Ehemalige Gaswerk- und Zechen-Kokereistandorte in Nordrhein-Westfalen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Hazardous waste incineration in context with carbon dioxide.

The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 demands an emission reduction of climate-affecting gases in various industrial sectors. In this context CO2 is one of the relevant gases and waste management is one of the relevant sectors. Referring to the situation in Europe, waste incineration is one of the major sources of CO2 in the waste management sector. The Kyoto Protocol, however, only covers CO2-emissions originating from fossil fuels, whereas the incineration of renewable materials, e.g. wood, is considered to be climate-neutral since it does not make any net contribution to the CO2 inventory of the atmosphere. Unlike the situation with municipal waste, there is little if any information on the CO2-emissions caused by the incineration of hazardous waste in specialized plants, and the renewable fraction in these materials. The present paper focuses on this gap of knowledge. Taking the full-scale hazardous waste incineration plant in Biebesheim, Germany, as an example, a carbon balance was set up for the whole-plant taking into account all other material flows. Afterwards the determination of the proportion of renewable materials in the hazardous waste incinerated by means of the radiocarbon method (14C) is reported. On the basis of the results, optimization potentials are discussed.     

Annexing Marginal Soils for Agricultural Cultivation Using an Organic Source of Fertilizer as a Bioremediation Treatment Option

This study was carried out to ascertain the practicability of using bioremediated, engine‐oil‐impacted soil for crop cultivation. In this study, bioremediation by land farming and nutrient enhancement was used to treat contaminated soils. In the laboratory, soil samples were homogenized, analyzed, and placed into several reactor vessels including a substrate of poultry droppings and cow dung in various ratios to the contaminated soil. During the first phase of the investigation, contaminated soil without treatment served as a control. The soil matrix was homogenized on a weekly basis, and samples were drawn during the third, fifth, eighth, tenth, and fifteenth weeks for total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) reduction and nutrients analysis. The initial concentrations of TPH were diluted upon the addition of the poultry litter and cow dung substrate. Results obtained during the experiment indicate that the amount of nutrients generally decreased as the weeks progressed, and the TPH degradation ranged from 78.27% to 61.84% in the reactor vessels. There was no significant difference (p < .05) in TPH degradation based on the substrate quantities, whereas the TPH reductions in the soil amended with the animal wastes were significantly different from the control sample (soil not amended with animal wastes). In the planting phase, uncontaminated, loamy soil was used as a control (the planting phase control), and the results show that maize planted on the treated soil germinated with no significant difference (p < .05) in the number of leaves and plant heights between the treated samples and the control sample (uncontaminated loamy soil). Analysis of field‐scale animal waste requirements for hypothetical TPH contaminated soil covering a certain area shows that inorganic fertilizer application requires lesser quantities with lower costs than using poultry litter and cow dung to supply nutrients to support bioremediation. The study concludes that bioremediation for agricultural purpose is feasible, but it can be better implemented if the astronomical quantities of substrates required for field‐scale utilization can be surmounted.     

Formation and speciation of disinfection byproducts during chlor(am)ination of aquarium seawater

The chemistry associated with the disinfection of aquarium seawater is more complicated than that of freshwater, therefore limited information is available on the formation and speciation of disinfection byproducts(DBPs) in marine aquaria. In this study, the effects of organic precursors, bromide(Br-) and pre-ozonation on the formation and speciation of several typical classes of DBPs, including trihalomethanes(THM4), haloacetic acids(HAAs),iodinated trihalomethanes(I-THMs), and haloacetamides(HAc Ams), were investigated during the chlorination/chloramination of aquarium seawater. Results indicate that with an increase in dissolved organic carbon concentration from 4.5 to 9.4 mg/L, the concentrations of THM4 and HAAs increased by 3.2–7.8 times under chlorination and by 1.1–2.3 times under chloramination. An increase in Br-concentration from 3 to 68 mg/L generally enhanced the formation of THM4, I-THMs and HAc Ams and increased the bromine substitution factors of all studied DBPs as well, whereas it impacted insignificantly on the yield of HAAs. Pre-ozonation with 1 mg/L O3 dose substantially reduced the formation of all studied DBPs in the subsequent chlorination and I-THMs in the subsequent chloramination. Because chloramination produces much lower amounts of DBPs than chlorination, it tends to be more suitable for disinfection of aquarium seawater.     

Greenhouse gas emissions during co-composting of calf mortalities with manure

Composting may be a viable on-farm option for disposal of cattle carcasses. This study investigated greenhouse gas emissions during co-composting of calf mortalities with manure. Windrows were constructed that contained manure + straw (control compost [CK]) or manure + straw + calf mortalities (CM) using two technologies: a tractor-mounted front-end loader or a shredder bucket. Composting lasted 289 d. The windrows were turned twice (on Days 72 and 190), using the same technology used in their creation. Turning technology had no effect on greenhouse gas emissions or the properties of the final compost. The CO2 (75.2 g d(-1) m(-2)), CH4 (2.503 g d(-1) m(-2)), and N2O (0.370 g d(-1) m(-2)) emissions were higher (p < 0.05) in CM than in CK (25.7, 0.094, and 0.076 g d(-1) m(-2) for CO2, CH4, and N2O, respectively), which reflected differences in materials used to construct the compost windrows and therefore their total C and total N contents. The final CM compost had higher (p < 0.05) total N, total C, and mineral N content (NO3*+ NO2* + NH4+) than did CK compost and therefore has greater agronomic value as a fertilizer.     

Adoption Potential of Conservation Agriculture Practices in Sub-Saharan Africa: Results from Five Case Studies

Despite the reported benefits of conservation agriculture (CA), its wider up-scaling in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has remained fairly limited. This paper shows how a newly developed qualitative expert assessment approach for CA adoption (QAToCA) was applied to determine its adoption potential in SSA. CA adoption potential is not a predictor of observed adoption rates. Instead, our aim was to systematically check relevant factors that may be influencing its adoption. QAToCA delivers an assessment of how suitable conditions “and thus the likelihood for CA adoption” are. Results show that the high CA adoption potentials exhibited by the Malawi and Zambia case relate mostly to positive institutional factors. On the other hand, the low adoption potential of the Zimbabwe case, in spite of observed higher estimates, is attributed mainly to unstable and less secured market conditions for CA. In the case of Southern Burkina Faso, the potential for CA adoption is determined to be high, and this assessment deviates from lower observed figures. This is attributed mainly to strong competition of CA and livestock for residues in this region. Lastly, the high adoption potential found in Northern Burkina Faso is explained mainly by the fact that farmers here have no alternative other than to adopt the locally adapted CA system—Zaï farming. Results of this assessment should help promoters of CA in the given regions to reflect on their activities and to eventually adjust or redesign them based on a more explicit understanding of where problems and opportunities are found.