Environments — Open Access Journal of Environmental Conservation and Technology

Municipal solid waste (MSW) has become a matter of increasing global concern. Biological conversion is considered to be the most applicable disposal method, especially for the organic fraction of MSW. The aim of this study was to evaluate composting as a treatment method for the sustainable management and recycling of MSW and to test the ecotoxicity of the compost produced on the landfill surface. The ecotoxicity of the compost was investigated by means of a set of biological tests. The ecotoxicological impact of the compost was evaluated by plant growth tests with white mustard (Sinapis alba L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Plants were grown under controlled conditions for 21 days, in earthen pots, treated with MSW compost (MSWC) to study the effect of MSWC on plant biomass production. Sprouts and the number of growing plants occurring in the earthen pots were counted. The values obtained from three simultaneously conducted experiments were averaged and presented. Plants growing in the earthen pots with the compost exhibited increasing plant biomass while no changes were observed in their appearance; retarded growth or necrotic changes were not recorded. The ecotoxicity tests performed show that the analyzed compost produced in the composting plant situated on the landfill surface achieved high percentages of the germinating capacity of white mustard (Sinapis alba L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) seeds and can be therefore used in the subsequent reclamation of the landfill concerned. Full article

Damage to crops from wildlife interference is a common threat to food security among rural communities in or near Game Management Areas (GMAs) in Zambia. This study uses a two-stage model and cross-sectional data from a survey of 2769 households to determine the impact of land use planning on the probability and extent of wildlife-inflicted crop damage. The results show that crop damage is higher in GMAs as compared to non-GMAs, and that land use planning could be an effective tool to significantly reduce the likelihood of such damage. These findings suggest that there is merit in the current drive to develop and implement land use plans to minimize human-wildlife conflict such as crop damage. This is especially critical as Zambian conservation policies do not explicitly provide compensation for damage caused by wildlife. Full article

The article describes the premises and conditions for the implementation of a pro-landscape spatial policy in rural areas in Poland. It presents the erosion of spatial order in a large part of the country’s territory. Firstly, the state of protection of the rural landscape and the legal aspects of shaping the space of rural areas are described. Secondly, the location is depicted, and the main physiognomic and environmental threats in the rural areas are discussed. It is then questioned whether the statutory regulations that have been introduced into the spatial planning system and adapt the Polish law to the requirements of the European Landscape Convention will stop the degradation of the landscape. Deep systemic changes are needed, as they will lead to the involvement of public policy in shaping the landscape and the introduction of tools and procedures for the management of visual landscape resources. They would constitute a convenient space for mediation in the relations between actors operating in space and an open knowledge laboratory of the environment, which would be useful in the participatory planning process. The presented arguments and conclusions result from the review and analysis of research results, which are mainly in the field of landscape protection and rural area management. Full article

Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) is recognized by the European Union, along with carbon, capture and storage (CCS), as one of the main tools towards global warming mitigation. It has, thus, been extensively studied by various researchers around the world. The majority of the papers published so far focus on the individual stages of a CCU value chain (carbon capture, separation, purification, transportation, and transformation/utilization). However, a holistic approach, taking into account the matching and the interaction between these stages, is also necessary in order to optimize and develop technically and economically feasible CCU value chains. The objective of this contribution is to present the most important studies that are related to the individual stages of CCU and to perform a critical review of the major existing methods, algorithms and tools that focus on the simulation or optimization of CCU value chains. The key research gaps will be identified and examined in order to lay the foundation for the development of a methodology towards the holistic assessment of CCU value chains. Full article

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to several of the world’s least developed economies. Additionally, forty percent of the nearly one billion people in this region lack access to basic electricity. There are several initiatives and programs aimed at increasing electricity access, clean cooking fuel, and renewable energy around the world. Economic development efforts have traditionally relied on increasing an economy’s use of fossil fuels. However, global climate change agreements and mitigation efforts are in direct contrast with this approach. As such, future development efforts must fit into the larger energy–population–climate nexus of global sustainability. Here we utilise a quantitative approach to examine three scenarios for development in sub-Saharan Africa and compare the results to nine historical examples of economic development. While no perfect development analogue was found, there are several lessons that can be learned from the last half century of efforts. We find that UN projected population growth in the region is expected to outpace non-renewable energy availability. The population of sub-Saharan Africa, and subsequent projected growth (4 billion by 2100), will represent a significant energy and climate strain on the 21st century world. In a larger sense, the social and economic development of sub-Saharan Africa is likely to be tied to an increase in per capita energy consumption. This increase is not going to come from traditional fossil fuels and will therefore require significant investment in a renewable energy infrastructure. Full article

