Environmental pollution and DNA methylation: carcinogenesis, clinical significance, and practical applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Yi

2015-09-01

Environmental pollution is one of the main causes of human cancer. Exposures to environmental carcinogens result in genetic and epigenetic alterations which induce cell transformation. Epigenetic changes caused by environmental pollution play important roles in the development and progression of environmental pollution-related cancers. Studies on DNA methylation are among the earliest and most conducted epigenetic research linked to cancer. In this review, the roles of DNA methylation in carcinogenesis and their significance in clinical medicine were summarized, and the effects of environmental pollutants, particularly air pollutants, on DNA methylation were introduced. Furthermore, prospective applications of DNA methylation to environmental pollution detection and cancer prevention were discussed.

34 CFR 75.601 - Applicant's assessment of environmental impact.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 34 Education 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Applicant's assessment of environmental impact. 75.601... Conditions Must Be Met by a Grantee? Construction § 75.601 Applicant's assessment of environmental impact. An applicant shall include with its application its assessment of the impact of the proposed construction on...

Controlled Vocabulary Service Application for Environmental Data Store

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, P.; Piasecki, M.; Lovell, R.

2013-12-01

In this paper we present a controlled vocabulary service application for Environmental Data Store (EDS). The purpose for such application is to help researchers and investigators to archive, manage, share, search, and retrieve data efficiently in EDS. The Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) is used in the application for the representation of the controlled vocabularies coming from EDS. The controlled vocabularies of EDS are created by collecting, comparing, choosing and merging controlled vocabularies, taxonomies and ontologies widely used and recognized in geoscience/environmental informatics community, such as Environment ontology (EnvO), Semantic Web for Earth and Environmental Terminology (SWEET) ontology, CUAHSI Hydrologic Ontology and ODM Controlled Vocabulary, National Environmental Methods Index (NEMI), National Water Information System (NWIS) codes, EPSG Geodetic Parameter Data Set, WQX domain value etc. TemaTres, an open-source, web -based thesaurus management package is employed and extended to create and manage controlled vocabularies of EDS in the application. TemaTresView and VisualVocabulary that work well with TemaTres, are also integrated in the application to provide tree view and graphical view of the structure of vocabularies. The Open Source Edition of Virtuoso Universal Server is set up to provide a Web interface to make SPARQL queries against controlled vocabularies hosted on the Environmental Data Store. The replicas of some of the key vocabularies commonly used in the community, are also maintained as part of the application, such as General Multilingual Environmental Thesaurus (GEMET), NetCDF Climate and Forecast (CF) Standard Names, etc.. The application has now been deployed as an elementary and experimental prototype that provides management, search and download controlled vocabularies of EDS under SKOS framework.

40 CFR 8.2 - Applicability and effect.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Applicability and effect. 8.2 Section 8... OF NONGOVERNMENTAL ACTIVITIES IN ANTARCTICA § 8.2 Applicability and effect. (a) This part is intended to ensure that potential environmental effects of nongovernmental activities undertaken in Antarctica...

Engineering noble metal nanomaterials for environmental applications

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jingguo; Zhao, Tingting; Chen, Tiankai; Liu, Yanbiao; Ong, Choon Nam; Xie, Jianping

2015-04-01

Besides being valuable assets in our daily lives, noble metals (namely, gold, silver, and platinum) also feature many intriguing physical and chemical properties when their sizes are reduced to the nano- or even subnano-scale; such assets may significantly increase the values of the noble metals as functional materials for tackling important societal issues related to human health and the environment. Among which, designing/engineering of noble metal nanomaterials (NMNs) to address challenging issues in the environment has attracted recent interest in the community. In general, the use of NMNs for environmental applications is highly dependent on the physical and chemical properties of NMNs. Such properties can be readily controlled by tailoring the attributes of NMNs, including their size, shape, composition, and surface. In this feature article, we discuss recent progress in the rational design and engineering of NMNs with particular focus on their applications in the field of environmental sensing and catalysis. The development of functional NMNs for environmental applications is highly interdisciplinary, which requires concerted efforts from the communities of materials science, chemistry, engineering, and environmental science.

Engineering noble metal nanomaterials for environmental applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jingguo; Zhao, Tingting; Chen, Tiankai; Liu, Yanbiao; Ong, Choon Nam; Xie, Jianping

2015-05-07

Besides being valuable assets in our daily lives, noble metals (namely, gold, silver, and platinum) also feature many intriguing physical and chemical properties when their sizes are reduced to the nano- or even subnano-scale; such assets may significantly increase the values of the noble metals as functional materials for tackling important societal issues related to human health and the environment. Among which, designing/engineering of noble metal nanomaterials (NMNs) to address challenging issues in the environment has attracted recent interest in the community. In general, the use of NMNs for environmental applications is highly dependent on the physical and chemical properties of NMNs. Such properties can be readily controlled by tailoring the attributes of NMNs, including their size, shape, composition, and surface. In this feature article, we discuss recent progress in the rational design and engineering of NMNs with particular focus on their applications in the field of environmental sensing and catalysis. The development of functional NMNs for environmental applications is highly interdisciplinary, which requires concerted efforts from the communities of materials science, chemistry, engineering, and environmental science.

Hierarchically Nanostructured Materials for Sustainable Environmental Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheng eRen

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This article presents a comprehensive overview of the hierarchical nanostructured materials with either geometry or composition complexity in environmental applications. The hierarchical nanostructures offer advantages of high surface area, synergistic interactions and multiple functionalities towards water remediation, environmental gas sensing and monitoring as well as catalytic gas treatment. Recent advances in synthetic strategies for various hierarchical morphologies such as hollow spheres and urchin-shaped architectures have been reviewed. In addition to the chemical synthesis, the physical mechanisms associated with the materials design and device fabrication have been discussed for each specific application. The development and application of hierarchical complex perovskite oxide nanostructures have also been introduced in photocatalytic water remediation, gas sensing and catalytic converter. Hierarchical nanostructures will open up many possibilities for materials design and device fabrication in environmental chemistry and technology.

The application of image processing software: Photoshop in environmental design

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Baohua; Zhang, Chunmi; Zhuo, Chen

2011-02-01

In the process of environmental design and creation, the design sketch holds a very important position in that it not only illuminates the design's idea and concept but also shows the design's visual effects to the client. In the field of environmental design, computer aided design has made significant improvement. Many types of specialized design software for environmental performance of the drawings and post artistic processing have been implemented. Additionally, with the use of this software, working efficiency has greatly increased and drawings have become more specific and more specialized. By analyzing the application of photoshop image processing software in environmental design and comparing and contrasting traditional hand drawing and drawing with modern technology, this essay will further explore the way for computer technology to play a bigger role in environmental design.

Calcium polysulphide, its applications and emerging risk of environmental pollution-a review article.

Science.gov (United States)

Dahlawi, Saad Mohammed; Siddiqui, Samreen

2017-01-01

Easy availability, preparation technique, and economic value make calcium polysulphide (CaS x ) a very useful inorganic chemical for various field and industrial applications. In this article, disparate applications of CaS x solution have been reviewed to suggest potential and future consolidation. This article also encompasses the physiochemical properties and production of CaS x solution, with critical appraisal on research focusing on CaS x application in agriculture industries and removal of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) from the environment. The kinetics of CaS x , technical issues associated with optimization of its dosage and environmental fate is also discussed in detail. This study covers almost all of the peer-reviewed research that has been performed since 1914. Some of the critiques in this article include the lack of integration between the exposure effect and the efficiency of treatment method, effects of oxidizing environments on the long-term performance of CaS x solution, and kinetics of CaS x solution with the PTEs. The working model of CaS x with PTEs is still system dependent, and therefore cannot be used with other applications. The kinetics of CaS x is described in detail with various phase stoichiometric reactions. Environmental fate is discussed based on applications, government reports, peer-reviewed articles and kinetics of CaS x , which provides a clear picture of emerging contaminants in the environment in relation to the insect resistance and ecotoxicology. Real time, lab based research articles are needed to identify toxicity limits of CaS x in environment in order to describe its effective permissible limit in environmental system. This review article provides a risk assessment of environmental pollution by CaS x based on its physicochemical characteristic, stoichiometry, kinetics, field, and industrial applications.

10 CFR 63.24 - Updating of application and environmental impact statement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Updating of application and environmental impact statement... Updating of application and environmental impact statement. (a) The application must be as complete as... the time a construction authorization was issued. (c) DOE shall supplement its environmental impact...

Metagenomic applications in environmental monitoring and bioremediation.

Science.gov (United States)

Techtmann, Stephen M; Hazen, Terry C

2016-10-01

With the rapid advances in sequencing technology, the cost of sequencing has dramatically dropped and the scale of sequencing projects has increased accordingly. This has provided the opportunity for the routine use of sequencing techniques in the monitoring of environmental microbes. While metagenomic applications have been routinely applied to better understand the ecology and diversity of microbes, their use in environmental monitoring and bioremediation is increasingly common. In this review we seek to provide an overview of some of the metagenomic techniques used in environmental systems biology, addressing their application and limitation. We will also provide several recent examples of the application of metagenomics to bioremediation. We discuss examples where microbial communities have been used to predict the presence and extent of contamination, examples of how metagenomics can be used to characterize the process of natural attenuation by unculturable microbes, as well as examples detailing the use of metagenomics to understand the impact of biostimulation on microbial communities.

Applications of scientific imaging in environmental toxicology

Science.gov (United States)

El-Demerdash, Aref M.

The national goals of clean air, clean water, and healthy ecosystems are a few of the primary forces that drive the need for better environmental monitoring. As we approach the end of the 1990s, the environmental questions at regional to global scales are being redefined and refined in the light of developments in environmental understanding and technological capability. Research in the use of scientific imaging data for the study of the environment is urgently needed in order to explore the possibilities of utilizing emerging new technologies. The objective of this research proposal is to demonstrate the usability of a wealth of new technology made available in the last decade to providing a better understanding of environmental problems. Research is focused in two imaging techniques macro and micro imaging. Several examples of applications of scientific imaging in research in the field of environmental toxicology were presented. This was achieved on two scales, micro and macro imaging. On the micro level four specific examples were covered. First, the effect of utilizing scanning electron microscopy as an imaging tool in enhancing taxa identification when studying diatoms was presented. Second, scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive x-ray analyzer were demonstrated as a valuable and effective tool for identifying and analyzing household dust samples. Third, electronic autoradiography combined with FT-IR microscopy were used to study the distribution pattern of [14C]-Malathion in rats as a result of dermal exposure. The results of the autoradiography made on skin sections of the application site revealed the presence of [ 14C]-activity in the first region of the skin. These results were evidenced by FT-IR microscopy. The obtained results suggest that the penetration of Malathion into the skin and other tissues is vehicle and dose dependent. The results also suggest the use of FT-IR microscopy imaging for monitoring the disposition of

Environmental application of radiation grafting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamada, Masao

2007-01-01

Adsorbent having high selectivity against a certain metal ion was synthesized by means of radiation-induced graft polymerization for the purpose of environmental application. The resulting adsorbents were utilized for the removal of toxic metal from scallop waste and the collection of uranium from seawater. As a novel application of grafting, the biodegradability of poly-hydroxybutylate was controlled by grafting. The biodegradability could be depressed by the graft chain and then recovered by external stimuli such as thermal and chemical treatments. (author)

Automated quantitative micro-mineralogical characterization for environmental applications

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Kathleen S.; Hoal, K.O.; Walton-Day, Katherine; Stammer, J.G.; Pietersen, K.

2013-01-01

Characterization of ore and waste-rock material using automated quantitative micro-mineralogical techniques (e.g., QEMSCAN® and MLA) has the potential to complement traditional acid-base accounting and humidity cell techniques when predicting acid generation and metal release. These characterization techniques, which most commonly are used for metallurgical, mineral-processing, and geometallurgical applications, can be broadly applied throughout the mine-life cycle to include numerous environmental applications. Critical insights into mineral liberation, mineral associations, particle size, particle texture, and mineralogical residence phase(s) of environmentally important elements can be used to anticipate potential environmental challenges. Resources spent on initial characterization result in lower uncertainties of potential environmental impacts and possible cost savings associated with remediation and closure. Examples illustrate mineralogical and textural characterization of fluvial tailings material from the upper Arkansas River in Colorado.

The analysis of the economic and environmental effects of the application of a photovoltaic system to the EXCO (Ex. + Con. Bldg) in Daegu, South Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, M.H.; Hong, W.W.H.

2004-01-01

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the economic and environmental effects of the application of a photovoltaic system to the exhibition and convention building (EXCO). To determine the economic and environmental effects of the building, energy consumption data should be obtained. Three sides of the EXCO are assumed to be good places of a photovoltaic system. In order to understand the investment cost, the number of years required to recover the cost has to be calculated. In an environmental evaluation, the amount of carbon dioxide is also calculated over a period of time of 5,10,15 years. (author)

Magnesium-Based Micromotors: Water-Powered Propulsion, Multifunctionality, and Biomedical and Environmental Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chuanrui; Karshalev, Emil; Guan, Jianguo; Wang, Joseph

2018-06-01

The new capabilities and functionalities of synthetic micro/nanomotors open up considerable opportunities for diverse environmental and biomedical applications. Water-powered micromachines are particularly attractive for realizing many of these applications. Magnesium-based motors directly use water as fuel to generate hydrogen bubbles for their propulsion, eliminating the requirement of common toxic fuels. This Review highlights the development of new Mg-based micromotors and discusses the chemistry that makes it extremely attractive for micromotor applications. Understanding these Mg properties and its transient nature is essential for controlling the propulsion efficiency, lifetime, and overall performance. The unique and attractive behavior of Mg offers significant advantages, including efficient water-powered movement, remarkable biocompatibility, controlled degradation, convenient functionalization, and built-in acid neutralization ability, and has paved the way for multifunctional micromachines for diverse real-life applications, including operation in living animals. A wide range of such Mg motor-based applications, including the detection and destruction of environmental threats, effective in-vivo cargo delivery, and autonomous release, have been demonstrated. In conclusion, the current challenges, future opportunities, and performance improvements of the Mg-based micromotors are discussed. With continuous innovation and attention to key challenges, it is expected that Mg-based motors will have a profound impact on diverse biomedical and environmental applications. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Environmental biotechnology: concepts and applications

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Winter, Josef; Jördening, Hans-Joachim

2005-01-01

... for the - development of new and environmentally improved production technologies with less purified substrates and generation of fewer by-products - bioproducts as non-toxic matters, mostly recyclable. Some impressive studies on industrial applications of biotechnology are published in two OECD reports, which summarized, that biotechnology has the potential o...

Synergetic Use of Crowdsourcing for Environmental Science Research, Applications and Education

Science.gov (United States)

Nair, U. S.; Thau, D.

2015-12-01

Environmental science research and applications often utilize information that is not readily available or routinely collected by government agencies. Whereas, the quality and quantity of environmental monitoring data is continually improving (e. g., spectral and spatial resolution of satellite imagery) contextual information needed to effectively utilize the data is sparse. Examples of such contextual information include ground truth data for land cover classification, presence/absence of species, prevalence of mosquito breeding sites and characteristics of urban land cover. Often, there are no agencies tasked with routine collection of such contextual information, which could be effectively collected through crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing of such information, that is useful for environmental science research and applications, also provide opportunities for experiential learning at all levels of education. Appropriately designed crowdsourcing activity can be transform students from passive recipients of information to generators of knowledge. Multiple examples of synergistic use of crowdsourcing, developed by the Public Environmental Education and Research Apps (PEERA) group, at the University of Alabama in Huntsville will be presented. One example is crowdsourcing of land use and land cover (LULC) data using Open Data Kit (ODK) and associated analysis of satellite imagery using Google Earth Engine (GEE). Implementation of this activity as inquiry based learning exercise, for both middle school and for pre-service teachers will be discussed. Another example will detail the synergy between crowdsourcing for biodiversity mapping in southern India and environmental education. Other crowdsourcing activities that offer potential for synergy between research and public education will also be discussed.

Nanotechnology applications and implications research supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency STAR grants program.

Science.gov (United States)

Savage, Nora; Thomas, Treye A; Duncan, Jeremiah S

2007-10-01

Since 2002, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been funding research on the environmental aspects of nanotechnology through its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grants program. In total, more than $25 million has been awarded for 86 research projects on the environmental applications and implications of nanotechnology. In the applications area, grantees have produced promising results in green manufacturing, remediation, sensors, and treatment using nanotechnology and nanomaterials. Although there are many potential benefits of nanotechnology, there has also been increasing concern about the environmental and health effects of nanomaterials, and there are significant gaps in the data needed to address these concerns. Research performed by STAR grantees is beginning to address these needs.

Environmental assessment in The Netherlands: Effectively governing environmental protection? A discourse analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Runhaar, Hens, E-mail: h.a.c.runhaar@uu.nl [Utrecht University, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, P.O. Box 80,115, 3508 TC Utrecht (Netherlands); Laerhoven, Frank van, E-mail: vanLaerhoven@uu.nl [Utrecht University, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, P.O. Box 80,115, 3508 TC Utrecht (Netherlands); Driessen, Peter, E-mail: p.driessen@uu.nl [Utrecht University, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, P.O. Box 80,115, 3508 TC Utrecht (Netherlands); Arts, Jos, E-mail: e.j.m.m.arts@rug.nl [University of Groningen, Faculty of Planning, P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen (Netherlands)

2013-02-15

Environmental assessment (EA) aims to enhance environmental awareness and to ensure that environmental values are fully considered in decision-making. In the EA arena, different discourses exist on what EA should aim for and how it functions. We hypothesise that these discourses influence its application in practice as well as its effectiveness in terms of achieving the above goals. For instance, actors who consider EA as a hindrance to fast implementation of their projects will probably apply it as a mandatory checklist, whereas actors who believe that EA can help to develop more environmentally sound decisions will use EIA as a tool to design their initiatives. In this paper we explore discourses on EA in The Netherlands and elaborate on their implications for EA effectiveness. Based on an innovative research design comprising an online survey with 443 respondents and 20 supplementary semi-structured interviews we conclude that the dominant discourse is that EA is mainly a legal requirement; EAs are conducted because they have to be conducted, not because actors choose to do so. EA effectiveness however seems reasonably high, as a majority of respondents perceive that it enhances environmental awareness and contributes to environmental protection. However, the 'legal requirement' discourse also results in decision-makers seldom going beyond what is prescribed by EA and environmental law. Despite its mandatory character, the predominant attitude towards EA is quite positive. For most respondents, EA is instrumental in providing transparency of decision-making and in minimising the legal risks of not complying with environmental laws. Differences in discourses seldom reflect extreme opposites. The 'common ground' regarding EA provides a good basis for working with EA in terms of meeting legal requirements but at the same time does not stimulate creativity in decision-making or optimisation of environmental values. In countries characterised by

Environmental assessment in The Netherlands: Effectively governing environmental protection? A discourse analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Runhaar, Hens; Laerhoven, Frank van; Driessen, Peter; Arts, Jos

2013-01-01

Environmental assessment (EA) aims to enhance environmental awareness and to ensure that environmental values are fully considered in decision-making. In the EA arena, different discourses exist on what EA should aim for and how it functions. We hypothesise that these discourses influence its application in practice as well as its effectiveness in terms of achieving the above goals. For instance, actors who consider EA as a hindrance to fast implementation of their projects will probably apply it as a mandatory checklist, whereas actors who believe that EA can help to develop more environmentally sound decisions will use EIA as a tool to design their initiatives. In this paper we explore discourses on EA in The Netherlands and elaborate on their implications for EA effectiveness. Based on an innovative research design comprising an online survey with 443 respondents and 20 supplementary semi-structured interviews we conclude that the dominant discourse is that EA is mainly a legal requirement; EAs are conducted because they have to be conducted, not because actors choose to do so. EA effectiveness however seems reasonably high, as a majority of respondents perceive that it enhances environmental awareness and contributes to environmental protection. However, the ‘legal requirement’ discourse also results in decision-makers seldom going beyond what is prescribed by EA and environmental law. Despite its mandatory character, the predominant attitude towards EA is quite positive. For most respondents, EA is instrumental in providing transparency of decision-making and in minimising the legal risks of not complying with environmental laws. Differences in discourses seldom reflect extreme opposites. The ‘common ground’ regarding EA provides a good basis for working with EA in terms of meeting legal requirements but at the same time does not stimulate creativity in decision-making or optimisation of environmental values. In countries characterised by less

10 CFR 60.24 - Updating of application and environmental impact statement.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Updating of application and environmental impact statement... environmental impact statement. (a) The application shall be as complete as possible in the light of information... was issued. (c) The DOE shall supplement its environmental impact statement in a timely manner so as...

Indispensable role of biochar-inherent mineral constituents in its environmental applications: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xiaoyun; Zhao, Yinghao; Sima, Jingke; Zhao, Ling; Mašek, Ondřej; Cao, Xinde

2017-10-01

Biochar typically consists of both carbon and mineral fractions, and the carbon fraction has been generally considered to determine its properties and applications. Recently, an increasing body of research has demonstrated that mineral components inherent in biochar, such as alkali or alkaline earth metals in the form of carbonates, phosphates, or oxides, could also influence the properties and thus the applications. The review articles published thus far have mainly focused on multiple environmental and agronomic applications of biochar, including carbon sequestration, soil improvement, environmental remediation, etc. This review aims to highlight the indispensable role of the mineral fraction of biochar in these different applications, especially in environmental applications. Specifically, it provides a critical review of current research findings related to the mineral composition of biochar and the effect of the mineral fraction on the physicochemical properties, contaminant sorption, carbon retention and stability, and nutrient bioavailability of biochar. Furthermore, the role of minerals in the emerging applications of biochar, as a precursor for fuel cells, supercapacitors, and photoactive components, is also summarized. Overall, inherent minerals should be fully considered while determining the most appropriate application for any given biochar. A thorough understanding of the role of biochar-bound minerals in different applications will also allow the design or selection of the most suitable biochar for specific applications based on the consideration of feedstock composition, production parameters, and post-treatment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental Monitoring Curriculum System and Application-Oriented Training

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jing-Ping; Wang, Xin-Hong

2016-01-01

Through building the environmental monitoring curriculum system for application-oriented talents, the comprehensive design and practice were constructed from the syllabus, textbooks, web-based courses, top-quality courses, test paper bank, open laboratory and scientific research etc. The aims are to promote environmental science professional,…

Application of radiotracers in environmental studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rathore, V.S.

1994-01-01

An attempt has been made to present recently emerging trends in the applicability of radiotracers in environmental studies. Since the topic is of general interest and still in the infancy, basic aspects of sampling, instrumentation and methodology are also covered

Determining the Environmental Effects of Indirect Subsidies. A Methodological Approach with an Application to the Netherlands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Beers, C. [Department of Economics, Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands); Van den Bergh, J.C.J.M. [Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (Netherlands); De Moor, A. [National Institute for Public Health and the Environment RIVM, Bilthoven (Netherlands); Oosterhuis, F. [Institute for Environmental Studies IVM, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

2004-04-01

Up to now a clear theoretical and methodological framework for economic-environmental analysis of environmentally damaging subsidies is lacking. Environmentally damaging subsidies are all kinds of direct and indirect subsidies aimed at achieving a certain (often non-environmental) goal that produce negative external effects to the natural environment. This article develops a transparent method to determine the environmental impact of indirect government subsidies and derive policy lessons. This method has been applied to several major subsidies in the Netherlands, namely in agriculture, energy, and transport. The results reveal large environmental effects, which need to be taken seriously by policy makers. The method enables policy makers to evaluate the environmental impacts of indirect government subsidies.

Multi-criteria decision analysis in environmental sciences: ten years of applications and trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Ivy B; Keisler, Jeffrey; Linkov, Igor

2011-09-01

Decision-making in environmental projects requires consideration of trade-offs between socio-political, environmental, and economic impacts and is often complicated by various stakeholder views. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) emerged as a formal methodology to face available technical information and stakeholder values to support decisions in many fields and can be especially valuable in environmental decision making. This study reviews environmental applications of MCDA. Over 300 papers published between 2000 and 2009 reporting MCDA applications in the environmental field were identified through a series of queries in the Web of Science database. The papers were classified by their environmental application area, decision or intervention type. In addition, the papers were also classified by the MCDA methods used in the analysis (analytic hierarchy process, multi-attribute utility theory, and outranking). The results suggest that there is a significant growth in environmental applications of MCDA over the last decade across all environmental application areas. Multiple MCDA tools have been successfully used for environmental applications. Even though the use of the specific methods and tools varies in different application areas and geographic regions, our review of a few papers where several methods were used in parallel with the same problem indicates that recommended course of action does not vary significantly with the method applied. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The application of nuclear science technology to understanding and solving environmental problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuk, W.M.

1997-01-01

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) has for many years been involved in applying nuclear science-based and related technologies to the understanding of environmental processes and to the development and implementation of practical and effective solutions to site specific problems, for a broad spectrum of industry, government regulatory agencies, and other organisations in Australia, Europe, North and South America and South East Asia. ANSTO's environmental science program arose out of the need for research to predict, measure, evaluate and monitor the environmental impacts associated with : uranium mining and processing in Australia; the operation of the research reactor at Lucas Heights; and the safe treatment and disposal of radioactive and conventional wastes associated with these activities. The expertise developed in these activities, has found application to a much broader range of environmental concerns. This paper will present an overview of ANSTO's application of nuclear science-based techniques to, inter alia: coastal and marine studies; minesite rehabilitation; transport and geochemical modelling of radionuclides, heavy metals and organic chemicals in the geosphere; the application of naturally-occurring radionuclides and radioactive tracers to corrosion and sedimentation studies in the coastal environment; dating sediments, fish corals and archaeological samples; the understanding of the kinetics and the physiological responses of aquatic organisms to radionuclides and metals in the environment: and the use of aquatic organism as archival and 'realtime' monitors of pollutants

Remote sensing applications in environmental research

CERN Document Server

Srivastava, Prashant K; Gupta, Manika; Islam, Tanvir

2014-01-01

Remote Sensing Applications in Environmental Research is the basis for advanced Earth Observation (EO) datasets used in environmental monitoring and research. Now that there are a number of satellites in orbit, EO has become imperative in today's sciences, weather and natural disaster prediction. This highly interdisciplinary reference work brings together diverse studies on remote sensing and GIS, from a theoretical background to its applications, represented through various case studies and the findings of new models. The book offers a comprehensive range of contributions by well-known scientists from around the world and opens a new window for students in presenting interdisciplinary and methodological resources on the latest research. It explores various key aspects and offers state-of-the-art research in a simplified form, describing remote sensing and GIS studies for those who are new to the field, as well as for established researchers.

Characterization and environmental evaluation of Atikokan coal fly ash for environmental applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yeheyis, M.B.; Shang, J.Q.; Yanful, E.K. [Western Ontario Univ., London, ON (Canada). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering

2008-09-15

Coal fly ash from thermal power generating stations has become a valuable byproduct in various commercial and environmental applications due to its cementitious, alkaline, and pozzolanic properties. It is used as a raw material in cement production, and also as a replacement for cement in concrete production. This study provided physical, chemical, and mineralogical characterizations of fresh and landfilled coal fly ash from a thermal generation station in Ontario. Fly ash behaviour under various environmental conditions was examined. Tests were conducted to characterize fly ash acid neutralization capacity and heavy metal sorption capacity. The study showed that fresh and landfilled fly ash samples showed significant variations in morphology, mineralogy, and chemical composition. X-ray diffraction studies demonstrated that weathering of the fly ash caused the formation of secondary minerals. The study also showed that the heavy metals from both fresh and landfilled fly ash samples were below leachate criteria set by the provincial government. It was concluded that both fresh and landfilled fly ash are suitable for various environmental and engineering applications. 55 refs., 5 tabs., 11 figs.

Selected industrial and environmental applications of neutron activation analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kucera, J.

1999-01-01

A review of the applications of Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) in the industrial and environmental fields is given. Detection limits for different applications are also given. (author)

Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) Pacific Northwest

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) is a web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) tool that assists both emergency responders and...

Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) Pacific Islands

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) is a web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) tool that assists both emergency responders and...

Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®), Great Lakes

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) is a web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) tool that assists both emergency responders and...

Applicability of Long Duration Exposure Facility environmental effects data to the design of Space Station Freedom electrical power system

Science.gov (United States)

Christie, Robert J.; Lu, Cheng-Yi; Aronoff, Irene

1992-01-01

Data defining space environmental effects on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) are examined in terms of the design of the electrical power system (EPS) of the Space Station Freedom (SSF). The significant effects of long-term exposure to space are identified with respect to the performance of the LDEF's materials, components, and systems. A total of 57 experiments were conducted on the LDEF yielding information regarding coatings, thermal systems, electronics, optics, and power systems. The resulting database is analyzed in terms of the specifications of the SSF EPS materials and subsystems and is found to be valuable in the design of control and protection features. Specific applications are listed for findings regarding the thermal environment, atomic oxygen, UV and ionizing radiation, debris, and contamination. The LDEF data are shown to have a considerable number of applications to the design and planning of the SSF and its EPS.

APPLICATION OF MODULATED CHLOROPHYLL FLUORESCENCE AND MODULATED CHLOROPHYLL FLUORESCENCE IMAGING IN STUDYING ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSES EFFECT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Guidi

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Chlorophyll (Chl a fluorescence is a widely used tool to monitor the photosynthetic process in plants subjected to environmental stresses.this review reports the theoretical bases of Chl fluorescence, and the significance of the most important Chl fluorescence parameters. it also reportshow these parameters can be utilised to estimate changes in photosystem ii (PSII photochemistry, linear electron flux and energy dissipationmechanisms. the relation between actual PSII photochemistry and CO2 assimilation is discussed, as is the role of photochemical andnon-photochemical quenching in inducing changes in PSII activity. the application of Chl fluorescence imaging to study heterogeneity on leaflamina is also considered. this review summarises only some of the results obtained by this methodology to study the effects of differentenvironmental stresses, namely water and nutrients availability, pollutants, temperature and salinity.

Feasibility study on application of new concept of environmental assessment to nuclear energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Young Eal; Lee, Kun Jai

2000-01-01

The existing environmental assessments of nuclear energy are focused on the two kinds of issues such as prevention of green house gas emission and radiological impact assessment. So, the comparative assessment of the other resources such as fossil fuels has been the main part and this result has been the side of nuclear power as the clean energy resource. However, now is when to develop the methodology that approaches to environmental assessment of energy in terms of the various environmental categories. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) would be the effective environmental assessment tool, which is able to meet the necessity mentioned above. Also classification of the radiological impact and calculation of the environmental impact from the radioactive substances are indispensable as long as the nuclear energy is considered in the application of LCA for the utilization of energy in the industry. However, direct introduction of LCA to the nuclear energy is difficult more or less due to the absence of the methodology for the radiological impact assessment within the LCA framework. Therefore, this study suggests the new concept of environmental assessment. Also current status of development for the classification factor of radiological impact is introduced and investigates the feasibility of application of it to nuclear power generation system

Recent advances in biochar applications in agricultural soils: Benefits and environmental implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Gang; Lv, Yingchun [Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research (YIC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Yantai (China); Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes, YICCAS, Yantai (China); Sun, Junna; Wei, Linlin [Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research (YIC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Yantai (China); Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China); Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes, YICCAS, Yantai (China); Shao, Hongbo [Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research (YIC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Yantai (China); Institute of Life Sciences,Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao (China); Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes, YICCAS, Yantai (China)

2012-10-15

Biochar, a by-product of biomass pyrolysis, has been suggested as a mean to combat climate change, and at the same time to achieve agricultural and environmental benefits. As one possible source of the components with high aromatic structure in soil humus, biochar is of great importance in increasing soil carbon storage and improving soil nutrient retention and nutrient availability, and in maintaining the balance of soil ecosystem. This paper briefly reviewed and synthesized recent findings and discussions regarding the production and characteristics of biochar, its effects on global climate change and particularly in relation to the environmental effects of biochar in soils. Agronomic benefits of biochar application are critically highlighted because researches show that biochar had varied effects on crop productivity thorough the different bio-physical interactions between the biochar and the soils, which are deserved for further investigations. Potential pitfalls and knowledge gaps were briefly discussed on the environmental behavior and the effects of biochar in agricultural ecosystem. (Copyright copyright 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Supercritical fluid technology for energy and environmental applications

CERN Document Server

Anikeev, Vladimir

2014-01-01

Supercritical Fluid Technology for Energy and Environmental Applications covers the fundamental principles involved in the preparation and characterization of supercritical fluids (SCFs) used in the energy production and other environmental applications. Energy production from diversified resources - including renewable materials - using clean processes can be accomplished using technologies like SCFs. This book is focused on critical issues scientists and engineers face in applying SCFs to energy production and environmental protection, the innovative solutions they have found, and the challenges they need to overcome. The book also covers the basics of sub- and supercritical fluids, like the thermodynamics of phase and chemical equilibria, mathematical modeling, and process calculations. A supercritical fluid is any substance at a temperature and pressure above its critical point where distinct liquid and gas phases do not exist. At this state the compound demonstrates unique properties, which can be "fine...

Environmental Development Plan (EDP): space applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-04-01

This Environmental Development Plan (EDP) identifies and examines the environmental, safety, health, and socioeconomic (ES and H) issues associated with the ongoing DOE Space Applications Program and the associated research, development, and demonstration programs. The EDP presents an ES and H research and development (R/D) program and strategy for timely resolutions of the issues and satisfaction of the associated requirements necessary for precluding impediments to the space nuclear systems technology. The EDP has been limited to the consideration of: (1) space nuclear power system nuclear fuel fabrication; (2) space nuclear power system heat source fabrication; (3) testing of subsystems and assembled systems; (4) R and D in support of space nuclear system development; (5) nuclear system responses to launch and reentry accidents; and (6) nuclear system environmental behavior and recovery

Utilizing steel slag in environmental application - An overview

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, J. W.; Chew, L. H.; Choong, T. S. Y.; Tezara, C.; Yazdi, M. H.

2016-06-01

Steel slags are generated as waste material or byproduct every day from steel making industries.The potential environmental issues which are related with the slag dump or reprocessing for metal recovery are generally being focused in the research. However the chemistry and mineralogy of slag depends on metallurgical process which is able to determine whether the steel slag can be the reusable products or not. Nowadays, steel slag are well characterized by using several methods, such as X-ray Diffraction, ICP-OES, leaching test and many more. About the industrial application, it is mainly reused as aggregate for road construction, as armour stones for hydraulic engineering constructions and as fertilizers for agricultural purposes. To ensure the quality of steel slag for the end usage, several test methods are developed for evaluating the technical properties of steel slag, especially volume stability and environmental behaviour. In order to determine its environmental behaviour, leaching tests have been developed. The focus of this paper however is on those applications that directly affect environmental issues including remediation, and mitigation of activities that negatively impact the environment.

Research on Application of Internet of Things in the Disposal of Environmental Emergency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhu Yanju

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Internet of things is an important part of a new generation of information technology and also an important stage of Information Age. Application of Internet of things in the disposal of environmental emergency is an inevitable trend of application of Internet of things in the field of environmental protection. This paper summarizes the principle, process and application field of Internet of things, and focuses on the general frame-work of environmental emergency disposal system based on Internet of things and further analyses the factors of restricting application of Internet of things in the disposal of environmental emergency. At last, the suggestions and countermeasures to optimize environmental emergency disposal system are proposed.

Environmental applications based on GIS and GRID technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Demontis, R.; Lorrai, E.; Marrone, V. A.; Muscas, L.; Spanu, V.; Vacca, A.; Valera, P.

2009-04-01

In the last decades, the collection and use of environmental data has enormously increased in a wide range of applications. Simultaneously, the explosive development of information technology and its ever wider data accessibility have made it possible to store and manipulate huge quantities of data. In this context, the GRID approach is emerging worldwide as a tool allowing to provision a computational task with administratively-distant resources. The aim of this paper is to present three environmental applications (Land Suitability, Desertification Risk Assessment, Georesources and Environmental Geochemistry) foreseen within the AGISGRID (Access and query of a distributed GIS/Database within the GRID infrastructure, http://grida3.crs4.it/enginframe/agisgrid/index.xml) activities of the GRIDA3 (Administrator of sharing resources for data analysis and environmental applications, http://grida3.crs4.it) project. This project, co-funded by the Italian Ministry of research, is based on the use of shared environmental data through GRID technologies and accessible by a WEB interface, aimed at public and private users in the field of environmental management and land use planning. The technologies used for AGISGRID include: - the client-server-middleware iRODS™ (Integrated Rule-Oriented Data System) (https://irods.org); - the EnginFrame system (http://www.nice-italy.com/main/index.php?id=32), the grid portal that supplies a frame to make available, via Intranet/Internet, the developed GRID applications; - the software GIS GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System) (http://grass.itc.it); - the relational database PostgreSQL (http://www.posgresql.org) and the spatial database extension PostGis; - the open source multiplatform Mapserver (http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu), used to represent the geospatial data through typical WEB GIS functionalities. Three GRID nodes are directly involved in the applications: the application workflow is implemented at the CRS4 (Pula

Organophosphate degrading microorganisms and enzymes as biocatalysts in environmental and personal decontamination applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Yair, Simo; Ofer, Butnaro; Arik, Eisenkraft; Shai, Shrot; Yossi, Rosman; Tzvika, Dushnitsky; Amir, Krivoy

2008-01-01

One of the major challenges in dealing with chemical warfare agent (CWA) dispersal, whether in the battlefield or after a terror act, is decontamination and rehabilitation of any contaminated area. Organophosphates (OPs) are considered to be among the deadliest CWAs to date. Other OPs are used as pesticides in modern agriculture, and are considered environmentally hazardous. Current methods for OP decontamination are either dangerous or insufficiently effective. As a promising solution for this problem, bioremediation--the use of biocomponents for environmental remediation--is a potentially effective, safe, and environment-friendly method. The technology relies on several enzymatic mechanisms, and can be applied in various ways. We will review recent achievements and potential applications, such as biocatalyst-containing foams and an enzymatic sponge, for environmental as well as personal exterior decontamination.

Users' Requirements for Environmental Effects From Innovative Nuclear Energy Systems and Their Fuel Cycles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carreter, M.; Gray, M.; Falck, E.; Bonne, A.; Bell, M.

2002-01-01

The objective of the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO) is to support the safe, sustainable, economic and proliferation resistant use of nuclear technology to meet the needs of the 21. century. The first part of the project focusses on the development of an understanding of the requirements of possible users of innovative concepts for reactors and fuel cycle applications. This paper reports progress made on the identification of user requirements as they relate to the environment and environmental protection. The user requirements being formulated are intended to limit adverse environmental effects from the different facilities involved in the nuclear fuel cycles to be well below maximum acceptable levels. To determine if the user requirements are met, it is necessary to identify those factors that are relevant to assessment of the environmental performance of innovative nuclear systems. To this effect, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the Material Flow accounting (MFA) methodologies are being appraised for the suitability for application. This paper develops and provides the rationale for the 'users' requirements' as they are currently defined. Existing Environmental Impact Assessment and Materials Flow Accounting methodologies that can be applied to determine whether or not innovative technologies conform to the User Requirements are briefly described. It is concluded that after establishing fundamental principles, it is possible to formulate sets of general and specific users' requirements against which, the potential adverse environmental effects to be expected from innovative nuclear energy systems (INES) can be assessed. The application of these users' requirements should keep the adverse environmental effects from INES's within acceptable limits. (authors)

Applicability of the "Frame of Reference" approach for environmental monitoring of offshore renewable energy projects.

Science.gov (United States)

Garel, Erwan; Rey, Cibran Camba; Ferreira, Oscar; van Koningsveld, Mark

2014-08-01

This paper assesses the applicability of the Frame of Reference (FoR) approach for the environmental monitoring of large-scale offshore Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) projects. The focus is on projects harvesting energy from winds, waves and currents. Environmental concerns induced by MRE projects are reported based on a classification scheme identifying stressors, receptors, effects and impacts. Although the potential effects of stressors on most receptors are identified, there are large knowledge gaps regarding the corresponding (positive and negative) impacts. In that context, the development of offshore MRE requires the implementation of fit-for-purpose monitoring activities aimed at environmental protection and knowledge development. Taking European legislation as an example, it is suggested to adopt standardized monitoring protocols for the enhanced usage and utility of environmental indicators. Towards this objective, the use of the FoR approach is advocated since it provides guidance for the definition and use of coherent set of environmental state indicators. After a description of this framework, various examples of applications are provided considering a virtual MRE project located in European waters. Finally, some conclusions and recommendations are provided for the successful implementation of the FoR approach and for future studies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New decontamination technologies for environmental applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, R.P.; Arrowsmith, H.W.; McCoy, M.W.

1981-01-01

The technologies discussed represent a versatile collection of tools and approaches for environmental decontamination applications. The fixatives provide a means for gaining and maintaining control of large contaminated areas, for decontaminating large surface areas, and for protecting equipment and supplies used in decontamination operations. The other decontamination techniques together provide a method for removing loose surface contamination from almost all classes of materials and surfaces. These techniques should have wide application both as direct decontamination processes and for the cleaning of tools and equipment used in the decontamination operations

The application of computer image analysis in life sciences and environmental engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Mazur, R.; Lewicki, A.; Przybył, K.; Zaborowicz, M.; Koszela, K.; Boniecki, P.; Mueller, W.; Raba, B.

2014-04-01

The main aim of the article was to present research on the application of computer image analysis in Life Science and Environmental Engineering. The authors used different methods of computer image analysis in developing of an innovative biotest in modern biomonitoring of water quality. Created tools were based on live organisms such as bioindicators Lemna minor L. and Hydra vulgaris Pallas as well as computer image analysis method in the assessment of negatives reactions during the exposition of the organisms to selected water toxicants. All of these methods belong to acute toxicity tests and are particularly essential in ecotoxicological assessment of water pollutants. Developed bioassays can be used not only in scientific research but are also applicable in environmental engineering and agriculture in the study of adverse effects on water quality of various compounds used in agriculture and industry.

Environmental effects in titanium aluminide alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thompson, A.W.

1991-01-01

Environmental effects on titanium aluminide alloys are potentially of great importance for engineering applications of these materials, although little has been published to date on such effects. The primary emphasis in this paper is on hydrogen effects, with a brief reference to oxygen effects. Hydrogen is readily absorbed at elevated temperature into all the titanium aluminide compositions studied to date, in amounts as large as 10 at.%, and on cooling virtually all this hydrogen is precipitated as a hydride phase or phases. The presence of these precipitated hydride plates affects mechanical properties in ways similar to what is observed in other hydride forming materials, although effects per unit volume of hydride are not particularly severe in the titanium aluminides. Microstructure, and thus thermal and mechanical history, plays a major role in controlling the severity of hydrogen effects

A surplus production model including environmental effects: Application to the Senegalese white shrimp stocks

Science.gov (United States)

Thiaw, Modou; Gascuel, Didier; Jouffre, Didier; Thiaw, Omar Thiom

2009-12-01

In Senegal, two stocks of white shrimp ( Penaeusnotialis) are intensively exploited, one in the north and another in the south. We used surplus production models including environmental effects to analyse their changes in abundance over the past 10 years and to estimate their Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) and the related fishing effort ( EMSY). First, yearly abundance indices were estimated from commercial statistics using GLM techniques. Then, two environmental indices were alternatively tested in the model: the coastal upwelling intensity from wind speeds provided by the SeaWifs database and the primary production derived from satellite infrared images of chlorophyll a. Models were fitted, with or without the environmental effect, to the 1996-2005 time series. They express stock abundance and catches as functions of the fishing effort and the environmental index (when considered). For the northern stock, fishing effort and abundance fluctuate over the period without any clear trends. The model based on the upwelling index explains 64.9% of the year-to-year variability. It shows that the stock was slightly overexploited in 2002-2003 and is now close to full exploitation. Stock abundance strongly depends on environmental conditions; consequently, the MSY estimate varies from 300 to 900 tons according to the upwelling intensity. For the southern stock, fishing effort has strongly increased over the past 10 years, while abundance has been reduced 4-fold. The environment has a significant effect on abundance but only explains a small part of the year-to-year variability. The best fit is obtained using the primary production index ( R2 = 0.75), and the stock is now significantly overfished regardless of environmental conditions. MSY varies from 1200 to 1800 tons according to environmental conditions. Finally, in northern Senegal, the upwelling is highly variable from year to year and constitutes the major factor determining productivity. In the south, hydrodynamic

Minerals ontology: application in the environmental field to silicates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galan Saulnier, A.; Garcia Gimenez, R.

