Socioecology Research Today

Assumption Park gives residents of this city lovely views of the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit skyline. Lately they’ve been treated to another sight: a three-story pile of petroleum coke covering an entire city block on the other side of the Detroit River. Detroit’s ever-growing black mountain is the unloved, unwanted and long overlooked byproduct [...]

The global protected area (PA) system has a key role to play in biological conservation, and it is thus vital to understand the factors that are likely to limit this potential. Attention to date has focused foremost on the consequences of biases in the spatial distribution of PAs for their effectiveness and efficiency in representing [...]

We present results of a life cycle assessment (LCA) of Marcellus shale gas used for power generation. The analysis employs the most extensive data set of any LCA of shale gas to date, encompassing data from actual gas production and power generation operations. Results indicate that a typical Marcellus gas life cycle yields 466 kg [...]

Instead of burning waste wood treated with chromated copper arsenite (CCA) or disposing of it in landfills, the CCA-treated wood can be used as a raw material for the production of chemicals. Catalytic or alkaline oxidation together with very mild sulfuric acid extraction produces an easily enzymatically hydrolyzable material. Usage as a raw material for [...]

► Soot deteriorates appearance of architectural building materials. ► Photocatalytic soot removal was obtained on TiO2 coated mortar. ► P25 coating gave the highest soot degradation rate. ► Complete mineralisation of soot was obtained as CO2 was the sole oxidation product. ► Important step towards self-cleaning building materials was established. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2013.02.089

If properly designed, terrestrial structures can passively cool themselves through radiative emission of heat to outer space. For the first time, we present a metal-dielectric photonic structure capable of radiative cooling in daytime outdoor conditions. The structure behaves as a broadband mirror for solar light, while simultaneously emitting strongly in the mid-IR within the atmospheric [...]

In commemoration of Earth Day, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) named the top ten greenest buildings in America. The AIA says that buildings on the list “make a positive contribution to their communities, improve comfort for building occupants and reduce environmental impacts”.Check out this year’s winners to see their novel strategies for creating sustainable [...]

This paper reports the findings of an investigation done on bricks made using fly ash (FA), quarry dust (QD), and billet scale (BS) by non conventional method. The procedure for producing the bricks includes mixing the constituents along with cement and water, and then forming the bricks within moulds without applying pressure over them. Unlike [...]

The majority of population growth in developing countries will occur in small cities closely linked to agricultural zones, with poor access to water and sanitation. Wastewater management priorities in these regions will be different from those in larger cities and developed countries. Two wastewater treatment systems in Bolivia, one with an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket [...]

► Encapsulated nanoparticles (NP) were tested for biohydrogen production improvement. ► Pd, Ag, Fe and Cu NP were added in Clostridium butyricum BHP tests. ► Fe NP showed an improvement of the hydrogen volume and rate of production. ► In pH controlled AnSBR, Fe NP showed +113% of hydrogen production rates. ► NP addition had [...]