Influence of Suspended Clay Minerals and Humic Matter on the Solid Phase Extraction Efficiency of Selected Pesticides from Water

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the influence of humic acids (HA) and Ca-montmorillonite (CaM) on the solid-phase extraction (SPE) efficiency of atrazine, alachlor and α-cypermethrin from water samples at various pH-values. The nature and intensity of binding of the studied pesticides to CaM were determined by X-ray diffraction analysis and termogravimetric analysis (TGA) test. The studied pesticides eluted from discs were analysed by thin-layer chromatography (TLC). The effects of CaM and humic acid were generally pH-dependent and acted independently in extraction efficiency influence. Lower recovery of pesticides was observed at higher pH values when CaM was ≥0.1 g and was attributed to greater dispersion of clay, increased surface area and subsequent adsorption. Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in humic acid had less effect on the extraction efficiency when water was at pH 8 compared to water at pH 2, which was probably due to greater nonpolar interactions of the pesticides to the charge-neutralized humic acid molecule.     

我国农村养老模式的绩效研究

继新农合实施以来,新农保也被党和政府提上日程。认识现有养老模式的优缺点是有效开展新农合的前提。本文将现有各种养老模式总结为三种理论模式,分别是个体时间平衡、家庭时间平衡、社会时间平衡。然后在回顾各模式的历史演变的基础上,从理论上对比了三者之间的绩效差异,绩效研究的视角有风险化解的有效性、个体福利和社会福利三个。研究结果表明,风险化解最为有效的是社会时间平衡,其次是家庭时间平衡,最后个体时间平衡;从个体福利的角度来看,个体福利最大的是家庭时间平衡、其次是社会时间平衡,再者是个体时间平衡;从社会福利的角度来看,个体时间平衡和家庭时间平衡是能够促进经济的长期增长的,而社会时间平衡方式则不利于资本积累,相反有可能妨碍经济的长期增长。     

The impact of energy awareness on energy efficiency

The increasing levels of global warming, depleting sources of fossil fuels and increasing energy costs are all having a large detrimental effect on today's society. Many efforts are being made to try and increase energy efficiency all over the world. One of the major problems is unnecessary and excessive energy utilisation. This problem has been identified by Loughborough University and they are making efforts to try and reduce energy wastage. One of their strategies, used up until recently, involved increasing energy awareness within students in halls of residence by means of a reward system called the Residential Halls Energy Efficiency League (Imago Services, Loughborough Students Union, Estates Services 2006). This scheme managed to reduce energy consumption by up to 10%, saving an estimated £9000 in only 52 days. Can those results be improved by targeting students more specifically? How much energy can be saved by increasing energy awareness?     

Environmental externalities and efficiency measurement

Production of desirable outputs often produces by-products that have harmful effects on the environment. This paper investigates technologies where the biggest good output producer is not the greatest polluter, i.e. technologies located on the downward-sloping segment of the frontier depicted in Färe et al. (1989). Directional distance functions and Data Envelopment Analysis techniques are used to define an algorithm that allows them to be identified empirically. Furthermore, we show that in such situations producers can contribute social goods, i.e. reducing polluting wastes, without limiting their capacity to maximise production of marketable output. Finally, we illustrate our methodology with an empirical application to a sample of Spanish ceramic tile producers.     

The legacy of surface mining: Remediation,restoration, reclamation and rehabilitation

Surface mining is a global phenomenon. When dealing with the land disturbances caused by surface mining operations, the terms remediation, reclamation, restoration and rehabilitation (R4) are commonly used interchangeably or otherwise vaguely defined. Expectations associated with these terms may differ significantly from one stakeholder to another, however. Regulators, industry, environmental practitioners, local communities and the general public therefore stand to benefit from a precise terminology based on agreed-upon end-goals. The latter range from the avoidance of exposure to pollutants (remediation) to the full recovery of the original ecosystem (restoration). Although frequently claimed as the end-goal, restoration may often not be unachievable, because of altered hydrology, habitat fragmentation, contamination, climate change, prohibitive costs and other environmental and socio-economic boundary conditions. Mostly, the definitions of reclamation and rehabilitation may overlap in their definitions and approaches. Here we attempt the creation of a road-map that can clearly translate end-goals for each of the R4 terms. According to the definitions encountered and exposed here, reclamation, which aims to recover key ecosystem services and biogeochemical functions within a replacement ecosystem or rehabilitation, which implies a repurposing of the landscape, may be the best approaches to deal with surface mining legacies.     

