Agriculture is multi-functional, producing economic goods including food, feed, fibre, and fuel, as well as providing several intangible or non-tradable services to society free of cost. Non-tradable services, unlike economic goods, remain unpriced; as a result, farmers are not compensated monetarily for the benefits of the several non-tradable services they …
Order of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of M. C. Mehta Vs Union of India & Others dated 02/05/2017 regarding ban on sales and use of furnace oil and pet-coke in Delhi NCR. EPCA report submitted before the Supreme Court states that the state governments of Uttar …
A well-managed chemical nitrogen (N) fertilization practice combined with treated swine slurry (TSS) is necessary to improve sustainability and N use efficiency in rice farming. However, little is known about the fate of N derived from chemical N fertilizer with and without TSS in paddy soil-plant systems. Original Source
The renovation and modernisation of ailing thermal power plants under the 12th Five Year Plan has been severely affected by poor financial condition of state utilities as a mere 4,702.26 MW capacity could be modernised against the planned target of around 30,000 MW for the period 2012-17. Higher project cost …
Crop management practices have a significant impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rates, where methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from rice paddy fields are in trade-off association. A field study for two consecutive years (2013 and 2014) was conducted to continuously measure CH4 and N2O emissions from rice …
Toxicity rising in top gear: CSE report finds shocking pitfalls in car emission testing One of the biggest corporate frauds in the global automobile industry - the Volkswagen defeat device case - and the mounting evidence from Europe that most new diesel cars are emitting much higher than their certification …
Pollution from the Aberthaw power plant is estimated to have caused the premature deaths of 18,000 people in England and Wales, according to environmentalists. A coal-fired power plant which produced twice the legal amount of toxic gas for seven years has been awarded a £10m state subsidy to produce electricity …
This study provides evidence of substantial increases in atmospheric ammonia (NH3) concentrations (14 year) over several of the worlds major agricultural regions, using recently available retrievals from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite. The main sources of atmospheric NH3 are farming and animal husbandry involving reactive nitrogen …
NOx emissions from diesel cars in the EU have remained high, largely due to a growing gap between emission certification limits of Euro 4 and Euro 5 standards (measured in laboratory testing) and “real-world” emissions of diesel cars operating on the roads. Beginning in 2017, the EU’s emissions type-approval procedure …
This briefing paper identifies key differences in the regulations governing certification of NOX emissions from diesel cars (Euro 6) and trucks (Euro VI) that help explain differences in their real-world emissions performance. Ultimately, an examination of the heavy-duty vehicle regulation reveals insights that could be used to improve the light-duty …
Unlike CO2, atmospheric methane concentrations are rising faster than at any time in the past two decades and, since 2014, are now approaching the most greenhouse-gas-intensive scenarios. The reasons for this renewed growth are still unclear, primarily because of uncertainties in the global methane budget. New analysis suggests that the …
The capital is recording its best November-end air quality in three years. Meteorologists say strong winds and higher than normal temperatures have managed to lower smog to an extent but conditions may turn hostile soon. The air quality index (AQI) has been oscillating between "poor" and "moderate" categories in Delhi, …
Controversy exists about the differences in air pollution exposure and inhalation dose between mode of transport. We aimed to review air pollution exposure and inhaled dose according to mode of transport and pollutant and their effect in terms of years of life expectancy (YLE). Original Source
Air pollutants, such as ozone, have adverse impacts on human health and cause, for example, respiratory and cardiovascular problems. In the United Kingdom (UK), peak surface ozone concentrations typically occur in the spring and summer and are controlled by emission of precursor gases, tropospheric chemistry and local meteorology which can …
Exceedingly high levels of fine particulate matter (PM) occur frequently in China, but the mechanism of severe haze formation remains unclear. From atmospheric measurements in two Chinese megacities and laboratory experiments, we show that the oxidation of SO2 by NO2 occurs efficiently in aqueous media under two polluted conditions: first, …
The projected rise in food-related greenhouse gas emissions could seriously impede efforts to limit global warming to acceptable levels. Despite that, food production and consumption have long been excluded from climate policies, in part due to concerns about the potential impact on food security. Using a coupled agriculture and health …
Within the framework of air quality studies at the megacity scale, highly time-resolved volatile organic compound (C2–C8) measurements were performed in downtown Paris (urban background sites) from January to November 2010. This unique dataset included non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) and aromatic/oxygenated species (OVOCs) measured by a GC-FID (gas chromatograph with a …
NEW DELHI: In a move that could bring major relief from severe air pollution in cities and towns after 2020, the union ministry of road transport and highways has notified the implementation of BS VI emission standards. The notification came into effect on September 16, it states that it will …
This report, released on the first anniversary of the Dieselgate scandal, exposes the shocking number of dirty diesel cars on the EU’s roads and the feeble regulation of cars by national authorities that have focused on protecting their own commercial interests or those of domestic carmakers. In the US, following …
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission measurements from livestock excreta in Africa are limited. We measured CH4 and N2O emissions from excreta of six Boran (Bos indicus) and six Friesian (Bos taurus) steers near Nairobi, Kenya. The steers were fed one of three diets (T1 [chaffed wheat straw], T2 [T1 + Calliandra …
While high-income countries have made significant strides since the 1970s in improving air quality, air pollution continues to rise in many developing countries and the world as a whole. A significant share of the pollution burden in developing countries can be attributed to production for export to consumers in high-income …
