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Treatment of Leachates of a Controlled Landfill in Veracruz By Using the Fenton Method

Leachates are formed by the decomposition of solid waste contained in the final disposal site from liquids formed by precipitation or humidity in the area. Which, when filtered through waste, entrain substances in dissolved form and/or in suspension, creating a dark coloured liquid of variable characteristics and difficult to degrade, leading to contamination of soil and water bodies. Due to its variable characteristics, typical treatments such as evaporation, U.V. or recirculation are not suitable as chemical treatments. The Fenton process, being an advanced oxidation technique, has shown optimal performance in the treatment of young and mature leachates. Different parameters were tested during the Fenton oxidation-reduction process, which is consisted of treating the leachate with different combinations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and ferrous sulphate (FeSO4) under different acidic conditions, determining the optimal pH values, and doses of the Fenton reagent. Optimal conditions of the oxidation process were: contact time 1 hour, a pH value equal to 2, H2O2 concentrations of 250 mg/L and 75 mg/L of Fe+2. The percentage of removal measured as BOD was of 96% at a final pH of 1.8.

Miguel Ángel López-Ramírez, Olaya Pirene Castellanos-Onorio, Manuel Alberto Susunaga-Miranda, Fabiola Lango-Reynoso, María del Refugio Castañeda-Chávez and Jesús Montoya-Mendoza

Degradation of Direct Red 28 by Alcaligenes sp. TEX S6 Isolated from Aeration Tank of Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP), Pali, Rajasthan

Pali city in Rajasthan has been a major environmental concern in the terms of extensive water pollution caused by the textile industries. The textile effluents are characterized by remarkably strong colour, high pH, BOD and COD. The major culprits are the direct diazo dyes and one such dye is Direct Red 28. To develop an effective bioprocess for dye degradation, bacteria were screened from different stages of the common effluent treatment plant situated in Mandia Road, Pali. The most potential bacteria was an isolate from aeration tank and characterized as Alcaligenes sp. TEX S6 by 16S rDNA sequencing. The dye removal efficacy of the strain was expressed as a reduction in absorbance maxima of the dye. The strain removed the dye (0.15 g/L) up to 86% within 48 hours of static incubation utilizing fructose and peptone at 37ºC and pH 7. The inoculum concentration had no effect on the decolourisation process. A significant increase in bioefficacy of the strain was observed with respect to abiotic control. TLC chromatogram and FTIR spectra of the pure dye compound and the decolourised dye was suggestive of enzymatic degradation in accordance with biodecolourisation.

Neha Sharma, Sreemoyee Chatterjee and Pradeep Bhatnagar

Design of Eco-friendly Fixed Bed Dryer Based on A Combination of Solar Collector and Photovoltaic Module

A study to develop a convective eco-friendly fixed-bed solar dryer is presented in this article. The aim of this study was to design an efficient eco-friendly fixed bed dryer using solar collector and solar photovoltaic panel with a forced convective system. The design consists of a V-corrugated solar collector, a centrifugal fan, a solar photovoltaic module (100 WP) and a drying unit in the mini-silo model with five layers. The dryer performance test was conducted in September, October, and November 2017 in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. The observation showed that the temperature of the solar collector and the first layer of the drying unit could reach 40-70°C on a sunny day and 30-50°C in cloudy/rainy conditions. The efficiency of the daily collector varied from 20% to 50%. Based on a multiple regression analysis, it showed that some variables (solar intensity, voltage of photovoltaic panel, air speed around the blower, air collector velocity, collector relative humidity, ambient temperature and relative humidity temperature) significantly influenced the collector temperature. The result of drying simulation using red pepper showed that the design has a potential to be used as an eco-friendly fixed bed convective drying. Based on the empirical model, the drying time needed to reach 12% of moisture content (wet basis), respectively, was 5-6 days for the first tray, 8-9 days for the second tray and 9-10 days for the third tray in rainy season. 

Siti Asmaniyah Mardiyani, Sumardi Hadi Sumarlan, Bambang Dwi Argo and Amin Setyo Leksono

Volcanic Mud Contamination in the River Ecosystem: The Case Study of Lusi Mud Volcano, Indonesia

The assessment of the impact of volcanic mud discharge into a river based on several quality indices including habitat quality index (HQI), water quality index (WQI) and fish biotic integrity (FIBI) using the case study of Lusi in Sidoarjo-Indonesia, was undertaken from January 2011 to February 2012. Compared to the data collected at the control station (HQI= 21; WQI= 59-75; FIBI=75), the siltation caused by the Lusi discharge adversely affected several factors. Firstly, the declining value of stream covers and aesthetics resulted in lower HQI (10-13); secondly, the increasing concentration of total suspended solids (TSS), biochemical and chemical oxygen demand (BOD and COD) resulted in low WQI, primarily in the dry season (22.3-49.3); and thirdly, the limited supporting habitat for cyprinids and the mud-intolerant native fish species lowered the FIBI score (60-65). The abundance of mud-tolerant species revealed that the downstream aquatic communities have the ability to adjust to the volcanic mud contamination. However, since there was a strong positive correlation between HQI and FIBI, the expected long term exposure to Lusi will be followed by more habitat degradation, thus limiting the life of fishes that are not tolerant to the mud and lowering of the quality indices permanently. Further investigations using Mystus gulio as the bioindicator for Lusi mud contamination is proposed, as follow-up research.

Dewi Hidayati, Norela Sulaiman, B. S. Ismail, Nurul Jadid and Lutfi Surya Muchamad

Composite System for the Coupling Degree of Tourism Industry and Regional Ecological Environment: A Case Study of Henan Province, China

Tourism is a worldwide industry, but the per capita share of tourism resources in China is relatively small, and the capacity of the tourism environment is limited. Achieving economic growth in tourism and preserving tourism resources and the ecological environment are the premise and guarantee of tourism’s sustainable development under the constraints of tourism resources and ecological environment. By calculating the coupling degree of the tourism industry and regional ecological environment, the coupling degree of the regional economy and environment in a particular area can be effectively determined, and a basis for promoting the coordinated development of tourism and ecological environment can be provided. Taking Henan Province as an example, this study establishes a comprehensive evaluation system of the coupling degree between the tourism industry and regional ecological environment system, and uses the coupling model to analyse the coupling status of the two subsystems in Henan Province, and proposes policy suggestions to promote the coupling development of the two subsystems. Results show that the tourism subsystem of Henan Province increased from 0.024 in 2010 to 0.862 in 2016, and the order degree of the ecological subsystem rose from 0.070 in 2010 to 0.770 in 2016. The orderliness of the eco-environment subsystem is less than that of the tourism subsystem, indicating that further improvement of the eco-environment in Henan Province is still possible. The coupling degree of the tourism industry and regional ecological environment showed an increasing trend annually from 0.169 in 2011 to 0.766 in 2016 and exhibited a particularly large increase in 2013. This study’s results can provide a theoretical reference for understanding the coordinated development between the tourism industry and regional ecological environment, promoting the coupling between them, and enhancing the sustainable tourism industry of Henan Province.

