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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of inorganic analysis techniques for the discrimination of document (multipurpose office) paper. A set of 25 different multipurpose office papers from the European market was used for comparison. It appeared that for the single techniques LA–ICP–MS had the highest overall discriminating power. Despite its lower sensitivity, XRF also showed good discriminating power but the correlation with LA–ICP–MS is high. The combination of LA–ICP–MS and IRMS provides a powerful and strongly discriminating set of techniques.

Accurate knowledge and models of transient and two-phase CO2 behaviour are important for safe and cost efficient design of CO2 pipel ines. A CO2 pipeline test rig has been successfully utilized for establishing the operation window and specifications of CO2 pipelines for verifying a theoretical two -phase transient flow model for depressurization and other transient operation of CO2 pipe lines. It is concluded that the model is experimentally verified within its validity rang. A second rig for accurate measurement of heat transfer out of CO2 pipelines has recently been started up.

The European CO 2 Test Centre Mongstad project will construct two post-combustion CO 2 capture test plants (amine and chilled ammonia) with total annual CO 2 capacity of 100,000 tones. The ambitions are: • Develop technologies for CO 2 capture capable of wide national and international deployment • Reduce cost and technical, environmental and financial risks related to large scale CO 2 capture • Test, verify and demonstrate CO 2 capture technology owned and marketed by vendors • Encourage the development of a market for such technology Both plants will be able to capture CO 2 from two different flue gases with 3.5 and 12.9 mol% CO 2 .

In the carbon capture and storage (CCS) chain, transport and storage set different requirements for the composition of the gas stream mainly containing carbon dioxide (CO2). Currently, there is a lack of standards to define the required quality for CO2 pipelines. This study investigates and recommends likely maximum allowable concentrations of impurities in the CO2 for safe transportation in pipelines. The focus is on CO2 streams from pre-combustion processes. Among the issues addressed are safety and toxicity limits, compression work, hydrate formation, corrosion and free water formation, including the cross-effect of H2S and H2O and of H2O and CH4.

The expected time to extinction of a herpes virus is calculated from a rather simple population-dynamical model that incorporates transmission, reactivation and fade-out of the infectious agent. We also derive the second and higher moments of the distribution of the time to extinction. These quantities help to assess the possibilities to eradicate a reactivating infection. The key assumption underlying our calculations is that epidemic outbreaks are fast relative to the time scale of demographic turnover. Four parameters influence the expected time to extinction: the reproduction ratio, the reactivation rate, the population size, and the demographic turn-over in the host population. We find that the expected time till extinction is very long when the reactivation rate is high (reactivation is expected more than once in a life time). Furthermore, the infectious agent will go extinct much more quickly in small populations. This method is applied to bovine herpes virus (BHV) in a cattle herd. The results indicate that without vaccination, BHV will persist in large herds. The use of a good vaccine can induce eradication of the infection from a herd within a few decades. Additional measures are needed to eradicate the virus from a whole region within a similar time-span.

Adeterministic model of BSE transmission is used to calculate the R0 values for specific years of the BSE epidemics in the United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands (NL), and Switzerland (CH). In all three countries, theR0 values decreased below 1 after the introduction of a ban on feeding meat and bone meal (MBM) to ruminants around the 1990s. A variety of additional measures against BSE led to further decrease of R0 to about 0.06 in the years around 1998. The calculated R0 values were consistent with the observations made on the surveillance results for UK, but were partially conflicting with the surveillance results for NL and CH. There was evidence for a dependency of the BSE epidemic in NL and CH from an infection source not considered in the deterministic transmission model. Imports of MBM and feed components can be an explanation for this discrepancy, and the importance of imports for these observations is discussed.

