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The complex and diverse factors that influence water security in the Indian Himalayan Region were examined using problem and solution tree (PAST) mapping together with a field study. Five PASTs, each constructed by a different group of stakeholders, namely the state government, the local government, researchers, development agencies, and the local community, were analysed to obtain a holistic and multi-sectoral understanding of water security in the region, and the analysis was supplemented with field data. The systematic study helped in (1) identifying many factors – climatic, geographical, cultural, and socio-economic – that influence water security, (2) assessing their impacts on mountain livelihoods, and (3) documenting thirty-two potential interventions in the form of adaptations (e.g. springshed management programme) and coping strategies (e.g. buying water from informal water markets) to strengthen water security. These strategies followed three main themes namely conserving water resources, improving rural livelihood and sustainable infrastructure development and risk management. The study also helped in building a shared sense of understanding, purpose, and action between the diverse groups of stakeholders. The study suggests that ensuring water security in rural mountain areas requires holistic and multi-sectoral policies, which should be developed by including all actors in the network of stakeholders; that local conditions be given utmost importance in the policy planning cycle (e.g. focus on springs in mountains); and that cultural landscape and local identities be closely examined to reduce the inequalities in access to resources. Image 1 • Water security is multi-dimensional and requires integrating multiple viewpoints for holistic mountain development. • Springs are primary sources of water for mountain communities. • Access to water is influenced by contextual, local, and often manufactured drivers that need to be assessed. • Socio-cultural landscape plays an important role for achieving water security in the Himalayas. • Local adaptation strategies require strong social networks with diverse stakeholders for upscaling and outscaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emissions from industry and cities have been the focus of global carbon emissions control, but the need to reduce carbon emissions from large agricultural countries cannot be ignored. This study measured rural carbon emissions based on the energy consumption of rural residents and agricultural production from 2000 to 2018 in China, and the spatial-temporal evolution and variation of rural carbon emissions were analyzed using the quadrant diagram method and Theil index, which also further identified the contribution elements of rural carbon emissions. The gradual growth of rural carbon emissions in China's provinces has been accompanied by a spatial clustering of high emissions, and the carbon emissions among the country's eight regions are characterized by large inter-regional and small intra-regional differences. By identifying the carbon emissions contributions of regions and the carbon sources, we found that the provinces in the central region produce the most emissions, with the top 3 of 11 provinces contributing up to 61.56% of the total national production. Furthermore, emissions from the dominant carbon source in rural China, raw coal, has decreased to 49.22%, and the low use of electricity and natural gas results in the structure of rural carbon sources being weakly decarbonized. The decomposition of carbon emissions indicated that rural economic development plays a prominent contributory role in carbon emissions, whereas energy consumption per unit output value has a significant inhibitory effect on carbon emissions. This study contributes to current carbon emission-related research by identifying the main contributors of rural carbon emissions from multiple perspectives. • Rural carbon emission types present a low-speed - steady - high-speed evolution in China. • Carbon emissions in rural China show large inter-area variance and small intra-area variance. • Rural economic development factors have a promotional effect on rural carbon emissions. • Rural energy consumption per unit of output has an obvious carbon suppression effect. • Contribution identification provides governance orientation for rural carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universal energy access is one of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and thus the deployment of electricity grids is expected to expand globally in the coming decades. However, the installation of power lines is not biodiversity-friendly. In particular, electrocution on power pylons is a major cause of bird mortality worldwide, including for some severely endangered species. Over the last decades, different studies have improved our understanding of the factors influencing the risk of electrocution in birds, but until now spatial gaps in our knowledge of these impacts and the factors driving global patterns of bird electrocution have not been assessed. In this study, we evaluated data from a total of 114 studies that provided information on bird mortality rates on power lines, and we analyzed the factors driving electrocution rates for all bird species, and then for all raptors and large eagles