Environmental quality since 1820

<p>The self-burning of coal mining residues disposed at environmental conditions have been described in the literature as a phenomenon occurring worldwide. These coal related fires are of significant concern because of the risks to environment and human health due to the emission of harmful gases and particulate matter to atmosphere. Another concern is the degradation of soils and waters in surrounding areas owing to the mobilization and leaching of hazardous elements. The self-burning of coal mining waste deposits may be a very persistent phenomena over decades. The carbon content (combustible fraction) and chemical composition of coal waste materials (and some physical properties) are the most relevant factors that influence intensity and duration of the self-burning process. The comprehensive characterisation of coal waste deposit materials provide information on the self-burning process and above all useful insights about the propensity to ignition and burning and their environmental impacts. The characterization of coal waste materials can contribute to assess their reuse as a secondary source of critical raw materials and carbon based materials.</p><p>The recycling of these materials, from both burning and non-burning coal waste deposits, is in good agreement with recommendations from European Union (EU) pointing out the need for developing sustainable recovery of mining and industrial wastes to mitigate environmental impacts. The EU identifies 26 critical raw materials including inorganic trace elements and natural graphite as a critical raw materials with extremely high level of external dependence, and strongly recommends the development of measures to increase recycling of by-products and residues. In this framework, research has been dedicated to burning or already burned coal mining waste deposits in Portugal and Spain. Non-burning coal mining waste deposits from the same mining areas have also been investigated. These coal waste deposits, resulted from the discharging of coarse mine refuse from mining exploration. They are very heterogeneous and present variable amounts of coal that is the combustible fraction. The comprehensive characterization of mining waste materials as well as the identification of products formed during combustion reveals the potential environmental impact, principally due to the concentration of volatile organic compounds emitted to atmosphere. The combustion process also causes changes in trace elements’ mode of occurrence with some becoming more easily mobilised for surrounding soils and water systems by percolation or deposition of solid atmospheric particles. On the other hand, the mining waste burned materials reveal an enrichment of some trace elements, including critical raw material; and, the production of graphitic structures, including graphene. Therefore the coal wastes mining deposits are an environmental issue, they can be seen as an alternative secondary source of critical raw materials and carbon based materials.</p>

Rapid economic growth is usually accompanied by rising air pollution in China, especially in the economically developed regions. Beijing is the capital of China, which is selected as a study case in this article. The aim of this study is to authenticate if the Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis exists between air pollution and economic growth in Beijing over the period of 1990–2013, and to understand the driving factors of the air pollution by utilizing the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) model. To avoid the multicollinearity of the driving factors, ridge regression is utilized. CO2, SO2 and dust emissions are served as the air pollution indicators. Results show that, both CO2 and SO2 emissions, contribute to an agreement to the EKC hypothesis, while dust emissions do not. Besides, the turning point of SO2 emissions has already achieved in 1999, whereas that of CO2 emissions will be achieved in 2026. Population, urbanization, and industry structure are introduced into the STIRPAT model. In the STIRPAT model, CO2, SO2 and dust emissions all follow the EKC hypothesis, while only SO2 emissions achieved the turning point in 2006, nevertheless, that of CO2 and dust emissions will be achieved in 2023 and 2070, respectively. Population, urbanization, and industry structure factors all contribute a positive impact on CO2 emissions. However, the three factors all exert negative influence on the SO2 and dust emissions. Finally, policies on addressing air pollution problems in Beijing have been discussed. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 35: 1231–1239, 2016

The market needs will be fragrant citronella oil increases, but it is not worth the production and quality of fragrant Lemongrass oil is produced. The purpose of this study, that is, to figure out the best combination of sources of raw materials and factors of the size of the craftmanship the leaves against the yield and quality of fragrant citronella oil. Research design used was Random Complete Factorial Design, using two combination treatment that is the source of the raw material and the size of the craftmanship leaves. The observed parameters include: color, yield, citronellal, citronellol and geraniol. The results of this study indicate that the color of the resulting eligible SNI 06-3953-1995 that is pale yellow to yellow-brown. Combination treatment of the source of the raw material and the size of the leaf is very different from real craftmanship against yield oil of citronella scented with the highest average on the source of raw material for the village of Wedomartani, craftmanship and size of 0.93% leaves 10 cm that is 0.94%. Chemical content of citronellal shows that the source of the raw material and the size of the different leaf craftmanship not real. Chemical content of citronellol and of the raw materials sources that geraniol very different real, whereas the size of different leaf craftmanship not real. The average content of chemical sitronellol and geraniol at the source of the raw materials of the highest village of Kebonharjo, the content of citronellol 13.11% and geraniol content 34.84%. 
 Key words: raw material sources, treatment, quality of citronella oils

Innovative ceramic pigments from recycled lithium-ion battery cathodes for inkjet applications

CO2 and SO2, while having different environmental impacts, are both linked to the burning of fossil fuels. Research on joint patterns of CO2 emissions and SO2 emissions may provide useful information for decision-makers to reduce these emissions effectively. This study analyzes both CO2 emissions and SO2 emissions embodied in interprovincial trade in 2007 and 2010 using multi-regional input–output analysis. Backward and forward linkage analysis shows that Production and Supply of Electric Power and Steam, Non-metal Mineral Products, and Metal Smelting and Pressing are key sectors for mitigating SO2 and CO2 emissions along the national supply chain. The total SO2 emissions and CO2 emissions of these sectors accounted for 81% and 76% of the total national SO2 emissions and CO2 emissions, respectively.

