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    Record warm summers cause extreme ice melt in Greenland: an international team of scientists, led by Dr Edward Hanna at the University of Sheffield, has found that recent warm summers have caused the most extreme Greenland ice melting in 50 years. The new research provides further evidence of a key impact of global warming and helps scientists place recent satellite observations of Greenland´s shrinking ice mass in a longer-term climatic context. Findings are published in the 15 January 2008 issue of Journal of Climate. University of Sheffield - January 15, 2007.

    Japan's Tsukishima Kikai Co. and Marubeni Corp. have together clinched an order from Oenon Holdings Inc. for a plant that will make bioethanol from rice. The Oenon group will invest around 4.4 billion yen (US$40.17 million) in the project, half of which will be covered by a subsidy from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The plant will initially produce bioethanol from imported rice, with plans to use Hokkaido-grown rice in the future. It will produce 5 million liters per year starting in 2009, increasing output to 15m liters in 2011. The facility will be able to produce as much as 50,000 liters of bioethanol from 125 tons of rice each day. Trading Markets - January 11, 2007.

    PetroSun, Inc. announced today that its subsidiary, PetroSun BioFuels Refining, has entered into a JV to construct and operate a biodiesel refinery near Coolidge, Arizona. The feedstock for the refinery will be algal oil produced by PetroSun BioFuels at algae farms to be located in Arizona. The refinery will have a capacity of thirty million gallons and will produce 100% renewable biodiesel. PetroSun BioFuels will process the residual algae biomass into ethanol. MarketWire - January 10, 2007.

    BlueFire Ethanol Fuels Inc, which develops and operates carbohydrate-based transportation fuel production facilities, has secured capital liquidity for corporate overhead and continued project development in the value of US$15 million with Quercus, an environmentally focused trust. BlueFire Ethanol Fuels - January 09, 2007.

    Some $170 billion in new technology development projects, infrastructure equipment and construction, and biofuel refineries will result from the ethanol production standards contained the new U.S. Energy Bill, says BIO, the global Biotechnology Industry Organization. According to Brent Erickson, BIO's executive vice president "Such a new energy infrastructure has not occurred in more than 100 years. We are at the point where we were in the 1850s when kerosene was first distilled and began to replace whale oil. This technology will be coming so fast that what we say today won't be true in two years." Chemical & Engineering News - January 07, 2007.

    Scottish and Southern Energy plc, the UK's second largest power company, has completed the acquisition of Slough Heat and Power Ltd from SEGRO plc for a total cash consideration of £49.25m. The 101MW CHP plant is the UK’s largest dedicated biomass energy facility fueled by wood chips, biomass and waste paper. Part of the plant is contracted under the Non Fossil Fuel Obligation and part of it produces over 200GWH of output qualifying for Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs), which is equivalent to around 90MW of wind generation. Scottish & Southern Energy - January 2, 2007.

    PetroChina Co Ltd, the country's largest oil and gas producer, plans to invest 800 million yuan to build an ethanol plant in Nanchong, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, its parent China National Petroleum Corp said. The ethanol plant has a designed annual capacity of 100,000 tons. ABCMoneyNews - December 21, 2007.

    Mexico passed legislation to promote biofuels last week, offering unspecified support to farmers that grow crops for the production of any renewable fuel. Agriculture Minister Alberto Cardenas said Mexico could expand biodiesel faster than ethanol. More soon. Reuters - December 20, 2007.

    Oxford Catalysts has placed an order worth approximately €700,000 (US$1 million) with the German company Amtec for the purchase of two Spider16 high throughput screening reactors. The first will be used to speed up the development of catalysts for hydrodesulphurisation (HDS). The second will be used to further the development of catalysts for use in gas to liquid (GTL) and Fischer-Tropsch processes which can be applied to next generation biofuels. AlphaGalileo - December 18, 2007.

    According to the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE), Brazil's production of sugarcane will increase from 514,1 million tonnes this season, to a record 561,8 million tonnes in the 2008/09 cyclus - an increase of 9.3%. New numbers are also out for the 2007 harvest in Brazil's main sugarcane growing region, the Central-South: a record 425 million tonnes compared to 372,7 million tonnes in 2006, or a 14% increase. The estimate was provided by Unica – the União da Indústria de Cana-de-Açúcar. Jornal Cana - December 16, 2007.

