Az éger állományok új típusú fitoftórás megbetegedésének vizsgálata = Study of new Phytophthora disease in common alder stands

A négy éves kutatási program eredményeként részletesen feltártuk a hazai égerekben előforduló fitoftórás megbetegedés jellegzetességeit, erdőgazdasági jelentőségét. A vizsgálatok tapasztalatai azt mutatják, hogy a hazai égeresekben a fitoftórás fertőzések országszerte megtalálhatóak. Ugyanakkor a beteg fák aránya, a fertőzés intenzitása, a betegség terjedése, a mortalitási értékek nem támasztják alá azt a feltételezést, miszerint az állományok létét veszélyeztetné a betegség megjelenése. A vizsgálatok egyértelműen igazolták a Phytophthora alni patogenitását, míg a többi fitoftóra faj jelentősége kétséges az elhalások kialakulásában. Mindezek mellett azt is megállapítottuk, hogy az esetek többségében a pusztulási folyamat tovább tart, mint négy év. Egyes esetekben a fák képesek a betegséget természetes védekező mechanizmusaik révén legyőzni. Az új típusú fitoftórás betegség országosan jelen van és stabilan állandósult a hazai éger állományokban. Epidémikus megjelenése bármikor bekövetkezhet, de ennek előfeltételeiről egyelőre keveset tudunk. | Characteristics and importance of alder decline caused by Phytophthora in Hungary were studied during 4 years of the project. According to the results of our investigations Phytophthora infections are widespread and occur in all Hungarian alder forests. However the number of infected trees, severity of infections, spreading rate of disease and the tree mortality caused do not support the earlier assumptions that the disease seriously fate of our alder forests. Pathogenity of Phytophthora alni was proven by investigations, but role of other Phytophthora species in alder decline still remain uncertain. The decline ending with death of the infected tree usually takes longer than four years. In some case Phytophthora infected trees can successfully fight of the disease by own natural defence mechanisms. The new type of alder decline caused by Phytophthora is widespread in Hungary and settled in the alder stands. Severe epidemic appearance of Phytophthora alni may occur any time but there is not enough information about its prerequisites

Investigation of Carbon Footprints of Three Desalination Technologies: Reverse Osmosis (RO), Multi-Stage Flash Distillation (MSF) and Multi-Effect Distillation (MED)

Nowadays, the drinking water shortage is increasing, mainly due to rapid population growth, climate change, wasteful overuse of water, and pollution. Under the current circumstances, a quarter of the world's population will not have access to good quality drinking water. Thus, another solution must be adopted in areas with insufficient freshwater. One possible line is the desalination of seawater, one of the most practical solutions to solve the problem of drinking water shortage along the oil availability shore and continues to expand globally. Water produced may also be utilized for irrigation, reducing a region's reliance on imports, contributing to the local economy, and improving food supplies. However, this process is not a consequences-free procedure; it may cause several environmental and human health problems.The three most applied desalination technologies are reverse osmosis (RO), multi-stage flash distillation (MSF), and multi-effect distillation (MED). In this study, the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) of drinking water produced from seawater using these three technologies with fossil and renewable energy sources were investigated based on two methods: life cycle assessment (LCA) using SimaPro life cycle analysis software and carbon footprints. As a result, RO technology has significantly lower CO2 emissions than thermal technologies. The RO combined renewable energy is the most environmentally friendly; provides outstanding benefits in terms of human health and ecosystem quality. This technology may still evolve in the future to produce longer-lasting, cheaper membranes, and the energy requirements of this process are lower with applying modern energy recovery systems