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  • Authors: Sousa, Vitor; Drumond, André; Meireles, Inês;  Advisor: -;  Co-Author: - (2023)

    In the design waste collection systems, it is common practice to use a constant specific fuel consumption (e.g. litres per amount of waste collected or distance travelled). This is also the approach used in many cases for fleet management, namely, for decision-making on more fuel-efficient equipment acquisition. However, the specific fuel consumption is not constant and there are spatial and temporal variations. Accounting for this variability becomes relevant if a more refined cost or environmental optimization is intended. The present research effort evaluates the energy intensity of the waste collection service in the Cascais municipality, reporting the differences and the magnitude of the variability for the mixed waste collection service. Statistically significant differences a...

  • Authors: He, Ziwen; Chen, Ziyang; Feng, Xiao;  Advisor: -;  Co-Author: - (2023)

    Although green technology innovation is an important means to balance the environment and economy, few studies have analyzed the employment effects of green technology innovation in developing countries. Therefore, this paper employs the panel data of 286 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2017 to empirically test the impact of various green technology innovations on urban employment. Meanwhile, from the perspectives of air quality and industrial structure optimization, the influencing mechanism of green technology innovation on employment is deeply analyzed.

  • Authors: Ni, Junjun; Zhou, Jingsong; Wang, Yuchen;  Advisor: -;  Co-Author: - (2023)

    Plant–biochar interaction has been recognized to affect the hydraulic properties of landfill cover soils, while its influence on landfill gas emission is rarely studied. This study investigated the coupled effects of biochar and vegetation on gas permeability and emission in unsaturated landfill cover through an integrated theoretical modelling and laboratory investigation. First, a gas permeability model was developed for vegetated coarse-grained soils with biochar addition. Then, a well-instrumented laboratory column test and two tests from the literature, considering bare, grass, biochar and grass + biochar conditions, were used for model validation.

  • Authors: Gan, Jelaine Lim; Grainger, Matthew James; Shirley, Mark David Foster;  Advisor: -;  Co-Author: - (2023)

    Forest landscape restoration (FLR), often through tree planting, is one of the priorities in many global and national initiatives for carbon offsetting as part of climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation. However, active efforts to meet FLR objectives entail substantial costs for the procurement of planting stocks and require an experienced workforce for planting and nurturing tree seedlings. Alternatively, restoration projects can be more cost-effective and potentially may have greater biodiversity gain through assisting and accelerating natural forest regeneration.

  • Authors: Li, Wen-Whai; Chavez, Mayra; Williams, Evan;  Advisor: -;  Co-Author: - (2023)

    Traffic-related air pollutants are especially prevalent in border cities with multiple ports of entry (POEs). Excessive emissions due to long delays of idling commercial and passenger vehicles at the POEs could exacerbate various types of respiratory health conditions for the POE users and workers. We conducted a 1-month in-traffic air monitoring campaign at a POE in El Paso, Texas using three continuous FEM instruments for three criteria pollutants (PM, O3, and NO2). Concurrent monitoring of PM in the nearby community was performed using a number of low-cost PM sensors. The 1-month average PM2.5 concentration at the POE was found below 11.6 µg/m3, while the 5-min average of in-traffic PM2.5 concentration could be as high as 450 µg/m3.

  • Authors: Zadvarzi, Saber Babaee; Amooey, Ali Akbar;  Advisor: -;  Co-Author: - (2023)

    In recent years, taking medicine has been increasing around the world due to population growth and the spread of disease. Antibiotics as a kind of these medicines include about 10 to 15% of drug consumption. Studies show that antibiotics, which are not completely removed, have a permanent and destructive effect on the environment. In this study, the chitosan@polyacrylamide@ZIF-8 as an adsorbent was simultaneously used to remove cefixime and amoxicillin from the aqueous solution by adsorption methods. XRD and FTIR patterns were analyzed to investigate the surface crystallinity and the chemical properties of the adsorbent. In the following, SEM and TEM images were used for surface morphology study. Finally, a numerical investigation was done for predicting the adsorption effective par...

  • Authors: Romanowski, Hannah; Blake, Lauren;  Advisor: -;  Co-Author: - (2023)

    In 2021, the United Kingdom Government granted the possibility of an emergency derogation for the use of the neonicotinoid seed treatment, thiamethoxam, on sugar beet in England. This was met with heavy criticism and controversy due to the body of evidence demonstrating toxicity of the insecticide to non-target species, particularly pollinators. However, many viewed this decision to be reasonable in this system, as sugar beet is a non-flowering crop, and derogations were only implemented if a set of conditions, including viral risk, were met. This research aims to understand the policy and the perspective of stakeholders in this debate, and identify key problems associated with thiamethoxam use on sugar beet. Semi-structured interviews combined with a modified policy analysis were u...

  • Authors: Teicher, Hannah M.;  Advisor: -;  Co-Author: - (2023)

    With anticipation building around embodied carbon as a “new frontier” of climate policy, it may appear that cities need to develop a whole suite of dedicated institutions and mechanisms to support its implementation. However, to do so risks placing an undue burden on already overstretched local and regional governments. Instead, embodied carbon policy can build on existing priorities that already galvanize resources and attention and have benefited from decades of policy development. Making strong links to a larger urban agenda offers a way to forge buy-in from a wide range of stakeholders. Current visions for embodied carbon policy broadly fall into two categories: (1) material substitution strategies, or technical solutions that incrementally reduce emissions, and (2) demand reduc...

  • Authors: Gharbi, Dorra; Neumann, Frank H.; Cilliers, Sarel;  Advisor: -;  Co-Author: - (2023)

    South Africa’s urban population is increasing, and in parallel, urban green infrastructure has shown an increase in alien tree species, e.g., mulberry (Morus sp.), oak (Quercus spp.) and plane trees (Platanus spp.) to name a few. This causes ecological problems since alien trees are often more water-demanding and competitive than indigenous trees, but they also increase the abundance of respiratory diseases often triggered by an allergic reaction towards the pollen of those alien taxa. In the current study, utilizing 7-day volumetric spore traps, we illustrate that the most abundant tree pollen in the two largest cities of South Africa, Cape Town and Johannesburg, is produced by alien trees with a high risk of allergenicity. This adds another aspect related to public health when eva...

  • Authors: Domingues, Rita B.; Nogueira, Patrícia; Barbosa, Ana B.;  Advisor: -;  Co-Author: - (2023)

    The Ria Formosa coastal lagoon is a highly productive shallow ecosystem in southern Portugal, subjected to nutrient inputs from anthropogenic and natural sources. Nutrients are major abiotic drivers of phytoplankton in this system, but their effects on phytoplankton assemblages and the occurrence of nutrient limitation are still poorly understood. The main goal of this study was, thus, to evaluate the occurrence, type, and effects of nutrient limitation on phytoplankton community and specific functional groups in the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon. We conducted nutrient enrichment experiments with factorial additions of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) using natural phytoplankton assemblages from distinct locations in the Ria Formosa, throughout a yearly cycle. Phytoplankton composition ...