Accumulation of Pb, Cu, and Zn in native plants growing on contaminated sites and their potential accumulation capacity in Heqing, Yunnan

Phytoremediation is one of the cost-effective and environmental friendly technologies used to remove contaminants from contaminated soils,which has been intensively studied during the last decade.Presently,few economical and effective remediation methods are available for the remediation of Pb contaminated sites.This study was conducted to assess the potential of 19 plants growing on contaminated sites in Pb mine area.Plants and associated soil samples were collected and analyzed for total metal concentrati...     

Development of regional climate mitigation baseline for a dominant agro-ecological zone of Karnataka,India

Setting a baseline for carbon stock changes in forest and land use sector mitigation projects is an essential step for assessing additionality of the project. There are two approaches for setting baselines namely, project-specific and regional baseline. This paper presents the methodology adopted for estimating the land available for mitigation, for developing a regional baseline, transaction cost involved and a comparison of project-specific and regional baseline. The study showed that it is possible to estimate the potential land and its suitability for afforestation and reforestation mitigation projects, using existing maps and data, in the dry zone of Karnataka, southern India. The study adopted a three-step approach for developing a regional baseline, namely: (i) identification of likely baseline options for land use, (ii) estimation of baseline rates of land-use change, and (iii) quantification of baseline carbon profile over time. The analysis showed that carbon stock estimates made for wastelands and fallow lands for project-specific as well as the regional baseline are comparable. The ratio of wasteland Carbon stocks of a project to regional baseline is 1.02, and that of fallow lands in the project to regional baseline is 0.97. The cost of conducting field studies for determination of regional baseline is about a quarter of the cost of developing a project-specific baseline on a per hectare basis. The study has shown the reliability, feasibility and cost-effectiveness of adopting regional baseline for forestry sector mitigation projects.

A rough set-based quality function deployment (QFD) approach for environmental performance evaluation: a case of offshore oil and gas operations

Activities in offshore oil and gas (OOG) that cause environmental impacts can be systematically managed through an environmental management system (EMS). Environmental performance evaluation (EPE) is an essential part of an EMS. However, previous studies on EPE indicate that existing lists of indicators little insight into how indicators are modified to more accurately assess environmental performance.In this paper, a way is proposed to identify and define specific environmental performance indicators on a case-by-case basis, which consists of five steps: (1) describing environmental requirements; (2) determining favourable outcomes corresponding to the requirements; (3) identifying required activities or issues to achieve the outcomes; (4) searching for proper measures of the activities or issues; and (5) generating a list of key indicators. Based on these steps, a quality function deployment (QFD) approach is developed to determine key indicators and evaluate environmental performance. To handle uncertainties in QFD, the decision makers’ evaluations are quantified through rough numbers using the concept of rough sets. The outputs of the proposed approach are different environmental performance indices. Using these indices, decision makers can easily determine whether an improved performance has been achieved through an EMS. The proposed approach is transparent and promising for use as a unified tool for EPE. An application of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a numerical example.     

Estimation and comparison of night-time OH levels in the UK urban atmosphere using two di erent analysis methods

Night-time OH levels have been determined for UK urban surface environments using two methods, the decay and steady state approximation methods. Measurement data from the UK National Environmental Technology Centre archive for four urban sites (Bristol, Harwell, London Eltham and Edinburgh) over the time period of 1996 to 2000 have been used in this study. Three reactive alkenes, namely isoprene, 1,3-butadiene and trans-2-pentene were chosen for the calculation of OH levels by the decay method. Hourly measurements of NO, NO2, O3, CO and 20 VOCs were used to determine night-time OH level using the steady state approximation method. Our results showed that the night-time OH levels were in the range of 1 105–1 106 molecules/cm3 at these four urban sites in the UK. The application of a t-test of these analyses indicated that except Bristol, there was no significant di erence between the OH levels found from the decay and steady state approximation methods. Night-time levels of the OH radical appeared to peak in summer and spring time tracking the night-time O3 levels which also passed through a maximum at this time.     

