The global partnership for sustainable development

This paper examines whether foreign aid, together with other economic, social and environmental factors, contributes to sustainable development. It starts with an illustrative theoretical growth model where foreign aid promotes sustainable development by protecting the environment. Using factor analysis and newly developed estimation methods for a dynamic panel data model with endogenous regressors, the empirical section of the paper finds evidence that foreign aid has had a significantly positive influence on sustainable development in aid recipient countries. This effect is very likely to go through channels related to growth and resources as well as a technology channel with respect to energy intensity. This research has important implications for a post‐2015 development framework on international collective action with regard to a sustainable future.     

The evolution of socio-ecological systems: changing palm species management in the Colombian Amazon as an indicator of ecological and institutional change

We investigate natural resource governance in three indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon. We base our analysis on an evolutionary governance model in which governance dimensions emerge as relevant through time. The less accessible of the communities represents earlier steps in governance evolution, while the more physically accessible is more integrated into the western scene. We observe how increased physical accessibility in a community brings in western governance models which hybridize with more traditional ones, influencing the couplings between the social and ecological systems. We zoom in on changing management of three commonly used palm species and illustrate how detailed studies of natural resource management contribute to understanding governance evolution. By comparing governance evolutions we were able to gain insights and improve our understanding on how natural resource management changes in communities transiting into western ways of living. In doing so we recognized points of rigidity and flexibility which might influence the social ecological systems capacity to adapt to changing conditions.     

Mg2+ improves biomass production from soybean wastewater using purple non-sulfur bacteria

Soybean wastewater was used to generate biomass resource by use of purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB). This study investigated the enhancement of PNSB cell accumulation in wastewater by Mg²⁺ under the light-anaerobic condition. Results showed that with the optimal Mg²⁺ dosage of 10 mg/L, biomass production was improved by 70% to 3630 mg/L, and biomass yield also was improved by 60%. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) removal reached above 86% and hydraulic retention time was shortened from 96 to 72 hr. The mechanism analysis indicated that Mg²⁺ could promote the content of bacteriochlorophyll in photosynthesis because Mg²⁺ is the bacteriochlorophyll active center, and thus improved adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production. An increase of ATP production enhanced the conversion of organic matter in wastewater into PNSB cell materials (biomass yield) and COD removal, leading to more biomass production. With 10 mg/L Mg²⁺, bacteriochlorophyll content and ATP production were improved by 60% and 33% respectively.     

2014年-2020年江苏省城镇化的边际资源环境影响预测分析研究

利用历史数据,选取合适计算模型,定量预测了2014年-2020年江苏省城镇化边际资源环境影响,即以与城镇化发展密切相关的资源使用量或者城镇生活污染物排放量较上一年的增量,除以当年城镇化率增量,得到江苏省城镇化水平每提高一个百分点带来的资源环境影响,以期为江苏环境管理及政府综合决策提供切实有效的数据依据.结果表明:未来7年,江苏省城镇化率每上升1个百分点,增加城镇生活用水量约0.5亿立方米、城镇建设用地面积16万亩;增加城镇生活污水排放量1.15亿吨、生活氮氧化物排放量10 228吨、生活垃圾产生量36.4万吨;减少生活COD排放量7 549吨、生活氨氮排放量762吨、生活二氧化硫(SO2)排放量371吨.     

江汉平原土地资源诅咒效应研究

将资源诅咒的研究领域由传统的矿产资源转向土地资源研究问题域,以近10a江汉平原18个县(市)的统计数据为依据,运用诅咒系数对其进行资源诅咒的实证分析。结果显示,近年来发展滞后的荆州市所辖的监利县、江陵县以及其他7个县市的土地资源诅咒系数大于1,确实存在资源诅咒现象,且江陵县与监利县还属于严重诅咒区。通过对选取指标作进一步的计算分析,得出导致其产生资源诅咒的原因主要为:以土地资源为依托的农业没有得到高效发展,而受到发展观念与投入等束缚,其二、三产业发展同样滞后。根据影响资源诅咒地区产业发展的具体因素,有针对性地给出化解土地资源诅咒的对策建议,为今后资源诅咒地区打破诅咒束缚,持续快速发展指明方向。     

The social and ecological determinants of common pool resource sustainability

We study a dynamic common pool resource game in which current resource stock depends on resource extraction in the previous period. Our model shows that for a sufficiently high regrowth rate, there is no commons dilemma: the resource will be preserved indefinitely in equilibrium. Lower growth rates lead to depletion. Laboratory tests of the model indicate that favorable ecological characteristics are necessary but insufficient to encourage effective CPR governance. Before the game, we elicit individual willingness to follow a costly rule. Only the presence of enough rule-followers preserves the resource given favorable ecological conditions.     

