The pathway to a sustainable industrial society – initiative of the Research Institute for Sustainability Science (RISS) at Osaka University

While it is widely known that sustainable development is the only sound and viable pathway for humankind’s future, its attainment remains elusive despite intensive efforts and some successes. The current industrial society approach based on product and process innovation in a variety of fields is not providing the expected results in addressing this important issue. In an attempt to carry out this unavoidable task, Osaka University’s Research Institute for Sustainability Science (RISS) introduces an integral and dynamic innovation system where technology plays a key role in fulfilling societal functions. This innovation system adopts a highly solution-driven approach that makes use of backcasting techniques based on long-term visions and mid-term strategic goals. Since technology management is the key to propelling effective innovation towards sustainability, we propose a technology transition management through the interaction of technology push, demand pull and institutional design, along with eight transition principles. RISS will develop this innovation system based on these three components and through the design of dynamic scenarios and their roadmaps.     

Tourists and disasters: lessons from the 26 December 2004 tsunamis

The 26 December 2004 tsunamis around the Indian Ocean exposed the vulnerability of many coastal communities, including those serving tourists. To draw conclusions regarding disaster risk reduction for tourism in coastal areas, this study surveyed international tourists who survived the tsunami regarding their perceptions and experiences of the disaster. Semi-structured interviews were completed between January and June 2005 of 55 primary interviewees who were international tourists in locations affected by the tsunami. The qualitative data from the interviews yielded commonalities across four main themes with relevance to disaster risk reduction: information and awareness, warning systems, personal preparation, and livelihoods. Three areas are suggested as topics to highlight for further investigation: the connections between sustainable tourism and disaster vulnerability, the role of tourists in disasters, and disaster risk reduction education.     

Delineating high-density areas in spatial Poisson fields from strip-transect sampling using indicator geostatistics: application to unexploded ordnance removal

An approach for delineating high anomaly density areas within a mixture of two or more spatial Poisson fields based on limited sample data collected along strip transects was developed. All sampled anomalies were transformed to anomaly count data and indicator kriging was used to estimate the probability of exceeding a threshold value derived from the cdf of the background homogeneous Poisson field. The threshold value was determined so that the delineation of high-density areas was optimized. Additionally, a low-pass filter was applied to the transect data to enhance such segmentation. Example calculations were completed using a controlled military model site, in which accurate delineation of clusters of unexploded ordnance (UXO) was required for site cleanup.     

Studies on the dechlorination and oil-production technology of waste plastics

 Recycle technology for waste plastics containing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has been developed in the Hokkaido National Industrial Research Institute for the production of solid and liquid fuel, and has established a recycling process which includes a dechlorination process for PVC plastics, and a two-stage catalytic pyrolysis process for plastics using zeolite catalysts. The dechlorination equipment consists of a two-axis screw extruder with a heating element, which can remove chlorine up to 99.9 wt. % from PVC containing plastics as hydrogen chloride. The product had about 44 000 kJ/kg calorific value and was fed into the next oil production process, although it could also be used as a solid fuel. Natural and synthetic zeolite were used as catalysts for the two-stage catalytic process, which produced a light oil with a boiling point which was between those of kerosene and gasoline. The yield of this oil reached 82 wt. %. The chemical type was analyzed using liquid chromatography, and was found to have many aromatic compounds. These technologies make it possible to produce a nonpolluting, high-calorie solid fuel and a liquid fuel very efficiently. Received: July 19, 2000 / Accepted: September 21, 2000     

Convenient dioxin measuring method using an efficient sampling train, an efficient HPLC system and a highly sensitive HRGC/LRMS with a PTV injector

An efficient sampling method for dioxins from flue gas, an efficient automatic purification and fractionation method by a new HPLC system using a sulfuric acid-silica/silica column, a Nitro column and a PGC column, and sensitive determination method by an economical HRGC/LRMS using a programmable temperature vaporization (PTV) injector were developed. It was confirmed that the dioxins could be easily collected by the proposed simple sampling train consisting of only two bottles, and the extracted sample could be purified sufficiently and separated as mono-ortho PCBs, non-ortho PCBs and PCDDs/PCDFs completely with the proposed HPLC system. The peak areas of GC/MS were increased linearly with the injection volume up to 40 microl by the PTV technique, and the sensitivity could be increased to 20 times higher than usual. This convenient measuring method can drastically reduce operation time, consumption of hazardous solvent and cost.     

