Engaging Economic Development Agencies in Environmental Protection: the case for embedded autonomy

This article examines the role of economic development agencies in strengthening the environmental performance of industry within rapidly industrialising East Asian economies. Three case-study examples are considered, namely, the role of the Industrial Development Board in reducing industrial pollution in Taiwan, pollution control in the palm oil industry in Malaysia, and the role of the Economic Development Board in influencing environmental performance of industry in Singapore. The concept of embedded autonomy is developed to consider the ways in which agencies of economic development can work with firms and industries while simultaneously remaining autonomous from these firms with respect to setting and enforcing performance standards. The three cases suggest that a form of policy integration that more directly integrates economic and environmental goals within agencies of economic development may be feasible, but only where there exists a strong autonomous government bureaucracy and where there is strong societal commitment to improving the environmental performance of industry.     

Rapidly eliminating pathogenic microorganisms in large air space using spraying *OH radicals

A new method for rapidly eliminating pathogenic microorganisms in large air space using spraying *OH radicals is presented in this paper With a physical method of strong electric-field discharge, large numbers of *OH radicals were produced by the oxygen activated particles of O2+, O(1D), O(3P), etc., and the introducing reagent HO2-. The gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis, the gram-negative bacteria Serratia marcescens, and Bacillus spores were used for the eliminating experiments. Results show that the different microorganisms were rapidly killed by *OH radicals with a concentration of 0.8 mg/L and spraying density of 21 microL/m2 within 4 sec. Cell morphological changes were also observed under microscope. The cells of B. subtilis and Bacillus spores in their cellular wall, cellular membrane, or cell protoplasm were greatly destroyed when being exposed to a killing dosage of *OH radicals.     

Potentials and impacts of short-rotation coppice plantation with aspen in Eastern Germany under conditions of climate change

Woody biomass generated in short-rotation coppice (SRC) plantations with aspen (Populus tremula L.) has good properties for bioenergy crop production: annual yields are high, labour input per year is low, and it is ecologically valuable because of the multi-year rotation periods. Eastern Germany has a special advantage in producing bioenergy crops: the former “agricultural cooperatives” built up quite large farms with, compared to Western Germany, comparatively large fields. Therefore, a modelling study of the potential and the impacts of aspen SRC plantations in the five eastern federal states of Germany under the recent climate and future climate projections was conducted. The ecophysiological forest growth model 4C was used to simulate the growth of aspen SRC plantations and their impacts on carbon in soils, and groundwater recharge, on selected suitable areas currently under crops but with marginal site conditions for cropping. A clear signal to enhanced growth condition over the whole area can be seen in the simulation of the mean annual woody biomass yield under conditions of climate change, which increased from 7.47 t DW ha⁻¹ a⁻¹ under the recent climate to 9.26 t DW ha⁻¹ a⁻¹ at the end of the considered future period 2034–2055 under climate change. The mean soil carbon sequestration rate was 0.81 t C ha⁻¹ a⁻¹ under the recent climate and could rise up to 0.93 t C ha⁻¹ a⁻¹ under the assumption of climate change. On the other hand, the mean annual percolation rate, used as an indicator of impacts on the regional water budget, will diminish under future climatic conditions. The results suggest that aspen SRC plantations are a suitable contribution to regional CO₂ mitigation and carbon sequestration under possible change of climate, but that negative impacts on the regional water budget are possible.     