Deman Fang

Improved Bacterial-Fungal Consortium as an Alternative Approach for Enhanced Decolourisation and Degradation of Azo Dyes: A Review

Over the past five decades, the Indian textile industries have increasingly become a major user of azo dyes due to their wide range of applications. India is considered as one of the second largest producers of textiles in the world. Due to the rapid increase in the production rate of fabrics, the textile industry generates a huge amount of dyestuff and dyes in the environment. Continuous discharge of wastewater into the environment creates various types of pollution and also health impact on human beings. Azo dyes are toxic aromatic man-made compounds, which cannot be easily degraded by the indigenous microbes, and thus persist in ecosystems over a long period of time. In the current scenario, most wastewater treatment plants are obsolete and especially physico-chemical methods failed to achieve the satisfactory result because they are more expensive and produce a huge amount of sludge which again causes the secondary disposal problems. So, there is an urgent need to develop an alternative method to improve the degradation of azo dyes in an eco-friendly manner with low cost. In order to achieve the higher degradation efficiency in bioremediation technology, the present review mainly focuses on three important factors such as strain development for hyper-production of oxidoreductive enzymes by random mutagenesis, development of bacterial-fungal consortium and reusability of microbial cell cultures. Additionally, this review also compiles the effect of various physico-chemical conditions in decolourisation and degradation of azo dyes.

Arunkumar Mani and Sheik Abdulla Shahul Hameed

Erosion Resistance and Aggregate Distribution Characteristics of Vegetation Concrete

Soil aggregate property, as a widely accepted soil quality indicator, is closely related to the erosion resistance of soil. In order to quantitatively assess the erosion resistance of vegetation concrete, a typical artificial composite soil, the distribution characteristics of aggregate particle size and eleven evaluation indexes were determined and calculated in laboratory by contrast with natural soil under the same site conditions. The research conclusions could be presented as follows: Compared with the natural soil, mechanical stability macroaggregate, water-stable macroaggregate, mean weight diameter, geometric mean diameter and organic matter content increased by 9.1% , 97.0%, 123.6%, 158.6% and 65.2% respectively. In contrast, erodibility factor, structural failure rate, fractal dimension and dispersion rate decreased by 75.8%, 38.1%, 24.4% and 27.2% respectively. Besides, aggregation status and aggregation degree improved by 63.9% and 38.5%, and the comprehensive principal component value of erosion resistance also increased by 252.6%. Due to the addition of natural organic material and cement, the erosion resistance of vegetation concrete was greatly superior to that of natural soil. Therefore, vegetation concrete was a suitable composite soil to create vegetation habitat on the surface of bare rock slope.

Mingtao Zhou, Tianqi Li, Jiazhen Gao and Wennian Xu

Statistical Modelling of 4-hourly Wind Patterns in Calcutta, India

The rising energy demands of the world and minimal availability of conservative energy sources have considerably increased the role of non-conventional sources of energy like solar and wind. The modelling of the prevalence of wind speed and trends helps in estimating the energy produced from wind farms. This study uses statistical models to analyse the wind patterns in India. Hourly wind data during 2004-2008 were obtained from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the study. A logistic regression model was initially used to investigate 4-hourly wind prevalence and the pattern of wind gust. A linear regression model was then applied to investigate wind speed trends. The 4-hour periods of the day, months, and year factors of wind were used as the independent variables in the statistical analysis. The results showed that wind prevalence was mostly higher between 4 AM to 4 PM within the day (90%). Analysis of the monthly wind prevalence revealed higher percentage between April to June (90%), while higher annual prevalence was revealed in 2007 and 2008 (85%). Wind speed trends (4-hourly periods) was observed to increasing from 4 AM to 4 PM within which the maximum occurred. Monthly wind speed was seen to be increasing from January to April where it attains the maximum (13 ms-1) and reduces it to minimum in November (3 ms-1). Annual mean wind speed has reduced by 4 ms-1 between 2004 and 2008.

Prashanth Gururaja, Nittaya McNeil and Bright Emmanuel Owusu

Distribution of Zooplankton Population in Different Culture Ponds from South China

To understand the population distribution characteristics of zooplankton in typical densely populated freshwater fish ponds, we intensively studied the species composition, abundance, and biodiversity of zooplankton in the Oxyeleotris marmoratus, Ctenopharyngodon idellus, Micropterus salmoides, and Channa argus culture ponds in the Pearl River Delta region in China during May to December in 2012. The number of zooplankton species in the four ponds were 66, 54, 55, and 68, respectively. The average abundance was 16466.78 ind./L, 8408.17 ind./L, 7397.77 ind./L, and 33632.53 ind./L, respectively. The average biodiversity index and species evenness were 1.360 and 0.628 in the Oxyeleotris marmoratus culture pond, 1.150 and 0.587 in the Ctenopharyngodon idellus culture pond, 1.438 and 0.755 in the Micropterus salmoides culture pond, and 1.234 and 0.580 in the Channa argus culture pond. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) results indicated that the most significant environmental factors that significantly affected the distribution of zooplankton species were: dissolved oxygen was for Oxyeleotris marmoratus culture pond, total phosphorus content for Ctenopharyngodon idellus culture pond, chlorophyll a for Micropterus salmoides culture pond and pH value for Channa argus culture pond. These study results demonstrated that different culture fish species might change the contents of environmental factors in the pond, and significant environmental factors would further impact the species composition, abundance, and biodiversity of zooplankton. The research results could provide a scientific basis for the management of pond water quality.

Yuan Gao, Zi-Ni Lai, Guang-Jun Wang, Qian-Fu Liu and Er-Meng Yu

Environmental Pollution Status Quo and Legal System of Third-Party Governance in Hebei Province, China

Environmental pollution has consistently been a serious obstacle to the sustainable development of China’s national economy. The proposed third-party governance mode for environmental pollution is suitable for China’s development and could fundamentally solve pollution problems. The construction of the legal system of third-party governance is the primary prerequisite for determining the relationship between relevant government departments and enterprises discharging and managing pollution and for upgrading market and competitive mechanisms. Taking Hebei Province as an example, this study analyses the design and implementation of legal systems adopted by developed countries to prevent environmental pollution, and concludes pollution regularity in recent years. The study also summarizes the main modes of the third-party legal system for environmental pollution governance and proposes relevant suggestions. Results show that third-party governance can improve the effect of environmental pollution control under the market mechanism. The unreasonable industrial structure and extensive economic growth in Hebei Province lead to increased fluctuations in wastewater emissions and industrial solid waste, and the main pollutants in industrial exhaust emissions are relatively large in number. Moreover, entrusted governance, trust operation, and public-private partnership are the major modes of the third-party governance’s legal system. The study’s results are of considerable importance in clarifying different subject responsibilities of third-party environmental pollution governance and in upgrading its market and competitive mechanisms. The results also provide a valuable reference to the perfection of an assessment system to the governance effect and the establishment of public participation and legal systems of third-party governance.

