Democracy at its Best? The Consensus Conference in a Cross-national Perspective

Over recent decades, public participation in technology assessment has spread internationally as an attempt to overcome or prevent societal conflicts over controversial technologies. One outcome of this new surge in public consultation initiatives has been the increased use of participatory consensus conferences in a number of countries. Existing evaluations of consensus conferences tend to focus on the modes of organization, as well as the outcomes, both procedural and substantial, of the conferences they examine. Such evaluations seem to rest on the assumption that this type of procedure has universally agreed goals and meanings, and that therefore consensus conferences can readily be interpreted and applied across national boundaries. This article challenges this approach to consensus conferences. The core of the article is a study of national differences in ideas about what constitutes legitimate goals for participatory arrangements. The study looks at three consensus conferences on GMOs, which took place in France, Norway, and Denmark. Drawing on this study, the article discusses the ways in which interpretations of the concept of participation; the value attributed to lay knowledge vs. technical expertise; as well as ideas about the role of the layperson, are all questions that prompt entirely different answers from country to country. Further, the article analyses these national differences within a theoretical framework of notions of democratic legitimacy.     

Analysis of the recycling system for aluminum cans,focusing on collection,transportation, and the intermediate processing methods

In this article, the systems for the collection and intermediate processing of used beverage cans (UBCs) are compared and analyzed, focusing on the time taken and the cost of processing, the energy consumption, and the emissions of CO₂, SO _x , and NO _x , during the process. We found that cases where the UBCs were crushed in the discharging process gave better results, and how the UBCs were collected was the most important factor. It was more desirable to treat UBCs in one place than in two places. When the transportation distance was longer, the pressed form of UBCs was more convenient. When the transportation distance was short, the original form, the crushed form, and the shredded form of UBCs were all suitable. That is, the contribution of the transportation process to the evaluation was large when the transport distance was long, and the contribution of the treatment process was large when the transport distance was short.     

Use of Physical Sciences in Support of Environmental Management

Offshore drilling for oil and gas has been conducted since the early 1900s. Oil and gas under the seabed continue to be an important part of the energy resources of the United States. The need to balance the value of these resources against the potential for environmental damage is an important concern. This article explains why and how the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the US Department of the Interior uses research in physical sciences to help fulfill its environmental goals, and it provides background information on the role of physical sciences in decision-making for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil, gas, and other minerals development. Established in the 1970s, the MMS Environmental Studies Program is a highly focused marine research program designed to provide the environmental information necessary for OCS energy and nonenergy minerals planning and development activities. The physical sciences research supported by MMS includes physical oceanography, oil-spill risk analyses, atmospheric sciences, and sand and gravel studies. Instead of giving a comprehensive review on physical sciences research in MMS, this article presents sample MMS studies and illustrates how these studies are utilized to support decision-making in environmental management.Published online Note: This version was published online in June 2005 with the cover date of August 2004.     

NEW STRATEGIES FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA'S MOUNTAIN AREAS

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黄山地区野生蔬菜资源的开发利用

黄山地区野生蔬菜资源丰富，约有300多种，且蕴藏量大。对黄山地区野生蔬菜资源的利用状况进行了分析，并对其合理开发利用提出了建议，以期为黄山地区的生态旅游和经济发展提供参考。     

垃圾焚烧烟气中二恶英的形态及去除方法

本文对垃圾焚烧发电厂烟气中二恶英的形态、浓度分布及国内已投产并验收的企业的烟气排放数据进行了调查分析，并指出有效去除烟气中二恶英的措施有采用高效袋式除尘器和在袋式除尘器前喷加活性炭粉两种。     

对小型电解铝厂环境影响评价的探讨

小铝厂受经济、技术条件的限制,采用湿法、干法净化技术不合算。针对小铝厂生产排污的特点,以新疆兵团农五师艾比湖电解铝厂环境影响的评价为例,探讨采用自动打壳加料,密闭排烟,高空稀释排放的可行性。     

对深圳市重点农牧渔建设项目环保工作的综述及探讨

对深圳市重点农牧渔建设项目的环境保护工作进行了综述。结果表明 ,这些工作对有效地减轻项目的污染 ,最大可能地利用项目产出的各种废物 ,维护项目区生态环境的良性发展起到了重要的作用。文章同时结合深圳的具体实际对存在的一些问题进行了讨论 ,并提出了一些切实可行的建议。这些讨论对内地城市也有一定的参考意义。     

碳酸钡生产过程中废弃物的回收与利用

本文主要探讨BaCO_3生产过程中废弃物综合利用的途径