A method of analysis of macro water environmental systems

ＡｍｅｔｈｏｄｏｆａｎａｌｙｓｉｓｏｆｍａｃｒｏｗａｔｅｒｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｓｙｓｔｅｍｓＢａｏＪｉｎｇｌｉｎｇ（ＴｉａｎｊｉｎｉｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔＰｒｏｔｅｃｔｉｏｎＳｃｉｅｎｃｅ，Ｔｉａｎｊｉｎ３００１９１，Ｃｈｉ...     

Techno-economic analysis of municipal wastewater land treatment systems in China

This paper analyses the capital costs, power consumption and operation costs of municipal wastewater land treatment systems, including rapid infiltration, slow-rate infiltration, overflow and constructed wetland, by means of series engineering design. The results show that land treatment can save 50-70% of capital costs, 80-90% of power and 75-85% of operation costs when compared with secondary treatment.     

Energy of forest systems in the Three Gorge Reservoir Area

１ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＴｈｅｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔｏｆｆｏｒｅｓｔｒｙｈａｓｍａｄｅａｇｒｅａｔｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｖｉｔｙｉｎｔｈｅＴｈｒｅｅＧｏｒｇｅＲｅｓｅｒｖｏｉｒａｒｅａｉｎＣｈｉｎａ，ａｎｄｉｔｒｅａｃｈｅｄｍｕｃｈｄｅｓｉｒａｂｌｅｂｉ...     

Advancing the climate regime through linking domestic emission trading systems?

More and more countries are incorporating the instrument of emissions trading into their national climate policies. This emerging mosaic of emissions trading schemes (ETS) raises the question of whether they should be linked with each other. From an economic point of view, linking of domestic schemes is supposed to increase the economic efficiency of carbon markets. In addition, linking is also expected by some to yield substantial political benefits in terms of the evolution of the UNFCCC/Kyoto regime. However, these optimistic prospects are based on a best-case scenario where all major countries establish environmentally effective emissions trading systems and then link them with each other. Real-life politics might develop rather differently. This paper therefore examines to what extent the current status of emissions trading in industrialised countries provides a basis for reinforcing and moving forward the international climate regime through linking domestic ETS. After comparing emerging emissions trading schemes from an institutional perspective, it emerges that not only emissions trading is at a very early stage in most countries, in addition the emerging systems are probably going to be designed very differently from the EU ETS. While for some design features such as the coverage design differences do not matter, there are some areas where the plans in many non-EU countries look crucially different from the EU system. The outlook for a linked international ETS is therefore currently still very uncertain. Given this state of affairs, the EU should pro-actively engage with the non-EU countries to try to harmonise their developing national emissions trading schemes with the EU ETS, widely disseminate the lessons it has learned from the EU ETS, strongly make the case for environmental integrity and at the same time make clear that systems that want to link to the EU ETS will need to meet certain quality criteria.

Ecological engineering land treatment systems──A new development in China

Ｅｃｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｅｎｇｉｎｅｅｒｉｎｇｌａｎｄｔｒｅａｔｍｅｎｔｓｙｓｔｅｍｓ──ＡｎｅｗｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔｉｎＣｈｉｎａ￥ＧｏｎｇＰｉｎｇ；ＳｕｎＴｉｅｈｅｎｇ（ＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＡｐｐｌｉｅｄＥｃｏｌｏｇｙ，ＣｈｉｎｅｓｅＡｃａｄｅｍ...     

Comments on ＂Ion adsorption components in liquid/solid systems＂

Recently, Wu et al. （J Environ Sci 18（2006） 1167- 1175） published a paper entitled as above. In the paper, the authors proposed a plotting method for describing adsorption isotherms, where adsorption density （qe） was plotted against the ratio of equilibrium concentration/particle concentration （CdWo） rather than Ce as traditionally defined. The authors claimed that this plot can eliminate the ＂particle concentration effect＂ （i.e., adsorption isotherms decline with increasing particle concentration）, which may otherwise be inevasihle with traditionally defined adsorption isotherms. We think that their conclusion is conceptually flawed and the plot may cause substantial inconstancy problems in practice.     

