PLOS ONE: [sortOrder=DATE_NEWEST_FIRST, sort=Date, newest first, q=subject:"Environmental engineering"]PLOShttps://journals.plos.org/plosone/webmaster@plos.orgaccelerating the publication of peer-reviewed sciencehttps://journals.plos.org/plosone/search/feed/atom?sortOrder=DATE_NEWEST_FIRST&unformattedQuery=subject:%22Environmental+engineering%22&sort=Date,+newest+firstAll PLOS articles are Open Access.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/resource/img/favicon.icohttps://journals.plos.org/plosone/resource/img/favicon.ico2024-03-28T16:20:08ZSolid waste management practices and challenges in Besisahar municipality, NepalMahendra AryalSanju Adhikary10.1371/journal.pone.02927582024-03-21T14:00:00Z2024-03-21T14:00:00Z<p>by Mahendra Aryal, Sanju Adhikary</p>
This study is a comprehensive assessment of the waste management system in Besisahar municipality. Information and some data have been collected from the municipality of Besisahar, followed by interviews with municipal officials responsible for waste management, stakeholders, waste workers, and residents. A total of 230 households, 20 schools, 10 government and private offices, 10 financial institutions, 60 commercial hotels, restaurants, and shops, and 20 medical shops and healthcare institutions, were selected in this study by random sampling. An extensive field study was conducted within all municipal wards and at dump sites. The results indicated that 42.14% of solid waste was collected through door-to-door collection services, 5.87% was mismanaged in open public places, 11.21% was used as compost manure, and the rest was discarded on riverbanks, dug up, and burned. A large component of the characterization of household waste consisted of organic waste (68.03%), followed by paper/paper products (8.13%), agricultural waste (5.5%), plastic (5.21%), construction (3.81%), textile (2.72%), metals (0.54%), glass (1.01%), rubber (0.10%), electronic (0.05%), pharmaceutical (0.1%) and others (4.78%) in the Besishahar municipality. Solid waste generation was found to be at 197.604 g/capita/day, as revealed by cluster sampling in 230 households. Around 4.285 tons-solid waste/day were generated in urban areas, while 16.13 tons-solid waste/day was estimated for the whole municipality. An important correlation between the parameters of solid waste was found by statistical analysis. Currently, solid waste is dumped on riverbanks, open fields, and springs, creating environmental and health hazards. The findings of this study will be useful to Besisahar municipality and its stakeholders in forming policies that facilitate waste management practices in this region and promote sustainable waste management systems.The potential use of mass timber in mid-to high-rise construction and the associated carbon benefits in the United StatesPrakash NepalJeffrey P. PrestemonIndroneil GangulyVaibhav KumarRichard D. BergmanNeelam C. Poudyal10.1371/journal.pone.02983792024-03-20T14:00:00Z2024-03-20T14:00:00Z<p>by Prakash Nepal, Jeffrey P. Prestemon, Indroneil Ganguly, Vaibhav Kumar, Richard D. Bergman, Neelam C. Poudyal</p>
Nonresidential and mid- to high-rise multifamily residential structures in the United States currently use little wood per unit floor area installed, because earlier building codes lacked provisions for structural wood use in those types of buildings. However, revisions to the International Building Code allow for increased wood use in the form of mass timber, as structural and fire safety concerns have been addressed through new science-based design standards and through newly specified construction materials and measures. This study used multiple models to describe alternative futures for new construction, mass timber adoption rates, and the associated carbon benefits in higher than three-story buildings in the United States. The use of mass timber, in place of traditional constructions (i.e., structures dominated by concrete and steel), in projected new higher than three-story buildings was shown to provide combined carbon benefits (i.e., global warming mitigation benefits), including avoided embodied carbon emissions due to the substitution of non-wood alternatives and additional biogenic carbon storage in mass timber materials, of between 9.9 and 16.5 million t CO<sub>2</sub>e/yr spanning 50 years, 2020 to 2070. These carbon benefits equate to 12% to 20% of the total U.S. harvested wood products carbon storage for 2020. Future research is needed to understand how greater mass timber adoption leads to changes in forest product markets, land use, and total forest sector carbon.Laying foundations for transformation: Insights from local government engagement on climate-resilient rural water services in NepalJeremy KohlitzMelita GrantRatan Bahadur BudhathokiShova ChhetriHeman PaneruMin Prasad BasnetSunetra LalaGabrielle HalcrowNaomi Carrard10.1371/journal.pstr.00000812024-03-12T14:00:00Z2024-03-12T14:00:00Z<p>by Jeremy Kohlitz, Melita Grant, Ratan Bahadur Budhathoki, Shova Chhetri, Heman Paneru, Min Prasad Basnet, Sunetra Lala, Gabrielle Halcrow, Naomi Carrard</p>
