Resources Environment and Sustainability最新文献

Heavy metal (HM) contamination affects the composition and structure of soil microbial communities, but there are few studies on the assembly process and co-occurrence network of soil microbial community succession driven by Cd in volcanic ecosystem. To address this gap in knowledge, we collected and analyzed soil samples from the Nvshan Volcanic area to understand the microbial characteristics in primary succession soil (PS) and secondary succession soil (SS). We found that the soil was contaminated with different levels of Cd (PS > SS), resulting in obvious heterogeneity of microorganisms. The absolute abundance of bacteria (16S rRNA gene copies) varied significantly between the two successions (P < 0.0001). The co-occurrence networks analysis showed that the number of nodes in bacterial communities was lower in PS compared to SS (1002 vs. 1004), indicating that heavy metal contamination would reduce the number of soil microbial communities. Compared with PS, bacterial communities exhibited stronger competitiveness in SS (positive: negative, P/N: 25.69 vs. 64.22), whereas fungal communities were closer symbiotic relationships (positive/negative, P/N: 15.85 vs. 14.29). The neutral community model (NCM) analysis revealed that stochastic processes predominantly governed the microbial assembly process (bacterial R²: 0.657, fungal R²: 0.686). The Mantel test analysis revealed that Cd was negatively associated with cbbLR, amoA, and phoD. The results of the Sankey diagram showed that fungi were more resistant than bacteria (27 vs. 13). This study contributes to understanding the process of soil microbial succession under Cd stress and identifying microbial strains with potential for Cd remediation.

In response to regulatory demands for sustainable practices, there has been a significant increase in the use of recycled materials in food packaging, particularly when incorporated behind functional barriers. This study, conducted as part of the “ABA Modeling” project, evaluates the migration of contaminants from the non-decontaminated, recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) B-layer, which is sandwiched between two virgin A-layers in three-layer trays. The study aims to assess the long-term implications for food safety within the context of the European and French circular economy frameworks. Using a migration modeling approach based on “worst-case” scenarios for ten contaminants – similar to methodologies employed for decontaminated direct food contact PET – the levels of chemical residues are analyzed and compared. Findings highlight the significant impact of the co-extrusion process on the suitability of rPET for food contact. Additionally, the study discusses the risks and challenges for the recycling sector, particularly in managing chemical contamination during mechanical recycling. Recommendations are provided to improve industrial practices, emphasizing the importance of ongoing monitoring to ensure the long-term sustainability of these recycling practices.

Today, options to reduce the climate impacts of high-speed passenger transport over hundreds of kilometres are limited to using low-carbon synthetic fuels in aviation and high-speed trains. In the future, alternatives like battery electric airplanes might be available. Further, vehicles operating in near-vacuum tubes, so-called “hyperloop systems”, could represent an alternative. Our first-of-its-kind environmental life cycle assessment (LCA), considering its construction, operation, and end-of-life, shows that such a hyperloop system is energy-efficient and can exhibit very low greenhouse gas emissions (<8 g CO${}_2$/pkm) if low-carbon sources provide electricity for its operation and relatively high occupation rates can be realised. The environmental performance of a hyperloop system can be regarded as very similar to that of a train offering the same transport service. Compared to air travel, environmental burdens can be substantially reduced (<5% impact on climate change compared to conventional aircraft). This fundamental finding holds despite uncertainties regarding technical properties and design choices, which reflect the current development status of the hyperloop.

