区域环境影响评价中水污染源分析

介绍几种水污染源的估算方法及其适用情况，通过实例分析了它们在区域环境影响评价中的应用。     

可持续发展与累积影响评价

阐述可持续发展概念与内涵，分析可持续发展要求下传统环境影响评价制度的弊端。累积影响评价在概念、目标与方法上与可持续发展一致，探讨了累积影响评价的特点与必要性。     

严格环境监管催生培育规范环境服务市场——烟台经济技术开发区环境服务业重点企业模式分析

“十一五”期间,作为率先建成国家生态工业示范园区的烟台经济技术开发区业已步入了环境服务业发展的成长期,且步入“十二五”开局之后,区内初步形成了五大环境服务业模式.其中主要以永旭环保为代表的污染治理设施运营合同环境服务模式,以鑫广绿环为龙头的废旧资源回收处置循环经济模式,以拉楷管理公司为示范的环境咨询服务模式,以海岳环境为代表的环境技术服务模式,以磁山温泉公园为代表的生态旅游模式.烟台开发区环境服务业重点企业发展模式分析表明,首先开发区政府承担推动环境服务业发展的引领责任,充分发挥催生培育规范市场经济配置资源的功能和作用,是全面打造和发展现代环境服务业的重要前提;其次,切实加强政府的环境监管力度,推动环境保护严格执法,严格环境准入,是促进区域环境服务业健康有序发展的不可或缺的催化剂;最后,进一步培育和扩大环境服务业市场,抓好环境服务体系建设,推动环境服务业转型升级,是落实科学发展观、推动经济发展方式绿色转型、实现国家“十二五”环境保护目标的必然选择.烟台开发区环境服务业的发展迎来了前所未有的产业升级转型的良好机遇.如何推动环境服务业加快其业态转型升级,催生培育规范环境服务业发展,是开发区政府以及区内重点企业的重要突破点和关键切入点.因此,下一步开发区应在做好环境服务业发展规划编制和开展环境服务绩效考核同时,将拓展完善环境服务市场,加快环境服务业转型升级,是“十二五”期间环境服务业发展的重要政策取向.     

金佛山岩溶生态环境特征及可持续发展策略研究

重庆金佛山岩溶生态环境是在独特的地质、气候、水文、土壤、生物等自然条件和人为条件的交互作用下形成。本文分析了金佛山岩溶生态环境的基本特征和存在的典型岩溶环境问题，以既有理论成果为依据，对今后金佛山的保护和开发提出了可持续发展策略。     

沈阳城市可持续发展水平的生态足迹分析

城市地域的可持续发展必须以生态的可持续发展为前提,而生态足迹计算模型可以通过比较人类对生态环境的影响程度与区域生态承栽力之间的平衡程度来衡量的生态可持续发展状态。本文在介绍生态足迹的理论和计算模型的基础之上,对沈阳市2002年的生态可持续发展状态进行了实例计算和分析,结果表明沈阳市2002年的人均生态赤字为1．21hm^2,其城市生态处于非可持续发展状态,城市发展正以消耗自身生态资源和转移生态压力作为代价。     

Contrasting community and corporate perceptions of sustainability: A case study within the platinum mining region of South Africa

The concept of sustainable development is debatable within the mining context as the fact that mineral resources are non-renewable makes mining inherently unsustainable. The need for a realistic definition of sustainability that can be applied to mining is important, in light of claims by the industry that sustainable development principles underpin aspects of their operations. Furthermore, the socio-economic upliftment that should logically follow the implementation of these principles is not visible in many mining areas. Within the theoretical frameworks of intermediate sustainability, our study aimed to determine the level of sustainability that is appropriate for the mining context. The evaluation of community perspectives within the Rustenburg platinum region in South Africa as a case study, based on qualitative information derived from structured questionnaires and informal interviews brings further clarity. We found out that the environmental and social costs associated with mining were high, while economic benefits to surrounding communities were low. The perceptions of community and corporations were found to contrast sharply: the reality experienced by community members fell well short of the optimistic scenarios presented in the corporate social responsibility reports of the mining companies, which has implications for the mining industry in the area. The Rustenburg region is typical of mining areas, more especially the developing world, and application of a realistic sustainable development concept here can help the mining industry elsewhere to move its operations onto a genuinely more sustainable path.     

