Greenlandic water and sanitation systems—identifying system constellation and challenges

A good water supply and wastewater management is essential for a local sustainable community development. This is emphasized in the new global goals of the UN Sustainable Development, where the sixth objective is to: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” (United Nations 2015). This obviously raises the question of how this can be achieved considering the very different conditions and cultures around the globe. This article presents the Greenlandic context and elucidates the current Greenland water supply system and wastewater management system from a socio-technical approach, focusing on the geographic, climatic and cultural challenges. The article identifies a diverse set of system constellations in different parts of Greenland and concludes with a discussion of health and quality of life implications.     

Violence in environmental conflicts: the need for a multidimensional approach

Although studies on environmental conflicts have engaged with the subject of violence, a multidimensional approach has been lacking. Using data from 95 environmental conflicts in Central America, we show how different forms of violence appear and overlap. We focus on direct, structural, cultural, slow, and ecological forms of violence. Results suggest that the common understanding of violence in environmental conflicts as a direct event in time and space is only the tip of the iceberg and that violence can reach not only environmental defenders, but also communities, nature, and the sustainability of their relations.     

Novel Tough Crystalline Blends of Polylactide with Ethylene Glycol Derivative of POSS

Blending of polylactide (PLA) with low stereoregularity and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane grafted with arms of poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether, acting as a plasticizer, allowed us previously to obtain a novel stable elastomeric-like material. The present contribution focuses on the properties of semi-crystalline PLA plasticized with this compound. Melt blends of PLA with 5–15 wt% of the plasticizer, were compression molded, quenched and annealed, which enabled cold-crystallization. The glass transition temperature of the blends and their drawability depended on their crystallinity and plasticizer content. The best ductility was reached at the plasticizer content of 15 wt%; the achieved strain at break was 6.5 (650%) and 1.3 (130%), for the quenched and annealed material, respectively. The latter value exceeded 20 times the strain at break of neat crystalline PLA. The tensile toughness of the annealed 15 wt% blend was 12 times larger than that of crystalline PLA. Moreover, annealing of 15 wt% blend improved its yield strength by 40%. Despite the two peaks of the loss modulus, indicating the two glass transitions in this blend, no heterogeneities were found by scanning electron microscopy, indicating that the plasticizer enriched phase formed instead of distinct inclusions of the plasticizer.     

Production of Curdlan Grown on Cassava Starch Waste Hydrolysates

Cassava starch waste hydrolysates (CSWHs) with different degrees of polymerisation, i.e., CSWHs-1, CSWHs-2 and CSWHs-3, were prepared through the hydrolysis of cassava starch waste with thermostable a-amylase from Thermococcus sp. HJ21. The prepared CSWHs were then used as a carbon source for curdlan production with Alcaligenes faecalis ATCC 31749. The amount of curdlan produced and the glucosyltransferase activity during curdlan synthesis increased more obviously when CSWHs-2 was used as the carbon source than when glucose was used. Using both carbon sources, the maximum curdlan production was observed at day 5, and the maximum glucosyltransferase activity was observed at day 4. Glucosyltransferase activity decreased thereafter, and biomass continued to increase until the end of the experiment (day 6). Results indicated that the enhanced curdlan production with CSWHs as the carbon source was highly correlated with glucosyltransferase activity.     

Promoting e-mobility in India: challenges,framework, and future roadmap

The purpose of the research is to identify the critical challenges that are impeding the adoption of e-mobility in India. It also aims to give a roadmap how to address these challenges while taking into considerations concerns of all the relevant stakeholders. Based on an in-depth literature review, an exploratory research design is employed to delve deep into various aspects of e-mobility. This is followed by a three-phase Delphi technique to identify and rate the e-mobility challenges in the Indian context. The study successfully identifies four different categories of challenges and proposes integrative framework for e-mobility. Further, the research goes on to lay out the future roadmap for mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in India. The research is novel in terms of presenting a holistic viewpoint on e-mobility in India. Its originality lies in identifying the major inhibitors obstructing EVs adoption in India and then suggesting the roadmap how to overcome these impediments for mass adoption of e-mobility.     

The associations of air pollution exposure during pregnancy with fetal growth and anthropometric measurements at birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Fetal growth has been demonstrated to be an important predictor of perinatal and postnatal health. Although the effects of maternal exposure to air...     

Correction to: Preparation of GO/MIL-101(Fe,cu) composite and its adsorption mechanisms for phosphate in aqueous solution

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15526-6     

纳米铁催化分解高氯酸盐废水的反应动力学

通过实验考察了酸性条件下纳米铁催化分解高氯酸盐过程中的影响因素,对其分解的动力学进行了研究,并对纳米铁催化剂结构及微观形貌进行SEM、EDS和XRD表征分析。利用阿仑尼乌斯方程和幂指数方程拟合反应动力学方程,获得了高氯酸盐分解动力学方程Ct=C0exp{-0.03773exp(-201.65/T)[H]0.191t},理论的计算值与实验值吻合较好,误差在15%以内。     

蒽醌修饰石墨毡电极预处理头孢合成废水

以钛涂钌电极为阳极、自制蒽醌修饰石墨毡电极为阴极,对头孢合成废水(COD=25 000~30 000 mg/L、ρ(NH3-N)=850~1 300 mg/L、色度为2 300~2 680度)进行了电化学氧化预处理,优化了电解条件,并对电化学体系的动力学和稳定性进行了分析。实验结果表明:蒽醌的存在可改善电化学氧化降解效果;在电解时间50 min、电流密度0.14 A/cm2、Na2SO4浓度0.1 mol/L、极板间距2 cm、初始废水p H 7.0的条件下,废水的COD、色度、NH3-N的去除率分别可达45.3%,66.9%,33.6%;BOD5/COD由处理前的0.27增至0.40,可生化性得到改善;COD、色度、NH3-N的电化学氧化降解过程均近似符合一级动力学方程;且该电化学体系的应用稳定性良好。