Physico-chemical characterization of Residual Household Waste for energy recovery in insular territories: Case study of Reunion Island

Waste-to-energy is a promising approach to face the current challenge of waste overproduction in Reunion Island, a French territory. In this particular context of an isolated and tropical territory, it is essential to study the properties of potential feedstocks to choose the most appropriate conversion process. This article reports on the composition of Residual Household Waste from Reunion Island and its physico-chemical parameters. Twelve representative samples of Residual Household Waste were subjected to thermal and elemental analysis. The results showed that their composition had a significant influence on the physico-chemical properties, including calorific value. Residual Household Waste from the selective sorting (rich in wood, plastic, and sanitary textiles) as well as dry mixed RHW are the most interesting for energy recovery. Due to their high volatile matter and high carbon content, and their low moisture content, these types of waste have a high calorific value exceeding 18 MJ/kg. Furthermore, the RHW sample comply with the environmental and health criteria applied by French regulations concerning halogen and heavy metal. Thus, it seems that Residual Household Waste can be an alternative to conventional fuels used in incineration or pyro-gasification processes. However, the study also points the need for a pre-treatment process for these wastes. Indeed, it is necessary to sort them correctly in order to avoid the risks of pollution and important maintenance. And more importantly, drying beforehand is unavoidable to improve combustibility and obtain optimal energy conversion.     

Spatial analysis of resources and environmental carrying capacity in Iran

Urbanization and mass movement of the population from rural areas and small cities to megacities have led to environmental, economic, and social problems in Iran. In dealing with these challenges, assessing resource and environmental carrying capacity (RECC) is considered an effective method to leverage space and capital to achieve sustainable development. This study aimed to rank the provincial RECC in Iran. Toward this purpose, environmental indices were generated from remotely sensed and statistical census data. Then, the provinces were scored in terms of environmental, economic, and infrastructural carrying capacities, and RECC using the mean variance analysis method. Results demonstrated that in most areas, there is no relationship between economic and infrastructural capacities and development. Statistically, a correlation coefficient of −0.53 between economic and environmental carrying capacities indicated excessive use of environmental capacities. Moreover, the spatial distribution pattern of environmental, economic, and infrastructural carrying capacity was entirely heterogeneous between the provinces; there was a northeast–southwest pattern in terms of infrastructural capacity and an economic pattern from north to south. The distribution pattern of RECC is most consistent with the environmental capacity, pointing at the high weight of the indicators of the RECC model. In conclusion, this research offers a new vision for policymakers and provides a theoretical and applicable framework for implementing sustainable strategies in land-use planning. It is recommended that the RECC concept and tools can be used not only for planning but also for measuring the efficiency of spatial development programs and establishing land balances in the region.     

China’s carbon neutrality: an extensive and profound systemic reform

● China has pledged ambitious carbon peak and neutrality goals for mitigating global climate change. ● Major challenges to achieve carbon neutrality in China are summarized. ● The new opportunities along the pathway of China’s carbon neutrality are discussed from four aspects. ● Five policy suggestions for China are provided. China is the largest developing economy and carbon dioxide emitter in the world, the carbon neutrality goal of which will have a profound influence on the mitigation pathway of global climate change. The transition towards a carbon-neutral society is integrated into the construction of ecological civilization in China, and brings profound implications for China’s socioeconomic development. Here, we not only summarize the major challenges in achieving carbon neutrality in China, but also identify the four potential new opportunities: namely, the acceleration of technology innovations, narrowing regional disparity by reshaping the value of resources, transforming the industrial structure, and co-benefits of pollution and carbon mitigation. Finally, we provide five policy suggestions and highlight the importance of balancing economic growth and carbon mitigation, and the joint efforts among the government, the enterprises, and the residents.     

Anaerobic digestion of agro-industrial waste enriched with bovine bone meal for improved biogas production and biofertilization

The increase in animal and agro-industrial production must be accompanied by the development of appropriate waste and by-product management strategies. Anaerobic digestion is a promising approach to recycle these wastes and reintegrate them into the economic production cycle of biogas and biofertilizer. In order to improve the performance of the anaerobic mesophilic digestion of abundant agro-industrial wastes constituted by potato peel (PP), and poultry waste (PW) and study the contribution of bovine bone meal (BB) as additive rich in phosphorus, which can help to neutralize the acidity of the substrate. The 10-point simplex-centroid design and the isoresponse surfaces strategy were used. This study demonstrated that in mesophilic bio-digestion, the using bovine bones in admixture with agroindustrial residue provided for the proper balance of chemical components required for proliferation of microbiological agent of bioconversion, which also resulted in an increase in biogas production capacity. The best formula was so composed by 66.67% bovine bone, 16.67% potatoes peel, and 16.67% poultry waste. The stability was achieved here after only 12 days. The digestate generated from it was fulfilled with the microbiological and chemical requirements for safety defined by the NF U44-551 standard. Germination test revealed that this optimal produced digestate, did not hinder growth, in fact, almost 85% of seed was germinated. Finally, fertilization experiments prove that this digestate can boost the growth of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum).     

