The impact of domestic energy efficiency retrofit schemes on householder attitudes and behaviours

Retrofitting existing housing stock to improve energy efficiency is often required to meet climate mitigation, public health and fuel poverty targets. Increasing uptake and effectiveness of retrofit schemes requires understanding of their impacts on householder attitudes and behaviours. This paper reports results of a survey of 500 Kirklees householders in the UK, where the Kirklees Warm Zone scheme took place. This was a local government led city scale domestic retrofit programme that installed energy efficiency measures at no charge in over 50,000 houses. The results highlight key design features of the scheme, socio-economic and attitudinal factors that affected take-up of energy efficiency measures and impacts on behaviour and energy use after adoption. The results emphasise the role that positive feedback plays in reinforcing pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours of participants and in addressing concerns of non-participants. Our findings have implications for the design and operation of future domestic energy efficiency retrofit schemes.     

中国独立型环境税方案设计及其效应分析

环境税是当前国家正在推进的一项重要的环境经济政策改革。本研究从分析环境税的内涵和实施基础出发,提出了我国独立型环境税税制设计方案,对污染排放税目、污染产品税目、生态保护税目和碳排放税目的具体税制要素进行了设计,测算了不同组合方案下的环境税可能收入水平。利用环境CGE模型分析了环境税征收对GDP、物价、生产、消费、贸易和要素资源配置的影响,提出了环境税的实施路线图。     

大气中丙烷光氧化臭氧生成活性的烟雾箱模拟

利用自制光化学烟雾箱模拟了丙烷和NOx大气光化学反应,研究了相对湿度以及丙烷与NOx初始浓度比值对臭氧生成的影响.实验表明,臭氧最大值及丙烷的臭氧生成活性最大值(IRmax)都随相对湿度的增大而减小.低相对湿度时,臭氧最大值大约出现在反应的22 h,IRmax变化范围为0.023 1～0.039 1;而高相对湿度时,臭氧最大值大约出现在反应的16 h,IRmax变化范围为0.017 2～0.032 0.在反应的20 h内,前12 h内相对湿度对丙酮的生成量影响不大,12 h后低相对湿度时丙酮生成量更大.在实验的4～20 h内,相对湿度为17%时,丙酮浓度为153×10-9～364×10-9;而相对湿度为62%时,丙酮浓度为167×10-9～302×10-9.臭氧最大值随着丙烷与NOx初始浓度比值增加而减少,在低相对湿度时线性负相关性更好.另外,还利用了MCM丙烷子机制对反应进行了数值模拟,并与实验结果进行比较,发现两者还存在较大的偏差.     

Application of different foliar iron fertilizers for enhancing the growth and antioxidant capacity of rice and minimizing cadmium accumulation

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Iron (Fe) fertilizer can reduce cadmium (Cd) uptake and toxicity in rice, but the underlying mechanisms of Cd mitigation by different fertilizers are...     

Comparison of different groundwater vulnerability evaluation models of typical karst areas in north China: a case of Hebi City

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Groundwater pollution is a serious problem in north China. However, the study on the vulnerability of karst groundwater is mainly in south China, and...     

An update of the Worldwide Integrated Assessment (WIA) on systemic insecticides. Part 2: impacts on organisms and ecosystems

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - New information on the lethal and sublethal effects of neonicotinoids and fipronil on organisms is presented in this review, complementing the...     

Impact of rhizosphere microorganisms on arsenic (As) transformation and accumulation in a traditional Chinese medical plant

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Panax notoginseng is an important traditional medicinal plant, but the commercial value is threatened by root-rot disease caused by rhizosphere...     

Sediment pollution characteristics and in situ control in a deep drinking water reservoir

Sediment pollution characteristics, in situ sediment release potential, and in situ inhibition of sediment release were investigated in a drinking water reservoir. Results showed that organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) in sediments increased from the reservoir mouth to the main reservoir. Fraction analysis indicated that nitrogen in ion exchangeable form and NaOH-extractable P (Fe/Al-P) accounted for 43% and 26% of TN and TP in sediments of the main reservoir. The Risk Assessment Code for metal elements showed that Fe and Mn posed high to very high risk. The results of the in situ reactor experiment in the main reservoir showed the same trends as those observed in the natural state of the reservoir in 2011 and 2012; the maximum concentrations of total OC, TN, TP, Fe, and Mn reached 4.42 mg/L, 3.33 mg/L, 0.22 mg/L, 2.56 mg/L, and 0.61 mg/L, respectively. An in situ sediment release inhibition technology, the water-lifting aerator, was utilized in the reservoir. The results of operating the water-lifting aerator indicated that sediment release was successfully inhibited and that OC, TN, TP, Fe, and Mn in surface sediment could be reduced by 13.25%, 15.23%, 14.10%, 5.32%, and 3.94%, respectively.     

城市烂尾楼建筑废弃物的二次有效利用研究

城市烂尾楼拆除有助于提升城市总体形象,但拆除后的建筑废弃物又会对城市环境造成严重的污染,为此提出一种针对烂尾楼建筑废弃物有效处理及二次利用的方法研究.基于循环经济理论及废弃物破损理论,设计了一种建筑废弃物再生利用工艺方法,利用建筑废弃物再生设备将废弃物破碎后再进行筛分处理,详尽分析了影响废弃物再生的各项工艺因素,提高废弃物再生骨料的性能,实现对烂尾楼建筑废弃物的二次有效利用.结果表明,提出的方法研究性能稳定、可靠、可以降低烂尾楼拆除成本,具有一定的推广价值.     

Effect of deposit age on adsorption and desorption behaviors of ammonia nitrogen on municipal solid waste

Ammonia nitrogen pollution control is an urgent issue of landfill. This research aims to select an optimal refuse for ammonia nitrogen removal in landfill from the point of view of adsorption and desorption behavior. MSW (municipal solid waste) samples which deposit ages were in the range of 5 to 15 years (named as R₁₅, R₁₁, R₇, and R₅) were collected from real landfill site. The ammonia nitrogen adsorption behaviors of MSW including equilibrium time, adsorption isotherms, and desorption behaviors including equilibrium time were determined. Furthermore, the effects of pH, OM, Cu(II), Zn(II), and Pb(II) on adsorption and desorption behavior of ammonia nitrogen were conducted by orthogonal experiment. The equilibrium time of ammonia nitrogen adsorption by each tested MSW was very short, i.e., 20 min, whereas desorption process needed 24 h and the ammonia nitrogen released from refuses was much lesser than that adsorbed, i.e., accounted for 3.20 % (R₁₅), 14.32 % (R₁₁), 20.59 % (R₇), and 20.50 % (R₅) of each adsorption quantity, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity estimated from Langmuir isotherm appeared in R₁₅-KCl, i.e., 25,000 mg kg^?1. The best condition for ammonia nitrogen removal from leachate was pH >7.5, OM 23.58 %, Cu(II) <5 mg L^?1, Zn(II) <10 mg L^?1, and Pb(II) <1 mg L^?1. Ammonia nitrogen in landfill leachate could be quickly and largely absorbed by MSW but slowly and infrequently released. The refuse deposited for 15 years could be a suitable material for ammonia nitrogen removal.