Sustainability: a Dissent

Abstract:  Broadly conceived and considered in its many usages, sustainability has grave defects as a planning goal, particularly when used by conservationists: it confuses means and ends; it is vague about what is being sustained and who or what is doing the sustaining; it is uninspiring; it is little more than Pinchot-era conservation (and thus ignores the many lessons learned since then); it need not be linked to land, to the land's functioning, or to any ecological science; it need not include a moral component; it is consistent with the view of humans as all-powerful manipulators of the planet; and, in general, it is such a malleable term that its popularity provides only a facade of consensus. When sustainability is defined broadly to include the full range of economic and social aspirations, it poses the particular risk that ecological and biodiversity concerns will be cast aside in favor of more pressing human wants. Given these many defects, the conservation movement should discard the term in favor of a more alluring goal, attentive to nature and its ecological functioning. A sound goal would incorporate and distill the considerable ecological and moral wisdom accumulated since Pinchot's day while giving conservationists the rhetorical tools needed to defend the land against competing pressures. In our view, conservation would be well served by an updated variant of "land health," Aldo Leopold's ecologically grounded goal from the 1940s. Land health as an independent understanding should set the essential terms of how we live and enjoy the earth, providing the framework within which we pursue our many social and economic aims.     

哈密地区环境中^220Rn子体α潜能浓度所致居民剂量估算

用ＳｔｒａｎｄｅｎＥ．推荐的测量方法对哈密地区环境空气中２２０Ｒｎ子体α潜能浓度测量结果表明，室内、外平均值分别为５６．１和１０．２（×１０－７Ｊ·ｍ－３）。室内外２２０Ｒｎ／２２２Ｒｎ子体α潜能浓度比值分别为０．８４和０３２。２２０Ｒｎ子体所致居民有效剂量当量为２２８μＳｖ·ａ－１（集体有效剂量当量为０．９×０２ｍａｎ·Ｓｖ）。     

生态工程组合工艺应用于城市污水处理厂尾水深度处理

针对城市污水处理厂尾水的特点,采用生态氧化池／垂直流人工湿地／自然湿地生态工程组合工艺对其进行深度处理,重点分析了运行效果和去除机理。数据结果表明,该工艺运行稳定,系统出水COD,BOD5,NH3-N和TP平均分别为14．4,3．4,0．84,0．19mg／L,平均去除率均在65％以上,出水水质达到《地表水环境质量标准》（GB3838-2002）中Ⅳ类标准。     

焦炉装煤烟尘治理方案的探讨

焦炉装煤烟尘含有害物质，污染环境，危害人体健康。袋式除尘器的使用，消除了烟尘的污染，但因投资大、运行费用高、操作复杂，难以得到快速、广泛的推广。根据实验结果和已有应用情况，本文推荐了三相流化床除尘装置和颗粒层除尘器，它们可用于焦炉装煤烟尘治理，其投资和运行费用会大大降低。     

宁波市城市污水处理厂污泥处置方案探讨

随着城市污水处理率提高导致的污水污泥产量的增长趋势也使得污水污泥的处理问题更为突出。在总结国内外城市污泥处置技术发展趋势的基础上,结合宁波市的实际情况,根据无害化、减量化和资源化的原则,提出城市污泥近远期处置方案,并对处置方案作出可行性分析。     

氧化亚铁硫杆菌对亚铁离子的氧化及其动力学研究

采用9K培养基研究了氧化亚铁硫杆菌氧化Fe^2＋过程中,pH和氧化还原电位的变化规律,并对Fe^2＋的氧化过程进行动力学分析,确定了其反应级数及反应速率常数。结果表明,（1）在温度为30℃,摇床转速为150r／min的条件下,氧化亚铁硫杆菌的最佳接种量为10．0％;（2）Fe^2＋初始质量浓度在11．39～21．72g／L时,随着浓度的增大,Fe^2＋达到100％转化率需要的时间增加;（3）氧化亚铁硫杆菌对Fe^2＋的氧化可近似看作一级反应,反应速率常数为0．0527～0．0788h。     

生物脱氮除磷工艺中的丝状菌

在生物脱氮除磷工艺中,污泥膨胀是运行管理的难题。介绍了生物脱氮除磷工艺中丝状菌的种类和数量的变化,数据表明,生物脱氮除磷工艺中的丝状菌主要是微丝菌,其次是0675型和0914型菌。经分析认为,污泥龄的增加会促进丝状菌长度的明显增长并导致污泥膨胀,生物残渣的浓度是造成长泥龄污泥膨胀的原因之一。厌氧阶段有分解生物残渣的功能,可改善菌胶团菌的微环境,从而抑制丝状菌的过剩生长,控制污泥膨胀。     

