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Abstract Lignin is considered as a renewable and sustainable resource for producing value-added aromatic chemicals and functional carbon materials. Herein, we develop a one-step catalyst-free depolymerization strategy to convert lignin into aryl monomers and carbon nanospheres simultaneously. Importantly, microwave-assisted depolymerization (MAD) in conjunction with dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) vapors is developed. The total mass yield of guaiacols reached the highest amount of 225.1 mg/g at 600 °C, and the highest yields of phenols (49.0 mg/g) and aromatic hydrocarbons (155.1 mg/g) were obtained at 700 °C. Hydrogen radicals and hydrogen chloride (HCl) are in-situ formed from CH2Cl2, significantly decreasing the activation barrier and reforming pyrolysis vapors to promote the formation of aryl monomers. Interestingly, uniform carbon nanospheres with an average size of 140 nm were produced as co-products at 700 °C. The microwave “hot-spots”, allied with the continuous surface erosion and the decrease in surface energy of lignin-derived carbon precursors by CH2Cl2 vapor, can be considered the driving force for the ultimate formation of carbon nanospheres. The CH2Cl2/MAD system produces aryl monomers (26.8 wt% yield) and carbon nanospheres (36.6 wt% yield) at 700 °C. We provide a facile, intriguing and scalable approach to convert lignin to valuable aryl monomers and sustainable carbon materials that can be applied in the chemistry, energy and environmental fields.

A simplified design procedure is examined for estimating the storage capacity and collector area for annual-cycle-storage, community solar heating systems in which 100% of the annual space heating energy demand is provided from the solar source for the typical meteorological year. Hourly computer simulations of the performance of these systems were carried out for 10 cities in the United States for 3 different building types and 4 community sizes. These permitted the use of design values for evaluation of a more simplified system sizing method. Results of this study show a strong correlation between annual collector efficiency and two major, location-specific, annual weather parameters: the mean air temperature during daylignt hours and the total global insolation on the collector surface. Storage capacity correlates well with the net winter load, which is a measure of the seasonal variation in the total load, a correlation which appears to be independent of collector type.

We describe continental-scale increases in lake and stream total phosphorus (TP) concentrations, identified through periodic probability surveys of thousands of water bodies in the conterminous U.S. The increases, observed over the period 2000-2014 were most notable in sites in relatively undisturbed catchments and where TP was initially low (e.g., less than 10 μg L(-1)). Nationally, the percentage of stream length in the U.S. with TP ≤ 10 μg L(-1) decreased from 24.5 to 10.4 to 1.6% from 2004 to 2009 to 2014; the percentage of lakes with TP ≤ 10 μg L(-1) decreased from 24.9 to 6.7% between 2007 and 2012. Increasing TP concentrations appear to be ubiquitous, but their presence in undeveloped catchments suggests that they cannot be entirely attributed to either point or common non-point sources of TP.

This report reviews the research conducted in connection with a project to apply psychological theory and procedures to the problems of encouraging residential energy conservation. A major part of the project involved surveys of residents' energy-related attitudes. The best (and only consistent) attitudinal predictor of residents' actual energy consumption was their attitude about thermal comfort. A number of other attitudes that could conceivably have been related to consumption, such as attitudes about the reality of the crisis, were not found to be related to consumption. Another major focus of the project was on the effectiveness of feedback (that is, giving residents information about their energy use) as an aid to residents' conservation efforts. A series of experiments demonstrated that frequent, credible energy-consumption feedback, coupled with encouragement to adopt a reasonable but difficult energy-conservation goal, could facilitate conservation. However, these studies also demonstrated that residents could not be given just any kind of information about their energy use as feedback and that even proper feedback would not lead to conservation in all households. Conditions that are crucial for the success of feedback as a conservation aid are discussed. Other studies conducted by the project looked at the effect on energy consumptionmore » of (1) a device to reduce air-conditioning waste by signalling when it is cool outside, (2) an automatic multi-setback thermostat, and (3) utility companies' average payment plans. A survey of residents' knowledge of their energy use also was conducted. 23 references.« less

A nuclear leakage or tactical nuclear weapon use in a limited war could cause immense and long-lasting ecological consequences beyond the direct site of exposure. We call upon all scientists to communicate the importance of the environmental impacts of such an event to all life forms on Earth, including humankind. Changes to ecosystem structure and functioning and species extinctions would alter the biosphere for an unknown time frame. Radiation could trigger cascade effects in marine, atmospheric and terrestrial ecosystems of a magnitude far beyond human capabilities for mitigation or adaptation. Even a “tactical nuclear war” could alter planet Earth’s living boundaries, ending the current Anthropocene era.