Possible use of Lingula sp. (Phylum Brachiopoda) as a dissemination strategy to promote sustainable development in Fangchenggang mangrove,China

The economic marketability of a brachiopod, Lingula was studied at three coastal mangrove sites, specifically based on socioeconomic parameters from 10 villages that utilized Lingula along Pearl Bay, Beilun Estuary Marine Nature Reserve, China. The significantly highest density of Lingula was at Jiao Dong (48.2 ± 35.14 individual/m²) whereas the biomass of Lingula was highest (0.76 ± 0.22 g/individual) at Gui Lao Bu. The shell size of the largest specimen was still less than that in other references. The socioeconomic study of the population related to Lingula involved a small group, and no relationship could be determined among the parameters of age range, education level, occupation, and financial status. The total economic value (320,927.4 Yuan) was based on the value of consumption whereas the value from sales was very low as recorded from Shan Xin over a three-month season. Analysis of the results to determine strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats was undertaken to identify the potential of Lingula sp. to be promoted and supported in the market as a novel source of income for the local community who are associated with mangrove resources; and also to examine its potential as a new food source for the rapidly growing population of China.     

A “measurable” definition of sustainable development based on closed cycles of resources and its application to energy systems

Human society consumes resources that it is not able to reproduce. Human activities are still based on “open cycles,” starting from a condition of natural environmental balance and reaching an environmental imbalance. The challenging scope of scientific and technological research towards sustainability appears clear if it is based on this analysis: to find development systems based on “closed cycles” of resources. The challenging objective of realizing closed cycles leads to a definition of sustainability that indicates the path to sustainable development, as well as stating the general principle. It also provides a key to the qualitative measurement of sustainability. This means that the sustainability level of a system can be measured by measuring its capacity to avoid the consumption of resources. Zero consumption is a necessary condition for sustainability, and brings about as a side effect the highly desired “zero-waste” result. Materials entering the proposed endless scheme pass through the process of usefulness without losing their capacity to feed the system again after being used. Thus, the concept of “consumption” itself is replaced by one of “use” when resources are inserted into closed loops capable of feeding human development. The application of the closed cycle sustainability criterion particularly displays its feasibility, and a theoretical guiding role, in the energy sector. Energy vectors such as hydrogen and electricity enable the closure of the energy resources loop by effectively approaching the objective of “zero consumption” (and the side result of “zero waste”) through already demonstrated technological solutions.     

Innovation for sustainable development: from environmental design to transition management

Society needs to adapt in order to provide the wealth that an increasing part of the world population is getting used to. We are on a track to ecological and resource collapse if actions are not taken soon. Technology will have to play a key role in the process of changing industrial society. But innovation has to be embedded in social and organizational innovation. We need sociotechnical change. Environmentally conscious design has been practiced in engineering design for more than a decade. Its merits are sometimes blamed as futile, as the world has not witnessed a significant contribution to the solution of the larger (global) problems. This paper first sketches a scheme of the various levels of technological change, ranging from: (1) incremental optimizations of single artifacts, to (2) major change of artifacts, (3) systems change, and (4) technological transitions (involving changes in production and consumption). It outlines the stakeholders involved in these types of innovations and the parties that could orchestrate the innovation process. In this paper, It is argued that the most encompassing level of technological innovation, the level of transition, is crucial for achieving long-term sustainable development, as it has the largest potential for improvement. However, transition is not very well manageable. The paper contains a review of the literature regarding the occurrence of technological transitions. After a transition has occurred, the new system is often not efficient. Its gains in terms of diminished resource consumption or pollution have to be enlarged by less encompassing innovation strategies, such as systems innovations and product optimization. Transitions for sustainable development are often impossible, as the new systems have to compete with fully developed and optimized systems that have far advanced at the learning curve, i.e., are optimized by various systems and incremental innovations. Less encompassing levels of innovation, even those that aim at more sustainability, can counteract transitions that have more potential for sustainable development by improving the competing (unsustainable) technology. The paper will give several examples of this dilemma and some guidelines for developing government policies as well as corporate strategies. On the policy level, it is argued that it is especially important to develop (scope for) market niches for new sustainable systems and products as they create scope for experiments that could lead to transitions.