Effects of the green supply chain management practices on firm performance and sustainable development

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The idea of sustainable development and green supply chain management is considered at the underlying stage in the research and academic fields,...     

Modeling of BP Texas City refinery incident

This paper presents detailed modeling results of the BP Texas City refinery incident. Three different approaches and explosion modeling tools were used to study the event. The results predicted by all three approaches are similar and all approaches identified a hazard potential comparable to what was witnessed on March 23, 2005. This confirms that quantitative risk assessment (QRA) has the ability to model a realistic scenario, and is therefore useful in safety measure design and emergency preparedness decision making to improve overall safety performance. Had QRA been conducted during a management of change (MOC) decision-making process, personnel trailers likely would not have been sited in such close proximity to the process units. The resulting severe consequences would then not have occurred. This work also aims to emphasize the importance of QRA in process safety management.

The paper presents the authors’ perception of the sequence of events involved in the incident based on the published literature available at the time of writing. It also assesses potential consequences for the perceived sequence of events using a variety of consequence assessment tools. In doing so, the analysis illustrates how this incident could have been prevented in spite of many operational difficulties. The observations and commentary presented in this paper are intended solely for the purpose of process safety enhancement on the basis of the lessons learned. BP has published its own detailed report; the incident is also the subject of a recent investigation by the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, with the CSB's final report being available at http://www.csb.gov/index.cfm?folder=completed_investigations&page=info&INV_ID=52 (as of April 2007).     

Wind power planning in three Swedish municipalities

The aim of the paper is to compare the planning for wind power in three municipalities and analyze how it has influenced three important aspects of the wind power development: the siting of turbines, the ownership of turbines and citizen participation. The paper shows that the planning strategies of the municipalities differed considerably and that this in turn has led to differences in the development of wind power. A general conclusion is that there seems to be a dilemma in municipal planning between, on the one hand, the promotion of wind power and, on the other hand, the organization of a planning that effectively regulates the siting of turbines and allows for citizen participation. The results show that there is a need to support and strengthen municipal planning capacities, and efforts in that direction are being undertaken by state and regional authorities in Sweden. The results, however, also imply the need for stronger policy measures in order to avoid large differences between the way wind power is handled at the municipal level.     

Agricultural Development and Associated Environmental and Ethical Issues in South Asia

South Asia is one of the most densely populated regions of the world, where despite a slow growth, agriculture remains the backbone of rural economy as it employs one half to over 90 percent of the labor force. Both extensive and intensive policy measures for agriculture development to feed the massive population of the region have resulted in land degradation and desertification, water scarcity, pollution from agrochemicals, and loss of agricultural biodiversity. The social and ethical aspects portray even a grimmer picture of the region with growing poverty mainly, amongst small farmers, food scarcity, and overall poor quality of life. This article reviews the historical perspective of agriculture development in the region and gives a panoramic view of the policy initiatives and their environmental as well as social and ethical spin-offs. The aim is to explore the environmental and ethical dimensions of the agricultural development in South Asia and recommend a holistic approach in formulating plans and programs to combat environmental degradation, hunger, and poverty resulting from unsustainable agricultural practices.     

Genetic damage induced by lead chloride in different tissues of fresh water climbing perch Anabas testudineus (Bloch)

The present investigation was undertaken to study the induction of DNA damage by lead chloride (PbCl(2)) in freshwater climbing perch Anabas testudineus using alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay). Based on the LC(50) values of lead chloride of A. testudineus three different concentrations viz., 0.1, 1.0 and 2.0 mg/L were selected to expose fish. The DNA damage was observed in the gill, kidney and liver tissue as the percentage of DNA in comet tails and comet heads in the tissue of the exposed fish. DNA damage at different concentrations showed sensitivity to particular tissue. The liver tissue exhibited significantly (p < 0.01) higher DNA damage, followed by kidney and gill. However, the DNA damage was found to be dose dependent; at 2 mg/L of PbCl(2) the tail and head DNA of liver tissue were 57.84% and 39.49%, in kidney tissue the values were 52.36% and 44.97% whereas in gill tissue the values were 48.86% and 48.96% respectively. The current study explored the utility of the comet assay for in vivo laboratory studies using A. testudineus species for screening the genotoxic potential of lead chloride.     