2010-01-01

The aim of this paper is to describe the application of an ontology, or up-to-date computerized tool, developed in the field of artificial intelligence and in particular of knowledge engineering, to inert elements, in this case the silicate class, which are minerals of scientific, technical and economic interest. The importance of applying ontology to minerals lies in the fact that these substances are capable of causing negative environmental impacts upon other variables in the natural environment, such as the atmosphere and the hydrosphere, and possible subsequent effects on human health. (Author) 37 refs.

Application in agriculture, forestry and environmental science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, J.; Holmes, J.W.; Williams, B. G.; Winkworth, R.E.

1981-01-01

This consideration of the applications of the neutron method in forestry, agriculture and environmental science, focusses on the analyses of the data which can be obtained with the neutron method and draws attention to problem situations associated with its use

Environmental applications of biosurfactants: recent advances.

Science.gov (United States)

Pacwa-Płociniczak, Magdalena; Płaza, Grażyna A; Piotrowska-Seget, Zofia; Cameotra, Swaranjit Singh

2011-01-18

Increasing public awareness of environmental pollution influences the search and development of technologies that help in clean up of organic and inorganic contaminants such as hydrocarbons and metals. An alternative and eco-friendly method of remediation technology of environments contaminated with these pollutants is the use of biosurfactants and biosurfactant-producing microorganisms. The diversity of biosurfactants makes them an attractive group of compounds for potential use in a wide variety of industrial and biotechnological applications. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of advances in the applications of biosurfactants and biosurfactant-producing microorganisms in hydrocarbon and metal remediation technologies.

High resolution applications of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for environmental and forensic applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, Madhavi Z.; Labbe, Nicole; Andre, Nicolas; Harris, Ronny; Ebinger, Michael; Wullschleger, Stan D.; Vass, Arpad A.

2007-01-01

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been used in the elemental analysis for a variety of environmental samples and as a proof of concept for a host of forensic applications. In the first application, LIBS was used for the rapid detection of carbon from a number of different soil types. In this application, a major breakthrough was achieved by using a multivariate analytical approach that has brought us closer towards a 'universal calibration curve'. In a second application, it has been demonstrated that LIBS in combination with multivariate analysis can be employed to analyze the chemical composition of annual tree growth rings and correlate them to external parameters such as changes in climate, forest fires, and disturbances involving human activity. The objectives of using this technology in fire scar determinations are: 1) To determine the characteristic spectra of wood exposed to forest fires and 2) To examine the viability of this technique for detecting fire occurrences in stems that did not develop fire scars. These examples demonstrate that LIBS-based techniques are inherently well suited for diverse environmental applications. LIBS was also applied to a variety of proof of concept forensic applications such as the analysis of cremains (human cremation remains) and elemental composition analysis of prosthetic implants

The analysis of organic constituents in leaves by pyrolysis-gas chromatography and its application to selected environmental effects on plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Hongbing

1993-09-01

The relationship between environmental stress and the concentration of certain organic compounds (carbohydrates, tannins and phenolics) in plant leaves is examined. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PY-GC-MS) can be a rapid and comprehensive method to profile the chemical composition of biomaterials. Enhanced structural information on biomolecules containing acid functional groups can be obtained by a modification of direct pyrolysis; simultaneous pyrolysis methylation (SPM). Initial investigation focused on the characterization of important classes of biomarkers in leaves and optimization of sample preparation and pyrolysis conditions. The pyrolytic techniques were examined as a tool to quantify the compositional changes in leaves of trees which have been subjected to different environmental stresses. Results are reported for three field applications: the effect of thinning on balsam fir trees; the effects of fertilization on kalmia plant; and the effect of ozone on white pine trees. It was found that certain pyrolysates of carbohydrates, tannins and of a dihydrochalcone were good indicators of fertilization and water stress. Two unique pyrolysate biomarkers were discovered in white pine needles as indications of ozone fumigation levels and ozone damage. 132 refs., 33 figs., 13 tabs.

Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®), Gulf of Mexico

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) is a web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) tool that assists both emergency responders and...

Modified whole effluent toxicity test to assess and decouple wastewater effects from environmental gradients.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastián Sauco

Full Text Available Environmental gradients and wastewater discharges produce aggregated effects on marine populations, obscuring the detection of human impact. Classical assessment methods do not include environmental effects in toxicity tests designs, which could lead to incorrect conclusions. We proposed a modified Whole Effluent Toxicity test (mWET that includes environmental gradients in addition to effluent dilutions, together with the application of Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM to assess and decouple those effects. We tested this approach, analyzing the lethal effects of wastewater on a marine sandy beach bivalve affected by an artificial canal freshwater discharge used for rice crops irrigation. To this end, we compared bivalve mortality between canal water dilutions (CWd and salinity controls (SC: without canal water. CWd were prepared by diluting the water effluent (sampled during the pesticide application period with artificial marine water. The salinity gradient was included in the design by achieving the same final salinities in both CWd and SC, allowing us to account for the effects of salinity by including this variable as a random factor in the GLMM. Our approach detected significantly higher mortalities in CWd, indicating potential toxic effects of the effluent discharge. mWET represents an improvement over the internationally standardized WET tests, since it considers environmental variability and uses appropriate statistical analyses.

The 5th conference of the South Pacific Environmental Radioactivity Association (SPERA). Environmental radioactivity and its application in environmental studies. Conference papers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

SPERA98 focused primarily on applications of environmental radionuclides in environmental studies and problem solving. The conference program included 7 sessions covering topics such as: soil erosion, waste disposal and treatment, atmospheric studies, radioactivity in water, human exposure pathways, sediment and atmospheric studies

The 5th conference of the South Pacific Environmental Radioactivity Association (SPERA). Environmental radioactivity and its application in environmental studies. Conference papers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-07-01

SPERA98 focused primarily on applications of environmental radionuclides in environmental studies and problem solving. The conference program included 7 sessions covering topics such as: soil erosion, waste disposal and treatment, atmospheric studies, radioactivity in water, human exposure pathways, sediment and atmospheric studies.

ICP-MS applications for the analysis of geological materials and environmental samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bendl, J.

1997-01-01

This work deals with applications of inductively coupled plasma - mass spectrometry applications for the analysis of geological materials and environmental samples. There are instrumentation, calibration, alternatives of sample introduction, interferences, trace elements analysis, rare earth elements and uranium and thorium, precious metals, isotopic analysis and environmental analysis discussed

Environmental Applications of Biosurfactants: Recent Advances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Swaranjit Singh Cameotra

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Increasing public awareness of environmental pollution influences the search and development of technologies that help in clean up of organic and inorganic contaminants such as hydrocarbons and metals. An alternative and eco-friendly method of remediation technology of environments contaminated with these pollutants is the use of biosurfactants and biosurfactant-producing microorganisms. The diversity of biosurfactants makes them an attractive group of compounds for potential use in a wide variety of industrial and biotechnological applications. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of advances in the applications of biosurfactants and biosurfactant-producing microorganisms in hydrocarbon and metal remediation technologies.

Overview: Applicability of U.S. environmental control technologies for Korea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chun, S.W. [DOE Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center, PA (United States)

1994-12-31

A review of the applicability of US environmental control technologies for Korea is presented in outline form. The following topics are discussed: PETC coal research activities, environmental costs, environmental challenges, Clean Air Act requirements, additional regulations for air toxics, clean coal technologies (CCT) approach, CCT help meet environmental challenges, utility options, research goals for advanced power systems, PETC Programs, the NO{sub x} SO process, flue gas cleanup program, air toxics emissions, and retrofit NO{sub x} control for coal-burning boilers.

Regulatory standards applicable or relevant to the independent Hanford environmental surveillance and oversight program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, S.E.; Hendrickson, P.L.; Siegel, M.R.; Woodruff, M.G.; Belfiglio, J.; Elliott, R.W.

1990-03-01

The authors reviewed federal and state statutes and regulations, as well as Department of Energy (DOE) orders and other guidance material, for potential applicability to the environmental surveillance program conducted for the Hanford site by the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL). There are no federal or state statutes or regulations which are directly applicable to the environmental surveillance program. However, other regulatory schemes, while not directly applicable to the environmental surveillance program, are important insofar as they are indicative of regulatory concern and direction. Because of the evolving nature of environmental regulations, this area needs to be closely monitored for future impact on environmental surveillance activities. 9 refs.,

New technologies - How to assess environmental effects

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, P. J.; Lavin, M. L.

1981-01-01

A method is provided for assessing the environmental effects of a room-and-pillar mining system (RP) and a new hydraulic borehole mining system (HBM). Before environmental assessment can begin, each technology is defined in terms of its engineering characteristics at both the conceptual and preliminary design stages. The mining sites are also described in order to identify the significant advantages and constraints for each system. This can be a basic physical and biological survey of the region at the conceptual stage, but a more specific representation of site characteristics is required at the preliminary stage. Assessment of potential environmental effects of each system at the conceptual design is critical to its hardware development and application. A checklist can be used to compare and identify the negative impacts of each method, outlining the resource affected, the type of impact involved, and the exact activity causing that impact. At the preliminary design stage, these impacts should be evaluated as a result of either utilization or alteration. Underground coal mining systems have three major utilization impacts - the total area disturbed, the total water resources withdrawn from other uses, and the overall energy efficiency of the process - and one major alteration impact - the degradation of water quality by sedimentation and acid contamination. A comparison of the RP and HBM systems shows the HBM to be an environmentally less desirable system for the Central Appalachia region.

Environmental costs and benefits case study: nuclear power plant. Quantification and economic valuation of selected environmental impacts/effects. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-02-01

This case study is an application, to a nuclear power plant, of the methodology for quantifying environmental costs and benefits, contained in the regional energy plan, adopted in April, 1983, by the Northwest Power Planning Council, pursuant to Public Law 96-501.The study is based on plant number 2 of the Washington Public Power Supply System (WNP-2), currently nearing completion on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in eastern Washington State. This report describes and documents efforts to quantify and estimate monetary values for the following seven areas of environmental effects: radiation/health effects, socioeconomic/infrastructure effects, consumptive use of water, psychological/health effects (fear/stress), waste management, nuclear power plant accidents, and decommissioning costs. 103 references

Industrial and environmental applications of nuclear analytical techniques. Report of a workshop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-11-01

The IAEA has programme the utilisation of nuclear analytical techniques (NATs), in particular for industrial and environmental applications. A major purpose is to help the developing Member States apply their analytical capabilities optimally for socio-economic progress and development. A large number of institutions in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia have established X ray fluorescence (XRF) and gamma ray measurement techniques and facilities for neutron activation analysis (NAA) have been initiated in institutions in these regions. Moreover, there is a growing interest among many institutes in applying more advanced analytical techniques, such as particle induced X ray emission (PIXE) and microanalytical techniques based on X ray emission induced by conventional sources or synchrotron radiation to the analysis of environmental and biological materials and industrial products. In order to define new areas of application of NATs and to extend the range of these techniques, a number of initiatives have recently been taken. It includes a workshop on industrial and environmental applications of nuclear analytical techniques, organized by the IAEA in Vienna, 7-11 September 1998. The main objectives of the workshop were as follows: (1) to review recent applications of NATs in industrial and environmental studies; (2) to identify emerging trends in methodologies and applications of NATs; (3) to demonstrate analytical capabilities of selected NATs. The following topics were reviewed during the workshop: (1) XRF and accelerator based analytical techniques; (2) portable XRF systems and their applications in industry, mineral prospecting and processing, (3) portable gamma ray spectrometers; and (4) NAA and its applications in industry and environmental studies. Micro-XRF and micro-PIXE methods and their applications in the above fields were also discussed, including aspects of synchrotron radiation induced X ray emission.

Industrial and environmental applications of nuclear analytical techniques. Report of a workshop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-11-01

The IAEA has programme the utilisation of nuclear analytical techniques (NATs), in particular for industrial and environmental applications. A major purpose is to help the developing Member States apply their analytical capabilities optimally for socio-economic progress and development. A large number of institutions in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia have established X ray fluorescence (XRF) and gamma ray measurement techniques and facilities for neutron activation analysis (NAA) have been initiated in institutions in these regions. Moreover, there is a growing interest among many institutes in applying more advanced analytical techniques, such as particle induced X ray emission (PIXE) and microanalytical techniques based on X ray emission induced by conventional sources or synchrotron radiation to the analysis of environmental and biological materials and industrial products. In order to define new areas of application of NATs and to extend the range of these techniques, a number of initiatives have recently been taken. It includes a workshop on industrial and environmental applications of nuclear analytical techniques, organized by the IAEA in Vienna, 7-11 September 1998. The main objectives of the workshop were as follows: (1) to review recent applications of NATs in industrial and environmental studies; (2) to identify emerging trends in methodologies and applications of NATs; (3) to demonstrate analytical capabilities of selected NATs. The following topics were reviewed during the workshop: (1) XRF and accelerator based analytical techniques; (2) portable XRF systems and their applications in industry, mineral prospecting and processing, (3) portable gamma ray spectrometers; and (4) NAA and its applications in industry and environmental studies. Micro-XRF and micro-PIXE methods and their applications in the above fields were also discussed, including aspects of synchrotron radiation induced X ray emission

Remote Sensing: Physics And Environmental Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

EI Raey, M.

2007-01-01

Full text: Basic principles of remote sensing of environment are outlined emphasizing inherent physical and target properties leading to proper identification and classification. Basic processing techniques are discussed. Applications of remote sensing techniques in various aspects of environmental monitoring and assessment is surveyed with emphasis on aspects of main concern to developing communities such as planning, sea level impacts, mine detection and earthquake prediction are all outlined and discussed

Atmospheric plasma processes for environmental applications

OpenAIRE

Shapoval, Volodymyr

2012-01-01

Plasma chemistry is a rapidly growing field which covers applications ranging from technological processing of materials, including biological tissues, to environmental remediation and energy production. The so called atmospheric plasma, produced by electric corona or dielectric barrier discharges in a gas at atmospheric pressure, is particularly attractive for the low costs and ease of operation and maintenance involved. The high concentrations of energetic and chemically active species (e.g...

Electrospun nanofibers for energy and environmental applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ding, Bin; Yu, Jianyong (eds.) [Donghua Univ., Shanghai (China). State Key Lab. for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials; Donghua Univ., Shanghai (China). Nanomaterials Research Center

2014-10-01

This book offers a comprehensive review of the latest advances in developing functional electrospun nanofibers for energy and environmental applications, which include fuel cells, lithium-ion batteries, solar cells, supercapacitors, energy storage materials, sensors, filtration materials, protective clothing, catalysis, structurally-colored fibers, oil spill cleanup, self-cleaning materials, adsorbents, and electromagnetic shielding.

Environmental statement for Applications Technology Satellite program

Science.gov (United States)

1971-01-01

The experiments, environmental impact, and applications of data collected by ATS are discussed. Data cover communications, navigation, meteorology, data collection (including data from small unattended remote stations such as buoys, seismology and hydrology monitors, etc.), geodesy, and scientific experiments to define the environment at synchronous orbit, and to monitor emissions from the sun.

[Environmental behavior of graphene and its effect on the transport and fate of pollutants in environment].

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Wen-Jie; Teng, Ying

2014-09-01

Graphene is one of the most popular research topics in carbon nanomaterials. Because of its special physical and chemical properties, graphene will have wide applications. As the production and application amount is increasing, graphene will be inevitably released to the environment, resulting in risks of ecological environment and human health. It is of very vital significance for evaluating environmental risks of graphene scientifically and objectively to understand its environmental behavior and fate and explore its effect on the environmental behaviors of pollutants. This paper reviewed the environmental behavior of graphene, such as colloid properties and its stability in the aqueous environment and its transport through porous media. Additionally, the paper reviewed the effect of graphene on the transport and fate of pollutants. The interactions between graphene and heavy metals or organic compounds were especially discussed. Important topics should be explored including sorption mechanisms, interactions between graphene and soil components, influence of graphene on the transport and bioavailability of pollutants in environment, as well as approaches to quantifying graphene. The review might identify potential new ideas for further research in applications of graphene.

Environmental requirements for flat plate photovoltaic modules for terrestrial applications

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, A. R.; Ross, R. G., Jr.

1979-01-01

The environmental test requirements that have been developed for flat plate modules purchased through Department of Energy funding are described. Concurrent with the selection of the initial qualification tests from space program experience - temperature cycling and humidity - surveys of existing photovoltaic systems in the field revealed that arrays were experiencing the following failure modes: interconnect breakage, delamination, and electrical termination corrosion. These coupled with application-dependent considerations led to the development of additional qualification tests, such as cyclic pressure loading, warped mounting surface, and hail. Rationale for the selection of tests, their levels and durations is described. Comparisons between field-observed degradation and test-induced degradation show a positive correlation with some of the observed field effects. Also, the tests are proving useful for detecting design, process, and workmanship deficiencies. The status of study efforts for the development of environmental requirements for field-related problems is reviewed.

Effects Of Environmental And Operational Stresses On RF MEMS Switch Technologies For Space Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Jah, Muzar; Simon, Eric; Sharma, Ashok

2003-01-01

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) have been heralded for their ability to provide tremendous advantages in electronic systems through increased electrical performance, reduced power consumption, and higher levels of device integration with a reduction of board real estate. RF MEMS switch technology offers advantages such as low insertion loss (0.1- 0.5 dB), wide bandwidth (1 GHz-100 GHz), and compatibility with many different process technologies (quartz, high resistivity Si, GaAs) which can replace the use of traditional electronic switches, such as GaAs FETS and PIN Diodes, in microwave systems for low signal power (x technologies, the unknown reliability, due to the lack of information concerning failure modes and mechanisms inherent to MEMS devices, create an obstacle to insertion of MEMS technology into high reliability applications. All MEMS devices are sensitive to moisture and contaminants, issues easily resolved by hermetic or near-hermetic packaging. Two well-known failure modes of RF MEMS switches are charging in the dielectric layer of capacitive membrane switches and contact interface stiction of metal-metal switches. Determining the integrity of MEMS devices when subjected to the shock, vibration, temperature extremes, and radiation of the space environment is necessary to facilitate integration into space systems. This paper will explore the effects of different environmental stresses, operational life cycling, temperature, mechanical shock, and vibration on the first commercially available RF MEMS switches to identify relevant failure modes and mechanisms inherent to these device and packaging schemes for space applications. This paper will also describe RF MEMS Switch technology under development at NASA GSFC.

New environmental applications of radiation technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pikaev, A.K.

1998-01-01

The paper is a brief review of recent data on environmental applications of radiation technology obtained with participation of the author. It includes the results of the study on combined electron-beam and ozone treatment of municipal wastewater in the aerosol flow and electron-beam purification of water from heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium) by two methods (in the presence of formate as an OH radical scavenger or sorbents of inorganic and plant origins)

Identifying Effective and Sustainable Measures for Community-Based Environmental Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

McKay, Ariana J.; Johnson, Chris J.

2017-09-01

Resource development projects typically result in monitoring programs that fail to fully consider the values and participation of surrounding communities. Also, monitoring protocols for single environmental values can be insufficient for addressing the cumulative impacts of resource development. Community-based environmental monitoring (CBEM) has emerged as a way to meaningfully include local citizens in the decision-making process and assessment of the development of natural resources. Our research explored how to develop effective and sustainable CBEM. Interviews were conducted with staff from 15 CBEM programs established across Canada to identify criteria of what constitutes effective CBEM. Results demonstrate that CBEM offers an effective, locally adapted, and culturally applicable approach to facilitate community participation in natural resource management and to track environmental change. Benefits of CBEM include: locally relevant monitoring protocols, inclusion of cumulative impacts, better informed decision-making, and increased awareness and collaboration amongst community, governments, and proponents. Challenges associated with CBEM are cost, capacity, longevity, distribution of results, and establishing credibility. This research validates the use of CBEM for improving resource management.

Proceedings of the international symposium on environmental technologies: Plasma systems and applications. Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mayne, P.W.; Mulholland, J.A.

1995-01-01

Plasma technology is an extremely versatile and powerful means of obtaining very high temperatures that can be used in a variety of environmental situations. Since most types of waste products and contaminants can be treated effectively and efficiently, plasma systems have been developed to address the disposal and annihilation domestic of medical, hazardous, radioactive, military, and miscellaneous wastes. Plasma technologies can also be implemented to recycle and recover usable materials from metallic wastes. The International Symposium on Environmental Technologies: Plasma Systems and Applications was held at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia on October 8--12, 1995 to bring together a large group of technical experts working on the use of plasma for solving environmental problems. The Symposium is a sequel to the 1994 Metatechnies Conference on Stabilization and Volarization of Ultimate Waste by Plasma Processes that was held in September of 1994 at Bordeaux Lac, France. The proceedings to this second international conference contain the written contributions from eleven sessions and are published in two volumes. A total of 65 papers address the use of plasma systems for environmental applications and include topics concerning the development and use of innovative technologies for waste treatment, environmental remediation, recycling, characterization of the plasma and solid residue, off-gas analyses, as well as case studies and regulatory policies

Environmental Geochemistry of Cerium: Applications and Toxicology of Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessica T. Dahle

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Cerium is the most abundant of rare-earth metals found in the Earth’s crust. Several Ce-carbonate, -phosphate, -silicate, and -(hydroxide minerals have been historically mined and processed for pharmaceutical uses and industrial applications. Of all Ce minerals, cerium dioxide has received much attention in the global nanotechnology market due to their useful applications for catalysts, fuel cells, and fuel additives. A recent mass flow modeling study predicted that a major source of CeO2 nanoparticles from industrial processing plants (e.g., electronics and optics manufactures is likely to reach the terrestrial environment such as landfills and soils. The environmental fate of CeO2 nanoparticles is highly dependent on its physcochemical properties in low temperature geochemical environment. Though there are needs in improving the analytical method in detecting/quantifying CeO2 nanoparticles in different environmental media, it is clear that aquatic and terrestrial organisms have been exposed to CeO2 NPs, potentially yielding in negative impact on human and ecosystem health. Interestingly, there has been contradicting reports about the toxicological effects of CeO2 nanoparticles, acting as either an antioxidant or reactive oxygen species production-inducing agent. This poses a challenge in future regulations for the CeO2 nanoparticle application and the risk assessment in the environment.

The application of system dynamics modelling to environmental health decision-making and policy - a scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Currie, Danielle J; Smith, Carl; Jagals, Paul

2018-03-27

Policy and decision-making processes are routinely challenged by the complex and dynamic nature of environmental health problems. System dynamics modelling has demonstrated considerable value across a number of different fields to help decision-makers understand and predict the dynamic behaviour of complex systems in support the development of effective policy actions. In this scoping review we investigate if, and in what contexts, system dynamics modelling is being used to inform policy or decision-making processes related to environmental health. Four electronic databases and the grey literature were systematically searched to identify studies that intersect the areas environmental health, system dynamics modelling, and decision-making. Studies identified in the initial screening were further screened for their contextual, methodological and application-related relevancy. Studies deemed 'relevant' or 'highly relevant' according to all three criteria were included in this review. Key themes related to the rationale, impact and limitation of using system dynamics in the context of environmental health decision-making and policy were analysed. We identified a limited number of relevant studies (n = 15), two-thirds of which were conducted between 2011 and 2016. The majority of applications occurred in non-health related sectors (n = 9) including transportation, public utilities, water, housing, food, agriculture, and urban and regional planning. Applications were primarily targeted at micro-level (local, community or grassroots) decision-making processes (n = 9), with macro-level (national or international) decision-making to a lesser degree. There was significant heterogeneity in the stated rationales for using system dynamics and the intended impact of the system dynamics model on decision-making processes. A series of user-related, technical and application-related limitations and challenges were identified. None of the reported limitations or challenges

Application of radiation technology for industry and environmental protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sueo Machi

1996-01-01

The world population today is 5.7 billion and increasing by 94 million per year. In order to meet the increasing consumption of food and energy due to the tremendous population growth, unproved technologies which are environmentally friendly, are indispensable. In this context. a number of advanced technologies have been brought about by the LISC of radiation and isotopes. This paper highlights radiation technology, applications in industry, environmental conservation, and agriculture

Photocatalytic semiconductors synthesis, characterization, and environmental applications

CERN Document Server

Hernández-Ramírez, Aracely

2014-01-01

This critical volume examines the different methods used for the synthesis of a great number of photocatalysts, including TiO2, ZnO and other modified semiconductors, as well as characterization techniques used for determining the optical, structural and morphological properties of the semiconducting materials. Additionally, the authors discuss photoelectrochemical methods for determining the light activity of the photocatalytic semiconductors by means of measurement of properties such as band gap energy, flat band potential and kinetics of hole and electron transfer. Photocatalytic Semiconductors: Synthesis, Characterization and Environmental Applications provide an overview of the semiconductor materials from first- to third-generation photocatalysts and their applications in wastewater treatment and water disinfection. The book further presents economic and toxicological aspects in the production and application of photocatalytic materials.

How Participatory Should Environmental Governance Be? Testing the Applicability of the Vroom-Yetton-Jago Model in Public Environmental Decision-Making

Science.gov (United States)

Lührs, Nikolas; Jager, Nicolas W.; Challies, Edward; Newig, Jens

2018-02-01

Public participation is potentially useful to improve public environmental decision-making and management processes. In corporate management, the Vroom-Yetton-Jago normative decision-making model has served as a tool to help managers choose appropriate degrees of subordinate participation for effective decision-making given varying decision-making contexts. But does the model recommend participatory mechanisms that would actually benefit environmental management? This study empirically tests the improved Vroom-Jago version of the model in the public environmental decision-making context. To this end, the key variables of the Vroom-Jago model are operationalized and adapted to a public environmental governance context. The model is tested using data from a meta-analysis of 241 published cases of public environmental decision-making, yielding three main sets of findings: (1) The Vroom-Jago model proves limited in its applicability to public environmental governance due to limited variance in its recommendations. We show that adjustments to key model equations make it more likely to produce meaningful recommendations. (2) We find that in most of the studied cases, public environmental managers (implicitly) employ levels of participation close to those that would have been recommended by the model. (3) An ANOVA revealed that such cases, which conform to model recommendations, generally perform better on stakeholder acceptance and environmental standards of outputs than those that diverge from the model. Public environmental management thus benefits from carefully selected and context-sensitive modes of participation.

Remote sensing sensors and applications in environmental resources mapping and modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Melesse, Assefa M.; Weng, Qihao; Thenkabail, Prasad S.; Senay, Gabriel B.

2007-01-01

The history of remote sensing and development of different sensors for environmental and natural resources mapping and data acquisition is reviewed and reported. Application examples in urban studies, hydrological modeling such as land-cover and floodplain mapping, fractional vegetation cover and impervious surface area mapping, surface energy flux and micro-topography correlation studies is discussed. The review also discusses the use of remotely sensed-based rainfall and potential evapotranspiration for estimating crop water requirement satisfaction index and hence provides early warning information for growers. The review is not an exhaustive application of the remote sensing techniques rather a summary of some important applications in environmental studies and modeling.

15 CFR 971.406 - Environmental effects.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Environmental effects. 971.406 Section... ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SERVICE DEEP SEABED MINING REGULATIONS FOR COMMERCIAL RECOVERY PERMITS Issuance/Transfer....406 Environmental effects. Before issuing or transferring a commercial recovery permit, the...

Environmental and economic comparisons of manure application methods in farming systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Rotz, C A; Kleinman, P J A; Dell, C J; Veith, T L; Beegle, D B

2011-01-01

Alternative methods for applying livestock manure to no-till soils involve environmental and economic trade-offs. A process-level farm simulation model (Integrated Farm System Model) was used to evaluate methods for applying liquid dairy (Bos taurus L.) and swine (Sus scrofa L.) manure, including no application, broadcast spreading with and without incorporation by tillage, band application with soil aeration, and shallow disk injection. The model predicted ammonia emissions, nitrate leaching, and phosphorus (P) runoff losses similar to those measured over 4 yr of field trials. Each application method was simulated over 25 yr of weather on three Pennsylvania farms. On a swine and cow-calf beef operation under grass production, shallow disk injection increased profit by $340 yr(-1) while reducing ammonia nitrogen and soluble P losses by 48 and 70%, respectively. On a corn (Zea mays L.)-and-grass-based grazing dairy farm, shallow disk injection reduced ammonia loss by 21% and soluble P loss by 76% with little impact on farm profit. Incorporation by tillage and band application with aeration provided less environmental benefit with a net decrease in farm profit. On a large corn-and-alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)-based dairy farm where manure nutrients were available in excess of crop needs, incorporation methods were not economically beneficial, but they provided environmental benefits with relatively low annual net costs ($13 to $18 cow). In all farming systems, shallow disk injection provided the greatest environmental benefit at the least cost or greatest profit for the producer. With these results, producers are better informed when selecting manure application equipment.

Off-line supercritical fluid extraction-capillary GC applications in environmental analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

David, F.; Verschuere, M.; Sandra, P.J.F.

1992-01-01

The successful application of supercrit. fluid extn. for environmental samples requires that the extn. for environmental samples requires that the extn. conditions detd. for spiked samples must be optimized in order to overcome the solute-matrix interactions that are responsible for lower recoveries

Geo-environmental applications for permeable sand-shredded tyre mixtures; Applications geoenvironnementales de melanges sable-pneu permeables

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tabbaa, A.A. [Cambridge Univ. (United Kingdom). Dept. of Engineering; Cogswell, C.A. [Formely Cambridge University Engineering Dept., Cambridge (United Kingdom); Al-Tabbaa, A.M.B. [Kings College London (United Kingdom)

2000-07-01

This paper presents details and results of recent work conducted on the geo-environmental applications of permeable sand-tyre mixtures. This work is part of an extensive research programme initiated by the first author on the use of waste tyre in various geotechnical and geo-environmental applications. The paper considers sand-tyre in mixed and layered sample configurations as part of active containment or landfill leachate collection system. The paper first investigates the level of leached copper and zinc from the tyre and its capacity to absorb paraffin. It then looks at the in-situ mixing of tyre with soil using a laboratory-scale auger. The work produced encouraging results and showed that tyre is a suitable waste material for use in the above applications. (authors)

Nano materials for Energy and Environmental Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srinivasan, S.; Kannan, A.M.; Kothurkar, N.; Khalil, Y.; Kuravi, S.

2015-01-01

Nano materials enabled technologies have been seamlessly integrated into applications such as aviation and space, chemical industry, optics, solar hydrogen, fuel cell, batteries, sensors, power generation, aeronautic industry, building/construction industry, automotive engineering, consumer electronics, thermoelectric devices, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetic industry. Clean energy and environmental applications often demand the development of novel nano materials that can provide shortest reaction pathways for the enhancement of reaction kinetics. Understanding the physicochemical, structural, microstructural, surface, and interface properties of nano materials is vital for achieving the required efficiency, cycle life, and sustain ability in various technological applications. Nano materials with specific size and shape such as nano tubes, nano fibers/nano wires, nano cones, nano composites, nano rods, nano islands, nanoparticles, nanospheres, and nano shells to provide unique properties can be synthesized by tuning the process conditions.

Environmentally Friendly Pretreatment for Department of Defense Applications

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-29

Develop an environmentally friendly pretreatment system for multi-material Department of Defense applications ― Free of hexavalent chromium (Cr6...Zn phosphate and chrome wash primer •Two Zirconium pretreatment variations passed the 336 hr and 1000 hr B-117 outlined per MIL-DTL-53022 or MIL

Radiation environmental impact assessment of the radioisotope's application on nuclear medical science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Hongshi

2004-01-01

The radiation environmental impact assessment of the radioisotope's application on nuclear medical science is introduced, including the assessment criteria, the assessment methods and the environmental impact assessment of three wastes emission. (authors)

ISO 14001 Environmental Management System and The Application to The Copper Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

İrfan ERTUĞRUL

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This study presents firstly Environmental Management and Environmental Management Systems (EMS. The certification process of ISO 14001 EMS is described in the Copper Industry that begin the environmental activities by completely considering environment. Evaluating the environmental impacts of business, it is presented the process including EMS so as to dispose of waste, the creation of process, the application difficulties and the benefits of EMS.

Information Management of Web Application Based Environmental Performance Management in Concentrating Division of PTFI

Science.gov (United States)

Susanto, Arif; Mulyono, Nur Budi

2018-02-01

The changes of environmental management system standards into the latest version, i.e. ISO 14001:2015, may cause a change on a data and information need in decision making and achieving the objectives in the organization coverage. Information management is the organization's responsibility to ensure that effectiveness and efficiency start from its creating, storing, processing and distribution processes to support operations and effective decision making activity in environmental performance management. The objective of this research was to set up an information management program and to adopt the technology as the supporting component of the program which was done by PTFI Concentrating Division so that it could be in line with the desirable organization objective in environmental management based on ISO 14001:2015 environmental management system standards. Materials and methods used covered technical aspects in information management, i.e. with web-based application development by using usage centered design. The result of this research showed that the use of Single Sign On gave ease to its user to interact further on the use of the environmental management system. Developing a web-based through creating entity relationship diagram (ERD) and information extraction by conducting information extraction which focuses on attributes, keys, determination of constraints. While creating ERD is obtained from relational database scheme from a number of database from environmental performances in Concentrating Division.

Information Management of Web Application Based Environmental Performance Management in Concentrating Division of PTFI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susanto Arif

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The changes of environmental management system standards into the latest version, i.e. ISO 14001:2015, may cause a change on a data and information need in decision making and achieving the objectives in the organization coverage. Information management is the organization’s responsibility to ensure that effectiveness and efficiency start from its creating, storing, processing and distribution processes to support operations and effective decision making activity in environmental performance management. The objective of this research was to set up an information management program and to adopt the technology as the supporting component of the program which was done by PTFI Concentrating Division so that it could be in line with the desirable organization objective in environmental management based on ISO 14001:2015 environmental management system standards. Materials and methods used covered technical aspects in information management, i.e. with web-based application development by using usage centered design. The result of this research showed that the use of Single Sign On gave ease to its user to interact further on the use of the environmental management system. Developing a web-based through creating entity relationship diagram (ERD and information extraction by conducting information extraction which focuses on attributes, keys, determination of constraints. While creating ERD is obtained from relational database scheme from a number of database from environmental performances in Concentrating Division.

Electrochemically Active Biofilms Assisted Nanomaterial Synthesis for Environmental Applications

KAUST Repository

Ahmed, Elaf

2017-01-01

Nanomaterials have a great potential for environmental applications due to their high surface areas and high reactivity. This dissertation investigated the use of electrochemically active biofilms (EABs) as a synthesis approach for the fabrication

Electrokinetic applications for environmental restoration, waste volume reduction, and contaminant containment systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lomasney, H.L.; Lomasney, C.A.

1996-01-01

In the US and all over the world, following over 50 years of nuclear arms production operations, the magnitude of resultant environmental damage is only beginning to surface. The US Department of Energy estimates that by the year 2070, the total volume of high-level waste, transuranic waste, low-level waste, and low-level mixed waste, generated as a result of past and current nuclear activities, will exceed 20 million cubic meters. In Russia, it is reported that more than 30% of all groundwater is contaminated with agricultural and industrial chemical waste. Government agencies today are faced with the responsibility of developing technologies that are suitable for dealing with severe environmental contamination and accumulating waste inventories. In response to this demand, applications of electrokinetics have emerged in the field of environmental waste management as alternatives for environmental decontamination and ecological protection. Electrokinetics involves the movement of charged species under the influence of an applied electric field and is applicable in several areas of environmental waste management, including cleanup of soil and groundwater, barrier detection, and emergency or protective fencing. The worldwide interest in this technology has steadily escalated over the past decade. Today, state-of-the-art applications of electrokinetics have been demonstrated in the US, The Netherlands, Russia, The Ukraine, and India. This paper addresses the latest advances in the various applications of this technology as well as the most significant breakthroughs in the history of electrokinetics

Application of environmental isotope tracing technology to geothermal geochemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shang Yingnan

2006-01-01

This paper reviews the recent application and development of environmental isotope tracing technology to geothermal geochemistry in the following aspects: gas isotopes (He, C) tracing of warm springs; H, O isotope tracing on the origin and cause of geothermal water, environmental isotope dating of geothermal water, and the advantage of excess parameter of deuterium (d) in geothermal research. The author also suggests that isotope method should combine with other geological methods to expand its advantage. (authors)

Environmental and biological applications and implications of soft and condensed nanomaterials

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Pengyu

Recent innovations and growth of nanotechnology have spurred exciting technological and commercial developments of nanomaterails. Their appealing physical and physicochemical properties offer great opportunities in biological and environmental applications, while in the meantime may compromise human health and environmental sustainability through either unintentional exposure or intentional discharge. Accordingly, this dissertation exploits the physicochemical behavior of soft dendritic polymers for environmental remediation and condensed nano ZnO tetrapods for biological sensing (Chapter two-four), and further delineate the environmental implications of such nanomaterials using algae- the major constituent of the aquatic food chain-as a model system (Chapter five). This dissertation is presented as follows. Chapter one presents a general review of the characteristic properties, applications, forces dictating nanomaterials, and their biological and environmental implications of the most produced and studied soft and condensed nanomaterials. In addition, dendritic polymers and ZnO nanomaterials are thoroughly reviewed separately. Chapter two investigates the physicochemical properties of poly(amidoamine)-tris(hydroxymethyl)amidomethane- dendrimer for its potential applications in water purification. The binding mechanisms and capacities of this dendrimer in hosting major environmental pollutants including cationic copper, anionic nitrate, and polyaromatic phenanthrene are discussed. Chapter three exploits a promising use of dendrimers for removal of potentially harmful discharged nanoparticles (NPs). Specifically, fullerenols are used as a model nanomaterial, and their interactions with two different generations of dendrimers are studied using spectrophotometry and thermodynamics methods. Chapter four elucidates two novel optical schemes for sensing environmental pollutants and biological compounds using dendrimer-gold nanowire complex and gold-coated ZnO tetrapods

76 FR 52656 - Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management; Notice of Preliminary Permit Application...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-23

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Project No. 14211-000] Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management; Notice of Preliminary Permit Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting Comments, Motions To Intervene, and Competing Applications On June 10, 2011, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management...

Shirley Basin Uranium Mill. Environmental report to accompany source material license application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-12-01

This document summarizes all of the environmental monitoring conducted by Utah. This Environmental Report consequently supplements and updates the information presented in the Source Material License application of August 18, 1970 and the Final Environmental Statement (FES) of December 1974. Water and air quality, liquid waste management, soil/vegetation monitoring, and reclamation are covered

Smart sensors and systems innovations for medical, environmental, and IoT applications

CERN Document Server

Yasuura, Hiroto; Liu, Yongpan; Lin, Youn-Long

2017-01-01

This book describes the technology used for effective sensing of our physical world and intelligent processing techniques for sensed information, which are essential to the success of Internet of Things (IoT). The authors provide a multidisciplinary view of sensor technology from materials, process, circuits, and big data domains and showcase smart sensor systems in real applications including smart home, transportation, medical, environmental, agricultural, etc. Unlike earlier books on sensors, this book provides a “global” view on smart sensors covering abstraction levels from device, circuit, systems, and algorithms. Profiles active research on smart sensors based on CMOS microelectronics; Describes applications of sensors and sensor systems in cyber physical systems, the social information infrastructure in our modern world; Includes coverage of a variety of related information technologies supporting the application of sensors; Discusses the integration of computation, networking, actuation, database...

State of radiotracer application at the Division of Environmental Engineering, CDTN, NUCLEBRAS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aun, P.E.; Castro, J.O.N.M. de; Moreira, R.M.; Bandeira, J.V.

1984-01-01

The history and working phylosophy of the NUCLEBRAS division of environmental engineering are reported. Some aspects of tracer applications and of the tasks performed by the division of environmental engineering are described. (M.A.C.) [pt

Applications of voltammetry in environmental science

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Richardson, D.H.S.

1985-01-01

The wide-ranging applications of voltammetry to the analysis of trace metals and other ions of interest to environmental scientists are reviewed. It is concluded that the availability of modern microprocessor controlled instrumentation, capable of performing both anodic stripping and square wave voltammetry, provides a flexible and powerful technique to aid in solving analytical problems and carrying out routine analyses. The recent identification of many sensitizing agents which reduce detection limits to part per thousand million level, or below, is a further exciting development in this field.

Present condition and countermeasures for nuclear application environmental impact assessment in Jiangsu province

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dai Xia; Huang Xin

2013-01-01

In recent years, with the deepening of nuclear and radiation safety supervision, great advances have been made in nuclear application environmental impact assessment in Jiangsu province. But some problems and deficiencies still exist in management. This paper describes the present management situation of nuclear application environmental impact assessment, analysis and discusses the existing problems as well as their countermeasures. (authors)

15 CFR 971.602 - Significant adverse environmental effects.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Environmental Effects § 971.602 Significant adverse environmental effects. (a) Determination of significant adverse environmental effects. The Administrator will determine the potential for or the occurrence of any significant adverse environmental effect or impact (for the purposes of sections 103(a)(2)(D), 105(a)(4), 106...

Environmental Standard Review Plan for the review of a license application for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility: Environmental report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-04-01

The Environmental Standard Review Plan (ESRP) (NUREG-1300) provides guidance to staff reviewers in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards who perform environmental reviews of environmental reports prepared by applicants in support of license applications to construct and operate new low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. The individual ESRPs that constitute this document identify the information considered necessary to conduct the review, the purpose and scope of the review, the analysis procedure and evaluation, the formal input to the environmental statement, and the references considered appropriate for each review. The ESRP is intended to ensure quality and uniformity of approach in individual reviews as well as compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. In addition, the ESRP will make information about the environmental component of the licensing process more readily available and thereby will serve to improve the understanding of this process among the public, States and regional compacts, and the regulated community

The application of GIS and remote sensing technologies for site characterization and environmental assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Durfee, R.C.; McCord, R.A.; Dobson, J.E.

1993-01-01

Environmental cleanup and restoration of hazardous waste sites are major activities at federal facilities around the US. Geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing technologies are very useful computer tools to aid in site characterization, monitoring, assessment, and remediation efforts. Results from applying three technologies are presented to demonstrate examples of site characterization and environmental assessment for a federal facility. The first technology involves the development and use of GIS within the comprehensive Oak Ridge Environmental Information System (OREIS) to integrate facility data, terrain models, aerial and satellite imagery, demographics, waste area information, and geographic data bases. The second technology presents 3-D subsurface analyses and displays of groundwater and contaminant measurements within waste areas. In the third application, aerial survey information is being used to characterize land cover and vegetative patterns, detect change, and study areas of previous waste activities and possible transport pathways. These computer technologies are required to manage, analyze, and display the large amounts of environmental and geographic data that must be handled in carrying out effective environmental restoration

Application of environmental impact assessment in Spain (1989-2008): the case of Road Projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbero Rodriguez, J.; Espigares Pinilla, T.

