Preliminary assessment of CO2 geological storage opportunities in Greece

This paper provides a preliminary assessment of the suitability of Tertiary sedimentary basins in Northern, Western and Eastern Greece in order to identify geological structures close to major CO₂ emission sources with the potential for long-term storage of CO₂. The term “emissions” refers to point source emissions as defined by the International Energy Agency, including power generation, the cement sector and other industrial processes. The Prinos oil field and saline aquifer, along with the saline formations of the Thessaloniki Basin and the Mesohellenic Trough have been identified as prospective CO₂ geological storage sites. In addition, a carbonate deep saline aquifer occurring at appropriate depths beneath the Neogene-Quaternary sediments of Ptolemais-Kozani graben (NW Greece) is considered. The proximity of this geological formation to Greece's largest lignite-fired power plants suggests that it would be worthwhile undertaking further site-specific studies to quantify its storage capacity and assess its structural integrity.     

Utilization of molasses spentwash for production of bioplastics by waste activated sludge

Present study describes the treatment of molasses spentwash and its use as a potential low cost substrate for production of biopolymer polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) by waste activated sludge. Fluorescence microscopy revealed the presence of PHB granules in sludge biomass which was further confirmed by fourier transform-infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR) and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The processing of molasses spentwash was carried out for attaining different ratios of carbon and nitrogen (C:N). Highest chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and PHB accumulation of 60% and 31% respectively was achieved with raw molasses spentwash containing inorganic nitrogen (C:N ratio = 28) followed by COD removal of 52% and PHB accumulation of 28% for filtered molasses containing inorganic nitrogen (C:N ratio = 29). PHB production yield (Y_p/s) was highest (0.184 g g^?1 COD consumed) for deproteinized spentwash supplemented with nitrogen. In contrast, the substrate consumption and product formation were higher in case of raw spentwash. Though COD removal was lowest from deproteinized spentwash, evaluation of kinetic parameters suggested higher rates of conversion of available carbon to biomass and PHB. Thus the process provided dual benefit of conversion of two wastes viz. waste activated sludge and molasses spentwash into value-added product-PHB.     

Research priorities for managing the impacts and dependencies of business upon food,energy, water and the environment

Delivering access to sufficient food, energy and water resources to ensure human wellbeing is a major concern for governments worldwide. However, it is crucial to account for the ‘nexus’ of interactions between these natural resources and the consequent implications for human wellbeing. The private sector has a critical role in driving positive change towards more sustainable nexus management and could reap considerable benefits from collaboration with researchers to devise solutions to some of the foremost sustainability challenges of today. Yet opportunities are missed because the private sector is rarely involved in the formulation of deliverable research priorities. We convened senior research scientists and influential business leaders to collaboratively identify the top forty questions that, if answered, would best help companies understand and manage their food-energy-water-environment nexus dependencies and impacts. Codification of the top order nexus themes highlighted research priorities around development of pragmatic yet credible tools that allow businesses to incorporate nexus interactions into their decision-making; demonstration of the business case for more sustainable nexus management; identification of the most effective levers for behaviour change; and understanding incentives or circumstances that allow individuals and businesses to take a leadership stance. Greater investment in the complex but productive relations between the private sector and research community will create deeper and more meaningful collaboration and cooperation.     

Influence of the zebra mussel and fish fry on structural and functional characteristics of microorganisms in experimental ecosystems

The interactions of zebra mussels, invertebrates, fish, and microorganisms were studied experimentally. Trends in the distribution of total bacterial biomass, the abundance of heterotrophic organisms, and their functional activities in water and grounds were analyzed. The most favorable conditions for development of bacteria developed in June, in the presence of fish and without zebra mussels. In experimental ecosystems with zebra mussels, a decrease in the abundance and activity of microorganisms and a change of dominant yeast forms were observed.     

