The production of pellets from residual biomass generated monocropping by Brazilian agribusiness is an environmentally and economically interesting alternative in view of the growing demand for clean, low-cost, and efficient energy. In this way, pellets were produced with sugarcane bagasse and coffee processing residues, in different proportions with charcoal fines, aiming to improve the energy properties and add value to the residual biomass. The pellets had their properties compared to the commercial quality standard. Artificial neural networks and multivariate statistical models were used to validate the best treatments for biofuel production. The obtained pellets presented the minimum characteristics required by DIN EN 14961–6. However, the sugarcane bagasse biomass distinguished itself for use in energy pellets, more specifically, the treatment with 20% of fine charcoal because of its higher net calorific value (17.85 MJ·kg⁻¹) and energy density (13.30 GJ·m⁻³), achieving the characteristics required for type A pellets in commercial standards. The statistical techniques were efficient and grouped the treatments with similar properties, as well as validated the sugarcane biomass mixed with charcoal fines for pellet production. Thus, these results demonstrate that waste charcoal fines mixed with agro-industrial biomass have great potential to integrate the production chain for energy generation.

Some epidemiological studies have confirmed the association between environmental factors and congenital heart defects (CHD). While the possibility that maternal ambient heat exposures are related to CHD has received little attention. Our study aims to investigate the association between maternal ambient extreme heat exposure early in pregnancy and the risk of CHD in offspring in China. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 1,918,105 fetuses between 2 and 8 weeks after gestation from May to October in Guangdong, China, 2015–2019. The main heat exposure was defined as extreme heat events (EHE) by using the 90th (EHE90) or 95th (EHE95) percentile of the daily maximum temperature. For each EHE definition, we further defined four indicators: having EHE or not, frequency, duration, and cumulative days. We used the log-binomial regression models to calculate the prevalence ratios (PR) of CHD with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the associations between CHD and EHE, adjusted for potentially confounding covariates. There are 1,918,105 infants included in the study, of which 9588 had CHD, with a prevalence rate of 499.9 per 100,000 (95% CI: 489.9, 509.8). We found that all EHE indicators were positively associated with the increased risks of overall CHD, some CHD classes (congenital malformations of cardiac septa, congenital malformations of great arteries, and congenital malformations of great arteries), and some CHD subtypes (atrial septal defect and patent ductus arteriosus). In addition, the PR yielded higher estimates when exposing to EHE95. For instance, the risk of suffering congenital malformations of great arteries was 1.548 (95% CI: 1.401, 1.712) for EHE90 exposure and 1.723 (95% CI: 1.565, 1.898) for EHE95 exposure, respectively. Our study demonstrated that EHE during 2–8 weeks postconception was associated with overall CHD in offspring, particularly atrial septal defects and patent ductus arteriosus. The associations strengthened with the extent and cumulative days of maternal exposure to EHE.

Due to urbanization worldwide, gradual increase in construction and use of irregular urban topography affect urban climate negatively, triggering urban heat island (UHI) formations in cities and thereby causing them to become uninhabitable places for human comfort. This study, which covers the province of Diyarbakır in Turkey, aims to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of areas with potential urban heat island (UHI) by using remote sensing methods and satellite/terrain data available between 2001 and 2019. According to the Landsat 7 satellite, an area with a potential of 27.4 km² in 2001, 20.8 km² in 2006, 27.4 km² in 2008, 16.7 km² in 2010, and 12.2 km² in 2012 was determined. According to the Landsat 8 satellite, it was measured as 14.49 km² in 2017 and 15.67 km² in 2018. According to Landsat 8 satellite data, areas with UHI potential increased by 14.6% over a 3-year period. According to Landsat 7 data, there has been a continuous fluctuation over the years. One of the important results of this study is that between 2001 and 2019, the higher the rate of change according to the surface temperature, the larger the area with the potential of the heat island. At the same time, it has been determined that spatially potential UHIs have a great potential not in the city center, but in the surrounding areas close to the center and in the topographically hollow areas.

The toxic and non-essential metalloid arsenic (As) is ubiquitous in the environment with its absorption from the soil into the plants’ roots posing detrimental effects on the crop plants and hence the food availability and food security are also threatened. The present study was intended to reduce the As-induced toxicity in rice seedlings (Oryza sativa L.) by phosphate (PO₄³⁻). For this, three concentrations of potassium phosphate (KH₂PO₄), 50, 100 and 150 μM were supplemented along with 50 μM As exposure to hydroponically grown 7-day-old rice seedlings. Supplementation of PO₄³⁻ significantly recovered arsenic-induced diminutions in growth parameters and photosynthetic pigment contents which were due to the significant increase in superoxide radical (SOR, O₂•¯) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Supplementation of 50 μM PO₄³⁻ could significantly increase the activity of APX (ascorbate peroxidase) and GR (glutathione reductase) while 100 μM PO₄³⁻ could increase the activity of DHAR (dehydroascorbate reductase) and monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR). As the amount of PO₄³⁻ was increased, the ratio of AsA/DHA (reduced to oxidized ascorbate) and GSH/GSSG (reduced to oxidized glutathione) was increased significantly due to increase in the reduced form of the non-enzymes i.e. AsA and GSH. The activity of SOD (superoxide dismutase) and GPX (guaiacol peroxidase) decreased significantly after a substantive increase in their activities due to As stress while the CAT (catalase) activity further enhanced after the supplementation of 50 and 100 μM PO₄³⁻. Thus, the As-induced oxidative stress in the rice seedlings was managed by concerted modulations in the activities of SOD, GPX, CAT and AsA-GSH cycle enzymes and metabolites.