Mainstreaming climate change adaptation in least developed countries in South and Southeast Asia

This paper undertakes an in-depth analysis of six least developed countries (LDCs) in South and Southeast Asia to assess the extent of mainstreaming climate change adaptation into national development plans by reviewing their National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs), national development plans, and Strategic Programs for Climate Resilience (SPCRs) (where available). The paper proposes two perspectives to analyze the level of mainstreaming and five factors that may affect such a level. The results show that there is a significant difference in the success of their mainstreaming efforts: mainstreaming is relatively advanced in Bangladesh, limited in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Maldives, and Nepal, and still minimal in Bhutan and Cambodia. Among the factors, the study finds that the inter-ministerial coordination supported by the highest levels of government is most relevant to the success of mainstreaming, which is measured by the integration of climate adaptation consideration into development priorities and a country’s own initiatives, particularly those involving budget allocation. Recognition of the need for mainstreaming and monitoring and evaluation also affect the success of mainstreaming efforts in LDCs. Another important factor is to make adaptation plans compatible with national development plans in terms of their time horizon, and SPCRs effectively facilitate this process. As all countries still require external support for advancing mainstreaming, the role of development partners is instrumental. The paper points to issues that need to be incorporated in the relevant NAPAs including updating to facilitate mainstreaming.     

Applications of time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy to the environmental biogeochemistry of actinides

Time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) is a useful means of identifying certain actinide species resulting from various biogeochemical processes. In general, TRLFS differentiates chemical species of a fluorescent metal ion through analysis of different excitation and emission spectra and decay lifetimes. Although this spectroscopic technique has largely been applied to the analysis of actinide and lanthanide ions having fluorescence decay lifetimes on the order of microseconds, such as UO , Cm, and Eu, continuing development of ultra-fast and cryogenic TRLFS systems offers the possibility to obtain speciation information on metal ions having room-temperature fluorescence decay lifetimes on the order of nanoseconds to picoseconds. The main advantage of TRLFS over other advanced spectroscopic techniques is the ability to determine in situ metal speciation at environmentally relevant micromolar to picomolar concentrations. In the context of environmental biogeochemistry, TRLFS has principally been applied to studies of (i) metal speciation in aqueous and solid phases and (ii) the coordination environment of metal ions sorbed to mineral and bacterial surfaces. In this review, the principles of TRLFS are described, and the literature reporting the application of this methodology to the speciation of actinides in systems of biogeochemical interest is assessed. Significant developments in TRLFS methodology and advanced data analysis are highlighted, and we outline how these developments have the potential to further our mechanistic understanding of actinide biogeochemistry.     

Embryonic development assay with Daphnia magna: application to toxicity of aniline derivatives.

An assay system using Daphnia magna embryos was applied to investigate the adverse effects of aniline derivatives. The data were compared with our previous data for chlorophenols. This new assay provides useful information to evaluate the toxicity of chemicals and the differences in sensitivity between the life stages. The effects of 15 aniline derivatives on embryonic development of D. magna embryos were determined. At the start of exposure, 2-6-h old eggs (between stages 1 and 2, round in shape, diameter approx. 400 microm), were used. In control and solvent control groups, embryonic development from an egg to a free-swimming animal proceeded completely within 3 days with more than 90% hatchability. Median effective concentrations (EC50s) to reduce the numbers hatched were determined and gross morphological abnormalities of hatched animals recorded. Anilines induced no obvious morphological abnormalities and no developmental delay although premature deaths occurred. However, they affected the number of embryos hatching in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, this embryo assay was more sensitive to aniline derivatives (except for aniline) than acute juveniles immobilization assay. Ratios of 48-h EC50 (juvenile)/3-day EC50 (embryo) for eight anilines were greater than 5.0. Particularly, the ratios of 4-methyl-, 4-ethyl- and 3-methylaniline were 77, 23 and 11, respectively. EC50s for embryos and juveniles were poorly correlated (r = 0.41). This indicated that the sensitivities of the two life stages were different to the effects of anilines. EC50s were poorly correlated (r = -0.097) with the log Kow (1-octanol/water partition coefficient). These results were compared with previous results for phenols.