Co-development of an integrated assessment framework to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of selected nature-based water treatment technologies in Sri Lanka,The Philippines,and Vietnam

Water quality is a critical challenge in Asia in the context of growing industrialization, urbanization, and climate change. Nature-based solutions (NbS) could play an important role in reducing urban water pollution, while generating multiple co-benefits that could make cities more liveable and resilient. In this regard, a number of pilot and demonstration projects have been set up to explore their potential across cities in Asia. Their effectiveness and impacts, however, have not been adequately documented, thus how they can be sustained, replicated and up-scaled remain poorly understood. This study aims to contribute to addressing this challenge by co-developing an integrated assessment framework and employing it to understand how existing evaluations of NbS in the region can be improved. It focuses specifically on a set of nature-based solutions that have been employed for water treatment across six cities in Southeast Asia (two in each Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Vietnam), namely, floating wetlands, constructed wetlands and maturation ponds. The study also suggests specific methodologies for capturing a set of core indicators considered relevant for assessing the effectiveness and capturing the multi-faceted impacts of the examined NbS.     

Critical review for the quantification of leachate production: Evaluation example for the “Oum Azza” public landfill in Rabat city,Morocco

The estimation of leachate quantities produced in landfills is necessary to dimension the treatment plants allowing to reduce the polluting load of these effluents and consequently avoid their negative impacts on the environment. Different leachate quantification methods were used in this study to assess the leachate volume produced at the Oum Azza landfill. The water balance method give comparable estimations of leachate production to the Ouled Berjal landfill ratio. The first method showed average values between 487 and 495 m³/day for 2015, 2018, and 2019, and at the same time, the second method gave values between 470 and 477 m³/day for the same years. In contrast, the World Bank ratio showed high values that vary between 2260 and 2295 m³/day for 2015, 2018, and 2019. The on-site data and the statistical analysis showed us that the World Bank ratio is not adapted for the estimation of the leachates produced in Oum Azza landfill, while the water balance and the ratio of Ouled Berjal landfill allowed to give comparable results to reality.     

Diversity of antibiotic resistance genes and encoding ribosomal protection proteins gene in livestock waste polluted environment

The rapid development and increase of antibiotic resistance are global phenomena resulting from the extensive use of antibiotics in human clinics and animal feeding operations. Antibiotics can promote the occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which can be transferred horizontally to humans and animals through water and the food chain. In this study, the presence and abundance of ARGs in livestock waste was monitored by quantitative PCR. A diverse set of bacteria and tetracycline resistance genes encoding ribosomal protection proteins (RPPs) from three livestock farms and a river were analyzed through denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The abundance of sul(I) was 10³ to 10⁵ orders of magnitude higher than that of sul(II). Among 11 tet-ARGs, the most abundant was tet(O). The results regarding bacterial diversity indicated that the presence of antibiotics might have an evident impact on bacterial diversity at every site, particularly at the investigated swine producer. The effect of livestock waste on the bacterial diversity of soil was stronger than that of water. Furthermore, a sequencing analysis showed that tet(M) exhibited two genotypes, while the other RPPs-encoding genes exhibited at least three genotypes. This study showed that various ARGs and RPPs-encoding genes are particularly widespread among livestock.     

基于微型无人机遥感数据的城市水环境信息提取初探

近年来,黑臭水体整治已经成为各级政府的重要工作内容。为更好地开展黑臭水体筛查和监管工作,提出基于多旋翼无人机搭载多光谱相机的遥感监测方案,尝试采用影像特征变换结合面向对象分类方法提取黑臭水体的遥感信息。结果表明:(1)无人机影像上地物具有更加丰富的色彩和纹理;(2)与主成分变换和纹理分析方法相比,光谱指数对典型地物具有较好的判别能力;(3)采用标准最邻近分类法提取城市水环境信息,能够获得较高分类精度。     

煤与瓦斯共采在错层位巷道布置中的机理研究及应用构想

为了完善现有煤与瓦斯共采技术，创新煤与瓦斯共采方法，对错层位巷道布置下的煤与瓦斯共采系统展开研究，利用相似模拟试验，分析错层位巷道布置覆岩运动情况，预测其开采围岩裂隙发育和瓦斯运移形式，提出了创新煤与瓦斯共采技术构想。研究结果表明:采空区覆岩三带高度随接续工作面的增加而增大，相邻采空区垮落矸石压实区呈现“O-L-O”形变化，多个相邻采空区覆岩出现大“O”形圈裂隙带；相邻采空区内瓦斯可实现相互运移，大“O”形圈裂隙带内赋存大量瓦斯气体；研究提出了地面钻井抽采瓦斯、走向高位瓦斯抽采巷和外错尾巷穿层钻孔3种煤与瓦斯共采技术，比传统巷道布置情况下的煤与瓦斯共采技术在安全、经济等方面更具优势。     

生活垃圾强制分类形势下的多源废荧光灯管回收管理机制建议

废荧光灯管的来源广泛，包括工业来源和社会来源，社会来源又包括居民来源，企业事业单位、公共场所等机构来源，具有多来源的特性。废荧光灯管中含有汞，若不经过妥善处理，会造成环境污染，对人的身体健康造成危害。随着国内生活垃圾分类的开展，废荧光灯管作为生活垃圾中有害垃圾的典型类别被强制分类，但仍存在很多问题。本文梳理了我国废荧光灯管的产生情况、LED灯替代情况，并对美国、欧盟、日本和我国国内典型城市的废荧光管理情况进行了总结。针对我国废荧光灯管的回收现状，从责任主体、责任划分、收集渠道、资金机制等角度提出了相关的管理建议，为推动我国废荧光灯管的管理提供借鉴。