Tank bottoms from a Williston Basin oilfield were applied to test plots in which crops were subsequently planted. Naturally occurring microbes reduced the 6% total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration to 3.8% in a few months (a 37% reduction), but reduced it no further, possibly due to an insufficient amount of nitrogen or water or both. For the first three years of the study, the 6% TPH t...

One of the most important applications of GIS is the display and analysis of data to support the process of environmental decision-making. A decision can be defined as a choice between alternatives, where the alternatives may be different actions, locations, objects, and the like. For example, one might need to choose which is the best location for a hazardous waste facility, or perhaps identif...

There is a resurgence of interest in controlling the excessive fertilization (eutrophication) of surface waters in order to protect domestic water supplies and other beneficial uses of waters from impairment (pollution) by excessive growths of algae or other aquatic plants whose growth is stimulated by nitrogen and phosphorus. An area of particular concern is the nutrients added to waterbodies ...

We propose the sequestering of crop residues to capture a significant fraction (26%) of the present US atmospheric carbon emission. With adequate fractions of farm waste left in and on the soil to supply nutrients and retard erosion, the bulk of the waste could be shipped at low cost, using the existing crop transport network, at a cost of $22.5 billion per year. Disposal in river deltas may en...

A capability to determine the availability of nitrogen in organic amendments is necessary to ensure that such materials will provide sufficient nitrogen to the growing crop and cause minimal environmental degradation. Greenhouse bioassays were used to evaluate N availability of organic by-products, including several employed in the field study of this research. Tall fescue was grown in greenhou...

As a clean and renewable source of energy, ethanol is a promising alternative to fossil fuels.1 Especially lignocelluloses, as raw material for ethanol production, have gained great interest during these years.2 Production of bio-ethanol will help to cope with the over-consumption of fossil fuels and further work for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Lignocelluloses (crop residue, cell...

Reducing food losses and waste is considered to be one of the most promising measures to improve food security in the coming decades. Food losses also affect our use of resources, such as freshwater, cropland, and fertilisers. In this paper we estimate the global food supply losses due to lost and wasted food crops, and the resources used to produce them. We also quantify the potential food sup...

Many municipalities have examined composting as an alternative to landfilling for the management of organic solid waste materials. Ultimately these materials will be land-applied and therefore some knowledge of nutrient availability will be necessary to optimize crop yield and minimize environmental risk. Field studies were conducted in 1993 and 1994 on a silt loam and a loamy sand soil in Wisc...