Transformative change in how local governments support rural water services is required to accommodate the increasingly extreme effects of climate change on water service systems. This study explores the potential for contextualised soft systems thinking activities to prepare local government officials with responsibilities pertaining to rural water services in Nepal to shift towards more transformative thinking. First, the study presents the findings of focus group discussions in two rural districts of Nepal that identified common climate-related problems for rural water access including water shortages, contamination, and unequal burden of impacts. Second, we facilitated workshops with local government and non-government stakeholders, drawing on the focus group findings to frame the challenges for rural water linked to climate change that require local government response. We designed the workshops drawing on ‘transformative spaces’ concepts and included soft systems thinking activities to foster systemic perspectives. Participants learned about worldviews, leverage points, rich pictures, root cause analysis, and theory-of-change based action planning. Following the workshops, the study team participated in reflective sensemaking in which they deliberated on their experiences and notes from facilitating the workshops to assess the extent to which the participants demonstrated transformative thinking about rural water systems. The workshop approach showed promise in shifting how local government participants think about rural water services beyond technical fixes towards addressing deep-seated issues. However, further work is required to foster new relationships necessary to support transformation and grapple with ethical dilemmas pertaining to power dynamics at community and government levels. Nevertheless, the approach presented here is a replicable, low-cost way to prepare local government stakeholders in Nepal for transforming their thinking and systems to ways that enable sustainable rural water service delivery under threats of climate change.Constructed wetland as a green remediation technology for the treatment of wastewater from underground coal gasification processŁukasz JałowieckiAleksandra Strugała-WilczekKatarzyna PonikiewskaJacek BorgulatGrażyna PłazaKrzysztof Stańczyk10.1371/journal.pone.03004852024-03-12T14:00:00Z2024-03-12T14:00:00Z<p>by Łukasz Jałowiecki, Aleksandra Strugała-Wilczek, Katarzyna Ponikiewska, Jacek Borgulat, Grażyna Płaza, Krzysztof Stańczyk</p>
The wastewater from underground coal gasification (UCG) process has extremely complex composition and high concentrations of toxic and refractory compounds including phenolics, aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, ammonia, cyanides, hazardous metals and metalloids. So, the development of biological processes for treating UCG wastewater poses a serious challenge in the sustainable coal industry. The aim of the study was to develop an innovative and efficient wetland construction technology suitable for a treatment of UCG wastewater using available and low-cost media. During the bioremediation process the toxicity of the raw wastewater decreased significantly between 74%—99%. The toxicity units (TU) ranged from values corresponding to very high acute toxic for raw wastewater to non-toxic for effluents from wetland columns after 60 days of the experiment. The toxicity results correlated with the decrease of some organic and inorganic compounds such as phenols, aromatic hydrocarbons, cyanides, metals and ammonia observed during the bioremediation process. The removal percentage of organic compounds like BTEX, PAHs and phenol was around 99% just after 14 days of treatment. A similar removal rate was indicated for cyanide and metals (Zn, Cr, Cd and Pb). Concluded, in order to effectively assess remediation technologies, it is desirable to consider combination of physicochemical parameters with ecotoxicity measurements. The present findings show that wetland remediation technology can be used to clean-up the heavily contaminated waters from the UCG process. Wetland technology as a nature-based solution has the potential to turn coal gasification wastewater into usable recycled water. It is economically and environmentally alternative treatment method.Evaluation and prediction of carbon emission from logistics at city scale for low-carbon development strategyJunyu ChenYan ZhuChuanming YangHuimin WangKe Wang10.1371/journal.pone.02982062024-02-29T14:00:00Z2024-02-29T14:00:00Z<p>by Junyu Chen, Yan Zhu, Chuanming Yang, Huimin Wang, Ke Wang</p>
