Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Environmental impact of combustion of ethanolic biodiesel/diesel blends from several feedstocks on the gas emission levels in the atmosphere Abstract The aim of this work was to evaluate simultaneously the effect of produced ethanolic biodiesel from several feedstocks (soybean, crambe, macaw, sunflower, and waste cooking oil) and engine operational conditions (low and high engine speed) during combustion of biodiesel/diesel blends on the N2O, NOx, NO, CO2, and CO emission levels in the atmosphere. The biodiesel samples were prepared in one and/or two reaction steps, according to the acid index of each raw material, by esterification using H2SO4 and/or chemical transesterification using sodium ethoxide, both, through ethanolic route. The quality of the produced biodiesels was confirmed by ASTM/EN specifications. Then, biodiesel/diesel blends were prepared according to the following proportions: 10% (B10), 15% (B15), 25% (B25), and 50% (B50). In general way, all raw materials under combustion at low and high engine speed contributed to the formation of NOx and this effect was more drastically increased as the biodiesel concentration in the blends increases. N2O presented a similar behavior except for blends containing crambe and macaw biodiesel whose emissions were slightly reduced as a function of biodiesel content in these blends. Then, Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to discriminate the effect of engine operating conditions, biodiesel kind, and biodiesel content in the blends during their combustion on the exhaust emissions. The attained results point to crambe and macaw as more environmentally sustainable feedstocks for biodiesel production because they generate less greenhouse gas emissions. These results are particularly attractive considering that, both, crambe and macaw are non-edible feedstocks with great potential for biodiesel production.

Arsenic contamination in Kolkata metropolitan city: perspective of transportation of agricultural products from arsenic-endemic areas Abstract Arsenic exposure route for humans is through the drinking of contaminated water and intake of arsenic-contaminated foods, particularly in arsenic-exposed areas of Bengal delta. Transport of the arsenic-contaminated crops and vegetables grown using arsenic-contaminated groundwater and soil in arsenic-exposed areas to the uncontaminated sites and consequent dietary intakes leads to great threats for the population residing in non-endemic areas with respect to consumption of arsenic through drinking water. We have studied the food materials collected from 30 families and their dietary habits, apparently who consume arsenic-free drinking water as well as 9 well-known markets of Kolkata city. The total and inorganic arsenic intake has been estimated from the collected foodstuffs from the market basket survey (n = 93) and household survey (n = 139), respectively for human risk analysis. About 100% of the collected samples contained detectable amount of arsenic (range 24–324 μg/kg), since the origin of the food materials was somewhere from arsenic-endemic areas. The daily consumption of inorganic arsenic (iAs) from rice grain and vegetables for adult and children is 76 μg and 41.4 μg, respectively. Inorganic arsenic (mainly arsenite and arsenate) contributes approximately 88% of the total content of arsenic in vegetable. In most of the cases, insufficient nutrient intake by the studied population may lead to arsenic toxicity in the long run. An independent cancer risk assessment study on the same population indicates that the main risk of cancer might appear through the intake of arsenic-contaminated rice grain and cereals.

Potential dietary factors for reducing lead burden of Chinese preschool children Abstract Dietary approaches to treat children's low lead exposure are implemented routinely in China, while evidence for the effect could not be provided until now. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between diets including nutrition supplementation and blood lead level of preschool children of China. In total, 17,859 preschool children from 14 cities were recruited, and their social-demography, living environment, and dietary intakes were collected, and capillary blood sample was tested for lead concentration. The average blood lead concentration was 34.5 μg/L, and after adjusting children's social-demography factors, the consumption of milk or dairy production, fruits, and calcium supplementation had negative dose-response relationships with blood lead level. Conversely, intake of iron-rich food and supplementation was not associated. Further studies are needed to prove the causal relationships.

Occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in air and soil surrounding a coal-fired thermal power plant in the south-west coast of India Abstract This investigation focused on the potential sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in different matrices and their temporal variations surrounding a coal-fired thermal power plant in India. Samples were collected in different seasons for 1 year. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) was used to perform the measurement of 16 priority PAHs. Average PAH concentrations were ranged from 0.71 to 2.99 ng/m3 in air and 1.59–22.7 ng/g in soil respectively. High levels of PAHs were found in soil compared to air, which indicated deposition in soil. This could be because of the fallout of high-molecular-weight compounds. During the monsoons, PAH concentrations in the air were the lowest compared to the other seasons because of the dilution effect. Phenanthrene, fluoranthene, and pyrenes were dominant in the air, contributing up to 32.5%, 22.7%, and 19.2% of total PAHs, respectively. On the other hand, soils contained fluoranthene (12.3%), pyrene (10.7%), benzo[b]fluoranthene (10%), chrysene (9.82%), and indeno[123-c,d]pyrene (9.64%) compounds. The occurrence of indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (9.14 ng/g) indicated that the soil is contaminated from fly ash and diesel emissions from the thermal power plant and vehicular emission. The diagnostic ratios, thematic maps, and principal component analysis revealed that the fly ash, diesel emissions from the thermal power plant, vehicles, and biomass burning were the probable sources of PAHs in the study area. The human health risk assessment studies reveal that the soil samples are more prone to carcinogenicity than air samples. As per our knowledge, this is the first report on the impact of PAHs on air and soil in this region.

Rural household preferences for cleaner energy sources in Pakistan Abstract Dependence of rural population on traditional fuel sources namely biomass has increased because of easy accessibility and affordability. The use of biomass fuels results in many environmental and health-related hazards. Rural households have little awareness about the ill effects of using biomass energy sources. This study investigated the patterns of rural household energy use and identified the role of information on the effects of biomasses on human health, in addition to other factors influencing households' choices of energy sources. For this purpose, primary data from 196 households were collected from four districts of the Punjab province in Pakistan. Results showed that use of clean energy sources was limited to basic appliances and 90% of the respondents depended on biomass fuels. Estimates of the multivariate probit model showed that awareness about adverse impacts of biomass fuels as energy sources were significantly related with the choice of energy sources. Further, household head's education level, household income, landholding, children under the age of 5 years and higher number of adult females were significantly related with the cleaner energy source choices. Distance to market increased the probability of the use of biomass energy sources. The study concluded that awareness campaigns regarding the benefits of using clean energy sources should be launched through print and electronic media while targeting rural women.

Renewable and non-renewable energy use and its relationship with economic growth in Myanmar Abstract This study aims to investigate the dynamic relationship between renewable and non-renewable energies, CO2 intensity and economic growth for the period of 1990–2016 using a case study of Myanmar. Autoregressive distributed lag, dynamic OLS, fully modified OLS and Gregory–Hansen co-integration are applied to analyse a time series dataset over the specified time period. The analysis shows that total energy use plays an insignificant role in promoting economic growth. However, decomposition analysis reveals that only renewable energy use significantly promotes, whereas non-renewable energy negatively influences, economic growth. Furthermore, non-renewable energy use is counterproductive in the presence of technological inefficiency, and the size of the overall labour force fosters economic growth. Overall results are robust under different estimation scenarios, including structural break, endogeneity and mixed order of integration. This study presents a new avenue of knowledge by investigating the role of decomposed energy use and technological efficiency in promoting economic growth in the context of Myanmar. Results emphasise the production and use of renewable energy to achieve sustainable economic development in Myanmar.

Characteristics of vegetable crop cultivation and nutrient releasing with struvite as a slow-release fertilizer Abstract Struvite precipitation is an effective method to remove and recover ammonia and phosphate from livestock wastewater. Struvite has properties similar to those of the traditional ammonium-phosphate fertilizer, which does not burn the roots owing to its slow-release characteristics. Struvite is an effective fertilizer as its nutrient-releasing rate is very slow. But the release rate of ammonia and phosphate in soil depends on the size of crystals. In this study, the nutrient-releasing pattern of three types of struvite crystals and liquid fertilizer was compared using soil column. X-Ray fluorescence spectrometry was conducted to investigate the potential use of struvite as a fertilizer. Various struvite crystalline fertilizers were evaluated for their fertilizer performance by cultivating potted vegetable crops. The nitrogen removal efficiency of zeolite-seeded struvite was higher than that of no seed struvite. The ammonia nitrogen removal efficiency was more than 99% irrespective of the kind of zeolite. The soil column test revealed that nutrient releasing from liquid fertilizer and zeolite-seeded struvite recovered from livestock wastewater was 11 and 63 days, respectively. Struvite recovered from livestock wastewater contained more than 20% (w/w) potassium oxide; however, the concentration of heavy metals, such as copper and zinc, was very low. Therefore, we considered that the synthesized struvite using livestock wastewater has high value as fertilizer. The recovered struvite was effective under appropriate concentrations to cultivate all the applied vegetable crops in this study.

