- Dữ liệu thống kê chất thải của Châu Âu cho một Cơ quan giám sát nền kinh tế tuần hoàn: Cơ hội và hạn chế từ Vùng đô thị Amsterdam.

- Ô nhiễm hay đổi mới? Cách doanh nghiệp phản ứng với ô nhiễm không khí.

- Chiến lược phân bổ trợ cấp carbon của Trung Quốc theo cơ chế điều chỉnh biên giới carbon của EU: Một cách tiếp cận biên giới chi phí phi tham số tích hợp.

- Đánh giá nồng độ ôzôn nền ở Trung Quốc và ý nghĩa của việc sử dụng phương pháp giảm phát thải các hợp chất hữu cơ dễ bay hơi theo khu vực để giảm thiểu ô nhiễm không khí.

- Kinh nghiệm quản lý môi trường để kiểm soát cháy rừng ở khu vực địa trung hải giữa núi: Phát quang bụi rậm để tạo cảnh quan khảm.

- Các tuyên bố về môi trường EMAS như một công cụ đo lường trong quá trình chuyển đổi ngành công nghiệp sang nền kinh tế tuần hoàn.

- Công nghệ kỹ thuật số và quản lý nguồn nhân lực xanh: Khả năng áp dụng GSCM và nâng cao hiệu suất.

- Kết quả và quan điểm của việc áp dụng hệ thống quản lý năng lượng dựa trên ISO 50001 trong các tòa nhà hành chính - trường hợp của Maroc.

- Cách thức khởi nghiệp nhân văn thúc đẩy quản lý chuỗi cung ứng bền vững cho một nền kinh tế tuần hoàn hướng tới hiệu quả hoạt động bền vững của doanh nghiệp.

- Hiệu suất của nhiệt độ không khí từ phân tích lại ERA5-Land trong tích tụ đô thị ven biển ở Đông Nam Trung Quốc.

- Hướng tới quản lý chất lượng nước phù hợp với khí hậu: Kiểm tra hiệu quả của các biện pháp kiểm soát phú dưỡng khác nhau trong đợt nắng nóng ở kênh đô thị.

- Chuyển đổi chất thải thành tài nguyên: Sử dụng bùn đô thị đã khử nước để điều chế chất hấp phụ than sinh học gốc canxi và bón đất làm phân bón.

- Mô hình từ dưới lên về việc tạo ra chất thải đô thị của Ý: Thiết lập mô hình, xác nhận và các lộ trình hướng tới năm 2040.

- Dữ liệu thống kê chất thải của Châu Âu cho một Cơ quan giám sát nền kinh tế tròn: Cơ hội và hạn chế từ Vùng đô thị Amsterdam.

- Khung chuyển hóa đô thị vòng tròn (CUM) để khám phá các mô hình sử dụng tài nguyên và tiềm năng tuần hoàn trong hệ thống đô thị.

- Đại dịch COVID-19 có thể thay đổi ô nhiễm nhựa không? Nghiên cứu điển hình về bảy nguồn nước ở thành phố đô thị Milan (N. Ý).

- Escherichia coli đa kháng khuẩn Escherichia coli (EAEC) đi vào trạng thái không hoạt động trong quá trình xử lý nhiệt: Một mối nguy tiềm ẩn trong bùn đô thị.

- Phân tích tổng hợp tỷ lệ nitơ hữu cơ hòa tan (DON) trong nước và nước thải và xem xét các chiến lược loại bỏ và thu hồi DON.

- Điều tra hình thái học về sự làm giàu và chuyển hóa các yếu tố nguy hại trong tro xỉ từ các nhà máy đốt chất thải.

- Con đường thu hồi chất thải thép công nghiệp: Sản xuất chất xúc tác được hỗ trợ sáng tạo và ứng dụng của nó trong các nghiên cứu khử crôm hóa trị sáu.

- Nghiên cứu trong phòng thí nghiệm về sự phân đoạn đồng vị sắt trong quá trình hòa tan bụi khoáng và tro công nghiệp trong nước mây mô phỏng.

- Đánh giá tiềm năng khử cacbon xây dựng tòa nhà của Trung Quốc vào năm 2060 và sức mạnh tổng hợp với lĩnh vực công nghiệp.

- Chia sẻ giấy phép carbon trong cộng sinh công nghiệp: Một mô hình tối ưu hóa dựa trên lý thuyết trò chơi.

- Synchrotron X-ray hỗ trợ phân hủy nước thải công nghiệp bằng quá trình oxy hóa tiên tiến.

- Một quy trình có cấu trúc để lựa chọn các phương án lưu trữ nhiệt năng để sử dụng và chuyển đổi nhiệt thải công nghiệp.

- Hiệu quả của việc xử lý vi tảo như một quy trình xanh để xử lý nước thải công nghiệp.

QUẢN LÝ MÔI TRƯỜNG

Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 358, 15 July 2022, 131767

Abstract

As appointed in the EU Circular Economy Action Plan, cities and regions in EU member countries start accompanying their circular economy strategies by monitoring frameworks, often called Circular Economy Monitors (CEM). Having the task to assess the performance towards the achievement of set targets and to steer decision-making, CEMs need to rely on a multitude of statistics and datasets. Waste statistics play an important role in circular economy monitoring as they provide insights into the remaining linear part of the economy. The collection of waste statistics is mandated by the European Commission which provides general guidelines on data collection and processing. The Netherlands has one of the most detailed waste registries among the EU countries. The country’s largest metropolitan region, Amsterdam, is currently building a CEM which tracks progress over time towards the set goals, highlights which areas need improvement and estimates target feasibility. This paper uses the Amsterdam CEM as a case-study to explore how the existing system of waste registration in the Netherlands is able to support decision-making. The data is explored with the help of four queries that relate to the CEM’s goals and require data mapping to be answered. The data mapping and analysis process has revealed several limitations present in the waste data collection and a number of gaps present in current circular economy research and data analysis. At the same time, the available data already supports significant insights into the status quo of the current waste system and provides opportunities for circular economy monitoring.

Science of The Total Environment, Volume 831, 20 July 2022, 154821

Abstract

From 2013 to 2015, China launched a nationwide real-time air quality monitoring and disclosure program in three waves. Since then, the air quality of prefecture-level cities nationwide has been monitored and released publicly in real-time. Using this information program as a natural experiment, we investigate how the response of enterprises' innovation to air pollution changes before versus after this information program. Based on a sample of Chinese listed companies in 289 prefecture-level cities from 2011 to 2016, the results show that the information program encourages enterprise innovation to react to air pollution. However, different types of enterprises have heterogeneity in response to this program. In the mechanism analysis, this paper finds that the information program stimulates enterprises' innovation through improving local governments' environmental protection motivation and promoting public environmental engagement. Our research highlights the critical role of information in the theory and practice of environmental regulation that has long been ignored.

Science of The Total Environment, Volume 831, 20 July 2022, 154908

Abstract

The implementation of the European Union (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will affect the cost efficiency of Chinese exporters, and few studies have considered how to deal with its impact from the carbon market perspective. Based on this, this paper constructs two price-variable resource allocation (VPRA) models to investigate China's allowance allocation strategies to mitigate the impact of the EU CBAM from a carbon market perspective. This paper takes the steel and cement industries in each province of China for example for cost efficiency assessment and carbon allowance allocation, and finds that: (1) The EU CBAM has a negative impact, and it is necessary to incorporate the CBAM into the top-level system design of allowance allocation to obtain an allowance allocation scheme that maintains the cost efficiency level of each industry. (2) A higher and more stable carbon price in China can effectively counteract the impact of the EU CBAM and ensure that the cost efficiency of each industry does not fluctuate significantly. (3) When the Chinese carbon price exceeds 60 RMB/ton, the impact of the EU CBAM on the cost efficiency of each industry will become significantly smaller. (4) Measures to reduce the number of products exported to the EU are not effective in mitigating the impact of the EU CBAM when the number of products exported to the EU exceeds a certain rate. The findings of this paper provide useful policy insights for China and other developing countries to actively address the challenges of the EU CBAM.

