Synthesis, and crystal and electronic structure of sodium metal phosphate for use as a hybrid capacitor in non-aqueous electrolyte

Energy storage devices based on sodium have been considered as an alternative to traditional lithium based systems because of the natural abundance, cost effectiveness and low environmental impact of sodium. Their synthesis, and crystal and electronic properties have been discussed, because of the importance of electronic conductivity in supercapacitors for high rate applications. The density of states of a mixed sodium transition metal phosphate (maricite, NaMn1/3Co1/3Ni1/3PO4) has been determined with the ab initio generalized gradient approximation (GGA)+Hubbard term (U) method. The computed results for the mixed maricite are compared with the band gap of the parent NaFePO4 and the electrochemical experimental results are in good agreement. A mixed sodium transition metal phosphate served as an active electrode material for a hybrid supercapacitor. The hybrid device (maricite versus carbon) in a nonaqueous electrolyte shows redox peaks in the cyclic voltammograms and asymmetric profiles in the charge-discharge curves while exhibiting a specific capacitance of 40 F g(-1) and these processes are found to be quasi-reversible. After long term cycling, the device exhibits excellent capacity retention (95%) and coulombic efficiency (92%). The presence of carbon and the nanocomposite morphology, identified through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies, ensures the high rate capability while offering possibilities to develop new cathode materials for sodium hybrid devices.

Redes neuronales artificiales aplicadas al análisis de datos en ingeniería ambiental e impacto ambiental

Resumen: Se realiza una revisión sobre los antecedentes de las Redes Neuronales Artificiales (RNA) como método de análisis de bases de datos medioambientales, aplicado en las diversas áreas de la Ingeniería Ambiental en general y de Impacto Ambiental en particular. Se describe como ejemplo, la aplicación de RNA en los algoritmos de inversión de datos obtenidos por sensado remoto satelital, para la medición de variables geofísicas

Superando los límites medioambientales de la empresa: Un estudio experimental del efecto del posicionamiento ecológico en la actitud hacia la marca

Ponencia presentada y defendida en el XI Congreso Internacional de la Asociación de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa (AEDEM), celebrado en París en septiembre de 2002.

Effects and impacts of physical stress on entrained organisms.

Environmental studies of power plants have recently shifted their emphasis from examination of the effects of heated discharges to studies of the impacts of entire cooling systems. One of the major impacts arises when planktonic organisms are carried into and through a plant with the cooling water. Because of their relatively immobile, free-floating character, planktonic organisms are highly vulnerable to being "entrained" or passively drawn into the cooling water condenser systems of power plants. More than 70% of estuarine animals have planktonic eggs and larvae. The environmental impact of entrainment is related to the composition and abundance of affected organisms, the numbers of organisms in the adjacent waters, survival rates during entrainment as related to natural survival, the ecological roles of entrained organisms, and their reproductive strategies.

A manual of previously recorded non-indigenous invasive and native transplanted animal species of the Laurentian Great Lakes and coastal United States

This manual presents geographic information by state of occurrence, and descriptions of the socio-economic impact created by the invasion of non-indigenous and native transplanted animal species in the Laurentian Great Lakes and the coastal waters of the United States. It is not a comprehensive literature review, but rather is intended as a primer for those unfamiliar with the socio-economic impacts of invasive aquatic and marine animals. Readers should also note that the information contained in this manual is current as of its publication date. New information and new species are routinely being added to the wider literature base. Most of the information was gathered from a number of web sites maintained by government agencies, commissions, academic institutions and museums. Additional information was taken from the primary and secondary literature. This manual focuses on socio-economic consequences of invasive species. Thus, ecological impacts, when noted in the literature, are not discussed unless a connection to socio-economic factors can be made. For a majority of the species listed, either the impact of their invasion is not understood, or it is not published in sources surveyed. In the species summaries, sources of information are cited except for information from the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database http://nas.er.usgs.gov. This website formed the base information used in creating tables on geographic distribution, and in many of the species summaries provided. Thus, whenever information is given without specific author/source and date citation, it has come from this comprehensive source. (PDF contains 90 pages)

Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Area to be Avoided (ATBA) Education and Monitoring Program

The National Marine Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. 1431, as amended) gives the Secretary of Commerce the authority to designate discrete areas of the marine environment as National Marine Sanctuaries and provides the authority to promulgate regulations to provide for the conservation and management of these marine areas. The waters of the Outer Washington Coast were recognized for their high natural resource and human use values and placed on the National Marine Sanctuary Program Site Evaluation List in 1983. In 1988, Congress directed NOAA to designate the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (Pub. L. 100-627). The Sanctuary, designated in May 1994, worked with the U.S. Coast Guard to request the International Maritime Organization designate an Area to be Avoided (ATBA) on the Olympic Coast. The IMO defines an ATBA as "a routeing measure comprising an area within defined limits in which either navigation is particularly hazardous or it is exceptionally important to avoid casualties and which should be avoided by all ships, or certain classes of ships" (IMO, 1991). This ATBA was adopted in December 1994 by the Maritime Safety Committee of the IMO, “in order to reduce the risk of marine casualty and resulting pollution and damage to the environment of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary”, (IMO, 1994). The ATBA went into effect in June 1995 and advises operators of vessels carrying petroleum and/or hazardous materials to maintain a 25-mile buffer from the coast. Since that time, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS) has created an education and monitoring program with the goal of ensuring the successful implementation of the ATBA. The Sanctuary enlisted the aid of the U.S. and Canadian coast guards, and the marine industry to educate mariners about the ATBA and to use existing radar data to monitor compliance. Sanctuary monitoring efforts have targeted education on tank vessels observed transiting the ATBA. OCNMS's monitoring efforts allow quantitative evaluation of this voluntary measure. Finally, the tools developed to monitor the ATBA are also used for the more general purpose of monitoring vessel traffic within the Sanctuary. While the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary does not currently regulate vessel traffic, such regulations are within the scope of the Sanctuary’s Final Environmental Impact Statement/Management Plan. Sanctuary staff participate in ongoing maritime and environmental safety initiatives and continually seek opportunities to mitigate risks from marine shipping.(PDF contains 44 pages.)

Test von Fanggeräten zur Untersuchung von Grundfischfaunen in Windparkgebieten der Ostsee

With respect to future environmental impact assessment different bottom trawls are presently investigated for their suitability for sampling the fish fauna in potential windpark areas asses. For this purpose the international Baltic Sea Trawl, the Box trawl, two different small beam trawls and small eel fykes were compared on a research cutter in June 2002. The best catchability with the highest abundance of demersal fish species and widest length distribution was obtained with the Box trawl. During another cruise in December 2002 the Box trawl was again compared with the Windpark trawl. As a result the Box trawl performed best, with regard to the overall catchability. However the Windpark Trawl is easier to handle under the conditions onboard small fishing cutters.

Reduzierung der Schädigung des Meeresbodens durch Baumkurren und Grundschleppnetze

An EU funded research project was started in 1998 by institutes from Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany to reduce the adverse environmental impact of demersal trawls. In the frame of this project the Institute for Fishery Technique of the Federal Research Centre for Fisheries, Hamburg, is developing a jet beamtrawl replacing the heavy tickler chains of a traditional flatfish beam trawl by water jet nozzles placed at the lower side of the beam with the jets directed towards the sea bottom. First trials on the dutch research vessel “Tridens” were performed in March 1998. Catch and bycatch of a jet beamtrawl and a traditional beamtrawl were compared. The efficiency of the jet beamtrawl was not satisfactory and will have to be improved.

Decision support systems optimising effluent release in sub tropical estuarine environment - An Australian case study