A predictive case-cohort model is applied to Norwegian data to analyze the interaction between challenge and stability factors for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) during the period 1980-2010. For each year, the BSE risk in cattle is estimated as the expected number of cases. The age distribution of expected cases as well as the relative impact of different challenges is estimated. The model consists of a simple, transparent, and practical deterministic spreadsheet calculation model, in which the following country-specific inputs are entered: (i) annual imports of live cattle and meat and bone meal, (ii) age distribution of native cattle, and (iii) estimated annual basic reproduction ratio (R(0)) for BSE. Results for Norway indicate that the highest risk of BSE cases was in 1989, when a total BSE risk of 0.13 cases per year was expected. After that date, the year-to-year decrease in risk ranged between 3% and 47%, except for a secondary peak in 1994 at 0.06 cases per year. The primary peak was almost entirely (99%) attributable to the importation of 11 cattle from the United Kingdom between 1982 and 1986. The secondary peak, in 1994, originated mainly from the recycling of the U.K. imported cattle (92%). In 2006, the remaining risk was 0.0003 cases per year, or 0.001 per million cows per year, with a maximal age-specific incidence of 0.03 cases per million per year in 10-year-old cattle. Only 15% of the cases were expected in imported cattle. The probability of having zero cases in Norway in 2006 was estimated to be 99.97%. The model and results are compared to previous risk assessments of Norway by the EU.

As a result of consumer fears and political concerns related to BSE as a risk to human health, a need has arisen recently for more sensitive methods to detect BSE and more accurate methods to determine BSE incidence. As a part of the development of such methods, it is important to be able to identify groups of animals with above-average BSE risk. One of the well-known risk factors for BSE is age, as very young animals do not develop the disease, and very old animals are less likely to develop the disease. Here, we analyze which factors have a strong influence on the age distribution of BSE in a population. Building on that, we develop a simple set of calculation rules for classifying the BSE risk in a given cattle population. Required inputs are data on imports and on the BSE control measures in place over the last 10 or 20 years.

Campylobacter bacteria are an important cause of foodborne infections. We estimated the potential costs and benefits of a large number of possible interventions to decrease human exposure to Campylobacter by consumption of chicken meat, which accounts for 20-40% of all cases of human campylobacteriosis in the Netherlands. For this purpose, a farm-to-fork risk assessment model was combined with economic analysis and epidemiological data. Reduction of contamination at broiler farms could be efficient in theory. However, it is unclear which hygienic measures need to be taken and the costs can be very high. The experimental treatment of colonized broiler flocks with bacteriophages has proven to be effective and could also be cost efficient, if confirmed in practice. Since a major decrease of infections at the broiler farm is not expected in the short term, additional measures in the processing plant were also considered. At this moment, guaranteed Campylobacter-free chicken meat at the retail level is not realistic. The most promising interventions in the processing plant are limiting fecal leakage during processing and separation of contaminated and noncontaminated flocks (scheduling), followed by decontamination of the contaminated flock. New (faster and more sensitive) test methods to detect Campylobacter colonization in broilers flocks are a prerequisite for successful scheduling scenarios. Other methods to decrease the contamination of meat of colonized flocks such as freezing and heat treatment are more expensive and/or less effective than chemical decontamination.

Om een goede waterkwaliteit te realiseren, is er beleid voor het gebruik van gewasbeschermingsmiddelen en mest. Dit rapport brengt de belangrijkste kostenposten op basis van de bij het LEI beschikbare informatie in beeld. De netto jaarkosten van het mestbeleid bedragen voor de landbouw in 2013 101 mln. euro. In 2015 is dit naar verwachting 159 mln. euro. Hiervan bedragen de kosten voor de veehouderijsectoren 386 mln. euro. De baten voor de akkerbouw, extensieve veehouderij en opengrondstuinbouw bedragen 227 mln. euro. De jaarkosten als gevolg van het gewasbeschermingsmiddelenbeleid bedragen voor 2013 in totaal 78 mln. euro. Hiervan is 18 mln. euro voor de akkerbouw en 60 mln. euro voor de glastuinbouw.

International audience

De Europese Nitraatrichtlijn verplicht lidstaten om het gebruik van dierlijke mest te beperken tot 170 kg stikstof per hectare. Landbouwbedrijven in Nederland met ten minste 70 procent grasland mochten onder bepaalde voorwaarden van deze norm afwijken en in 2013 250 kilogram per hectare gebruiken (derogatie). Nederland is verplicht om op 300 bedrijven die derogatie inzetten de bedrijfsvoering en waterkwaliteit te meten en deze resultaten jaarlijks aan de EU te rapporteren. LEI Wageningen UR en het RIVM stellen jaarlijks deze rapportage op. Dit rapport beschrijft de situatie in 2013 en de trends voor de periode tussen 2006 en 2014. Uit de resultaten blijkt dat de nitraatconcentratie in het grondwater in deze periode, afhankelijk van de regio, is gedaald of gelijk is gebleven.