2010-01-01

In this study we analyze the application in Spain of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) along the first 20 years since its implementation, paying special attention to road projects. We revised all Environmental Impact Statement (EISs) published during the period 1989-2008 and monitored, among others, the following variables; the record of decision (favorable or unfavorable) of the State Authority, the type of ecosystem affected by the projects and the mitigation measures required to the developer to implement the project. The results allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of EIA procedure for road projects and to suggest some practical recommendations to improve the quality of EISs. (Author) 13 refs.

Atmospheric dispersion models for environmental pollution applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gifford, F.A.

1976-01-01

Pollutants are introduced into the air by many of man's activities. The potentially harmful effects these can cause are, broadly speaking, of two kinds: long-term, possibly large-scale and wide-spread chronic effects, including long-term effects on the earth's climate; and acute, short-term effects such as those associated with urban air pollution. This section is concerned with mathematical cloud or plume models describing the role of the atmosphere, primarily in relation to the second of these, the acute effects of air pollution, i.e., those arising from comparatively high concentration levels. The need for such air pollution modeling studies has increased spectacularly as a result of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1968 and, especially, two key court decisions; the Calvert Cliffs decision, and the Sierra Club ruling on environmental non-degradation

Environmental impact statement - an effective tool for successful mine design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinha, A.K.

1996-01-01

Mining is a hazardous operation which must be designed to succeed under very unpredictable environmental, geological and marketing conditions over a committed life of thirty years or longer. It is well-established by now that mining has tremendous social, economic and environmental impacts on society in general and on local communities in particular. Mining's image has begun to improve with effective hazard controls and property reclamation through improved mine design and restoration plans. Much of the credit for this achievement should go to Environmental Impact Statement and related permitting requirements for mining projects. An Environmental Impact Statement with respect to almost every type of mining project is now frequently required by major banks, and other funding agencies, governmental agencies and/or citizen groups involved in the permitting process. This impact statement ensures that the proposed project has the potential to succeed under all foreseeable environmental, geological and marketing problems throughout its projected life and to guarantee the return of the initial capital with interest. In short, the impact statement offers assurance that the final project will culminate with positive environmental and social impacts. The relevance and contributions of Environmental Impact Statements in mine design, as well as their applications and development procedures are presented. 3 refs., 8 figs

Health and environmental effects of the national energy plan: a critical review of some selected issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morris, S.C.; Fischer, H.; Calef, C.; Crowther, M.A.; Finch, S.J.; Hamilton, L.D.; Moskowitz, P.D.; Nagy, J.; Rowe, M.D.; Sevian, W.A.; Thode, H.C.

1980-09-01

This is the first Health and Environmental Effects Document (HEED) on the National Energy Plan (NEP). As such, it can provide: (a) an overview of the health and environmental effects that may be expected from current US energy planning; (b) quantitative approaches to the analysis of these impacts, in the form of dose-response functions and example applications in context; (c) a framework for individual technology-based HEEDs; and (d) a background against which emerging technologies may be measured. Thus, this first NEP-HEED deals in depth with general and continuing thrusts of the NEP process: increased use of coal, continued reliance on nuclear, and eventual increased application of renewable technologies. Special attention is directed to the public health aspects of air pollution from coal, including an overview of recent health studies on effects of particles, sulfur dioxide, hydrocarbons, and radionuclides. Environmental topics including acid rain, the carbon dioxide problem, crop damage, coal mining, and solid waste disposal are also discussed. Nuclear safety and mill tailings are analyzed. Finally, a general assessment of the health effects of renewable technologies is given

Advanced Carbon Materials for Environmental and Energy Applications

KAUST Repository

Dua, Rubal

2014-01-01

Carbon based materials, including porous carbons and carbon layer composites, are finding increased usage in latest environmental and energy related research. Among porous carbon materials, hierarchical porous carbons with multi-modal porosity are proving out to be an effective solution for applications where the traditional activated carbons fail. Thus, there has been a lot of recent interest in developing low-cost, facile, easy to scale-up, synthesis techniques for producing such multi-modal porous carbons. This dissertation offers two novel synthesis techniques: (i) ice templating integrated with hard templating, and (ii) salt templating coupled with hard templating, for producing such hierarchically porous carbons. The techniques offer tight control and tunability of porosity (macro- meso- and microscale) in terms of both size and extent. The synthesized multi-modal porous carbons are shown to be an effective solution for three important environment related applications – (i) Carbon dioxide capture using amine supported hierarchical porous carbons, (ii) Reduction in irreversible fouling of membranes used for wastewater reuse through a deposition of a layer of hierarchical porous carbons on the membrane surface, (iii) Electrode materials for electrosorptive applications. Finally, because of their tunability, the synthesized multi-modal porous carbons serve as excellent model systems for understanding the effect of different types of porosity on the performance of porous carbons for these applications. Also, recently, there has been a lot of interest in developing protective layer coatings for preventing photo-corrosion of semiconductor structures (in particular Cu2O) used for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Most of the developed protective strategies to date involve the use of metals or co-catalyst in the protective layer. Thus there is a big need for developing low-cost, facile and easy to scale protective coating strategies. Based on the expertise

Advanced Carbon Materials for Environmental and Energy Applications

KAUST Repository

Dua, Rubal

2014-05-01

Carbon based materials, including porous carbons and carbon layer composites, are finding increased usage in latest environmental and energy related research. Among porous carbon materials, hierarchical porous carbons with multi-modal porosity are proving out to be an effective solution for applications where the traditional activated carbons fail. Thus, there has been a lot of recent interest in developing low-cost, facile, easy to scale-up, synthesis techniques for producing such multi-modal porous carbons. This dissertation offers two novel synthesis techniques: (i) ice templating integrated with hard templating, and (ii) salt templating coupled with hard templating, for producing such hierarchically porous carbons. The techniques offer tight control and tunability of porosity (macro- meso- and microscale) in terms of both size and extent. The synthesized multi-modal porous carbons are shown to be an effective solution for three important environment related applications – (i) Carbon dioxide capture using amine supported hierarchical porous carbons, (ii) Reduction in irreversible fouling of membranes used for wastewater reuse through a deposition of a layer of hierarchical porous carbons on the membrane surface, (iii) Electrode materials for electrosorptive applications. Finally, because of their tunability, the synthesized multi-modal porous carbons serve as excellent model systems for understanding the effect of different types of porosity on the performance of porous carbons for these applications. Also, recently, there has been a lot of interest in developing protective layer coatings for preventing photo-corrosion of semiconductor structures (in particular Cu2O) used for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Most of the developed protective strategies to date involve the use of metals or co-catalyst in the protective layer. Thus there is a big need for developing low-cost, facile and easy to scale protective coating strategies. Based on the expertise

Synthesis of biomass derived carbon materials for environmental engineering and energy storage applications

Science.gov (United States)

Huggins, Mitchell Tyler

Biomass derived carbon (BC) can serve as an environmentally and cost effective material for both remediation and energy production/storage applications. The use of locally derived biomass, such as unrefined wood waste, provides a renewable feedstock for carbon material production compared to conventional unrenewable resources like coal. Additionally, energy and capital cost can be reduced through the reduction in transport and processing steps and the use of spent material as a soil amendment. However, little work has been done to evaluate and compare biochar to conventional materials such as granular activated carbon or graphite in advanced applications of Environmental Engineering. In this work I evaluated the synthesis and compared the performance of biochar for different applications in wastewater treatment, nutrient recovery, and energy production and storage. This includes the use of biochar as an electrode and filter media in several bioelectrochemical systems (BES) treating synthetic and industrial wastewater. I also compared the treatment efficiency of granular biochar as a packed bed adsorbent for the primary treatment of high strength brewery wastewater. My studies conclude with the cultivation of fungal biomass to serve as a template for biochar synthesis, controlling the chemical and physical features of the feedstock and avoiding some of the limitations of waste derived materials.

Space Environmental Effects Knowledgebase

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, B. E.

2007-01-01

This report describes the results of an NRA funded program entitled Space Environmental Effects Knowledgebase that received funding through a NASA NRA (NRA8-31) and was monitored by personnel in the NASA Space Environmental Effects (SEE) Program. The NASA Project number was 02029. The Satellite Contamination and Materials Outgassing Knowledgebase (SCMOK) was created as a part of the earlier NRA8-20. One of the previous tasks and part of the previously developed Knowledgebase was to accumulate data from facilities using QCMs to measure the outgassing data for satellite materials. The main object of this current program was to increase the number of material outgassing datasets from 250 up to approximately 500. As a part of this effort, a round-robin series of materials outgassing measurements program was also executed that allowed comparison of the results for the same materials tested in 10 different test facilities. Other programs tasks included obtaining datasets or information packages for 1) optical effects of contaminants on optical surfaces, thermal radiators, and sensor systems and 2) space environmental effects data and incorporating these data into the already existing NASA/SEE Knowledgebase.

Environmental Standard Review Plan for the review of license renewal applications for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Brien, J.; Kim, T.J.; Reynolds, S.

1991-08-01

The Environmental Standard Review Plan for the Review of License Applications for Nuclear Power Plants (ESRP-LR) is to be used by the NRC staff when performing environmental reviews of applications for the renewal of power reactor licenses. The use of the ESRP-LR provides a framework for the staff to determine whether or not environmental issues important to license renewal have been identified and the impacts evaluated and provides acceptance standards to help the reviewers comply with the National Environmental Policy Act

15 CFR 970.506 - Environmental effects.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Environmental effects. 970.506 Section... Environmental effects. Before issuing or transferring an exploration license, the Administrator must find that... adverse effect on the quality of the environment, taking into account the analyses and information in any...

A-State-of-the-Art Report on Application of Radiation Technology to Environmental Pollution Control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jae Kwang; Lee, Myun Joo

2004-06-15

Radiation technology has been rapidly developed for decades and its applicability also enlarged to many fields such as environmental protection, medical care, manufacturing industry, agriculture, and bio technology. In this report, we focused on the present situation of the development of radiation facilities and state-of-the-art on application of radiation to environmental pollution control including purification of flue gas, waste water treatment, and recycling of biological waste. We especially discussed the radiation technology for environmental pollution control and described the capability of its application to the industrial plants in Korea.

Environmental relief effects through nanotechnological processes and products; Entlastungseffekte fuer die Umwelt durch nanotechnische Verfahren und Produkte

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steinfeldt, Michael; Gleich, Armin von [Bremen Univ. (Germany). Fachgebiet Technikgestaltung und Technologieentwicklung, FB Produktionstechnik; Petschow, Ulrich; Pade, Christian; Sprenger, Rolf-Ulrich [Institut fuer oekologische Wirtschaftsforschung gGmbH, Berlin (Germany). FB Umweltoekonomie und -politik

2010-06-15

The top priority of the research project ''Environmental Relief Effects through Nanotechnological Processes and Products'' was to identify and quantify, to the extent possible and by means of selected examples, the environmental and sustainability opportunities and risks associated with this rapidly developing line of technology. Environmental relief potentials are understood here to include not only environmental engineering in the narrower sense (end-of-pipe technologies), but also and specifically process, production, and product-integrated environmental protection. The project consisted of four stages: 1. Analysis of products and processes already on the market or soon to be made available and application 2. Examination and initial qualitative assessment of each of the products and processes with respect to its potential for environmental relief (or burden, as the case may be) 3. In-depth life cycle analysis and assessment of four selected processes or products as compared to conventional processes or products (Manufacture of solderable surface finishes on printed circuit boards, MW carbon nanotube application for foils in the semiconductor industry, Lithium batteries for energy, storage, Ultradur {sup registered} High Speed plastic) 4. An appraisal of nanotechnology employment effects. (orig.)

Environmental Applications of Nanotechnology

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, Arturo A.

2014-07-01

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are currently used in many applications including agriculture (Gruère, 2012; Khot et al. 2012; Lopez-Moreno et al. 2010; Peralta-Videa et al. 2011; Zhao et al. 2012), aerogels (Bigall et al. 2009), aerospace (Baur and Silverman, 2007), automotive (Coelho et al. 2012; Presting and König, 2003; Salonitis et al. 2010), catalysts (Zhou et al. 2011), coatings, paints and pigments (Dhoke et al. 2009; Gopalakrishnan et al. 2011; Khanna, 2008), composites (Borchardt, 2003; Khanna and Bakshi, 2009; Petrov and Georgiev, 2012; Sahoo et al. 2010), construction (Lee et al. 2010), cosmetics (Musee, 2011; Sabitha et al. 2012; Singh and Nanda, 2012), electronics and optics (Alda et al. 2005; Avasthi et al. 2007; Song et al. 2012; Subramanian and Takhee, 2012), energy (Serrano et al. 2009), environmental remediation (Dionysiou 2004; Khin et al. 2012), filtration and purification (Dhakras, 2011; Savage and Diallo, 2005), food products (Blasco and Picó, 2011; Weiss et al. 2006), medical (Boisseau and Loubaton, 2011; Farokhzad and Langer, 2006), packaging (Silvestre et al. 2011), paper and board (Kharisov and Kharissova, 2010), plastics, security (Marín and Merkoçi, 2012), sensors (Ding et al. 2010; Duncan et al. 2012; Su et al. 2012; Tan et al. 2012), and textiles (Qian and Hinestroza, 2004; Wong et al. 2006), and research is underway on many new applications...

The environmental health officer's role in the determination of wind turbine applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spode, D.

1993-01-01

An account is given from the Local Authority Environmental Health view point about the application for Deli Wind Farm, Delabole, Cornwall, UK, which was the first such application we received and was approved and is now operational. Subsequently we have approved the application for Cold Northcott, have refused two other applications and a further two are being processed. The account will indicate the practical problems faced by Environment Health Officers in assessing applications and advising the decision makers. An indication of the information which the author considers it is essential to have included in the noise section of an environmental assessment is given and suggestions are made on the type of conditions which should be attached to any planning consent with a view to protecting occupiers of the closest dwelling, this being particularly important where the relevant separation distances give little room for error in getting the decision right. (author)

Pesticide Environmental Accounting: A method for assessing the external costs of individual pesticide applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leach, A.W.; Mumford, J.D.

2008-01-01

The Pesticide Environmental Accounting (PEA) tool provides a monetary estimate of environmental and health impacts per hectare-application for any pesticide. The model combines the Environmental Impact Quotient method and a methodology for absolute estimates of external pesticide costs in UK, USA and Germany. For many countries resources are not available for intensive assessments of external pesticide costs. The model converts external costs of a pesticide in the UK, USA and Germany to Mediterranean countries. Economic and policy applications include estimating impacts of pesticide reduction policies or benefits from technologies replacing pesticides, such as sterile insect technique. The system integrates disparate data and approaches into a single logical method. The assumptions in the system provide transparency and consistency but at the cost of some specificity and precision, a reasonable trade-off for a method that provides both comparative estimates of pesticide impacts and area-based assessments of absolute impacts. - A method to estimate the external costs of a pesticide application based on the ecotoxicology, environmental behaviour and application rate of an active ingredient

Bacterial membrane vesicles, an overlooked environmental colloid: Biology, environmental perspectives and applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Toyofuku, Masanori; Tashiro, Yosuke; Hasegawa, Yusuke; Kurosawa, Masaharu; Nomura, Nobuhiko

2015-12-01

Phospholipid vesicles play important roles in biological systems. Bacteria are one of the most abundant organisms on Earth, and bacterial membrane vesicles (MVs) were first observed 50 years ago. Many bacteria release MVs to the environment that mainly consist of the cell membrane and typically range from 20 to 400 nm in size. Bacterial MVs are involved in several biological functions, such as delivery of cargo, virulence and gene transfer. MVs can be isolated from laboratory culture and directly from the environment, indicating their high abundance in and impact on ecosystems. Many colloidal particles in the environment ranging in size from 1 nm to 1 μm have been reported but not characterized at the molecular level, and MVs remain to be explored. Hence, MVs can be considered terra incognita in environmental colloid research. Although MV biogenesis and biological roles are yet to be fully understood, the accumulation of knowledge has opened new avenues for their applications. Via genetic engineering, the MV yield can be greatly increased, and the components of MVs can be tailored. Recent studies have demonstrated that MVs have promising potential for applications such as drug delivery systems and nanobiocatalysts. For instance, MV vaccines have been extensively studied and have already been approved in Europe. Recent MV studies have evoked great interest in the fields of biology and biotechnology, but fundamental questions, such as their transport in the environment or physicochemical features of MVs, remain to be addressed. In this review, we present the current understanding of bacterial MVs and environmental perspectives and further introduce their applications. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Applications of SAR Interferometry in Earth and Environmental Science Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Xiaobing; Chang, Ni-Bin; Li, Shusun

2009-01-01

This paper provides a review of the progress in regard to the InSAR remote sensing technique and its applications in earth and environmental sciences, especially in the past decade. Basic principles, factors, limits, InSAR sensors, available software packages for the generation of InSAR interferograms were summarized to support future applications. Emphasis was placed on the applications of InSAR in seismology, volcanology, land subsidence/uplift, landslide, glaciology, hydrology, and forestry sciences. It ends with a discussion of future research directions.

Toward Environmentally Robust Organic Electronics: Approaches and Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Eun Kwang; Lee, Moo Yeol; Park, Cheol Hee; Lee, Hae Rang; Oh, Joon Hak

2017-11-01

Recent interest in flexible electronics has led to a paradigm shift in consumer electronics, and the emergent development of stretchable and wearable electronics is opening a new spectrum of ubiquitous applications for electronics. Organic electronic materials, such as π-conjugated small molecules and polymers, are highly suitable for use in low-cost wearable electronic devices, and their charge-carrier mobilities have now exceeded that of amorphous silicon. However, their commercialization is minimal, mainly because of weaknesses in terms of operational stability, long-term stability under ambient conditions, and chemical stability related to fabrication processes. Recently, however, many attempts have been made to overcome such instabilities of organic electronic materials. Here, an overview is provided of the strategies developed for environmentally robust organic electronics to overcome the detrimental effects of various critical factors such as oxygen, water, chemicals, heat, and light. Additionally, molecular design approaches to π-conjugated small molecules and polymers that are highly stable under ambient and harsh conditions are explored; such materials will circumvent the need for encapsulation and provide a greater degree of freedom using simple solution-based device-fabrication techniques. Applications that are made possible through these strategies are highlighted. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Self-discharge analysis and characterization of supercapacitors for environmentally powered wireless sensor network applications

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Hengzhao; Zhang, Ying

2011-10-01

A new approach is presented to characterize the variable leakage resistance, a parameter in the variable leakage resistance model we developed to model supercapacitors used in environmentally powered wireless sensor network applications. Based on an analysis of the supercapacitor terminal behavior during the self-discharge, the variable leakage resistance is modeled as a function of the supercapacitor terminal voltage instead of the self-discharge time, which is more practical for an environmentally powered wireless sensor node. The new characterization approach is implemented and validated using MATLAB Simulink with a 10 F supercapacitor as an example. In addition, effects of initial voltages and temperatures on the supercapacitor self-discharge rate and the variable leakage resistance value are explored.

Applications of SAR Interferometry in Earth and Environmental Science Research

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Xiaobing; Chang, Ni-Bin; Li, Shusun

2009-01-01

This paper provides a review of the progress in regard to the InSAR remote sensing technique and its applications in earth and environmental sciences, especially in the past decade. Basic principles, factors, limits, InSAR sensors, available software packages for the generation of InSAR interferograms were summarized to support future applications. Emphasis was placed on the applications of InSAR in seismology, volcanology, land subsidence/uplift, landslide, glaciology, hydrology, and forestry sciences. It ends with a discussion of future research directions. PMID:22573992

Applications of SAR Interferometry in Earth and Environmental Science Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaobing Zhou

2009-03-01

Full Text Available This paper provides a review of the progress in regard to the InSAR remote sensing technique and its applications in earth and environmental sciences, especially in the past decade. Basic principles, factors, limits, InSAR sensors, available software packages for the generation of InSAR interferograms were summarized to support future applications. Emphasis was placed on the applications of InSAR in seismology, volcanology, land subsidence/uplift, landslide, glaciology, hydrology, and forestry sciences. It ends with a discussion of future research directions.

Searching for reciclability of modified clays for an environmental application

Science.gov (United States)

Del Hoyo Martínez, Carmen; Solange Lozano García, Marina; Sánchez Escribano, Vicente; Antequera, Jorge

2014-05-01

Thanks to the development of the science and the technology of the nourishment in the last 50 years, there have revealed itself several new substances that can fulfill beneficial functions in the food, and these substances, named food additives, are today within reach of all. The food additives recover a very important role in the complex nourishing supply. The additives fulfill several useful functions in the food, which often we give for sat. Nevertheless the widespread use of food additives in the food production also influences the public health. The food industries, which are very important for the economy, spill residues proved from its activity that they have to be controlled to evaluate the environmental impact and to offer the necessary information about the quantitative evaluation of the chemical risk of the use of food additives for the public health. The clay materials have led to numerous applications in the field of public health (del Hoyo, 2007; Volzone, 2007) having been demonstrated its effectiveness as adsorbents of all contaminants. Some biodegradable materials are used for for adsorption of chemical contaminants: lignins (Valderrabano et al., 2008) and also clays and clay minerals, whose colloidal properties, ease of generating structural changes, abundance in nature, and low cost make them very suitable for this kind of applications. Among the strategies used at present to preserve the quality of the water and this way to diminish the environmental risk that supposes the chemical pollution, stands out the use of adsorbents of under cost, already they are natural or modified, to immobilize these compounds and to avoid the pollution of the water with the consequent reduction of environmental and economic costs. We have studied the adsorption of several contaminants related to the food industry by natural or modified clays, searching their interaction mechanisms and the possible recycling of these materials for environmental purposes and

Integrated cost-effectiveness analysis of agri-environmental measures for water quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Balana, Bedru B; Jackson-Blake, Leah; Martin-Ortega, Julia; Dunn, Sarah

2015-09-15

This paper presents an application of integrated methodological approach for identifying cost-effective combinations of agri-environmental measures to achieve water quality targets. The methodological approach involves linking hydro-chemical modelling with economic costs of mitigation measures. The utility of the approach was explored for the River Dee catchment in North East Scotland, examining the cost-effectiveness of mitigation measures for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pollutants. In-stream nitrate concentration was modelled using the STREAM-N and phosphorus using INCA-P model. Both models were first run for baseline conditions and then their effectiveness for changes in land management was simulated. Costs were based on farm income foregone, capital and operational expenditures. The costs and effects data were integrated using 'Risk Solver Platform' optimization in excel to produce the most cost-effective combination of measures by which target nutrient reductions could be attained at a minimum economic cost. The analysis identified different combination of measures as most cost-effective for the two pollutants. An important aspect of this paper is integration of model-based effectiveness estimates with economic cost of measures for cost-effectiveness analysis of land and water management options. The methodological approach developed is not limited to the two pollutants and the selected agri-environmental measures considered in the paper; the approach can be adapted to the cost-effectiveness analysis of any catchment-scale environmental management options. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental and computational study of dielectric barrier discharges for environmental applications

Science.gov (United States)

Aerts, Robby

Air pollution has become a major global concern which affects all inhabitants of our precious earth. Nowadays it is fact that our climate is changing and the sea level is rising. Moreover, we are facing an energy crisis because all our fossil fuel resources will sooner or later be running empty. It is clear that drastic measures are needed to keep our planet as it is today for generations to come. One of these measures is the 20-20-20 targets imposed by the European Commission, which stimulates the research for environmental energy applications. In this PhD dissertation two environmental applications of plasma technology are investigated. The first one is the abatement of flue gases, and more specifically the destruction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The second one is the conversion of CO2 into valuable chemicals. Both of these applications suffer from a large energy cost under classical (thermodynamic) conditions, due to the chemical stability of these molecules. Plasma technology is quite promising to overcome these thermodynamic barriers. Plasmas allow reactions at different time-scales with different species, such as electrons, ions, radicals, molecules and excited species, creating new chemical pathways. Indeed, in a plasma the applied electrical energy is directly transferred to the electrons, which activate the gas by ionization, excitation and dissociation, hence creating reactive species (ions, excited species, radicals), that can further easily undergo other chemical reactions. Especially gas discharges, which are low temperature plasmas, show promising results in the destruction of pollutants at mild conditions. A common type of gas discharge is the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) which has been successfully scaled up for industrial ozone generation and is widely investigated in the field of environmental applications. The complexity of DBDs creates difficulties for experimental diagnostics and therefore numerical studies can help to improve

Accelerator mass spectrometry and its applications in environmental science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Kexin; Li Kun; Ma Hongji; Guo Zhiyu

2001-01-01

Some important work worldwide in environmental science, like urban air pollution, discharges of radioactive wastes from nuclear plants, and global climate change were introduced. Based on the improvements of facility and studies on 14 C dating method, a precision better than 0.5% has been reached for the PKUAMS. A large number of samples have been measured for the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology project. 14 C data of PKUAMS have made important contributions to creation of more reliable chronological table of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. The improvements of PKUAMS are of benefit to the applications in environmental science in the future

Innovative reuse of drinking water sludge in geo-environmental applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Caniani, D; Masi, S; Mancini, I M; Trulli, E

2013-06-01

In recent years, the replacement of natural raw materials with new alternative materials, which acquire an economic, energetic and environmental value, has gained increasing importance. The considerable consumption of water has favoured the increase in the number of drinking water treatment plants and, consequently, the production of drinking water sludge. This paper proposes a protocol of analyses capable of evaluating chemical characteristics of drinking water sludge from surface water treatment plants. Thereby we are able to assess their possible beneficial use for geo-environmental applications, such as the construction of barrier layers for landfill and for the formation of "bio-soils", when mixed with the stabilized organic fraction of municipal solid waste. This paper reports the results of a study aimed at evaluating the quality and environmental aspects of reconstructed soils ("bio-soil"), which are used in much greater quantities than the usual standard, for "massive" applications in environmental actions such as the final cover of landfills. The granulometric, chemical and physical analyses of the sludge and the leaching test on the stabilized organic fraction showed the suitability of the proposed materials for reuse. The study proved that the reuse of drinking water sludge for the construction of barrier layers and the formation of "bio-soils" reduces the consumption of natural materials, the demand for landfill volumes, and offers numerous technological advantages. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cost-effectiveness evaluation of alternatives in environmental impact statements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weiser, A.L.

1977-01-01

Although it has been Federal government officials who have been accused in courts of law with mismanagement with regard to the consideration of alternatives in the environmental impact statement, the responsibility for systematically considering all alternatives to a proposed project remains with project decisionmakers in the Federal, state, or local levels of government and in industry. By applying the techniques of system cost-effectiveness analysis to the assessment of alternatives, it is believed that management will be able to clearly demonstrate that the selection of the proposed approach was neither arbitrary nor capricious. A rational approach to the assessment of alternatives should aid in meeting the mandates of environmental legislation and EIS guidelines, and it should eliminate the merit of any plaintiff's charge of mismanagement with regard to management's consideration of alternatives. Even though many interfaces between the proposed system and the environment cannot as yet be objectively quantified, application of CE techniques will demonstrate that a rigorous exploration and objective evaluation has been applied to the consideration of alternatives with respect to project objectives, financial conditions, and adverse environmental impacts

Applications of microwave radiation environmental remediation technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krause, T.R.; Helt, J.E.

1993-01-01

A growing number of environmental remediation technologies (e.g., drying, melting, or sintering) utilize microwave radiation as an integral part of the process. An increasing number of novel applications, such as sustaining low-temperature plasmas or enhancing chemical reactivity, are also being developed. An overview of such technologies being developed by the Department of Energy is presented. A specific example being developed at Argonne National Laboratory, microwave-induced plasma reactors for the destruction of volatile organic compounds, is discussed in more detail

Environmental effects on corrosion in the Tuff repository

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beavers, J.A.; Thompson, N.G.

1990-02-01

Cortest Columbus is investigating the long-term performance of container materials used for high-level waste packages as part of the information needed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to assess the Department of Energy's application to construct a geologic repository for high-level radioactive waste. The scope of work consists of employing short-term techniques, to examine a wide range of possible failure modes. Long-term tests are being used to verify and further examine specific failure modes identified as important by the short-term studies. The original focus of the program was on the salt repository but the emphasis was shifted to the Tuff repository. This report summarizes the results of a literature survey performed under Task 1 of the program. The survey focuses on the influence of environmental variables on the corrosion behavior of candidate container materials for the Tuff repository. Environmental variables considered include: radiation, thermal and microbial effects. 80 refs., 44 figs., 44 tabs

The sceptical optimist: challenges and perspectives for the application of environmental DNA in marine fisheries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Brian Klitgaard; Bekkevold, Dorte; Worsøe Clausen, Lotte

2018-01-01

principles in relation to eDNA analysis with potential for marine fisheries application. We describe fundamental processes governing eDNA generation, breakdown and transport and summarize current uncertainties about these processes. We describe five major challenges in relation to application in fisheries......Application of environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis has attracted the attention of researchers, advisors and managers of living marine resources and biodiversity. The apparent simplicity and cost-effectiveness of eDNA analysis make it highly attractive as species distributions can be revealed from...... assessment, where there is immediate need for knowledge building in marine systems, and point to apparent weaknesses of eDNA compared to established marine fisheries monitoring methods. We provide an overview of emerging applications of interest to fisheries management and point to recent technological...

Application of electron beams to environmental conservation technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pikaev, A.K.

1992-01-01

The paper is a review of current status of the application of electron beams to environmental conservation technology. Different aspects of radiation treatment of natural and polluted drinking water, radiation purification of industrial and municipal wastes, radiation treatment of sewage sludge and radiation purification of exhaust gases are considered. The special attention is paid to the respective pilot and industrial facilities. (author) 70 refs

Some applications of fractal mathematics in the evaluation of environmental problems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thimm, H. F.; Poon, D. C.; McCormack, M.

1997-11-01

Application of fractal mathematics to commonly occurring environmental problems in the petroleum industry is discussed. Examples are provided to illustrate application of the technique. The specific examples cited involve the interpretation of mercury contamination data at a gas plant and the determination of the optimal volume of soil excavation at a contaminated site. 10 refs., 4 figs.

Bioenergy production and use: Comparative analysis of the economic and environmental effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hennig, Christiane; Gawor, Marek

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Study of 12 bioenergy generation pathways as to environmental and economic aspects. ► LCA focused on the GWP, acidification, eutrophication, cumulative energy demand. ► Economic analysis determined electricity production costs based on annuity method. ► Wood-based plants have the best characteristics from environmental point of view. ► Wood-based plants have lowest electricity production costs, biogas plants make gain. - Abstract: This study analyses the use of liquid, solid and gaseous biomass for power generation in Germany with respect to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), a significant policy instrument for promoting electricity generation based on renewable energy sources. The aim is the identification of bioenergy conversion pathways that have a low environmental impact and are cost-effective. To achieve this objective several research steps were undertaken, including a life-cycle analysis (LCA), economic analysis and the determination of the CO 2 abatement costs. Besides, the authors show and discuss how a simplification of the environmental assessment by considering only the impact category greenhouse gases or the application of different calculation methodologies (i.e. allocation rules between electricity and heat produced) can affect the results. Overall the results show that the use of solid (wood) and gaseous biomass pathways causes both the lowest environmental impacts and electricity production costs when used for electricity generation. The choice of the modelling and calculation methodology may significantly influence the outcome (i.e. application of an exergetic allocation increases the environmental burden related to electricity generation). The lowest CO 2 -abatement costs were determined for the biodegradable waste pathway.

Environmental Effectiveness of Swine Sewage Management: A Multicriteria AHP-Based Model for a Reliable Quick Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Vizzari, Marco; Modica, Giuseppe

2013-10-01

Environmental issues related to swine production are still a major concern for the general public and represent a key challenge for the swine industry. The environmental impact of higher livestock concentration is particularly significant where it coincides with weaker policy standards and poor manure management. Effective tools for environmental monitoring of the swine sewage management process become essential for verifying the environmental compatibility of farming facilities and for defining suitable policies aimed at increasing swine production sustainability. This research aims at the development and application of a model for a quick assessment of the environmental effectiveness of the pig farming sewage management process. In order to define the model, multicriteria techniques, and in particular, Saaty's analytic hierarchy process, were used to develop an iterative process in which the various key factors influencing the process under investigation were analyzed. The model, named EASE (Environmental Assessment of Sewages management Effectiveness), was optimized and applied to the Lake Trasimeno basin (Umbria, Italy), an area of high natural, environmental and aesthetic value. In this context, inadequate disposal of pig sewage represents a potential source of very considerable pollution. The results have demonstrated how the multicriteria model can represent a very effective and adaptable tool also in those decision-making processes aimed at the sustainable management of livestock production.

Development and environmental applications of activated carbon cloths

OpenAIRE

Cukierman, Ana Lea

2017-01-01

Activated carbon cloths have received growing attention because they offer comparative advantages over the traditional powdered or granular forms of this well-known adsorbent, providing further potential uses for technological innovations in several fields. The present article provides an overview of research studies and advances concerned with the development of activated carbon cloths and their use as adsorbent in environmental applications, mostly reported in the last years. The influence ...

Mutagenic effect of ionizing radiation and chemical and environmental agents in Tradescantia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cebulska-Wasilewska, A.

1988-01-01

The studies covered the following problems: an influence of some environmental agents on the mutagenic effectiveness of ionizing radiation, interaction between ionizing radiation and chemical mutagens in the induction of somatic mutations and also an application of Tradescantia model system for biological monitoring. The studies showed that the pretreatment of Tradescantia plants with sodium fluoride or the modification of the soil composition with dolomite admixture, visibly influences plants radiosensitivity. The analysis of the changes in the dose-response curves suggested that the employed agents were influencing in different ways the repair processes of the DNA. The studies on the interaction between agents proved that the synergistic effect occurs in case of combined action of ionizing radiation with such chemical mutagens as ethyl methansulfonate or 1,2 dibromomethane. It was also discovered that in the range of low doses the effect was proportional to radiation dose and total exposition to chemical mutagen. The field application of Tradescantia method defined the mutagenicity of air pollution in the Cracow area. The highest frequencies of mutations were detected after the Chernobyl accident and after the damage of the filters in the Pharmaceutical Plant. The applied method was evaluated in respect of its usefulness for biological monitoring of environmental pollution. 163 refs. (author)

2003 Wastewater Land Application Site Performance Reports for the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Teresa R. Meachum

2004-02-01

The 2003 Wastewater Land Application Site Performance Reports for the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory describe the conditions for the facilities with State of Idaho Wastewater Land Application Permits. Permit-required monitoring data are summarized, and permit exceedences or environmental impacts relating to the operations of the facilities during the 2003 permit year are discussed.

Discussion of environmental impact assessment for the nuclear technology application in hospital

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Shaoting; Xu Zhongyang

2010-01-01

Medical use of ionizing radiation has become the greatest artificial radiation in the world. Based on the characteristics of the nuclear technology application in hospital the content of the environmental impact assessment has been stated, including identification of the environmental impact factor, the standard, the environmental impact, control of the pollution as well. The dose of the medical staff which engaged in interventional operation and the accompanies of the patients which received nuclear medicine treatment should be focused on. (authors)

Environmental and industrial applications of pulsed power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neau, E.L.

1993-01-01

The technology base formed by the development of high peak power simulators, laser drivers, free electron lasers (FEL's), and Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) drivers from the early 60's through the late 80's is being extended to high average power short-pulse machines with the capabilities of performing new roles in environmental cleanup applications and in supporting new types of industrial manufacturing processes. Some of these processes will require very high average beam power levels of hundreds of kilowatts to perhaps megawatts. In this paper we briefly discuss new technology capabilities and then concentrate on specific application areas that may benefit from the high specific energies and high average powers attainable with short-pulse machines

POTENTIAL APPLICATION OF NANOMETALS IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dagmara Malina

2017-02-01

Full Text Available In recent years, great interest in metallic nanoparticles has been observed, both because of their unlimited application possibilities, and also because of the unusual biological, chemical and physical features. It is expected that developments in nanotechnology will become the main promoter of scientific and technological innovations in the coming decades. Searching for a new and safe alternative to chemical pesticides, high hopes are associated with nanotechnology development. Particularly useful may be preparations containing nanoscale metal particles with strong antimicrobial properties. Importantly, safe and non-toxic for the plant components of biological origin may be used in nanoparticles synthesis. This article is a description of the potential applications of nanomaterials in environmental protection, which may become the basis for developing of new protection plant products with antimicrobial properties relative to plant pathogens and non-toxic to higher organisms.

Environmental transformations and ecological effects of iron-based nanoparticles.

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Cheng; Sun, Yuqing; Tsang, Daniel C W; Lin, Daohui

2018-01-01

The increasing application of iron-based nanoparticles (NPs), especially high concentrations of zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI), has raised concerns regarding their environmental behavior and potential ecological effects. In the environment, iron-based NPs undergo physical, chemical, and/or biological transformations as influenced by environmental factors such as pH, ions, dissolved oxygen, natural organic matter (NOM), and biotas. This review presents recent research advances on environmental transformations of iron-based NPs, and articulates their relationships with the observed toxicities. The type and extent of physical, chemical, and biological transformations, including aggregation, oxidation, and bio-reduction, depend on the properties of NPs and the receiving environment. Toxicities of iron-based NPs to bacteria, algae, fish, and plants are increasingly observed, which are evaluated with a particular focus on the underlying mechanisms. The toxicity of iron-based NPs is a function of their properties, tolerance of test organisms, and environmental conditions. Oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen species is considered as the primary toxic mechanism of iron-based NPs. Factors influencing the toxicity of iron-based NPs are addressed and environmental transformations play a significant role, for example, surface oxidation or coating by NOM generally lowers the toxicity of nZVI. Research gaps and future directions are suggested with an aim to boost concerted research efforts on environmental transformations and toxicity of iron-based NPs, e.g., toxicity studies of transformed NPs in field, expansion of toxicity endpoints, and roles of laden contaminants and surface coating. This review will enhance our understanding of potential risks of iron-based NPs and proper uses of environmentally benign NPs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using a Hydrological Model to Determine Environmentally Safer Windows for Herbicide Application

Science.gov (United States)

J.L. Michael; M.C. Smith; W.G. Knisel; D.G. Neary; W.P. Fowler; D.J. Turton

1996-01-01

A modification of the GLEAMS model was used to determine application windows which would optimise efficacy and environmental safety for herbicide application to a forest site. Herbicide/soil partition coefficients were determined using soil samples collected from the study site for two herbicides (imazapyr, Koc=46, triclopyr ester, K

75 FR 38800 - Jordan Hydroelectric Limited Partnership; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-06

... Hydroelectric Limited Partnership; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and Soliciting... following hydroelectric application has been filed with the Commission and is available for public... 13, 2009. d. Applicant: Jordan Hydroelectric Limited Partnership. e. Name of Project: Flannagan...

Defining criteria for good environmental journalism and testing their applicability: An environmental news review as a first step to more evidence based environmental science reporting.

Science.gov (United States)

Rögener, Wiebke; Wormer, Holger

2017-05-01

While the quality of environmental science journalism has been the subject of much debate, a widely accepted benchmark to assess the quality of coverage of environmental topics is missing so far. Therefore, we have developed a set of defined criteria of environmental reporting. This instrument and its applicability are tested in a newly established monitoring project for the assessment of pieces on environmental issues, which refer to scientific sources and therefore can be regarded as a special field of science journalism. The quality is assessed in a kind of journalistic peer review. We describe the systematic development of criteria, which might also be a model procedure for other fields of science reporting. Furthermore, we present results from the monitoring of 50 environmental reports in German media. According to these preliminary data, the lack of context and the deficient elucidation of the evidence pose major problems in environmental reporting.

Environmental concepts in rural Honduras: A case study of their range and application within environmental education design

Science.gov (United States)

Bradford, Robert Sanders

1998-12-01

The rate of environmental degradation in the Third World continues to present residents of countries like Honduras with conditions that threaten the quality of life and ecological systems. How people conceptualize their environment could be a point of entry into a greater understanding of environmental problems. Through individual interviews and focus group discussions, this study comprises a qualitative examination of the environmental concepts of a sample of 75 rural Hondurans. Analysis of their concepts was used to construct a tentative interpretation of the rural Honduran worldview characteristics of Self, Other, Relationship, Classification, Causality, Time, and Space. The findings of this investigation indicated that rural Hondurans conceptualize their environment through the worldview lenses of survival and poverty, leading to a sense of fatalism when confronting the complex and multifaceted problems associated with quality of life and environmental quality. Analysis of concepts and worldview also indicated that rural Hondurans generally do not believe their environmental problems are solvable, nor do they appear to understand that these problems are also cultural problems whose solutions will most likely require some revision of their current worldview. An educational approach that fosters the integration of compatible environmental concepts into the rural Honduran worldview is recommended through the application of design strategies for a prospective environmental education process.

78 FR 37324 - Preparation of Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal Applications

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-20

... Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal Applications AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission... for Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal Applications.'' This regulatory guide provides guidance to... renewal of a nuclear power plant operating license. Applicants should use this regulatory guide when...

Applications of Liquid-Phase Microextraction in the Sample Preparation of Environmental Solid Samples

OpenAIRE

Helena Prosen

2014-01-01

Solvent extraction remains one of the fundamental sample preparation techniques in the analysis of environmental solid samples, but organic solvents are toxic and environmentally harmful, therefore one of the possible greening directions is its miniaturization. The present review covers the relevant research from the field of application of microextraction to the sample preparation of environmental solid samples (soil, sediments, sewage sludge, dust etc.) published in the last decade. Several...

Site Environmental Report for 1998

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holland, R.C.

1999-01-01

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is committed to conducting its operations in an environmentally safe and sound manner. It is mandatory that activities at SNL/California comply with all applicable environmental statutes, regulations, and standards. Moreover, SNL/California continuously strives to reduce risks to employees, the public, and the environment to the lowest levels reasonably possible. To help verify effective protection of public safety and preservation of the environment, SNL/California maintains an extensive, ongoing environmental monitoring program. This program monitors all significant effluents and the environment at the SNL/California site perimeter. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) performs off-site external radiation monitoring for both sites. These monitoring efforts ensure that emission controls are effective in preventing contamination of the environment. As part of SNL/California's Environmental Monitoring Program, an environmental surveillance system measures the possible presence of hazardous materials in groundwater, stormwater, and sewage. The program also includes an extensive environmental dosimetry program, which measures external radiation levels around the Livermore site and nearby vicinity. Each year, the results of the Environmental Monitoring Program are published in this report, the Site Environmental Report. This executive summary focuses on impacts to the environment. Chapter 3, ''Compliance Summary,'' reviews the site's various environmental protection activities and compliance status with applicable environmental regulations. The effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance results for 1998 show that SNL/California operations had no harmful effects on the environment or the public

Site Environmental Report for 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holland, R.C.

1999-06-01

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is committed to conducting its operations in an environmentally safe and sound manner. It is mandatory that activities at SNL/California comply with all applicable environmental statutes, regulations, and standards. Moreover, SNL/California continuously strives to reduce risks to employees, the public, and the environment to the lowest levels reasonably possible. To help verify effective protection of public safety and preservation of the environment, SNL/California maintains an extensive, ongoing environmental monitoring program. This program monitors all significant effluents and the environment at the SNL/California site perimeter. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) performs off-site external radiation monitoring for both sites. These monitoring efforts ensure that emission controls are effective in preventing contamination of the environment. As part of SNL/California's Environmental Monitoring Program, an environmental surveillance system measures the possible presence of hazardous materials in groundwater, stormwater, and sewage. The program also includes an extensive environmental dosimetry program, which measures external radiation levels around the Livermore site and nearby vicinity. Each year, the results of the Environmental Monitoring Program are published in this report, the Site Environmental Report. This executive summary focuses on impacts to the environment. Chapter 3, ''Compliance Summary,'' reviews the site's various environmental protection activities and compliance status with applicable environmental regulations. The effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance results for 1998 show that SNL/California operations had no harmful effects on the environment or the public.

