Investigation of large Scale CO2 EOR and Sequestration Potential in Northern China

The excessive use of fertilizer has resulted in serious environmental degradation and a high health cost in China. Understanding the reasons for the overuse of fertilizer is critical to the sustainable development of Chinese agriculture, and large-scale operation is considered as one of the measures to deal with the excessive fertilizer use. Under the premise of fully considering the resource endowment and heterogeneity of large-scale farmers and small-scale farmers in production and management, different production decision-making frameworks were constructed. Based on the 300 large-scale farmers and 480 small-scale farmers in eight provinces of northern China wheat region, we analyzed the optimal fertilizer use amount and its deviation as well as the influencing factors of small-scale and large-scale farmers, then further clarified whether the development of scale management could solve the problem of excessive fertilizer use. The empirical results show that: (1) both small-scale farmers and large-scale farmers deviated from the optimal fertilizer application amount, where the deviation degree of optimal fertilizer application of small-scale farmers is significantly higher than that of large-scale farmers, with a deviation degree of 35.43% and 23.69% for small and large scale farmers, respectively; (2) not all wheat growers in North China had the problem of excessive use of chemical fertilizer, as the optimal level of chemical fertilizer application in Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia are 346.5 kgha−1 and 335.25 kgha−1, while the actual fertilizer use amount was 337.2 kgha−1 and 324.6 kgha−1, respectively; and (3) the higher the risk aversion level, farmers tended to apply more fertilizer to ensure grain output. Therefore, increasing farm size should be integrated into actions such as improving technological innovation and providing better information transfer to achieve the goal of zero-increase in Chinese fertilizer use.

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Large-scale hybrid accidental urban wetland for polluted river purification in northern China: Evidence and implications for urban river management

Environmental Technology & Innovation ◽

10.1016/j.eti.2021.101542 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 ◽

pp. 101542 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mathieu Nsenga Kumwimba ◽

Xinzhu Li ◽

Wei wang ◽

L.H.D.K.U. De Silva ◽

Linlin Bao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Northern China ◽

River Management ◽

Urban River ◽

Polluted River ◽

Urban Wetland

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Carbon Footprint Assessment of a Large-Scale Pig Production System in Northern China: A Case Study

Transactions of the ASABE ◽

10.13031/trans.12805 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 61 (3) ◽

pp. 1121-1131 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yuanqing Zhou ◽

Hongmin Dong ◽

Hongwei Xin ◽

Zhiping Zhu ◽

Wenqiang Huang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Northern China ◽

Manure Management ◽

Traditional Practice ◽

Enteric Fermentation ◽

Pig Production ◽

Transport Distance ◽

Feed Production ◽

Crop Planting

Abstract. China raises 50% of global live pigs. However, few studies on the carbon footprint (CF) of large-scale pig production based on China’s actual production conditions have been carried out. In this study, life cycle assessment (LCA) and actual production data of a typical large-scale pig farm in northern China were used to assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or CF associated with the whole process of pig production, including feed production (crop planting, feed processing, and transportation), enteric fermentation, manure management, and energy consumption. The results showed a CF of 3.39 kg CO2-eq per kg of live market pig and relative contributions of 55%, 28%, 13%, and 4% to the total CF by feed production, manure management, farm energy consumption, and enteric fermentation, respectively. Crop planting accounted for 66% of the feed production CF, while feed processing and transportation accounted for the remaining 34%. Long-distance transport of semi-raw feed materials caused by planting-feeding separation and over-fertilization in feed crop planting were two main reasons for the largest contribution of GHG emissions from feed production to the total CF. The CF from nitrogen fertilizer application accounted for 33% to 44% of crop planting and contributed to 16% of the total CF. The CF from the transport of feed ingredients accounted for 17% of the total CF. If the amount of nitrogen fertilizer used for producing the main feed ingredients is reduced from 209 kg hm-2 (for corn) and 216 kg hm-2 (for wheat) to 140 kg hm-2 (corn) and 180 kg hm-2 (wheat), the total CF would be reduced by 7%. If the transport distance for feed materials decreased from 325 to 493 km to 30 km, along with reducing the number of empty vehicles for transport, the total CF would be reduced by 18%. The combined CF mitigation potential for over-fertilization and transport distance is 26%. In addition, the use of pit storage, anaerobic digestion, and lagoon for manure management can reduce GHG emissions from manure management by 76% as compared to the traditional practice of pit storage and lagoon. This case study reveals the impact of planting-feeding separation and over-fertilization on the CF of the pig supply chain in China. The manure management practice of pit storage, anaerobic digestion, and lagoon is much more conductive to reducing the CF as compared to the traditional practice of pit storage and lagoon. Keywords: Greenhouse gas, Life cycle assessment, Mitigation, Pig.

