Search Results (4,367)

Terrestrial environments function as major sinks and dynamic sources of microplastics. Land use strongly influences inputs, accumulation, and transport pathways of these contaminants in the environment. Despite the extensive literature, few reviews have compared contamination levels and the potential impacting factors across land uses. To fill this gap, this review synthesizes current knowledge on the origins, occurrence, pathways, and ecological effects of microplastics across diverse land uses. The review revealed multiple interconnected pathways that drive microplastic contamination in terrestrial systems. Abundances are consistently higher in intensively managed croplands, urban areas and industrial vicinities. However, their detection in remote environments underscores the critical role of diffuse inputs and long-range atmospheric transport. Vertically, microplastics are enriched in topsoils, and their concentrations declines with depth. Horizontally, concentration declines with increasing distance from major hotspots like agricultural fields, industrial facilities, and road networks. Ecologically, microplastics alter soil physical properties, modify chemical conditions, and shift microbial community composition and enzyme activities. Furthermore, they stress soil fauna and plants through ingestion, toxicity, and physical blockage, with impacts contingent on polymer type, particle morphology, and concentration. Collectively, this review reveals consistent spatial patterns and widespread adverse ecological impacts, highlighting the clear need for integrated management strategies to mitigate terrestrial microplastic pollution. Full article

Globally, the transport sector accounts for almost a quarter of CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion and generates large amounts of pollutants, placing significant pressure on the environment and human health. By 2050, the European Green Deal requires a 90% reduction in transport-related emissions, making sustainability necessary across all modes of transport. Based on the relevant literature, this study examines the role and potential of railways in decarbonising the EU transport sector. Railway is highly efficient, consuming just 1.9% of transport sector energy while handling 16.9% of freight and 5.1% of passenger transport in the EU, yet is responsible for only 0.4% of total emissions. According to studies, greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by improving energy efficiency, using low-carbon or renewable energy, and expanding train electrification. The greatest potential for decarbonisation lies in a modal shift to rail. However, this requires significant infrastructure investment: raising line speeds to at least 160 km/h, expanding networks, building terminals, digitalisation, and alignment with TEN-T standards. Although the EU supports the modal shift with funding programmes, the transition is not progressing as expected—the share of road freight transport increased from 74% in 2013 to 78% in 2023. Stronger investment is needed in Member States’ national policies for the development and modernisation of railways. The authors developed a Path Evaluation Matrix (PEM), a quantitative decision framework integrating the fields of energy, transport, politics, and economics. The PEM results indicate that BEMU (battery electric multiple units) is optimal for 68% of secondary lines in south-eastern Europe. Full article

Due to the influence of multiple factors such as the physical and chemical properties of the atmosphere, the limitations of data sources, and the assumptions of inversion methods, there are many difficulties in inverting the concentration distribution with high temporal and spatial resolution over a large area near the ground. In this study, the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model was adopted. Through dynamic constraints of emission sources, meteorological fields, and chemical mechanisms, combined with the optimization output of radial basis functions, a 1 km × 1 km hourly near-surface nitrogen dioxide concentration distribution dataset in China from 2015 to 2024 was generated. Based on the analysis of spatial differences and temporal fluctuations, the concentration changes of nitrogen dioxide are closely related to human activities, climate change, and seasonal variations. Thanks to China’s implementation of a large number of proactive pollution control measures, the average annual concentration of nitrogen dioxide has dropped from 19.7 μg/m³ in 2015 to 14.1 μg/m³ in 2024, with a cumulative reduction of 28.43%. The phenomenon of the one-hour average concentration exceeding the limit of 200 μg/m³ has been basically eliminated across the country. Full article

Issues related to the environmental safety of transport vehicles, the operation of which leads to environmental pollution, continue to be highly relevant. In this work, we consider the use of biofuel mixed with diesel fuel for internal combustion engines operating at low temperatures. This approach does not reduce the efficiency of transport, while also solving the issue of organic waste recycling. In this work, we address the possibility of reducing environmental pollution using carbon-neutral blended fuels based on esters of waste cooking oil (WCO), biobutanol, and diesel fuel for transport, tractor, and other equipment powered by a diesel internal combustion engine. In terms of the rate of biofuel implementation, Russia is still lagging behind the EU, China, and Japan, largely due to, inter alia, its climatic conditions with cold and long winters. The article also provides data on the possibility of using mixed biofuels under sub-zero temperatures. The process of forming a volumetric fuel supply through the common rail injector of the D4CB engine under changes in fuel pressure and drive pulse duration was also investigated, with the corresponding regression dependencies being presented. The losses of heat supplied into the cylinder when using a blend of diesel fuel and biodiesel (with 20 wt% butanol) in comparison with diesel fuel were analytically calculated. This made it possible to identify a function for adjusting fuel supply to compensate for power losses. The lubricity of fuel blends was assessed using the HFRR method. Full article

