Air quality benefit of China’s mitigation target to peak its emission by 2030

<p>In 2015, China committed to reducing its emission intensity per unit of gross domestic product by 60–65% from its 2005 rate and to peak its carbon emission by 2030. Problems related to local pollutants and haze are simultaneously worsening in China. This article focuses on the critical topic of co-controlling carbon emission and local air pollutants and evaluates the co-benefit of carbon mitigation in local pollutant reduction by using a partial equilibrium model that links carbon emission and local air pollutants at the technological level. Three conclusions can be drawn from the scenario analysis. First, in the reference scenario, energy consumption and carbon emission continue to increase and air quality is expected to deteriorate in the future. Therefore, current pollutant control measures should be improved. Second, local pollutants will be significantly reduced in the end-of-pipe control scenario, but the reduction will still be inadequate to fulfil the air quality target. Third, emissions of SO₂, NO<i>_x</i>, and PM_2.5 in 2030 will be reduced by 78.85%, 77.56%, and 83.32%, respectively, compared with the 2010 levels in the co-control scenario involving the peaking effort in China. Therefore, the air quality targets can also be achieved when the peaking target is fulfilled. The Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) of China to peak its emission by 2030 is consistent with its domestic interest to improve local air quality.</p> <p><b>POLICY RELEVANCE</b></p> <p>China submitted its INDC to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2015 and has promised to peak its carbon emission by 2030. In recent years, China has also faced severe pressure to address its air pollution problem. Air quality is an important driving force to incentivize more ambitious mitigation measures that can contribute to the simultaneous reduction of carbon emission and air pollutants. Air quality benefit provides a strong justification for the INDC of China and the possibility of early peaking. Moreover, the co-benefit in China can be a reference for other developing countries that are facing the same challenge and can reinforce the initiative of these countries to promote ambitious mitigation actions.</p

Droplet-Confined Electroless Deposition of Silver Nanoparticles on Ordered Superhydrophobic Structures for High Uniform SERS Measurements

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy (SERS) is a nondestructive testing technique. To increase reproducibility of the SERS measurement is the key issue for improving the performance of SERS. In this article, we demonstrate an efficient method to improve the reproducibility, using confined silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as a substrate. The AgNPs are formed uniformly on the tops of the prepared nanopillars by droplet-confined electroless deposition on the hydrophobic Si nanopillar arrays. The AgNPs present an excellent reproducibility in Raman measurement; the relative standard deviation is down to 3.40%. There exists a great linear correlation between the concentration of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) and the Raman intensity in the log–log plot; <i>R</i>² is 0.998, indicating that this SERS substrate can be applied for the quantitative SERS analysis. Meanwhile, the minimum detection concentration is down to 10^–11 M on the hydrophobic substrate, with R6G as a probe molecule

Photocatalytic Performances of Ag₃PO₄ Polypods for Degradation of Dye Pollutant under Natural Indoor Weak Light Irradiation

It is still a big challenge for Ag₃PO₄ to be applied in practice mainly because of its low stability resistant to photo corrosion, although it is an efficient photocatalyst. Herein, we have mainly investigated its activity and stability under indoor weak light for the degradation of dye pollutants. It is amazing that under indoor weak light irradiation, rhodamine B (RhB) can be completely degraded by Ag₃PO₄ polypods after 36 h, but only 18% of RhB by N-doped TiO₂ after 120 h. It is found that under indoor weak light irradiation, the degradation rate (0.08099 h⁻¹) of RhB over Ag₃PO₄ polypods are 46 times higher than that (0.00173 h⁻¹) of N-doped TiO₂. The high activity of Ag₃PO₄ polypods are mainly attributed to the three-dimensional branched nanostructure and high-energy {110} facets exposed. After three cycles, surprisingly, Ag₃PO₄ polypods show a high stability under indoor weak light irradiation, whereas Ag₃PO₄ have been decomposed into Ag under visible light irradiation with an artificial Xe light source. This natural weak light irradiation strategy could be a promising method for the other unstable photocatalysts in the degradation of environmental pollutants

Unique Anatase TiO₂ Twinning Crystals Formed by High-Energy {001} Facets and the Improved Photocatalytic Activity

For the first time, anatase TiO₂ twin crystals have been synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method. The samples are characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, ultraviolet–visible diffused reflectance spectra, and nitrogen sorption isotherms. It is found that a prolonged reaction time significantly contributes to the structure evolution and that twin crystals form via the oriented attachment (OA)- and Ostwald ripening (OR)-controlled secondary growth mechanism. Remarkably, the photoactivity of TiO₂ twin crystals is 2.57 and 8.74 times higher than that of single-crystalline anatase TiO₂ nanosheets and rutile TiO₂, respectively. This has been mainly ascribed to the unique twin crystal structure. This work is a big step toward further improvement of the photocatalytic properties of of TiO₂

