Indicators for sustainable energy development in Mexico

This article presents a summary of a study on the application to the Mexican energy sector of a core set of indicators for sustainable energy development (ISED), developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The study focused on the elaboration of socio‐economic and environmental indicators related to energy production and use, and was aimed at assessing Mexico's existing energy policies and identifying strategies and possible policies that could bring about improvements in major priority areas: energy intensity, atmospheric emissions, energy import dependency and use of renewables. While positive trends have been observed in relation to energy intensity and atmospheric emissions, Mexico is becoming more dependent on imports of gasoline, natural gas and other high‐value secondary energy sources, while exporting significant amounts of primary fuels, such as crude oil. Also, no significant increase has been observed in the use of renewable sources of energy. Social, economic and environmental policies need to be formulated for the energy sector and related investments (public and private) reinforced so that all economic sectors have access to energy from cleaner and more diverse sources.     

Indicators for sustainable energy development: Brazil's case study

This article summarizes the results of the project on indicators for sustainable energy development (ISED) in Brazil. The project's aim was to present energy related economic, social and environmental data to policy makers in a coherent and consistent form, showing interlinkages, time‐series and cross‐sectoral analyses and assess energy policy. Two priority areas assessed by these indicators, regarding the country's energy supply and demand, helped in the identification of a number of energy policy options that focused on specific aspects of the country's energy sector. On the supply side, these options include the development and stimulation of renewable energy, such as small‐scale hydroelectric, wind, solar photovoltaic power and bagasse cogeneration; stimulation of programmes for ethanol use as automotive fuel and sugarcane bagasse cogeneration; and implementation of natural gas‐fired, combined heat and power (CHP) plants. On the demand side, policy options include: the full implementation of the law on efficiency standards for appliances; expansion of utility investment in end‐use energy efficiency; adoption of targets and protocols to reduce energy intensity in the industrial sector; improvement of passenger transport efficiency; and the creation of a fund to improve energy affordability for the poor.     

Development of a Methodology for Selecting Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable Forest Management: A Case Study on Participatory Assessment

This paper describes an application of multiple criteria analysis (MCA) in assessing criteria and indicators adapted for a particular forest management unit. The methods include: ranking, rating, and pairwise comparisons. These methods were used in a participatory decision-making environment where a team representing various stakeholders and professionals used their expert opinions and judgements in assessing different criteria and indicators (C&I) on the one hand, and how suitable and applicable they are to a forest management unit on the other. A forest concession located in Kalimantan, Indonesia, was used as the site for the case study. Results from the study show that the multicriteria methods are effective tools that can be used as structured decision aids to evaluate, prioritize, and select sets of C&I for a particular forest management unit. Ranking and rating approaches can be used as a screening tool to develop an initial list of C&I. Pairwise comparison, on the other hand, can be used as a finer filter to further reduce the list. In addition to using these three MCA methods, the study also examines two commonly used group decision-making techniques, the Delphi method and the nominal group technique. Feedback received from the participants indicates that the methods are transparent, easy to implement, and provide a convenient environment for participatory decision-making.     

Developing an Environmental Indicator System for Sustainable Development in China: Two Case Studies of Selected Indicators

Environmental indicator systems are a fundamental tool in quantifying the environmental component of sustainable development. They are useful because they quantify the status and trends of key environmental parameters and provide information on the environment that allows authorities and communities to make informed decisions. This article analyzes the basic framework for Chinese environmental indicator systems and presents a “core” set of environmental indicators. In our research, we used a theme approach to develop the environmental indicator systems. We performed two case studies of selected indicators. In the first, we used an urban ambient air pollution composite index and an urban ambient air pollution indicator for three main pollutants to examine trends in urban air pollution in China from 1990 to 2000 at regional and national levels. The results indicate that China has made some progress towards controlling urban air pollution, but must do more in order to reach acceptable pollution levels. We think that an aggregated index and disaggregated indicators have important complementary roles in the policy-making processes. In the second case study, we developed and constructed a grassland degradation index that aggregates information on the extent and severity of grassland degradation. Taking the Xilinhaote region of Inner Mongolia as the study area, we calculated this index by combining remote-sensing data, a geographical information system (GIS), and field investigation. Based on these results, we provide recommendations regarding further development and measurement of environmental indicators in China.     

