Making Eco‐Efficiency the Foundation of Environmental Policy Reform

Environmental policy in the United States should refocus on eco‐efficiency and pollution prevention. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Eco‐Value,Sustainability, and Shareholder Value: Driving Environmental Performance to the Bottom Line

Contrary to popular assumptions, superior eco‐efficiency is associated with superior financial performance throughout a range of industries. In fact, environmental leaders typically outperform laggards by a substantial margin. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Instruments and strategies to improve the eco-efficiency of products

This article examines what tools can be used to analyze and improve the environmental performance of a product. It discusses how companies can upgrade the environmental performance of products in a cost-effective way and enhance their competitive position in the market through product innovation. Based on current examples, it is concluded that a complete toolbox is available to assist companies in developing more eco-efficient products. Which combination of practices can best be applied depends on various factors, particularly the type of external demand(s) the company is facing, its available resources, its time horizon, and its environmental strategy. Experience shows that it is better for companies to be ahead of external criticism and act more proactively. This article shows how companies can follow four main strategies in which eco-efficient product development goes hand in hand with a better competitive position in the market: (1) an efficiency improvement strategy; (2) a market share improvement strategy; (3) a market development strategy; and (4) a product diversification strategy. Finally, the importance of product innovation is stressed in order to implement the eco-efficiency strategies mentioned above.     

三峡库区不同地域类型高效生态农业发展模式

三峡库区地貌类型复杂多样,自然生态环境十分脆弱,农村经济社会发展滞后,“三农”问题突出,要加快库区经济社会的发展,改善库区生态环境,实现库区农业可持续发展,必须走高效生态农业发展之路。在分析三峡库区发展高效生态农业的重要性和紧迫性的基础上,针对不同海拔高度地区提出了6种不同类型的高效生态农业发展模式,并探讨了6种高效生态农业发展模式的具体内容及相应的对策与措施。     

Practical Minimum Energy Requirements for Chemical Product Manufacturing: A Management Decision Tool for Achieving Sustainable Products

Practical Minimum Energy requirements comprise a management decision tool designed to assist companies in adopting strategies for more sustainable products through improved energy efficiency. This tool allows managers to gauge the potential for reducing the energy intensity of chemical processes as well as the environmental impacts associated with energy consumption, such as greenhouse gas emissions. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

开发引进高科技产品实现农业可持续发展

介绍了丰泽公司在环保和绿色食品领域新开发引进的几种高科技产品，它们对控制农药、化肥等污染，保障食品安全、保护生态环境有积极作用。     

Achieving eco-efficiency through design for environment

“Eco-efficiency” is a term that does not yet appear in dictionaries but has already gained considerable force in shaping the environmental policies and practices of leading corporations. The Business Council on Sustainable Development (BCSD) sounded a trumpet call with their 1992 manifesto, “Changing Course.” Due to the credibility of the companies that constitute BCSD's membership—including Dow Chemical, 3M, Northern Telecom, Ciba-Geigy, Volkswagen, Nissan, Mitsubishi, and many others—their message has had a substantial influence on the strategic thinking of company executives around the world, BCSD's concept of eco-efficiency suggests an important link between resource efficiency (which leads to productivity and profitability) and environmental responsibility. Eco-efficiency makes business sense. By eliminating waste and using resources wisely, eco-efficient companies reduce costs and become more competitive. As environmental performance standards become commonplace, eco-efficient companies will be at an advantage for penetrating new markets and increasing their share of existing markets. This article describes the business practices companies are adopting to increase their eco-efficiency and improve their competitive advantage. “Corporations that achieve ever more efficiency while preventing pollution through good housekeeping, materials substitution, cleaner technologies, and cleaner products and that strive for more efficient use and recovery of resources can be called eco-efficient.” Declaration of the Business Council on Sustainable Development, 1992.     

