Assessing energy efficiencies and greenhouse gas emissions under bioethanol-oriented paddy rice production in northern Japan

To establish energetically and environmentally viable paddy rice-based bioethanol production systems in northern Japan, it is important to implement appropriately selected agronomic practice options during the rice cultivation step. In this context, effects of rice variety (conventional vs. high-yielding) and rice straw management (return to vs. removal from the paddy field) on energy inputs from fuels and consumption of materials, greenhouse gas emissions (fuel and material consumption-derived CO(2) emissions as well as paddy soil CH(4) and N(2)O emissions) and ethanol yields were assessed. The estimated ethanol yield from the high-yielding rice variety, "Kita-aoba" was 2.94 kL ha(-1), a 32% increase from the conventional rice variety, "Kirara 397". Under conventional rice production in northern Japan (conventional rice variety and straw returned to the paddy), raising seedlings, mechanical field operations, transportation of harvested unhulled brown rice and consumption of materials (seeds, fertilizers, biocides and agricultural machinery) amounted to 28.5 GJ ha(-1) in energy inputs. The total energy input was increased by 14% by using the high-yielding variety and straw removal, owing to increased requirements for fuels in harvesting and transporting harvested rice as well as in collecting, loading and transporting rice straw. In terms of energy efficiency, the variation among rice variety and straw management scenarios regarding rice varieties and rice straw management was small (28.5-32.6 GJ ha(-1) or 10.1-14.0 MJ L(-1)). Meanwhile, CO(2)-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions varied considerably from scenario to scenario, as straw management had significant impacts on CH(4) emissions from paddy soils. When rice straw was incorporated into the soil, total CO(2)-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions for "Kirara 397" and "Kita-aoba" were 25.5 and 28.2 Mg CO(2) ha(-1), respectively; however, these emissions were reduced notably for the two varieties when rice straw was removed from the paddy fields in an effort to mitigate CH(4) emissions. Thus, rice straw removal avers itself a key practice with respect to lessening the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions in paddy rice-based ethanol production systems in northern Japan. More crucially, the rice straw removed is available for ethanol production and generation of heat energy with a biomass boiler, all elements required for biomass-to-ethanol transformation steps including saccharification, fermentation and distillation. This indicates opportunities for further improvement in energy efficiency and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions under whole rice plant-based bioethanol production systems.     

日本的环境保护

本文介绍了日本的环境污染与环境保护发展概况，阐述了各发展阶段的特征和所采取的环境保护政策，措施及成功的经验，扼要地探讨了我国与日本在环境保护方面在的差距及其原因。     

Environmental psychology in Japan

The article briefly summarizes the development of environmental psychology in Japan, and discusses its characteristic areas of research and their relation to contemporary Japanese environmental conditions. The more important studies are reviewed as well as the general methodological orientation of Japanese environmental psychology.     

养猪场粪便综合利用技术

由北京市环境保护科学研究院开发、北京市环境保护局推荐的养猪场粪便综合利用技术适用于畜禽养殖场的粪污治理。主要技术内容一、基本原理本技术主要由三个技术单元构成：１．猪粪堆肥发酵技术：以猪粪为主要原料，采用好氧堆肥方式，利用开发出来的有机物分解率高、堆肥周期短的高效滚筒卧式发酵装置，对猪粪进行发酵、颗粒化制肥。发酵周期为５天。经过在发酵槽中高温好氧发酵，猪粪成为性状良好的腐殖颗粒。然后根据不同农肥的N、P、K等含量标准添加原料，通过粉碎、搅拌后进入造粒装置，成型后经干燥、筛分成为成品，包装后入库或出…     