Deze nota beschrijft de voor- en nadelen van het eventueel invoeren van dierrechten of fosfaatrechten in de Nederlandse melkveehouderij. Ook de effecten van de invoering van dierrechten dan wel fosfaatrechten op de doelen van de Duurzame Zuivelketen zijn verkend. Daarnaast worden verschillende melkveefosfaatproductieniveaus vergeleken met het sectorale melkveefosfaatplafondvan 84,9 mln. kg fosfaat. De productieniveaus onderscheiden zich van elkaar door het gebruik van verschillende referentiemomenten van dieraantallen en door verschillende excretienormen. Aanvullend is een analyse uitgevoerd naar de fosfaatexcretie per kg melkquotum voor melkkoeien

De aanscherping van de mestnormen leidt tot een geringe verandering van het gebruik van dierlijke mest en kunstmest in de Nederlandse landbouw. De grootste verandering wordt berekend voor landbouw op zand- en lössgronden in de zuidelijke provincies, waar het gebruik van stikstof met dierlijke mestgiften gemiddeld 12 kg stikstof ha-1 jr-1 afneemt. In de komende 15 jaar zullen de nitraatconcentraties in geringe mate dalen, gedeeltelijk veroorzaakt door de aanscherping van de mestnormen in het 5de Actieprogramma. Op termijn wordt op de zanden lössgronden gemiddeld aan de nitraatnorm van 50 mg L-1 voldaan, maar in de zuidelijke provincies zal de nitraatnorm nog ruim worden overschreden. Het effect op de stikstofvracht naar het oppervlaktewater is beperkt. De grootste effecten treden op in de zuidelijke provincies. Voor de fosfaatvracht naar het oppervlaktewater worden geen of slechts geringe effecten berekend.

Uit de MAMBO-berekeningen blijkt dat door invoering van het 5e NAP het gebruik van dierlijke mest op zandgrond daalt. De grootste daling treedt in het zuidelijk zandgebied op. Daarnaast treedt er een verschuiving op van de aanwending van varkensmest naar graasdiermest. Dit komt door de aanscherping van de gebruiksnormen voor fosfaat waardoor de plaatsingsruimte voor fosfaat afneemt. Door de lagere gehalten van stikstof en fosfaat in graasdiermest is het economisch aantrekkelijker om graasdiermest aan te wenden in plaats van varkensmest bij negatieve prijzen voor mestafzet. MAMBO is het Mest en Ammoniak Model voor beleidsondersteunend onderzoek.

Increased focus on reducing CO2 emissions has created growing interest in CO2 capturing from industrial processes for storage in geologic formations or injection in oil reservoirs for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Due to the scattered CO2 sources and the uncertainty in the growth of the CO2 market, a cost effective and flexible transport system is required. In this work a ship transport concept is developed as an alternative to pipeline transport. New technical solutions, cost-, energy-, exergy- and CO2 emission analysis for ship-based transport of CO2 are presented. The concept includes all the elements in the transport chain, namely liquefaction, intermediate storage, loading system, semi-pressurized ship and offshore unloading system. Economical large-scale transport of CO2 by ship could be done in semi-pressurized vessels of around 20 000 m3 at pressures near triple point (6.5 bara and –52°C) in order to use well established design for commercial construction of LPG carriers and intermediate storage. This condition also gives the highest density in the liquid state, which reduces the transport unit cost. Liquefaction of CO2 is best achieved in an open cycle, where the refrigeration is partly or fully provided by the feed gas itself. The offshore unloading system will transport the liquid CO2 from the dedicated CO2 ship to the wellhead on the platform at the required temperature and pressure. During the unloading phase the ship is connected to a submerged turret loading (STL) system. The CO2 is pumped to a pressure high enough to avoid phase transition in the transfer lines. A flexible riser, a subsea pipeline and an insulated pipeline in the platform shaft bring the CO2 from the unloading location to the topside of the platform. The CO2 is pumped to injection pressure and heated to avoid operational problems before it is injected into the reservoir for EOR using conventional water injection wells. The total specific energy requirement for the selected transport chain is 142 kWh tonne−1 CO2, where the liquefaction process accounts for 77%. An exergy analysis of the chain is performed showing that the minimum work required in the chain is 60 kWh tonne−1 CO2, giving a chain rational efficiency of 42%. The total CO2 emissions are estimated to be approximately 1.4% of the inlet CO2. The total costs of ship-based transport are calculated to be 20–30 USD tonne−1 for volumes larger than 2 Mt y−1 and distances limited to the North Sea. Ship transport offers a flexible alternative for bringing CO2 to offshore installations. Dedicated CO2 carriers for transport of CO2 directly from the source to the oil fields might be a key element in future CO2 infrastructures.