separately. Our results showed a high spatial distribution bias, as more than 80% of the studies were carried out in developed countries, mostly in Europe and North America. By contrast, no systematic studies have been found for Oceania and very few for South America and Africa. Europe showed the highest electrocution rates for birds, South America for raptor species and Africa for eagles. Socio-economic factors best-explained bird and raptor electrocution rates, while climate-related factors were the most influential for eagles. Contrary to our expectations, factors related to pylon design were the least influential on overall electrocution rates. Variables related to study design showed highly variable levels of influence. This could be due to the lack of standardized protocols. Although bird electrocution has been extensively studied, there are large areas where no studies have been carried out or for which data are inaccessible. This could be because in these areas the power distribution network is still sparse, or that most studies are not public or accessible to the international community. Researchers and managers should promote the publication of studies, as awareness is the first step to solving these problems. The factors identified could be applied globally to the design and planning of power grids and the identification of mortality hotspots. This would help mitigate the creation of new mortality hotspots, especially in developing countries where the installation of new power lines has been growing exponentially in recent years. • Bird electrocution studies lack or are inaccessible in large areas of the world. • Socio-economic factors explained the electrocution rates of birds and raptors. • Continued publishing of basic information from mortality monitoring is essential. • Studies with null or low electrocution rates are needed to improve risk models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural problems are becoming increasingly prominent in sustainable development in China. Landscape services (LSs) are an emerging concept associated with ecosystem services and play an important role in promoting sustainable development. However, a comprehensive framework of rural LS and empirical research are still lacking. Here, we proposed a rural LSs system based on its multiple functions of "ecological maintenance, agricultural production and human living", including 9 LS types. Combined with the impact of landscape pattern on LSs, we optimized the assessment method of LS, and the LS capabilities were assessed at the village scale in Hangzhou city. Furthermore, we identified the spatial differentiation of rural LSs capabilities and trade-offs/synergies along urban-rural and terrain gradients. The results showed that the LSs capabilities of the rural landscape were greatly affected by the urban radiation and terrain, and we found that the turning point of LSs capabilities was 35 km from the urban fringe and the terrain gradient T5. The LSs in most villages (77%) revealed trade-offs, and the villages with LS synergies largely occurred in the middle and eastern regions of the study area. This study could improve our current understanding of LSs in regard to sustainable rural development, and identifying the trade-offs/synergies of LSs in a spatially explicit way can provide suggestions for the differentiated management of rural landscape sustainability. • We optimized the assessment framework of landscape service (LS) for sustainable rural development. • Both of urban-rural and terrain gradients were used into the analysis of spatial differentiation of LSs. • The LSs in most villages (77%) revealed trade-offs in Hangzhou city. • The identification of LSs in a spatially explicit way would helpful to differentiated landscape management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many slow growing and shrinking rural communities struggle with aging or inadequate wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and face challenges in constructing and operating such facilities. Although existing literature has provided insight into the environmental sustainability of large facilities, including both the construction and operational phases, these studies have not examined small, rural facilities treating less than 7000 m3/d (1.8 MGD) of wastewater in adequate depth and breadth. In this study, a detailed inventory of the construction and operational data for 16 case studies of small WWTPs was developed to elucidate their environmental life cycle impacts. An attributional LCA framework was followed. The results show that the environmental impacts of both the construction and operational phases are considerable. Energy use was the dominant contributor to the operational environmental impact, and improving energy efficiency of a plant may reduce the environmental impacts of a small WWTP. Construction impacts can vary considerably between facilities (e.g., coefficient of variation for the construction impacts ranged from 60% to 78% depending on the impact category). Process-related factors (e.g., concrete and reinforcing steel used in basins) are typically sized using the design flow; thus, much of the variability in construction impacts among plants stems from the non-process related infrastructure. Multiple regression analysis was used as an exploratory tool to identify which non-process related plant