Linking climate policy across economic sectors: A case for green growth in Nepal

While the energy sector is the largest global contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector account for up to 80% of GHG emissions in the least developed countries (LDCs). Despite this, the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of LDCs, including Nepal, focus primarily on climate mitigation in the energy sector. This paper introduces green growth—a way to foster economic growth while ensuring access to resources and environmental services—as an approach to improving climate policy coherence across sectors. Using Nepal as a case country, this study models the anticipated changes in resource use and GHG emissions between 2015 and 2030, that would result from implementing climate mitigation actions in Nepal's NDC. The model uses four different scenarios. They link NDC and policies across economic sectors and offer policy insights regarding (1) energy losses that could cost up to 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, (2) protection of forest resources by reducing the use of biomass fuels from 465 million gigajoules (GJ) in 2015 to 195 million GJ in 2030, and (3) a significant reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 relative to the business-as-usual (BAU) case by greater use of electricity from hydropower rather than biomass. These policy insights are significant for Nepal and other LDCs as they seek an energy transition towards using more renewable energy and electricity.     

Tailor-made FAU zeolite composite membrane for wastewater treatment

In this work, a novel multipurpose Faujasite (FAU) zeolite composite membrane was fabricated by in-situ hydrothermal method to separate different solute molecules such as vanillic acid, phenol, and brilliant green from the aqueous solution. The coal fly ash based ceramic substrate was synthesized and used as substrate for preparing the zeolite composite membrane. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern confirmed the crystalline nature of membranes and the presence of Quartz and hematite in the composite membrane. The presence of Si-O and Al-O in zeolite coated composite membrane was confirmed by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis showed the porous structure and 8.34 μm thickness of zeolite coating on membrane. The isoelectric point of composite membrane was observed at pH 2.07 through zeta potential analysis. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, average pore volume and pore diameter of zeolite composite membrane were estimated as 6.406 m²/gm, 0.0070 cm³/gm, and 4.371 nm, respectively. The hydraulic pore radius and porosity of composite membranes were 27.7 nm and 20.1%. The maximum separation efficiency of FAU zeolite composite membrane towards vanillic acid, phenol and brilliant green was estimated as 78.67%, 89.13%, and 94.28%, respectively, for 200 mg/L feed concentration at 276 kPa applied pressure. The results obtained in this study reveals that the multipurpose FAU zeolite composite membrane fabricated in this study can be effectively used for separation of various solutes molecules present in the wastewater.     

Considerations for using alternative technologies in nutrient management on Cape Cod: Beyond cost and performance

Mitigating non-point source nitrogen in coastal estuaries is economically, environmentally, logistically, and socially challenging. On Cape Cod, Massachusetts, nitrogen management includes both traditional, centralized wastewater treatment and sewering as well as a number of alternative technologies. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 37 participants from governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as related industries to identify the barriers and opportunities for the use of alternative technologies to mitigate nitrogen pollution. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and then analyzed using content analysis and rhetorical analysis. Cost and technical capacity to reduce nitrogen were the most discussed considerations. Beyond those, there were a slew of additional considerations that also impacted whether a technology would be installed, permitted, and socially accepted. These included: maintenance and monitoring logistics, comparisons to sewering, co-benefits, risk/uncertainty, community culture, extent of public engagement, permitting/regulatory challenges, and siting considerations. The insights about these additional considerations are valuable for transferring to other coastal areas managing nutrient impairments that may have not yet factored in these considerations when making decisions about how to meet water quality goals.     

黄土高原丘陵沟壑区小城镇建设的生态经济学意义及其特点

论述了小城镇建设与区域小流域治理之间的相互关系,阐明了小城镇建设在黄土丘陵沟壑区的生态经济学意义,即发展小城镇,不仅能促进和加快区域产业结构调整,缓解人口对土地的压力,有利于小流域生态环境的恢复和保护;而且还将大大提高流域的各种基础设施建设水平,加强流域与外部的经济活动联系,促进区域经济发展。进一步讨论了黄土丘陵沟壑区小城镇建设的特点:以小流域为基础的小城镇建设呈"袖珍型"发展状态;在很长一段时间内以加工业和制造业为主;建设中心城镇,加强区域小城镇之间的联系。     

手喷漆清洗剂的研制

为了有效地清除城市小广告以及街头涂鸦,研制了一种针对热塑性丙烯酸树脂类手喷漆的乳液型脱漆剂。采用单因素实验法研究了有机溶剂的种类、用量,主、助溶剂的质量比,表面活性剂的种类、用量,甲酸的用量,对脱漆效率的影响。实验结果表明:脱漆剂的最佳组成为以乙酸丁酯为主溶剂,苯甲醇为助溶剂,十二烷基苯磺酸钠和OP-10复配为表面活性剂,甲酸为促进剂,石蜡为挥发抑制剂。当乙酸丁酯为27 g,苯甲醇为9 g,十二烷基苯磺酸钠为1 g,OP-10为1 g,甲酸为2 g,石蜡为6 g时脱漆效率最高。在最佳实验配方及其用量的条件下,1 mL脱漆剂所能擦除漆膜的面积为70.65 cm2。并且脱漆剂中水含量超过50%,其余组成部分均为低毒、挥发性不大的物质,易于生物降解,市售常见,成本低廉,符合绿色化学"高效、洁净、经济、环保"的要求。     