    The University of East Anglia and the UK Met Office's Hadley Centre have today released preliminary global temperature figures for 2007, which show the top 11 warmest years all occurring in the last 13 years. The provisional global figure for 2007 using data from January to November, currently places the year as the seventh warmest on records dating back to 1850. The announcement comes as the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Michel Jarraud, speaks at the Conference of the Parties (COP) in Bali. Eurekalert - December 13, 2007.

    The Royal Society of Chemistry has announced it will launch a new journal in summer 2008, Energy & Environmental Science, which will distinctly address both energy and environmental issues. In recognition of the importance of research in this subject, and the need for knowledge transfer between scientists throughout the world, from launch the RSC will make issues of Energy & Environmental Science available free of charge to readers via its website, for the first 18 months of publication. This journal will highlight the important role that the chemical sciences have in solving the energy problems we are facing today. It will link all aspects of energy and the environment by publishing research relating to energy conversion and storage, alternative fuel technologies, and environmental science. AlphaGalileo - December 10, 2007.

    Dutch researcher Bas Bougie has developed a laser system to investigate soot development in diesel engines. Small soot particles are not retained by a soot filter but are, however, more harmful than larger soot particles. Therefore, soot development needs to be tackled at the source. Laser Induced Incandescence is a technique that reveals exactly where soot is generated and can be used by project partners to develop cleaner diesel engines. Terry Meyer, an Iowa State University assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is using similar laser technology to develop advanced sensors capable of screening the combustion behavior and soot characteristics specifically of biofuels. Eurekalert - December 7, 2007.

    Lithuania's first dedicated biofuel terminal has started operating in Klaipeda port. At the end of November 2007, the stevedoring company Vakaru krova (VK) started activities to manage transshipments. The infrastructure of the biodiesel complex allows for storage of up to 4000 cubic meters of products. During the first year, the terminal plans to transship about 70.000 tonnes of methyl ether, after that the capacities of the terminal would be increased. Investments to the project totaled €2.3 million. Agrimarket - December 5, 2007.

    New Holland supports the use of B100 biodiesel in all equipment with New Holland-manufactured diesel engines, including electronic injection engines with common rail technology. Overall, nearly 80 percent of the tractor and equipment manufacturer's New Holland-branded products with diesel engines are now available to operate on B100 biodiesel. Tractor and equipment maker John Deere meanwhile clarified its position for customers that want to use biodiesel blends up to B20. Grainnet - December 5, 2007.

    According to Wetlands International, an NGO, the Kyoto Protocol as it currently stands does not take into account possible emissions from palm oil grown on a particular type of land found in Indonesia and Malaysia, namely peatlands. Mongabay - December 5, 2007.

    Malaysia's oil & gas giant Petronas considers entering the biofuels sector. Zamri Jusoh, senior manager of Petronas' petroleum development management unit told reporters "of course our focus is on oil and gas, but I think as we move into the future we cannot ignore the importance of biofuels." AFP - December 5, 2007.

    In just four months, the use of biodiesel in the transport sector has substantially improved air quality in Metro Manila, data from the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) showed. A blend of one percent coco-biodiesel is mandated by the Biofuels Act of 2007 which took effect last May. By 2009, it would be increased to two percent. Philippine Star - December 4, 2007.

    Kazakhstan will next year adopt laws to regulate its fledgling biofuel industry and plans to construct at least two more plants in the next 18 months to produce environmentally friendly fuel from crops, industry officials said. According to Akylbek Kurishbayev, vice-minister for agriculture, he Central Asian country has the potential to produce 300,000 tons a year of biodiesel and export half. Kazakhstan could also produce up to 1 billion liters of bioethanol, he said. "The potential is huge. If we use this potential wisely, we can become one of the world's top five producers of biofuels," Beisen Donenov, executive director of the Kazakhstan Biofuels Association, said on the sidelines of a grains forum. Reuters - November 30, 2007.

