Concurrency: a system design approach to environmental management and sustainability

The lessons of history indicate that mismanagement of natural resources and the environment often leads to potentially adverse consequences.The increasing interest in economic development,particularly in the developing countries of the world coupled with increasing population pressures and the globalization of economic activity is placing noticeable stresses on the ultimate sustainability of both human and environmental systems.Sustainable development is not a new concept.It has been an area of concern for different elements of society for some time.Yet efforts to understand the implications of sustainable development have not,until recently,been formalized.We have focused singularly on economic development and environmental quality as if they were mutually exclusive.This paper focuses on the concept of concurrency as both a conceptual framework and practicable method of understanding and implementing the ecology and economy of sustainability.     

Eco-environment contribution of agroforestry to agriculture development in the plain area of China--Huai''an Prefecture, Jiangsu Province as the case study area

For improving the environmental quality and ensuring supply of wood and non-timber forest products, many forests have been planted in plain areas of China. Scientists have studied their benefits, almost all of the approaches were based on tixed-point data, and few was considered on the non-efficient factors and temporal scale effects. This paper studies the positive and negative benefits at a large temporal scale, and the effects of plain afforestation on stockbreeding and rural economy. The benefits of plain afforestation, correlation coefficiency of agroforestry and production factors are analyzed via stochastic frontier modeling in Huanghuaihai Plain Area of China; elastic coefficient of agroforestry, husbandry, farming, and total output of agricultural sector are calculated through adopting partial differential equation. Some conclusions can be drawn that, plain forests have an important effect on the development of plain agriculture. But shelterbelts and small-soale forests have different effect on the development of agricultural economy. Shelterbelts have negative effect on the industries, but small-soale forest has positive effect. On the whole, contribution of forest resource to value of animal husbandry and gross production value of agriculture is positive, and to the value of farming is negative.     

Contamination by persistent toxic substances in surface sediment of urban rivers in Chaohu City, China

The concentration and spatial distribution of persistent toxic substances (PTS) in the river sediment in Chaohu City, China were investigated. A total of nine surface sediments were collected and the selected PTS pollutants including six heavy metals and nineteen polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were analyzed. The mean heavy metal concentrations (in mg/kg, dry weight) ranged within 0.18-1.53 (Hg), 50.08-200.18 (Cu), 118.70-313.65 (Zn), 50.77-310.85 (Cr), 37.12-92.72 (Pb) and 13.29-197.24 (As), and Cu, Zn and As have been regarded as the main metal pollutants. The levels of PBDEs (1.2-12.1 ng/g) and BDE-209 (2.4-30.5 ng/g) were at the middle level of the global range. BDE-209 was the predominant congener (67.0%-85.7%), which agrees with the fact that technical deca-BDE mixtures are the dominant PBDE formulation in China. The relative high level of PTS pollutants in the western part of the city is probably owing to the intensive agricultural activities and lack of sewerage system there. The ecological risk assessment with the sediment quality guidelines (SOGs) indicates that the urban river sediments in the city have been heavily contaminated by heavy metals with probable ecotoxicological impacts on freshwater organisms and the main toxic pollutants are Hg and As. The results of current study imply that the city, and perhaps many other small cities in China as well, requires immediate pollution control measures with emphasis on not only conventional organic pollutants but also on PTS such as heavy metals and PBDEs.     

The progress of catalytic technologies in water purification： A review

Catalytic technologies have been paid increasing attention in refractory pollutants abatement due to its practical and potential values in water purification. As e ective and e cient approaches for water purification, Fenton’s reagent, ozonation, electrochemical and photocatalytic methods have been widely studied and applied in di erent aspects and have been reviewed by several articles. In recent years, some novel catalytic processes based on above processes have been developed for enhancing the e ciency of removing the organics from water. This review emphasized on the recent development of heterogeneous catalytic ozonation, electrocatalysis in respect of novel electrodes and electro-Fenton method, photoelectrocatalysis process and photoelectron-Fenton in water purification. It was also an attempt to propose general ideas about mechanism and principle enhancing the catalytic e ciency for the degradation and the mineralization of organics in water.     

