In modern times, enhancing energy efficiency is one of the core agenda items for the economies to progress the world. United Nations general assembly has recommended increasing energy efficiency by considering the SDG-7 guidelines. In the contemporary period, E7 economies are deficient in producing the financial resources to ensure the availability of funds for the acquisition of energy efficiency. COVID-19 crises, lack of resilience in economies, devastating fiscal burdens, and tight monetary conditions of E7 economies are the major barriers. To resolve such issues, some innovative financing techniques, such as green financing, financial inclusion, and FinTech, were suggested to investigate. However, this research tested the empirical role of financial inclusion, green financing, and FinTech on the energy efficiency of E7 economies. Study findings have shown a significant role of such financing techniques on energy efficiency. Comparatively, green financing is found most fitting and highly supportive financing tool for energy efficiency among the three. The differences in attributes, financing mechanism, funds flow system, transection systems, and variation in support by the financial institution are the main reasons that lessen the role of financial inclusion and FinTech for energy efficiency. However, theorists must revisit the transaction system of FinTech and financial inclusion parameters like green bonds for energy efficiency attainment. Policymakers are suggested to develop viable and energy system-friendly policies to grant green finance to the energy systems of E7 economies, as conveniently as possible.

In this research, the sorption characteristics and mechanism of phosphate on zirconium-modified attapulgite (Zr-ATP), iron-modified attapulgite (Fe-ATP), and zirconium/iron co-modified attapulgite (Zr/Fe-ATP) prepared by a simple impregnation method were studied, and the impacts of Zr-ATP, Fe-ATP, and Zr/Fe-ATP amendment and capping on the migration of phosphorus (P) from sediments to overlying waters were investigated. The results showed that Zr-ATP and Zr/Fe-ATP possessed stronger adsorption ability for phosphate in aqueous solution than Fe-ATP. The ligand replacement of the hydroxyl group with the phosphate anion to form the inner-sphere phosphate complex played a crucial role in the adsorption process of phosphate on Zr-ATP, Fe-ATP, and Zr/Fe-ATP. Most of the phosphate ions bound by Zr-ATP and Zr/Fe-ATP were in the form of caustic soda solution-extractable inorganic P (NaOH-IP) and residual P (Res-P), and it is hard for these P species to be re-released into water under the circumstances of reducing environment and normal pH (5–9). The ratio of mobile P to total P of Fe-ATP loaded with phosphate was much higher than those of Zr-ATP and Zr/Fe-ATP loaded with phosphate, indicating that Fe-ATP-bound phosphate has a higher re-releasing risk than Zr-ATP-bound and Zr/Fe-ATP-bound phosphate. Zr-ATP, Fe-ATP, and Zr/Fe-ATP amendment all can reduce the releasing risk of P from sediments to overlying waters. The amendment of sediment with Zr-ATP and Zr/Fe-ATP can both induce the conversion of redox-sensitive P (BD-P) to NaOH-IP and Res-P in the sediment, making the phosphorus in the sediment more stable. However, the amendment of sediment with Fe-ATP can only induce the conversion of HCl-P to NaOH-IP in the sediment and had a negligible effect on the inorganic P activity in the sediment. Zr-ATP, Fe-ATP, and Zr/Fe-ATP capping all can reduce the risk of P release from sediment into the overlying water, and Zr-ATP and Zr/Fe-ATP capping had a better reduction efficiency of internal P liberation to the overlying water than Fe-ATP capping. Zr-ATP, Fe-ATP, and Zr/Fe-ATP capping all can give rise to the reduction of pore water SRP and diffusive gradient in thin-film (DGT)-labile P in the upper sediment. This is beneficial to the control of P releasing from sediment into the overlying water by the Zr-ATP, Fe-ATP, and Zr/Fe-ATP capping. The findings of this work suggest that Zr-ATP and Zr/Fe-ATP are promising active capping or amendment materials for internal P loading management in surface water bodies.

