Evaluating the effect of vehicle impoundment policy on illegal construction and demolition waste dumping: Israel as a case study

Construction and demolition (C&D) waste dumped alongside roads and in open areas is a major source of soil and underground water pollution. Since 2006, Israeli ministry for environmental protection enacted a policy of vehicle impoundment (VI) according to which track drivers caught while dumping C&D waste illegally have their vehicles impounded. The present study attempted to determine whether the VI policy was effective in increasing the waste hauling to authorized landfill sites, thus limiting the number of illegal unloads of C&D waste at unauthorized landfill sites and in open areas. During the study, changes in the ratio between the monthly amount of C&D waste brought to authorized landfills sites and the estimated total amount of C&D waste generated in different administrative districts of Israel were examined, before and after the enactment of the 2006 VI policy. Short questionnaires were also distributed among local track drivers in order to determine the degree of awareness about the policy in question and estimate its deterrence effects. According to the study’s results, in the district of Haifa, in which the VI policy was stringently enacted, the ratio between C&D waste, dumped in authorized landfill sites, and the total amount of generated C&D waste, increased, on the average, from 20% in January 2004 to 35% in October 2009, with the effect attributed to the number of vehicle impoundments being highly statistically significant (t = 2.324; p < 0.05). By contrast, in the Jerusalem and Southern districts, in which the VI policy was less stringently enforced, the effect of VI on the above ratio was found to be insignificant (p > 0.1). The analysis of the questionnaires, distributed among the local truck drivers further indicated that the changes observed in the district of Haifa are not coincident and appeared to be linked to the VI policy’s enactment. In particular, 62% of the truck drivers, participated in the survey, were aware of the policy and 47% of them personally knew a driver whose vehicle was impounded. Furthermore, the drivers estimated the relative risk of being caught for unloading C&D waste in unauthorized sites, on the average, as high as 67%, which is likely to become a deterrent on its own. Our conclusion is that the VI policy appears to have a deterring effect on truck drivers, by encouraging them to haul C&D waste to authorized landfill sites. As we suggest, the research methodology implemented in the study and its results may help policy makers in other regions and countries, which experience similar environment enforcement problem, to analyze policy responses.     

Improving collection efficiency through remote monitoring of charity assets

Collection costs associated with servicing a major UK charity’s donation banks and collecting unsold goods from their retail shops can account for up to 20% of the overall income gained. Bank and shop collections are commingled and are typically made on fixed days of the week irrespective of the amounts of materials waiting to be collected. Using collection records from a major UK charity, this paper considers what vehicle routing and scheduling benefits could accrue if bank and shop servicing requirements were monitored, the former using remote sensing technology to allow more proactive collection scheduling. A vehicle routing and scheduling algorithm employing tabu search methods was developed, and suggested time and distance savings of up to 30% over the current fixed schedules when a minimum bank and shop fill level of between 50% and 60% was used as a collection trigger. For the case study investigated, this led to a potential revenue gain of 5% for the charity and estimated CO₂ savings of around 0.5 tonnes per week across the fleet of six heterogeneous vehicles.     

Teaching older drivers to navigate GPS technology

Background and objectives: New technologies are being implemented in motor vehicles. One key technology is the electronic navigation system (ENS) that assists the driver in wayfinding, or actually guides the vehicle in higher level automation vehicles. It is unclear how older adults interact with ENSs and the best approach to train older adults to use the devices. The objectives of this study were to explore how older drivers interacted with an ENS while driving on live roadways and how various training approaches impacted older drivers’ ability to accurately enter destinations into the ENS. Research design and methods: In Experiment 1, 80 older drivers navigated unfamiliar routes using an ENS or paper directions and completed a series of ENS destination entry tasks. In Experiment 2, 60 older drivers completed one of three training conditions (ENS video only, ENS video with hands-on training, placebo) to examine the impacts of training on destination entry performance. Results and discussion: Driving performance was aided by the use of the ENS, but many older drivers had difficulty entering destinations into the device (Experiment 1). The combined video with hands-on ENS training resulted in the best overall destination entry performance (Experiment 2). Practical applications: The results suggest older drivers may experience problems entering destinations into ENSs, but training can improve performance. These performance issues may be especially important as more vehicle features require interaction with computer systems to select destinations or other automation related features. Further research is needed to determine how to prepare the next generation of older drivers who will interact with technologies aimed at increasing mobility.     

