A preliminary study on the nature of particulate matters in vehicle fuel wastes

Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and tunneling electron microscopy (TEM) studies of two solid vehicle wastes (pollutants) from petrol- and diesel-fueled engines of Kolkata (India) have detected a significant amount of ultrafine particles in the nanometer scale in these wastes. Both powder XRD and selected area electron diffraction from TEM have confirmed the existence of inhomogeneous distribution of nanocrystallites in these pollutants. Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry shows that these wastes contain mainly carbon and oxygen as the constituent components. These pollutants are magnetic in nature as seen with SQUID magnetometry, and the presence of a high amount of carbon presumably is likely the origin of the magnetic property.     

A dynamic model for assessing the effects of management strategies on the reduction of construction and demolition waste

During the past few decades, construction and demolition (C&D) waste has received increasing attention from construction practitioners and researchers worldwide. A plethora of research regarding C&D waste management has been published in various academic journals. However, it has been determined that existing studies with respect to C&D waste reduction are mainly carried out from a static perspective, without considering the dynamic and interdependent nature of the whole waste reduction system. This might lead to misunderstanding about the actual effect of implementing any waste reduction strategies. Therefore, this research proposes a model that can serve as a decision support tool for projecting C&D waste reduction in line with the waste management situation of a given construction project, and more importantly, as a platform for simulating effects of various management strategies on C&D waste reduction. The research is conducted using system dynamics methodology, which is a systematic approach that deals with the complexity - interrelationships and dynamics - of any social, economic and managerial system. The dynamic model integrates major variables that affect C&D waste reduction. In this paper, seven causal loop diagrams that can deepen understanding about the feedback relationships underlying C&D waste reduction system are firstly presented. Then a stock-flow diagram is formulated by using software for system dynamics modeling. Finally, a case study is used to illustrate the validation and application of the proposed model. Results of the case study not only built confidence in the model so that it can be used for quantitative analysis, but also assessed and compared the effect of three designed policy scenarios on C&D waste reduction. One major contribution of this study is the development of a dynamic model for evaluating C&D waste reduction strategies under various scenarios, so that best management strategies could be identified before being implemented in practice.     

Future habitat loss and extinctions driven by land‐use change in biodiversity hotspots under four scenarios of climate‐change mitigation

Numerous species have been pushed into extinction as an increasing portion of Earth's land surface has been appropriated for human enterprise. In the future, global biodiversity will be affected by both climate change and land‐use change, the latter of which is currently the primary driver of species extinctions. How societies address climate change will critically affect biodiversity because climate‐change mitigation policies will reduce direct climate‐change impacts; however, these policies will influence land‐use decisions, which could have negative impacts on habitat for a substantial number of species. We assessed the potential impact future climate policy could have on the loss of habitable area in biodiversity hotspots due to associated land‐use changes. We estimated past extinctions from historical land‐use changes (1500–2005) based on the global gridded land‐use data used for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report and habitat extent and species data for each hotspot. We then estimated potential extinctions due to future land‐use changes under alternative climate‐change scenarios (2005–2100). Future land‐use changes are projected to reduce natural vegetative cover by 26‐58% in the hotspots. As a consequence, the number of additional species extinctions, relative to those already incurred between 1500 and 2005, due to land‐use change by 2100 across all hotspots ranged from about 220 to 21000 (0.2% to 16%), depending on the climate‐change mitigation scenario and biological factors such as the slope of the species–area relationship and the contribution of wood harvest to extinctions. These estimates of potential future extinctions were driven by land‐use change only and likely would have been higher if the direct effects of climate change had been considered. Future extinctions could potentially be reduced by incorporating habitat preservation into scenario development to reduce projected future land‐use changes in hotspots or by lessening the impact of future land‐use activities on biodiversity within hotspots.     

Decision-making for sustainable location of a cement plant in the state of Florida

Site selection is a typical strategic decision for many industries that deals with specifying the most appropriate location for a facility. In the context of sustainable development, site selection decisions need to be improved by adopting environmental, economic and social requirements. This study aims to frame sustainable location decisions by conducting a case study of siting a new cement plant in the state of Florida. As a part of the study, a wide range of technical and sustainability criteria has developed. These criteria can help decision-makers in the cement industry evaluate the selection of a location with the requirements of sustainable development. The sustainability characteristics of alternative sites in the state of Florida are evaluated based on the criteria to identify the most appropriate ones. The analytical hierarchy processand geographic information system techniques are utilized to weight the criteria and evaluate the characteristics of site candidates.