The Influence of Mycorrhiza on Uranium and Phosphorus Uptake by Barley Plants from a Field-contaminated Soil (7 pp)

Background Recent studies indicated that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play important roles in plant accumulation of uranium (U) from contaminated environments, but the impacts of fertilization practices on functioning of the symbiotic associations, which are crucial factors influencing plant nutrition and growth responses to mycorrhiza, have rarely been considered. Materials and Methods In a greenhouse experiment, a bald root barley mutant (brb) together with the wild type (wt) were used to test the role of root hairs and AMF in uranium (U) uptake by host plants from a U contaminated soil. Nil, 20 and 60 mg KH2PO4-P kg–1 soil were included to investigate the influences of phosphorus (P) fertilization on plant growth and accumulation of U. Results Dry matter yield of barley plants increased with increasing P additions and wt produced significantly higher dry weight than brb. Mycorrhiza markedly improved dry matter yield of both genotypes grown at nil P, whereas only brb responded positively to mycorrhiza at 20 mg P kg-1. At the highest P level, mycorrhiza resulted in growth depressions in both genotypes, except for the roots of wt. In general, plant P concentrations increased markedly with increasing P additions and in response to mycorrhiza. Mycorrhiza and P additions had no significant effects on shoot U concentrations. However, root U concentrations in both genotypes were significantly increased by mycorrhiza. On the other hand, shoot U contents increased with increasing P levels, while 20 mg P kg-1 stimulated, but 60 mg P kg-1 marginally affected the U accumulation in roots. Root length specific U uptake was moderately enhanced both by root hairs and strongly enhanced by mycorrhiza. Moreover, non-inoculated plants generally had higher shoot-root ratios of U content than the corresponding inoculated controls. Conclusion Our study shows that AMF and root hairs improves not only P acquisition but also the root uptake of U, and mycorrhiza generally decreases U translocation from plant root to shoot. Hence, mycorrhiza is of potential use in the phytostabilization of U contaminated environments. Perspectives The complex impacts of P on U accumulation by barley plants suggested that U behavior in mycorrhizosphere and translocation along the soil-fungi-plant continuum as affected by fertilization practices deserve extensive studies for optimizing the function of mycorrhizal associations for phytoremediation purposes.     

Surface Consolidation of Pentelic Marble: Criteria for the selection of methods and materials - The Acropolis case (6 pp)

Goal and Scope In order to realize surface consolidation of Pentelic marble on the Acropolis monuments, we have collected the criteria that have to be fulfilled by the methods and materials without side effects on the marbles (and other stones). When the existing methods and materials did not satisfy the requirements (criteria), we invented new ones.Methods The criteria were collected from the literature, by thermodynamic and kinetic viewpoints, by laboratory experiments and in situ observations on monuments, both in Greece and in several countries in which the various methods and materials were applied. Concerning our method of ‘Inversion of sulfation’, performed by spraying a K2CO3 solution, its concentration and its temperature were controlled in order to have a total inversion (certified by liquid crystals) of gypsum back to CaCO3. For the new material of ours, ‘Reinforced Lime’, in order to eliminate the disadvantages of plain lime (low carbonation rate, low mechanical properties of CaCO3 formed, lack of carbonation in the bulk of lime), measurements of the rate of carbonation were performed in plain lime and in lime with a different CaCO3 concentration beforehand as well as in a different CO2 environments, using DTG and XRD to measure the rate of carbonation. The detachment (kg/cm2) of marble specimens stuck by lime in each case was also measured. A microscope was also used to measure the dimensions of the grain in each case as well as ammonium citrate and thymolphthalein to certify the depth of carbonation in each case. Part of the work was communicated in an international congress.Results A table with the criteria of the selection of the methods and materials for the consolidation of Pentelic marble surfaces (and other stones) was established. None of the employed methods and materials fulfilled the criteria. Only the ‘Inversion of gypsum ‘ and the ‘Reinforced Lime’ were adopted and applied to the Acropolis monuments and to other monuments in Greece and in several other countries.Recommendation and Outlook All criteria must be used for the selection of methods and materials for the consolidation of the monument surfaces. This is why we have already studied with the same procedures, methods and materials for restoration, surface cleaning and protection.