Environmental Pollution, Volume 305, 15 July 2022, 119254

Abstract

Mitigation of ambient ozone (O3) pollution is a great challenge because it depends heavily on the background O3 which has been poorly evaluated in many regions, including in China. By establishing the relationship between O3 and air temperature near the surface, the mean background O3 mixing ratios in the clean and polluted seasons were determined to be 35–40 and 50–55 ppbv in China during 2013–2019, respectively. Simulations using the chemical transport model (i.e., the Weather Research and Forecasting coupled with Chemistry model, WRF/Chem) suggested that biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions were the primary contributor to the increase in the background O3 in the polluted season (BOP) compared to the background O3 in the clean season (BOC), ranging from 8 ppbv to 16 ppbv. More importantly, the BOP continuously increased at a rate of 0.6–8.0 ppbv yr−1 during 2013–2019, while the non-BOP stopped increasing after 2017. Consequently, an additional 2%–16% reduction in anthropogenic VOC emissions is required to reverse the current O3 back to that measured in the period from 2013 to 2017. The results of this study emphasize the importance of the relative contribution of the background O3 to the observed total O3 concentration in the design of anthropogenic precursor emission control strategies for the attainment of O3 standards.

Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 314, 15 July 2022, 115054

Abstract

Constructing and adopting a county-level panel dataset containing carbon emission (CO2) and economic information between 2009 and 2017, this paper employs the continuous difference-in-differences (DID) model and is among the first to conduct an evaluation of the CO2 reduction effect of China's emission trading scheme (ETS) pilot markets from the dual perspectives of price and scale. The empirical results emerge that the increase of transaction price and the expansion of transaction volume in ETS pilots have a persistent and significant influence on CO2 reduction. Parallel to this, it is found the rising of transaction price in ETS can be effective on CO2 reduction by improving the energy structure transition, however, optimization of industrial structure and the development of ICT might be the essential channels driven by the expansion of transaction volume. Last, this paper identifies the synergistic effect on different sorts of contaminants and find it is more substantial to those with the gas state. This paper implies that the policymakers should fully excavate the market-oriented environmental regulation tools from transaction price and volume perspective of views for the well achieving the climate ambitions of carbon peak and neutrality.

Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Volume 95, July 2022, 106799

Abstract

Economic growth targets management is the driving force behind China's phenomenal economic achievement over the past decades. However, how it affects corporate environmental behavior remains ambiguous. Based on the data of China's A-share listed companies in the heavy-polluting industries from 2009 to 2019, this study sheds light on the effect of economic growth targets on corporate environmental investment. We find that corporates tend to crowd out their investment in environmental conservation when local governments are under high pressure to address growth targets. It suggests that corporates arrange their investment activities to cope with the distortion effect of government intervention. Consistent with our expectation, evidence shows that corporate environmental investment decreases given that competition on economic growth target drives local officials to relax environmental regulation intensity, especially for cities with high-promotion-incentives officials. Moreover, an interesting finding is that such an adverse effect is greater for SOEs, while ownership heterogeneity does not exist or is small when local officials have stronger promotion incentives. This study not only provides a deeper insight into the role of government intervention in corporate investment decisions, but also contributes to designing better official evaluation systems to achieve sustainable development in emerging economies.

Environmental Research, Available online 13 July 2022, 113854

Abstract

Population inflation has led to the unprecedented increase in urbanization, thus causing negative impacts on environmental sustainability. Recently, there is an upsurge in the number of restaurants due to the changing lifestyles of the people. There were 167,490 food and beverage establishments in 2015, representing an annual growth rate of 5.1% since 2010 in Malaysia. The rapid growth of restaurants has implicated a negative impact due to the generation of highly polluted restaurant wastewater (RWW). RWW is mainly generated during the cooking, washing, and cleaning operations. RWW typically contain fat, oil, and grease (FOG) resulting from residues of meat, deep-fried food, baked items and butter, therefore it has caused serious blockages of sewer due to clogging and eventually sewage backup. This has increased the required frequency of cleaning and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). Results from the previous studies have shown that FOG can be treated using physical, chemical, and biological processes. Different technologies have been applied for the treatment of FOG and other pollutants (COD, BOD, SS and NH4–N) present in RWW. Therefore, this review aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of RWW, chemical and physical characteristics of FOG with the mechanism of its formation and utilization for biocomposites, biogas and biodiesel productions for circular bioeconomy. Besides, this review has discussed the potential treatment technologies comprehensively for RWW which is currently remain understudied. Integrated sustainable management of FOG with technoeconomic analysis of bioproducts, sustainable management with international initiatives and previous studies are as well summarized. Hence, this aims towards providing better alternatives in managing RWW at sources, including its treatment and potential of its biorefinery, therefore eventually contributing towards environmental sustainability.

Land Use Policy, Volume 118, July 2022, 106147

Abstract

The Mediterranean mountains have undergone an intense process of land abandonment since the mid-20th century, with far-reaching changes to the landscape (homogeneity and an increase in combustible material), which, combined with the rise in temperatures, increases the size and frequency of wildfires. This increase has taken place despite technical advances in detecting and fighting fires, which suggests that prevention measures should be improved. Shrub clearing is a practice used in some areas of the Mediterranean mountains to prevent wildfires. This paper presents the results from a study carried out in the Iberian mountain range in La Rioja (Spain), which is representative of mid-Mediterranean mountain landscape due to the wide areas of abandoned land and the highly homogeneous environment dominated by shrubs. From 1986, the Regional Government of La Rioja launched the Plan for Shrub Clearing (PSC) to control fires and promote extensive livestock farming. Between 1986 and 2020, 28.4% of the shrub surface in the study area was cleared, which helped to create a more fragmented and diverse landscape, and drastically reduced the total burned area (average of 1060 ha/year between 1968 and 1986, against 221.7 ha/year between 1987 and 2020). The results obtained in this article show that the PSC, together with extensive livestock farming, is a useful practice in managing homogeneous landscapes. The PSC creates a mosaic landscape, reduces the fuel load, helps to fight fires and contributes to the provision of ecosystem services. The results can help land managers to implement public policies aimed to reduce environmental hazards, such as wildfires and, thus, ensure that natural resources providing assets and services to the public are maintained.

Journal of Cleaner Production, Available online 30 July 2022, 133213

Abstract

One of the European Commission's main objectives within its Green Deal strategy is to encourage organisations to adopt a circular economy (CE). Although the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) regulation is highlighted as a tool to help firms evaluate, report and improve their advances in this direction, no studies have been found that empirically validate the usefulness of EMAS as a circularity measuring tool. To address this gap, this paper analyses the information reported in the EMAS statements and determines whether it really is useful to be able to measure the level of adoption of the circular model in companies. Content analysis and statistical methods (Kendall rank correlation coefficient and Pearson's Chi-Square Test) are employed to provide empirical evidence from 122 companies. Results show that the information reported in the statements analysed is neither extensive enough nor provided as scalable and comparable quantitative data to be able to consider EMAS as a valid tool to measure and report the progress of companies in the transition towards a more circular model. Outcomes of the study have useful implications for policy makers and companies. Recommendations to regulators centre on establishing specific circular key performance indicators within the EMAS regulation, which would help companies transition towards a CE. Recommendations to managers include using EMAS reporting in a more comprehensive and indicator-focused way, which could help them visualise their current situation more clearly and be able to compare themselves to others more effectively, thus moving towards circularity in a more targeted way.

Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 314, 15 July 2022, 115083

Abstract

The number of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) will increase exponentially in the coming decade with the retirement of electric vehicles (EVs). There is a knowledge gap in assessing the environmental impact of different terminal disposal paths for EV LIBs in China. Here, we take representative lithium iron phosphate (LFP) power batteries as example and carry out a bottom-up life cycle assessment (LCA). The life cycle stages of battery manufacturing, use, second life and battery recycling are considered to conduct a cradle-to-grave environmental impact analysis. To investigate the environmental benefits of end-of-life (EoL) stage for LFP batteries, two EoL management scenarios are considered in this study. The first one combines second life application with battery recycling, and the second recycles the retired batteries directly after EV use. The result shows that the secondary application of retired LFP batteries in energy storage systems (ESSs) can effectively reduce the net environmental impact of LIB life cycle, especially for fossil fuel depletion. When the service life of secondary use is increased from 1 year to 10 years, the environmental benefits of different impact categories will increase by 0.24–4.62 times. For direct recycle scenario, recycling retired LFP batteries can save more than 30% of metal resources. By comparison, we find that recycling lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NCM) batteries has greater environmental benefits than recycling LFP batteries for all impact categories. When considering the environmental benefits at the EoL stage, most life cycle environmental impact is likely to be offset or even show positive benefits if more than 50% of power batteries can be reused in ESSs after retirement.