Implementing Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management in a Decentralized Setting: Italy as a Case Study

The study explored the sub-national implementation of the Pan-European Criteria and Indicators (C&I) for Sustainable Forest Management in Italy, based on the statistical analysis of answers to a questionnaire provided by representatives of the Italian sub-national forest administrations. The questionnaire explored the implementation of C&I in five applications and through the analytical lenses of ‘suitability of C&I to sub-national contexts’ and ‘adaptability of administrations to C&I’. The analysis of suitability and adaptability made it possible to identify and compare challenges in, and successful experiences with, the implementation of C&I, which were then used to formulate recommendations aimed at encouraging implementation and promoting academic and policy debate. The study reveals that C&I were implemented to a moderate extent. This level of implementation was determined most of all by the suitability of C&I to the Italian sub-national contexts, and less by the adaptability of administrations. Recommendations to foster implementation of and dialogue on C&I include the need for Italian sub-national administrations to transpose the Pan-European C&I into sub-national sets tailored to local circumstances by, for example, modifying existing C&I or integrating these into new customized indicator sets.     

Indicators for sustainable energy development: An initiative by the International Atomic Energy Agency

Since 1999, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been leading a multinational, multi‐agency effort to develop a set of energy indicators useful for measuring progress on sustainable development at the national level. This effort has included the identification of major relevant energy indicators, the development of a framework for implementation and the testing of the applicability of this tool in a number of countries. To achieve these goals, the IAEA has worked closely with other international organizations, leaders in energy and environmental statistics and analysis including the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the International Energy Agency (IEA), Eurostat and the European Environment Agency (EEA). Also, the IAEA completed a three‐year coordinated research project for the implementation and testing of the original set of indicators in seven countries — Brazil, Cuba, Lithuania, Mexico, the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic and Thailand. This article provides an overview of the IAEA programme on Indicators for Sustainable Energy Development (ISED) and highlights its experiences and accomplishments.     

能源的可持续发展与构建和谐社会

人类的文明建筑在人们对于能源的认识和掌握之上，每一次人类文明的跨越都与能源技术的进步密不可分。能源是每个国家发展所必须具备的重要元素之一，人们在发展经济、不断提高自身生活水平的同时，应该看到能源的缺乏带来的严重后果，只有保持能源的可持续发展，构建和谐社会才能变成现实。     

四川的能源问题与可持续发展

可持续发展战略的实施不能忽视能源问题。四川是一个能源生产与消费大省,能源问题对全省可持续发展有很大影响,改变能源消费结构、开发新能源和增强能源意识,对于四川走可持续发展的能源道路是十分重要的。     

南充生态经济系统的能值分析与可持续发展研究

本文利用美国生态学家H．T.Odum的能值分析理论和方法对南充生态经济系统的能量流动进行定量的分析。简要介绍了南充自然、社会、经济等方面的概况,结合南充的基础数据,应用能值理论计算出1994～2003年南充生态经济系统的能值评估表及能值指标趋势分析。在计算南充的人均能值使用量（EPC）,电力占有率（FEE）,环境负荷率（ELR）,能值投入率（EIR）,净能值产出率（EYR）,能值货币比率（EDR）,能值使用强度（ED）,人口承载力（PCC）,废物能值比率（WER）,能值自给率（ES）,可持续发展指数（ESI）基础上,运用南充的各项指标与其它国家和地区进行了横向和纵向的分析。结果表明：南充的生态经济系统是比较脆弱的,从发展过程来看还没有进入工业积累阶段,仍然属于农业大市。所以加强第二、第三产业的发展是南充经济发展的重要出路。     

Local Institutional Development and Organizational Change for Advancing Sustainable Urban Water Futures

This paper presents the local institutional and organizational development insights from a five-year ongoing interdisciplinary research project focused on advancing the implementation of sustainable urban water management. While it is broadly acknowledged that the inertia associated with administrative systems is possibly the most significant obstacle to advancing sustainable urban water management, contemporary research still largely prioritizes investigations at the technological level. This research is explicitly concerned with critically informing the design of methodologies for mobilizing and overcoming the administrative inertia of traditional urban water management practice. The results of fourteen in-depth case studies of local government organizations across Metropolitan Sydney primarily reveal that (i) the political institutionalization of environmental concern and (ii) the commitment to local leadership and organizational learning are key corporate attributes for enabling sustainable management. A typology of five organizational development phases has been proposed as both a heuristic and capacity benchmarking tool for urban water strategists, policy makers, and decision makers that are focused on improving the level of local implementation of sustainable urban water management activity. While this investigation has focused on local government, these findings do provide guideposts for assessing the development needs of future capacity building programs across a range of different institutional contexts.     

