Integrating industrial ecology principles into a set of environmental sustainability indicators for technology assessment

This paper focuses on the environmental component of sustainability of technology, taking into account the role of industrial ecology. Assessment of environmental sustainability of technology traditionally focuses on immediate impact of technology on the environment through quantifying resource extraction and generated emissions. However, technology does not only exchange materials with the environment but also with the industrial society as a whole, the so-called industrial metabolism. A higher compatibility of a specific technology with the industrial system, as studied in industrial ecology, can result in lower resource extraction and reduced waste emission, indirectly contributing to a better environmental sustainability.Starting from the considerations above and based on the second law of thermodynamics, the paper presents a set of five environmental sustainability indicators for the assessment of products and production pathways, integrating industrial ecology principles. The indicators, all scaled between 0 and 1, take into account: (1) renewability of resources; (2) toxicity of emissions; (3) input of used materials; (4) recoverability of products at the end of their use; (5) process efficiency.The applicability of the elaborated set of indicators is illustrated for different production pathways of alcohols (petrochemical and oleochemical based), polyethylene end-of-life options and electricity production from non-renewable (natural gas and fossil oil) and renewable resources (hydropower, photovoltaic conversion of solar irradiation).     

RIO GRANDE VALLEY,COLORADO, NEW MEXICO,AND TEXAS1

ABSTRACT: The Rio Grande Valley National Water-Quality Assessment study unit encompasses about 45,700 square miles in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas upstream from the gaging station Rio Grande at El Paso, Texas, and includes surface-water closed basins east of the Continental Divide in New Mexico, and the San Luis Closed Basin in Colorado. The mean annual precipitation ranges from less than 6 to more than 50 inches; potential evapo-transpiration ranges from less than 35 to more than 80 inches per year. Land use is mainly rangeland, forest land, and cropland. Total irrigated acreage in 1990 was about 914,000 acres and water use was about 3,410,000 acre-feet. Two structural settings are found in the study unit: alluvial basins and bedrock basins. The alluvial basins can have through-flowing surface water or be closed basins. The discussion of streamflow and water quality for the surface-water system is based on four river reaches for the 750 miles of the main stem. The quality of the ground water is affected by both natural process and human activities and by nonpoint and point sources. Nonpoint sources for surface water include agriculture, hydromodification, and mining operations; point sources are mainly discharge from wastewater treatment plants. Nonpoint sources for ground water include agriculture and septic tanks and cesspools; point sources include leaking underground storage tanks, unlined or manure-lined holding ponds used for disposal of dairy wastes, landfills, and mining operations.     

Mercury in sediments and vegetation in a moderately contaminated salt marsh (Tagus Estuary, Portugal)

Depth variations of total mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations were studied in cores from non-colonized sediments, sediments colonized by Halimione portulacoides, Sarcocornia fruticosa and Spartina maritima and belowground biomass, in a moderately contaminated salt marsh (Tagus Estuary, Portugal). Concentrations in belowground biomass exceeded up to 3 (Hg) and 15 (MeHg) times the levels in sediments, and up to 198 (Hg) and 308 (MeHg) times those found in aboveground parts. Methylmercury in colonized sediments reached 3% of the total Hg, 50 times above the maximum values found in non-colonized sediments. The absence of correlations between total Hg concentrations in sediments and the corresponding MeHg levels suggested that methylation was only dependent on the environmental and microbiological factors. The analysis of belowground biomass at high-depth resolution (2 cm) provided evidence that Hg and MeHg were actively absorbed from sediments, with higher enrichment factors at layers where higher microbial activity was probably occurring. The results obtained in this study indicated that the biotransformation of Hg to the toxic MeHg could increase the toxicity of plant-colonized sediments.     

Photocatalytic decomposition of mobile-source related pollutants using a continuous-flow reactor

This study evaluated the application of a continuous-flow photocatalytic reactor for the control of two mobile-derived pollutants, methyl-tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and naphthalene, present at in-vehicle levels. Variables tested for this study included the hydraulic diameter (HD), stream flow rate (SFR), relative humidity (RH), and feeding type (FT). The fixed parameters included contaminant concentration, ultraviolet light source, and the weight of TiO2. In all experimental conditions the adsorption proce...     