Kehui Cheng and Fang Lv

Biodegradation of Reactive Red 195 By A Novel Strain Enterococcus casseliflavus RDB_4 Isolated from Textile Effluent

Reactive Red 195 (RR-195) is a sulphonated azo-dye used extensively in textile industries. The current study was carried out to investigate the decolourisation of RR-195 dye using a novel bacterial strain, in an attempt to overcome the environmental hazards caused due to the unopposed industrial laws and substandard waste management systems. The most promising bacterial strain isolated from textile effluent was identified as Enterococcus casseliflavus RDB_4 by 16s rRNA analysis. It showed complete decolourisation of 50 ppm dye in optimized M9 medium (pH 7) supplemented with 3% yeast extract, within 4 h at 35°C using inoculum size of 0.2 O.D530nm under static conditions. Moreover, it showed tolerance to high NaCl (1 to 6%) and dye (1000 ppm) concentrations in batch as well as continuous culture systems; thus making it ideal for industrial dye waste management. Furthermore, the biodegradation of RR-195 dye was confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis into nontoxic metabolites ensured by ecotoxicity studies.

Radhika Birmole, Azza Parkar and K. Aruna

Inter-regional Differences in Environmental Regulation Intensity Among Chinese Provincial Governments and the Overall Planning Countermeasures

This research establishes a set of multi-layer comprehensive evaluation index system through global entropy method and conducts comprehensive evaluation of the environmental planning intensity among Chinese provincial governments. Based on the above, the inter-regional differences in environmental regulation intensity among 30 Chinese provincial governments are further analysed with methods of quartile analysis and coefficient of variance, revealing the status of spatial differences in environmental regulation level among provincial governments. In addition, corresponding overall planning countermeasures are proposed. Research results show that during 2006-2014, the environmental regulation intensity of various Chinese provincial governments had all seen certain improvement, but the inter-regional differences tended to be widening after experiencing certain amplitude of narrowing; and there was obvious difference in cognition of the importance of environmental governance investment among different provincial regions. To promote synergistic advancement of environmental regulation in Chinese provincial governments, the environmental regulation cooperation mechanism for cross-administrative regions has to be perfected, scientific and reasonable regional government performance examination mechanism has to be established, and muti-subject synergistic governance mechanism has to be set up as well.

Gang Ding, Xiajing He and Ling Ye

Iron-Manganese Silicate Polymerization (IMSP) Catalytic Ozonation for Removal of p-chloronitrobenzene in Aqueous Solution

Iron-manganese silicate polymer (IMSP) was synthesized in the laboratory and characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier transformation infrared (FT-IR) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The mesopores and amorphous sample had nanorods structure, and on the surface was contained with abundant of surface hydroxyl groups. The catalytic activity of IMSP was investigated in terms of p-chloronitrobenzene (pCNB) and TOC removal. Ozonation catalysed by IMSP exhibited extraordinarily high catalytic performance over other studied processes. In the IMSP-catalytic ozonation process, 99.5 % conversion of pCNB and 50.7 % TOC was achieved in 15 min. Ozone dosage and catalyst dosage exert a positive influence on the removal rate of the pCNB. And the initial water pH of 7.0 ± 0.1 (the solution pH was close to the point of zero charge of IMSP) achieved the highest pCNB removal among all the tested conditions.

Yue liu, Laiqun Zhao, Yanyan Dou, Weijin Gong, Haifang Liu, Jingjing Lv, Zizhen Zhou and Fuwang Zhao

The Role of Advanced Technologies in the Remediation of Oil-Spilled Environment: A Decision-Matrix Approach

The role of advanced technologies in the remediation of oil spilled environment was investigated. Oil spill remediation technologies for the clean-up of soil and groundwater contamination from petroleum industry activities have advanced considerably over the past decade. This has been the result of increasing regulatory pressures in many parts of the world, mounting liability exposure, changing public perceptions, and the drive towards enhanced remediation in terms of cost effectiveness, health and environmental concerns, operation and maintenance requirement, applicability and efficiency. This paper examined the state of remedial technologies for petroleum industry applications in ex-situ and in-situ conditions, and used an effective score drawn from research to develop a decision matrix for selection evaluation. Ex-situ technologies involve excavation and treatment of contaminated soil. These include methods such as pyrolysis, solvent extraction, oxidation/reduction, and bioremediation, designed to remediate the soil to acceptable standards. In-situ technologies involve alteration of sub-surface flow, pressure, chemical or biological regimes to achieve containment, redirection, removal or destruction of contaminants. They include soil vapour extraction, bioventing, bio-sparging, and the use of horizontal wells and semi-passive barrier systems. A decision matrix was then developed using Microsoft Excel to aid decision making. This was developed using an effective research score allocated to each evaluation criterion and weighted using the ratio of this effective score to the total score by hundred percent. The optimal remedial approach depends on the highest ranked score as computed and documented in the MS-excel spreadsheet. From the analyses shown in the ex-situ decision matrix, advanced bioremediation was found to the best placed technique with a weighted score of 7.048 and the highest rank of 1, while wet oxidation was found to be the least impressive technique with a weighted score of 2.022.

C.I.C. Anyadiegwu, A.C. Igbojionu, N.P. Ohia and R.C. Eluagu

Interaction Between Foreign Trade and Environmental Pollution: A Case Study of Guizhou Province, China

conomic globalization is deepening China’s opening up to the world. China has promoted the development of foreign trade by extensively improving the level of its open economy. However, to determine whether the development of foreign trade has aggravated environmental pollution, attention needs to be paid. Taking Guizhou Province as an example, this study examines the relevant studies on the interaction between foreign trade and environmental pollution, and summarizes the current environmental pollution in Guizhou Province, and uses panel data at the municipal level of Guizhou Province from 2007 to 2016 to analyse the dynamic relationship between foreign trade and environmental pollution and further explore the environmental effect law of foreign trade. Results are found to be inconsistent with those of existing studies on the relationship between foreign trade and environmental pollution possibly due to the incorrect source of sample data and different estimation methods. The current situation of environmental pollution in Guizhou Province shows that the total discharge of industrial wastewater and industrial waste gas is on the rise and that the discharge of industrial solid waste increases in a small fluctuation. Emissions of environmental pollutants, gross domestic product, and foreign investment show a U-shaped relationship. Foreign trade layout affects the adjustment of the industrial structure, and its growth has resulted in negative effects. This study can provide a reference for understanding the internal relationship between trade and the environment, and diminishing the negative effects of foreign trade on the environment, and providing advice on environmental regulation, and promoting the coordinated development of trade and the environment in Guizhou Province.