Gold Coast Water is responsible for the management of the water and wastewater assets of the City of the Gold Coast on Australia’s east coast. Treated wastewater is released at the Gold Coast Seaway on an outgoing tide in order for the plume to be dispersed before the tide changes and renters the Broadwater estuary. Rapid population growth over the past decade has placed increasing demands on the receiving waters for the release of the City’s effluent. The Seaway SmartRelease Project is designed to optimise the release of the effluent from the City’s main wastewater treatment plant in order to minimise the impact of the estuarine water quality and maximise the cost efficiency of pumping. In order to do this an optimisation study that involves water quality monitoring, numerical modelling and a web based decision support system was conducted. An intensive monitoring campaign provided information on water levels, currents, winds, waves, nutrients and bacterial levels within the Broadwater. These data were then used to calibrate and verify numerical models using the MIKE by DHI suite of software. The decision support system then collects continually measured data such as water levels, interacts with the WWTP SCADA system, runs the models in forecast mode and provides the optimal time window to release the required amount of effluent from the WWTP. The City’s increasing population means that the length of time available for releasing the water with minimal impact may be exceeded within 5 years. Optimising the release of the treated water through monitoring, modelling and a decision support system has been an effective way of demonstrating the limited environmental impact of the expected short term increase in effluent disposal procedures. (PDF contains 5 pages)

The Uniform World Model: A Methodology for Predicting the Health Impacts of Air Pollution

47 p.

Estudio comparativo de diferentes soluciones de fachada y cubierta para un edificio residencial

[ES]En el proyecto se analizan diferentes soluciones de fachada y cubierta de un edificio residencial, buscando la eficiencia energética y la economía. Para ello, partiendo de un caso concreto, se estudian las cargas térmicas del edificio existente y de otras dos soluciones posibles. En estas además, se utilizan materiales sostenibles, con el fin de hacer el menor impacto medioambiental posible. Se ha analizado también la rentabilidad de estas soluciones, para comprobar cuál es la más adecuada desde un punto de vista económico.

De "caldeirão do diabo" a "paraíso ecológico": a conversão da Ilha Grande

A partir de 1994, com a cessão das terras e benfeitorias do extinto Instituto Penal Cândido Mendes na Vila Dois Rios, a Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) passou a atuar na Ilha Grande (Angra dos Reis/RJ), de forma mais expressiva, fundando o Centro de Estudos Ambientais e Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CEADS). Em função da relevância socioambiental da Costa Verde, em especial, da Ilha Grande, e dos compromissos assumidos pela universidade com a implantação do CEADS, o presente estudo buscou avaliar como a gestão desse campus pode contribuir para o estabelecimento de políticas públicas que promovam a sustentabilidade socio-ambiental da Ilha Grande. Desta forma, a partir de um diagnóstico socioambiental da Costa Verde, com ênfase na Ilha Grande, foi realizada uma reflexão crítica sobre os processos de territorialização em Dois Rios e uma apreciação dos problemas socioambientais prioritários por meio da Análise da Cadeia Causal. Identificou-se como as principais causas raízes dos problemas prioritários da Ilha Grande, a fragilidade do sistema de governança (dificuldade de implementar acordos; dificuldade de mobilização social; falta de ordenamento dos diferentes níveis de governo; inadequada integração de considerações ambientais nas políticas públicas; impunidade; corrupção, precariedade da fiscalização) e causas políticas (conflitos entre diferentes instância públicas). Evidenciou-se, também, um distanciamento entre as instituições gestoras locais e os centros de produção de conhecimento que atuam na região, entre os quais a UERJ, através do CEADS. A partir do envolvimento institucional mais forte e de uma política ambiental a ser assumida como estratégia de gestão da UERJ como um todo, propõe-se a implantação de um ecocampus na unidade de Dois Rios, que oportunize à universidade contribuir, de forma pró-ativa, para a sustentabilidade da Costa Verde, sem exclusão da população local, assim como, realizar uma ampla reflexão e reformulação de suas práticas. Palavras-chave: Ilha Grande. Turismo. Análise da Cadeia Causal. Território. Ecocampus. Sustentabilidade

Estudo preliminar da determinação de amônio por cromatografia de íons e sua remoção em lixiviados de resíduos sólidos utilizando argilas

