Influence of short-term variations on energy-saving opportunities in a pulp mill

Significant opportunities for energy savings have been identified in the hot and warm water system of a kraft pulp mill. The energy-saving opportunities found at the mill studied, 15.7 MW of steam savings and 24.8 MW of usable excess heat, correspond to 18% of the mill's total steam use. Short-term variations in the process have been studied in order to identify and quantify the influence of these variations on the energy-saving opportunities. Daily and 10-min averages of measured data were used as varying input data in the retrofitted heat exchanger network. When the short-term variations were considered, the total energy-saving opportunities fell by 8% when daily averages are used and by 11% when 10-min averages are used. At least 65% of the influence of short-term variations was detected when seasonal variations are considered.     

Life cycle assessment of hydrotreated vegetable oil from rape,oil palm and Jatropha

A life cycle assessment of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) biofuel was performed. The study was commissioned by Volvo Technology Corporation and Volvo Penta Corporation as part of an effort to gain a better understanding of the environmental impact of potential future biobased liquid fuels for cars and trucks. The life cycle includes production of vegetable oil from rape, oil palm or Jatropha, transport of the oil to the production site, production of the HVO from the oil, and combustion of the HVO. The functional unit of the study is 1 kWh energy out from the engine of a heavy-duty truck and the environmental impact categories that are considered are global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP) and embedded fossil production energy. System expansion was used to take into account byproducts from activities in the systems; this choice was made partly to make this study comparable to results reported by other studies. The results show that HVO produced from palm oil combined with energy production from biogas produced from the palm oil mill effluent has the lowest environmental impact of the feedstocks investigated in this report. HVO has a significantly lower life cycle GWP than conventional diesel oil for all feedstocks investigated, and a GWP that is comparable to results for e.g. rape methyl ester reported in the literature. The results show that emissions from soil caused by microbial activities and leakage are the largest contributors to most environmental impact categories, which is supported also by other studies. Nitrous oxide emissions from soil account for more than half of the GWP of HVO. Nitrogen oxides and ammonia emissions from soil cause almost all of the life cycle EP of HVO and contribute significantly to the AP as well. The embedded fossil production energy was shown to be similar to results for e.g. rape methyl ester from other studies. A sensitivity analysis shows that variations in crop yield and in nitrous oxide emissions from microbial activities in soil can cause significant changes to the results.     

Release of Metals from Buildings,Constructions and Products during Atmospheric Exposure in Stockholm

This article presents results from investigations of run-off frommaterials used on buildings and other constructions obtained byshort term exposures of smaller model surfaces and one year exposures of larger materials surfaces on buildings and other constructions. Elevated concentrations of metals in run-off wereobserved for a wide range of different materials used on buildings and other constructions. Sources of metal emission tothe environment includes copper (Cu) surfaces, galvanized steel,impregnated wood, lead (Pb) surfaces, asphalt surfaces, paintedmaterial stainless steel and concrete. Metal emission rates fromsurfaces of copper and galvanized steel were measured from surfaces on buildings during 12 months exposure. The magnitude of metal emission form other surfaces was also estimated and theapplicability of these data for calculations of metal flows inan urban environment is discussed.     

Quantification of advective solute travel times and mass transport through hydrological catchments

This study has investigated and outlined the possible quantification and mapping of the distributions of advective solute travel times through hydrological catchments. These distributions are essential for understanding how local water flow and solute transport and attenuation processes affect the catchment-scale transport of solute, for instance with regard to biogeochemical cycling, contamination persistence and water quality. The spatial and statistical distributions of advective travel times have been quantified based on reported hydrological flow and mass-transport modeling results for two coastal Swedish catchments. The results show that the combined travel time distributions for the groundwater-stream network continuum in these catchments depend largely on the groundwater system and model representation, in particular regarding the spatial variability of groundwater hydraulic parameters (conductivity, porosity and gradient), and the possible contributions of slower/deeper groundwater flow components. Model assumptions about the spatial variability of groundwater hydraulic properties can thus greatly affect model results of catchment-scale solute spreading. The importance of advective travel time variability for the total mass delivery of naturally attenuated solute (tracer, nutrient, pollutant) from a catchment to its downstream water recipient depends on the product of catchment-average physical travel time and attenuation rate.     

Are Land Deals Unethical? The Ethics of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions in Developing Countries

Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics - Proponents of large-scale land acquisitions (LaSLA) argue that poor countries could benefit from foreign direct investment in land (World Bank...     

