Environmental impacts of residual Municipal Solid Waste incineration: A comparison of 110 French incinerators using a life cycle approach

Incineration is the main option for residual Municipal Solid Waste treatment in France. This study compares the environmental performances of 110 French incinerators (i.e. 85% of the total number of plants currently in activity in France) in a Life Cycle Assessment perspective, considering 5 non-toxic impact categories: climate change, photochemical oxidant formation, particulate matter formation, terrestrial acidification and marine eutrophication. Mean, median and lower/upper impact potentials are determined considering the incineration of 1 tonne of French residual Municipal Solid Waste. The results highlight the relatively large variability of the impact potentials as a function of the plant technical performances. In particular, the climate change impact potential of the incineration of 1 tonne of waste ranges from a benefit of ?58 kg CO₂-eq to a relatively large burden of 408 kg CO₂-eq, with 294 kg CO₂-eq as the average impact. Two main plant-specific parameters drive the impact potentials regarding the 5 non-toxic impact categories under study: the energy recovery and delivery rate and the NO_x process-specific emissions. The variability of the impact potentials as a function of incinerator characteristics therefore calls for the use of site-specific data when required by the LCA goal and scope definition phase, in particular when the study focuses on a specific incinerator or on a local waste management plan, and when these data are available.     

鄱阳湖湿地候鸟栖息地微塑料污染特征

微塑料(粒径5 mm的塑料)污染问题日益严重.以鄱阳湖湿地候鸟栖息地之一的白沙湖为研究区,采集了湖岸边、湖中心和候鸟活动区域的湖水、底泥和候鸟粪便,利用浮选分离法对其中的微塑料进行分离,分析其微塑料污染特征.结果表明:(1)研究区不同采样点水体和底泥中微塑料丰度有较大差异,表现为湖中心湖岸边候鸟活动区域,水体和底泥中微塑料平均丰度分别为263.28个·m~(-3)和215.9个·kg~(-1),候鸟粪便中微塑料平均丰度为4.93个·g~(-1).研究区存在颗粒、薄膜、碎片和纤维这4种不同形貌的微塑料.(2)水体中微塑料以颗粒类最多,颜色主要为红色,微塑料粒径丰度表现为1 mm1～2 mm2～3 mm3～5 mm,且基本呈随粒径增大丰度减小的趋势.(3)底泥中微塑料以纤维类为主,颜色主要为紫色,湖岸边和鸟类栖息地微塑料粒径以1 mm为主,湖中心以1～2 mm为主.(4)候鸟粪便内微塑料以颗粒类为主,颜色主要为红色,粒径以1 mm为主.(5)水体、底泥和候鸟粪便中微塑料类型分布无一致性,水体和候鸟粪便颜色和粒径分布保持一致.可见,鄱阳湖鸟类栖息地已经受到了微塑料的污染,鸟类也无可避免地接触到了微塑料,警示人们微塑料将会是候鸟的新兴威胁.     

非潮汐淹水对白骨壤膜脂过氧化系统的影响

通过室内模拟非潮汐淹水,探索不同淹水水位条件下,红树植物白骨壤(A.marina(Forsk.)Vierh).超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)、丙二醛(MDA)随时间的变化情况。结果表明,经历第二个淹水周期后,较第一个周期各梯度,白骨壤超氧化物歧化酶活性(SOD)从高到低排序不变,过氧化氢酶活性(CAT)、丙二醛的量(MDA)也表现出相同的规律。本研究结论为红树植物在人工非潮汐生境下,红树林造林的关键技术之一——淹水水位的控制提供了数据参考。     

前处理残余铝对曝气池活性污泥的影响规律研究

从活性污泥的絮凝特点、有机物与 NH 4-N 的微生物代谢过程等方面探讨前处理残余铝对曝气池活性污泥的影响规律.结果显示,随着进水Al3 浓度的不断增加,污泥瞬时沉降速度明显增加,而对污泥沉降比影响不大.Al3 对COD去除率基本上没有影响,而对废水中 NH 4-N 氧化过程的影响却非常明显,随着活性污泥中Al3 的逐渐增加, NH 4-N 去除率出现了先升后降的变化趋势. NH 4-N 去除率下降的趋势与Al3 对微生物细胞膜电解质透性的影响规律呈负相关关系,说明Al3 对氨氧化微生物种群的干扰作用最强.     

水中余氯测定方法进展

综述了水体中余氯的分析方法研究进展,对每种分析方法的原理、测定条件、干扰因素及其消除方法、检测限、线性范围及应用对象做了较为详细的论述。     

Reviving wood-pastures for biodiversity and people: A case study from western Estonia

Wood-pastures are associated with high cultural and biodiversity values in Europe. However, due to their relatively low productivity, large areas of wood-pastures have been lost over the last century. In some areas, incentive schemes have been developed to revive wood-pastures. We investigated the effects of one such scheme in western Estonia. We compared the structure of grazed wood-pastures (old and restored) to those of abandoned wood-pastures and ungrazed forest stands to explore the effects of management, and conducted interviews with 24 farmers to investigate their motivations to carry out the management. We found a positive influence of active management on the semi-open structure of wood-pastures. Financial support was vital for management, but personal values related to tradition also played an important role. The interviewees differed widely in their range of motivations, suggesting that other strategies in addition to financial incentives would further improve the management of wood-pastures in the region.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0719-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

In situ formation of bimetallic FeNi nanoparticles on sand through green technology: Application for tetracycline removal