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a major source for CO₂ emission, and strongly involved in the transformation of many pollutants in the environmental medium. Neglecting the transformation of DOC in deep soil (>100 cm) may lead to a high degree of uncertainty in the estimation of the soil C budget, greenhouse gas emission and environmental risk. Using an envelope soil profile in a representative agricultural region of eastern China, this study provides kinetic and molecular evidence for DOC transformation in deep soil. Deep soil remained rich in DOC, with 52.53–65.46% of the DOC sequestered in soil below 100 cm. DOC in deep soil may be derived more from leaching from shallow soil than from the decomposition of in situ SOC. As the incubation process progressed, the DOC changed in three stages: (I) DOC accumulation; (II) DOC decomposition; and (III) slow DOC accumulation, with CO₂ emissions exhibiting corresponding kinetic patterns. Soil CO₂ release from deep soil accounted for a non-negligible portion (12.9–57.4%) of the soil profile. Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry indicated that during the incubation process, less aromatic, and more saturated DOC molecules with lower molecular weights may be preferentially decomposed. During the early stages of incubation, lipids and peptides were preferentially degraded. In the later stages, due to the depletion of active components, lignin began to undergo partial degradation. DOC transformation in deep soil was favored under anaerobic conditions. This study might shed new light on the greenhouse effect and the environmental risk management.

The utilization of in-situ resources will be crucial for the survival of astronauts in space. Therefore, plants and crops will be important for humans in space as they serve as food, provide oxygen, and remove carbon dioxide, enhancing habitability. The aim of this research is to explore the growth of crops on celestial bodies prior to human arrival. The paper outlines the creation of a novel capsule by Green Moon Project (GMP) designed to meet essential criteria for monitoring and enhancing crop cultivation on the lunar terrain, tackling key obstacles such as self-propagation, fluctuating light patterns, water provision, and monitoring germination and growth stages. The Center of Space Exploration (hereafter COSE) managed to sprout the first seed on another celestial body during the Chang’e 4 mission on the Moon in January 2019. This achievement means an important step in space agriculture and widens the biological research of crops that will sustain future crewed missions and human bases in space. Space farming requires greater understanding if humans are to survive in space without constant contact from Earth and that is why GMP goals are aligned COSE’s. Therefore, GMP and COSE work in synergy to boost the research of space farming, future crops, habitability, and close controlled environmental systems. Due to the similarities between both projects, both teams decided to join efforts and cooperate in future space missions. To provide scientific support and technical solutions for future long-term crewed exploration missions, it is mandatory to conduct ground verification experiments of controllable extraterrestrial ecosystems.

An indispensable part of the green revolution is the green development of the Energy-intensive Industry (EII), which is crucial for China to achieve its “double carbon” target. EII is one of the key sectors bound by the green finance policy, whose development level is susceptible to regional conditions. Therefore, this research constructs a spatial Durbin model using provincial panel data (2001-2019) to empirically examine the impact of green finance on EII’s green total factor productivity (GTFP). Evidence shows that green finance boosts EII’s GTFP significantly and there is a spatial spillover effect. Specifically, the results demonstrate that the spatial spillover effect’s regional heterogeneity is positive in the eastern, central and northeastern regions, and negative in the weatern region. Furthermore, there is a spatial inhibitory effect on two subindustries of EII, i.e., Manufacture of Non-metallic Mineral Products industry and Smelting and Pressing of Non-ferrous Metals industry, proving the spatial spillover effect’s sectoral heterogeneity for green finance. This research provides experimental evidence and policy suggestions for enhancing the promotion impact of green finance on EII’s GTFP.

In the context of climate change, the effective management of carbon in urban stormwater infrastructure (USI) become increasingly crucial. Research indicates that dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a significant role in the carbon cycle within USI. However, there is a lack of comprehensive information regarding the occurrence of DOM in urban storm-drain inlet (SDI) sediments. This study was undertaken to examine the land use type-related distribution of DOM in SDI sediments, and then provide the suggestion for urban infrastructure sustainability. There are three findings: (1) The characteristics of DOM in SDI sediments, including content, hydrophilicity, molecular weight, and functional groups of aromatic rings, exhibited variation with land functional type; (2) Urban SDI DOM had low humification, and was primarily originated from autochthonous sources, with the proportion of humic-like components close to or exceeding 50%; and (3) SDI sediment DOM was likely to have different characteristics from road dust and stormwater due to microbial activities over dry season. Based on these findings, measures for urban stormwater infrastructure sustainability are proposed, including properly road sweeping, frequently SDI sediment dredging, decreasing in emission from industrial activities, promoting local educational practices, and limiting improper organic waste disposal. These results have implications for the management of stormwater-related carbon and provide valuable insights for the development of sustainable practices for urban ecosystems.