Review of sustainability management initiatives within Finnish forest products industry companies—Translating Eu level steering into proactive initiatives

Sustainability has become a major focus area within forest products industry. The European operational environment and national environmental steering in EU member states highlight the importance of sustainable development and the development of associated new management approaches to promote sustainability. This article reviews some key elements of sustainability management, covering examples of both Finnish forest products industry initiatives and public environmental steering at the European level. An assessment is made of the current situation and an outline of a future outlook for sustainability management, with special emphasis on bridging the gap between industry initiatives and environmental steering in the form of legislation, policies and strategies at the EU level.This study applied a hybrid approach comprising a review of EU sustainability initiatives, a policy and legal review and a questionnaire survey of forest industry actors. The results of the future outlook indicate that energy efficiency is perceived to be the most important focus area in addition to e.g. environmental and waste management and recycling. Less than half of the companies aim at applying sustainability management. Life-cycle management is also considered to be important whereas product-based approaches, climate change and local industrial symbiosis receive very little attention. All responding companies aim to integrate the principles of sustainability into their operations and most companies consider that life-cycle thinking, management and assessment are useful for them. Energy efficiency is identified as the most important focus area with energy and materials efficiency seen as the most crucial factors for the achievement of responsible competitive advantage and building of sustainable value-added. The findings indicate that sustainability and life-cycle management are not receiving enough management focus at the moment and neither is the industry receiving enough guidance at either the EU level or via national steering and regulatory frameworks.     

Estimating the Relative Efficiency of Brazilian Publicly and Privately Owned Water Utilities: A Stochastic Cost Frontier Approach1

Abstract: This paper assesses cost efficiencies of Brazilian public and private companies of water supply. To measure the efficiency, we used a stochastic frontier model derived from the translog family – a specification similar to a Cobb‐Douglas including a quadratic term in log output. The model parameters are estimated by maximum likelihood using Brazilian data for the year 2002. Statistical inference leads to the conclusion that there is no evidence that private firms and public firms are significantly different in terms of efficiency measurements.     

Company Engagement in Community‐Based Water Resource Projects: Improving Water Security

Companies have been increasing their focus on issues related to water availability and, more broadly, to water security. After focusing on reducing water use and/or increasing water efficiency in their operations, and then looking more broadly to understand their exposure to water‐related business risks, companies are beginning to look to their suppliers and their customers, as well as their local communities, to identify opportunities to create shared value. This article provides summaries of how several companies are engaging in community‐based water resource projects beyond their fence lines.     

Beijing's Water Resources: Challenges and Solutions

Beijing's local water resources have been overexploited and the ecological and environmental pressures exceed the carrying capacity of this densely populated megacity. This article examines the current status of Beijing's water resources with respect to its industrial, residential, and eco‐environmental water usage and the challenges it may face in the near future. The article describes the context of water uses, the steps taken by Beijing to alleviate the water shortage problems, and challenges to Beijing's abilities to meet its urgent and future water needs. A multipronged strategy is proposed that aims at both the present problems and the anticipated future challenges. In particular, engineering and institutional approaches for Beijing's successful transition from overexploitation to sustainable utilization of water resources are explained. Actions include reasonable water utilization, water conservation, reclaimed wastewater, and importing water from neighboring areas. We conclude that Beijing must take additional steps in water resource management to ensure its sustainable development that involves continued urbanization sprawls and population growth. Future water resource management strategies should focus on strengthening water demand management through water conservation, efficient interbasin water transfers, use of nontraditional water resources, strategically reserving water supply, and promoting rehabilitation of the eco‐environments.     

Validation of Satellite Precipitation Adjustment Methodology From Seven Basins in the Continental United States1

Tobin, Kenneth J. and Marvin E. Bennett, 2012. Validation of Satellite Precipitation Adjustment Methodology From Seven Basins in the Continental United States. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(2): 221‐234. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00604.x Abstract: The precipitation science community has expressed concern regarding the ability of satellite‐based precipitation products to accurately capture rainfall values over land. There has been some work that has focused on addressing the deficiencies of satellite precipitation products, particularly on the adjustment of bias. This article outlines a methodology that adjusts satellite products utilizing ground‐based precipitation data. The approach is not a simple bias adjustment, but is a three‐step process that transforms a satellite product based on a ground‐based precipitation product (NEXRAD‐derived Multisensor Precipitation Estimator [MPE] product or rain‐gauge data). The developed methodology was successfully applied to seven moderate‐to‐large sized watersheds from continental United States (CONUS) and northern Mexico over a spectrum of climatic regimes ranging from dry to humid settings. Methodology validation is based on comparison of observed and simulated streamflow generated with SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model using unadjusted and adjusted precipitation products as input. Streamflow comparison is based on mass balance error and Nash‐Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient. Finally, the contribution of how adjustment to correct misses, false alarms, and bias impacts adjusted datasets and the potential impact that the adjustment methodology can have on hydrological applications such as water resource monitoring and flood prediction are explored.     

