Direct injection method for anionic surfactant in drinking water was examined by the liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) using an internal standard. A result of the investigation, it was confirmed that calcium present in drinking water occurs due to ion suppression of measured intensity of linear alkyl benzene sulfonic acid (LAS) by LC/MS/MS measurement. For this reason, it was possible to correct ion suppression of LAS occurring in drinking water by using LAS(C¹³)-C12 to the internal standard substance of LAS-C10–C12 and by using the LAS-C8 to internal standard of LAS-C13–C14. In addition, with respect to the total hardness is different from drinking and raw water (n＝8), it was added to recovery test of LAS-C10–C14 (each LAS concentration 4.0 µg/L). As a result, the recovery rate of LAS-C10–C14 in drinking water is 72.2 to 122％ and were good in results. However, the recovery rate of LAS-C14 in raw water was from 59.0 to 68.1％ and the low recovery rate. Then, repeatability (3.54％), and intermediate precision (7.47％) and accuracy (95.2％) for anionic surfactant obtained by the recovery tests in drinking water (20 µg/L, n＝5, 5days) were satisfied with the criteria in the guideline for validation of testing method in drinking water (total hardness of 40 mg/L), which has been notified by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan. These results indicate that this analytical method is effective for determination of anionic surfactant in drinking water.

Biogas produced by anaerobic digestion contains 60％ of methane (CH₄) and 40％ of carbon dioxide (CO₂) generally. The CH₄ could be used for power generation, but not many studies have been reported on the utilization of CO₂ separated from biogas. In this study, the CO₂ was dissolved into water, and utilized on the cultivation of Ulva prolifera, as an attempt to increase the production yield. The initial conditions for the cultivation of Ulva prolifera, including CO₂ concentration, were determined using bench-scale cultivation (500 mL). Pilot-scale cultivation (100 L and 1000 L) were then performed using land-based cultivation method and its feasibility under commercialized scale was evaluated. Results showed that the addition of CO₂ into the cultivation of Ulva prolifera under pilot-scale improved the production yield by almost 2 times when compared to the cultivation without addition of CO₂. The evaluation of feasibility indicated that currently the running cost was high and in case of land-based cultivation the cost of sea water would be a major concern. Although further evaluation showed that the overall cost could be reduced when the sea water is recycled, further investigations are necessary. All in all this study showed that the CO₂ separated from biogas could be utilized in algae cultivation, which would lead to increase of the production yield.

Large Renewable Energy (RE) stations made in local areas pose conflicts and divisions between regional subjects and stations. On the other hand, there are new possibilities to use RE through the full liberalization of retail electricity sales. In this situation, the regional subjects need setting the goal of RE installation. This research was conducted to build checklists for the goal of the structural regeneration of regional communities through RE. Case studies on Iida city and Konan city were conducted to make the checklists and to confirm effectiveness of the checklists. The theoretical framework to build the checklists concludes five elements: (1) Autonomy of Energy, (2) Dialogue and Networking, (3) Independence of the Regional Economy, (4) Fair/Equitable and Environmental Symbiosis, and (5) Conviviality. The characteristics of the checklists are following three points. (1) The checklists give weight to the structural regeneration of regional communities. (2) The checklists cover the all thing of target of region which include aspects that cannot be measured quantitatively. (3) The checklists are available not only to check and action, but also to guideline to first step.As a future task, it was necessary to conduct case studies on many regions, and to reify the checklists.

Using a field emission electron probe micro analyzer (FE-EPMA), the methods for screening and source identification of flame retardants (phosphate flame retardant and brominated flame retardant) and heavy metals (Sb, Pb and Cr) in the dust inside a car’s interior were investigated. Effects of experimental parameters, such as dust immobilization methods and magnification in FE-EPMA mapping, were also studied. The following results were obtained: 1) Of the four methods tested (carbon tape, Aron Alpha, Adfix, and Mounting wax), Adfix wax was determined to be the most suitable for dust immobilization in terms of stability and time to immobilization; 2) Low magnification FE-EPMA mapping was determined to be suitable for screening flame retardants as it allows averaging of concentrations in dust; 3) High magnification FE-EPMA mapping could help identify sources of flame retardants as it enables analysis of individual dust particles.