Low-carbon is a part of China’s efforts to pursue the national strategy of “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.” Meanwhile, the path of low-carbon transformation of logistics has become a topic of global concern. This study constructs a technical framework of logistics carbon emissions (LCE), which is composed of carbon emission evaluation, carbon emission prediction and low-carbon strategy. All 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu, China, are the application objects in empirical research. Then, the influence analysis of the LCE efficiency based on the panel Tobit model and the evolution of LCE under different scenarios are explored. The results show that: (ⅰ) during the study period (2013–2020), the LCE in Jiangsu showed an overall upward trend, with Xuzhou, Suzhou and Nanjing being the cities with the highest carbon emissions; (ⅱ) the static efficiency of LCE in Jiangsu is at a medium level, with fluctuations in Suzhou, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Nantong, and Suqian caused by the technical change index; (ⅲ) economic level, industrial structure, fixed asset utilization rate, and ecological environment in Jiangsu are significantly positively correlated with LCE efficiency, while education popularization and energy intensity are negative; (ⅳ) LCE in Jiangsu has been drastically reduced in the low-carbon scenario compared to the baseline scenario. On the above basis, this study proposes suggestions for the low-carbon development strategies of logistics in Jiangsu.Coupling remote sensing and eDNA to monitor environmental impact: A pilot to quantify the environmental benefits of sustainable agriculture in the Brazilian AmazonKaren DysonAndréa P. NicolauKaris TennesonWendy FrancesconiAmy DanielsGiulia AndrichBernardo CaldasSilvia CastañoNathanael de CamposJohn DilgerVinicius GuidottiIara JaquesIan M. McCulloughAllan D. McDevittLuis MolinaDawn M. NekorchukTom NewberryCristiano Lima PereiraJorge PerezTeal Richards-DimitrieOvidio RiveraBeatriz RodriguezNaiara SalesJhon TelloCrystal WespestadBrian ZuttaDavid Saah10.1371/journal.pone.02894372024-02-14T14:00:00Z2024-02-14T14:00:00Z<p>by Karen Dyson, Andréa P. Nicolau, Karis Tenneson, Wendy Francesconi, Amy Daniels, Giulia Andrich, Bernardo Caldas, Silvia Castaño, Nathanael de Campos, John Dilger, Vinicius Guidotti, Iara Jaques, Ian M. McCullough, Allan D. McDevitt, Luis Molina, Dawn M. Nekorchuk, Tom Newberry, Cristiano Lima Pereira, Jorge Perez, Teal Richards-Dimitrie, Ovidio Rivera, Beatriz Rodriguez, Naiara Sales, Jhon Tello, Crystal Wespestad, Brian Zutta, David Saah</p>
Monitoring is essential to ensure that environmental goals are being achieved, including those of sustainable agriculture. Growing interest in environmental monitoring provides an opportunity to improve monitoring practices. Approaches that directly monitor land cover change and biodiversity annually by coupling the wall-to-wall coverage from remote sensing and the site-specific community composition from environmental DNA (eDNA) can provide timely, relevant results for parties interested in the success of sustainable agricultural practices. To ensure that the measured impacts are due to the environmental projects and not exogenous factors, sites where projects have been implemented should be benchmarked against counterfactuals (no project) and control (natural habitat) sites. Results can then be used to calculate diverse sets of indicators customized to monitor different projects. Here, we report on our experience developing and applying one such approach to assess the impact of shaded cocoa projects implemented by the Instituto de Manejo e Certificação Florestal e Agrícola (IMAFLORA) near São Félix do Xingu, in Pará, Brazil. We used the Continuous Degradation Detection (CODED) and LandTrendr algorithms to create a remote sensing-based assessment of forest disturbance and regeneration, estimate carbon sequestration, and changes in essential habitats. We coupled these remote sensing methods with eDNA analyses using