This project develops an algorithm for allowing municipalities of dispersed villages of Cantabria, an Autonomous Community situated in the north coast of Spain, to check the environmental feasibility of extending the selective collection in their municipalities. The algorithm will allow these municipalities to introduce their own data and compare two waste management systems (Scenario A and B). Scenario A is referred to the current waste management system in which no selective collection is being carried out. Consequently, light packaging material (LP) and paper and cardboard (P/C) are collected together with the municipal solid wastes (MSW), following the same path. Scenario B is the hypothetic new waste management system in which selective collection is introduced. To determine the environmental preference of these scenarios, an algorithm based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been developed. Only if environmental impacts in Scenario B are lower than in A when running the model the extension of the selective collection for each individual municipality should be recommended.

A sodium chloride solution is decomposed electrolytically to generate gaseous chlorine, sodium hydroxide and hydrogen. Electricity accounts for about 50 % of total production cost. In Spain, the Electrical Sector Act 54/1997 commenced the electric market liberalization, with the introduction into national laws the provisions contained in European Directive 96/92/EC. In July 2008, tariffs disappear for industry consumers. Hourly discrimination complement, given by tariffs, it has been an important energy costs optimization way for chlor-alkali industry and now it is not so evident the modulation advantage. This article tries to analyze impacts in chlor-alkali industry of this new electric markett.

In the present work dry sewage sludge from a local municipal wastewater plant, has been incinerated at 900 º C with CaCO3 added at two sludge/CaCO3 ratios: 10 sludge /1 CaCO3 or 10 sludge /10 CaCO3 in weight. The ability of this salt to capture the SO2 produced during the incineration is studied. The SO2 captured is quantified as mole SO2 / mole of Ca. Results shows that the amount of SO2 captured /mole of CaCO3, is much higher at the 10 sludge /1 CaCO3 ratio. With the resulting ashes, reactivated at different ways, desulfurant sorbents were prepared and essayed in a desulfurization process at low temperature. Results of the process at low temperature showed that the highest value of SO2 captured was found with the sorbent coming from the ashes obtained from the mixture 10 sludge /1 CaCO3 and reactivated by hydration at room temperature.

Under the current global energy scenario, the need of self-sustainable processes is encouraged. A process of Photovoltaic Solar powered Electrochemical Oxidation (PSEO) has been developed to remove the organic matter from lignosulfonate waste water. Experimental results show that the process is able to oxidize the organic matter up to removal yields around 90% of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) under the described operating conditions, demonstrating the technical suitability of the PSEO process.

The levels and chemical composition of the particulate matter (PM) are linked to the effects of this atmospheric pollutant on human health. An assessment of the PM levels and its constituents present in the atmosphere is an important requirement of the air quality management and air pollution abatement. Taking into account that (i) EC Directives allow the Regional Government to assess the air quality by objective estimation and modelling techniques and (ii) the experimental effort required in the analysis of heavy metals in air, the present work aims to estimate the annual levels of the heavy metals regulated by the EC Directives (Pb in 1999/30/EC, and As, Ni and Cd in 2004/107/EC) in PM10 by means of multivariate linear regression (MLR). The main results show that although important deviations are found for individual measurements, the 2008 annual average metal concentrations are well estimated by the MLR technique at the studied areas. So, these estimations may be used by Regional Governments for the level assessment of regulated metals when their concentrations are below the lower assessment threshold | The authors would like to thank the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (CTM2006-00317) and the Government of Cantabria (“Actions for improving the air quality and its diagnosis in Cantabria”) for their funding.