Prognosis of the spatiotemporal dynamics of ecosystems by means of universal kriging

The use of quantitative data for constructing prognostic maps of the dynamics of ecosystem degradation and restoration by nonlinear simulation methods is a topical field of landscape ecology. This method of dynamic cartography is based on fiberwise comparison of data on the state of Chernye Zemli (the Kalmyk Republic, Russia) in different years and the detailed analysis of the period on which the prognosis was based. For this purpose, materials of repeated aerial and satellite photography obtained during a long period (1954–1993) were used. Comparison of maps characterizing the dynamics of Chernye Zemli between 1958 and 1993 allows prognostic electronic maps for the next 10–15 years (with a five-year interval) to be drawn and land prognosis for the next 20–30 years (1998–2023) to be obtained. Deceased     

Specific Features of the Dynamics of Murine Rodent Communities under the Effects of Urbanization: 1. Dynamics of Species Composition and Abundance

The long-term population dynamics of rodent communities in park forests of Yekaterinburg was studied. The results showed that deep population depressions occurring in natural communities are not characteristic of the urban communities. In the urban environment, the density of rodents is always maintained at a relatively high level due to the appearance of species that are atypical for the natural communities. This fact deserves attention in view of the increasing risk of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in the region, as a high rodent abundance may provide for the maintenance of a stable TBE focus in the city.     

Distributions of heavy metals in the surface sediments of the Gulf of Saros, NE Aegean Sea

The Gulf of Saros in the northeastern Aegean Sea (Turkey) is a relatively unpolluted marine environment. There is almost no industry and only small settlements in the surrounding region. The main sources of fresh water and sediment to the Gulf are the Meric River in the northwest and the Kavak Creek in the east. It has an asymmetric bathymetry with a 10-km-wide shelf to the north and up to 15-km-wide, 700-m-deep trough in the south. Water circulation in the Gulf is characterized by longshore currents and anticyclonic eddies. The Black Sea waters, leaving the Sea of Marmara through the Canakkale Strait, are known to enter the southern Gulf during the summer. The surface sediments on the northern shelf consist mainly of sand, whereas those on the slope and the deep trough are mainly silt and clay. The ranges of Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni, and Hg contents of the surface sediments from the Gulf of Saros are 0.25 4.60%, 114 1740 ppm, 6-44 ppm, 23-154 ppm, 2-80 ppm, 14-145 ppm, and 10-130 ppb, respectively. These values are low compared to those from the other neighboring marine environments, indicating the pristine nature of the Gulf in terms of metal pollution. However, most metal and organic carbon (Corg) distributions in the Gulf sediments show the effect of anthropogenic and natural inputs to the northwestern and eastern shelf areas from the Meric River and the Kavak Creek and to the deep trough from the Black Sea waters.     

Impacts of climate change and climate variability on the competitiveness of wheat and beef cattle production in Emerald, north-east Australia.

Emerald, north-east Queensland, is at the northern margin of the wheat cropping region of Australia. The Emerald region was previously used predominantly for grazing beef cattle; however, cropping has developed in importance over the past 30 years. We use historical climate records (1890-1998) to simulate and compare wheat yields, grass production and live-weight gain (LWG) over time. The cropping expansion from the 1970s to the early 1990s has occurred in a unique period in the 108-year record with the highest average wheat yields, lowest wheat yield variability and the greatest relative productivity of wheat production against grass production. If this window of opportunity is a result of long-term climate variability, then cropping is likely to decline in the region as conditions return to those experienced earlier in the record. If this increase is related to climate change, then cropping is likely to persist in the region with productivity maintained at current levels particularly through the yield-enhancing effects of increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations. However, this persistence will be influenced by the frequencies of El Ni?o conditions that may increase with global warming. The high relative productivities experienced over the past few decades have probably biased producers' expectations, and applications for drought support need to take into account the longer-term perspective provided by this analysis. Nevertheless, the last 6 years have the lowest simulated mean LWG production on the record. The identification of poor production periods depended on the production element being addressed and the timescale involved.     

The Use of Natural Taraxacum officinale Wigg. Populations for Assessing the State of Technogenically Disturbed Areas

Russian Journal of Ecology -     

Carbon Emission by Soils in Forests Damaged by the Siberian Moth

In the southern-taiga low grass–green moss fir forest completely defoliated by the Siberian moth, the rate of soil respiration in the third year after the pest population outbreak was 1.5 times higher than in an undisturbed tree stand. This was explained by a significant increase in the abundance and activity of soil microorganisms in the pest-defoliated forest, which occurred due to the qualitative changes in the litter composition and the increased temperature and moisture in the upper soil layers. The rate of carbon emission from the soil in the defoliated forest was 41.7 kg/ha per day, compared to 28.3 kg/ha per day in the undisturbed fir forest.