Mengxi Gao

Effect of Process Parameters on Adsorption of Cadmium from Aqueous Solutions by Activated Carbon Prepared from Bauhinia purpurea Leaves

Adsorption is one of the most versatile and widely used techniques for the removal of toxic metals from the aqueous solutions. Cadmium is the toxic metal selected for adsorption in this study and adsorbent of interest was activated carbon prepared from Bauhinia purpurea leaves as a plant biomass. The following process parameters were investigated during the batch adsorption process: The adsorption efficiency and cadmium deposition on the adsorbent surface were increased from 15.95 to 89.98%, 0.074 to 0.418 mg/g, and 7.27 to 89.97%, 0.034 to 0.418 mg/g with increasing contact time from 2 to 50 min and pH from 2 to 6.5, respectively. The adsorption efficiency was decreased from 89.98 to 45.96% and the amount of cadmium deposited on the surface of the ACBPL adsorbent was increased from 0.418 to 1.032 mg/g with an increase in solute concentration. The adsorption efficiency of cadmium decreased from 98.41 to 84.51% and 0.457 to 0.392 mg/L with an increase in particle size from 74 to 177 µm. The rate of adsorption of cadmium was increased from 61.31 to 96.34% with an increase in dosage of the ACBPL adsorbent from 0.05 to 0.15 g. The adsorption efficiency and cadmium deposition was decreased from 89.98 to 97.90%, 0.418 to 0.454 mg/g as the temperature increased from 303K to 323K. The variation of thermodynamic energy parameters (DG°, DH° and DS°) with the solution temperature described that the adsorption process is endothermic, spontaneous at high temperatures and non-spontaneous at low temperatures. The positive value of DS, reflecting the high degree of disorder in the adsorbent/adsorbate interface that is formed during the transition.

H. Joga Rao, P. King and Y. Prasanna Kumar

A Study on the E-waste Collection Systems in some Asian Countries with Special Reference to India

Safe management of waste electrical and electronic equipments is becoming a major problem for many countries in the world. Due to the advancement in technology, increased market penetration of electrical and electronic equipment and high rate of obsolescence, there is an increased generation of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste). E-waste being a post-consumer waste needs to be collected from the various sources of its generation. Subsequently, establishment of collection centres is necessary to channelize such wastes for environmentally sound recycling. A number of methods are adopted for the collection of e-waste in different countries all over the world. This paper is an attempt (a) to study existing collection systems in some Asian countries including Bangladesh, Burma/Myanmar, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and India; and (b) to formulate a sustainable model for collection systems for the developing nations.

Dharna Tiwari, Lakshmi Raghupathy, Ambrina Sardar Khan and Nidhi Gauba Dhawan

Syzigium oleina and Wedelia trilobata for Phytoremediation of Lead Pollution in the Atmosphere

Heavy metals cause pollution in the environment, including plants. In Indonesia, Syzigium oleina and Wedelia trilobata are grown on the main roads where vehicles frequently pass through; these plants are exposed to heavy metals, such as lead (Pb). The aim of this study was to evaluate how the location of plants, the plant species, and the interaction between these two variables, affect the content of Pb metal and chlorophyll in leaves. The levels of heavy metals in plant leaves were measured by using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer, and chlorophyll content by using a spectrophotometer. Data were analysed by two-way ANOVA. The results showed that the location of plant species affected the content of Pb metal and chlorophyll in the leaves, but the interaction of the location and the type of plant only affects the chlorophyll content of leaves and not the Pb metal content.

Fida Rachmadiarti, Tarzan Purnomo, Diana Nur Azizah and Ayudhiniar Fascavitri

Pretreatment Comparison Between Preoxidation and Prechlorination on the Changing of Natural Organic Matter

Surface water is mainly used as source water after treatment process to produce drinking water or clean water. The existence of natural organic matter (NOM) in surface water caused some problems in water treatment, instead of taste and aesthetic issues. Preoxidation and prechlorination are oxidation processes that have been used widely for different purposes in water treatment process. The objective of the study was to compare performance of permanganate preoxidation and prechlorination in removing NOM and to know the changing of NOM in term of its functional group properties by using Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR). TOC concentration and UV210 value were used to represent NOM parameter. The results showed that prechlorination has a higher performance to treat NOM in water than permanganate preoxidation. Further, prechlorination could be considered as pretreatment of coagulation in order to improve its performance in removing TOC concentration and aromatic compounds. FTIR could be applied to track the changing of NOM functional groups, and organic properties in prechlorination followed by alum coagulation have the lowest percentage transmittance.

Euis Nurul Hidayah, Muhammad Firdaus Kamal, Fauzul Rizqa and Mukhamad Rifki Hendianto 

Bioflocculation of Two Species of Microalgae by Exopolysaccharide of Bacillus subtilis

Harvesting is ultimately an important step on microalgae production since a successful harvesting will increase the performance of the system totally as well as increasing the revenue. Bioflocculation is such type of the harvesting technique that offers high recovery performance, while at the same time it costs less and is more environment friendly. Exopolysaccharide (EPS) is actually the key of the performance. The objective of this research is to observe the performance of EPS produced by the Bacillus subtilis for microalgae harvesting. The bacterial growth medium where the EPS has been produced was induced directly to the microalgae. Two different species of microalgae, which were Nannochloropsis oculata and Botryococcus braunii, were used to compare the influence of microalgae type to the performance. Different concentration of EPS was employed to study how it affects the recovery performance. These various concentrations were 5% v/v, 10% v/v and 15% v/v. The result shows that the highest performance was presented when 5% EPS was induced to both the species, which was about 90%, while the lowest was presented by 15% EPS, which was about 70%. The same trend was applied for initial floc forming time of each treatment.

Musthofa Lutfi, Wahyunanto A. Nugroho, Winny P. Fridayestu, Bambang Susilo, Chusak Pulmar and Sandra Sandra

Regional Environmental Performance Evaluation and Its Influencing Factors: A Case Study of Shandong Province, China

In recent years, all provinces in China have exhibited unprecedented economic development with high growth rates. However, the economic development of particular provinces is extensive, but unsustainable, and pollution problems have become increasingly prominent. Moreover, the rapid growth of productivity at the expense of resources and the environment outweighs the gain. Regional environmental performance evaluation and exploration of environmental performance factors are helpful to quantitatively analyse the impact of government management and economic and social factors on environmental efficiency. Taking Shandong Province in China as an example, this study summarizes the literature on existing regional environmental performance evaluation and constructs an analytical framework that combines data envelopment analysis - Malmquist and Tobit models. On the basis of panel data on 17 prefecture-level cities of Shandong Province from 2011 to 2016, regions are divided into those with high and low environmental efficiency, and the factors that influence the different environmental efficiencies are measured. Results show that environmental performance evaluation gradually expands from the environmental performance evaluation of an enterprise to the regional environment, specific industries, and influencing factors. The 17 prefecture-level cities under the jurisdiction of Shandong Province exhibit an increase in total factor productivity within the time frame of the investigation. Numerous factors, such as endowment structure, economic development, industrial structure, ownership structure, foreign investment, and government environmental management capabilities, have different impacts on the regional environmental performance of Shandong Province. The study results provide a positive reference for scientific and reasonable evaluations of regional environmental performance in different cities, identification of the effectiveness and shortcomings of regional environmental performance management, understanding the performance characteristics and distribution of regional environmental performance, and promoting environmental management in China.

