Sustainable Development and Environment: a Renewed Effort in the OECD

The importance of sustainable development has been clearly recognised by the OECD Council at Ministerial Level. The Communiqué of the 1998 Ministerial Meeting states that Ministers agreed that the achievement of sustainable development is a key priority for OECD countries. They encouraged the elaboration of the Organisation's strategy for wide-ranging efforts over the next three years in the areas of climate change, technological development, sustainability indicators, and the environmental impact of subsidies.... Further, Ministers asked the OECD to enhance its dialogue with non-member countries in these areas and to engage them more actively, including through shared analyses and development of strategies for implementing sustainable development (OECD, 1998d).To help countries achieve the transition to sustainable development, a framework is required for the integration of economic, environmental and social policy. This was the main recommendation of the report in November 1997 to the OECD Secretary-General, Donald J. Johnston, of the High-Level Advisory Group on the Environment (OECD, 1997b). The OECD and its affiliates (including the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), the Development Centre and the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT)) are well equipped with the broad, multidisciplinary expertise to assist Member governments in this task. Work on sustainable development encompasses the full range of activities of the Organisation: macro and micro-economic analysis; environmental policy; labour markets, education, health and social policies; agricultural and fisheries policies; energy policy; technology policy; regional, local and urban policies; and development co-operation. Activities with non-members add an essential global perspective. The challenge is to move beyond a sectoral approach to integrated policies, and to exploit potential synergies and interrelationships between this wide range of competencies. The aim is to move as far as possible towards the harmonisation and integration of policies within an overall economic framework.     

China as a new shaper of international development: the environmental implications

The emergence of China as a global player challenges the pre-existing dominance of the OECD countries and will continue to be a crucial force for global change in coming decades. The implications of China’s rise will be most significant for low- and middle-income countries, but the outcomes will also affect China’s relations with traditional donors and the understanding of the process of development. While these issues are increasingly explored at the political and economic level, very little analysis is available for the environmental impacts that China has on low- and middle-income countries. It is well understood that China plays a major role in relation to climate change, energy use and natural resource use at the global level; however, the perspective of China’s environmental impacts on low- and middle-income countries is underexplored. This Special Issue, therefore, elaborates the rise of China from the environmental perspective and assesses the impacts of China’s rise on low- and middle-income countries for international research, policy and practice in the field of environment and development. The findings draw on insights relevant for energy, water, forestry and land issues in Asia, Africa and Latin America.     

能源消费与环境污染的边限协整分析

能源的使用是导致环境恶化的主要原因之一,所以研究能源消费与不同污染物之间的关系就很有必要。本文以1985-2007年的年度数据为样本,建立了自回归分布滞后—误差修正模型,并运用边限检验对我国的能源消费与环境污染之间的关系进行了实证研究。研究结果表明:长期来看能源消费总量、煤炭占能源消费总量的比重和水电、核电、风电占能源消费总量的比重对SO2的排放有重要影响,但是对工业烟尘排放量来说只有水电、核电、风电占能源消费总量的比重的影响是显著的;短期来看煤炭占能源消费总量的比重对SO2排放的影响是显著的,能源消费总量和水电、核电、风电占能源消费总量的比重对工业烟尘的排放有显著影响。由于能源消费总量和结构对不同污染物的长期和短期影响存在较大差异,所以在治理时应区别对待。     

Exergy efficiency analysis of a refurbished dwelling: a case study in Ljubljana,Slovenia

Buildings contribute almost half of the world's carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Energy and water consumption are some of the largest and fastest growing pressures on the global environment. The use of energy is mainly attributed to the heating and cooling of buildings. The type of materials used in the construction of buildings plays a significant role in the life-cycle emissions of each dwelling. Changing the material use in the construction of an existing building and adding insulation could have a major impact on energy use and the environment of the building in its entire life cycle. This paper investigates the amount of exergy savings and the decrease in CO₂ emissions resulting from the refurbishing of an existing building in Ljubljana. This study results from the growing awareness that in the choice of building materials, the designer must consider not only the requirements of the owner and occupier of the building, but also the resulting energy savings, the resource base and the effects of the manufacturing and processing of building materials on the environment. The exergy efficiency of the material use is calculated and the environmental impact assessment of energy and material use is accounted for.     

