Designing biofuel supply chains while mitigating harmful algal blooms with treatment wetlands

Mixed pollutants adsorption potential of Eichhornia crassipes biochar on Manihot esculenta processing industry effluents

The starch is one of the most essential food stuff and serves as a raw material for number of food products for the welfare of human. During the production process enormous volume of effluents are being released into the environment. In this regard, this study was performed to evaluate the physicochemical traits of Manihot esculenta processing effluent and possible sustainable approach to treat this issue using Eichhornia crassipes based biochar. The standard physicochemical properties analysis revealed that the most the parameters (EC was recorded as 4143.17 ± 67.12 mhom^-1, TDS: 5825.62 ± 72.14 mg L^-1, TS: 7489.21 ± 165.24 mg L^-1, DO: 2.12 ± 0.21 mg L^-1, BOD 2673.74 ± 153.53 mg L^-1, COD: 6672.66 ± 131.21 mg L^-1, and so on) were beyond the permissible limits and which can facilitate eutrophication. Notably, the DO level was considerably poor and thus can support the eutrophication. The trouble causing E. crassipes biomass was used as raw material for biochar preparation through pyrolysis process. The temperature ranging from 250 to 350 °C with residence time of 20-60 min were found as suitable temperature to provide high yield (56-33%). Furthermore, 10 g L^-1 concentration of biochar showed maximum pollutant adsorption than other concentrations (5 g L^-1 and 15 g L^-1) from 1 L of effluent. The suitable temperature required to remediate the pollutants from the effluent by biochar was found as 45 °C and 35 °C at 10 g L^-1 concentration. These results conclude that at such optimized condition, the E. crassipes effectively adsorbed most of the pollutants from the M. esculenta processing effluent. Furthermore, such pollutants adsorption pattern on biochar was confirmed by SEM analysis.

Metrics for a nature-positive world: A multiscale approach for absolute environmental sustainability assessment

Absolute environmental sustainability (AES) metrics include nature's carrying capacity as a reference to provide insight into the extent to which human activities exceed ecosystem limits, and to encourage actions toward restoration and protection of nature. Existing methods for determining AES metrics rely on the frameworks of Planetary boundaries (PB) and Ecosystem Services. This work provides new insight into the relationship between these methods and demonstrates that AES metrics based on the framework of techno-ecological synergy (TES) are better suited to encouraging nature-positive decisions. PB-based AES metrics downscale planetary boundaries or upscale local ecosystem services, but they partition available services among all users across the planet and make limited use of biophysical information. In contrast, TES-based metrics follow a multiscale approach that accounts for local ecosystem services estimated by biophysical data and models, and combine them with downscaled services from multiple coarser scales. These metrics can provide credit to stakeholders for local ecosystem services, thus encouraging ecosystem protection and restoration. Generally, the PB framework focuses on processes of global importance which currently include nine planetary boundaries that are critical for global stability. The TES framework considers ecosystem services from local to global scales and can be used for determining absolute environmental sustainability precisely at any spatial scale. Theoretical analysis shows that TES-based metrics are more general and can be specialized to PB-based metrics under certain conditions. Through case studies at multiple spatial scales and for various ecosystem services, we show that TES-based metrics are more robust, less subjective, and better suited for encouraging transformation to a nature-positive world.

Multidimensional analysis model of agricultural product supply chain competition based on mean fuzzy

Efficient and reliable fresh agricultural products supply chain is the key to meet the demand of consumers for fresh agricultural products, and also the guarantee for suppliers to realize their economic benefits. Therefore, a multi-dimensional analysis model of agricultural products supply chain competition based on fuzzy mean value is proposed. Firstly, the information distribution model of multi-dimensional analysis of agricultural product supply chain competition is proposed. On this basis, the multi-dimensional analysis information scheduling fusion of agricultural product supply chain competition is processed. Then, the application of mean value fuzzy in agricultural product supply chain is analyzed. According to the identification module of agricultural product information code, the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model of supply chain and the mean fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, the competition of agricultural product supply chain is established Dimension analysis model. The experimental results show that the performance score of agricultural product supply chain is higher, the accuracy of supply chain information diagnosis is higher, and the clustering of agricultural product supply chain information diagnosis is better.

Quantification and valuation of ecosystem services in life cycle assessment: Application of the cascade framework to rice farming systems

The integration of ecosystem service (ES) assessment with life cycle assessment (LCA) is important for developing decision support tools for environmental sustainability. A prequel study has proposed a 4-step methodology that integrates the ES cascade framework within the cause-effect chain of life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) to characterize the physical and monetary impacts on ES provisioning due to human interventions. We here follow the suggested steps in the abovementioned study, to demonstrate the first application of the integrated ES-LCIA methodology and the added value for LCA studies, using a case study of rice farming in the United States, China, and India. Four ES are considered, namely carbon sequestration, water provisioning, air quality regulation, and water quality regulation. The analysis found a net negative impact for rice farming systems in all three rice producing countries, meaning the detrimental impacts of rice farming on ES being greater than the induced benefits on ES. Compared to the price of rice sold in the market, the negative impacts represent around 2%, 6%, and 4% of the cost of 1 kg of rice from China, India, and the United States, respectively. From this case study, research gaps were identified in order to develop a fully operationalized ES-LCIA integration. With such a framework and guidance in place, practitioners can more comprehensively assess the impacts of life cycle activities on relevant ES provisioning, in both physical and monetary terms. This may in turn affect stakeholders' availability to receive such benefits from ecosystems in the long run.