• In situ preparation of FeNi nanoparticles on the sand via green synthesis approach. • Removal of tetracycline using GS-FeNi in batch and column study. • Both reductive degradation and sorption played crucial role the process. • Reusability of GS-FeNi showed about 77.39±4.3% removal on 4th cycle. • TC by-products after interaction showed less toxic as compared with TC. In this study, FeNi nanoparticles were green synthesized using Punica granatum (pomegranate) peel extract, and these nanoparticles were also formed in situ over quartz sand (GS-FeNi) for removal of tetracycline (TC). Under the optimized operating conditions, (GS-FeNi concentration: 1.5% w/v; concentration of TC: 20 mg/L; interaction period: 180 min), 99±0.2% TC removal was achieved in the batch reactor. The removal capacity was 181±1 mg/g. A detailed characterization of the sorbent and the solution before and after the interaction revealed that the removal mechanism(s) involved both the sorption and degradation of TC. The reusability of reactant was assessed for four cycles of operation, and 77±4% of TC removal was obtained in the cycle. To judge the environmental sustainability of the process, residual toxicity assay of the interacted TC solution was performed with indicator bacteria (Bacillus and Pseudomonas) and algae (Chlorella sp.), which confirmed a substantial decrease in the toxicity. The continuous column studies were undertaken in the packed bed reactors using GS-FeNi. Employing the optimized conditions, quite high removal efficiency (978±5 mg/g) was obtained in the columns. The application of GS-FeNi for antibiotic removal was further evaluated in lake water, tap water, and ground water spiked with TC, and the removal capacity achieved was found to be 781±5, 712±5, and 687±3 mg/g, respectively. This work can pave the way for treatment of antibiotics and other pollutants in the reactors using novel green composites prepared from fruit wastes.     

Habitat classification: A comparison using avian species and guilds

Results of breeding bird censuses in 1979 and 1980 were used to compare the relationships of both species and guilds to forest habitats in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Several age classes of 11 forest cover types were studied: northern hard-woods (Fagus-Betula-Acer), spruce (Picea), spruce-fir (Picea-Abies), birth (Betula), swamp hardwoods (Acer-Pinus-Tsuga), pine (Pinus strobus andP. resinosa), balsam fir (Abies), aspen (Populus tremuloides andP. grandidentata), northern red oak (Quercus), oak-pine (Quercus-Pinus), and hemlock (Tsuga). All types were even-aged; only northern hardwoods had an additional uneven-aged condition. Forest cover types were also pooled to consider generalized habitats: hardwoods, mixed forest, or softwoods. Results of ordinations based on censuses of 74 bird species indicate that foraging guilds are more related to general cover types than are nesting substrate guilds, but bird species reflect habitat differences to a greater degree than do either guild scheme. Also, considerable overlap occurs in bird species distribution between hardwoods and mixed forests; softwoods show little overlap with other types. Discriminant function and classification analyses revealed that bird species composition can be used to correctly classify general forest habitats more accurately (83.8%) than either foraging (63.2%) or nesting substrate guilds (58.4%). These results indicate that, of the habitats studied, avian species compositions are more characteristic than are foraging or nesting substrate guild composition, which tend to be similar across forest habitats.     

Storage of CO2 in saline aquifers: Effects of gravity, viscous, and capillary forces on amount and timing of trapping

CO₂ can be effectively immobilized during CO₂ injection into saline aquifers by residual trapping – also known as capillary trapping – a process resulting from capillary snap-off of isolated CO₂ bubbles. Simulations of CO₂ injection were performed to investigate the interplay of viscous and gravity forces and capillary trapping of CO₂. Results of those simulations show that gas injection processes in which gravitational forces are weak compared to viscous forces (low gravity number N_gv) trap significantly more CO₂ than do flows with strong gravitational forces relative to the viscous forces (high N_gv). The results also indicate that over a wide range of gravity numbers (N_gv), significant fractions of the trapping of CO₂ can occur relatively quickly. The amount of CO₂ that is trapped after injection ceases is demonstrated to correlate with N_gv. For some simulated displacements, effects of capillary pressure and aquifer dip angle on the amount and the rate of trapping are reported. Trapping increases when effects of capillary pressure and aquifer inclination are included in the model. Finally we show that injection schemes such as alternating injection of brine and CO₂ or brine injection after CO₂ injection can also enhance the trapping behavior.     

Large-scale risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in shoreline sediments from Saudi Arabia: Environmental legacy after twelve years of the Gulf war oil spill

A large-scale assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the 1991 Gulf War oil spill was performed for 2002-2003 sediment samples (n = 1679) collected from habitats along the shoreline of Saudi Arabia. Benthic sediment toxicity was characterized using the Equilibrium Partitioning Sediment Benchmark Toxic Unit approach for 43 PAHs (ESBTU_FCV,43). Samples were assigned to risk categories according to ESBTU_FCV,43 values: no-risk (≤1), low (>1-≤2), low-medium (>2-≤3), medium (>3-≤5) and high-risk (>5). Sixty seven percent of samples had ESBTU_FCV,43 > 1 indicating potential adverse ecological effects. Sediments from the 0-30 cm layer from tidal flats, and the >30-<60 cm layer from heavily oiled halophytes and mangroves had high frequency of high-risk samples. No-risk samples were characterized by chrysene enrichment and depletion of lighter molecular weight PAHs, while high-risk samples showed little oil weathering and PAH patterns similar to 1993 samples. North of Safaniya sediments were not likely to pose adverse ecological effects contrary to sediments south of Tanaqib. Landscape and geomorphology has played a role on the distribution and persistence in sediments of oil from the Gulf War.