Integrating long-term stewardship goals into the remediation process: natural resource damages and the Department of Energy

The United States and other developed countries are faced with restoring and managing degraded ecosystems. Evaluations of the degradation of ecological resources can be used for determining ecological risk, making remediation or restoration decisions, aiding stakeholders with future land use decisions, and assessing natural resource damages. Department of Energy (DOE) lands provide a useful case study for examining degradation of ecological resources in light of past or present land uses and natural resource damage assessment (NRDA). We suggest that past site history should be incorporated into the cleanup and restoration phase to reduce the ultimate NRDA costs, and hasten resource recovery. The lands that DOE purchased over 50 years ago ranged from relatively undisturbed to heavily impacted farmland, and the impact that occurred from DOE occupation varies from regeneration of natural ecosystems (benefits) to increased exposure to several stressors (negative effects). During the time of the DOE releases, other changes occurred on the lands, including recovery from the disturbance effects of farming, grazing, and residential occupation, and the cessation of human disturbance. Thus, the injury to natural resources that occurred as a result of chemical and radiological releases occurred on top of recovery of already degraded systems. Both spatial (size and dispersion of patch types) and temporal (past/present/future land use and ecological condition) components are critical aspects of resource evaluation, restoration, and NRDA. For many DOE sites, integrating natural resource restoration with remediation to reduce or eliminate the need for NRDA could be a win-win situation for both responsible parties and natural resource trustees by eliminating costly NRDAs by both sides, and by restoring natural resources to a level that satisfies the trustees, while being cost-effective for the responsible parties. It requires integration of remediation, restoration, and end-state planning to a greater degree than is currently done at most DOE sites.     

It’s All in the Numbers: Acreage Tallies and Environmental Program Evaluation

Increasingly, performance measurement is being used to hold federal agencies accountable, represent environmental progress, and evaluate the effectiveness of environmental programs. The need to track measurable outputs has created a tendency to present programmatic progress solely by quantifiable data, despite the inherent complexity of natural resource management. Wetlands and fire management programs are two specific environmental arenas that have come to overemphasize the tracking of acreage numbers to validate existing policy direction. In both of these arenas, we find the definition and categorization of "countable" acres to be inconsistent and unreliable. We explore this systemic flaw for both wetlands and fire programs and describe its implications for environmental policy and natural resource management more broadly. We conclude with recommendations for improved performance measurement in these arenas.     

电场作用对不同藻菌体系处理猪场废水的强化机制研究

为解决猪场废水高色、高浊、高盐的水质特征对藻菌微生物体系处理效果的限制作用,采用电场处理与多种不同微藻/细菌(活性污泥)微生物体系处理相结合,考察了电场对微生物处理猪场废水的效果和生长状况的影响和作用机制.同时,通过对比微藻、微藻-活性污泥、活性污泥3种微生物体系对经电场处理养猪沼液中污染物去除效果及微生物生长情况,考察了电场处理对微生物处理效果的影响和作用.结果表明：电场对养猪沼液色度和浊度均有较好的去除效果,去除率分别为90.43%、99.69%;电场处理后的沼液再进行微生物处理可取得更优的处理效果,微生物对总氮和总磷的去除率最高分别为70.65%、67.30%.此外,微藻-活性污泥共生体系在污染物去除效果和生长状况方面均优于单一微生物体系.微藻-活性污泥体系最终叶绿素a含量为接种时的7.65倍,活性污泥生物量为接种时的1.51倍,远高于单一微生物体系.说明电场处理与微藻-活性污泥生物处理相结合,可以有效提高污染物去除效果,同时获得更多有价的生物质资源,实现更为可观的经济价值,具有广阔的应用潜力和发展前景.     

碳中和趋势下数学模拟在污水处理系统中的发展与综合应用

数学模拟技术在污水处理方面被广泛应用,为了系统总结相关技术,本文回顾了污水处理系统中数学模拟技术的发展历程;综述了活性污泥模型(ASM)与机器学习(ML)在水质预测及参数工况优化领域中的应用;重点探究了污水处理系统中温室气体排放模型,以及多目标优化模型在污水处理系统中温室气体排放(GHG)、出水质量(EQI)和运行成本(OCI)的权衡问题;归纳了数学模拟技术在实现污水厂能量自给与资源回收的应用发展.研究结果表明数学模拟技术能准确预测出水水质、快速优化工艺参数、权衡温室气体排放、出水水质与运行成本之间的关系、以及提高资源回收效率等.因此,数值模拟技术可有效指导污水处理工艺的运行优化以及管理,为污水处理行业减污降碳协同增效提供技术支撑.