One of the measures for reducing global CO2 emissions is to capture CO2 and store it safely in geological formations. Safe and effective CO2 management requires reliable tools for calculate accurately the properties of both pure CO2 and CO2 in mixtures. If the default models and parameters of commercial flow sheeting tools are used when predicting the solubility of water in CO2 and CO2 in mixtures may not always result in satisfactory results. Having in mind the need for reliable operation of the processes along the CO2 capture, transport and injection chain, reliable tools are cardinal. The purpose of the present work has been to establish reliable model parameters by selecting equation of state (EOS) models for evaluation, develop a database of reliable experimental data on solubility of H2O, CO2 and CH4 based on data collected from literature, use the data to establish and suggest model parameters based on the database, and test and document the ability of the various EOS models to predict the solubility of H2O in CO2 or a mixture of CO2 and CH4. Experimental data on solubility of H2O, CO2 and CH4 were collected from literature and compared with a model based on the rest of the experimental data in order to evaluate the quality of the data. The second order SRK-HV (SRK-Huron Vidal) model with six parameters was used as model for evaluating the experimental data. The models SRK-VdW (Soave Redlich Kwong, Van der Waals mixing rules), SRK-HV (SRK-Huron Vidal) and the CPA (Cubic Plus Association) was evaluated. Based on the data for the mutual solubilities of H2O, CO2 and CH4, new model parameters were adapted for the SRK-HV, and the CPA models. Solubility of H2O in CO2 and H2O in the CO2–CH4 mixture was emphasized. The second order SRK-HV model produced acceptable results with deviation from 3% to 9% between experiments and the model. The CPA model was less accurate, producing results with deviation from 9% to 35% between experiments and the model. The SRK-VdW model gave two different binary coefficients, one for solubility of water in liquid CO2 and another for solubility of CO2 in water. That gave same deviation as the SRK-HV model, (typically 7% for H2O in CO2 but 93% for CO2 in water, or 4% for CO2 in water but 390% for H2O in CO2 with another binary coefficient). The SRK-VdW is not indented for use of two different binary coefficients.

The entropy production rate ofa common industrial SO 2 converter was minimized, simultaneously varying the heights off our catalytic beds, the temperature differences across five intermediate heat exchangers, and the distribution ofa fixed area available f heat exchange. The entropy production rate had contributions from the chemical reaction, the pressure drop and the heat exchange. The total area for heat exchange, inlet temperature, inlet pressure, inlet composition, outlet temperature, and outlet composition remained constant in the minimization. A new path of operation was found for the given constraints that saved 16.7% ofthe entropy production rate compared to an industrial SO 2 converter. There were changes in chemical, mechanical and thermal contributions to the entropy production. The savings can be taken out as higher quality heat output, lower quality heat input, or reduction in the total area for heat transfer. The optimum operating conditions also indicate that the same product can be obtained under milder thermal conditions than now. Furthermore, the requirement for catalyst, as measured by the total bed height, decreased with the area available for heat transfer, from 2.4 m at 2000 m 2 to 1.7 m at 6000 m 2 . We conclude that there is a significant potential to improve the second law efficiency of

