实践与供给：面向碳中和的需求侧解决方案

碳中和目标的提出,对中国经济系统各个层面的深刻变革提出要求。社会各界对此做出积极响应,但多以行业、技术等供给侧视角为主,需求侧减排方案未得到足够重视。中产阶级崛起和人口老龄化等社会变革,推动消费结构的转型和升级,也为碳中和目标的实现带来巨大挑战,我们亟须探索需求侧的解决方案。本文将消费行为置于社会实践的框架之中,较全面地识别了不同消费实践领域中潜在的碳减排措施。从实践与供给相结合的视角,发现我国现阶段需求侧碳减排主要面临减排实践庞杂且难管理、低碳供给不足、需求难以撬动供给变革和公众环境意识薄弱等困境和问题。最后,从构建指南、实践与供给联动、政策落地和社会规范引导文化建设等方面提出建议。     

基于数据库的农业非点源污染最佳管理措施效率评估工具构建

针对流域非点源污染的关键源区,配置最佳管理措施（BMPs,Best Management Practices）是非点源污染控制的有效途径.然而,受限于研究成本和不同地区自然地理条件的差异性,通过实地监测对BMPs削减效率进行评估的研究案例还不多见.多数相关研究仅关注单一类型BMPs的效率评估,使得研究成果仅仅适用于某些特定区域.对BMPs的潜在效益进行评估,可通过收集不同区域内BMPs的削减效率信息来实现.本文采用基于文献的BMPs效率评估方法,通过整理国内154篇关于BMPs研究的文献信息,建立适用于农业流域非点源污染控制的BMPs数据库.在此基础上,采用VBA（Visual Basic for Applications）和SQL（Structured Query Language）程序语言构建BMPs削减效率评估工具箱.该工具箱适用于非点源污染控制措施削减效率的评估,能够根据不同研究区特征,给出目标BMPs的污染负荷削减量,从而为BMPs的优选提供定量依据.以密云水库上游蛇鱼川小流域为案例研究区,根据该流域的非点源污染特征,对拟采用的BMPs进行评估,结果表明：草型植物篱、25 m河岸缓冲带、河岸带畜禽活动护栏以及集中放牧等措施控制效率最高.     

长期施肥措施下稻田土壤有机质稳定性研究

采用傅立叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)对典型稻田生态系统长期定位试验的土壤有机质(SOM)结构进行分析,探讨不同施肥处理下表层与深层土壤有机质的分布差异及其稳定性机制.结果表明,长期不同施肥措施下稻田表层土壤有机碳(SOC)含量以有机-无机肥配施处理最高,其中高量有机肥(HOM)、低量有机肥(LOM)和秸秆还田(STW)处理较对照(CK)处理分别增加了18.5%、12.9%和18.4%.土壤有机质的化学结构也存在一定的差异性,与CK相比,施肥处理均增加了土壤中化学抗性化合物(脂族性、芳香族)、碳水化合物以及有机硅化合物的官能团吸收强度,其中HOM、LOM和STW处理最为明显.以烷烃类化合物为例,HOM、LOM和STW处理下其吸收强度为0.30、0.25和0.29,较CK分别增加了87%、56%和81%.表层土壤有机质各官能团的吸收峰强度皆高于深层土壤,同样以HOM、LOM和STW处理的差异最显著.本研究结果揭示了长期有机-无机肥配施下对亚热带稻田土壤有机质较丰富的化学抗性官能团结构的影响,贡献于其较高的有机质含量,这也从一方面揭示了稻田土壤有机质积累的化学稳定机制.     

不同耕作方式下土壤水分状况对土壤呼吸的初期影响

以2001年在东北典型黑土上进行的保护性耕作长期定位试验下免耕、垄作及常规耕作土壤进行了室内培养实验,按照田间持水量(water-holding capacity,WHC)的30%、60%、90%、120%、150%、180%、210%、240%、270%设定了9个水分梯度,并分别对其二氧化碳(CO_2)排放量进行了22 d的短期观测,以研究不同耕作方式下土壤水分状况对土壤呼吸的初期影响.结果表明:1干土条件下在加水培养初期,3种耕作方式均产生了明显的激发效应,并且土壤呼吸速率与土壤含水量间存在正相关关系.2除干旱(30%WHC)及淹水(240%WHC、270%WHC)条件下,3种耕作方式CO_2排放通量分别为免耕垄作常规耕作.3对不同耕作方式下土壤水分状况及CO_2排放通量进行了方程拟合,在30%~270%WHC条件下,免耕的CO_2排放通量与水分状况拟合为二次回归方程,而垄作与常规耕作则是线性回归方程.在30%~210%WHC条件下,免耕与垄作下土壤CO_2排放通量与水分状况均可拟合为较好的对数方程,可决系数R~2分别为0.966、0.956.     

Applications of thermal hazard analyses on process safety assessments

In 2011, a large petrochemical complex in Taiwan incurred several fire and explosion accidents, which had considerable negative impact for the industry on both environmental and safety issues. Reactive substances are widely used in many chemical industrial fields as an initiator, hardeners, or cross-linking agents of radical polymerization process with unsaturated monomer. However, the unpredictable factors during the process having risk to runaway reaction, thermal explosion, fire, and exposure to harmful toxic chemicals release due to the huge heat and gas products by thermal decomposition could not be removed from the process. This study used differential technology of thermal analysis to characterize the inherent hazard behaviors of azo compounds and organic peroxides in the process, to seek the elimination of the source of the harmful effects and achieve the best process safety practices with zero disaster and sound business continuity plan.     