Additional file 1 of Presurgical computed tomography-guided localization of lung ground glass nodules: comparing hook-wire and indocyanine green

Additional file 1

Promoted Electron Transfer along the Newly Formed Bi–O–S Bond in Bi₂O(OH)₂SO₄

Today, research is increasingly focused on surface control of semiconductors; however, very little is known about the effect of bulk chemical bonds on photoelectrochemistry properties. In this report, Bi₂O­(OH)₂SO₄ with and without specific Bi–O–S bonds (WB and WOB) is synthesized via hydrothermal and water bath methods, respectively, and we reveal the Bi–O–S bond-dependent photoelectrochemistry properties. Both WB and WOB belong to a monoclinic space group (<i>P</i>21/<i>c</i>), but the newly synthesized WB has different unit cell parameters of <i>a</i> = 8.062 Å, <i>b</i> = 8.384 Å, and <i>c</i> = 5.881 Å, compared with WOB (<i>a</i> = 7.692(3) Å, <i>b</i> = 13.87(1) Å, <i>c</i> = 5.688(2) Å). Compared with WOB (4.18 eV), WB has a narrower band gap (3.6 eV), higher electrical conductivity, and an increased charge separation efficiency. It is found that the electrons are easy to transfer along the newly formed Bi–O–S bond in bulk; thus, the Bi–O–S bonds in WB have efficiently improved the photoelectrochemistry properties. As a result, WB exhibits a 1.1 times higher photocatalytic activity than WOB for the degradation of RhB under ultraviolet light irradiation (<420 nm). This helps us to understand the photoelectrochemistry properties from crystal bulk, but not merely from the crystal surface; thus, this study provides a new idea for improved photoelectrochemistry properties of semiconductors

Expression profiles of differentially expressed genes involved in ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis in the <i>P</i>. <i>haitanensis</i> transcriptome.

<p>1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 in the X-axis of different expression diagram represent 0_VS_3h, 0_VS_6h, 0_VS_12h, 0_VS_24h, 0_VS_2d, 0_VS_4d, 0_VS_6d.</p

Enrichment of differentially expressed photosynthesis-related genes in various comparison groups.

<p>‘+’ represents upregulation, and ‘-’ represents upregulation. The numbers between the parentheses represent the total number of upregulated and downregulated genes in the corresponding pathway, respectively.</p

Interaction between SUA and HR in relation to cfPWV.

<p>The predicted cfPWV by log-transformed SUA in different HR categories: ≤65, 65–75 and ≥75 bpm are presented. Analysis was adjusted for age, sex, BMI, fasting glucose, lipids and BP.</p

Transcriptomic study to understand thermal adaptation in a high temperature-tolerant strain of <i>Pyropia haitanensis</i>

<div><p><i>Pyropia haitanensis</i>, a high-yield commercial seaweed in China, is currently undergoing increasing levels of high-temperature stress due to gradual global warming. The mechanisms of plant responses to high temperature stress vary with not only plant type but also the degree and duration of high temperature. To understand the mechanism underlying thermal tolerance in <i>P</i>. <i>haitanensis</i>, gene expression and regulation in response to short- and long-term temperature stresses (SHS and LHS) was investigated by performing genome-wide high-throughput transcriptomic sequencing for a high temperature tolerant strain (HTT). A total of 14,164 differential expression genes were identified to be high temperature-responsive in at least one time point by high-temperature treatment, representing 41.10% of the total number of unigenes. The present data indicated a decrease in the photosynthetic and energy metabolic rates in HTT to reduce unnecessary energy consumption, which in turn facilitated in the rapid establishment of acclimatory homeostasis in its transcriptome during SHS. On the other hand, an increase in energy consumption and antioxidant substance activity was observed with LHS, which apparently facilitates in the development of resistance against severe oxidative stress. Meanwhile, ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis, brassinosteroids, and heat shock proteins also play a vital role in HTT. The effects of SHS and LHS on the mechanism of HTT to resist heat stress were relatively different. The findings may facilitate further studies on gene discovery and the molecular mechanisms underlying high-temperature tolerance in <i>P</i>. <i>haitanensis</i>, as well as allow improvement of breeding schemes for high temperature-tolerant macroalgae that can resist global warming.</p></div