Water footprint assessments contribute to a better understanding of potential environmental impacts related to water and have become essential in water management. The methodologies for characterizing such assessments, however, usually fail to reflect temporal and spatial variations at local scales. In this paper, we employ four widely-used characterization factors, which were originally developed with global estimates of water demand and availability, to evaluate the impact that inter-basin transfer (IBT) of water has on water risk assessments and, consequently, on the evaluation of the soundness of water cycle. The study was conducted for two major river basins in Japan, where diversion channels were built to move water from the Tone river basin to the Arakawa river basin. Considering IBT, the available water in the Arakawa river basin increases a 45%, reducing the characterization factors a 44% on average and denoting their tendency to overestimate the risk in this basin, while the Tone river basin increased the characterization factors a 28% on average by IBT. Moreover, with a simple example we show how ambiguity in the definition of some characterization factors may cause significant changes in the result of the assessments. Finally, we concluded that local water footprint characterization can be more helpful in local assessment of water resources if the results are unanimous, Targetable, Replicable, Ameliorable, Comparable, and Engageable (uTRACE). Full article

Due to the adverse effect of atmospheric aerosols on public health and their ability to affect climate, extensive research has been undertaken in recent decades to understand their sources and sinks, as well as to study their physical and chemical properties. Atmospheric aerosols are important players in the Earth’s radiative budget, affecting incoming and outgoing solar radiation through absorption and scattering by direct and indirect means. While the cooling properties of pure inorganic aerosols are relatively well understood, the impact of organic aerosols on the radiative budget is unclear. Additionally, organic aerosols are transformed through chemical reactions during atmospheric transport. The resulting complex mixture of organic aerosol has variable physical and chemical properties that contribute further to the uncertainty of these species modifying the radiative budget. Correlations between oxidative processing and increased absorptivity, hygroscopicity, and cloud condensation nuclei activity have been observed, but the mechanisms behind these phenomena have remained unexplored. Herein, we review environmentally relevant heterogeneous mechanisms occurring on interfaces that contribute to the processing of aerosols. Recent laboratory studies exploring processes at the aerosol–air interface are highlighted as capable of generating the complexity observed in the environment. Furthermore, a variety of laboratory methods developed specifically to study these processes under environmentally relevant conditions are introduced. Remarkably, the heterogeneous mechanisms presented might neither be feasible in the gas phase nor in the bulk particle phase of aerosols at the fast rates enabled on interfaces. In conclusion, these surface mechanisms are important to better understand how organic aerosols are transformed in the atmosphere affecting the environment. Full article

Due largely to economic development, industrialization, and changing lifestyles, quantity of hazardous waste in India is rising significantly. This is particularly true in mega cities, where populations are large and growing. Due to a range of factors including limitations in governance systems, inadequate treatment facilities, limitations in compliance and regulation, and limited trained and skilled stakeholders, the management of hazardous solid waste in the country is largely ineffective. One exception to this is the State of Gujarat, which has sought to implement a number of strategies to better manage the rising quantities of hazardous solid waste being produced. This article highlights the management of solid waste in the country for an effective mitigation of various hazards. Further, this article focused on adaptive technologies for the hazardous waste management all over the country more specifically in the state of Gujarat. Full article

The distribution of As, Cd, Cu and Se among biomolecules of different molecular weight (MW) in the heat-treated cytosolic fraction of livers and gonads of white suckers (WS; Catostomus commersonii) collected in a reference lake and in a lake subject to multi-metal contamination was investigated. Distribution profiles were obtained by separation of the heat-stable protein and peptide (HSP) fractions using size-exclusion high performance-liquid chromatography, coupled online to an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, to quantify the associated metals. Metal-handling strategies did not vary between the reference and exposed fish, with the exception of As. Cadmium and Cu appeared associated with the heat-stable peptides metallothioneins (MTs), indicating their reasonable detoxification and regulation in WS. In contrast, Se and As were not bound to MTs, but rather, to biomolecules of lower MW (<2 kDa). Arsenic was found associated with the same biomolecules in fish from both lakes, but their proportions changed between reference and exposed fish. For future work, the identification of the Se and As binding biomolecules would be of great interest to determine if these metalloids are detoxified or if, conversely, the biomolecules are metal-sensitive and their binding to Se or As represents a threat for the health of these fish. Full article