The role of financial sector in energy demand and climate changes: evidence from the developed and developing countries Abstract This paper searches the role of financial sector development in energy sector and therefore in climate changes in the case of developing and developed countries. Panel data ranging from 1960 to 2014 on an annual basis has been selected from 176 countries. Results suggest that carbon dioxide emissions in developed and developing countries are in long-term equilibrium relationship with financial sector; trade and finance sectors have long-term significant impacts on carbon emissions and therefore carbon emissions converge to their long-term equilibrium levels through the channels of finance and trade sectors. Impulse response analyses proved that finance and trade sectors have negative (reducing) impact on the emission levels in the case of developed economies while they have positive impact in the case of developing economies. These sectors exert significant effects on energy consumption of countries as well. Results confirm that developed countries are more successful in energy conservation policies compared to developing countries. Therefore, authorities in developing countries need to implement conservation policies effectively by mainly encouraging and supporting investments in alternative energy uses in order to prevent increases in emission levels through expansion in financial and trade sectors.

Growth, accumulation and uptake of Eichhornia crassipes exposed to high cadmium concentrations Abstract A greenhouse experiment was performed to evaluate the growth, accumulation, and uptake rate of Eichhornia crassipes subject to high cadmium concentrations. Three doses of Cd were added to polluted river water (1, 5, and 10 mg Cd/L), and polluted water with basal Cd concentration (0.070 mg/L) was used as a control. The experiment lasted for 7 days. Signs of stress and toxicity were visible in all treatments from day 3 of the experiment. The growth of the water hyacinth was slightly stimulated in the presence of low Cd concentration (1 mg/L), but this could also be due to the chloride and other nutrients present in the polluted water. Cd was accumulated mainly in roots, showing a maximum concentration of 1742.1 mg Cd/kg dw (10 mg Cd/L). The translocation from roots to leaves was low, with a maximum accumulation of 147.4 mg Cd/kg dw (10 mg Cd/L). The uptake rate for roots reached a maximum of 248.7 mg Cd/kg·day while the uptake rate for leaves did not saturate in the range of the studied concentrations (max. 20.8 mg Cd/kg·day). The water hyacinth showed promising results for the application in the treatment of Cd-polluted waters given its ability to tolerate high Cd concentrations in the media (up to 10 mg Cd/L) and its capacity for uptake and accumulation.

Mineralogical, chemical and leaching characteristics of ashes from residential biomass combustion Abstract Four types of pellets and three agro-fuels were chemically characterised and burned in a pellet stove. To assess the influence of the material composing the firebox and the combustion efficiency of distinct biomass heating devices in the composition of the bottom ashes, three of the pellets were also burned in a conventional woodstove and in a fireplace. Ashes were analysed for their C, H and N contents by an elemental analyser, whilst major and trace elements were quantified by inductively coupled plasma atomic-emission spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, respectively. The mineralogy of ashes was determined by X-ray powder diffraction. The European standard test was applied to samples to determine the leaching potential of major, minor and trace elements. The contents of major and trace elements in the different types of biomass presented enormous variations, which are reflected in dissimilar mineralogical and chemical compositions of the respective ashes. The leachable potential of several elements of environmental concern present in oxy-anionic form at the alkaline pH of biomass ashes were generally high in all samples. Concentrations of some elements in the leachates were in the range of values with classification of "hazardous materials" by the European legislation in what respects the acceptance of these wastes at landfills. Pellets made up of wood wastes and containing preservatives (chromated copper arsenate and ammoniacal copper arsenate) are of concern. Due to lower combustion efficiencies, the leachable potential for most of the trace elements in ashes from the woodstove, and especially from the fireplace, was lower than that of the pellet stove.

Alexandros Sfakianakis
Anapafseos 5 . Agios Nikolaos
Crete.Greece.72100
2841026182

6948891480

alsfakia@gmail.com