Trajectories for Energy Transition in EU-28 Countries over the Period 2000–2019: a Multidimensional Approach

Environmental Modeling & Assessment - Environmental issues have become a major concern for policymakers faced with the threat of global warming. The European Climate Energy Package is an...     

Controlling industrial pollution using EIA: Case study of a Kenyan tannery project

Summary Since the late 1970s, the National Environment Secretariat (NES) in Kenya has viewed environmental impact assessment (EIA) as a principal tool for meeting its environmental protection objectives. Prior to the formation of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Environment (IMCE), NES was ineffective in forcing any project proponents to take the EIA requirements seriously. The IMCE has provided NES with the ability to co-opt Committee members and to use the legislatively based mandates of those members to enforce its EIA requirements for industrial projects. A successful example of this co-optation is the case of the Leather Industries of Kenya (LIK), involving a new tannery whose final siting and wastewater treatment control facilities were substantially influenced by the EIA process. Although the LIK case does not offer a basis for generalisation, it provides insights into: (a) how EIA is implemented for new industrial facilities in Kenya, (b) the advantages and disadvantages of the EIA system, and (c) the constructive roles donor agencies can play in promoting institutional reforms for EIA.Dr Rafik Hirji is a Senior Engineer at James M. Montgomery Consulting Engineers, Inc., Suite 160, Sacramento, CA 95825. He was formerly a graduate research assistant in the Department of Civil Engineering at Stanford University. Dr Leonard Ortolano is the UPS Foundation Professor of Civil Engineering at Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-4020, USA.     

Decision support model to select crop pattern for sustainable agricultural practices using fuzzy MCDM

The crop pattern has a significant impact on the feasibility of sustainable agricultural practices. Selected crop pattern influences environmental and economic condition and affects sustainability profoundly in agricultural practices. Hence, a careful intervention is required in the selection of an optimal crop pattern for sustainable agricultural practices. Selection of a particular set of crop pattern depends on many criteria that may vary from place to place thus pose challenges in deciding an optimum crop pattern. The present research focuses on the crop selection pattern in Indian environment that considers comprehensive criteria related to sustainable farming practices. Based on the in-depth review of the literature and experts opinion, comprehensive criteria related to sustainable farming practices for Ravi season crop are identified. Total twelve criteria covering socioeconomic conditions, soil and water conditions, environmental and climatic conditions are earmarked and taken into account for eight most commonly grown crops in Ravi season and later on modeled to determine the crop pattern for most needed sustainability. A fuzzy-based multi-criteria decision-making model has been developed considering the Indian farming system. The scarce resources availability to Indian farmers poses many challenges to practice farming with most needed sustainability. The present research will be useful in the area of Indian farming practices in particular and global farming practices in general. It will also help stakeholders in their cost effective decision making for better crop productivity leading to sustainable farming practices. Additionally, the state policy makers will be able to formulate effective state driven sustainable farming policy to enhance its stake in gross domestic product to become self-reliance.     

Bifenthrin exerts proatherogenic effects via arterial accumulation of native and oxidized LDL in rats: the beneficial role of vitamin E and selenium

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The purpose of this study was to investigate, for the first time, the effects of Bifenthrin (Bif) chronic exposure on plasmatic and aortic lipid...     

Chitin and Chitosan Extracted from Shrimp Waste Using Fish Proteases Aided Process: Efficiency of Chitosan in the Treatment of Unhairing Effluents

Extraction and depolymerisation of chitin and chitosan from shrimp waste material was carried out using fish proteases aided process. A high deproteinization level (80 %) was recorded with an Enzyme/Substrate ratio of 10 U/mg. The demineralization of shrimp waste was completely achieved within 6 h at room temperature in HCl 1.25 M, and the residual content of calcium in chitin was below 0.01 %. The degree of N-acetylation, calculated from the ¹³C CP/MAS-NMR spectrum, was 85 %. The chitin obtained was converted to chitosan by N-deacetylation. X-ray diffraction patterns also indicated two characteristics crystalline peaks approximately at 10° and 20° (2θ). Chitosan was then evaluated in the treatment of unhairing effluents from the tanning industry. A result showed that chitosan as a coagulant has good performance in alkaline pH and at concentration of 0.5 g/L. Within these conditions, chitosan could decrease turbidity value, total suspended solids (89 % at 1.5 g/L), biological oxygen demand (33.3 % at 1.5 g/L) and chemical oxygen demand (58.7 % at 1.5 g/L).     

Quinoa value chain,adoption, and market assessment in Morocco

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Agriculture faces many challenges such as climate change, droughts, and salinity, which requires urgent interventions for fast adaptation and...     

Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in Octopus vulgaris from coastal waters of Alexandria (Eastern Mediterranean)

Heavy metal concentrations (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) were determined in various tissues (hepatopancreas, branchial hearts, salivary gland, gills, genital tract, mantle, arms and skin) of Octopus vulgaris collected from three different contaminated sites in front of Alexandria (Egypt) during 2000. All collected tissues displayed high enrichment factors when compared to ambient levels. Heavy metal concentrations in most tissues displayed significant differences among sites, sizes and sex. This study suggests that hepatopancreas, and to a lesser extent branchial hearts, are better indicators of chronic Cu, Fe, Zn and Cd contamination than edible tissues. The enrichment factor (EF) for heavy metals in the hepatopancreas and in edible tissues allowed discriminating our samples into three main groups; (1) EF?>?55 (Cu), (2) EF ranging from 15 to 7.5 (Fe, Cd and Zn) and (3) EF?相似文献   

Comments on “turbulent velocity profile in fully-developed open channel flows”

In a recent paper published in this journal, Bonakdari et al. (Environ Fluid Mech 8:1–17, 2008) presented a new formulation of the vertical velocity profile in the central portion of steady fully developed turbulent open-channel flows which is based on an analysis of the Navier–Stokes equations. The predicted mean streamwise velocity profiles presented by the authors represent dip phenomenon (maximum velocity below the free surface). The discusser would like to point out some contradictions and an error in the main demonstration. This error appears in the right-hand side term of the main Eq. 22 (Environ Fluid Mech 8:1–17, 2008) in the parameter α. Our corrected demonstration shows that α is equal to and not to as obtained by the authors (Environ Fluid Mech 8:1–17, 2008). The values of α used by the authors are under-estimated by 1, this difference has a significant effect on velocities and therefore will involve a difference between measured and predicted velocity profiles. Finally, the assumption of at the free surface is in contradiction with predicted velocity profiles.     

Comments on «Modeling stratified suspension concentration distribution in turbulent flow using fractional advection–diffusion equation» by Snehasis Kundu,environmental fluid mechanics,https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-019–09,679-9

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - In a paper published in Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Kundu proposed an interesting study about modeling suspended sediment concentrations profiles in turbulent...