International Journal of Production Economics, Volume 249, July 2022, 108531

Abstract

Highly competitive and complex markets require dynamic capabilities in order to maintain superior performance. This research is considered one of the first empirical works that use the dynamic capability hierarchy in the sustainability context and Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) literature to investigate the effects of digital technologies (DTs) and green human resources management (GHRM) on economic and environmental performance, through the building of environmental capabilities, such as GSCM operational practices (GSCM-OP). Hypotheses were tested in a sample of 207 Colombian manufacturing companies by means of the Partial Least Squares Structural Equations Model. The article argues that GSCM-OP acts as lower-order capability mediating the relation between DTs and GHRM towards environmental and economic performance. The role of GSCM-OP as a mediator is critical towards taking advantage of DTs and GHRM aiming to an enhanced performance. Practical guidelines are proposed to managers in order to planning a sequence of adoption of practices that would be worthwhile in order to better guide financial investments in firms.

Materials Today: Proceedings, Available online 15 July 2022

Abstract

"The National Strategy for Sustainable Development responds to the commitments made by Morocco to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and to contribute to the fight against climate change. With this commitment, Morocco aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 17% by 2030 in key economic and social sectors. The building sector has a mitigation potential of nearly 8%. In terms of energy, the building sector is the second most energy-intensive sector in Morocco, behind transport and ahead of industry. It consumes more than 33% of final energy and emits more than 12% of national greenhouse gas emissions. Within the framework of the national energy strategy, energy efficiency has been set as a national priority, with a target of reducing energy consumption to 14% in the building sector by 2030. This study focuses on an energy management system to improve the energy performance and environmental impact of an administrative building based in Casablanca, the economic capital of Morocco. The system consists of an energy performance report based on the ISO 50,001 Version 2018 standard. The system collects data from various sources to provide information about the building's energy consumption. Energy-intensive systems can then be isolated, monitored to identify missed savings opportunities. The system was implemented and resulted in a significant reduction in energy consumption. These results prove that the energy performance of an office building can be improved with minimal investment using an energy management system.”

Agricultural Water Management, Volume 269, 1 July 2022, 107716

Abstract

Increasing amounts of wastewater are discharged to water bodies, with a risk of exceeding their capacity to cope with such loads. Nutrient discharge forms two types of risk, i.e., economic and excess effluent risks. In this study, a Bayesian dual risk aversion based stochastic programming (BDRSP) is proposed for selecting optimal effluent trading and multi-risk management schemes. The BDRSP framework includes uncertain simulation for nutrient loading, optimization techniques for optimal trading planning, copulas for disclosing spatial correlation of nutrient pollution as well as TOPSIS for selecting optimal risk management schemes. BDRSP is applied to a real case of Daguhe watershed, China for planning of a NH3-N trading system. Trading ratios are estimated based on ratio between environmental damages at the watershed outlet that emission discharges in two sources. Optimal effluent trading scheme is obtained considering random pollutant loading and the associated dual risk. The spatial pattern of nutrient pollution risk is identified based on joint probability distributions and the related joint exceedance probability of different locations with copulas. Optimal dual risk management schemes are generated considering system benefit, unit revenue as well as NH3-N loading and its spatial pattern. Risk management schemes under high economic and excess effluent risk control levels (i.e. 0.85ε1, 0.4ρ0.6 and 0.85ε1, 0.8ρ1) are recommended.

Journal of Cleaner Production, Available online 18 July 2022, 133178

Abstract

Growing environmental and social issues pose a challenge to the business world as to how to sustain and grow in an environment characterised by uncertainties. Drawing upon a systematic literature review, this study prioritizes on examining the impact of humane entrepreneurship (HumEnt) on sustainable corporate performance (SCP) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economy because this extent remains scant in the current literature. Furthermore, it also explores whether sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) mediates the relationship between HumEnt and SCP. Simultaneously, examining whether green corporate social responsibility (GCSR) moderates HumEnt's influence on SSCM. This study follows quantitative approach usig Smart PLS version 3.3.2 to analyse Structural Equation Modelling to investigate the structural relationships. There were 468 valid responses obtained from the main survey. The survey participants are those who hold senior levels at the selected enterprises. The results reveal that HumEnt has a positive and meaningful relationship with SSCM and SCP. In addition, SSCM partially mediates the relationship between HumEnt and SCP. Besides, GCSR positively and significantly affects SSCM, and simultaneously moderates HumEnt's influence on SSCM. Given the above discussion on the gap, the main finding of this study is a novelty in the field. These contributions may be of interest to business practitioners, business leaders and academics. In this context, circular economy practices are essential in promoting SSCM to achieve sustainable performance. This study seeks to provide an influence map on how GCSR involves realising HumEnt to promote SSCM for a circular economy to achieve greater sustainability.

Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Volume 95, July 2022, 106801

Abstract

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the main legal instrument for controlling the impacts of human development projects in many countries, including Brazil. However, the way biodiversity is addressed as part of the EIA process has been discussed around the world, with concerns raised about poor-quality studies and a failure to achieve evidence-based decisions. To explore these concerns, we evaluated: 1) the quality of baseline biodiversity studies used to inform EIAs; 2) the predictions made about the impacts of the development on biodiversity and their relationship to baseline studies; and 3) the relevance of the quality of these baseline studies and the predicted impacts on the decisions made by the relevant licensing agency. To do this, we collected and analyzed EIAs associated with 78 development proposals from the State of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil, using medium and large-sized terrestrial mammals as indicators. We found baseline studies were basic and lacking scientific rigor, with no guiding questions or hypotheses, few ecological analyses, and that they omitted essential information about study design. The poor quality of biodiversity information in most baseline studies led to significant deficiencies in impact reports, with inadequate descriptions of the likely impacts of developments on biodiversity. Finally, we found that the shortcomings in both baseline studies and impact assessment reports had no relationship to decision-making, with poor quality EIAs still obtaining environmental licenses, which is alarming. Only in two decisions were cited some shortcoming of baseline studies as a reason for conditional approval. We conclude by providing a range of recommendations to help promote evidence-based decision-making in EIAs and improve the quality and transparency of the biodiversity data produced throughout Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and EIA.

Water Research, Volume 219, 1 July 2022, 118551

Abstract

Aquaculture provides livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people, but it also forms a significant source of plastic litter that poses a serious hazard to aquatic ecosystems. How to assess and subsequently manage plastic loads from aquaculture is a pending and pressing issue for aquaculture sustainability, and an important concern for water environment monitoring and management. In this study, we developed the first framework for estimating plastic litter from aquaculture by combining data from satellite remote sensing, drones, questionnaires, and in situ measurements. By acquiring multidimensional (human and nature) and multiscale (centimeter to basin scale) data, this framework helped us understand the aquaculture farming patterns and its spatial and temporal evolution, and thus estimate the plastic load it generates and suggest effective management approaches. Applying this framework, we assessed the marine plastic load from oyster floating raft farming in the Maowei Sea, a typical mariculture bay in China, with an increasing farming area. Approximately 3840 tons of plastic waste is expected to be discharged into the sea in the next four years (the average service life of a floating raft) without improvements in aquaculture waste management. Strengthening governance, timely plastic removal, innovative replacement, and transforming farmers’ behavior patterns are recommended as the subsequent measures for plastic management. This framework can be extended to other regions and other aquaculture patterns, and is applicable to local, regional, and global aquaculture plastic litter assessments. It is a source-based method for evaluating plastic pollution that is more conducive to subsequent plastic management than traditional post-contamination environmental monitoring. In the context of the global expansion of mariculture and the global commitment to action to combat plastic pollution, this approach could play a critical role in the investigation and management of plastic waste in aquatic environments.