Environmental impacts of distributed energy systems—The case of micro cogeneration

Distributed generation in micro cogeneration systems, e.g. reciprocating or Stirling engines and fuel cells, is of increasing interest in the energy market. This paper investigates environmental impacts of micro cogeneration by carrying out a detailed life cycle assessment and an analysis of local air quality impacts of micro cogeneration systems.Most micro cogeneration systems are superior, as far as the reduction of GHG emissions is concerned, not only to average electricity and heat supply, but also to state-of-the art separate production of electricity in gas power plants and heat in condensing boilers. The GHG advantages of micro cogeneration plants are comparable to district heating with CHP. Under the assumption that gas condensing boilers are the competing heat-supply technology, all technologies are within a very narrow range. Looking at the GHG reduction potential on the level of a supply object (e.g. a single-family house) by modeling the operation with a CHP optimization tool, the achievable mitigation potential is somewhat lower, because the micro cogeneration systems do not supply the whole energy demand. Here, fuel cells offer the advantage of a higher power-to-heat ratio.Environmental impacts other than those related to climate and resource protection relate more specifically to technology. In addition to investigating the emissions side, analysis of the air quality situation of a residential area supplied by reciprocating engines was carried out. The analysis shows that for the selected conditions, the additional emission of NO_x due to the engines do not create severe additional environmental impacts.     

Waste minimisation in small and medium-sized enterprises—do environmental management systems help?

The main research question of our study was as follows: What opportunities for upgrading material efficiency and waste minimisation can be found in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)? The empirical material consisted of 41 theme interviews in Finnish industrial SMEs. In the article, the SMEs are assigned to four different categories according to their attitudes towards environmental protection. This analysis also explains why SMEs build up environmental management systems (EMSs). The EMSs do not appear to provide much impetus for SMEs to implement waste minimisation. The reduction of wastes in SMEs is driven more by the costs of raw materials than by waste costs. From the standpoint of environmental authorities, it is therefore crucial to find procedures to support SMEs in increasing their efficient use of materials.     

Identification of high oxygen-consuming substances in stormwater drainage systems illicitly connected with sewage system

The dissolved oxygen content in water is an important indicator for assessing the quality of the water environment, and maintaining a certain amount of dissolved oxygen is essential for the healthy development of the ecological environment. When a water body is anoxic, the activity of anaerobic microorganisms increases and organic matter is decomposed to produce a large number of blackening and odorizing substances, resulting in black and odorous water bodies, which is a very common and typical ...     

Using structured systems analysis to design an integrated system for transport planning and environmental analysis

Ｕｓｉｎｇｓｔｒｕｃｔｕｒｅｄｓｙｓｔｅｍｓａｎａｌｙｓｉｓｔｏｄｅｓｉｇｎａｎｉｎｔｅｇｒａｔｅｄｓｙｓｔｅｍｆｏｒｔｒａｎｓｐｏｒｔｐｌａｎｎｉｎｇａｎｄｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌａｎａｌｙｓｉｓ￥Ｓ．Ｐ．Ｌｏｓｅｅ；Ａ．Ｌ．Ｂｒｏｗｎ（Ｆａｃｕ...     

Molecular ecological networks reveal the spatial-temporal variation of microbial communities in drinking water distribution systems

Microbial activity and regrowth in drinking water distribution systems is a major concern for water service companies. However, previous studies have focused on the microbial composition and diversity of the drinking water distribution systems(DWDSs), with little discussion on microbial molecular ecological networks(MENs) in different water supply networks.MEN analysis explores the potential microbial interaction and the impact of environmental stress, to explain the characteristics of microbial...     