A regional environmental management information system for Chinese EPA—the system analysis and design

REMIS is one of key research projects sponsored by the central government. It is recommended to regional EPAs as a main tool of the environmental management. REMIS simulates the functions of the regional EPAs and aimed to improve their management level. The national environmental management information system will base on REMIS.Functional analysis is the kernel of the REMIS system analysis. Data and data flow analysis are used to support the functional analysis.Investigations on the functions of the local EPAs of eight provinces and 12 cities have been taken. The functions were carefully sorted. Modular design method was used in system analysis and system design.The system analysis included functional analysis, data analysis and data flow analysis. The system design is based on the system analysis. HIPO diagram of each modular, data base structure, menu design, selection of hardware and software environment were the main items of the system design.     

Observation of atmospheric nitrous acid with DOAS in Beijing, China

Measurements of nitrous acid （HONO） and nitrogen dioxide （NO2） in Beijing City have been performed by means of a developed differential optical absorption spectroscopy （DOAS） system based on photodiode array （PDA）, during the autumn of 2004. HONO and NO2 were simultaneously identified by their characteristic absorption bands in the spectral region between 337 nm and 372 nm with high sensibility and time resolution. The concentrations of HONO exhibit obviously diurnal variation with a nocturnal maximum and a daytime minimum. The highest HONO value up to 11.8 μg/m^3 was observed during the night of 2/3 September. Possible sources of the observed HONO were discussed. Good correlation to NO2 indicates that NO2 is a main source component. The measurement also shows direct emission of HONO is an imnortant source in strongly polluted urban area.     

Simulating study on the effect of acid precipitation on forest soil weathering

The effect of acid rain on the forest soils in China was discussed on the basis of simulating studies. The soils were collected from five typical areas, including Chongqing in Sichuan Province and Guiyang in Guizhou Province, where there has been heavier acid rain in southwest China, and Huitong in Hunan Province, Zhouzhi in Shaanxi Province, and Xinglong in Hebei Province, all of which were selected as control. Field investigation and sampling were made in the typical forests in all the above five areas. The relationship between pH values in precipitation and rates of soil weathering, the difference between the rates of soil weathering in different areas, and the cause of such a difference, have been worked out. The prediction was also conducted on the supply dynamics of nutrient and toxic elements in various forest ecosystems which were affected by acid deposition in order to understand the long-term effects of acid precipitation on the forest ecosystems studied.     

Composition analysis of colored dissolved organic matter in Taihu Lake based on three dimension excitation-emission fuorescence matrix and PARAFAC model, and the potential application in water quality monitoring

Taihu Lake is one of the five biggest lakes in China. Surface water samples from 26 sampling sites of Taihu Lake were collected. Furthermore wet chemical analysis (CODCr and BOD5) and measurement of three dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3DEEM) spectra in the laboratory have been conducted. Using parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) model, three components of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) have been identified successfully, based on the analysis of 3DEEM data. The characteristics of the three components also have been described by comparing them to some components of CDOM, identified in earlier researches. Meanwhile, spatial variations of concentration for the three components in Taihu Lake have been analyzed, and the result indicates that the concentration of component 1 depends more on the situation of wastewater pollution and can be used as the indicator of wastewater pollution. The relationship between the concentrations of the three components and results of the wet chemical analysis show that none of the three components can be used as indicators of gross organic matter in water. However, the concentrations of all the three components have obvious linear relationships with the BOD5 value, especially for component 1 (r=0.72878). Finally, the potential applications of the composition analysis based on 3DEEM and PARAFAC model in water quality monitoring have been illuminated.     

Composition analysis of colored dissolved organic matter in Taihu Lake based on three dimension excitation-emission fluorescence matrix and PARAFAC model, and the potential application in water quality monitoring

Taihu Lake is one of the five biggest lakes in China. Surface water samples from 26 sampling sites of Taihu Lake were collected. Furthermore wet chemical analysis （CODCr and BOD5） and measurement of three dimensional excitation-emission matrix （3DEEM） spectra in the laboratory have been conducted. Using parallel factor analysis （PARAFAC） model, three components of colored dissolved organic matter （CDOM） have been identified successfully, based on the analysis of 3DEEM data. The characteristics of the three components also have been described by comparing them to some components of CDOM, identified in earlier researches. Meanwhile, spatial variations of concentration for the three components in Taihu Lake have been analyzed, and the result indicates that the concentration of component 1 depends more on the situation of wastewater pollution and can be used as the indicator of wastewater pollution. The relationship between the concentrations of the three components and results of the wet chemical analysis show that none of the three components can be used as indicators of gross organic matter in water. However, the concentrations of all the three components have obvious linear relationships with the BOD5 value, especially for component 1 （r = 0.72878）. Finally, the potential applications of the composition analysis based on 3DEEM and PARAFAC model in water quality monitoring have been illuminated.     