日本废弃物的循环再利用

本文从废弃物的循环再利用方面介绍了日本环境保护的最新动向。     

Attitudes of Canadian Pig Producers Toward Animal Welfare

As part of a larger study eliciting Canadian producer and non-producer views about animal welfare, open-ended, semi-structured interviews were used to explore opinions about animal welfare of 20 Canadian pig producers, most of whom were involved in confinement-based systems. With the exception of the one organic producer, who emphasized the importance of a “natural” life, participants attached overriding importance to biological health and functioning. They saw their efforts as providing pigs with dry, thermally regulated, indoor environments where animals received abundant feed, careful monitoring and where prospective disease outbreaks could be minimized and controlled. Emphasis was also placed on low-stress handling and agreeable working conditions which were believed to promote good animal care. The fact that pigs tend to respond to such conditions with steady growth reinforced the belief that good welfare was provided. Participants supported the use of sow gestation stalls, but with some reservations, and expressed concern about welfare problems that could occur if sows were grouped. Invasive procedures (castration, tail-docking, teeth clipping) were recognized as painful but were accepted because they were seen as: (1) necessary for sales or management; (2) satisfactory trade-offs to prevent worse welfare problems such as injury or infection; or (3) sufficiently short-term to be relatively unimportant. Participants were adamantly opposed to animal neglect and some welcomed actions of animal protectionists that expose poor care. Producers also welcomed natural-science-based approaches to improving animal welfare. The findings contribute to a broader effort to identify overlapping values among different stakeholder groups as a basis for formulating mutually agreeable, farm animal care and handling polices.     

The influence of iron flow on iron resource efficiency in the steel manufacturing process

An iron resource efficiency is proposed to define a measure of the natural iron resources saved in the steel manufacturing process. A simplified iron flow diagram is presented for the steel manufacturing process. The influences of various deviations in iron flow from the simplified iron flow diagram on iron resource efficiency are analyzed. The relationships between iron resource efficiency of unit processes and the final product are also discussed. As an example, data from a steel plant are used to analyze the influence of iron flow on its iron resource efficiency of finial product in the steel manufacturing process, the influence of iron resource efficiency of unit process on iron resource efficiency of the final product, and give some measures to improve the iron resource efficiency of the steel manufacturing process.     

Culture and the environment in Japan

This article discusses the environmental problems of Japan from a cultural point of view. The traditional Japanese view of nature differs from that of Western culture. During the 19th century, Japan introduced Western technology to modernize its industries as quickly as possible. Its transition into the modern industrial world was successful but resulted in serious problems. One of these was the rapid destruction of the natural environment; another, the feeling of homelessness that the Japanese people experienced in their newly Westernized surroundings.The Japanese people have now reached the point where they must reevaluate their traditional ideas about nature and their responses to technology. Their solutions to some of the problems that result from industrialization may be useful to Western countries as well.     

日本的医疗垃圾处理系统

本文介绍了日本的医疗卫生单位垃圾的分类、处理过程、对策及法律制度。     

日本环保工作之一斑

作者介绍了在日本考察大气污染治理等环保工作的见闻。     

浅议日本的自来水水价

介绍日本不同城市的两部分水费制的具体实施和“负担公平化和经营稳定化”宗旨以及供水行业支出费用的组成.日本的市民每个月的自来水水费支出数额占整个生活消费总数的比例呈缓慢上升趋势,随着水价逐年缓慢增长.日本的水价和水费管理模式以及上海最新提出的三级梯度水价规划方案值得借鉴与参考.     

日本环境教育的回顾与展望

本文回顾了日本环境教育的产生与发展过程,分析了日本环境教育的现状,介绍了日本环境教育的形式与内容。     

日本里山模式下的生物多样性及保护

里山模式在日本已经延续了数百年时间.从里山概念人手,论述了里山模式的多样性和该模式下生物的多样性,以及日本政府为保护里山生物多样性而做出的从机构到政策再到国际合作的种种努力,以实现自然资源的可持续利用和人与自然的和谐共处.     

日本环境公害与治理介绍

第二次世界大战日本战败后,把主要精力放在发展经济上,其结果是环境受到污染,公害发生。文章阐述了日本环境公害的发生及其治理措施,对提高人们防治公害的意识具有积极的借鉴意义。     

广州市规模化养猪场废水污染调查与防治对策探讨

广州市规模化养猪业的快速发展带来了严重的环境污染。本文对广州市规模化养猪场的废水污染状况展开研究,在对养猪场的现状进行考察,理清广州市规模化养猪场的数量、分布、建筑形式与养殖工艺的基础上,选取5家有代表性的养猪场进行废水监测,计算统计全市规模化养猪场的废水排放量,并对污染产生的原因进行了分析。结果表明：目前广州市规模化养猪场共有974个,污水排放量为每年8.62×106吨,饲养方式、废水治理措施与生产管理方式在很大程度上影响废水污染物的种类与数量。最后本文从技术以及管理制度的安排方面,提出了防治规模化养猪场废水污染的对策。     

日本国的环境保护

日本国在环境保护、治理公害、污染防治以及环境意识教育等方面给予我们很多启示,特别是国民的“热爱地球,与地球环境共存”的宣言以及为全球环境保护所做的努力,值得我们学习和研究。     

Pig slurry application and irrigation effects on nitrate leaching in Mediterranean soil lysimeters

