Solar energy for electricity and fuels

Solar energy conversion into electricity by photovoltaic modules is now a mature technology. We discuss the need for materials and device developments using conventional silicon and other materials, pointing to the need to use scalable materials and to reduce the energy payback time. Storage of solar energy can be achieved using the energy of light to produce a fuel. We discuss how this can be achieved in a direct process mimicking the photosynthetic processes, using synthetic organic, inorganic, or hybrid materials for light collection and catalysis. We also briefly discuss challenges and needs for large-scale implementation of direct solar fuel technologies.     

Efficacy of created and restored nesting sites for the conservation of colonial Laridae in the South of France

By rapidly modifying key habitat components, habitat restoration is at risk of producing attractive cues for animals without providing habitats of sufficient quality. As such, individual fitness components, such as reproduction, could be reduced and restored habitats could become ecological traps. This risk notably appears by using artificial constructions in restoration projects, yet few studies have evaluated their efficacy in a robust way. We investigated this by analyzing 154 islets that were created or restored to improve the conservation status of 7 colonial Laridae species in the South of France. From 2007 to 2016, we compared occupancy dynamics and breeding parameters of these species between the restored sites and 846 unmanaged nesting sites. We also explored species’ preference for different nesting site characteristics and their respective effect on breeding parameters. Restored nesting sites were 2–9 times as attractive as unmanaged sites for all species except the Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus). Colonization probability was up to 100 times higher in sites already used by other species the previous year and increased with distance to the shore until >0.2 when distance was over 250 m. Abandonment probability was 29–70% lower when breeding was successful the previous year in all species except the Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis). Productivity and breeding success probability were 2 times higher on managed sites. Distance from the shore was an important attractive characteristic of artificial nesting sites in all species. Other nesting site characteristics had species-specific effects on colonization, abandonment, and breeding success. Our results indicate that managed nesting sites are successful conservation tools for colonial Laridae in the Mediterranean and do not act as ecological traps. Our study showed that testing the ecological trap hypothesis is a robust way to evaluate the success of restoration projects of breeding habitats.     

Environmental assessment of garden waste management in the Municipality of Aarhus, Denmark

An environmental assessment of six scenarios for handling of garden waste in the Municipality of Aarhus (Denmark) was performed from a life cycle perspective by means of the LCA-model EASEWASTE. In the first (baseline) scenario, the current garden waste management system based on windrow composting was assessed, while in the other five scenarios alternative solutions including incineration and home composting of fractions of the garden waste were evaluated. The environmental profile (normalised to Person Equivalent, PE) of the current garden waste management in Aarhus is in the order of −6 to 8 mPE Mg⁻¹ ww for the non-toxic categories and up to 100 mPE Mg⁻¹ ww for the toxic categories. The potential impacts on non-toxic categories are much smaller than what is found for other fractions of municipal solid waste. Incineration (up to 35% of the garden waste) and home composting (up to 18% of the garden waste) seem from an environmental point of view suitable for diverting waste away from the composting facility in order to increase its capacity. In particular the incineration of woody parts of the garden waste improved the environmental profile of the garden waste management significantly.     

Plant steroid hormones produced under Ni stress are involved in the regulation of metal uptake and oxidative stress in Brassica juncea L

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are involved in the amelioration of various biotic and abiotic stresses. With an aim to explore the role of BRs under heavy metal stress, plants of Brassica juncea L. were grown in pots. The plants were subjected to various concentrations of Nickel metal (0.0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mM) and harvested on 60th day in order to observe the expression of these hormones. The isolated BRs from the leaves of Brassica plants characterized by GC-MS include 24-Epibrassinolide (24-EBL), Castasterone, Dolicholide and Typhasterole. The effect of isolated 24-EBL was studied on Ni metal uptake and antioxidative defense system in 60 d old plants of Brassica. It was observed that 24-EBL significantly increased the activities of stress ameliorating enzymes and lowered the metal uptake in plants. This is the first report in B. juncea L. plants showing the expression of BRs under metal treatments and effect of the isolated 24-EBL on metal uptake and in oxidative stress management.     

Decay profile and metabolic pathways of quinalphos in water, soil and plants

The widespread occurrence of pesticide residues in different agricultural and food commodities has raised concern among the environmentalists and food chemists. In order to keep a proper track of these materials, studies on their decay profiles in the various segments of ecosystem under varying environmental conditions are needed. In view of this, the metabolites of quinalphos in water and soil under controlled conditions and in plants, namely tomato and radish in field conditions have been analysed and possible pathways suggested. In order to follow the decay of the pesticide, an HPLC procedure has been developed. Studies conducted in water at different temperatures, pH and organic content reveal that the persistence of the pesticide decreases with the increase in all the three variables. In the three different types of soils studied, the effect of pH is more or less apparent on a similar line. On an average a faster decay is observed in the case of plants than in water and soil. The decay profiles in all these cases follow first order kinetics. The metabolites were identified by GC-MS. The investigations reflect that degradation occurs through hydrolysis, S-oxidation, dealkylation and thiono-thiol rearrangement. The pathways seem to be complex and different metabolites were observed with the change in the matrix. Quinalphos oxon, O-ethyl-O-quinoxalin-2-yl phosphoric acid, 2-hydroxy quinoxaline and quinoxaline-2-thiol were observed in all the matrices. Results further indicate that the metabolites, 2-hydroxy quinoxaline and oxon, which are more toxic than parent compound, persist for a longer time.     

