Sustainability Commons^™

Challenges And Countermeasures For Treatment And Remediation Of Contaminated Mega-Sites In China, Xiaoyong Liao, Yixuan Hou, You Li, Tianyi Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The treatment and remediation of pollution at contaminated mega-sites poses a significant challenge in the environmental science both domestically and internationally. Contaminated mega-sites are characterized by their widespread impact, multiple types of pollutants, and significant ecological and environmental threats. The environmental behavior cognition and efficient remediation at contaminated mega-sites face enormous challenges, among which key technological issues such as the formation mechanism of soil and groundwater pollution, accurate identification of pollution sources, and intelligent decision-making optimization urgently need to be solved. In China, contaminated mega-sites are concentrated in economically developed regions such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and …

Scenario Simulation Of “35 Goals” And “50 Vision” For Beautiful China Initiative, Huiyi Zhu, Linsheng Yang, Wei Qi, Erqi Xu, Jiewei Chen, Quansheng Ge

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Realizing the Beautiful China Initiative is the general goal of China’s ecological civilization construction in the next 30 years. The overall goal includes two phased goals: “35 goals” and “50 vision”. This study first expounds the understanding of the goal from the aspects of ecosystem elements, structure, process, and function, and then constructs an index system to describe the goal and simulates the “35 goals” and “50 vision” under the trend of climate change, population decline and economic growth. The results show that, by 2035, China will have a population of 1.44 billion (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) and …

An Innovative Restoration Mode “Macrophytes–Fishes–Benthons–Birds” Implemented In Aesthetic Plateau Wetlands, Junxing Yang, Xiaoai Wang, Xiaofu Pan, Yuanwe Zhang, Heqi Wu, Anli Wu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Affected by both increasing human activities and climate change, Yunnan Plateau lakes were faced with threats such as water level decreasing, water-body reducing, and severe pollution. Many indigenous species were endangered or even disappeared. The ecological restorations implemented since 1980s almost all used alien species. As an inevitable result, severe negative impacts from alien species were observed on the Plateau wetland ecosystem and indigenous species. To solve these problems, with the support of relevant projects, an innovative restoration mode mainly with indigenous flag-species “macrophytes – fishes – benthons – birds” was proposed. This innovative mode was implemented respectively in Dianchi …

Ten Problems And Solutions For Restoration Of Karst Ecosystem In Southwest China, Xiaoyong Bai, Sirui Zhang, Chen Ran, Luhua Wu, Chaochao Du, Lei Dai, Xingyi Yang, Zilin Li, Yingying Xue, Mingkang Long, Minghui Li, Shu Yang, Qing Luo, Xiaoyun Zhang, Xiaoqian Shen, Fei Chen, Qin Li, Yuanhong Deng, Zeyin Hu, Chaojun Li

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The karst areas in southwest China are one of the key but difficult areas targeted in the “Beautiful China” construction initiative, which focuses on soil erosion, proportion of farmland, water pollution, karst drought, ecological restoration, carbon sink, ecological effects of urbanization, rocky desertification management indicators, and biodiversity and sustainability assessment. The study synthesizes the knowledge accumulated during ecological restoration practice in karst areas into 10 problems and solutions that are strong, universal and empirically supported. These problems and solutions help to explain the challenges of achieving sustainability in karst ecology restoration and thus point to solutions. They constitute a core …

Control Of Invasive Plant Spartina Alterniflora: Concept, Technology And Practice, Baohua Xie, Guangxuan Han

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Alien Species Spartina alterniflora occupy the living space of native animals and plants, and lead to the reduction of biodiversity in the intertidal zone and wetland ecological service functions. Therefore, it is urgent to curb the rapid expansion of S. alterniflora in China’s coastal areas. This paper introduced the invasion situation and main ecological hazards of S. alterniflora in China, as well as put forward the concept of S. alterniflora control of “hazard assessment – zoning control – monitoring and early warning”. We summarized the control technologies of S. alterniflora at home and abroad and the current situation of S. …