aspects contribute to the variable environmental impact of small WWTPs. These factors include aluminum, cast iron, and the capacity utilization ratio (defined as the ratio of average flow to design flow). Thus, industry practitioners should consider these factors when aiming to reduce the environmental impacts of a small WWTP related to construction. Scenario sensitivity analyses found that the environmental impact of construction became smaller with longer design life, and the end-of-life consideration does not heavily influence the environmental sustainability of a WWTP. [Display omitted] • LCA was applied to evaluate environmental impacts of 16 case studies of small wastewater plants. • Construction can be a large share of the total environmental impact of a small wastewater treatment plant. • Multiple regression analysis was used to relate environmental impacts to inventory. • Overdesign of small, slow-growing wastewater treatment plant infrastructure is discouraged. • End-of-life considerations do not heavily influence the environmental impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructed wetlands (CWs) have been proved to be an alternative to the treatment of various wastewater. However, there are few studies focused on the removal performance and mechanisms of pollutants in pilot-scale CWs packed with novel solid carbon. In this study, we investigated the effect of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate/polyacetic acid (PHBV/PLA) blends as carbon source on pollutant's transformation, microbial communities and functional genes in pilot-scale aeration-anoxic two-stage CWs for polishing rural runoff in southern China. Results showed a striking improvement of TN removal in CWs with PHBV/PLA blends (64.5%) compared to that in CWs with ceramsite (52.9%). NH 4 +-N (61.3–64.6%), COD (40.4–53.8%) and TP (43.6–47.1%) were also removed effectively in both two CWs. In addition, the strains of Rhodocyclaceae and Bacteroidetes were the primary denitrifiers on the surface of PHBV/PLA blends. Further, the aerobic stage induced gathering of 16 S and amoA genes and the anoxic zone with PHBV/PLA blends increased the nirS genes, which fundamentally explained the better denitrification performance in CW based on PHBV/PLA blends. Consequently, this study will provide straightforward guidance for the operation of engineering CWs packed with polymers to govern the low-C/N rural wastewater. [Display omitted] • Pilot-scale aerobic-anoxic two-stage CWs were constructed to treat rural runoff. • High TN removal of 65% was obtained in CWs based on PHBV/PLA blends. • The addition of PHBV/PLA blends optimized the structure of microbes in CWs. • Rhodocyclaceae and Bacteroidetes were the primary denitrifiers on the PHBV/PLA. • Increased amoA and nirS genes might explain the better denitrification process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We sought to investigate the association between household exposure to biomass fuel and metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components including blood pressure, triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), fasting blood glucose (FBG) and waist circumference among females in southern rural China. We surveyed 1664 residents in the Chronic Disease and Risk Factors Surveillance , conducted in 14 districts of Guangdong province. We recorded the use of biomass fuel, MetS and its components, and other covariates by using a structured questionnaire. Logistic regression model and multivariate linear regression model were adopted for analysis. Exposure to biomass fuel was significantly associated with an increase of systolic blood pressure (SBP) (β: 2.15, 95% confidence interval: 0.13 to 4.17) and FBG (β: 0.19, 95% confidence interval: 0.01 to 0.37) in the adjusted and unadjusted models (all P < 0.05). Among participants with exposure to biomass fuel, being overweight or obese was associated with an increased risk of having hypertension (odds ratio: 3.19, 95% confidence interval: 2.13 to 4.76) and higher FBG levels (odds ratio: 2.10, 95% confidence interval: 1.46 to 3.02). Exposure to biomass fuel was significantly associated with a decrease of the prevalence of central obesity (P < 0.05). However, exposure to biomass fuel was not associated with MetS, diastolic blood pressure and TG (all P > 0.05). Exposure to biomass fuel is associated with an increase in blood pressure and FBG levels, but not MetS per se. Efforts should be made to protect females in southern rural China from the adverse effects associated with biomass fuel pollution. • This is the first study delineating the association between biomass fuel and multiple MetS components. • Biomass fuel was associated with increased blood pressure and FBG. • Overweight or obese women who were exposed to biomass fuel had a higher risk of hypertension. • Higher FBG associated with biomass fuel exposure was detected in overweight or obese participants. • Biomass fuel exposure was not associated with the development of MetS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to sustainable energy requires an assessment of drivers of the use of clean and dirty fuels for cooking. Literature highlights the importance of access to clean fuel for switching from dirty fuels to clean fuels. Though access to cleaner fuels, such as electricity promotes clean fuel use, it does not necessarily lead to a