Greenhouse gas emissions and natural resources use by the world economy: Ecological input-output modeling

For the world economy as a biophysical network associated with financial links, an ecological endowment inventory and corresponding ecological input-output modeling are presented to investigate the greenhouse gas emissions and natural resources use in 2000. A forty-sector global economic input-output table is constructed through an integration and extension of existing statistics which covers thirty-four countries accounting for about 80% of the world economy. Global inventories for ecological endowments of six categories, i.e., greenhouse gas emissions, energy sources, water resources, exergy resources, solar emergy resources, and cosmic emergy resources, are accounted in detail. As a result of the modeling, embodied intensities of different ecological endowments are obtained for all forty sectors, based on which the sectoral embodiments for consumptive and productive uses are presented separately. Results of this study provide a sound scientific database for policy making on global climate change mitigation as well as on global resources management.     

Development of a low-carbon economy in China

Under the pressures of climate change, many countries are trying to adapt to a low-carbon economy. In this paper, we review the development pattern of the low-carbon economy of major countries and its impact on the world economy. We then argue that economic development and abatement of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China should be balanced. The challenges that China faces should also be considered carefully. It is necessary for China to find an approach to solve the issues of climate change, which should include new technologies and establishing incentive mechanisms and reform-oriented policies. These guidelines can adjust the structure of the economy and energy use, improve energy efficiency, promote the development of alternative and renewable energy, enhance the potential of carbon sinks, and develop advanced technology to perfect a 'Clean Development Mechanism' and sustainable development through international cooperation.     

Derived decision rules for pollution control in a general equilibrium space economy

This paper attempts to narrow the gap between economic theory and policy inthe field of environmental pollution control by expanding the traditional general equilibrium model to include the kind of spatial detail that is important for describing pollution. This model is then used to derive theorems which provide the basis for the development of spatially differentiated, tax-based decision rules. In spite of the fact that these rules require no information on either damage costs or control costs, they maintain many of the desirable properties of the more conventional informationally intensive tax policies.     

Estimation of similarity measure for multivariate normal distributions

Measures of niche overlap are used to assess the similarity or dissimilarity of two populations. Matusita's measure is one of commonly used niche overlap measures. We consider the problem of estimating Matusita's measure when samples are from multivariate normal distributions with unknown mean vectors and covariance matrices. Asymptotic variances and biases of Matusita's measure estimates are derived and bias reduction methods are proposed. Simulation results are shown to illustrate characteristics of the estimates and bias reduction methods.     

Development of a risk measure as a sustainable project selection criterion

SUMMARY

Sustainable decision-making requires consideration of technology, ecology, and the social and political infrastructure of society. While it may never be possible to identify with certainty what is sustainable and what is not, an attempt has been made in this paper to formulate a measure that permits one to compare the performances of project alternatives with respect to risk. An algorithm is presented for the evaluation of a risk criterion that can be used with other criteria in the process of selecting project alternatives. The intent of the risk criterion is to involve project stakeholders in the process of quantifying the risks associated with different project alternatives.     

A sandy loam soil as a natural control for Pb contamination

The Pb (II) adsorption/desorption mechanism onto a natural sandy loam soil was studied by batch experiments at different pHs (3.0, 4.5, 6.0), at different ionic strength (0, 0.02 and 0.1 M) and with different electrolytes solutions of NaCl, NaAcO and NaNO₃. Pb was strongly adsorbed onto the soil due to the formation of a mix of inner-sphere and outer-sphere complexes. Experimental adsorption data fitted Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms. The desorption results with 0.1 M Mg (NO₃)₂ and 0.1 M NaAcO solutions corroborated the mechanisms proposed. The strong binding of Pb (II) to high affinity sites on soil minerals seems to be responsible for the extent of hysteresis. The sandy loam soil under study thus constitutes a natural control for Pb contamination.     

The backward incidence of pollution control in a rigid-wage economy

The backward incidence of pollution controls onto the polluting and nonpolluting industries is examined in a two-sector, rigid-wage economy characterized by unemployment in both the short run and the long run. As expected, more restrictive pollution controls result in contraction in the polluting sector and expansion in the nonpolluting sector. Somewhat unexpectedly, national income may rise with stronger pollution controls, if the polluting industry is relatively capital intensive.     

