Coordination engineering of high-valent Fe(IV)-oxo (Fe^IV=O) is expected to break the activity-selectivity trade-off of traditional reactive oxygen species, while attempts to regulate the oxidation behaviors of heterogeneous Fe^IV=O remain unexplored. Here, by coordination engineering of Fe-N_x single-atom catalysts (Fe-N_x SACs), we propose a feasible approach to regulate the oxidation behaviors of heterogeneous Fe^IV=O. The developed Fe-N₂ SACs/peroxymonosulfate (PMS) system delivers boosted performance for Fe^IV=O generation, and thereby can selectively remove a range of pollutants within tens of seconds. In-situ spectra and theoretical simulations suggest that low-coordination Fe-N_x SACs favor the generation of Fe^IV=O via PMS activation as providing more electrons to facilitate the desorption of the key ^*SO₄H intermediate. Due to their disparate attacking sites to sulfamethoxazole (SMX) molecules, Fe-N₂ SACs mediated Fe^IV=O (Fe^IVN₂=O) oxidize SMX to small molecules with less toxicity, while Fe^IVN₄=O produces series of more toxic azo compounds through N-N coupling with more complex oxidation pathways.

In recent decades, rapid urbanization has resulted in a growing urban population, transformed into regions of exceptional socio-economic value. By removing vegetation and soil, grading the land surface and saturating soil air content, urban developments are more likely to be flooded, which will be further exacerbated by an anticipated increase in the number of intense rainfall events, due to climate change. To date, data collected show that urban pluvial flood events are on the rise for both the UK and China. This paper presents a critical review of existing sustainable approaches to urban flood management, by comparing UK practice with that in China and critically assessing whether lessons can be learnt from the Sponge City initiative. The authors have identified a strategic research plan to ensure that the sponge city initiative can successfully respond to extreme climatic events and tackle pluvial flooding. Hence, this review suggests that future research should focus on (1) the development of a more localized rainfall model for the Chinese climate; (2) the role of retrofit SuDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems) in challenging water environments; (3) the development of a robust SuDS selection tool, ensuring that the most effective devices are installed, based on local factors; and (4) dissemination of current information, and increased understanding of maintenance and whole life-costing, alongside monitoring the success of sponge cities to increase the confidence of decision makers (5) the community engagement and education about sponge cities.

Energy planning and policy development require an in-depth assessment of energy resources and long-term demand forecast estimates. Pakistan, unfortunately, lacks reliable data on its energy resources as well do not have dependable long-term energy demand forecasts. As a result, the policy makers could not come up with an effective energy policy in the history of the country. Energy demand forecast has attained greatest ever attention in the perspective of growing population and diminishing fossil fuel resources. In this study, Pakistan’s energy demand forecast for electricity, natural gas, oil, coal and LPG across all the sectors of the economy have been undertaken. Three different energy demand forecasting methodologies, i.e., Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), Holt-Winter and Long-range Energy Alternate Planning (LEAP) model were used. The demand forecast estimates of each of these methods were compared using annual energy demand data. The results of this study suggest that ARIMA is more appropriate for energy demand forecasting for Pakistan compared to Holt-Winter model and LEAP model. It is estimated that industrial sector’s demand shall be highest in the year 2035 followed by transport and domestic sectors. The results further suggest that energy fuel mix will change considerably, such that oil will be the most highly consumed energy form (38.16%) followed by natural gas (36.57%), electricity (16.22%), coal (7.52%) and LPG (1.52%) in 2035. In view of higher demand forecast of fossil fuels consumption, this study recommends that government should take the initiative for harnessing renewable energy resources for meeting future energy demand to not only avert huge import bill but also achieving energy security and sustainability in the long run.