Drought frequency in the Volta Basin of West Africa

According to various reports, climate change is responsible for the change in rainfall amount and pattern accompanied by the various degrees of extreme events in Sahelian West Africa in recent years. Other reports also suggest that there has been a “recovery” of the rainy season (Nicholson 2005). In this study, temporal characteristics of meteorological droughts in the Volta basin, a semi-arid region in West Africa, are investigated in order to provide a guide for sustainable water resource management. For this purpose, drought intensity, areal extent and recurrence frequency is analysed using the standardised precipitation index (SPI) for a time series between 1961 and 2005 from 52 meteorology stations across the Volta basin. Using this analysis the severity of the historical droughts of 1961, 1970, 1983, 1992 and 2001 that occurred in the region are assessed and their intensity, areal extent and return periods are obtained. The drought intensity is lower than −2.0 over nearly 75% of the region, meaning that a major part of the region was under extreme drought conditions during this year. The drought of 1983/1984 has a probability of occurrence of up to 0.1 from records spanning 44 years. The areal extent of extreme drought conditions is about 90% during this drought period.     

Future landfill emissions and the effect of final cover installation--a case study

Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills are potential long-term sources of emissions. Hence, they need to be managed after closure until they do not pose a threat to humans or the environment. The case study on the Breitenau MSW landfill was performed to evaluate future emission levels for this site and to illustrate the effect of final cover installation with respect to long-term environmental risks. The methodology was based on a comprehensive assessment of the state of the landfill and included analysis of monitoring data, investigations of landfilled waste, and an evaluation of containment systems. A model to estimate future emission levels was established and site-specific predictions of leachate emissions were presented based on scenario analysis. The results are used to evaluate the future pollution potential of the landfill and to compare different aftercare concepts in view of long-term emissions. As some leachable substances became available for water flow during cover construction due to a change in the water flow pattern of the waste, a substantial increase in leachate concentrations could be observed at the site (e.g. concentrations of chloride increased from 200 to 800 mg/l and of ammonia-nitrogen from 140 to about 500 mg/l). A period of intensive flushing before the final cover installation could have reduced the amount of leachable substances within the landfill body and rapidly decreased the leachate concentrations to 11 mg Cl/l and 79 mg NH₄-N/l within 50 years. Contrarily, the minimization of water infiltration is associated with leachate concentrations in a high range for centuries (above 400 mg Cl/l and 200 mg NH₄-N/l) with low concomitant annual emission loads (below 12 kg/year of Cl or 9 kg/year of NH₄-N, respectively). However, an expected gradual decrease of barrier efficiency over time would be associated with higher emission loads of 50 kg of chloride and 30 kg of ammonia-nitrogen at the maximum, but a faster decrease of leachate concentration levels.     

A study on legislative and policy tools for promoting the circular economic model for waste management in China

The circular economy has been developing rapidly in recent years in China. A legislative system has been created to provide legal protection for the development of a circular economy, including a series of price and tax measures in the waste management area. These measures form the basic foundation for promoting better waste management under the circular economic model. Many challenges, however, remain. For instance, the legal system needs to incorporate more sophisticated science, and China lacks key waste treatment technology that could support the further development of a circular economy. There is also a need to educate the public about the concept of the circular economy and its benefits. Specific suggestions are made for the development and implementation of the circular economic model.     

The effect of the addition of fly ash to municipal digested sludge on its electroosmotic dewatering

Effective handling of municipal digested sludge requires that the product cake have low water content. To this end, we investigated the change in sludge dewaterability after the addition of fly ash to municipal digested sludge, dewatering of which is difficult because of its high organic content. The performance of the dewatering is compared with that of electroosmotic dewatering (EDW) and conventional mechanical dewatering (CMD). Fly ash classified by sieving to the size of 25–75 μm and >75 μm is added to the municipal digested sludge by 10, 20, and 50 wt% by wet base. When adding fly ash particles to municipal digested sludge, dewatering efficiency improved with smaller fly ash particle size and with increase in the amount. When sludge was dewatered using an electroosmotic dewatering method, the dewatering efficiency is improved about 40% by adding fly ash of 25–75 μm particle size with 20 wt% when compared with conventional mechanical dewatering method without adding the fly ash. It is concluded that fly ash particles rich in inorganic material are helpful in the dewatering process when added to municipal digested sludge and EDW is more effective than CDW.     

Archaeal Poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) Polymer Production from Glycerol: Optimization by Taguchi Methodology

In this study the possibility of poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) production from glycerol was investigated and optimized by Halorcula sp. IRU1, a novel archaea isolated from Urmia lake, Iran in batch experiments. Using Taguchi methodology, three important independent parameters (glycerol, yeast extract and KH₂PO₄) were evaluated for their individual and interactive effects on poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) production. It was shown that the glycerol concentration was the most significant factor affecting the yield of poly (3-hydroxybutyrate). The optimum factor levels were a glycerol concentration of 8% (v/v), yeast extract 0.8% (w/v) and KH₂PO₄ 0.002% (w/v). The predicted value obtained for poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) production under these conditions was about 81.87%. We can conclude that Haloarcula sp. IRU1 has a high potential for synthesis of poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) from glycerol.     