水源地污染源无人机遥感监测

无人机遥感是近年新兴的航空遥感技术,随着无人机平台与载荷的不断进步,其研究应用愈加深入,已广泛应用于各行业领域,并作为卫星遥感技术的补充,愈加发挥着重要作用。为拓展无人机遥感技术应用潜力,分析无人机在环保领域应用效果,以扬州市南水北调工程东线输水水域的水源地为研究区域,基于其污染源特征及周边生态环境状况,研究无人机平台与载荷搭配(可见光与热红外)技术,监测研究区污染源,分析其对水质的潜在影响。结果表明,研究区存在多处污染源,主要为点源污染(工业点源、水产养殖、生活污水),面源污染(河道码头、水土流失、农业)和内源污染(航运船舶、桥梁交通运输、渔民生活)等,同时,发现某助剂厂隐藏在水面下的4个排污口。该项技术的实验研究,发挥了无人机平台与载荷搭配应用效果,获取了污染源的类型、数量、空间分布及其扩散形态,为水源地无人机遥感技术应用奠定了工作基础。     

Determining contamination level of heavy metals in road dust from busy traffic areas with different characteristics

This study identified the levels and sources of heavy metal contamination in road dust from busy traffic areas in a typical industrial city in Korea. This study compared the total concentrations, as determined by aqua regia digestions and atomic absorption spectroscopy, of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn) and nickel (Ni) in the road dust from areas with different characteristics such as traffic rotaries, downtown areas, circulation roads, and asphalt and concrete highways. The contamination levels of the heavy metals in the road dust were evaluated using the contamination factor and the degree of contamination. The contamination levels of the heavy metals in the road dust were highly dependent on traffic volume and atmospheric dispersion from traffic rotaries. Industrial emissions and the frequency of brake use and vehicles coming to a complete stop were additional factors that affected the contamination levels in downtown areas. The concrete highway had higher contamination levels of the heavy metals than the asphalt highway. Vehicle speed was also a strong contributing factor to the degree of contamination of heavy metals in the road dust from the circulation roads and highways.     

Passive monitoring of nitrogen dioxide in urban air: a case study of Durban metropolis, South Africa

To devise and implement strategies to manage the quality of urban air, a metropolis needs air pollution data on which an air quality management plan can be formulated. Although air pollutants can come from several sources, many reports suggest that nitrogen dioxide from motor vehicle emissions is the major contributor to air pollution in cities. Since vehicles stop or move slowly through traffic intersections, concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) are expected to be relatively high at these sites. Inexpensive Ogawa passive samplers were placed at selected traffic intersections in the Durban Metropolis to trap the NO(2) which was then analysed by a sensitive laboratory-based method. The data obtained by this method was compared with data from sophisticated system comprising an active sampler cum on-line chemiluminescence detector. The sampling was done over a twelve month period to cover all seasons. Statistical analysis of the data showed that there was no significant difference between the means for the two methods. This study has established that an Ogawa passive sampler may be used as an economical and reliable collector for NO(2) in ambient air under varying climatic conditions. Further, the analysis method using a UV-Visible spectrophotometer was sensitive enough to detect NO(2) at the 10-20 ppb level. The cost of the method should be well within the budgets of most municipalities and it would motivate them to develop policies to alleviate traffic congestion.     

机动车尾气与雾霾天气

从雾和霾形成的原因以及与机动车尾气的关系等方面的论述,阐述了机动车尾气对人体健康的危害,提出了对机动车尾气的预防、治理办法。     

机动车氮氧化物污染现状与减排措施

汽车尾气对空气的污染越来越严重,影响人们的健康生活,破坏生态环境。机动车尾气中的氮氧化物是大气污染的主要污染物之一,采取有效措施减少机动车氮氧化物排放对于空气质量的改善具有重要意义。     

机动车排放细颗粒物精细化源谱构建及应用

利用真空瓶现场采样并结合单颗粒气溶胶质谱（SPAMS）技术,对主流品牌汽油车和柴油车排放细颗粒物进行组分分析和源谱构建。结果表明：汽、柴油车尾气源谱特征整体较为相似,相似度均值达到0.88,均以碳和钙为主要特征组分;部分柴油车特征源谱中硫酸盐特征较为明显,碳组分中OC特征突出;汽油车源谱特征中磷酸盐特征相对突出,且碳组分中短链元素碳占比较高。根据建立的源谱进行实际道路观测,结合风速、风向等气象要素分析,2021年2月1日—24日观测点位对应的移动源占比为33.5%,其中汽油车贡献21.0%,柴油车贡献12.5%。     

Temporal and spatial variations of air pollution across China from 2015 to 2018

This study investigated concentrations of PM_2.5, PM₁₀, SO₂, NO₂, CO and O₃, and air quality index（AQI） values across 368 cities in mainland China during 2015–2018. The study further examined relationships of air pollution status with local industrial capacities and vehicle possessions. Strong correlations were found between industrial capacities（coal, pig iron, crude steel and rolled steel） and air pollution levels. Although statistical and ...