Bioenergy and Land Use: Framing the Ethical Debate

Increasingly, ethical concerns are being raised regarding bioenergy production. However, the ethical issues often do not stand out very clearly. The aim of the present paper is to improve on this situation by analyzing the bioenergy discussion from the perspective of land use. From this perspective, bioenergy production may give rise to ethical problems because it competes with other forms of land use. This may generate ethical problems mainly for two reasons. First, bioenergy production may compete, directly or indirectly, with food production; and as consequence the food security of poor people may be adversely affected (social aspects arguments). Secondly, the production of bioenergy may directly or indirectly lead to deforestation and other changes of land use that have a negative effect on greenhouse gas emissions (environmental arguments). So from this perspective the main challenge raised by bioenergy production is to secure responsible land use. The purpose of the paper is not to advocate, or promote, a specific ethical position on bioenergy, but to structure the main arguments found. The paper falls in two parts. One part addresses social aspects arguments for using agricultural land for bioenergy—where food insecurity, malnourishment, and significant food poverty are the main concerns. The second part scopes environmental implications—notably greenhouse gas emissions impact, as affected by deforestation and other (indirect) land-use changes. Alongside showing some of the current dilemmas presented by wider land-use changes, arguments are analyzed from two ethical angels: a consequentialist and a deontological.     

Advancing Sustainable Bioenergy: Evolving Stakeholder Interests and the Relevance of Research

The sustainability of future bioenergy production rests on more than continual improvements in its environmental, economic, and social impacts. The emergence of new biomass feedstocks, an expanding array of conversion pathways, and expected increases in overall bioenergy production are connecting diverse technical, social, and policy communities. These stakeholder groups have different—and potentially conflicting—values and cultures, and therefore different goals and decision making processes. Our aim is to discuss the implications of this diversity for bioenergy researchers. The paper begins with a discussion of bioenergy stakeholder groups and their varied interests, and illustrates how this diversity complicates efforts to define and promote “sustainable” bioenergy production. We then discuss what this diversity means for research practice. Researchers, we note, should be aware of stakeholder values, information needs, and the factors affecting stakeholder decision making if the knowledge they generate is to reach its widest potential use. We point out how stakeholder participation in research can increase the relevance of its products, and argue that stakeholder values should inform research questions and the choice of analytical assumptions. Finally, we make the case that additional natural science and technical research alone will not advance sustainable bioenergy production, and that important research gaps relate to understanding stakeholder decision making and the need, from a broader social science perspective, to develop processes to identify and accommodate different value systems. While sustainability requires more than improved scientific and technical understanding, the need to understand stakeholder values and manage diversity presents important research opportunities.     

土地资源的可持续利用——国际经验与中国的借鉴

当前世界各国都面临着土地资源不可持续利用的严峻考验。从土地污染的角度,讨论了土地资源的可持续问题。工业“三废”的排放、城市化进程和土地污染防治法律的滞后是引起土地资源不可持续利用的重要原因。为了防治土地污染,促进土地资源的可持续利用,许多国家都已经建立了相对完善的保护体系。着重介绍了美国、日本、德国等发达国家在治理和防治土壤污染方面的经验,并在此基础上对目前我国土地资源的可持续利用提出了建议。     

The Sustainable Use of Sensitive Countryside Sites for Sport and Active Recreation

Sport and active recreation, as an important area of leisure activity that can take place in the countryside, has recently been the subject of much discussion both in central government reports and statutory agencies' studies. This paper examines principles for their planning and management, particularly in sensitive areas such as National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. It takes the view that effective recreation management should be promoted, suggesting that the designation of countryside areas should not imply that they are unchanging, or that environmental policies should be applied uniformly. The Government's UK Sustainable Development Strategy 1994 emphasizes the importance of assessing capacity and of management and monitoring in providing for leisure. Yet knowledge of recreation impacts is incomplete. A number of principles for the management of countryside recreation are given, and examples given of such principles in use. These stress the need for effective participation by the various interests involved at sites and the importance of voluntary approaches to the resolution of conflicts.     