Coastal livelihood and physical infrastructure in Bangladesh after cyclone Aila

This paper aimed at to explore the consequences of cyclone victims due to unavailability of infrastructural supports and to prop up the recognition that the infrastructure has a vital role to play in societies’ resilience during catastrophic situation. The paper begins with a review of the science regarding climate change impact and cyclone disaster in Bangladesh. It emphasizes the consequences of cyclone Aila in a selected coastal community in the remote coastal area. A field survey was conducted by authors during March-August 2009. Eight available infrastructures were selected for this analysis. Uniformity of distribution (R), demand index (Di) and degree of demand (DD) of the selected infrastructures were calculated by using nearest neighbourhood methods of analysis. Results show that based on its specific planning standards none of the selected infrastructure can support 50% of the total population. Accordingly, it was observed that 76% respondent could not reach in safer place due to rush of water intrusion and also because of the inundation of road-network. The nearness to the available cyclone shelter, and place of taking shelter during cyclone is positively correlated (r = 0.38; p < 0.001). However, the poor people had less opportunity to take shelter in cyclone shelters, although none of the respondents groups whose monthly income is above 75 USD stands without any infrastructural support. Such important observation may hint the influence of local elites on the local disaster mitigation planning practice in Bangladesh. Almost 90% of the respondents claimed that they had no access to enter the available cyclone shelter. Furthermore, the damaged infrastructures added more hindrances during post disaster activities and also increased the sufferings of the victims. If there were adequate cyclone shelters or rehabilitation centre, the affected people could take shelter and continue other works temporarily. Results drawn from this research will be useful for local and national level planners, as well as international donors for future disaster mitigation planning in the studied area and the methodology can be applied in similar countries and geographical territories.     

Regulating non-precious transition metal nitrides bifunctional electrocatalysts through surface/interface nanoengineering for air-cathodes of Zn-air batteries

Zn-air batteries (ZABs), especially the secondary batteries, have engrossed a great interest because of its high specific energy, economical and high safety. However, due to the insufficient activity and stability of bifunctional electrocatalysts for air-cathode oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) processes, the practical application of rechargeable ZABs is seriously hindered. In the effort of developing high active, stable and cost-effective electrocatalysts, transition metal nitrides (TMNs) have been regarded as the candidates due to their high conductivity, strong corrosion-resistance, and bifunctional catalytic performance. In this paper, the research progress in TMNs-based material as ORR and OER electrocatalysts for ZABs is discussed with respect to their synthesis, chemical/physical characterization, and performance validation/optimization. The surface/interface nanoengineering strategies such as defect engineering, support binding, heteroatom introduction, crystal plane orientation, interface construction and small size effect, the physical and chemical properties of TMNs-based electrocatalysts are emphasized with respect to their structures/morphologies, composition, electrical conductivity, specific surface area, chemical stability and corrosion resistance. The challenges of TMNs-based materials as bifunctional air-cathode electrocatalysts in practical application are evaluated, and numerous research guidelines to solve these problems are put forward for facilitating further research and development.     

Separation and remediation of environmental pollutants using metal–organic framework-based tailored materials

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a polymer hybrid family of compounds comprising metal ions that have been deliberately incorporated in...     

Assessment of algal biomass towards removal of Cr(VI) from tannery effluent: a sustainable approach

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The current investigation focuses on a systematic study of application of two dried algal biomass (i.e., Nostoc sp. and Turbinaria vulgaris) in...     

Exploring the potential effect of Achnatherum splendens L.–derived biochar treated with phosphoric acid on bioavailability of cadmium and wheat growth in contaminated soil

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Biochar remediation efficiency could be enhanced through numerous treatments such as acids treatment. Still, there has little work done on...     

Renewable and non-renewable energy consumption driven sustainable development in ASEAN countries: do financial development and institutional quality matter?

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Energy consumption for sustainable development has become a crucial issue in recent years. The anthropogenic effects of traditional energy sources...