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Satellite-based large-scale vegetation dynamics in ecological restoration programmes of Northern China

International Journal of Remote Sensing ◽

10.1080/01431161.2018.1519286 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 40 (5-6) ◽

pp. 2296-2312 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Zhitao Wu ◽

Lu Yu ◽

Xiaoyu Zhang ◽

Ziqiang Du ◽

Hong Zhang

Keyword(s):

Ecological Restoration ◽

Vegetation Dynamics ◽

Large Scale ◽

Northern China

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Changes in Air Pollution Following the COVID-19 Epidemic in Northern China: The Role of Meteorology

Frontiers in Environmental Science ◽

10.3389/fenvs.2021.654651 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Tian Xian ◽

Zhanqing Li ◽

Jing Wei

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Large Scale ◽

Human Life ◽

Northern China ◽

Control Measures ◽

Economic Activities ◽

Low Wind Speed ◽

Seasonal Signals ◽

Haze Formation ◽

Holiday Effects

COVID-19 has a tremendous impact on both human life and the environment due to the unprecedented large-scale shutdown of economic activities at the beginning of 2020. While it was widely expected to see a dramatic reduction in air pollution, reality appears to be much more complex due to the joint influences of emissions and meteorology in dictating air pollution. By analyzing ample meteorological and environmental observational data, this study attempts to evaluate the contribution of an economic lockdown or at a well-below normal level across China to air pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Besides the unprecedented emission reductions that helped to improve air quality, multiple other factors came into play, such as high humidity and low wind speed that are favorable for haze formation. After separating long-term trends, seasonal signals, holiday effects, and meteorological contributions concerning climatology, we estimated that the relative contributions of human activities to changes in particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 μm and nitrogen dioxide during the epidemic were −17.13 μg/m3 and −0.03 μg/m3, respectively, with negative quantities denoting reductions to air pollution. Furthermore, comparing the changes in PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations after lockdown revealed that for short-term control measures, meteorological factors mainly affected pollutant particles.

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A Multi-Site Evaluation of Winter Hardiness in Indigenous Alfalfa Cultivars in Northern China

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos12111538 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 1538

Author(s):

Lijun Xu ◽

Qian Liu ◽

Yingying Nie ◽

Feng Li ◽

Guixia Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Production Systems ◽

Comprehensive Evaluation ◽

Perennial Grass ◽

Cropping System ◽

Northern China ◽

Winter Hardiness ◽

Grass Species ◽

Average Score ◽

Field Evidence

Integration of perennial grass species into the current food production systems, especially in the agropastoral regions worldwide, may produce multiple benefits including, among others, a more stable productivity and a smaller eco-environmental footprint. However, one of the fundamental challenges facing the large-scale adoption of such grass species is their ability to withstand the vagaries of winter in these regions. Here, we present a comprehensive evaluation of the winter hardiness of 50 indigenous Chinese cultivars of alfalfa, a high-quality leguminous perennial grass, in comparison with six introduced U.S. cultivars in a multi-site field experiment in northern China. Our results reveal that indigenous cultivars have stronger winter hardiness than introduced cultivars. Cultivars native in the north performed better than southern cultivars, suggesting that suitability evaluation is an unavoidable step proceeding any regional implementations. Our results also show that the metric we used to assess alfalfa’s winter hardiness, the average score index (ASI), produced more consistent results than another more-widely used metric of winter survival rate (WSR). These findings offer a systematic field evidence that supports regional cropping system adjustment and production system betterment to ensure food security under climate change in the region and beyond.

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Temporal and Spatial Variations in NDVI and Analysis of the Driving Factors in the Desertified Areas of Northern China From 1998 to 2015

Frontiers in Environmental Science ◽

10.3389/fenvs.2021.633020 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Xuyang Wang ◽

Yuqiang Li ◽

XinYuan Wang ◽

Yulin Li ◽

Jie Lian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecological Restoration ◽

Large Scale ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Northern China ◽

