Environmental Biotechnology E-Book

Gareth G. Evans

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 563

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Environmental Biotechnology: Theory and Applications, 2nd Edition is designed to draw together the microscopic, functional level and the macroscopic, practical applications of biotechnology and to explain how the two relate within an environmental context. It presents the practical biological approaches currently employed to address environmental problems and provides the reader with a working knowledge of the science that underpins them. Biotechnology has now become a realistic alternative to many established approaches for manufacturing, land remediation, pollution control and waste management and is therefore an essential aspect of environmental studies. Fully updated to reflect new developments in the field and with numerous new case studies throughout this edition will be essential reading for undergraduates and masters students taking modules in Biotechnology or Pollution Control as part of Environmental Science, Environmental Management or Environmental Biology programmes.

Quote from the first edition:

"There is no doubt that this book will be one of inspiration for all professionals in the field. It is a very good framework for understanding the complex nature of processes and technology and as such it will be useful for researchers, practitioners and other parties who need a working knowledge of this fascinating subject."
—Professor Bjorn Jensen, Chairman of the European Federation of Biotechnology, Environmental Biotechnology section and Research and Innovation Director, DHI Water and Environment

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Introduction to Environmental Biotechnology

The Role of Environmental Biotechnology

The Scope for Use

The Global Environmental Market

Integrated Approach

Closing Remarks

References

Chapter 2: Microbes and Metabolism

The Immobilisation, Degradation or Monitoring of Pollutants from a Biological Origin

Metabolic Pathways of Particular Relevance to Environmental Biotechnology

Production of Cellular Energy

Photosynthesis and the Basis of Phytotechnology

The Nitrogen Cycle

Closing Remarks

References

Chapter 3: Fundamentals of Biological Intervention

Using Biological Systems

Xenobiotics and Other Problematic Chemicals

Closing Remarks

References

Chapter 4: Pollution and Pollution Control

Classifying Pollution

The Pollution Environment

Pollution Control Strategies

Practical Toxicity Issues

Practical Applications to Pollution Control

‘Clean’ Technology

Process Changes

Biological Control

Bio-Substitutions

Closing Remarks

References

Chapter 5: Contaminated Land and Bio-Remediation

Remediation Methods

In situ and Ex situ Techniques

Intensive and Extensive Technologies

Process Integration

The Suitability of Bioremediation

Factors Affecting the Use of Bioremediation

Biotechnology Selection

Essential Features of Biological Treatment Systems

Closing Remarks

References

Chapter 6: Aerobes and Effluents

Sewage Treatment

Process Issues

Land Spread

Nitrogenous Wastes

Aeration

Trickling Filters

Activated Sludge Systems

Deep Shaft Process

Pure Oxygen Systems

The Oxidation Ditch

The Rotating Biological Contactor

Membrane Bioreactors

Cellulose Ion-Exchange Media

Sludge Disposal

Closing Remarks

References

Chapter 7: Phytotechnology and Photosynthesis

Terrestrial Phyto-Systems (TPS)

Metal Phytoremediation

Organic Phytoremediation

Plant Selection

Applications

Aquatic Phyto-Systems (APS)

Macrophyte Treatment Systems (MaTS)

Nutrient Film Techniques (NFTs)

Algal Treatment Systems (ATS)

Pollution Detection

Closing Remarks

References

Chapter 8: Biotechnology and Waste

The Nature of Biowaste

Biological Waste Treatment

Composting

Applying Composting to Waste Management

Anaerobic Digestion

Applying AD to Waste Management

Other Biotechnologies

Closing Remarks

References

Chapter 9: Genetic Manipulation

Training: The Manipulation of Bacteria Without Genetic Engineering

Manipulation of Bacteria by Genetic Engineering

Basic Principles of Genetic Engineering

Analysis of Recombinants

Recombinant Bacteria

Recombinant Yeast

Recombinant Viruses

Transgenic Plants

Closing Remarks

References

Chapter 10: Integrated Environmental Biotechnology

Bioenergy

Derived Biofuels

Biodiesel

Integrated Agricultural Applications

Closing Remarks

References

Bibliography and Suggested Further Reading

Index

This edition first published 2011

© 2011 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Wiley-Blackwell is an imprint of John Wiley & Sons, formed by the merger of Wiley's global Scientific, Technical and Medical business with Blackwell Publishing.

Registered office: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

Editorial Offices:

9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK

The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, USA

For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at http://www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell

The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Evans, Gareth (Gareth M.)

Environmental biotechnology : theory and application / by Gareth M. Evans, Judith C. Furlong.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-470-68418-4 (cloth) ISBN 978-0-470-68417-7 (pbk.)

1. Bioremediation. I. Furlong, Judith C. II. Title.

TD192.5.E97 2011

628.5 dc22

2010032675

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This book is published in the following electronic formats: ePDF: 978-0-470-97514-5;

Wiley Online Library: 978-0-470-97515-2; ePub: 978-0-470-97538-1

First Impression 2011

This book is dedicated with much love to our respective parents, partners and pooches.

