Sustainable recycling model: A comparative analysis between India and Tanzania

Higher economic growth in developing countries has caused higher amounts of wastes. Local government authorities in these countries usually fail to provide adequate services to dispose the increasing amounts of waste, resulting in threats for both the population and environment health. There is therefore an urgent need for recycling as a form of waste management in order to stop the devastating effects of solid waste in developing countries. Using a qualitative method of analysis, this study presents a model to measure and rank the sustainability of recycling programs in India and Tanzania. The model consists of six main constructs including “production, economic, governmental, social, technological, and international factors”. The results showed that India outperforms Tanzania in sustainable recycling programs: per capita waste generated per day in Delhi is higher than in Dar es Salaam; the government of India focuses more on developing recycling plans and techniques as compared to the government of Tanzania where the country is not actively involved in the recycling process; and the solid waste management planning in India is being performed better than Tanzania.     

A mechanical pre-treatment process for the valorization of useful fractions from spent batteries

In this paper the authors propose a full-scale plant aimed to pre-treat spent batteries in order to obtain cleaned useful fractions (magnetic and non-magnetic metals, paper, plastic, a fine-sized material made of a metal-carbon mixture). The treating process was designed after having analyzed and tested a representative sample coming from the whole amount of spent batteries collected in 1 month by the public service in and around Turin. The analyses performed on the sample allowed the authors to determine its in-percentage composition in term of type of batteries: 60-70% b.w. (by weight) alkaline, 25-30% b.w. Zn-C and 5-10% b.w. other types. For each type, the composition in term of size (AAA or LR03; AA or LR6; C or LR14; D or LR20; 9 V or 6F22A; 4.5 V or 3R12A) has also been determined.The treatment for the recovery of secondary raw materials foresees the following phases:

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separation of useful types/sizes of exhaust batteries to undergo further treatments by means of a first sieving process;

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liberation of the single components taking advantage of a crushing operation;

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separation of a fine-sized material (to subject to pyro or hydro metallurgic recovery) from a coarse-sized material (to send to secondary smelt foundries and incinerators) by means of a second sieving phase.

On the basis of the results obtained from the crushing/sieving laboratory tests and the chemical characterization, a full-scale plant able to treat about 76,000 t/y of spent batteries has been designed. The cost analysis performed on the proposed treatment plant has given back a unit pre-treatment cost equal to 3€ per ton of processed spent batteries.     

规划环评中公众参与有效性案例研究

针对规划环评的特点,通过秦皇岛经济技术开发区规划环评案例分析,就如何保证规划环境影响评价中公众参与有效性进行了探讨,提出了只有做到广泛的公众代表性、有效的公众参与形式、科学的问卷设计、合理的反馈意见处理,才能发挥公众参与在规划环境影响评价工作中的作用。     

CO2 capture and storage from a bioethanol plant: Carbon and energy footprint and economic assessment

Biomass energy and carbon capture and storage (BECCS) can lead to a net removal of atmospheric CO₂. This paper investigates environmental and economic performances of CCS retrofit applied to two mid-sized refineries producing ethanol from sugar beets. Located in the Region Centre France, each refinery has two major CO₂ sources: fermentation and cogeneration units. “carbon and energy footprint” (CEF) and “discounted cash flow” (DCF) analyses show that such a project could be a good opportunity for CCS early deployment. CCS retrofit on fermentation only with natural gas fired cogeneration improves CEF of ethanol production and consumption by 60% without increasing much the non renewable energy consumption. CCS retrofit on fermentation and natural gas fired cogeneration is even more appealing by decreasing of 115% CO₂ emissions, while increasing non renewable energy consumption by 40%. DCF shows that significant project rates of return can be achieved for such small sources if both a stringent carbon policy and direct subsidies corresponding to 25% of necessary investment are assumed. We also underlined that transport and storage cost dilution can be realistically achieved by clustering emissions from various plants located in the same area. On a single plant basis, increasing ethanol production can also produce strong economies of scale.     