Integument coloration signals reproductive success,heterozygosity, and antioxidant levels in chick-rearing black-legged kittiwakes

Carotenoid pigments are important for immunity and as antioxidants, and carotenoid-based colors are believed to provide honest signals of individual quality. Other colorless but more efficient antioxidants such as vitamins A and E may protect carotenoids from bleaching. Carotenoid-based colors have thus recently been suggested to reflect the concentration of such colorless antioxidants, but this has rarely been tested. Furthermore, although evidence is accruing for multiple genetic criteria for mate choice, carotenoid-based colors have rarely been shown to reflect both phenotypic and genetic quality. In this study, we investigated whether gape, tongue, eye-ring, and bill coloration of chick-rearing black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla reflected circulating levels of carotenoids and vitamins A and E. We further investigated whether integument coloration reflected phenotypic (body condition and fledging success) and genetic quality (heterozygosity). We found that the coloration of fleshy integuments was correlated with carotenoid and vitamin A levels and fledging success but only in males. Furthermore, the coloration of tongue and eye-ring was correlated with heterozygosity in both males and females. Integument colors might therefore be reliable signals of individual quality used by birds to adjust their parental care during the chick-rearing period.     

Radionuclides from past uranium mining in rivers of Portugal

During several decades and until a few years ago, uranium mines were exploited in the Centre of Portugal and wastewaters from uranium ore milling facilities were discharged into river basins. To investigate enhancement of radioactivity in freshwater ecosystems, radionuclides of uranium and thorium series were measured in water, sediments, suspended matter, and fish samples from the rivers Vouga, D?o, Távora and Mondego. The results show that these rivers carry sediments with relatively high naturally occurring radioactivity, and display relatively high concentrations of radon dissolved in water, which is typical of a uranium rich region. Riverbed sediments show enhanced concentrations of radionuclides in the mid-section of the Mondego River, a sign of past wastewater discharges from mining and milling works at Urgeiri?a confirmed by the enhanced values of (238)U/(232)Th radionuclide ratios in sediments. Radionuclide concentrations in water, suspended matter and freshwater fish from that section of Mondego are also enhanced in comparison with concentrations measured in other rivers. Based on current radionuclide concentrations in fish, regular consumption of freshwater species by local populations would add 0.032 mSv a(-1) of dose equivalent (1%) to the average background radiation dose. Therefore, it is concluded that current levels of enhanced radioactivity do not pose a significant radiological risk either to aquatic fauna or to freshwater fish consumers.     

Northeast Arctic cod population persistence in the Lofoten-Barents Sea system under fishing.

Population growth, and hence the population's persistence, is affected by several factors such as climate, species interaction, and harvesting pressure. Proper resource management requires an understanding of these factors. We apply techniques based upon age-structured population matrices to analyze estimated stock sizes derived from annual bottom trawl sampling in the winter feeding area of northeast Arctic cod (Gadus morhua L.) from 1981 to 2003. We run generalized additive models to explain population growth rate by different explanatory variables. Cod population growth was found to be positively related to the abundance of capelin (Mallotus villosus Miller), negatively related to the number of cannibalistic cod with a two-year lag, and marginally positively related to the winter North Atlantic Oscillation index (NAO). This model remains true independently from the population status (i.e., fished or non-fished). Capelin abundance is the main variable that to some degree can be adjusted in order to maintain the population size at a given level of cod harvesting. Our results point to the importance of managing conjointly cod and capelin stocks.     

Are faecal hormone levels linked to winter progression,diet quality and social rank in young ungulates ? An experiment with white-tailed deer (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Odocoileus virginianus</Emphasis>) fawns

Hormones play a central role in the physiology and behaviour of animals. The recent development of noninvasive techniques has increased information on physical and social states of individuals through hormone measurements. The relationships among hormones, life history traits and behaviours are, however, still poorly known. For the first time, we evaluated natural winter glucocorticoid and testosterone levels in young ungulates in relation to winter progression, diet quality and social rank. Overwinter, levels of glucocorticoid and testosterone decreased, possibly due to the decline of fawns’ body mass. The relationships between hormone levels and diet quality were surprising: Fawns fed the control diet presented higher glucocorticoid and lower testosterone levels then fawns fed the poor diet, suggesting that control fawns faced a higher nutritional stress than those on the poor diet. Similarly to other studies on social mammals, we found no relationship between faecal glucocorticoid levels and social rank, suggesting that social stress was similar for dominant and subordinate fawns during winter. Testosterone levels were not correlated to social rank as found previously in groups of individuals forming stable social hierarchies and maintaining stable dominance relationships. The simultaneous suppression of glucocorticoid and testosterone levels suggests for the first time that young ungulates present a hormonal strategy to prevent fast depletion of limited proteins and fat resources during winter.     

Land cover along hiking trails in a nature tourism destination: the Azores as a case study

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Tourists have become increasingly interested in certain aspects of their destination, including landscape and biodiversity elements, thereby promoting...     

Mesoporous silica synthesized from natural local kaolin as an effective adsorbent for removing of Acid Red 337 and its application in the treatment of real industrial textile effluent

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This paper presents a synthesis of mesoporous silica (MS) from natural clay as a silica source using Pluronic L35 (EO11PO16EO11) as a...