Biobased hybrid semiconducting composites are attracting significant attention as sustainable alternatives to traditional inorganic photocatalysts for environmental remediation and energy-related applications. Recent research progress in biobased hybrid photocatalytic systems is critically reviewed to outline their design strategies, photocatalytic mechanisms, and environmental applications. These composites integrate bioderived polymers with metal oxide semiconductors, forming hybrid architectures that improve interfacial contact at the molecular level, enhance charge transfer efficiency, and impart higher structural flexibility. The polymer matrix not only provides mechanical adaptability and functional surface groups, but also serves as an environmentally friendly support that can modulate surface electronic states and influence the photoinduced electron–hole dynamics in the inorganic phase. By controlling the molecular interactions between the polymer chains and metal oxide surfaces, these hybrids can mitigate key limitations of conventional metal oxides, such as rapid electron–hole recombination and restricted visible-light absorption. This review first summarizes the fundamental electronic and structural properties of widely employed metal oxide semiconductors and highlights their intrinsic limitations in photocatalytic processes. It then examines the role of biopolymers from the perspective of molecular structure, charge transport pathways, and interfacial interaction mechanisms with the inorganic component. Various synthesis strategies—including sol–gel, hydrothermal, in situ nanoparticle generation, green synthesis, and surface functionalization—are discussed, with emphasis on their ability to tune the nanoscale morphology and interfacial chemistry of the hybrids. Applications of these biohybrid systems in dye degradation, pharmaceutical pollutant removal, heavy metal reduction, and antimicrobial photocatalysis are analyzed alongside mechanistic insights into charge separation efficiency and band alignment at the molecular interface. Furthermore, challenges related to long-term stability, reproducibility, scalability, and performance in real wastewater matrices are also addressed. Overall, this review provides a thorough discussion on the design principles, photocatalytic mechanism, and environmental applications of biobased hybrid semiconductors, while emphasizing future opportunities for the development of efficient and sustainable photocatalytic systems. Full article

To reduce charging time and improve operational efficiency at integrated energy stations (IESs) for electric vehicles (EVs), this paper develops a sustainability-oriented collaborative optimization model by coupling vehicle routing behavior with charging decision-making. Firstly, a dynamic road network model is established to simulate vehicle arrivals at IESs from different network nodes. Then, considering grid peak–valley electricity prices, station electricity procurement costs and EV charging demand, a dynamic pricing strategy for IESs is proposed to guide EVs to charge at off-peak hours so as to realize peak shaving and valley filling for the power grid. Meanwhile, the NSGA-III algorithm is improved through the introduction of Good Point Set initialization and an adaptive crossover mechanism, and the Good Point Set initialization and Adaptive Crossover NSGA-III (GPS-AC-NSGA-III) algorithm is proposed to solve the scheduling optimization problem. Finally, the CRITIC-based TOPSIS method is employed to identify the optimal compromise solution from the Pareto-optimal set. Case studies further prove the effectiveness of the proposed multi-objective collaborative optimization model for EVs and IESs. Compared with scenarios without dynamic Dijkstra-based navigation and dynamic pricing, the IES daily revenue increased by 39.83%, pollutant emissions decreased by 0.4%, and the peak-to-valley load difference ratio was reduced by 4.94%. The results indicate that dynamic Dijkstra-based vehicle routing improves travel efficiency, while the proposed dynamic pricing strategy enhances station profitability and smooths grid load fluctuations. Overall, the proposed framework contributes to sustainable transportation and energy systems by reducing pollutant emissions, improving energy efficiency, and enhancing the operational stability of integrated energy infrastructure, thereby supporting the transition toward low-carbon and sustainable urban energy systems. Full article