Growth and pollution convergence: Theory and evidence

Stabilizing pollution levels in the long run is a pre-requisite for sustainable growth. We develop a neoclassical growth model with endogenous emission reduction predicting that, along optimal sustainable paths, pollution growth rates are (i) positively related to output growth (scale effect) and (ii) negatively related to emission levels (defensive effect). This dynamic law reduces to a convergence equation that is empirically tested for two major and regulated air pollutants – sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides – with a panel of 25 European countries spanning the years 1980–2005. Traditional parametric models are rejected by the data. More flexible regression techniques confirm the existence of both the scale and the defensive effect, supporting the model predictions.     

基于胡焕庸线波动的长江经济带水资源环境承载力动态演变特征

基于水资源生态足迹模型,对长江经济带2010—2018年131个地区水资源生态足迹与生态承载力进行研究,并用GIS可视化揭示和探讨长江经济带水资源时空特征。研究发现： （1）胡焕庸线假说在长江经济带区域成立;（2）长江经济带人均水资源生态盈余状况在胡焕庸线以西区域最好,胡焕庸线与胡焕庸亚线之间次之,胡焕庸亚线以东最差;（3）长江经济带胡焕庸线以西区域人均水资源承载力均值、水资源承载力均值在三个区域中最大;（4）长江经济带各地区历年万元GDP生态足迹呈减小趋势,水资源利用率逐年提高;（5）长江经济带历年平均水资源负载指数呈上升趋势,水资源压力逐年上升。研究结果有助于长江经济带水资源综合管理,为水资源的调控及使用提供量化依据。     

炼化常减压装置挥发性有机物无组织源谱分析

以典型常减压装置中工艺管线无组织逸散VOCs为切入点,选取不同地域的多套常减压装置,参照美国EPA包袋法采样标准,并按照HJ 644-2013标准将气态样品转移到组合三吸附管内,利用气相色谱-质谱仪进行分析检测.结果表明,常减压装置无组织排放的VOCs共含116种物质,以烷烃类、烯烃类和醛酮类物质占主导,其中烷烃类物质占总排放的65%以上.在此基础上,对检出物质占比量进行量化分析,明确了常减压装置VOCs无组织排放因子以2-甲基丁烷、丁烯和苯等物质为主,并检出了微量的萘.相关结论可为炼化企业构建VOCs排放清单提供有力支撑,对于后续精细化管理炼化行业的VOCs排放具有指导意义.     

The resource curse revisited and revised: A tale of paradoxes and red herrings

We critically evaluate the empirical basis for the so-called resource curse and find that, despite the topic's popularity in economics and political science research, this apparent paradox may be a red herring. The most commonly used measure of “resource abundance” can be more usefully interpreted as a proxy for “resource dependence”—endogenous to underlying structural factors. In multiple estimations that combine resource abundance and dependence, institutional, and constitutional variables, we find that (i) resource abundance, constitutions, and institutions determine resource dependence, (ii) resource dependence does not affect growth, and (iii) resource abundance positively affects growth and institutional quality.     

NEATS: A Network Economics Approach to Trophic Systems

The main principle of the economic approach to a trophic system we propose here lies in assuming that there is a transfer of food along a path between a prey and a predator if, for the predator, the benefits are greater than costs of predation on this path. Conversely, if the costs exceed the benefits, there are no flows. This trade-off, considered all along the food chains of an ecosystem, together with ecological processes (assimilation, somatic maintenance) results in a model coupling mass balance equations (biological constraints) and complementarity principles (Walras’ law). Here is the core of the Network Economics Approach to Trophic Systems (NEATS).     

RESEARCH: Land Use Characteristics and Water Quality: A Methodology for Valuing of Forested Buffers

In this study, water quality and basin characteristics data from different basins of the Fish River basin, Baldwin County, Alabama, were used to develop a valuation model. This valuation model is based on the effectiveness of “contributing zones” identified and delineated using methods described by Basnyat and others (Environmental Management]1999] 23(4):539–549). The “contributing zone” delineation model suggests that depending on soil permeability, soil moisture, depth to water table, slope, and vegetation, buffer widths varying from 16 m to 104 m must be maintained to assimilate or detain more than 90% of the nitrate passing through the buffers. The economic model suggests the value of retiring lands (to create the buffers) varies from $0 to $3067 per ha, depending on the types of crops currently grown. The total value of retiring all areas identified by the contributing zone model is $1,125,639 for the study area. This land value will then form the basis for estimates of the costs of land management options for improving (or maintaining) water quality throughout the study area.