Sustainable rangeland management using a multi-fuzzy model: how to deal with heterogeneous experts' knowledge

While fuzzy specialists commonly use homogeneous experts' knowledge to construct fuzzy models, it is much more difficult to deal with knowledge elicited from a heterogeneous group of experts. This issue is exemplified in the area of sustainable rangeland management (SRM). One way to deal with the diversity of opinions is to develop a fuzzy system for all experts and to combine all these, the so-called primary systems, into one multi-fuzzy model. To derive each of the primary fuzzy systems, several semi-structured interviews were held in three different areas of the Fars province in Southwest Iran using the knowledge of a group of administrative experts. To obtain the final output of the multi-fuzzy model, we applied different 'voting' methods. The first method simply uses the arithmetic average of the primary outputs as the final output of the multi-fuzzy model. This final output represents an estimation of the right rate of stocking (RRS). We also propose other (un)supervised voting methods. Most importantly, by harmonising the primary outputs such that outliers get less emphasis, we introduce an unsupervised voting method for calculating a weighted estimate of the RRS. This harmonising method is expected to provide a new useful tool for policymakers dealing with heterogenity in experts' opinions: it is especially useful where limited field data are available and one is forced to rely on experts' knowledge only. By constructing the three fuzzy models based on the elicitation of heterogeneous experts' knowledge, our study shows the multidimensional vaguenesses that exist in SRM. Finally, by comparing the final RRS with its common values, this study strongly points to the existence of overgrazing in pastures in the three regions of the Fars province in Southwest Iran.     

The financial and economic feasibility of rural household biodigesters for poor communities in South Africa

Given the persistence of systemic poverty in, most notably, the rural parts of South Africa, the question is whether the use of biodigesters as a source of energy offers potential solutions to some of the difficulties and development needs faced by people in these areas. At the core, this translates into whether this technology would be financially and economically feasible for installation and use by rural households. Here we conduct both a financial and an economic cost-benefit analysis in one such community based on survey data from 120 households. Analysis of these data and supporting literature reveals that a biodigester is not a financially feasible investment for a rural household. Substantial economic benefits are, however, found to make a biodigester a worthwhile investment from a broader societal perspective. This is a compelling argument for further study and the consideration of government support in the light of broader economy-wide benefits.     

Fire in the woods or fire in the boiler: Implementing rural district heating to reduce wildfire risks in the forest–urban interface

Many rural communities in British Columbia (western Canada) are at risk from wildfire. This risk will increase over time as a result of climate change because of higher average temperatures, longer growing seasons, and more intense droughts. On the other hand, these communities are also faced with rising fuel costs and a growing demand for heat as suburban population increases. The fact these communities are surrounded by forests presents an opportunity to combine community wildfire risk abatement with bioenergy development. Additional co-benefits include: (1) reduced community energy expenditures; (2) the creation of local jobs; (3) climate change mitigation; and (4) increased community energy security. Here, we present results from three pilot rural communities (Burns Lake, Invermere, and Sicamous, all of them in British Columbia) designed to evaluate the feasibility of wildfire risk abatement in conjunction with bioenergy production. Maps were created showing each community's forest–urban interface area with quantified estimates of its sustainable woody biomass resource potential under different management scenarios while monitoring ecosystem and soil health. The results and experience gained through this work has been synthesized in a calculator tool to help other communities make their own screening-level assessments. This calculator is a freely available on-line tool: FIRST Heat.     

Understanding the regional context of sustainable concrete in Asia: Case studies in Mongolia and Singapore

In order to improve the sustainability of the Asian concrete industry, it is important to understand the effect of regional context considering the widely varying socio-economic conditions present in Asia. This research in Mongolia and Singapore was conducted as a continuation of previous studies in Japan, Thailand and South Korea in order to further contribute to understanding regional context, particularly geographic, climate, and economic factors. Geography and climate were found to strongly affect the means by which durability should be assured in each country, as Singapore has a tropical climate whereas Mongolia experiences a large temperature variation with extremely cold winters. The ability to access construction materials and resources was also related to geography, as Singapore, while resource poor, is an international shipping center, whereas Mongolia has abundant resources but few access routes for imports. Quality control issues in Mongolia could be understood in the context of the lower level of economic development, whereas in Singapore the high level of development has lead to an emphasis on green construction, with the government taking the lead in implementing new systems and technologies.