    SRI Consulting released a report on chemicals from biomass. The analysis highlights six major contributing sources of green and renewable chemicals: increasing production of biofuels will yield increasing amounts of biofuels by-products; partial decomposition of certain biomass fractions can yield organic chemicals or feedstocks for the manufacture of various chemicals; forestry has been and will continue to be a source of pine chemicals; evolving fermentation technology and new substrates will also produce an increasing number of chemicals. Chemical Online - November 27, 2007.

    German industrial conglomerate MAN AG plans to expand into renewable energies such as biofuels and solar power. Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said services unit Ferrostaal would lead the expansion. Reuters - November 24, 2007.

    Analysts think Vancouver-based Ballard Power Systems, which pumped hundreds of millions and decades of research into developing hydrogen fuel cells for cars, is going to sell its automotive division. Experts describe the development as "the death of the hydrogen highway". The problems with H2 fuel cell cars are manifold: hydrogen is a mere energy carrier and its production requires a primary energy input; production is expensive, as would be storage and distribution; finally, scaling fuel cells and storage tanks down to fit in cars remains a huge challenge. Meanwhile, critics have said that the primary energy for hydrogen can better be used for electricity and electric vehicles. On a well-to-wheel basis, the cleanest and most efficient way to produce hydrogen is via biomass, so the news is a set-back for the biohydrogen community. But then again, biomass can be used more efficiently as electricity for battery cars. Canada.com - November 21, 2007.

    South Korea plans to invest 20 billion won (€14.8/$21.8 million) by 2010 on securing technologies to develop synthetic fuels from biomass, coal and natural gas, as well as biobutanol. 29 private companies, research institutes and universities will join this first stage of the "next-generation clean energy development project" led by South Korea's Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy. Korea Times - November 19, 2007.

    OPEC leaders began a summit today with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez issuing a chilling warning that crude prices could double to US$200 from their already-record level if the United States attacked Iran or Venezuela. He urged assembled leaders from the OPEC, meeting for only the third time in the cartel's 47-year history, to club together for geopolitical reasons. But the cartel is split between an 'anti-US' block including Venezuela, Iran, and soon to return ex-member Ecuador, and a 'neutral' group comprising most Gulf States. France24 - November 17, 2007.

    The article "Biofuels: What a Biopact between North and South could achieve" published in the scientific journal Energy Policy (Volume 35, Issue 7, 1 July 2007, Pages 3550-3570) ranks number 1 in the 'Top 25 hottest articles'. The article was written by professor John A. Mathews, Macquarie University (Sydney, Autralia), and presents a case for a win-win bioenergy relationship between the industrialised and the developing world. Mathews holds the Chair of Strategic Management at the university, and is a leading expert in the analysis of the evolution and emergence of disruptive technologies and their global strategic management. ScienceDirect - November 16, 2007.

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Thursday, January 17, 2008

Siemens and E.ON to cooperate on post-combustion carbon capture - towards negative emissions from bioenergy

Few people know that biomass power plants can be coupled to carbon capture and storage (CCS), to yield negative emissions energy - the most radical tool in the climate fight. Such 'bio-energy with carbon storage' (BECS) systems and the renewable energy crops that are used as their feedstock actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere by locking biogenic carbon dioxide up in geological formations. No other energy technology can attain this carbon-negative status. Renewables like wind, solar, hydro or geothermal, forever remain carbon-neutral at best (illustration, click to enlarge). However, for CCS to work, optimised technologies are needed that can efficiently capture the biogenic CO2 at the power plant, before it reaches the atmosphere.

Several options exist, all with their advantages and drawbacks: capturing the CO2 before the fuel is combusted, which could be applied to biohydrogen and biogas; capturing the carbon dioxide gas during a modified combustion process (oxyfuel); or capturing it after the combustion of the fuel, from the power plant's flue gases. Organisations around the world are developing such technologies, mainly for applications in coal and gas-fired power plants. But the basics remain the same for biomass (co-firing) power plants. For this reason, we actively track developments in CCS - ironically, the coal sector may be developing the very technologies needed to design the most radically green energy system imaginable.

