Mercury accumulation and dynamics in montane forests along an elevation gradient in Southwest China

Understanding atmospheric mercury (Hg) accumulation in remote montane forests is critical to assess the Hg ecological risk to wildlife and human health. To quantify impacts of vegetation, climatic and topographic factors on Hg accumulation in montane forests, we assessed the Hg distribution and stoichiometric relations among Hg, carbon (C), and nitrogen (N) in four forest types along the elevation of Mt. Gongga. Our results show that Hg concentration in plant tissues follows the descending order of litter > leaf, bark > root > branch > bole wood, indicating the importance of atmospheric Hg uptake by foliage for Hg accumulation in plants. The foliar Hg/C (from 237.0 ± 171.4 to 56.8 ± 27.7 µg/kg) and Hg/N (from 7.5 ± 3.9 to 2.5 ± 1.2 mg/kg) both decrease along the elevation. These elevation gradients are caused by the heterogeneity of vegetation uptake of atmospheric Hg and the variation of atmospheric Hg° concentrations at different altitudes. Organic soil Hg accumulation is controlled by forest types, topographic and climatic factors, with the highest concentration in the mixed forest (244.9 ± 55.7 µg/kg) and the lowest value in the alpine forest (151.9 ± 44.5 µg/kg). Further analysis suggests that soil Hg is positively correlated to C (r² = 0.66) and N (r² = 0.57), and Hg/C and Hg/N both increase with the soil depth. These stoichiometric relations highlight the combined effects from environmental and climatic factors which mediating legacy Hg accumulation and selective Hg absorption during processes of organic soil mineralization.     

A meteorologically adjusted ensemble Kalman filter approach for inversing daily emissions: A case study in the Pearl River Delta, China

The conventional Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF), which is now widely used to calibrate emission inventories and to improve air quality simulations, is susceptible to simulation errors of meteorological inputs, making accurate updates of high temporal-resolution emission inventories challenging. In this study, we developed a novel meteorologically adjusted inversion method (MAEInv) based on the EnKF to improve daily emission estimations. The new method combines sensitivity analysis and bias correction to alleviate the inversion biases caused by errors of meteorological inputs. For demonstration, we used the MAEInv to inverse daily carbon monoxide (CO) emissions in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, China. In the case study, 60% of the total CO simulation biases were associated with sensitive meteorological inputs, which would lead to the overestimation of daily variations of posterior emissions. Using the new inversion method, daily variations of emissions shrank dramatically, with the percentage change decreased by 30%. Also, the total amount of posterior CO emissions estimated by the MAEInv decreased by 14%, indicating that posterior CO emissions might be overestimated using the conventional EnKF. Model evaluations using independent observations revealed that daily CO emissions estimated by MAEInv better reproduce the magnitude and temporal patterns of ambient CO concentration, with a higher correlation coefficient (R, +37.0%) and lower normalized mean bias (NMB, -17.9%). Since errors of meteorological inputs are major sources of simulation biases for both low-reactive and reactive pollutants, the MAEInv is also applicable to improve the daily emission inversions of reactive pollutants.     

Robust optimization approach to two-echelon agricultural cold chain logistics considering carbon emission and stochastic demand

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Cold chain logistics has become one of the main sources of carbon emissions. Meanwhile, the implementation of low-carbon economy has become an...     

A novel nano-sized Co3O4@C catalyst derived from Co-MOF template for efficient Hg0 removal at low temperatures with outstanding SO2 resistance

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Co3O4 is a promising Hg0 removal catalyst for industrial application. Operating temperature and low sulfur resistance are two of the main problems...     

Piezoelectric hydrogen production from aliphatic alcohols and acids in wastewater

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The growing energy demand in the context of climate change issues requires the development of green fuels such as hydrogen from water. Piezocatalytic water...     

Waste as alternative fuel – Minimising emissions and effluents by advanced design

This paper reviews the utilisation of waste as an alternative fuel, commonly referred to as Waste-to-Energy (WTE). The paper contains a comprehensive survey of the literature published in this field with comparative analysis of different approaches and methods. The main features and properties of municipal and industrial waste have been analysed as these can vary significantly from location to location and year to year. The paper discusses the applicability and limitations of current and developing WTE technologies as well as new and emerging WTE technologies and the recent developments in design of for producing heat, power and fuels. Methodologies that are considered include criteria for technology selection, together with procedures that comply with the environmental EC regulations Best Available and Best Applicable Techniques (BREFs).     

Organic carbon sequestration in Chinese croplands under compost application and its contribution to carbon neutrality

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Achieving the carbon neutrality in China has great impact on alleviating global warming. Compost application, an important measure to promote soil...     

The effectiveness of travel restriction measures in alleviating the COVID-19 epidemic: evidence from Shenzhen,China

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - With the expansion of the global novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, unprecedented interventions have been widely implemented in many countries,...     

Study of hydrodynamic characteristics in a circulating fluidized bed gasifier for plastic waste by computational fluid dynamics modeling and simulation

For designing an efficient circulating fluidized bed reactor, understanding the complex hydrodynamic characteristics in the reactor is required. Hence, in the present study, the modeling and simulation of the circulating fluidized bed gasifier using plastic waste were carried out with Eulerian-Granular approach. Several cases were investigated as changing superficial gas velocities or sizes of plastic waste particle. Firstly, cases were examined with four different velocities when the particle diameter is 1 mm. At the gas velocity of 6 or 8 m/s, gas volume fraction is more than 95 % throughout the reactor and particle velocity has positive value overall. Therefore, a circulating fluidized bed seems to be formed in both cases. Comparing those two cases, better solid mixing can be expected considering the mass fraction and solid velocity at the superficial gas velocity of 6 m/s. Thus this case was further studied for the effect of particle size. As the diameters of plastic waste particle are 1 or 3 mm, it is considered that a circulating fluidized bed is formed. And plastic waste and sand particles are well mixed throughout the reactor. However, the particle diameter increases over 3 mm then, it is very hard to maintain circulating fluidization condition.     

舟山渔场及邻近海域桡足类种类组成和数量分布

根据2006年8月(夏)、2007年1月(冬)、5月(春)和11月(秋)4个季节在舟山渔场及邻近海域(29°30'~31°30'N,124°30'E以西)开展海洋生态系统综合调查所获得的资料,分析了该海域桡足类的种类组成和数量分布特征。结果表明,该次调查海域共鉴定桡足类65种,其中:4个季节皆出现的种类有10种,占总种数的15.38%。优势种为中华哲水蚤(Calanus sinicus)、精致真刺水蚤(Euchaeta concinna)、微刺哲水蚤(Canthocalanus paupe)和缘齿厚壳水蚤(Scolecithrix nicobarica)等10种。根据优势度和回归贡献分析表明,春、夏、秋、冬4个季节总丰度分布主要取决于中华哲水蚤、精致真刺水蚤、缘齿厚壳水蚤和微刺哲水蚤的分布,且优势种季节更替显著。桡足类丰度高值区位于不同水系交汇的混合水域,4个季节丰度平均值变化为春季(567.4 ind·m^-3)>夏季(104.12 ind·m^-3)>秋季(97.23 ind·m^-3)>冬季(72.45 ind·m^-3)。