Important Headway Achieved in Automatic Composting Technology of Organic Wastes

After nine years of hard work, scientists from the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources, CAS have taken the lead in developing a whole kit of technologies & equipment for automatic composting of organic wastes and production of special fertilizers. A mid-term test has been made, and composts produced by the equipment have passed the quality verification of national authorities concerned. The technologies comprise: a computer hardware system and relevant software for test control of the composting process, which has substantially improved the scientific and automatic level of composting; a new inorganic amendment (CTB compost amendment) that has the advantages of low cost, recycled use and short composting cycle; an assistant system for composting in winter, which has tackled the problem of low fermentation rate at low temperature and thus increased the efficiency of composting in winter; and a dedicated temperature detector for composting, which is free from the faults of conventional feeler levers (such as easy rustiness and quick loss of heat). On the whole, the technologies have reached the international leading level.
The production cycle of composts by these technologies ranges from 7 to 14 days, and the energy consumption is 4.6~5.3kw·h/t. The equipment can be used to produce either organic or organic-inorganic composite manure. It has remarkable social and environmental benefits.

International Symposium on Uncertainty Decision-Making Held in Beijing

The International Symposium on Uncertainty Decision-Making and the Founding Ceremony of the Research Center for Uncertainty Decision-Making was held at the Beijing Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science (BAMSS), CAS on May 27, 2002.

The study on uncertainty decision-making is a very important and active branch of operations research and management science. It studies how to make rational decisions under such conditions as there are a variety of dynamic, changeful and uncertain factors. Over 50 experts and scholars from USA, Canada, Korea, Hong Kong and the mainland of China attended the event, including James Dyer, a leading scientist in the field of uncertainty decision-making.

The purpose of establishing the Research Center for Uncertainty Decision-Making under BAMSS is to promote theoretical study in this area as well as application of the research outcomes, to facilitate academic exchange and cooperation with overseas Chinese scholars, and to upgrade the level of research in this field. The Center is co-chaired by Prof. Hanqin ZHANG (from China) and Prof. Gang YU (from the University of Texas, USA), the later has recently been awarded the 2002 Franz Edelman Prize.