资源型城市可持续发展能力的演变与调控

作为特殊的经济区，资源型城市的衰落与振兴日益成为社会关注的热点。本文从分析资源型城市可持续发展能力入手，论述了资源型城市发展能力的成长阶段及演变特征，提出了资源城市可持续发展能力调控的模式和途径。     

城市污水回用于农业的技术经济分析——以以色列农业灌溉为例

城市污水回用于农业是污水资源化的有效途径。论述了污水灌溉对农业和环境的影响 ,并以以色列为例对污水回用于农业进行了经济效益分析 ,同时介绍了决定用水组成、回用水质以及农作物的组成等的优化模型     

固硫生物型煤

研究出生物型煤的生产工艺流程,对型煤和生物型煤的固硫技术进行了研究,成功试验生产出固硫性能优良的生物型煤,为中国煤能源可持续发展利用开辟了新途径。     

Uncovering the evolution of tin use in the United States and its implications

• US tin use decreases as the GDP value added by manufacturing sector increases. • Global and China’s tin use increases as the GDP added by manufacturing increases. • A sigmoid curve can fit the US tin use data well. • US tin use patterns is not due to the finite tin reserves or resources. • Policies, substitutions, etc. play key roles in the changing tin use patterns. Tin is of key importance to daily life and national security; it is considered an essential industrial metal. The United States (US) is the world’s largest economy and consumer of natural resources. Therefore, the analysis of historical tin use in the US is helpful for understanding future tin use trends in the world as a whole and in developing countries. Time series analysis, regression analysis with GDP or GDP/capita, and historical data fitted with logistic and Gompertz models are employed in this study. Historical tin use in the US shows three stages—increase-constant-decrease, as GDP per capita has increased. Tin use in the US is negatively correlated with the GDP value added by the manufacturing sector, while the use of tin worldwide and in China continues to increase along with the GDP value added by the manufacturing sector. Although a sigmoid curve can fit the US tin use data well, that use is not directly related to the limited tin reserves or resources. Rather, policies, economic restructuring, substitutions, new end-use markets, etc. have played key roles in the changing tin use patterns. This work contributes to understanding future tin use at both the global and national levels: tin use will continue to increase with GDP at the global level, but use patterns of tin at the national level can be changed through human intervention.     

Principles and perspectives

BACKGROUND, AIM AND SCOPE: With respect to the enormous increase of chemical production in the last decades and the tens of thousands of individual chemicals on the market, the permanent improvement of chemical management is a permanent target to achieve the goals of sustainable consumption and production set by the WSSD in Johannesburg 2002. MAIN FEATURES: Several approaches exist to describe sustainability of chemistry. However, commonly agreed criteria are still missing. There is no doubt that products of modern chemistry help to achieve important goals of sustainability and that significant improvements have occurred regarding direct releases from production sites, but several facts demonstrate that chemistry is far from being sustainable. Still too many chemicals exhibit hazardous characteristics and pose a risk to health and environment. Too many resources are needed to produce chemicals and finished products. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Therefore, a strategy for sustainability of chemistry should be developed which comprises the following main elements: 1. Sustainable chemicals: sustainable chemical management includes a regulatory framework which makes no difference between new and existing chemicals, contains efficient information flow through the supply chain which allows users to handle chemicals safely and offers an authorisation procedure and/or an efficient restriction procedure for substances of high concern. This regulatory scheme should promote the development of inherently safe chemicals. 2. Sustainable chemical production: Sustainable chemical production needs the development and implementation of emerging alternative techniques like selective catalysis, biotechnology in order to release less CO2 and less toxic by-products, to save energy and to achieve higher yields. Information exchange on best available techniques (BAT) and best environmental practices (BEP) may help to promote changes towards more sustainability. 3. Sustainable products: An integrated product policy which provides a framework for sustainable products promotes the development of products with a long-term use phase, low resource demand in production and use, low emission of hazardous substances and properties suitable for reuse and recycling. This may be promoted by eco-labelling, chemical leasing concepts and extended information measures to enhance the demand of consumers and various actors in the supply chain for sustainable products. RECOMMENDATION AND PERSPECTIVE: Important tools for the promotion of sustainable chemistry are the abolition of barriers for innovation in legislation and within the chemical industry, more transparency for all users of chemical products, a new focus on sustainability in education and research, and a new way of thinking in terms of sustainability.     