We have derived a set of transport equations for heat and mass transfer across a liquid–vapour interface in distillation columns. We have used the entropy production rate on each tray, and integrated through the interface, when the liquid is not in equilibrium with the vapour. The set, that de3nes overall coe4cients of transport, includes contributions from the interface, from the vapour 3lm, and from the liquid 3lm. It is shown, using data for a rectifying column that separates ethanol and water, that the coe4cients can be determined by 3tting the transport equations to the entropy production rate, with the constant thickness of one of the 3lms as the only adjustable variable. Almost all of the entropy production is due to mass transfer between the phases. Coe4cient values were determined for a large and a small value for the 3lm thickness ratio as a function of temperature. The distribution of the entropy production rate between the phases depends largely on the 3lm thickness, but its distribution between mass and heat transfer contribution does not depend on this variable. A contribution from the Soret or Dufour e9ect is found for large liquid 3lms. The driving force for mass transfer, calculated with coe4cients and rates, compared well with average values, which were calculated from the experimental data. The set of equations was compared to the Maxwell–Stefan equation set. Since it contains the interface contribution and coupling, it can be used to asses common approximations. ? 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diabatic distillation, i.e. with heat exchangers on all trays, can increase the second law energy efficiency drastically compared to adiabatic distillation. The purpose of this research was to describe the entropy production rate in one adiabatic and one diabatic experimental water/ethanol rectifying column by applying the theory of irreversible thermodynamics. As a benchmark for the description, an exergy analysis of the two columns was used. This analysis showed that the diabatic column looses 39% less exergy than the adiabatic column. Heat and mass transfer on the trays and in the heat exchangers determined the entropy production rate, and neither pressure drop nor mixing effects played a large role in these columns. The significance of this work is the experimental confirmation of the theory on diabatic distillation.

The purpose of this study is to compare two analytical methods with two numerical methods for minimizing the entropy production rate in diabatic distillation columns (i.e., with heat exchangers on all trays). The first analytical method is the equal thermodynamic distance method. The second uses Lagrange minimization on a model derived from irreversible thermodynamics. The numerical methods use Powell's and a Monte Carlo algorithm and gave the same results. Both analytical methods agreed well with the numerical ones for two columns with low separation per tray, while they did not agree well for a column with large separation per tray.

The best way of adding two interstage heat exchangers to a binary distillation column is studied using irreversible thermodynamics. A distillation column is simulated with a computer program using the tray-to-tray calculation method. The purpose of the analysis is to find the locations of the two interstage heat exchangers which give the minimum entropy production rate in the column. According to the isoforce principle, minimum entropy production rate is obtained in distillation when the driving forces are uniformly distributed over the trays. This implies that the entropy production rate, in the optimum case, varies according to the value of the phenomenological coefficient. Therefore, locations with the largest deviations from this behavior are good locations for additional heat exchangers. A column separating n-pentane and n-heptane is used to demonstrate how the optimum variation in the coefficient may be used in practice.

Recently, due to consumers fears concerning BSE and vCJD, the need arose for methods to detect BSE, to estimate the present prevalence of BSE among cattle and to predict future BSE prevalence. As a part of that set of urgent questions, it has become important to indicate groups in which BSE risk is higher or lower. One of the well-known risk factors for BSE is age: very young animals do not develop the disease, and very old animals are less likely to develop the disease. Using age-structured modelling, three factors influencing the age distribution of BSE were found to be important: (1) the incubation period of BSE, (2) age structure of the cattle population, and (3) the local risk history (methods of rendering, feeding of compound feed containing Meat and Bone Meal (MBM), and the development of BSE control). The EU has considered these three risk factors to be the most important for BSE risk assessment. So far, this EU risk assessment method has been proven right by several countries detecting BSE after being classified as ‘BSE is most likely present here’. The age distribution of BSE seems to vary a lot between countries and regions. When information on these three factors is available, the expected age distribution of BSE in different countries can be calculated. Our calculations show that in countries where, until very recently, the reproduction ratio was high, (i.e., BSE risk factors were high), the BSE prevalence is expected to be highest in 4-year-old cattle. In countries with low reproduction ratio for BSE, (i.e., BSE control at a very high level) for more than 5 years, the prevalence will be highest in the 6–8-year-old cattle. Thus, surveillance could be targeted specifically at the age groups with the highest BSE risk. For each country, a short assessment shows in which age group BSE is most likely to be found.