Science of The Total Environment, Available online 31 July 2022, 157755

Abstract

The energy sector contributes significantly to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) due to the use of fossil fuels which leads to climate change problems. Worldwide, there is a shift from fossil fuel-based energy to cleaner energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass. Wind energy is one of the promising cleaner energy sources as it is feasible and cost-effective. However, the development of wind farms causes impacts on sustainability aspects. This article aims to review the impacts of wind energy generation on environmental, economic, and social aspects of sustainability and their mitigation strategies. The aim was achieved by reviewing recent research papers on different aspects of wind energy sustainability. The environmental impacts reviewed include the effects on avian life, noise pollution, visual impacts, microclimate and vegetation. Apart from environmental impacts, wind energy generation faces issues in energy and financial sustainability, such as the wind power fluctuation, technology lagging and use of fixed feed-in tariff contracts that do not consider wind energy advancement and end-of-life management. We discussed that turbine deterrents, automatic curtailment, low gloss blades and sustainable siting of wind farms as some of the effective ways to combat wind energy environmental impacts. In addition, we discussed that energy storage systems, setting up microgrids, combination of solar, wind and energy storage, and renewable energies policies are some of the ways to combat wind energy's economic and energy impacts. Lastly, the recommendations, and future perspectives on wind energy generation sustainability are discussed.

MÔI TRƯỜNG ĐÔ THỊ

Science of The Total Environment, Volume 828, 1 July 2022, 154459

Abstract

Near-surface air temperature is an important indicator of climate change and extreme events. ERA5-Land reanalysis products feature finer spatial and temporal resolutions, and have been widely adopted in global climate-related research. However, the performance of ERA5-Land air temperature data in coastal urban agglomerations has received little attention. In this study, a comprehensive evaluation is conducted in the Guangdong−Hong Kong−Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) using the observations of 1080 automatic weather stations in 2018 as reference. Generally, ERA5-Land underestimates temperature (an average bias of 0.90 °C), and performs better at low temperatures than at high temperatures. At the station level, it is observed that the correlation shows a strong positive linear relationship with the distance to the coastline in summer, and that the bias increases with increasing altitude throughout the year. With respect to different land cover types, data accuracy over urban and built-up lands is the lowest. The spatial pattern of ERA5-Land is generally consistent with that of stations but relatively poor in urban areas. In addition, ERA5-Land properly captures daily and monthly variations, as well as intraday temperature fluctuations. These conclusions provide a reference for the implementation of ERA5-Land in coastal urban agglomerations.

Science of The Total Environment, Volume 828, 1 July 2022, 154421

Abstract

Harmful algal blooms are symptomatic of eutrophication and lead to deterioration of water quality and ecosystem services. Extreme climatic events could enhance eutrophication resulting in more severe nuisance algal blooms, while they also may hamper current restoration efforts aimed to reduce nutrient loads. Evaluation of restoration measures on their efficacy under climate change is essential for effective water management. We conducted a two-month mesocosm experiment in a hypertrophic urban canal focussing on the reduction of sediment phosphorus (P)-release. We tested the efficacy of four interventions, measuring phytoplankton biomass, nutrients in water and sediment. The measures included sediment dredging, water column aeration and application of P-sorbents (lanthanum-modified bentonite - Phoslock® and iron-lime sludge, a by-product from drinking water production). An extreme heatwave (with the highest daily maximum air temperature up to 40.7 °C) was recorded in the middle of our experiment. This extreme heatwave was used for the evaluation of heatwave-induced impacts. Dredging and lanthanum modified bentonite exhibited the largest efficacy in reducing phytoplankton and cyanobacteria biomass and improving water clarity, followed by iron-lime sludge, whereas aeration did not show an effect. The heatwave negatively impacted all four measures, with increased nutrient releases and consequently increased phytoplankton biomass and decreased water clarity compared to the pre-heatwave phase. We propose a conceptual model suggesting that the heatwave locks nutrients within the biological P loop, which is the exchange between labile P and organic P, while the P fraction in the chemical P loop will be decreased. As a consequence, the efficacy of chemical agents targeting P-reduction by chemical binding will be hampered by heatwaves. Our study indicates that current restoration measures might be challenged in a future with more frequent and intense heatwaves.

Chemosphere, Volume 298, July 2022, 134302

Abstract

Pyrolysis combined with land application for dewatered municipal sludge disposal revealed advantages in heavy metals solidification and resource utilization compared with other disposal technologies. In this study, utilizing dewatered municipal sludge for calcium-containing porous adsorbent preparation via pyrolysis was proposed and verified. After pyrolyzing at 900  C (Ca-900), the dewatered sludge obtained maximum adsorption capacity (83.95 mg P g−1) and the adsorption process conformed to the pseudo-second-order model and double layer model. Characteristic analysis showed the predominant adsorption mechanism was precipitation. Continuous column bed experiment indicated 2 g adsorbent could remove 4.27 mg phosphorus from tail wastewater with the initial phosphorus concentration of 1.03 mg  L−1. No heavy metals leaching was observed from Ca-900 adsorbent with pH value exceeding 1.0, and merely 1% addition of Ca-900 adsorbent (after actual water phosphorus adsorption) with soil could extremely promote the early growth of seedlings. Economic estimates demonstrated that this cost-effective modification could generate the most add-on value production. Based on these results, the strategy of ‘one treatment but two uses’ was proposed in this study, converting the wastes to resource and providing a native strategy for sludge disposal and resource recovery.

Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 357, 10 July 2022, 131719

Abstract

The residential sector contributes to about 17% of the total waste generation in Italy. The main objectives set by the European and Italian governments regarding the waste sector include the promotion of reuse, recycling, and recovery, listed in order of importance; therefore, it is crucial to achieving, among others, a sufficient waste management capacity at the national level to accomplish such targets. In this context, a new approach to estimating and forecasting waste generation is introduced, based on bottom-up modelling to estimate the past and future Italian municipal waste generation. The modelling approach builds upon microdata describing the household expenditure behaviours supplied by the National Institute of Statistics. The assessment was carried out by dividing Italy into six macro-regions. The model was then validated by comparing the results with the historical aggregated official waste generation data. Lastly, a socio-demographic model has been applied to predict the trends of the various waste fractions due to the expected variation in the population, considering four different scenarios from 2019 to 2040. Results show the model's good performance, with relative errors below 5% at the national average concerning the historical data. The forecast of future trends gives a comprehensive picture of the effect of different waste management strategies.

Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 358, 15 July 2022, 131767

Abstract

As appointed in the EU Circular Economy Action Plan, cities and regions in EU member countries start accompanying their circular economy strategies by monitoring frameworks, often called Circular Economy Monitors (CEM). Having the task to assess the performance towards the achievement of set targets and to steer decision-making, CEMs need to rely on a multitude of statistics and datasets. Waste statistics play an important role in circular economy monitoring as they provide insights into the remaining linear part of the economy. The collection of waste statistics is mandated by the European Commission which provides general guidelines on data collection and processing. The Netherlands has one of the most detailed waste registries among the EU countries. The country’s largest metropolitan region, Amsterdam, is currently building a CEM which tracks progress over time towards the set goals, highlights which areas need improvement and estimates target feasibility. This paper uses the Amsterdam CEM as a case-study to explore how the existing system of waste registration in the Netherlands is able to support decision-making. The data is explored with the help of four queries that relate to the CEM’s goals and require data mapping to be answered. The data mapping and analysis process has revealed several limitations present in the waste data collection and a number of gaps present in current circular economy research and data analysis. At the same time, the available data already supports significant insights into the status quo of the current waste system and provides opportunities for circular economy monitoring.

Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 359, 20 July 2022, 132067

Abstract

Urban areas with large population and economic activity are responsible for the increased resource and environmental challenges, making circular economy an important issue. Sustainable development and targeted suggestions for local areas are essential for policy implementation. In this study, a circular urban metabolism (CUM) framework was developed to assess resource use patterns for potential identification and policy initiatives of circular development. The framework was conceived as a circular process for sectoral material flow mechanisms, which was followed by resource use calculations and circularity potential analysis. In the Shanghai case, the CUM framework was testified and revealed dramatic increases of material inputs and outputs, doubled during 2000–2019. Close relationship with external areas was indicated by large resource consumption and pollution discharge. Specified by CUM, the expanded in-use stock, mainly consisted of non-metallic minerals used in construction sector, were one of the obstacles towards circularity. Energy-induced pollution was the other obstacle, which were suggested by mixed energy use initiatives. Sectoral policy to improve resource use patterns were finally provided at the city level.

