Regional impervious surface estimation: an urban heat island application

This paper describes a GIS-based estimation method that can be used to forecast future amounts of impervious surface as a mitigation measure for urban heat island effect in a metropolitan region. The method is unique because it employs a regression model that links the existing amount of impervious surface to population and employment at the census tract level. This approach provides a means to forecast future amounts of impervious surface based on projected population and employment. The method also includes a detailed analysis of high-resolution aerial photography to divide impervious surfaces into different categories. Subdividing impervious surfaces is necessary to evaluate potential urban heat island mitigation policies for different types of impervious surface. The analysis here shows that the impervious surface in the metropolitan Atlanta region will increase to 2638 km2 2. “The Albedo is defined as the hemispherical reflectivity averaged over the solar spectrum. A perfect reflector has a = 1, and a perfect absorber has a = 0” (Pomerantz et al. 1999 Pomerantz, M. 1999. Reflective surfaces for cooler buildings and cities. Philosophical magazine B, 79: 1457–1476. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar], p. 1458). View all notes in 2030, an increase of 45% from 2000. The most common type of impervious surface is dark-coloured pavement. Within this study area, the analyses showed that two-thirds of impervious surfaces are dark. Replacing dark pavement with light pavement materials, therefore, represents an important opportunity to mitigate the urban heat island effect in the Atlanta region.     

New national parks for Scotland: coalitions in conflict over the allocation of planning powers in the Cairngorms

The introduction of national parks in areas where existing authorities have traditionally been responsible for developing policies, preparing plans and making decisions on development proposals, can be a threat to longstanding interests. This paper explores this problem by examining the struggle for control of planning in one of Scotland's first national parks, the Cairngorms. Recent research (McCarthy et al., 2002 McCarthy J Lloyd G Illsley B (2002) National parks in Scotland: balancing environment and economy Research briefing European Planning Studies 10 (5) pp. 665–670 [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]) has established the policy context for this investigation. Informed by research focusing on the consultation process which led to the establishment of the national park, this paper analyzes how alternative approaches to the allocation of planning powers were captured in competing storylines, around which polarized coalitions of interest formed. Opening such insights into the considerations that shape institutional design—a combination of contested problem framing and straightforward political struggles over the locus of regulatory power—starkly reveals the challenges to the new park authority as it seeks to establish consensus between conflicting interests.     

Where the Waters Divide: First Nations,Tainted Water and Environmental Justice in Canada

Abstract

We have survived Canada's assault on our identity and our rights … Our survival is a testament to our determination and will to survive as a people. We are prepared to participate in Canada's future—but only on the terms that we believe to be our rightful heritage.

Wallace Labillois, Council of Elders, Kingsclear, New Brunswick

This paper argues for a strengthening of the theoretical relationship between neo-liberalism and environmental justice. Empirical research involving First Nations communities in southwestern Ontario suggests that neo-liberal reforms introduced in the mid-1990s were particularly discriminatory against Canada's indigenous peoples, serving to exacerbate historical disparities in health, environment pollution, and well-being. In particular, under neo-liberal reform in Ontario, recognition of environmental injustices has become much more difficult for First Nations communities. Furthermore, this ‘new’ form of environmental governance has broadly reduced legitimate opportunities for First Nations to participate in environmental governance that affects their health and welfare. In short, this research supports a widening of the definition of environmental justice advocated by David Schlosberg and others (Environmental Politics, 13(3) (2004), pp. 517–540; Agyeman, Bullard and Evans 2003 Agyeman, J., Bullard, R. D. and Evans, B. 2003a. “Joined-up thinking: bringing together sustainability, environmental justice and equity”. In Just Sustainabilities: Development in an Unequal World, Edited by: Agyeman, J., Bullard, R. D. and Evans, B. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.  [Google Scholar]; Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment, Research Advisory committee 1997; Di Chiro 1998 Di Chiro, Giovanna. 1998. “Environmental Justice from the Grassroots: Reflections on History, Gender and Expertise”. In The Struggle for Ecological Democracy: Environmental Justice Movements in the United States, Edited by: Faber, D. NY: Guilford.  [Google Scholar]) if we are to understand the subtle, complex and multiple ways that this new form of environmental governance is particularly harmful to marginalized groups, such as First Nations in Canada.     

