Green Sustainable Development Research Articles

Ekološke inovativne tehnologije, CO2 i zelena energija

There is a growing interest in the world for environmental protection, climate change mitigation, energy security, and sustainability of production and energy capacities of innovative renewable energy sources Increasing industrial activity has caused air pollution due to projected particles of pollutants. There are global concerns about the increased CO2 emissions and risks to human health and sustainable development. The paper aims to apply technologies that reduce the use of fossil fuels and CO2 emissions as much as possible. Green environmental technology is relevant worldwide because it contributes to the decarbonization and development of new technologies in the energy sector and enterprises. The purpose of the paper is to point out to decision-makers an innovative approach to the use of new technologies, which would indicate the future directions of green sustainable development. By applying different methods in the paper, it is concluded that all countries have to introduce modern technologies and innovative energy development, not only improve the quality of life of all citizens of Serbia but also of all inhabitants of the planet.

Research on the Principles and Methods of Public Space Design under the Concept of Green Sustainable Development

Research on the Principles and Methods of Public Space Design under the Concept of Green Sustainable Development

Research on space governance of scenic area village based on the concept of green sustainable development

As a type of rural settlement left in the scenic area, scenic area village is faced with many practical problems, such as poor environmental quality, poor construction quality, lack of supporting service facilities, idle and wasteful houses of original residents, and the incompatibility between village appearance and scenic area. Therefore, it is urgent to strengthen space governance.Based on the new development concept and the framework of the linkage development of industry, village, landscape and people, taking Wuhan East Lake Scenic Spot as an example and combines the problem investigation, this article proposes a targeted approach through green construction, scenic area village style management and control, dynamic renewal and industrial upgrading to build a sustainable space governance framework of scenic area village that promotes production by landscape, optimizes village-industry cooperation, rejuvenates the village with production and strengthens integrated management of landscape and villages, and uses villages to rich landscapes and promotes the interaction of people and landscapes, with a view to provide technical reference for the construction of related “scenic area village” in China.

Synergetic–Complementary Use of Industrial Solid Wastes to Prepare High-Performance Rapid Repair Mortar

With the vigorous development of infrastructure engineering, there are growing demands for high-performance rapid repair mortar, especially those using environmental-friendly and low-carbon cementitious materials. Hereupon, this work explored an innovative approach for rapid repair mortar preparation using solid waste-based calcium sulfoaluminate cement. The calcium sulfoaluminate cement was first prepared via synergetic–complementary use of industrial solid wastes and then adopted to prepare rapid repair mortar by proportionally mixing with standard sand and four additives (i.e., polycarboxylate superplasticizer, lithium carbonate, boric acid, and latex powder). The mechanistic analysis indicated that the four additives comprehensively optimized the mechanical strengths, fluidity, and setting time of rapid repair mortar by adjusting the hydration process of calcium sulfoaluminate cement. The test results showed that the 2-h compressive and flexural strength, and 1-day bonding strength of the prepared rapid repair mortar were 32.5, 9.2, and 2.01 MPa, respectively, indicating excellent early-age mechanical performance. In addition, the 28-day compressive and flexural strengths of the rapid repair mortar reached 71.8 and 17.7 MPa. Finally, a life cycle assessment and economic analysis indicated that this approach achieved environmental-friendly utilization of industrial solid wastes, and cost-effective and energy-saving natures, which supports current trends towards a circular economy and green sustainable development.

How does biochar aging affect NH3 volatilization and GHGs emissions from agricultural soils?

Biochar has been considered as a potential tool to mitigate soil ammonia (NH3) volatilization and greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions in recent years. However, the aging effect of biochar on soils remains elusive, which introduces uncertainty on the effectiveness of biochar to mitigate global warming in a long term. Here, a meta-analysis of 22 published works of literature with 217 observations was conducted to systematically explore the aging effect of biochar on soil NH3 and GHGs emissions. The results show that, in comparison with the fresh biochar, the aging makes biochar more effective to decrease soil NH3 volatilization by 7% and less risk to contribute CH4 emissions by 11%. However, the mitigation effect of biochar on soil N2O emissions is decreased by 15% due to aging. Additionally, aging leads to a promotion effect on soil CO2 emissions by 25% than fresh biochar. Our findings suggest that along with aging, particularly the effect of artificial aging, biochar could further benefit the alleviation of soil NH3 volatilization, whereas its potential role to mitigate global warming may decrease. This study provides a systematic assessment of the aging effect of biochar to mitigate soil NH3 and GHGs, which can provide a scientific basis for the sustainable green development of biochar application.