Coastal wetlands including salt marshes are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth. They are known for improving the quality of coastal water and provisioning coastal fisheries. However, this ecosystem is under potential threat due to urban coastal land reclamation, limited sediment supply, increased nutrient/eutrophication, and sea level rise. Therefore, restoration efforts to protect the degraded salt marsh habitat are considerably increasing worldwide. In this paper, we present an overview of salt marsh restoration techniques and success indicators. Published scientific literature in English language was collected by searching the most relevant keywords from popular search engines, namely, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Mendeley to get the information about salt marsh restoration techniques and success indicators. This study comprehensively reviewed data from 78 peer-reviewed papers. Results indicated that much of the salt marsh was restored through assisted abiotic strategies (e.g., recovery of tidal exchange, managed realignment, and sediment level amendment). A total of 214 indicators were found, spanning over six major ecological attributes such as structural diversity, ecosystem functions, physical conditions, species composition, external exchange, and absence of threat. Author keywords analysis revealed several hotspots for recent research (e.g., 16 s rRNA, fungi, microbial communities, carbon accumulation, and blue carbon). This paper proposes a model for restoring degraded salt marsh, as well as tracking their success. The information presented here will assist the marine ecosystem restoration practitioners in getting a comprehensive understanding of salt marsh restoration success evaluation.

Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis (CSIA) is employed to investigate the biodegradation of metalaxyl in soil and plant. By studying the degradation of metalaxyl in unsterilized and sterilized soil with two initial concentrations of metalaxyl, microbial degradation has the most significant effect on the degradation of metalaxyl in soil. In addition, biodegradation and isotope fractionation of metalaxyl in water spinach with root application and leaf application are investigation by CSIA. It is shown that both absorption and degradation of metalaxyl in the roots and leaves of water spinach can cause the shift of δ¹³C values. Specifically, the δ¹³C values decreased during absorption while increased in degradation of metalaxyl in the roots and leaves of water spinach, indicating that the lighter isotope is absorbed in the absorption process at first and then degraded. Furthermore, the relationship between carbon isotope ratios and residual concentration of metalaxyl can be described by the Rayleigh equation, and the biodegradation rate of metalaxyl could be calculated by using CSIA without measuring the concentration of metalaxyl both in soil and plant. Therefore, the use of CSIA can quantitatively assess the degradation behavior of pesticide pollution in the environment and provide a certain scientific evidence and technical support in the process of environmental remediation.

Gasification is the thermo-chemical process that converts biomass into producer gas which is used for various applications like heat production, electricity, and hydrocarbon synthesis. In this present work, the steam gasification of biomedical waste such as glucose plastic bottle, syringe, and Indian palm kernel shell is gasified in fluidized bed gasifier. The mixture of palm kernel shell co-feeding with biomedical waste such as 100% palm kernel shell (PKS), 25% biomedical waste (BMW), 50% biomedical waste, and 100% biomedical waste using olivine as a primary catalyst is used. The influences of co-feeding of biomedical waste with palm kernel shell on the gas yield, char yield, tar yield, carbon conversion efficiency, tar composition, and gas composition are investigated. The co-feeding of biomedical waste with palm kernel shell for steam/feedstock mass ratio of 1, the tar content is decreased from 53.56 to 3.6 gNm⁻³ and the char is reduced from 4.9 to 0.4 wt %. Heterocyclic, heavy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and light aromatic compounds are reducing when compared to that of light polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at temperature 900 °C. The value of carbon conversion efficiency also increases for palm kernel shell is 78.7% and for biomedical waste is 98% respectively. Hence, the scope of the present study is to optimize the process parameters for the taken feedstock with respect to our environmental condition with the help of lab scale reactors. Later scale up can be done to utilize the product for practical applications.

Excessive N-NO₃⁻ water pollution has become a widespread and serious problem that threatens human and ecosystem health. Here, a TiO₂/SiO₂ composite photocatalyst was prepared via the sol–gel/hydrothermal method. TiO₂ and TiO₂/SiO₂ were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–Vis differential reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Afterward, the photocatalytic performance of TiO₂ and TiO₂/SiO₂ to reduce low nitrate concentrations (30 mgN L⁻¹) under UV light was evaluated and the effects of different factors on this process were investigated, after which the reaction conditions were optimized. Removal rates of up to 99.93% were achieved at a hole scavenger (formic acid) concentration of 0.6 mL L⁻¹, a CO₂ flow rate of 0.1 m³ h⁻¹, and a TiO₂ concentration of 0.9 g L⁻¹. In contrast, TiO₂/SiO₂ at a 1.4 g L⁻¹ concentration and a TiO₂ load rate of 40% achieved a removal rate of 83.48%, but with more than 98% of nitrogen generation rate. NO₂⁻ and NH₄⁺ were the minor products, whereas N₂ was the main product.

