11 Peatland ecosystems accumulate thick organic soil layers because plant production exceeds decomposition throughout the entire organic soil column (Fig. 1). Peatlands cover only about 2–3% of the Earth’s land surface but store around 25% of the world’s soil carbon1. They are most abundant at northern high latitudes (Fig. 2a), where they cover roughly 4,000,000 km2 of land1 and store an estima...

the photocatalytic decomposition of trichloroethylene (tce) and tetrachloroethylene (pce)in water was studied. tce and pce were present in water at very low concentrations of about 15 μg/dm3. thisconcentration level corresponds to the one occasionally occurring in groundwater. results of this researchconfirmed usefulness of the photocatalytic process for successful removal of low-concentrated t...

The stability of biomass-derived black carbon (BC) or biochar as a slow cycling pool in the global C cycle is an important property and is likely governed by environmental conditions. This study investigated the effects of water regimes (saturated, unsaturated and alternating saturated–unsaturated conditions) and differences in BC materials, produced by carbonizing corn residues and oak wood at...

Water treatment technology development supports a steady, safe water supply. This study examines trends in water treatment technology innovations, using 227,365 patent granted data published from 1993 to 2016 as an indicator of changing research and development (R&D) priorities. To clarify changes in R&D priorities, we used a decomposition analysis framework that classified water treatment tech...