Applications of the industrial ecology concept in a research project: Technology and Climate Change (CLIMTECH) Research in Finland

This contribution to the Journal of Cleaner Production special issue ‘Applications of Industrial Ecology’ is based upon an extensive literature review, which produced four criteria to characterise research on the concept of industrial ecology (IE). The criteria are (1) material and energy flows, (2) systems improvement, (3) systems adaptation and (4) change management. The criteria were analysed against the six subject areas of the Technology and Climate Change (CLIMTECH) Research Programme in Finland to identify the applications of the concept of industrial ecology. The results of the analysis contribute (a) to the debate on the characteristics of the emerging concept of IE, (b) show IE characteristics of a large Finnish research project in the field of climate change mitigation and (c) invite scholars in the field to study the observed unclear and fuzzy role of the concept of IE in practical research project work. Responses to this article are encouraged for publication in the future issues of Journal of Cleaner Production.     

环境变化背景下北极生物的多样性、分布及其适应性

生物个体是对气候变化和紫外线B(UV－B)辐射变化产生反应的基础,而且这种反应会在各种时间尺度上发生.北极地区的动物、植物以及微生物种类的多样性从表面上看是低的,而且从北方针叶林到极地荒漠逐渐减少,但其原始物种却很丰富.与这种物种多样性随纬向梯度减少的趋势相反,一些空间分布范围很广的单一优势物种的优势度则呈增长趋势.全球气候变暖可能会减少该地区的物种多样性,并限制到这些物种的分布范围,尤其是在该地区生物分布的北部边缘,一些极地特有的动物和植物种类会面临着灭绝的危险.最有可能侵入苔原地带的物种是那些目前生存在极地外缘的北方地区生物.许多植物都具有自身的特征使它们能够在以下环境中生存短暂的无冰雪覆盖的生长季节,低的太阳高度角,永久冻结地带及低的土壤温度,贫乏的养分获取条件以及极少的物理扰动.以上这些特征有些可能会限制当地物种对气候变暖的反应,但其最主要的因素是这些物种与那些潜在的入侵物种相比缺乏竞争能力.北极地区陆生动物拥有许多适应特性,这使它们能够适应北极地区剧烈的温度变化.许多动物通过冬眠或迁移来逃避极地地区的恶劣天气和资源短缺.北极地区动物生存的生物环境则相对简单几乎没有天敌、竞争者、疾病、寄生生物,但同时食物资源也很短缺.极地陆生动物可能对由气候变化带来的温暖而干旱的夏季非常不适应,这种变化将会影响到动物的迁移路线、途中栖息地,并会改变冬季积雪的状况和冻融的循环过程.气候变化还会改变动物繁殖和发育的季节,并会引来新的竞争者、捕食者、寄生生物以及疾病等.极地微生物也能很好地适应该地区的气候一些微生物甚至在-39℃的低温下还能进行代谢活动.蓝藻细菌和藻类生物有着很广泛的适应策略,这能够使它们避免(至少可以减少)紫外线的伤害.微生物能够忍受许多环境条件,而且其生长周期很短,这些特点将使它们能很快适应新的生存环境.与此形成对比的是,极地植物和动物很可能通过改变其分布范围而不是积极的生物进化来适应环境的变暖.     

采用过乙酸对化粪池及粪坑污水进行消毒

使用过乙酸处理私人住宅的化粪池及粪坑污水(1～2g/L),在污水中加入1g/L过乙酸不仅操作简便,而且发现肠道指示微生物被有效去除.仔细混合过乙酸和污水非常重要.冬季冻土、冰、雪不构成特别的问题.经过处理的污水臭味几乎全部消失.经过乙酸处理的污水倒入牲畜泥浆池时,在牲畜泥浆和污水的混合中仍然有卫生化作用.这种污水可以排放到农田土壤中,没有微生物污染地下水的危险.     

Nonparasitic Nematoda provide evidence for a linear response of functionally important soil biota to increasing livestock density

Soil acidity, nutrient availability and livestock density have a major influence on the belowground ecological community. As fast decomposition rates are due mostly to bacterial-based pathways and slower decomposition rates mostly to fungal-based pathways, it is helpful to condense empirical information in the so-called Nematode Channel Ratio (NCR). The NCR is shown to be a good indicator of efficiency in soil decomposition processes. We argue that in intensive agroecosystems, other fungivore members of the decomposer food web may outcompete the hyphal-feeding nematodes. We demonstrate how the NCR can be used to set ecological standards for sustainable use of the soil in agroecosystems. To summarize the interactions between the microbial resources and the decomposer nematofauna according to increasing land management, we propose the use of the fifth percentile as proxy for a sustainable environmental quality of grasslands on sandy soils, and the NCR mean as the upper threshold for low-stocked farms.     

The Effect of Traction Sanding on Urban Suspended Particles in Finland

Springtime urban road dust forms one of the most serious problems regarding air pollution in Finland. The composition and origin of springtime dust was studied in southern Finland with two different methods. Suspended particles (PM10 and TSP) were collected with high volume particle samplers and particle deposition was collected with moss bags. The composition of the PM(1.5-10) fraction was studied using individual particle analysis with SEM/EDX. The deposition in the moss bags was analysed with ICP-MS. The results showed that during the study period, approximately 10% of both PM(1.5-10) particles and the deposition originated from sanding. Other sources in the springtime PM(1.5-10) were e.g. asphalt aggregate or soil and combustion processes. It can be concluded that sanding produced a relatively small amount of particulate matter under the investigated circumstances.     

