Compared with the WPCS pyrolysis without Fe2O3, the yields of gaseous products released during the WPCS pyrolysis with Fe2O3 were reduced significantly, and some gaseous products were even not detected. This phenomenon was contributed by the following two reasons 1) heavy hydrocarbons in the WPCS were more easily transformed into coke in the presence of Fe2O3 during pyrolysis; 2) some released gaseous products were reacted with Fe2O3 and fixed on the soil particles. Therefore, the WPCS pyrolysis with Fe2O3 can effectively reduce the burden of tail gas treatment. Criado method analysis results suggested that the reaction mechanism of heavy hydrocarbons during the WPCS pyrolysis with Fe2O3 was rendered as the synergic effects of diffusion, order-based, and random nucleation and growth reactions.Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and its debromination (∑BBPA) and O-methylation (∑MeO-TBBPA) products were widely detected in matched sediments, fish, and whelks samples collected from a typical electronic waste (e-waste) dismantling site in Southern China, with concentrations ranging from 19.8 to 1.52 × 104, 8.05 to 1.84 × 103, and 0.08 to 11.9 ng/g dry weight in sediments, and 6.96 to 1.97 × 105, 3.84 to 7.07 × 103, and 3.42 to 472 ng/g lipid in biotas, for TBBPA, ∑BBPA, and ∑MeO-TBBPA, respectively. Significantly higher concentrations of these targets were found in samples collected close to the e-waste site, indicating their potential e-waste sources. Tri-BBPA was the most abundant debromination products in sediments, whereas diMeO-TBBPA was the dominant O-methylation product in biotas. Relatively higher levels of diMeO-TBBPA found in liver and kidneys, suggesting these chemicals might be mainly derived from the in vivo biotransformation. Furthermore, significantly higher biota-sediment accumulation factor values were found for diMeO-TBBPA than these of TBBPA, indicating that O-methylation would increases their accumulation in aquatic organisms. Our study provides insights into the accumulation and biotransformation of TBBPA in aquatic systems. Further studies should pay attention to the occurrence as well as potential health risks of these transformation products.Evaluating and benchmarking the energy efficiency of drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) is essential to improve the environmental and economic performance of these facilities. However, robust and reliable methods should be used to compute energy efficiency scores to avoid biased conclusions. In this study, the stochastic non-parametric envelopment of data (StoNED) method was employed to assess the energy efficiency of a sample of 146 DWTPs. This methodological approach also allowed us to explore the influence of several environmental variables on the energy performance of DWTPs. The average energy efficiency score of the facilities evaluated was 0.461. It means that they could save 54% of the current energy consumption. 42% of the DWTPs evaluated presented an average energy efficiency score varied between 0.41 and 0.61. None of the 146 water treatment facilities was identified as fully energy efficient which evidences that all DWTPs could save energy. The source of raw water, the age of the DWTP and the main technology used to treat raw water were factors that statistically affected the energy efficiency of DWTPs. It was also estimated that a 1% increase in the removal of total dissolved solids and sulfates result in an increase in energy consumption by 0.340 and 0.409%, respectively, ceteris paribus. The information and conclusions of this study are of great interest for water managers and regulators to improve the operation of DWTPs and plan the design of new facilities.In this study, two lava stone biocarrier facilitated gravity-driven membrane (GDM) reactors were operated at ~8 °C and ~22 °C in parallel for treating primary wastewater effluent. Although the biocarrier reactor at 8 °C displayed less efficient removals of biodegradable organics than that at 22 °C, both GDM systems (without cleaning) showed comparable fouling resistance distribution patterns, accompanying with similar cake filtration constants and pore constriction constants by modelling simulation. Compared to the GDM at 8 °C, more foulants were accumulated on the GDM at 22 °C, but they presented similar soluble organics/inorganics contents and specific cake resistances. This indicated the cake layers at 22 °C may contain greater-sized foulants due to proliferation of both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, leading to a relatively less-porous nature. In the presence of periodic cleaning (at 50 °C), the cleaning effectiveness followed a sequence as ultrasonication-enhanced physical cleaning > two-phase flow cleaning > chemical-enhanced physical cleaning > physical cleaning, regardless of GDM operation temperature. However, significantly higher cake resistances were observed in the GDM system at 22 °C than those at 8 °C, because shear force tended to remove loosely-attached foulant layers and may compress the residual dense cake layer. The presence of periodic cleaning led to dissimilar dominant prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities in the cake layers as those without cleaning and in the lava stone biocarriers. Nevertheless, operation temperature did not influence GDM permeate quality, which met EU discharge standards.Forests and wood products play a major role in climate change mitigation strategies and the transition from a fossil-based economy to a circular bioeconomy. Accurate estimates of future forest productivity are crucial to predict the carbon sequestration and wood provision potential of forests. Since long, forest managers have used empirical yield tables as a cost-effective and reliable way to predict forest growth. However, recent climate change-induced growth shifts raised doubts about the long-term validity of these yield tables. In this study, we propose a methodology to improve available yield tables of 11 tree species in the Netherlands and Flanders, Belgium. The