浅议生态城市建设的4个环节

阐述了生态城市理念的演化过程和生态城市的不同提法,针对生态城市建设中需要解决的诸多问题,提出了生态城市建设应主要抓好的4个环节:和谐是生态城市的核心,发展是生态城市的动力,绿色是生态城市的生命,文明是生态城市的精髓。     

用于废水处理系统中目标酵母动态解析的绿色荧光蛋白基因质粒构建

绿色荧光蛋白(green fluorescent protein,GFP)可用于研究复合微生物体系中特定目标功能菌的特性及动态变化,本研究为确立用于解析酵母细胞在混合酵母废水处理系统中的动态特性的GFP技术体系奠定了基础.将gfp基因克隆到酵母载体pACT-URA3中,再用构建的重组质粒转化宿主菌大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli JMl09),扩增得到含gfp的重组质粒,荧光显微镜照片显示gfp基因在大肠杆菌内得到了表达,但表达程度不高;电泳图谱及聚合酶链反应结果表明,含gfp基因的质粒不是以游离的形式存在,而可能是以某种特殊的形式和细胞染色体发生了相互作用.     

绿色防控技术对稻农经济收益的影响及其作用机制

中国农业正在向绿色发展转变,绿色防控技术在确保粮食安全和保护生态环境方面发挥着重要作用。文章基于四川省623户水稻种植户的微观调查数据,采用倾向得分匹配法消除了样本选择性偏差,分析了绿色防控技术对农户经济收益的影响及其作用机制,并对研究结果进行了一系列的稳健性检验。研究结果表明:①绿色防控技术的采纳能够显著改善稻农的经济收益。与未采纳绿色防控技术的状态相比,采纳绿色防控技术能够使农户每亩水稻的毛收入增加104.96%,每亩水稻的净利润增加40.45%。②从作用机制上看,采纳绿色防控技术使稻农获得了更高的市场溢价,同时有利于激励稻农扩大水稻种植规模,并增加对农地的投入,包括提高有机肥和种子的投入费用。③尽管采纳绿色防控技术带来了一定的消极影响,即提高了病虫害损失率,导致一定程度的减产,但整体而言,采纳绿色防控技术所带来的价格溢价弥补了因病虫害引致的产量损失,改善了稻农的经济收益。④绿色防控技术对稻农经济收益的影响会由于教育水平的差异以及互联网的应用而存在明显的异质性。最后,研究从加大农村人力资本投入、完善农村互联网设施、强化绿色防控技术政策支持以及加强对农用化学投入品的监管等四个方面提出对策建议。     

Testing of the Storm Water Management Model Low Impact Development Modules

Stormwater infrastructure designers and operators rely heavily on the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) to simulate stormwater and wastewater infrastructure performance. Since its inception in the late 1970s, improvements and extensions have been tested and evaluated rigorously to verify the accuracy of the model. As a continuation of this progress, the main objective of this study was to quantify how accurately SWMM simulates the hydrologic activity of low impact development (LID) storm control measures. Model performance was evaluated by quantitatively comparing empirical data to model results using a multievent, multiobjective calibration method. The calibration methodology utilized the PEST software, a Parameter ESTimation tool, to determine unmeasured hydrologic parameters for SWMM’s LID modules. The calibrated LID modules’ Nash–Sutcliffe efficiencies averaged 0.81; average percent bias (PBIAS) ?9%; average ratio of root mean square error to standard deviation of measured values 0.485; average index of agreement 0.94; and the average volume error, simulated vs. observed, was +9%. SWMM accurately predicted the timing of peak flows, but usually underestimated their magnitudes by 10%. The average volume reduction, measured outflow volume divided by inflow volume, was 48%. We had more difficulty in calibrating one study, an infiltration trench, which identified a significant limitation of the current version of the SWMM LID module; it cannot simulate lateral exfiltration of water out of the storage layers of a LID storm control measure. This limitation is especially severe for a deep LIDs, such as infiltration trenches. Nevertheless, SWMM satisfactorily simulated the hydrologic performance of eight of the nine LID practices.     

废钢铁在钢铁行业中应用前景研究

废钢铁是我国物资回收与再生资源利用体系中的重要资源,也是非常重要的战略性资源,是钢铁工业最主要的两种原料之一(另一种是铁矿石)。与铁矿石相比,废钢铁更符合绿色可持续发展的需要和钢铁行业超低排放政策的要求,未来废钢铁资源在钢铁工业发展中的重要性可能会不断提升。着重探讨了未来10年废钢铁资源产生量的变化趋势,以及对钢铁工业原料结构变化的影响。未来中国的废钢铁资源可能不仅能满足自身钢铁工业发展的需要,同时也可能为世界钢铁工业的发展提供重要的原料。