节能减排 实现钢铁企业可持续发展

通过对钢铁行业消耗水资源及产生污染情况进行分析，阐述了目前钢铁行业为节能减排而采取的管理、技术、污染治理措施，以达到减少废水外排量、降低污染物浓度、降低新水消耗的目的，对钢铁行业废水回用中尚存和潜在的工艺、设计问题进行了讨论，同时提出了通过清洁生产、优化工艺结构来解决问题的措施和建议，确立了企业近期和长期的节能减排任务目标。     

An Exergy Aware Optimization and Control Algorithm for Sustainable Buildings

Abstract

Heating and air-conditioning systems have very low exergetic efficiency as they dissipate primary energy resources at low temperatures usually between 90 and 60°C. This compounds the problem that buildings spend approximately 30% of all the energy consumed in the U.S. for heating and air-conditioning. The overall result is a large entropy production and long-term environmental degradation that can be resolved only by substituting primary energy resources by low-temperature, waste, or alternative energy resources, usually available below 50°C. For such a replacement to be feasible the environmental cost of exergy production must be factored into calculations and compatible HVAC systems must be developed without any need for temperature peaking or equipment oversizing. This article addresses environmental and often-conflicting problems associated with exergy production by HVAC systems and presents an analytical optimization and control algorithm. Results indicate that when a careful design optimization is accompanied by a dynamic control of the split between radiant and convective means of satisfying thermal HVAC loads, exergy efficient sustainable buildings may be cost effective and environmentally benign.     

Indicators of Biodiversity and Conservational Wildlife Quality on Danish Organic Farms for Use in Farm Management: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Indicator Development and Testing

Organic farming is expected to contribute to conserving national biodiversity on farms, especially remnant, old, and undisturbed small biotopes, forests, and permanent grassland. This objective cannot rely on the legislation of organic farming solely, and to succeed, farmers need to understand the goals behind it. A set of indicators with the purpose of facilitating dialogues between expert and farmer on wildlife quality has been developed and tested on eight organic farms. “Weed cover in cereal fields,” was used as an indicator of floral and faunal biodiversity in the cultivated land, and “uncultivated biotope area” on the farm was used as a general measure of wildlife habitats. Functional grouping of herbaceous plants (discriminating between “high conservation value” plant species and “competitive”/“ruderal” species) and low mobility butterflies were used as indicators of conservation value, especially focusing on the few sites left with considerable remnant conservation value. The dialog processes revealed that the organic farmers’ ideas and goals of conservation of wildlife quality were not necessarily the same as for biologists; the farmers expressed very different opinions on the biological rooted idea, that wildlife quality is related to the absence of agricultural impact. However, farmers also stated that the information given by the indicators and especially the dialogue with the biologist had influenced their perception and awareness of wildlife. We conclude that, combined with a dialogue process, using these indicators when mapping wildlife quality could be an important key component of a farm wildlife management advisory tool at farm level.     

余热利用高效节能电除尘器技术的开发应用

论述了余热利用高效节能电除尘器的开发背景、原理和特点,介绍了粤嘉电力135MW-CFB循环流化床燃煤锅炉上的开发应用情况,并加以总结,为进一步推广取得有益经验。     

基于智能能源网的资源开发与市场匹配模式研究——以煤基低碳能源转化为例

智能能源网是我国＂十二五＂期间完善资源开发及能源转化的重点科研攻关课题。以煤基低碳能源转化为例,提出基于智能能源网的资源开发模式。该模式可从根本上改善我国传统的对原生资源低效和掠夺式的开发方式,提高从原生资源到能源商品整个过程的资源转化效率,在极大程度上减少生产过程中对环境造成的碳排放污染。其市场匹配模式应以政府作为引导主体,按市场化所处的不同阶段积极施行经济和科技体制改革。