Environmental applications of manometric respirometric methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roppola, K.

2009-07-01

In this work a manometric respirometric measuring system was applied to practical environmental cases related to wastewater management and biodegradation studies of oil-contaminated soils and materials used in landfill structures. Pollution of groundwater, surface water and soils is a worldwide problem. Therefore, tests simulating the biodegradation behaviour of organic compounds in water media and soils have become increasingly important. Respirometric methods provide direct measurement of the oxygen consumed by micro-organisms in biodegradation processes from an air or oxygen-enriched environment in a closed vessel. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is a crucial environmental parameter used to measure the quality of water and treatment results in wastewater. Generally, BOD is measured with standardised methods, which are usually time-consuming as well as laborious. In this work the manometric respirometric test was compared with conventional BOD tests by determining the BOD of pulp and paper mills as well as domestic wastewater samples. The effect of different factors such as type, amount and pre-treatment of inoculum and the effect of dilution of a sample on the BOD values were also tested. A right dilution was noticed to be the most significant factor affecting the BOD values of the industrial wastewater samples. The mathematic estimation of the BOD7 values from the respirometric data was proved to work reliably after a 2-3 day incubation period. Characterisation of organic fractions of the pulp and paper mill wastewater was carried out with methods including filtration, long term BOD measurements and COD analyses. The most significant observation in characterisation analyses was that a remarkable part of the detected oxygen demand was consumed for the biotransformation of biodegradable fractions into new inert decomposition products, not only for mineralisation of the biodegradable COD fraction. Biodegradation behaviour of the peat samples with different

Environmentally applications of invasive bivalves for water and wastewater decontamination.

Science.gov (United States)

Gomes, João; Matos, Ana; Quinta-Ferreira, Rosa M; Martins, Rui C

2018-07-15

The environmental and economic impact of invasive bivalve species implies the development of suitable pest management strategies. Chemical control is the most usual approach. However, the production of toxic intermediates as well as the unavoidable impact over non target biota is of special concern. Another approach consists on the physical removal of the animals from the invaded sites. The high biofiltration and bioaccumulation capacity of such animals make them interesting for the removal of contaminants from water and wastewater. In this context, environmental applications can be given for these pests encompassing nutrients removal for the recovery of eutrophic sites, water disinfection, organic and metal contaminants abatement. These approaches may be integrated with pest management where the physical removed animals from the invaded spots could be used for assembling biofilter for water and wastewater decontamination. However, some drawbacks must be addressed before proposing such alternative. In fact, the further spreading of the bivalves into non-invaded sites must be avoided. Moreover, some operational questions must be addressed such as the fate of contaminated animals after biofiltration. Bearing in mind the interesting results already available in this subject, this paper aims to critically overview literature regarding the environmental applications of invasive bivalves. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmental auditing: Theory and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Dixon; Wilson, Melvin J.

1994-07-01

The environmental audit has become a regular part of corporate environmental management in Canada and is also gaining recognition in the public sector. A 1991 survey of 75 private sector companies across Canada revealed that 76% (57/75) had established environmental auditing programs. A similar survey of 19 federal, provincial, and municipal government departments revealed that 11% (2/19) had established such programs. The information gained from environmental audits can be used to facilitate and enhance environmental management from the single facility level to the national and international levels. This paper is divided into two sections: section one examines environmental audits at the facility/company level and discusses environmental audit characteristics, trends, and driving forces not commonly found in the available literature. Important conclusions are: that wherever possible, an action plan to correct the identified problems should be an integral part of an audit, and therefore there should be a close working relationship between auditors, managers, and employees, and that the first audits will generally be more difficult, time consuming, and expensive than subsequent audits. Section two looks at environmental audits in the broader context and discusses the relationship between environmental audits and three other environmental information gathering/analysis tools: environmental impact assessments, state of the environment reports, and new systems of national accounts. The argument is made that the information collected by environmental audits and environmental impact assessments at the facility/company level can be used as the bases for regional and national state of the environment reports and new systems of national accounts.

75 FR 63450 - Wilkesboro Hydroelectric Company; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-15

... Hydroelectric Company; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments... hydroelectric application has been filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection. a. Type of.... Applicant: Wilkesboro Hydroelectric Company. e. Name of Project: W. Kerr Scott Hydropower Project. f...

Applications of Liquid-Phase Microextraction in the Sample Preparation of Environmental Solid Samples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Prosen

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Solvent extraction remains one of the fundamental sample preparation techniques in the analysis of environmental solid samples, but organic solvents are toxic and environmentally harmful, therefore one of the possible greening directions is its miniaturization. The present review covers the relevant research from the field of application of microextraction to the sample preparation of environmental solid samples (soil, sediments, sewage sludge, dust etc. published in the last decade. Several innovative liquid-phase microextraction (LPME techniques that have emerged recently have also been applied as an aid in sample preparation of these samples: single-drop microextraction (SDME, hollow fiber-liquid phase microextraction (HF-LPME, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME. Besides the common organic solvents, surfactants and ionic liquids are also used. However, these techniques have to be combined with another technique to release the analytes from the solid sample into an aqueous solution. In the present review, the published methods were categorized into three groups: LPME in combination with a conventional solvent extraction; LPME in combination with an environmentally friendly extraction; LPME without previous extraction. The applicability of these approaches to the sample preparation for the determination of pollutants in solid environmental samples is discussed, with emphasis on their strengths, weak points and environmental impact.

Applications of liquid-phase microextraction in the sample preparation of environmental solid samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Prosen, Helena

2014-05-23

Solvent extraction remains one of the fundamental sample preparation techniques in the analysis of environmental solid samples, but organic solvents are toxic and environmentally harmful, therefore one of the possible greening directions is its miniaturization. The present review covers the relevant research from the field of application of microextraction to the sample preparation of environmental solid samples (soil, sediments, sewage sludge, dust etc.) published in the last decade. Several innovative liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) techniques that have emerged recently have also been applied as an aid in sample preparation of these samples: single-drop microextraction (SDME), hollow fiber-liquid phase microextraction (HF-LPME), dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME). Besides the common organic solvents, surfactants and ionic liquids are also used. However, these techniques have to be combined with another technique to release the analytes from the solid sample into an aqueous solution. In the present review, the published methods were categorized into three groups: LPME in combination with a conventional solvent extraction; LPME in combination with an environmentally friendly extraction; LPME without previous extraction. The applicability of these approaches to the sample preparation for the determination of pollutants in solid environmental samples is discussed, with emphasis on their strengths, weak points and environmental impact.

Environmental performance of electricity storage systems for grid applications, a life cycle approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira, L.; Messagie, M.; Mertens, J.; Laget, H.; Coosemans, T.; Van Mierlo, J.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Large energy storage systems: environmental performance under different scenarios. • ReCiPe midpoint and endpoint impact assessment results are analyzed. • Energy storage systems can replace peak power generation units. • Energy storage systems and renewable energy have the best environmental scores. • Environmental performance of storage systems is application dependent. - Abstract: In this paper, the environmental performance of electricity storage technologies for grid applications is assessed. Using a life cycle assessment methodology we analyze the impacts of the construction, disposal/end of life, and usage of each of the systems. Pumped hydro and compressed air storage are studied as mechanical storage, and advanced lead acid, sodium sulfur, lithium-ion and nickel–sodium-chloride batteries are addressed as electrochemical storage systems. Hydrogen production from electrolysis and subsequent usage in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell are also analyzed. The selected electricity storage systems mimic real world installations in terms of capacity, power rating, life time, technology and application. The functional unit is one kW h of energy delivered back to the grid, from the storage system. The environmental impacts assessed are climate change, human toxicity, particulate matter formation, and fossil resource depletion. Different electricity mixes are used in order to exemplify scenarios where the selected technologies meet specific applications. Results indicate that the performance of the storage systems is tied to the electricity feedstocks used during use stage. Renewable energy sources have lower impacts throughout the use stage of the storage technologies. Using the Belgium electricity mix of 2011 as benchmark, the sodium sulfur battery is shown to be the best performer for all the impacts analyzed. Pumped hydro storage follows in second place. Regarding infrastructure and end of life, results indicate that battery systems

Photovoltaic system criteria documents. Volume 3: Environmental issues and evaluation criteria for photovoltaic applications

Science.gov (United States)

Koenig, John C.; Billitti, Joseph W.; Tallon, John M.

1979-01-01

The environmental issues and evaluation criteria relating to the suitability of sites proposed for photovoltaic (PV) system deployment are identified. The important issues are defined, briefly discussed and then developed into evaluation criteria. System designers are provided with information on the environmental sensitivity of PV systems in realistic applications, background material which indicates the applicability of the siting issues identified, and evaluation criteria are defined to facilitate the selection of sites that maximize PV system operation.

Nuclear analytical techniques and their application to environmental samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lieser, K.H.

1986-01-01

A survey is given on nuclear analytical techniques and their application to environmental samples. Measurement of the inherent radioactivity of elements or radionuclides allows determination of natural radioelements (e.g. Ra), man-made radioelements (e.g. Pu) and radionuclides in the environment. Activation analysis, in particular instrumental neutron activation analysis, is a very reliable and sensitive method for determination of a great number of trace elements in environmental samples, because the most abundant main constituents are not activated. Tracer techniques are very useful for studies of the behaviour and of chemical reactions of trace elements and compounds in the environment. Radioactive sources are mainly applied for excitation of characteristic X-rays (X-ray fluorescence analysis). (author)

Studies on time series applications in environmental sciences

CERN Document Server

Bărbulescu, Alina

2016-01-01

Time series analysis and modelling represent a large study field, implying the approach from the perspective of the time and frequency, with applications in different domains. Modelling hydro-meteorological time series is difficult due to the characteristics of these series, as long range dependence, spatial dependence, the correlation with other series. Continuous spatial data plays an important role in planning, risk assessment and decision making in environmental management. In this context, in this book we present various statistical tests and modelling techniques used for time series analysis, as well as applications to hydro-meteorological series from Dobrogea, a region situated in the south-eastern part of Romania, less studied till now. Part of the results are accompanied by their R code. .

Plasma cleaning techniques and future applications in environmentally conscious manufacturing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ward, P.P.

1995-07-01

Plasmas have frequently been used in industry as a last step surface preparation technique in an otherwise predominantly wet-etch process. The limiting factor in the usefulness of plasma cleaning techniques has been the rate at which organic materials are removed. Recent research in the field of plasma chemistry has provided some understanding of plasma processes. By controlling plasma conditions and gas mixtures, ultra-fast plasma cleaning and etching is possible. With enhanced organic removal rates, plasma processes become more desirable as an environmentally sound alternative to traditional solvent or acid dominated process, not only as a cleaning tool, but also as a patterning and machining tool. In this paper, innovations in plasma processes are discussed including enhanced plasma etch rates via plasma environment control and aggressive gas mixtures. Applications that have not been possible with the limited usefulness of past plasma processes are now approaching the realm of possibility. Some of these possible applications will be discussed along with their impact to environmentally conscious manufacturing.

Reduction of environmental MHz noise for SQUID application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Araya, T. [Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531 (Japan)]. E-mail: araya@sup.ee.es.osaka-u.ac.jp; Kitamura, Y. [Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531 (Japan); Kamishiro, M. [Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531 (Japan); Sakuta, K. [Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531 (Japan); Itozaki, H. [Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531 (Japan)]. E-mail: itozaki@ee.es.osaka-u.ac.jp

2006-10-01

It is important to remove large environmental noise in measurement using SQUIDs without magnetic shielding. Active noise control (ANC) is an effective method to remove the environmental noise. The environmental noise has been reduced by the ANC system in the radio frequency region around MHz. The anti-phase waves of the environmental noise should be generated by this system. The ANC system including the phase and amplitude control circuit was developed to make the anti-phase waves in the MHz region. In this paper, sinusoidal waves with a MHz frequency were used as the environmental noise. When a coil antenna was used for a receiver antenna, this ANC system suppressed these sinusoidal waves to the white noise level about 40 dB. When we used a SQUID as a receiver antenna, we also cancelled sinusoidal waves to the white noise level by this system. This shows that the ANC system is useful to reduce an environmental noise when this ANC system is developed to cancel multi-frequency noise.

Reduction of environmental MHz noise for SQUID application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Araya, T.; Kitamura, Y.; Kamishiro, M.; Sakuta, K.; Itozaki, H.

2006-01-01

It is important to remove large environmental noise in measurement using SQUIDs without magnetic shielding. Active noise control (ANC) is an effective method to remove the environmental noise. The environmental noise has been reduced by the ANC system in the radio frequency region around MHz. The anti-phase waves of the environmental noise should be generated by this system. The ANC system including the phase and amplitude control circuit was developed to make the anti-phase waves in the MHz region. In this paper, sinusoidal waves with a MHz frequency were used as the environmental noise. When a coil antenna was used for a receiver antenna, this ANC system suppressed these sinusoidal waves to the white noise level about 40 dB. When we used a SQUID as a receiver antenna, we also cancelled sinusoidal waves to the white noise level by this system. This shows that the ANC system is useful to reduce an environmental noise when this ANC system is developed to cancel multi-frequency noise

Quantification of biologically effective environmental UV irradiance

Science.gov (United States)

Horneck, G.

To determine the impact of environmental UV radiation on human health and ecosystems demands monitoring systems that weight the spectral irradiance according to the biological responses under consideration. In general, there are three different approaches to quantify a biologically effective solar irradiance: (i) weighted spectroradiometry where the biologically weighted radiometric quantities are derived from spectral data by multiplication with an action spectrum of a relevant photobiological reaction, e.g. erythema, DNA damage, skin cancer, reduced productivity of terrestrial plants and aquatic foodweb; (ii) wavelength integrating chemical-based or physical dosimetric systems with spectral sensitivities similar to a biological response curve; and (iii) biological dosimeters that directly weight the incident UV components of sunlight in relation to the effectiveness of the different wavelengths and to interactions between them. Most biological dosimeters, such as bacteria, bacteriophages, or biomolecules, are based on the UV sensitivity of DNA. If precisely characterized, biological dosimeters are applicable as field and personal dosimeters.

The effect of (negative) emotion on pro-environmental behavior : an application of the theory of planned behavior

OpenAIRE

Gibson, Ben

2016-01-01

With climate change becoming ever-present as a huge environmental issue for the modern era to address, pro-environmental behavior (PEB) is becoming an increasingly relevant area. There seems to be a divergence between how different actors try and encourage PEB when using emotion as the motivational tool. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore this effect of (negative) emotion on decision making. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was used as the theoretical framework, with the primar...

Evaluating strategic environmental assessment in the Netherlands: Content, process and procedure as indissoluble criteria for effectiveness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.W. van Buuren (Arwin); S.G. Nooteboom (Sibout)

2009-01-01

textabstractTo assess the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) we distinguish between its contribution to the quality of the ultimate policy choice (usefulness, applicability), the procedural quality of the planning process (transparency, timeliness) and the quality of

[Regional difference of NPK fertilizers application and environmental risk assessment in Jiangsu Province, China].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Qin-pu

2015-05-01

It is of great importance to have a deep understanding of the spatial distribution of NPK fertilizers application and the potential threat to the ecological environment in Jiangsu Province, which is helpful for regulating the rational fertilization, strengthening the fertilizer use risk management and guidance, and preventing agricultural non-point pollution. Based on the environmental risk assessment model with consideration of different impacts of N, P, K fertilizers on environment, this paper researched the regional differentiation characteristic and environmental risk of intensity of NPK fertilizer usages in Jiangsu. Analystic hierarchy process ( AHP) was used to determine the weithts of N, P, K. The environmental safety thresholds of N, P, K were made according to the standard of 250 kg · hm(-2) for the construction of ecological counties sponsered by Chinese government and the proportion of 1:0.5:0.5 for N:P:K surposed by some developed countries. The results showed that the intensity of NPK fertilizer application currently presented a gradually increasing trend from south to north of Jiangsu, with the extremum ratio of 3.3, and the extremum ratios of nitrogen fertilizer, phosphorus fertilizer and potassium fertilizer were 3.3, 4.5 and 4.4, respectively. The average proportion of nitrogen fertilizer, phosphorus fertilizer and potassium fertilizer of 13 cities in Jiangsu was 1:0.39:0.26. Their proportion was relatively in equilibrium in southern Jiangsu, but the nutrient structure disorder was serious in northern Jiangsu. In Jiangsu, the environmental risk index of fertilization averaged at 0.69 and in the middle-range of environmental risk. The environmental risk index of fertilizer application in southern and central Jiangsu was respectively at the low and moderate levels, while that of cities in northern Jiangsu was at the moderate, serious or severe level. In Jiangsu, the regional difference of fertilizer application and environmental risk assessment were

Effects of Some Environmental Factors on Reproductive Characters of Awassi and Redkaraman Ewes

OpenAIRE

ESENBUĞA, Nurinisa

2014-01-01

In this research, the effects of some environmental factors on the reproductive characters of Awassi and Redkaraman ewes reared at the Research and Application Farm of Agricultural College at Atatürk University were investigated. Year, age of ewes, breed and the linear effect of body weight of ewes at the beginning of mating were studied. The year had no significant effect on any of the reproductive characters. Age of ewes, breed and body weight of ewes at the start of mating caused highly...

Application of Green Environmentally Friendly Materials in Food Packaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jixia Li

2017-11-01

Full Text Available With social development, requirements on the spiritual and material life have increased. However, some environmental issues appear, for example, in food packaging. Application of environment-friendly materials in food packaging has been more and more attractive. This study analyses the characteristics of degradable food packaging material and the existing problems, proposes the manufacturing of food packaging with poly(lactic acid/nanocrystalline cellulose composite material, tests its thermal and mechanical properties, and applies it to the design of food packaging. The results demonstrate that the thermal and mechanical properties of the material could satisfy the requirements of food packaging and that the material is applicable to the design of food packaging in the future. This work provides a reference for the application of green, environment-friendly materials in the design of food packaging.

Temperature effect on rose downy mildew development under environmental controlled conditions

OpenAIRE

Filgueira D., Juan José; Zambrano, Angélica

2014-01-01

The rose downy mildew disease, caused by Peronospora sparsa Berkeley, is one of the most important that affect rose crops in Colombia. To manage this disease, flower growers must deal with high-costs due to the excessive application of fungicides, but without good results. Studies on P. sparsa behavior have shown its narrow relationship with environmental conditions. In this study, the temperature effect was evaluated during the infection and sporulation of P. sparsa in Charlotte leaflets, a ...

Applications of the Advanced Light Source to problems in the earth, soil, and environmental sciences report of the workshop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-10-01

This report discusses the following topics: ALS status and research opportunities; advanced light source applications to geological materials; applications in the soil and environmental sciences; x-ray microprobe analysis; potential applications of the ALS in soil and environmental sciences; and x-ray spectroscopy using soft x-rays: applications to earth materials

Environmental effects on molecules immersed in liquids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sese, L.M.

1990-01-01

A methodology to study environmental effects is thoroughly discussed. It combines molecular quantum mechanics and classical statistical mechanics of molecular fluids. Pair distribution functions collecting statistical information appear quite naturally in the quantum equations describing a single molecule. As well as allowing the computation of any individual molecular property in a liquid phase, this approach satisfies a number of theoretical requirements (dependence on density and temperature, validity in the thermodynamic limit). In a sense, it can be regarded as a useful alternative to the well-known Monte Carlo averaging processes for calculating molecular properties. Numerical applications studying liquid carbon disulphide and liquid carbon tetrachloride at several state points are given. Results cover typical RHF information (CNDO/2) on molecules, and show the sensitivity of the presented methodology to structural changes in liquids. (orig.)

A goal programming model for environmental policy analysis: Application to Spain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

San Cristóbal, José Ramón

2012-01-01

Sustainable development has become an important part of international and national approaches to integrate economic, environmental, social and ethical considerations so that a good quality of life can be enjoyed by current and future generations for as long as possible. However, nowadays sustainable development is threatened by industrial pollution emissions which cause serious environmental problems. Due to a lack of adequate quantitative models for environmental policy analysis, there is a strong need for analytical models in order to know the effects of environmental policies. In the present paper, a goal programming model, based on an environmental/input–output linear programming model, is developed and applied to the Spanish economy. The model combines relations between economic, energy, social and environmental effects, providing valuable information for policy-makers in order to define and examine the different goals that must be implemented to reach sustainability. - Highlights: ► In this paper a goal programming model is developed. ► The model considers environmental, energy, social and economic goals. ► The model shows the effects of a reduction in greenhouse gasses emission and energy requirements. ► The model is applied to the Spanish economy.

Toxicogenomics in Environmental Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Brinke, Alexandra; Buchinger, Sebastian

This chapter reviews the current knowledge and recent progress in the field of environmental, aquatic ecotoxicogenomics with a focus on transcriptomic methods. In ecotoxicogenomics the omics technologies are applied for the detection and assessment of adverse effects in the environment, and thus are to be distinguished from omics used in human toxicology [Snape et al., Aquat Toxicol 67:143-154, 2004]. Transcriptomic methods in ecotoxicology are applied to gain a mechanistic understanding of toxic effects on organisms or populations, and thus aim to bridge the gap between cause and effect. A worthwhile effect-based interpretation of stressor induced changes on the transcriptome is based on the principle of phenotypic-anchoring [Paules, Environ Health Perspect 111:A338-A339, 2003]. Thereby, changes on the transcriptomic level can only be identified as effects if they are clearly linked to a specific stressor-induced effect on the macroscopic level. By integrating those macroscopic and transcriptomic effects, conclusions on the effect-inducing type of the stressor can be drawn. Stressor-specific effects on the transcriptomic level can be identified as stressor-specific induced pathways, transcriptomic patterns, or stressors-specific genetic biomarkers. In this chapter, examples of the combined application of macroscopic and transcriptional effects for the identification of environmental stressors, such as aquatic pollutants, are given and discussed. By means of these examples, challenges on the way to a standardized application of transcriptomics in ecotoxicology are discussed. This is also done against the background of the application of transcriptomic methods in environmental regulation such as the EU regulation Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH).

The application of nuclear and nuclear-related techniques for environmental pollution studies in Vietnam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen Mong Sinh

1992-01-01

The applicability of neutron activation analysis, X-ray fluorescence and other related techniques to environmental samples from Viet Nam has been investigated. Results show that multielemental analysis of environmental samples and the determination of heavy metal pollution in the environment is best performed by a combination of techniques. Preliminary results of studying the environmental pollution associated with solid wastes are reported. 4 refs, 5 figs, 17 tabs

Application of Green Environmentally Friendly Materials in Food Packaging

OpenAIRE

Jixia Li

2017-01-01

With social development, requirements on the spiritual and material life have increased. However, some environmental issues appear, for example, in food packaging. Application of environment-friendly materials in food packaging has been more and more attractive. This study analyses the characteristics of degradable food packaging material and the existing problems, proposes the manufacturing of food packaging with poly(lactic acid)/nanocrystalline cellulose composite material, tests its therm...

Contributions for the application of a phoswich detector on the analysis of environmental samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalaqua Junior, L.

1989-01-01

The characteristics of a phoswich detector and the parameters of the pulse shape descrimination system are evaluated aiming the application on environmental analysis by direct low level gamma ray spectrometry. The calibration curves and adjustments for the pulse discrimination, detector resolution and homogeneity measurements are presented. Background reduction and the 210 Pb detection eficiency on evaporated sources are evaluated. The results obtained demonstrates the application potentiality on the analysis of environmental samples due to a high detection eficiency and good geometry conditions to the measurements. (author) [pt

Blood-borne biomarkers and bioindicators for linking exposure to health effects in environmental health science.

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, M Ariel Geer; Kormos, Tzipporah M; Pleil, Joachim D

2016-01-01

Environmental health science aims to link environmental pollution sources to adverse health outcomes to develop effective exposure intervention strategies that reduce long-term disease risks. Over the past few decades, the public health community recognized that health risk is driven by interaction between the human genome and external environment. Now that the human genetic code has been sequenced, establishing this "G × E" (gene-environment) interaction requires a similar effort to decode the human exposome, which is the accumulation of an individual's environmental exposures and metabolic responses throughout the person's lifetime. The exposome is composed of endogenous and exogenous chemicals, many of which are measurable as biomarkers in blood, breath, and urine. Exposure to pollutants is assessed by analyzing biofluids for the pollutant itself or its metabolic products. New methods are being developed to use a subset of biomarkers, termed bioindicators, to demonstrate biological changes indicative of future adverse health effects. Typically, environmental biomarkers are assessed using noninvasive (excreted) media, such as breath and urine. Blood is often avoided for biomonitoring due to practical reasons such as medical personnel, infectious waste, or clinical setting, despite the fact that blood represents the central compartment that interacts with every living cell and is the most relevant biofluid for certain applications and analyses. The aims of this study were to (1) review the current use of blood samples in environmental health research, (2) briefly contrast blood with other biological media, and (3) propose additional applications for blood analysis in human exposure research.

NIF: IFE applications, waste management and environmental impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lazaro, M.A.; Kirchner, F.R.; Miley, G.H.; Petra, M.

1996-01-01

Although many energy sources have been suggested for the future, inertial confinement fusion (ICF) has been demonstrated as scientifically feasible and deserves support for continued development. The National Ignition Facility (NIF), proposed by US DOE, is a next step in that direction. NIF would use ICF technology to achieve ignition and energy gain that would allow the development and continued support of national security and other civilian applications including inertial fusion energy power plants. NIF would also guarantee US leadership in dense plasma research. Four sites are being considered for NIF: LLNL, Los Alamos, Sandia, and two NTS sites. An environmental evaluation was performed which considered all impacts. This paper provides the results of the waste management analyses conducted on the proposed NIF sites. Overall, the proposed construction and operation of NIF should qualify it as a low-hazard, non-nuclear radiological facility with minor onsite and negligible offsite environmental impacts

A Method to Test the Effect of Environmental Cues on Mating Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorter, Jenke A; Billeter, Jean-Christophe

2017-07-17

An individual's sexual drive is influenced by genotype, experience and environmental conditions. How these factors interact to modulate sexual behaviors remains poorly understood. In Drosophila melanogaster, environmental cues, such as food availability, affect mating activity offering a tractable system to investigate the mechanisms modulating sexual behavior. In D. melanogaster, environmental cues are often sensed via the chemosensory gustatory and olfactory systems. Here, we present a method to test the effect of environmental chemical cues on mating behavior. The assay consists of a small mating arena containing food medium and a mating couple. The mating frequency for each couple is continuously monitored for 24 h. Here we present the applicability of this assay to test environmental compounds from an external source through a pressurized air system as well as manipulation of the environmental components directly in the mating arena. The use of a pressurized air system is especially useful to test the effect of very volatile compounds, while manipulating components directly in the mating arena can be of value to ascertain a compound's presence. This assay can be adapted to answer questions about the influence of genetic and environmental cues on mating behavior and fecundity as well as other male and female reproductive behaviors.

Environmental isotope applications in hydrology: an overview of the IAEA's activities, experiences, and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yurtsever, Y.; Araguas, L.A.

1993-01-01

Development and applications of isotope methodologies in hydrology have been an integral part of the program component of the IAEA over the last three decades, within the framework of its overall activities related to peaceful nuclear applications. The use of environmental isotopes as a means of tracing water movement in the hydrology including surface and ground water is much of the Agency's work in this field. This paper provides an overview of the temporal and spatial variations of the above cited isotopes in precipitation based on the long-term data collected from the global network, and reviews the concepts and formulations of environmental isotope applications to specific problems in hydrology and hydrogeology. (Author)

15 CFR 970.702 - Monitoring and mitigation of environmental effects.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... environmental effects. 970.702 Section 970.702 Commerce and Foreign Trade Regulations Relating to Commerce and... REGULATIONS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SERVICE DEEP SEABED MINING REGULATIONS FOR EXPLORATION LICENSES Environmental Effects § 970.702 Monitoring and mitigation of environmental effects. (a) Monitoring. If an...

Possible applications of neutron activation analysis at the RB reactor for the environmental monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikolic, D.; Pesic, M.; Milosevic, M.; Dasic, N.; Antic, D.; Kostic, Lj.; Ljubenov, V.

2002-01-01

This paper presents the possibilities of performing neutron activation analysis in Yugoslavia for the purpose of environmental pollution monitoring. Neutron activation analysis (NAA) is an established method for the determination of trace elements in a broad range of samples. It is non-destructive method used in a routine manner with gamma-ray spectrometry for various applications in biology, environmental toxicology, radiation assessment, mineral exploration, trace elements monitoring regarding human health studies. As a complex, powerful analytical tool, it might give results even when other analytical methods fail. NAA has been performed at the Nuclear Engineering Laboratory (NET), the VINCA Institute of Nuclear Sciences, for various applications in the reactor physics research. The samples are irradiated in the RB research reactor, which is the zero-power, bear, heavy water critical facility utilising three fuel element types. The reactor system is very flexible and allows for different core configurations, resulting in various neutron fields, with energy spectra ranging from thermal to fast (in the coupled fast-thermal system HERBE). There are several vertical and horizontal experimental channels available for sample's irradiation. The achievable thermal neutron flux is approximately 1 0 7 n/(cm 2 s) per 1 W of fission power. We believe the RB reactor could be successfully used for neutron activation analysis of trace elements in the environmental samples, comprising short-lived isotopes. Although the flux level and restricted irradiation time pose a certain limitation to NAA applications at the RB reactor, it can be compensated by the specific methodology advancement. That involves overcoming the main sources of error in the instrumental NAA evaluation methodology which utilises generally valid k 0 , and Q 0 factors. In particular, the computational accuracy of required nuclear parameters (e.g. neutron flux distribution, effective nuclear cross sections) can

Jensen's Inequality Predicts Effects of Environmental Variation

Science.gov (United States)

Jonathan J. Ruel; Matthew P. Ayres

1999-01-01

Many biologists now recognize that environmental variance can exert important effects on patterns and processes in nature that are independent of average conditions. Jenson's inequality is a mathematical proof that is seldom mentioned in the ecological literature but which provides a powerful tool for predicting some direct effects of environmental variance in...

Site environmental report for 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brekke, D.D.; Holland, R.C.; Gordon, K.W. [ed.

1995-12-01

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is committed to conducting its operations in an environmentally safe and sound manner. It is mandatory that activities at SNL/California comply with all applicable environmental statutes, regulations, and standards. Moreover, SNL/California continuously strives to reduce risks to employees, the public, and the environment to the lowest levels reasonably possible. To help verify effective protection of public safety and preservation of the environment, SNL/California maintains an extensive, ongoing environmental monitoring program. This program monitors all significant airborne and liquid effluents and the environment at the SNL/California site perimeter. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) performs off-site environmental monitoring for both sites. These monitoring efforts ensure that emission controls are effective in preventing contamination of the environment. As part of SNL/California`s Environmental Monitoring Program, an environmental surveillance system measures the possible presence of radioactive and hazardous materials in ambient air, surface water, groundwater, sewage, soil, vegetation, and locally-produced food-stuffs. The program also includes an extensive environmental dosimetry program, which measures external radiation levels around the Livermore site and nearby vicinity. Each year, the results of the Environmental Monitoring Program are published in this report, the Site Environmental Report This executive summary focuses on impacts to the environment and estimated radiation doses to the public from site emissions. Chapter 3, {open_quotes}Compliance Summary,{close_quotes} reviews the site`s various environmental protection activities and compliance status with applicable environmental regulations. The effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance results for 1994 show that SNL/California operations had no harmful effects on the environment or the public. A summary of the findings is provided below.

Site environmental report for 1994

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brekke, D.D.; Holland, R.C.; Gordon, K.W.

1995-01-01

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is committed to conducting its operations in an environmentally safe and sound manner. It is mandatory that activities at SNL/California comply with all applicable environmental statutes, regulations, and standards. Moreover, SNL/California continuously strives to reduce risks to employees, the public, and the environment to the lowest levels reasonably possible. To help verify effective protection of public safety and preservation of the environment, SNL/California maintains an extensive, ongoing environmental monitoring program. This program monitors all significant airborne and liquid effluents and the environment at the SNL/California site perimeter. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) performs off-site environmental monitoring for both sites. These monitoring efforts ensure that emission controls are effective in preventing contamination of the environment. As part of SNL/California's Environmental Monitoring Program, an environmental surveillance system measures the possible presence of radioactive and hazardous materials in ambient air, surface water, groundwater, sewage, soil, vegetation, and locally-produced food-stuffs. The program also includes an extensive environmental dosimetry program, which measures external radiation levels around the Livermore site and nearby vicinity. Each year, the results of the Environmental Monitoring Program are published in this report, the Site Environmental Report This executive summary focuses on impacts to the environment and estimated radiation doses to the public from site emissions. Chapter 3, open-quotes Compliance Summary,close quotes reviews the site's various environmental protection activities and compliance status with applicable environmental regulations. The effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance results for 1994 show that SNL/California operations had no harmful effects on the environment or the public. A summary of the findings is provided below

Equity Impacts of Environmental Policy

OpenAIRE

Antonio M. Bento

2013-01-01

This article surveys recent literature on the equity impacts of environmental policy. We focus on studies that look at the distribution of costs and benefits of alternative environmental policies. We also examine potentially important trade-offs between efficiency and equity that arise in the context of environmental policy, as well as transition effects. In many of the applications surveyed here, environmental policies can be regressive. Strategies are discussed to reduce this regressivity t...

78 FR 27196 - Modification of Permit Application and Intent for Additional Public Scoping for an Environmental...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-09

... Application and Intent for Additional Public Scoping for an Environmental Impact Statement for the Port of... Mississippi State Port Authority (MSPA) for which an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is being prepared... Low-Income Populations; Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks...

Development and application of an environmentally friendly ductile alkali-activated composite

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nedeljkovic, M.; Lukovic, M.; van Breugel, K.; Hordijk, D.A.; Ye, G.

2018-01-01

This paper presents a development of a ductile alkali-activated fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) based composite as an environmentally friendly material for structural concrete application. For this purpose, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibres and sand aggregate were

Environmental fate model for ultra-low-volume insecticide applications used for adult mosquito management

Science.gov (United States)

Schleier, Jerome J.; Peterson, Robert K.D.; Irvine, Kathryn M.; Marshall, Lucy M.; Weaver, David K.; Preftakes, Collin J.

2012-01-01

One of the more effective ways of managing high densities of adult mosquitoes that vector human and animal pathogens is ultra-low-volume (ULV) aerosol applications of insecticides. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency uses models that are not validated for ULV insecticide applications and exposure assumptions to perform their human and ecological risk assessments. Currently, there is no validated model that can accurately predict deposition of insecticides applied using ULV technology for adult mosquito management. In addition, little is known about the deposition and drift of small droplets like those used under conditions encountered during ULV applications. The objective of this study was to perform field studies to measure environmental concentrations of insecticides and to develop a validated model to predict the deposition of ULV insecticides. The final regression model was selected by minimizing the Bayesian Information Criterion and its prediction performance was evaluated using k-fold cross validation. Density of the formulation and the density and CMD interaction coefficients were the largest in the model. The results showed that as density of the formulation decreases, deposition increases. The interaction of density and CMD showed that higher density formulations and larger droplets resulted in greater deposition. These results are supported by the aerosol physics literature. A k-fold cross validation demonstrated that the mean square error of the selected regression model is not biased, and the mean square error and mean square prediction error indicated good predictive ability.

Workshop on environmental and energy applications of neural networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hashem, S.

1995-03-01

This report consists of the abstracts for the papers given at the conference. Applications of neural networks in the environmental, energy and biomedical fields are discussed. Some of the topics covered are: predicting atmospheric pollutant concentrations due to fossil-fired electric power generation; hazardous waste characterization; nondestructive TRU (transuranic) waste assay; risk analysis; load forecasting for electric utilities; design of a wind power storage and generation system; nuclear fuel management; etc.

Workshop on environmental and energy applications of neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashem, S.

1995-03-01

This report consists of the abstracts for the papers given at the conference. Applications of neural networks in the environmental, energy and biomedical fields are discussed. Some of the topics covered are: predicting atmospheric pollutant concentrations due to fossil-fired electric power generation; hazardous waste characterization; nondestructive TRU (transuranic) waste assay; risk analysis; load forecasting for electric utilities; design of a wind power storage and generation system; nuclear fuel management; etc

Understanding the Structure-Function Relationships of Dendrimers in Environmental and Biomedical Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Bo

We are living an era wherein nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely applied in our lives. Dendrimers are special polymeric NPs with unique physiochemical properties, which have been intensely explored for a variety of applications. Current studies on dendrimers are bottlenecked by insufficient understandings of their structure and dynamic behaviors from a molecular level. With primarily computational approaches supplemented by many other experimental technics, this dissertation aims to establish structure-function relationships of dendrimers in environmental and biomedical applications. More specifically, it thoroughly investigates the interactions between dendrimers and different biomolecules including carbon-based NPs, metal-based NPs, and proteins/peptides. Those results not only provide profound knowledge for evaluating the impacts of dendrimers on environmental and biological systems but also facilitate designing next-generation functional polymeric nanomaterials. The dissertation is organized as following. Chapter 1 provides an overview of current progresses on dendrimer studies, where methodology of Discrete Molecular Dynamics (DMD), my major research tool, is also introduced. Two directions of utilizing dendrimers will be discussed in following chapters. Chapter 2 will focus on environmental applications of dendrimers, where two back-to-back studies are presented. I will start from describing some interesting observations from experiments i.e. dendrimers dispersed model oil molecules. Then, I will reveal why surface chemistries of dendrimers lead to different remediation efficiencies by computational modelings. Finally, I will demonstrate different scenarios of dendrimer-small molecules association. Chapter 3 is centered on dendrimers in the biomedical applications including two subtopics. In the first topic, we will discuss dendrimers as surfactants that modulating the interactions between proteins and NPs. Some fundamental concepts regarding to NPs

Environmental influence on the usage of adhesive single lap joints in nuclear industry applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amorim, Felipe do C.; Reis, João M.L. dos; Souza, João F.B. de; Costa, Gilberto T. de P.; Moura, Jorge C. de; Universidade Federal Fluminense; Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear

2017-01-01

Despite of some polymeric compounds vulnerability to different types of radiation, high polymer, as epoxy adhesives, had prospered in the nuclear industry because their mechanical properties to high doses of ionizing radiation is maintained. Because of this, epoxy adhesives are widely used in nuclear applications: nuclear power plants, aerospace components, radioactive sealed sources to medicine, radioactive waste immobilization. In the present work, the performance of a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol ether A (DGEBA) was analyzed. Tensile tests of adhesive single lap joints bonded with epoxy were performed. The environmental effect of ultraviolet (UV) exposure was observed in the mechanical reaction of PolyAnchor 4100 HT. In particular, maximum load decreases slightly in aggressive environment. It is possible to conclude the material is proper to use in internal and external areas, mainly due to the easy application when compared to welded joints with similar strength. The easy application reduces the workers exposure time to ionizing radiation. (author)

Environmental influence on the usage of adhesive single lap joints in nuclear industry applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amorim, Felipe do C.; Reis, João M.L. dos; Souza, João F.B. de; Costa, Gilberto T. de P.; Moura, Jorge C. de, E-mail: felipe.amorim@cefet-rj.br, E-mail: jreis@id.uff.br, E-mail: joaofellipe@id.uff.br, E-mail: gilberto.costa@cnen.gov.br, E-mail: jcmoura@cnen.gov.br [Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca (CEFET-RJ), Itaguai, RJ (Brazil). Departamento de Engenharia Mecanica; Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Niteroi, RJ (Brazil). Laboratorio de Mecania Teorica e Aplicada; Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear (CNEN), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Divisão de Controle de Rejeitos e Transporte de Materiais Radioativos

2017-07-01

Despite of some polymeric compounds vulnerability to different types of radiation, high polymer, as epoxy adhesives, had prospered in the nuclear industry because their mechanical properties to high doses of ionizing radiation is maintained. Because of this, epoxy adhesives are widely used in nuclear applications: nuclear power plants, aerospace components, radioactive sealed sources to medicine, radioactive waste immobilization. In the present work, the performance of a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol ether A (DGEBA) was analyzed. Tensile tests of adhesive single lap joints bonded with epoxy were performed. The environmental effect of ultraviolet (UV) exposure was observed in the mechanical reaction of PolyAnchor 4100 HT. In particular, maximum load decreases slightly in aggressive environment. It is possible to conclude the material is proper to use in internal and external areas, mainly due to the easy application when compared to welded joints with similar strength. The easy application reduces the workers exposure time to ionizing radiation. (author)

The HTR, applications, economics and environmental aspects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnert, H.; Schad, M.; Candeli, H.

1990-01-01

The High Temperature Reactor (HTR), as the only nuclear system producing high temperature heat up to 1000 deg. C, offers a wide variety of applications. Besides electricity production, via steam turbines and in future via gas turbines, there is: District heat with high efficiency, long distance energy for urban energy supply, high pressure injection steam production for enhanced oil recovery, medium range temperature heat direct application in chemical and related industry and last not least, high temperature application for the refinement of fossil energy carriers. Recent results of studies and programmes will be presented: Near term applications are identified, e.g. refineries and alumina industry with smaller HTR units. Another large market is the production of hydrogen, methanol and ammonia on the basis of natural gas, the relevant technology has been developed up to the pilot scale. The refinement of fossil energy carriers, in particular of coal, is subject of the R+D programme in the cooperation between German industrial companies and the Nuclear Research Center. The results are very promising and will be explained in detail. This programme will be continued. Objectives are: improvement of the technology and of the economics as well as environmental aspects, e.g. the reduction of emissions of carbon-dioxid. The topics of the programme deal with the different apparatus, e.g. steam methane reformer, steam coal gasifier, intermediate heat exchanger and last not least, the process heat HTR. (author)

Eco-Balancing as a Guideline for Environmentally Sound Regional Planning Supported by GIS Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ROMAN J. M. LENZ

2005-01-01

Full Text Available During the last several years, environmental impact assessment, regional or spatial planning, and environmental balancing seem to develop similarities, e.g. joint basic methodological approaches such as the use of environmental indicators, the focus on same environmental goods such air, water, soil, flora/fauna, etc. (Lenz 1999. Especially GIS-based software systems show their multiple applications in these fields.After a short introduction about the central role of indicators in transdisciplinary problem solving processes, experiences from a set of regional environmental (or eco balances show a wide range of advantages as well as disadvantages in the context of the widespread use of GIS-based planning tools. Relying on concepts and examples for the spatial eco-balances in the district of Pfaffenhofen (Upper Bavaria, Germany; cf. Lenz 1997 and the municipality of Mulfingen (Hohenlohe, Germany - both of them related to the concept of environmental indicators of the Advisory Board of Environmental Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany (SRU 1994 and the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA 1995 - we can show GIS-based information systems of a high practical relevancy. On the basis of the GIS software ArcView, the data base management system Access, and html scripts, we developed environmental information systems to balance environmental effects in a map scale of 1:5,000 - 1:50,000, in order to provide the administration with tools for an environmentally sound and sustainable development of their area (Lenz 1997, 1999, Beuttler et al. 1999. The spatial distribution of land use types, solar energy potential, area consumption and drinking water consumption for the municipality of Mulfingen are highlighted in this paper. Still, the practical use of the systems seems to be limited due to the lack of computer skills among the administrators – even after programming graphical user interfaces for the indicator “drinking water consumption”-, as well

Examination of new environmental control applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Vincent, Claude; Drouin, Gilbert; Routhier, François

2002-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the application of new Environmental Control Systems (ECSs) in the homes of users and caregivers. The research questions were: (1) Can new ECS applications improve the activities of daily living (ADL) of people with significant functional limitations who require personal assistance? (2) Can new ECS applications replace home services and lessen caregiver burden? To answer these questions, user satisfaction regarding ECS applications, impact on ADL, technical performance, and caregiver burden were examined. This collaborative investigation involving a local community health care center, a telephone monitoring service, an industrial partner, and a university research team used a case study approach. Five users with moderate cognitive problems or significant functional limitations who required personal assistance were chosen, along with their caregivers, for a 3-month in-home trial to test new ECS alternatives. The ECS in the study featured remote control functions (e.g., door lock release, outside intercom), specific verbal reminders (e.g., reminders to turn off stove elements), and automatic functions (e.g., night-lights in the bathroom and hallway). Information was collected in the users' homes with three standardized questionnaires and a company-designed questionnaire. The overall technical performance of the ECS was found to be in most cases moderately efficient. Participant satisfaction revealed that ECS alternatives needed improvement with respect to the service aspects such as follow-up services and repair/servicing. Caregiver burden was lessened for psychological aspects but not for physical tasks. Users seemed to have a positive perception of the impact of the ECS on many of their ADL. We learned six lessons from this 15-month case study, namely: (1) the use of remote control by people with moderate cognitive impairments was difficult; (2) verbal reminders were greatly appreciated; (3) the automatic ECS applications needed

Elemental line scanning of an increment core using EDXRF: from fundamental research to environmental forensics applications

Science.gov (United States)

Kevin T. Smith; Jean Christophe Balouet; Gil Oudijk

2008-01-01

Environmental forensics seeks to determine the responsible parties for contamination from leaks or spills of petroleum or other toxic products. Dendrochemistry contributes to environmental forensics at the intersection of analytical chemistry, tree biology, and environmental responsibility. To be useful, dendrochemistry requires the rigorous application of analytical...