What is more, when CCS is applied to biomass, the biggest argument leveled by environmentalists against the technology - the potential for leakage of CO2 - becomes invalid, because the stored CO2 is biogenic in nature and does not come from fossil fuels.

Scientists from the Abrupt Climate Change Strategy Group have found that if we apply BECS systems on a global scale, we can cool the planet and go back to pre-industrial CO2 levels by mid-century (see references below). Moreover, the IEA has shown that there is enough potential to phase out coal and to replace it with sustainably grown biomass. In short, all those who take climate change serious, could have an interest in supporting negative emissions bioenergy.

German giants Siemens and E.ON Energie are the latest to cooperate on the development of an economic and efficient method for carbon capture. They announced that their starting point is a solvent with special characteristics which provide the basis for a new process to capture CO2 from the flue gases of power plants (post-combustion capture - can be applied to biomass flue gas). A pilot installation on an E.ON power plant site in Germany will be operational by 2010. Further developments will follow up until 2014. The mid-term target is to develop this new CO2 capture process ready for large-scale, commercial deployment by 2020. The project is being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) within the framework of the COORETEC initiative.
One of the most promising CCS technologies is post-combustion CO2 capture. The goals are development of advanced ecologically compatible CO2 solvents, optimization of the capture process and intelligent integration into the power plant. The real challenge is to attain high power plant efficiency and to avoid negative impact on the environment, for example, by emitting solvent. - Tobias Jockenhoevel, head of the innovative power plant concepts division and project manager at Siemens Energy
The new process and the energetically optimum integration into conventional power plants will be verified in 2010 in a small pilot plant under real operating conditions, with particular considerations of the significance for a full-scale plant. The new process will not only be feasible for new power plants, but it will also be appropriate for retrofitting existing plants, which opens up significant application potentials worldwide.

The latter point is important in order to imagine a scenario for the emergence of BECS systems. Coal-fired power plants will first start to co-fire biomass, which is already being done routinely and on a large scale throughout Europe. Then they will transit to co-firing ever more biomass - Britain's Slough Heat & Power CHP plant is already using 87% biomass in a plant that started out with coal alone, proving it can be done -, a prospect that becomes ever more likely because coal prices are increasing rapidly and biomass supply chains are becoming more efficient. Finally the power plants are retrofitted with carbon capture technologies, like the ones being developed by Siemens and E.ON. This would be a feasible, safe, reasonable but nonetheless radical scenario that would offer the single most important contribution to reducing global carbon emissions:
:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Bernhard Fischer, Chief Technology Officer, member of the executive board of E.ON Energie, says E. ON brings into this partnership its experience from the planning and operation of numerous fossil-fueled power plants and the site for the planned pilot plant, whereas Siemens in turn provides extensive experience and know-how in the engineering and project execution for complete power plants. Siemens also brings in chemical process development competencies and engineering skills of the former Hoechst AG. Those look like interesting preconditions for successful development of an efficient CO2 capture process, as well as for its optimum integration in a power plant process.

Michael Suess, CEO of the Siemens Fossil Power Generation Division, says that even in the foreseeable future, it will not be possible to meet the rapidly growing demand for electricity worldwide without fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas [we disagree: projections by the IEA and by the Abrupt Climate Change Strategy Group, which studies BECS systems, show sustainably produced and internationally traded biomass can replace all coal consumption, and be used in negative emissions power plants.]

Climate experts agree, continues Suess: CO2 emissions have to be reduced quickly and significantly to limit the increase in temperature. For that a broad variety of technologies has to be implemented. This includes technologies to further increase the efficiency of power plants and processes to capture and store carbon dioxide (CCS), added Suess. Just under a quarter of global CO2 emissions are attributable to power generation. It is anticipated that viable large-scale CCS technologies will capture approximately 90% of the CO2. Within the EU, mandatory carbon dioxide capture and storage is being debated for beyond 2020. For this reason new solutions have to be developed and tested today.

Joerg Kruhl, head of the new technologies division at E.ON Energie, says that besides the mid-term development of beneficial technologies, the fast transfer of promising post-combustion capture processes to real power plant operation is what counts in particular for E.ON today. This is the necessary next step on the way toward large-scale deployment of CCS in the energy sector.