省级政府环境政策制定过程的特征分析——以陕西和云南水土保持生态补偿政策为例

近年来,省级政府制定的环境政策逐渐增多。在数量繁多的各类问题中,省级政府的决策者如何能够充分认识到某个环境问题的重要性和紧迫性,将其置于优先考虑的位置,进而出台一项环境政策?与经济发展政策相比,省级政府制定环境政策的过程有何特征?本文通过研究两个案例来探讨这些问题的答案,一个案例是陕西省制定的水土保持生态补偿政策,另一个案例是云南省正在制定的类似政策。研究表明,在省级政府制定环境政策的过程中,政策倡导者往往不是省级政府决策者,而是省级政府中行政主管部门的领导。政策倡导者建立政策的途径是说服作为决策者的省级政府相关领导,进而使之批准政策出台。其说服方法是建立由相关部门和其他利益相关者组成的支持联盟,通过科学研究阐明问题的重要性、紧迫性以及和政府职能的相关性,并提出具有科学基础和立法基础的政策方案。这一过程既区别于中央政府制定环境政策的过程,又与省级政府制定经济政策的过程不同。     

The EU sustainable energy policy indicators framework

The article deals with indicators framework to monitor implementation of the main EU (European Union) directives and other policy documents targeting sustainable energy development. The main EU directives which have impact on sustainable energy development are directives promoting energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources, directives implementing greenhouse gas mitigation and atmospheric pollution reduction policies and other policy documents and strategies targeting energy sector. Promotion of use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency improvements are among priorities of EU energy policy because the use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency improvements has positive impact on energy security and climate change mitigation. The framework of indicators can be developed to establish the main targets set by EU energy and environmental policies allowing to connect indicators via chain of mutual impacts and to define policies and measures necessary to achieve established targets based on assessment of their impact on the targeted indicators representing sustainable energy development aims. The article discusses the application of indicators framework for EU sustainable energy policy analysis and presents the case study of this policy tool application for Baltic States. The article also discusses the use of biomass in Baltic States and future considerations in this field.     

全要素能源效率与环境污染关系研究

能源与环境问题已成为世界焦点,回顾文献发现,已有研究大多单独从能源或环境问题进行分析,对能源与环境特别是能源效率与环境污染之间关系的研究较少。能源效率与环境污染之间存在着密切的联系,对两者关系进行更为深入、全面的研究显得十分必要。本文首先利用DEA方法和环境污染治理成本法分别测算了我国1989-2007年的全要素能源效率和环境污染经济损失;在初步评判两者关系的基础上,进一步通过协整和ECM模型得到本文的结论:我国的全要素能源效率与环境污染经济损失之间存在长期均衡关系,前者是后者的Granger原因;同时,全要素能源效率的短期波动对于降低环境污染经济损失具有明显的作用,这种作用大于长期波动的影响。这意味着全要素能源效率的提高对减少环境污染具有重要作用,节能减排目标的实现离不开能源效率的作用。     

Analysis of building environment assessment frameworks and their implications for sustainability indicators

Green construction is gaining increasing attention in the global context. However, the construction of sustainable green buildings and environments involves different tools and systems and diverse perspectives. Therefore, the development of environmental assessment tools is an important task for managing green housing and green building projects. In this paper, we discuss the benefits, limitations, and future directions of the assessment framework. There are four characteristics of building environmental assessment, i.e., comprehensiveness, design guideline, signaling, and communication tools, which afford both benefits and limitations. We illustrate the role of the assessment framework as a hub promoting integration of diverse knowledge, as a design guideline encouraging better design and action, as signaling environmentally friendly design and action, and as a communication tool. On the other hand, there are limitations, such as the use of a mixture of quantitative and qualitative measures, ambiguity of weighing, lack of financial evaluation, and lack of involvement of diverse disciplines and stakeholders. To develop an effective assessment framework, the following three factors must be considered: knowledge, power, and implementation. We propose that knowledge innovation, a credible approach for a salient solution, and collective action represent the future challenges of the assessment framework.     