Occurrence, finger printing and ecological risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Chenab River, Pakistan

Seventeen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were studied in surface waters (including particulate phase) from the Chenab River, Pakistan and ranged from 289-994 and 437-1290 ng l(-1) in summer and winter (2007-09), respectively. Concentrations for different ring-number PAHs followed the trend: 3-rings > 2-rings > 4-rings > 5-rings > 6-rings. The possible sources of PAHs are identified by calculating the indicative ratios; appropriating petrogenic sources of PAHs in urban and sub-urban regions with pyrogenic sources in agricultural region. Factor analysis based on principal component analysis identified the origins of PAHs from industrial activities, coal and trash burning in agricultural areas and municipal waste disposal from surrounding urban and sub-urban areas via open drains into the riverine ecosystem. Water quality guidelines and toxic equivalent factors highlighted the potential risk of low molecular weight PAHs to the aquatic life of the Chenab River. The flux estimated for PAHs contaminants from the Chenab River to the Indus River was >50 tons/year.     

Aerosol size distribution and mass concentration measurements in various cities of Pakistan

During March and April 2010 aerosol inventories from four large cities in Pakistan were assessed in terms of particle size distributions (N), mass (M) concentrations, and particulate matter (PM) concentrations. These M and PM concentrations were obtained for Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Peshawar from N concentrations using a native algorithm based on the Grimm model 1.109 dust monitor. The results have confirmed high N, M and PM concentrations in all four cities. They also revealed major contributions to the aerosol concentrations from the re-suspension of road dust, from sea salt aerosols, and from vehicular and industrial emissions. During the study period the 24 hour average PM(10) concentrations for three sites in Karachi were found to be 461 μg m(-3), 270 μg m(-3), and 88 μg m(-3), while the average values for Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar were 198 μg m(-3), 448 μg m(-3), and 540 μg m(-3), respectively. The corresponding 24 hour average PM(2.5) concentrations were 185 μg m(-3), 151 μg m(-3), and 60 μg m(-3) for the three sites in Karachi, and 91 μg m(-3), 140 μg m(-3), and 160 μg m(-3) for Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar, respectively. The low PM(2.5)/PM(10) ratios revealed a high proportion of coarser particles, which are likely to have originated from (a) traffic, (b) other combustion sources, and (c) the re-suspension of road dust. Our calculated 24 hour averaged PM(10) and PM(2.5) concentrations at all sampling points were between 2 and 10 times higher than the maximum PM concentrations recommended by the WHO guidelines. The aerosol samples collected were analyzed for crustal elements (Al, Fe, Si, Mg, Ca) and trace elements (B, Ba, Cr, Cu, K, Na, Mn, Ni, P, Pb, S, Sr, Cd, Ti, Zn and Zr). The averaged concentrations for crustal elements ranged from 1.02 ± 0.76 μg m(-3) for Si at the Sea View location in Karachi to 74.96 ± 7.39 μg m(-3) for Ca in Rawalpindi, and averaged concentrations for trace elements varied from 7.0 ± 0.75 ng m(-3) for B from the SUPARCO location in Karachi to 17.84 ± 0.30 μg m(-3) for Na at the M. A. Jinnah Road location, also in Karachi.     

Improvement of production of lipopeptide antibiotic iturin A using fish protein

To enhance the production of lipopeptide antibiotic iturin A, nutrient contents of the culture mediums were investigated in both submerged and biofilm fermentations. As a carbon source maltose and as nitrogen source, fish protein was used. In submerged fermentation maltose uptake was found lower (12%) compared to biofilm fermentation (15%) that was associated with higher cellular growth in biofilm. However, requirement of nitrogen (fish protein) concentration was found similar in both submerged and biofilm fermentations. Production of iturin A in submerged fermentation with 12% maltose and 5% fish protein was 4450 mg/L, and in biofilm fermentation it was 5050 mg/L when 15% maltose and 5% fish protein was used.     

Impact of the low and high concentrations of fly ash amended soil on growth,physiological response,and yield of pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duch. Ex Poiret L.)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Fly ash, a result of coal burning in thermal power plants, is sustainably used in agriculture and has been regarded as a problematic solid waste...