• Energy Research
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In this work, we studied the release of nitrogen oxides (N2O, NO and NO2) during UN dissolution at different concentrations of HNO3 (3–16 mol l−1) at a ratio between the solid (S) and liquid (L) phases of 1:7.5 (w/w), as well as at an HNO3 concentration of 7.2 mol l−1. and L:S ratios from 3 to 30 (w/w). The UN amounts were varied from 50 to 500 mg. The experiments were carried out at a temperature of 50–60 °C in the air or argon atmosphere.

Abstract Trees comprising high mountain forests have different requirements for site conditions (such as the water supply), thus current climate warming leads to varying reactions of upper forest boundaries depending on the site conditions and ecophysiological features of species. Positive reactions to an increasing heat supply during vegetative season may be hindered for drought-sensitive species by a water deficit in a cold environment, particularly during late winter or early spring. We investigated the radial growth of dark coniferous forest species Siberian stone pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour) and Siberian fir (Abies sibirica Ledeb.) growing on slopes of different orientation (south-west, east, and north) near the upper forest boundary in an area undergoing fast climate warming: the Western Sayan Mountains (South Siberia, Russia), near a massive water reservoir. Correlations of tree-ring width chronologies with moving 21-day temperature series were used to more precisely determine the timing of temperature influence; an analysis of extreme and optimal years and multifactor regression modeling were applied to assess the most favorable/unfavorable thermal conditions in the study area and to estimate the tree growth reaction to the current climatic trends, respectively. Despite relatively low variation in growth (standard deviation Temperature increase in the study area during the last decades have occured about five times faster in the early spring (being enhanced by the reservoir) than in summer. This combination of spring and summer warming leads to an increase in P. sibirica radial growth on the northern slope and the stable growth of both species on sunlit slopes, i.e. providing a tentatively optimistic assessment of the dark coniferous forests’ near future in the region.

A novel bacterial species was isolated from an industrial-scale biogas plant. The isolate Herbinix hemicellulosilytica T3/55(T) is able to degrade crystalline cellulose. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequencing demonstrated that the isolate is closely related to environmental samples forming a hitherto unknown sub-cluster within the family Lachnospiraceae. The draft genome sequence of strain T3/55(T) was established and now provides the genetic basis for application of this microorganism in thermophilic degradation of lignocellulosic biomass.

The Western Siberian Lowlands (WSL) store large quantities of organic carbon that will be exposed and mobilized by the thawing of permafrost. The fate of mobilized carbon, however, is not well understood, partly because of inadequate knowledge of hydrological controls in the region which has a vast low-relief surface area, extensive lake and wetland coverage and gradually increasing permafrost influence. We used stable water isotopes to improve our understanding of dominant landscape controls on the hydrology of the WSL. We sampled rivers along a 1700 km South–North transect from permafrost-free to continuous permafrost repeatedly over three years, and derived isotope proxies for catchment hydrological responsiveness and connectivity. We found correlations between the isotope proxies and catchment characteristics, suggesting that lakes and wetlands are intimately connected to rivers, and that permafrost increases the responsiveness of the catchment to rainfall and snowmelt events, reducing catchment mean transit times. Our work provides rare isotope-based field evidence that permafrost and lakes/wetlands influence hydrological pathways across a wide range of spatial scales (10–10 ^5 km ^2 ) and permafrost coverage (0%–70%). This has important implications, because both permafrost extent and lake/wetland coverage are affected by permafrost thaw in the changing climate. Changes in these hydrological landscape controls are likely to alter carbon export and emission via inland waters, which may be of global significance.

The structure of the water management complex of the Russian Federation is discussed. The main features showing the degree of meeting the demands for water in different spheres of economic activities are presented. The tendencies for variations in volumes of water use are revealed in housing facilities and public utilities, manufacturing and extractive branches of industry, electric power engineering, and agriculture. The article shows the present condition of fishery in inland water bodies, river craft and the infrastructure of inland water and aquatic water transport, and recreation.

Following earlier regional assessment studies, such as the Assessment of Climate Change for the Baltic Sea Basin and the North Sea Region Climate Change Assessment, knowledge acquired from available literature about future scenario simulations of biogeochemical cycles in the Baltic Sea and their uncertainties is assessed. The identification and reduction of uncertainties of scenario simulations are issues for marine management. For instance, it is important to know whether nutrient load abatement will meet its objectives of restored water quality status in future climate or whether additional measures are required. However, uncertainties are large and their sources need to be understood to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of measures. The assessment of sources of uncertainties in projections of biogeochemical cycles based on authors' own expert judgment suggests that the biggest uncertainties are caused by (1) unknown current and future bioavailable nutrient loads from land and atmosphere, (2) the experimental setup (including the spin up strategy), (3) differences between the projections of global and regional climate models, in particular, with respect to the global mean sea level rise and regional water cycle, (4) differing model-specific responses of the simulated biogeochemical cycles to long-term changes in external nutrient loads and climate of the Baltic Sea region, and (5) unknown future greenhouse gas emissions. Regular assessments of the models' skill (or quality compared to observations) for the Baltic Sea region and the spread in scenario simulations (differences among projected changes) as well as improvement of dynamical downscaling methods are recommended.

This article reviews possible schemes of the power supply of an autonomous reverse osmosis desalination plant that uses a photoelectric converter as primary energy sources. Using the climate data of several regions that have a shortage of fresh water for drinking and technical purposes, a technical and economic evaluation of the use of solar energy for obtaining fresh water in regions with high levels of solar radiation was performed. The prospects of the partial or complete substitution of diesel fuel by energy derived from photoelectric converters in such systems for regions with a high level of insolation and cost of diesel fuel are shown.