Evaluation and analysis of irrigation water use efficiency based on an extreme learning machine model optimized by the spider monkey optimization algorithm

To promote the efficient use of water resources and the sustainable development of the agricultural economy, the main evaluation index that links economic production and the effective use of water resources, irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE), is scientifically evaluated and analyzed. To obtain accurate evaluation results, an evaluation model for IWUE based on an extreme learning machine (ELM) model optimized by the spider monkey optimization (SMO) algorithm (i.e., the SMO-ELM model) was proposed. The model was applied to the evaluation and analysis of IWUE in 24 large and medium irrigation districts in Heilongjiang Province. On this basis, the main driving factors of IWUE differentiation in the irrigation districts were identified, and adaptive control strategies were explored. In addition, to thoroughly test the performance of the constructed SMO-ELM evaluation model, a comparative analysis was performed for a BP model, an ELM model, an ELM model with crow search algorithm optimization (CSA-ELM) and the SMO-ELM model. The results show that there are regional differences in the IWUE of the irrigation districts and that the IWUE of the districts in the eastern part of the study area is better than that of the districts in the central and western parts. The irrigation districts with relatively high evaluation grades (IV to V) are distributed mostly in the eastern part of the study area, and most of the irrigation districts with low evaluation grades (I to II) are located near the main branch of the Songhuajiang River. Differences in indexes, such as the soak field quota and proportion of rice sowing area, are the most important factors related to variations in IWUE grades among the irrigation districts, and targeted control strategies such as planting structure optimization are proposed. The rationality and superiority of the SMO-ELM model are verified by comparing the coefficient of determination (R2), mean square error (MSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and accuracy of classification (accuracy) of the BP, ELM, CSA-ELM and SMO-ELM models. The R2, MSE, MAPE, and accuracy of the SMO-ELM model are 0.9999, 4.33 × 10−10, 0.00039, and 99.8%, respectively, which are much better than those of the other models. The results of complexity analysis verify the stability of the IWUE evaluation results for the irrigation districts. This article provides a new model for the evaluation of IWUE and scientific and technological support for ensuring the safety of water resources and maintaining the sustainable green development of agriculture.

Influence of digital economy on industrial wastewater discharge: evidence from 281 Chinese prefecture-level cities

Abstract The development of digital economy affects environmental pollution emission and green sustainable development. However, the relationship between digital economy and industrial wastewater discharge has rarely been examined. This study establishes the urban digital economy evaluation index system, measures the digital economy indexes of 281 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2016, and examines the impact effect of digital economy development on industrial wastewater discharge using the system generalized method of moment method and the intermediary effects model. The empirical results indicate that the digital economy reduces the industrial wastewater discharge. As evidence shows, the digital economy significantly promotes the upgrading of industrial structure, which is an important factor affecting the industrial wastewater discharge. Additionally, the inhibiting effect of digital economy on industrial wastewater discharge is more significant in big cities. This study provides a scientific base and guidance for reducing environmental pollution emissions and promoting the development of digital economy.

Performance and economic analyses of low-energy ohmic heating cured sustainable reactive powder concrete with dolomite powder as fine aggregates

The fabrication of reactive powder concrete (RPC) has been largely restricted by the high cost of raw materials and the high energy-consuming curing method. In this work, dolomite powder was incorporated to fully replace silica sand as fine aggregates to minimize the material cost of RPC and realize green sustainable development in economic society. Moreover, sustainable reactive powder concrete (SRPC) with dolomite powder fine aggregates was cured in energy-saving mode by using low-energy ohmic heating (LEOH) curing to replace traditional high temperature steam (HTS) curing. The results showed that the curing temperature of LEOH cured sample reached up to 180 °C to reduce the curing duration within 3 h, and the implementation of 3 h LEOH curing could remarkably stimulate the compressive strength of SRPC sample to 105.8 MPa which was comparable to that cured by 3 days HTS curing. Microstructural analyses results indicated the advantages of LEOH curing on improving hydration degree and microstructure of SRPC samples with dolomite powder incorporation. A thorough economic analysis was conducted to further emphasize the quantitative effects of dolomite powder incorporation and LEOH curing on reducing the material and energy costs of SRPC construction. This work broadens the application scenario for RPC structure construction with higher efficiency and lower cost.

Controlling Citrus Huanglongbing: Green Sustainable Development Route Is the Future.

