The oil industry along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon: Assessing impacts and possible solutions

While the oil industry along the Atlantic coast of Cameroon has made important contributions to the national economy, this has been accompanied with adverse environmental impacts. There has been significant pollution from oil drilling, refinery waste, oil spillage, gas and flaring. After discussing these impacts, this paper argues that prevailing regulations are inadequate and need overhauling. It proposes that cleaner production requires:

(i)

specific laws to protect dwellers in the neighbourhood of oil refineries, filling stations, service stations and pipelines;     

A preliminary process design and economic assessment of a catalyst rejuvenation process for waste disposal of refinery spent catalysts

Spent hydroprocessing catalysts from refineries have been classified as hazardous solid waste by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), refiners must find a viable but economical solution to solve this serious environmental issue. Catalyst rejuvenation is an attractive option for minimizing the environmental problems associated with spent catalysts. In this study, a preliminary design for such a process and the corresponding economic analysis are performed to assess the proposed catalyst rejuvenation process for metal-fouled spent catalysts generated in residue hydroprocessing units. The scenarios used in the economic assessment are based on three options of process synthesis and two operator modes. It is found that the option of rejuvenating medium and lightly fouled spent catalyst produced by the refinery will be the best solution for refiners, both environmentally and economically.     

China

For the first time since the mid-1960s, China became a net oil importer in 1993. That the country will remain a net oil importer is inevitable and probably irreversible for the foreseeable future. In the period to 2000, its crude oil production is projected to increase only 2% annually, while demand for refined oil products is expected to grow at 6.6% per annum. As a result, China's net oil imports are expected to reach 1.3 million barrels per day in 2000, accounting for almost one-third of its projected oil consumption. Most of the imports will come from the Middle East, and China's dependence on Middle Eastern oil is expected to increase significantly in the future .     

A national critical loads framework for atmospheric deposition effects assessment: II. Defining assessment end points,indicators, and functional subregions

The United States Environmental Protection Agency, with support from the US Department of Energy and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, has been evaluating the feasibility of an effects-based (critical loads) approach to atmospheric pollutant regulation and abatement. The rationale used to develop three of the six steps in a flexible assessment framework (Strickland and others, 1992) is presented along with a discussion of a variety of implementation approaches and their ramifications. The rationale proposes that it is necessary to provide an explicit statement of the condition of the resource that is considered valuable (assessment end point) because: (1) individual ecosystem components may be more or less sensitive to deposition, (2) it is necessary to select indicators of ecosystem condition that can be objectively measured and that reflect changes in the quality of the assessment end point, and (3) acceptable status (i.e., value of indicator and quality of assessment end point at critical load) must be defined. The rationale also stresses the importance of defining the assessment regions and subregions to improve the analysis and understanding of the indicator response to deposition. Subregional definition can be based on a variety of criteria, including informed judgment or quantitative procedures. It also depends on the geographic scale at which exposure and effects models are accurate and on data availability, resolution, and quality. The research described in this article has been funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency. This document has been prepared at the EPA Environmental Research Laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon, through contract #68-C8-0006 with ManTech Environmental Technology, Inc., and Interagency Agreement #1824-B014-A7 with the US Department of Energy and at Oak Ridge National Laboratory managed by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., under Contract DE-AC05-84OR21400 with the US Department of Energy. Environmental Sciences Division Publication No. 3903. It has been subjected to the agency’s peer and administrative review and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.     

Factors influencing voting by the united states congress on the national energy act

A myriad of factors, both economic and political, influenced the voting by members of the United States Congress on the 1978 National Energy Act. Determinant factors considered in our analysis included the percentage of residents in the Congressman's district residing in the central city or on farms; the percentage of residents who belong to labor unions; the average level of education of the residents; oil, coal, and natural gas production in the state relative to total domestic production. The results, determined by means of logit analysis, indicate that the impact on low-income energy consumers, the effect on overall employment, the impact on farmers, and the benefits to energy interests, as well as ideology and the subjective perception that the need exists to do something about the energy situation in the United States, were all important explanatory factors.The author is an economist with the United States Department of Energy. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Energy or the views of other Department of Energy staff members.     

Environmental regulation through trade: the case of shrimp

The implications of a potential ban on shrimp imports by the US from countries that do not utilize the Turtle Excluder Device on commercial shrimp nets is explored in this paper. A Linear Expenditure System (LES) was used to determine the own-price elasticities of demand for shrimp imports. The system of estimated equations was then solved for quantity levels under assumptions made about the trade restrictions, resulting in a set of prices for those import levels. These estimated prices were then used to estimate the compensating variation impact of the trade restrictions. Findings suggest that the environmental regulation would have a negative impact on US consumers, but the magnitude of that effect depends on assumptions made regarding the distribution of US imports after the trade restriction is imposed.     