关于犀牛保护及犀角持续利用的建议

简述了犀牛在中国灭绝的原因,介绍了犀牛角的利用价值,针对目前犀牛在中国的状况,提出了犀牛保护及犀角持续利用的建议。     

章丘市地下水可持续利用研究

章丘市水资源储量丰富,但由于人工开采、工农业生产、矿坑排水等原因造成了严重的泉水断流,现已成为严重的资源型缺水地区。为了保证国民经济的持续发展,保护和改善生态环境,根据章丘市水文地质情况,提出了合理开采地表水与地下水、节水与提高重复利用率、加强地下水资源污染的防治与保护等措施。这些措施可以从根本上解决章丘市水资源短缺和水环境质量恶化的问题,并最终实现以水资源的可持续利用来支撑整个国民经济可持续发展的目的。     

Sustainable Land Use Requires Attention to Ecological Signals

This case study details the difficulties of landscape management, highlighting the challenges inherent in managing natural resources when multiple agencies are involved, when the land users have no incentive for conservation, and when government agencies have too few resources for effective management. Pumping of groundwater from the aquifer of La Costa de Hermosillo in the state of Sonora, Mexico, began in 1945 and developed so quickly that by the late 1950s salinity intrusion from the Gulf of California was occurring in the wells. In the 1970s, the irrigatable land in La Costa peaked at 132,516 ha and the extracted volume of water from the aquifer peaked at around 1.14 billion cubic meters annually. By the 1980s, 105 wells of the total of 498 were contaminated with seawater and, therefore, identified for closure. At present La Costa de Hermosillo still represents 15% of the total harvested land, 16% of the total annual production, and 23% of the gross agricultural production of the state of Sonora. However, there are approximately 80,000 ha of abandoned fields due to salt water intension, lack of water and/or lack of credit available to individual farmers. This unstable situation resulted from the interplay of water management policies and practices, and farm-land policies and practices. While government agencies have been able to enforce better water use for agricultural production, there remains a significant area that requires restoration from its degraded state. For this piece of the ecosystem management puzzle, government agencies have thus far been unable to affect a solution.     

青海冬虫夏草分布与生态环境关系及可持续利用的建议

文章作者于2005年5~6月赴冬虫夏草集中分布区的果洛藏族自治州玛沁县和海西蒙古族藏族自治州天峻县进行考察和研究,全面系统的阐明了冬虫夏草分布于生态条件的关系,冬虫夏草分布与植被的关系以及冬虫夏草的分布格局以及提出了冬虫夏草资源持续利用的建议等,为科学、适当、有序利用冬虫夏草资源和保护草地生态系统的稳定、健康和可持续利用提供科学依据。     

盐城市滩涂资源可持续利用模式选择分析

随着江苏沿海开发上升为国家战略,盐城市沿海滩涂开发遇到了前所未有的机遇;同时盐城沿海滩涂又是重要的湿地保护区,因此处理好保护与开发的关系,探讨滩涂的合理利用模式有着重要的战略意义。由于历史和自然条件的影响,盐城已形成以农业为主、自然保护区为特色、港口和临港产业逐渐兴起的滩涂利用模式。通过对盐城滩涂现有利用模式的分析,选取资源、环境、经济、社会等方面的影响因子,通过综合评价,对各种滩涂利用模式进行优劣势和可行性分析,探讨区域适宜的滩涂利用模式。     

The Influence of Knowledge and Motivation on Sustainable Label Use

Sustainable labels are considered the best way for consumers to identify brands with environmental or social attributes on the shelves, and therefore promoted as a means to develop the so-called “ethical markets”. However, little is known about how consumers use these brands. This paper tries to offer complementary theoretical insights on the determinants of sustainable label use by drawing on the economic model of information search; in particular, it examines the influence of two factors on the purchase of such labels: motivation and knowledge. Information was gathered through a structured questionnaire in personal interviews with 289 primary buyers. The study found that education influences directly knowledge, while Motivation influences Label use both directly and indirectly, via Label knowledge. This study concludes that Motivation is the most powerful factor to explain Label use; knowledge is a necessary but not sufficient condition. Even more, consumers may not have a good understanding of sustainable labels and still use them in their purchasing decisions. This suggests that there is a dual processing mode of sustainable labels, both systematic and heuristic.     