基于DEA—Malquist模型对煤炭企业全要素生产率的分析

通过2005--2007年数据，选取27家煤炭企业作为研究对象，对其进行效率评价。首先运用DEA方法分析了27家煤炭企业的总体效率状态，结论是效率不理想。分析找出煤炭企业效率低的原因，主要包括煤炭企业人员冗余严重、科研投入不足、煤炭企业自主创新能力低和体制改革不够彻底，最后分析了煤炭企业进行技术效率创新动力不足的原因。     

Dryland characteristics and its optimized eco‐productive paradigms for sustainable development in China

Dryland area occupies 37% of the national territory in China. Desertification and other disasters have limited dryland sustainable development. Here we overview the dryland characteristics and desertification status and introduce four regionally optimized eco‐productive paradigms for dryland sustainable development, i.e., the mountain‐oasis paradigm in arid desert; the small watershed‐based paradigm on the Loess Plateau; the integrated animal husbandry paradigm on the Inner Mongolia Steppe and the agro‐pastoral transitional region; and three circle paradigm on the Ordos Plateau. These paradigms are established on the basis of regional landscape patterns and their underlying material and energy flow rules, and different functional belts are determined and capitalized upon with the integrated consideration of regional biogeophysical processes, biogeochemical cycles and biogeosocial relations. These paradigms cannot cover all complex landscape types, but provide theoretical frameworks and practicable models for dryland sustainable development in China.     

Case study: Risk prioritization and ISO 14001 at Acushnet rubber company

Increasingly, companies are striving to prioritize environmental management decisions based on risk and perceived impact. This case study on Acushnet Rubber begins a four‐part series profiling environmental decision making at leading companies. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Evaluating the efficiency of green vehicles and diesel vehicles

One of the major interests of governments in the area of environmental protection is to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollutants’ emissions (HC, CO, NO_x, PM, and SO_x) from vehicles. This paper aims at evaluating the efficiency of green and diesel vehicles. Two hundred fifty vehicles were selected for comparison study. The results show that the efficiency of each type of vehicle hardly differed in 2008 and 2009, but the gap between green and diesel vehicles became significant in 2010–2012. The results also indicate that larger automotive companies and smaller green vehicles show higher efficiency in recent years, whereas the type of green vehicles and the origin of automotive companies are not significantly related to the efficiency score of green vehicles. These findings provide more information for understanding differences in green vehicles.     

生态旅游与生态环境保护的关系

本文介绍了生态旅游的特点,探讨了开发生态旅游与保护生态环境的关系,并提出了开发生态旅游应注意的问题。     

武陵源世界自然遗产地生态旅游资源评价研究

生态旅游资源评价是生态旅游开发的首要问题。根据武陵源世界自然遗产地生态旅游资源分布情况，构建了包括资源价值、景点模式与旅游条件在内的3个评价综合层、10个项目层和11个因子层所组成的评价体系，并采用层次分析法对武陵源生态旅游资源进行了重新审视。评价结果显示，武陵源生态旅游资源的等级为世界级，具备发展生态旅游的优异条件。     

Green economy: Private sectors’ response to climate change

The focus of this paper is to present a discussion of the role of the private sector in response to the need for climate change adaptations. The study, which was conducted through a literature review, investigates the concept of the green economy and climate change, as well as businesses’ commitment to advance climate actions in ways that build resilience in vulnerable communities in developing countries. The paper calls on companies with national, regional, and/or global reach to adopt or develop strategies that improve resource efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce the loss of biodiversity. Businesses can accelerate this transition by aligning their investments with climate change adaptation opportunities, and thus, “green” the economy. In addition, green growth could be achieved through tactical public and private investments in mitigating climate change. The paper concludes that the private sector is a key sector in addressing the challenges of vulnerable communities, and it has much to contribute to the planning, development, and implementation of climate adaptation strategies, including sector‐specific expertise, technology, efficiency, financing, and entrepreneurship. Finally, some social conditions and environmental boundaries have been highlighted in this paper to attract the attention of business leaders who are trying to build initiatives and advance climate actions that will reduce socio‐community risks from climate change. Also, comprehensive initiatives and strategies have been recommended to private companies seeking to address climate vulnerabilities.