Author
Montse Meneses
Other affiliations: University of Salamanca, Rovira i Virgili University
Bio: Montse Meneses is an academic researcher from Autonomous University of Barcelona. The author has contributed to research in topics: Life-cycle assessment & Effluent. The author has an hindex of 17, co-authored 39 publications receiving 1503 citations. Previous affiliations of Montse Meneses include University of Salamanca & Rovira i Virgili University.
Papers
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TL;DR: Life Cycle Assessment is used to evaluate different disinfection treatments and to assess the environmental advantages and drawbacks of urban wastewater reuse in non-potable applications and to compare the environmental impacts of producing 1m(3) of water from reclaimed water, potable water and desalinated water sources.
193 citations
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TL;DR: The best environmental option for the final destination of the sludge is to combine the current situation (fertilizer replacement) with use of theSludge in a cement plant (as a replacement for fuel and raw material).
Abstract: Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is used to evaluate the environmental profile of a product or process from its origin to its final destination. In this paper we used LCA to evaluate the current situation of a wastewater treatment plant and identify improvement alternatives. Currently, the highest environmental impacts are caused by the stages of the plant with the highest energy consumption, the use of biogas from anaerobic digestion (95% burned in torch) and the final destination of the sludge (98.6% for agricultural use and 1.4% for compost). We propose four alternatives for biogas applications and five alternatives for sludge applications and compare them to the current situation. The alternatives were incorporated in a decision support system to identify and prioritize the most positive environmental option. Using biogas to produce electricity or a combination of electricity and heat provided the best environmental options since the energy produced would be enough to supply all the stages of t...
176 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used the Life Cycle Assessment methodology to carry out an environmental analysis of every stage of the urban water cycle in Tarragona, a Mediterranean city of Spain (scenario I).
155 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluated the environmental impact of the commonest packaging options on the Spanish market for juice, beer and water and found that the packaging options with the lowest environmental impacts were aseptic carton and plastic packaging (for sizes greater than 1 l).
137 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors assess the stages of operation of a Spanish Mediterranean wastewater treatment plant to identify the stages with the highest environmental impact, to establish the environmental loads associated with wastewater reuse, and to evaluate alternative final destinations for wastewater.
Abstract: Summary
Continuous population growth is causing increased water contamination. Uneven distribution of water resources and periodic droughts have forced governments to seek new water sources: reclaimed and desalinated water. Wastewater recovery is a tool for better management of the water resources that are diverted from the natural water cycle to the anthropic one.
The main objective of this work is to assess the stages of operation of a Spanish Mediterranean wastewater treatment plant to identify the stages with the highest environmental impact, to establish the environmental loads associated with wastewater reuse, and to evaluate alternative final destinations for wastewater. Tertiary treatment does not represent a significant increment in the impact of the total treatment at the plant. The impact of reclaiming 1 cubic meter (m3) of wastewater represents 0.16 kilograms of carbon dioxide per cubic meter (kg CO2/m3), compared to 0.83 kg CO2/m3 associated with basic wastewater treatment (primary, secondary, and sludge treatment). From a comparison of the alternatives for wastewater final destination, we observe that replacing potable water means a freshwater savings of 1.1 m3, whereas replacing desalinated water means important energy savings, reflected in all of the indicators. To ensure the availability of potable water to all of the population—especially in areas where water is scarce—governments should promote reusing wastewater under safe conditions as much as possible.
131 citations
Cited by
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TL;DR: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one, which seems an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.
Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.
Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …
33,785 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, a documento: "Cambiamenti climatici 2007: impatti, adattamento e vulnerabilita" voteato ad aprile 2007 dal secondo gruppo di lavoro del Comitato Intergovernativo sui Cambiamentsi Climatici (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).
Abstract: Impatti, adattamento e vulnerabilita Le cause e le responsabilita dei cambiamenti climatici sono state trattate sul numero di ottobre della rivista Cda. Approfondiamo l’argomento presentando il documento: “Cambiamenti climatici 2007: impatti, adattamento e vulnerabilita” votato ad aprile 2007 dal secondo gruppo di lavoro del Comitato Intergovernativo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). Si tratta del secondo di tre documenti che compongono il quarto rapporto sui cambiamenti climatici.
3,979 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the current state of knowledge is reviewed and areas for further research recommended to improve future monitoring and risk assessment efforts, and the authors suggest that the occurrence of high concentrations of certain PBDE isomers may be sufficient to elicit adverse effects in some wildlife.
2,536 citations
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TL;DR: It is clear that the environment and people from North America are very much more contaminated with PBDEs as compared to Europe and that these PBDE levels have doubled every 4-6 yr.
Abstract: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used as flame retardants in many types of consumer products. Perhaps as a result of their widespread use and their lipophilicity, these compounds have become ubiquitous in the environment and in people. This review summarizes PBDE concentrations measured in several environmental media and analyzes these data in terms of relative concentrations, concentration trends, and congener profiles. In human blood, milk, and tissues, total PBDE levels have increased exponentially by a factor of ∼100 during the last 30 yr; this is a doubling time of ∼5 yr. The current PBDE concentrations in people from Europe are ∼2 ng/g lipid, but the concentrations in people from the United States are much higher at ∼35 ng/g lipid. Current PBDE concentrations in marine mammals from the Canadian Arctic are very low at ∼5 ng/g lipid, but they have increased exponentially with a doubling time of ∼7 yr. Marine mammals from the rest of the world have current PBDE levels of ∼1000 ng/g lipid, and...
1,477 citations
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TL;DR: Improved brine management strategies are required to limit the negative environmental impacts and reduce the economic cost of disposal, thereby stimulating further developments in desalination facilities to safeguard water supplies for current and future generations.
932 citations