Highway toll and air pollution: Evidence from Chinese cities

Most highways in urban China are tolled to finance their construction. During the eight-day National Day holiday in 2012, highway tolls were waived nationwide for passenger vehicles. We use this to identify the effects of highway tolls on air pollution. Using daily pollution and weather data for 98 Chinese cities in 2011 and 2012 and employing both a regression discontinuity design and differences-in-differences method with the 2011 National Day holiday as a control, we find that eliminating tolls increases pollution by 20% and decreases visibility by one kilometer. We also estimate that the toll elasticity of air pollution is −0.15. These findings complement the scant literature on the environmental impact of road pricing.     

Comparative assessment of municipal sewage sludge incineration,gasification and pyrolysis for a sustainable sludge-to-energy management in Greece

For a sustainable municipal sewage sludge management, not only the available technology, but also other parameters, such as policy regulations and socio-economic issues should be taken in account. In this study, the current status of both European and Greek Legislation on waste management, with a special insight in municipal sewage sludge, is presented. A SWOT analysis was further developed for comparison of pyrolysis with incineration and gasification and results are presented. Pyrolysis seems to be the optimal thermochemical treatment option compared to incineration and gasification. Sewage sludge pyrolysis is favorable for energy savings, material recovery and high added materials production, providing a ‘zero waste’ solution. Finally, identification of challenges and barriers for sewage sludge pyrolysis deployment in Greece was investigated.     

长庆油田4731B型非金属集输管道老化特性实验研究

为推广非金属复合管在油田集输油领域的应用，明确其在集输环境中的老化特性是关键问题。基于集输油现场的工程条件，针对长庆油田试用的4731B型钢丝缠绕增强复合管，以采出原油、采出水为实验介质，通过挂片实验、水压爆破实验，借助电镜扫描、拉伸测试对复合管内衬层老化行为、拉伸性能以及复合管极限承压与老化特性进行研究。结果表明:采出原油与采出水均可渗透扩散进入内衬层内部，还会发生局部深入渗透；采出原油、采出水的局部渗透速率分别可达3.4，10.6 mm/a；在某些工况下，内衬层表面产生裂纹；短时间（168 h）内的介质渗透甚至裂纹对其机械性能影响较小，而光氧老化影响显著；现场服役813 d后，复合管极限承压下降2.79%，表明复合管承压性能稳定。     

Fine‐resolution conservation planning with limited climate‐change information

Climate‐change induced uncertainties in future spatial patterns of conservation‐related outcomes make it difficult to implement standard conservation‐planning paradigms. A recent study translates Markowitz's risk‐diversification strategy from finance to conservation settings, enabling conservation agents to use this diversification strategy for allocating conservation and restoration investments across space to minimize the risk associated with such uncertainty. However, this method is information intensive and requires a large number of forecasts of ecological outcomes associated with possible climate‐change scenarios for carrying out fine‐resolution conservation planning. We developed a technique for iterative, spatial portfolio analysis that can be used to allocate scarce conservation resources across a desired level of subregions in a planning landscape in the absence of a sufficient number of ecological forecasts. We applied our technique to the Prairie Pothole Region in central North America. A lack of sufficient future climate information prevented attainment of the most efficient risk‐return conservation outcomes in the Prairie Pothole Region. The difference in expected conservation returns between conservation planning with limited climate‐change information and full climate‐change information was as large as 30% for the Prairie Pothole Region even when the most efficient iterative approach was used. However, our iterative approach allowed finer resolution portfolio allocation with limited climate‐change forecasts such that the best possible risk‐return combinations were obtained. With our most efficient iterative approach, the expected loss in conservation outcomes owing to limited climate‐change information could be reduced by 17% relative to other iterative approaches.     

Exploring the risks and benefits of flexibility in biodiversity offset location in a case study of migratory shorebirds

Biodiversity offsets aim to counterbalance the residual impacts of development on species and ecosystems. Guidance documents explicitly recommend that biodiversity offset actions be located close to the location of impact because of higher potential for similar ecological conditions, but allowing greater spatial flexibility has been proposed. We examined the circumstances under which offsets distant from the impact location could be more likely to achieve no net loss or provide better ecological outcomes than offsets close to the impact area. We applied a graphical model for migratory shorebirds in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway as a case study to explore the problems that arise when incorporating spatial flexibility into offset planning. Spatially flexible offsets may alleviate impacts more effectively than local offsets; however, the risks involved can be substantial. For our case study, there were inadequate data to make robust conclusions about the effectiveness and equivalence of distant habitat-based offsets for migratory shorebirds. Decisions around offset placement should be driven by the potential to achieve equivalent ecological outcomes; however, when considering more distant offsets, there is a need to evaluate the likely increased risks alongside the potential benefits. Although spatially flexible offsets have the potential to provide more cost-effective biodiversity outcomes and more cobenefits, our case study showed the difficulty of demonstrating these benefits in practice and the potential risks that need to be considered to ensure effective offset placement.     

