South Dakota State University

About: South Dakota State University is a education organization based out in Brookings, South Dakota, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Virus. The organization has 5700 authors who have published 10456 publications receiving 280551 citations. The organization is also known as: SDSU.

Review of risks to communities from shale energy development.

Abstract: Although shale energy development can bring infusions of money and jobs to local communities, an array of risks to community-level assets and institutions is also possible. Sociological research dating back to the 1970s links rapid oil and gas development with overburdened municipal services, upended social and cultural patterns, and volatile economic growth. Research on technological risk has demonstrated communities can come to be associated with pollution and contamination, resulting in out-migration, declining amenity-led development, and decreased financial investment. Emerging shale energy case studies in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and Texas show a similar, although nuanced, picture of these concerns. Yet, little data exists on the prevalence or magnitude of these risks in the current context of shale gas development. The existing research has largely remained case-based in nature, has not been synthesized across various disciplines, and has not been updated to account for various social a...

Cultivar × Environment Interactions in Switchgrass

Abstract: Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a widely adapted warm-season perennial that has potential as a bioenergy feedstock. The objectives of this study were to estimate the effect of harvest date on switchgrass cultivars at two locations in the north central USA and to determine the relative importance of cultivar x environment interactions for agronomic and biofuel traits of switchgrass. Six switchgrass cultivars were grown in southern Wisconsin and eastern South Dakota for 4 yr and harvested each year at three harvest dates (August, September, and October). Cultivars differed widely in biomass yield, but interacted with all environmental factors. Biomass yield did not respond consistently to harvest date, varying with cultivar, location, and year. Despite these interactions, cultivar rankings for biomass yield was consistent across harvest dates and years, but not locations. There was some preferential adaptation to either Wisconsin or South Dakota, related to longitude of the original germplasm collection site, also reflected by ground cover data. Reduced stands and biomass yields for the August harvest date in later years suggested that harvests delayed to late summer or early autumn may be beneficial in the long term. Mean dry matter, forage fiber, and lignin concentrations also varied among cultivars, consistently across locations and years. These three traits all increased with later harvest consistently across locations and years, but inconsistently among cultivars. It should be possible, through selection and breeding, to develop switchgrass germplasm with. increased fiber and decreased lignin and ash, increasing the availability of fermentable sugars and decreasing the unfermentable and/or incombustible residues.

Dye-sensitized solar cells based on low cost nanoscale carbon/TiO 2 composite counter electrode

Abstract: A dye-sensitized solar cell based on low cost nanoscale carbon/TiO2 composite counter electrode was fabricated and its photovoltaic performance (η = 5.5%, AM 1.5, 91.5 mW cm−2) was comparable to that from platinum counter-electrode devices (η = 6.4%, AM 1.5, 91.5 mW cm−2) made at similar conditions.