Science of The Total Environment, Volume 830, 15 July 2022, 154777

Abstract

The extraction of microplastics from complex environmental matrices, such as sewage sludge, has proven challenging because of their high organic content. A common procedure for the extraction of microplastics from sludge involves conducting a chemical digestion to reduce the amount of organic matter in the sample, followed by a density separation of microplastics. In order to increase the reliability of the density-based separation, an optimisation of the chemical digestion is needed. The aim of this study was to maximise the total solids and carbon content reduction of sludge by optimising the sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) pretreatment and the duration of H2O2 digestion. A reduction in total solids by 95.6% and in carbon content by 98.1% were achieved with the optimised digestion method, which involved an application of 1% SDS and a 2-day H2O2 treatment in the first digestion step. The inclusion of the SDS pretreatment significantly increased the reduction of total solids and carbon content. The optimised digestion process had no significant visible effects on tested reference microplastics and provided an extraction efficiency of 84% for 150 μm reference microspheres and 72% for 650 μm long microfibres. To enable the application of the optimised digestion process to other types of sludges, the consumption of SDS and H2O2 were also presented as per grams of organic matter in the untreated sludge.

Science of The Total Environment, Volume 830, 15 July 2022, 154711

Abstract

Combustion-derived water vapor (CDV) has significant impacts on urban climate and environment. However, temporal variations of contribution of CDV (CCDV) to urban humidity are unclear due to lack of observations. This study examined the temporal variations of CCDV in Xi'an during winter from 2016 to 2019. We found that the diurnal variation of CCDV is mainly controlled by atmospheric stability, but the peak of CCDV at 9 am is due to the increasing water vapor emission by motor vehicles during the morning rush hour. In addition, the monthly variation of CCDV is related to fossil fuel consumption, but the low values of CCDV in late January and early February is due to substantial decrease of energy utility because of the massive outflow of population during the Spring Festival. Our findings may be helpful for urban pollution control because CDV can play an important role in the secondary conversion of pollutants.

Science of The Total Environment, Volume 831, 20 July 2022, 154923

Abstract

The more or less extensive lockdowns, quarantines, smart working and the closure of numerous recreational or personal care activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic have not only heavily changed the habits and behaviors of all of us, but have also had consequences on the release of some types of pollutants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible changes due to the indirect effects of the pandemic in the contamination of plastic mixtures sampled in 9 sites of the main watercourses of the metropolitan city of Milan (N. Italy), which is one of the major industrialized and urbanized areas in Italy. To achieve this goal, we carried out two sampling campaigns, the first one carried out in November 2019, before the arrival of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Italy, the second in November 2020, during a severe regional lockdown that coincided with other restrictions imposed at the national level.

The main results showed a difference in contamination of plastics between the two samplings, not so much due to a quantitative variation, but certainly qualitative. We obtained non-homogeneous data with respect to changes in the number of plastics sampled in the different waterbodies, while it was evident that the plastics' contamination has shifted from a primary and industrial origin to one due to a secondary origin of the sampled plastics, linked especially to the fragmentation of common use objects, or deriving from synthetic garments.

Environmental Pollution, Volume 305, 15 July 2022, 119295

Abstract

Six years of data (2012–2017) at an urban site-Srinagar in the Northwest Himalaya were used to investigate temporal variability, meteorological influences, source apportionment and potential source regions of BC. The daily BC concentration varies from 0.56 to 40.16 μg/m3 with an inter-annual variation of 4.20–7.04 μg/m3 and is higher than majority of the Himalayan urban locations. High mean annual BC concentration (6.06 μg/m3) is attributed to the high BC observations during winter (8.60 μg/m3) and autumn (8.31 μg/m3) with a major contribution from Nov (13.88 μg/m3) to Dec (13.4 μg/m3). A considerable inter-month and inter-seasonal BC variability was observed owing to the large changes in synoptic meteorology. Low BC concentrations were observed in spring and summer (3.14 μg/m3 and 3.21 μg/m3), corresponding to high minimum temperatures (6.6 °C and 15.7 °C), wind speed (2.4 and 1.6 m/s), ventilation coefficient (2262 and 2616 m2/s), precipitation (316.7 mm and 173.3 mm) and low relative humidity (68% and 62%). However, during late autumn and winter, frequent temperature inversions, shallow PBL (173–1042 m), stagnant and dry weather conditions cause BC to accumulate in the valley. Through the observation period, two predominant diurnal BC peaks were observed at ⁓9:00 h (7.75 μg/m3) and ⁓21:00 h (6.67 μg/m3). Morning peak concentration in autumn (11.28 μg/m3) is ⁓2–2.5 times greater than spring (4.32 μg/m3) and summer (5.23 μg/m3), owing to the emission source peaks and diurnal boundary layer height. Diurnal BC concentration during autumn and winter is 65% and 60% higher than spring and summer respectively. During autumn and winter, biomass burning contributes approximately 50% of the BC concentration compared to only 10% during the summer. Air masses transport considerable BC from the Middle East and northern portions of South Asia, especially the Indo-Gangetic Plains, to Srinagar, with serious consequences for climate, human health, and the environment.

Environmental Pollution, Volume 305, 15 July 2022, 119312

Abstract

Reuse of sewage sludge is a general trend and land application is an essential way to reuse sludge. The outbreak of coronavirus disease has raised concerns about human pathogens and their serious threat to public health. The risk of pathogenic bacterial contamination from land application of municipal sludge has not been well assessed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of pathogenic bacteria in municipal sewage sludge and to examine the survival potential of certain multidrug-resistant enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) strain isolated from sewage sludge during heat treatment. The sewage sludge produced in the two wastewater treatment plants contained pathogenic bacteria such as pathogenic E. coli, Shigella flexneri, and Citrobacter freundii. The environmental strain of EAEC isolated from the sludge was resistant to eight types of antibiotics. It could also enter the dormant state after 4.5 h of treatment at 55 °C and regrow at 37 °C, while maintaining its antibiotic resistance. Our results indicate that the dormancy of EAEC might be why it is heat-resistant and could not be killed completely during the sludge heat treatment process. Owing to the regrowth of the dormant pathogenic bacteria, it is risky to apply the sludge to land even if the sludge is heat-treated, and there is also a risk of spreading antibiotic resistance.

Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 314, 15 July 2022, 114878

Abstract

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) emissions from the transient operation of municipal solid waste incinerators can reach up to 690 ng/Nm3, as measured in this study. To control the extreme emissions to meet the national standard, the formation pathways of PCDD/F were investigated under transient operations (cold start-up, hot start-up, and after start-up) and normal operations. Compared with normal operations, transient operations facilitate the formation of low-chlorinated congeners rather than highly chlorinated congeners. Statistically, for transient operations, strong correlations were found among tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin or tetrachlorodibenzofuran isomers. An abundant carbon matrix is an important carbon source for PCDD formation. Moreover, the comprehensive study revealed that the oxidation of deposited soot is the main source of PCDD/F emissions, relative to de novo synthesis, chlorobenzene-route synthesis, chlorophenol-route synthesis, and chlorination of dibenzo-p-dioxin/dibenzofuran. In addition, the optimal start-up procedure was constructed by analyzing main formation pathways and operating conditions. The relationship between the international toxic quantity (I-TEQ) values (CI-TEQ) and the reaction time can be assigned as CI-TEQ = 11.72t−0.65 (R2 = 0.97) for the circulating fluidized bed. The relationship of CI-TEQ = 4.61t−0.59 (R2 = 0.85) was also proven on the dataset with a grate furnace. Then, the optimal feeding rate of activated carbon was further proposed by the relationship between the reaction time and I-TEQ, and the semi-empirical equation for PCDD/Fs adsorption. Finally, the PCDD/Fs emissions can be reduced to 0.1 ng I-TEQ/Nm3 under transient operations according to the time since start-up.

Environmental Research, Volume 210, July 2022, 112845

Abstract

Background

Long-term exposure to ambient ozone (O3) and residential greenness independently relate to altered hormones levels in urban settings and developed countries. However, independent and their joint associations with progestogen and androgen were sparsely studied in rural regions.

Materials and methods

A total of 6211 individuals were recruited in this study. Random forest model was applied to predict the daily average concentrations of O3 using the satellites data. Residential greenness was reflected by the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to measure serum progestogen and androgen concentrations. Gender and menopausal status modified associations of long-term exposure to O3 and residential greenness with hormones levels were analyzed by generalized linear models.