An approach to evaluation of sustainability for Guangzhou's urban ecosystem

Guangzhou has ambitions to build itself into a world class metropolis by 2010. Sustainable development is the only way to achieve this magnificent goal. Based on the ecological perspective of sustainable development and the principles of ecosystem integrity, this paper develops an approach for evaluation of sustainable development in Guangzhou between 1986 and 1995. A hierarchical evaluation system of four tiers of sustainability indicators was established. Using the method of fuzzy multistage synthetic evaluation, sustainability development level index, QIx, was calculated for the indicators at the B, C, D, and E tiers. Development stages were identified based on these index values. The coordination degree among the economic, social, and natural subsystems was also computed. Further, an overall sustainability index for each year was computed by combining the development level index and the coordination degree. It was found that the urban ecosystem in Guangzhou had generally become more sustainable, in spite of fluctuations in coordination degree. The development level index of the economic subsystem has surpassed that of social and natural subsystems since 1995. Appropriate measures must be taken to ensure coordinated development among the subsystems for the purpose of sustainable development.     

A regional-scale sustainable development index: the case of Baja California Sur,Mexico

Sustainable development, as a multi-dimensional concept, is difficult to measure. Some efforts using indicators and indices have appeared in recent years, but most were developed on a national scale. Use of sustainability indicators has proven valuable for attaining better management of the environment by minimizing information gaps and maximizing community capabilities in terms of economic, social, environmental, and institutional sustainability dimensions. However, at least in the case of developing countries, the potential exists that national sustainability measures, based on national level indicators, may mask problems in sub-national zones with highly unsustainable conditions. This paper proposes a methodology to evaluate sustainable development at a local level, the use of which could be helpful in comparing different regions within a country or even among different countries. National sustainability indicators should result from a combination (whether additive or proportional) of regional sustainability indicators, as developed in this paper.     

Measuring and assessing indicators of sustainable development for Scotland: a pilot survey

In this paper, we review three broad classes of indicators of sustainable development. These are economic, ecological and sociopolitical indicators. We then report the results of a pilot study which measured five different indicators for Scotland: an approximate environmentally-adjusted Net National Product; the Pearce-Atkinson Measure; Net Primary Production; Appropriated Carrying Capacity; and the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare. We find that not all indicators point in the same direction, but a majority suggest that Scotland is at best only marginally sustainable. Data limitations, however, suggest a degree of caution in the interpretation of these results.     

Indicators of sustainability as a tool in agricultural development: partitioning scientific and participatory processes

SUMMARY

Sustainable indicators have become popular tools by which policymakers can assess progress towards a more sustainable agriculture. Varying approaches to defining sustainability lead to disagreement about the value of indicators and yet some form of measurement is required so that society can judge the effects of policy. Environmental and social problems and their causes span national boundaries. An international framework for assessing agricultural activities, their effects and the pressures that drive those activities is therefore required. However, a guiding principle of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development is that global problems require local action. Thus, indicators must provide information for policymakers as well as guidance for farmers and other practitioners. Many indicator programmes currently proposed do not provide this level of guidance as no evaluation as to what level of activity is sustainable has been agreed. A model is presented, to show how scientific and political or participatory approaches may be combined to meet the multiple objectives of involving people, maintaining scientific integrity and providing guidance for policymakers and practitioners alike.     

Book reviews and notices

The aim of sustainable development is to balance social, economic, and environmental needs. In order to justify the decisions they make, stakeholders must quantify the different impacts found in the operations and developments of companies and/or projects throughout their life cycle. However, as some areas are subjective in nature, the quantification process of the different impacts and the assessment of sustainable development performance become arduous tasks of development, validation, and application of scientific and empirical methods with the intrinsic objective of finding an agreement among the involved parties (i.e., stakeholders). Several environmental and sustainability assessment tools, instruments, processes, and methodologies have been developed; rating systems stand out and have gained attention and credibility, as demonstrated by the vast number of certified projects around the world and the widely-known usefulness and advantages of their application. The Wa-Pa-Su project sustainability rating system presents an integrated approach to sustainability assessment by integrating three distinctive areas of knowledge: (1) sustainable development theory and fundamentals supports the ultimate goal of the rating system, which is to contribute to sustainability, with the aim of finding a path to balance social, economic, and environmental needs; (2) continual performance improvement becomes essential due to the duration of the projects, as it is critical to allow organizations or projects to improve performance over time; and (3) multi-criteria decision analysis assists with the assessment process through stakeholder engagement and participation, and the design and implementation of a criteria weighting system.