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Thermokinetics of Biochar production.

Liu, X., Burras, C. L., Kravchenko, Y. S., Duran, A., Huffman, T., Morras, H., Studdert, G., Zhang, X., Cruse, R. M. and Yuan, X. 2012. Overview of Mollisols in the world: Distribution, land use and management. Can. J. Soil Sci. 92: 383–402. Mollisols – a.k.a., Black Soils or Prairie Soils – make up about 916 million ha, which is 7% of the world's ice-free land surface. Their distribution strongly correlates with native prairie ecosystems, but is not limited to them. They are most prevalent in the mid-latitudes of North America, Eurasia, and South America. In North America, they cover 200 million ha of the United States, more than 40 million ha of Canada and 50 million ha of Mexico. Across Eurasia they cover around 450 million ha, extending from the western 148 million ha in southern Russia and 34 million ha in Ukraine to the eastern 35 million ha in northeast China. They are common to South America's Argentina and Uruguay, covering about 89 million and 13 million ha, respectively. Mollisols are often recognized as inherently productive and fertile soils. They are extensively and intensively farmed, and increasingly dedicated to cereals production, which needs significant inputs of fertilizers and tillage. Mollisols are also important soils in pasture, range and forage systems. Thus, it is not surprising that these soils are prone to soil erosion, dehumification (loss of stable aggregates and organic matter) and are suffering from anthropogenic soil acidity. Therefore, soil scientists from all of the world's Mollisols regions are concerned about the sustainability of some of current trends in land use and agricultural practices. These same scientists recommend increasing the acreage under minimum or restricted tillage, returning plant residues and adding organic amendments such as animal manure to maintain or increase soil organic matter content, and more systematic use of chemical amendments such as agricultural limestone to replenish soil calcium reserves.

Abstract The optimization of a multi-generation system which represents the integrated dual-purpose desalination plant and a low-scale absorption refrigeration system is addressed. A nonlinear mathematical programming optimization model that integrates a natural gas combined-cycle, a multi-effect distillation desalination plant, a series flow double-effect water-lithium bromide absorption refrigeration system, and a water heater, is developed based on first-principle models. The model is implemented in General Algebraic Modelling System and a generalized gradient-based optimization algorithm is used. Given design specifications for electricity generation (around 37 MW), freshwater production (100 kg/s), refrigeration capacity (2 MW), and thermal load for heating (around 0.7 MW of hot water), the integrated system is optimized by minimizing two objective functions by single-objective optimization: total heat transfer area and total annual cost. As a result, minimum total heat transfer area values of 39148 m2, 36002 m2, and 35161 m2 are obtained when 4, 5, and 6 distillation effects were considered in the multi-effect distillation system, respectively. Also, a minimum annual cost of around 24 MM$/yr. is obtained for 5 distillation effects. The influence of the number of effects in the multi-effect distillation subsystem on the optimal solutions is analyzed. Cost-effective optimal solutions are developed for the studied multi-generation system.

Anthropogenic influences and the excessive input of reactive nitrogen compounds into the environment have already severely destabilized the natural nitrogen cycle. Especially in northwestern Germany, many water bodies are polluted by nitrate, inducing negative effects on the ecosystem and drinking water as well as possible risks to human health. In cooperation with almost 600 citizens and 200 students, this issue was addressed in a citizen science project carried out by the Universities of Osnabrück and Oldenburg, gathering 8754 nitrate measurements at 545 monitoring sites from September 2019 to March 2021. The data were used to evaluate the potential of citizen science for research on nitrogen pollution of water bodies. In a pre-investigation, we proved that nitrate test strips are suitable as a measurement method for the citizen science approach to provide an overview of nitrate pollution. We then analyzed whether the citizen science approach can be used to establish an area-wide representative measurement network, to what extent the data can be used for spatial and temporal analyses, and whether the data are consistent with the results of other monitoring initiatives. For this purpose, geoprocessing tools, such as spatial joins and heatmaps, were combined with descriptive statistics and nonparametric statistical tests. Although it was not possible to establish a representative monitoring network due to the uneven spatial distribution of monitoring sites, a large part of the intended area was covered by monitoring sites. Thus, the data provide a good overview of the nitrate pollution in the region and shed light on influencing factors. Spatial impacts, such as land cover and use and hydrogeological conditions, as well as seasonal impacts were statistically evidenced with the citizen science data. Furthermore, the consistency of the data with the measurement results of established measurement initiatives confirm the quality of the citizen science dataset. Accordingly, citizen science can be used to investigate spatial and temporal factors influencing nitrogen pollution, and thus contributes to water conservation research as an innovative approach.