methodology uses scaling functions derived from climate-sensitive process-based modelling (PBM) that reflect state-of-the-art projections of future growth trends. Combining PBM and stand information from the empirical yield tables for the region of Flanders, we found that for the period 1987-2016 stand productivity has on average increased by 13% compared to 1961-1990. Furthermore, simulations indicate that this positive growth trend is most likely to persist in the coming decades, for all considered species, climate or site conditions. Nonetheless, results showed that local site variability is equally important to consider as the in- or exclusion of the CO2 fertilization effect or different climate projections, when assessing the magnitude of forests’ response to climate change. Our projections suggest that incorporating these climate change-related productivity changes lead to a 7% increase in standing stock and a 22% increase in sustainably potentially harvestable woody biomass by 2050. The proposed methodology and resulting estimates of climate-sensitive projections of future woody biomass stocks will facilitate the further incorporation of forests and their products in global and regional strategies for the transition to a climate-smart circular bioeconomy.Cold-front systems provide scavenging mechanisms for air pollution in the North China Plain (NCP), but the transport of pollutants with cold fronts aggravates air quality downstream. The impact of cold fronts on PM2.5 concentrations over the NCP during 8-14 December 2019 was studied using the WRF-Chem model. Results indicate that cold fronts directly influence PM2.5 concentration through regional transport of pollutants and adjustment of meteorological systems, and they indirectly affect air quality by influencing aerosol-radiation interaction. Pollutants affecting downstream areas may be transported to altitudes of ~3 km along the frontal surface, with near-surface PM2.5 concentrations increasing temporarily at up to 15 μg·m-3·h-1 behind the surface frontal line owing to the inversion layer triggered by the oblique frontal surface. The transport process plays an essential role in affecting air pollution levels, more than vertical mixing and chemical reaction processes. Changes in the meteorological system (eastward shift of the high-pressure center) occurring with the passage of cold fronts facilitate the accumulation and transport of pollutants in the NCP, reducing air quality in the western and northern NCP. Cold fronts may also indirectly exacerbate near-surface pollutant diffusion conditions by affecting solar radiation incidence, with a reduction of the 2-m temperature by as much as 1 °C, increasing near-surface ( less then 1 and 0.5 km agl on the pre- and post-frontal sides, respectively) PM2.5 concentrations by up to 40 μg·m-3, while reducing upper-layer concentrations by up to 30 μg·m-3. This study emphasizes the amplification effect of cold fronts on air pollution, with inter-regional cooperation being essential in improving air quality in the NCP region.An environmental justice (EJ) analysis shows that adoption of low-carbon energy sources in the year 2050 reduces the race/ethnicity disparity in air pollution exposure in California by as much as 20% for PM2.5 mass and by as much as 40% for PM0.1 mass. An ensemble of six different energy scenarios constructed using the energy-economic optimization model CA-TIMES were evaluated in future years. Criteria pollutant emissions were developed for each energy scenario using the CA-REMARQUE model using 4 km spatial resolution over four major geographic areas in California the greater San Francisco Bay Area including Sacramento (SFBA&SAC), the San Joaquin Valley (SJV), Los Angeles (LA), and San Diego (SD). The Weather Research & Forecasting (WRF) model was used to predict future meteorology fields by downscaling two different climate scenario (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) generated by two different GCMs (the Community Climate System Model and the Canadian Earth Systems Model). Simulations were performed over 32 weeks randomly selected during the 10 year window from the year 2046 to 2055 to build up a long-term average in the presence of ENSO variability. The trends associated with low-carbon energy adoption were relatively stable across the ensemble of locations and scenarios. Deeper reductions in the carbon intensity of energy sources progressively reduced exposure to PM2.5 mass and PM0.1 mass for all California residents. The greater adoption of low-carbon fuels also reduced the racial disparity in the PM exposure. The three energy scenarios that achieved an ~80% reduction in GHG emissions relative to 1990 levels simultaneously produced the greatest reduction in PM exposure for all California residents and the greatest reduction in the racial disparity of that exposure. These findings suggest that the adoption of low-carbon energy can improve public health and reduce racial disparities through an improvement in air quality.In northern lakes, which are often stained and productive, the impacts of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) on sediment phosphorus (P) release are largely unexplored. Here we elucidated the factors behind experimentally-derived sediment release rates of P by diffusion (DF) in four Finnish lakes with a range of colour. Next, we extended our analysis to a larger set of northern lakes for further insights regarding possible implications of organic substances on sediment P release. The significant correlation between pore-water soluble reactive P and dissolved iron, and a positive effect of iron-bound sedimentary P (Fe-P) on DF supports the classic paradigm of redox-dependent P release in the four Finnish lakes studied. Nevertheless, the P release from Fe-P may be inhibited by humic substances, as we observed lower Fe-P and negative DF in two humic rich lakes (high DOC). The analysis of a larger set of northern lakes supported the negative effect of humic substances on P release rate (RR) determined by in situ P increases.