Biofuel development, food security and the use of marginal land in China

With concerns of energy shortages, China, like the United States, European Union, and other countries, is promoting the development of biofuels. However, China also faces high future demand for food and feed, and so its bioenergy program must try to strike a balance between food and fuel. The goals of this paper are to provide an overview of China's current bioethanol program, identify the potential for using marginal lands for feedstock production, and measure the likely impacts of China's bioethanol development on the nation's future food self-sufficiency. Our results indicate that the potential to use marginal land for bioethanol feedstock production is limited. Applying a modeling approach based on highly disaggregated data by region, our analysis shows that the target of 10 million t of bioethanol by 2020 seems to be a prudent target, causing no major disturbances in China's food security. But the expansion of bioethanol may increase environmental pressures due to the higher levels of fertilizer use. This study shows also that if China were able to cultivate 45% of its required bioethanol feedstock on new marginal land, it would further limit negative effects of the bioethanol program on the domestic and international economy, but at the expense of having to apply another 750 thousand t of fertilizer.     

Effects of the "Conversion of Cropland to Forest and Grassland Program" on the water budget of the Jinghe River catchment in China

In 1999 China adopted the "Conversion of Cropland to Forest and Grassland Program" (CCFGP), a nationwide ecological recovery program, to minimize wide-scale soil erosion and vegetation degradation in China, as well as to improve water budgeting results. In the 10 yr since implementation, the CCFGP has resulted in the recovery and reforestation of >100,000 km of cropland and bare land, though the quantitative effect of this program on catchment water budget is not entirely clear. Therefore, we used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool to evaluate and quantify the effects of the CCFGP on the water budget of the Jinghe River catchment, a tributary of the Yellow River covering the central region of the Loess Plateau. Our results indicated that precipitation had dropped by 12.0% from the 1970s (611.6 mm) to the 2000s (538 mm) and that there was a corresponding 25.2% decrease in humidity index from 0.48 to 0.36. Before the CCFGP's implementation, forest and grassland had been decreasing, while bare land, cropland, and shrub land had been increasing. After the implementation of the CCFGP, the opposite trend was observed. Moreover, streamflow increased by about 15 and 20% for the upstream and middle stream subbasins, respectively, while soil water content also showed an obvious increase. Over the same period, evapotranspiration decreased by 5.2 and 13.5 mm and runoff decreased by 37.5 and 38.6% in the two subbasins. The same trends were obtained in the downstream subbasin, where changes were even greater. As a result of the reduced runoff and evapotranspiration, utilization of water resources was more efficient and ecological environment was improved under the CCFGP policy. Our results indicate the CCFGP resulted in a favorable ecological impact and should therefore be maintained.     

环境中多环芳烃(PAHs)的生物标志物的功效分析

污染物的生物监测一直是环境风险评估研究的重要内容.肝脏中谷胱甘肽硫转移酶(glutathione-S -transferase,GST)、7-乙氧基-3-异吩恶唑酮-脱乙基酶(ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase,EROD)、DNA-加合物(DNA-adducts)和胆汁中多环芳烃代谢物(PAH m...     

Species diversity and leaf functional traits of understory vegetation one year after severe burning北大核心CSCD

以北京油松(Pinus tabuliformis)人工林为研究对象,采用独立样本T检验、冗余分析等方法,分析重度火烧1年后林下植被(灌木层和草本层)的物种多样性、叶功能性状及其与土壤因子的关系.结果显示:(1)与对照样地相比,重度火烧后灌木层物种丰富度指数极显著降低(P <0.01),但Shannon指数、Simpson指数以及Pielou指数虽呈下降趋势但未达显著水平(P> 0.05);草本层除Pielou指数外,各物种多样性指数均显著增加(P <0.05).(2)重度火烧样地灌木层和草本层的叶厚度(LT)、叶干物质含量(LDMC)、叶碳含量(LCC)、叶磷含量(LPC)均高于对照样地,而比叶面积(SLA)、叶氮含量(LNC)、叶片氮磷比(N:P)、叶绿素含量(CHL)低于对照样地,除灌木层LPC和N:P及草本层SLA、LCC和LPC外,其他各叶功能性状在火烧与对照间差异均达显著水平.对于不同生活型而言,对照样地的LDMC、LNC、LCC、CHL存在显著差异,而在重度火烧后差异不显著;LT、SLA在重度火烧和对照样地上均呈现显著差异;而LPC、N:P在重度火烧与对照样地上均无显著差异.(3)重度火烧后1年,灌木层和草本层的叶功能性状均仅与土壤含水率、容重和非毛管孔隙度密切相关.本研究表明在油松人工林重度火烧后1年,灌木层物种多样性降低,而草本层物种多样性增加,灌草层的各叶功能性状主要受土壤物理性质的影响呈现不同的变化规律.(图4参45)     

