How renewable energy and service growth influence environmental quality: Evidence from a sustainable development perspective

The present study inspects the relationships between the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, real GDP, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, as well as the service growth for top ten countries (TTC) in service activities. The empirical modeling used in the study involves the procedures of cointegration and tests of Granger causality to inspect the dynamic interaction between the variables during the period from 1980 to 2018. The results of the present study suggest that the variables are cross-sectionally dependent. In addition, the variables appear to be cointegrated based on several tests. The long-run outcomes revealed an inversed U-shaped form between emissions-GDP proving the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve assumption. The fully modified ordinary least squares and dynamic OLS estimates show that the non-renewable energy and economic growth contribute to the increase of CO₂ emissions, while service value-added leads to decrease emissions. Furthermore, the renewable energy coefficient comes through as negative but insignificant for the selected panel. The TTC in service should stimulate the usage of renewable energy in various service events for following the path of sustainable development. Devising the investment plans associated with the use of renewable energies is quite essential for the advancement of the service sector leading to mitigating emissions portion.     

中国生态保护政策的县域经济效应——来自国家重点生态功能区的证据

为保障生态产品供给，中国设立了限制开发的国家重点生态功能区，建立了生态保护转移支付制度.本文首次在县域层面构建2002~2017年县级面板数据，运用倾向得分匹配法构造政策组的“反事实”情形，基于双重差分法评估重点生态功能区政策的县域经济效应.结果表明，该政策提高了县域财力、长期来看一定程度改善了产业结构；以标准财政缺口为主的资金分配机制弱化了县域经济发展激励，资金补助不能完全抵消限制开发对县域经济带来的负向影响；固定资产投资和内资企业受影响较大.随着投入资金累积、生态产品价值的转化，该负向效应随时间而减弱、经济促增效应逐渐显现.政策效应在不同生态功能和经济区位间表现出明显的异质性.建议持续增加生态转移支付资金、将生态产品供给数量和质量作为资金分配依据，考虑按生态功能类型设计差异化政策，更好激励县域生态产品高水平供给与经济价值实现的双赢，促进区域均衡发展.     

Estimating uncertainties in the life cycle assessment of composting household biowaste and urban green waste in Germany

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of waste treatment processes is often associated with considerable uncertainties. The aim of this study is to estimate the total uncertainty in the modelled composting system and the influence of material and process parameters on the uncertainty. Four composting combinations with fresh (FC) and mature substrate compost (MSC) from partially enclosed (PEC) and open composting (OC) were investigated. Perturbation analysis was used to determine the effect of parameters on the result and Monte Carlo simulation was used to estimate the total uncertainty. This study showed that the production of MSC using PEC had the lowest overall impacts across all impact categories except ozone depletion. Results of the Monte Carlo simulation showed that comparing composting options was challenging. The sensitivity ratios obtained from the perturbation analysis showed that the process parameter percentage of carbon fraction degraded was the most influential for FC. In MSC, the moisture content in the input material and the substitution factor used for peat were the most influential. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrated the overall uncertainty of the model and its relevance when comparing results between combinations. The perturbation analysis identified the parameters that required more accurate data to reduce the uncertainty in the model.

Graphical abstract

     

Pyrolysis of lemon peel waste in a fixed-bed reactor and characterization of innovative pyrolytic products

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Lemon peel waste (LPW) were pyrolysed in a laboratory fixed-bed reactor at final temperature of 300 °C, 400 °C and...     

