An extensive survey was performed covering all the regions of the country to find out the overall impacts of bio-digester on the economy of livestock farmers. Five districts were selected; ten farmers with having bio-digester of 3.2 m3 on average and ten farmers who have no bio-digester were selected from each district. Through direct interviewing and farm monitoring, all farm characteristics, i.e., diurnal biogas production, power generation, cooking time, income and expenditures, farmer’s gross earnings, and manure management practices data were collected accordingly. Descriptive statistics and student t-test was made to express the comparison response of the farms by using XL and SPSS software. It was observed that the owners of anaerobic digesters earned significantly (p < 0.001) more than the traditional farmers by selling animals and biogas (1715 & 306; 1146 & 0.00 USD, respectively). Not only that, by selling milk and fresh manure, the owners of bio-digester harvested more (p < 0.05) annual income than non-bio-digester farmers (4162, 3408 & 60.91, 44.63 USD, respectively). Though the expenditure of farmers having digester was high, but in a single fiscal year, they earned more (p < 0.05) profit than the conventional farmers (USD 4329 & 2842, respectively). However, owners of bio-digester used 67.2 % of their produced manure for gas production. Regarding storing manure as biomass and using it for cooking purposes significant difference (p < 0.001) was observed that was also reflected in the total manure management system of a farm. The farmers having no bio-digester stored 71.95% of their total manure in solid form, whereas the farmers who had bio-digester only stored 20.4% of their manure, which made a significant (p < 0.001) difference. From the biogas chamber, in an average one farmer used a gas stove for 4-5 hours and a gas lamp for 6-8 hours, which saved at least the expenditure of 18 USD per month/household. The notable thing was that the bio-digester alone contributed 7% to those farmers’ gross economy by producing gas. It can be recommended that the rural householders could generate power by installing bio-digester and turn a small bio-digester as a beneficial avenue of their household economy.

This research was conducted to study the effect of adding humic and fulvic acids to the irrigation water on soil properties and germination percentage of two cucurbit plants: zucchini and cucumber. The study was conducted in an open field in Sokhna District in the governorate of Zarqa (Jordan). The field soil was transported to calcareous sandy soil. In the beginning, the weeds and stones were removed, and the land was smoothed and plowed. Effort was made to control weeds and insects at all stages of plant growth. Then, an irrigation network was installed. The fulvic acid-humic acid (FA-HA) biostimulant mixture was incorporated with the irrigation water, and irrigation was practiced three days per week for four weeks. During this period, every irrigation round lasted for two to three hours. A mixture of humic acid (8.0%) and fulvic acid (8.0%) was added to the irrigation water. Three treatments were considered, corresponding to three acid mixture concentrations: 0.50 mL.L-1, 1.00 mL.L-1, and 1.50 mL.L-1. The acid mixtures were added continuously at all stages of plant growth until plant maturity and harvest. Four replicates of the experiment were made. The plant growth variables of interest were germination percentage, number of leaves, date of fruition, size of fruit, and overall mass of fruits. Meanwhile, the soil parameters of interest were soil pH and soil salinity (electric conductivity (EC)) before and after adding the FA-HA mixture. The study found that the 0.5 mL.L-1 acid mixture treatment led to the early growth of the zucchini plant seeds and that fruition took place 12 days after planting. In addition, the results showed an increase in plant germination under the 0.5 mL.L-1 acid mixture treatment in light of the increase in the number of male and female plant flowers, with fruiting taking place on time. In conclusion, the relationship between zucchini growth and yield with FA-HA mixture concentration is non-linear. It is also concluded that the optimum acid mixture concentration and application rate are crop-specific. Hence, for each crop, the most appropriate acid mixture concentration should be determined first before the broad-scale application of amendments to the soil to ensure the contribution of this environmentally friendly practice to sustainable agriculture.