Preformed Amide-containing biopolymer for Improving the Environmental Performance of Synthesized Urea–formaldehyde in Agro-fiber Composites

Investigations have continued for production high performance agro-based composites using environmentally acceptable approaches. This study examines the role of adding amide-containing biopolymers during synthesis of urea–formaldehyde (UF) on properties of adhesive produced, especially its adhesion potential. The environmental performance of UF-resin synthesized in the presence of modified amide-containing biopolymer was evaluated by evaluating the free-HCHO of both adhesive (during processing) and of the eventual engineered composite product. Also, the benefits of this synthesis-modified adhesive in enhancing the bondability of sugar-cane fibers used in engineered composite panels was evaluated and compared to using UF-resin. The results obtained show that, static bending of the produced composites varied from 27.7 to 33.13 N/mm² of modulus of rupture (MOR) and from 2860 to 3374 N/mm² of Modulus of Elasticity (MOE); while for internal bond (IB) it’s varied from 0.64 to 0.866 N/mm². Based on the ANSI and EN Standards modified UF-based agro composites produced meet the performance requirements for high grade particleboards with respect to static bending strength. These agro-based composite also tested out as having free-HCHO values of ~13 mg/100 g board.     

Effects of Filler Content and Compatibilizing Agents on Mechanical Behavior of the Particle-Reinforced Composites

The study was carried out to investigate the effects of filler content and two different compatibilizing agents (Eastman G-3003 and G-3216) on the mechanical properties of polypropylene reinforced with corn stalk and wood flour. In the sample preparation, three levels of filler loading (30, 40 and 50 wt%) and one level of compatibilizing agent content (2.5 wt%) were used. For overall trend, with addition of both grades of the compatibilizing agents, tensile and flexural properties of the composites significantly improved, as compared with the pure PP. Tensile and flexural properties reach a maximum at 40 wt% filler content and gradually decrease with a further increase in wood particle content. The composites treated with G-3003 gave better results in comparison with G-3216. This could be caused by the high melt viscosity of G-3003. In general, corn stalk flour filled composites showed superior mechanical properties.     

Preparation and Characterization of Clay Nanocomposites of Plasticized Starch and Polypropylene Polymer Blends

Plasticized starch (PLS) is a renewable, degradable, and inexpensive polymer, but it suffers from poor mechanical properties. The mechanical properties can be improved by blending PLS with polyolefins, nonetheless, at high PLS content, the mechanical properties remain poor. Here we show that addition of clay can greatly improve the mechanical properties of PLS/polypropylene blends at high starch content. Unmodified and organically modified montmorillonite clays, MMT and Cloisite 30B respectively, were added to blends of glycerol-plasticized starch and polypropylene, compatibilized using maleated polypropylene. TEM indicates that MMT is well dispersed in the PLS phase of the blends, while Cloisite 30B is located both within the PLS phase as well as at the interface between PLS and PP. At high PLS content, the addition of clay increased the tensile strength and tensile modulus by an order of magnitude, while reducing the ultimate elongation only slightly. Such improvements are attributable to both the addition of clay as a reinforcing component, as well as to the change in the two phase morphology due to addition of clay.     

Towards saving freshwater: halophytes as unconventional feedstuffs in livestock feed: a review

Water represents 71% of all earth area and about 97% of this water is salty water. So, only 3% of the overall world water quantity is freshwater. Human can benefit only from 1% of this water and the remaining 2% freeze at both poles of earth. Therefore, it is important to preserve the freshwater through increasing the plants consuming salty water. The future prosperity of feed resources in arid and semi-arid countries depends on economic use of alternative resources that have been marginalized for long periods of time, such as halophytic plants, which are one such potential future resource. Halophyte plants can grow in high salinity water and soil and to some extent during drought. The growth of these plants depends on the contact of the salted water with plant roots as in semi-desert saline water, mangrove swamps, marshes, and seashores. Halophyte plants need high levels of sodium chloride in the soil water for growth, and the soil water must also contain high levels of salts, as sodium hydroxide or magnesium sulfate. There are many uses for halophyte plants, including feed for animals, vegetables, drugs, sand dune stabilizers, wind shelter, soil cover, wetland cultivation, laundry detergents, and paper production. This paper will focus on the use of halophytes as a feed additive for animals. In spite of the good nutritional value of halophytes, some anti-nutritional factors as nitrates, nitrite complexes, tannins, glycosides, phenolic compounds, saponins, oxalates, and alkaloids may be present in some of them. The presence of such anti-nutritional agents makes halophytes unpalatable to animals, which tends to reduce feed intake and nutrient use. Therefore, the negative effects of these plants on animal performance are the only objection against using halophytes in animal feed diets. This review article highlights the beneficial impact of considering halophytes in animal feeding on saving freshwater and illustrates its nutritive value for livestock from different aspects.