Preface Forests on the Boreal Ecotone of Russian Plain & their Carbon Balance under Global Warming: Experience of Predictive Modeling Persistent Organic Pollutants in Agricultural Soils & their Evaluation in the Czech Republic Evapotranspiration & its Impact on Water Resources The Management of Solid Residues Derived from Municipal Solid Waste Incineration: An Experience of Bottom Ash Recovery for Precasting of Concrete Products The Vulnerability of Northern Cities to Weather-Related Hazards: Case Studies from the Province of Quebec, Eastern Canada Treatment of Acidic Gases using Mg-Al Layered Double Hydroxide & Mg-Al Oxide.
A drainage system is one of the essential elements for a sustainable environment system in a locality. In this study, Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) area is considered for proper investigation of drainage facility. This study aims to concentrate on the present scenario of the drainage system in RCC and the effect of human activity on solid waste management. A field survey was conducted to assess the drainage condition by measuring depth, width, amount of sludge, and wastewater with a measuring rod and scale. Polythene and food waste cover much of the sludge, which is about 80% of the overall waste. Among different categories of drains, the condition of secondary and tertiary drains is worse than primary drains. It was found that various human interventions disrupted the natural flow of drain. At the end of the study, several steps have been recommended to improve the existing condition of the drainage system in RCC.
Composite granules (named Fe-PILMG) based on both an Algerian montmorillonite with iron and gluten as an inert binder are prepared and used in the elimination of cadmium by dynamic adsorption in fixed bed columns. This study is essentially focused on the adsorption of Cd (II) in dynamic mode on a fixed bed based on Fe-PILMG sorbent granules followed by a study on the chemical regeneration of these new saturated adsorbents. The various regeneration tests are carried out with NaOH solution. The experimental data on the elimination of Cd (II) (pH = 7, T = 20 +/- 2 degrees C) in dynamic mode reveal that this adsorption is considerably influenced by the flow rate (2 to 5 mL min-1), Cd (II) initial concentration (20 to 50 mg L-1), and bed height (5 and 15 cm) and that a modification of each of these parameters can strongly influence the efficiency of this process. The assessment of the experimental data is carried out using the Thomas, Yoon & Nelson and Bohart-Adams models. The fit of the experimental and modeled breakthrough curves indicates excellent applicability of the mathematical models studied which is confirmed by high values of the correlation coefficient for the Bohart-Adams model (R-2 = 0.99, model constants N0 = 634.87 mg L-1, kBA = 0.079 (L (mg min)-1 ), from Yoon and Nelson model (R-2 = 0.97, zeta = 413.03 min, KYN = 0.0049 min-1), Thomas (R-2 = 0.98, q0 = 49.03 mg g-1, KTH = 5.21 mL (mg. min)-1).
Today, almost all hydrogen production is based on fossil fuels. Hydrogen production plants contribute to harmful emissions in the atmosphere, which is one of the causes of global warming. In order to obtain hydrogen as an entirely green energy source, there is an urgent requirement to significantly reduce or even completely eliminate carbon emissions from fossil fuel-based hydrogen production processes. In this context, new efforts should be increased to develop hydrogen production technologies that produce lower levels of harmful emissions. The development of carbon capture technology by the chemical cycle offers great potential to reduce harmful emissions generated during hydrogen production from fossil fuels. In this study, hydrogen production methods from fossil sources have been reviewed and the recent studies of chemical looping technology for hydrogen production were presented.
COVID-19 pandemic and consequent unavoidable lockdown left an unprecedented shock on social and economic life. Present study aimed to evaluate the impacts of COVID-19 lockdown on the ambient air quality of urban areas of eastern Indian state West Bengal. During lockdown period, Air Quality Index (AQI) was mostly found in 'Good' or 'Satisfactory' and sometimes, in 'Moderate' categories, and rarely, in 'poor' category. AQI was in 'Good' category for most of the lockdown span at Siliguri (67%) followed by Kolkata (44%), Howrah (38%) and Asansol (25%). Based on average AQI ranges: lockdown period (48.68- 62.12) 0.05) decreased significantly during lockdown. Similarly, PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 level reduced in Howrah. Beside, no significant changes observed for NH3 and SO2 concentration in Howrah compared to one year before. Apart from PM2.5, NO2, NH3 and SO2 level of previous year, mean concentration of PM10, CO, O3 showed significant drop at Siliguri during lockdown. Ambient air quality parameters except SO2 showed remarkable decline in Asansol also during lockdown. It can be concluded that COVID-19 lockdown exerted positive effects from environmental health perspective. It improved overall ambient air quality parameters of urban areas of West Bengal. Proper planning and policy making should be given utmost priority to control air pollution in the present 'new normal' COVID-19 scenario.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) information of business activities disclosed in corporate annual reports lack consistency in content due to variability of perceptions on environmental issues among company executives. Prior studies examined factors affecting environmental disclosures by comparing different firm characteristics, but no reference of executives' perceptions on climate change disclosures was identified in the existing literature. This study aimed at investigating perceptions of executives from 26 listed oil and gas (O&G) companies on climate change mitigation (CCM) information disclosures in annual reports. A questionnaire was constructed referring to the sustainability reporting framework of International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) to receive responses from executives of the sample O&G companies. The study revealed that the executives of O&G companies across different value chains perceived materiality for disclosure for all the four climate change indicators- GHG emission, energy use, renewable energy, and flared gases. Significant differences in mean scores of CCM information disclosures existed within four groups of executives holding different positions as well as executives who had different levels of knowledge about annual reports. This study puts forward that climate change mitigation disclosures in annual reports gets affected by level of positions held by executives in their respective companies and their level of knowledge of annual report.
