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This paper investigates key innovative paradigms that seek enhanced consensus building on the sustainable mining agenda of the mineral resource development industry and realities on the ground. It reviews the 55 most relevant academic articles from 2000 to 2019, retrieved from the Web of Science, PubMed and International Conference on Sustainable Development Indicators in the Metals Industry databases. A systematic scoping review method was used to sieve the multitudes of entries obtained from the databases to generate appropriate publications that match the search terms used. Our survey finds a dearth of literature on the subject. Only one article directly confers the need for consensus building on sustainable mining. The existing literature does not suggest the modalities that would enhance indigenous groups’ understanding and appreciation of sustainable mining. This creates a gap between stakeholders with regard to what flags sustainable mining. This study also finds a lack of efforts to incorporate sustainable mining concepts into academic courses focusing on either mining or sustainable development. Thus, this paper suggests that the existing delusions on sustainable mining can be addressed if the science of assessing and communicating the principles of sustainable development in mining is suitably developed and applied in higher educational curricula, environmental literacy feats, community-initiated research and outreach activities. Incorporating indigenous knowledge can address the existing gaps between stakeholder groups and in science.

To fix CO2 emissions efficiently from flue gas of coal-fired power plants, the culture medium, light intensity and bioreactors were comprehensively optimized in the process of CO2 fixation by Chlorella PY-ZU1. To make up for relative insufficiency of nutrients (except for the carbon source) resulting from continuous bubbling of 15% CO2, three chemicals were added into the culture to optimize the molar ratios of nitrogen to carbon, phosphorus to carbon, and magnesium to carbon in culture from 0.17 to 0.69, from 0.093 to 0.096, and from 0.018 to 0.030, respectively. Such adjustments led to a 1.25-fold increase in biomass (from 2.41 to 5.42 g L(-1)). By enhancing light intensity from 4500 to 6000 lux, the peak growth rate of Chlorella PY-ZU1 increased by 99% and reached to 0.95 g L(-1) day(-1). Use of a multi-stage sequential bioreactor notably improved the peak CO2 fixation efficiency to 85.6%.

Rapid urban expansion has significantly altered the regional landscape pattern, posing a serious threat to the sustainable development of natural and social ecosystems. By using landscape patterns indices and an area transfer matrix, this study analyzed the spatial-temporal changes of landscape patterns in the karst mountainous cities of southwest China from 2000 to 2020, by taking the central urban area of Guiyang City (CUAG) as the study area. This study explored the spatial and temporal driving factors of landscape pattern changes by using stepwise multiple linear regression and geographic detector methods. The results show: (1) CUAG’s landscape types altered changed drastically, with the area of forestland and construction land rapid increment and cultivated land decrement significantly. (2) The patches of construction land and forestland tended to be aggregated, the degree of fragmentation was reduced, and the shape was complex; cultivated land fragmentation was intensified. The connectivity of the landscape was improved, while the level of landscape diversity declined, the trend of landscape homogenization was obvious. (3) Socioeconomic and geographical endowment drivers have determined landscape pattern changes. The findings of this study may be used to interpret other similar landscapes worldwide and may imply the protection of urban ecosystem and sustainable development.

High moisture content along with poor dewaterability are the main challenges for sewage sludge treatment and utilization. In this study, the effect of hydrothermal treatment at various temperature (120-200 ˚C) on the properties of sewage sludge derived solid fuel was investigated in the terms of mechanical dewatering character, drying character, calorific value and heavy metal distribution. Hydrothermal treatment (HT) followed by dewatering process significantly reduced moisture content and improved calorific value of sewage sludge with the optimum condition obtained at 140˚C. No significant alteration of drying characteristic was produced by HT. Heavy metal enrichment in solid particle was found after HT that highlighted the importance of further study regarding heavy metal behavior during combustion. However, it also implied the potential application of HT on sewage sludge for heavy metal removal from wastewater.

The rapidly evolving global warming is triggering all levels of actions to reduce industrial carbon emissions, while capturing carbon dioxide of industrial origin via microalgae has attracted increasing attention. This article attempted to offer preliminary analysis on the carbon capture potential of microalgal cultivation. It was shown that the energy consumption-associated with operation and nutrient input could significantly contribute to indirect carbon emissions, making the microalgal capture of carbon dioxide much less effective. In fact, the current microalgae processes may not be environmentally sustainable and economically viable in the scenario where the carbon footprints of both upstream and downstream processing are considered. To address these challenging issues, renewable energy (e.g., solar energy) and cheap nutrient source (e.g., municipal wastewater) should be explored to cut off the indirect carbon emissions of microalgae cultivation, meanwhile produced microalgae, without further processing, should be ideally used as biofertilizer or aquafeeds for realizing complete nutrients recycling.

Green finance (GF) regards social responsibility and environmental protection interests as the core of development and has become a new growth point and a new engine for promoting the development of the green economy (GE). To more accurately grasp the coordination between GF and the GE, the selection of appropriate indicators and feasible methods is worth exploring. Aiming at sustainable development by evaluating the coupling coordination between GF and the GE by means of a comprehensive index system and an integrated approach, this study establishes a coupling coordination degree model based on panel data of 30 Chinese provinces over the period 2007–2016. Furthermore, it evaluates the spatial distribution difference and dynamic evolution trend of the coordination by introducing global/local spatial autocorrelation, a space Markov chain, and a local indicators of spatial association (LISA) Markov chain. According to the research results, the coupling coordination degrees of the provinces exhibit gradual upward trends, and most regions in China are in a barely coordinated state at present. The coordination degree of GF and the GE shows strong spatial dependence overall, and partially presents the characteristics of “high-high (HH)” and “low-low (LL)” clustering patterns. The forecast results show that the future coordination of GF and the GE will remain stable and be affected by the coordinated development of surrounding areas.

The atmospheric pollutants and greenhouse gases emitted by ships have a significant impact on the air quality of the cities around the port and the physical and mental health of the residents. In order to promote the low-carbon, green, and sustainable development of the region, it is urgent to conduct comprehensive research and control the air pollution emissions from ships in the region. In this paper, the traditional power-based emission inventory calculation model is improved through field tests, and the engine propeller matching coefficient is proposed. Combined with the actual situation of local ships, the parameters suitable for the air pollution emission inventory of ships in the region are comprehensively selected. In the case of statistical comparison of the air pollutant emissions of the main and auxiliary engines under different navigation conditions, the uncertainty analysis was carried out, and the AIS (Automatic Identification System) combined with the power method was used to obtain the air pollution emission inventory of ships in the main urban area of Chongqing. The research in this paper can improve the calculation model of the power method emission inventory according to the situation of ships in the inland river area, which provides a reference for the development and improvement of the emission inventory in the inland river area, and also provides suggestions and thinking for the government to formulate energy saving and emission reduction measures in the inland river area.