Driving factors for coordinating urbanization with conservation of the ecological environment in China

Urbanization is a dominant component of social and economic development around the world, but this process creates tremendous pressure on the ecological environment. How to achieve coordination between urbanization and conservation of this environment has become a key issue, especially in developing countries. It is necessary to identify the driving factors that affect this coordination. To identify these factors, we chose 290 Chinese prefecture-level cities to analyze the driving factors behind urbanization using spatial regression analysis, and explored the spatial differences among regions in these factors. Our results show that industrial upgrading and technological progress were the main factors that promoted coordinated development, with industrialization having positive effects under government management, but with differences among regions in how the driving forces affected coordinated development. Using technological progress to promote industrial upgrading, creating new employment to absorb surplus rural labor, and providing workers with skills training so they can take advantage of new jobs can promote win–win solutions that coordinate urbanization with conservation of the ecological environment.     

Balancing ecological conservation with socioeconomic development

Ecological restoration and conservation are primary components of sustainable development around the world, particularly during the contemporary era of climate change. However, restoration and conservation are not free; they consume huge amounts of resources that would otherwise support social and economic development. Therefore, excessive conservation creates a risk of creating rather than eliminating poverty. Unfortunately, scientists have largely ignored the balance between these contrasting goals. Here, we discuss the concept of finding the threshold that represents a suitable balance between ecological conservation and economic development, thereby maximizing the benefits for both humans and the environment and promoting sustainable development. To demonstrate the concept, we examined China’s ecological restoration achievements and discussed some of the unforeseen negative consequences that accompanied these achievements to discuss how future policies could better balance ecological and socioeconomic goals.     

Construction of Circular Economy Industrial System

It is difficult to realize the transformation from traditional economy industrial system to circular economy industrial system. Regarding primary raw materials as the indicators, the industrial system has been specified according to the divergence among the indicators and the circular utilization modes. In comparison with the association among industrial systems, the relationship among industrial sub-systems is named as industrial cross-linking in this paper. The industrial system which could completely utiLize and recycle the indicators shouM be increased and strengthened, and the circular economy industrial system with complete industrial association and industrial cross-linking should also be constructed. Taking the development of circular agricultural system basing on the traditional agricultural system as an example, the traditional agricultural products are regarded as the indicators which have been divided into foodstuff and crop straws which are used to produce food and articles for use, Like fertilizer, energy and papers etc. The way to construct the circular agricultural industrial system is to increase the industrial systems that could utilize the products generated from crop straws, feces and other castoffs and transform the wastewater and other trucks into environmental friendly products. It has also been pointed out that the construction of circular economy industrial system is conducive to the foundation of circular industrial economics and the establishment of the construction layout of circular economy and the application schemes. Suggestions to the theoretical and practical work of the next step have also been brought forward in this paper.     

常州市可持续发展限制因子辨识及发展对策

本文对我国最早的国家级社会发展综合实验区常州市可持续发展的限制因子进行了辨识，并针对限制因子提出了常州市可持续发展的对策     

利用微型动物削减剩余污泥量的研究

在污水的好氧生物处理过程中会产生大量的剩余污泥。污泥的浓缩、脱水、处理和处置需要花费大量的人力和物力 ,而且如果处置不当 ,很容易对环境造成二次污染。因此 ,最大限度减少剩余污泥的排放成为人们关注的问题。根据生态学的理论 ,加强微型动物对细菌的捕食作用 ,可使能量在从低营养级向高营养级传递过程中有一定的损失 ,同时污泥量得以减少。应用两段式生物反应器或者直接向曝气池中投加微型动物均可达到此目的。本文详细地介绍了这两种方法 ,讨论了各自的优点和不足 ,并指出了未来的发展方向     

A framework for policy formulation for small-scale mines: the case of coal in China

The effective management of small-scale mines is one of the major challenges for governments in the mining sector. Small-scale mining may bring tangible, short-term benefits to the communities involved. However, these benefits are frequently outweighed by the costs incurred in terms of illness, injury, pollution, waste of natural resources and market distortions. Governments, international agencies and advisers are generally able to draw up lists of actions which are required to regulate and manage small-scale mines more effectively, but turning plans into sustained action has proved more difficult. Two aspects of policy implementation are crucial to success: the alignment of interests, and the attitude and effectiveness of government. Using a case study of township and village coal mines in China, this article develops an approach to analysing these issues that could assist regional policy makers and advisers in formulating policy, in identifying key obstacles to policy implementation, and in identifying particular parties which need to be infiuenced or educated in order for the policy to succeed.     

论可持续发展的基本组织单元和层次体系

在可持续发展的实践中，选择合适的基本组织单元和建立适当的管理层次体系非常重要。本文在论述各种区域划分类型的基础上，提出可持续发展的基本组织单元应以行政功能区划为主，选择市（带县）作为可持续发展的基本组织单元，同时要兼顾经济因素和自然因素；在我国以国家、省、市（带县）作为可持续发展实践的三级体系较为适宜；并论述了区域内部和外部的调控和优化     

Synthesis of a novel ternary HA/Fe-Mn oxides-loaded biochar composite and its application in cadmium(Ⅱ) and arsenic(Ⅴ) adsorption

Cadmium(Cd) and arsenic(As) are two of the most toxic elements. However, the chemical behaviors of these two elements are different, making it challenging to utilize a single adsorbent with high adsorption capacity for both Cd(Ⅱ) and As(Ⅴ) removal. To solve this problem, we synthesized HA/Fe-Mn oxides-loaded biochar(HFMB), a novel ternary material,to perform this task, wherein scanning electron microscopy(SEM) combined with EDS(SEMEDS) was used to characterize its morphological and physicochemical properties. The maximum adsorption capacity of HFMB was 67.11 mg/g for Cd(Ⅱ) and 35.59 mg/g for As(Ⅴ),which is much higher compared to pristine biochar(11.06 mg/g, 0 mg/g for Cd(Ⅱ) and As(Ⅴ),respectively). The adsorption characteristics were investigated by adsorption kinetics and the effects of the ionic strength and pH of solutions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR) revealed that chelation and deposition were the adsorption mechanisms that bound Cd(Ⅱ) to HFMB, while ligand exchange was the adsorption mechanism that bound As(Ⅴ).     

Profiles of and variations in aluminum species in PAC-MC used for the removal of blooming microalgae

Polyaluminum chloride modified clay (PAC-MC) is a safe and efficient red tide control agent that has been studied and applied worldwide. Although it is well known that the distribution of hydrolytic aluminum species in PAC affects its flocculation, little is known about the influence of particulars aluminum species on the microalgae removal efficiency of PAC-MC; this lack of knowledge creates a bottleneck in the development of more efficient MCs based on aluminum salts. The ferron method was used in this study to quantitatively analyze the distributions of and variations in different hydrolytic aluminum species during the process of microalgae removal by PAC-MC. The results showed that Al_a, which made up 5%–20% of the total aluminum, and Al_p, which made up 15%–55% of the total aluminum, significantly affected microalgae removal, with Pearson's correlation coefficients of 0.83 and 0.89, respectively. Most of the aluminum in the PAC-MC sank rapidly into the sediments, but the rate and velocity of settlement were affected by the dose of modified clay. The optimal dose of PAC-MC for precipitating microalgae was determined based on its aluminum profile. These results provide guidance for the precise application of PAC-MC in the control of harmful algal blooms.