The Second Sino-FrenchWorkshop on Atmospheric Environment (Orleans, December 2010): Preface

A sound scientific understanding of the factors affecting the environment is essential to guarantee the sustainable development of the world's economic and societal activities.Many environmental issues,such as air quality and climate change are intimately linked to atmospheric chemistry and physics,therefore research in these areas is of tremendous importance.Both anthropogenic and biogenic emissions contribute greatly to the chemical composition of the atmosphere.Even though the atmosphere is a self-cleaning system through its photochemically-driven reactions,the hazardous direct impacts of primary and secondary pollutants on human health and ecosystems are observable and have been evidenced on different scales from local to global (e.g.ozone hole,climate change,air quality…).The chemical processing of the species present in the atmosphere is one of the most important players in driving the evolution of the atmosphere.     

An interactive simulation model of urban ecosystem and its implementation

An interactive simulation model is established based on the methodology of "sensitivity model" (SM) during the cooperative research process between the founders of SM and the authors. And the conceptual framework of SM is developed into the interactively qualitative and quantitative simulation model presented in this paper, which makes it possible to break down a complex urban ecosystem into simple and visual quantitative or qualitative relationships between the factors. By studying the dynamic responses of the system to the changes of the inputs and parameters of the model, future trends in urban development can be predicted and strategies formulated. The whole process is realized on micro-computer in the course of man-computer interaction. Its potential use is shown in a case of Tianjin City.     

Landscape ecolgical assessment and eco—tourism development in the South Dongting Lake Wetland,China

As an important resource and the living enivronment of mankind,wetland has become gradually a highlight ,strongly concerned and intensively studied by scientists and sociologists.The governmetns in the world and the whole society have been paying more and more attention on it.The Dongting Lake of China is regarded as an internationally important wetland.For a rational development and protection of the wetland,an investigation and studied on its resources and its value to tourism in the South Dongting Lake was conducted,to create an assessment system of the ecological landscapes,and to evaluate qualitatively and quantitatively the value of wetland landscape to the eco-tourism.The results showed that the scenic value of the South Dongting Lake Wetland satisfied the criterion of AAAA grade of China national scenic attraction.The eco-tourism value of the landscape cultures in the South Dongting Lake Wetland was discussed with emphasis.It were formulated that a principle and frame of sustainable exploitation of the wetland landscapes and it was proposed as well that establishing a Wetland Park and developing eco-tourism in the South Dongting Lake .Wetland is a fragile ecosystem with low resistance to the impact of the exploitation.Thus,we must pay intensively attention to the influence of exploitation on the landscape,take the ecological risk in account to employ a right countermeasure and avoid the negative affection.     

Rehabilitation and improvement of Guilin urban water environment：Function-oriented management

Economic development and population growth have deeply damaged the urban water environment of Guilin City, China. Main problems involved structural damage and functional deterioration of the urban waters. An integrated technical scheme was developed to rehabilitate the urban water environment and to enhance the waters' functions during 1998-2008. Improvement of waters' functions included water system reconstruction, water pollution control, water safety assurance, and aquatic ecological restoration. The water system was reconstructed to connect different waters and clean water supplies to the lakes. Moreover, water pollution was controlled to improve water quality by endogenous pollutant elimination and extraneous pollutant interception. In addition, ecological measures put in place serve to enhance water system functions and better benefit both nature and humans. The project has brought about sound ecological, economic and social benefits in Guilin City, which can potentially be extended to similar cities.     