Huanglongbing (HLB) is the most severe bacterial disease of citrus crops caused by Candidatus Liberibacter spp. It causes a reduction in fruit yield, poor fruit quality, and even plants death. Due to the lack of effective medicine, HLB is also called citrus “AIDS.” Currently, it is essential for the prevention and control of HLB to use antibiotics and pesticides while reducing the spread of HLB by cultivating pathogen-free seedlings, removing disease trees, and killing Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). New compounds [e.g., antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and nanoemulsions] with higher effectiveness and less toxicity were also found and they have made significant achievements. However, further evaluation is required before these new antimicrobial agents can be used commercially. In this review, we mainly introduced the current strategies from the aspects of physical, chemical, and biological and discussed their environmental impacts. We also proposed a green and ecological strategy for controlling HLB basing on the existing methods and previous research results.

Socio-Economic Factor Impact on the Republic of Buryatia (Russia) Green Economic Development Transition.

Sustainable green development and environment preservation problems are relevant for unique territories with special economic activity modes, such as the Baikal natural territory. Within Russia, the Republic of Buryatia serves as the model territory for the Lake Baikal ecosystem preservation. Determining the socio-economic development impact on the region’s natural environment and resolving contradictions in transition to the green economic development requires the systematization of economic, social, and environmental processes of quantitative information based on the construction of composite indicators. We construct a composite indicator to assess the socio-economic factor’s impact on the Republic of Buryatia’s current economic state and to compare the current environmental subsystem state and the socio-economic parameters of Buryatia to the average Russian level. We use multiple regression models to determine relationships between various environmental-socio-economic parameters and identify the factors that most impact the environmental states (situations). The measures taken to preserve the unique ecosystem of Lake Baikal have an actual effect. This study shows, that according to the accepted scale, the environmental situation in the region can be characterized as a step towards the green economy transition. The proposed sustainable green development criteria and tools assessment system of the Republic may serve as the basis for forming information and analytical support for an effective economic policy.

QUAN ĐIỂM CỦA GIÁO VIÊN GIÁO DỤC ĐẶC BIỆT VỀ MÔI TRƯỜNG XANH BỀN VỮNG TRONG CAN THIỆP VÀ GIÁO DỤC TRẺ KHUYẾT TẬT

The implementation of green environment and sustainable development activities in schools has led many schools in many countries to follow green school models, also known as sustainable schools. From understanding the characteristics and concepts of a green school environment, schools with sustainable development, the article explores the views of teachers of special education through a survey of 68 teachers teaching children with disabilities in different provinces: Hanoi, Binh Duong, Ho Chi Minh, Quang Ngai on green environment contents and activities in educational interventions for children with disabilities, consult teachers about activities and contents about green environment for sustainable development, the results of the article also show that teachers appreciate the necessity and benefits of bringing a green environment and sustainable development into intervention and education for children with disabilities to be well being children, relieve stress and joyful learning environment.

The Robust Causal Relationships Among Domestic Tourism Demand, Carbon Emissions, and Economic Growth in China

Green and low-carbon development has become a compelling trend of our time. To formulate policies for development and also reduction of carbon emissions, quantifying the trend of tourism in green sustainable development is an essential issue for China, which is undergoing an economic transformation. This study first measured China’s domestic tourism carbon emissions through a bottom-up approach and then used the robust Granger causality test on annual data from 1993 to 2019 to investigate the relationships among China’s domestic tourism revenue, carbon emissions, and economic growth. The empirical results show that: (1) Carbon emissions of the domestic tourism industry are growing steadily, and the carbon emissions of the transportation industry determine the trend of the total carbon emissions of the domestic tourism industry, (2) long-term equilibrium relationships exist among China’s domestic tourism, carbon emissions, and economic growth, and (3) bidirectional causal relationships among economic growth, carbon emissions, and domestic tourism revenue have been detected with the robust Granger causality test, and the time-varying causal relationships may change markedly in these times of significant events and policy changes. Therefore, policymakers should coordinate the relationships among domestic tourism revenue, carbon emissions, and economic growth, in an effort to promote the development of sustainable tourism in China.