The current work aims to investigate the influence of fertilization (fertilizer) and fungal inoculation (Funneliformis mosseae and Serendipita indica (formerly Piriformospora indica), respectively arbuscular mycorrhizal (AMF) and endophytic fungi) on the phytoextraction potential of Arabidopsis halleri (L.) O’Kane & Al-Shehbaz (biomass yield and/or aboveground part Zn and Cd concentrations) over one life plant cycle. The mycorrhizal rates of A. halleri were measured in situ while the fungal inoculation experiments were carried out under controlled conditions. For the first time, it is demonstrated that the fertilizer used on A. halleri increased its biomass not only at the rosette stage but also at the flowering and fruiting stages. Fertilizer reduced the Zn concentration variability between developmental stages and increased the Cd concentration at fruiting stage. A. halleri roots did not show AMF colonization at any stage in our field conditions, neither in the absence nor in the presence of fertilizer, thus suggesting that A. halleri is not naturally mycorrhizal. Induced mycorrhization agreed with this result. However, S. indica has been shown to successfully colonize A. halleri roots under controlled conditions. This study confirms the benefit of using fertilizer to increase the phytoextraction potential of A. halleri. Overall, these results contribute to the future applicability of A. halleri in a phytomanagement strategy by giving information on its cultural itinerary.

Understanding the graphene/semiconductor/metal interactions is crucial to design innovative photocatalytic materials with efficient photocatalytic activity for environmental cleanup applications. SrTiO₃ on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with various graphene contents was successfully synthesized in this study utilizing a simple hydrothermal method, followed by decorating the surface with Ag particles by using the photodeposition process. Under UV–visible light irradiation, the resulting composites were tested for their improved photocatalytic activity to decompose methylene blue (MB). The prepared photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, DLS, FT-IR, Raman spectroscopy, and DRS. First-principle density functional theory calculations (DFT) were also carried out by using the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and PBE functional with the addition of on-site Coulomb correction (GGA + U). The obtained SrTiO₃/rGO@Ag composites showed great improvement in the photocatalytic performances over pristine SrTiO₃. For the degradation reaction of MB, SrTiO₃/rGO₂₀%@Ag₄% composites yielded the best photocatalytic activity with efficacy reach 94%, which was also shown that it could be recycled up to four times with nearly unchanged photocatalytic activity.

Floating photocatalyst is of extensive interest due to easy recovery and efficient light harvest. Support materials largely determine the stability of floating photocatalysts and their synthesis complexity. Thus, finding proper floating supports is very important. Herein, ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) was investigated as a support to prepare floating TiO₂/EVA using a simple thermal crosslinking procedure. Multiple characterization analyses demonstrated that TiO₂ was anchored onto EVA surface evenly via hydrogen-bond-enhanced physical crosslinking and remained its virgin crystal structure. Photocatalytic experiments showed that the removal efficiency of Rhodamine B (RhB) by floating TiO₂/EVA increased by 33.8% as compared to suspended particle TiO₂. The h⁺ and ·O₂⁻ played dominant roles in TiO₂/EVA-driven RhB degradation. A 30-day stability test demonstrated that TiO₂/EVA had a high thermal, pH, and photo- stability. The three-run reuse test proved that TiO₂/EVA exhibited satisfactory reusability. This study provides a new option for floating photocatalyst synthesis.

In the absence of effective drying techniques, a lot of food gets wasted as there is a lack of post-harvest processes. In India, most of the agricultural produces like paddy, maize, wheat, corn, oil seeds, pulses, chillies, etc. require a temperature range of 50–80 °C for effective drying. Hence, in these conditions, solar drying techniques seem to be the most economical; also, it is safe and eco-friendly. Various types of solar dryers are used across India and worldwide; these are direct solar dryer, green house dryer and indirect solar dryer. Nowadays, indirect type solar dryers are most commonly used because of their several advantages over direct solar dryers. In case of indirect type solar dryers, the products to be dried are kept inside a separate compartment known as drying chamber. Hot air is obtained from the solar collectors either by direct heating method or by using a secondary heating medium and then supplied to the drying chamber for heating of the products. This paper presents a detailed review of various innovative designs of indirect type solar dryers and compares the performance of different types of dryer configuration in terms of collector efficiency, dryer efficiency, drying time and maximum air temperature. Also, the effects of various operating parameters on the thermal performance of such dryers have been discussed.