Driven by the goal of carbon neutrality, low-carbon development in township spaces is essential for sustainable urban–rural growth. This paper employs a carbon accounting methodology, taking Fuqiushan Town in the Dongting Lake Ecological Economic Zone as a case study to develop a detailed carbon measurement inventory at the township scale. Using spatial analysis techniques, it synthesizes multi-source data—including land use, agricultural inputs, and population—to estimate emissions from key sources such as crop cultivation, livestock and poultry breeding, industrial production, and residential activities. The study also evaluates the carbon sequestration capacity of sinks such as woodlands and water bodies, enabling the spatial visualization of both carbon emissions and carbon sinks. Key findings include: (1) Fuqiushan Town exhibits a carbon emission profile characterized by “industrial activities as the primary source, supplemented by agriculture, with additional contributions from residential and transportation sectors,” while forested areas and water bodies serve as core carbon sink zones. (2) An innovative multidimensional indicator system for low-carbon development efficiency was established, consisting of the Low-Carbon Development Efficiency Index in Production, the Daily Life Carbon Responsibility Efficiency Index, and the Ecological Carbon Sink Efficiency Index, which together form a Comprehensive Efficiency Index for Low-Carbon Development. (3) Analysis reveals significant spatial coupling relationships and efficiency differentiation patterns among carbon emissions, industrial structure, energy dependence, and ecological background. Based on dominant carbon emission types, low-carbon efficiency thresholds, and spatial factor interactions, the 17 villages and one forest farm in the township are classified into five zones: “Industrial High-Carbon Transition Zone,” “Agricultural Pollution Reduction and Carbon Emission Reduction Synergy Zone,” “Ecological Low-Carbon Conservation Zone,” “Human Settlements Balanced Development Zone,” and “Ecological Core Zone.” Tailored low-carbon spatial planning strategies for material resources are proposed for each zone. These results offer quantitative support and spatially targeted insights for low-carbon spatial planning in ecologically sensitive townships, contributing to the achievement of objectives such as “carbon reduction and sink increase” and “rural revitalization.” Full article

The Kupa River (Croatia), a tributary of the Danube basin forming part of the Slovenian border, was heavily contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) between 1962 and 1985 due to improper handling and downstream transport via the Krupa and Lahinja rivers. This study evaluated the occurrence, interspecific distribution, and human health implications of PCBs and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in fish (Northern pike, Common carp, Grass carp, Pike-perch, Wels catfish, Bream, and Chub) from the Croatian Kupa River. PCB concentrations were consistently higher than PAH levels across all species. In 30% of samples, Σ6 non-dioxin-like PCBs exceeded the European Commission maximum permissible level for freshwater fish (125 ng⋅g⁻¹ wet weight). Of the 11 PAHs analyzed, only fluoranthene and pyrene were detected. Self-Organizing Map identified distinct pollutant patterns, with chub showing the highest variability and accumulation. PCB concentrations position the Kupa River among moderately to highly impacted European freshwater systems affected by legacy industrial contamination. Health risk assessment, incorporating updated national consumption data, indicates that long-term, uncontrolled consumption of Kupa River fish may pose risks due to PCB exposure, while PAH-related risks appear negligible. These findings highlight the persistence of legacy PCB pollution and the need for integrated sediment–biota monitoring. Full article

The increasing presence of biological contaminants in wastewater poses serious challenges to safe water reuse and sustainable management. The effects of filtration on pollutant transport in a vertical porous channel are investigated mathematically and numerically in this work, taking into account nonlinear microbial growth controlled by generalized Haldane kinetics. Key characteristics, including viscosity, density, and diffusivity, are supposed to change nonlinearly with contaminant concentration, and the fluid is described as incompressible and dilatant. The Bivariate Spectral Quasi-Linearization Method (BSQLM) is used to solve the resulting system of nonlinear partial differential equations, and the Bivariate Spectral Chebyshev Collocation Method (BSCCM) is used for validation. The findings show that while higher inhibition and liquid–biofilm mass transfer coefficients successfully control pollutant concentration, porous filtration dramatically lowers flow velocity due to increased resistance and bio-clogging. With few residual errors, the numerical scheme exhibits great accuracy and quick convergence. Overall, the study establishes that coupling filtration mechanisms with generalized biokinetic models provides a robust framework for predicting contaminant behavior and enhancing the design of efficient wastewater treatment and reuse systems. Full article