The mathematical model of heat flow and transfer in roof rocks of underground gas gasifier during coal gasification is developed and tested. In terms of geological conditions in the Olkhovo-Nizhnee site (industrial region in Donbass), in Mathcad environment, convective and conductive components of heat flow from reaction channel to upper-lying aquifer are determined. The change in the heat flow from the reaction channel and in the ground water temperature is estimated depending on impermeable layer thickness and water well yield. It is found that after underground coal gasification, water-bearing sandstones accumulate more than 60% of heat migrating from gasifier to enclosing rock mass. It is shown that withdrawal and use of water heated during underground coal gasification will enhance efficiency of the process by 18–25% subject to thickness of partition layer.

Protected areas (PAs) represent a key global strategy in biodiversity conservation. In tropical developing countries, the management of PAs is a great challenge as many contain resources on which local communities rely. Collection and trading of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) is a well-established forest-based livelihood strategy, which has been promoted as a potential means for enhanced conservation and improved rural livelihoods in recent years, even though the sustainability or ecological implications have rarely been tested. We conducted an exploratory survey to understand the role and stakeholder views on conservation prospects and perceived ecological feasibility of NTFPs and harvesting schemes in a northeastern PA of Bangladesh, namely the Satchari National Park. Households (n = 101) were interviewed from three different forest dependency categories, adopting a stratified random sampling approach and using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study identified 13 locally important NTFPs, with fi...

Current indicator-based sustainability assessment approaches usually have three shortcomings: (i) ecological aspects are mostly overrepresented in relation to importance and complexity of economic and social aspects; (ii) they center on filling important gaps in scientific knowledge, but miss on utilization and implementation; and (iii) the assessment results themselves are difficult to implement in decision-making, as conflicting goals and the interaction between indicators have not been sufficiently considered. We propose an approach that fulfills systemic criteria, i.e., sufficient representation of the system including functional interaction among indicators; normative criteria, i.e., considering the different value perspectives of stakeholders by including them in the process and designing sustainability ranges rather; and (iii) procedural criteria, i.e. pursuing the assessment in a true transdisciplinary process. We present the SSP and its application for the Swiss milk value added chain. The system is described with a set of 8 ecological and 9 socio-economic indicators. The sustainability ranges were obtained through literature research and stakeholder interviews. The relationship among the indicators was elicited in a transdisciplinary workshop. The SSP program takes a geometric approach to determine the intersection space corresponding to the satisfaction of the normative ranges while taking into account the functional interactions of the indicators.

The Gaza Strip is one of the world’s most fragile states and faces substantial public health and development challenges. Climate change is intensifying existing environmental problems, including increased water stress. We provide the first published assessment of climate impacts on diarrhoeal disease in Gaza and project future health burdens under climate change scenarios. Over 1 million acute diarrhoea cases presenting to health facilities during 2009–2020 were linked to weekly temperature and rainfall data and associations assessed using time-series regression analysis employing distributed lag non-linear models (DLNMs). Models were applied to climate projections to estimate future burdens of diarrhoeal disease under 2 °C and 1.5 °C global warming scenarios. There was a significantly raised risk of diarrhoeal disease associated with both mean weekly temperature above 19 °C and total weekly rainfall below 6 mm in children 0–3 years. A heat effect was also present in subjects aged > 3 years. Annual diarrhoea cases attributable to heat and low rainfall was 2209.0 and 4070.3, respectively, in 0–3-year-olds. In both age-groups, heat-related cases could rise by over 10% under a 2 °C global warming level compared to baseline, but would be limited to below 2% under a 1.5 °C scenario. Mean rises of 0.9% and 2.7% in diarrhoea cases associated with reduced rainfall are projected for the 1.5 °C and 2 °C scenarios, respectively, in 0–3-year-olds. Climate change impacts will add to the considerable development challenges already faced by the people of Gaza. Substantial health gains could be achieved if global warming is limited to 1.5 °C.