Planning for global environmental change in Bangkok's informal settlements

Government agencies in cities across Asia recognise that municipalities must take steps to adapt to projected climate changes if people and places are to be kept above water. This paper focuses on planning for climate change in Bangkok because it ranks among the top 10 port cities vulnerable to climate change related flooding. It is also understood that the most devastating impacts of climate change will be suffered by the city's most vulnerable residents: the poor. Not only do impoverished people occupy physically vulnerable space, such as riverbanks, but they are also the least equipped to recover from the disruption of their livelihoods.

Several scholars have identified “institutional traps” that prevent the Thai government from successfully aiding poor and marginalised flood victims in the past. These include poor coordination, lack of monitoring and evaluation, rigidity, crisis management and elite capture. Lebel, Manuta, and Garden (2011, 56) Lebel, L., J.B. Manuta, and P. Garden. 2011. “Institutional Traps and Vulnerability to Changes in Climate and Flood Regimes in Thailand.” Regional Environmental Change 11 (1): 45–58.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] pose the crucial question: “How have individuals – from local community leaders through to national level politicians and bureaucrats – successfully influenced policy and programmes to avoid institutional traps and improve adaptive capacities to climate change?”

In this paper, we begin to address this question through examining emergent methods of “community based adaptation” and reviewing case studies of adaptation action from other vulnerable communities in the Global South. These lessons – such as overcoming institutional rigidity and avoiding elite capture – are important for Bangkok and other cities in the Global South that face many different challenges by global environmental change.     

Radiant Domestic Combustion Stove System: Experimental and Simulated Study of Energy Use and Thermal Comfort

A steady-state space radiant heat model and a stove combustion model are developed to simulate the heat exchanges between various surfaces in the room and the stove and stack surfaces, assuming stiochiometric combustion inside the stove and the exhaust gases flow out through the stack by natural convection. The space heat model calculates the fuel consumption, the stove, stack temperatures, and the mass flow rate of exhaust gases, and provides an opportunity to study the energy efficiency of the stove, while satisfying the constraints of thermal comfort. Fanger (1982) Fanger, P. O. 1982. Thermal Comfort Analysis and Applications in Engineering, 156–198. New York: McGraw Hill.  [Google Scholar] model and a radiation exchange model between various surfaces of the space, the thermal building energy balance, and stove combustion process is applied to determine the mean radiant temperature (MRT) and the extent of thermal comfort as determined by predicted mean vote (PMV).

The overall model is validated by performing experiments in a room placed inside a controlled outdoor environment. The room is heated using a domestic stove common for rural areas of Lebanon and the MRT, the room air temperature, the walls and window temperatures are measured at two stove positions. The measured MRT, the average room temperature, and the wall surface temperatures agreed within ±7% of values predicted by the numerical model.

A parametric study is performed to optimize the stove and occupant locations in the room where adequate comfort level can be maintained at lower fuel consumption levels. The values of MRT and PMV depend strongly on the position of the radiant stove heater and stack with respect to the cold window and the occupant location. It is shown that it is possible to save up to 15% in stove fuel consumption by changing the stove position in the room with respect to the window and to the person, while maintaining the same level of comfort.     

Electricity consumption and economic growth nexus in Zimbabwe revisited: fresh evidence from Maki cointegration