Determinants of noise annoyance in teachers from schools with different classroom reverberation times

A high proportion of school teachers report that they are disturbed by noise during teaching. The aim of the study was therefore to identify determinants of self-reported noise exposure and disturbance attributed to noise among secondary school teachers (n = 419) in 10 schools in Copenhagen, Denmark. The schools were selected to show contrasts in classroom reverberation times (RT), and were classified as “Short RT” (3 schools, mean RT 0.41–0.45 s), “Medium RT” (3 schools, mean RT 0.51–0.55 s) and “Long RT” (4 schools, mean RT 0.62–0.73 s). Significant determinants of self-reported noise exposure were a high number of children in the class, young age of the children, and low teacher seniority. “Long RT” classification was of borderline significance. Significant determinants of disturbance attributed to noise from children in the class were teacher seniority and “Long RT” acoustic classification of the school. The associations between work characteristics and noise disturbance measures were attenuated by low self-rated work capacity, suggesting that the consequences of noise and poor acoustics may not be limited to disturbance attributed to noise, but may have a wide negative impact on the perceived working environment.     

Threats of illegal,unregulated, and unreported fishing to biodiversity and food security in the Republic of the Congo

Illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing poses a major threat to effective management of marine resources, affecting biodiversity and communities dependent on these coastal resources. Spatiotemporal patterns of industrial fisheries in developing countries are often poorly understood, and global efforts to describe spatial patterns of fishing vessel activity are currently based on automatic identification system (AIS) data. However, AIS is often not a legal requirement on fishing vessels, likely resulting in underestimates of the scale and distribution of legal and illegal fishing activity, which could have significant ramifications for targeted enforcement efforts and the management of fisheries resources. To help address this knowledge gap, we analyzed 3 years of vessel monitoring system (VMS) data in partnership with the national fisheries department in the Republic of the Congo to describe the behavior of national and distant-water industrial fleets operating in these waters. We found that the spatial footprint of the industrial fisheries fleet encompassed over one-quarter of the Exclusive Economic Zone. On average, 73% of fishing activity took place on the continental shelf (waters shallower than 200 m). Our findings highlight that VMS is not acting as a deterrent or being effectively used as a proactive management tool. As much as 33% (13% on average) of fishing effort occurred in prohibited areas set aside to protect biodiversity, including artisanal fisheries resources, and the distant-water fleet responsible for as much as 84% of this illegal activity. Given the growth in industrial and distant-water fleets across the region, as well as low levels of management and enforcement, these findings highlight that there is an urgent need for the global community to help strengthen regional and national capacity to analyze national scale data sets if efforts to combat IUU fishing are to be effective.     

Risk Removed? Steps Towards Building Trust in Humanitarian Mine Action

This article examines the role of building trust in Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA). The role of trust following a mine-clearance operation is largely an unexplored region. Drawing on case studies from Angola, Mozambique and Afghanistan, the article explores how trust can be understood in the context of humanitarian initiatives such as landmine clearance, and outlines the challenges associated with building trust among populations with experience of armed conflict. Because trust is difficult to re-establish following a war, the argument presented here suggests that one way in which this can be done is through building relationships at the organisational and interpersonal levels. The analysis reviews specific measures that mine-action agencies have used to build trust, looking at the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. The analysis concludes by suggesting general guidelines for how mine-action practitioners can facilitate trust, and by outlining some promising avenues for future research.     

Giving a Voice to Posterity – Deliberative Democracy and Representation of Future People

The aim of this paper is to consider whether some seats in a democratically elected legislative assembly ought to be reserved for representatives of future generations. In order to examine this question, I will propose a new democratic model for representing posterity. It is argued that this model has several advantages compared with a model for the democratic representation of future people previously suggested by Andrew Dobson. Nevertheless, the democratic model that I propose confronts at least two difficult problems. First, it faces insoluble problems of representative legitimacy. Second, one might question whether this model provides a reasonably effective way to represent future interests compared with existing representative democratic institutions. Despite such problems, it is argued that political representation of posterity can be defended on the basis of fundamental ideas and ideals in recent theory of deliberative democracy. The first reason for this is that in a number of cases democratic decisions cannot be regarded as normatively legitimate from the point of view of deliberative democracy, unless posterity is given a voice. The second reason is that representation of posterity can contribute to more rational and impartial deliberations and decisions in legislative assemblies.