Environmental Impacts of the Production and Application of Biochar - EuroChar Project

Science.gov (United States)

Rack, Mireille; Woods, Jeremy

2014-05-01

One of the potential benefits of biochar is carbon sequestration. To determine the overall net sequestration potential it is important to analyse the full supply chain, assessing both the direct and indirect emissions associated with the production and application of biochar. However, it is essential to also incorporate additional environmental impact categories to ensure the assessment of a more complete environmental impact profile. This paper uses a full life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to evaluate the results from the EuroChar, 'biochar for carbon sequestration and large-scale removal of GHG from the atmosphere', project. This EU Seventh Framework Programme project aims to investigate and reduce uncertainties around the impacts of, and opportunities for, biochar, and in particular explore possible pathways for its introduction into modern agricultural systems in Europe. The LCA methodology, according to the ISO standards, is applied to the project-specific supply chains to analyse the environmental impacts of biochar production and application. Two conversion technologies for the production of biochar are assessed, gasification and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), in order to provide conversion efficiencies and emission factors for the biochar production component of the supply chain. The selected feedstocks include those derived from waste residues and dedicated crops. For the end use stage, various forms and methods for biochar application are considered. In addition to the Global Warming Potential category, other environmental impact categories are also included in the analysis. The resulting 'feedstock * conversion technology' matrix provides nine pathways for the production and application of biochar, which are applied as a representative basis for the scenario modelling. These scenarios have been developed in order to assess the feedstock and land availability in Europe for the production and application of biochar and to give an order of

Efficacy and cost-effectiveness of environmental management for malaria control.

Science.gov (United States)

Utzinger, J; Tozan, Y; Singer, B H

2001-09-01

Roll back malaria (RBM) aims at halving the current burden of the disease by the year 2010. The focus is on sub-Saharan Africa, and it is proposed to implement efficacious and cost-effective control strategies. But the evidence base of such information is scarce, and a notable missing element is the discussion of the potential of environmental management. We reviewed the literature and identified multiple malaria control programmes that incorporated environmental management as the central feature. Prominent among them are programmes launched in 1929 and implemented for two decades at copper mining communities in Zambia. The full package of control measures consisted of vegetation clearance, modification of river boundaries, draining swamps, oil application to open water bodies and house screening. Part of the population also was given quinine and was sleeping under mosquito nets. Monthly malaria incidence rates and vector densities were used for surveillance and adaptive tuning of the environmental management strategies to achieve a high level of performance. Within 3-5 years, malaria-related mortality, morbidity and incidence rates were reduced by 70-95%. Over the entire 20 years of implementation, the programme had averted an estimated 4173 deaths and 161,205 malaria attacks. The estimated costs per death and malaria attack averted were US$ 858 and US$ 22.20, respectively. Over the initial 3-5 years start-up period, analogous to the short-duration of cost-effectiveness analyses of current studies, we estimated that the costs per disability adjusted life year (DALY) averted were US$ 524-591. However, the strategy has a track record of becoming cost-effective in the longer term, as maintenance costs were much lower: US$ 22-92 per DALY averted. In view of fewer adverse ecological effects, increased sustainability and better uses of local resources and knowledge, environmental management--integrated with pharmacological, insecticidal and bednet interventions

Electrokinetic-enhanced bioremediation of organic contaminants: a review of processes and environmental applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, R T; Harbottle, M J; Smith, J W N; Thornton, S F

2014-07-01

There is current interest in finding sustainable remediation technologies for the removal of contaminants from soil and groundwater. This review focuses on the combination of electrokinetics, the use of an electric potential to move organic and inorganic compounds, or charged particles/organisms in the subsurface independent of hydraulic conductivity; and bioremediation, the destruction of organic contaminants or attenuation of inorganic compounds by the activity of microorganisms in situ or ex situ. The objective of the review is to examine the state of knowledge on electrokinetic bioremediation and critically evaluate factors which affect the up-scaling of laboratory and bench-scale research to field-scale application. It discusses the mechanisms of electrokinetic bioremediation in the subsurface environment at different micro and macroscales, the influence of environmental processes on electrokinetic phenomena and the design options available for application to the field scale. The review also presents results from a modelling exercise to illustrate the effectiveness of electrokinetics on the supply electron acceptors to a plume scale scenario where these are limiting. Current research needs include analysis of electrokinetic bioremediation in more representative environmental settings, such as those in physically heterogeneous systems in order to gain a greater understanding of the controlling mechanisms on both electrokinetics and bioremediation in those scenarios. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Computational simulation in architectural and environmental acoustics methods and applications of wave-based computation

CERN Document Server

Sakamoto, Shinichi; Otsuru, Toru

2014-01-01

This book reviews a variety of methods for wave-based acoustic simulation and recent applications to architectural and environmental acoustic problems. Following an introduction providing an overview of computational simulation of sound environment, the book is in two parts: four chapters on methods and four chapters on applications. The first part explains the fundamentals and advanced techniques for three popular methods, namely, the finite-difference time-domain method, the finite element method, and the boundary element method, as well as alternative time-domain methods. The second part demonstrates various applications to room acoustics simulation, noise propagation simulation, acoustic property simulation for building components, and auralization. This book is a valuable reference that covers the state of the art in computational simulation for architectural and environmental acoustics.  

75 FR 4058 - CRD Hydroelectric, LLC; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and Soliciting...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-26

... Hydroelectric, LLC; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments... hydroelectric application has been filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection. a. Type of.... Applicant: CRD Hydroelectric, LLC. e. Name of Project: Red Rock Hydroelectric Project. f. Location: On the...

Potential environmental effects of controlled thermonuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Young, J.R.; Gore, B.F.

1976-01-01

The following topics are discussed: (1) the fusion reaction, (2) approach to the environmental analysis, (3) the reference CTR, (4) CTR environmental effects, (5) CTR accident potential, and (6) the advanced CTR

Beneficial Effects of Environmental Gases: Health Prospective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussein, A.Z.; IBrahim, M.S.; Zakaria, Kh.M.

2009-01-01

Radioactive radon gas is widely considered to be a health hazard by environmental agencies in the United States and in Europe. Yet despite the warnings of these agencies, thousands of people annually expose themselves to radon for therapeutic purposes, in facilities ranging from rustic old mines, to upscale spas and clinics. The inert natural radioactive gas radon has been used since the beginning of the century in the treatment of rheumatic diseases. In many places in the world, radon is used for therapeutic purposes for various diseases. Radon inhalation is applied in a thermal gallery with atmospheric radon concentrations up to 100 kBq/m3, elevated temperature up to 41 EC , and humidity close to 100%, or in the form of radon baths where Rn is emanated from water with high natural Rn activity. Frequently, a combination of both treatment procedures is applied. Evidence from empirical experience and from clinical observational studies suggests that radon has analgesic, anti inflammatory and immune-stimulating effects. Ozone is one of nature's most powerful oxidants. It increases the effectiveness of the antioxidant enzyme system, which scavenge excess free radicals in the body. It is used in water purification and sewage treatment and is now being applied medically to treat many diseases from wounds and colitis to cancer, stroke and AIDS. According to the dosage and concentration range, medical ozone is a pharmaceutical agent that exerts specific properties and a well-defined range of efficacy. This paper describes the medical application of environmental gases: radon and ozone

Speciation analysis of ¹²⁹I and its applications in environmental research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Luyuan; Hou, Xiaolin

2013-01-01

129I, a long-lived radionuclide, is important in view of geological repository of nuclear waste, and environmental tracing applications related to diverse natural processes of iodine. The environmental behaviors and bioavailability of 129I are highly related to its species. A number of methods have...... been reported for speciation analysis of 129I in a variety of environmental samples. These methods have been applied in many researches, including conversion processes of iodine species in marine and terrestrial systems, migration and retention of iodine in soil and sediment, geochemical cycling...

Clays and Clay Minerals and their environmental application in Food Technology

Science.gov (United States)

del Hoyo Martínez, Carmen; Cuéllar Antequera, Jorge; Sánchez Escribano, Vicente; Solange Lozano García, Marina; Cutillas Díez, Raul

2013-04-01

The clay materials have led to numerous applications in the field of public health (del Hoyo, 2007; Volzone, 2007) having been demonstrated its effectiveness as adsorbents of all contaminants. Some biodegradable materials are used for for adsorption of chemical contaminants: lignins (Valderrabano et al., 2008) and also clays and clay minerals, whose colloidal properties, ease of generating structural changes, abundance in nature, and low cost make them very suitable for this kind of applications. Among the strategies used at present to preserve the quality of the water and this way to diminish the environmental risk that supposes the chemical pollution, stands out the use of adsorbents of under cost, already they are natural or modified, to immobilize these compounds and to avoid the pollution of the water with the consequent reduction of environmental and economic costs Thanks to the development of the science and the technology of the nourishment in the last 50 years, there have revealed itself several new substances that can fulfill beneficial functions in the food, and these substances, named food additives, are today within reach of all. The food additives recover a very important role in the complex nourishing supply. The additives fulfill several useful functions in the food, which often we give for sat. Nevertheless the widespread use of food additives in the food production also influences the public health. The food industries, which are very important for the economy, spill residues proved from its activity that they have to be controlled to evaluate the environmental impact and to offer the necessary information about the quantitative evaluation of the chemical risk of the use of food additives for the public health. We have studied the adsorption of several contaminants by natural or modified clays, searching their interaction mechanisms and the possible recycling of these materials for environmental purposes and prevention of the health. References

Green Synthesis of Iron Nanoparticles and Their Environmental Applications and Implications

Science.gov (United States)

Saif, Sadia; Tahir, Arifa; Chen, Yongsheng

2016-01-01

Recent advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology have also led to the development of novel nanomaterials, which ultimately increase potential health and environmental hazards. Interest in developing environmentally benign procedures for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles has been increased. The purpose is to minimize the negative impacts of synthetic procedures, their accompanying chemicals and derivative compounds. The exploitation of different biomaterials for the synthesis of nanoparticles is considered a valuable approach in green nanotechnology. Biological resources such as bacteria, algae fungi and plants have been used for the production of low-cost, energy-efficient, and nontoxic environmental friendly metallic nanoparticles. This review provides an overview of various reports of green synthesised zero valent metallic iron (ZVMI) and iron oxide (Fe2O3/Fe3O4) nanoparticles (NPs) and highlights their substantial applications in environmental pollution control. This review also summarizes the ecotoxicological impacts of green synthesised iron nanoparticles opposed to non-green synthesised iron nanoparticles. PMID:28335338

Green Synthesis of Iron Nanoparticles and Their Environmental Applications and Implications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sadia Saif

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Recent advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology have also led to the development of novel nanomaterials, which ultimately increase potential health and environmental hazards. Interest in developing environmentally benign procedures for the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles has been increased. The purpose is to minimize the negative impacts of synthetic procedures, their accompanying chemicals and derivative compounds. The exploitation of different biomaterials for the synthesis of nanoparticles is considered a valuable approach in green nanotechnology. Biological resources such as bacteria, algae fungi and plants have been used for the production of low-cost, energy-efficient, and nontoxic environmental friendly metallic nanoparticles. This review provides an overview of various reports of green synthesised zero valent metallic iron (ZVMI and iron oxide (Fe2O3/Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs and highlights their substantial applications in environmental pollution control. This review also summarizes the ecotoxicological impacts of green synthesised iron nanoparticles opposed to non-green synthesised iron nanoparticles.

The environmental effects of nuclear war

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacCracken, M.C.

1988-09-01

Substantial environmental disruption will significantly add to the disastrous consequences caused by the direct thermal, blast, and radiological effects brought on by a major nuclear war. Local fallout could cover several percent of the Northern Hemisphere with potentially lethal doses. Smoke from post-nuclear fires could darken the skies and induce temperature decreases of tens of degrees in continental interiors. Stratospheric ozone could be significantly reduced due to nitric oxide injections and smoke-induced circulation changes. The environmental effects spread the consequences of a nuclear war to the world population, adding to the potentially large disruptive effects a further reason to avoid such a catastrophe. 27 refs., 4 figs

Environmental Compliance Management System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brownson, L.W.; Krsul, T.; Peralta, R.A.; Knudson, D.A.; Rosignolo, C.L.

1992-01-01

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is developing the Environmental Compliance Management System (ECMS) as a comprehensive, cost-effective tool to ensure (1) that the Laboratory complies with all applicable federal and state environmental laws and regulations, (2) that environmental issues and concerns are recognized and considered in the early phases of projects; and (3) that Laboratory personnel conduct Laboratory operations in the most environmentally acceptable manner. The ECMS is an expert computer system which is designed to allow project engineers to perform an environmental evaluation of their projects. The system includes a Master Program which collects basic project information, provide utility functions, and access the environmental expert modules, environmental expert system modules for each federal and state environmental law which allows the user to obtain specific information on how an individual law may affect his project; and site-specific databases which contain information necessary for effective management of the site under environmental regulations. The ECMS will have the capability to complete and print many of the necessary environmental forms required by federal and state agencies, including the Department of Energy

Quality and environmental aspects in relation to the application of pulverized fuel ash

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berg, J.W. van den

1991-01-01

In the Netherlands pulverised coal from different parts of the world is used in 5 coalfired power stations which each have 1 to 3 boilers, which in turn are equipped with various types of burners. This causes a large variation in the composition of the pulverized fuel ash (PFA). The PFA is marketed in several areas, each of which has its own specific quality requirements. These requirements are partially dictated in standard specifications. In order to obtain insight into the quality of the PFA, samples are taken and analysed daily. Rules for certification, concerning the quality and the quality control of PFA for use in concrete in The Netherlands have been agreed upon. The environmental aspects in relation to the application of PFA concern the working conditions and health aspects during processing and the environmental impact when PFA is used as a building material. The Dutch legislation concerning the environmental consequences of the application of PFA and other secondary materials is currently under review. 3 tabs

Distributional Effects of Environmental Taxes in Estonia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helen Poltimäe

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the distributional effects of Estonian environmental taxes in 2000-2007 and recent reforms in 2008 using Estonian Household Budget Survey data and a microsimulation model. The results show that the share of environmental taxes in consumption expenditures is about 1-1.5%. Environmental taxes in 2000- 2007 were progressive due to the progressivity of motor fuel excises, which was the largest component of the environmental taxes until 2007. Since 2008, the taxes are less progressive, because of the new electricity excise and increased taxes on gas and other inputs used for distance domestic heating. To minimize the disproportionate effect of future ecological tax reform on low-income households, close monitoring of tax developments is required and necessary compensatory policies need to be implemented

Initial Screening of Environmentally Sustainable Surface Pretreatments for Adhesive Bonding Applications

Science.gov (United States)

2017-05-17

13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT A methacrylate adhesive marketed for high-temperature applications was screened in combination with...conditioning = RT. Mode-of-failure = mixed - mode (MM). ........................................................................................ 26 Fig. B-3...moisture exposure conditions. Additionally, as environmental regulations force various chemicals from the commercial market , the pretreatments and

Determining the Environmental Effects of Indirect Subsidies: Integrated Method and Application to the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Beers, C.; van den Bergh, J.C.J.M.; de Moor, A.; Oosterhuis, F.H.

2007-01-01

The term 'environmentally damaging subsidies' covers all sorts of direct and indirect subsidies with negative consequences for the environment. This article presents a method to determine the environmental impact of these subsidies. It combines a microeconomic framework with an environmental impact

The effects of indoor environmental exposures on pediatric asthma: a discrete event simulation model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabian M Patricia

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the United States, asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood across all socioeconomic classes and is the most frequent cause of hospitalization among children. Asthma exacerbations have been associated with exposure to residential indoor environmental stressors such as allergens and air pollutants as well as numerous additional factors. Simulation modeling is a valuable tool that can be used to evaluate interventions for complex multifactorial diseases such as asthma but in spite of its flexibility and applicability, modeling applications in either environmental exposures or asthma have been limited to date. Methods We designed a discrete event simulation model to study the effect of environmental factors on asthma exacerbations in school-age children living in low-income multi-family housing. Model outcomes include asthma symptoms, medication use, hospitalizations, and emergency room visits. Environmental factors were linked to percent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1%, which in turn was linked to risk equations for each outcome. Exposures affecting FEV1% included indoor and outdoor sources of NO2 and PM2.5, cockroach allergen, and dampness as a proxy for mold. Results Model design parameters and equations are described in detail. We evaluated the model by simulating 50,000 children over 10 years and showed that pollutant concentrations and health outcome rates are comparable to values reported in the literature. In an application example, we simulated what would happen if the kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans were improved for the entire cohort, and showed reductions in pollutant concentrations and healthcare utilization rates. Conclusions We describe the design and evaluation of a discrete event simulation model of pediatric asthma for children living in low-income multi-family housing. Our model simulates the effect of environmental factors (combustion pollutants and allergens

Current Status and Outlook in the Application of Microalgae in Biodiesel Production and Environmental Protection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Xin [Key Laboratory of Algal Biology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China); Rong, Junfeng [SINOPEC Research Institute of Petroleum Processing, Beijing (China); Chen, Hui; He, Chenliu; Wang, Qiang, E-mail: wangqiang@ihb.ac.cn [Key Laboratory of Algal Biology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan (China)

2014-08-19

Microalgae have been currently recognized as a group of the most potential feedstocks for biodiesel production due to high productivity potential, efficient biosynthesis of lipids, and less competition with food production. Moreover, utilization of microalgae with environmental purposes (CO{sub 2} fixation, NO{sub x}, and wastewater treatment) and biorefinery has been reported. However, there are still challenges that need to be addressed to ensure stable large-scale production with positive net energy balance. This review gives an overview of the current status of the application of microalgae in biodiesel production and environmental protection. The practical problems not only facing the microalgae biodiesel production but also associated with microalgae application for environmental pollution control, in particular biological fixation of greenhouse gas (CO{sub 2} and NO{sub x}) and wastewater treatment are described in detail. Notably, the synergistic combination of various applications (e.g., food, medicine, wastewater treatment, and flue gas treatment) with biodiesel production could enhance the sustainability and economics of the algal biodiesel production system.

Current status and outlook in the application of microalgae in biodiesel production and environmental protection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin eZhang

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Microalgae have been currently recognized as one group of the most potential feedstocks for biodiesel production due to high productivity potential, efficient biosynthesis of lipids and less competition with food production. Moreover, utilization of microalgae with environmental purposes (CO2 fixation, NOX and wastewater treatment and biorefinery have been reported. However, there are still challenges that need to be addressed to ensure stable large-scale production with positive net energy balance. This review gives an overview of the current status of the application of microalgae in biodiesel production and environmental protection. The practical problems not only facing the microalgae biodiesel production but also associated with microalgae application for environmental pollution control, in particular biological fixation of greenhouse gas (CO2 and NOX and wastewater treatment are described in detail. Notably, the synergistic combination of various applications (e.g. food, medicine, wastewater treatment and flue gas treatment with biodiesel production could enhance the sustainability and economics of the algal biodiesel production system.

Application of environmental isotopes in water resources studies in Latin America

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aravena, Ramon

2001-01-01

The development of urban centers and economical activities, such as agriculture and mining, in Latin America are intimately linked to the availability of water resources. The increasing demand for water and the risks associated to contamination have generated numerous studies related to the evaluation of water resources in this region. In the specific case of groundwater studies, environmental isotopes have played a significant role in these studies ( 18 O, 2 H, 14 C, 13 C). Groundwater provides about 50-60 % of the water resources used in Latin America. Large urban centers such as Lima (Peru), Managua (Nicaragua) and San Jose (Costa Rica) depend mainly on groundwater as a water supply for the population. The agriculture sector is also a major user of groundwater. The Isotope Hydrology Section of the International Atomic Energy Agency based in Vienna has mainly promoted the application of isotope techniques in Latin America. Most of these applications have focussed on the evaluation of the origin and residence time of the groundwater. The groundwater origin is intimately linked to recharge areas whose evaluation is key for the water balance of the aquifer. The evaluation of the groundwater residence time provides information that is relevant for the management of the groundwater system. This presentation will discuss the basic principles of the application of environmental isotopes in hydrology and it will review the current application of isotope techniques in Latin America. Case studies from different Latin American countries will be used to illustrate the main type of application of isotope techniques in groundwater studies in this region (au)

75 FR 352 - Enloe Hydroelectric Project; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-05

... Hydroelectric Project; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments... hydroelectric application has been filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection. a. Type of... Utility District No. 1 of Okanogan County. e. Name of Project: Enloe Hydroelectric Project. f. Location...

Image-based environmental monitoring sensor application using an embedded wireless sensor network.

Science.gov (United States)

Paek, Jeongyeup; Hicks, John; Coe, Sharon; Govindan, Ramesh

2014-08-28

This article discusses the experiences from the development and deployment of two image-based environmental monitoring sensor applications using an embedded wireless sensor network. Our system uses low-power image sensors and the Tenet general purpose sensing system for tiered embedded wireless sensor networks. It leverages Tenet's built-in support for reliable delivery of high rate sensing data, scalability and its flexible scripting language, which enables mote-side image compression and the ease of deployment. Our first deployment of a pitfall trap monitoring application at the James San Cannot Mountain Reserve provided us with insights and lessons learned into the deployment of and compression schemes for these embedded wireless imaging systems. Our three month-long deployment of a bird nest monitoring application resulted in over 100,000 images collected from a 19-camera node network deployed over an area of 0.05 square miles, despite highly variable environmental conditions. Our biologists found the on-line, near-real-time access to images to be useful for obtaining data on answering their biological questions.

Image-Based Environmental Monitoring Sensor Application Using an Embedded Wireless Sensor Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeongyeup Paek

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the experiences from the development and deployment of two image-based environmental monitoring sensor applications using an embedded wireless sensor network. Our system uses low-power image sensors and the Tenet general purpose sensing system for tiered embedded wireless sensor networks. It leverages Tenet’s built-in support for reliable delivery of high rate sensing data, scalability and its flexible scripting language, which enables mote-side image compression and the ease of deployment. Our first deployment of a pitfall trap monitoring application at the James San Jacinto Mountain Reserve provided us with insights and lessons learned into the deployment of and compression schemes for these embedded wireless imaging systems. Our three month-long deployment of a bird nest monitoring application resulted in over 100,000 images collected from a 19-camera node network deployed over an area of 0.05 square miles, despite highly variable environmental conditions. Our biologists found the on-line, near-real-time access to images to be useful for obtaining data on answering their biological questions.

Environmental Impacts of Large Scale Biochar Application Through Spatial Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, I.; Archontoulis, S.

2017-12-01

In an effort to study the environmental (emissions, soil quality) and production (yield) impacts of biochar application at regional scales we coupled the APSIM-Biochar model with the pSIMS parallel platform. So far the majority of biochar research has been concentrated on lab to field studies to advance scientific knowledge. Regional scale assessments are highly needed to assist decision making. The overall objective of this simulation study was to identify areas in the USA that have the most gain environmentally from biochar's application, as well as areas which our model predicts a notable yield increase due to the addition of biochar. We present the modifications in both APSIM biochar and pSIMS components that were necessary to facilitate these large scale model runs across several regions in the United States at a resolution of 5 arcminutes. This study uses the AgMERRA global climate data set (1980-2010) and the Global Soil Dataset for Earth Systems modeling as a basis for creating its simulations, as well as local management operations for maize and soybean cropping systems and different biochar application rates. The regional scale simulation analysis is in progress. Preliminary results showed that the model predicts that high quality soils (particularly those common to Iowa cropping systems) do not receive much, if any, production benefit from biochar. However, soils with low soil organic matter ( 0.5%) do get a noteworthy yield increase of around 5-10% in the best cases. We also found N2O emissions to be spatial and temporal specific; increase in some areas and decrease in some other areas due to biochar application. In contrast, we found increases in soil organic carbon and plant available water in all soils (top 30 cm) due to biochar application. The magnitude of these increases (% change from the control) were larger in soil with low organic matter (below 1.5%) and smaller in soils with high organic matter (above 3%) and also dependent on biochar

10 CFR 503.34 - Inability to comply with applicable environmental requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... requirements. 503.34 Section 503.34 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) ALTERNATE FUELS NEW FACILITIES... use of alternate fuels in compliance with applicable Federal or state environmental requirements, are... presented as part of a demonstration submitted under § 503.32 (Lack of alternate fuel supply). (2) Prior to...

75 FR 65620 - Inglis Hydropower, LLC; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and Soliciting...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-26

... Hydropower, LLC; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and Soliciting Comments...: Inglis Hydropower, LLC. e. Name of Project: Inglis Hydropower Project. f. Location: The project would be... ready for environmental analysis at this time. l. The proposed 2.0-megawatt Inglis Hydropower Project...

Isotope applications in the environmental field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeWitt, R.

1978-01-01

Established uses of enriched isotopes in the environmental field were surveyed to determine future trends in isotope needs. Based on established isotope uses, on the projected increase in the pollution problem, and on the apparent social and economic pressure for pollution abatement, a significant demand for enriched isotopes appears to be developing for the assessment and control of air, water, and soil pollutants. Isotopic techniques will be used in combination with conventional methods of detection and measurement, such as gas chromatography, x-ray fluorescence, and atomic absorption. Recent advances in economical isotope separation methods, instrumentation, and methodology promise to place isotopic technology within the reach of most research and industrial institutions. Increased application of isotope techniques appears most likely to occur in areas where data are needed to characterize the movement, behavior, and fate of pollutants in the environment

Applicable or Relevant and Appropriate Requirements (ARARs) for Remedial Action at the Oak Ridge Reservation: A compendium of major environmental laws. Environmental Restoration Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Etnier, E.L.; McDonald, E.P.; Houlberg, L.M.

1993-07-01

Section 121 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 specifies that remedial actions for cleanup of hazardous substances must comply with applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARS) or standards under federal and state environmental laws. The US Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) was placed on the National Priorities List by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on November 21, 1989, effective December 21, 1989. As a result of this listing, DOE, EPA, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation have signed a Federal Facility Agreement (FFA) for the environmental restoration of the ORR. Section XXI(F) of the FFA calls for the preparation of a draft listing of all ARARs as mandated by CERCLA {section}121. This report supplies a preliminary list of available federal and state ARARs that might be considered for remedial response at the ORR. A description of the terms ``applicable`` and ``relevant and appropriate`` is provided, as well as definitions of chemical-, location-, and action-specific ARARS. ARARs promulgated by the federal government and by the state of Tennessee are listed in tables. In addition, the major provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air and other acts, as they apply to hazardous waste cleanup, are discussed. In the absence of ARARS, CERCLA {section}121 provides for the use of nonpromulgated federal criteria, guidelines, and advisories in evaluating the human risk associated with remedial action alternatives. Such nonpromulgated standards are classified as ``to-be-considered`` (TBC) guidance. A ion of available guidance is given; summary tables fist the available federal standards and guidance information. In addition, the substantive contents of the DOE orders as they apply to remediation of radioactively contaminated sites are discussed as TBC guidance.

Application of improved topsis method to comprehensive assessment of radiological environmental quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi Dongsheng; Di Yuming; Zhou Chunlin

2007-01-01

TOPSIS is a method for multiobjective decision-making, which can be applied to comprehensive assessment of radiological environmental quality. This paper introduces the principle of TOPSIS method and sets up the model of improved TOPSIS method, discusses the application of improved TOPSIS method to comprehensive assessment of radiological environmental quality. This method sufficiently makes use of the information of the optimal matrix. Analysis of practical examples using MATLAB program shows that it is objectively reasonable and feasible to comprehensively assess radiological environmental quality by improved TOPSIS method. This paper also provides the result of optimum number of sites and compares it with optimal index method based on TOPSIS method and traditional method. (authors)

Bases for an environmental liability management system: application to a repository for radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tostes, Marcelo Mallat

1999-03-01

This thesis aims the establishment of conceptual bases for the development of Environmental Liability Management System - instruments designed to provide financial and managerial coverage to financial liabilities arising from activities that impact the environment. The document analyses the theories that link the evolution of economic thought and environment, as a means of establish the necessary framework for the development of up-to-date environmental policy instruments. From these concepts and from the analysis of environmental liability system being implemented in several countries, the bases for environmental liability systems development are drawn. Finally, a study is carried out on the application of these bases for the development of an environmental liability management system for a radioactive waste repository. (author)

Environmental fiscal reforms

OpenAIRE

Ashish Chaturvedi; Manjeet S. Saluja; Abhijit Banerjee; Rachna Arora

2014-01-01

The paper presents concepts and instruments of environmental fiscal reforms (EFR) and their application in the Indian context. EFR can lead to environmental improvement more efficiently and cost effectively than traditional regulation. There is substantial experience of successful EFR implementation in the European Union. India has also adopted some EFR measures such as deregulation of petrol prices, coal cess, and subsidy for setting up common effluent treatment plants. The challenges of imp...

Environmental methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus contamination in pig herds in relation to the productive phase and application of cleaning and disinfection.

Science.gov (United States)

Merialdi, G; Galletti, E; Guazzetti, S; Rosignoli, C; Alborali, G; Battisti, A; Franco, A; Bonilauri, P; Rugna, G; Martelli, P

2013-06-01

The aim of the study is to better understand MRSA environmental contamination in pig holdings in relation to the productive phase and the application of environmental cleaning and disinfection practices (C&D). This study was carried out on six herds. Dust samples from farrowing crates, weaning boxes, growing and finishing pens were collected from each herd environment prior to and after C&D and cultured for MRSA. Ten samples were collected at the end of each productive phase with the animals present and 10 additional samples were collected after C&D, prior to introduction of a new stock. The proportion of positive samples prior to C&D was lower in fattening than in other phases. The proportion of positive samples prior to and after C&D was 121/240 (50%) and 46/240 (19%) respectively. In the mixed effects logistic regression analysis it was shown not only that both productive phase and C&D were associated with the probability of having a positive sample but also that the C&D effect was different in the different productive phases. In particular the effect of C&D was stronger in farrowing crates than in the other productive phases. The results of this study show that, although current practices of cleaning and disinfection reduce MRSA environmental contamination, they are likely to be inadequate to the elimination of the microorganism. However, a strict application of hygienic protocols can lead to a marked reduction of MRSA environmental contamination. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimation of collective effective dose equivalent from environmental radiation and radioactive materials in Japan. A preliminary study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maruyama, Takashi; Noda, Yutaka; Takeshita, Mitsue; Iwai, Kazuo.

1994-01-01

The peaceful uses of nuclear power and radiations have been developed into a stage of practical applications for human life. Radiation causes harmful effects to human beings, although human beings receives a number of invaluable benefits from the nuclear energy and the uses of radiation. In order to examine the optimization of radiation protection in these practices, collective effective dose equivalent from environmental exposures due to natural and artificial radiations have been preliminarily evaluated using most recent data. The resultant collective doses were compared with those from medical and occupational exposures. It is noted that, in Japan, the collective effective dose from environmental radiation sources can be approximately same to that from medical exposure. (author)

PUMPED STORAGE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS: ASSESSMENT OF RESEARCH NEEDS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DH. Fickeisen

1979-09-01

Pumped storage hydroelectric systems convert large quantities of electrical energy to a form that may be stored and efficiently reconverted to electricity. Water is pumped from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir during periods of low power demand. The stored water is then used to generate additional power when demand peaks. Since the basic requirements of the system are simple, the design of individual plants and their locations vary widely. These variations make assessment of the generic environmental impact of the pumped storage systems difficult. In addition, most studies have not examined the impacts of an operating plant comprehensively. Assessment of the environmental effects of development and operation of a pumped storage plant requires an extensive set of baseline information, which is deficient in several aspects at the present state of the art. Additional research is needed to: • identify species groups likely to survive and reproduce in pumped storage reservoirs, their relationships and habitat preferences, and the basis for their production; • characterize anticipated reservoir ecosystem community development and relate it to physical characteristics of pumped storage reservoirs; • define effects of plant design and operating parameters on transport of organisms through the pump/turbine facility, accounting for behavior of the organisms potentially impacted; • access the mortality rate of organisms likely to pass through pump-turbines; • identify the relative advantages and disadvantages of screening intake structures to prevent passage of large organisms through the plant; • assess the effects of currents and water withdrawal on migration and movement of aquatic species; • investigate the effects of fluctuating water levels on the littoral zone and riparian communities, effects of stranding on entrapment of fishes, and effects on fish spawning; and • review the applicability of water quality and ecosystem models to pumped storage

Application of operating experience in environmental qualification program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S.Y.; Wise, R.

2000-01-01

widely used by nuclear utilities in the past two decades. On the other hand, the use of operating experience has had limited application. In order to better position the use of operating experiences in nuclear power plants (NPP); this paper takes a rigorous review of the process involved in the EQ program and to formulate a set of equations to describe the EQ process. These equations identify the role of the methods used in achieving the EQ status. Consequently, these equations establish a baseline for the use of operating experiences in supplementing the qualification established by testing and analysis. This paper also formally defines the scope of using operating experience in EQ, and proposes a guide to compile, process and interpret data gathered such that they will be readily available to support the environmental qualification program. (author)

21 CFR 25.60 - Environmental effects abroad of major agency actions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Environmental effects abroad of major agency... SERVICES GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT CONSIDERATIONS Other Requirements § 25.60 Environmental effects abroad of major agency actions. (a) In accordance with Executive Order 12114, “Environmental Effects...

The Effect of Summer Environmental Education Program (SEEP) on Elementary School Students' Environmental Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Erdogan, Mehmet

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of Summer Environmental Education Program (SEEP) on elementary school students' environmental knowledge, affect, skills and behavior which are the main components of environmental literacy. The sample consisted of 45 students (25 males, 20 females) studying in 4th through 8th grades and living in…

Environmental and health effects of nanomaterials in nanotextiles and façade coatings.

Science.gov (United States)

Som, Claudia; Wick, Peter; Krug, Harald; Nowack, Bernd

2011-08-01

Engineered nanomaterials (ENM) are expected to hold considerable potential for products that offer improved or novel functionalities. For example, nanotechnologies could open the way for the use of textile products outside their traditional fields of applications, for example, in the construction, medical, automobile, environmental and safety technology sectors. Consequently, nanotextiles could become ubiquitous in industrial and consumer products in future. Another ubiquitous field of application for ENM is façade coatings. The environment and human health could be affected by unintended release of ENM from these products. The product life cycle and the product design determine the various environmental and health exposure situations. For example, ENM unintentionally released from geotextiles will probably end up in soils, whereas ENM unintentionally released from T-shirts may come into direct contact with humans and end up in wastewater. In this paper we have assessed the state of the art of ENM effects on the environment and human health on the basis of selected environmental and nanotoxicological studies and on our own environmental exposure modeling studies. Here, we focused on ENM that are already applied or may be applied in future to textile products and façade coatings. These ENM's are mainly nanosilver (nano-Ag), nano titanium dioxide (nano-TiO(2)), nano silica (nano-SiO(2)), nano zinc oxide (nano-ZnO), nano alumina (nano-Al(2)O(3)), layered silica (e.g. montmorillonite, Al(2)[(OH)(2)/Si(4)O(10)]nH(2)O), carbon black, and carbon nanotubes (CNT). Knowing full well that innovators have to take decisions today, we have presented some criteria that should be useful in systematically analyzing and interpreting the state of the art on the effects of ENM. For the environment we established the following criteria: (1) the indication for hazardous effects, (2) dissolution in water increases/decreases toxic effects, (3) tendency for agglomeration or sedimentation

Pesticide Environmental Accounting: a method for assessing the external costs of individual pesticide applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Leach, A W; Mumford, J D

2008-01-01

The Pesticide Environmental Accounting (PEA) tool provides a monetary estimate of environmental and health impacts per hectare-application for any pesticide. The model combines the Environmental Impact Quotient method and a methodology for absolute estimates of external pesticide costs in UK, USA and Germany. For many countries resources are not available for intensive assessments of external pesticide costs. The model converts external costs of a pesticide in the UK, USA and Germany to Mediterranean countries. Economic and policy applications include estimating impacts of pesticide reduction policies or benefits from technologies replacing pesticides, such as sterile insect technique. The system integrates disparate data and approaches into a single logical method. The assumptions in the system provide transparency and consistency but at the cost of some specificity and precision, a reasonable trade-off for a method that provides both comparative estimates of pesticide impacts and area-based assessments of absolute impacts.

Effects of environmental contaminants on reptiles: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, R.J.

1980-01-01

The literature relating to the effects of environmental contaminants on reptiles is reviewed and certain generalizations based on studies of other kinds of vertebrates are presented. Reports of reptilian mortality from pesticide applications are numerous enough to establish the sensitivity of reptiles to these materials. Reports of residue analyses demonstrate the ability of reptiles to accumulate various contaminants. but the significance of the residues to reptilian populations is unknown. A few authors have reported the distribution of residues in reptilian tissues; others have investigated uptake or loss rates. Physiological studies have shown that organochlorines may inhibit enzymes involved in active transport and have correlated the activity of potential detoxifying enzymes with residue levels. There is some suggestion that pesticide residues may interfere with reproduction in oviparous snakes. Needs for future research are discussed.

A hyperspectral image data exploration workbench for environmental science applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woyna, M.A.; Christiansen, J.H.; Zawada, D.G.; Simunich, K.L.

1994-01-01

The Hyperspectral Image Data Exploration Workbench (HIDEW) software system has been developed by Argonne National Laboratory to enable analysts at Unix workstations to conveniently access and manipulate high-resolution imagery data for analysis, mapping purposes, and input to environmental modeling applications. HIDEW is fully object-oriented, including the underlying database. This system was developed as an aid to site characterization work and atmospheric research projects

A hyperspectral image data exploration workbench for environmental science applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woyna, M.A.; Christiansen, J.H.; Zawada, D.G.; Simunich, K.L.

1994-08-01

The Hyperspectral Image Data Exploration Workbench (HIDEW) software system has been developed by Argonne National Laboratory to enable analysts at Unix workstations to conveniently access and manipulate high-resolution imagery data for analysis, mapping purposes, and input to environmental modeling applications. HIDEW is fully object-oriented, including the underlying database. This system was developed as an aid to site characterization work and atmospheric research projects.

Environmental effects of engineered nanomaterials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lützhøft, Hans-Christian Holten; Hartmann, Nanna B.; Brinch, Anna

This report presents ecotoxicological data and Predicted No-Effect Concentrations (PNECs) for nine selected nanomaterials which are considered to be environmentally relevant due to high usage or how they are used. These data will together with data from other reports/projects be used in an overall...... assessment of the environmental risk of nanomaterials in Denmark. The nine investigated nanomaterials are: Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, Silver, Carbon Nanotubes, Copper Oxide, Nano Zero Valent Iron, Cerium Dioxide, Quantum Dots and Carbon Black. To support the assessment of the data found in the peer...

Cumulative environmental effects. Summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

This report presents a compilation of knowledge about the state of the environment and human activity in the Norwegian part of the North Sea and Skagerrak. The report gives an overview of pressures and impacts on the environment from normal activity and in the event of accidents. This is used to assess the cumulative environmental effects, which factors have most impact and where the impacts are greatest, and to indicate which problems are expected to be most serious in the future. The report is intended to provide relevant information that can be used in the management of the marine area in the future. It also provides input for the identification of environmental targets and management measures for the North Sea and Skagerrak.(Author)

Cumulative environmental effects. Summary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-07-01

This report presents a compilation of knowledge about the state of the environment and human activity in the Norwegian part of the North Sea and Skagerrak. The report gives an overview of pressures and impacts on the environment from normal activity and in the event of accidents. This is used to assess the cumulative environmental effects, which factors have most impact and where the impacts are greatest, and to indicate which problems are expected to be most serious in the future. The report is intended to provide relevant information that can be used in the management of the marine area in the future. It also provides input for the identification of environmental targets and management measures for the North Sea and Skagerrak.(Author)

Environmental effects from the nuclear industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-01-01

Since 1969 several meetings have been convened to study the possibility of using high-level radiation in waste treatment. It was agreed that ionizing radiation offered some compromise as a feasible technology for a certain unique purpose, but economic considerations mitigated any overwhelming enthusiasm for early industrial realization. Recently a significant change has taken place in the world energy supply picture, and the expanded projection of nuclear power generation affects the analysis of comparative economic feasibility of ionizing radiation treatment of wastes. In addition, increased consideration of environmental quality not only calls for the re-evaluation of conventional waste treatment technologies, but also the development of more effective means where conventional methods might be unsatisfactory. As a result of several allied considerations, it was thought necessary and timely to review the status of research and development in the application of ionizing radiation to waste treatment and to consider the environmental implication of the proposed technology. Accordingly, the Symposium on the Use of High-Level Radiation in Waste Treatment - Status and Prospects was convened by the IAEA, in co-operation with the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Bayerische Landesanstalt fur Bodenkultur und Pflanzenbau. Forty-eight papers were presented in eight sessions covering the current technology of waste-water treatment and re-use, radiosensitivity of micro-organisms, disinfection and microbiological control, physical and chemical modification of aqueous pollutants, technological and economic considerations, pilot-plant design and operating experiences, and radiation treatment of gaseous and solid wastes

Laser Applications to Chemical, Security, and Environmental Analysis: introduction to the feature issue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dreizler, Andreas; Fried, Alan; Gord, James R.

2007-01-01

This Applied Optics feature issue on Laser Applications to Chemical, Security,and Environmental Analysis (LACSEA) highlights papers presented at theLACSEA 2006 Tenth Topical Meeting sponsored by the Optical Society ofAmerica

Laser applications to chemical, security, and environmental analysis: introduction to the feature issue.

Science.gov (United States)

Seeger, Thomas; Dreier, Thomas; Chen, Weidong; Kearny, Sean; Kulatilaka, Waruna

2017-04-10

This Applied Optics feature issue on laser applications to chemical, security, and environmental analysis (LACSEA) highlights papers presented at the LACSEA 2016 Fifteenth Topical Meeting sponsored by the Optical Society of America.