The effect of technological factors on industrial energy intensity in China: New evidence from the technological diversification

Based on China's energy consumption structure, the reduction of energy intensity is conducive to the realization of China's carbon neutrality goal, and technological innovation is the core driving force for reducing energy intensity. This paper utilizes the statistical data of industrial enterprises in China during the period of 2011–2018 to explore the technological innovation value chain efficiency under the background of the new development stage. This study divides the innovation value chain into technological innovation stage and the economic conversion stage. The network slacks-based measure (NSBM) approach is applied to calculate the two different stages’ efficiency. LSDV is utilized to analyze the influence mechanism of technological innovation factors on industrial energy intensity. The main results are as follows: first, the development trend of technological innovation efficiency (TIE) and the economic conversion efficiency (ECE) has heterogeneous effect across economic regions. The comprehensive development trend of innovation value chain in central China is the best among the four economic regions. Second, the effect of TIE on industrial energy intensity is negative, while the ECE is positive related to industrial energy intensity. In terms of technology spillover effect, the impact of import and FDI on industrial energy intensity is negative, respectively. The relationship between export and energy intensity is positive. The energy price has the negative relationship with industrial energy intensity, and the impact of energy price on industrial energy intensity is the largest. Through analyzing the efficiency of innovation value chain and the influence mechanism of technological innovation factors on energy intensity, this paper puts forwards relevant countermeasures and suggestions for effectively reducing industrial energy intensity and promoting high-quality industrial sustainable development. In addition, relevant theoretical research is provided for the sustainable green development.

Crayfish–rice integrated system of production: an agriculture success story in China. A review

Chinese agriculture is seeking a sustainable production increase in order to solve the food problem for its population. The traditional “high input, high pollution” agricultural production mode has led to a large burden on resources and on the environment. At present, China is promoting the transformation of its agricultural production modes in the direction of resource conservation and green development. In recent years, the crayfish–rice integrated system of production (CRISP) has been developed intensively in China due to its important economic benefits. Evaluating this new agricultural model comprehensively and guiding the related green sustainable development are urgent issues. Here, we used statistical data and literature to review the origin and development of CRISP in China and to compare the Chinese CRISP with similar models in other parts of the world. We reviewed studies on the ecological and social effects of CRISP for its objective evaluation and drew three main findings. First, although the crayfish initially introduced were sourced from the USA, the extensive application of CRISP led China to rapidly become the largest crayfish producer worldwide — accounting for over 90% of the crayfish production — and a leader in crayfish processing and catering industries. Second, the specific Chinese CRISP culture model promotes a green transformation towards a high-quality rice production system. Finally, CRISP affected positively soil quality, water and nutrient recycling, pest limitation, and biodiversity development in the paddy field system. CRISP reveals a good example of the effective application of green revolution in China’s agricultural production. We analyze for the first time the specific ecological foundation and management model for the sustainable development of CRISP. These observations provide a reference for the development of other agriculture–livestock integrated systems worldwide.

Visual Analysis of Bentonite Adsorption Research from January 2011 to July 2021

This paper takes “bentonite” as the theme and “adsorption” as the keyword, adopts the bibliometric method and visual analysis method, deeply analyzes the research status, keywords, authors and institutions of bentonite adsorption through CiteSpace software, and forecasts the future research and development trend, so as to better promote the research process of bentonite adsorption and provide reference for green sustainable development. The results show that researches on adsorption, sorption and bentonite are hot spots, and many scholars have published authoritative papers. Based on the whole, scholars and institutions mostly conduct independent research, and research forces are relatively scattered.

Monitoring and analysis of green sustainable development in impoverished counties based on nighttime light and RSEI

Sustainable assessment of the quality of green sustainable development in poor counties is essential for urban environmental management, planning as well as achieving sustainable development goals. Currently, there are shortage of related researches on poverty alleviation and ecological environment monitoring in poverty-stricken counties, this study which is based on the nighttime light images and Landsat8 OLI images, constructing a light index, remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) and coupling coordination model of the two. Analyze the situation from 2013 to 2019 poverty alleviation in poor counties in Fujian Province and the ecological environment and explore its coupling and coordination relationship. The results show that from 2013 to 2019, the economy of poor counties has doubled and the most obvious accomplishments of poverty alleviation were in the year 2015 to 2017; the RSEI value of poor counties has all increased, the overall ecological level is at a high-quality level, and the coverage rate is high. The coupling degree C and coordination degree D of the light index and RSEI show a fluctuating upward trend, and both of them are at a good coupling and coordination level, achieving a win-win situation for economic and ecological benefits.