Rising urban flood patterns are a universal phenomenon and a significant challenge for city government and urban planners worldwide. Urban flood problems range from relatively localized incidents to substantial incidents, which lead to cities being flooded for a few hours to several days. Therefore, the effect may be widespread, such as the temporary displacement of individuals, disruption to civic facilities, water quality degradation and the possibility of epidemics. The problems raised by urban flooding are highly challengeable and compound by ongoing climate change, with adverse implications for changes in rainfall and gaps in intra-urban rainfall distribution. Unplanned construction and invasions of large houses along rivers and watercourses have interfered in natural rivers and watercourses. As a result, the runoff has risen in proportion to the urbanization of the urban floods. The location of the relief camp and the priority for evacuation were determined, and the safest route to avoid floods were established. This method can be used for emergency planning in future flood incidents, and it will help plan disaster preparedness for Panchayat. This study will promote the flood plain
Anaerobic digestion (AD) refers to the biological process which can convert organic substrates to biogas in the absence of oxygen. The aim of this study was to determine the capability of feedstock to produce biogas and to quantify the biogas yield from different feedstocks. A co-digestion approach was carried out in a continuous stirred tank reactor operated under mesophilic conditions and at a constant organic loading rate of 0.0756 g COD/ L.day, with a hydraulic retention time of 25 days. For comparison, mono-digestion was also included in the experimental work. 2 L working volumes were used throughout the experimental work. The seed culture was obtained from composting as substrate digestion. When the feedstock was added to seeding, the biogas started to emit after three days of retention time. The highest volume of biogas was observed when the seeding volume used for 1000 mL. However, the lowest volume of biogas yield was obtained from both co-digestion reactors, with a value of 340 mL. For methane yield, the highest methane production rate was 0.16 L CH4/mg. The COD with yield was at 8.6% and the lowest was at 0.5%. The highest quantity of methane was obtained from a reactor of Euphorbiaceae peel with added seeding, while the lowest methane yield came from a reactor of Euphorbiaceae stems with added seeding. In this study, sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) was used as a buffering solution to correct the pH in the reactor if the reactor condition was found to be in a souring or acidic condition.
Evaluation of groundwater quality is vital due to its diverse use for several purposes. In the present study, groundwater quality and suitability from the Peshawar basin, Pakistan, were evaluated for drinking and irrigation purposes. The water samples were analysed for major cations (Ca, Mg, Na and K) and anions (chloride, bicarbonate and sulphate) along with other physicochemical parameters (pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, and total hardness). About 95% of the water samples were found to be within the WHO, US-EPA and Pak-EPA permissible levels for drinking purposes. Seventy percent (70$) of the water samples belonged to the hard water category. Irrigation water quality parameters, such as, chloride, residual sodium bicarbonate, sodium adsorption ratio, percent sodium, magnesium adsorption ratio, Kelly' s ration and permeability index were evaluated which demonstrated that the groundwater was highly to moderately suitable for irrigation. A correlation study was conducted to find out the mutual associations among the variables. Piper diagram indicated the overall chemical nature of the study area was calciummagnesium bicarbonate type. Cluster analysis revealed mutual apportionment of various parameters in the groundwater of the Peshawar basin, Pakistan.
