我国环境技术创新的影响因素与应对策略

本文分析了环境技术概念的演化和环境技术创新的含义.首次对我国环境技术创新的主要影响因素进行了大规模的社会调查,在对社会调查结果统计分析的基础上,根据国外环境技术创新的政策设计与实施经验,提出了促进我国环境技术创新的政策建议.     

环境新闻是提升公众环境意识的重要途径

环境新闻因与人的切身利益关系密切而备受关注,其传播提高了公众的环境意识。文中探讨了环境新闻的目的和特点,阐述了在当前环境形势下,公众期待新闻媒体在环境保护中扮演怎样的角色,以及如何提高环境新闻报道营造社会良好舆论的几种途径。     

A conflict measure model and its application to supplier evaluation under environmental uncertainty

As environmental issues are of increased concern, many enterprises have participated in some forms of green-purchasing initiatives. Beside the traditional criteria, the supplier's environmental consciousness, environmental mission, advances in developing environmentally friendly goods, etc., should be evaluated. The attitude difference among supply chain partners will create potential problems for their cooperation and collaboration. A conflict evaluation method is proposed based on measuring their inconsistent attitudes toward important issues such as the environmental ones. A model is built for discovering weight parameters from experience. A pre-qualification process is suggested for screening the suppliers by eliminating those conflicts with the buyer firm.     

The Case of Sarno River (Southern Italy). Effects of geomorphology on the environmental impacts (8 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Analysis of the morphological, geological and environmental characteristics of the Sarno River basin has shown the present degraded condition of the area. Over the past thirty years, the supply of untreated effluent of domestic, agricultural and industrial origin has ensured the presence of high concentrations of pollutants, including heavy metals. The geological context of the catchment area has played a major part in determining the current ecological conditions and public health problems: while human activity has modified the landscape, the natural order has indirectly contributed to increasing the environmental impact. Results and Discussion The health situation is precarious as the basin's inhabitants feed on agricultural and animal products, and use polluted water directly or indirectly. The hazard of contracting degenerative illnesses of the digestive or respiratory apparatus, bacterial infections or some neoplasia has gradually increased, especially in the last five years. Moreover, polluted basin waters flowing into the Bay of Naples increase sea water contamination, thereby damaging tourism, public health and degrading the local littoral quality. Conclusion The overview presented shows how the environmental state of the Sarno River basin gives considerable cause for concern. The basin's complex geomorphologic setting has a direct bearing on local environmental and health conditions. The analysis of the available data demonstrates how the physical aspects of the area are closely linked to the diffusion and concentration of the pollutants, and how the latter ones have a large influence on the hygienic-sanitary conditions of the local population. Recommendation and Perspective Specific interventions need to be undertaken to monitor and improve the chemical, physical and microbiological conditions of water and sediments, especially in light of the geomorphological vulnerability of the river basin.     

从响水事件反思面临环保突发事件的舆论宣传

不稳定和舆论失控事件,对环保宣传工作发出了警报,使我们必须反思面临环境保护突发事件时,应采取的正确措施。     

Integrating information for better environmental decisions

As more is learned about the complex nature and extent of environmental impacts from progressive human disturbance, scientists, policy analysts, decision makers, educators, and communicators are increasingly joining forces to develop strategies for preserving and protecting the environment. The Eco-Informa Foundation is an educational scientific organization dedicated to promoting the collaborative development and sharing of scientific information. The Foundation participated in a recent international conference on environmental informatics through a special symposium on integrating information for better environmental decisions. Presentations focused on four general themes: (1) remote sensing and data interpretation, including through new knowledge management tools; (2) risk assessment and communication, including for radioactively contaminated facilities, introduced biological hazards, and food safety; (3) community involvement in cleanup projects; and (4) environmental education. The general context for related issues, methods and applications, and results and recommendations from those discussions are highlighted here.     

我国环境技术产业化的现状与发展对策

本文通过对环境技术产业化特点的分析,结合当前我国环境技术产业化的现状指出了目前我国环境技术产业化过程中存在的主要问题及原因,并针对这些问题探讨了相应的发展对策。     

次级河流水污染事件应急处置程序及环境损害评估技术路线

近年来,随着我国经济的发展,次级河流突发性水污染事件频繁发生,对生态环境及居民生活造成了严重的影响。次级河流突发性水污染事件发生后,为减少污染造成的损失和影响,保证受损的环境资源得到恢复和补偿,不仅要立即采取行之有效的应急处置措施,而且应当积极开展环境损害鉴定评估工作,全面追究污染者的环境责任。根据次级河流本身的特点,结合各省市在环境应急处置过程中的具体做法,建立了一套应对突发性次级河流水污染事件的应急处置工作程序;阐述了环境损害鉴定评估的必要性、工作方法和技术路线,同时从受损环境资源的确认、污染源和污染物的识别以及暴露途径的建立3个方面构建了开展次级河流突发性水污染事件环境损害鉴定评估工作的因果关系链条,对实际开展相关工作具有重要意义。     