Maritime transport is essential for global trade, yet ship emissions remain a major source of air pollution in coastal and port areas, with potential impacts on local air quality and human health. Cruise ships are particularly relevant in urban ports because, beyond propulsion, they require a continuous onboard energy supply for hotel services while berthed. This study develops a bottom-up emission inventory for cruise ship calls at Istanbul Galataport during the 2024 season, estimating CO₂ as a greenhouse gas (GHG) and NO_x, SO_x, and particulate matter (PM) as air-quality pollutants generated during manoeuvring and hotelling phases. Ship technical characteristics (engine type, installed main and auxiliary power, engine speed class, and year of build) were obtained from the IHS database, while port call activity data were provided by the terminal operator. Emission factors were primarily based on the IMO Third Greenhouse Gas Study and complemented with established literature sources to address missing vessel information and ensure methodological consistency. Results indicate that hotelling dominates total emissions, reflecting the high auxiliary power demand during berths. Results show that total annual emissions from 164 cruise ship calls amount to approximately 31,360 t·y⁻¹ of CO₂, 370 t·y⁻¹ of NO_x, 350 t·y⁻¹ of SO_x, and 44 t·y⁻¹ of PM. Hotelling operations account for the dominant share of emissions, contributing more than 90% of total CO₂ and the majority of NO_x and SO_x emissions, due to sustained auxiliary engine demand during berth stays. These findings confirm that cruise ship activity represents a significant localized emission source in densely populated port environments and provide a quantitative baseline for evaluating mitigation measures such as shore power, cleaner fuels, and operational strategies aimed at reducing at-berth emissions. Full article

PM_2.5 is a major air pollutant characterized by complex sources and strong spatiotemporal heterogeneity. However, accurately quantifying the relative contributions of different factors remains difficult due to the lack of long-term datasets and the strong correlations between meteorological factors and emissions. To address this problem, the study utilizes the China long-term particulate matter (CLPM) dataset developed in previous research to investigate the dominant drivers and regional disparities of PM_2.5 concentration variations from 1980 to 2022. The analysis employs Gaussian Convolution (GC) to model pollutant diffusion, Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression to address multicollinearity, and the Lindeman-Merenda-Gold (LMG) method to quantify the relative contributions of each driver. The results reveal that as the convolution scale increased from 0.25° to 10°, dominant PM_2.5 sources shifted from local anthropogenic emissions to regional biomass burning and large-scale dust transport, highlighting the scale-dependent transition of pollution drivers. Furthermore, PM_2.5 concentrations are predominantly explained by emissions, which account for over 60% of the total variance and exceed 80% in eastern China, while meteorological factors are associated with 12–26%. Among these, total precipitation and downward surface solar radiation have the strongest influences on pollutants. It is important to note that these results reflect the statistical explanatory power of emissions and meteorological variables within the regression model. Overall, this research provides a method for separating the statistical influences of emissions and meteorological factors, offering methods for multi-scale explanatory power of PM_2.5 and other atmospheric pollutants. Full article

Achieving sustainable maritime transport requires comprehensive understanding of port-related emissions and evidence-based mitigation strategies. Maritime shipping significantly contributes to air pollution in port cities, threatening environmental sustainability and public health, yet comprehensive emission inventories remain scarce for major ports in developing economies. This study presents the first bottom-up emission inventory for Ambarlı Port, Turkey’s largest container port, utilizing AIS data from Global Fishing Watch for calendar year 2025. Emissions of CO₂, NO_x, SO₂, PM₁₀, PM_2.5, CO, and NMVOC were quantified using EMEP/EEA activity-based methodology with IMO Tier II emission factors and vessel type-specific load factors (75% for passenger, 45% for cargo) from ENTEC guidelines. Non-commercial vessels (tugs, service craft, fishing vessels) and lay-up vessels exceeding six months continuous berthing were excluded to focus on active commercial shipping operations, resulting in a validated dataset of 10,267 port visits from commercial cargo, passenger, and bunker vessels. Annual emissions from active commercial vessels totaled 404,766 tonnes CO₂, 8487 tonnes NO_x, 6724 tonnes SO₂, 914 tonnes PM₁₀, and 849 tonnes PM_2.5. Passenger vessels dominated the inventory (93.3% of CO₂) due to high auxiliary power demands for hotel services and elevated load factors, while cargo vessels contributed 6.5% despite representing 61.4% of port visits. Turkish-flagged vessels accounted for the majority of domestic ferry traffic. These findings provide baseline data for air quality management in the Istanbul metropolitan area and support policy development regarding shore power implementation, with particular emphasis on reducing emissions from passenger vessels with extended berth times. From a policy perspective, prioritized shore power investment at passenger ferry terminals emerges as the most cost-effective emission reduction strategy, with potential to eliminate over 90% of port-related air pollutant emissions through public-private partnership models. Full article