The important source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission is identified to be energy usage, which the demand is gradually increasing. Currently, many people are exposed to increasing temperatures, which affects to health, environment, and quality of life. Moreover, there are many worries about its continuously increasing trend. This work is interested in studying the association between the annual CO2 emission and the annual mean temperature in Thailand. At a confidence interval of 90%, a statistically significant association between the annual CO2 emission and the annual mean temperature was observed. The appropriate predictive equation represented that the CO2 emission at 0.481 M ton increased the annual mean temperature by about 1°C. The results are useful for planning the reduction of CO2 emissions in Thailand. Fascinatingly, the largest source comes from electricity production, and the most significant energy type is finished oil. Therefore, they should be controlled as the priority. Integrated methods are considered as more efficient strategies for the CO2 crisis.

There is a new method of wheat production called the System of Wheat Intensification (SWI) that manages seed treatment, seed rate, spacing, weeding, and watering. The SWI and traditional methods of wheat sowing differ from each other in terms of potential yield. In comparison to the traditional method of wheat sowing, SWI allows seed treatment, which increases the number of tillers, the number of grains in spike, and the weight of the grain. Wheat seeding in the traditional approach is done at a much closer distance than in the SWI method, which results in faulty germination as a result of increased competition between the plants. In SWI, proper root formation in the early stages of crop growth can be encouraged by increasing the space between plants and rows, as well as increasing the density of plants. For small and medium-sized farmers, it is a great way to boost productivity and income while reducing food poverty at the same time. Using organic manure instead of chemical fertilizer is a new strategy that helps support sustainable agriculture. To help the poorest farmers and enhance their productivity and profit, SWI should be recommended.

Oil sludge is one of the major industrial solid wastes from petroleum production and refining. Implementing the harmless and resource treatment of oily sludge is an urgent problem to be solved. In this paper, TiO2/bentonite was prepared by sol-gel method, which was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and then used in the pyrolysis process of oily sludge. The addition of TiO2/bentonite give the best quality of pyrolysis oil; maximum oil recovery was achieved when setting the pyrolysis condition at 420°C for final pyrolysis temperature, 3 h for reaction time, 10°C/min for heating rate, 100 mL/min for nitrogen flow rate and 1% for catalyst dosage. Compared with the non-catalyst, oil recovery rate can be increased from 76.06% to 84.16%, the oil content of the residue decreased from 2.23% to 1.36%. The pyrolysis recovery oil was analysed by GC-MC, and the fractions of pyrolysis oil C6-C15 were increased by 27.84%. This shows that the addition of TiO2/bentonite decreased the carbon residue, increased oil recovery and improved product quality.

Intending to remove toxic graphene oxide (GO) from wastewater, LDH (layered double hydroxide) was employed to recover GO by adsorption method. The adsorption performance and the mechanism of LDH for GO have been systematically studied by diverse characterization technologies and methods. The relevant effects of solution pH (2-9), absorbent dosage (5-25mg) and the concentration of GO (20-160mg/L) were investigated in detail. The main driving force of GO condensation on LDH may be electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding, SEM, TEM, AFM, FT-IR and XRD analysis further confirmed this. XPS test shows that the adsorption process is carried out through C−O and O−C=O. We have got a high removal rate of 92% and an adsorption capacity of 1472 mg/g under an optimized conditions (pH = 3.0, equilibrium time = 6.0 h, dosage = 10mg, C0 = 160 mg/L). The analyses implied that LDH will be a very promising candidate for recovery of GO from wastewater.