我国稀土进出口量与价格关联度状况分析

稀土是我国五大优势矿产资源之一,在我国国民经济建设中具有重要的战略意义.近年来,我国稀土矿产品进出口贸易逐年增长,而进出口价格却呈现较大幅度的波动趋势.从对我国稀土进出口总量、进出口价格走势的分析入手,利用灰色关联度模型评估稀土出口总量分别对出口价格、进口价格、进口总量的相关程度,提出了我国稀土贸易的相关建议.     

我国炼油行业碳排放估算与分析

针对目前我国炼油行业排放总量不清楚的问题,文章首先对我国炼油行业二氧化碳排放源和影响因素进行简述,进一步借鉴欧洲炼厂二氧化碳排放系数,对我国炼厂二氧化碳排放总量进行估算,并对结果进行了分析。研究结果可为进一步了解我国炼厂二氧化碳排放情况及进一步的减排工作起到参考作用。     

The transatlantic rift in genetically modified food policy

The regulatory structures underlying United States and European Union policies regarding genetically modified (GM) food and crops are fundamentally different. The US regulates GM foods and crops as end products, applying roughly the same regulatory framework that it does to non GM foods or crops. The EU, on the other hand, regulates products of agricultural biotechnology as the result of a specific production process. Accordingly, it has developed a network of rules that regulate GM foods and crops specifically. As a result, US regulation of GM foods and crops is relatively permissive, whereas EU regulation is relatively restrictive. Why are genetically modified food policies in the United States and the European Union so strikingly different? In the light of the recent World Trade Organization dispute on agricultural biotechnology, it may seem that economic interests are the driving force behind policies. While they are certainly part of the picture, the issue is far more complex. This paper argues that three different elements help explain differences between US and EU GM food policies. First, an investigation of US and European policies of the 1970s and 1980s on recombinant DNA research and of events leading up to early GM food and crop regulation allows a deeper understanding of current policy. Second, scrutinizing underlying values and norms can uncover the beliefs that condition current GM food and crop policy. Third, an analysis of involved actors’ views and levels of success in influencing policy is essential to understanding US and EU policies.     

Use of Physical Sciences in Support of Environmental Management

Offshore drilling for oil and gas has been conducted since the early 1900s. Oil and gas under the seabed continue to be an important part of the energy resources of the United States. The need to balance the value of these resources against the potential for environmental damage is an important concern. This article explains why and how the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the US Department of the Interior uses research in physical sciences to help fulfill its environmental goals, and it provides background information on the role of physical sciences in decision-making for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil, gas, and other minerals development. Established in the 1970s, the MMS Environmental Studies Program is a highly focused marine research program designed to provide the environmental information necessary for OCS energy and nonenergy minerals planning and development activities. The physical sciences research supported by MMS includes physical oceanography, oil-spill risk analyses, atmospheric sciences, and sand and gravel studies. Instead of giving a comprehensive review on physical sciences research in MMS, this article presents sample MMS studies and illustrates how these studies are utilized to support decision-making in environmental management.Published online Note: This version was published online in June 2005 with the cover date of August 2004.     

Referee analyses: A better approach than data validation

Data validation, as prescribed in guidance documents provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), yields legal evidence that an analytical laboratory has performed analyses according to predetermined specifications. This validation process, because it involves only the checking of procedural documentation, provides minimal information concerning the technical validity of the data. Unfortunately, in the minds of many, the performance of such a data validation has become synonymous with technical validity. A better approach is to implement a routine program of referee analyses. That is, submit a predetermined number of samples from the project to a second laboratory. A routine program of this type provides a self-checking and self-correcting mechanism for determining whether data are technically valid. Publication No. 3874, Environmental Sciences Division, ORNL. Managed by Martin-Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. for the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-840R21400.     

Energy — the pathways to the turn of the century

Summary An earlier version of this paper was originally presented at The American Association of University Women, Michigan, State Division, USA. The paper deals with two main issues: In the first place that there is no single energy source that will solve the energy problem. The solution will come through what has been called An Energy Family Approach. Secondly, that government regulations, which were primarily written in the days when America was viewed as a country with no limits, must be relaxed.Gerald T. Westbrook works for Dow's Hydrocarbons Department as Energy Project Manager. Prior to this current assignment he had been Project Manager in Dow's Functional Products and Systems Department for Business Development concentrating on water purification technologies for the energy industries. He has had over twenty years experience in various technical and functional areas with Dow Chemical in the United States and Imperial Oil Ltd. in Canada. Experience in the energy field has included petroleum refinery design and operations analysis; electric power plant planning, and water systems development; new advanced battery development; and energy economics and forecasting.     