Measuring the impact of global tropospheric ozone, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide concentrations on biodiversity loss

Progress in used tyres management in the European Union: A review

To gain a greater understanding of the spatial spillover effect of greenhouse gas emissions and their influencing factors, this paper provides a spatial analysis of four gas pollutants (CO2 emissions, SO2 emissions, NOx emissions, and dust emissions). Focusing on China, the paper also explores whether the four gas pollutants are influenced by the emissions of neighboring regions and other possible sources. The paper uses a global spatial autocorrelation analysis, local spatial association analysis and spatial lag model for empirical work. The results suggest that CO2, SO2, and NOx emissions show significant positive results for both the spatial correlation and space cluster effect in provincial space distribution.CO2 and NOx emissions have a significant positive spillover effect, while the SO2 emissions’ spatial spillover effect is positive but not significant. Economic growth and urbanization are the key determinants of CO2, dust, and NOx emissions, while energy efficiency and industrialization do not appear to play a role. This raises questions about the method of examining the spatial relationship between gas pollution, economic growth and urbanization in the future.

Understanding the relationship between per capita income and various environmental indicators is becoming increasingly important for sustainable development. There is a new trend of moving from a cross‐country or country‐level study to a regional level study. In this article, the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality in 56 prefecture‐level cities of China from 2011 to 2012 has been studied. Per capita GDP was used as a marker of economic development at the city level. Besides the commonly used SO2 emissions, per capita water consumption and COD emissions were also included as typical environmental indicators. While the per capita GDP in these cities increased remarkably, there was no significant change of per capita water consumption, but a significant decrease was achieved for SO2 and COD emissions. There is a strong correlation between per capita GDP and per capita water consumption, which fulfills the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. However, there was no significant relationship between per capita GDP neither SO2 emission nor COD emission. There was also no regional difference for per capita GDP and per capita water consumption, but SO2 emission and COD emission are division‐dependent. Generally speaking, the emissions reduction policy for SO2 and COD in these cities showed tangible results. The control of per capita water consumption remains a major task for local governments. Besides the strict control of pollution emission, a series of water‐saving measures should be included in the environmental protection policy to reduce the per capita water consumption. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 36: 1290–1295, 2017

Emission characteristics of co-combustion of a low calorie and high sulfur–lignite coal and woodchips in a circulating fluidized bed combustor: Part 1. Effect of excess air ratio

There is a paradox about our knowledge of the palm fruit and seed; it is the least studied part of the plant and yet is the most important economic resource. It represents the source of food and raw materials on a massive economic scale. Nevertheless, there are few studies of development, structure, and biology of palm fruits; most interest has been expressed in the physiology and biochemical composition, but even then the potential value of palm fruits as sources of raw material is little understood. Most work has been done on coconut, oil-palm, and date (e.g. van Die 1974); Jeje et al. 1978; Juliano 1926). For palms as a whole information is mainly summarized in Murray (1971, 1973), while Essig (1977a), and Essig and Young (1979) have made a comparative histological study of a group ofarecoid palms. Guérin (1949) made studies on the anatomy of fruit and seed in several palms; Bentinckia condapanna has been described by Padmanabhan and Regupathy (1981).

This paper re-studies the relationship between trade openness and environmental pollution. Through the theoretical framework, there is a non-uniform effect of trade openness on environmental pollution. Utilizing four alternative measures of trade openness as threshold variables, this paper examines the effect of trade openness on environmental pollution. We adopt a regression with nonlinearity, in which our nonlinear model includes two regressions — a threshold model and an interaction-term model. Utilizing four alternative measures of trade openness, our threshold test shows a single-threshold effect on pollutant emissions, implying that there are two regimes: low- and high-corruption. Our empirical results show that for countries with high-corruption, increases in trade openness significantly reduce pollutants emissions whatever CO2 emissions or SO2 emissions, and the larger effects of trade openness on environmental quality. However, the impact of trade openness on pollution was not found in countries with low-corruption. This study suggests that further trade openness and reduced environmental degradation (i.e., decline in CO2 and SO2 emissions) are compatible rather than competing objectives, especially in high-corruption countries. Furthermore, our results also show that in low-corruption countries, the negative effects of income on CO2 emissions are statistically significant, but in high-corruption countries it is not so.

Eco-industrial parks (EIPs) promote the coordination of economic development and environmental protection. This paper uses the nonlinear DID method, with the data of 288 cities spanning from 2003–2019, to study the nonlinear effects of EIPs on SO2 and CO2 emissions, aiming to portray the nonlinear and heterogeneous characteristics of EIP’s effects. Meanwhile, this paper examines the effects of EIPs more accurately and completely. The main results are as follows: 1. EIPs can significantly reduce CO2 and SO2 emissions, but there is significant heterogeneity between the effects. 2. The effect of EIPs on SO2 and CO2 emissions is nonlinear. In addition, it shows significant nonlinear characteristics as the change of foreign investment and population density in cities. Therefore, it is important to consider these nonlinear characteristics when establishing and evaluating EIPs. This paper accurately identifies the nonlinear effects of EIPs and provides some suggestions for the future development of EIPs.

Could SO2 and CO2 emissions trading schemes achieve co-benefits of emissions reduction?

I. IntroductionGas to Liquids (GTL) is one of clean alternative fuels which loosely defined terms that is generally used to describe the chemical conversion of natural gas to some type of liquid products. As such, it excludes the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG), but includes the conversion of gas to methanol, liquid fuels, and petrochemicals, being the most common applications. In other words, Gas to liquids (GTL) technology is used to convert a carbon containing feedstock such as natural gas, to synthetic diesel fuels and further developed by oil companies. Fewer studies investigated the use of GTL diesel with the existing diesel engines to study the effect of using this new alternative fuel on the efficiency and emissions in these engines. Hence, the objectives of this study are to investigate the behavior of the GTL – diesel fuel blends in context of different combustion characteristics, engine performance and emissions. It is expected that the outcomes of this study will shed further light o...