Chemically Enhanced Biodegradation of High Organic Matter in Wastewater – Confectionary Plant Effluents

The study explored the merit of chemically enhanced biodegradation of high organic matter as a sustainable treatment scheme for industrial wastewaters. For this purpose, an integrated, chemically enhanced activated sludge configuration was tested for confectionary effluents with a COD level of around 10.000 mg L-1. In this configuration, chemical settling acted as a polishing step, which removed 50% of the total COD load, including 10% of colloidal COD in the soluble COD range. The sequential batch reactor, selected as the final biological treatment step, was able to remove the remaining biodegradable COD completely. The study primarily demonstrated the merit of in-plant pollution footprint assessment and wastewater characterization with significant COD fractions as necessary prerequisites for the management and final biodegradation of industrial wastewaters with high organic matter content.

Improving Human Health in China Through Alternative Energy

In this study, we estimate the health benefits of more stringent alternative energy goals and the costs of reducing coal-fired power plant pollution in China projected in 2030. One of our two overarching alternative energy goals was to estimate the health benefits of complete elimination of coal energy, supplemented by natural gas and renewables. The second was a policy scenario similar to the U.S. 2013 Climate Action Plan (CAP), which played a pivotal role leading up to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. We used the Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) model created by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis for our model simulations. We found that 17,137–24,220 premature deaths can be avoided if coal energy is completely replaced by alternative energy, and 8,693–9,281 premature deaths can be avoided if coal energy is replaced by alternatives in a CAP-like scenario. A CAP-like scenario using emission-controls in coal plants costs $11–18 per person. Reducing coal energy in China under a CAP-like scenario would free up $9.4 billion in the annual energy budget to spend on alternatives, whereas eliminating the cost of coal energy frees up $32 billion. This study's estimates show that more stringent alternative energy targets in China are worth the investment in terms of health.