Thermal radiation in oxy-fuel flames

This work investigates thermal radiation in oxy-fuel flames, based on experiments and modelling. Experiments were conducted in a 100 kW test facility in air and oxy-fuel combustion atmospheres, using two different types of fuels, lignite and propane. In-flame measurements of gas composition, temperature and total radiation intensity, were performed and used as input to radiation modelling to examine the influence of oxy-fuel conditions on gas and particle radiation characteristics. In the modelling, the spectral properties of CO₂ and H₂O are treated by means of a statistical narrow band model and particle radiation is modelled for both scattering and non-scattering particles.Experiments on the propane flame show that the flame radiation conditions are drastically influenced by the recycling conditions. With OF 27 conditions (27% oxygen in the feed gas) and dry recycling, the temperature is slightly lower compared to air-fired conditions, but the emitted intensity is significantly increased. Modelling shows that this is mainly caused by a significantly increased soot radiation. Propane flame images show that the presence of soot in oxy-fuel conditions varies strongly with recycling conditions. The contribution due to an increased emission by CO₂ is of minor importance. In the lignite experiments similar flame temperatures were kept during air and oxy-fuel combustion (OF 25 conditions with dry recycling). The measurements show that the intensity levels in both flames are similar which is due to a strong particle radiation in both environments. The modelling reveals that the dominance by particle radiation contra gas radiation is closely related to whether the particles are scattering or non-scattering.     

Gendered dimensions of climate change response in Swedish municipalities

This article elaborates on and discusses gendered dimensions of climate change response in Swedish municipalities. There are indications that attitudes and behaviour to the environment and climate change are gendered. This evidence together with our own work further indicates that gender awareness is most probably an important influence on how municipalities respond to climate change. The aim of this study was to investigate if and how gendered aspects of climate change response are integrated in the Swedish response to climate change. The potential causal relationships between a high level of awareness of the gendered aspects of climate change and the levels of climate change response were investigated. We asked whether there is a positive relationship between gender awareness and the quality of the communities' climate change policies and practice. Indications of such a relationship prompt a change in research priorities – paying more attention to gender – and in subsequent policy developments.     

Identification, synthesis and activity of sex pheromone gland components of the autumn gum moth (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), a defoliator of Eucalyptus

Summary. The autumn gum moth, Mnesampela privata (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), is native to Australia and can be a pest of plantation eucalypts. Field-collected and laboratory-reared female autumn gum moths were dissected to remove glands likely to contain components of the sex pheromone. Using gas chromatography (GC) and combined gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), three compounds were identified from female extracts, namely (3Z,6 Z,9 Z)-3,6,9-nonadecatriene, 1-hexadecanol and 1-octadecanol (confirmed by comparison with synthetic samples). Nonadecatriene elicited an antennal response in male autumn gum moth during gas chromatographic analyses combined with electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD). In electroantennogram (EAG) recording male M. privata antennae responded to the nonadecatriene. Nonadecatriene was synthesised via Kolbe electrolysis, starting with (9Z,12Z,15Z)-octadeca-9,12,15-trienoic acid (linolenic acid) and propanoic acid or via an alternative four-step method also starting from linolenic acid. In field trials (3Z,6Z,9Z)-3,6,9-nonadecatriene proved attractive to male moths. Thus, we conclude that (3Z,6Z,9Z)-3,6,9- nonadecatriene is a sex pheromone component of autumn gum moth. This component has been identified in extracts from other geometrids in the same subfamily, Ennominae. However, to our knowledge this is the first example where (3Z,6Z,9Z)-3,6,9-nonadecatriene has been found in females and also proved attractive to male moths when presented on its own. Our results are discussed in relation to other geometrid pheromones.     

Defoliation of coniferous trees-assessments 1984–87

Information about visible symptoms of forest damage was collected during 1984–1987 from 13 reference areas established by the Swedish Environmental Monitoring Programme. The annual occurence of needle loss on Norway spruce and Scots pine was estimated visually and expressed as a percentage of defoliation on the upper parts of the tree-crowns. As the reference areas are situated all over Sweden from Lat. 55° to 69° the climate factors, such as temperature, winds, drought, humidity and snow cover, vary within a wide range. There are also altitudinal differences-sites are situated from 50 to 720 m above sea level. Two of the northernmost sites, which are also the high altitude ones, had the highest defoliation values. In the south, the most severely defoliated trees were growing on sites near the western and the eastern coasts. The estimated defoliation level was mainly lower in 1986 and 1987, compared with the level in 1984. A wide range of environmental factors influence tree health. Trees are subjected to several kinds of stress-factors causing several kinds of damage. Besides the natural stresses, there is also, a long-term effect of air pollutants. Diversity in resistance and susceptibility to air pollutants, as well as the exposition to winds and humidity, are affecting needle loss.The exposures to chemicals occurring under forest conditions are different at different parts of Sweden. The observed defoliation of conifers does not seem to have a linear relationship with the pollution gradient but are also attributable to natural stress factors.     