Landfilling is the most commonly adopted method for a large quantity of waste disposal. But, the main concern related to landfills is the generation of leachate. The leachate is high strength wastewater that is usually characterized by the presence of high molecular recalcitrant organics. Several conventional methods are adopted for leachate treatment. However, these methods are only suitable for young leachate, having high biodegradability and low toxicity levels. The mature and stabilized leachate needs advanced technologies for its effective treatment. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are very suitable for such complex wastewater treatment as reported in the literature. After going through the literature survey, it can be concluded that Fenton-based approaches are effective for the treatment of various high/low strength wastewaters treatment. The applications of the Fenton-based approaches are widely adopted and well recognized due to their simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and reliability for the reduction of high chemical oxygen demand (COD) as reported in several studies. Besides, the process is relatively economical due to fewer chemical, non sophisticated instruments, and low energy requirements. In this review, the conventional and advanced Fenton's approaches are explained with their detailed reaction mechanisms and applications for landfill leachate treatment. The effect of influencing factors like pH, the dosage of chemicals, nature of reaction matrix, and reagent ratio on the treatment efficiencies are also emphasized. Furthermore, the discussion regarding the reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color, increase in biodegradability, removal of humic acids from leachate, combined processes, and the pre/post-treatment options are highlighted. The scope of future studies is summarized to attain sustainable solutions for restrictions associated with these methods for effective leachate treatment.
Kazakhstan's cities experience high concentrations levels of atmospheric particulate matter (PM), which is well-known for its highly detrimental effect on the human health. A further increase in PM concentrations in the future could lead to a higher air pollution-caused morbidity and mortality, causing an increase in healthcare expenditures by the government. However, to prevent elevated PM concentrations in the future, more stringent standards could be implemented by lowering current maximum allowable PM concentration limit to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)'s limits. Therefore, this study aims to find out what impact this change in environmental policy towards PM has on state economy in the long run. Future PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations were estimated using multiple linear regression based on gross regional product (GRP) and population growth parameters. Dose-response model was based on World Health Organization's approach for the identification of mortality, morbidity and healthcare costs due to air pollution. Analysis of concentrations revealed that only 6 out of 21 cities of Kazakhstan did not exceed the EU limit on PM10 concentration. Changing environmental standards resulted in the 71.7% decrease in mortality and 77% decrease in morbidity cases in all cities compared to the case without changes in environmental policy. Moreover, the cost of morbidity and mortality associated with air pollution decreased by $669 million in 2030 and $2183 million in 2050 in case of implementation of OECD standards. Thus, changing environmental regulations will be beneficial in terms of both of mortality reduction and state budget saving.
Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) have become an environmental havoc in last few decades with reported cases of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs), lethal effects over aquatic organisms, interference in natural decomposition of organic matter, reduced diversity of microbial communities in different environmental compartments, inhibition of growth of microbes resulting in reduced rate of nutrient cycling, hormonal imbalance in exposed organisms etc. Owing to their potential towards bioaccumulation and persistent nature, these compounds have longer residence time and activity in environment. The conventional technologies of wastewater treatment have got poor efficiency towards removal/degradation of PhACs and therefore, modern techniques with efficient, cost-effective and environment-friendly operation need to be explored. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) like Photocatalysis, Fenton oxidation, Ozonation etc. are some of the promising, viable and sustainable options for degradation of PhACs. Although energy/chemical or both are essentially required for AOPs, these methods target complete degradation/mineralization of persistent pollutants resulting in no residual toxicity. Considering the high efficiency towards degradation, non-toxic nature, universal viability and acceptability, AOPs have become a promising option for effective treatment of chemicals with persistent nature.
Industrialization and urbanization are modern need and trends. Such trends affect the natural ecosystem of rivers. Indian rivers face such problems in a high ratio. The aim of this study is to investigate the cause and amount of pollution in a tributary river Krishni. Pre-monsoon sampling of Krishni river water was performed as per APHA standard. Water samples were collected from different sites of Krishni river. Physiochemical parameters as well as trace elements concentrations have been analysed and results were compared with BIS-2012, WHO-2017 and EPA-2001 recommendations. The presence of high BOD, COD, TDS and others physiochemical parameters along with heavy metals reveals that tributary is highly polluted owing to industrial and domestic discharge either directly or through drains. High values of these parameters are harmful for the ecological health of the river because it makes survival of aquatic flora and fauna at risk. On the basis of the results obtained by the present study, it was concluded that level of the pollution in river Krishni is at alarming phase, where if strong action for the rejuvenation of river not takes place, river becomes a dead pool.