Conception On Asian Elephant Ecological Corridor Planning With Implications For Conservation, Xueyou Li, Qiupeng Yu, Zhechang Hu, Xuelong Jiang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

In order to practice the concept of coordinated development of “Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains are Invaluable Assets” and “mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts are part of the community of life”, this study takes “pursuing green development and promoting harmony between humanity and nature” proposed in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China as the theoretical guidance. With the goal of enhancing ecosystem integrity and connectivity, enhancing population communication, enhancing population viability, and providing a model for the construction of ecological corridors for flagship species, based on the current distribution and …

Effectiveness And Challenges Of Aquatic Ecological Restoration Of Chishui River In Upper Yangtze River, Fei Liu, Huanzhang Liu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

“To set an example of green development and strength ecological environmental protection in the Chishui River basin” is an important proposal listed in the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021--2025) for National Economic and Social Development and Vision 2035 of the People’s Republic of China. Strengthening eco-environmental protection in the Chishui River will play an exemplary and leading role in maintaining fish diversity of the upper Yangtze River, promoting regional high-quality development, and creating a new situation of ecological civilization and Beautiful China. This study interprets the ecological functions of the Chishui River in the upper Yangtze River, expounds …

Progress And Prospects On Institutional System Construction Of Ecological Civilization In China, Linsheng Yang, Yanan Guo, Huiyi Zhu, Gaodi Xie, Xiaoyong Liao, Quansheng Ge

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the construction of Ecological Civilization (EC) in China has undergone historic, transitional, and comprehensive changes from theory to practice. The construction of system is the core content and the basic guarantee for the success of EC construction. Based on the government documents of EC construction and related research literatures, this study analyzes the formation and evolution characteristics of China’s EC construction system, parses the development process of representative innovation policies, and then predicts the trend of the further deepening reform of EC system. The results show that the relevant …

Research On Geographical Landscape Design Of Ecological Civilization Construction In China, Wenzhong Zhang, Jianhui Yu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

As the fundamental goal of ecological civilization construction in the new era of China, the building of a Beautiful China is an important measure to promote the study of Chinese man-land relationships to a higher level and a new stage of development. This study takes the construction of ecological civilization of Beautiful China as the orientation, and carries on the frame design to the geographical landscape. The geographical landscape takes the elements of geoscience as the research object and makes a series of reasonable outlook about man-land system according to the interaction mechanism of human-land relationship and the influence of …

Impacts, Contributing Factors And Countermeasures Of Extreme Droughts In Poyang Lake, Qi Zhang, Chenyang Xue, Jun Xia

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

In the past 20 years, the hydrological regime of Poyang Lake changed significantly. The lake water level has been continuously decreasing, resulting in severe droughts. In particular, an extreme drought occurred in 2022, when the lake area shrank to less than 300 km2. The 2022 extreme drought in Poyang Lake had great impacts on economy, society and ecological environment, which aroused great attentions and wide concerns. Based on long-term data series of meteorological and hydrological data and the existing research outcomes and with the aid of hydrological modeling, this study analyzed the impacts and contributing factors of the 2022 drought …

Spatial Agglomeration And Environmental Effects Of Heavy Polluting Industries In China: Characteristics And Enlightenment, Hongyang Chen, Jianhui Yu, Wenzhong Zhang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Heavy polluting industries are the important sources of industrial pollutant. Understanding the spatial agglomeration characteristics, influencing factors, agglomeration mechanism and environmental effects of China’s heavy polluting industries can help identify potential pollution risk areas to cope with increasingly severe environmental pollution problems. Based on the industrial economic data from 1999 to 2021, the spatial distribution and agglomeration characteristics of heavy polluting industries are characterized. It is found that: (1) Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong are the regions with high output value of the development of heavy polluting industries in the past 20 years, while Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, …