This study explores the relationship between electricity consumption, real gross domestic product per capita and carbon dioxide emissions in Zimbabwe. To achieve this, the study set off by examining the stationarity properties of the variables under review with the Zivot-Andrews (1992 Zivot, E., and D.W.K. Andrews. 1992. Further evidence on the great crash, the oil-price shock, and the unit-root hypothesis. Journal Of Business and Economic Statistics 10:251-270. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1391541.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) unit root test that accounts for a single structural break. Subsequently, Maki (2012 Maki, Daiki. 2012. “Tests for Cointegration Allowing for an Unknown Number of Breaks.” Economic Modelling 29 (5): 2011–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ECONMOD.2012.04.022 [Google Scholar]) cointegration test, which accounts for multiple structural breaks, is applied for equilibrium relationship between the variables under review while the long run regression of dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) is employed for long-run coefficients as estimation procedures. In order to account for the direction of causality flow, the Toda-Yamamoto (1995 Toda, H Y.., and Taku Yamamoto. 1995. Statistical inference in vector autoregressions with possibly integrated processes. Journal Of Econometrics 66 (1–2):225–50. doi: 10.1016/0304-4076(94)01616-8.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) causality test is used for annual frequency data set spanning from 1971–2014. Empirical evidence from the Maki cointegration test shows that there exists a long-run equilibrium relationship between electricity consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and real gross domestic product per capita over the sampled period. The long-run regression suggests that there exist a positive statistically significant relationship between real income and electricity consumption. Thus, corroborating the electricity-led growth hypothesis. This result is supported by the causality test, as one-way causality is observed running from electricity consumption to real gross domestic product. Thus, this is suggestive to government administrators and policymakers that the Zimbabwean economy is electricity dependent. However, there is a tradeoff for environmental quality. As the increase in electricity consumption increases carbon dioxide emissions. The need for diversification of Zimbabwe energy portfolio to cleaner and environmentally friendly energy sources is recommended, given the world global consciousness for cleaner energy consumption.     

Policy,Institutional and Market Barriers to the Implementation of Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) in China

China is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the world, with potentially about two thirds of total Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) for Asia on the world carbon market (). Since 68% of its primary energy is from coal, China's average energy intensity is 7.5 times higher than the EU and 4.3 times higher than the US (EU, 2003 The European Union on-line. (2003). (http://europa.eu.int/index_ns_en.htm accessed Oct 2003  [Google Scholar]). Therefore, introducing advanced clean technologies and management to China represents opportunities for Annex I countries to obtain low-cost CERs through CDM projects, and access to one of the largest potential energy conservation markets in the world.

CDM can provide a win-win solution for both China and Annex I countries, and the Chinese government considers that the introduction of CDM projects can bring advanced energy technologies and foreign investment to China, thereby helping China's sustainable economy and generating CERs. As energy efficiency is generally low and carbon intensity is high in both China's energy supply and demand sectors, numerous options exist for cost-effective energy conservation and GHG mitigation with CDM.

This paper reviews current Chinese policies and administrative and institutional settings for CDM cooperation, and discusses existing policy, institutional and other barriers in the energy market by drawing on observations and experience from previous initiatives such as Cleaner Production and energy efficiency. Some options to remove these barriers are addressed. In order to make CDM projects feasible, China's government needs to promote awareness, streamline administrative systems, and be more active in building a competitive edge in the world carbon market.     

The Potential of Using Solar Energy to Process Full-Fat Soybeans (Glycine max) to Reduce Urease Activity

The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of panel solar cookers in reducing urease activity in full-fat soybeans (Glycine max). Changes in urease activity of soaked (SM), coarse-milled (CM) and whole dry (WM) full fat soybeans were investigated by roasting for 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 min in multiple reflector panel solar cookers, in a 3 3 3 factorial experiment. Soaking soybeans for 14 h reduced (p<0.05) ^{1 1}P < 0.05 means that the probability (p) of falsely concluding significant difference between values obtained after statistical analysis was less than 5% (0.05). urease activity by 9%, from 6.58 meqNH₃/g DM to 5.98 meqNH₃/g DM. After 180 min of solar roasting, urease activity levels had declined by 81%, 67% and 23% in soaked, milled and whole dry soybeans respectively. Full fat soybean urease activity can be reduced faster in soaked than in dry soybeans. Findings suggest that there is potential in using multiple reflector panel solar cookers to reduce urease activity in full fat soybeans.     

Environmental Ethics and Biomimetic Ethics: Nature as Object of Ethics and Nature as Source of Ethics