Practical consequences of the assessment of different energy health risks

Public authorities must make decisions about energy, and the risks of alternative strategies need to be calculated including health and environmental costs. Information from various sources must be organized into a logical framework for comparing impacts. This must include the widest practicable range of health and environmental damage — public-health impact of pollution, role of accidents, disease and hazardous materials in the workplace, and odds for catastrophes. It must put each part of the energy cycle into perspective-giving particular attention to uncertainties in knowledge - to convey what is known, what is uncertain, and the importance of each factor in the overall picture. This paper gives examples of the use of health-impact assessment by decisionmakers: (1) comparative risk assessment of the health effects of coal and nuclear fuel cycles used in nuclear power plant siting and licensing hearings, and (2) health risks of acid deposition and other air-transported pollutants, carried out as part of an assessment for the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment.     

Merging Duke Energy and Progress Energy: Online Public Discourse,Post-Fukushima Reactions,and the Absence of Environmental Communication

This article examines online discourse in 2011 surrounding the proposed Duke Energy and Progress Energy merger in the Carolinas. It explores how issues pertaining to the merger, including constructing new nuclear plants, are discussed in media coverage and by citizens using social media. Overall, we find that the merger discourse focuses on economic concerns rather than the environmental concerns we had anticipated. However, post-Fukushima discourse appears to have become more inclusive of environmental concerns. We conclude that environmental discussions and efforts are likely to be globally informed andlocally situated, discussing the implications for environmental communication research exploring online discourses, specifically through social media. Future research must address how to locate and delineate constellations of locally situated discourse to provide a clearer picture of environmentally focused social media communication.     

Toxicity assessment using different bioassays and microbial biosensors

Toxicity assessment of water streams, wastewater, and contaminated sediments, is a very important part of environmental pollution monitoring. Evaluation of biological effects using a rapid, sensitive and cost effective method can indicate specific information on ecotoxicity assessment. Recently, different biological assays for toxicity assessment based on higher and lower organisms such as fish, invertebrates, plants and algal cells, and microbial bioassays have been used. This review focuses on microbial biosensors as an analytical device for environmental, food, and biomedical applications. Different techniques which are commonly used in microbial biosensing include amperometry, potentiometry, conductometry, voltammetry, microbial fuel cells, fluorescence, bioluminescence, and colorimetry. Examples of the use of different microbial biosensors in assessing a variety of environments are summarized.     

An analytical investigation on energy efficiency of high-speed dry-cutting CNC hobbing machines

Abstract

Energy efficiency analysis has been recognised as an effective measure for the energy prediction, energy assessment and energy benchmarking in the machining system. However, study on energy efficiency of CNC hobbing machines, especially high-speed, dry-cutting CNC hobbing machines (HSDC-CHM), is still scarce. The energy consumption by HSDC-CHM is generally considered larger, and energy efficiency lower, than wet-cutting CNC hobbing machines (WC-CHM). Therefore, this paper summarises the investigation of energy efficiency of HSDC-CHM and establishes energy efficiency models of CNC hobbing machines. Energy efficiency of HSDC-CHM and WC-CHM are compared and analysed based on energy efficiency models established. Through the theory analysis, results show that, in the production line, although HSDC-CHM possess larger transient energy consumption, its energy efficiency is higher than energy efficiency of WC-CHM. Moreover, it is difficult to obtain quantitative energy efficiency of two types of hobbing machines due to massive relevant hard-to-acquire parameters using energy efficiency models; for this reason, experiments are performed to compare and analyse energy efficiency of HSDC-CHM and WC-CHM. The experiments results indicate that energy efficiency of HSDC-CHM is excellent and far higher than WC-CHM. The study results have a positive significance for the development and application of HSDC-CHM.     