转轮式洗轮机对车轮带泥的冲洗效果

施工车辆车轮带泥是我国道路扬尘污染控制面临的共性和突出问题。为在国内推广使用洗轮机提供技术依据，通过检测工地出口外道路积尘负荷来估算转轮式洗轮机对车轮带泥的冲洗效率，并以该洗轮机作为车轮带泥检测设备，检测和统计北京市车轮带泥量。结果表明，（1）转轮式洗轮机可以将工地出口外100m道路积尘负荷增量由64．4g／m2降至5．9g／m2，转轮式洗轮机对车轮带泥的冲洗效率大于90％；（2）渣土车和混凝土车车轮带泥量的平均值分别为5．1和2．2kg／车；（3）北京市未来车轮带泥量将超过8．8万t／a，施工车辆全部经过转轮式洗轮机冲洗后，车轮带泥量可削减7．9万t／a。建议在相关法律法规中以强制性条款落实施工车辆车轮带泥机械化冲洗要求。     

粉尘在巷道中的紊流传递分析

建立的粉尘在巷道中的传递方程是一个二维平流扩散输运方程。在巷道顶底板为吸收壁的条件下，导出了粉尘浓度分布函数。传统的工业沉降室沉降效率公式（横向混合模型）只是论文所列方程的一个特例。降低紊流强度和减小紊流扩散系数和纵向弥散系数均可提高沉降效率     

Faith-based climate action in Christian congregations: mobilisation and spiritual resources

This article seeks to explain how and why church congregations mobilise on environmental issues and what – if anything – is distinctive about that mobilisation. Building on and adapting Resource Mobilisation Theory (RMT), we develop the idea of “spiritual resources” to help explain how a collection of spiritual identities, values, symbols and narratives can facilitate distinctive collective action on environmental issues. Our analysis draws on data derived from an in-depth case study of climate active groups in Scotland. It includes content analysis of websites, news stories as well as ethnographic observation of selected church and secular groups engaged in climate activity. We find church groups do enjoy a distinct set of resources – comprising tradition, rituals and symbols shaped by theology and doctrine – which are not wholly captured by other explanations of climate mobilisation. While these spiritual resources do not directly translate into specific environmental or climate action they can, especially when combined with other resources, lead to environmental activities distinctly motivated, and distinctly practised at the individual and community level.     

Modeling and comparative assessment of municipal solid waste gasification for energy production

Gasification is the thermochemical conversion of organic feedstocks mainly into combustible syngas (CO and H₂) along with other constituents. It has been widely used to convert coal into gaseous energy carriers but only has been recently looked at as a process for producing energy from biomass. This study explores the potential of gasification for energy production and treatment of municipal solid waste (MSW). It relies on adapting the theory governing the chemistry and kinetics of the gasification process to the use of MSW as a feedstock to the process. It also relies on an equilibrium kinetics and thermodynamics solver tool (Gasify®) in the process of modeling gasification of MSW. The effect of process temperature variation on gasifying MSW was explored and the results were compared to incineration as an alternative to gasification of MSW. Also, the assessment was performed comparatively for gasification of MSW in the United Arab Emirates, USA, and Thailand, presenting a spectrum of socioeconomic settings with varying MSW compositions in order to explore the effect of MSW composition variance on the products of gasification. All in all, this study provides an insight into the potential of gasification for the treatment of MSW and as a waste to energy alternative to incineration.     

Cost estimates of the Kigali Amendment to phase-down hydrofluorocarbons

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are synthetically produced compounds primarily used for cooling purposes and with strong global warming properties. In this paper, we analyze the global abatement costs for achieving the substantial reductions in HFC consumption agreed in the Kigali Amendment (KA) of the Montreal Protocol from October 2016. We estimate that compliance with the KA is expected to remove 39 Pg CO₂eq or 61% of global baseline HFC emissions over the entire period 2018–2050. The marginal cost of meeting the KA targets is expected to remain below 60 €/t CO₂eq throughout the period in all world regions except for developed regions where legislation to control HFC emissions has already been in place since a few years. For the latter regions, the required HFC consumption reduction is expected to come at a marginal cost increasing steadily to between 90 and 118 €/t CO₂eq in 2050. Depending on the expected rate of technological development and the extent to which envisaged electricity savings can be realized, compliance with KA is estimated attainable at a global cost ranging from a net cost-saving of 240 billion € to a net cost of 350 billion € over the entire period 2018 to 2050 and with future global electricity-savings estimated at between 0.2% and 0.7% of expected future electricity consumption.