arthropod-targeted primers by collecting soil samples from intervention and counterfactual pasture field sites and a control secondary forest. We used a custom set of indicators from the pilot application of a coupled monitoring framework called TerraBio. Our results suggest that, due to IMAFLORA’s shaded cocoa projects, over 400 acres were restored in the intervention area and the community composition of arthropods in shaded cocoa is closer to second-growth forests than that of pastures. In reviewing the coupled approach, we found multiple aspects worked well, and we conclude by presenting multiple lessons learned.Microbial and physicochemical water quality changes within distribution and premise plumbing systems during a chlorine conversionHelen Y. BuseJatin H. Mistry10.1371/journal.pwat.00001812024-02-08T14:00:00Z2024-02-08T14:00:00Z<p>by Helen Y. Buse, Jatin H. Mistry</p>
A strategy for nitrification control within chloraminated drinking water systems (CDWSs) is to temporarily switch from chloramine secondary disinfection to free chlorine, also known as a free chlorine conversion (FCC). However, the long-term and beneficial effects of FCCs are unclear, especially regarding opportunistic pathogen occurrence. In this study, the impacts to microbial and physicochemical parameters were monitored throughout a CDWS implementing a FCC. Water samples were collected weekly for 4–6 weeks before, during, and after a FCC at eight locations: four distribution system and four residential sites. Monochloramine residual (mean±standard deviation) before and after the FCC averaged 1.8±0.9 and 1.6±1.0 parts per million (ppm) for all sites, respectively. Free chlorine levels averaged 2.3±0.9 ppm. There were no significant differences in turbidity and hardness at each location during the three time periods, but some were noted for pH, temperature, and orthophosphate levels across various sites and sampling periods. For all locations, heterotrophic plate count levels were lower during the FCC compared to the periods before and after. All samples from one residence were culture positive for <i>P</i>. <i>aeruginosa</i> which exhibited high levels before the FCC, decreasing levels during, and steadily increasing levels after. Additionally, one week prior to the FCC, sediment samples from two elevated storage tanks, ET-1 and ET-2, were analyzed with ET-1 displaying higher levels of culturable heterotrophic bacteria and molecularly detected total bacteria, <i>Legionella</i> spp., and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), as well as presence of culturable <i>P</i>. <i>aeruginosa</i> and total coliforms compared to ET-2. Fourteen <i>P</i>. <i>aeruginosa</i> and total coliform isolates were whole genome sequenced with genetic differences observed depending on the sampling location and timepoint. Collectively, the observed differences in chemical and microbial parameters advocates for a better understanding of the effects associated with implementing FCCs to determine both their effectiveness and potential risks/rewards to water quality.Household, neighbourhood and service provider risk factors for piped drinking-water intermittency in urban and peri-urban Zambia: A cross-sectional analysisMair L. H. Thomas-PosseeAndrew A. ChannonRobert E. S. BainJames A. Wright10.1371/journal.pwat.00001272024-02-05T14:00:00Z2024-02-05T14:00:00Z<p>by Mair L. H. Thomas-Possee, Andrew A. Channon, Robert E. S. Bain, James A. Wright</p>
Given nearly one third of sub-Saharan Africa’s population lack access to an improved water source that is available when needed, service continuity restricts access to safely managed services. Household surveys, water regulators, and utilities all gather data on service continuity, but few studies have integrated these disparate datasets to quantify continuity-related risk factors and inequalities. This study aimed to assess the added value of utility and regulator data for international monitoring by assessing factors affecting piped water availability in urban and peri-urban Zambia. Household ‘user’ data from the 2018 Demographic and Health Survey (n = 3047) were spatially linked to provider data from an international utility database and regulator reports. Multilevel modelling quantified provider-related and socio-economic risk factors for households reporting water being unavailable for at least one day in the previous fortnight. 