Evolution Of Urbanized Area’S Entities And Flow Space Towards High-Quality Development Path In China, Mingxing Chen, Liangkan Chen, Yue Xian, Jiafan Cheng, Longwu Liang, Jing Ma

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The eco-environmental conservation and Beautiful China have entered the critical phase. Urbanized areas serve as important spatial carriers in the Beautiful China initiative scenarios, but the most prominent challenges in human-environment relationship and difficult points in building Beautiful China. This study focuses on the physical urban area, and utilizing big data technology to reexamine the spatiotemporal distribution and grouped evolution characteristics of impervious surface in cities, as well as the structural features of urban flow networks from space of flows. Moreover, preliminary thoughts and policy recommendations are provided for promoting high-quality development in urbanized areas of the new era. More …

Five Issues And Countermeasures Of China Cropland Resource Use, Sijing Ye, Changqing Song, Changxiu Cheng, Peichao Gao, Shi Shen, Wangshu Mu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Understand the cropland use situation, analyze management countermeasures, and explore the regional suitable cropland use mode are important prerequisites for the implementation of the strictest protection of cultivated land strategy with Chinese characteristics. At present, the cropland resource utilization in China is facing the five issues of non-agricultural, non-grain, fragmentation, marginalization, and ecological degradation. This study estimates the spatial-temporal changes of these cropland use issues in China, analyzes the challenges of cropland use governance from the aspects of complex driving factors, phase characteristics, cognitive differences of responsible subjects, and dynamic changes of external factors. On this basis, the countermeasures of …

Editorial

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

No abstract provided.

Developing Characteristic Resource Plants To Build A Beautiful China, Lei Shi, Zheng'an Liu, Lijun Wang, Qingyan Shu, Meiyu Sun, Wei Duan, Hui Li

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

It is an important way to solve the contradiction among ecology, production and life in natural protected areas and ecologically fragile region by constructing the three-production integration mode of characteristic resource plants. In order to fully tap and make use of the outstanding characteristics of oil tree peony, wine grape and aromatic plants, this study carried out technology integration of variety screening, planting, harvesting, processing, product research and development, and industrialization demonstration in and around natural protected areas and ecologically fragile region. Through the economic benefits generated, the life of the people in the natural protected areas and ecologically fragile …

Taking Science To The Streets: Participatory Research Approaches To Improve Environment, Health, And Quality Of Life In Urban Areas, Na'taki Osborne Jelks

Sustainability Seminar Series

Environmental justice communities, those disproportionately affected by pollutants, are simultaneously exposed to multiple environmental stressors and also experience social and cultural factors that may heighten their health risks in comparison to other communities. Availability of fine-grained, community-level data is limited to support said communities’ appeals for public health practice, planning, and policy changes. In Northwest Atlanta, Georgia’s Proctor Creek Watershed community residents (watershed researchers), academics, and non-profit organizations have leveraged local, community knowledge; community science methods; and participatory approaches to identify, document, and analyze the impacts of local environmental hazards and quality of life stressors. This highly collaborative and interdisciplinary …

Targeting Macrophytes: Increased Water Quality Through Optimized Vegetation Considerations For Constructed Wetlands, Austin Mcbrady

Masters Theses (Archived)

This study of constructed wetland design investigated relationships between macrophyte species selection and planting density for water quality improvement. A lab-scale wetland was compared against a pilot-scale wetland in San Antonio, Texas at Mitchell Lake to measure differences in effluent water quality improvement using three native macrophyte species. Using a novel, two-phase method, a targeting macrophyte was identified from among other species based on its marked capability for improving water quality factors, then was planted in varied majority densities to compare differences in treatment effectiveness. The results of this study showed that this complimentary approach to wetland design displayed significant …

Solar-Powered Microgrids In Northern California: An Opportunity For Resilience, Marina Riddle