Political Measures for Strategic Environmental Policy with External Effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ohyama, A. [Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University, Kyoto (Japan); Tsujimura, M. [Faculty of Economics, Ryukoku University, Otsu (Japan)

2006-10-15

This paper investigates an environmental policy designed to reduce the emission of pollutants under uncertainty, with the agent problem as an optimal stopping problem. We first analyze the two cases in which there are one agent and two competing agents by following Ohyama and Tsujimura (2005). When we consider a model of strategic agents, we need to analyze the external economic effect that is peculiar to an agent's environmental policy implementation. Then, to improve and resolve these external effects, we examine three alternative political measures, comprising an environmental subsidy, an environmental tax and an emission trading system. The results of the analysis indicate that the environmental subsidy and environmental tax promote environmental policy. However, they do not create an incentive to be the leader. On the other hand, an emissions trading system not only promotes environmental policy but also creates an incentive for leadership.

Political Measures for Strategic Environmental Policy with External Effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohyama, A.; Tsujimura, M.

2006-01-01

This paper investigates an environmental policy designed to reduce the emission of pollutants under uncertainty, with the agent problem as an optimal stopping problem. We first analyze the two cases in which there are one agent and two competing agents by following Ohyama and Tsujimura (2005). When we consider a model of strategic agents, we need to analyze the external economic effect that is peculiar to an agent's environmental policy implementation. Then, to improve and resolve these external effects, we examine three alternative political measures, comprising an environmental subsidy, an environmental tax and an emission trading system. The results of the analysis indicate that the environmental subsidy and environmental tax promote environmental policy. However, they do not create an incentive to be the leader. On the other hand, an emissions trading system not only promotes environmental policy but also creates an incentive for leadership

NEURODEVELOPMENTAL EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES

Science.gov (United States)

Neurodevelopmental Effects of Environmental ExposuresSherry G. Selevan, Pauline Mendola, Deborah C. Rice (US EPA, Washington,DC) The nervous system starts development early in gestation and continues to develop through adolescence. Thus, critical windows of vuln...

Status of existing federal environmental risk-based standards applicable to Department of Energy operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilyard, G.R.; Jonas, R.J.; Wallo, A. III

1991-01-01

When conducting its environmental restoration, waste management, and decontamination and decommissioning activities, the US Department of Energy (DOE) must comply with a myriad of regulatory procedures and environmental standards. An assessment of the status of existing federal standards that may be applied to chemical and radioactive substances on DOE sites found substantial gaps and inconsistencies among the existing standards, and technical issues associated with the application of those standards. Of 271 chemical and radioactive substances found to be important across environmental media at the Hanford, Savannah River, and Oak Ridge Sites, 96 (35%) are unregulated by federal regulations and are not covered by DOE guidelines, 48 (18%) are covered by single federal standards or DOE guidelines, and 127 (47%) are covered by multiple regulations or DOE guidelines. Inconsistencies and technical issues among standards include the promulgation of different standards under different regulations for a given substance in an environmental medium, the application of standards for purposes other than originally intended, and the inability to meet standards because of technical limitations. Given the lack of a complete, consistent set of standards or generic procedures for determining applicable standards, and given the existence of inconsistencies and technical issues among the existing set of standards, DOE may be faced with lengthy negotiations of standards on a case-by-case basis. Such negotiations could result in inconsistent cleanup levels, high costs, potential delays, and missed regulatory milestones

A hyperspectral image analysis workbench for environmental science applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christiansen, J.H.; Zawada, D.G.; Simunich, K.L.; Slater, J.C.

1992-10-01

A significant challenge to the information sciences is to provide more powerful and accessible means to exploit the enormous wealth of data available from high-resolution imaging spectrometry, or ``hyperspectral`` imagery, for analysis, for mapping purposes, and for input to environmental modeling applications. As an initial response to this challenge, Argonne`s Advanced Computer Applications Center has developed a workstation-based prototype software workbench which employs Al techniques and other advanced approaches to deduce surface characteristics and extract features from the hyperspectral images. Among its current capabilities, the prototype system can classify pixels by abstract surface type. The classification process employs neural network analysis of inputs which include pixel spectra and a variety of processed image metrics, including image ``texture spectra`` derived from fractal signatures computed for subimage tiles at each wavelength.

Industrial Application Of Environmentally Conscious Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

McAloone, Timothy Charles

in the design process is key to environmentally conscious design;- the environmental profile of a product is affected the most in the very early stages of the design process, particularly in the pre-specification stage, where tools for environmentally conscious design decision-making are lacking...... when companies have integrated environmental considerations into the design process.In the context of advanced practitioners of environmentally conscious design in the Western European and North American electrical/electronics industry sector, it is shown that:- the timing of environmental decisions...... into their product development processes. This starts with motivation, leading to widening communication and information flows and finally to whole-life thinking....

18 CFR 157.9 - Notice of application and notice of schedule for environmental review.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Notice of application and notice of schedule for environmental review. 157.9 Section 157.9 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER NATURAL GAS ACT APPLICATIONS FOR CERTIFICATES OF PUBLIC...

Application of biosurfactants in environmental biotechnology; remediation of oil and heavy metal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Fahim Mahmud

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Many toxic substances have been introduced into environment through human activities. These compounds are danger to human health when they are ultimately or immediately in contact with soil particles. A conventional method to reduce, degrade and remove these substances is associated with some risk. In recent years, microorganisms have proved a unique role in the degradation and detoxification of polluted soil and water environments and, this process has been termed bio reclamation. The diversity of bioemulsifiers/biosurfactants makes them an attractive group and important key roles in various fields of industrial as well as biotechnological applications such as enhanced oil recovery, biodegradation of pollutants, and pharmaceutics. Environmental application of microbial surfactant has been shown as a promising due to solubilization of low solubility compounds, low toxicity observed and efficacy in improving biodegradation. However, it is important to note that full scale tests and more information is require to predict the behavior and model of surfactant function on the remediation process with biosurfactants. The purpose of this review is to describe the state of art in the potential applications of biosurfactants in remediation of environmental pollution caused by oil and heavy metal.

Surface Modification of Graphene Oxides by Plasma Techniques and Their Application for Environmental Pollution Cleanup.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiangxue; Fan, Qiaohui; Chen, Zhongshan; Wang, Qi; Li, Jiaxing; Hobiny, Aatef; Alsaedi, Ahmed; Wang, Xiangke

2016-02-01

Graphene oxides (GOs) have come under intense multidisciplinary study because of their unique physicochemical properties and possible applications. The large amount of oxygen-containing functional groups on GOs leads to a high sorption capacity for the removal of various kinds of organic and inorganic pollutants from aqueous solutions in environmental pollution cleanup. However, the lack of selectivity results in difficulty in the selective removal of target pollutants from aqueous solutions in the presence of other coexisting pollutants. Herein, the surface grafting of GOs with special oxygen-containing functional groups using low-temperature plasma techniques and the application of the surface-modified GOs for the efficient removal of organic and inorganic pollutants in environmental pollution are reviewed. This paper gives an account of our research on the application of GO-based nanomaterials in environmental pollution cleanup, including: (1) the synthesis and surface grafting of functional groups on GOs, summarizing various types of low-temperature plasma techniques for the synthesis of graphene/GOs; and (2) the application of graphene/GOs and their composites for the efficient removal of organic and inorganic pollutants from aqueous solutions, including the interaction mechanism according to recently published results. © 2015 The Chemical Society of Japan & Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The law applicable to environmental damage in European private international law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Đundić Petar

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The paper contains an analysis of choice of law rules in the field of non-contractual liability for damage caused to environment in national legislations of European countries as well as in Private International Law of the European Union. Before the adoption of Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (Rome II, special choice of law rules for environmental torts existed in a small number of European national legal orders. This is the fact that gives the rule contained in Article 7 of the Rome II Regulation a particular importance. From the Serbian Private International Law perspective, the significance of that provision is highlighted by the fact that the working draft of the new Serbian Private International Law Act has strictly followed the choice of law rule envisaged by the European legislator for environmental damage. For that reason, a significant part of the paper is dedicated to analysis of said rule, to its interpretation and potential problems which its application could create.

Managing the environmental impacts of land transport: integrating environmental analysis with urban planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irving, Paul; Moncrieff, Ian

2004-01-01

Ecological systems have limits or thresholds that vary by pollutant type, emissions sources and the sensitivity of a given location. Human health can also indicate sensitivity. Good environmental management requires any problem to be defined to obtain efficient and effective solutions. Cities are where transport activities, effects and resource management decisions are often most focussed. The New Zealand Ministry of Transport has developed two environmental management tools. The Vehicle Fleet Model (VFM) is a predictive database of the environmental performance of the New Zealand traffic fleet (and rail fleet). It calculates indices of local air quality, stormwater, and greenhouse gases emissions. The second is an analytical process based on Environmental Capacity Analysis (ECA). Information on local traffic is combined with environmental performance data from the Vehicle Fleet Model. This can be integrated within a live, geo-spatially defined analysis of the overall environmental effects within a defined local area. Variations in urban form and activity (traffic and other) that contribute to environmental effects can be tracked. This enables analysis of a range of mitigation strategies that may contribute, now or in the future, to maintaining environmental thresholds or meeting targets. A case study of the application of this approach was conducted within Waitakere City. The focus was on improving the understanding of the relative significance of stormwater contaminants derived from land transport

The comet assay in Environmental Risk Assessment of marine pollutants: applications, assets and handicaps of surveying genotoxicity in non-model organisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Martins, Marta; Costa, Pedro M

2015-01-01

Determining the genotoxic effects of pollutants has long been a priority in Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) for coastal ecosystems, especially of complex areas such as estuaries and other confined waterbodies. The acknowledged link between DNA damage, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity to the exposure to certain toxicants has been responsible to the growing interest in determining the genotoxic effects of xenobiotics to wildlife as a measure of environmental risk. The comet assay, although widely employed in in vivo and in vitro toxicology, still holds many constraints in ERA, in large part owing to difficulties in obtaining conclusive cause-effect relationships from complex environments. Nevertheless, these challenges do not hinder the attempts to apply the alkaline comet assay on sentinel organisms, wild or subjected to bioassays in or ex situ (from fish to molluscs) as well to standardise protocols and establish general guidelines to the interpretation of findings. Fish have been regarded as an appealing subject due to the ease of performing the comet assay in whole blood. However, the application of the comet assay is becoming increasingly common in invertebrates (e.g. in molluscan haemocytes and solid tissues such as gills). Virtually all sorts of results have been obtained from the application of the comet assay in ERA (null, positive and inconclusive). However, it has become clear that interpreting DNA damage data from wild organisms is particularly challenging due to their ability to adapt to continuous environmental stressors, including toxicants. Also, the comet assay in non-model organisms for the purpose of ERA implies different constraints, assumptions and interpretation of findings, compared with the in vitro procedures from which most guidelines have been derived. This paper critically reviews the application of the comet assay in ERA, focusing on target organisms and tissues; protocol developments, case studies plus data handling and

Effect of environmental air pollution on cardiovascular diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Meo, S A; Suraya, F

2015-12-01

Environmental air pollution has become a leading health concern especially in the developing countries with more urbanization, industrialization and rapidly growing population. Prolonged exposure to air pollution is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of environmental air pollution on progression of cardiovascular problems. In this study, we identified 6880 published articles through a systematic database including ISI-Web of Science, PubMed and EMBASE. The allied literature was searched by using the key words such as environmental pollution, air pollution, particulate matter pollutants PM 2.5 μm-PM 10 μm. Literature in which environmental air pollution and cardiac diseases were discussed was included. Descriptive information was retrieved from the selected literature. Finally, we included 67 publications and remaining studies were excluded. Environmental pollution can cause high blood pressure, arrhythmias, enhanced coagulation, thrombosis, acute arterial vasoconstriction, atherosclerosis, ischemic heart diseases, myocardial infarction and even heart failure. Environmental air pollution is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Environmental pollution exerts its detrimental effects on the heart by developing pulmonary inflammation, systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction and prothrombotic changes. Environmental protection officials must take high priority steps to minimize the air pollution to decrease the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases.

Evaluation of noise and blur effects with SIRT-FISTA-TV reconstruction algorithm: Application to fast environmental transmission electron tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Banjak, Hussein; Grenier, Thomas; Epicier, Thierry; Koneti, Siddardha; Roiban, Lucian; Gay, Anne-Sophie; Magnin, Isabelle; Peyrin, Françoise; Maxim, Voichita

2018-06-01

Fast tomography in Environmental Transmission Electron Microscopy (ETEM) is of a great interest for in situ experiments where it allows to observe 3D real-time evolution of nanomaterials under operating conditions. In this context, we are working on speeding up the acquisition step to a few seconds mainly with applications on nanocatalysts. In order to accomplish such rapid acquisitions of the required tilt series of projections, a modern 4K high-speed camera is used, that can capture up to 100 images per second in a 2K binning mode. However, due to the fast rotation of the sample during the tilt procedure, noise and blur effects may occur in many projections which in turn would lead to poor quality reconstructions. Blurred projections make classical reconstruction algorithms inappropriate and require the use of prior information. In this work, a regularized algebraic reconstruction algorithm named SIRT-FISTA-TV is proposed. The performance of this algorithm using blurred data is studied by means of a numerical blur introduced into simulated images series to mimic possible mechanical instabilities/drifts during fast acquisitions. We also present reconstruction results from noisy data to show the robustness of the algorithm to noise. Finally, we show reconstructions with experimental datasets and we demonstrate the interest of fast tomography with an ultra-fast acquisition performed under environmental conditions, i.e. gas and temperature, in the ETEM. Compared to classically used SIRT and SART approaches, our proposed SIRT-FISTA-TV reconstruction algorithm provides higher quality tomograms allowing easier segmentation of the reconstructed volume for a better final processing and analysis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmental impact of indirect subsidies. Development and application of a policy oriented method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Beers, C.; Van den Bergh, J.C.J.M.; Oosterhuis, F.; De Moor, A.

2002-12-01

The aim of this study is to develop a method for determining the environmental impact of indirect subsidies. The point of departure is a typology of subsidies to cover the large number of different types. The large-scale subsidies will be considered first, on the assumption that these will often have extensive environmental effects. Then, the environmental effects in the Netherlands will be calculated. The restriction to the Netherlands means that no attention is given to the environmental consequences of abolishing subsidies. An earlier study showed that the most extensive indirect subsidies at world and OECD level are mainly in the energy, agriculture and transport sectors. The method is tested by calculating the environmental effects of large-scale subsidies in these three sectors and in the tourism sector.

Antimicrobial resistance dashboard application for mapping environmental occurrence and resistant pathogens.

Science.gov (United States)

Stedtfeld, Robert D; Williams, Maggie R; Fakher, Umama; Johnson, Timothy A; Stedtfeld, Tiffany M; Wang, Fang; Khalife, Walid T; Hughes, Mary; Etchebarne, Brett E; Tiedje, James M; Hashsham, Syed A

2016-03-01

An antibiotic resistance (AR) Dashboard application is being developed regarding the occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) and bacteria (ARB) in environmental and clinical settings. The application gathers and geospatially maps AR studies, reported occurrence and antibiograms, which can be downloaded for offline analysis. With the integration of multiple data sets, the database can be used on a regional or global scale to identify hot spots for ARGs and ARB; track and link spread and transmission, quantify environmental or human factors influencing presence and persistence of ARG harboring organisms; differentiate natural ARGs from those distributed via human or animal activity; cluster and compare ARGs connections in different environments and hosts; and identify genes that can be used as proxies to routinely monitor anthropogenic pollution. To initially populate and develop the AR Dashboard, a qPCR ARG array was tested with 30 surface waters, primary influent from three waste water treatment facilities, ten clinical isolates from a regional hospital and data from previously published studies including river, park soil and swine farm samples. Interested users are invited to download a beta version (available on iOS or Android), submit AR information using the application, and provide feedback on current and prospective functionalities. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Applicability of IBAMA normative instruction 146-2007 to pipeline environmental licensing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Basbaum, Marcos A.; Fonseca, Renata A.A. [Servicos de Engenharia Emilio Baumgart Ltda. (SEEBLA), Rio de Janeiro, RJ(Brazil)], e-mail: mbasbaum.seebla@petrobras.com.br, e-mail: renataamorim.seebla@petrobras.com.br; Torggler, Bianca F.; Fernandes, Renato; Guimaraes, Ricardo Z.P. [Petroleo do Brasil S.A. (PETROBRAS), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)], e-mail: torggler@petrobras.com.br, e-mail: renatofer@petrobras.com.br, e-mail: rzaluar@petrobras.com.br

2009-07-01

PETROBRAS has been conducting several wildlife programs in response to environmental licensing requirements from IBAMA (Brazilian environmental agency). Since 2007, IBAMA has been requiring the application of the Normative Instruction n. 146 (NI), which establishes criteria for wildlife management in the influence areas of new enterprises. However, experience from PETROBRAS has shown that many of the NI articles are not applicable to pipelines. Thus, a critical analysis of this NI was done based on data from company's wildlife programs. Our analysis indicated that the main NI items that do not apply to pipelines are: 1 - Animal rescue programs in deforested areas and selection of release areas, 2 - More than two fauna monitoring campaigns a year, 3 - Monitoring programs involving all groups of terrestrial vertebrates and also invertebrate classes. The non-applicability of these items is due to: 1 - The majority of pipelines are built in areas without significant native vegetation or with small fragments only, which are usually in secondary stage of ecological succession. Most pipelines scarcely involve removal of primary vegetation, 2 - Pipelines have an influence area restricted to a range of 800 m and the construction directly affects only strips from 20 m to 30 m, 3 - The most relevant impacts associated with pipelines are temporary, and do not persist during their operation. (author)

Nuclear energy: biological effects and environmental impact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boonefaes, M.

1987-01-01

This thesis is concerned with the large development of nuclear power plants and the recent nuclear catastrophe which has made clear how the hazards resulting from radioactivity affect public health and the environment. Environmental effects of nuclear power plants operating in normal conditions are small, but to obtain nuclear power plants of reduced radioactivity, optimization of their design, construction, operation and waste processing plays a decisive role. Biological effects of ionizing radiations and environmental impacts of Nuclear Power plants are developed [fr

HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS DOCUMENT ...

Science.gov (United States)

Health and Environmental Effects Documents (HEEDS) are prepared for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER). This document series is intended to support listings under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) as well as to provide health-related limits and goals for emergency and remedial actions under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). Both published literature and information obtained from Agency Program Office files are evaluated as they pertain to potential human health, aquatic life and environmental effects of hazardous waste constituents. Several quantitative estimates are presented provided sufficient data are available. For systemic toxicants, these include Reference Doses (RfDs) for chronic and subchronic exposures for both the inhalation and oral exposures. In the case of suspected carcinogens, RfDs may not be estimated. Instead, a carcinogenic potency factor, or q1*, is provided. These potency estimates are derived for both oral and inhalation exposures where possible. In addition, unit risk estimates for air and drinking water are presented based on inhalation and oral data, respectively. Reportable quantities (RQs) based on both chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity are derived. The RQ is used to determine the quantity of a hazardous substance for which notification is required in the event of a release as specified under CERCLA.

A Semantic Sensor Web for Environmental Decision Support Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Alasdair J. G.; Sadler, Jason; Kit, Oles; Kyzirakos, Kostis; Karpathiotakis, Manos; Calbimonte, Jean-Paul; Page, Kevin; García-Castro, Raúl; Frazer, Alex; Galpin, Ixent; Fernandes, Alvaro A. A.; Paton, Norman W.; Corcho, Oscar; Koubarakis, Manolis; De Roure, David; Martinez, Kirk; Gómez-Pérez, Asunción

2011-01-01

Sensing devices are increasingly being deployed to monitor the physical world around us. One class of application for which sensor data is pertinent is environmental decision support systems, e.g., flood emergency response. For these applications, the sensor readings need to be put in context by integrating them with other sources of data about the surrounding environment. Traditional systems for predicting and detecting floods rely on methods that need significant human resources. In this paper we describe a semantic sensor web architecture for integrating multiple heterogeneous datasets, including live and historic sensor data, databases, and map layers. The architecture provides mechanisms for discovering datasets, defining integrated views over them, continuously receiving data in real-time, and visualising on screen and interacting with the data. Our approach makes extensive use of web service standards for querying and accessing data, and semantic technologies to discover and integrate datasets. We demonstrate the use of our semantic sensor web architecture in the context of a flood response planning web application that uses data from sensor networks monitoring the sea-state around the coast of England. PMID:22164110

Applicability of the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index for Quantification of Residential Mold Contamination in an Air Pollution Health Effects Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Kamal

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The Near-Road Exposures and Effects of Urban Air Pollutants Study (NEXUS investigated the impact of exposure to traffic-related air pollution on the respiratory health of asthmatic children in Detroit, Michigan. Since indoor mold exposure may also contribute to asthma, floor dust samples were collected in participants homes (n=112 to assess mold contamination using the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI. The repeatability of the ERMI over time, as well as ERMI differences between rooms and dust collection methods, was evaluated for insights into the application of the ERMI metric. ERMI values for the standard settled floor dust samples had a mean ± standard deviation of 14.5±7.9, indicating high levels of mold contamination. ERMI values for samples collected from the same home 1 to 7 months apart (n=52 were consistent and without systematic bias. ERMI values for separate bedroom and living room samples were highly correlated (r=0.69, n=66. Vacuum bag dust ERMI values were lower than for floor dust but correlated (r=0.58, n=28. These results support the use of the ERMI to evaluate residential mold exposure as a confounder in air pollution health effects studies.

Environmental Audit of the Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-02-01

This document contains the findings identified during the Environmental Audit of the Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML), conducted from December 2 to 13, 1991. The Audit included the EML facility located in a fifth-floor General Services Administration (GSA) office building located in New York City, and a remote environmental monitoring station located in Chester, New Jersey. The scope of this Environmental Audit was comprehensive, covering all areas of environmental activities and waste management operations, with the exception of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which is the responsibility of the DOE Headquarters Office of NEPA Oversight. Compliance with applicable Federal, state, and local requirements; applicable DOE Orders; and internal facility requirements was addressed

4th European Conference on Geostatistics for Environmental Applications

CERN Document Server

Carrera, Jesus; Gómez-Hernández, José

2004-01-01

The fourth edition of the European Conference on Geostatistics for Environmental Applications (geoENV IV) took place in Barcelona, November 27-29, 2002. As a proof that there is an increasing interest in environmental issues in the geostatistical community, the conference attracted over 100 participants, mostly Europeans (up to 10 European countries were represented), but also from other countries in the world. Only 46 contributions, selected out of around 100 submitted papers, were invited to be presented orally during the conference. Additionally 30 authors were invited to present their work in poster format during a special session. All oral and poster contributors were invited to submit their work to be considered for publication in this Kluwer series. All papers underwent a reviewing process, which consisted on two reviewers for oral presentations and one reviewer for posters. The book opens with one keynote paper by Philippe Naveau. It is followed by 40 papers that correspond to those presented orally d...

"Smart pebble" design for environmental monitoring applications

Science.gov (United States)

Valyrakis, Manousos; Pavlovskis, Edgars

2014-05-01

Sediment transport, due to primarily the action of water, wind and ice, is one of the most significant geomorphic processes responsible for shaping Earth's surface. It involves entrainment of sediment grains in rivers and estuaries due to the violently fluctuating hydrodynamic forces near the bed. Here an instrumented particle, namely a "smart pebble", is developed to investigate the exact flow conditions under which individual grains may be entrained from the surface of a gravel bed. This could lead in developing a better understanding of the processes involved, while focusing on the response of the particle during a variety of flow entrainment events. The "smart pebble" is a particle instrumented with MEMS sensors appropriate for capturing the hydrodynamic forces a coarse particle might experience during its entrainment from the river bed. A 3-axial gyroscope and accelerometer registers data to a memory card via a microcontroller, embedded in a 3D-printed waterproof hollow spherical particle. The instrumented board is appropriately fit and centred into the shell of the pebble, so as to achieve a nearly uniform distribution of the mass which could otherwise bias its motion. The "smart pebble" is powered by an independent power to ensure autonomy and sufficiently long periods of operation appropriate for deployment in the field. Post-processing and analysis of the acquired data is currently performed offline, using scientific programming software. The performance of the instrumented particle is validated, conducting a series of calibration experiments under well-controlled laboratory conditions. "Smart pebble" allows for a wider range of environmental sensors (e.g. for environmental/pollutant monitoring) to be incorporated so as to extend the range of its application, enabling accurate environmental monitoring which is required to ensure infrastructure resilience and preservation of ecological health.

Application of Environmental Management in Danish Companies: The Statistical Approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Henning; Ulhøi, John Parm

1997-01-01

in business presents a challenge to management, however, since it implies a fundamental change in some of the ways of operating a company. This paper will describe how information on the actual extent of environmental management in Danish companies and the way it is applied has been collected based...... contributed to an increasing awareness of the effect of business activities on the physical environment. To assist companies reduce, evaluate, monitor and control their environmental impact the concept of corporate environmental and resource management has been developed. Implementation of this concept...

Application of Biosphere Compatibility Indicator for Assessment of the Effectiveness of Environmental Protection Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Bakaeva, N. V.; Vorobyov, S. A.; Chernyaeva, I. V.

2017-11-01

The article is devoted to the issue of using the biosphere compatibility indicator to assess the effectiveness of environmental protection methods. The indicator biosphere compatibility was proposed by the vice-president of RAASN (Russian Academy of Architecture and Building Sciences), Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor V.I. Ilyichev. This indicator allows one to assess not only qualitatively but also quantitatively the degree of urban areas development from the standpoint of preserving the biosphere in urban ecosystems while performing the city’s main functions. The integral biosphere compatibility indicator allows us to assess not only the current ecological situation in the territory under consideration but also to plan the forecast of its changes for the new construction projects implementation or for the reconstruction of the existing ones. The biosphere compatibility indicator, which is a mathematical expression of the tripartite balance (technosphere, biosphere and population of this area), allows us to quantify the effectiveness degree of different methods for environment protection to choose the most effective one under these conditions.

Directed Technical Change and Economic Growth Effects of Environmental Policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kruse-Andersen, Peter Kjær

2016-01-01

A Schumpeterian growth model is developed to investigate how environmental policy affects economic growth when environmental policy also affects the direction of technical change. In contrast to previous models, production and pollution abatement technologies are embodied in separate intermediate...... unambiguously directs research efforts toward pollution abatement technologies and away from production technologies. This directed technical change reduces economic growth and pollution emission growth. Simulation results indicate that even large environmental policy reforms have small economic growth effects....... However, these economic growth effects have relatively large welfare effects which suggest that static models and exogenous growth models leave out an important welfare effect of environmental policy....

Annual Site Environmental Report, 2000 (ASER)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Russak, Hillary M.

2001-11-20

This report provides information about environmental programs and compliance with environmental regulations during 2000 at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). In addition, updates that may be of special interest, which occurred beyond 2000, are included. The most noteworthy information in this report is summarized in this section. This summary demonstrates the effective application of SLAC environmental management systems in meeting the site's Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS) goals.

Assessment and prognosis of environmental state and development of environmentally effective technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golovko, A.; Polichtchouk, Y.; Ivanov, V.

2002-01-01

Despite of the decrease in oil production in Russia, the negative effects of the oil industry wastes on the environment still remain. The authors examine the main sources of the environmental pollution and suggest the assessment of technogenic impact which requires large volumes of ecological, cartographic and other data through the application of geographic information systems (GIS). Suggested technology includes software means for simulating the technogenic impact on natural environment. By overlapping the zones of technogenic impact on the landscape map using GIS, the relative areas of the polluted landscape complexes can be calculated. A developed method for oil product containment in water surface based on natural and synthetic fibrous adsorbents is presented. The isotherms of adsorption of oil, diesel fuel and gasoline are given. The efficiency of water purification from the oil products in solutions depends of their initial concentrations. The efficiency of adsorption from the microemulsions, however, increases with increasing adsorbent-solution ratio. The efficiency of the purification of oily sewage may be evaluated using the data in the Table obtained for oil products adsorption on multilayered adsorbents. (YU-INIS Centre)

Site environmental report for 1996

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holland, R.C.

1997-08-01

To help verify effective protection of public safety and preservation of the environment, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL)/California maintains an extensive, ongoing environmental monitoring program. This program monitors all significant airborne and liquid effluents and the environment at the SNL/California site perimeter. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) performs off-site environmental monitoring for both sites. These monitoring efforts ensure that emission controls are effective in preventing contamination of the environment. As part of SNL/California's Environmental Monitoring Program, an environmental surveillance system measures the possible presence of radioactive and hazardous materials in ambient air, surface water, groundwater, sewage, soil, vegetation, and locally produced food-stuffs. The program also includes an extensive environmental dosimetry program, which measures external radiation levels around the Livermore site and nearby vicinity. Each year, the results of the Environmental Monitoring Program are published in this report, the Site Environmental Report. This executive summary focuses on impacts to the environment and estimated radiation doses to the public from site emissions. Chapter 3, open-quotes Compliance Summary,close quotes reviews the site's various environmental protection activities and compliance status, with applicable environmental regulations. The effluent monitoring and environmental surveillance results for 1996 show that SNL/California operations had no harmful effects on the environment or the public. 37 figs., 12 tabs

A hyperspectral image analysis workbench for environmental science applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christiansen, J.H.; Zawada, D.G.; Simunich, K.L.; Slater, J.C.

1992-01-01

A significant challenge to the information sciences is to provide more powerful and accessible means to exploit the enormous wealth of data available from high-resolution imaging spectrometry, or hyperspectral'' imagery, for analysis, for mapping purposes, and for input to environmental modeling applications. As an initial response to this challenge, Argonne's Advanced Computer Applications Center has developed a workstation-based prototype software workbench which employs Al techniques and other advanced approaches to deduce surface characteristics and extract features from the hyperspectral images. Among its current capabilities, the prototype system can classify pixels by abstract surface type. The classification process employs neural network analysis of inputs which include pixel spectra and a variety of processed image metrics, including image texture spectra'' derived from fractal signatures computed for subimage tiles at each wavelength.

Electrochemically Active Biofilms Assisted Nanomaterial Synthesis for Environmental Applications

KAUST Repository

Ahmed, Elaf

2017-12-01

Nanomaterials have a great potential for environmental applications due to their high surface areas and high reactivity. This dissertation investigated the use of electrochemically active biofilms (EABs) as a synthesis approach for the fabrication and environmental applications of different nanomaterials. Bacteria in EABs generate electrons upon consuming electron donor and have the ability to transport these electrons to solid or insoluble substrates through extracellular electron transport (EET) mechanism. The extracellularly transported electrons, once utilized, can lead to nanoparticle synthesis. In this dissertation, noble metal (i.e., Au, Pd, and Pt) ultra-small nanoparticles (USNPs) were first synthesized with the assistance by the EABs. The assynthesized USNPs had a size range between 2 and 7 nm and exhibited excellent catalytic performance in dye decomposition. Also in this research, a two-dimensional (2D) cobalt nanosheet was successfully synthesized in the presence of EABs. A simple biogenic route led to the transformation of cobalt acetate to produce a green, toxic free homogeneous 2D cobalt nanosheet structure. Further, TiO2 nanotubes were successfully combined with the noble metal USNPs to enhance their photocatalytic activity. In this work, for the first time, the noble metal USNPs were directly reduced and decorated on the internal surfaces of the TiO2 nanotubes structure assisted by the EABs. The USNPs modified TiO2 nanotubes generated significantly improved photoelectrocatatlyic performances. This dissertation shines lights on the use of EABs in ultra-small nanoparticle synthesis.

Elements of quality assurance in environmental surveillance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, L.J.

1975-01-01

Qualities of an environmental surveillance program requiring control or assurance are reviewed. Requirements of accuracy, reproducibility, sensitivity, acceptability, and time and cost effectiveness are qualities discussed. The controls applicable to sample collection, handling, chemical analysis, measurement and data presentation are identified and discussed as they pertain to environmental monitoring. Quality assurance program recommendations for developing and reporting environmental surveillance data are provided

The Effect of Environmental Science Projects on Students' Environmental Knowledge and Science Attitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Balushi, Sulaiman M.; Al-Aamri, Shamsa S.

2014-01-01

The current study explores the effectiveness of involving students in environmental science projects for their environmental knowledge and attitudes towards science. The study design is a quasi-experimental pre-post control group design. The sample was 62 11th-grade female students studying at a public school in Oman. The sample was divided into…

CARD-FISH for Environmental Microorganisms: Technical Advancement and Future Applications

OpenAIRE

Kubota, Kengo

2012-01-01

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has become a standard technique in environmental microbiology. More than 20 years have passed since this technique was first described, and it is currently used for the detection of ribosomal RNA, messenger RNA, and functional genes encoded on chromosomes. This review focuses on the advancement and applications of FISH combined with catalyzed reporter deposition (CARD, also known as tyramide signal amplification or TSA), in the detection of environmen...

Training for effective environmental protection in the nuclear industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parkinson, D.; Brake, J.; Hickman, C.; Tamm, J.

2007-01-01

This paper examines the role of environmental training in the delivery of effective environmental protection programs for construction projects in the nuclear industry. The paper uses a case study approach, based on Point Lepreau Generating Station's Refurbishment Project, to demonstrate how the underpinning principles of 'training, awareness and competence' can be delivered within a structured environmental management framework, to achieve sustained excellence in environmental management and performance. Key issues addressed by the paper include the early identification of different target audiences, making effective use of communication themes, and the importance of reinforcement and follow-up in support of training goals. (author)

43 CFR 46.170 - Environmental effects abroad of major Federal actions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Environmental effects abroad of major... IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969 Protection and Enhancement of Environmental Quality § 46.170 Environmental effects abroad of major Federal actions. (a) In order to facilitate...

Advanced simulation capability for environmental management - current status and future applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Freshley, Mark; Scheibe, Timothy [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington (United States); Robinson, Bruce; Moulton, J. David; Dixon, Paul [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico (United States); Marble, Justin; Gerdes, Kurt [U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management, Washington DC (United States); Stockton, Tom [Neptune and Company, Inc, Los Alamos, New Mexico (United States); Seitz, Roger [Savannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, South Carolina (United States); Black, Paul [Neptune and Company, Inc, Lakewood, Colorado (United States)

2013-07-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM), Office of Soil and Groundwater (EM-12), is supporting development of the Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Management (ASCEM). ASCEM is a state-of-the-art scientific tool and approach that is currently aimed at understanding and predicting contaminant fate and transport in natural and engineered systems. ASCEM is a modular and open source high-performance computing tool. It will be used to facilitate integrated approaches to modeling and site characterization, and provide robust and standardized assessments of performance and risk for EM cleanup and closure activities. The ASCEM project continues to make significant progress in development of capabilities, with current emphasis on integration of capabilities in FY12. Capability development is occurring for both the Platform and Integrated Tool-sets and High-Performance Computing (HPC) multi-process simulator. The Platform capabilities provide the user interface and tools for end-to-end model development, starting with definition of the conceptual model, management of data for model input, model calibration and uncertainty analysis, and processing of model output, including visualization. The HPC capabilities target increased functionality of process model representations, tool-sets for interaction with Platform, and verification and model confidence testing. The integration of the Platform and HPC capabilities were tested and evaluated for EM applications in a set of demonstrations as part of Site Applications Thrust Area activities in 2012. The current maturity of the ASCEM computational and analysis capabilities has afforded the opportunity for collaborative efforts to develop decision analysis tools to support and optimize radioactive waste disposal. Recent advances in computerized decision analysis frameworks provide the perfect opportunity to bring this capability into ASCEM. This will allow radioactive waste

Effects of Different Biochar Application Patterns on Rice Growth and Yield

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

WANG Yue-man

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Biochar has positive effect on carbon sequestration and soil improvement, consequently biochar application has been attracted more and more attention in recent years. However, so far, few investigations about the effects of biochar application patterns on crop growth, which may have a direct impact on biochar's application and comprehensive environmental effects have been reported. Herein, soil column study was conducted using four biochars, i.e., wheat straw(WBC and wood sawdust(SBC that pyrolyzed at 500℃ and 700℃, respectively, to study the effects of two different biochar application patterns on rice growth. These two typical biochar application patterns were:generally mixed application(mixed treatment and surface application(surface treatment. The results showed that:(1In comparison with CK, all biochar application treatments promoted the growth of rice in terms of plant height and SPAD(Soil Plant Analysis Development value. Plant height of surface treatment was higher than that of mixed treatments at the heading, filling and maturation stages. SPAD and NDVI(Normalized Different Vegetation Index value of surface treatments were slightly lower than mixed treatment.(2Biochar significantly increased rice seeding setting rate by 4.88%~8.39%, moreover, surface treatments were observed higher rice seeding setting rate than mixed treatments. However, no significant difference was observed in the number of effective panicles, grains per spike and 1 000-grain weight between surface and mixed treatment. (3Application of biochar promoted rice yield, and surface treatments were more likely to increase rice yield compared with the conventional mixed treatments. (4All biochar treatments increased rice harvest index by 2.58%~10.56%, and no significant difference was found between surface and mixed treatment.(5All applications of biochar promoted nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium partial productivity, which was 9.81%~36.25% higher than that of CK.

Fiber optic sensors for environmental applications: A brief review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rossabi, J.

1992-04-01

Understanding the flow a groundwater quality. This understanding is achieved by measurement of the appropriate chemical and physical subsurface parameters. The ideal measurement would accurately assess a parameter without affecting the parameter or its environment. Fiber optic spectroscopy offers some of the most promising techniques for accurate, non-invasive measurements of environmental parameters. Fiber optic sensors for subsurface applications are currently being developed by several Department of Energy laboratories. Some of these sensors have been successfully deployed in the field and are attaining the goals of accurate, noninvasive, real time measurements in the subsurface

A volumetric data system for environmental robotics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tourtellott, J.

1994-01-01

A three-dimensional, spatially organized or volumetric data system provides an effective means for integrating and presenting environmental sensor data to robotic systems and operators. Because of the unstructed nature of environmental restoration applications, new robotic control strategies are being developed that include environmental sensors and interactive data interpretation. The volumetric data system provides key features to facilitate these new control strategies including: integrated representation of surface, subsurface and above-surface data; differentiation of mapped and unmapped regions in space; sculpting of regions in space to best exploit data from line-of-sight sensors; integration of diverse sensor data (for example, dimensional, physical/geophysical, chemical, and radiological); incorporation of data provided at different spatial resolutions; efficient access for high-speed visualization and analysis; and geometric modeling tools to update a open-quotes world modelclose quotes of an environment. The applicability to underground storage tank remediation and buried waste site remediation are demonstrated in several examples. By integrating environmental sensor data into robotic control, the volumetric data system will lead to safer, faster, and more cost-effective environmental cleanup

22 CFR 161.12 - Environmental effects abroad of major departmental actions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Environmental effects abroad of major... Requirements of NEPA § 161.12 Environmental effects abroad of major departmental actions. Departmental officials shall analyze actions under their cognizance with due regard for the environmental effects in the...

Effects of environmental variables on invasive amphibian activity: Using model selection on quantiles for counts

Science.gov (United States)

Muller, Benjamin J.; Cade, Brian S.; Schwarzkoph, Lin

2018-01-01

Many different factors influence animal activity. Often, the value of an environmental variable may influence significantly the upper or lower tails of the activity distribution. For describing relationships with heterogeneous boundaries, quantile regressions predict a quantile of the conditional distribution of the dependent variable. A quantile count model extends linear quantile regression methods to discrete response variables, and is useful if activity is quantified by trapping, where there may be many tied (equal) values in the activity distribution, over a small range of discrete values. Additionally, different environmental variables in combination may have synergistic or antagonistic effects on activity, so examining their effects together, in a modeling framework, is a useful approach. Thus, model selection on quantile counts can be used to determine the relative importance of different variables in determining activity, across the entire distribution of capture results. We conducted model selection on quantile count models to describe the factors affecting activity (numbers of captures) of cane toads (Rhinella marina) in response to several environmental variables (humidity, temperature, rainfall, wind speed, and moon luminosity) over eleven months of trapping. Environmental effects on activity are understudied in this pest animal. In the dry season, model selection on quantile count models suggested that rainfall positively affected activity, especially near the lower tails of the activity distribution. In the wet season, wind speed limited activity near the maximum of the distribution, while minimum activity increased with minimum temperature. This statistical methodology allowed us to explore, in depth, how environmental factors influenced activity across the entire distribution, and is applicable to any survey or trapping regime, in which environmental variables affect activity.

Application of Bayesian networks in a hierarchical structure for environmental risk assessment: a case study of the Gabric Dam, Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Malekmohammadi, Bahram; Tayebzadeh Moghadam, Negar

2018-04-13

Environmental risk assessment (ERA) is a commonly used, effective tool applied to reduce adverse effects of environmental risk factors. In this study, ERA was investigated using the Bayesian network (BN) model based on a hierarchical structure of variables in an influence diagram (ID). ID facilitated ranking of the different alternatives under uncertainty that were then used to evaluate comparisons of the different risk factors. BN was used to present a new model for ERA applicable to complicated development projects such as dam construction. The methodology was applied to the Gabric Dam, in southern Iran. The main environmental risk factors in the region, presented by the Gabric Dam, were identified based on the Delphi technique and specific features of the study area. These included the following: flood, water pollution, earthquake, changes in land use, erosion and sedimentation, effects on the population, and ecosensitivity. These risk factors were then categorized based on results from the output decision node of the BN, including expected utility values for risk factors in the decision node. ERA was performed for the Gabric Dam using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method to compare results of BN modeling with those of conventional methods. Results determined that a BN-based hierarchical structure to ERA present acceptable and reasonable risk assessment prioritization in proposing suitable solutions to reduce environmental risks and can be used as a powerful decision support system for evaluating environmental risks.

Environmental and biotechnological applications of high-voltage pulsed discharges in water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Masayuki

2008-01-01

A high-voltage pulse has wide application in fields such as chemistry, physics and biology and their combinations. The high-voltage pulse forms two kinds of physical processes in water, namely (a) a pulsed electric field (PEF) in the parallel electrode configuration and (b) plasma generation by a pulsed discharge in the water phase with a concentrated electric field. The PEF can be used for inactivation of bacteria in liquid foods as a non-thermal process, and the underwater plasma is applicable not only for the decomposition of organic materials in water but also for biological treatment of wastewater. These discharge states are controlled mainly by the applied pulse voltage and the electrode shape. Some examples of environmental and biotechnological applications of a high-voltage pulse are reviewed.

Environmental aspects of the district cooling system application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bitrakovski, Dragan

2006-01-01

The use of air-conditioning equipment based on CFC and HCFC fluids has a direct influence on the occurrence of the greenhouse effect and damage of the ozone layer. Besides the obligatory shift og HCF cooling fluids, the reduction of such negative influences may also be achieved by the application of the district cooling system to the air-conditioning plants in the area. The paper includes example of the application of the district system, with positive effect regarding the ozone layer protection and greenhouse effect prevention. (Author)

The environmental effects of taxes on packages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schroten, A.; Nelissen, D.; Bergsma, G.C.; Blom, M.J.

2010-08-01

The results of an evaluation of the environmental impacts of taxes for packages are presented, differentiated for greenhouse gas emissions. The evaluation used a qualitative analysis of information from eighteen depth-interviews with experts in the packaging market, foreign experiences, relevant price elasticities and 'expert guesses'. It appears that tax package so far had a limited effect on the packaging market. For the longer term (ten years) larger, but probably also limited, effects are expected. The environmental impact of packaging tax can be increased if the taxes are substantially increased. [nl

14 CFR 1216.321 - Environmental effects abroad of major Federal actions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Environmental effects abroad of major...) Other Requirements § 1216.321 Environmental effects abroad of major Federal actions. (a) In accordance with these procedures and E.O. 12114, “Environmental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions” (44 FR...