Gobi Desert ◽

Desert Grassland ◽

Dune Stability ◽

Mobile Dunes

China faces some of the most serious desertification in the world, leading to many problems. To solve them, large-scale ecological restoration projects were implemented. To assess their effectiveness, we analyzed normalized-difference vegetation index (NDVI) data derived from SPOT VEGETATION and gridded climate datasets from 1998 to 2015 to detect the degrees of desertification and the effects of human and climate drivers on vegetation dynamics. We found that NDVI of desertified areas generally decreased before 2000, then increased. The annual increase in NDVI was fixed dunes (0.0013) = semi-fixed dunes (0.0013) > semi-mobile dunes (0.0012) > gobi (gravel) desert (0.0011) > mobile dunes (0.0003) > saline–alkali land (0.0000). The proportions of the area of each desert type in which NDVI increased were fixed dunes (43.4%) > semi-mobile dunes (39.7%) > semi-fixed dunes (26.7%) > saline–alkali land (23.1%) > gobi desert (14.4%) > mobile dunes (12.5%). Thus, the vegetation response to the restoration efforts increased as the initial dune stability increased. The proportion of the area where desertification was dominated by temperature (1.8%) was far less than the area dominated by precipitation (14.1%). However, 67.6% of the change was driven by non-climatic factors. The effectiveness of the ecological restoration projects was significant in the Loess Plateau and in the Mu Us, Horqin, and Hulunbuir sandy lands. In contrast, there was little effect in the Badain Jaran, Ulan Buh, and Tengger deserts; in particular, vegetation cover has declined seriously in the Hunshandake Sandy Land and Alkin Desert Grassland. Thus, more or different ecological restoration must be implemented in these areas.

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Contrasting pH buffering patterns in neutral-alkaline soils along a 3600 km transect in northern China

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-12-13215-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 12 (16) ◽

pp. 13215-13240 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

W. Luo ◽

P. N. Nelson ◽

M.-H. Li ◽

J. Cai ◽

Y. Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Ph ◽

Large Scale ◽

Aridity Index ◽

Clay Content ◽

Northern China ◽

Buffering Capacity ◽

Carbonate Content ◽

Alkaline Soils ◽

Ph Buffering ◽

Initial Ph

Abstract. Soil pH buffering capacity (pHBC) plays a crucial role in predicting acidification rates, yet its large-scale patterns and controls are poorly understood, especially for neutral-alkaline soils. Here, we evaluated the spatial patterns and drivers of pHBC along a 3600 km long transect (1900 km sub-transect with carbonate containing soils and 1700 km sub-transect with non-carbonate containing soils) across northern China. Soil pHBC was greater in the carbonate containing soils than in the non-carbonate containing soils. Acid addition decreased soil pH in the non-carbonate containing soils more markedly than in the carbonate containing soils. Within the carbonate soil sub-transect, soil pHBC was positively correlated with cation exchange capacity (CEC), carbonate content and exchangeable sodium (Na) concentration, but negatively correlated with initial pH and clay content, and not correlated with soil organic carbon (SOC) content. Within the non-carbonate sub-transect, soil pHBC was positively related to initial pH, clay content, CEC and exchangeable Na concentration, but not related to SOC content. Carbonate content was the primary determinant of pHBC in the carbonate containing soils and CEC was the main determinant of buffering capacity in the non-carbonate containing soils. Soil pHBC was positively related to aridity index and carbonate content across the carbonate containing soil sub-transect. Our results indicated that mechanisms controlling pHBC differ among neutral-alkaline soils of northern China, especially between carbonate and non-carbonate containing soils, leading to different rates, risks, and impacts of acidification. This understanding should be incorporated into the acidification risk assessment and landscape management in a changing world.

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Determining hydrological barriers in wetlands with InSAR methods: several iconic cases worldwide

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14620 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Fernando Jaramillo ◽

Dan Liu ◽

Saeid Aminjafari ◽

Xuan Wang

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Wetland Management ◽

Northern China ◽

Water Levels ◽

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar ◽

Alos Palsar ◽

Critical Determinant ◽

Wetland Functions ◽

Dry Seasons ◽

Baiyangdian Wetland

<p>Hydrological connectivity is a critical determinant of wetland functions and ecosystems by controlling the movement of biogeochemical elements within wetlands and the flow of water between their hydrological units. Hydrological barriers exist when this connectivity is impaired, either by man-made infrastructure, agriculture developments, or naturally restricted by soil and ground composition. Determining hydrological barriers in wetlands is challenging due to the costs of high-resolution and large-scale monitoring, but radar observations can become a useful tool for such task. We here use an Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to identify hydrological barriers in several iconic wetlands worldwide, with particular focus on the Baiyangdian wetland system in Northern China. For the first, we use Sentinel 1A and 1B data covering the period 2016-2019, while for the rest we rely on ALOS PALSAR data. We calculated profiles of water level change across hydrological transects showing high coherence and visualized them in maps. For instance, in the case of the Baiyangdian wetland, we find that of the 70 transects studied, 11% of all transects are permanently disconnected by hydrological barriers across all interferograms and 58% of the transects are conditionally disconnected. The occurrence of hydrological barriers varies between wetlands, with permanent barriers more related to ditches, infrastructure and the specific wetland landscape, and conditional barriers more to low water levels during dry seasons. This study highlights the potential of the application of wetland InSAR to determine hydrological barriers for wetland management and restoration.</p>

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