Environmental impacts of tobacco product waste: International and Australian policy responses

The health risks of tobacco consumption are well established, but there is less awareness of the global environmental impacts of smoking. The by-products of the 6.3 trillion cigarettes smoked annually are filters (butts) that contain benzene, nicotine, cadmium, and dozens of other chemicals. It is estimated that between one- and two-thirds of all filters are discarded on roads, pavements, and green spaces. Butt litter as an environmental and public health hazard is a relatively new field of study, but recent research and findings have clear global implications. While this article focuses specifically on the situation in Australia, where cigarette butts are consistently the most littered item identified in national clean-up campaigns, the material reviewed has clear international environmental implications. The article first reviews existing literature on filter composition and toxicology, clean-up costs, regulatory response, and key policy actors. It then describes the scale of the butt litter problem in Australia using existing data, and analyses potential remedies at both the domestic and international levels.     

Fish Migration, Dams, and Loss of Ecosystem Services in the Mekong Basin

The past decade has seen increased international recognition of the importance of the services provided by natural ecosystems. It is unclear however whether such international awareness will lead to improved environmental management in many regions. We explore this issue by examining the specific case of fish migration and dams on the Mekong river. We determine that dams on the Mekong mainstem and major tributaries will have a major impact on the basin’s fisheries and the people who depend upon them for food and income. We find no evidence that current moves towards dam construction will stop, and consider two scenarios for the future of the fisheries and other ecosystems of the basin. We conclude that major investment is required in innovative technology to reduce the loss of ecosystem services, and alternative livelihood strategies to cope with the losses that do occur.     

Socioeconomic constraints on the technological choices in rural sewage treatment

Technological innovation is one of the potential engines to mitigate environmental pollution. However, the implementation of new technologies sometimes fails owing to socioeconomic constraints from different stakeholders. Thus, it is essential to analyze constraints of environmental technologies in order to build a pathway for their implementation. In this study, taking three technologies on rural sewage treatment in Hangzhou, China as a case study, i.e., wastewater treatment plant (WTP), constructed wetland (CW), and biogas system, we analyzed how socioeconomic constraints affect the technological choices. Results showed that socioeconomic constraints play a key role through changing the relative opportunity cost of inputs from government as compared to that of residents to deliver the public good—sewage treatment—under different economic levels. Economic level determines the technological choice, and the preferred sewage treatment technologies change from biogas system to CW and further to WTP along with the increase of economic level. Mismatch of technological choice and economic level results in failures of rural sewage treatment, e.g., the CW only work well in moderately developed regions in Hangzhou. This finding expands the environmental Kuznets law by introducing the coproduction theory into analysis (i.e., inputs from both government and residents are essential for the delivery of public goods and services such as good environmental quality). A match between technology and socioeconomic conditions is essential to the environmental governance.

     

Causes and consequences of a tropical forest gold rush in the Guiana Shield, South America

Statistical and spatial analyses of both historical time series and remotely sensed data show a link between the spatial distribution and growth of gold production across the Guiana Shield in northeast Amazonia. Results indicate that an exponential rise in production across an expanding area is primarily a delayed response to the 1971-1978 market flotation of international gold prices. The subsequent 10-fold (2-fold) average nominal (real) price increase has provided a compelling economic incentive to mass exploitation of lower-grade gold deposits. The ground-based and remotely sensed distributions of mining activity are strongly attached to these deposits that dominate the region's gold geology. The presence of these gold-bearing formations in conservation and sustainable timber zones has sparked social conflict and environmental degradation across the region. Left unmanaged, more than a quarter-million square-kilometer area of tropical forest zoned for protection and sustainable management could ultimately be compromised by the price-driven boom in gold mining through poorly integrated resource use planning, lack of reclamation effort, and control of illegal operations. Serious public health issues propagated through the unregulated mining environment further erode the financial benefits achieved through gold extraction. This study demonstrates in part how international economic policies successfully stabilizing more conspicuous centers of the global economy can have unintended but profound environmental and social impacts on remote commodity frontiers.     