Results

Long-term exposure to O3 was negatively related to 17-hydroxyprogesterone, testosterone, and androstenedione in both men and women (premenopausal and postmenopausal); the estimated β and 95% CI of ln-progesterone in response to per 10 μg/m3 increment in O3 concentration was −0.560 (−0.965, −0.155) in postmenopausal women. Association of long-term exposure to O3 with serum androgen levels in premenopausal and postmenopausal women were alleviated by residing in places with higher greenness. Additionally, a prominent effect of long-term exposure to O3 related to decreased serum progestogen and androgen levels was found in participants with middle- or high-level of physical activity or lower education level.

Conclusions

The results suggested that long-term exposure to high levels of O3 related to decreased serum androgen levels was attenuated by living in high greenness places in women regardless of menopause status. Future studies are needed to confirm the positive health effects of residential greenness on the potential detrimental effects due to exposure to O3.

Environmental Research, Volume 210, July 2022, 112967

Abstract

Wastewater-based epidemiology offers a time- and cost-effective way to monitor SARS-CoV-2 spread in communities and therefore represents a complement to clinical testing. WBE applicability has been demonstrated in a number of cases over short-term periods as a method for tracking the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and an early-warning tool for predicting outbreaks in the population. This study reports SARS-CoV-2 viral loads from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and hospitals over a 6-month period (June to December 2020). Results show that the overall range of viral load in positive tested samples was between 1.2 × 103 and 3.5 × 106 gene copies/l, unveiling that secondary-treated wastewaters mirrored the viral load of influents. The interpretation suggests that the viral titers found in three out of four WWTPs were associated to clinical COVID-19 surveillance indicators preceding 2–7 days the rise of reported clinical cases. The median wastewater detection rate of SARS-CoV-2 was one out of 14,300 reported new cases. Preliminary model estimates of prevalence ranged from 0.02 to 4.6% for the studied period. This comprehensive statistical and epidemiological analysis demonstrates that the applied wastewater-based approach to COVID-19 surveillance is in general consistent and feasible, although there is room for improvements.

Environmental Research, Volume 210, July 2022, 112936

Abstract

The implementation of air pollution control measures could alter the compositions of submicron aerosols. Identifying the changes can evaluate the atmospheric responses of the implemented control measures and provide more scientific basis for the formulation of new measures. The Fen-Wei River Basin is the most air polluted region in China, and thereby is a key area for the reduction of emissions. Only limited studies determine the changes in the chemical compositions of submicron aerosols. In this study, Baoji was selected as a representative city in the Fen-Wei River Basin. The compositions of submicron aerosols were determined between 2014 and 2019. Organic fractions were determined through an online instrument (Quadrupole Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor, Q-ACSM) and source recognition was performed by the Multilinear Engine (ME-2). The Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) was also employed to evaluate the contributions of emissions reduction and meteorological conditions to the changes of submicron aerosol compositions. The results indicate that the mass concentrations of submicron aerosols have been substantially decreased after implementation of air pollution control measures. This was mainly attributed to the emission reductions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and primary organic aerosol (POA). In addition, the main components that drove the pollution episodes swapped from POA, sulfate, nitrate and less-oxidized organic (LO-OOA) in 2014 to nitrate and more-oxidized OOA (MO-OOA) in 2019. Due to the changes of chemical compositions of both precursors and secondary pollutants, the pollution control measures should be modernized to focus on the emissions of ammonia (NH3), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in this region.

Environmental Research, Volume 210, July 2022, 112944

Abstract

The valorisation of wastewaters for minerals recovery and their potential beneficiation has gained enormous attention recently. In this study the removal of phosphate and ammonia from municipal wastewater using activated magnesite resulted in the formation of struvite. The optimum conditions for the synthesis of struvite were 60 min of mixing, 300 rpm mixing speed, 1 g of activated magnesite and room temperature, whilst optimum conditions for the treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) using the synthesized struvite were 45 min of mixing, 20 g of struvite dosage, 1000 mL, and 300 rpm mixing speed. The efficacy of struvite for neutralisation of AMD and attenuation of inorganic contaminants were ≥98.99% for metals (Al3+, Fe3+, and Mn2+) and ≥30% for . Traces of other metals such as Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Cr were significantly attenuated. Phosphate was fully attenuated from the aqua-sphere. PHREEQC predicted the removal of minerals as oxy-(hydro)-sulphates, oxy-(hydro)-phosphate, metals hydroxides, and other complexes. FE-SEM equipped with FIB and an EDX, XRD, XRF, and FTIR confirmed the synthesis of struvite and fate of chemical species after treatment. This study confirmed the feasibility of recovering phosphate and ammonia as struvite which can be employed for the treatment of AMD.

MÔI TRƯỜNG KHU CÔNG NGHIỆP

Science of The Total Environment, Volume 828, 1 July 2022, 154476

Abstract

Most wastewater removal and recovery processes primarily target dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) species, leaving the untreated non-reactive dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in the effluent. This DON fraction can account for a substantial part of the total nitrogen (N) load. We analyzed large datasets of N species and concentrations (with a focus on quantifying the fraction of DON) in surface water, ground water, and wastewater effluent across the United States. We then reviewed strategies to remove and recover DON based on results of a range of treatment technologies reported in the literature, including laboratory-scale up to full-scale operation in wastewater treatment plants. Our meta-analysis showed that DON concentrations are greatest in wastewater effluent followed by surface water and groundwater. The concentration of DON in wastewater effluent varied from 0.01 to 10.9 mg N/L (number of data points, n = 163), where the range in surface water was 0.002 to 14.3 mg N/L (n = 11,803). Organic N accounted for the majority of total N in 12.3% of wastewater effluent samples and 49.1% of surface waters. Our literature review showed that currently available wastewater treatment processes do not efficiently target DON removal nor recovery of the DON as a valuable product. One potential DON removal and recovery strategy is transforming DON into DIN, which is generally more easily removed and recovered. Transformation strategies reported in the literature include ozonation, UV/H2O2, and electrooxidation. However, as advanced oxidation processes are often energy- and cost-intensive, further research is needed to improve DON removal and recovery.

Science of The Total Environment, Volume 828, 1 July 2022, 154490

Abstract

The transformation of heavy metals in ash from waste incineration plants is significant for ash management. The migration behavior of trace elements in ash after combustion, semidry deacidification, fabric filtration, and chelating agent stabilization was investigated from one waste incineration plant. The hazardous elements Zn, Pb, and As were enriched in raw fly ash (ash produced at a combustion temperature of 850–1100 °C) due to their relatively high volatility. Mercury, Cd, and Pb were captured in fly ash2 and processed by activated carbon and fabric filters. The removal rate of As (71%) was the highest among all studied elements due to a large amount of quinquevalent As removed. However, the average removal rate of elements in fly ash was only 13%. In the finally obtained fly ash3 (after chelating agent stabilization), a larger particle size (~100 μm) was found than that of raw ash. Furthermore, fly ash3 contains HgSO4 and trivalent As, which are toxic and likely to be precipitated when the fly ash3 is next utilized or deposited in a landfill, causing environmental risks.

Chemosphere, Volume 298, July 2022, 134216

Abstract

Mill scale is the metallurgical waste produced by the rolling mill in the steel hot rolling process. This hazardous waste is mainly composed of oxide iron, such as hematite, magnetite and wustite. It may have a different and alternative final destination by becoming a catalyst for wastewater treatment. In this work, the catalytic potential of mill scale (MS) from a steel plant was evaluated for hexavalent chromium reduction from synthetic and real matrices under slurry conditions (MS particles dispersed in the solution) or immobilized in Raschig rings. Experiments were conducted in an annular photoreactor irradiated by UVA light. Raschig rings were coated with MS by electrostatic link with polyethylene-grafted-maleic anhydride copolymer (PEGMA) film, and further packed in the annular zone of the UV photoreactor. SEM, XRD and FTIR analysis showed a homogeneous film of MS firmly attached on Raschig rings surface. In this way, the iron-rich industrial steel waste acted as both source of iron and photocatalyst, allowing the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) in the bulk solution and MS surface, respectively, in the presence of tartaric acid as hole and hydroxyl scavenger and Fe-complexing agent. The Raschig rings (248 g) coated with MS (23 g) achieved total Cr(VI) reduction (below detection limit) after 45 min of reaction (k = 2.0 × 10−2 mg L−1 min− 1) under UVA radiation, considering the following initial conditions: [Cr(VI)]0 = 10 mg L−1, [tartaric acid]0/[Cr(VI)]0 molar ratio = 6:1, pH = 3.0, T = 25 °C. The same system was tested for the treatment of a real effluent from a galvanic industry containing 6 mg L−1 of Cr(VI). Using the same tartaric acid/Cr(VI) molar ratio (6:1) and pH 3.0, the Cr(VI) present in the effluent was totally reduced (below detection limit) in 360 min (k = 1.93 × 10−2 mg L− 1 min− 1), showing similar kinetic behavior as the process with the synthetic matrix. In all experiments, the concentrations of dissolved iron (Fe(II) and Fe(total)) were below the disposal limit established by Brazilian legislation, and total chromium removal was achieved by Cr(III) precipitation after the photocatalytic reaction.

