Linking carbon sequestration science with local sustainability: an integrated assessment approach

This paper introduces an integrated assessment (IA) approach for a Canada-China joint research project that linked forest carbon sequestration, forest resource management, and local sustainability enhancement. The purpose of the IA was to improve the measurement of carbon in different land uses and vegetation covers, as well as to direct decision makers to those land uses or options as an CO₂ emission reduction strategy while supporting rural sustainable development. In this connection, three questions are addressed in this paper:

1)

How will forestry carbon sequestration land use policies affect regional sustainability prospects in rural China?     

Integrating methods for the environmental sustainability: the SPIn-Eco Project in the Province of Siena (Italy)

This paper shows how different methods can be integrated in order to provide an organic evaluation of the environmental sustainability at the territorial level. A territory is a complex, dynamic and open system where a population develops, uses resources, produces goods and services, consumes, depletes and finally obtains economic results. All these elements characterise human behaviour, which can be monitored, measured and compared to the capacity of the environment to sustain it in the long run. The SPIn-Eco Project for the Province of Siena (Italy) is described as an example of an environmental sustainability assessment of an area, and its methods (Ecological Footprint, Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Extended Exergy Analysis, Emergy Evaluation, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Remote Sensing) are briefly introduced. This Project has been proposed and funded by the most important provincial administrative and financial institutions in the territory (the Administration of the Province of Siena and the Monte dei Paschi Foundation, respectively), and was designed and realised in 4 years (2001-2004) by a research team coordinated by the University of Siena.     

AHP based life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) framework: a case study of six storey wood frame and concrete frame buildings in Vancouver

Construction and building industry is in dire need for developing sustainability assessment frameworks that can evaluate and integrate related environmental and socioeconomic impacts. This paper discusses an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based sustainability evaluation framework for mid-rise residential buildings based on a broad range of environmental and socioeconomic criteria. A cradle to grave life cycle assessment technique was applied to identify, classify, and assess triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability performance indicators of buildings. Then, the AHP was applied to aggregate the impacts into a unified sustainability index. The framework is demonstrated through a case study to investigate two six storey structural systems (i.e. concrete and wood) in Vancouver, Canada. The results of this paper show that the environmental performance of a building in Canada, even in regions with milder weather such as Vancouver, is highly dependent on service life energy, rather than structural materials.     

Beyond the regime: can Integrated Sustainability Assessment address the barriers to effective sustainable passenger mobility policy?

Sustainability policy making is hampered by a tendency towards sector-based, short-term and often techno-fix perspectives. This paper describes a novel policy development and assessment framework – Integrated Sustainability Assessment (ISA) – that may help address problems of unsustainability in a more integrated and strategic manner. ISA involves two primary methods: transition analysis and stakeholder engagement. The ISA case study on sustainable passenger mobility suggests ISA is well equipped to produce a holistic analysis of mobility systems, illustrate radical alternatives to the status quo and foster social learning. Further research should explore its potential to induce long-term behavioural or institutional change.     

全过程固体废物管理研究进展及其对我国相关管理的启示

当某种固态、半固态物质不再具有原有的价值,它就成了固体废物,并可能在产生、排放、收集、贮存、运输、利用、处理和处置过程的任何一个或多个环节产生对环境的污染危害。对固体废物进行全过程监督管理因而显得尤为重要。本文回顾了全过程固体废物管理实施方法,包括生命周期清单和生命周期评价方法,用于废物管理系统的模型,在固体废物产生量预测、收集系统最优化以及处理处置设施选址等步骤中,各自所用不同方法的进展,以及在一些较发达国家和地区的管理实例。最后讨论了这些进展对我国固体废物相关管理的启示。     

Alternative scenarios to meet the demands of sustainable waste management

This paper analyses different alternatives for solid waste management that can be implemented to enable the targets required by the European Landfill and Packaging and Packaging Waste Directives to be achieved in the Valencian Community, on the east coast of Spain. The methodology applied to evaluate the environmental performance of each alternative is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The analysis has been performed at two levels; first, the emissions accounted for in the inventory stage have been arranged into impact categories to obtain an indicator for each category; and secondly, the weighting of environmental data to a single unit has been applied. Despite quantitative differences between the results obtained with four alternative impact assessment methods, the same preference ranking has been established: scenarios with energy recovery (1v and 2v) achieve major improvements compared to baseline, with scenario 1v being better than 2v for all impact assessment methods except for the EPS'00 method, which obtains better results for scenario 2v. Sensitivity analysis has been used to test some of the assumptions used in the initial life cycle inventory model but none have a significant effect on the overall results. As a result, the best alternative to the existing waste management system can be identified.     

浅谈钢铁企业工业污水处理现状和存在的问题

文章对钢铁企业工业污水处理现状和存在的问题进行了初步的分析和探讨。指出我国钢铁工业要进一步降低钢铁企业吨钢耗用新水量、提高钢铁企业水的重复利用率,需要积极推广应用少水或不用水的工艺技术装备,并应强化合理串级用水,以及加强工业污水的综合处理回用。