Junjie Cao

Identification of Artificial Recharges Structures using Remote Sensing and GIS for Arid and Semi-arid Areas

Extensive and poorly regulated groundwater extraction to cater to agricultural, industrial, and domestic needs has severely depleted natural groundwater levels in arid and semi-arid areas. Suitable artificial recharge structures can serve as viable options for increasing groundwater levels in areas dependent on aquifers as their water source. Potential sites and suitable artificial recharge structures were suggested to recharge the groundwater level of the study area. The paper’s aim is to facilitate an increase in aquifer recharge during non-rainfall days in the study area and contribute to sustainable groundwater conservation during periods of poor water availability by using remote sensing and GIS.

R. Chandramohan, T.E. Kanchanabhan and N. Siva Vignesh

The Use of Cobalt-Doped Tin(IV) Oxide as Catalysts for the Photodegradation of Methyl Orange

Textile industries are always deal with water pollution caused by pigments, one of which is organic compounds. Efforts have been made to treat the polluted water, however the methods still need to be improved. Cobalt-doped tin(IV) oxide (Sn1-xCoxO2, x = 0, 0.0025 and 0.005) prepared by a solid state reaction of SnO2 powder and cobalt nitrate salt has been introduced to catalysis of methyl orange photodegradation. The catalysts have band gap energy (Eg) varied between 1.813 and 3.944 eV, and indicates good responses in both visible and ultraviolet lights, having high potent as photocatalysts on methyl orange degradation. The test indicates the applicability of Langmuir adsorption isotherm for the systems.

Anti Kolonial Prodjosantoso and Cahyorini Kusumawardani

Degradation of Azo Dye Acid Orange 7 by Zero Valent Iron Activated with Potassium Persulphate

The zero valent iron has the advantage that the small particle size results in a large specific surface area and great intrinsic reactivity of surface sites. However, the zero valent iron particles tend to either react with surrounding media or agglomerate, resulting in significant loss of reactivity. The synthetic zero valent iron was activated by potassium persulphate. The degradation of azo dye Acid Orange 7 by zero valent iron activated with potassium persulphate was carried out. The effect of several parameters, such as the pH in solution, the reaction time, reaction temperature, the activated zero valent iron amount and the initial concentration of dye on the removal process was investigated. The results showed that the degradation rate of azo dye Acid Orange 7 by the activated zero valent iron was high. The operation parameters had an important effect on the degradation of azo dye Acid Orange 7 in aqueous solution.

Muqing Qiu

Prevalence of Skin and Respiratory Diseases in the Workers of Bird Markets

Occupational health and safety is concerned with the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The majority of workers are facing occupational health problems in developing as well as in developed countries. Workers of bird markets are at higher risk of suffering from occupational skin and respiratory diseases. The present study was conducted to find out the prevalence of skin and respiratory diseases in the workers of bird markets. Study was based on survey, data collection through questionnaire and checklist, measurement of environmental parameters and also of lung function test of workers. Physical hazards, chemical hazards and ergonomic hazards were also observed. About 80% workers reported skin, and 77.7% reported respiratory diseases. Lung function test values (Mean FEV1% in summer: 57.9%, Mean FEV1/ FVC (%) in summer: 76.3%) (Mean FEV1% in winter: 53.2%, Mean FEV1/ FVC (%) in winter: 68.6%) were lower as compared to standard values. Majority of the workers were identified with restrictive defects which indicated prevalence of respiratory hazards in the bird markets. Workers health worsens during winter as they did not use the personal protective equipment. The present study may provide a baseline for further studies in this field.

Syeda Amber Fatima and Tayyaba Ishaq

Influence of Environmental Pollution on Residents’ Health: Evidence from Hubei, China

To maintain the rapid development of China’s economy and simultaneously maximize the existing natural resources, China discharges a large amount of waste from its life and production activities into the environment. Environmental pollution is also becoming increasingly serious. The continuous reduction and deterioration of environmental quality has substantially affected the balance of the ecosystem and caused increasingly serious harm to public health. This study organized the research status quo and research hotspots on residents’ health loss caused by environmental pollution to further analyse the influence of environmental pollution on residents’ health. The quantitative relationship between environmental pollution and public health level was calculated using the expanded Grossman health production function and the data of 13 prefecture-level cities in Hubei, China from 2005 to 2017. Results show that residents’ health is closely related to environmental pollution and a few macroeconomic factors. The population mortality rate has a significant positive correlation with the three influencing factors of industrial sulphur dioxide emissions, industrial smoke dust emissions, and GDP per capita. A significant negative correlation exists between the death rate of the population and number of years of education per capita and the investment in environmental protection. The number of doctors per 10,000 population and urbanization rate have no evident impact on the mortality rate of the population. The conclusions have certain reference value for analysing the severity of public health value loss and reducing public health value loss caused by environmental pollution.

Lulu Hao and Jing Gao

Aquatic Ecotoxicology and Water Quality Criteria of Three Organotin Compounds: A Review

Organotin compounds (OTCs) are metal-organic compounds, such as triphenyltin (TPT), tributyltin (TBT) and trimethyltin (TMT), containing at least one Sn-C covalent bond. They can be used as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) stabilizers, wood preservatives, pesticides, anti-corrosion coatings, and molluscicide agents. OTCs are frequently detected in water bodies and have a long half-life. Their ecotoxicological behaviour in the aquatic environment has long been a cause of concern. In this paper, we briefly summarize the physicochemical characteristics, fate in the aquatic environment, biodegradation/bioconcentration, metabolism, and toxicity for aquatic organisms of three organotin compounds. Furthermore, we discuss the water quality criteria of the three compounds for aquatic ecosystems, which could provide important indications for future application, management, risk assessment, as well as pollution control associated with OTCs.

Zhifei Li, Deguang Yu, Gong Wangbao, Wang Guangjun, Yu Ermeng and Xie Jun†

Characterization of the Biochar Derived from Peanut Shell and Adsorption of Pb(II) from Aqueous Solutions

With the rapid development of industrial activities, a large amount of industrial effluents containing heavy metals is released into the surface and underground waters. It is highly significant and urgent to develop efficient and cost-effective methods to remove heavy metals from contaminated water. Biochar has been widely used as an adsorbent for the removal of environmental pollutants. In this work, the biochar was derived from peanut shell. The research on the removal of Pb(II) ions in aqueous solution by the biochar was carried out. It can be concluded that the operational parameters, such as pH, contact time and initial concentration of the Pb(II) ions in aqueous solution, had an important effect on the removal of Pb(II) ions. The Langmuir and the Freundlich models were utilized to explain the experimental data. According to results, the adsorption process fitted to the Langmuir model. It was also suggested that the adsorption process was homogeneous adsorption. The Pb(II) in aqueous solution adsorption on the biochar was monolayer adsorption.