Master's Projects and Capstones

Planned and unplanned power outages have been increasing in frequency and duration, negatively impacting all public sectors, and threatening public safety. These outages are deadly to those who rely on medical devices. As climate change-fueled extreme weather events (wildfires, earthquakes, storms, etc.) also increase in frequency, our electrical grid must be prepared to bounce back. Microgrids provide necessary redundancy and reliability. Through a novel GIS suitability analysis, based on solar radiation, land use type, local energy demand, distance to transmission lines, distance to roads, and slope, optimal locations for solar-powered microgrids throughout Northern California were determined. The counties of Fresno, …

Optimization Of Transition-Metal Inclusive Carbon Aerogels For Electrochemical Energy Applications, Allen Dalton Davis

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

The ever-growing need for energy alongside rising concerns for climate change demands the development of renewable energy technologies. Hydrogen fuel cells are a promising technology that can serve to either supplement energy generation or act as a lone power source. Yet for these devices to be truly green, the hydrogen that serves as fuel must be procured from a renewable resource. Electrolytic water splitting is a process that allows for the dissociation of water into H₂ and O₂. For this process to be practical, the electrolyzer needs to demonstrate high efficiency and stability, as well as a …

The False Promise That Guilt-Free Flying Is Just Around The Corner, Amanda Braitman

Capstones

Airlines are spending big bucks advertising “sustainable aviation fuel,” but some experts say it's greenwashing.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19ZejyJBgPGgleNXOWrHXKGF5WI1poQ8OyxSKg8PBNZI/edit?usp=sharing

Forests As Social Safety Nets During The Covid-19 Lockdowns: Evidence From India, Alder Keleman Saxena

Sustainability Seminar Series

This presentation reports on research assessing the social-ecological dynamics of the Covid-19 lockdowns in India in 2020 and 2021. Preliminary findings of research in forest- adjacent communities in three states (Assam, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh) suggest that while forest resources did serve as a buffer for some of the most vulnerable households, they did not stand in as a full substitute for the market-derived goods and income opportunities curtailed by the lockdowns. Findings from the research to-date suggest two major conclusions: first, the ecological context (including the seasonal timing) of the lockdowns influenced the extent to which forest communities …

Water Quality And Road Salt In New Jersey, Deborah Kratzer

Sustainability Seminar Series

Water quality monitoring data show a long-term trend of increasing chloride and total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations in NJ surface waters and increasing exceedances of standards for aquatic life and drinking water. In this presentation, Debbie Kratzer will review the data linking road salt use with these trends, sustainability of winter deicing practices, and approaches to reverse these negative water quality trends.

Developing A Precision Agriculture Framework To Assess Financial Viability Of Decisions In Farming And Conservation, Jennifer Sublett

Theses and Dissertations

Agricultural producers are invested in managing the impacts of crop damage on their yields and profit. When damage occurs early enough in an agricultural growing season, farmers have the option to replant their corn stand in an effort to recoup some of the lost profits. In this thesis two different types of naturally occurring damage, wildlife depredation and persistent weed or insect patches, were simulated on two representative regions of Mississippi. These data were then used to assess the financial viability of a range of damage mitigation methods, including partial replanting, enrollment into a government conservation buffer, and no action. …

Human-Robot Collaboration For Smart Manufacturing: A Sustainable Solution To The Future Of Manufacturing, Weitian Wang

Sustainability Seminar Series

Robotics technology has served humans in numerous application fields, especially product assembly in manufacturing contexts. Global competitors and technological advancements result in great challenges and much more complicated working environments for the manufacturing. Human-robot collaboration (HRC) has numerous vital and outstanding advantages to substantially lessen the amount of fixed production costs in comparison to variable costs. HRC provides a great solution to the complex hybrid manufacturing tasks. The cooperation of humans and robots in collaborative tasks can take advantage of the differing strengths from both sides. In this talk, I will give a broad introduction of robotics research and education …