Soil and tree-ring chemistry response to liming in a sugar maple stand

An evaluation of the impact of dolomitic lime [CaMg(CO3)2] on soils (five years after treatment) and sapwood chemistry (after four growing seasons) was realized for a Ca-deficient sugar maple stand at the lake Clair watershed. The effect on humus chemistry was significant: exchangeable Mg and Ca, effective acidity (EA), base saturation (BSe), pH, and effective cation exchange capacity (CECe) significantly increased, while exchangeable Fe significantly decreased. In the B horizon, liming increased exchangeable Ca, Mg, and Mn concentrations while decreasing other acid cations. No significant temporal trends in element concentrations in tree rings could be detected, although the lime treatment significantly changed the average xylem Mg and Mn concentrations as well as the average Mg/Mn and Ca/Mn ratios of the sapwood. The absence of temporal trends in rings from the last 20 yr implied a significant re-equilibration of elements through the sapwood. Significant relationships were found between averaged xylem Ca/Mn and Mg/Mn ratios and exchangeable humus Ca, Mg, Mn, Al, Fe, and H+ concentration, EA, CECe, and BSe, suggesting that the average xylem Ca/Mn and Mg/Mn ratios are strong indicators of the soil acid-base status.     

氧活性粒子氧化NO生成HNO_3

采用强电离介质阻挡放电方法制取高浓度氧活性粒子(O+2、O3)并注入气体外排烟道中,实现O+2、O3氧化NO转化成资源酸(HNO3)的等离子化学反应。描述强电离放电的氧活性粒子产生器,讨论烟道中O+2、O3氧化NO成HNO3等离子体反应机制,分析回收酸液的NO-2、NO-3离子种类及浓度。考察强电离放电等离子体源的输入功率、水体积百分比、气体温度、气体流速对NOx氧化率的影响。氧化率为97.2%的最佳实验条件是:O+2浓度为1.38×1010个/cm3,O3浓度为210 mg/L,烟气温度为65℃,H2O体积浓度为5.6%,停留时间为0.94 s。     

Metal ferrites nanoparticles for catalytic and photocatalytic ozonation in wastewater treatment: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The discharge of various pollutant-rich wastewater in large volumes without adequate treatment seriously endangers the environment. Catalytic and photocatalytic...     

Removal of SO2 from simulated flue gases using non-thermal plasma-based microgap discharge

The removal of sulfur dioxide (SO2) from simulated flue gases streams (N2/O2/H2O/SO2) was experimentally investigated using microgap discharge. In the experiment, the thinner dielectric layers of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) were used to form the microgap discharge. With this physical method, a high concentration of hydroxyl (OH*) radicals were produced using the ionization of O2 and H2O to further the conversion of SO2 into sulfuric acid (H2SO4) at 120 degrees C in the absence of any catalysts and absorbents, which were captured with the electrostatic precipitator (ESP). As a result, the increase of discharge power and concentrations of O2 and H2O increased the production of OH. radicals resulting in enhanced removal of SO2 from gas streams. With the test and analysis, a number of H2SO4 droplets were produced in experiment. Therefore, a new method for removal of SO2 in semidry method without ammonia (NH3) additive was found.     

电除尘技术研究现状及趋势

详细介绍了电除尘技术研究现状、现存问题及其发展趋势.论述了烟尘荷电凝聚机制及其输运特性等,以便解决除尘电场中的电离占空比、输运项甚低等问题;又着重研究了烟尘的荷电、凝聚的物理过程,将有助于解决电除尘器存在的捕集微细烟尘效率低的问题.     

Synthesis and applications of carbon quantum dots derived from biomass waste: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - In the context of the circular economy and decreasing earth resources, waste should be converted into value-added materials such as carbon quantum dots, which are...     

大风速电收尘技术研究

把流体力学、电动力学和静电学有机综合应用于电收尘器（ＥＰ）研究和设计上，是对现在电收尘器机理的一次变革。根据电场、流场理论，应用计算机进行设计的新型高效Ω－２Ｃ型集尘极板，仅一层Ω－２Ｃ型集尘极板的收尘效率就可达到８０％左右。把Ω－２Ｃ型集尘极板改成迎风排列，此时烟气风速成为收集烟尘的动力，而不是破坏力，大幅度提高烟尘趋进速度，大大减小ＥＰ体积、重量，成倍降低ＥＰ的造价，有利捕集粉尘，降低因振打引起的二次飞扬。