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• Bayesian network used to structure available knowledge and facilitate simulation of management alternatives. • Demand for urbanization and recreation were identified as dominant human drivers, exerting pressure on the beach ecosystem. • Demographic trends were integrated into a decision-making framework that supports beach managers. • Beach user surveys proposed as periodic network inputs, indicating beach recreational quality and management issues. • Urban WALROS classes were widespread across land-based sites, and more natural classes prevailed over water-based sites. Managing coastal areas under an Ecosystem Based Approach–Marine Spatial Planning framework acknowledges the complexity associated with the need to address multiple environmental and socioeconomic issues. The development of efficient management plans is critical to the implementation success of the framework; in this regard, unresolved challenges remain for measuring the effectiveness of planning plans and monitoring implementation progress. This paper describes the development of a Bayesian Belief Network as a prototype Decision Support Tool to assist coastal planning in the catchment areas of the Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. The model was co-designed with local managers, underpinned by the Drivers-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses analytical framework to identify key coastal cause-effect relationships, and by the Recreational Opportunity Spectrum framework to account for significant recreational areas. The Bayesian Belief Network was structured on a conceptualisation of the relationships between key pressures affecting coastal management targets (biological areas and human activities) and their impacts on the state of the variables, with emphasis on the beach ecosystem. The socio-economic component of the model consists of predictive socio-economic modelling on preferred beach activities, the assessment of beach recreational settings, and a beach quality survey. Conditional probability tables were derived from local and regional databases. The model structure allows decision makers enhanced understanding of key interactions between management variables, assessment of management scenarios, and increased accountability of planning decisions. Future work on the prototype could expand the model to become a Bayesian Decision Network, through the integration of proposed management actions and their utilities, thereby helping managers identify optimal decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diet-related chronic diseases are a major health problem faced by developed and developing countries. Although individuals’ dietary patterns are often associated with varied psychological and socioeconomic factors, built environment factors can be important determinants of food choices. Whilst there is some evidence to suggest a link between access to food and food consumption, it remains unclear how a wider range of built environment factors influence residents’ food choices. A deeper understanding of these relationships could reveal under-researched aspects of a healthy built environment. This paper explores how residents in inner Sydney neighborhoods access food and investigates how characteristics of the built environment influence their food choices. Eighteen participants, representing a range of ethnic backgrounds and levels of income, were selected for in-depth interviews. Several urban barriers to healthy food consumption were identified through analysis. Distance, land use and urban form, in particular, shape the food choices of individuals in different ways. These findings have implications for urban planning and policy making for healthy cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The typical stripper in the PCC is replaced by an innovative solar stripper (So-St). • The conceptual design for direct solvent regeneration in the solar field is analysed. • A design protocol to calculate So-St segments and modules layout is developed. • The length and diameter of subsequent segments to the overall design is optimized. • The process control for the pressure drop and enhanced heat transfer is maintained. This paper presents an advanced thermodynamic analysis to design a solar stripper (So-St) field to replace the conventional desorption unit in a post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) plant. By eliminating the large, complex, and costly stripper, a solar collector field (SCF) consisting of a number of So-St arrays is sized to directly release the CO 2 gas from the rich solvent under transient conditions. In this study, a design protocol has been developed to address the key design challenges for the evolving two-phase flow in the solar receiver tube analysing the instantaneous flow regime, pressure drop, and vapour molar fraction (VMF) to enhance the heat transfer. This design protocol optimizes the physical properties of the So-St components and eventually leads to the whole So-St field sizing based on the nominal capture capacity. A case-study is demonstrated to capture 1.5M tonne CO2 /y from a representative 660 MW e coal-fired power plant in Sydney/Australia. It is found that 22 rich solvent loops that each consists of an array of 6 parallel So-St modules, where each module consists of 6 segments in series is needed. The length/diameter of these So-St segments/modules are optimized for this case-study, and the design procedures are clarified and simplified which can be easily applied for other case-studies. Techno-economic validation of this novel So-St technology is an essential step-forward to fully solarize and autonomies carbon capture industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their large range across diverse habitats, flying-foxes are potential bioindicator species for environmental metal exposure. To test this hypothesis, blood spots, urine, fur, liver and kidney samples were collected from grey-headed flying-foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus) and black flying-foxes (P. alecto) from the Sydney basin, Australia. Concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc and 11 other trace metals were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. As predicted, kidney and fur lead concentrations were lower compared to concentrations found in flying-foxes in the early 1990's, due to reduced environmental lead emissions. Tissue cadmium concentrations in flying-foxes were higher compared to previous studies of flying-foxes and other bat species, suggesting that flying-foxes were exposed to unrecognized cadmium sources. Identification of these sources should be a focus of future research. Urine concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead were proportional to kidney concentrations. Given that urine can be collected from flying-foxes without handling, this demonstrates that many flying-foxes can be assessed for metal exposure with relative ease. The analysis of blood spots was not viable because of variable metal concentrations in the filter paper used. Fur concentrations of metals correlated poorly with tissue concentrations at the low levels of metals found in this study, but fur could still be a useful sample if flying-foxes are exposed to high levels of metals. Lastly, heat inactivation had minimal impact on metal concentrations in kidney and liver samples and should be considered as a tool to protect personnel working with biohazardous samples. • The utility of flying-foxes as bioindicators of metal pollution was explored. • Tissue lead concentrations were reduced compared to flying-foxes sampled in the 1990s. • Evidence of chronic cadmium exposure was found. • Urine concentrations of lead and cadmium reflected those found in tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) has become a popular water saving and conservation means across the globe. In many cities, a pre-determined rainwater tank size is generally selected without a detail water balance modelling at the location on interest. However, to achieve maximum benefit from a RWH system at a given location, it is desirable to design the system based on the site specific conditions (e.g. local rainfall and loss characteristics) and other relevant design parameters. There have been limited studies on regionalization of RWH system, which can account for the spatial variability in rainfall, loss and water demand characteristics over a given region to provide site-specific design of RWH system. This paper presents a RWH regionalization approach to develop a set of design curves, which assist in the selection of an adequate RWH system at a given location. We use rainfall data from 159 rain gauges across the Greater Sydney region in Australia to develop and test the proposed regionalization approach. It has been found that there is a significant variation in rainfall characteristics across Greater Sydney region and that a common tank size across this region does not present an adequate solution. It has been found that a 5 kL tank can achieve a reliability (i.e. percentage of days the RWH can meet the given demand) of 31–93% for four people depending on the location in the Greater Sydney region and the types of water use. The developed regional design curves could result in increased water savings across Greater Sydney. The proposed regionalization approach can be adapted to other cities across Australia and the world which present a high rainfall gradient. • Water savings by rainwater harvesting at 159 locations in Sydney are evaluated. • Reliability of a rainwater tank is moderately correlated with mean annual rainfall. • A set of design curves is developed for Sydney to enhance rainwater harvesting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]