Climate Change Adaptations Across The Global South, Arnaud Kurze, Tanzin Naher

Sustainability Seminar Series

This research talk provides a preliminary project overview drawing from archival work on Guinea at the Library of Congress and fieldwork carried out in Summer 2023 in Bangladesh. Drawing on the 2023 International Joint Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation objectives, the project focuses on coastal and rural populations in Bangladesh and Guinea, who are not only physically exposed to the heightened risks for climate change, including floods, but also socioeconomically vulnerable, due to limited resources to respond to increased rainfall and the impact on agricultural production. The project design is based on an integral collaboration between …

Vertical Free-Swinging Photovoltaic Racking Energy Modeling: A Novel Approach To Agrivoltaics, Koami Soulemane Hayibo, Joshua M. Pearce

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

To enable lower-cost building materials, a free-swinging bifacial vertical solar photovoltaic (PV) rack has been proposed, which complies with Canadian building codes and is the lowest capital-cost agrivoltaics rack. The wind force applied to the free-swinging PV, however, causes it to have varying tilt angles depending on the wind speed and direction. No energy performance model accurately describes such a system. To provide a simulation model for the free-swinging PV, where wind speed and direction govern the array tilt angle, this study builds upon the open-source System Advisor Model (SAM) using Python. After the SAM python model is validated, a …

Satellite-Based Estimation Of Seasonal Surface Water Change And Its Relationship To Climate Variability In A Tropical Open Basin Lake, Osnar Mondragon Grios

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the spatiotemporal dynamics of climate variability and water surface area in Lake Nicaragua, one of the largest tropical lakes on Earth. The significance of this study lies in its potential to provide valuable insights into the hydroclimatic patterns and water availability, vital for Nicaragua’s water supply. Monthly and seasonal time series of precipitation, land surface temperature, and evapotranspiration (ET), acquired from the Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), were analyzed in Google Earth Engine using a non-parametric Mann-Kendall trend test and Sen's slope. The second aim of this …

Assessing The Evaporation Method For Soil-Water Retention Curve Development And Comparison Of Soil-Water Characteristics Across Different Tillage Practices In A Furrow-Irrigated Corn (Zea Mays L.) System, Jeferson Prass Pimentel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The thesis comprises three studies. The first study in this thesis (Chapter I) focused on a six-year corn field experiment to assess the influence of conservation agricultural practices on soil properties and their long-term effects on water-use efficiency and yield. Non-tillage management did not significantly reduce soil bulk density compared to conventional tillage, as no differences were observed between non-tillage and tillage systems throughout the 6-year experiment. There was no difference in total water-use efficiency among soil management practices in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Even though in one year of the study, a significant 24 kg ha-1 mm-1 improvement …

Co2 Storage Capacity And Injectivity Of Stacked Carbonates Of The Pennsylvanian And Permian In Western Nebraska, Lateef Lawal

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Geological carbon storage (GCS) is a critical aspect of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in which captured CO₂ from power plants and industrial processes is injected and stored securely underground. Potential subsurface rock formations include saline aquifers, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, unmineable coal seams and volcanic rocks. GCS technology has been proven in the United States and many other parts of the world as a net-zero carbon emission strategy to mitigate the current climate crisis of our planet. Unlike other states such as Wyoming, GCS projects are still in the early phases in Nebraska. The goal of this …

The Influence Of Invasive Species On Fishers’ Satisfactions, Caroline M. Laplante

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Invasives species are prevalent and widespread in North America. Outdoor recreational activities, such as fishing, introduce a point in which humans may interact with invasive species and have to adapt their own behaviors. Bigheaded carp in the Missouri River below Gavin’s Point Dam are a group of invasive fish species that were thought to be negatively relating to recreational fishers’ satisfactions. Using a content analysis and an importance-grid, we conclude that invasive species do not strongly relate to recreational paddlefish fishers’ satisfactions. Paddlefish fishers represent a small sub-set of recreational fishers in Nebraska and South Dakota. The content analysis revealed …