Prospects and problems pertaining to the management of arbuscular mycorrhizae in agriculture

The arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis is recognized for its multiple positive effects on plant growth and for its important contribution towards the maintenance of soil quality. In spite of these benefits to agriculture, at present, the realization of the full potential of this symbiosis has not yet been reached. The understanding of interactions existing among crops, fungal partners and environmental conditions must improve to allow for the efficient management of the mycorrhizal symbiosis through selected agronomic practices and inoculation of cultivated crops.     

Differentiating HR systems' impact: moderating effects of age on the HR system–work outcome association

Combining the macro perspective of strategic human resource (HR) management with applied psychology's micro approaches, this paper helps to differentiate the effects of HR practices on individual‐level outcomes by introducing two distinct HR practice bundles. We draw on social exchange theory to hypothesize (i) main effects of both growth‐enhancing and maintenance‐enhancing bundles on affective organizational commitment and in‐role behavior and (ii) moderating effects of age and maintenance‐enhancing practices on work outcomes, such that increasing employee age attenuates the positive impact of HR practices. The results of a multilevel study comprising 600 employees and their direct supervisors in 64 business units provide support for the hypothesized main effects on affective commitment and the interaction between age and maintenance‐enhancing practices on work outcomes. We discuss the results, theoretical contributions, and practical implications of the study, as well as future research directions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Groundwater quality: Responsible agriculture and public perceptions

The chief sources of groundwater contamination on farms come from point sources and diffuse sources. Possible point sources are feedlots, poorly-sited manure piles, septic sewage-treatment systems—all of which can release nitrate, phosphates and bacteria— and sites of chemical spills. Diffuse sources are typified by excess fertilizer leaching from a number of arable fields. The basis of quality standards for drinking-water is discussed in relation to common contaminants present on farms. Samples of drinking-water were collected in 1991–1992 from wells on about 1,200 farms in order to study the quality of rural groundwater in Ontario. Analysis showed that approximately one third of wells were contaminated with bacteria, 14% were contaminated with nitrate, two wells were contaminated with pesticide, but 40% were considered unsafe because of the presence of at least one contaminant. These values were similar to those reported for similar regions in the U.S. There was no significant effect of agricultural practice on the proportion of contaminated samples. One response of Ontario's farmers to information on water quality has been to initiate their own program, the Environmental Farm Plan, which has 23 modules by which the risk of environmental contamination can be assessed. Government policies for agriculture can be expected to influence farming practices. However, the literature suggests that the consequences of policies aimed at reducing environmental contamination are poorly understood, not least because the instruments used for implementation can have widely differing impacts. The need for discussions on the ethics surrounding the relationship between food producers and consumers with regard to environmental contamination is identified.     

Impact significance determination—Pushing the boundaries

Impact significance determination practice tends to be highly variable. Too often insufficient consideration is given to good practice insights. Also, impact significance determinations are frequently narrowly defined addressing, for example, only individual, negative impacts, focusing on bio-physical impacts, and not seeking to integrate either the Precautionary Principle or sustainability.This article seeks to extend the boundaries of impact significance determination practice by providing an overview of good general impact significance practices, together with stakeholder roles and potential methods for addressing significance determination challenges. Relevant thresholds, criteria, contextual considerations and support methods are also highlighted. The analysis is then extended to address how impact significance determination practices change for positive as compared with negative impacts, for cumulative as compared with individual impacts, for socio-economic as compared with bio-physical impacts, when the Precautionary Principle is integrated into the process, and when sustainability contributions drive the EIA process and related impact significance determinations. These refinements can assist EIA practitioners in ensuring that the scope and nature of impact significance determinations reflect the broadened scope of emerging EIA requirements and practices. Suggestions are included for further refining and testing of the proposed changes to impact significance determination practice.     

Field Application of a Renewable Constructed Wetland Substrate for Phosphorus Removal1

Rosenquist, Shawn E., W. Cully Hession, Matthew J. Eick, and David H. Vaughan, 2011. Field Application of a Renewable Constructed Wetland Substrate for Phosphorus Removal. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(4):800‐812. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00557.x Abstract: Phosphorus (P) is typically the best target to prevent eutrophication in freshwater, a biological process associated with water quality degradation. Constructed wetlands (CW) and other practices that include P removal by sorption processes in substrates can provide economical treatment of stormwater, but have limitations (e.g., large land requirements, loss of removal over time, lack of P recovery). Over the last three years, a multi‐study research program addressed these limitations with a new P management concept. This concept minimizes CW size with a rejuvenation cycle (or rejuvenation) that renews P‐sorption capacity in the CW substrates and enables P recovery for productive use. This study, conducted in Blacksburg, Virginia (July‐September 2009), tested the efficacy of rejuvenation in the field. Methods included replicate cells of two sand substrates monitored for P removal during prerejuvenation and postrejuvenation filtration runs. One substrate contained cast iron filings as a repository for sorption capacity. Results support the following conclusions: (1) P removal is likely dependent on multiple factors including influent P concentration, previous substrate/solution equilibrium, pH, and time; (2) rejuvenation is capable of releasing P adsorbed during stormwater filtration; (3) inclusion of cast iron in substrate promotes additional P removal and enables further removal after rejuvenation; but (4) inclusion of cast iron may limit release of P during rejuvenation.