Extraction and characterization of chitin,chitosan, and protein hydrolysate from the invasive Pacific blue crab,Portunus segnis (Forskål, 1775) having potential biological activities

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The diversity of marine biomasses is a set of exploitable and renewable resources with application in several sectors. In this context, a co-culture...     

pH dependent synthesis and characterization of bismuth molybdate nanostructure for photocatalysis degradation of organic pollutants

Bismuth molybdate (Bi₂MoO₆) nanostructures has attracted many researches as an advanced photocalysts for the organic contaminants. In this paper, bismuth molybdate Bi₂MoO₆ nanoparticles were synthesized using a simple hydrothermal method at varied pH (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10) for 15 h at 180 °C. The results reveal the variation pH precursor solutions have a significant impact on the morphology, phase formations, and photocatalytic activity of samples. The synthesized samples at low pH level were characterized by FESEM analysis revealing Bi₂MoO₆ nanoplates have formed while gradually convert to Bi₂MoO₆ spherical nanoparticle at high PH level as shown in energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (DES) peaks. The X-ray diffraction patterns reveal characteristic peaks corresponding to mixed phases of Bi₂MoO₆ and cubic Bi₄MoO₉ at high pH value. The optical absorption study exhibit Bi₂MoO₆ nanoplates absorbed visible light with blue shift when compared to the cubic Bi₄MoO₉ structures. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity results revealed that nanoplates in pH?=?4 sample has excellent photocatalytic activity for degradation of rhodamine (RhB), methylene orange (MO), and phenol under visible-light irradiation (λ?>?400 nm) as well as exhibit the photodegradation 90% of phenol within 300 min.

     

履约对我国典型城市和偏远背景地区气态单质汞浓度和源区的影响研究

为了解我国城市和背景地区最新的气态单质汞（gaseous elemental mercury，GEM）水平，比较《关于汞的水俣公约》履约前后这些地区GEM来源和迁移规律的差异，本研究选择了1个城市监测站（淀山湖站）和1个背景监测站（哀牢山站），于2021年分别进行了为期1个月的GEM监测，同时使用潜在源贡献因子计算分析两地GEM的来源，并与履约前的结果进行比对。位于长三角地区的淀山湖站GEM浓度降幅大于位于我国西南的哀牢山站GEM浓度降幅，表明针对我国工业排放源超低排放的改造，获得了显著的履约成效。相对履约前，两地GEM的可能源区和传输形式没有显著改变，人为源排放仍然是影响两地GEM浓度的主要因素。本研究结果表明随着履约工作的逐步推进，我国城市和背景地区的GEM仍有下降的可能，长期在这些站点开展大气汞监测，可以为汞履约成效评估提供有效的数据支撑。     

Exposure to microplastics leads to a defective ovarian function and change in cytoskeleton protein expression in rat

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants; through their physicochemical properties, they can have potentially negative effects on...     

Contribution of warm habitat to cold-water fisheries

A central tenet of landscape ecology is that mobile species depend on complementary habitats, which are insufficient in isolation, but combine to support animals through the full annual cycle. However, incorporating the dynamic needs of mobile species into conservation strategies remains a challenge, particularly in the context of climate adaptation planning. For cold-water fishes, it is widely assumed that maximum temperatures are limiting and that summer data alone can predict refugia and population persistence. We tested these assumptions in populations of redband rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss newberrii) in an arid basin, where the dominance of hot, hyperproductive water in summer emulates threats of climate change predicted for cold-water fish in other basins. We used telemetry to reveal seasonal patterns of movement and habitat use. Then, we compared contributions of hot and cool water to growth with empirical indicators of diet and condition (gut contents, weight–length ratios, electric phase angle, and stable isotope signatures) and a bioenergetics model. During summer, trout occurred only in cool tributaries or springs (<20 °C) and avoided Upper Klamath Lake (>25 °C). During spring and fall, ≥65% of trout migrated to the lake (5–50 km) to forage. Spring and fall growth (mean [SD] 0.58% per day [0.80%] and 0.34 per day [0.55%], respectively) compensated for a net loss of energy in cool summer refuges (–0.56% per day [0.55%]). In winter, ≥90% of trout returned to tributaries (25–150 km) to spawn. Thus, although perennially cool tributaries supported thermal refuge and spawning, foraging opportunities in the seasonally hot lake ultimately fueled these behaviors. Current approaches to climate adaptation would prioritize the tributaries for conservation but would devalue critical foraging habitat because the lake is unsuitable and unoccupied during summer. Our results empirically demonstrate that warm water can fuel cold-water fisheries and challenge the common practice of identifying refugia based only on summer conditions.