47% (95% CI: 45%, 49%) of urban and peri-urban households reported water being unavailable for at least one full day, ranging from 18% (95% CI: 14%, 23%) to 76% (95% CI: 70%, 81%) across providers. Controlling for provider, home ownership (odds ratio (OR) = 1.31; <i>p</i> <0.01), speaking Luvale, Kaonde, Lunda (OR = 2.06; <i>p</i> <0.05) or Tonga (OR = 1.78; <i>p</i> <0.1) as an ethnicity proxy, and dry season interview dates (OR = 1.91; <i>p</i> <0.05) were associated with household-reported interruptions. Households using a neighbour’s tap (OR = 1.33; <i>p</i> <0.1) and in mid-wealth neighbourhoods (OR = 4.31; <i>p</i> <0.1) were more likely to report interruptions. For every $1000 increase in utility-level GDP per capita, the odds of an interruption were 0.51 times less (p<0.01). Substantial inequalities in drinking-water availability were found between provider coverage areas. Spatial integration of user, provider and regulator data enriches analysis, providing a finer-scale perspective than otherwise possible. However, wider use of utility or regulator data requires investment in monitoring of small-scale community supply intermittency and utility coverage area data.Healthcare waste generation and quantification in public health centres in Addis Ababa, EthiopiaMenelik Legesse Tadesse10.1371/journal.pone.02951652024-02-05T14:00:00Z2024-02-05T14:00:00Z<p>by Menelik Legesse Tadesse</p>
Background <p>Healthcare waste produced in healthcare activities entails higher risk of infection and injuries than municipal waste. In developing countries healthcare waste has not received much attention and has been disposed of together with municipal wastes. Modern method of disposal of healthcare waste have been introduced to most healthcare institutions mismanagement and increased in production in public health centres in Ethiopia is important issues. The aim of the study was to assess the type of healthcare waste generation and quantification in selected public health centres in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.</p> Methods <p>An institution based cross-sectional study were conducted from January to February 2018. Fifteen health centres in Addis Ababa City Administration were selected for this study. Data were collected by using by different color plastic bags (Black plastic bags for non-hazardous wastes, Yellow plastic bags for hazardous wastes and Yellow safety box for needles and Red bags for pharmaceutical wastes and toxic wastes). The collected wastes were measured by weighing scale and were written to data entry sheet. To assure the data quality calibration of weighing scale was made by the standard weight every morning. EPI INFO TM7 and IBM SPSS were used for data entry, cleaning and analysis.</p> Results <p>The mean healthcare waste generation was 10.64+5.79Kg/day of which 37.26% (3.96+2.20Kg/day) was general waste and 62.74% (6.68+4.29) was hazardous waste from the studies health centres. Total hazardous waste; sharps, infectious, pathological and pharmaceutical wastes constitutes mean (±SD) 0.97 ±1.03, 3.23 ± 2.60, 2.17±1.92 and 0.25 ±0.34 kg/day respectively. Healthcare waste 29.93% and 0.32% were generated from delivery and post-natal case team and nutrition and growth monitoring case team respectively. The annual mean+ SD of healthcare waste generation rate per health centres were 3807.53+ 2109.84 Kg/year.</p> Conclusion <p>The finding in this study showed there was an increased in hazardous healthcare waste in amount as compared to the WHO standard 85% non-hazardous waste and 10% hazardous waste and 5% toxic wastes. The healthcare waste management practices about segregation, collection, transportation and disposal at the source is crucial to decrease in quantity. Generally unselective handling and disposal of healthcare wastes is a concern.</p>Ten simple rules for using large language models in science, version 1.0Gabriel Reuben SmithCarolina BelloLalasia Bialic-MurphyEmily ClarkCamille S. DelavauxCamille Fournier de LauriereJohan van den HoogenThomas LauberHaozhi MaDaniel S. MaynardMatthew MirmanLidong MoDominic RebindaineJosephine Elena ReekLeland K. WerdenZhaofei WuGayoung YangQingzhou ZhaoConstantin M. ZohnerThomas W. Crowther10.1371/journal.pcbi.10117672024-01-31T14:00:00Z2024-01-31T14:00:00Z<p>by Gabriel Reuben Smith, Carolina Bello, Lalasia Bialic-Murphy, Emily Clark, Camille S. Delavaux, Camille Fournier de Lauriere, Johan van den Hoogen, Thomas Lauber, Haozhi Ma, Daniel S. Maynard, Matthew Mirman, Lidong Mo, Dominic Rebindaine, Josephine Elena Reek, Leland K. Werden, Zhaofei Wu, Gayoung Yang, Qingzhou Zhao, Constantin M. Zohner, Thomas W. Crowther</p>Comparing carbon footprints of sheep farming systems in semi-arid regions of India: A life cycle assessment studySrobana SarkarB. LalPriyanka GautamR. S. BhattA. Sahoo10.1371/journal.pone.02920662024-01-30T14:00:00Z2024-01-30T14:00:00Z<p>by Srobana Sarkar, B. Lal, Priyanka Gautam, R. S. Bhatt, A. Sahoo</p>