complete transition to the use of clean fuels. Households continue using traditional fuels in addition to the clean fuels. The main objective of this paper is to explain the choice of dirty cooking fuels even when access to electricity is provided. We use nationally representative household survey data to study the household energy use decisions in three middle-income countries, namely, India, Kazakhstan, and the Kyrgyz Republic. The study discusses the role of access to natural gas, free fuel, convenience or multi-use of fuels featured by the heating system installed, built-in environment, and other socio-economic factors in household fuel choice for cooking. The results show that access to natural gas increases the likelihood of opting for clean fuel, while the availability of free fuel in rural areas and the coal-based heating system promote the use of solid fuels. • Households continue using traditional fuels in addition to modern fuels;. • This paper explains the choice of solid cooking fuels;. • Access to natural gas increases the likelihood of opting for natural gas;. • The availability of free fuel in rural areas and the coal-based heating system promotes solid fuels.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High cost of sewer systems usually restricts the sewage collection in rural areas. Many rural areas take traditional sewer scheme whose private-secondary-main sewer diameter is 110–200-300 mm without hydraulic calculation and increased the total cost of sewers. The rational utilization of small diameter sewers might contribute to sewer cost reduction. In this study, rural sewer length and cost models were established taking sewer diameter, household number, and length/width ratio of village as parameters to evaluate the cost benefits of using small diameter sewers. Hydraulic calculation of sewers was applied by Storm Water Management Model to ensure the small diameter sewers were feasible. The results indicate that household number and length/width ratio cause obvious impact on sewer length and cost. Main sewer with 200 mm diameter is suitable for the village with less than 1000 households. Using small diameter sewers can reduce the sewer cost by 6–15% compared with traditional sewer scheme and 110-110-200 might be the better scheme to rural areas because of the low cost (including construction cost and operation and maintenance cost) and high tolerance of sewage flow fluctuation. This study provided the suitable diameter of rural sewers based on cost model and hydraulic calculation which might be helpful for the application of rural sewers. • 200 mm diameter main sewer suits for the village with less than 1000 households. • Small diameter sewers can reduce 6–15% cost compared with traditional scheme. • 110-110-200 mm is the better scheme with low cost and good hydraulic conditions. • High length/width ratio of village increases the cost of sewers per household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the impacts of climate disruption becoming more evident there has been an increase in the uptake of climate change adaptation "toolkits" to assist local governments build community resilience and adapt to the impacts of climate change. There is increasing attention and call for practitioners to adopt proactive and participatory approaches to help in the adaptive response planning process. One such toolkit is the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCRN) Process (IAP). This is a simple but rigorous toolkit developed to help local governments in Asian cities build resilience to the impacts of climate change. This paper outlines the application of the toolkit to determine its versatility in the rural context and was trialled in the Himalayan rural enclave of Ramgad in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Given the differences between urban and rural environments, the outcomes highlighted the need for further investigation and analysis into the process to ensure that the methodology truly reflects the nature of rural systems and their level of vulnerability and adaptive capacity. Overall, the toolkit proved to be a simple but versatile toolkit to assess the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of communities in rural Himalaya. Over 40 resilience intervention strategies were developed for the Ramgad enclave and these were prioritized according to their technical, political, social and economic feasibility. • A city-based climate change adaptation toolkit was applied to a rural jurisdiction. • Over 30 prioritized resilience intervention strategies were developed. • Urban and rural environments differ in terms of their adaptive capacity. • The toolkit could be adapted to a rural context with some modifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most rural wastewater treatment facilities require aeration equipment to ensure sufficient dissolved oxygen (DO) during processing. Operation and maintenance are costly, and cannot be met in many areas with poor economic levels. This has led to further deterioration of the rural water environment and aroused much attention. This work reports a plug-flow step feed system utilizing wind and solar hybrid energy for rural wastewater treatment. Under certain climatic conditions, the wind energy and solar energy provided complimentary power generation, and an automatic control system (without batteries) was