The current study is an endeavour to measure the bioaccumulation potentials of heavy metals in different parts of chilli plants (Capsicum annuum L.) grown in artificially contaminated soil with various concentrations of Cr and Pb. The concentrations of heavy metals were estimated by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) technique. The mean concentration of Cr and Pb accumulated in different parts of plants in high, medium, and low levels of contamination was in the following order: roots > leaves > shoots > fruits. Cr concentration in fruits was lower than that of the WHO standard. However, fruits grown on medium contaminated soil contained 0.695 mg/kg Cr which did not follow the safe guideline by SEPA. A significant amount of Pb was traced in fruits grown in highly contaminated soil that exceeded the standard limit set by FAO/WHO. Accumulation of Pb was higher than Cr at different levels of contamination in every part of the chilli plants. The transfer factor for Cr and Pd was found in the following order, leaves > shoots > fruits> roots and leaves > shoots > roots > fruits, correspondingly at every level of contamination. The bioconcentration factors were higher in Pb than Cr. The daily intake of metals in combination with health and carcinogenic risk indexes indicated that the edible parts of chilli plants are safe to consume as recommended by SEPA/WHO/FAO. The present study can be considered a reference for assessment and monitoring of heavy metals associated with human health risks in chilli plants at different industrially contaminated sites.

A total of 18 samples were collected from two different sites at different depths of Yamuna river bed in Delhi. Nine samples were collected at Site A (Palla Village) from three different locations at different depths of the river bed. A similar set of 9 samples were collected from Site B (Okhla barrage). All samples were analysed for atomic and weight percentage of elements using SEM-EDAX. The major elements found in the study were Si, O, Al and Nb. Si and O are found in a maximum amount in all the samples with a varying range of atomic percentage 25.3-89.27 and 55.09-95.78 respectively. The recorded atomic percentage of Nb was 0.32 while Al was 16.7-25.51. Site A, Palla is least affected by pollution while at Site B the presence of Al revealed contamination from pollutants. The weight percentage of the elements has also been calculated. SEM images of soil samples revealed the platy flakes, irregular and spongy structure of soil particles.

Supersaturated water can adversely affect many species of fish and can sometimes lead to death. In the present study, we established an experimental platform on the downstream section of the Dagangshan Hydropower Station on the Dadu River. During flood discharge at the Dagangshan Hydropower Station, the river water supersaturation concentration at the experimental site was monitored, and a unique fish in the river section was selected for a cage experiment. Juvenile fish die under the 110% gas supersaturation conditions in the river, accompanied by symptoms of bubble disease. After the end of flood discharge, the remaining experimental fish were placed in clean water for approximately 180 days, and all the fish died. Exposing the experimental fish to a 127% concentration test tank in the laboratory revealed that the onset of death, semi-lethal time and total death time were 6.7 hours, 12 hours, 31.5 hours, respectively. The test fish that were exposed to supersaturated water for 6 hours were placed in clean water and tested every hour, and the change was minimal. Six-hour exposure may cause irreversible damage to the experimental fish.

The Shuaishui River originates from the southern mountainous area of Anhui Province and is an important water source for local residents. The ecological environment of this basin has been seriously damaged because of the effects of human disturbance. In August 2016, a field study of five units of the Shuaishui River Basin was conducted to understand the fish community structure and assess the ecological health status. A total of 43 fish species were collected from the entire river basin, and they belonged to 4 Orders, 10 Families, and 31 Genera. The maximum number of species belonged to the family Cyprinidae, and the main trophic guild was omnivorous fish. Among the five units, species number was the highest in unit 2 (27 species) and the lowest in unit 3 (12 species). The dominant species in the five units were mainly typical mountain-stream fish, such as Zacco platypus, Acrossocheilus fasciatus, and Vanmanenia stenosoma. In some areas, Varicorhinus barbatulus or Rhinogobius cliffordpopei also showed great dominance because of the impacts of the local habitat conditions. Redundancy analysis showed that altitude, water velocity, stream order, and water surface width were the main factors that influenced the distribution and species composition of the fish. Eigenvalues of the first two axes were 0.183 and 0.082 and explained 40.9% and 18.3% of the species-environment relationship variables, respectively. The ecological health of the five units and the entire basin was assessed based on the arithmetic mean of three indicators, namely, number of classification units, Shannon-Wiener index, and Berger-Parker dominance index. The results indicated that the ecological health status was relatively poor in unit 3, general in units 1 and 5, and good in units of 2 and 4. The status of the entire basin was general. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive assessment of the ecological health of the Shuaishui River Basin, and it has great significance for the ecological management and protection of this basin.