The CO2 Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) is the world's largest facility for testing and improving technologies for post-combustion CO2 capture. The knowledge gained will prepare the ground for full scale CO2 capture initiatives to combat climate change. TCM is a joint venture between the Gassnova, Statoil, Shell and Sasol. It is located at the West coast of Norway, north of the city Bergen. This paper will discuss the scale-up and transient operation of amine based post-combustion CO2 capture plants in general, and presents some typical results. Scale-up and transient operation are typically among the last topics to be assessed in the technology development process because it requires bigger plants. Results were used from the monoethanolamine (MEA) campaign that was executed in fall/winter 2013/2014. The discussion on scale-up showed that emissions to air, material choice, construction method, vapour/liquid distribution and reclaiming are important technical aspects. Normalized transient data were presented for 7 important variables during a controlled plant stop-and-restart and a sudden stop-fast restart case. Stable CO2 product flow could be obtained after 3–4 hours, while stable emissions and CO2 product temperature took 1–2 hours more. NH3 emissions showed a peak after restart due to accumulation in the solvent during the stop. It was concluded that amine based CO2 capture plants should be able to follow their power plants without significant additional CO2 emissions.

Background African horse sickness (AHS) is a major, Culicoides-borne viral disease in equines whose introduction into Europe could have dramatic consequences. The disease is considered to be endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Recent introductions of other Culicoides-borne viruses (bluetongue and Schmallenberg) into northern Europe have highlighted the risk that AHS may arrive in Europe as well. The aim of our study was to provide a spatiotemporal quantitative risk model of AHS introduction into France. The study focused on two pathways of introduction: the arrival of an infectious host (PW-host) and the arrival of an infectious Culicoides midge via the livestock trade (PW-vector). The risk of introduction was calculated by determining the probability of an infectious animal or vector entering the country and the probability of the virus then becoming established: i.e., the virus’s arrival in France resulting in at least one local equine host being infected by one local vector. This risk was assessed using data from three consecutive years (2010 to 2012) for 22 regions in France. Results The results of the model indicate that the annual risk of AHS being introduced to France is very low but that major spatiotemporal differences exist. For both introduction pathways, risk is higher from July to October and peaks in July. In general, regions with warmer climates are more at risk, as are colder regions with larger equine populations; however, regional variation in animal importation patterns (number and species) also play a major role in determining risk. Despite the low probability that AHSV is present in the EU, intra-EU trade of equines contributes most to the risk of AHSV introduction to France because it involves a large number of horse movements. Conclusion It is important to address spatiotemporal differences when assessing the risk of ASH introduction and thus also when implementing efficient surveillance efforts. The methods and results of this study may help develop surveillance techniques and other risk reduction measures that will prevent the introduction of AHS or minimize AHS’ potential impact once introduced, both in France and the rest of Europe. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-015-0435-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Risk assessments are mostly carried out based on available data, which do not reflect all data theoretically required by experts to answer them. This study aimed at developing a methodology to assess data availability, accessibility and format, based on a scoring system and focusing on two diseases: Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE), still exotic to Europe, and alveolar echinococcosis, caused by Echinococcus multilocularis (EM), endemic in several Member States (MSs). After reviewing 36 opinions of the EFSA-AHAW Panel on risk assessment of animal health questions, a generic list of needed data was elaborated. The methodology consisted, first, in implementing a direct and an indirect survey to collect the data needed for both case studies: the direct survey consisted in a questionnaire sent to contact points of three European MSs (Belgium, France and the Netherlands), and the organization of a workshop gathering experts on both diseases. The indirect survey, focusing on the three MSs involved in the direct survey plus Spain, relied on web searches. Secondly, a scoring system with reference to data availability, accessibility and format was elaborated, to, finally, compare both diseases and data between MSs. The accessibility of data was generally related to their availability. Web searches resulted in more data available for VEE compared to EM, despite its current exotic status in the European Union. Hypertext markup language and portable document files were the main formats of available data. Data availability, accessibility and format should be improved for research scientists/assessors. The format of data plays a key role in the feasibility and rapidness of data management and analysis, through a prompt compilation, combination and aggregation in working databases. Harmonization of data collection process is encouraged, according to standardized procedures, to provide useful and reliable data, both at the national and the international levels for both animal and human health; it would allow assessing data gaps through comparative studies. The present methodology is a good way of assessing the relevance of data for risk assessment, as it allows integrating the uncertainty linked to the quality of data used. Such an approach could be described as transparent and traceable and should be performed systematically.