改良剂对广西环江强酸铅锌污染土壤的修复作用

广西环江沿岸农田土壤具有强酸、多重金属污染等特点,失去了农业生产能力,为此,本研究试用了土壤淋溶实验探究不同类型改良剂(生石灰、钙镁磷肥、有机肥、聚丙烯酰胺)组合对广西环江沿岸污染土壤的修复效果,土壤重金属迁移规律及对农田适耕性的影响.结果表明,对照组T1土壤酸化严重,降低清洁接触土壤层p H值,而处理方式T2、T3、T4、T5均能显著提高污染土壤p H值(P0.05),对供试土壤p H变化大小分别为2.7~3.2、1.6~2.7,均能达到南方农业生产土壤p H值范围.较对照组T1,在污染土壤0~20 cm处,处理方式T2、T3、T4、T5能有效地活化Pb,钝化Zn的作用;在清洁土壤20~60cm处,各个处理方式对DTPA-Pb、DTPA-Zn的作用不存在显著差异(P0.05).较对照组T1,处理方式T4、T5能为植物提供良好的种植营养物质,以期能为今后结合生物修复等措施提供技术支撑.     

苯酚的褐煤吸附过程及影响因素分析

以污染物苯酚为研究对象,褐煤作为吸附剂,通过批量实验研究了褐煤对废水中苯酚的吸附特性,考察了褐煤粒径、褐煤投加量、反应温度、反应p H、反应时间对吸附作用的影响,并对吸附过程进行了分析。采用Lagergren动力学方程和拟二级吸附动力学方程分析苯酚吸附过程,结果表明,褐煤对苯酚的吸附动力学曲线更符合拟二级吸附动力学方程,反应初始速率随着苯酚初始浓度的升高而增大,但随着煤粉粒径的增大而减小。颗粒内扩散模型对苯酚的吸附动力学曲线分析结果表明:苯酚在褐煤上的吸附首先经历了速率较快的膜扩散控制阶段,进而经历了吸附较缓慢的颗粒内扩散控制阶段,最后到达吸附平衡,褐煤对苯酚的吸附过程主要受到颗粒内扩散控制。     

基于神经网络的碳排放预测及影响因素分析

基于新疆1995—2014年农业生产碳排放源,建立碳排放关系数据库。应用广义神经网络(generalized regression neural network,GRNN)构建了排放量预测模型,结合平均影响值(mean impact value,MIV)方法对碳排放影响因素进行量化。结果表明:1)GRNN模型预测碳排放的平均绝对百分误差和拟合优度分别为2.7860%和0.8720;2)新疆人口、人均GDP、农业贡献值、农机总动力和农户固定资产投资等因素对农业生产碳排放的影响程度分别为0.6210、0.2377、0.3698、0.8500和0.1000。该成果可为新疆碳排放总量分析和影响因素量化方面提供参考。     

九龙江口滨海湿地生源要素空间分布特征

为了揭示亚热带典型滨海湿地生源要素的空间分布特征及影响因素,选取九龙江口滨海湿地为研究对象,于2009年夏采集表层沉积物及柱状样,利用元素分析仪和流动注射分析仪对主要生源要素碳、氮、磷、硫(C、N、P、S)进行分析.结果表明,九龙江口滨海湿地生源要素含量较高,总碳、总氮、总磷、总硫(TC、TN、TP、TS)的均值分别为(12.64±2.66)、(1.57±0.29)、(0.48±0.06)、(2.61±1.37)g·kg-1,空间分布差异性显著.红树林植被区表层沉积物的TC、TN、TP含量高于米草植被及光滩,高潮位TC、TN、TP含量>中潮位>低潮位,TS在米草植被及中潮位含量较高.柱状样的TC、TN具有相似的垂直变化趋势,均表现为由表层向下逐渐降低,且不同植被间的柱状样TC、TN含量在同一深度上都表现为:红树区>米草区>光滩区;柱状样TP平均值是光滩最低,TS平均值是光滩最高.冗余分析表明,植被类型、pH及潮位是影响表层沉积物生源要素(C、N、P、S)分布最显著的环境因子,解释量分别为24.0%、19.0%和11.6%.     

氮氟掺杂二氧化钛(N,F-TiO2)的制备及可见光催化活性的研究

以氨水为氮源,氢氟酸为氟源,采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了氮氟掺杂二氧化钛(N,F-TiO2)光催化剂,并通过X-射线衍射(XRD)和扫描电镜(SEM)技术对其晶型和形态进行表征.最后以酸性红B为模型污染物,探讨了N和F加入量、焙烧温度、焙烧时间、照射时间、催化剂用量、溶液初始浓度和照射功率等因素对N,F-TiO2可见光催化活性的影响.结果表明,制备的N,F-TiO2以锐钛型为主,N和F的掺杂对TiO2的晶相没有明显改变,但可以扩大TiO2的可见光响应范围.当N和F的加入量均为2.0%,且在500℃下焙烧40 min时,得到的N,F-TiO2的可见光催化活性明显高于单N或单F掺杂的TiO2(N-TiO2或F-TiO2).对于50 mL浓度为10.0 mg·L-1的酸性红B溶液,当催化剂加入量为1.5 g·L-1,128W光照3.0 h,溶液pH=5.6时,去除率为85.40%.适当延长光照时间至4.0 h,降解率几乎可达100%.另外,研究还证明了N,F-TiO2催化可见光降解过程中有.OH自由基生成.