ABR-生物接触氧化法处理果汁废水实验分析

厌氧式折流反应器(Anaerobic Baffled Reactor,简称ABR)是一种新型高效厌氧反应器,具有工艺技术简单、建设投资费用低、运行管理方便、固液分离效果好、出水水质好、运行稳定可靠、对有毒物质适应性强等优点,是一种极具开发应用前景的废水生物处理新技术。ABR最大的特点是在反应器中设置上下折流板而在水流方向上形成依次串联的隔室,从而使其中的微生物种群沿长度方向的不同隔室实现产酸和产甲烷相的分离。该反应器具有结构简单,截留污泥能力强,系统处理效果稳定,运行管理方便等优点。分析了ABR及ABR与其它工艺的联合在果汁废水处理方面的应用。     

NABat: A top-down,bottom-up solution to collaborative continental-scale monitoring

Collaborative monitoring over broad scales and levels of ecological organization can inform conservation efforts necessary to address the contemporary biodiversity crisis. An important challenge to collaborative monitoring is motivating local engagement with enough buy-in from stakeholders while providing adequate top-down direction for scientific rigor, quality control, and coordination. Collaborative monitoring must reconcile this inherent tension between top-down control and bottom-up engagement. Highly mobile and cryptic taxa, such as bats, present a particularly acute challenge. Given their scale of movement, complex life histories, and rapidly expanding threats, understanding population trends of bats requires coordinated broad-scale collaborative monitoring. The North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) reconciles top-down, bottom-up tension with a hierarchical master sample survey design, integrated data analysis, dynamic data curation, regional monitoring hubs, and knowledge delivery through web-based infrastructure. NABat supports collaborative monitoring across spatial and organizational scales and the full annual lifecycle of bats.     

北京市地下水中典型抗生素分布特征与潜在风险

应用气相色谱与质谱联用仪分析了北京市地下水内磺胺类(SAs)、氟喹诺酮类(FQs)、四环素类(TCs)、β-内酰胺类和大环内酯类等5大类抗生素.结果表明,北京地下水抗生素以SAs、FQs和TCs等3类为主,检出率分别为78.9%、100%和47.3%,其中甲氧苄氨嘧啶(TMP)、环丙沙星(CIP)和诺氟沙星(NOR)检出率均在70%以上.污灌区地下水样点抗生素浓度显著高于水源地和南水回灌区样点,磺胺二甲嘧啶(SDD)和磺胺嘧啶(SDZ)在污灌区检出峰值达到236 ng·L-1和96.8ng·L-1.生态风险评价结果表明,研究区地下水抗生素污染风险较小,但在污灌区显示中等或高等风险等级.CIP应作为研究区地下水抗生素监测中的重点监测对象.     

典型城市污水中对羟基苯甲酸酯的污染特征

对羟基苯甲酸酯(parabens)作为防腐剂、防霉剂和杀菌剂等被广泛应用于食品、化妆品和药品中.近年来的研究表明,该类化合物能够在地表水体中检出,对水生生态环境存在潜在的危害.本研究于2016年秋季和冬季,对哈尔滨某典型城市污水处理厂进水进行了24 h连续采集,对6种parabens的质量浓度和4种常规水质指标进行了分析.结果表明,parabens普遍存在于城市污水中,对羟基苯甲酸甲酯、对羟基苯甲酸乙酯和对羟基苯甲酸丙酯是主要目标物,总有机碳、总溶解固体和酸碱度与parabens的浓度具有相关性;城市污水中parabens的质量浓度具有明显的日变化趋势,但是季节差异性不大.本研究结果为城市污水处理系统中parabens的深入研究和污染控制提供了重要理论依据.     

膨润土调质对污泥堆肥的脱毒及重金属钝化和雌酮消除作用

利用干基添加比例为0~10%钙基膨润土对污泥进行了调质,通过52 d的好氧堆肥研究了调质对堆体温度、pH、水溶性盐分(EC)、有机碳、总氮、铵态氮(NH_4~+-N)、硝态氮(NO_3~--N)的影响,并进一步分析了其对污泥脱毒(种子萌发)和重金属(Zn、Cu、Pb、Cd)钝化及雌酮(E1)消除的影响.结果表明,污泥经外加膨润土调质后,可以促进堆肥物料的热灭活无害化,能使有机碳矿化率达到15.27%~19.71%;堆肥过程中各处理堆肥pH先降低后升高,最终稳定在6.76~7.05之间,但膨润土调质堆肥pH的波动变缓;添加膨润土的堆肥EC显著低于对照处理(1 132μS·cm~(-1)),整个堆肥过程EC值随着膨润土添加比例的增加而稍有降低.堆肥过程中的总氮含量逐渐增加,但对照处理在堆肥初期存在一定的氮素损失,而污泥经过调质可减少堆肥初期氮素损失;整个堆肥中NH_4~+-N含量先增加后降低,各处理NO_3~--N均呈现出逐渐增加的趋势,表明污泥调质促进NO_3~--N的转化.虽然调质对种子发芽产生一定的抑制作用,但均不影响堆肥的腐熟,且能显著促进重金属的钝化,同时添加膨润土处理显著降低堆料E1含量,添加比例5%处理使E1含量由90.48μg·kg~(-1)降低至28.27μg·kg~(-1).研究表明,膨润土不高于5%的添加比例是适合的污泥调质措施,在污泥堆肥物料的安全化、脱毒及重金属钝化和雌酮消除方面具有较好的应用潜力.