A dynamic model of human dispersal in a land-based economy

This paper presents a dynamic state variable model that examines human dispersal in a land-based economy. In humans, like other animals, many individuals disperse during their lifetimes, with extensive variability in the timing and likelihood of dispersal by individuals of different states. The model places human and non-human dispersal in a common framework, specifically by utilizing a cost-benefit approach. As with other animals, individual access to resources likely plays an important role in shaping human dispersal, and the model explores the mechanisms underlying this relationship. Over a series of time steps, individuals must decide whether to stay in their natal area or disperse, given their states (wealth, marital, and inheritance status) and the environmental constraints on dispersal. Costs of dispersal include time and an initial drop in wealth, while the benefit is the potential of the dispersal area to increase wealth. The model determines whether dispersing or staying results in the highest fitness, where fitness is a function of individual wealth and years married. The model shows that dispersal is favorable under a wide range of environmental conditions, but that it also varies predictably according to individual states. Men of middle wealth values disperse under a wider variety of circumstances than poorer or wealthier men. Wealthy men, who are particularly sensitive to the time cost and mortality risk associated with dispersing, appear to adopt a more conservative dispersal strategy than poorer men, who are more sensitive to the wealth cost and wealth growth rate associated with dispersing. Dispersal behavior is also contingent on its effects on an individual's probability of marrying or inheriting wealth. Finally, the model fosters an examination of how the interaction of life events, and their directions of causation, can be studied. Received: 6 May 1998 / Received in revised form: 3 February 1999 / Accepted: 7 February 1999     

Mesocosm studies of DCMU-enhanced fluorescence as a measure of phytoplankton photosynthesis

When measurements of in-vivo fluorescence are used to estimate photosynthesis in the field, the marked temporal and spatial variations in phytoplankton populations, and their nutrient and light histories, have produced varied results. Natural phytoplankton populations in large, flow-through mesocosms with different controlled nutrient and sewage sludge additions were sampled weekly from June to September 1984. Good correlations were observed between the increase in fluorescence upon the addition of DCMU (F) and both in-situ production and the parameters (P_m and ) of the photosynthesis-irradiance curve for these phytoplankton populations. Good correlations were also obtained between DCMU-enhanced fluorescence (F_DCMU) and chlorophyll a concentrations. The relationship between F and in-situ ¹⁴C production was consistent among mesocosms even in the face of major shifts from diatom-dominated to dinoflagellate-dominated populations. On the other hand, the F_DCMU:Chl a relationship was significantly different between mesocosms and related to species composition. It was concluded that F offers the possibility of rapidly and accurately indexing both in-situ production and the photosynthetic capacity of mixed phytoplankton populations.This study was supported by EPA cooperative agreement 810265-03 and NOAA grant NA-83-ABD-00008     

Integration of biogas systems into a carbon zero and hydrogen economy: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The Ukraine conflict has put critical pressure on gas supplies and increased the price of fertilisers. As a consequence, biogas has gained remarkable attention as...     

Changes in pH as a measure of photosynthesis by marine macroalgae

An automatically operated method for high precision measurements of steady-state photosynthesis by macroalgae was developed. Changes in pH and oxygen content of seawater passing the algae in a flowthrough system, could be measured with extremely high accuracy over very long periods of time. The method is especially suitable for measurements on flowthrough systems with high rates of water exchanges (i.e. short retention time), and can be used to study exchange processes for marine plants, animals and small ecosystems. Since the same measuring unit is used for several flowthrough chambers, the method is very suitable for comparisons between different species, or between differently pretreated specimens of the same species (e.g. in toxicological studies). The method was used to study the ratio: [oxygen production] to [CO₂+H⁺ uptake] at different light intensities for several macroalgae belonging to different systematic groups and from different habitats. At lower photosynthetic rates this ratio was similar for all of the algae studied (1.17±0.02). For brown algae of the fucacean family, the ratio increased by 0.08 units at higher photosynthetic rates. This increase was thought to be related to the crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM)-like strategies connected to these algae. For all other algae studied, the ratio remained constant or decreased slightly (at most by 0.04 units) at higher photosynthetic rates. The relations between the abovementioned ratio and the photosynthetic quotient are discussed on a theoretical basis.     

