Critical perspectives of sustainable development research and practice

Sustainable development has been intensely debated for more than twenty years, but real progress of our societies to become more sustainable is very slow. Therefore this special issue provides a forum for critical perspectives of Sustainable Development Research and Practice. The papers are grouped into three clusters: a. Sustainability Science, b. Economic Problems and c. Corporate Contributions to Sustainable Development.Although a single special issue cannot address the entire array of issues pertaining to progress of sustainability related research, the selected papers highlight special aspects of sustainability research either due to their theoretical contributions or because they report on valuable empirical evidence. The main goal of sustainability research should be to contribute to our understanding of sustainability problems and to develop and help to implement solutions to solve them. This can be described as the relevance of sustainability research. A precondition to gain relevance is the rigor of sustainability science: it has to be based on solid scientific principles and methods. Additionally it has to be regarded that Sustainable Development is dynamic and that it has both normative and practical aspects. It is concluded that sustainability science and practice should be based upon these four central aspects: rigor, relevance, normative aspects and dynamic     

The water supply footprint (WSF): a strategic planning tool for sustainable regional and local water supplies

This paper introduces a new methodological approach of the ecological footprint explicitly addressing the sustainability of water supplies, which we call the water supply footprint (WSF). The WSF calculates the catchment area or water supply hinterland of a certain society and can serve as a strategic planning tool for local or regional water supplies linking the water demand with the water supply in a water supply footprint matrix. Based on regional water balances it estimates how much water can be appropriated for human use in an environmentally sustainable way.The proposed method is tested on the South East Queensland water supply in Australia, an area where water use restrictions are regularly imposed on the population. Applying the proposed method indicates that supply shortages may be avoided by considerably changing the organisation of water supply, thereby reducing and possibly even avoiding the necessity for large-scale supply side measures like additional sweet water reservoirs or desalination plants. In that way it is demonstrated that the WSF method is applicable at an early and strategic stage of water supply planning.     

枣庄市生态足迹动态研究

应用生态足迹模型对山东省枣庄市1995-2008年生态足迹进行了计算,分析该市14年来各类土地生态足迹消费和供给的动态变化趋势,研究了该市土地资源利用的可持续性发展状况。结果表明,枣庄市生态足迹消费从1995年的2.926 4 hm2/人增加到2008年的6.880 1 hm2/人,增加了2.25倍;生态足迹消费大于土地生态系统的承载力表现为生态赤字,赤字水平由1995年的2.630 4hm2/人上升到2008年的6.529 0 hm2/人,增加了2.48倍,区域内的土地利用处于不可持续发展状态。计算表明该市的资源利用方式仍处于消耗型、粗放型阶段,发展模式是不可持续的,其生态环境具有不安全性,社会经济发展与生态环境的协调性很差。     

以生态足迹法分析评估抚顺市可持续发展

在介绍生态足迹理论和计算模型的基础上,对抚顺市2007年的可持续发展状态进行了实例计算和分析,结果表明抚顺2007年的生态赤字为4.986 3hm2,其城市处于非可持续发展的状态.在此基础上,提出了促进抚顺可持续发展的建议.     

辩证法看经济可持续发展与环境保护

文章阐述了环境保护与经济可持续发展的内涵,分析了二者的对立统一的辩证关系,并对如何让二者关系达到双赢提出了相关建议。     

京津冀及周边地区低碳经济发展水平评价

随着应对全球气候变化进程的不断推进,“低碳经济”已逐渐成为世界各国实现经济社会可持续发展的必由之路.京津冀及周边地区社会经济发展较不平衡,整体推进低碳经济发展存在较大的困难,为有效促进低碳经济发展的策略选择,本文通过构建低碳经济发展水平评价指标体系,对京津冀及周边地区的低碳经济发展状况进行评价.结果显示,京津冀及周边地区低碳经济发展水平差异较大：北京低碳经济水平相对较高,其他地区距离低碳经济发展水平尚有较大差距.由此,京津冀及周边地区应根据地区经济发展特点及其低碳经济发展状况,采取不同的低碳发展策略选择,以有效推进低碳经济发展模式的顺利转型.     

滦河流域水资源开发的水文效应及其生态环境响应

通过滦河干流滦县水文站径流的长期演变趋势,分析流域水资源开发利用的水文效应及其生态响应。结果表明,在气候变化和人类活动影响下,滦河流域地表水资源量出现显著的衰减趋势,并引起滦河下游河道系统严重退化、近代滦河三角洲萎缩、下游平原区地下水位下降等若干生态环境问题。提出应加强竞争性用水条件下的河流生态水文调控,以改善滦河下游的生态环境。     

活性焦联合脱硫脱硝技术及发展方向

本文介绍了活性焦特点、活性焦联合脱硫脱硝技术的反应机理及工艺流程、活性焦联合脱硫脱硝技术的优缺点及发展方向。指出了活性焦联合脱硫脱硝工艺具有可以实现同时脱除S02、NOx和粉尘,脱除效率高,投资小等优点,通过加热再生活性焦,可获得高浓度的SO2气体,用于生产硫酸、液体二氧化硫或硫磺,有效回收硫资源。该技术具有流程简单、占地面积小、无二次污染、费用低、应用范围广等特点。     

城市污水处理厂控制系统现状及发展趋势

随着我国经济的发展和城市化进程的加快,城市规模不断扩大,城市的人口迅速增长,随之而来的是城市生活污水量不断增加。因此,未来我国应当加大对城市生活污水的处理力度,以改善不断恶化的水环境污染趋势。自动控制系统在城市污水处理系统中至关重要,目前已经逐步应用到污水处理工艺过程及出水水质监测过程当中,并且取得了很好的效果,这样不但节约了能源,而且有着广阔的发展前景。     

Sustainable consumption in Brazil: Identification of preliminary requirements to guide product development and the definition of public policies

Sustainable product development is closely related to sustainable consumption. The understanding of consumers' purchase, use and discard behaviours may facilitate the identification of requirements to guide manufacturers in the development of sustainable goods and services. The aim of this paper is to investigate consumers' perception about factors that motivate or discourage the consumption of sustainable products to identify demands and convert them into requirements. South Brazilian green and traditional consumers were asked to complete an exploratory qualitative questionnaire. Their answers were organized and compared to identify differences and similarities between the demands of these two groups. Furthermore, demands were converted into requirements for packages, products, manufactures, stores planning and discard systems. The interpretation of factors that motivate or discourage the purchase of sustainable products given by interviewees led to the creation of a list of possible public policies or programmes, aiming to support sustainable consumption. The results demonstrate the necessity of further quantitative investigation between consumer groups, for validation purposes.