Topic Review
Artificial Intelligence and Agricultural Sustainability
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one innovation emerging from the digitalization trend, often being used for precision agriculture and to enhance smart farming techniques. The digitalization of agricultural systems is aimed at the technological optimization of production, value chains, and food systems, as well as minimizing the environmental impacts of agriculture. 
  • 1.7K
  • 18 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Sludge Treatment Reed Beds
Sludge Treatment Reed Beds (STRB) represent a state-of-the-art nature-based solution to sludge treatment and management. It is an effective, economical (i.e., of low investment, operation and maintenance cost, and low energy consumption), environmentally friendly, and technically efficient technology. In STRBs, the sludge is applied to a growing stand of reeds under controlled conditions. The method relies on the exploitation of the transpiring and aerating capabilities of the reeds, which absorb moisture and nutrients from the sludge for their growth. Additionally, the sludge is dewatered by drainage through the underlying gravel layers, and evaporation from the sludge surface. In the long run, the sludge is oxidized and its organic matter content decreases. The final solids content of the dewatered sludge can build up to and exceed 40%, depending on the sludge loading rate and the climate. STRB operational life is usually at least 30 years and is divided into two or three operational phases of 8-12 years. At the end of each operational phase, the accumulated residual sludge is removed and recycled typically in agriculture and the STRB is emptied.
  • 1.7K
  • 01 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Supercontinent Cycle
The supercontinent cycle is the quasi-periodic aggregation and dispersal of Earth's continental crust. There are varying opinions as to whether the amount of continental crust is increasing, decreasing, or staying about the same, but it is agreed that the Earth's crust is constantly being reconfigured. One complete supercontinent cycle is said to take 300 to 500 million years. Continental collision makes fewer and larger continents while rifting makes more and smaller continents.
  • 1.7K
  • 03 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Hydrogen Production in Arctic Region
The development of markets for low-carbon energy sources requires reconsideration of issues related to extraction and use of oil and gas. Significant reserves of hydrocarbons are concentrated in Arctic territories, e.g., 30% of the world’s undiscovered natural gas reserves and 13% of oil. Associated petroleum gas, natural gas and gas condensate could be able to expand the scope of their applications. Natural gas is the main raw material for the production of hydrogen and ammonia, which are considered promising primary energy resources of the future, the oxidation of which does not release CO2. Complex components contained in associated petroleum gas and gas condensate are valuable chemical raw materials to be used in a wide range of applications.
  • 1.7K
  • 17 Apr 2024
Topic Review
Ken Cuccinelli
Kenneth Thomas Cuccinelli II (/ˈkuːtʃɪˈnɛli/ KOO-chi-NEL-ee; born July 30, 1968) is an American politician and lawyer currently serving as Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency and Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. He previously served as the 46th attorney general of Virginia from 2010 until 2014, and acting Director of USCIS agency. Before this, he was in the Virginia Senate, representing the 37th district in Fairfax County from 2002 until he took office as attorney general in 2010. On May 18, 2013, Cuccinelli won the Republican Party's gubernatorial nomination at the state party convention. Cuccinelli was the Republican nominee for Governor of Virginia in the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial election, losing to the Democratic nominee, Terry McAuliffe, by 56,435 votes or 2.5% of the total votes cast. A self-described opponent of homosexuality, Cuccinelli in his position as Virginia Attorney General defended anti-sodomy laws and prohibitions on same-sex marriage. Cuccinelli rejects the scientific consensus on climate change, and in his position as Attorney General investigated climate scientists whom he accused of fraud. He filed lawsuits against the Obama administration’s Environmental Protection Agency. Characterized as an immigration hard-liner, Cuccinelli sought to prohibit undocumented immigrants from attending universities, repeal birthright citizenship, and force employees to speak English in the workplace. As CIS Director, he implemented and defended policies that would reject applications for visas or permanent residency for immigrants considered likely to utilize publicly funded benefits programs.
  • 1.7K
  • 12 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Monitoring Net Land Take in Europe
Land as an environmental resource has gained increasing importance in European policies. The target of “no net land take” by 2050, set by the 2011 Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe, is also reinforced by the Soil Strategy of the European Union for 2030. Net land take evaluates, for a given period, the difference between land take and developed land re-naturalization. Its reduction is only feasible by increasing the re-naturalization of developed land, an intervention undertaken in specific and rare circumstances. Accordingly, reusing or recycling developed land is the only intervention that substantially prevents land take. The following defines the three processes for which monitoring is necessary to evaluate the achievement of this target. Then, the legal framework of the European goal is presented, as well as the interventions that can contribute to its pursuit and the actions already taken by some countries and regions in Europe towards this end.
  • 1.7K
  • 13 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Foams in Wastewater Treatment Plants
The formation of persistent foams can be a critical problem in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as it could lead to a series of operational problems, especially the reduction of the overall system performance. To date, the effects of foaming in the WWTPs are a problem that is currently very common and shared, but which to date is treated mainly only at the management level and still too little studied through a globally shared scientific method: the complexity of the phenomenon and the systems have led to numerous partially contradictory descriptions and hypotheses over the years. The goal must be to suggest future research directions and indicate promising strategies to prevent or control the formation of foams in WWTPs. This study examines and investigates the problem of foams by a methodological approach of research through a review on the state of the art: the factors influencing the formation of foams are described first (such as surfactants and/or extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs)), then the known methods for the evaluation of foaming, both direct and indirect, are presented, with the aim of identifying the correct and best (from the management point of view) control and/or prevention strategies to be applied in the future in WWTPs.
  • 1.7K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Slow Sand Filtration for Raw Water Treatment
Filtration methods are traditional techniques of water purification used by mankind since ancient times. By filtering, water can be cleaned of sand, silt, turbidity, scale, and other suspended particles. Modern slow sand filters (SSFs) for water purification were first used in the 19th century in England. Therefore, they are often called English filters. The first slow filter was built by the English engineer James Simpson in 1829 in London to purify water from the river Thames.
  • 1.7K
  • 02 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Illegal Toxic Waste Dumping
Poor management of hazardous waste can lead to environmental pollution, injuries, and adverse health risks. Children’s exposure to hazardous waste may cause serious acute and chronic health problems due to their higher vulnerability to the toxic effects of chemicals. 
  • 1.7K
  • 24 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Waste to Energy Conversion Processes
Sustainable biofuel production is the most effective way to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions associated with fossil fuels while preserving food security and land use. The most common methods of converting organic waste into energy are biochemical methods such as anaerobic digestion and fermentation. The use of bioelectrochemical technologies such as microbial fuel cells and microbial electrochemical cells to handle organic waste have been proposed as a solution pathway to energy decarbonization.
  • 1.7K
  • 07 Jun 2022
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