Foreword

Environmental biotechnology has come of age and many of the technologies have developed at a surprising rate both scientifically and perhaps more importantly as practical techniques too. On both counts then, it's appropriate that there is now to be a second edition of this book. Industry has been struggling, particularly over recent years, with the need for increasing compliance with new laws and a changed public perspective and all of this has made ‘green’ technologies very attractive. But this can only work in real terms when those technologies are cost effective and the emphasis is on both ‘cost’ and ‘effective’. It is something that, happily, both sides, industry and technology providers, seem increasingly to have woken up to.

Carbon reduction could be a massive force for change. In the water industry alone sludge thickening is a hideously energy-intensive process and accounts for something like a third of the capital costs at a plant and half of its operating costs. If you once start looking at ways to reduce carbon consumption then you're bound to be finding ways to reduce those costs too and so initiatives such as the UK's recent Climate Change Act and the Carbon Reduction Commitment have major implications and are going to drive a major step-change across industry as a whole. It could also be a massive spring-board for sustainable growth too.

Ecosystems are unbelievably complex, but the basic principles that drive them are equally simple and it is precisely this area that is the natural realm of environmental biotechnology and why the second edition of this book is so timely. It provides an excellent framework for understanding the fundamentals and biochemical processes that underpin the practical, and a cogent exposition of those practical applications themselves. It is a complete introduction to the broad church, that is modern environmental biotechnology and as such will be of great value to undergraduates of course, studying the subject, but also to other professionals in the wide and growing range of industries to which the subject is becoming increasingly relevant.

With its logical structure, clear and authoritative explanations and fundamentally readable style, I whole-heartedly recommend it to any students, researchers and environmental managers, in fact anyone who is looking to understand this important science and how it will, I hope, play a big part in shaping our low carbon future.

Dr Dene Clackmann

Principal of Clackmann Associates and Chair of the Carbon Commune Group

Preface

When we began work on the first edition of this book back in 2001, we set out to present a fair reflection of the practical biological approaches that were then currently being employed to address environmental problems, and to provide the reader with a working knowledge of the science which underpinned them. It was a straightforward goal and one which, like the book itself, sprang out of our Environmental Biotechnology modules at the University of Durham, but as we said at the time, this was never intended to be just another ‘book of the course’. That thinking remains in this version, but we have been given the rare opportunity in it of being able to revise and update the content to once again, we hope, give a fair and honest overview of the real world applications of this fascinating branch of environmental management, ten years on.

It has been an interesting journey, particularly in respect of the outcomes of technologies and techniques that were innovative and new then – seeing which of our predictions came true and those for which we were wide of the mark. On balance, we feel the former satisfyingly outnumber the latter, but modesty prevents us from banging that particular drum too loudly; more objective minds than ours should make that call, if they so wish.

We received many useful comments from the many reviews and reviewers of the first edition, which was it seems, gratifyingly well received and a good number of their suggestions have helped to shape the changes that we have made. In the process of writing this update, we bore two things in particular, in mind. Firstly, from the comments we have had from successive waves of our own students and some of those who had read the earlier version, we believed that the fundamental approach we have adopted to the subject, works. That in itself is less of a unique insight than the result of the happy accident of our respective backgrounds, which so perfectly mix the academic and the practical, making ‘theory and application’ a natural focus as much as an appropriate title. Secondly, we were reminded of the words of an editor of our acquaintance: the most powerful drive known to our species is not for survival, nor to procreate, but to alter someone else's copy. We decided that unless it was really justified, we were not going to change our own.

Consequently, although all the case studies are new – as befits the progress that has been made in this field – the familiar shape of the original remains.

We have retained the logical structure we adopted at the outset addressing technologies in as cohesive a manner as possible, which we still feel is the obvious approach, given the intrinsic interrelatedness of so much of our subject matter.

While the fundamental arrangement is, of course, still intended to unify the whole work, we have tried to keep each chapter as much of a ‘stand-alone’ as possible, in an attempt to make this a book which permits the interested reader to just ‘dip in’. Ultimately, of course, it still remains for that reader to decide how successful we have been.

The text falls into three main parts. The early chapters again examine issues of the role and market for biotechnology in an environmental context, the essential biochemistry and microbiology which enables them to be met, and the fundamental themes of biological intervention. The technologies and applications themselves make up the central core of the book, both literally and figuratively and, fittingly, this is the largest part. Finally, some of the current aspects of, and future potential for, integration in the wider field of environmental biotechnology are discussed. There is, however, one departure from the original – this time there is no Chapter 11; no final discussion of ‘The Way Ahead’. Ten years ago, environmental biotechnology was a much younger field and those predictions had some purpose. Today, it has assumed its rightful place as a realistic alternative to many of the earlier established approaches for manufacturing, land remediation, pollution control and waste management and the pace of change is now just too fast to make useful forecasts that will be meaningful for the next ten years. It would be presumptuous and in any case, on balance, we feel we got most of our forecasts about right last time; we are not about to push our luck!