Protecting endangered species under future climate change: From single-species preservation to an anticipatory policy approach

Anthropogenic climate climate change presents a unique challenge for endangered species policy and an opportunity for policy makers to develop a more predictive and robust approach to preserving the nation's biological resources. Biological and ecological reactions to shifting climate conditions and the potential feedbacks and synergistic effects of such changes may threaten the well-being of many species, particularly of those already in jeopardy of extinction. The United States Endangered Species Act of 1973 will fail to keep pace with increasing numbers of species needing protection as long as it remains focused on protecting species individually. The actmust not be abandoned, however; it holds tremendous promise for preserving biological diversity through a more proactive, anticipatory perspective. The current Endangered Species Act should be reinforced and improved by better integration of scientific expertise into habitat and community preservation listing decisions and recovery plan devlopment. Given the uncertainties surrounding long-term environmental consequences of human activities and resource use, a longer-term perspective must be integrated into all efforts to protect our biotic resources. Under appointment from the Graduate Fellowships for Global Change administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Ecducation for the US Department of Energy.     

Restoring naturalness to national parks

National park resource management planning requires ecological information describing the objectives to be achieved. This information must be quantitative and unambiguous. Since most acts creating United States national parks, beginning with the Yellowstone National Park Act of 1872, specify that these parks should be maintained in a natural condition, resource management objectives for each national park must be defined in terms of quantitative standards of naturalness. Such quantitative standards of naturalness do not yet exist for any national park in the United States. Although this article focuses on US national parks, the same problem exists in national parks, reserves, and wilderness areas throughout the world. The physical evidence needed to develop quantitative standards of naturalness is rapidly disappearing because of the effects of management fires, wildfires, decomposition, successional changes, and other disturbances. Therefore, a nationwide rescue ecology program is recommended to recover as much remaining ecological information as possible before it is lost. This information is essential for developing quantitative standards to restore naturalness to national parks.     

Cooperation or conflict? Interagency relationships and the future of biodiversity for US parks and forests

Cooperation between the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service and the United States Department of Interior (USDI) National Park Service is most often advocated to protect biological diversity on national forests and parks, but the agencies, so far, have done little to implement the biodiversity mandates of such laws as the Endangered Species Act and the National Forest Management Act. The ideological and political history of the Forest Service and Park Service is explored to determine the roots of interagency conflicts. Several recent models of cooperative reform are also critiqued and found to be insufficient to stimulate better working relationships. To protect biodiversity, cooperation must be framed within conservation biology and must place primary emphasis on ecosystem patterns and processes as well as on individual species. Increased education of agency managers, ecosystem-level research, local and regional public participation, scientific oversight committees, new legislation, and enlightened leadership also play important roles. Ultimately, management policies must be reframed within a context of ecocentric values.     

Avian Mortality at Oil Pits in the United States: A Review of the Problem and Efforts for Its Solution

Oil production operations produce waste fluids that may be stored in pits, open tanks, and other sites accessible to wildlife. Birds visit these fluid-filled pits and tanks (“oil pits”), which often resemble water sources, and may become trapped and die. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has a program to reduce these impacts by locating problem pits, documenting mortality of protected wildlife species, and seeking cleanup or corrective action at problem pits with the help of state and federal agencies regulating the oil industry. Species identification and verification of protected status for birds recovered from oil pits are performed at the USFWS National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory. From 1992 to 2005, a minimum of 2060 individual birds were identified from remains recovered from oil pits, representing 172 species from 44 families. The taxonomic and ecological diversity of these birds indicates that oil pits pose a threat to virtually all species of birds that encounter them. Ninety-two percent of identified bird remains belonged to protected species. Most remains identified at the Forensics Laboratory were from passerines, particularly ground-foraging species. Based on Forensics Laboratory and USFWS field data, oil pits currently cause the deaths of 500,000–1 million birds per year. Although law enforcement and industry efforts have produced genuine progress on this issue, oil pits remain a significant source of mortality for birds in the United States.     