Chunxia Hu and Muqing Qiu

Biodegradation of Sludge produced from Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) using Drum Composting Technique

Composting of sludge is suitable waste management option as it maintains all essential physico-chemical parameters, stability parameters and maturity parameters as per standard norms. The present study was carried out to investigate the applicability of the rotary drum composting technique for the stabilization of sludge from a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP). Rotary drum composting was performed in two runs i.e., winter run and summer run. During the whole composting period in the two runs, the continuous monitoring of the physico-chemical parameters like temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, volatile solids, total organic carbon, ash content, NH4+-N, NO3- -N and phosphorus was made. All these parameters are in the agreement with recommended standards of the mature compost. It can be concluded that rotary drum composting could produce acceptable quality of compost which can be used further as fertilizer or soil amendment.

Seema Maheshwari, Ajay Singh Jethoo, Vinod Kumar Vishvakarma, Meena Khwairakpam and Prashant Kriplani

Co-firing Municipal Solid Waste with Coal - A Case Study of Warangal City, India

Municipal solid waste management has become an important challenge in the developing countries. Treatment using thermal methods, especially by incineration is advantageous in comparison with biological and chemical treatments, as they require less time and space for the reduction of huge quantities of wastes and also generates energy. As the composition of municipal solid waste (MSW) and its calorific value is inconsistent for power generation, we have studied the possibility of blending MSW with an auxiliary fuel such as coal. The study was conducted in the Warangal city (in Telangana State of India) which produces around 220 tonnes of MSW per day. Various blending proportions of MSW and coal were analysed and quantified the calorific value, gaseous emissions (NOx, SO2 and CO2) and also estimated the cost of production. We found that, blend of MSW and coal in the proportion of 90-80% and 10-20% respectively, is optimal in terms of waste processing and lower gaseous emissions. The cost-benefit analysis for the two scenarios consisting of either inclusion or exclusion of food wastes in the MSW validates the viability of co-firing as a better waste management practice with a minimum assured gain of Rs. 0.3 million per day.

Chandrasekhar Matli, Bhaskar Challa and Rakesh Kadaverugu

Isotherms and Thermodynamics of CO2 Adsorption on Thermally Treated Alum Sludge

The isotherms, and thermodynamics of adsorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) onto thermally treated alum sludge were successfully investigated in this study. The adsorption of CO2 was investigated using a fixed-bed column adsorption system. The equilibrium isotherms data were best described by the Freundlich multilayer isotherm model. The feasibility, spontaneity and randomness of the CO2 adsorption process were confirmed by thermodynamic parameters (ÄG°, ÄH°, ÄS°). This study revealed that 800°C thermally treated alum sludge has a great potential as the adsorbent for CO2.

Soleha Mohamat Yusuff, Ong Keat Khim, Wan Md Zin Wan Yunus, Mansor Ahmad, Nor Azowa Ibrahim, Anwar Fitrianto, Syed Mohd Shafiq Syed Ahmad and Chin Chuang Teoh

Functional Mechanism and Cointegration Relation of Environmental Regulations on Industrial Structure Upgrading in Beijing, China

In recent years, China has accelerated its urbanization and industrialization processes. The traditional extensive economic growth mode of high investments, high energy consumption, and high emissions has brought irreversible negative impacts on the ecological environment. Environmental regulation can promote necessary changes in the industrial structure and improve economic structure by eliminating the negative externalities of environmental pollution and enhancing social welfare. With time series data of Beijing from 1998 to 2017, the mechanism and impact of environmental regulations on industrial structure were analysed using cointegration analysis and Granger causality test. Results show that environmental regulations can effectively realize industrial structure upgrading by inhibiting the development of high-pollution enterprises, accelerating the development of the service industry, promoting the environmental protection of enterprise production technology, and promoting the optimization of investment structures. Thus, a long-term and positive equilibrium relationship between industrial structure upgrading and environmental regulation in Beijing can be achieved. The investment in industrial pollution control per unit can drive the growth of the tertiary industry’s added value by 0.017 units. The completion of industrial pollution control investment is the one-way Granger reason for the tertiary industry’s added value to the proportion of gross domestic product. The conclusions have a certain reference value for finding out the intensity of environmental regulation in promoting Beijing’s industrial structure optimization and realizing the transformation of economic structure and coordinated development of ecological civilization construction.

Lili Zhang and Gang Zong

Climate Change Patterns in the UAE: A Qualitative Research and Review

Climate change is an inevitable challenge for the whole world these days. United Arab Emirates (UAE) is classified among the countries with highest rate of vulnerability to the potential impacts of climate change in the world. The purpose of this qualitative research is to study the patterns of climate change in the UAE and to predict the future patterns. The methods used in the study were reviews and interviews as the data collection method. The results obtained summarized that UAE is facing many challenges related to the climate change impacts such as, water resources, coastal areas and food security. UAE’s efforts and future plans in dealing with climate change have been discussed. Climate change is hard to control because the emissions of green house gases (GHG) do not respect the boards, so countries should co-operate and take actions on global level to ensure save earth.

Manar Fawzi Bani Mfarrej

Adsorption Kinetics and Isotherms of Copper Ion in Aqueous Solution by Bentonite Supported Nanoscale Zero Valent Iron

Copper ions discharged into the water can cause serious damages to the plants and living organisms in water. Therefore, it is very important to develop effective technologies to treat copper ions polluted wastewaters before their discharge into the natural environment. The main objective of this study was to evaluate copper ions removal by bentonite supported nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI). In this work, the bentonite supported nZVI was synthesized by direct mixing of bentonite pretreated with nZVI. A range of experiments were conducted to evaluate the sorption ability of bentonite supported nZVI to copper ions in aqueous solutions. Results showed that the contact time, pH in solution and initial concentration of copper ions had an important effect on the removal of copper ions from aqueous solution by bentonite supported nZVI. The Freundlich and pseudo-second-order kinetic models can preferably describe the adsorption process.

Jigan Zhang and Muqing Qiu

Effect of Solution pH and Coexisting Ions on Cefradine Adsorption onto Wheat Straw

Agricultural waste wheat straw was innovatively used for the adsorptive removal of cefradine. The aim of this study is to assess the adsorption behaviour of wheat straw for cefradine removal from the wastewater. Effect of solution pH and coexisting ions was investigated concurrently. Typical kinetic models including pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and Elovich models were used to simulate adsorption kinetics at different pH conditions. Kinetic experiments indicated that both the linear and nonlinear pseudo-second-order kinetic models could describe the adsorption kinetics better. It can be inferred that chemisorption occurred between the cefradine molecules and the wheat straw. It is worthy to mention that most of the uptake occurred within the initial 60 min, indicating a fast removal of cefradine when wheat straw was applied in practical wastewater treatment. Ionic strength experiment demonstrated that cefradine molecules may be specifically adsorbed on the wheat straw via forming outer-sphere surface complexes. A decrease of the uptake of cefradine was observed in the presence of HCO3–, HPO42-, SO42- and SiO32-, while the inhibiting effect was in the pecking order Na2SiO3> Na2SO4>Na2HPO4>NaHCO3. The presence of humic acid could decrease the cefradine uptake as well.