Assessments on emergy and greenhouse gas emissions of internal combustion engine automobiles and electric automobiles in the USA

Increasing energy consumption in the transportation sector results in challenging greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and environmental problems. This paper involved integrated assessments on GHG emissions and emergy of the life cycle for the internal combustion engine (ICE) and electric automobiles in the USA over the entire assumed fifteen-year lifetime. The hotspots of GHG emissions as well as emergy indices for the major processes of automobile life cycle within the defined system boundaries have been investigated. The potential strategies for reducing GHG emissions and emergy in the life cycle of both ICE and electric automobiles were further proposed. Based on the current results, the total GHG emissions from the life cycle of ICE automobiles are 4.48E + 07 kg CO₂-e which is 320 times higher than that of the electric automobiles. The hotspot area of the GHG emissions from ICE and electric automobiles are operation phase and manufacturing process, respectively. Interesting results were observed that comparable total emergy of the ICE automobiles and electric automobiles have been calculated which were 1.54E + 17 and 2.20E + 17 sej, respectively. Analysis on emergy index evidenced a better environmental sustainability of electric automobiles than ICE automobiles over the life cycle due to its higher ESI. To the authors’ knowledge, it is the first time to integrate the analysis of GHG emissions together with emergy in industrial area of automobile engineering. It is expected that the integration of emergy and GHG emissions analysis may provide a comprehensive perspective on eco-industrial sustainability of automobile engineering.     

The study for polyaromatic hydrocarbons decay on Chinese coal soot particles in atmosphere

A study for the photochemical behavior of some polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), for example B(a )P, B( k )F and fluoranthene in coal smoke particles was performed by using indoor Teflon smog chamber.Experiments suggest that the photochemical reaction of PAH is first order reaction and kinetic rates of some PAH were obtained. It was shown that the reaction rate constant is proportional to light intensity and water vapor concentration. Temperature and PAH loading also have influence on PAH decay rate. A model for PAH loss has been set up on the basis of the results of our experiments and the simulating results of this model suggest that coal particle PAH half lives are of the order of a period of days in winter and a few hours in summer. Other factors which may have effect on the photochemical reaction of PAH have also been discussed.     

Theoretical study on the degradation reaction of octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin with atomic oxygen O(3P) in dielectric barrier discharge reactor

Dielectric barrier discharges （DBD） have been used in the degradation of dioxins due to the large number of excimers and free radicals produced in discharge process. In this article, the density functional theory （DFT） is used to study the degradation mechanism of octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin （OCDD） with the atomic oxygen O（3P） in DBD reactor. The reactants, intermediates, transition states and products are optimized at the MPWB1K/6- 31 ＋ G（d,p） level. The vibrational frequencies have been calculated at the same level. The reaction pathways and mechanisms are analyzed in detail. The effect of removing the chlorine atom on environment also has been discussed.     

Kinetics study on photochemical oxidation of polyacrylamide by ozone combined with hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet radiation

An investigation on the process of ozone combined with hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet radiation has been carried out in order to establish the kinetics for photochemical oxidation of polyacrylamide （PAM） in aqueous solution. Effects of operating parameters, including initial PAM concentration, dosages of ozone and hydrogen peroxide, UV radiation and pH value on the photochemical oxidation of PAM, have been studied. There was an increase in photochemical oxidation rate of PAM with increasing of dosages of 03, H2O2 and ultraviolet radiation. Upon increasing of the initial PAM concentration, the photochemical oxidation rate of PAM decreased. Slight effect of pH value on the photochemical oxidation rate of PAM was observed in the experiments. The kinetics equation for the photochemical oxidation of PAM by the system has been established.     

Assessment of the environmental impact of artificial effluent lagoon in Jiayuguan City of China

An artificial effluent lagoon for storing wastewater were excavated in Jiayuguan City since 1994. As a part of a demonstration project of Sino-Austmlia cooperation, an assessment of the environmental impact of the lagoon was carried out. The assessment was based on field and laboratory tests and predictive model. The main impacts from the lagoon site are likely to be on the groundwater system, and, to a lesser extent,on ambient air quality in the vicinity. Currently it is expected that groundwater is being pollutod with effluent from the effluent Ingcen. Air pollution(odor nuisance) is mainly caused by untreated effluent in the irrigation channel. The impact of high total dissolved salt(TDS) on groundwater is likely to be significant in the long run if the lagoon is continuously used. There is, consequently, no likelihood of contamination of surface water system, particularly of the city water supply system, from infiltration of effluent at the lagoon.     

Organic contam ination in the drinking water from Clmohu Lake

Chaohu Lake water body is a major drinking water source for dwellers of Hefei City and Chaohu City．The paper describes the work that concerning with the method of system analysis on the raw water and drinking water of Fourth Water Plant in Hefei City and the results on the identification of orga．nic compounds iII the water．