Land application of animal manures, such as pig slurry (PS), is a common practice in intensive-farming agriculture. However, this practice has a pitfall consisting of the loss of nutrients, in particular nitrate, toward water courses. The objective of this study was to evaluate nitrate leaching for three application rates of pig slurry (50, 100, and 200 Mg ha(-1)) and a control treatment of mineral fertilizer (275 kg N ha(-1)) applied to corn grown in 10 drainage lysimeters. The effects of two irrigation regimes (low vs. high irrigation efficiency) were also analyzed. In the first two irrigation events, drainage NO(3)-N concentrations as high as 145 and 69 mg L(-1) were measured in the high and moderate PS rate treatments, respectively, in the low irrigation efficiency treatments. This indicates the fast transformation of the PS ammonium into nitrate and the subsequent leaching of the transformed nitrate. Drainage NO(3)-N concentration and load increased linearly by 0.69 mg NO(3)-N L(-1) and 4.6 kg NO(3)-N ha(-1), respectively, for each 10 kg N ha(-1) applied over the minimum of 275 kg N ha(-1). An increase in irrigation efficiency did not induce a significant increase of leachate concentration and the amount of nitrate leached decreased about 65%. Application of low PS doses before sowing complemented with sidedressing N application and a good irrigation management are the key factors to reduce nitrate contamination of water courses.     

Enhancing metolachlor destruction rates with aluminum and iron salts during zerovalent iron treatment

Pesticide-contaminated soil may require remediation to mitigate ground and surface water contamination. We determined the effectiveness of zerovalent iron (Fe(0)) to dechlorinate metolachlor [2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methyl ethyl) acetamide] in the presence of aluminum and iron salts. By treating aqueous solutions of metolachlor with Fe(0), we found destruction kinetics were greatly enhanced when Al, Fe(II), or Fe(II) salts were added, with the following order of destruction kinetics observed: Al2(SO4)3 > AlCl3 > Fe2(SO4)3 > FeCl3. A common observation was the formation of green rusts, mixed Fe(II)-Fe(III) hydroxides with interlayer anions that impart a greenish-blue color. Central to the mechanism responsible for enhanced metolachlor loss may be the role these salts play in facilitating Fe(II) release. By tracking Al and Fe(II) in a Fe(0) + Al2(SO4)3 treatment of metolachlor, we observed that Al was readily sorbed by the corroding iron with a corresponding release of Fe(II). The manufacturing process used to produce the Fe(0) also profoundly affected destruction rates. Metolachlor destruction rates with salt-amended Fe(0) were greater with annealed iron (indirectly heated under a reducing atmosphere) than unannealed iron. Moreover, the optimum pH for metolachlor dechlorination in water and soil differed between iron sources (pH 3 for unannealed, pH 5 for annealed). Our results indicate that metolachlor destruction by Fe(0) treatment may be enhanced by adding Fe or Al salts and creating pH and redox conditions favoring the formation of green rusts.     

Ski slope vegetation in central Honshu,Japan

To determine the status of the vegetation of ski slopes in northeastern-central Honshu, Japan, 94 plots (2×2 m) were set up on five ski areas (101–520 m elevation) which were established between 1945 and 1985 by forest clear-cutting, land modification, and seeding. Six vegetation types were recognized: five grasslands dominated byDigitaria adscendens, Miscanthus sinensis, Zoysia japonica, Festuca rubra, andPteridium aquilinum var.latiusculum, respectively, and bare areas of very low to no vegetation cover. Of the dominant species,F. rubra is the only introduced species; it does not, however, appear to persist. After the introduced grassland declinesM. sinensis or annual grasslands develop. Native plants, especially woody species, can establish inM. sinensis grassland but do not establish in the other grasslands. It is concluded that the introduction of exotic species is inappropriate to maintain ski slope vegetation, and the development ofM. sinensis grassland is desirable to promote natural revegetation.     

Seaborne iron ore trade in the 1990s

This paper discusses how world steel production and seaborne iron ore trade have grown since 1950. The role of steel production forecasts in determining investment in the iron ore industry is examined. Forecasts for world steel production and the demand and supply of seaborne iron ore in the 1990s are presented. It is predicted that world steel production will increase by 64 million tons between 1991 and 2000. This increase will be located principally in the developing countries and China. The corresponding increase in seaborne iron ore trade will be approximately 55 million tons. Expansion projects will be located mainly in Australia and Brazil, but no greenfield iron ore projects will be undertaken. By the end of the decade, the demand for seaborne iron ore will be equal to its supply.