Climate-induced drought hazard has been emerging as one of the major challenges in the mid-hill farming system and rural livelihood in Nepal. Drought stress, in combination with century-long socio-political issues such as unequal social structure, gender discrimination, and marginalization of poor and disadvantaged groups have made smallholders more vulnerable in society. Climate changes are exacerbating issues within an already vulnerable society. Therefore, a review study on the impact of drought on the rain-fed hill farming system, and the potential adaptation measures, was carried out in the mid-hill region of western Nepal. Both agricultural impacts such as depletion of traditional varieties of crops, crop-specific diseases, low production, lack of water for irrigation; and non-agricultural impacts such as changing rural livelihood patterns, and social conflict due to agriculture and water issues were identified as major impacts. Some of the agricultural adaptation measures viz. the promotion of climate smart agriculture practices, crop diversification, and agroforestry practices seem to have been more effective in the region. At the same time, small-scale structural water harvesting measures, for instance, rainwater harvesting, conservation ponds, and irrigation channels, drip water irrigation, and an early warning system for drought events could also be an advantage in this context. Nonetheless, there are several adaptation barriers including ecological and physical constraints, human and information resource-shortages, and social barriers to adaptation. Therefore, local site-specific adaptation measures should be developed, and implemented, to increase the adaptive capacity of smallholders, and enhance the farming system in the face of the climate-induced drought scenario. Full article

The goal of this study was to determine the optimal chain length needed for tethering functional groups on bio-wastes. The purpose of modifying the surface of bio-waste is to improve their affinity for phenols. To this end, four different aminated green tea leaves, with the amine group located at the end of 6, 8, 10, and 12 carbons were synthesized. Green approaches to functionalization lead to fewer reactive sites. Optimizing spacer length is one way to ameliorate this. The aminated tea leaves were prepared by a tosylation reaction followed by displacement with a diamine used in excess. The tea leaves with the amine at the end of six carbons proved to have the best ability to remove 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) from its aqueous solution. It was at least 3–4 times better than native spent tea leaves. The mechanism by which the phenol was removed proved to be primarily an acid–base reaction followed by H-bonding and dipole–dipole interactions. Because of the acid–base interactions, the relatively low-boiling 2-CP did not volatilize off the aminated tea leaves enabling recycling. On the other hand, with activated charcoal, the adsorbed 2-CP volatilized almost completely under ambient conditions. Full article

The disposal of municipal solid waste into primarily dumpsites in developing countries causes a number of potential public and environmental health risks. While there have been various studies that have evaluated the contaminants that cause the risks, these studies have generally not examined in a holistic way the manner in which these contaminants move. This study therefore sought to model the flow of a range of contaminants in dumpsites (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, Zn), and potential health risks as a means of enabling the more effective siting of facilities to reduce the risks posed. The study proposes a conservative model, using well consolidated equations and assumption, taking into account the path the pollutant makes to reach the water table and the point of exposure. The modelling may be useful to easily identify the boundaries of the area of risk related to the presence of a dumpsite in a Developing Country, beyond which a local community may use or build a safe well for drinking water. The results show as the area of risk is large and varies significantly with changes in input parameters, suggesting that without site-specific information it is better to follow conservative assumptions. Full article

Pollinator conservation efforts and growing interest in wild bee pollination have increased markedly in the last decade, making it increasingly important to have clear and practical estimates of the value of pollinators to agriculture. We used agricultural statistics, socio-economic producer surveys, and agronomic field research data to estimate traditional pollination value metrics and create novel approaches to the valuation of the ecosystem services provided by wild pollinators. Using two regionally important United States (USA) crops—Maine wild blueberry and Massachusetts cranberry—as models, we present the perceived values of wild bee pollinators from the perspectives of both consumers and producers. The net income attributable to wild bees was similar for wild blueberry ($613/ha) and cranberry ($689/ha). Marginal profit from incrementally adding more hives per ha was greater from stocking a third/fourth hive for cranberry ($6206/ha) than stocking a ninth/10th hive for wild blueberry ($556/ha), given the greater initial responsiveness of yield, revenue, and profit using rented honey bee hives in cranberry compared with wild blueberry. Both crops’ producers were willing to annually invest only $140–188/ha in wild pollination enhancements on their farms, justifying government financial support. Consumers are willing to pay ≈6.7 times more to support wild bees than producers, which indicates a potential source for market-based subsidies for invertebrate conservation. Full article

This study implemented a questionnaire survey on tourists to the Nanwan Beach, Kenting, Taiwan and then applied the travel cost method to appraise the recreation benefits of the Nanwan Beach. The truncated Poisson model (TPOIS), truncated negative binomial distribution model, and on-site Poisson model were applied in view of the errors caused by truncated samples and endogenous stratification, and the results indicated that: (1) The on-site Poisson model was more suitable than the other two models for estimating the recreation benefits of Nanwan; (2) the three recreational benefit indicators (consumer surplus, compensation variation, and equivalent variation) estimated using the TPOIS model were all significantly greater than those of the on-site Poisson model; (3) the on-site Poisson model estimated the price elasticity and income elasticity of the tourism demands for Nanwan as −0.329 and 0.187, respectively; and (4) on the basis of the on-site Poisson model, the consumer surplus for Nanwan was NT$9639 (approximately US$289) per person per visit, and the annual gross recreation benefits were approximate NT$8.022 billion. The results are expected to provide a valuable reference for management and planning policies of the Kenting National Park. Full article