Despite the passage of time and all the attempts at the rationalisation of global environmental regulation, the whole subject remains inherently context dependent – a point which inevitably recurs throughout the discussion – and local modalities can conspire to shape individual best practice in a way unknown in other branches of biotechnology. What works in one country may not in another, not because the technology is flawed, but often simply because economic, legislative or societal barriers so dictate. The environmental biotechnologist must still sometimes perform the mental equivalent of a circus act in balancing these many and different considerations. It is only to be expected, then, that the choices we have made as to what to include, and the relative importance afforded them, reflect these experiences. Some readers will take issue with those decisions, but that has always been the lot of writers. It would be unrealistic to expect that we should be treated any differently.

As we wrote in the first ‘Preface’, it has been said that the greatest thing that anyone can do is to make a difference. It remains our hope that with this second edition, we can again in some small way, do just that.

Acknowledgements

Writing any book always involves more people than the authors, or those who work for or on behalf of the publishing company, sometimes very directly, sometimes rather less obviously so. Remembering to say ‘thank you’ to those who have done something very concrete or obvious is seldom a problem and there are some old friends amongst that group – especially Rob Heap and Bob Talbott – along with Bob Rust, Graham Tebbitt, Vanessa Trescott and Bob Knight, who helped us get everything straight and in time for our first deadline all those years ago! The same thing is true of people who lend you space on their coffee table when you simply have to finish a chapter – so ‘thanks’ again to Linda Ormiston, OBE. Sadly one of our biggest supporters at Durham – Professor Peter Evans (no relation, by the way) – died shortly before the first edition was completed and it is our great regret that he, who had given us so much encouragement to build up the Environmental Biotechnology course and was so sympathetic to the wider objectives of this book, did not see it published.

Though the personnel has changed – Keily Larkins, Lyn Roberts and Laura Stockton last time, Liz Renwick, Rachael Ballard, Izzy Canning and Fiona Woods this – the good folk at John Wiley & Sons Ltd have been their usual unflappable selves, checking in periodically to make sure that everything is still going to plan and the final manuscript is going to come in pretty much on time.

We are of course, constantly reminded of Newton's words – that we stand on the shoulders of giants – and happily acknowledge the broader debt that we owe not only to the great biologists, biochemists and engineers, but also to all those have travelled this route before us, to our own teachers who inspired us, to our contemporaries who spurred us on and to our parents without whom, in the most literal of senses, none of this would have been possible.

We were and are deeply grateful to all of these people for their help and support – and to anyone we have missed out, we are truly sorry; the slight really was not intentional. Finally, ten years on, our dogs have changed too; Mungo and Megan are, sadly, no more; the burden of missed walks and late meals has fallen on new paws. To Bess and Nell, we can only apologise – such is the lot of the writer's mutt.

Chapter 1

Introduction to Environmental Biotechnology

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines biotechnology as ‘the application of science and technology to living organisms, as well as parts, products and models thereof, to alter living or non-living materials for the production of knowledge, goods and services’ (OECD, 2002). Despite the inclusiveness of this definition, there was a time when the biotechnology sector was seen as largely medical or pharmaceutical in nature, particularly amongst the general public. While to some extent the huge research budgets of the drug companies and the widespread familiarity of their products made this viewpoint understandable, it somewhat unfairly distorted the picture. Thus therapeutic instruments were left forming the ‘acceptable’ face of biotechnology, while elsewhere, the science was all too frequently linked with an uneasy feeling of unnatural interference. The agricultural, industrial and environmental applications of biotechnology are potentially enormous, but the shadow of Frankenstein has often been cast across them. Genetic engineering may be relatively commonplace in pharmaceutical thinking and yet when its wider use is mooted in other spheres, such as agriculture, for example even today much of society views the possibility with suspicion, if not outright hostility.

The history of human achievement has always been episodic. For a while, one particular field of endeavour seems to hold sway as the preserve of genius and development, before the focus shifts and the next wave of progress forges ahead in a dizzy exponential rush in some entirely new direction. So it was with art in the Renaissance, music in the eighteenth century, engineering in the nineteenth and physics in the twentieth. Now it is the age of the biological—in many ways forming a kind of rebirth, following on from the heyday of the great Victorian naturalists, who provided so much input into the developing science.

It is then, perhaps, no surprise that the European Federation of Biotechnology begins its ‘Brief History’ of the science in the year 1859, with the publication of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin. Though his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle, which led directly to the formulation of his (then) revolutionary ideas, took place when he was a young man, he had delayed making them known until 1858, when he made a joint presentation before the Linnaean Society with Alfred Russell Wallace, who had, himself, independently come to very similar conclusions. Their contribution was to view evolution as the driving force of life, with successive selective pressures over time endowing living beings with optimised characteristics for survival. Neo-Darwinian thought sees the interplay of mutation and natural selection as fundamental. The irony is that Darwin himself rejected mutation as too deleterious to be of value, seeing such organisms, in the language of the times, as ‘sports’—oddities of no species benefit. Indeed, there is considerable evidence to suggest that he seems to have espoused a more Lamarckist view of biological progression, in which physical changes in an organism's lifetime were thought to shape future generations.