双酚A促进粪肠球菌中信息素调控质粒pCF10介导的耐药基因接合转移

粪肠球菌是一种在自然水体中广泛存在的革兰氏阳性细菌。信息素调控质粒介导的接合转移是造成粪肠球菌耐药基因快速扩散的重要方式。双酚A是一种内分泌干扰物,因其在工业中大量应用造成其在水环境中的广泛分布。本文以信息素调控质粒中比较有代表性的pCF10质粒作为研究对象,研究了双酚A对粪肠球菌中耐药基因接合转移的影响,证实了双酚A可以促进pCF10质粒介导的耐药基因接合转移,且这一结果同双酚A作用浓度和作用时间相关。双酚A影响耐药基因的扩散,是通过促进编码正调控信息素的ccfA基因表达实现的。本文旨在深入理解双酚A影响抗生素抗性基因扩散的环境行为,为耐药基因控制及双酚A环境效应的评估提供理论支持。     

Biotoxicity evaluation of zinc oxide nanoparticles on bacterial performance of activated sludge at COD,nitrogen, and phosphorus reduction

• ZnO-NP disrupted metabolic/catabolic balance of bacteria by affecting DHA activity. • ZnO-NPs toxicity was related to Zn²⁺ ion, interaction with cell and ROS generation. • Exposure to ZnO-NPs resulted in changed bacterial community structure at sludge. • The change in the EPS content was observed during exposure to ZnO-NPs. The unique properties and growing usage of zinc oxide nanoparticles increase their release in municipal wastewater treatment plants. Therefore, these nanoparticles, by interacting with microorganisms, can fail the suitable functioning of biological systems in treatment plants. For this reason, research into the toxicity of ZnO is urgent. In the present study, the toxicity mechanism of ZnO-NPs towards microbial communities central to granular activated sludge (GAS) performance was assessed over 120-day exposure. The results demonstrate that the biotoxicity of ZnO-NPs is dependent upon its dosage, exposure time, and the extent of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Furthermore, GAS performance and the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) content were significantly reduced at 50 mg/L ZnO-NPs. This exposure led to decreases in the activity of ammonia monooxygenase (25.2%) and nitrate reductase (11.9%) activity. The Field emission scanning electron microscopy images confirmed that ZnO-NPs were able to disrupt the cell membrane integrity and lead to cell/bacterial death via intracellular ROS generation which was confirmed by the Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy analysis. After exposure to the NPs, the bacterial community composition shifted to one dominated by Gram-positive bacteria. The results of this study could help to develop environmental standards and regulations for NPs applications and emissions.     

Monitoring and evaluation of antibiotic resistance genes in three rivers in northeast China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have become an important public health problem. In this study, we used metagenomic sequencing to analyze the...     

区域环境中三氟乙酸富积多相传质模型研究

建立了描述挥发性有机物在大气、水、土壤和底泥等环境中动态分布的多相传质模型,并用于分析长江流域江苏段及太湖水系区域内三氟乙酸(TFA)在各环境相中的分布. 采集实测数据约300个,比较实测值与模拟值,对模型的可靠行进行验证. 建立了检测环境中微量TFA前处理及方法. 结果表明:多相传质模型能够正确描述研究区域内环境中的TFA分布. 在给定排放量变化规律的前提下,预测未来10年内研究区域环境水体中ρ(TFA)将接近100 ng/L,接近现阶段欧美发达国家主要水体中的ρ(TFA).      

一种新型旋风气幕式排风罩数值模拟研究

利用Fluent计算流体力学软件对新型旋风气幕式排风罩工作流场及有害物分布进行了数值模拟,并与传统排风罩进行了对比。结果表明:旋转射流屏蔽作用下的抽吸流场具有中部压力较低和提高抽吸能力的作用;新型旋风气幕式排风罩不仅能有效地控制有害物扩散,而且可以实现远距离捕集有害物及以较小的排风速度排放有害物。     

甘氨酸母液脱色废活性炭的微波-Fenton试剂氧化法再生

采用微波-Fenton试剂氧化法对甘氨酸母液脱色过程中产生的废活性炭进行再生,考察了废活性炭再生率的影响因素,并用SEM对再生活性炭进行了表征.实验结果表明,在Fenton试剂中n(H2O2)∶n(Fe2+)为24∶1、H2O2的浓度为25 mmol/L、溶液pH为3、反应温度为55℃、反应时间为18 min、微波功率为600 W时,废活性炭的再生率可达到75.80％.