长江中游防洪减灾系统可持续性评价研究

长江中下游平原地区是我国经济发达地区，也是我国洪涝灾害最严重地区之一，根据长江流域可持续发展要求，提出两个问题，一是长江中下游平原区要走可持续发展之路，如何使区内社会经济发展与洪涝灾害相协调，这属于地区可持续发展问题，二是防洪减灾系统能否持久地发挥作用，为社会经济可持续发展提供保障，即防洪减灾系统可持续性评价问题，首先讨论了防洪减灾系统可持续性评价的基本涵义，提出了可持续性评价的5个准则，即功能持久性，风险最低性，经济可行性，环境可承受性及社会可接受性，其次，以长江中游平原分蓄洪工程为例，提出了相应的评价指标体系；最后，选择有效蓄洪量，蓄洪面积，围堤长度，耕地面积，区内人口，区内安全台面积等为指标，建立了分蓄洪工程可持续性评价模型－均衡规划模型，并进行了实例分析探讨。     

Climate Change and Energy Technologies in Undergraduate Introductory Science Textbooks

Global climate change and the implementation of energy technologies are among the most pressing issues facing society and the environment today. Related educational content spans the science disciplines. Through an analysis of introductory-level university textbooks from four major US publishers in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, this study presents trends in terminology and content. As the defining terms, “global warming” and “climate change” are used nearly equally. However, the first location of a working definition for climate change appears earlier. Energy technologies, climate change, and related environmental issues are found, on average, on ≤4% of textbook pages, and variation is large among individual textbooks. Discipline-based trends exist, especially for the energy technologies presented. Addressed separately as a non-renewable, non-fossil fuel, nuclear energy is found on ≤1% of textbook pages and unfavorably represented. The discussion within these science disciplines has implications on introductory-level education, public perception of science, and informed citizenship.     

Design for environment as a tool for the development of a sustainable supply chain

In this work, design for environment (DfE) methodologies have been used as a tool for the development of a more sustainable supply chain. In particular by combining life‐cycle assessment (LCA) techniques and by using the quality function deployment (QFD) multi‐criteria matrices, an ‘environmental compromise’ can be reached. In this work, the QFD matrices have been developed in a new way using an iterative process that involves the whole supply chain starting from the product life‐cycle, taking into consideration the machines that make the product and their components. This methodology is compatible with the requirements of the various stakeholders, suppliers, manufacturers and clients, involved in the supply chain. To assess the validity of the proposed approach a specific supply chain was studied concerning packaging systems for liquid food substances (beverage cartons). Firstly all the stages which are most critical from the environmental point of view in the supply chain of packaging systems were identified and assessed. The starting point for the analysis of environmental aspects and impacts which characterise the supply chain was LCA, which proved to be useful for the identification and the environmental assessment of the various stages in a packaging system. Through the use of ‘iterative QFD’ it is possible to arrive at a definition of the engineering characteristics of all the machinery which is involved in the supply chain. In particular in this work the authors have tried to identify the critical points in the design of those machines which either make the beverage cartons or are involved in the filling process.     

Environmental implications of planned obsolescence and product lifetime: a literature review

The aim of this paper was to explore the implications of planned obsolescence (PO) and the associated product lifetime on the environmental impact of products. To achieve this task, a literature review was performed to assess both the historical context and recent situation of planned obsolescence. A search in scholarly journals was performed to evaluate to what extent product lifetime and PO have been discussed in the recent literature. Based on the findings, selected cases of PO are discussed and trends in the practice of limiting product lifetime are identified. Factors considered to have a significant influence on product lifetime have been identified and discussed. The discussion of case studies made it possible to establish the links between product design, manufacturing and associated impacts of lifetime. The role of the actors along the value chain is also considered to propose a business scheme, where the influences of consumer behaviour and design choices are crucial. Finally, strategies to facilitate the definition of different scenarios are given. These strategies may serve to increase the reliability of environmental assessment throughout a product life cycle.     