Low-carbon transformation has become a key priority in China, as demonstrated in the implementation of the Carbon Peak, Carbon Neutralization policy, leading to increasing concern of environmental performance at the corporate level. This paper measures the carbon emission of 1,089 Chinese companies through the EIO-LCA-based approach. Then we examine the impacts of international crude oil price fluctuations and the corporate development level on carbon emissions of individual companies. Our results indicate that an increase in international crude oil price uncertainty could inhibit the company’s carbon emission. In parallel, we find that there might exist an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) inverted U-shaped correlation between the company’s development level and its environmental performance. However, some exceptions to corporate carbon performance may emerge, resulting from specific corporate characteristics such as the state-owned nature and whether the firm is listed on the stock exchange. Our results could help companies optimize their internal carbon emission structure during the low-carbon transition process and contribute to effective policy regulations towards the target of carbon reduction.

Groundwater resources have an important impact on the geo-environment and ecological environment. The exploitation of groundwater resources may induce geo-environmental issues and has a negative impact on the ecological environment. The assessment of groundwater sustainable development can provide reasonable suggestions for the management of groundwater resources in coastal cities. In this study, an assessment method for groundwater sustainable development based on the resource supply function, geo-environment stability function, and ecological environment function was provided. Considering the groundwater quantity and quality; the vulnerability of karst collapse, land subsidence, and seawater intrusion; and the distribution of groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) and soil erosion, the groundwater in the Pearl River Delta was divided into concentrated groundwater supply area (21.97%) and decentralized groundwater supply area (48.22%), ecological protection area (20.77%), vulnerable geo-environment area (8.94%), and unsuitable to exploit groundwater area (0.10%). ROC curve and single-indicator sensitivity analysis were applied in the assessment of geo-environment vulnerability, and the results showed that the VW-AHP model effectively adjusted the weights of the indicators so that the assessment results were more in line with the actual situation in the Pearl River Delta, and the accuracy of the VW-AHP model was higher than that of the AHP model. This study provides a scientific basis for groundwater management in the Pearl River Delta and an example for the assessment of groundwater sustainable development in coastal cities.

As an important part of China’s green finance, green credit is regarded as an important tool to promote China’s transformation to a low-carbon economy. In order to clarify the mechanism of green credit on carbon emissions, this paper puts forward a theoretical analysis framework including “functional attributes – micro subject response – key influencing factors” from the macro and micro perspectives. We select the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2019 for an empirical test and identify the action paths of green credit on carbon emission based on the mediating effect model. Further, we consider the special mechanism of “signal formation” and test it based on the dynamic panel threshold model. The results show that: (1) China’s green credit mainly inhibits carbon emissions through three paths: industrial structure, energy structure and energy intensity. (2) There is a signal formation mechanism for the impact of green credit on carbon emissions, which mainly acts on the two action paths of industrial structure and energy intensity. (3) The signal formation mechanism is heterogeneous in each province. According to the empirical results, we divide the provinces into three echelons and propose corresponding suggestions.

We researched China’s climate and sustainable development goal with relevant and susceptible instruments capable of inducing and mitigating carbon emissions. Amidst the contributor to the global carbon emissions, China is caught in between mitigating its carbon emission and aiming towards placing its national contribution of emissions to the acceptable levels of 1.5 °C and below 2 °C. Following the intricacies surrounding China’s sustainable development as it contains its economic and environmental performance, we adopt China’s data of 1980 and 2018 with different scientific approaches (nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL), dynamic ordinary least square test, and bootstrap Granger causality) with different instruments (such as economic growth, financial development, renewable energy, and innovation policies) to research China’s sustainable development. For clear exposition and insight into our findings with policies attached, we draw a conclusion from the outcomes of the mentioned approaches. From NARDL and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), we find that economic growth through economic activities is statistically significant in determining the trend (increase) of carbon emissions in China in both periods (short run and long run). However, other selected instruments (financial, renewable, and innovation policies) tend towards controlling and moderating the carbon emissions in China. Thus, China has good prospects to mitigate its carbon emissions if considered tailoring its policies towards favorable instruments. From bootstrap Granger causality, we find similar inferential results that support previous findings thereby confirming the positive implication of the selected instruments to China’s sustainable development. Hence, the nexus that is established among the selected instruments clearly show the importance of technological innovation and renewable energy in mitigating carbon emissions.

Innovation in renewable energy generation, transmission, or distribution-related technologies (IREGT) is an effective way to deal with environmental pollution. Even though previous studies have focused on renewable energy generation in the USA, the impact of IREGT on carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂e) remains widely unexplored. Recognizing this gap, this study inspected the IREGT-CO₂e nexus in the USA, with international collaboration in green technology development (ICGTD), trade openness (TO), renewable energy consumption (REC), and gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC) as control variables from 1990Q1 to 2018Q4. The study applied the canonical cointegration regression (CCR), fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) method, and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) approach to assess the long-run association among variables. First, the findings validated the cointegration relationship among IREGT, ICGTD, TO, REC, GDPPC, and CO₂e. Second, the results indicated that the IREGT, REC, and ICGTD had benefited the USA in mitigating CO₂e. Third, GDPPC and TO were positively connected to CO₂e. Fourth, the Granger causality depicted that GDPPC, TO, and ICGTD Granger caused CO₂e in the USA, while IREGT and CO₂e had a bidirectional relationship. The study’s findings encourage the government should devise policies to induce higher research institutions and private enterprises to engage in IREGT.