Summary

Environmental science emerged from the fields of natural history and medicine during the Enlightenment. Today, it provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems. Environmental studies are incorporating more of the social sciences in order to understand human relationships, perceptions and policies towards the environment. This entry collection features information about design and technology for improving environmental quality in every aspect.

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Topic Review
Cadmium Recovery from Spent Ni-Cd Batteries
The significant increase in the demand for efficient electric energy storage during the last decade has promoted an increase in the production and use of Cd-containing batteries. On the one hand, the amount of toxic Cd-containing used batteries is growing, while on the other hand, Cd is on a list of critical raw materials (for Europe). Both of these factors call for the development of effective technology for Cd recovery from spent batteries. Alkaline nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries are widely used as autonomous sources of industrial and household current (power banks) due to a successful combination of feasibility studies and achieved sustainable electrical characteristics. In recent decades, the market of secondary current sources for portable equipment has undergone significant changes, which leads to an intensive replacement of Ni-Cd batteries with lithium-ion (LIB) and nickel-metal-hydride.
  • 736
  • 07 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Green Infrastructure
Green infrastructure provides various ecosystem services through interlinked networks of engineered and natural green space.
  • 657
  • 29 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Solar Energy—Clean Energy
Solar photochemical technology is one of the most significant renewable technologies particularly for remote and standalone consumers those are away from the grid supply system. Invented in 1955, their main focus was on providing electrical power to space crafts. Recent developments and innovations have significantly reduced the cost of photovoltaic systems; at the same time increased the efficiency of the system substantially. For a long, they have become commercially viable in small power applications.
  • 548
  • 08 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Blue LED Induces Cold Tolerance in Tomato Fruit
LED lighting is increasingly applied to increase yield and quality of greenhouse produced crops, especially tomatoes. Tomatoes cannot be stored at cold temperatures due to chilling injury that manifests as quick quality deterioration during shelf life. 
  • 361
  • 29 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Organic Waste Gasification by Steam and Carbon Dioxide
The selective studies on environmentally friendly, combustion-free, allothermal, atmospheric-pressure, noncatalytic, direct H2O/CO2 gasification of organic feedstocks like biomass, sewage sludge wastes (SSW) and municipal solid wastes (MSW) are considered to demonstrate the pros and cons of the approaches and provide future perspectives. The environmental friendliness of H2O/CO2 gasification is well known as it is accompanied by considerably less harmful emissions into the environment as compared to O2/air gasification. Comparative analysis of the various gasification technologies includes low-temperature H2O/CO2 gasification at temperatures up to 1000 °C, high-temperature plasma- and solar-assisted H2O/CO2 gasification at temperatures above 1200 °C, and an innovative gasification technology applying ultra-superheated steam (USS) with temperatures above 2000 °C obtained by pulsed or continuous gaseous detonations. Analysis shows that in terms of such characteristics as the carbon conversion efficiency (CCE), tar and char content, and the content of harmful by-products the plasma and detonation USS gasification technologies are most promising. However, as compared with plasma gasification, detonation USS gasification does not need enormous electric power with unnecessary and energy-consuming gas–plasma transition.
  • 1.6K
  • 28 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Reducing the Children’s Intake of Ultra-Processed Foods
Excessive fat and fatty acids intake are associated with significant health hazards such as obesity or chronic diseases. The implementation of a relevant strategy for fat reduction, especially from ultra-processed foods, considered as low nutrient energy-dense products, is needed to promote health among children and prevent diet-related chronic diseases.
  • 478
  • 29 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Encyclopedia in Phylogenomic and Biogeography of Toddalia asiatica
Toddalia is a monotypic genus consisting of sole species Toddalia asiatica (L.) Lam., widely distributed in Africa and Asia. It belongs to tribe Amyridoideae, family Rutaceae and order Sapindales. This genus together with genera Phellodendron Rupr., Tetradium Lour., and Zanthoxylum L. were found to produce alkaloids. The relationship of these chemical constituents has been hypothesized for the past years. The ancestor for Rutaceae has been linked to the several alkaloids recognized in these four genera, thus naming the group to date proto-Rutaceae. The four genera have attracted the attention of many scientists and they have been studied widely in previous studies. However, there is insufficient genomic resources in this genus. Additionally the origin and dispersal points of Toddalia species remains unclear. Here, researchers sequenced the two samples of Toddalia asiatica species, both collected from Kenya, and made comparison of their genome structures with T. asiatica species from China, available in the NCBI database. Phylogenomic analysis and impacts of climate change on Toddalia species were also conducted. The availability of the sequenced cp genomes will provide valuable genetic resources for further population genetics and biogeographic studies of these species by sampling them from a wider geographical range. 
  • 408
  • 28 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Dry Ethanol Extracts from Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm
Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm. is used in traditional medicine and has various established biological activities, however, the species is considered to be a potentially invasive alien tree species for Bulgarian flora. However, there is still much to be studied about the phytochemical and biological characteristics of the species. 
  • 331
  • 28 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Heavy Metals in Soil Ecosystem
Soil is a compound mixture and a non-renewable natural resource, as it can only be restored on a geological timescale. It can be easily defined as the loose inorganic or organic matter of the surface that assists as a natural habitat for terrestrial plants. Heavy metals are very hazardous to the environment and living things.
  • 1.1K
  • 28 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Cohesive Sediment Transport in River Systems
Mathematical modelling of cohesive sediment transport is a challenge because of the large number of governing parameters controlling the transport processes. These parameters have to be determined using a rotating circular flume for site specific sediments. The parameters that that need to be determined using a rotating circular flume during the application of the RIVFLOC model to different river systems include the critical shear stress for erosion of the cohesive sediment, critical shear stress for deposition according to the definition of Partheniades, critical shear stress for deposition according to the definition of Krone, the cohesion parameter governing the flocculation of cohesive sediment and a set of empirical parameters that define the density of the floc in terms of the size of the flocs. An examination of the variability of these parameters shows the need for testing site-specific sediments using a rotating circular flume to achieve a reliable prediction of the RIVFLOC model. Application of the model to various river systems has highlighted the need for including the entrapment process in a cohesive sediment transport model.
  • 880
  • 28 Jan 2022
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