Carbon foot prints (CFs) studies based on life cycle assessment between sheep farming systems and green house gases (GHG) emissions is one of the best indicators to quantify the amount of GHG emissions per kg of product. Therefore, a life cycle assessment (LCA) study was conducted for three different sheep farming systems i.e. intensive system (stall fed only), semi-intensive (grazing with supplementation) and extensive system (grazing only) under semiarid region of India to assess the carbon cost of sheep rearing. The total CFs were estimated to be 16.9, 15.8 and 17.1 kg CO<sub>2</sub>-eq in intensive, semi-intensive and extensive system of grazing indicating semi-intensive system to be most carbon (C) efficient. For 1kg mutton production in semi-intensive and intensive system, around 30% and 24% CFs were contributed from enteric fermentation and feed respectively, whereas, in extensive system, the contribution of enteric fermentation increased up to 50%. The carbon foot prints analysis gives an insight of carbon inputs used but the amount of CO<sub>2</sub> sequestered in soil making LCA a holistic approach for estimating GHG emissions from livestock.Characterization of controlling factors for soil organic carbon stocks in one Karst region of Southwest ChinaQiang LiBaoshan ChenHezhong YuanHui LiShunyao Zhuang10.1371/journal.pone.02967112024-01-26T14:00:00Z2024-01-26T14:00:00Z<p>by Qiang Li, Baoshan Chen, Hezhong Yuan, Hui Li, Shunyao Zhuang</p>
Soil organic carbon (SOC) contributes the most significant portion of carbon storage in the terrestrial ecosystem. The potential for variability in carbon losses from soil can lead to severe consequences such as climate change. While extensive studies have been conducted to characterize how land cover type, soil texture, and topography impact the distribution of SOC stocks across different ecosystems, little is known about in Karst Region. Here, we characterized SOC stocks with intensive sampling at the local scale (495 representative samples) via Random Forest Regression (RF) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Our findings revealed significant differences in SOC stock among land cover types, with croplands exhibiting the lowest SOC stocks, indicating that management practices could play a crucial role in SOC stocks. Conversely, there was little correlation between SOC stock and clay percentage, suggesting that soil texture was not a primary factor influencing SOC at a local scale. Further, Annual Precipitation was identified as the key driving factor for the dynamics of SOC stocks with the help of RF and PCA. A substantial SOC deficit was observed in most soils in this study, as evaluated by a SOC/clay ratio, indicating a significant potential in SOC sequestration with practical measures in the karst region. As such, future research focused on simulating SOC dynamics in the context of climate change should consider the controlling factors at a local scale and summarize them carefully during the up-scaling process.Water resource sustainability: Challenges, opportunities and research gaps in the English-speaking Caribbean Small Island Developing StatesMichelle A. MycooRonald R. Roopnarine10.1371/journal.pwat.00002222024-01-24T14:00:00Z2024-01-24T14:00:00Z<p>by Michelle A. Mycoo, Ronald R. Roopnarine</p>
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face multiple developmental challenges including the adverse impacts of climate change. Among these complex challenges is the critical issue of devising strategies and plans to achieve water resource sustainability. The combined effects of hydro-climatic hazards such as droughts, rising sea levels, floods and increasing socio-economic pressures have already begun to adversely impact on SIDS water resources. This review article examined studies on ten English-speaking Caribbean SIDS to explore challenges and opportunities for enhancing water resource sustainability in the Caribbean and to identify emerging research gaps. A desk review and synthesis of existing data and available literature including reports, policy documents, peer-reviewed journal articles and books published over the last ten years were conducted to highlight research gaps in water resource sustainability. The conclusion presents a way forward for SIDS to cope with the consequences of climate change on their vital water resources. The findings from this paper can inform regional polices, strategies and plan and direct research to critical areas where information is needed to support evidenced-based decision making. The review is useful for academics, policymakers and practitioners.Food insecurity and water management shocks in Saudi Arabia: Bayesian VAR analysisRaga M. ElzakiMohammed Al-Mahish10.1371/journal.pone.02967212024-01-24T14:00:00Z2024-01-24T14:00:00Z<p>by Raga M. Elzaki, Mohammed Al-Mahish</p>
