacturing processes.

255 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the premium to transform a low-cost, but intermittent solar kWh into a firm, effectively dispatchable kWh, and show that a fundamental ingredient of minimizing this premium is to optimally overbuild and, as necessary and appropriate, curtail PV generation.

87 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a value-based electricity compensation mechanism based on value of solar (VOS) and load shaping tariffs is proposed to enable very high solar penetration and the displacement of conventional power generation.

41 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The voluntary Green-e program as mentioned in this paper will certify environmentally sound green power products and help create customer confidence in these offerings through a code of conduct, disclosure provisions and public education, which will offer customers a choice in their electricity supply.

11 citations


Cited by
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An updated evaluation of potential target structures using similar selection methodology, and an overview of the technology developments that led to the inclusion of a given compound are presented.

3,536 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work focuses on the characterization of the phytochemical components of Lactide ROP and their role in the regulation of cell reprograming.
Abstract: 23 Stereocontrol of Lactide ROP 6164 231 Isotactic Polylactides 6164 232 Syndiotactic Polylactides 6166 233 Heterotactic Polylactides 6166 3 Anionic Polymerization 6166 4 Nucleophilic Polymerization 6168 41 Mechanistic Considerations 6168 42 Catalysts 6169 421 Enzymes 6169 422 Organocatalysts 6169 43 Stereocontrol of Lactide ROP 6170 44 Depolymerization 6170 5 Cationic Polymerization 6170 6 Conclusion and Perspectives 6171 7 Acknowledgments 6173 8 References and Notes 6173

2,014 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Information on current PLA market, brief account on recent developments in the synthesis of lactic acid (monomer of PLA) through biological route, PLA synthesis, unique material properties of PLA and modification of those by making copolymers and composites, PLA degradation and its wide spectrum applications are provided.

1,988 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the advantages, limitations, production methods, and applications of unmodified poly(lactic acid) or polylactide (PLA) are discussed, as well as various bulk and surface modification strategies used to date.

1,782 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
10 Aug 2012-Science
TL;DR: The opportunities for diverting existing residual biomass—the by-products of present agricultural and food-processing streams—to this end are highlighted.
Abstract: Most of the carbon-based compounds currently manufactured by the chemical industry are derived from petroleum. The rising cost and dwindling supply of oil have been focusing attention on possible routes to making chemicals, fuels, and solvents from biomass instead. In this context, many recent studies have assessed the relative merits of applying different dedicated crops to chemical production. Here, we highlight the opportunities for diverting existing residual biomass--the by-products of present agricultural and food-processing streams--to this end.

1,693 citations