This research work examined how biodiesel produced from frying oils affects the physicochemical properties of its mixtures with conventional heating oil. Through the characterization of biodiesel blends and heating oil, the purpose is to produce an improved heating oil that will meet the specifications of the existing legislation for heating oil, while positively contributing to reducing the production of pollutants. The percentage of biodiesel added to a conventional diesel fuel contributes to the reduction of the pollutants produced during combustion. The examined biodiesel is considered the residual product, which was produced at a factory in Cyprus, and was deemed unsuitable for export, because it does not meet the legal requirements. Using specific volumes of these mixtures, twelve parameters were determined in order to investigate the effect of the mixtures: kinematic viscosity, sulfur content, micro carbon residue (MCR), distillation curves, density, cloud point (CP), fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) content, heat of combustion, iodine value (IV), cetane index (CI) after distillation, oxidation stability, and cold filter plugging point (CFPP). A number of fuel properties including the kinematic viscosity, MCR, distillation temperature—up to 80% distillate—and density showed an increase as the percentage of FAMEs raised from 2.5 to 50%, while others showed a mixed behavior (e.g., IV, CP, CI, CFPP), and the rest an inverse trend (e.g., sulfur content, heat of combustion and oxidation stability). An efficient potential utilization of a residual domestic product is proposed, while the pollutants that accumulate on the urban atmospheres during the winter months, due to increased heating needs of homes and other public or private buildings, will be significantly reduced. Full article

Despite the fact that the adverse health effects due to the intake of lead have been well studied and widely recognized, lead contamination in drinking water has been reoccurring worldwide, with some incidents escalating into a public drinking water crisis. As lead contamination is often related to lead-based pipes close to or inside homes, it is not realistic, at least in the near term, to remove and replace all lead connection pipes and lead-based plumbing. Effective monitoring of lead concentration at consumers’ water taps remains critical for providing consumers with first-hand information and preventing potential wide-spread lead contamination in drinking water. This review paper examines the existing common technologies for laboratory testing and on-site measuring of lead concentrations. As the conventional analytical techniques for lead detection require using expensive instruments, as well as a high time for sample preparation and a skilled operator, an emphasis is placed on reviewing ion-selective electrode (ISE) technology due to its superior performance, low cost, ease of use, and its promising potential to be miniaturized and integrated into standalone sensing units. In a holistic way, this paper reviews and discusses the background, different types of ISEs are reviewed and discussed, namely liquid-contact ISEs and solid-contact ISEs. Along with the potential opportunities for further research, the limitations and unique challenges of ISEs for lead detection are also discussed in detail. Full article

The whole-fish total mercury (Hg) concentrations were determined in 25 mature female and 26 mature male white suckers (Catostomus commersonii) caught during their spawning run in the Kewaunee River, a tributary to Lake Michigan. The age of each fish was estimated using thin-sectioned otoliths, and total length (TL) and weight were determined for each fish. When adjusted for the effect of age, males were found to be 7% higher in Hg concentration than females. Nearly all (about 98%) of the Hg found in the white suckers was determined to be methylmercury. In an earlier study on the same 51 white suckers from the Kewaunee River spawning run, males were found to be 18% higher than females in polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentration. We determined that the ratio of Hg concentration to PCB concentration in females was significantly higher than that in males. Thus, sex significantly interacted with contaminant type (Hg or PCBs) in determining contaminant concentrations. The most plausible explanation for this interaction was that males eliminated Hg at a faster rate than females, most likely due to the boosting of the Hg-elimination rate by certain androgens such as testosterone and 11-ketotestosterone. Hg concentrations in the white suckers were well below federal guidelines for fish consumption. Full article

To simultaneously enhance agricultural productivity and lower negative impacts on the environment, food systems need to be much more efficient in using resources such as land, water, and fertilizer. This study examines resource use efficiency of maize production among smallholder farmers in Nyando, Kenya. The main objective is to assess the degree of technical efficiency of smallholder farmers and identify the impact of so-called “climate smart practices” on technical efficiency. The method of Stochastic Frontier Analysis is used to simultaneously estimate a stochastic production frontier and a technical inefficiency effect model. Data for 324 subplots farmed by 170 households were available for this analysis. The study reveals that maize production in Nyando is associated with mean technical efficiency of 45% and that soil conservation practices such as residue management, legume intercropping, and improved varieties significantly increase farmers’ technical efficiency. Soil carbon is found to be a critical factor of production. These results imply that there is potential to more than double production using the same resources and that soil conservation practices can be very “climate smart,” at once increasing soil carbon, production, climate resilience, and technical efficiency. Full article