Chemosphere, Volume 299, July 2022, 134472

Abstract

Atmospheric deposition is a key mode of iron (Fe) input to ocean regions where low concentrations of this micronutrient limit marine primary production. Various natural particles (e.g., mineral dust, volcanic ash) and anthropogenic particles (e.g., from industrial processes, biomass burning) can deliver Fe to the ocean, and assessment of their relative importance in supplying Fe to seawater requires knowledge of both their deposition flux and their Fe solubility (a proxy for Fe bioavailability). Iron isotope (54Fe, 56Fe, 57Fe, 58Fe) analysis is a potential tool for tracing natural and anthropogenic Fe inputs to the ocean. However, it remains uncertain how the distinct Fe isotopic signatures (δ56Fe) of these particles may be modified by physicochemical processes (e.g., acidification, photochemistry, condensation-evaporation cycles) that are known to enhance Fe solubility during atmospheric transport. In this experimental study, we measure changes over time in both Fe solubility and δ56Fe of a Tunisian soil dust and an Fe–Mn alloy factory industrial ash exposed under irradiation to a pH 2 solution containing oxalic acid, the most widespread organic complexing agent in cloud- and rainwater. The Fe released per unit surface area of the ash (∼1460 μg Fe m−2) is ∼40 times higher than that released by the dust after 60 min in solution. Isotopic fractionation is also observed, to a greater extent in the dust than the ash, in parallel with dissolution of the solid particles and driven by preferential release of 54Fe into solution. After the initial release of 54Fe, the re-adsorption of A-type Fe-oxalate ternary complexes on the most stable surface sites of the solid particles seems to impair the release of the heavier Fe isotopes, maintaining a relative enrichment in the light Fe isotope in solution over time. These findings provide new insights on Fe mobilisation and isotopic fractionation in mineral dust and industrial ash during atmospheric processing, with potential implications for ultimately improving the tracing of natural versus anthropogenic contributions of soluble Fe to the ocean.

Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 359, 20 July 2022, 132086

Abstract

Embodied carbon emissions of the building sector constitute the majority of carbon emissions. The selection of a building stock development pathway, construction mode, and synergy between the building construction and industry sectors will greatly influence the future embodied carbon emissions in China's building sector. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the carbon emission related to China's building construction under different path choices, to provide quantitative support for policy makers, helping to realize low-carbon development in China's construction sector. So, we developed the China Building Construction Model to illustrate the relationship between building stock, material stock, and embodied carbon emissions. The results show that controlling the total building stock at a reasonable level, extending the building lifetime by avoiding the buildings' early demolition, and encouraging building retrofitting can significantly reduce the material demand of construction as well as the carbon intensity of the production of building materials. Over 70% of the reduction in carbon emissions can be realized through these measures by 2060. Moreover, low carbon development depends on recycling and increased efficiency in producing building materials; this way, embodied carbon emissions can be reduced by nearly 50% by 2060.

Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 313, 1 July 2022, 114957

Abstract

Phosphogypsum is one of the hottest issues in the field of environmental solid waste treatment, with complex and changeable composition. Meanwhile, phosphogypsum contains a large number of impurities, thus leading to the low resource utilization rate, and it can only be stockpiled in large quantities. Phosphogypsum occupies a lot of land and poses a serious pollution threat to the ecological environment. This paper mainly summarizes the existing pretreatment and resource utilization technology of phosphogypsum. The pretreatment mainly includes dry method and wet method. The resource utilization technology mainly includes building materials, chemical raw materials, agriculture, environmental functional materials, filling materials, carbon sequestration and rare and precious extraction. Although there are many aspects of resource utilization of phosphogypsum, the existing technology is far from being able to consume a large amount of accumulated and generated phosphogypsum. Through the analysis, the comparison and mechanism analysis of the existing multifaceted and multi-level resource treatment technologies of phosphogypsum, the four promising resource utilization directions of phosphogypsum are put forward, mainly including prefabricated building materials, eco-friendly materials and soil materials, and new green functional materials and chemical fillers. Moreover, this paper summarizes the research basis of multi field and all-round treatment and disposal of phosphogypsum, which reduces repeated researches and development, as well as the treatment cost of phosphogypsum. This paper could provide a feasible research direction for the resource treatment technology of phosphogypsum in the future, so as to improve the consumption of phosphogypsum and reduce environmental risks.

Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 357, 10 July 2022, 131820

Abstract

The emerging effects of climate change caused by the rise of carbon dioxide (CO2) and equivalent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the atmosphere have prompted policymakers to revise current emission reduction schemes. One of the schemes is a carbon permit scheme which places a restriction on the CO2 or equivalent GHG emissions to the atmosphere. However, limited literature explores the effectiveness of sharing carbon permits in an IS system to optimise and reduce waste emissions in a system. Therefore, this research presents an optimisation-based framework for plants in an industrial symbiosis (IS) system with a carbon permit scheme. The critical success factor for an IS system is the collaboration and synergistic possibilities between participating plants within geographical proximity. This paper takes a different approach from the typical physical resource sharing in IS. This research considers carbon permits as a shared resource between the plant operators. The sharing of carbon permits creates a cooperative environment between the plant operators in the IS system. Through this system, cooperative game theory (CGT) was used to determine the fair allocation of profit to each participating plant operator based on their marginal contribution in the IS system. A case study has been implemented for three process plants: palm oil mill (POM), palm oil-based biorefinery (POB) and combine heat power (CHP) plant that are operated under a carbon permit scheme. Results from the base case study illustrates that each plant operator receives an average of 12% higher profit when sharing their carbon permits relative to working individually under the carbon permit scheme. A further analysis has been conducted to investigate the framework′s economic feasibility at different emission cuts. With differing emission cuts, the results indicated plant operators obtained an increase in their profit margin by 25% when working in a coalition relative to working independently.

Radiation Physics and Chemistry, Volume 197, August 2022, 110161

Abstract

Various methods for the degradation and detoxification of textile effluents have been developed in recent years and among these, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been proven to be a successful way of degrading organically contaminated water into a useful form. The synchrotron X-ray (3–20 keV) irradiation-assisted AOP has been developed for the degradation of single and mixed colored industrial wastewater solution. Irradiation experiments were conducted on industrial effluents obtained straight from the cloth industries. The efficiency of AOP was measured by characterizing irradiated industrial wastewater solutions with optical, chemical, and biological characterization techniques. The UV-Vis spectroscopy and chemical oxidation demand (COD) results revealed that the wastewater was degraded and the degradation efficiency could be tailored by varying the X-ray dose. The complete decolorization and ∼ 85% removal in COD was obtained at the X-ray dose of 15000 mAs. Chemical species present in pristine and irradiated wastewater were analyzed using FTIR techniques. The FTIR spectra revealed the destruction of the aromatic ring and nitrogen linkage of wastewater under X-ray irradiation. The technique of liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) was employed to identify and quantify the unknown compounds present in pristine as well as X-ray irradiated wastewater solutions. Toxicity assays on gram-negative Escherichia coli (DH5α) clearly show detoxification of X-ray irradiated solutions. This study demonstrates a fast and effective approach for completely degrading and detoxifying industrial wastewater, and has a wide range of applications in environmental remediation.