Pigs have a need for manipulable materials to satisfy a range of behavioural needs, which can be different in different classes of pig. When these needs are not met, a range of adverse welfare consequences result, one of these being an increased risk for tail-biting in weaners and rearing pigs. The ability to control the risk of tail-biting is essential when aiming to avoid tail-docking. Based on available scientific information this Opinion identifies the multiple interactions between risk factors, welfare consequences and animal and non-animal-based measures on the two subjects requested (i) the absence of functional manipulable materials, for pigs at different stages in life and (ii) tail-biting, for weaners and rearing pigs only. An attempt is made to quantify the relationships between the identified interactions by carrying out a statistical analysis of information from available databases, those being an international dataset collected using the Welfare Quality® protocol, which was not designed to evaluate risk factors for tail-biting and therefore, it had limitations in fitness for this analysis, and a large Finnish dataset with undocked pigs. Based on the current state of knowledge, the AHAW Panel proposes two simple tool-boxes for on farm use to assess (i) the functionality of the supplied manipulable material and (ii) the presence and strength of risk factors for tail biting. Both proposed tool-boxes include a combination of the most important resource-based and animal-based measures. Further development and validation of decision–support tools for customised farm assessment is strongly recommended and a proposal for harmonised data collection across the range of European farming circumstances is presented. A series of further recommendations are made by the AHAW Panel.

De Europese Nitraatrichtlijn verplicht lidstaten om het gebruik van dierlijke mest te beperken tot 170 kg stikstof per hectare. Landbouwbedrijven in Nederland met ten minste 70% grasland mochten in 2012 onder bepaalde voorwaarden van deze norm afwijken en 250 kilogram per hectare gebruiken (derogatie). Uit de rapportage over de bedrijven die in 2012 voor derogatie zijn aangemeld, opgesteld door het RIVM met LEI Wageningen UR, blijkt dat de nitraatconcentratie in het grondwater tussen 2007 en 2013 is gedaald.

The EFSA's Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW Panel) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on the use of a low atmosphere pressure system (LAPS) for stunning poultry. Four documents were provided by the European Commission (EC) as the basis for an assessment of the extent to which the LAPS is able to provide a level of animal welfare at least equivalent to that ensured by the current allowed methods for stunning poultry. The LAPS is described as rendering poultry unconscious by gradually reducing oxygen tension in the atmosphere leading to progressive hypoxia in the birds. In order to be allowed in the EU, new stunning methods must ensure 1) absence of pain, distress and suffering until the onset of unconsciousness, and 2) that the animal remains unconscious until death. The submitted studies were peer-reviewed by the AHAW Panel as outlined in its “Guidance on the assessment criteria for studies evaluating the effectiveness of stunning intervention regarding animal protection at the time of killing”. It is unclear from the submitted documents whether the rate of decompression used in LAPS induces unconsciousness and death without causing avoidable pain and suffering in poultry. The assessed studies did not pass the eligibility assessment and, therefore, no further assessment was undertaken.

In een verkenning van de gevolgen van het 5de Nitraat Actieprogramma, volgens inzichten van medio 2013, bleken de modellen WOG-WOD en MAMBO-STONE verschillende resultaten te geven voor de nitraatconcentraties in het Zuidelijke zandgebied. In dit rapport is nagegaan wat de overeenkomsten en de verschillen tussen de modellen en de aannames zijn. In beide modellen wordt de nitraatconcentratie in het grondwater berekend uit het N-overschot. De verschillende berekeningswijzen leiden bij gelijke modelinvoer tot vergelijkbare resultaten. Echter, in de studie met het WOG-WOD model is verondersteld dat op akkerbouwpercelen uitsluitend varkensmest en kunstmest wordt toegepast, terwijl in MAMBO-STONE een belangrijk deel van de dierlijke mest op akkerbouw van graasdieren afkomstig is.