While the contemporary biomimicry movement is associated primarily with the idea of taking Nature as model for technological innovation, it also contains a normative or ethical principle—Nature as measure—that may be treated in relative isolation from the better known principle of Nature as model. Drawing on discussions of the principle of Nature as measure put forward by Benyus (Biomimicry: innovation inspired by nature, Harper Perennial, New York, 1997) and Jackson (Consulting the genius of place: an ecological approach to a new agriculture, Counterpoint, Berkeley, 2010, Nature as measure: the selected essays of Wes Jackson, Counterpoint, Berkeley, 2011), while at the same time situating these discussions in relation to contemporary debates in the philosophy of biomimicry (Mathews in Organ Environ 24(4): 364–387, 2011; Dicks in Philos Technol, doi: 10.1007/s13347-015-0210-2, 2015; Blok and Gremmen in J Agric Environ Ethics 29(2):203–217, 2016), the aim of this paper is to explore the relation between the principle of Nature as measure and environmental ethics. This leads to the argument that mainstream formulations of environmental ethics share the common trait of seeing our ethical relation to Nature as primarily involving duties to protect, preserve, or conserve various values in Nature, and that, in doing so, they problematically either overlook or dismiss as anthropocentric the possibility that Nature may provide measures, understood in terms of ecological standards, against which our own practices, or at least some of them, may be judged—a way of thinking I call “biomimetic ethics”. The practical consequences of this argument are significant. Whereas mainstream environmental ethics has been applied above all to such issues as wilderness preservation, natural resource management, and animal rights and welfare, biomimetic ethics is applicable rather to the question of how we produce, use, and consume things, and, as such, may potentially provide the basic ethical framework required to underpin the transition to a circular, bio-based, solar economy.     

Effect of Nutrient Management Planning on Crop Yield, Nitrate Leaching and Sediment Loading in Thomas Brook Watershed

Government priorities on provincial Nutrient Management Planning (NMP) programs include improving the program effectiveness for environmental quality protection, and promoting more widespread adoption. Understanding the effect of NMP on both crop yield and key water-quality parameters in agricultural watersheds requires a comprehensive evaluation that takes into consideration important NMP attributes and location-specific farming conditions. This study applied the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to investigate the effects of crop and rotation sequence, tillage type, and nutrient N application rate on crop yield and the associated groundwater ${\text{NO}_{3}}^{ - } {\text{-N }}$ leaching and sediment loss. The SWAT model was applied to the Thomas Brook Watershed, located in the most intensively managed agricultural region of Nova Scotia, Canada. Cropping systems evaluated included seven fertilizer application rates and two tillage systems (i.e., conventional tillage and no-till). The analysis reflected cropping systems commonly managed by farmers in the Annapolis Valley region, including grain corn-based and potato-based cropping systems, and a vegetable-horticulture system. ANOVA models were developed and used to assess the effects of crop management choices on crop yield and two water-quality parameters (i.e., ${\text{NO}_{3}}^{ - } {\text{-N }}$ leaching and sediment loading). Results suggest that existing recommended N-fertilizer rate can be reduced by 10–25 %, for grain crop production, to significantly lower ${\text{NO}_{3}}^{ - } {\text{-N }}$ leaching (P > 0.05) while optimizing the crop yield. The analysis identified the nutrient N rates in combination with specific crops and rotation systems that can be used to manage ${\text{NO}_{3}}^{ - } {\text{-N }}$ leaching while balancing impacts on crop yields within the watershed.     

A review on the potential of citrus waste for D-Limonene,pectin, and bioethanol production

Citrus peel waste is a valuable lignocellulosic feedstock for bioethanol production due to its richness in fermentable sugars and low lignin content. Citrus peel contains two major value-added products: d-limonene and pectin. d-Limonene is widely used in food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries. However, it acts as a microbial growth inhibitor for yeast during the fermentation process and hence it has to be removed prior to fermentation. Pectin is used as thickening agent, gelling agent, and stabilizer in the food industry. Since pectin increases the viscosity of the fermentation medium and makes fermentation troublesome, it has to be either extracted or degraded into galacturonic acid using pectinase enzyme. Thus, the removal and recovery of both D-limonene and pectin from citrus peel are essential for better fermentation. For bioethanol production, pretreatment plays a crucial role in the utilization of citrus peels since the reduction of d-limonene concentration to less than 0.05% is necessary. This review solely describes the potential of citrus waste for value added products such as d-limonene and pectin and the production of bioethanol from citrus peel waste is discussed in detail.     