Intensive agriculture in semi-arid watersheds is considered a threat to global water security; however, the hydro-agronomic mechanisms that control diffuse pollution sources are often insufficiently characterized at the watershed scale. This study evaluates the hydrological response and nitrate leaching dynamics in the Upper Aguascalientes watershed by implementing the SWAT model, forced with meteorological data and calibrated using runoff derived from ERA5 reanalysis. Methodologically, the Potential Nitrate Leaching Risk Index (IRP_N) was formulated and coupled to the hydrological results. The comparative analysis shows that ERA captures the temporal dynamics of the HRUs, although it tends to significantly overestimate runoff volumes. The basin exhibits a marked scale-dependent duality, with the upper zone operating under a Hortonian regime, while the lower basin exhibits attenuation at the basin scale due to spatial integration and distributed storage processes. The $\left(IR{P}_N\right)$ analysis demonstrates a critical disconnect between fertilization rates (>1300 kg N·ha⁻¹) and crop absorption capacity, turning excess nitrogen into a rapid transport vector during runoff events. Finally, the results underscore the need to complement water management and infrastructure strategies with technical training programs and regulatory frameworks that promote modern agricultural practices aligned with the system’s retention capacity. Full article

Microplastics have become a ubiquitous environmental contaminant in natural waters, raising significant concerns regarding aquatic ecosystem health and potential human exposure. A comprehensive synthesis of current knowledge on microplastic pollution in freshwater and marine systems is presented, focusing on sources, distribution patterns, environmental behavior, and associated risks. In freshwater environments, microplastic inputs are closely linked to human activities and land use, with wastewater treatment plant effluent, urban runoff, and agricultural drainage serving as major pathways. In marine systems, microplastics undergo dynamic transport influenced by particle properties, hydrodynamic conditions, and biological interactions such as biofouling and aggregation, leading to widespread distribution from coastal zones to deep sea sediments. Importantly, the role of the freshwater–estuarine–marine continuum is emphasized, highlighting the coupled processes of transport, retention, and remobilisation that govern the spatiotemporal distribution and ultimate fate of microplastics across interconnected aquatic systems. Toxicological effects on aquatic organisms are further examined, particularly immunotoxicity and neurotoxicity, alongside potential human health risks via ingestion, inhalation, and dermal exposure. Attention is drawn to the discrepancy between experimental exposure conditions and environmentally relevant concentrations, which constrains robust risk assessment. Current mitigation strategies, including source reduction, wastewater treatment upgrades, transport interception, and degradation technologies, are critically evaluated in terms of effectiveness and limitations. A clear distinction is made between apparent removal and actual degradation, with further consideration of the environmental implications associated with sludge retention and degradation byproducts. Finally, key research priorities are identified, including the need for standardized detection methods, improved exposure assessment, development of environmentally benign alternatives, and strengthened policy-driven source control. These insights provide a basis for advancing sustainable management strategies for microplastic pollution in natural waters. Full article

Urban mobility is increasingly affected by air pollution and traffic congestion caused by conventional private vehicles, as well as by insufficient flexibility of public transport. Micromobility devices (MMDs) can mitigate these and other negative impacts on quality of life due to their distinctive characteristics, the significance of which is investigated in this research. To address these challenges facing the modern city, a system of 15 hierarchically unstructured criteria influencing the deployment of MMDs in urban areas was established. The relative weights of these criteria were calculated based on the assessments of 16 experts and the criterion weights were determined using four multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods: ARTIW-L (Average Rank Transformation into Weight—Linear), ARTIW-N (Average Rank Transformation into Weight—Non-Linear), DPW (Direct Percentage Weight), and AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process). The results indicate that the expert judgments are consistent, as Kendall’s coefficient of concordance 0.406 is 3.8 times greater than the minimum value of 0.106 (at a significance level 0.05 and 14 degrees of freedom). In addition, the consistency ratios (C.R.) calculated from the AHP pairwise comparison matrices were below 0.1. The demonstrated consistency of the expert judgements and the compatibility of all matrices justify adopting the average of the relative weights obtained using the four MCDM methods as the final solution. According to the experts, the most important criteria for MMD deployment are travel safety (0.1336), travel duration (0.1302), the influence of infrastructure quality on comfort (0.0841), impact on health (0.0805), and the cost of purchasing an MMD (0.0713), while the remaining criteria are of lower significance. Based on the research results it is expected that the identified micromobility implementation measures will be useful for decision-makers and urban development planners. Full article