A comparative assessment of waste incinerators in the UK

The uptake in Europe of Energy from Waste (EfW) incinerator plants has increased rapidly in recent years. In the UK, 25 municipal waste incinerators with energy recovery are now in operation; however, their waste supply chains and business practices vary significantly. With over a hundred more plant developments being considered it is important to establish best business practices for ensuring efficient environmental and operational performance. By reviewing the 25 plants we identify four suitable case study plants to compare technologies (moving grate, fluidised bed and rotary kiln), plant economics and operations. Using data collected from annual reports and through interviews and site visits we provide recommendations for improving the supply chain for waste incinerators and highlight the current issues and challenges faced by the industry. We find that plants using moving grate have a high availability of 87–92%. However, compared to the fluidised bed and rotary kiln, quantities of bottom ash and emissions of hydrogen chloride and carbon monoxide are high. The uptake of integrated recycling practices, combined heat and power, and post incineration non-ferrous metal collections needs to be increased among EfW incinerators in the UK. We conclude that one of the major difficulties encountered by waste facilities is the appropriate selection of technology, capacity, site, waste suppliers and heat consumers. This study will be of particular value to EfW plant developers, government authorities and researchers working within the sector of waste management.     

Suitability analysis for siting MSW landfills and its multicriteria spatial decision support system: Method,implementation and case study

Multicriteria spatial decision support systems (MC-SDSS) have emerged as an integration of geographical information systems (GIS) and multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods for incorporating conflicting objectives and decision makers’ (DMs’) preferences into spatial decision models. This article presents a raster-based MC-SDSS that combines the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and compromise programming methods, such as TOPSIS (technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution) and Ideal Point Methods. To the best of our knowledge it is the first time that a synergy of AHP and compromise programming methods is implemented in raster-driven GIS-based landfill suitability analysis. This procedure is supported by a spatial decision support system (SDSS) that was developed within a widely used commercial GIS software package. A real case study in the Thrace region in northeast Greece serves as a guide on how to conduct a suitability analysis for a MSW landfill site with the proposed MC-SDSS. Moreover, the procedure for identifying MSW disposal sites is accomplished by performing four computational models for synthesizing the DMs per criterion preferential system. Based on the case study results, a comparison analysis is performed according to suitability index estimations. According to them Euclidean distance metric and TOPSIS present strong similarities. When compared with Euclidean distance metric, TOPSIS seems to generate results closer to that derived by Manhattan distance metric. The comparison of Chebychev distance metric with all the other approaches revealed the greatest deviations.     

Testing the feasibility of a hypothetical whaling‐conservation permit market in Norway

A cap‐and‐trade system for managing whale harvests represents a potentially useful approach to resolve the current gridlock in international whale management. The establishment of whale permit markets, open to both whalers and conservationists, could reveal the strength of conservation demand, about which little is known. This lack of knowledge makes it difficult to predict the outcome of a hypothetical whale permit market. We developed a bioeconomic model to evaluate the influence of economic uncertainty about demand for whale conservation or harvest. We used simulations over a wide range of parameterizations of whaling and conservation demands to examine the potential ecological consequences of the establishment of a whale permit market in Norwegian waters under bounded (but substantial) economic uncertainty. Uncertainty variables were slope of whaling and conservation demand, participation level of conservationists and their willingness to pay for whale conservation, and functional forms of demand, including linear, quadratic, and log‐linear forms. A whale‐conservation market had the potential to yield a wide range of conservation and harvest outcomes, the most likely outcomes were those in which conservationists bought all whale permits.     

Threats to intact tropical peatlands and opportunities for their conservation

Large, intact areas of tropical peatland are highly threatened at a global scale by the expansion of commercial agriculture and other forms of economic development. Conserving peatlands on a landscape scale, with their hydrology intact, is of international conservation importance to preserve their distinctive biodiversity and ecosystem services and maintain their resilience to future environmental change. We explored threats to and opportunities for conserving remaining intact tropical peatlands; thus, we excluded peatlands of Indonesia and Malaysia, where extensive deforestation, drainage, and conversion to plantations means conservation in this region can protect only small fragments of the original ecosystem. We focused on a case study, the Pastaza‐Marañón Foreland Basin (PMFB) in Peru, which is among the largest known intact tropical peatland landscapes in the world and is representative of peatland vulnerability. Maintenance of the hydrological conditions critical for carbon storage and ecosystem function of peatlands is, in the PMFB, primarily threatened by expansion of commercial agriculture linked to new transport infrastructure that is facilitating access to remote areas. There remain opportunities in the PMFB and elsewhere to develop alternative, more sustainable land‐use practices. Although some of the peatlands in the PMFB fall within existing legally protected areas, this protection does not include the most carbon‐dense (domed pole forest) areas. New carbon‐based conservation instruments (e.g., REDD+, Green Climate Fund), developing markets for sustainable peatland products, transferring land title to local communities, and expanding protected areas offer pathways to increased protection for intact tropical peatlands in Amazonia and elsewhere, such as those in New Guinea and Central Africa which remain, for the moment, broadly beyond the frontier of commercial development.     

The response of sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) veligers to a weak thermocline in 9-m deep mesocosms

We examined the vertical distributions of scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) veligers in deep (0.6 m diameter, 9.5 m deep) polyethylene mesocosms from December 1991 to January 1992. In the mesocosms temperature stratification varied from 0 to 1.5 °C. Profiles of vertical distribution revealed several repeated patterns. Peaks in veliger numbers often appeared at the water surface and just above the thermocline. Higher density patches were seen below the surface peaks, and revealed the presence of bio-convective cells. Distribution away from these discontinuities was usually even. Distribution of veligers was affected by thermoclines above 1.0 °C. Responses to thermoclines varied with larval age and time of day, and 28 to 30 d veligers passed in both directions through a 1.5 °C thermocline. We conclude that larval behaviour is a major determinant of whether veligers pass through a thermocline. Kinematic viscosity may play a role in perception of temperature changes. Two potential consequences of such behaviour are (1) remaining in more productive upper water layers, where feeding opportunities are enhanced, and (2) increased horizontal transport in the region of the thermocline, which may enhance recruitment. Received: 15 May 1996 / Accepted: 11 May 2000     

Trace-metal detoxification in the ventral caeca of Orchestia gammarellus (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

The talitrid amphipod crustacean Orchestia gammarellus (Pallas) was collected from metal-contaminated (Dulas Bay, Gironde) and control (Millport) sites in the UK and France. Irrespective of site of origin, the amphipods showed the same physiological mechanism of trace-metal detoxification, involving the ventral caeca. Copper was always present in lysosomal residual bodies in the ventral caeca. Following laboratory exposure to zinc and cadmium, the lysosomes usually contained both copper and zinc but cadmium was not detectable. The lysosomal copper concentration is positively correlated to that of sulphur, while the concentration of lysosomal zinc is related to that of phosphorus. Results are interpreted in terms of the differential rates of turnover of metallothioneins chelating copper, zinc or cadmium. Received: 9 February 1999 / Accepted: 2 December 1999     

农作物保护产品安全与有效使用的管理

通过研究与开发,农作物保护工业开发了当在一体化农作物管理(ICM)框架内使用时会对可持续农业目标作出很大贡献的技术和方法.各成员公司采取措施,以确保开发与生产方法符合最高环境标准,并遵守所有层次的法规.农作物保护工业的管理项目力求确保农作物保护产品安全而有效地流通和使用,从而有利于农业生产,并对发达和发展中世界的环境保护作出贡献.