Low-carbon transition of iron and steel industry in China: Carbon intensity,economic growth and policy intervention

As the biggest iron and steel producer in the world and one of the highest CO₂ emission sectors, China's iron and steel industry is undergoing a low-carbon transition accompanied by remarkable technological progress and investment adjustment, in response to the macroeconomic climate and policy intervention. Many drivers of the CO₂ emissions of the iron and steel industry have been explored, but the relationships between CO₂ abatement, investment and technological expenditure, and their connections with the economic growth and governmental policies in China, have not been conjointly and empirically examined. We proposed a concise conceptual model and an econometric model to investigate this crucial question. The results of regression, Granger causality test and impulse response analysis indicated that technological expenditure can significantly reduce CO₂ emissions, and that investment expansion showed a negative impact on CO₂ emission reduction. It was also argued with empirical evidence that a good economic situation favored CO₂ abatement in China's iron and steel industry, while achieving CO₂ emission reduction in this industrial sector did not necessarily threaten economic growth. This shed light on the dispute over balancing emission cutting and economic growth. Regarding the policy aspects, the year 2000 was found to be an important turning point for policy evolution and the development of the iron and steel industry in China. The subsequent command and control policies had a significant, positive effect on CO₂ abatement.     

Low-carbon transition of iron and steel industry in China: Carbon intensity,economic growth and policy intervention

As the biggest iron and steel producer in the world and one of the highest CO2 emission sectors, China’s iron and steel industry is undergoing a low-carbon transition accompanied by remarkable technological progress and investment adjustment, in response to the macroeconomic climate and policy intervention. Many drivers of the CO2 emissions of the iron and steel industry have been explored, but the relationships between CO2 abatement,investment and technological expenditure, and their connections with the economic growth and governmental policies in China, have not been conjointly and empirically examined. We proposed a concise conceptual model and an econometric model to investigate this crucial question. The results of regression, Granger causality test and impulse response analysis indicated that technological expenditure can significantly reduce CO2 emissions, and that investment expansion showed a negative impact on CO2 emission reduction. It was also argued with empirical evidence that a good economic situation favored CO2 abatement in China’s iron and steel industry, while achieving CO2 emission reduction in this industrial sector did not necessarily threaten economic growth.This shed light on the dispute over balancing emission cutting and economic growth.Regarding the policy aspects, the year 2000 was found to be an important turning point for policy evolution and the development of the iron and steel industry in China. The subsequent command and control policies had a significant, positive effect on CO2 abatement.     

The physiological response and iron and potassium contents in the hairy roots of Brassica rape L. Under cadmium stress北大核心CSCD

The experiments were conducted to investigate the tolerance and enrichment capabilities by elucidating the physiological response and cadmium impact on iron and potassium accumulation amounts of brassica rape hairy roots under different cadmium concentrations by using liquid suspension culture method. The results showed the following. (1) The growth of hairy roots was not significantly different under low cadmium concentrations (below 100 μmol/L), whereas it was obviously inhibited under high cadmium concentrations (more than 100 μmol/L). Further, the maximum fresh weight of brassica rape hairy roots reached 4.34 g under 25 μmol/L cadmium stress after 7 days. (2) The content of ROS in brassica rape hairy roots increased with increasing concentrations of cadmium; the antioxidant enzyme activities of brassica rape hairy roots (SOD, POD, and CAT) decreased first and then increased with increasing cadmium concentrations under 1-day stress, whereas showed an opposite trend under 7-day stress. (3) PI staining and MDA content indicated that cellular damage was more serious with increasing cadmium concentrations. (4) With the increase of cadmium concentrations, cadmium content of hairy roots increased and reached maximum of 2.97 mg/g under 400 μmol/L cadmium stress after 7 days. The iron content also increased significantly with the maximal weight of 14.52 mg/g after 1-day cadmium stress, whereas no significant difference was noted under 7-day cadmium stress. The potassium content under 7-day cadmium stress was 1.6 times of that after 1-day stress (15.73 mg/g). The study showed that the physiological response of Brassica rape hairy roots was correlated with the concentration and time of cadmium stress. Moreover, cadmium stress caused metabolic disorders of iron and potassium in the hairy roots, but the hairy roots of Brassica rape had better enrichment effect on cadmium. © 2018 Science Press. All rights reserved.     