The gamma spectrometric analysis of soil and essential foodstuffs, e.g., wheat, millet, potato, lentils and cauliflower, which form the main component of the daily diet of the local public, was carried out using high purity germanium (HpGe) detector coupled with a computer based high-resolution multi-channel analyzer. The activity concentration in soil samples for ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K ranged from 30.0 Bq kg⁻¹ to 81.2 Bq kg⁻¹, 31.4 Bq kg⁻¹ to 78.25 Bq kg⁻¹ and 308.8 Bq kg⁻¹ to 2177.6 Bq kg⁻¹, with mean values of 56.2, 58.5 and 851.9 Bq kg⁻¹, respectively. The average activity measured for ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K in soil samples was found higher than the world average. The major radionuclide found in the food items studied was ⁴⁰K, while ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ¹³⁷Cs were detected in very nominal amounts. The results clearly indicate that these radionuclides have no health hazard to human beings, as they are well below the annual limit of intake (ALI) for these radionuclides. The transfer factors of these radionuclides from soil to food were also studied. The mean transfer factors of ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ¹³⁷Cs from soil to food were estimated to be about 0.17, 0.07, 0.16 and 0.23, respectively. An artificial radionuclide, ¹³⁷Cs, was also present in detectable amount in all samples. The internal and external hazard indices were measured and had mean values of 0.70 and 0.55, respectively. Absorbed dose rates and effective dose have been determined in the present study. Concentration of trace metals, such as Cr, Pb, Ni and Zn, was also determined in the soil samples. The concentrations of radionuclides and trace metals found in these samples during the present study were nominal and do not pose any potential health hazard to the general public.

The aim of this study was to compare the capacity of two morphologically different moss species to accumulate elements when exposed to three different types of air pollution (rural, urban and industrial). Transplants of Pseudoscleropodium purum and Ceratodon purpureus were exposed for 6 months, and the concentrations of 18 elements (Al, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, As, Mo, Cd, Sn, Sb, Ba, La, Pb and Bi) in the mosses samples were analysed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. On the whole, the metals were accumulated by mosses, and this accumulation was correlated with concentrations in the atmospheric particles. Whereas P. purum is to be preferred for Al, Cu, Zn and Fe monitoring, C. purpureus was most efficient at accumulating Mo, Ti, V, As, Sn, La and Pb. In both species, a phenomenon of saturation was observed during the exposure at the most contaminated site (industrial).

A monitoring program of particulate matter was conducted at eight sampling sites in four highly industrialized cities (Shenyang, Anshan, Fushun, and Jinzhou) of Liaoning Province in Northeast China to identify the major potential sources of ambient PM₂.₅. A total of 814 PM₂.₅ and PM₂.₅₋₁₀ samples were collected between 2004 and 2005. All PM samples were collected simultaneously in four cities and analyzed gravimetrically for mass concentrations. A sum of 16 elemental species concentrations in the PM samples were determined using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. Annual means of PM₂.₅ concentrations ranged from 65.0 to 222.0 μg m⁻³ in all the eight sampling sites, and the spatial and seasonal variations were discussed. Enrichment factors were calculated, and Cr, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb will be pollution-derived elements. Site-to-site comparisons of PM₂.₅ species in each city were examined using coefficient of divergence, revealing that the two sites in each city are similar in elemental species. Principle component analysis was used for preliminary source analysis of PM₂.₅. Three or four factors in each city were isolated, and similar sources (crustal source, coal combustion, vehicle exhaust, iron making, or some other metallurgical activities) were identified at four cities.

The elevated water table (EWT) technique for preventing acid mine drainage (AMD) was tested using instrumented laboratory columns containing reactive tailings from the Louvicourt and Sigma mines, Abitibi, Quebec. The tests were performed in short (0.4 m) and long (1.4-1.7 m) columns over 400-500 days and included periodic surface recharge and subsequent monitoring of the leached drainage water. In each column, the water table depth was adjusted relative to the air entry value (AEV or ψa) of the tailings. The influence of different water table elevations was evaluated by measuring the effluent pH, as well as the concentrations of major ions including sulphate, iron, zinc, copper and lead. Provided the water table depth below the tailings surface remained less than one half of the tailings' AEV, the observed data showed that an EWT can be very effective in reducing acid mine drainage. The principal factors controlling drainage quality were the saturated hydraulic conductivity (k sat) and the air entry value (ψa) of the tailings. A lower k sat and a higher ψa in the tailings tend to increase the performance of an elevated water table by limiting drainage-induced desaturation. Mineralogical composition had relatively little effect on the hydrogeochemical evolution provided the tailings remained highly saturated (S r ≥ 90%). The results presented here indicate that an elevated water table can be an effective means for controlling the production of AMD when the design conditions are properly selected and applied.