Breathtaking Clarity,Delicious Ambiguity

Abstract

A new institutional architecture is emerging in Wales to govern sustainable development. The National Assembly for Wales (hereafter referred to as the ‘Welsh Assembly’)1 ¹The National Assembly for Wales is the legal entity and title given to the devolved body in Wales. ‘Welsh Assembly Government’ is the term used by the current administration. has a statutory duty to promote sustainable development in the exercise of all its functions; its response has been to design a set of political and organizational arrangements to manage this policy area, and to prepare a Scheme that sets out how it proposes to discharge this duty. Devolved government in Wales has also been the catalyst for the emergence of collaborative relationships and partnerships between different sectors and interests. The Welsh Assembly and the Welsh Local Government Association have published a Compact jointly committing them to promote sustainable development; national non-governmental organizations such as Oxfam and the World Wide Fund for Nature have set up Welsh agencies; local government sustainable development coordinators have formed a national network; a national Sustainable Development Forum has been created; and the Welsh Assembly has taken the lead in establishing a European network of countries interested in sharing best practice on sustainable development. A new Wales-specific structure and system is materializing and the test now is how far this will be effective in delivering sustainable development policies and solutions at local and national levels. This paper examines the challenges in managing sustainable development, and the potential for success of this new governance system, drawing on recent research undertaken by the author on behalf of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The examination is set in the context of different theories of governance, and sustainable development is conceptualized as a ‘wicked issue’—one that cannot be resolved by organizations and agencies acting autonomously, but rather needs concerted focus and action across all sectors.     

A Speaking Piglet Advertises Beef: An Ethical Analysis on Objectification and Anthropomorphism

The portrayal of animals in the media is often criticised for instrumentalising, objectifying and anthropomorphising animals (e.g. Hirschman and Sanders in Semiotica 115(1/2):53–79, 1997; Lerner and Kalof in Sociol Q 40(4):565–586, 1999; Stewart and Cole in Int J Multidiscip Res 12(4):457–476, 2009). Although we agree with this criticism, we also identify the need for a more substantiated approach to the moral significance of instrumentalisation, objectification and anthropomorphism. Thus, we propose a new framework which is able to address the morally relevant aspects of animal portrayal in the media. We closely examine the normative messages communicated by an unusual TV commercial in which an anthropomorphised piglet advertises organic beef. This serves as a case example to relate the philosophical and ethical concepts of objectification and anthropomorphism to each other and show how they can be applied. We conclude that the commercial conveys a message of animal instrumentalisation as being normatively correct within the constraint of good animal welfare. The depicted form of instrumentalisation is, nonetheless, associated with harm for the animals and thus, needs to overcome cognitive dissonance. To achieve this, animals are directly objectified by a trivialised and de-individualised portrayal. Moreover, animals are indirectly objectified even when they are anthropomorphised as they are granted significance only through being human-like. Thus, objectification and anthropomorphism are not opposing terms in our proposed framework. In addition, objectification, together with the reference to the dominant ideology, and combined with humorous anthropomorphism weakens scrutiny of these normative messages by the viewers. This eventually augments a decrease of moral concern for farmed animals in advertisement employing such portrayals.     

Global sustainability: Toward measurement

The widespread interest in the concept of sustainable environment and development has been accompanied by the need to develop useful systems of measurement. We discuss the use of indicators which might be used to assess such conditions. Our characteristics, or criteria, for desirable global sustainability indicators are:

sensitivity to change in time

sensitivity to change across space or within groups

predictive ability

availability of reference or threshold values

ability to measure reversibility or controllability

appropriate data transformation

integrative ability

relative ease of collection and use

We discuss the basis of these characteristics, and examine two categories of indicators (soil erosion and population) and two specific indicators (physical quality of life index and energy imports as a percentage of consumption) for their value as sustainability measures.     

Investigations on Blade Tip Tilting for Hawt Rotor Blades Using CFD

The main purpose of this paper is to study the aerodynamic effects of blade tip tilting on power production of horizontal-axis wind turbines by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). For validation and as a baseline rotor, the NREL Phase VI wind turbine rotor blade is used. The Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes Equations are solved and different turbulence models including the Spalart–Allmaras, Standard k-?, k-? Yang–Shih and SST k–ω models are used and tested. The results are shown in terms of power generation at different wind speeds and the pressure distribution at different sections of the blade, and the comparisons are made with the available experimental data. For tip tilting analysis, 16 different geometries belonging to four different configurations are studied. The geometries are generated based on changing the twist and the cant angles of the winglet. The four different configurations are obtained from tilting the blade tip toward pressure side, suction side, leading edge, and trailing edge. The effect of the different configurations on the flow characteristics and hence on the power production of the wind turbine is investigated.