Journal of Energy Storage, Volume 51, July 2022, 104411

Abstract

Thermal energy storage is a key enabling technology for the recovery and valorisation of industrial waste heat. Nevertheless, there is a wide gap between the variety of heat storage options investigated and the recurrent few types virtually implemented in the industries. To take advantage of a wider spectrum of solutions, a structured procedure is proposed in this work for the selection of storage material and layout. The algorithm developed consists of a preliminary storage design followed by a performance estimation of the overall system where the heat storage is integrated. The preliminary design allows a first screening and ranking of sensible, latent or thermochemical materials using a quasi-stationary approach. The performance estimation leads to the final selection of the heat storage system, which is based on the analysis of the dynamic thermal response of the heat storage along with physically based or input-output models for the load. The algorithm is applied to improve the heat recovery of a discontinuous and fluctuating flue gas at medium temperature from a steel industry, targeting the production of process steam or electricity. The results show that the integration of a packed bed heat storage, either of the sensible or latent type, allows the highest amount of steam to be generated in the discharging. Moreover, the combination of the same heat storage with an organic Rankine cycle or the Kalina cycle results in the highest amount of generated electricity. The investment in a packed bed rock storage was found to result in payback times of about seven years, whereas tank-based storage units appear not profitable due to the high cost of the silicone oil.

Algal Research, Volume 66, July 2022, 102775

Abstract

Wastewater treatment including microalgae is an economically promising and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional wastewater treatment due to the concurrent nutrient removal and production of high-value biomass. This work aimed to choose the most suitable type of wastewater and its appropriate dilution for sustaining microalgal growth by testing unialgal versus mixed microalgae cultures and raw versus autoclaved wastewater. Based on pilot experiments including microplate screening, unialgal cultures of Chlorella emersonii grown in 1:5 diluted, non-autoclaved wastewater were selected as the optimum scenario for further testing. In the main experiments, Chlorella emersonii was cultivated in Erlenmeyer flasks and bubble column reactors. Additionally, a photoautotrophic biofilm was grown in flumes. We studied three types of wastewater originating from a large municipal wastewater treatment plant, a brewery, and a dairy. Dairy wastewater performed best in all cultivation systems and resulted in a maximum biomass per irradiated area of around 145 μg cm−2 chlorophyll-a of Chlorella cultures in bubble columns, followed by 105 μg cm−2 in flumes run by a photoautotrophic biofilm. Furthermore, phosphorus reduction of 96 % for dairy, 40 % for the brewery, and 43 % for municipal wastewater were achieved in the flumes. Due to the easy harvest of algae biomass, low construction and operation costs, flumes represent a recommendable cultivation system for dairy wastewater treatment on a larger scale.

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, Volume 238, 15 June 2022, 113626

Abstract

Sustainable industrial development requires research on pollution control in industrial wastewater, particularly sulfate-rich wastewater, which poses a threat to the environment. This article differs from the previous sulfate wastewater treatment process and equipment review. Based on the quantitative analysis, this paper has determined some characteristics of the related literature on the pollution control technology of high-concentration sulfate wastewater to help researchers establish future research directions. From 1991–2020, the WoS database published 9473 articles related to high-concentration sulfate wastewater treatment technology. We used bibliometric analysis combined with social network analysis and s-curve technical analysis in this research. The United States was the first to start this type of research, Australia has insightful and instructive research articles in this area, and China is the most active in international cooperation. The keywords that appear most frequently in the dataset are degradation, adsorption, oxidation, reduction, and recovery. By S-curve fitting, it is known that biological treatment methods are closer to the maturity stage than physical and chemical treatment methods.

Environmental Research, Available online 14 July 2022, 113885

Abstract

The tannery effluent treatment plants produce tonnes of waste in the form of mixed salts containing sodium chloride, sulfate, calcium, and magnesium salts. Disposal of these mixed salts may create an environmental problem. The proposed method broadly consists of the separation of sodium chloride from reverse osmosis (RO) reject and raw-hide waste salt (preservative salt) of the tannery. This study used the physicochemical method to treat waste salt from tannery industrial waste. The addition of sodium hydroxide and sodium carbonate improved calcium and magnesium removal efficiency in the RO reject and preservative waste salts. The optimization of the sodium salt of hydroxide and carbonate is very important to remove an unwanted substance from waste salt. The sodium chloride was recovered, and the purity was about >98% which was successfully reused as preservative salt as well as in the pickling process in the tannery industry.

Energy Strategy Reviews, Volume 42, July 2022, 100867

Abstract

China has posed great importance on green development, a model for economic transformation that enhances public welfare while sustaining environment and resources. Meanwhile, China has the largest number of industrial parks which is crucial for both the global supply chain and national economy. Diversified green development demonstration programs have been promoted with a top-down paradigm facilitated by the central government due to the parks’ important roles in industrial development and pollution control. There is a growing knowledge body about the green development of the parks, and Chinese cases accounted for the largest share of peer-reviewed publications. This article provides a review of academic papers and grey documents on the topic since 2000 by descriptive and bibliometric analysis. We extract five major research focuses by keyword clustering of 129 peer-reviewed articles, namely, the planning of eco-industrial parks, the improvement of environmental management, the evolution of industrial symbiosis and supply chain networks, the optimization of infrastructure, and the assessment of economic-environmental performance. Then, diversified practices of green development in Chinese industrial parks are further enriched by supplementing grey literature and practice. Based on the literature and ongoing practice, we explain the green development model for Chinese IPs and conclude inadequate dissemination of concept and knowledge, heterogeneity of interest, untargeted assessment and guidance, and backward management system are the five major challenges in the field. The review can inspire the scientific community, policymakers, and practitioners in China and other developing countries to further promote green development by targeting industrial parks.

Applied Energy, Volume 318, 15 July 2022, 119207

Abstract

The waste heat recovery cycle, such as Organic Rankine cycle and absorption refrigeration cycle, can convert waste heat to other forms of energy (heat, cooling and electricity) efficiently. Meanwhile, besides the traditional intra-plant energy utilization, the cluster of enterprises in an industrial park brings extra opportunities and benefits for the total site energy recovery and conversion. Therefore, in order to improve the energy utilization efficiency and reduce the overall cost, an optimization-based framework that enables the simultaneous integration of heat exchanger network, utility and waste heat recovery cycle systems of industrial parks is proposed in this study. Three heat integration technologies are simultaneously considered to achieve the design purpose, including the direct heat integration inside plants, the indirect heat integration across different plants, and the integration of heat exchanger network with waste heat recovery cycle systems. Two waste heat recovery cycle systems configuration modes, centralized and distributed, are proposed to achieve the flexible utilization of waste heat in industrial parks. A mathematical model in mixed integer nonlinear programming is formulated to optimize the design scheme subjecting to the objective of minimum total annualized cost. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by two cases studies, and the applicable scenarios for the two waste heat recovery cycle modes are revealed by comparing and analyzing the economic performance of the total site systems. It is concluded that the two waste heat recovery cycle configuration modes do have specific conditions of applicability, that is, the distributed mode is the better choice if the utility cost plus transportation cost of the entire system dominates the total cost, conversely, the centralized mode is recommended. The results also indicate that the inter-plant distance is an important factor affecting decision making, so sensitivity analysis is subsequently conducted and indicates that the distributed mode is preferable only if a specific threshold of inter-plant distance is exceeded.

Journal of Molecular Liquids, Available online 30 July 2022, 119966

Abstract

An environmentally friendly nanofiltration membrane from recycled PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) was fabricated for rejection of Pb (II) and Cr (VI) from synthetic and real industrial effluents. Various ZnO/y-FeOOH NPs concentrations from 0.5 to 1 wt.% were investigated as a hydrophilic agent. The membranes were characterized by FE-SEM, XRD, WCA, AFM, and FTIR analysis. Membrane stability in acid/alkaline/boiling water was also studied. The Box–Behnken design (BBD) was used for the optimization of the metals rejection. The influence of the pH, transmembrane pressure (TMP), and heavy metal ion concentrations on the rejection were investigated. The optimal conditions were achieved as; 3.59, 0.5 bar, and 11 mg/L for Pb (II) and 3.9, 0.5 bar, and 10 mg/L for Cr (VI) rejection. The pure water flux (PWF) was 169.39 kg/m2·h, and the rejection rate of Pb (II) and Cr (VI) were 94.7%, and 63.4%, respectively. The antifouling behavior of the membranes was also studied by the filtration of milk solution. The rPET/ZnO/y-FeOOH membrane with 0.5wt.% of NPs had a high antifouling capability (FRR 96.2%, Rr 90.21%, and Rir 3.001%). This study confirmed that the fabricated rPET/ZnO/y-FeOOH membrane is a promising filter for the removal of heavy metals from industrial effluents.