The existing conditions of domestic agricultural production and the resulting products will not be able to fruitfully address the increasing food demand due to the limited fertile land and water resources in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the escalating threat of a hotter climate, the deterioration in precipitation, and harsh droughts in Saudi Arabia have reduced the predictability of water management efficiency and resulted in the exhaustion of water bodies and serious degradation of ecosystems that have directly affected agricultural systems and indirectly, food security. This study also aims to assess the impact of water efficiency on food insecurity in Saudi Arabia. The study applied the Bayesian Vector Autoregressive (BVAR) model for the reference period for the data extended from 2000–2020. Likewise, we used both impulse response functions (IRFs) and forecasting variance error decomposition (FVED) through 1000 Monte Carlo simulations according to the BVAR model to examine both the response of food insecurity to the shocks on water management efficiency used for various purposes and the decomposition of error variance in food insecurity. The results show that food insecurity was not observed throughout this study. The results of the BVAR analysis indicate that in the short run, the coefficients of water use efficiency are significant based on the Food Insecurity Multidimensional Index (FIMI). Also, the BVAR model provides a better forecast with an interdependence on water use efficiency for agricultural purposes and FIMI. Moreover, the results obtained from IRFs have shown a significant effect of water efficiency on FIMI. Water use efficiency for agriculture and industrial purposes reduces food insecurity while increasing water for services use increases food insecurity. Water use efficiency is the key factor affecting food insecurity in the short run. The results reveal that the water use efficiency shocks will decrease food insecurity. The shocks experienced by food insecurity can be predicted as self-shock over a span of ten years. Emphasis is given to the task of water management that may support food security in Saudi Arabia through implementing and enhancing the water use efficiency as an integral part of achieving the SDGs in Saudi Arabia.Spatial effect of carbon neutrality target on high-quality economic development—Channel analysis based on total factor productivityYiniu CuiCheng ZhongJianhong CaoMengyao GuoMeng Zhang10.1371/journal.pone.02954262024-01-24T14:00:00Z2024-01-24T14:00:00Z<p>by Yiniu Cui, Cheng Zhong, Jianhong Cao, Mengyao Guo, Meng Zhang</p>
This study utilizes panel data from 30 provinces in mainland China from 2011 to 2020 to investigate the impact of carbon-neutral development on economic high-quality development by constructing an economic high-quality development index and a carbon-neutral development index. Firstly, the study examines the effects of carbon-neutral development on economic high-quality development using baseline regression and spatial Durbin regression. The results indicate that carbon-neutral development has a positive direct effect on economic high-quality growth, but there are negative spatial spillover effects. Secondly, this study employs total factor productivity (TFP) as an intermediate variable in the mediation model regression. The findings demonstrate that carbon-neutral development significantly improves TFP, and the significant improvement in TFP promotes high-quality economic growth. Lastly, the study conducts regional heterogeneity analysis and finds a significant promoting effect of carbon-neutral development on economic high-quality development in the eastern and central regions of China, while it is not significant in the western region. Therefore, it is recommended that China, in the process of achieving carbon-neutral growth, consider the geographical connections between different regions to prevent negative spillover effects. Additionally, regional heterogeneity should be taken into account when formulating relevant policies to promote economic high-quality development.