Fe2O3-CeO2-Bi2O3/γ-Al2O3 catalyst in the catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) of cationic red GTL under mild reaction conditions

Fe₂O₃-CeO₂-Bi₂O₃/γ-Al₂O₃, an environmental friendly material, was investigated. The catalyst exhibited good catalytic performance in the CWAO of cationic red GTL. The apparent activation energy for the reaction was 79 kJ·mol⁻¹. HO₂· and O₂·⁻ appeared as the main reactive species in the reaction. The Fe₂O₃-CeO₂-Bi₂O₃/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst, a novel environmental-friendly material, was used to investigate the catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) of cationic red GTL under mild operating conditions in a batch reactor. The catalyst was prepared by wet impregnation, and characterized by special surface area (BET measurement), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Fe₂O₃-CeO₂-Bi₂O₃/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst exhibited good catalytic activity and stability in the CWAO under atmosphere pressure. The effect of the reaction conditions (catalyst loading, degradation temperature, solution concentration and initial solution pH value) was studied. The result showed that the decolorization efficiency of cationic red GTL was improved with increasing the initial solution pH value and the degradation temperature. The apparent activation energy for the reaction was 79 kJ·mol⁻¹. Hydroperoxy radicals (HO₂·) and superoxide radicals (O₂⁻·) appeared as the main reactive species upon the CWAO of cationic red GTL.     

利用CASA模型估算黑河流域净第一性生产力

陆地生态系统是维系生物圈乃至人类存在与发展的生命支持系统。该系统净第一性生产力估算研究有助于寻找陆地植被从大气中固定碳的数量及影响其时空分布的驱动因子。基于CASA(Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach)模型,结合多光谱遥感数据和气候数据,模拟干旱半干旱典型区黑河流域1998~2002年净第一性生产力的时空分布,并分析和探讨了上、中、下游NPP的驱动因子。研究结果证明CASA模型适用于内陆河流域范围内NPP研究;通过分析黑河流域上、中、下游的NPP变化与气温、降水、太阳辐射和NDVI的相关关系,发现上游山区NPP与热量相关性显著,中游地区由于人工绿洲对水资源的截留用于作物灌溉,NPP相对稳定,下游的NPP受热量和水分因素共同复杂控制。     

Dust storms: recent developments

Dust storms have a number of impacts upon the environment including radiative forcing, and biogeochemical cycling. They transport material over many thousands of kilometres. They also have a range of impacts on humans, not least on human health. In recent years the identification of source areas for dust storms has been an important area or research, with the Sahara (especially Bodélé) and western China being recognised as the strongest sources globally. Another major development has been the recognition of the degree to which dust storm activity has varied at a range of time scales, millennial, century, decadal, annual and seasonal.     

作物秸秆材料处理养殖废水中氮的周年去除效果及其对氮循环微生物丰度的影响

基于前期研究,利用秸秆材料处理养殖废水,能够有效降低养殖废水中氮的浓度,但周年去除效果及其对氮循环微生物丰度的影响尚不清楚.设置麦秸、玉米秆、稻草和空白对照这4个处理,试验周期为1 a,研究秸秆材料处理养殖废水中氮的周年去除效果及其氮循环微生物功能基因丰度动态变化.结果表明：① 3种作物秸秆对养殖废水TN和NH₄⁺-N等主要污染物的去除效率均以前6个月为最佳,后6个月去除效率明显下降;稻草及麦秸对TN和NH₄⁺-N的周年去除效果较好,其中稻草和麦秸对TN去除率分别为（32.81±11.34）%和（32.99±9.60）%,对NH₄⁺-N去除率分别为（35.3±13.23）%和（34.97±12.00）%;②添加秸秆材料生物基质消纳系统中氮循环微生物功能基因nirK、nirS和hzsB基因丰度为6.45×10⁹、6.18×10⁹和2.31×10⁹copies·L^-1,AOA和AOB基因丰度分别为6.12×10¹⁰copies·L^-1和4.93×10⁹copies·L^-1;16S rRNA高达8.90×10¹⁰copies·L^-1,均显著高于空白处理（P<0.05）.其中添加稻草和麦秸处理中hzsB基因和nirS基因丰度相对较高,表明添加稻草和麦秸显著增强了生物基质消纳系统厌氧氨氧化和反硝化微生物作用.同时,相较于其他处理,添加麦秸增加了生物基质池AOA和AOB基因丰度,表明麦秸能够促进生物基质消纳系统的硝化作用.以上研究结果为秸秆材料处理养殖废水中氮去除分子机制提供了数据支撑.     