De aanvoer en afzet van dierlijke mest via de mestmarkt in Nederland zijn op verzoek van het ministerie van Economische Zaken (EZ) voor de periode 2006-2012 in beeld gebracht. Dit is gedaan op basis van analyses van de Vervoersbewijzen Dierlijke Mest (VDM’s) van RVO.nl (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland) en op basis van modelberekeningen met MAMBO. Dit WOt-technical report geeft een synthese van de resultaten. Op basis van vergelijkbare meststromen is het aanbod op basis van de VDM’s 73 mln. kg fosfaat. Op basis van modelberekeningen is dit aanbod 74 mln. kg fosfaat. De afzet naar landbouwbedrijven vormt met 40% de belangrijkste afzetpost op de VDM’s. De overige afzetposten op de VDM’s zijn export (28%), verwerking (28%), particulieren (3%) en overige bestemmingen (1%)

In de Emissieregistratie (ER) monitort het RIVM jaarlijks de emissies van diverse stoffen en emissiebronnen van verschillende bedrijven en sectoren. LEI Wageningen UR levert gegevens aan de ER over de regionale ammoniakemissies uit de landbouw en de bodembelasting met stikstof en fosfaat van landbouwbodems. Deze gegevens worden berekend met behulp van het Mest- en Ammoniakmodel voor Beleidsondersteuning (MAMBO) van het LEI.

De staatssecretaris van Economische Zaken (EZ) heeft op 6 november 2014 een Nota van wijziging bij het wetsvoorstel Verantwoorde groei melkveehouderij aan de Tweede Kamer verzonden. Deze nota biedt de mogelijkheid om aanvullende voorwaarden te stellen aan de mate van grondgebondenheid van bedrijven met melkvee bij groei van de fosfaatproductie. Het ministerie van EZ heeft drie varianten geformuleerd om de grondgebondenheid te bevorderen. Dit rapport presenteert een verkenning van de effecten van deze drie beleidsvarianten.

De staatssecretaris van Economische Zaken wil de te verwachten groei van de melkveehouderij na afschaffing van het melkquotum op verantwoorde wijze laten plaatsvinden. Daarvoor heeft ze een wetsvoorstel ingediend waarin zij een aantal voorwaarden stelt aan de groei van de melkveehouderij. In dit onderzoek is bekeken wat de effecten zijn van het wetsvoorstel. Uit het onderzoek is naar voren gekomen dat door invoering van het wetsvoorstel Verantwoorde groei melkveehouderij de tendens van toenemende intensivering in de melkveehouderij licht wordt geremd. Het wetsvoorstel leidt ertoe dat de melkveehouderij de varkenshouderij compenseert via vervangende verwerkingsovereenkomsten waardoor een groter deel van de benodigde mestverwerking in de varkenshouderij wordt betaald door de melkveehouderij. Door invoering van het wetsvoorstel neemt de omvang van de mestverwerking licht toe, en daalt het nationaal fosfaatoverschot.

International audience; Two separate analyses were carried out to understand the epidemiology of Bluetongue virus serotype 8 (BTV-8) in 2007 in North West Europe: First, the temporal change in transmission rates was compared to the evolution of temperature during that season. Second, we evaluated the spatio-temporal dynamics of newly reported outbreaks, to estimate a spatial transmission kernel. For both analyses, the approach as used before in analysing the 2006 BTV-8 epidemic had to be adapted in order to take into account the fact that the 2007 epidemic was not a newly arising epidemic, but one advancing from whereto it had already spread in 2006. We found that within the area already affected by the 2006 outbreak, the pattern of newly infected farms in 2007 cannot be explained by between-farm transmission, but rather by local re-emergence of the virus throughout that region. This indicates that persistence through winter was ubiquitous for BTV-8. Just like in 2006, we also found that the temperature at which the infection starts to spread lies close to 15 °C. Finally, we found that the shape of the transmission kernel is in line with the one from the 2006 epidemic. In conclusion, despite the substantial differences between 2006 and 2007 in temperature patterns (2006 featured a heat wave in July, whereas 2007 was more regular) and spatial epidemic extent, both the minimum temperature required for transmission and the transmission kernel were similar to those estimated for the 2006 outbreak, indicating that they are robust properties, suitable for extrapolation to other years and similar regions.