A quantidade de resíduos gerados tem crescido rapidamente, sendo maior que a taxa de crescimento populacional, indicando um aumento na geração per capita. Este fato torna preocupante a maneira como é realizada a disposição final de resíduos e o impacto ambiental gerado com isso. Dentre os impactos está a produção de chorume, um poluente de elevada carga orgânica com altas concentrações de amônio e forte coloração, produzido pela decomposição química e microbiológica dos resíduos sólidos depositados em um aterro. Em locais de destino como aterros sanitários, este chorume é drenado para tratamento a fim de não impactar o local onde foi implantado o aterro. Porém, no Brasil, em grande parte dos casos, este tratamento não acontece, deixando o ambiente mais suscetível à contaminação. Este trabalho teve como finalidade determinar a quantidade de amônio presente em amostras de chorume do aterro de Gramacho no Rio de Janeiro, utilizando a cromatografia de íons para a sua quantificação, além de estudar a remoção de amônio por processos de adsorção em materiais como argilominerais. As amostras de chorume in natura apresentaram valores de pH em torno de 8,0 e concentrações de amônio entre 1665,0 e 2788,8 mg.L-1. Nas amostras analisadas após a destilação do chorume foram encontrados valores de pH entre 8,6 e 9,7 e concentrações de amônio de até 6362,3 mg.L-1, verificando que a maior concentração deste íon é arrastada nos primeiros 50 mL da destilação. Os testes de adsorção obtiveram um potencial de remoção de até 47 % do total de amônio. A metodologia aplicada se mostrou eficiente para determinação de amônio, uma vez que o tratamento prévio minimiza a ação de interferentes. Os baixos valores de remoção de amônio reforçam a necessidade de maior aprofundamento deste estudo, o que seria uma alternativa interessante para minimizar a ação deste poluente no meio ambiente

Co-pirólise de polipropileno pós-consumo com gasóleo

O presente trabalho buscou avaliar o processo de co-pirólise de resíduos de polipropileno com gasóleo, variando a temperatura e a quantidade de polipropileno no meio reacional. A co-pirólise é uma rota promissora, uma vez que minimiza o impacto ambiental causado pela disposição do plástico de maneira inadequada, evita seu acúmulo em lixões e permite um melhor aproveitamento de um recurso natural não-renovável, o petróleo, matéria-prima importante para a geração de energia e obtenção de produtos químicos. As amostras de polipropileno e gasóleo foram submetidas à co-pirólise térmica em atmosfera inerte, em sistema de leito fixo, sob fluxo constante de nitrogênio, variando a temperatura de 400C a 500C e a quantidade de PP no meio reacional de 0,1 a 1,0 g. A influência do gasóleo no meio foi avaliada pelos testes na ausência de PP. Os líquidos pirolíticos obtidos foram caracterizados por cromatografia gasosa modificada, com o objetivo de avaliar a geração de frações na faixa da destilação do diesel. De uma maneira geral, pôde-se observar que o aumento da quantidade de PP no meio reacional favorece a redução do rendimento de líquido pirolítico e o aumento da quantidade de sólido gerado, efeito inverso ao do aumento da temperatura. Com relação ao rendimento geral de produtos na faixa de destilação do diesel na co-pirólise, a adição de PP ao meio não interfere muito no resultado. Já o aumento de temperatura favorece o aumento do rendimento de produtos nessa faixa de destilação. Os resultados obtidos comprovam o potencial da co-pirólise como método de reciclagem química de artefatos de polipropileno pós-consumo

The effects of stress on benthic algal communities

The effects of stress on both microalgal and macroalgal communities are considered. On one hand the contrasting approaches of studies of these two communities reflect intrinsic differences in plant size, longevity and ease of handling. On the other hand they reveal that biological monitoring of the potentially deleterious effects of man's activities has focused largely on freshwater environments in which macroalgae only occasionally dominate. Large conspicuous plants can be readily investigated as individuals, whereas it is virtually impossible to trace effects of stress on an individual cell of a vegetatively-reproducing microalga; a population approach is almost inevitably necessary. However, rapid turnover rates, a spectrum of ecological characteristics distributed between many taxa, and the potential for statistical analysis, have facilitated the use of microalgae in environmental impact studies. Failure to extend such investigations into marine systems rests as much on man's ability to ignore environmental deterioration until it affects his quality of life as on the visual dominance of seaweeds around our coasts. However, large gaps remain in our knowledge of both large and small algae; some reported community changes over time are suspect, and the causes of even blatant changes are not always apparent.