Effectiveness of Environmental Management Based on Trash in The City of Depok

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ismiyati

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Indonesian government efforts, particularly in the city of Depok, regarding decent and healthy environmental management in the waste sector have to be enhanced. This is a complex and diverse problems, even though the government has set into the form of Law (UU Number 18 Year 2008 on Waste Management to build a strategic partnership of stakeholders in waste management. The Government has also issued Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 81 Year 2012 on “Management of household waste and household-like waste”. Further research is required on what extent that the implementation of waste management had been undertaken, as well as the necessity to study the methods of environmental insight in waste management. Waste management needs to be comprehensive and integrated from upstream to downstream, thus providing economic benefits, people healthiness and environmental safety. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of environmental management based in Depok. This study uses qualitative design, which is to observe, understand and expose reality or empirical phenomena; hence the proper method used is descriptive method. Instrument to gather the data is completed by observation and in-depth interviews. The type of data required includes primary and secondary data. The informant is selected by purposive sampling, and data analysis is treated with triangulation technique. The results present that in the framework of the effectiveness of environmental management based trash in Depok showed that 1 Institutional Factor for Urban Waste Management of Depok has run properly, 2 Private partnership (commercial solution to be involved in urban waste management in Depok is being explored, 3 Applicable technology in fostering a culture of 3R (reduce, reuse and recycle on the entire community of Depok, has been done with the declaration of Depok Trash Care towards Trash Clean 2020 in March 2014.

18 CFR 380.3 - Environmental information to be supplied by an applicant.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... Historic Preservation Act or the Coastal Zone Management Act. (b) An applicant must also: (1) Provide all... stages of the proposed action to ensure that all potential environmental impacts are identified. (The specific requirements for consultation on hydropower projects are contained in § 4.38 and § 16.8 of this...

Large-scale multimedia modeling applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Droppo, J.G. Jr.; Buck, J.W.; Whelan, G.; Strenge, D.L.; Castleton, K.J.; Gelston, G.M.

1995-08-01

Over the past decade, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and other agencies have faced increasing scrutiny for a wide range of environmental issues related to past and current practices. A number of large-scale applications have been undertaken that required analysis of large numbers of potential environmental issues over a wide range of environmental conditions and contaminants. Several of these applications, referred to here as large-scale applications, have addressed long-term public health risks using a holistic approach for assessing impacts from potential waterborne and airborne transport pathways. Multimedia models such as the Multimedia Environmental Pollutant Assessment System (MEPAS) were designed for use in such applications. MEPAS integrates radioactive and hazardous contaminants impact computations for major exposure routes via air, surface water, ground water, and overland flow transport. A number of large-scale applications of MEPAS have been conducted to assess various endpoints for environmental and human health impacts. These applications are described in terms of lessons learned in the development of an effective approach for large-scale applications

Applications of capillary electrophoresis with chemiluminescence detection in clinical, environmental and food analysis. A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lara, Francisco J.; Airado-Rodríguez, Diego; Moreno-González, David; Huertas-Pérez, José F.; García-Campaña, Ana M.

2016-01-01

This paper reviews the latest developments and analytical applications of chemiluminescence detection coupled to capillary electrophoresis (CE-CL). Different sections considering the most common CL systems have been included, such as the tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) system, the luminol and acridinium derivative reactions, the peroxyoxalate CL or direct oxidations. Improvements in instrumental designs, new strategies for improving both resolution and sensitivity, and applications in different fields such as clinical, pharmaceutical, environmental and food analysis have been included. This review covers the literature from 2010 to 2015. - Highlights: • An up-to-date critical review about the evolution of CE-CL is presented. • Tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) and luminol as the most used CL systems. • Instrumental designs and strategies for improving resolution and sensitivity. • Applications in clinical, pharmaceutical, environmental and food analysis.

Environmental guidance for public participation in environmental restoration activities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1991-11-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is issuing this document, entitled Guidance on Public Participation for US Department of Energy Environmental Restoration Activities, to summarize policy and provide guidance for public participation in environmental restoration activities at DOE Headquarters, Field Offices, facilities, and laboratories. While the Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (EM) has environmental restoration responsibility for the majority of DOE sites and facilities, other DOE Project Offices have similar responsibilities at their sites and facilities. This guidance is applicable to all environment restoration activities conducted by or for DOE under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA); the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) as amended by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA) (corrective actions only); and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). This guidance also is applicable to CERCLA remedial action programs under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 and the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, where DOE is the designated lead. The primary objectives of this guidance document are as follows: acclimate DOE staff to a changing culture that emphasizes the importance of public participation activities; provide direction on implementing these public participation activities; and, provide consistent guidance for all DOE Field Offices and facilities. The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on conducting effective public participation activities for environmental restoration activities under CERCLA; RCRA corrective actions under sections 3004(u), 3004(v), and 3008(h); and NEPA public participation activities.

Environmental Development Plan (EDP). Enhanced gas recovery, FY 1977

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1978-03-01

This Enhanced Gcs Recovery EDP addresses the environmental impacts of enhanced gas recovery processes in shale and sandstone, methane drainage from coalbeds, and methane recovery from geopressured aquifers. The EDP addresses planning in two basic areas: environmental research and environmental assessment. Environmental research can be categorized as follows: characterization of pollutants from EGR processes; selective application of monitoring and measuring techniques; evaluation of control/mitigation techniques; and evaluation of the synergistic impacts of the development of EGR techniques. Environmental assessment activities scheduled by EDP include: assessment of ecological impacts; assessment of socioeconomic effects; EIA/EIS preparation; evaluation of control technology needs; and analysis of applicable and proposed emission, effluent, and health and safety standards. The EGR EDP includes an EGR technology overview (Section 2), a discussion of EGR environmental issues and requirements (Section 3), an environmental action plan (Section 4), an environmental management strategy for the EGR program (Section 5), and supporting appendices which present information on Federal legislation applicable to EGR technology, a summary of ongoing and completed research, and future research and assessment projects.

Applications of neural networks to real-time data processing at the Environmental and Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keller, P.E.; Kouzes, R.T.; Kangas, L.J.

1993-06-01

Detailed design of the Environmental and Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) is nearing completion and construction is scheduled to begin later this year. This facility will assist in the environmental restoration and waste management mission at the Hanford Site. This paper identifies several real-time data processing applications within the EMSL where neural networks can potentially be beneficial. These applications include real-time sensor data acquisition and analysis, spectral analysis, process control, theoretical modeling, and data compression

A study of the influence of regional environmental expenditure on air quality in China: the effectiveness of environmental policy.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Lingyun; Wu, Meng; Wang, Deqing; Zhong, Zhangqi

2018-03-01

Based on the panel data model, data on environmental expenditures, the air quality index, economic aggregates, industrial structures, etc., of seven seriously polluted cities in China, from the period 2007-2015, were collected, and this paper estimates the general relationship between environmental expenditures and the air quality index. Besides, the impact of the fuel tax policy on air quality as well as on the relationship between environmental expenditure and the air quality index is tested using the method of regression discontinuity. We find that there is a long-term equilibrium relationship between environmental expenditure and air quality index as well as a 0.0507% positive effect of the former on the latter. Second, for Beijing, Taiyuan, Chongqing, and Lanzhou, a 1% increase in environmental expenditure leads to 0.0773, 0.0125, 0.0965, and 0.0912% decreases in the air quality index, respectively; however, for Shijiazhuang, Ji'nan, and Urumqi, effect of environmental expenditure on air quality is insignificant. Third, both economic growth and optimization of the industrial structure can lead to an improvement of air quality. Fourth, since the implementation of the fuel tax policy in 2009, the air quality of the sample cities has improved, and the pulling effect of environmental expenditure on the air quality index has decreased from 0.0507 to 0.0048%. Our findings cannot only clarify the effect of environmental expenditures on air quality but can also objectively judge the effectiveness of environmental policies of China to a certain extent. It may benefit Chinese government to effectively govern air pollution with fiscal tools in conjunction with economic and environmental characteristics.

Quality control in the application of flow cytometric assays of genetic damage due to environmental contaminants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCreedy, C.D.; Jagoe, C.H.; Brisbin, I.L. Jr.; Wentworth, R.W.; Dallas, C.E.

1995-01-01

Clinical technologies, such as flow cytometry, are increasingly adopted by environmental toxicologists to identify resource damage associated with exposure to xenobiotics. One application of flow cytometry allows the rapid determination of the DNA content of large numbers of individual cells, and can be used to detect aneuploidy or other genetic abnormalities. The laboratory has used this methodology in studies of genetic toxicology of fish, birds, arid mammals exposed to organic pollutants, metals and radionuclides, However, without appropriate quality controls, false positive results and other artifacts can arise from sample handling and preparations, inter and intra-individual variations, instrument noise and other sources. The authors describe the routine measures this laboratory employs to maintain quality control of genomic DNA analysis, including the control of staining conditions, machine standardization, pulse-width doublet discrimination, and, in particular, the use of internal controls and the use of time as a cytometric parameter. Neglect of these controls can produce erroneous results, leading to conclusions of genetic abnormalities when none are present. Conversely, attention to these controls, routinely used in clinical settings, facilitates the interpretation of flow cytometric data and allows the application of this sensitive indicator of genotoxic effects to a variety of environmental problems

Place Effects on Environmental Views

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Lawrence C.; Colocousis, Chris R.; Duncan, Cynthia M.

2010-01-01

How people respond to questions involving the environment depends partly on individual characteristics. Characteristics such as age, gender, education, and ideology constitute the well-studied "social bases of environmental concern," which have been explained in terms of cohort effects or of cognitive and cultural factors related to social…

Application of Environmental Input-Output Analysis for Corporate and Product Environmental Footprints—Learnings from Three Cases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Louise Laumann Kjaer

2015-08-01

Full Text Available An increasing number of companies are expanding their environmental impact reduction targets and strategies to include their supply chains or whole product life cycles. In this paper, we demonstrate and evaluate an approach, where we used a hybrid Environmental Input-Output (EIO database as a basis for corporate and product environmental footprint accounts, including the entire supply chain. We present three cases, where this approach was applied. Case study 1 describes the creation of total corporate carbon footprint accounts for three Danish regional healthcare organisations. In case study 2, the approach was used as basis for an Environmental Profit and Loss account for the healthcare company, Novo Nordisk A/S. Case study 3 used the approach for life cycle assessment of a tanker ship. We conclude that EIO-based analyses offer a holistic view of environmental performance, provide a foundation for decision-making within reasonable time and cost, and for companies with a large upstream environmental footprint, the analysis supports advancing their sustainability agenda to include supply chain impacts. However, there are implications when going from screening to implementing the results, including how to measure and monitor the effect of the different actions. Thus, future research should include more detailed models to support decision-making.

The decision on the application to carry out a decommissioning project at Hinkley Point A Power Station under the Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

European Council Directive 85/337/EEC, as amended by Council Directive 97/1 I/EC, sets out a framework on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment. The Directive is implemented in Great Britain for decommissioning nuclear reactor projects by the Nuclear Reactors (Environmental Impact Assessment for Decommissioning) Regulations 1999. The intention of the Directive and Regulations is to involve the public through consultation in considering the potential environmental impacts of a decommissioning project, and to make the decision-making process on granting consent open and transparent. The Regulations require the licensee to undertake an environmental impact assessment, prepare an environmental statement that summarises the environmental effects of the project, and apply to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for consent to carry out a decommissioning project. There is an optional stage where the licensee may request from HSE an opinion on what the environmental statement should contain (called a pre-application opinion). The licensee of Hinkley Point A Power Station, Magnox Electric pie, requested a pre-application opinion and provided information in a scoping report in December 2000. HSE undertook a public consultation on the scoping report and provided its pre- application opinion in April 2001. The licensee applied to HSE for consent to carry out a decommissioning project and provided an environmental statement in December 2001. Following a public consultation on the environmental statement, HSE requested further information that was subsequently provided by the licensee. A further public consultation was undertaken on the further information that ended in March 2003. All these public consultations involved around 60 organisations. HSE granted consent to carry out a decommissioning project at Hinkley Point A Power Station under the Regulations in July 2003, and attached conditions to the Consent. HSE took relevant

Environmental cell assembly for use in for use in spectroscopy and microscopy applications

Science.gov (United States)

Stowe, Ashley Clinton; Smyrl, Norman; Hallman, Jr., Russell L.

2014-09-02

An environmental cell assembly for use in microscopy and spectroscopy applications, including: an environmentally sealed body assembly configured to selectively hold and contain a sample; a plurality of ports manufactured into one or more surfaces of the body assembly for one or more of evacuating the body assembly and injecting a gas into or removing a gas from the body assembly; a port manufactured into a surface of the body assembly for receiving a translating stage configured to move the sample within the body assembly; and a port manufactured into a surface of the body assembly for receiving one or more lenses utilized in a microscopy or spectroscopy application; wherein the one or more lenses are disposed adjacent the sample without intervening structures disposed there between. The cell assembly also includes a port manufactured into a surface of the body assembly for retaining a window and providing visualization of the sample.

Emerging trends in geospatial artificial intelligence (geoAI): potential applications for environmental epidemiology.

Science.gov (United States)

VoPham, Trang; Hart, Jaime E; Laden, Francine; Chiang, Yao-Yi

2018-04-17

Geospatial artificial intelligence (geoAI) is an emerging scientific discipline that combines innovations in spatial science, artificial intelligence methods in machine learning (e.g., deep learning), data mining, and high-performance computing to extract knowledge from spatial big data. In environmental epidemiology, exposure modeling is a commonly used approach to conduct exposure assessment to determine the distribution of exposures in study populations. geoAI technologies provide important advantages for exposure modeling in environmental epidemiology, including the ability to incorporate large amounts of big spatial and temporal data in a variety of formats; computational efficiency; flexibility in algorithms and workflows to accommodate relevant characteristics of spatial (environmental) processes including spatial nonstationarity; and scalability to model other environmental exposures across different geographic areas. The objectives of this commentary are to provide an overview of key concepts surrounding the evolving and interdisciplinary field of geoAI including spatial data science, machine learning, deep learning, and data mining; recent geoAI applications in research; and potential future directions for geoAI in environmental epidemiology.

The Sensorial Effect: Dynamics of Emotion in Pro-Environmental Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Hipolito, Joana

2011-01-01

In this article, sensorial effects are introduced as emotional stimuli for shaping environmentally significant behaviors. This research provides a link between sensorial effect as ubiquitous environmental behavior feedback and the effect of sensorial stimuli on emotions that trigger individuals' pro-environment behavior. A case study of using…

Energy and Environmental Effects of Grocery Distribution: Transportation Means Catalogue

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Kaj

1996-01-01

The report serves as a background report for the project "Energy and Environmental Effects of Grocery Distribution". It contains a systematic overview of physical characteristics of the typical technologies, including energy and environmental effects....

Applications of ordered weighted averaging (OWA operators in environmental problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Llopis-Albert

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an application of a prioritized weighted aggregation operator based on ordered weighted averaging (OWA to deal with stakeholders' constructive participation in water resources projects. They have different degree of acceptance or preference regarding the measures and policies to be carried out, which lead to different environmental and socio-economic outcomes, and hence, to different levels of stakeholders’ satisfaction. The methodology establishes a prioritization relationship upon the stakeholders, which preferences are aggregated by means of weights depending on the satisfaction of the higher priority policy maker. The methodology establishes a prioritization relationship upon the stakeholders, which preferences are aggregated by means of weights depending on the satisfaction of the higher priority policy maker. The methodology has been successfully applied to a Public Participation Project (PPP in watershed management, thus obtaining efficient environmental measures in conflict resolution problems under actors’ preference uncertainties.

Recent advances in MoS2 nanostructured materials for energy and environmental applications - A review

Science.gov (United States)

Theerthagiri, J.; Senthil, R. A.; Senthilkumar, B.; Reddy Polu, Anji; Madhavan, J.; Ashokkumar, Muthupandian

2017-08-01

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), a layered transition metal dichalcogenide with an analogous structure to graphene, has attracted enormous attention worldwide owing to its use in a variety of applications such as energy storage, energy conversion, environmental remediation and sensors. MoS2 and graphene have almost similar functional properties such as high charge carrier transport, high wear resistance and good mechanical strength and friction. However, MoS2 is advantageous over graphene due to its low-cost, abundancy, tailorable morphologies and tuneable band gap with good visible light absorption properties. In this review, we have focussed mainly on recent advances in MoS2 nanostructured materials for the applications in the broad area of energy and environment. Special attention has been paid to their applications in dye-sensitized solar cells, supercapacitor, Li-ion battery, hydrogen evolution reaction, photocatalysis for the degradation of organic pollutants, chemical/bio sensors and gas sensors. Finally, the challenges to design MoS2 nanostructures suitable for energy and environmental applications are also highlighted.

Modelling of Electrokinetic Processes in Civil and Environmental Engineering Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Paz-Garcia, Juan Manuel; Johannesson, Björn; Ottosen, Lisbeth M.

2011-01-01

conditions are assumed between the aqueous species and the solid matrix for a set of feasible chemical equilibrium reactions defined for each specific application. A module for re-establishing the chemical equilibrium has been developed and included in the system for this purpose. Changes in the porosity......A mathematical model for the electrokinetic phenomena is described. Numerical simulations of different applications of electrokinetic techniques to the fields of civil and environmental engineering are included, showing the versatility and consistency of the model. The electrokinetics phenomena......-Nernst-Planck system of equations, accounting for ionic migration, chemical diffusion and advection is used for modeling the transport process. The advection term contributor is studied by including in the system the water transport through the porous media, mainly due to electroosmosis. The pore solution filling...

Evaluation of Environmental Effects of Wave Energy Convertor Arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, C. A.

2015-12-01

Stakeholders and regulators in the U.S. are generally uncertain as to the potential environmental impacts posed by deployments of marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) devices, and in particular wave energy conversion (WEC) devices, in coastal waters. The first pilot-scale WEC deployments in the U.S. have had to absorb unsustainable costs and delays associated with permitting to get devices in the water. As such, there is an urgent industry need to streamline the technical activities and processes used to assess potential environmental impacts. To enable regulators and stakeholders to become more comfortable and confident with developing effective MHK environmental assessments, a better understanding of the potential environmental effects induced by arrays of WEC devices is needed. A key challenge in developing this understanding is that the assessment of the WEC effects must come prior to deployment. A typical approach in similar environmental assessments is to use numerical models to simulate the WEC devices and array layouts so that the appropriate environmental stressors and receptors can be identified and assessed. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the U.S. Department of Energy are fulfilling the industry-wide need to develop "WEC-friendly" open-source numerical modeling tools capable of assessing potential changes to the physical environment caused by the operation of WEC arrays. Studies using these tools will advance the nation's general knowledge of the interrelationships among the number, size, efficiency, and configuration of MHK arrays and the subsequent effects these relationships may have on the deployment environment. By better understanding these relationships, industry, stakeholders, and regulators will be able to work together to optimize WEC deployments such that environmental impacts are minimized while power output is maximized. The present work outlines the initial effort in coupling the SNL WEC-friendly tools with the environmental assessment

The application of x-ray fluorescence and diffraction to the characterization of environmental assessment samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Censullo, A.C.; Briden, F.E.

1982-01-01

Some of the results of tests on environmental assessment samples are reported on. The utility of the J.W. Criss fundamental parameters computer program is evaluated for samples in which only one standard per element was used and where the standard matrix did not strictly resemble the unknown matrix. The environmental significance of a sample is dependent not only on its elemental composition, but also on the species or phases which the elements comprise. X-ray powder diffraction may be used to advantage for speciation. Multi-phase environmental assessment samples are amenable to XRD interpretation. Some results of the application of the Joint Committee on Power Diffraction Standards computer interpretatin of typical environmental samples are discussed. They were shown to contribute to the specification of the complex samples that are encountered in environmental assessments

Environmental effects of geothermal energy exploitation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakamura, H [Japan Metals and Chemicals Co., Ltd., Japan

1975-01-01

The environmental effects of geothermal power generation which cause air and water pollution and destruction of natural areas are reviewed. The production of steam and hot water affect existing hot springs sources and can cause ground subsidence. Harmful gas can be released onto the atmosphere from fumarolic gas and hot springs. Hydrothermal geothermal fields occasionally contain harmful substances such as arsenic in the hot water. Serious environmental effects can result from geothermal exploitation activities such as the felling of trees for road construction, well drilling, and plant construction. Once geothermal power generation has begun, the release of H/sub 2/S into the atmosphere and the reinjection of hot water are conducted continuously and sufficient countermeasures can be taken. One problem is the effects of plant construction and operation on natural parks. It is important to reach a compromise between development and protection of natural senic areas. Two figures, two tables, and 13 references are provided.

Application of radiation to environmental protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tokunaga, Okihiro; Machi, Sueo

1987-01-01

A survey was made to investigate the current applications of radiations to environmental protection. Electron irradiation is used for desulfurization and denitration of flue gas. Flue gas generated from combusted fossil fuel such as coal and oil is irradiated with electrons to oxidize sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which are then removed to clean the flue gas. Ammonia or lime may be added before irradiation to convert sulfer dioxide and nitrogen oxides into ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate or convert sulfur dioxide into calcium sulfite and calcium sulfate. Radiations are helpful for treatment of waste water. When water is irradiated with radiations, most of the energy is absorbed by water to cause decomposition of water molecules, resulting in the production of highly reactive species such as OH radical and H atom. Contaminants then react with these species and are oxidized into carbon dioxide and water. Other methods are also available for applying radiations to water treatment. Sludge contains a large amount of organic substances that serve as fertilizer components. Thus, radiations can be used to sterilize and compost sludge. (Nogami, K.)

Effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment system in Estonia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heinma, Kaupo; Poder, Tonis

2010-01-01

To be effective, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system, first, has to minimize the probability that projects with significant environmental effects are implemented without EIA, and second, minimize the number of EIAs, which do not provide decision makers with essential information, so that the decision is improved as a result of EIA. The objective of this study was to find out how frequently in Estonia the projects implemented without EIA have caused significant environmental effects, and to measure the relative frequency of EIAs that have no influence on decision. An extensive survey with e-mail distributed questionnaires was carried out to reveal information from governmental agencies, local self-governments, and developers. There was no evidence that projects authorized without EIA have had environmental impacts, which could have been mitigated as a result of EIA. In contrast, about half of EIAs did not alter the decision of relevant authorities. This proportion was valid to both mandatory EIAs and those initiated on judgement basis. In our view, the proportion of no-influence EIAs was excessive and indicated the need to reconsider the provisions applying to the projects with a mandatory EIA requirement as well as judgements practice.

Calculation of the effective environmental dose rate for ESR and luminescence dating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brennan, B.J.

2001-01-01

The determination of the age of a sample using luminescence and ESR dating techniques requires knowledge of the sample's average effective environmental dose rate due to natural radiation sources (alpha, beta, gamma, and cosmic), and age estimates can never be more accurate than the estimate of this dose rate. The estimation process is often complicated by spatial and temporal inhomogeneities in the distribution of natural radiation sources. This paper discusses applications of radiation physics in modelling the effects of these inhomogeneities to ensure accurate estimation of the average dose rate for the sample. For natural alpha, beta, and gamma sources, 'dose point kernels' are employed in calculations using an assumed model for the spatial and temporal dependence of source concentrations. These three types of radiation have rather different penetration properties, with their typical effective ranges being multiples of 10 micrometre, 1 mm, and 100 mm respectively. For each type of radiation, applications are discussed where spatial inhomogeneity in the distribution of sources around and in a sample has a serious effect on the average dose rate to the sample. In some cases, (e.g. gamma dose estimation in 'lumpy' environments) lack of detailed knowledge precludes accurate modelling of the site for a particular sample, but useful statistical information can still be obtained. Temporal variation of radioactive source concentrations is usually coupled with spatial effects and can arise from processes such as parent-daughter disequilibrium, uptake or leaching of sources, or variation in burial depth or water saturation. Again, calculations based non a known or assumed history can be employed to obtain a time-averaged dose rate for a sample. The accuracy with which these calculations can reflect the true environmental dose rate is limited principally by the reliability of the model assumed, which in turn depends on the state of knowledge of the site and its history

The Short Term Effectiveness of an Outdoor Environmental Education on Environmental Awareness and Sensitivity of In-Service Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Okur-Berberoglu, Emel; Ozdilek, Hasan Göksel; Yalcin-Ozdilek, Sükran

2015-01-01

Outdoor education is mostly mentioned in terms of environmental education. The aim of this research is to determine the short term effectiveness of an outdoor environmental education program on biodiversity awareness, environmental awareness and sensitivity to natural environment. The data is collected from an outdoor environmental education…

Health effects engineering: Perspectives for environmental health and environmental engineering studies-domestic biomass combustion as an example

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Xiang; Yu Qi; Chen Limin

2007-01-01

Health effects engineering (HEE) is a newly developed research field, which involves collaboration with environmental scientists, engineering researchers, and toxicologists. By employing the methods of HEE, one can not only confirm which attributes of the project are likely to contribute to certain health effects, but can also get rid of the adverse health effects by engineering technologies. HEE is thought to be particularly important to domestic projects in which there is a lack of environmental assessment. This paper presented the authors' viewpoints of the principles of HEE in the field of the environmental health and engineering studies by using programs of domestic biomass combustion as an example. The authors showed that there are three sub-fields of HEE, which are as follows: engineering behavior, the pollution characteristics, and the health effects. The authors conclude that the principles of HEE compose a helix with the studies in the fields of environmental science, health, and engineering, and give suggestions on how to perform HEE in a practical field

LC-MS/MS signal suppression effects in the analysis of pesticides in complex environmental matrices.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, B K; Hercules, D M; Gusev, A I

2001-02-01

The application of LC separation and mobile phase additives in addressing LC-MS/MS matrix signal suppression effects for the analysis of pesticides in a complex environmental matrix was investigated. It was shown that signal suppression is most significant for analytes eluting early in the LC-MS analysis. Introduction of different buffers (e.g. ammonium formate, ammonium hydroxide, formic acid) into the LC mobile phase was effective in improving signal correlation between the matrix and standard samples. The signal improvement is dependent on buffer concentration as well as LC separation of the matrix components. The application of LC separation alone was not effective in addressing suppression effects when characterizing complex matrix samples. Overloading of the LC column by matrix components was found to significantly contribute to analyte-matrix co-elution and suppression of signal. This signal suppression effect can be efficiently compensated by 2D LC (LC-LC) separation techniques. The effectiveness of buffers and LC separation in improving signal correlation between standard and matrix samples is discussed.

Bridge health monitoring with consideration of environmental effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Yuhee; Kim, Hyunsoo; Shin, Soobong; Park, Jongchil

2012-01-01

Reliable response measurements are extremely important for proper bridge health monitoring but incomplete and unreliable data may be acquired due to sensor problems and environmental effects. In the case of a sensor malfunction, parts of the measured data can be missing so that the structural health condition cannot be monitored reliably. This means that the dynamic characteristics of natural frequencies can change as if the structure is damaged due to environmental effects, such as temperature variations. To overcome these problems, this paper proposes a systematic procedure of data analysis to recover missing data and eliminate the environmental effects from the measured data. It also proposed a health index calculated statistically using revised data to evaluate the health condition of a bridge. The proposed method was examined using numerically simulated data with a truss structure and then applied to a set of field data measured from a cable stayed bridge

Bridge health monitoring with consideration of environmental effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Yuhee; Kim, Hyunsoo; Shin, Soobong [Inha Univ., Incheon (Korea, Republic of); Park, Jongchil [Korea Expressway Co., (Korea, Republic of)

2012-12-15

Reliable response measurements are extremely important for proper bridge health monitoring but incomplete and unreliable data may be acquired due to sensor problems and environmental effects. In the case of a sensor malfunction, parts of the measured data can be missing so that the structural health condition cannot be monitored reliably. This means that the dynamic characteristics of natural frequencies can change as if the structure is damaged due to environmental effects, such as temperature variations. To overcome these problems, this paper proposes a systematic procedure of data analysis to recover missing data and eliminate the environmental effects from the measured data. It also proposed a health index calculated statistically using revised data to evaluate the health condition of a bridge. The proposed method was examined using numerically simulated data with a truss structure and then applied to a set of field data measured from a cable stayed bridge.

High operational and environmental stability of high-mobility conjugated polymer field-effect transistors through the use of molecular additives

KAUST Repository

Nikolka, Mark; Nasrallah, Iyad; Rose, Bradley Daniel; Ravva, Mahesh Kumar; Broch, Katharina; Sadhanala, Aditya; Harkin, David; Charmet, Jerome; Hurhangee, Michael; Brown, Adam; Illig, Steffen; Too, Patrick; Jongman, Jan; McCulloch, Iain; Bredas, Jean-Luc; Sirringhaus, Henning

2016-01-01

Due to their low-temperature processing properties and inherent mechanical flexibility, conjugated polymer field-effect transistors (FETs) are promising candidates for enabling flexible electronic circuits and displays. Much progress has been made on materials performance; however, there remain significant concerns about operational and environmental stability, particularly in the context of applications that require a very high level of threshold voltage stability, such as active-matrix addressing of organic light-emitting diode displays. Here, we investigate the physical mechanisms behind operational and environmental degradation of high-mobility, p-type polymer FETs and demonstrate an effective route to improve device stability. We show that water incorporated in nanometre-sized voids within the polymer microstructure is the key factor in charge trapping and device degradation. By inserting molecular additives that displace water from these voids, it is possible to increase the stability as well as uniformity to a high level sufficient for demanding industrial applications.

High operational and environmental stability of high-mobility conjugated polymer field-effect transistors through the use of molecular additives

KAUST Repository

Nikolka, Mark

2016-12-12

Due to their low-temperature processing properties and inherent mechanical flexibility, conjugated polymer field-effect transistors (FETs) are promising candidates for enabling flexible electronic circuits and displays. Much progress has been made on materials performance; however, there remain significant concerns about operational and environmental stability, particularly in the context of applications that require a very high level of threshold voltage stability, such as active-matrix addressing of organic light-emitting diode displays. Here, we investigate the physical mechanisms behind operational and environmental degradation of high-mobility, p-type polymer FETs and demonstrate an effective route to improve device stability. We show that water incorporated in nanometre-sized voids within the polymer microstructure is the key factor in charge trapping and device degradation. By inserting molecular additives that displace water from these voids, it is possible to increase the stability as well as uniformity to a high level sufficient for demanding industrial applications.

Parallel Algorithms and Software for Nuclear, Energy, and Environmental Applications Part I: Multiphysics Algorithms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaston, Derek; Guo, Luanjing; Hansen, Glen; Huang, Hai; Johnson, Richard; Park, HyeongKae; Podgorney, Robert; Tonks, Michael; Williamson, Richard

2012-01-01

There is a growing trend within energy and environmental simulation to consider tightly coupled solutions to multiphysics problems. This can be seen in nuclear reactor analysis where analysts are interested in coupled flow, heat transfer and neutronics, and in nuclear fuel performance simulation where analysts are interested in thermomechanics with contact coupled to species transport and chemistry. In energy and environmental applications, energy extraction involves geomechanics, flow through porous media and fractured formations, adding heat transport for enhanced oil recovery and geothermal applications, and adding reactive transport in the case of applications modeling the underground flow of contaminants. These more ambitious simulations usually motivate some level of parallel computing. Many of the physics coupling efforts to date utilize simple code coupling or first-order operator splitting, often referred to as loose coupling. While these approaches can produce answers, they usually leave questions of accuracy and stability unanswered. Additionally, the different physics often reside on distinct meshes and data are coupled via simple interpolation, again leaving open questions of stability and accuracy.

Potential Environmental Benefits from Blending Biosolids with Other Organic Amendments before Application to Land.

Science.gov (United States)

Paramashivam, Dharini; Dickinson, Nicholas M; Clough, Timothy J; Horswell, Jacqui; Robinson, Brett H

2017-05-01

Biosolids disposal to landfill or through incineration is wasteful of a resource that is rich in organic matter and plant nutrients. Land application can improve soil fertility and enhance crop production but may result in excessive nitrate N (NO-N) leaching and residual contamination from pathogens, heavy metals, and xenobiotics. This paper evaluates evidence that these concerns can be reduced significantly by blending biosolids with organic materials to reduce the environmental impact of biosolids application to soils. It appears feasible to combine organic waste streams for use as a resource to build or amend degraded soils. Sawdust and partially pyrolyzed biochars provide an opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of biosolids application, with studies showing reductions of NO-N leaching of 40 to 80%. However, other organic amendments including lignite coal waste may result in excessive NO-N leaching. Field trials combining biosolids and biochars for rehabilitation of degraded forest and ecological restoration are recommended. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Environmental physics

CERN Document Server

Smith, Clare

2001-01-01

Environmental Physics is a comprehensive introduction to the physical concepts underlying environmental science. The importance and relevance of physics is emphasised by its application to real environmental problems with a wide range of case studies. Applications included cover energy use and production, global climate, the physics of living things, radioactivity, environmental remote sensing, noise pollution and the physics of the Earth. The book makes the subject accessible to those with little physics background, keeping mathematical treatment straightforward. The text is lively and informative, and is supplemented by numerous illustrations, photos, tables of useful data, and a glossary of key terms.

Estimating genetic covariance functions assuming a parametric correlation structure for environmental effects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meyer Karin

2001-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract A random regression model for the analysis of "repeated" records in animal breeding is described which combines a random regression approach for additive genetic and other random effects with the assumption of a parametric correlation structure for within animal covariances. Both stationary and non-stationary correlation models involving a small number of parameters are considered. Heterogeneity in within animal variances is modelled through polynomial variance functions. Estimation of parameters describing the dispersion structure of such model by restricted maximum likelihood via an "average information" algorithm is outlined. An application to mature weight records of beef cow is given, and results are contrasted to those from analyses fitting sets of random regression coefficients for permanent environmental effects.

40 CFR 725.260 - Submission of health and environmental effects data.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Submission of health and environmental effects data. 725.260 Section 725.260 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED... for Research and Development Activities § 725.260 Submission of health and environmental effects data...

40 CFR 725.160 - Submission of health and environmental effects data.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... their age, quality, or results. (b) Other data concerning the health and environmental effects of the... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Submission of health and environmental effects data. 725.160 Section 725.160 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED...

Environmental Requirements Management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cusack, Laura J.; Bramson, Jeffrey E.; Archuleta, Jose A.; Frey, Jeffrey A.

2015-01-08

CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CH2M HILL) is the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) prime contractor responsible for the environmental cleanup of the Hanford Site Central Plateau. As part of this responsibility, the CH2M HILL is faced with the task of complying with thousands of environmental requirements which originate from over 200 federal, state, and local laws and regulations, DOE Orders, waste management and effluent discharge permits, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) response and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action documents, and official regulatory agency correspondence. The challenge is to manage this vast number of requirements to ensure they are appropriately and effectively integrated into CH2M HILL operations. Ensuring compliance with a large number of environmental requirements relies on an organization’s ability to identify, evaluate, communicate, and verify those requirements. To ensure that compliance is maintained, all changes need to be tracked. The CH2M HILL identified that the existing system used to manage environmental requirements was difficult to maintain and that improvements should be made to increase functionality. CH2M HILL established an environmental requirements management procedure and tools to assure that all environmental requirements are effectively and efficiently managed. Having a complete and accurate set of environmental requirements applicable to CH2M HILL operations will promote a more efficient approach to: • Communicating requirements • Planning work • Maintaining work controls • Maintaining compliance

Application of X-ray emission techniques for monitoring environmental pollution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernasconi, G.; Danesi, P.R.; Dargie, M.; Haselberger, N.; Markowicz, A.; Tajani, A.

1997-01-01

X-ray emission techniques are versatile and powerful methods used for multielement non-destructive analysis. They include X-ray fluorescence (XRF), particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), scanning electron microscopy combined with X-ray spectrometry and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). Since many years the IAEA has utilised and promoted these techniques for the analysis of environmental, biological and geological samples. In this paper recent progress at our laboratory in selected aspects related to the application of X-ray emission techniques is briefly overviewed. (authors)

77 FR 21551 - New York City Department of Environmental Protection; Notice of Application Accepted for filing...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-10

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Project No. 13287-004] New York City Department of Environmental Protection; Notice of Application Accepted for filing And Soliciting Motions To Intervene and Protests Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been filed with the Commission and is available for public...

77 FR 16023 - New York City Department of Environmental Protection; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-19

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Project No. 13287-004] New York City Department of Environmental Protection; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been filed with the Commission and is available...

Proof of fatigue strength of nuclear components part II: Numerical fatigue analysis for transient stratification loading considering environmental effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krätschmer, D.; Roos, E.; Schuler, X.; Herter, K.-H.

2012-01-01

For the construction, design and operation of nuclear components and systems the appropriate technical codes and standards provide detailed analysis procedures which guarantee a reliable behaviour of the structural components throughout the specified lifetime. Especially for cyclic stress evaluation the different codes and standards provide different fatigue analyses procedures to be performed considering the various mechanical and thermal loading histories and geometric complexities of the components. To consider effects of light water reactor coolant environments, new design curves included in report NUREG/CR-6909 for austenitic stainless steels and for low alloy steels have been presented. For the usage of these new design curves an environmental fatigue correction factor for incorporating environmental effects has to be calculated and used. The application of this environmental correction factor to a fatigue analysis of a nozzle with transient stratification loads, derived by in-service monitoring, has been performed. The results are used to compare with calculated usage factors, based on design curves without taking environmental effects particularly into account. - Highlights: ► We model an nozzle for fatigue analysis und mechanical and thermal loading conditions. ► A simplified as well as a general elastic–plastic fatigue analysis considering environmental effects is performed. ► The influence of different factors calculating the environmental factor F en are shown. ► The presented numerical evaluation methodology allows the consideration of all relevant parameters to assess lifetime.

The Effects of Argumentation Implementation on Environmental Education Self Efficacy Beliefs and Perspectives According to Environmental Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Fettahlioglu, Pinar

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of argumentation implementation applied in the environmental science course on science teacher candidates' environmental education self-efficacy beliefs and perspectives according to environmental problems. In this mixed method research study, convergent parallel design was utilized.…

Environmental effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soon, W.; Baliunas, S.L.; Robinson, A.B.; Robinson, Z.W.

1999-01-01

A review of the literature concerning the environmental consequences of increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide leads to the conclusion that increases during the 20th century have produced no deleterious effects upon global climate or temperature. Increased carbon dioxide has, however, markedly increased plant growth rates as inferred from numerous laboratory and field experiments. There is no clear evidence, nor unique attribution, of the global effects of anthropogenic CO 2 on climate. Meaningful integrated assessments of the environmental impacts of anthropogenic CO 2 are not yet possible because model estimates of global and regional climate changes on interannual, decadal and centennial timescales remain highly uncertain.(author)

Rehabilitation of Problem Soils Through Environmental Friendly Technologies-I: Effect of Sabins and Farmyard Manure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baig, Mirza B.; Ziaeldin, Mohammad S.; Mahler, Robert L.

2004-01-01

Environmental problem due to land degradation in the developing countries have been a matter of great cocern for the decades. The rehabilitation of problem land has been through many chemical means and engineering approaches, that have resulted in enhancing the gravity and the magnitude of problems. The present studies were undertaken to examine the role of environmental friendly practices to address the salinity issue. the effect of organic manuring (green manure and farmyard manure) or rice was investigated in a field study on a saline-sodic soil of the Saline Agriculture Research Station, Sadhuke, Pakistan. Sesbania was grown as a green manuring crop for two months and then incorporated into soil. farmyard manure (FYM) was applied at the rate of 0, 5, 10 and 20/ha before the sowing of Sesbania. Rice,Cv. Basmati 385 was used as the indicator/test crop. Results revealed that both paddy and straw yields were significantly improved by the application of sesbina and FYM. Green manure with sesbina improved the paddy and straw yields by 15.4% and 14.5% respectively. Productive tillers were also increased by the application of FYM but difference were not significant between 10 and 20ha/ of FYM application. FYM application also improved the paddy and straw yield significantly. The incrase in paddy yield due to application of 5, 10 and 20/ha of FYM were 6.8%, 24.4% and 37.6% over control, respectively. Nitrogen and phosphprus utilizationn by rice were also significantly improved with the application of green manure. Nitrogen uptake by rice was incresed by 17.8% and that of phosphorus by 21.9% with the green manuring. Nitrogen uptake was significantlty increased by the application of different rates of FYM. Also phosphorus uptake was increased significantly with the application of FYM. (author)

Temperature effect on rose downy mildew development under environmental controlled conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan José Filgueira D.

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The rose downy mildew disease, caused by Peronospora sparsa Berkeley, is one of the most important that affect rose crops in Colombia. To manage this disease, flower growers must deal with high-costs due to the excessive application of fungicides, but without good results. Studies on P. sparsa behavior have shown its narrow relationship with environmental conditions. In this study, the temperature effect was evaluated during the infection and sporulation of P. sparsa in Charlotte leaflets, a susceptible commercial variety, through an environmental controlled conditions system. Infection and sporulation were observed at different temperatures in a range of from 4 to 40°C. Infection with the absence of or very low sporulation was observed at 4°C. The most favorable pathogen responses were between 15 and 18°C in terms of inoculum concentration and sporulation percentage. There was no infection or leaflet change above 35°C. According to the results, sporulation can occur from 4 to 33°C, confirming the fact that P. sparsa is able to reproduce throughout a wide temperature range.

Quality data validation: Comprehensive approach to environmental data validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matejka, L.A. Jr.

1993-01-01

Environmental data validation consists of an assessment of three major areas: analytical method validation; field procedures and documentation review; evaluation of the level of achievement of data quality objectives based in part on PARCC parameters analysis and expected applications of data. A program utilizing matrix association of required levels of validation effort and analytical levels versus applications of this environmental data was developed in conjunction with DOE-ID guidance documents to implement actions under the Federal Facilities Agreement and Consent Order in effect at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. This was an effort to bring consistent quality to the INEL-wide Environmental Restoration Program and database in an efficient and cost-effective manner. This program, documenting all phases of the review process, is described here

Environmental Impact from Outdoor/Environmental Education Programs: Effects of Frequent Stream Classes on Aquatic Macroinvertebrates

Science.gov (United States)

Bossley, Jon P.

2016-01-01

Environmental stewardship is an underlying theme in outdoor education (OE) and environmental education (EE), but maintaining natural areas in a sustainable balance between conservation and preservation requires knowledge about how natural areas respond to anthropogenic disturbance. My five-part study investigated the effects of disturbance on…

Application of factor analysis to chemically analyzed data in environmental samples after x-ray fluorescence analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Sayed, A.A.

2005-01-01

The underlying principle of factorial analysis is frequency distribution and description of reaction in between and through the element series in specific environmental samples. Application of this factor analysis was elaborated to interpret the variance and covariance of certain elements Si, Al, Ca. K, Fe, Ti and Mg in three different types of common materials in environmental sediments, soil, and rock. These evaluations were proceeded after x-ray fluorescence measurements. Results of applications of factorial statistical data analysis show that three factors cause relationship between the above elements in a certain type of environmental samples are mainly recognized. In such cases, these factors represent the main reason for findings and interpret all hidden relationship between the chemical analyzed data. Factor one, the effect of weathering type alteration and oxidation reaction processes as a main one in case of soil and rock where they are characterized by the close covariance of a group of metals, like iron and manganese, commonly derived from weathered and altered igneous rocks. Factor two and three represents other processes. In case of soil, formation of alumino-silicate is revealed in factor two due to the positive covariance of these elements and also the presence of aluminum oxide, titanium oxide and silicon dioxide together is explained by these positive values. The inverse relation between Ca, K, Fe and Mg while indicate the presence of mineral salts which may be due to fertilization and water of irrigation. In case of factor three in that soil, it is the weakest factor that can be used to explain the relationship between the above elements

The application of extraction chromatography to the determination of radionuclides in biological and environmental samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Testa, C.; Delle Site, A.