Binguo Zheng, Zhenmin Wan, Lizhen Liang, Qingzhao Li and Chunguang Li

Assessment of the Efficiency of Fly Ash Amended Soil for Distillery Effluent Treatment

A lysimetric experiment was conducted to assess the effectiveness of soil amended with fly ash, to remove different contaminants of distillery effluent. Four lysimeters containing amended soil mixtures were prepared by mixing top layer of normal soil and fly ash in different ratios, i.e. S95 (pure soil:fly ash, 95:5), S90 (pure soil:fly ash, 90:10), S85 (pure soil:fly ash, 85:15) and S100 (pure soil). Secondarily treated distillery effluent was used for irrigating the prepared lysimeter and leachate was collected to analyse the various relevant parameters, viz. pH, BOD, COD, TDS, N, P, K, Ca, Na, Mg, NO3-, SO42-, Zn and Fe. The results depicted that fly ash amended soil was effective to enhance the potential of normal soil to remove the pollutants from effluent. Soil with lowest fly ash content, i.e. S95 was recorded to be the best for land disposal of the effluent. With an increase in the amount of fly ash, i.e. soil S90 and S85, leaching of pollutants was observed indicating the possibility of contamination of groundwater.

J. S. Chauhan and J. P. N. Rai

Exhaust Emission Reduction in a Single Cylinder Compression Ignition Engine Fuelled With Optimized Biodiesel Blends of Eucalyptus teriticornisis

Inadequate resources, diminution in petroleum reserves, environmental pollution hazards and escalated crude oil pricing have become major points of concern for energy use. This urged the researchers to identify an alternative source of fuel energy similar to petroleum hydrocarbons to be used in internal combustion engine. In the present study, biodiesel from leaves of Eucalyptus tereticornis was used in the processed form in compression ignition engine. The steam distillation process yielded 4.8% of Eucalyptus bio-oil through a batch process. Single stage transesterification process using methanol and sodium hydroxide produced Eucalyptus biodiesel effectively at molar ratio of 8:1. The physico-chemical properties of Eucalyptus biodiesel were found to be comparable to commercial diesel and within ASTM limits. Eucalyptus biodiesel in straight and blended form at ratio of 50:50 with commercial diesel was used in a single cylinder compression ignition engine to understand its emission characteristics. Lower unburnt hydrocarbon and smoke emission was observed when D50EBD50 fuel blend was used at part and full load condition. EBD100 fuel emitted higher CO2 across all loads. Oxides of nitrogen emission were found to be relatively higher at full load condition when compared with D100 and D50EBD50 fuel blends. The emission parameters of EBD100 and D50EBD50 were found to be comparable with mineral diesel.

V. Hariram, R. Prakash, S. Seralathan and T. Micha Premkumar

The Impact of Regional Economic Structural Changes on Smog Control: Empirical Evidence from Hubei, China

The traditional extensive production mode characterized by high energy consumption, high pollution, high resource dependence, and low efficiency has significantly increased the emission of carbon and other air pollutants. As a consequence, China is currently in the midst of a severe environmental and ecological crisis. Smog control can be realized by adjusting the industrial structure, which involves abandoning the traditional industrialization mode and pursuing the development mode of a circular economy characterized by low energy consumption and low pollution. To examine the causes of smog from the perspective of economic structure, the interactive relationship between smog control and the evolution of regional economic structure was analysed by using panel data of 13 prefecture-level cities in Hubei Province, China from 2005 to 2016. Results demonstrate that the relationship between industrial structure and degree of smog pollution shows a U-shaped curve. As such, the scale effect of economic development can reduce the emission of air pollutants. Foreign direct investment does not have a significant role in improving environmental pollution. Construction dust similarly aggravates smog pollution. These conclusions can deepen the understanding of the internal relationship between frequent smog occurrence and industrialization, as well as provide a theoretical basis and decision-making reference to effectively control smog by upgrading the regional economic structure.

Ming Zhong

Hydrogeo-Stratigraphic Model of Coastal Sediments in Kuttanad Area of Kerala, India

The coastal sediments of Kuttanad mainly consist of recent alluvium and Tertiary sediments un-conformably underlay the Precambrian crystallines. Hydrogeologic and stratigraphic characterization of a multi-aquifer system embedded in this coastal sedimentary sequence was conducted using mapping and analysis of lithological and geophysical logs from 125 boreholes. The lateral and vertical variations in the lithostratigraphy and a conceptual model of the hydrogeology of the area could be established from the study. The isopach maps and panel diagrams of stratigraphic formations indicate thick offshore extension of the aquifer systems. The hydraulic gradients in the Tertiary aquifers are indicative of an offshore freshwater interface. The depositional history of Tertiary sediments and the marine transgressions and regressions during Pleistocene glaciations played a major role in the evolution of aquifer systems in these sediments.

V. Kunhambu, D. S. Sureshbabu and N. Vinayachandran

Analysis of Sea-water Treated Laminated Bamboo Composite for Structural Application

Green engineering is increasingly investigated as a possibility to treat organic green material for structural applications. Dendrocalamus asper bamboo culms as green engineering materials were processed to produce composite materials using epoxy resin from a natural treatment by soaking with an average of pH 7.6 level of sea-water. Mechanical properties of proposed laminated bamboo composites (LBCs) have been assessed under loading conditions and standards. The study provides a comparison of the structural performance with different conventional timbers as avenue for application in engineering design and practices. Comparison of laminated bamboo with woods indicate that average value of 27.47 MPa and 52.59 MPa for compressive and bending strength respectively, obtained much higher allowable value and average strength, which are comparable to stiffness values of softwoods and hardwoods. However, even though the present study shows properties with higher and comparable to other composite materials, further research must be given better attention for characterization and standardization before acceptance in the marketplace as alternative green engineering material to timber and wood-based composites and other building materials for construction design, and structural elements as composite materials for engineering utilization.

