Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in China: Progress and Prospects of Research on Treatment Technologies and Policy Provisions

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are an atmospheric pollutant with a boiling point of 50˚C - 260˚C at room temperature and pressure. They are precursors of sulfur dioxide and ozone, which can seriously pollute the atmosphere and endanger human health. After the “14th Five-Year Plan”, VOCs, instead of SO2, became one of the five indicators of China’s atmospheric governance. As a result, the government’s efforts to control VOCs have increased significantly. VOCs governance mustn’t be delayed. This paper provides a comprehensive summary and analysis of VOCs governance, covering the classification of VOCs, analysis of VOC governance technology (with a focus on end-of-pipe governance technology), national policy regulations, current governance shortcomings, and a forward-looking perspective on the future direction of VOCs governance, emphasizing healthy and sustainable development.

Optimization and Regulation Policy for Land Use Changes Based on Low-carbon Emission in Developed Regions of China

Land use and cover change(LUCC) is one of the important causes of the Earth’s carbon cycle imbalances resulting from failure in optimizing land use. The solution to this problem has been the hotspot of research in land and environmental science. We took 'low carbon', 'energy saving' and 'high-efficiency' as the goals of land use optimization,and integrated Markov-CA(Cellular Automaton),the Grid-Fractal model and GIS,in order to study carbon emission objective function,to establish a simulation method for land use spatial allocation optimization,to evaluate the effect of the method on carbon emissions. Regulation policy on three types of land use spatial allocation was proposed,including 'low-carbon type', 'low-carbon-economic type' and 'economic type'. We applied the method to analyze the land use spatial allocation in Taixing City of the 'Yangtze River Delta' regions in China,and obtained the following results:(i) The three optimization types would improve carbon emissions by 3. 21%,1. 80% and 0. 36% respectively in 2020,compared with 2010;(ii) The actual planning for 2020 was close to the 'low-carbon-economic type';(iii) The optimization method and regulation policy,combining local optimization and global control,could meet the sustainable multi-objective requirements for low-carbon constraints of land use spatial allocation. The result of this research could also serve as a reference for exploration into patterns of regional low-carbon land use and measures for energy saving and emission reduction.

Preferential Policy and Tax Regulations Income Tax of Enterprises and Local Income Tax

*Newly-built joint ventures engaged in new and high technological enterprises shall enjoy a 15 percent reduction of income tax for two years, or a 24 percent reduction for two years and a 50 percent reduction in the following three years. A choice between the two may be decided by the said enterprises. **Service industry, those enterprises with a foreign capital of more than US$5 million shall be exempt from the tax

Analysis of Global CCS Technology,Regulations and Its Potential for Emission Reduction with Focus on China

This paper introduces the development of Carbon Capture and Storage （CCS） technology, the progress in CCS demonstration projects, and regulations and policies related to CCS. Barriers and limitations for the large-scale deployment of CCS are discussed. CCS and different technological solutions for emission reduction （e.g., energy conservation and renewable energy） are compared. The analysis shows that China should carefully evaluate the negative impacts of CCS deployment and needs to enhance the research and development input in CCS in order to master core technologies of CCS systems. Furthermore, CCS incentives should depend on actual CCS development. Based on the current situation, China may need to focus on retrofitting existing thermal power plants with CCS technology, so CCS can be promoted for future large-scale application.

An Experience from Japan:The Challenge to Establish a Plastic Waste Recycling-Based Society in Vietnam

As a result of expanding economies and a growing pattern of mass production,mass consumption,and mass disposal,these last decades have seen an increase in the discharge of domestic waste on a global basis.Used plastic products are frequently pathogen-contaminated,and ought to be handled as hazardous waste.We have learned that companies and policy makers in Vietnam want to transform plastic waste to value and to create its first zero plastic waste cities,but they struggle to make connections,especially across industries,material types and districts.This paper gives a prospective outlook on plastic waste management practices in Vietnam.Based on Japanese plastic waste recycling basic laws systematically,we also discuss and propose the future tasks to apply them in Vietnam.The initiative is expected to help governments,enterprises,and social organizations develop knowledge,capacity,policy planning and plans of action to reduce plastic waste pollution.