Towards a sustainable energy future—exploring current barriers and potential solutions in Thailand

Renewable energy is considered an indispensable basis of sustainable energy systems as electricity generation from renewable sources results in low emissions of greenhouse gases compared to fossil fuel based electricity and contributes to sustainable development. However, effective strategies and conducive institutional settings are needed for advancement of such clean electricity systems. Although Thailand, as a nation, has a huge potential for renewable energy utilization, its total amount of electricity generation from renewables is relatively small and could be enlarged substantially. Lack of policy mechanisms, institutional development and financing exist as major barriers for Thailand in this regard. Investigation of the nation’s current energy strategy implementation shows that relevant energy and development policies are at different stages of implementation and institutional settings are continuously evolving. This paper argues that further significant efforts could be made towards advancement of renewable electricity and thus achievement of energy sustainability in Thailand. Resource planning, effective policy and institutions, focussed planning for energy sustainability and implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol could facilitate further advancement of renewables for the nation.     

Economic water management decisions: trade-offs between conflicting objectives in the sub-middle region of the São Francisco watershed

Hydro-economic models can measure the economic effects of different reservoir operating rules, environmental restrictions, maintenance of ecosystems, technical constraints, institutional constraints, land use change, and climate change. To determine the optimal economic water allocation, for its main uses in the sub-middle of the São Francisco River Basin, a hydro-economic optimization model was developed and applied. Demand curves were used rather than fixed requirements for water resources. The results show that operation rules of reservoirs and institutional constraints, such as priorities for human consumption, have high impacts on costs and benefits of the principal economic uses in the study area. Especially, costs of environmental demands, like minimum ecological river flow, have high impacts on the water resource management. Scarcity costs of irrigation users associated with maintaining ecosystems and environmental constraints are particularly significant. The results from this study provide a better understanding of the water trade-offs for future policymaking and efficient water management. Policymaking for the water resources should consider the food-water-energy-environment nexus at a regional scale to minimize environmental and economic cost under water scarcity and land use change.     

Computerised Decision Support Systems for the management of freshwater radioecological emergencies: assessment of the state-of-the-art with respect to the experiences and needs of end-users

Assessment of the environmental and radiological consequences of a nuclear accident requires the management of a great deal of data and information as well as the use of predictive models. Computerised Decision Support Systems (CDSS) are essential tools for this kind of complex assessment and for assisting experts with a rational decision process. The present work focuses on the assessment of the main features of selected state-of-the-art CDSS for off-site management of freshwater ecosystems contaminated by radionuclides. This study involved both developers and end-users of the assessed CDSS and was based on practical customisation exercises, installation and application of the decision systems. Potential end-users can benefit from the availability of several ready-to-use CDSS that allow one to run different kinds of models aimed at predicting the behaviour of radionuclides in aquatic ecosystems, evaluating doses to humans, assessing the effectiveness of different kinds of environmental management interventions and ranking these interventions, accounting for their social, economic and environmental impacts. As a result of the present assessment, the importance of CDSS “integration” became apparent: in many circumstances, different CDSS can be used as complementary tools for the decision-making process. The results of this assessment can also be useful for the future development and improvement of the CDSS.     

分布式能量系统在我国未来20年能源发展战略中的地位

为了使分布式能量系统（Distributed Energy System,简称DES）在我国更好地发展，本文从我国未来20年的能源发展战略出发，介绍了我国能源发展中依然存在的矛盾和问题，并通过对分布式能量系统组成、特点的研究，认为目前正是分布式能量系统发展的良好机遇：通过对分布式能量系统利用方式的研究，指出了分布式能量系统将在我国未来20年能源发展战略中的地位以及需要解决的相关问题。