Use of scientific inputs for environmental policymaking: the RAINS model and the Sulfur Protocols

This article discusses the use of Integrated Assessment Models for supporting the decision-making process in environmental issues. In particular, we discuss the case of sulphur emissions and the RAINS model, used in the process of negotiation of the Oslo Protocol (signed in June 1994), in relation to new targets for sulphur emissions reductions. To illustrate how scientific tools are not simply 'neutral' we discuss the particular case of Spain during the international negotiations leading to the final Protocol. The use of models as providers of scientific inputs for policy processes has grown during recent years. They are an aid to the policy-makers who may not know in depth all the issues on which they have the responsibility of taking decisions. We argue that these tools may indeed be helpful in their technical contribution but they can also have unrecognized consequences, depending on the way in which they are used in the policy-making process. They can also be used as a means to export cultural and technological patterns to late-comers from pioneer countries in the field of environmental policy. We conclude by proposing the post-normal science approach to deal with the complexity of environmental issues and to design more effective methods for policy formation.     

论环境的行政公益诉讼

中国尚未建立环境的行政公益诉讼,而传统诉讼制度的问题和缺陷日益显露,导致环境得不到很好地保护。根据环境法中关于环境权的理论、公众参与的原则以及公益诉讼的理论,中国应该尽快建立环境行政公益诉讼制度,赋予公众环境的行政公益诉讼资格,使作为公共利益的环境能得到切实的保护和改善。     

ISO14000环境管理标准对我国企业发展的促进作用

ISO14000环境管理系列标准是国际标准化组织制定的关于环境管理体系的国际通用标准。目的在于激发企业自觉采取预防措施和持续性改善措施来改善环境。推行ISO14000认证不仅可以规范环境管理行为,而且提高绿色管理水平和资源利用效率,从而促进中国经济发展。需要政府进一步采取积极措施推广ISO14000环境管理体系认证。     

中国环境咨询服务业的存在和发展探讨

根据环境咨询的内涵，就目前其发展所面临的机遇和挑战、存在的问题、方法措施等进行了论述；从国内和国外存在的差距中努力寻求符合自身特色的发展之路，提出中国环境咨询服务业的发展对策。     

环境政策对环境技术创新的影响

环境政策对技术创新具有正负两个方面的影响。本文详细分析了不同类型环境政策的技术效应 ,并阐述了环境政策的未来发展方向及其对技术创新的影响     

Marine Vessels as Substitutes for Heavy-Duty Trucks in Great Lakes Freight Transportation

Abstract

This paper applies a geospatial network optimization model to explore environmental, economic, and time-of-delivery tradeoffs associated with the application of marine vessels as substitutes for heavy-duty trucks operating in the Great Lakes region. The geospatial model integrates U.S. and Canadian highway, rail, and waterway networks to create an intermodal network and characterizes this network using temporal, economic, and environmental attributes (including emissions of carbon dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxides). A case study evaluates tradeoffs associated with containerized traffic flow in the Great Lakes region, demonstrating how choice of freight mode affects the environmental performance of movement of goods. These results suggest opportunities to improve the environmental performance of freight transport through infrastructure development, technology implementation, and economic incentives.     

Perspectives and challenges in the future use of plant nutrients in tilled and mixed agricultural systems

Producing an adequate quantity of healthy food without polluting the environment is a serious challenge for future agriculture around the world. The Food 21 research program in Sweden has researched all aspects--economic, environmental, and social--of sustainable farming systems. This paper presents some of the research from that and other relevant international research programs that have focused on better nutrient-use efficiency, especially for nitrogen and phosphorus. It shows that a range of sustainable solutions to nutrient-use efficiency exists, some of which are complex but some very simple. Government policies, including subsidies; research and technology; and public acceptance of farming practices all combine to create these solutions. Participatory approaches to knowledge transfer are needed, in which scientists, policy makers, farmers, advisers, and consumers exchange information and together build sustainable farming systems.     

Optimal recycle price game theory model for second-hand mobile phone recycling

Human societies develop rapidly through the advancement of technology; however, with these advancements, many problems are emerging. The topic chosen for this study surrounds the e-waste, which has become a major problem around the world. Second-hand and unused mobile phones are a big part of globally generated e-waste. If these devices are properly recycled, they can generate substantial economic and resource value. Yet if they are indiscriminately discarded, they cause a profound environmental impact. Given the current low recovery rate of mobile phones, an increase in recovery rates becomes critical in lessening economic and environmental impacts. Based on the status quo of second-hand mobile phone recycling processes in China, this article analyzes the behavior of individuals and recyclers through a comprehensive static information game theory and finds ways to increase the recycling rate of second-hand mobile phones. The study helps the customers, to clearly identify the recycle price. In case of market, the government policy can be introduced with a reward and punishment mechanism. Furthermore, under the ideological guidance of game theory, this paper also establishes a corresponding price model of second-hand mobile phone recycling based on best response dynamics like search, variable neighborhood search, and hybrid meta-heuristic method. This model shows that the recovery time differences have a significant impact on the recovery price. Moreover, to an extent, this model can promote the possibility and initiative of customers choosing cell phone recycling.