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of dichlorophene used as a growth inhibitor in containerized seedlings of pine and spruce

Gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were employed in the analysis of dichlorophene used in the nursery cultivation of pine and spruce. The analysis was performed in paper and peat after the conversion of dichlorophene to its dimethyl other. With multiple ion detection a sensitivity of 1 mg/g paper or peat was achieved.     

A bioassay approach to determine the dioxin-like activity in sediment extracts from the Danube River: ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase induction in gill filaments and liver of three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.)

Sediment samples from the upper Danube River in Germany have previously been characterized as ecotoxicologically hazardous and contaminants in these sediments may contribute to the observed decline of fish populations in this river section. For the investigation of sediment toxicity there is a need for development, standardization and implementation of in vivo test systems using vertebrates. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to apply and evaluate a recently established fish gill EROD assay as a biomarker in sediment toxicity assessment by using extracts of well characterised sediment samples from the upper Danube River. This to our knowledge is the first application of this novel assay to sediment extracts. Sediments from four different sites along the upper Danube River were Soxhlet-extracted with acetone and dissolved in DMSO. Three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) were exposed for 48 h to various concentrations of the extracts, to the positive control beta-naphthoflavone or to the solvent. Measurements of EROD activity in gill filaments and liver microsomes followed the exposure. Concentration-dependent induction of EROD in both gill and liver was found for all sediment extracts. The highest EROD-inducing potency was determined for extracts of sediments from the sites "Opfinger See" and "Sigmaringen" and the EROD activities in gill and liver correlated well. The results from the gill and liver assays were in accordance with in vitro results of previous investigations. The EROD activities measured in the present study corresponded with the concentrations of PAHs, PCBs and PCDD/Fs in the sediment samples derived in a previous study. The sticklebacks in this study were in the reproductive phase and a stronger EROD induction was obtained in the females than in the males. Implementation of the EROD assay in testing of sediment extracts gave highly reliable results which make this assay an ecotoxicologically relevant method for assessment of contamination with Ah receptor agonists in sediments.     

137Cs and 90Sr in live and dead reindeer lichens (genera Cladonia) from the "Kraton-3" underground nuclear explosion site

The contents of 137Cs and 90Sr have been determined in 29 samples of live and dead reindeer lichens (genera Cladonia) collected at the "Kraton-3" underground nuclear explosion site (65.9 degrees N 112.3 degrees E, event year--1978) in Yakutia, Russia in 2002. The area contamination was within the range of 0.36-700 and 0.13-770 kBq m(-2) for 137Cs and 90Sr, respectively. The dead organisms were on average much more contaminated than the live ones. Vertical fractionation of the live lichen carpet demonstrated maximal activity concentrations of both radionuclides in the lower older section of the plants, while for the dead lichens the maximal activity concentrations of 137Cs were detected in the upper part. The vertical distribution of 90Sr was more or less homogeneous in the cushions of dead lichens. Elevated levels of 137Cs and 90Sr activity concentrations were also detected in the re-establishing young lichens growing over the residua of some dead lichens.     

Where Technology Goes to Die: Representations of Electronic Waste in Global Television News

This article analyzes how electronic waste (e-waste) gets represented in television news stories. The main objective is to present a perspective on how a “low-frequency” emergency (i.e. a lengthy and ongoing state of environmental emergency) is presented as a newsworthy issue. Drawing on literature on televised “distant suffering,” the article engages in a multimodal text analysis of four news stories about e-waste. The findings show how on-location reports from e-waste dumping sites make use of sublime imagery in the visual representations; how e-waste dumping sites are presented as strange spaces, with no clear and comprehensible history; and finally, that the representations suggest an ambivalence and uncertainty when it comes to agency (who is responsible and what can be done?). The article ends with a discussion of the implications of this mode of representation and its effectiveness in eliciting an appropriate response to the harms caused by e-waste.     

Mapping bundles of ecosystem services reveals distinct types of multifunctionality within a Swedish landscape

Ecosystem services (ES) is a valuable concept to be used in the planning and management of social–ecological landscapes. However, the understanding of the determinant factors affecting the interaction between services in the form of synergies or trade-offs is still limited. We assessed the production of 16 ES across 62 municipalities in the Norrström drainage basin in Sweden. We combined GIS data with publically available information for quantifying and mapping the distribution of services. Additionally, we calculated the diversity of ES for each municipality and used correlations and k-means clustering analyses to assess the existence of ES bundles. We found five distinct types of bundles of ES spatially agglomerated in the landscape that could be explained by regional social and ecological gradients. Human-dominated landscapes were highly multifunctional in our study area and urban densely populated areas were hotspots of cultural services.