Assessing the impact of CO2 emission control scenarios in Finland on radiative forcing and greenhouse effect

Carbon dioxide emission reduction scenarios for Finland are compared with respect to the radiative forcing they cause (heating power due to the absorption of infrared radiation in the atmosphere). Calculations are made with the REFUGE system model using three carbon cycle models to obtain an uncertainity band for the development of the atmospheric concentration. The future emissions from the use of fossil fuels in Finland are described with three scenarios. In the reference scenario (business-as-usual), the emissions and the radiative forcing they cause would grow continuously. In the scenario of moderate emission reduction, the emissions would decrease annually by 1% from the first half of the next century. The radiative forcing would hardly decrease during the next century, however. In the scenario of strict emission reductions, the emissions are assumed to decrease annually by 3%, but the forcing would not decrease until approximately from the middle of the next century depending on the model used. Still, in the year 2100 the forcing would be considerably higher than the forcing in 1990. Due to the slow removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere by the oceans, it is difficult to reach a decreasing radiative forcing only by limiting fossil CO₂ emissions. The CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels in Finland contribute to the global emissions presently by about 0.2%. The relative contribution of Finnish CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels to the global forcing due to CO₂ emissions is presently somewhat less than 0.2% due to relatively smaller emissions in the past. The impact of the nonlinearity of both CO₂ removal from the atmosphere and of CO₂ absorption of infrared radiation on the results is discussed.     

Impact of unleaded gasoline introduction on the concentration of lead in the air of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Airborne particulate matter (APM) samples collected at a semiresidential area in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during the periods of 1994 and 1997-2000 have been studied to assess the impact of the use of unleaded gasoline in Bangladesh. According to scanning electron microscopy/ energy-dispersive X-ray microanalyzer studies, lead (Pb) was found as Pb sulfates and Pb halides in motor-vehicle exhaust particles, whose diameters were some hundreds of nanometers. No significant changes in the annual averages of APM mass and black carbon concentrations have been observed over the period. The yearly average Pb concentration reached a maximum value of 370 ng/m3 in the particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 microm fraction in 1998. In 2000, the concentration decreased to approximately one-third (106 ng/m3) of the high earlier values after the introduction of unleaded gasoline in 1999. A significant lowering of the blood Pb level of the population over next few years is expected as a result of this great decrease in Pb concentration.     

Organochlorine compounds in the liver of cod (Gadusmorhua) in the Northern Baltic

The livers of 53 female cod weighing about 2 kg, caught at three different sites off the Finnish coast, were analyzed for chlorinated hydrocarbons. The average concentrations of PCB-, DDT- and chlordane compounds varied from 2.3 to 5.3, 0.3 to 1.0 and 0.02 to 0.05 mg/kg, respectively.     

Nodularin concentrations in Baltic Sea zooplankton and fish during a cyanobacterial bloom

Toxic cyanobacterial blooms, dominated by Nodularia spumigena, are a recurrent phenomenon in the Baltic Sea during late summer. Nodularin, a potent hepatotoxin, has been previously observed to accumulate on different trophic levels, in zooplankton, mysid shrimps, fish as well as benthic organisms, even in waterfowl. While the largest concentrations of nodularin have been measured from the benthic organisms and the food web originating from them, the concentrations in the pelagic organisms are not negligible. The observations on concentrations in zooplankton and planktivorous fish are sporadic, however. A field study in the Gulf of Finland, northern Baltic Sea, was conducted during cyanobacterial bloom season where zooplankton (copepod Eurytemora affinis, cladoceran Pleopsis polyphemoides) and fish (herring, sprat, three-spined stickleback) samples for toxin analyses were collected from the same sampling areas, concurrently with phytoplankton community samples. N. spumigena was most abundant in the eastern Gulf of Finland. In this same sampling area, cladoceran P. polyphemoides contained more nodularin than in the other areas, suggesting that this species has a low capacity to avoid cyanobacterial exposure when the abundance of cyanobacterial filaments is high. In copepod E. affinis nodularin concentrations were high in all of the sampling areas, irrespective of the N. spumigena cell numbers. Furthermore, nodularin concentrations in herring samples were highest in the eastern Gulf of Finland. Three-spined stickleback contained the highest concentrations of nodularin of all the three fish species included in this study, probably because it prefers upper water layers where also the risk of nodularin accumulation in zooplankton is the highest. No linear relationship was found between N. spumigena abundance and nodularin concentration in zooplankton and fish, but in the eastern area where the most dense surface-floating bloom was observed, the nodularin concentrations in zooplankton were high. The maximum concentrations in zooplankton and fish samples in this study were higher than measured before, suggesting that the temporal variation of nodularin concentrations in pelagic communities can be large, and vary from negligible to potentially harmful.     

Static yields and quality issues: Is the agri-environment program the primary driver?

The Finnish agri-environmental program (AEP) has been in operation for 20 years with >90 % farmer commitment. This study aimed to establish whether reduced nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) use has impacted spring cereal yields and quality based on comprehensive follow-up studies and long-term experiments. We found that the gap between genetic yield potential and attained yield has increased after the AEP was imposed. However, many contemporary changes in agricultural practices, driven by changes in prices and farm subsidies, also including the AEP, were likely reasons, together with reduced N, but not phosphorus use. Such overall changes in crop management coincided with stagnation or decline in yields and adverse changes in quality, but yield-removed N increased and residual N decreased. Further studies are needed to assess whether all the changes are environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable, and acceptable, in the long run. The concept of sustainable intensification is worth considering as a means to develop northern European agricultural systems to combine environmental benefits with productivity.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0637-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.