Current Status and Problems in Certification of Sustainable Forest Management in China

Forest certification is a mechanism involving the regulation of trade of forest products in order to protect forest resources and improve forest management. Although China had a late start in adopting this process, the country has made good progress in recent years. As of July 31, 2009, 17 forest management enterprises and more than one million hectares of forests in China have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Several major factors affect forest certification in China. The first set is institutional in nature. Forest management in China is based on centralized national plans and therefore lacks flexibility. A second factor is public awareness. The importance and value of forest certification are not widely understood and thus consumers do not make informed choices regarding certified forest products. The third major factor is the cost of certification. Together these factors have constrained the development of China’s forest certification efforts. However, the process does have great potential. According to preliminary calculations, if 50% of China’s commercial forests were certified, the economic cost of forest certification would range from US$0.66–86.63 million while the economic benefits for the forestry business sector could exceed US$0.66–86.63 million while the economic benefits for the forestry business sector could exceed US150 million. With continuing progress in forest management practices and the development of international trade in forest products, it becomes important to improve the forest certification process in China. This can be achieved by improving the forest management system, constructing and perfecting market access mechanisms for certificated forest products, and increasing public awareness of environmental protection, forest certification, and their interrelationship.     

Ligand-assisted degradation of carbon tetrachloride by microscale zero-valent iron

Degradation of carbon tetrachloride (CT) by microscale zero-valent iron (ZVI) was investigated in batch systems with or without organic ligands (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid and oxalic acid) at pHs from 3.5 to 7.5. The results demonstrated that at 25°C, the dechlorination of CT by microscale ZVI is slow in the absence of organic ligands, with a pseudo-first-order rate constant of 0.0217 h(-1) at pH 3.5 and being further dropped to 0.0052 h(-1) at pH 7.5. However, addition of organic ligands significantly enhanced the rates and the extents of CT removal, as indicated by the rate constant increases of 39, 31, 32, 28 and 18 times in the presence of EDTA, citric acid, tartaric acid, malic acid and oxalic acid, respectively, at pH 3.5 and 25°C. The effect of EDTA was most significant; the dechlorination of CT at an initial concentration of 20 mg l(-1) increased from 16.3% (no ligands) to 89.1% (with EDTA) at the end of 8h reaction. The enhanced CT degradation in the presence of organic ligands was primarily attributed to the elimination of a surface passivation layer of Fe(III) (hydr)oxides on the microscale ZVI through chelating of organic ligands with Fe(III), which maintained the exposure of active sites on ZVI surface to CT.     

Forest Ecosystem Services and Eco-Compensation Mechanisms in China

Forests are a major terrestrial ecosystem providing multiple ecosystem services. However, the importance of forests is frequently underestimated from an economic perspective because of the externalities and public good properties of these services. Forest eco-compensation is a transfer mechanism that serves to internalize the externalities of forest ecosystem services by compensating individuals or companies for the losses or costs resulting from the provision of these services. China’s current forest eco-compensation system is centered mainly on noncommercial forest. The primary measures associated with ecosystem services are (1) a charge on destructive activities, such as indiscriminate logging, and (2) compensation for individual or local activities and investments in forest conservation. The Compensation Fund System for Forest Ecological Benefits was first listed in the Forest Law of the People’s Republic of China in 1998. In 2004, the Central Government Financial Compensation Fund, an important source for the Compensation Fund for Forest Ecological Benefits, was formally established. To improve the forest eco-compensation system, it is crucial to design and establish compensation criteria for noncommercial forests. These criteria should take both theoretical and practical concerns into account, and they should be based on the quantitative valuation of ecosystem services. Although some initial headway has been made on this task, the implementation of an effective forest eco-compensation system in China still has deficiencies and still faces problems. Implementing classification-based and dynamic management for key noncommercial forests and establishing an eco-compensation mechanism with multiple funding sources in the market economy are the key measures needed to conquer these problems and improve the forest eco-compensation system and China’s forestry development in sequence.     

试论石油企业环境监测机构的现状及发展

文章分析了石油企业环境监测机构的现状,明确了石油企业环境监测机构的工作立足点。同时,在中国石油天然气集团公司创建综合性国际能源公司、深化HSE体系推进的大背景下,对各油气田企业环境监测机构的未来与发展进行探讨,并结合实际提出较为合理的发展设想。     

非洲地区环境法对中国石油海外业务影响分析

文章在调研中国石油非洲地区主要业务国环境法律法规的基础上,阐述了这些国家在环境管理方面的现状,提出了中国石油应对非洲地区环境法律制约的措施和建议,包括可行性研究阶段的法规调研要兼顾非洲习惯法,及早应对政策风险,项目实施过程严格落实环境影响评价、环境审计、环境许可和环境应急管理制度等。     

双膜技术在印染废水回用工程的应用

以盛虹集团印染废水回用工程为例,分析了＂SMF＋HAPRO＂双膜技术在印染废水深度处理中的应用。应用情况表明,印染废水经该技术处理后,产水水质优良,满足了生产用水的要求,同时给应用企业带来了经济、环境和社会效益。     

Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during heating season in Beijing

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) and their nitrated derivatives(NPAHs) attract continuous attention due to their outstanding carcinogenicity and mutagenicity. In order to investigate the diurnal variations, sources, formation mechanism, and health risk assessment of them in heating season, particulate matter(PM) were collected in Beijing urban area from December 26, 2017 to January 17, 2018. PAHs and NPAHs in PM were quantitatively analyzed via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS). ...     

Efficient degradation of Rhodamine B by magnetically recoverable Fe3O4-modified ternary CoFeCu-layered double hydroxides via activating peroxymonosulfate

Environment-friendly nano-catalysts capable of activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) have received increasing attention recently. Nevertheless, traditional nano-catalysts are generally well dispersed and difficult to be separated from reaction system, so it is particularly important to develop nano-catalysts with both good catalytic activity and excellent recycling efficiency. In this work, magnetically recoverable Fe₃O₄-modified ternary CoFeCu-layered double hydroxides (Fe₃O₄/CoFeCu-LDHs) was prepared by a simple co-precipitation method and initially applied to activate PMS for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method (BET), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) were applied to characterize morphology, structure, specific surface area and magnetism. In addition, the effects of several key parameters were evaluated. The Fe₃O₄/CoFeCu-LDHs exhibited high catalytic activity, and RhB degradation efficiency could reach 100% within 20 min by adding 0.2 g/L of catalyst and 1 mmol/L of PMS into 50 mg/L of RhB solution under a wide pH condition (3.0-7.0). Notably, the Fe₃O₄/CoFeCu-LDHs showed good super-paramagnetism and excellent stability, which could be effectively and quickly recovered under magnetic condition, and the degradation efficiency after ten cycles could still maintain 98.95%. Both radicals quenching tests and electron spin resonance (ESR) identified both HO? and SO₄^?? were involved and SO₄^?? played a dominant role on the RhB degradation. Finally, the chemical states of the sample's surface elements were measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the possible activation mechanism in Fe₃O₄/CoFeCu-LDHs/PMS system was proposed according to comprehensive analysis.     

Numerical simulation of overtopping breach processes caused by failure of landslide dams

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - Based on the mechanism of landslide dam failure caused by overtopping, a simplified mathematical model for simulating dam breach overtopping flow processes was...     

Biocompatible self-healing hydrogels based on boronic acid-functionalized polymer and laponite nanocomposite for water pollutant removal

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Global water pollution by organic dyes and metals may be solved by adsorption. In particular, hydrogel adsorbents display unique...