Quantization of the coupling mechanism between eco-environmental quality and urbanization from multisource remote sensing data

The rapid urbanization in central and eastern China has posed a major threat to the green sustainable development of the ecological environment. However, the understanding of the interactive coupling mechanism between urbanization and eco-environmental quality (EEQ) remains to be developed. Understanding their interactive coupling mechanism is of great significance to achieve the urban sustainable development goal. By using multi-source remote sensing data, we intended to answer “What are the temporal and spatial characteristics of urbanization and EEQ in the central and eastern regions of China on the pixel scale in the past 24 years, and what is the coupling mechanism between the urbanization and the EEQ?”. To answer these questions, we improved a pixel-based model (i.e., RSEI-2) to assess the EEQ in China and explored the coupling mechanism between the urbanization and the EEQ in central and eastern China with the combination method of mathematics and graphics. The results showed that the urbanization and the coupling coordination degree (CCD) of the whole region continually increased from 1992 to 2015, especially in the three major urban agglomerations. The CCD of the provinces in these regions exhibited a strong spatial dependence, with the spatial distribution pattern of “low inside, high outside, high in the east and low in the west”. The EEQ did not change significantly, whilst the three major urban agglomerations showed a significant downward trend. Most importantly, this study found that the urbanization determined the development of the CCD lying within the critical value. In addition, the improved RSEI-2 in this study provided great convenience for monitoring the EEQ in China. This study fills the gap in studying the interaction mechanism between the urbanization and the EEQ, and also provides a new perspective for the research on the urban sustainable development in China and even the world.

Analysis of the optimal spatial distribution of natural gas under ‘transition from coal to gas’ in China

China has been attempting to realise green sustainable economic development. Thus, China has proposed and begun to implement the ‘switching from coal to gas’ policy to realise the energy structure transition but neglected to consider seasonal natural gas demand fluctuations, gas supply shortages, the backward gas transportation and storage infrastructure. This paper constructs a model of China’s natural gas distribution system by incorporating these four factors: ① supply factors including domestic natural gas fields, liquid natural gas receiving stations, internationally piped gas sources, ② demand factors including domestic regional demands, ③ real natural gas transportation pipeline systems in the country, and ④ the pricing mechanism of natural gas. Optimal spatial natural gas distribution with maximum social welfare under the three conditions are simulated, respectively: the ① fixed price system, ② market pricing mechanism, and ③ seasonal fluctuations. The simulation results indicate substantial changes would occur in China’s natural gas system during the switch from coal to gas, and the natural gas infrastructure requires further improvement. This paper also provides references for the natural gas storage facility location selection in China.

Green synthesis and kinetic study of eco-friendly chelating agent by hydrothermal process for remediation of heavy metals

ABSTRACT Water management forms a critical issue in the world because water accessibility increments due to the lack of freshwater assets and contamination effects. Water contamination brought about by toxic elements is one of the most significant natural issues in the world. Heavy metals are poisonous to human and threatening for the surroundings. The goal of this study has been to examine the impacts of newly synthesised eco-friendly chelating agent on the removal of heavy metal ions from synthetic water. Here a new eco-friendly chelating agent based on the glycine and citric acid has been synthesised successfully in the high-pressure reactor without the use of any harmful chemicals, using only water as a solvent. Developed eco-friendly chelating agent, 2,2′-((2-(2-((carboxymethyl)amino)-2-oxoethyl)-2hydroxysuccinyl)bis(azanediyl)diacetic acid has been studied in the framework of green chemistry to address the issues of cleaner synthesis. In the perspective of green chemical synthesis and sustainable development, atom economy (AE), Environmental – Factor (E-Factor) and Process Mass Intensity has been estimated for the studied amide synthesis process. The effect of various parameters like pH of the solution, contact time, ratio of metal to chelate and temperature was examined for the removal of heavy metals like chromium, copper and zinc from synthetic water.

Semantic Enhancement of Human Urban Activity Chain Construction Using Mobile Phone Signaling Data

Data-driven urban human activity mining has become a hot topic of urban dynamic modeling and analysis. Semantic activity chain modeling with activity purpose provides scientific methodological support for the analysis and decision-making of human behavior, urban planning, traffic management, green sustainable development, etc. However, the spatial and temporal uncertainty of the ubiquitous mobile sensing data brings a huge challenge for modeling and analyzing human activities. Existing approaches for modeling and identifying human activities based on massive social sensing data rely on a large number of valid supervised samples or limited prior knowledge. This paper proposes an effective methodology for building human activity chains based on mobile phone signaling data and labeling activity purpose semantics to analyze human activity patterns, spatiotemporal behavior, and urban dynamics. We fully verified the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method in human daily activity process construction and activity purpose identification through accuracy comparison and spatial-temporal distribution exploration. This study further confirms the possibility of using big data to observe urban human spatiotemporal behavior.