典型氧化还原环境中微塑料表面的微生物群落组成特征与构建机制

微塑料广泛分布在微生物驱动的生物地球化学循环中,其表面会富集独特特征的微生物群落,构成微塑料圈（plastisphere）.自然环境中广泛存在的多种氧化还原环境不仅会影响微塑料圈中微生物群落的组成,还会影响微塑料的最终归宿.为探究典型氧化还原环境中微塑料表面的微生物群落组成特征与构建机制,将3种微塑料PHA （聚羟基脂肪酸酯）、PLA （聚乳酸）和PVC （聚氯乙烯）放置于好氧、硝酸盐还原、铁氧化物还原、硫酸盐还原和产甲烷这5种典型氧化还原环境中,利用污泥作为接种物,进行微宇宙模拟培养实验.结果表明,在分类学和系统发育学上,微塑料因子分别影响了微塑料表面18.94%和46.67%的微生物群落,氧化还原环境因子分别影响了微塑料表面31.04%和90.00%的微生物群落.与污泥相比较,3种微塑料表面富集的微生物群落丰富度和均匀度均降低,其中降低最明显的是更易降解的PHA微塑料,而难降解的PLA和PVC微塑料表面的微生物群落变化特征相似.PHA微塑料表面富集的微生物中,Anaerocolumna（26.44%）为其优势菌种,较少富集与氧化还原反应相关的特征菌群;PLA和PVC中,Clostridium_sensu_stricto_7 （15.49%和11.87%）为其优势菌种,且显著富集与氧化还原反应相关的特征菌群,表明与氧化还原反应相关的特征菌群更易于富集在难降解的微塑料表面,进而可能对生物地球化学循环速率造成影响.     

Effects of dissolved oxygen and iron aging on the reduction of trichloronitromethane, trichloracetonitrile, and trichloropropanone

Iron metal (Fe(0)) is a potent reductant capable of reducing a wide variety of halogenated organic compounds including disinfection byproducts (DBPs). These reduction reactions may play a role in DBP fate in iron water mains and potentially could be exploited to remove DBPs from drinking water or wastewater in a packed-bed configuration. Oxidants (i.e., dissolved oxygen (DO) and chlorine) present in the water, however, may decrease the DBP degradation rate by competing for reactive sites and rapidly aging or corroding the iron surface. Thus, batch experiments were performed to investigate the effect of DO on the degradation rates of selected DBPs by Fe(0). Experiments were performed under anaerobic conditions, in initially oxygen saturated buffer without DO control, and under controlled DO (approximately 4.0 or 8.0 mg l⁻¹) conditions. The effect of short-term (25–105 min) iron aging in DO-containing buffer on DBP degradation rate also was investigated in separate experiments. For fresh Fe(0), the degradation rates of trichloronitromethane (TCNM) and trichloroacetonitrile (TCAN) in initially oxygen saturated buffer were similar to their respective rates under anaerobic conditions. The degradation rate of 1,1,1-trichloropropanone (1,1,1-TCP), however, decreased significantly in the presence of DO and the effect was proportional to DO concentration in the controlled DO experiments. For a DO concentration of 4 mg l⁻¹, the degradation rate of the three DBPs was greater for longer aging times as compared to their respective rates after 25 min, suggesting the formation of a mineral phase that increased reactivity. For a DO concentration of 8 mg l⁻¹, the effects of increasing aging time were mixed. TCNM degradation rates were stable for all aging times and comparable to that under anaerobic conditions. The TCAN and 1,1,1-TCP degradation rates, however, tended to decrease with increasing aging time. These results suggest that the reduction of highly reactive DBPs by Fe(0) will not be affected by the presence of DO but that the reaction rates will be slowed by DO for DBPs with slower degradation kinetics.     

紫色土丘陵区农田源头沟渠一氧化氮排放的季节差异及影响因素

农田源头沟渠是农田养分迁移的重要水文通道和非常活跃的氮转化场所.本研究以紫色土丘陵区农田源头沟渠为对象,在2014年12月~2015年11月,采用静态箱-化学发光法对其一氧化氮（NO）排放开展原位观测.结果表明,有自然植被覆盖的农田源头沟渠生态系统（V）中的NO年累积排放量为14.17 g·（hm²·a）^-1,而无自然植被覆盖的对照处理（NV,代表沟渠中的沉积物-水界面系统）则为-0.4 g·（hm²·a）^-1.总体而言,沟渠生态系统的年综合排放通量是11.27 g·（hm²·a）^-1,全年平均排放通量为0.13 μg·（m²·h）^-1.农田源头沟渠仅在夏季是NO的排放源,且夏季NO累积排放量显著高于（P<0.05）春季、秋季或冬季.沟渠上覆水NO₃^--N浓度和温度是影响NO排放季节变化的主要控制因素.同时,沟渠生态系统中植物存在可显著提高所观测的NO排放通量,但对全年NO累积排放量无显著影响.