References:
E.ON: Siemens and E.ON to cooperate on the development of climate-friendly power plant technology - January 17, 2007.

Biopact: Towards carbon-negative biofuels: US DOE awards $66.7 million for large-scale CO2 capture and storage from ethanol plant - December 19, 2007

Biopact: EU launches DECARBit project to research advanced pre-combustion CO2 capture from power plants - November 21, 2007

Scientific literature on negative emissions from biomass:

H. Audus and P. Freund, "Climate Change Mitigation by Biomass Gasificiation Combined with CO2 Capture and Storage", IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme.

James S. Rhodesa and David W. Keithb, "Engineering economic analysis of biomass IGCC with carbon capture and storage", Biomass and Bioenergy, Volume 29, Issue 6, December 2005, Pages 440-450.

Noim Uddin and Leonardo Barreto, "Biomass-fired cogeneration systems with CO2 capture and storage", Renewable Energy, Volume 32, Issue 6, May 2007, Pages 1006-1019, doi:10.1016/j.renene.2006.04.009

Christian Azar, Kristian Lindgren, Eric Larson and Kenneth Möllersten, "Carbon Capture and Storage From Fossil Fuels and Biomass – Costs and Potential Role in Stabilizing the Atmosphere", Climatic Change, Volume 74, Numbers 1-3 / January, 2006, DOI 10.1007/s10584-005-3484-7

Further reading on negative emissions bioenergy and biofuels:
Peter Read and Jonathan Lermit, "Bio-Energy with Carbon Storage (BECS): a Sequential Decision Approach to the threat of Abrupt Climate Change", Energy, Volume 30, Issue 14, November 2005, Pages 2654-2671.

Stefan Grönkvist, Kenneth Möllersten, Kim Pingoud, "Equal Opportunity for Biomass in Greenhouse Gas Accounting of CO2 Capture and Storage: A Step Towards More Cost-Effective Climate Change Mitigation Regimes", Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Volume 11, Numbers 5-6 / September, 2006, DOI 10.1007/s11027-006-9034-9

Further reading on potential applications:
Biopact: Pre-combustion CO2 capture from biogas - the way forward? - March 31, 2007

Biopact: "A closer look at the revolutionary coal+biomass-to-liquids with carbon storage project" - September 13, 2007

Biopact: New plastic-based, nano-engineered CO2 capturing membrane developed - September 19, 2007

Biopact: Plastic membrane to bring down cost of carbon capture - August 15, 2007

Biopact: Pre-combustion CO2 capture from biogas - the way forward? - March 31, 2007


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China boosts forest based bioenergy projects: 870,000ha of oil trees in Hebei's uninhabited mountain areas

Persistent high oil prices and rapidly growing dependence on imported oil prompt China to further invest in biofuels that yield environmental benefits besides fuel. Forestry administrators told state media they will be planting nearly 7,000 hectares of oilseed bearing trees in the northern province of Hebei this year, part of a much larger national campaign to fuel the fast growing economy in a greener way. The 7000ha demonstration project will grow Chinese pistachio trees. They kickstart Hebei's program aimed at planting a total of 870,000ha of multi-purpose bioenergy trees in uninhabited mountainous areas over the coming decades.

In no more than five years, the Pistacia chinensis Bunge (see entry at the Plants for the Future database, and illustration, click to enlarge), whose seeds have an oil content of up to 40 percent, will yield five tons of fruit and contribute about two tons of high-quality biodiesel, according to the provincial forestry administration. The tree tolerates poor, dry soils and has relatively low water needs.

Hebei is among seven regions designated by the State Forestry Administration (SFA) in 2006 to develop biofuel demonstration forests.

Hebei, Anhui, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan and Shanxi provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region will grow a total of 400,000 hectares of demonstration forest. All plants will be oil-bearing shrubs and trees, many of who will contribute to fighting erosion and desertification. The trees include Pistacia chinensis, Jatropha curcas, Cornus wilsoniana and Xanthoceras sorbifolia. All of these are perennial shrubs and trees that can be established relatively easily. The seeds will be used for oil, and the wood they yield might serve as a biomass feedstock for bio-electricity or second-generation fuel production after the useful life of the plant.