Medicinal Plant Use in Ghana: Advancement and Challenges

In Ghana, the use of medicinal plants is a known and an acceptable practice common to all the regions and ethnic groups, with about 60% to 70% of Ghanaians depending on traditional medicine for their healthcare needs. Even though medicinal plants are all over the country and are of great benefits to a lot of Ghanaians, there is little or no proper documentation on medicinal plants use in Ghana;how it all started and where it is today, as well as what is being done to promote its use and some challenges being faced with its use as a country. This paper therefore sought to assess and compile generally, Medicinal plants use in Ghana;focusing on the use of some plant medicine, development and advancement in the herbal medicine practice, as well as associated challenges. Available literature and information on medicinal plants use in Ghana were compiled by searching through electronic database such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Science direct, SciFinder and other relevant websites, as well as books and reports. A brief history, measures taken to develop and advance plant medicine use and some specific challenges facing plant medicine practice and use in the county have been discussed in detail in this write-up. This compilation is believed to bring to book the value of some medicinal plants in Ghana and the efforts being made to promote herbal drugs to complement orthodox medication.

How Environmental Attitudes Affect Consumers’Willingness to Engage in Green Consumption Behaviors:The Moderating Role of“Plastic Restriction”

Consumers’willingness to engage in green consumption behavior will be guided by internal psychological factors and also influenced by external environmental factors.One of the most common external interventions is the issuance of scientific policies and regulations.The government may introduce policies and regulations that help to increase the willingness of green consumption behavior,such as energy-saving and emission reduction policies and policies to restrict plastic products.In this paper,the authors study the mechanism of the effect of environmental attitudes on consumers’willingness to engage in green consumption behavior from the perspective of“plastic restriction”,and conclude that the magnitude of the effect of policies and regulations on the willingness to engage in green consumption behavior varies significantly at different levels of environmental attitudes.This study provides scientific implementation ideas and targeted management suggestions for the government to formulate effective external intervention policies for green consumption.

The unregulated commercialization of stem cell treatments:a global perspective

Research into the biological properties and clinical potential of stem cells has spurred strong public investment,industry development,media coverage,and patient interest in recent years.To date,however,few clinical applications of demonstrated safety and efficacy have been developed with the exception of uses of hematopoietic stem cells in the treatment of diseases of the blood and immune systems.This lack of an evidence basis notwithstanding,hundreds of companies and private clinics around the world now sell putative stem cell treatments for an enormously broad range of medical and quality-of-life conditions.This represents a major challenge for legitimate scientists working in the field,for authorities seeking to protect their constituencies,and for patients and consumers targeted by such companies’marketing strategies.In this review,I provide an overview of the global industry in pseudomedical stem cell treatments,with an investigation of claims in a single disease area(amyotrophic lateral sclerosis),and make recommendations for the introduction and enforcement of appropriate regulatory responses to this problem.

China’s policies and practice on combatting IUU in distant water fisheries

China’s distant water fisheries(DWF)have made considerable progress since its entering into this industry in the 1980s.Though great efforts have been made to combat illegal,unregulated and unreported(IUU)fishing activities,there are still repeated IUU cases reported or documented by regional fisheries bodies and coastal countries.This article starts with an introduction to the latest development in China’s policies and practices in the past three decades,followed by an attempt to explore the reasons behind this haunting IUU problem.It is found that lack of concrete regulatory measures,ineffective policy implementation,and insufficient supervision and control are the main impediments to eliminate the on-going IUU problem.Therefore,the authors suggest fishery authorities in China have stronger willingness and determination to impose stricter supervision and control on DWF industry,but at the same time,gives more concern to fishermen by offering training courses to raise their awareness of law compliance and mitigate motivations to commit infraction.Only in such way would China promote healthy and sustainable development of DWF,and become a responsible major fishing nation as it aims to be.