Assessment of sunflower germplasm for phytoremediation of lead-polluted soil and production of seed oil and seed meal for human and animal consumption

Phytoremediation is a valuable technology for mitigating soil contamination in agricultural lands, but phytoremediation without economic revenue is unfeasible for land owners and farmers. The use of crops with high biomass and bioenergy for phytoremediation is a unique strategy to derive supplementary benefits along with remediation activities. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is a high-biomass crop that can be used for the phytoremediation of polluted lands with additional advantages (biomass and oil). In this study, 40 germplasms of sunflower were screened in field conditions for phytoremediation with the possibility for oil and meal production. The study was carried out to the physiological maturity stage. All studied germplasms mopped up substantial concentrations of Pb, with maximum amounts in shoot?>?root?>?seed respectively. The phytoextraction efficiency of the germplasm was assessed in terms of the Transfer factor (TF), Metal removal efficiency (MRE) and Metal extraction ratio (MER). Among all assessed criteria, GP.8585 was found to be most appropriate for restoring moderately Pb-contaminated soil accompanied with providing high biomass and high yield production. The Pb content in the oil of GP.8585 was below the Food safety standard of China, with 59.5% oleic acid and 32.1% linoleic acid. Moreover, amino acid analysis in meal illustrated significant differences among essential and non-essential amino acids. Glutamic acid was found in the highest percentage (22.4%), whereas cysteine in the lowest percentage (1.3%). Therefore, its efficient phytoextraction ability and good quality edible oil and meal production makes GP.8585 the most convenient sunflower germplasm for phytoremediation of moderately Pb-contaminated soil, with fringe benefits to farmers and landowners.     

Modeling and simulation of landfill gas production from pretreated MSW landfill simulator

The cumulative landfill gas (LFG) production and its rate were simulated for pretreated municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill using four models namely first order exponential model, modified Gompertz model, single component combined growth and decay model and Gaussian function. Considering the behavior of the pretreated MSW landfill, a new multi component model was based on biochemical processes that occurring in landfilled pretreated MSW. The model was developed on the basis of single component combined growth and decay model using an anaerobic landfill simulator reactor which treats the pretreated MSW. It includes three components of the degradation i.e. quickly degradable, moderately degradable and slowly degradable. Moreover, the developed model was statistically analyzed for its goodness of fit. The results show that the multi components LFG production model is more suitable in comparison to the simulated models and can efficiently be used as a modeling tool for pretreated MSW landfills. The proposed model is likely to give assistance in sizing of LFG collection system, generates speedy results at lower cost, improves cost-benefit analysis and decreases LFG project risk. It also indicates the stabilization of the landfill and helps the managers in the reuse of the landfill space. The proposed model is limited to aerobically pretreated MSW landfill and also requires the values of delay times in LFG productions from moderately and slowly degradable fractions of pretreated MSW.     

Assessing the impact of mechanism of green public consumption policy on environmental equity: evidence from China

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This study investigates the impact of the mechanism of green public consumption policy on environmental equity and provides a feasible reference for...