constructed. The corresponding control logic for multi-energy level operation was developed. Furthermore, the power generation efficiency of the system, the pollutant removal, and its mechanism on the bioreactor were also analyzed. According to the monitoring of meteorological conditions, wind and solar resources at the test site were abundant, and the electricity generated by the power generation was sufficient to meet the operational needs of the equipment. Energy efficiency can reach 80.0%. The characteristics of pollutant removal in each process section were studied on spatial and temporal dimensions. Results showed that the wastewater treatment process reached mean removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD cr), NH 4 +-N, total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were 90.2%, 94.3%, 61.4% and 63.1%, respectively. Analyses of microbial community richness and group changes in each anoxic/aerobic reaction chamber in the biofilm reactor showed that the population structure was relatively stable and that there were abundant functional bacteria capable of degrading pollutants in each aerobic and anoxic unit. This system can thus be a more sustainable treatment process than traditional techniques used for rural wastewater treatment, providing a new design approach for low-energy consumption and unattended rural wastewater treatment. • An automated, decentralized rural wastewater treatment system was designed. • The system is considered by energy efficient, stable operation, and no maintenance. • The hybrid wind-solar power unit is available to catch the unattended system. • Three-stage A/O plug-flow step feed bioreactor was effective for pollutant remove. • Functional microbial community was analyzed during anoxic/aerobic zones of system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents deep decarbonization strategies for city-level energy systems. Helsinki city is used as a case in the analysis. The strategies are mainly based on extensive electrification employing renewable electricity, storage, and sector-coupling strategies. We perform energy, economic, and resilience analyses for the different cases. An energy balance model with 1-h resolution is used to optimize the energy system on macro-scale, while a MILP-algorithm is used for micro-level optimization of operation of individual plants against different criteria. The results indicate that a zero-carbon energy system is feasible by 2050, but it would also require coupling to the exogenous energy system (national electricity market) to balance mismatches. Power-to-heat coupling, or storage alone would not be adequate. As an example of system dynamics limitations, with a wind power capacity of 1.5 GW corresponding to 56% of the annual electricity demand in Helsinki, 90% of the wind electricity can be used locally in the different sectors, but the rest needs coupling to the exogenous market due to mismatch and plant limitations. The decarbonization strategies with increasing variable renewable energy production generally improve the resilience of the energy system, but with some concerns to adequacy of peak production and electricity dependency of heating. • Cities play an important in deep decarbonization of energy systems. • Zero-emission scenarios by 2050 for Helsinki city are presented. • Technical, economic, environmental, and resilience aspects. • Wind with sector and market coupling, and bio-boilers key path to zero-emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black water is highly concentrated human waste water but represents only a minor portion of domestic sewage. A modified type of anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) was studied to assess its potential for pretreating black water in rural China. The classification of microbial structure was also investigated to confirm its potential in application. The structure of the ABR was modified according to demand for application in practice. A hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 48 h was chosen as the optimal HRT after comparison among 24 h, 36 h, 48 h, and 72 h. Under the 48 h HRT, the ABR achieved average removal efficiencies of 94.05% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), 28.78% of total nitrogen (TN), 14.21% of ammonium nitrogen (NH 4 +-), and 32.54% of total phosphorus (TP) during 112 days of continuous operation. Samples from three different compartments were collected after 60-day continuous operation for bacterial and archaeal community investigation by 16S rRNA. Abundant degradation-related bacteria and methanogenic archaea were found in the ABR. The three samples had similar bacterial compositions at phylum, class, and genus levels, but the percentages of bacteria differed among the compartments. The distribution of archaea showed succession with the flow direction. In general, the ABR shows good performance under an HRT of 48 h and shows good potential for practical application. • A modified anaerobic baffled reactor was established for pretreating black water. • The optimal hydraulic retention time was investigated. • Performance of the anaerobic baffled reactor was evaluated under continuous mode. • The microbial structure in the different compartments was investigated. • The main aim of this study is the potential application in rural China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]