1976-01-01

The paper describe the application of extraction chromatography to the determination of several alpha and beta emitters in biological and environmental samples. Both column extraction chromatography and batch extraction process have been used to isolate the radionuclides from the samples. The effect of several parameters (extractant concentration, support granulometry, stirring time, temperature, presence of a complexing agent) on the extraction and elution has been examined. The application of redox extraction chromatography is also described. A very simple and rapid determination of the activity retained on the column can be obtained by transferring the slurry to a counting vial and by adding the scintillation liquid for a direct detection of the α or β emission. The counting efficiencies obtained with this technique are compared with those obtained with ion exchange resins. The organic polymers used for the extraction chromatography give about 100% counting efficiency. The conventional ion exchange resin cannot be used to this purpose because of their strong light absorption. (T.G.)

Environmental effects of indirect subsidies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Beers, C.P.; De Moor, A.P.G.; Van den Bergh, J.C.J.M.; Oosterhuis, F.H.

2003-01-01

The aim of the study on the title subject is to develop a transparent integrated method to determine and analyze the environmental impacts of indirect subsidies, applied in the sectors agriculture, energy, mobility, and tourism. From the results it appears that the hazardous effects of subsidies are big. Examples are milk, the regulating energy levy, and kerosene [nl

Radiological safety methodology in radioactive tracer applications for hydrodynamics and environmental studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suarez, R.; Badano, A.; Dellepere, A.; Artucio, G.; Bertolotti, A.

1995-01-01

The use of radioactive tracer techniques as control sewage disposal contamination in Montevideo Estuarine and Carrasco beach has been studied for the Nuclear Technology National Direction. Hydrodynamic models simulation has been introduced as work methodology. As well as radiological safety and radioactive material applications in the environmental studies has been evaluated mainly in the conclusions and recommendations in this report. maps

Effects of a 1-Day Environmental Education Intervention on Environmental Attitudes and Connectedness with Nature

Science.gov (United States)

Sellmann, Daniela; Bogner, Franz X.

2013-01-01

Besides cognitive learning effects, short-term environmental education (EE) is often regarded as ineffective in intervening with participants' environmental attitudes and behaviour. However, in Germany, school classes often participate in such 1-day EE programmes because they better match the school curriculum in contrast to longer (residential)…

The Environmental Science and Health Effects Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michael Gurevich; Doug Lawson; Joe Mauderly

2000-01-01

The goal of the Environmental Science and Health Effect Program is to conduct policy-relevant research that will help us understand atmospheric impacts and potential health effects that may be caused by the use of petroleum-based fuels and alternative transportation fuels from mobile sources

The Environmental Science and Health Effects Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Michael Gurevich; Doug Lawson; Joe Mauderly

2000-04-10

The goal of the Environmental Science and Health Effect Program is to conduct policy-relevant research that will help us understand atmospheric impacts and potential health effects that may be caused by the use of petroleum-based fuels and alternative transportation fuels from mobile sources.

Engineering the Surface/Interface Structures of Titanium Dioxide Micro and Nano Architectures towards Environmental and Electrochemical Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Xiaoliang; Zhao, Yanyan; Mølhave, Kristian

2017-01-01

advances in the surface and interface engineering and applications in environmental and electrochemical applications. We analyze the advantages of surface/interface engineered TiO₂ micro and nano structures, and present the principles and growth mechanisms of TiO₂ nanostructures via different strategies...

Environmental fiscal reforms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashish Chaturvedi

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The paper presents concepts and instruments of environmental fiscal reforms (EFR and their application in the Indian context. EFR can lead to environmental improvement more efficiently and cost effectively than traditional regulation. There is substantial experience of successful EFR implementation in the European Union. India has also adopted some EFR measures such as deregulation of petrol prices, coal cess, and subsidy for setting up common effluent treatment plants. The challenges of implementing EFR measures in India are also discussed, including inadequate analysis, policy framework and institutional capacity, as well as conflict with poverty reduction and building political support.

Environmental factor approach to account for water effects in pressure vessel and piping fatigue evaluations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mehta, H.S.; Gosselin, S.R.

1998-01-01

This paper summarizes past and current studies of the environmental fatigue effects in light water reactor (LWR) applications. Current Argonne and Japanese research efforts are reviewed and an approach to calculate an environmental correction factor is described. A description of how the proposed approach can be implemented in section III, NB-3600 and NB-3200-type fatigue evaluations is presented along with examples of applying the approach to piping (NB-3600) and safe end fatigue evaluations. These procedures were applied to several BWR and pressurized water reactor (PWR) example cases. The results of these case studies indicated that there is a modest increase in calculated fatigue usage, which is considerably less than the results obtained when the NUREG/CR-5999 curves are applied directly. (orig.)

Radiation protection principles applied to conventional industries producing deleterious environmental effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tadmor, J.

1980-01-01

Comparison of the radiation protection standards, for the population at large, with the conventional pollutants ambient standards, reveals differences in basic principles which result in more relaxed ambient standards for conventional pollutants and consequently, the penalization of the nuclear industry, due to the increased cost of its safety measures. It is proposed that radiation protection principles should be used as a prototype for pollutants having harmful environmental effects and that radiation health physicists should be active in the application of these principles of population protection. A case study of atmospheric release of SO 2 , under different conditions, is analyzed, to emphasize the importance of consideration of the size of the exposed population. (H.K.)

Assessing the environmental consequences of global climate and economic changes in Venezuela: Impacts of the greenhouse effect and of free trade agreements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acevedo, M.F.; Harwell, M.A.

1993-01-01

The ecological resources of most Latin American countries are subject to intense pressures for economic and industrial development which need to be balanced with local and global concerns about the long term sustainability of that resource base. Global issues and their potential long term effects should not be ignored when environmental policy strategies at the national level are elaborated. In this paper, the potential environmental consequences of two important global changes are examined, by taking Venezuela as a country case study: changes in climate, temperature, precipitation and radiation, generated by the greenhouse effect and changes in environmental stresses originating from shifts in local economic activity due to changing global trade, specifically free trade agreements. Both assessments are conducted using scenario-consequence approaches and expert judgment. The first analysis reported here is an example of the application of simulation models of global climate and local ecosystems, whereas the second analysis demonstrates the application of screening methodology which relies on processing of qualitative information. The approaches illustrated here are generic and can be applied to other Latin American countries

Life sciences and environmental sciences

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1992-02-01

The DOE laboratories play a unique role in bringing multidisciplinary talents -- in biology, physics, chemistry, computer sciences, and engineering -- to bear on major problems in the life and environmental sciences. Specifically, the laboratories utilize these talents to fulfill OHER's mission of exploring and mitigating the health and environmental effects of energy use, and of developing health and medical applications of nuclear energy-related phenomena. At Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) support of this mission is evident across the spectrum of OHER-sponsored research, especially in the broad areas of genomics, structural biology, basic cell and molecular biology, carcinogenesis, energy and environment, applications to biotechnology, and molecular, nuclear and radiation medicine. These research areas are briefly described.

Life sciences and environmental sciences

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1992-02-01

The DOE laboratories play a unique role in bringing multidisciplinary talents -- in biology, physics, chemistry, computer sciences, and engineering -- to bear on major problems in the life and environmental sciences. Specifically, the laboratories utilize these talents to fulfill OHER`s mission of exploring and mitigating the health and environmental effects of energy use, and of developing health and medical applications of nuclear energy-related phenomena. At Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) support of this mission is evident across the spectrum of OHER-sponsored research, especially in the broad areas of genomics, structural biology, basic cell and molecular biology, carcinogenesis, energy and environment, applications to biotechnology, and molecular, nuclear and radiation medicine. These research areas are briefly described.

Environmental effects of exploratory drilling offshore Canada : environmental effects monitoring data and literature review : final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hurley, G.; Ellis, J.

2004-10-01

This study examined pertinent environmental effects monitoring (EEM) information and data associated with offshore exploratory and development drilling in Canada. Two approaches were used: (1) a review of scientific literature was conducted to provide a synthesis of knowledge concerning interactions between exploratory drilling and the environment; and (2) a review of pertinent Canadian EEM data was conducted to evaluate interactions between exploratory drilling and the environment. Virtually all the east coast Canadian data reviewed in the study related to the effects of multiple wells. Although the effects of drilling waste were a primary focus, the effects of accidental discharges, lights and flaring, atmospheric emissions and noise emissions were also considered. Changes in the diversity and abundance of benthic organisms were detected within 1000 metres of many drill sites. The fine particles in drilling wastes contributed to the environmental effects observed around drilling platforms, and elevated body burden concentrations of drill waste indicators were detected over larger scales in a wide range of taxonomic groups. The results of laboratory and field studies suggested a lower potential for toxicity on commercial finfish and shellfish species. However, it was observed that measuring the effects of elevated concentrations of contaminants remained a challenge due to high levels variability in literature studies. A precautionary approach to the management of seismic surveys was recommended. It was concluded that the potential cumulative impacts of exploration drilling should be considered in the context of other anthropogenic activities. 138 refs., 6 tabs.

) The Application of Remote Sensing to Exploration and Production Projects in Shell Petroleum Development Company for Effective Environmental Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mpaka, O.E.

2003-01-01

Over the years (especially within the last decade) environmental issues have assumed a proportion that the oil industry appeared unprepared for. The oil industry has not been immune from the consequences of the awareness generated by various interest groups world-wide. Environmental Assessment has become an integral part of all projects in Shell Development Company [SPDC] and the remote sensing tool has shown to be vital for effective management of the environment. The Niger Delta operations area covers approximately 70.0002km, an area including mangrove swamps, extensive forest and agricultural development, and most SPDC onshore operations are carried out in this fragile environment. Project citing in this environment requires careful planning and articulation of environmentally friendly and cost effective routes and sites. The implementation of satellite image processing and analysis, using georeferenced multispectral imagery have provided information on vegetation and other land cover types, topography including drainage, and infrastructure. The derived information is used for planning new well locations; flowlines and location access routes; impact assessment and monitoring of the environment. This article discusses how the environment is better managed by applying the remote sensing technology in each project embarked upon in SPDC. Some of he projects discussed include: Forcados CCP, Oluwa-Ore and Awoba-Soku-Bonny gasline routes/site investigation and selection projects Oben, Uzere/Oroni Field Development Planning ;3D Ovio Seismic prospect planning ;Obigbo Pipeline squatter mapping

Environmental Application of Reporter-Genes Based Biosensors for Chemical Contamination Screening

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matejczyk Marzena

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents results of research concerning possibilities of applications of reporter-genes based microorganisms, including the selective presentation of defects and advantages of different new scientific achievements of methodical solutions in genetic system constructions of biosensing elements for environmental research. The most robust and popular genetic fusion and new trends in reporter genes technology – such as LacZ (β-galactosidase, xylE (catechol 2,3-dioxygenase, gfp (green fluorescent proteins and its mutated forms, lux (prokaryotic luciferase, luc (eukaryotic luciferase, phoA (alkaline phosphatase, gusA and gurA (β-glucuronidase, antibiotics and heavy metals resistance are described. Reporter-genes based biosensors with use of genetically modified bacteria and yeast successfully work for genotoxicity, bioavailability and oxidative stress assessment for detection and monitoring of toxic compounds in drinking water and different environmental samples, surface water, soil, sediments.

Environmental pollution-effects on national development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahyuddin bin Ramli; Mohd Fadzil bin Mohd Idris

1994-01-01

Environmental pollution is among the major issues highlighted in many discussion between the Government and Non-Government officials whether in the developed or developing countries. The problems becoming worsen when not many people are concerned on its detrimental effects on the future generations. The increasing number of forest activities without proper replanting will also expose to flood problems, soil erosion, landslides and many more as results of environmental impacts. The urbanization process, couple with the rapid industrial development, without having proper planning and inadequate pollutions control, may also create a long term disasters. Penang island territory has been experiencing the most highly physical development growth in this country. Hence, environmental problems are becoming the major issues. This paper will discuss on the various environmental problem, particularly in Penang and possible remedials to be taken by the state and federal authority to overcome the problems. The type of pollutions such as air and water pollutions, acid rain and of course the reduction of ozone layer. Besides that the increase of heat in our climate will also be of our concern in the process of urbanization

Environmental Radioactive Pollution Sources and Effects on Man

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Naggar, A.M.

1999-01-01

The sources of environmental radioactivity are essentially the naturally occurring radionuclides in the earth,s crust and the cosmogenic radionuclides reaching the environmental ecosystems. The other sources of environmental radioactivity are the man made sources which result from the radioactive materials in human life. The naturally occurring environmental radioactivity is an integral component of the terrestrial and extraterrestrial creation, and therefore it is not considered a source of radioactive pollution to the environment. The radioactive waste from human activities is released into the environment, and its radionuclide content becomes incorporated into the different ecosystems. This results in a situation of environmental radioactive pollution. This review presents the main features of environmental radioactive pollution, the radionuclide behaviour in the ecosystems, pathway models of radionuclides in the body and the probability of associated health hazards. The dose effect relationship of internal radiation exposure and its quantitative aspects are considered because of their relevance to this subject

DATA FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING (D4EM): BACKGROUND AND EXAMPLE APPLICATIONS OF DATA AUTOMATION

Science.gov (United States)

Data is a basic requirement for most modeling applications. Collecting data is expensive and time consuming. High speed internet connections and growing databases of online environmental data go a long way to overcoming issues of data scarcity. Among the obstacles still remaining...

Environmental context effects in conceptual explicit and implicit memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Andrew; Dagnall, Neil; Coyle, Anne-Marie

2007-05-01

Previous research has found environmental context effects for both conceptual explicit and conceptual implicit memory (Parker, Gellatly, & Waterman, 1999). The research presented here challenges these findings on methodological grounds. Experiment 1 assessed the effects of context change on category-exemplar generation (conceptual implicit memory test) and category-cued recall (conceptual explicit memory test). Experiment 2 assessed the effects of context change on word association (conceptual implicit memory test) and word associate cued recall (conceptual explicit memory test). In both experiments, study-test changes in environmental context were found to influence performance only on tests of explicit memory. It is concluded that when retrieval cues across explicit and implicit tests are matched, and the probability of explicit contamination is reduced, then only conceptual explicit test performance is reduced by study-test changes in environmental context.

Portable cosmic muon telescope for environmental applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barnafoeldi, Gergely Gabor [Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 29-33 Konkoly-Thege Miklos Str., H-1121 Budapest (Hungary); Hamar, Gergo [Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 29-33 Konkoly-Thege Miklos Str., H-1121 Budapest (Hungary); Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Eoetvoes University, 1/A Pazmany P. setany, H-1117 Budapest (Hungary); Melegh, Hunor Gergely [Budapest University of Technology and Economics, 3-9 Muegyetem rkp., H-1111 Budapest (Hungary); Olah, Laszlo [Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Eoetvoes University, 1/A Pazmany P. setany, H-1117 Budapest (Hungary); Suranyi, Gergely [Geological, Geophysical and Space Science Research Group of the HAS, Eoetvoes University, 1/C Pazmany P. setany, H-1117 Budapest (Hungary); Varga, Dezso, E-mail: dezso.varga@cern.ch [Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Eoetvoes University, 1/A Pazmany P. setany, H-1117 Budapest (Hungary)

2012-10-11

A portable, low power consumption cosmic muon tracking system based on Close Cathode MWPC technology is presented, which is designed for operation in highly humid environmental conditions such as underground caves, tunnels, or cellars. The system measures the angular distribution of cosmic muons with resolution of 10 mrad, allowing for a tomographic mapping of the soil density above the detector unit. The size of the detector, 0.1 m{sup 2} of total sensitive surface, was designed to fulfill the requirement of transport through humanly passable natural cave tunnels. First results from the Ariadne Cave System in Pilis Mountains, Hungary are shown, which constrains the necessary data taking time for meaningful tomographic mapping. -- Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Cosmic muon tracking system for underground applications presented. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Operation in highly humid environment of natural caves demonstrated. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Tomographic mapping at 60 m depth was performed during 50 days in Pilis Mountains, Hungary.

Effective mechanisms for environmental awareness enhancement of the Thai public company

Science.gov (United States)

Tilokwan, P.; Limjirakan, S.

2018-02-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore effective mechanisms towards environmental awareness enhancement of the Thai public company. The environmental awareness has been strongly mentioned in the international agenda such as Agenda 21 to achieve sustainable development and be implemented at the global communities in all sectors. Thailand’s environmental awareness has been set up as the national policy and continuously promoted in the business sectors. The selected study area is one of Thai industrial public companies mainly utilizing natural resources for its business. Data collection was conducted by using questionnaires with a stratified sampling method comprising of 28 managerial and 134 operational levels. Descriptive statistics were be used for data analysis presented in terms of percentage. The study found that the effective mechanisms towards environmental awareness enhancement include employees’ participation in environmental friendly field trip, environmental knowledge provided by the company, supply chain involvement, law enforcement, and international environmental standard applied by the company. This study would recommend that public participation should be involved in order to make the mechanisms effectively.

Influence of fossil energy applications on environmental pollution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Balat, M.; Ayar, G.; Oguzhan, C.; Uluduz, H.; Faiz, U. [University of Mahallesi, Trabzon (Turkey)

2007-07-01

The aim of this work is to investigate influence of fossil energy applications on the environmental pollution. Turkey's high rate of economic growth experienced during much of the 1990s, besides resulting in booming industrial production, also led to higher levels of energy consumption, imports, air and water pollution, and greater risks to the country's environment. Air pollution is a major problem in Turkey, with key pollutants including sulfur dioxide, suspended particulates, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide. In Turkey, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels totaled about 50.07 million tons in 2001. However, fuel share of carbon emissions in 2001 was oil 44.2%, coal 38.8%, and natural gas 16.9%. Total carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are expected to be 104 million tons in 2025.

Environmental management in the Mexican tourism sector. Effects of regulation on hotel performance

OpenAIRE

Vargas, Elva Esther; Zizumbo, Lilia; Viesca, Felipe Carlos; Serrano, Rocío del Carmen

2011-01-01

This article analyses the role of public institutions in environmental management, and the application of the National Environmental Audit Programme in the Mexican tourism sector. The research recognizes the role of the hoteliers in the development of tourist zones, and in the alteration of the natural environment. This is an exploratory study of the general perception of management of 28 hotels in the Cancún area regarding the environmental management of their businesses, the factors which l...

An Integrated Computer-Aided Approach for Environmental Studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gani, Rafiqul; Chen, Fei; Jaksland, Cecilia

1997-01-01

A general framework for an integrated computer-aided approach to solve process design, control, and environmental problems simultaneously is presented. Physicochemical properties and their relationships to the molecular structure play an important role in the proposed integrated approach. The sco...... and applicability of the integrated approach is highlighted through examples involving estimation of properties and environmental pollution prevention. The importance of mixture effects on some environmentally important properties is also demonstrated....

Application of an uncertainty analysis approach to strategic environmental assessment for urban planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yi; Chen, Jining; He, Weiqi; Tong, Qingyuan; Li, Wangfeng

2010-04-15

Urban planning has been widely applied as a regulatory measure to guide a city's construction and management. It represents official expectations on future population and economic growth and land use over the urban area. No doubt, significant variations often occur between planning schemes and actual development; in particular in China, the world's largest developing country experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization. This in turn leads to difficulty in estimating the environmental consequences of the urban plan. Aiming to quantitatively analyze the uncertain environmental impacts of the urban plan's implementation, this article developed an integrated methodology combining a scenario analysis approach and a stochastic simulation technique for strategic environmental assessment (SEA). Based on industrial development scenarios, Monte Carlo sampling is applied to generate all possibilities of the spatial distribution of newly emerged industries. All related environmental consequences can be further estimated given the industrial distributions as input to environmental quality models. By applying a HSY algorithm, environmentally unacceptable urban growth, regarding both economic development and land use spatial layout, can be systematically identified, providing valuable information to urban planners and decision makers. A case study in Dalian Municipality, Northeast China, is used to illustrate applicability of this methodology. The impacts of Urban Development Plan for Dalian Municipality (2003-2020) (UDP) on atmospheric environment are also discussed in this article.

The Nordic EIA-effectiveness workshop. A contribution to the international study of effectiveness of environmental assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hilden, M.; Laitinen, R. [eds.

1995-09-01

The Nordic EIA-effectiveness (Environmental Impact Assessment) workshop met in Tuusula, Finland 10-12 april 1994. EIA-experts from all Nordic countries and Canada discussed cases in which environmental impact assessment procedures had been applied with varying success. Nordic cases are included in the proceedings as separate chapters. The problems and successes of diverse cases allowed experts to identify key issues and avenues for future development. The reports of the working groups cover all stages of the EIA-process and provide reference material for future studies. `How can we ensure that EIA, which now has legal backing in all Nordic countries, becomes an efficient way to improve public participation and to avoid deleterious changes in the environment?` is the basic theme. Several recommendations were put forward for building on the results of the workshop, i.e. to: 1) elaborate and consolidate the criteria developed by the working groups and cross reference with the results of other international workshops; 2) review their application of EIA capacity building in countries with transitional economies; 3) test the proposed guidelines of good practice in EIAs in Nordic countries and disseminate the results; establish ecosystem specific approaches for sensitive and distinctive bioregions; and 5) focus on the Arctic as a priority area shared by eight northern countries and covered by a regional environmental strategy. (AB)

THEORETICAL ASPECTS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXPENDITURES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

HOLT ALINA GEORGIANA

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Air and water quality are vital for human life and our societies devote large sums of money to reduce pollution and conserve a healthy environment. Much of the financial resources mobilized to finance environmental protection come from private sources - entrepreneurs pay to eliminate environmentally harmful waste safely, or to mitigate the effects of polluting production processes. But while technology standards, environmental permits, pollution taxes play an important role in correcting the behavior of society, public expenditure presents also a very important variable in efforts to support the environment.

Environmental effects of ozone depletion, UV radiation and interactions with climate change: UNEP Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, update 2017

Science.gov (United States)

The Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (EEAP) is one of three Panels of experts that inform the Parties to the Montreal Protocol. The EEAP focuses on the effects of UV radiation on human health, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, air quality, and materials, as well as on the...

COMPARISON OF A FIXED-WING AND MULTI-ROTOR UAV FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MAPPING APPLICATIONS: A CASE STUDY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. A. Boon

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The advent and evolution of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs and photogrammetric techniques has provided the possibility for on-demand high-resolution environmental mapping. Orthoimages and three dimensional products such as Digital Surface Models (DSMs are derived from the UAV imagery which is amongst the most important spatial information tools for environmental planning. The two main types of UAVs in the commercial market are fixed-wing and multi-rotor. Both have their advantages and disadvantages including their suitability for certain applications. Fixed-wing UAVs normally have longer flight endurance capabilities while multi-rotors can provide for stable image capturing and easy vertical take-off and landing. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess the performance of a fixed-wing versus a multi-rotor UAV for environmental mapping applications by conducting a specific case study. The aerial mapping of the Cors-Air model aircraft field which includes a wetland ecosystem was undertaken on the same day with a Skywalker fixed-wing UAV and a Raven X8 multi-rotor UAV equipped with similar sensor specifications (digital RGB camera under the same weather conditions. We compared the derived datasets by applying the DTMs for basic environmental mapping purposes such as slope and contour mapping including utilising the orthoimages for identification of anthropogenic disturbances. The ground spatial resolution obtained was slightly higher for the multi-rotor probably due to a slower flight speed and more images. The results in terms of the overall precision of the data was noticeably less accurate for the fixed-wing. In contrast, orthoimages derived from the two systems showed small variations. The multi-rotor imagery provided better representation of vegetation although the fixed-wing data was sufficient for the identification of environmental factors such as anthropogenic disturbances. Differences were observed utilising the respective DTMs

Comparison of a Fixed-Wing and Multi-Rotor Uav for Environmental Mapping Applications: a Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Boon, M. A.; Drijfhout, A. P.; Tesfamichael, S.

2017-08-01

The advent and evolution of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and photogrammetric techniques has provided the possibility for on-demand high-resolution environmental mapping. Orthoimages and three dimensional products such as Digital Surface Models (DSMs) are derived from the UAV imagery which is amongst the most important spatial information tools for environmental planning. The two main types of UAVs in the commercial market are fixed-wing and multi-rotor. Both have their advantages and disadvantages including their suitability for certain applications. Fixed-wing UAVs normally have longer flight endurance capabilities while multi-rotors can provide for stable image capturing and easy vertical take-off and landing. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess the performance of a fixed-wing versus a multi-rotor UAV for environmental mapping applications by conducting a specific case study. The aerial mapping of the Cors-Air model aircraft field which includes a wetland ecosystem was undertaken on the same day with a Skywalker fixed-wing UAV and a Raven X8 multi-rotor UAV equipped with similar sensor specifications (digital RGB camera) under the same weather conditions. We compared the derived datasets by applying the DTMs for basic environmental mapping purposes such as slope and contour mapping including utilising the orthoimages for identification of anthropogenic disturbances. The ground spatial resolution obtained was slightly higher for the multi-rotor probably due to a slower flight speed and more images. The results in terms of the overall precision of the data was noticeably less accurate for the fixed-wing. In contrast, orthoimages derived from the two systems showed small variations. The multi-rotor imagery provided better representation of vegetation although the fixed-wing data was sufficient for the identification of environmental factors such as anthropogenic disturbances. Differences were observed utilising the respective DTMs for the mapping

Effectiveness Of Implementation Of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR In The Environmental Law Enforcement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irwansyah

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Development in Indonesia refers to the concept of sustainable development (sustainable development and responsibility for the environment . Companies have a social responsibility to social and environmental consequences of environmental damage that caused . Implementation of corporate social responsibility ( Cooperate Social Responsibility is an important part in the framework part of the enforcement of environmental law . Implementation of CSR growing rapidly , including in Indonesia . Through Law No. 40 Year 2007 regarding Limited Liability Company , specifically in Article 74, in response to the action of the business world to social and environmental causes damages to society . But in application / CSR implementation will be undertaken by the company is not maximized with implications for the enforcement of environmental law.

Applications of short-lived activation products in neutron activation analysis of bio-environmental specimens

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-03-01

This report discusses the advantages and disadvantages, special techniques, and actual and potential applications of neutron activation analysis (NAA) utilizing short-lived neutron-induced products, with special reference to the analysis of samples of biological and environmental origin. Attention is devoted mainly to products having half-lives in roughly the range of 10 milliseconds to 60 seconds, but with some discussion of the usefulness of even shorter-lived species, and ones with half-lives as long as a few minutes. Important aspects of the analytical methodology include sample preparation, irradiation/transfer systems, activity measurements, data processing and analytical quality assurance. It is concluded that several trace elements can be determined in bio-environmental samples (as well as in samples of industrial, geochemical and other origin). In particular, this method provides analytical possibilities for several elements (e.g. B, F, Li and V) that are difficult to determine in some matrices at trace levels by any other technique. These conclusions are illustrated in an annex by results of calculations in which the applicability of the techniques to the analysis of several biological and environmental reference materials is evaluated by means of an advance computer prediction program. The report concludes with an annotated bibliography of relevant publications (including abstracts, where available) taken from the INIS database. (author)

Environmental implications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, K.

1997-01-01

The environmental concerns typical of the Canadian Arctic and the Beaufort Sea, which impacted on oil and gas exploration were discussed. Environmental regulations and legislation in existence were explained. Most regulations required submission of permit applications that among other things, described the type of equipment to be used and the time and duration of the use. Companies also had to demonstrate that they had the capability to deal with oil spill scenarios. If an oil spill had a significant effect on the numbers of animals, the Inuit would have to be compensated. According to members of the native population, much damage was done initially to wildlife habitats and population, although this improved somewhat later as regulations concerning seismic and explosive activities were strengthened and technology improved, producing fewer harmful environmental impacts. All in all, activity in the Beaufort Sea did not result in any major environmental disasters, but there were many disturbances in the seafloor, permafrost and ice dynamics, as well as an increase in ambient noise levels which resulted in behavioural changes in the organisms close to the drilling activities. 19 figs

Application of Whole Genome Expression Analysis to Assess Bacterial Responses to Environmental Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Vukanti, R. V.; Mintz, E. M.; Leff, L. G.

2005-05-01

Bacterial responses to environmental signals are multifactorial and are coupled to changes in gene expression. An understanding of bacterial responses to environmental conditions is possible using microarray expression analysis. In this study, the utility of microarrays for examining changes in gene expression in Escherichia coli under different environmental conditions was assessed. RNA was isolated, hybridized to Affymetrix E. coli Genome 2.0 chips and analyzed using Affymetrix GCOS and Genespring software. Major limiting factors were obtaining enough quality RNA (107-108 cells to get 10μg RNA)and accounting for differences in growth rates under different conditions. Stabilization of RNA prior to isolation and taking extreme precautions while handling RNA were crucial. In addition, use of this method in ecological studies is limited by availability and cost of commercial arrays; choice of primers for cDNA synthesis, reproducibility, complexity of results generated and need to validate findings. This method may be more widely applicable with the development of better approaches for RNA recovery from environmental samples and increased number of available strain-specific arrays. Diligent experimental design and verification of results with real-time PCR or northern blots is needed. Overall, there is a great potential for use of this technology to discover mechanisms underlying organisms' responses to environmental conditions.

Environmental effects of energy conversion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hansmeyer, K.H.; Fortak, H.; Knoepp, H.; Lindackers, K.H.; Schafhausen, F.; Schoedel, J.P.

1984-01-01

The article presents an analysis of energy conversion systems by the ''Council of Environmental Experts'' in order to correct the erroneous assumption that small energy conversion systems will also be small-scale and negligible emitters of pollutants. The additional pollution caused by Neurath power plant is considered to be low, at least in its immediate vicinity, owing to the implementation of the most recent technical developments. The environmental effects of energy conversion processes are discussed, including the waste heat problem and processes for water-cooling of power plants. General aspects of a new concept of energy taxation are discussed which is to reduce energy consumption. The problem of radioactive waste is discussed from spent fuel storage and reprocessing to the decommissioning of older power plants. The author points out that also new fossil-fuel technologies will pollute the environment. (orig.) [de

A Semantic Sensor Web for Environmental Decision Support Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raúl García-Castro

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Sensing devices are increasingly being deployed to monitor the physical world around us. One class of application for which sensor data is pertinent is environmental decision support systems, e.g., flood emergency response. For these applications, the sensor readings need to be put in context by integrating them with other sources of data about the surrounding environment. Traditional systems for predicting and detecting floods rely on methods that need significant human resources. In this paper we describe a semantic sensor web architecture for integrating multiple heterogeneous datasets, including live and historic sensor data, databases, and map layers. The architecture provides mechanisms for discovering datasets, defining integrated views over them, continuously receiving data in real-time, and visualising on screen and interacting with the data. Our approach makes extensive use of web service standards for querying and accessing data, and semantic technologies to discover and integrate datasets. We demonstrate the use of our semantic sensor web architecture in the context of a flood response planning web application that uses data from sensor networks monitoring the sea-state around the coast of England.

Impact of long-term land application of broiler litter on environmentally related soil properties

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kingery, W.L. [Mississippi State Univ., MS (United States); Wood, C.W.; Mullins, G.L. [Auburn Univ., AL (United States)] [and others

1994-01-01

The largest portion of Alabama`s rapidly growing poultry industry is geographically concentrated in the Sand Mountain region of northern Alabama. The result is that large amounts of waste are applied to relatively small areas of agricultural soils. A study was conducted to determine the effects of long-term broiler waste (litter) application on environmentally related soil conditions in the region. The region has an average annual rainfall of 1325 mm, which is evenly distributed throughout the year, a thermic temperature regime, and soils in the region are of the Ultisol order. In each of four major broiler-producing counties, three pairs of sites consisting of long-term (15-28 yr) littered and nonlittered fields on matching soil series and maintained under perennial tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) were sampled. Soil cores were taken to 3 m or lithic contact and depth-incremented samples (0-15, 15-30, and each subsequent 30-cm interval) were analyzed for organic C, total N, NO{sub 3}-N, pH, electrical conductivity, and acid-extractable P, K, Ca, Mg, Co, and Zn. Litter application increased organic C and total N to depths of 15 and 30 cm, respectively, as compared with nonlittered soils, whereas pH was 0.5 units higher to a depth of 60 cm under littered soils. Significant accumulation of NO{sub 3}N was found in littered soils to or near bedrock. Extractable P concentrations in littered soils were more than six times greater than in nonlittered soils to a depth of 60 cm. Elevated levels of extractable K, Ca, and Mg to depths greater than 60 cm also were found as a result of long-term litter use. Extractable Cu and Zn had accumulated in littered soils to a depth of 45 cm. These findings indicate that long-term land application of broiler litter, at present rates, has altered soil chemical conditions and has created a potential for adverse environmental impacts in the Sand Mountain region of Alabama. 43 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.

Environmental applications of electron-beam technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pikaev, A.K.

2001-01-01

The main directions of modern environmental applications of electron-beam technology are the following: 1) treatment of polluted natural and drinking water, municipal and industrial wastewater, other liquid wastes; 2) purification of gases; 3) treatment of sewage sludges; 4) treatment of solid wastes (medical wastes, contaminated soil and so on). In some cases, the results of respective researches and developments found a large-scale application. For example, recently several industrial plants for electron-beam purification of flue gases of thermal power plants from SO2 and NOx were created in China, Poland and Japan. In the report, a brief summary of the most important results obtained in the mentioned directions will be presented. A special attention will be paid to the data in the first direction. In particular, the recent results on radiation treatment of some liquid systems obtained in the laboratory under author's leadership will be considered. One of them is water polluted with petroleum products (motor oil, diesel fuel, residual fuel oil). The pollutants were present in water in dissolved form and as a separate phase. It was found that irradiation (dose 25-40 kGy) decomposes and removes the pollutants as a precipitate. The second system is natural oil gas consisting of gaseous and low-boiling hydrocarbons, water and so on. Laboratory- and pilot-scale (with electron accelerator of 0.7 MeV and 30 kW) studies have shown that electron-beam treatment (in a recycling regime with continuous sampling the liquid phase) of this gas leads to the formation of a mixture of liquid branched hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers and so on, i.e., there is a radiation-induced liquefaction of the natural oil gas. The mechanism of radiolytic conversions occurring in the mentioned systems will be discussed

Moderating Effects of Trust on Environmentally Significant Behavior in Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seong-Gin Moon

2017-03-01

Full Text Available To treat environmental problems and to seek sustainable development, voluntary and cooperative efforts, which is really against the traditional mentality with the emphasis on the individual competitive optimization, became the key to maintain the sustainability of complex social and ecological systems. To understand the cooperative and voluntary individual’s environmentally significant behavior (ESB, this paper focuses on the role of trust, and assesses the effect of trust on the relationship between existing factors and ESB. A structural equation model (SEM is constructed to estimate the moderating effects of trust on ESB in Korea. We found that people with a negative view on strict environmental regulations do not exhibit ESB and thus nudge policies could be much more effective than the forceful measure. It is noteworthy that public private partnership, as a kind of optimal trust, should be more promoted in the environmental protection policies.

APPLICATION OF GIS TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IN THE HORNÁD VALLEY

OpenAIRE

Jablonská Jana; Dugáček Dušan; Orlitová Erika; Timčák Gejza M.

1997-01-01

The paper discusses some of the possibilities of managing environmental issues linked with industrial and communal activities, using the support of GIS. At the Dept. of Geology and Mineralogy (Numerical geolo-gy section) the first steps has been made to enable a participative monitoring of the state of the environment in the Hornád river valley through a number of projects. (RECENT, Hornád river watching). A number of speciali-zed application software was developed (for the MicroStation envir...

Potential environmental implications of nanoscale zero-valent iron particles for environmental remediation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min-Hee Jang

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Objectives Nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI particles are widely used in the field of various environmental contaminant remediation. Although the potential benefits of nZVI are considerable, there is a distinct need to identify any potential risks after environmental exposure. In this respect, we review recent studies on the environmental applications and implications of nZVI, highlighting research gaps and suggesting future research directions. Methods Environmental application of nZVI is briefly summarized, focusing on its unique properties. Ecotoxicity of nZVI is reviewed according to type of organism, including bacteria, terrestrial organisms, and aquatic organisms. The environmental fate and transport of nZVI are also summarized with regards to exposure scenarios. Finally, the current limitations of risk determination are thoroughly provided. Results The ecotoxicity of nZVI depends on the composition, concentration, size and surface properties of the nanoparticles and the experimental method used, including the species investigated. In addition, the environmental fate and transport of nZVI appear to be complex and depend on the exposure duration and the exposure conditions. To date, field-scale data are limited and only short-term studies using simple exposure methods have been conducted. Conclusions In this regard, the primary focus of future study should be on 1 the development of an appropriate and valid testing method of the environmental fate and ecotoxicity of reactive nanoparticles used in environmental applications and 2 assessing their potential environmental risks using in situ field scale applications.

77 FR 1501 - Special Purpose Permit Application; Draft Environmental Assessment; Hawaii-Based Shallow-Set...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-10

...-FF01M01000] Special Purpose Permit Application; Draft Environmental Assessment; Hawaii-Based Shallow-Set... the operation of the Hawaii-based shallow-set longline fishery that targets swordfish (Xiphias gladius... albatross, by NMFS in its regulation of the shallow-set longline fishery based in Hawaii. This fishery...

Effects of Alternative Framing on the Publics Perceived Importance of Environmental Conservation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amanda E Sorensen

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Effective communication of science to the general public is important for numerous reasons, including support for policy, funding, informed public decision making, among others. Prior research has found that scientists participating in public policy and public communication must frame their communication efforts in order to connect with audiences. A frame is the mechanism that individuals use to understand and interpret the world around them. Framing can encourage specific interpretations and reference points for a particular issue or event; especially when meaning is negotiated between the media and public audiences. In this study, we looked at the effect of framing within an environmental conservation context. To do this we had survey respondents rank common issues, among them being environmental conservation, from most important to least important for the government to address. We framed environmental conservation using three synonymous terms (environmental security, ecosystem services, and environmental quality to assess whether there was an effect on rankings dependent on how we framed environmental conservation. We also investigated the effect of individuals’ personality characteristics (identity frame on those environmental conservation rankings. We found that individuals who self-identified as environmentalist were positively associated with ranking highly (most important environmental conservation when it was framed as either environmental quality or ecosystem services, but not when it was framed as environmental security. Conversely, those individuals who did not rank themselves highly as self-identified environmentalists were positively associated with environmental conservation when it was framed as environmental security. This research suggests that framing audience specific messages can engender audience support in hot-button issues such as environmental conservation and climate change.

Genetic and environmental effects of mortality before age 70 years

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Liselotte; Andersen, Per Kragh; Sørensen, Thorkild I.A.

2008-01-01

BACKGROUND:: There is a familial influence on risk of many diseases and on mortality in general, which, according to studies of twins, is due to a combination of genetic and environmental effects. Adoption studies, which rest on different assumptions, may also be used to estimate separately...... the genetic and environmental effects on rate of dying. METHODS:: The genetic influence on the rate of dying before age 70 years was investigated by estimation of the associations in total and cause-specific mortality of Danish adoptees and their biologic full and half siblings. Familial environmental...

Life cycle modelling of environmental impacts from application of processed organic municipal solid waste on agricultural land (EASEWASTE)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Trine Lund; Bhander, Gurbakhash Singh; Christensen, Thomas Højlund

2006-01-01

and use of commercial fertilizers. The model is part of a larger model, Environmental Assessment of Solid Waste Systems and Technology (EASEWASTE), developed as a decisionsupport model, focusing on assessment of alternative waste management options. The environmental impacts of the land application......A model capable of quantifying the potential environmental impacts of agricultural application of composted or anaerobically digested source-separated organic municipal solid waste (MSW) is presented. In addition to the direct impacts, the model accounts for savings by avoiding the production...... of processed organic waste are quantified by emission coefficients referring to the composition of the processed waste and related to specific crop rotation as well as soil type. The model contains several default parameters based on literature data, field experiments and modelling by the agro-ecosystem model...

Application of Synchrotron Radiation-based Methods for Environmental Biogeochemistry: Introduction to the Special Section

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hettiarachchi, Ganga M.; Donner, Erica; Doelsch, Emmanuel

2017-01-01

To understand the biogeochemistry of nutrients and contaminants in environmental media, their speciation and behavior under different conditions and at multiple scales must be determined. Synchrotron radiation-based X-ray techniques allow scientists to elucidate the underlying mechanisms responsible for nutrient and contaminant mobility, bioavailability, and behavior. The continuous improvement of synchrotron light sources and X-ray beamlines around the world has led to a profound transformation in the field of environmental biogeochemistry and, subsequently, to significant scientific breakthroughs. Following this introductory paper, this special collection includes 10 papers that either present targeted reviews of recent advancements in spectroscopic methods that are applicable to environmental biogeochemistry or describe original research studies conducted on complex environmental samples that have been significantly enhanced by incorporating synchrotron radiation-based X-ray technique(s). We believe that the current focus on improving the speciation of ultra-dilute elements in environmental media through the ongoing optimization of synchrotron technologies (e.g., brighter light sources, improved monochromators, more efficient detectors) will help to significantly push back the frontiers of environmental biogeochemistry research. As many of the relevant techniques produce extremely large datasets, we also identify ongoing improvements in data processing and analysis (e.g., software improvements and harmonization of analytical methods) as a significant requirement for environmental biogeochemists to maximize the information that can be gained using these powerful tools.

Multipurpose terahertz quantum cascade laser based system for industrial, environmental and meteorological applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taslakov, M; Simeonov, V; Bergh, H van den

2008-01-01

A portable system, based on a pulsed quantum cascade laser (QCL) is developed. The QCL operates at near to ambient temperature in a pulsed mode with relatively long pulse duration in the range of 200 - 500 ns. The system design is flexible, allowing its use for a number of open path or cell-internal applications. Due to the so called fingerprint spectral region, high haze and turbulence immunity and low beam divergence, this system can be used in various applications. The first group includes environmental monitoring of a number of trace gases as CH 4 , NH 3 , CO, O 3 , CO 2 , HNO 3 , hydrocarbons and many others. The meteorological applications include measuring the average humidity and temperature. Industrial surveillance control is another important application. Remote measurement of some physical parameters, as temperature or pressure, as well as for interferometric measurements are also possible. Space resolved study of air turbulence even in fog is another promising application. Security, speed control, open path data transfer and remote readout of information are but a few other real applications of our QCL based portable system

Review of four major environmental effects monitoring programs in the oil sands region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lott, E.O.; Jones, R.K.

2010-10-01

The lack of knowledge on current environmental effects monitoring programs for the mineable oil sands region generates a low public confidence in environment health monitoring and reporting programs for the oil sands operations. In 2010, the Oil Sands Research and Information Network (OSRIN) supervised a study reviewing the major environmental effects monitoring programs that are underway in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. Four main environmental effects monitoring and reporting organizations existing in the oil sands area were engaged to describe their programs through this study: Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI), Cumulative Environmental Management Association (CEMA), Regional Aquatic Monitoring Program (RAMP), Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA). These different organizations have specific roles in providing information, data and understanding of ecosystem effects. A one page visual summary of environmental effects monitoring in the oil sands area resulted from the information received from these organizations and detailed fact sheets were presented for each one of the programs. The report of this study also presents seven other environmental monitoring initiatives or organizations such as Alberta Environment and Environment Canada environmental effects monitoring program. The main observation that emerged from the review was the lack of detailed understanding shown by the stakeholders regarding the monitoring activities performed in the oil sands area. There is a lack of communication of the different programs that are conducted in the region. The study also pointed out that no efforts were put in cross-linking the various programs to be assured that every concerns related to environmental effects associated with oil sands operations were addressed. A better understanding of environmental effects and an improvement in public confidence in the data and its interpretation would probably be observed with the establishment of a