Most of the harvested demersal fish from Norway and Iceland is from sustainable, but fully exploited fish stocks. Increasing the harvest is therefore not considered a feasible option to meet the future global demand of seafood. Simultaneously, there are significant amounts of under-utilized​ rest raw materials (RRM) during harvesting, such as heads, skins, viscera, as well as prevalent food loss and waste (FLW) in the demersal fish supply chains. In this work we reviewed literature and conducted interviews with industry representatives to identify drivers and causes for FLW, as well as information on data capturing and current regulations in Norway and Iceland governing demersal fisheries. Based on these findings we have created a conceptual model of the demersal fish supply chain based on material and information flows modelling technique (MIFMT). The findings of our review indicates that losses during harvest and retail are the highest while the processing stage has the least volume of losses. However, there is currently no national level data generated on a regular basis which is identified as an important knowledge gap in mapping amounts of FLW. Our findings show that regulatory interventions during catch and improved RRM traceability could enhance the utilization of RRM in demersal fish supply chains. Information sharing and collaboration between the fishing fleet, seafood processors and the marine ingredient sector would allow improved resource utilization through better management of supply and demand. Furthermore, development of technology for on-board processing and storage is identified as a potential area of improvement. Currently, Iceland has a higher rate of utilization in the demersal fish sector than Norway due to certain regulatory, economic, and institutional aspects.

In building a sustainable food system, the management of livestock production should avoid nitrogen (N) surplus and ensure animal-sourced food self-sufficiency. Reducing livestock quantities in regions producing excess of animal-sourced food and livestock manure is an effective approach for mitigating manure N surplus. In this study, we considered the eastern regions of China as a case study to quantitatively analyze whether meat self-sufficiency could be met when reducing the livestock quantity to avoid manure N surplus. In addition to considering the baseline scenario, considering the current livestock quantity (scenario C), we defined three strategies corresponding to livestock reduction scenarios: taking meat self-sufficiency as a priority regardless of the manure balance (scenario TB); taking manure N surplus avoidance as a priority regardless of the meat balance (scenario MNB); and considering the most limiting conditions between satisfying meat self-sufficiency and avoiding manure N surplus (scenario LF). A balance index was used to describe the excess (i.e., positive value) or deficiency (i.e., negative value) of meat and manure N. Concerning the whole of eastern China, in scenario LF, the meat balance index (TBI) and manure N balance index (MNBI) were 0.25 and −0.39, respectively, which could satisfy meat demand while avoid manure N surplus (for scenarios C, TB, and MNB, the TBIs were 1.95, 0, and 1.09, and the MNBIs were 0.56, −0.48, and 0, respectively). At the regional level, the regions with meat self-sufficiency accounted for more than 70% in the LF scenario, and manure N surplus could be avoided in all regions. However, southwestern China should adopt further measures, such as trading among adjacent regions and increasing manure fertilizer application, to satisfy the meat demand while avoiding surplus manure N.

The Chain of Custody (CoC) standard tracks the recycled content (RC) of products, in most cases using the Mass Balance model. This model freely allows the selection of allocation methods and timeframes for the RC evaluation. Our work opens a discussion on the potential effects of this freedom in the RC evaluation. Firstly, we defined the general model representing the viable allocation methods and timeframe, and secondly, we applied the model to a case study. The mass balance model simplifies the monitoring of RC and encourages companies to use recycled materials. However, we outline the need for actions on stricter RC calculation and reporting, for instance, by reducing the timeframe of mass balance calculation or promoting the controlled blending model, which guarantees the physical presence of RC in the product. The results provide a basis for policymakers to set requirements for RC evaluation.