Cornus wilsoniana's fruit is a source of oil (up to 30% oil content), the leaves are used for livestock feed, and the dense wood has a high energy value.

Xanthoceras sorbifolia (yellow horn) is a hardy, self fertile, nut producing shrub native to Northern China. Belonging to the Sapindaceae, its oil-rich nuts and pods resemble those of chesnuts.

But the provincial government of Hebei that borders Beijing, has made a much bolder decision still. It will plant an impressive 870,000 hectares of saplings of various kinds of biodiesel trees in its vast mountain areas, where few other commercial crops grow well. Raising biofuel forests in mountain areas will save farmland, make full use of the uninhabited mountains, and increase local people's family income if they are employed to take care of the trees, the SFA says. By 2050 harvests should yield as much as 5.5 million tons of seeds for extraction and refining into biofuels.

China, which has realized consecutive years of GDP growth of about 10 percent, is promoting the development of biofuels with financial support as it sees them as environmentally-friendly sources to ease the growing thirst for energy.

The country has been raising oil-bearing trees on some 4 million ha of land in different regions so far with an expected fruit output of 4 million tons. More could be planted on 57 million hectares of what is now called 'underdeveloped wilderness', SFA chief, Jia Zhibang, said:
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On part of these lands, the central government plans to cultivate a total of 13 million ha of high-grade bioenergy forests by 2020. This will yield 6 million tons of diesel that would be enough to fuel power plants with a combined capacity of 11 GW each year, according to a forestation plan compiled by the SFA.

Chinese officials said the country would increase biodiesel output for transport to 200,000 tons by 2010 and 2 million tons by 2020.

The People's Republic has been investing heavily in afforestation campaigns in an effort to fight desertification. This program has met with considerable success and is now being rethought within the context of bioenergy. So far, several projects in Northern-Western China and in Inner Mongolia have shown that trees for energy can help in the fight against erosion and desertification, besides producing renewable, low carbon fuels, and jobs to local people.

Scientists just recently wrote that carefully planned bioenergy projects can indeed yield many environmental benefits ranging from phytoremediation to reforestation, from the eradication of invasive species to restoring biodiversity, from conserving ecosystems under threat from industrial pollution to restoring soil health (previous post). China's energy tree projects could become large scale examples of such beneficial energy systems.

Big plans with renewables

Almost 70 percent of China's energy use came from coal in 2006, with other forms of energy each accounting for a tiny proportion, official statistics show. Ma Kai, the minister of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), announced last month that China would lift the proportion of renewable energy consumption to about 10 percent by 2010, and to 20 percent by 2020.

The country would focus on development of hydropower, biomass energy, wind power and solar power in future, according to a medium- and long-term plan for renewable energy published by the commission in September (illustration). This ambitious program would attract investments of up to $265 billion (previous post).

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has worked out a complete set of financial policies to promote the production of non-food sources for biofuels, which are clean and have a limited negative impact on the environment.

Flexible subsidies will be offered to biofuel producers who lose money on crops when crude oil prices are low. The government would encourage enterprises to reserve funds to offset such risks, according to Zeng Xiao'an, deputy director of the MOF's Department of Economic Development.

The ministry would also subsidize demonstration projects producing ethanol from cellulose, sweet sorghum and cassava or making biodiesel from forest products. Projects that are up to industrial standards would receive rewards of up to 40 percent of the total investment.

References:

Xinhua: China resorts to biodiesel projects to solve energy shortage - January 16, 2008.

Biopact: China to boost forest-based bioenergy, helps win battle against desertification - July 17, 2007

Biopact: Greening the desert with biofuels: Inner Mongolia peasants show it's possible - August 14, 2007

Biopact: Scientists: careful planning unlocks many environmental benefits of biomass besides green energy - January 16, 2008

Biopact: China unveils $265 billion renewable energy plan, aims for 15% renewables by 2020 - September 06, 2007



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