The problems with unsorted municipal waste are always associated with disposal issues as it requires a large area for landfilling or high energy used for incineration. In recent years, an autoclaving technique has been considered a promising approach which could minimize the volume of organic waste from being directly disposed or incinerated. In this work, an attempt was done to study the saccharification potential of organic residues under elevated temperature Thermal treatment involving hot water bath was applied to treat the organic residue ranging from 60 C to 100 C for 30 and 60 minutes. The result obtained showed an increasing trend for the concentration of glucose and carbohydrate. However, the result for lignocellulose content which contains various component includes extractive, holocellulose, hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin show variation. Based on the thermal treatment carried out, the result indicated that the trend of glucose and carbohydrate content. The highest percentage of glucose that can be obtained 978.602 lug/m1 which could be obtained at 90 C at 60 minutes. The carbohydrate also shows an increasing trend with 0.234 mg/ml as the highest peak achieved at 80 C for 30 minutes treatment. However, it was found that the lignocellulose content varies with temperature and time. The statistical analysis was carried out using two ways ANOVA shows an interaction effect between the independent variables (temperature and contact time) and the saccharification effects on the food wastes. The result shows a variation in the significant effect of independent variables on the changes in the composition of food waste.
Urban heat island (UHI) is one of the most important climatic implications of urbanization and thus a matter of key concern for environmentalists of the world in the twenty-first century. The relationship between climate and urbanization has been better understood with the introduction of thermal remote sensing. So, this study is an attempt to understand the influence of urbanization on local temperature for a small developing city. The study focuses on the investigation of intensity of atmospheric and surface urban heat island for a small urbanizing district of Punjab, India. Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS satellite data and field observations were used to examine the spatial pattern of surface and atmospheric UHI effect respectively, for the month of April, 2018. The satellite data has been used to cover the larger geographical area while field observations were taken for simultaneous and daily temperature measurements for different land use types. The significant influence of land use/land cover (LULC) patterns on UHI effect was analyzed using normalized built-up and vegetation indices (NDBI, NDVI) that were derived from remote sensing satellite data. The statistical analysis carried out for land surface temperature (LST) and LULC indicators displayed negative correlation for LST and NDVI while NDBI and LST exhibited positive correlation depicting attenuation in UHI effect by abundant vegetation. The comparison of remote sensing and in-situ observations were also carried out in the study. The research concluded in finding both nocturnal and daytime UHI effect based on diurnal air temperature observations. The study recommends the urgent need to explore and impose effective UHI mitigation measures for the sustainable urban growth.
In this study, the decolorization of Evercion Blue P-GR (EBP) and Ostazin Black H-GRN (OBH) was investigated using white-rot fungi named as Trametes versicolor (T. versicolor) by Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) system. This study involved experiments employing synthetic textile wastewater in Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) system (170 ml), initially inoculated with a pure culture of fungi, but operated, other than controlling pH (4.5±0.2) and temperature (25±1oC), under non-sterile conditions. The effect of dye concentrations on fungal biodegradation was also investigated. The decolorization efficiencies were 98%, 90%, and 87% respectively, for EBP when the initial dye concentration of 50, 100, and 200 mg L-1 were used. However, the decolorization percentages for OBH dye were obtained 95% for 50 mg L-1 dye solution in 2 days and 66% for 100 mg L-1 dye solution in 5 days. Possible interactions between dye molecules and the fungal surface were confirmed by SEM, EDX, and FTIR analyses.
. Many industries, such as textiles, chemical refineries, leather, plastics and paper, use different dyes in various process steps. At the same time, these industrial sectors are responsible for discharging contaminants that are harmful and toxic to humans and microorganisms by introducing synthetic dyes into wastewater. Of these dyes, methylene blue dye, which is classified as basic dyes, is accepted as a model dye. For this reason, methylene blue dye was selected in the study and its removal from the water was studied. In this study, two efficient biosorbents were developed from chitosan and sunflower waste, an agro-industrial waste and modified using iron nanoparticles. The biosorption efficiency was evaluated for methylene blue (MB) dye removal from aqueous solution under various parameters such as treating agent, solution pH, biosorbent dosage, contact time, initial dye concentration and temperature. We investigated the kinetic properties of dye removal from water for Chitosan-Sunflower (CS), Chitosan-Sunflower-Nanoiron (CSN). the wavelength scanned, the maximum absorbance was determined as 660 nm. For the core shell biosorbents we obtained, we found that the optimum time for removal of MB from wastewater was 60 min. The pH of the best pH was determined as 5 in the studied pH. The most suitable temperature for the experiment was determined as 30°C. SEM-EDAX, TEM, XRD, and FTIR techniques were used to characterize biosorbents produced and modified in the experimental stage and to monitor the change of biosorbent after dye removal. The interactions of the paint with the surface used for removal were explained by these techniques. It was calculated that 80% of CS and 88% of CSN removed MB in optimum conditions. Also, the absorption of MB dye onto the surface was investigated by Langmiur and Frendlinch isotherms and it was determined from the results that the removal was more compatible with Langmiur isotherm.