Teodoro A. Amatosa, Jr., Michael E. Loretero, Romeo B. Santos and Marnie B. Giduquio

Effect of Probiotics on Survival Rate and Growth Performance of Clarias gariepinus

Influence of probiotics (mixture of Lactobacillus sp. and Bacillus subtilis) on survival rate, growth performance and feed conversion ratio of African catfish Clarias gariepinus fingerling was examined. Two treatments, namely with (trial) and without probiotics (control) supplementations were performed. In both the treatments, commercial feed containing 31-33% crude protein was applied twice a day for 85 days. For the trial, the probiotics mixture was supplemented in both the feeds (105 cells/g feed) and tank medium (107 cells/mL). The fish were cultured into 3 m3 tank. Each trial and control was done in duplicate. The results exhibited that the survival of African catfish was remarkably higher in probiotics treatment than the control (P<0.05). The growth performance [specific growth rate (SGR) and daily gain (DG)] and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly (P<0.05) better in fish treated with probiotics compared with those in the control. To sum up, the supplementation of probiotics in feed and culture medium improved the survival rate, growth performance and feed conversion ratio of C. gariepinus.

Muhammad Fakhri, Arning Wilujeng Ekawati, Nasrullah Bai Arifin, Ating Yuniarti and Anik Martinah Hariati

Effect of Solution pH on Adsorption of Cefradine by Wheat Straw and Thermodynamic Analysis

As to many pollutants in aqueous solution, wheat straw is considered to be an environment friendly and low-cost adsorbent. Cefradine is a kind of broad-spectrum semisynthetic antibiotics widely used in clinical practices, which causes pollution in natural water bodies. As such, natural wheat straw was tentatively used for adsorptive removal of cefradine. Effect of solution pH on the adsorption of cefradine by wheat straw was investigated. It was found that the optimal solution pH for cefradine adsorption was pH 5.0. The typical functional groups present on raw and exhausted wheat straw after cefradine adsorption were confirmed through fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The isotherm data were analysed by Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models. It demonstrated that Freundlich model described the adsorption isotherm better. By Langmuir model, the maximal adsorption capacity for cefradine was 39.5 mg/g at 298 K. The thermodynamic analysis indicates that the cefradine adsorption process on the wheat straw was endothermic in nature and the increase of reaction temperature was beneficial to the uptake of cefradine. This demonstrates that wheat straw could be an ideal and cost-effective bio-sorbent used for effective removal of antibiotics such as cefradine from water.

Jianmian Deng, Zufeng Zhai, Qinying Yuan and Guoting Li

Macroscopic Factor Decomposition of Non-Point Source Pollution of Chemical Fertilizer: Scale, Structure and Constraint

This paper builds a factor decomposition model of non-point source pollution of chemical fertilizer from the three dimensions of scale, structure and constraint, with using the panel data covering 31 provincial regions in China during 2007-2016, aims to reveal the action mechanism of scale effect, structure effect and effect of restraint on non-point source pollution of chemical fertilizer. The research shows that the inverted U-shaped curve relationship between economic scale and non-point source pollution of chemical fertilizer is essentially an environmental negative externality in production, as well as the evolution path of the implementation of control measures. Economic structure and resource constraint, each has positive exogenous effects on non-point source pollution of chemical fertilizer, while technical constraint has negative exogenous effects on it. Thus, the ultimate effectiveness of pollution control measures depend on the balance of the two opposing forces in reality. In addition, population size and population structure both have no exogenous effect on non-point source pollution of chemical fertilizer. Therefore, implementation of the "source control" mode of pollution control, with optimizing the internal structure of agriculture, transforming agricultural production patterns, making rational use of cultivated land resources, and vigorously promoting applicable environmental technologies, etc., are particularly important.

Wenjie Yao

Source Apportionment and Elemental Composition of PM2.5 in Chengdu, China

In order to investigate the elemental composition of PM2.5 and its sources, PM2.5 samples were collected at an urban site in Chengdu, China. The contents of 20 elements including Al, As, Ba, etc. in PM2.5 were analysed. Enrichment factor, correlation analysis and principal component analysis were applied to analyse the sources of PM2.5. The results showed that the daily mean concentration was 49.2~425.0 µg·m-3 and annual mean concentration was 165.1±84.7 µg·m-3. The element concentrations in winter (7,575.0 ng·m-3) were higher than those in summer (3,326.8 ng·m-3). The results of source apportionment showed that the sources of PM2.5 were soil dust and dust storm, traffic emission, combustion of fossil fuels and coal, and metal smelting in Chengdu. The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that wind speed and temperature had a negative correlation with most trace elements.

Ya Tang, Youping Li, Hong Zhou and Jialing Guo

Accuracy Assessment of Land Use Classification Using Support Vector Machine and Neural Network for Coal Mining Area of Hegang City, China

Information of land use plays a key role in the ecological systems. Most studies focus on the land use studies in large cities or large areas, but rarely carry out a land system in vulnerable areas. In this study, the size of 1000×1000 pixels in Hegang coal mining area was used as the experimental area. Based on Landsat TM image of September 8, 2010, principal component analysis (PCA) and optimum index factor (OIF) were used to select the best band combination of images, and the texture statistics, texture features and spectral information of the homogeneity, contrast, entropy and angular second moments of the remote sensing image were extracted by using the gray level co-occurrence matrix texture feature. A sample of 600 pixels was selected, of which 400 pixels were used as training samples and 200 pixels as test samples. The results show that the support vector machine (SVM) and neural network (NN) classification technique are used to classify land use in coal mining area. The overall accuracy obtained was 92.40% and the kappa statistics 0.9126 for SVM, 90.90% and 0.8930 for NN, respectively. This study provided a comprehensive extraction of samples to improve the accuracy method. The SVM and NN classification results show that SVM classification method is superior to NN classification method, and it can effectively be utilized for Landsat TM images to identify land use types in coal mining areas.

Lei Wang, Yunna Jia, Yunlong Yao and Dawei Xu

Interactive Relations Among Environmental Pollution, Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in Jilin Province, China

As the material base of modern civilization, energy sources influence economic development considerably. While large energy consumption facilitates rapid economic growth, it also results in increasing environmental pollution and severe disequilibrium of the ecosystem. These troublesome outcomes are caused by high energy consumption, great wastes and unreasonable demand structure. Spatial autocorrelation of environmental pollution in nine prefecture-level cities in Jilin Province of China from 2005 to 2016 was measured by Moran’s index based on collected panel data firstly. Subsequently, the dynamic relationship among energy consumption, environmental pollution, and economic growth was estimated by the spatial error model. Results demonstrate that energy consumption and environmental pollution in nine prefecture-level cities in Jilin Province of China present certain characteristics of spatial agglomeration from 2005 to 2016, as well as an annual rise in COD. Besides, significant positive correlations exist between environmental pollution and regional economic growth. Such correlations are significantly stronger than the correlation between energy consumption and economic growth. The dual goals of reasonable saving and utilization of energy sources and ecological environmental protection while maintaining high economic growth rate can be realized by optimizing the industrial and energy consumption structures, establishing sustainable environmental development strategy, and implementing differentiated environmental protection policies. Research conclusions can provide Jilin Province of China with some references in formulating energy and environmental development strategies, determining of emission-reduction goal, and choosing low-carbon, high-efficiency, and sustainable development path.

Yang Fang and Jinling Wang