The optimal extinction of a renewable natural resource

This paper examines conditions for extinction when the net benefits from a renewable resource are a nonlinear function of the harvest rate. As in the linear case, extinction depends on the size of the interest rate relative to the growth potential of the species. Here, however, the size of the initial resource stock is also crucial. It is shown that extinction is optimal if the interest rate is greater than the growth potential of the species, but only for small initial stocks. Indeed, if the initial stock is sufficiently high, extinction need not be optimal even if the interest rate is infinite.     

Research on low carbon management using a scientific classification method

This research is aimed at the rapid development of a low-carbon economy, in which we propose the classification and application of relevant management measures to affect the development of environmental management ideas and measures of the low-carbon economy, which we called as low carbon management measures. According to scientific analysis of the lowcarbon economy, we can divide low-carbon management measures into three parts: measures for reduction of carbon sources, carbon flow planning, and increase of carbon sinks. Furthermore, we list the advantages that China can utilize to develop its own low-carbon management measures. In the end, necessary adjustments to environmental management measures in China can be made according to this scientific classification.     

Risk assessment of coastal flood in a site of special scientific interest

The Canary Islands have a long coastline with varying levels of exposure to severe sea conditions. Frequent states of alert and emergency in some parts of their coastline are commonly related to the occurrence of extreme wave conditions. Among the phenomena directly driven by the waves when reaching the shore are the wave run-up and overtopping. Both the study of the flood level, including its variability, and the associated risks are key tools in the planning and management of coastal zones. The aim of this research is to examine the probability of occurrence of run-up events capable of exceeding different topographical levels, for estimating the risk level associated with flooding of the different areas in which the Boca Barranco Beach can be divided, in terms of their nature and use. This beach is located on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, and is part of the site of scientific interest of Jinámar. A large wave dataset is used as input to a high-resolution numerical model for propagating offshore wave conditions to shallow waters in the study area. Furthermore, the morphology of the study area is reproduced by combining different bathymetric databases. Finally, the probability of occurrence of different levels of run-up and the corresponding levels of consequences are assigned, to assess the flood risk in the different areas of the beach, which are presented in a risk map of flooding in the study area.     

A GIS-based model for rating natural protection areas according to natural protection priorities

There has been a major urban shift of population in Turkey over the last century. Most people lived in rural areas until 1960, but now more than half live in urban areas. This trend has continued over the last 20 years, as families moved further away from city centres to find houses in the country, and this has caused land use to change rapidly. In decision-making studies to protect nature areas, rating and assessment of ecological data by scientific verification is difficult due to the huge volume and diversity of data. Therefore, the search for the most suitable and applicable method to achieve physical planning based on ecological understanding has been sought. The necessity for numerous parameters to be taken into account has stimulated the use of geographic information systems (GIS). This study assesses the usefulness of a GIS-based model in the protected area of Kaynaklar County, to the south of the city of Izmir. Existing cultural and natural land-use types, as well as soil, hydrologic, geologic and geomorphologic data layers (future classes) were gathered from field observation and using Landsat and IKONOS satellite images, and transferred to a database according to GIS rules. Index values were determined by taking impact on attributes of natural protection as a priority and these were attached to each feature class. Layers of data were merged by spatial intersection methods and new polygons were created for both cultural and natural features. A three-grade final map of the study area was generated using total index values of each new polygon.     

Kinships in a natural meadow vole population

Summary We have devised a radionuclide technique that allows the assessment of matrilineal kinship by the transfer of unique combinations of gamma-emitting radionuclides from pregnant and lactating female meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) to their offspring. A pool of prospective fathers can be established from field records of reproductively active males that were alive at the time of conception of the female's litter. Electrophoresis of 6 proteins allowed us to eliminate genetically incompatible males from the prospective pool of fathers. A log-likelihood statistic provided an estimate of the probability of paternity. In the case of numerical ties physical proximity of the males to the mother at the time of conception was used. With these techniques, we established 40 kinships in a field population of meadow voles.     

The just rate of depletion of a natural resource

The optimal pricing and use of a natural resource is reconsidered with respect to intergenerational equity considerations. It is assumed that in a just economy, each generation chooses the plan that maximizes its own utility, subject to the constraint that the plan should not be exploitative in the sense that each generation does not take advantage of its earlier point in time with respect to future generations. It is shown that if the cost of production of an alternative energy source (e.g., solar) is sufficiently high relative to the stock of naturally stored energy, the constraints of justice result in a lower rate of energy use initially, but a higher rate later.