The potential cost of regulation of methane and nitrous oxide emissions in U.S. agriculture

Background Most studies on the environmental impacts of agriculture have attempted to measure environmental impacts but have not assessed the ability of the sector to reduce or mitigate such impacts. Only a few studies have examined greenhouse gas emissions from the sector. This paper assesses the ability of states in the U.S. to reduce agricultural emissions of methane and nitrous oxide, two major greenhouse gases (GHGs) with important global warming potential. Methods The analysis evaluates Färe’s PAC (pollution abatement cost) for each state and year, a measure of the potential opportunity costs of subjecting the sector to GHG emissions regulation. We use both hyperbolic and directional distance functions to specify agricultural technology with good and bad outputs. Results and conclusions We find that such regulations might reduce output by an average of about 2%, although the results for individual states vary quite widely.

Integrated Water Resource Management, Sustainability, and Pollution Abatement in Malawi

With the introduction of IWRM, local government institutions are expected to control water-related pollution, which is often associated with new water resource management, supply, and sanitation responsibilities devolved to them as part of decentralisation. The aim of this study was to look into eco-efficiency, environmental performance, physical scarcity and economic scarcity trends, sustainable variables, and externalities associated with the introduction of IWRM in Malawi. Focus group discussions and interviews were conducted with policymakers and households in Ntcheu, Mangochi, and Balaka. Findings confirmed that the challenges local levels of government face in managing water infrastructure and formulation of pollution control measures are a result of the fact that adoption of IWRM happened without any readiness to do so, especially in terms of water-related pollution control.

Abundance and distribution of microplastics in water and sediment of Baiyangdian Lake, Northern China

Microplastics (MPs) have been found in all environment matrices and have become an issue of concern worldwide. In this study, Baiyangdian Lake in Northern China was investigated for the presence of MPs (0.45 µm–5 mm) in sediment and at different water depths. MPs were found at 1,000–20,000 pieces/m3 (average 9,595) in water and at 400–2,200 pieces/kg (average 1,023) in sediment. Since the implementation of pollution abatement measures, visible MPs have been nearly eliminated; the MPs found in this study were mainly in the micrometer range, with no more than 3–5 pieces greater than 1 mm per sample. The main forms of MPs were fibrous and fragmented, and the main components were polyamide, polyethylene, and polypropylene. MPs found in water near a garbage transfer station showed the following abundance of MPs: surface water < middle water < bottom water. The sediment contained a higher amount of MP fragments, indicating that the historical transfer and disposal of garbage was a main source of plastic deposition in this area. There was a high content of fibrous MPs in surface water, while the abundance of fragmented MPs increased with the depth of water. The main sources of MPs in the study area were residential activities, local plastic factories, and the treated effluent from a sewage treatment plant.

Levels And Distribution Characteristics of Microplastics In Water And Sediment of A Typical Shallow Lake In Northern China

Microplastics (MPs), generally found in all environment matrices, have become a hot issue in the word. In this study, a typical shallow lake (Baiyangdian) in Northern China was selected, MPs (0.45 μm-5 mm) in different depth of the water and sediment samples were determined. The abundance of MPs in water samples was 1000-20000 items /m3 (9595 items /m3 in average) and 400-2200 items /kg (1023 items /kg in average) in sediment samples. Since the pollution abatement measures implemented, MPs visible to eyes are generally eliminated, the detected MPs in this study are mainly μm sizes with no more than 3-5 items being mm size for each collected sample. The main forms of MPs are fibrous and fragmented with components mainly being polyamide (PA), polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). MPs in the water at the garbage transfer station can be ranked as surface water < middle water < bottom water and the sediment contained obviously higher MP fragments indicating the history transferring of garbage can be a main cause of plastic deposition in this place. The content of fibrous MPs in surface water was high, and the fragments were found increasing with the depth of water. The southern area contained less MPs compared with the middle and north part of Baiyangdian lake due to the less human activities. The main sources of MPs in this area are the earlier residents' activities, the running of local plastic factories and the effluent from sewage treatment plant.

Enhancing Microalgae Cultivation using Biowastes as Growth Media for High Added-Value Co-Products Generation

This paper aims to study a new growth media using cheese whey and drainage water from agriculture for indigenous microalgae cultivation for value-added product generation. In this context, four combinations are studied beside the BG11 as reference, where BG11/Cheese whey (60/40, %v/v), drainage water 100%, drainage water/Cheese whey (60/40, % v/v), and Cheese whey 100 % have been used. Moreover, investigated parameters are biomass dry weight, pH variation, total chlorophyll and carotenoid content. Results showed that used growth media have a significant impact on microaglae culture, particularly in terms of cells growth, pigment content and pH variation. Moreover, the mixture BG11/Cheese whey (60/40, %v/v) shows the best impact for total chlorophylls and carotenoids content. Likewise, the mixture cheese whey/drainage water (60/40, %v/v) presents a positive effect on pigments content. The use of cheese whey and drainage water lead to enhance the biomass and pigment production. This study showed that using agro-industrial C-rich wastes and drainage water enhanced microalgae biomass and pigment content, thus contributing to pollution abatement. This will contribute to both reducing the cost of production and resources recycling.

Biosorption of Chromium from Spent Semi-Chrome Liquor: Part 1 Effective Pollution Abatement using Bacillus cerus

The current study focuses on the isolation of Bacillus cerus from mangrove rhizosphere and its ability to treat semi-chrome process liquor of upper leathers. This strain has been identified by its molecular characteristics (16s rRNA sequencing) and confirmation has been obtained from neighbor joining tree. Minimum inhibitory concentration of the strain has been found to be 50 ppm. The growth pattern of this organism has been investigated in the presence of chromium, which showed the bacterial strain can grow luxuriantly at 50 and 100 ppm concentration of chromium. Biosorption study has been conducted at different concentrations (50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 ppm) of chromium. The biosorption capability of Bacillus cerus has been found to be 80.78, 73.19, 65.86, 59.44 and 39.27% for 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 ppm respectively. Chromium sorption from the semi-chrome process liquor by Bacillus cerus has also been investigated, which showed a reduction of 76.15, 68.56, 61.63, 56.29 and 36.51% against 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 ppm of chromium. Sorption characterization has been carried out by FTIR (Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy) and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) analyses and the results confirmed the presence of sorption of chromium in Bacillus cerus.