Fate and transport of the β-adrenergic agonist ractopamine hydrochloride in soil–water systems

The feed additive ractopamine hydrochloride was fortified at four concentrations into batch vials containing soils that differed in both biological activity and organic matter(OM).Sampling of the liquid layer for 14 days demonstrated that ractopamine rapidly dissipated from the liquid layer. Less than 20% of the fortified dose remained in the liquid layer after 4 hr,and recoveries of dosed ractopamine ranged from 8 to 18% in the liquid layer at 336 hr. Sorption to soil was the major fate for ractopamine in soil:water systems, i.e., 42%–51% of the dose at14 days. The major portion of the sorbed fraction was comprised of non-extractables; a smaller fraction of the sorbed dose was extracted into water and acetone, portions which would be potentially mobile in the environment. Partitioning coefficients for all soils suggested strong sorption of ractopamine to soil which is governed by hydrophobic interactions and cation exchange complexes within the soil OM. Ractopamine degradation was observed, but to mostly non-polar compounds which had a higher potential than ractopamine to sorb to soil. The formation of volatiles was also suggested. Therefore, despite rapid and extensive soil sorption,these studies indicated a portion of ractopamine, present in manures used to fertilize soils,may be mobile in the environment via water-borne events.     

Aerosol formation and growth in atmospheric organic/NOχ systems—II. Aerosol dynamics

Aerosol dynamics that were observed in the outdoor smog chamber experiments described in Wang et al. (1992, Atmospheric Environment, 26A, 403–420) aresimulated by numerical solution of the aerosol general dynamic equation. The vapor source generation rate was estimated directly from the experimental measurements assuming a single surrogate condensing species for each hydrocarbon studied. Sensitivity analysis of the simulated aerosol dynamics to various input parameters revealed that the physical properties of the condensing vapor are important in determining the interplay between nucleation and condensation while the vapor source generation rate is the only factor that determines the eventual total amount of vapor converted to aerosol. The simulations suggest that over 99% of the mass of condensible vapor is converted to aerosol by condensation even when a significant burst of nucleation occurs.     

Degradation problems of the land/water ecotones in China and their ecological impact to water systems

ＩｎＣｈｉｎａ，ｔｈｅｒｅｈａｓｂｅｅｎａｒａｐｉｄｅｃｏｎｏｍｉｃｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔｉｎｔｈｅｐａｓｔｔｗｅｎｔｙｙｅａｒｓ．Ｂｕｔｉｔｄｅｐｅｎｄｓｍｏｓｔｌｙｏｎａｇｒｅａｔｉｎｐｕｔｏｆｉｎｖｅｓｔｍｅｎｔａｎｄｈｉｇｈｅｘｐｌｏｉｔａｔ...     

Biostability in distribution systems in one city in southern China：Characteristics, modeling and control strategy

This study investigated the bacterial regrowth in drinking water distribution systems receiving finished water from an advanced drinking water treatment plant in one city in southem China. Thirteen nodes in two water supply zones with different aged pipelines were selected to monitor water temperature, dissolved oxygen （DO）, chloramine residual, assimilable organic carbon （AOC）, and heterotrophic plate counts （HPC）. Regression and principal component analyses indicated that HPC had a strong correlation with chloramine residual. Based on Chick-Watson＇s Law and the Monod equation, biostability curves under different conditions were developed to achieve the goal of HPC 100 CFU/mL. The biostability curves could interpret the scenario under various AOC concentrations and predict the required chloramine residual concentration under the condition of high AOC level. The simulation was also carded out to predict the scenario with a stricter HPC goal （≤50 CFU/mL） and determine the required chloramine residual. The biological regrowth control strategy was assessed using biostability curve analysis. The results indicated that maintaining high chloramine residual concentration was the most practical way to achieve the goal of HPC ≤ 100 CFU/mL. Biostability curves could be a very useful tool for biostability control in distribution systems. This work could provide some new insights towards biostability control in real distribution systems.     