A national critical loads framework for atmospheric deposition effects assessment: I. Method summary

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with the assistance of the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is examining the utility of a critical loads approach for evaluating atmospheric pollutant effects on sensitive ecosystems. A critical load has been defined as, “a quantitative estimate of an exposure to one or more pollutants below which significant harmful effects on specified sensitive elements of the environment do not occur according to present knowledge.” Working in cooperation with the United Nations Economic Community for Europe’s (UN-ECE) Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) Convention, the EPA has developed a flexible, six-step approach for setting critical loads for a range of ecosystem types. The framework is based on regional population characteristics of the ecosystem(s) of concern. The six steps of the approach are: (1) selection of ecosystem components, indicators, and characterization of the resource; (2) definition of functional subregions; (3) characterization of deposition within each of the subregions; (4) definition of an assessment end point; (5) selection and application of models; and (6) mapping projected ecosystem responses. The approach allows for variable ecosystem characteristics and data availability. Specific recognition of data and model uncertainties is an integral part of the process, and the use of multiple models to obtain ranges of critical loads estimates for each ecosystem component in a region is encouraged. Through this intercomparison process uncertainties in critical loads projections can be estimated. The research described in this article has been funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency. This document has been prepared at the EPA Environmental Research Laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon, through contract #68-C8-0006 with Man Tech Environmental Technology, Inc. It has been subjected to the agency’s peer and administrative review and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorse ment or recommendation for use.     

CO2 capture for refineries,a practical approach

This paper evaluates the opportunities and associated costs for post-combustion capture at a world-scale complex refinery. It is concluded that it is technically feasible to apply post-combustion capture at such a refinery. The costs for capture and sequestration from a gasifier are calculated to be lowest at about 30 Euro per ton; this process currently already produces a concentrated CO₂ stream. Next, the CO₂ source most suited for capture appears to be a combined stack, but there are a number of other sources that may be targeted at comparable costs. In total these sources may form about 40% of the overall refinery emissions. Our evaluations show the costs of capture from such sources based on available amine technology will be in the range of 90–120 Euro per ton, which is about 3–4 times higher than the current carbon trading values. The capture of CO₂ from a large amount of smaller CO₂ sources will bring along even much higher costs. A high-level study of the CO₂ emissions profile of a number of Shell refineries shows that, typically, up to 50% of the emitted CO₂ may be captured at similar costs. About 10–20% of concentrated CO₂ associated with hydrogen manufacturing may be captured at lower costs. The remainder of emitted dilute CO₂ will bring along significantly higher costs. Based on this study, it is concluded for the justification of the implementation of post-combustion capture at refineries, either a significant increase in carbon trading values, mandatory regulations, or a major technological break-through is required.     

Evidence for Changing Flood Risk in New England Since the Late 20th Century1

Abstract: Long‐term flow records for watersheds with minimal human influence have shown trends in recent decades toward increasing streamflow at regional and national scales, especially for low flow quantiles like the annual minimum and annual median flows. Trends for high flow quantiles are less clear, despite recent research showing increased precipitation in the conterminous United States over the last century that has been brought about primarily by an increased frequency and intensity of events in the upper 10th percentile of the daily precipitation distribution – particularly in the Northeast. This study investigates trends in 28 long‐term annual flood series for New England watersheds with dominantly natural streamflow. The flood series are an average of 75 years in length and are continuous through 2006. Twenty‐five series show upward trends via the nonparametric Mann‐Kendall test, 40% (10) of which are statistically significant (p < 0.1). Moreover, an average standardized departures series for 23 of the study gages indicates that increasing flood magnitudes in New England occurred as a step change around 1970. The timing of this is broadly synchronous with a phase change in the low frequency variability of the North Atlantic Oscillation, a prominent upper atmospheric circulation pattern that is known to effect climate variability along the United States east coast. Identifiable hydroclimatic shifts should be considered when the affected flow records are used for flood frequency analyses. Special treatment of the flood series can improve the analyses and provide better estimates of flood magnitudes and frequencies under the prevailing hydroclimatic condition.     

Developing a spatial framework of common ecological regions for the conterminous United States

In 1996, nine federal agencies with mandates to inventory and manage the nation's land, water, and biological resources signed a memorandum of understanding entitled “Developing a Spatial Framework of Ecological Units of The United States.” This spatial framework is the basis for interagency coordination and collaboration in the development of ecosystem management strategies. One of the objectives in this memorandum is the development of a map of common ecological regions for the conterminous United States. The regions defined in the spatial framework will be areas within which biotic, abiotic, terrestrial, and aquatic capacities and potentials are similar. The agencies agreed to begin by exploring areas of agreement and disagreement in three federal natural-resource spatial frameworks—Major Land Resource Areas of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Hierarchy of Ecological Units of the USDA Forest Service, and Level III Ecoregions of the US Environmental Protection Agency. The explicit intention is that the framework will foster an ecological understanding of the landscape, rather than an understanding based on a single resource, single discipline, or single agency perspective. This paper describes the origin, capabilities, and limitations of three major federal agency frameworks and suggests why a common ecological framework is desirable. The scientific and programmatic benefits of common ecological regions are described, and a proposed process for development of the common framework is presented.