Major Energy Plants and Their Potential for Bioenergy Development in China

China is rich in energy plant resources. In this article, 64 plant species are identified as potential energy plants in China. The energy plant species include 38 oilseed crops, 5 starch-producing crops, 3 sugar-producing crops and 18 species for lignocellulosic biomass. The species were evaluated on the basis of their production capacity and their resistance to salt, drought, and/or low temperature stress. Ten plant species have high production and/or stress resistance and can be potentially developed as the candidate energy plants. Of these, four species could be the primary energy plants in China: Barbados nut (Jatropha curcas L.), Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.), sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) and Chinese silvergrass (Miscanthus sinensis Anderss.). We discuss the use of biotechnological techniques such as genome sequencing, molecular markers, and genetic transformation to improve energy plants. These techniques are being used to develop new cultivars and to analyze and manipulate genetic variation to improve attributes of energy plants in China.     

吉林省土地资源的障碍因素及防治对策

介绍了吉林省土地资源特征和利用现状 ,详细分析了土地资源可持续利用的障碍因素 ,提出了具有可操作性的可持续利用对策。     

甘肃河西地区农业资源可持续利用初探

文章从可持续发展的思想出发，通过分析河西农业资源利用以及农业发展现状，着重指出了影响农业可持续发展的主要限制因素，并针对农业资源开发利用过程中出现的主要问题，提出了农业资源可持续利用的具体措施。     

莆田县土地资源可持续利用研究

本文在对莆田县土地资源现状分析的基础上,指出了不利于土地持续利用的限制条件,并根据可持续发展的思想提出了相应的对策     

垫江土地资源可持续利用研究

通过对垫江县目前土地资源利用特点，存在问题及其原因的详细分析，结合垫法实际，提出了垫江县土地资源可持续利用分区的设想，针对各区不同的土地利用特点，提出了土地持续利用方向及主要措施。     

福建省农业自然资源持续利用探讨

本文分析了福建省农业自然资源利用中存在的突出问题及其形成原因,并根据持续发展新模式提出了持续利用的对策。     

Land Use Planning and Environmental Capacity: Reassessing the Use of Regulatory Policy Tools to Achieve Sustainable Development

Just as it is now widely accepted that the planning system has a role to play in achieving sustainable development, so the concept of environmental capacity has achieved increasing prominence as a means of realizing that role. This paper considers the debate on the concept of environmental capacity, reviewing both the mainstream model and Jacobs' more nuanced social constructionist model. In doing so, it raises concerns about the appropriateness of regulatory policy tools and the implications for the distribution of environmental and other impacts. The discussion highlights the potential for using the planning system to promote change rather than resist it. In doing so, it suggests the need to consider a wider range of policy tools to achieve change at the local level and to clarify the dimensions of sustainable development that local planning can contribute to.     

Managing Dive Tourism for the Sustainable Use of Coral Reefs: Validating Diver Perceptions of Attractive Site Features

It has been argued that strategies to manage natural areas important for tourism and recreation should integrate an understanding of tourist preferences for specific natural features. However, the accuracy of tourist recalled perceptions of environmental attributes, which are usually derived from post hoc surveys and used to establish management priorities, is currently unmeasured. We tested the validity of the relationship between tourist-stated preferences and actual condition of coral reefs around the Caribbean island of Bonaire. Using standardized questionnaires, we asked 200 divers to select their most and least favorite dive sites and the attributes that contributed to that selection. We also carried out ecological surveys at 76 of the 81 dives sites around the island to assess the actual conditions of the attributes indicated as important for site selection. Fish- and coral-related attributes were key features affecting dive enjoyment. In general, divers appeared to be able to perceive differences between sites in the true condition of biological attributes such as fish species richness, total number of fish schools, live coral cover, coral species richness, and reef structural complexity, although men and women divers differed in their ability to perceive/recall some of the attributes. Perceived differences in environmental attributes, such as surface conditions, underwater current, and the likelihood of encountering rare fish and sea turtles, were not empirically validated. The fact that divers perceive correctly differences in the condition of some of the key biological attributes that affect dive enjoyment reinforces the need to maintain overall reef condition at satisfactory levels. However, variation in accuracy of perceptions owing to demographic factors and attribute type suggests the need for caution when using public perceptions to develop environmental management strategies, particularly for coral reefs.