Valuing deaths or years of life lost? Economic benefits of avoided mortality from early heat warning systems

The study aims to explore the main drivers influencing the economic appraisal of heat warning systems by integrating epidemiological modelling and benefit-cost analysis. To shed insights on heat wave mortality valuation, we consider three valuation schemes: (i) a traditional one, where the value of a statistical life (VSL) is applied to both displaced and premature mortality; (ii) an intermediate one, with VSL applied for premature mortality and value of a life year (VOLY) for displaced mortality; and (iii) a conservative one, where both premature and displaced mortality are quantified in terms of loss of life expectancy, and then valued using the VOLY approach. When applying these three schemes to Madrid (Spain), we obtain a benefit-cost ratio varying from 12 to 3700. We find that the choice of the valuation scheme has the largest influence, whereas other parameters such as attributable risk, displaced mortality ratio, or the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of the heat warning system are less influential. The results raise the question of which is the most appropriate approach to value mortality in the context of heat waves, given that the lower bound estimate for the benefit-cost ratio (option iii using VOLY) is up to two orders of magnitude lower than the value based on the traditional VSL approach (option i). The choice of the valuation methodology has significant implications for public health authorities at the local and regional scale, which becomes highly relevant for locations where the application of the VOLY approach could lead to benefit-cost ratios significantly lower than 1. We propose that specific metrics for premature and displaced VOLYs should be developed for the context of heat waves. Until such values are available, we suggest testing the economic viability of heat warning systems under the three proposed valuation schemes (i–iii) and using values for VOLY commonly applied in air pollution as the health end points are similar. Lastly, periodical reassessment of heat alert plans should be performed by public health authorities to monitor their long-term viability and cost-effectiveness.     

Determination of quorum-sensing signal substances in water and solid phases of activated sludge systems using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

The detection of acyl homoserine lactones(AHLs) in activated sludge is essential for clarifying their function in wastewater treatment processes. An LC–MS/MS method was developed for the detection of AHLs in both the aqueous and solid phases of activated sludge. In addition, the effects of proteases and extracellular polymeric substances(EPS) on the detection of AHLs were evaluated by adding protease inhibitors and extracting EPS,respectively. Recoveries of each AHL were improved by adding 50 μL of protease inhibitor,and recoveries were also improved from 0 to 56.9% to 24.2%–105.8% by EPS extraction.Applying the developed method to determine the type and concentration of AHLs showed that C4-HSL, C_6-HSL, C_8-HSL and 3-oxo-C_8-HSL were widely detected in a suspended activated sludge system. The dominant AHL was C_8-HSL, with a highest concentration of304.3 ng/L. C_4-HSL was mainly distributed in the aqueous phase, whereas C_6-HSL, C_8-HSL and 3-oxo-C_8-HSL were preferentially distributed in the sludge phase.     

Juvenile hormone–dopamine systems for the promotion of flight activity in males of the large carpenter bee Xylocopa appendiculata

The reproductive roles of dopamine and dopamine regulation systems are known in social hymenopterans, but the knowledge on the regulation systems in solitary species is still needed. To test the possibility that juvenile hormone (JH) and brain dopamine interact to trigger territorial flight behavior in males of a solitary bee species, the effects on biogenic amines of JH analog treatments and behavioral assays with dopamine injections in males of the large carpenter bee Xylocopa appendiculata were quantified. Brain dopamine levels were significantly higher in methoprene-treated males than in control males 4 days after treatment, but were not significantly different after 7 days. Brain octopamine and serotonin levels did not differ between methoprene-treated and control males at 4 and 7 days after treatment. Injection of dopamine caused significantly higher locomotor activities and a shorter duration for flight initiation in experimental versus control males. These results suggest that brain dopamine can be regulated by JH and enhances flight activities in males. The JH–dopamine system in males of this solitary bee species is similar to that of males of the highly eusocial honeybee Apis mellifera.