Analysis of underlying causes of investigated loss of containment incidents in Dutch Seveso plants using the Storybuilder method

In the Netherlands there are around 400 “Seveso” sites that fall under the Dutch Major Hazards Decree (BRZO) 1999. Between 2006 and 2010 the Dutch Labour Inspectorate's Directorate for Major Hazard Control completed investigations of 118 loss of containment incidents involving hazardous substances from this group. On the basis of investigation reports the incidents were entered in a tailor-made tool called Storybuilder developed for the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment for identifying the dominant patterns of technical safety barrier failures, barrier task failures and underlying management causes associated with the resulting loss of control events. The model is a bow-tie structure with six lines of defence, three on either side of the central loss of containment event. In the first line of defence, failures in the safety barriers leading to loss of control events were primarily equipment condition failures, pre start-up and safeguarding failures and process deviations such as pressure and flow failures. These deviations, which should have been recovered while still within the safe envelope of operation, were missed primarily because of inadequate indication signals that the deviations have occurred. Through failures of subsequent lines of defence they are developing into serious incidents. Overall, task failures are principally failures to provide adequate technical safety barriers and failures to operate provided barriers appropriately. Underlying management delivery failures were mainly found in equipment specifications and provisions, procedures and competence. The competence delivery system is especially important for identifying equipment condition, equipment isolation for maintenance, pre-start-up status and process deviations. Human errors associated with operating barriers were identified in fifty per cent of cases, were mostly mistakes and feature primarily in failure to prevent deviations and subsequently recover them. Loss of control associated with loss of containment was primarily due to the containment being bypassed (72% of incidents) and less to material strength failures (28%). Transfer pipework, connections in process plant and relief valves are the most frequent release points and the dominant release material is extremely flammable. It is concluded that the analysis of a large number of incidents in Storybuilder can support the quantification of underlying causes and provide evidence of where the weak points exist in major hazard control in the prevention of major accidents.     

Success factors and barriers in re-use of electrical and electronic equipment

This paper aims to identify specific and generic success factors and barriers in the re-use of electrical and electronic equipment for a variety of different operating models. The scope of the study is information and communication technologies (ICT) and large household appliances. Success factors and barriers for re-use were identified through the conducting of semi-structured interviews with 28 case study partners representing the different models. A list of generic success factors and barriers was identified. From this generic list, the re-use success factors and barriers were ranked by the interviewees with regards to their importance. On the one hand, the difficulty in accessing sufficient volumes of good quality used equipment and the lack of legislations, which support, incentivize and – if necessary – enforce this access, were identified as most impactful barriers. On the other hand, the control and securing of product and process quality were ranked as most important success factors. Re-use organisations, which adhere to good re-use practices, differentiate themselves through quality guarantee from non-compliant, informal competitors. Moreover, proven quality strengthens confidence in re-use of important stakeholders like suppliers, customers, authorities and the general public. Differences in reuse barriers and success factors were also explored for varying geographical regions, product category and operating models.     

Retrofitting residential building envelopes for energy efficiency: motivations of individual homeowners in Israel

The willingness of private individuals in Israel to invest in energy-saving retrofit of the envelope of residential buildings was studied by means of a survey. Responses show that awareness of the need to conserve energy is high, but that willingness to participate in a retrofit project is modest and is limited to relatively small outlays. The decision on whether to retrofit at all, and then how much to invest in the project, is characterized as a two-stage process in which different factors may affect the outcome of each of the two stages. The major barrier to building retrofit is the perception (justified, in most cases) that the direct economic benefit to the homeowner from the resulting energy saving is small, and that given Israel's relatively mild climate, the payback period is very long. The stamp of approval provided by a government subsidy of 25% would have a large non-proportional effect on willingness to undertake building retrofit. Funding for the subsidy could be obtained from a Pigovian levy on electricity, applied for a limited period, and its environmental benefits outweigh the cost of the subsidy itself.     

A Global Model Tracking Water, Nitrogen, and Land Inputs and Virtual Transfers from Industrialized Meat Production and Trade

Rising populations and incomes throughout the world have boosted meat demand by over 75% in the last 20years, intensifying pressures on production systems and the natural resources to which they are linked. As a growing proportion of global meat production is traded, the environmental impacts of production become increasingly separated from where the meat is consumed. In this paper, we quantify the use of three important resources associated with industrial livestock production and trade—water, land, and nitrogen—using a country-specific model that combines trade, agronomic, biogeochemical, and hydrological data. Our model focuses on pigs and chickens, as these animals are raised predominantly in intensive systems using concentrated, compound feeds. The results describe the geographical patterns of environmental resource use due to meat production, trade, and consumption. We show that US feed, animal, and meat destined for export require almost as much nitrogen and land, and 20% more water, than products destined for domestic consumption. Model results also demonstrate that among various production factors, improvements in crop yields and animal feed conversion efficiencies result in the most significant reductions in environmental harm. By explicitly tracking the externalities of meat production, we hope to bolster suppliers’ accountability and provide better information to meat consumers.

The new regime for managing US—Mexican water resources

United States-Mexican transboundary water resources management is presently experiencing significant reform resulting from long-term demographic processes in the border region and greater economic integration. The recently concluded North American Free Trade Agreement and supplementary environmental accord modify existing agreements and provide old institution with new mandates. Particularly affected is the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), long the lead agency in binational water management. This essay reviews the development of the new water management regime against the two preceding phases of management reform and considers its implications for improved water management in the border region.     

Boosting large-scale river connectivity restoration by planning for the presence of unrecorded barriers

Conservation decisions are invariably made with incomplete data on species’ distributions, habitats, and threats, but frameworks for allocating conservation investments rarely account for missing data. We examined how explicit consideration of missing data can boost return on investment in ecosystem restoration, focusing on the challenge of restoring aquatic ecosystem connectivity by removing dams and road crossings from rivers. A novel way of integrating the presence of unmapped barriers into a barrier optimization model was developed and applied to the U.S. state of Maine to maximize expected habitat gain for migratory fish. Failing to account for unmapped barriers during prioritization led to nearly 50% lower habitat gain than was anticipated using a conventional barrier optimization approach. Explicitly acknowledging that data are incomplete during project selection, however, boosted expected habitat gains by 20–273% on average, depending on the true number of unmapped barriers. Importantly, these gains occurred without additional data. Simply acknowledging that some barriers were unmapped, regardless of their precise number and location, improved conservation outcomes. Given incomplete data on ecosystems worldwide, our results demonstrate the value of accounting for data shortcomings during project selection.     

WTO规则对西部开发的影响、风险及机遇浅析

随着中国加入WTO和西部大开发战略的实施 ,依法治国无疑是改善投资环境、促进西部开发的最有效手段之一。本文根据WTO基本原则与法制经济的相互关系和影响深入浅出地论述了WTO对西部开发的影响、风险及机遇 ,并提出了针对性的策略     

北美自由贸易区和欧盟的区域性环境政策浅析

环境因素逐渐成为影响全球和各国经济的重要因素，以北自由贸易区和欧盟为代表的区域性经济集团在环境态度及政策取向上已日趋一致，在对这２个区域性经济集团的环境制度性安排的特点进行分析后，探讨了在未来可持续增长模式下，世界环境政策发展的趋势；同时也分析了我国应积极采取的对策。     

The vulnerability and resilience of small island developing states in the context of globalization

In spite of the wide diversity in the economic performance of small island developing states (SIDS), the apparent prosperity of several SIDS has entailed a global misrepresentation of the economic situation of these countries. While their vulnerability to natural disasters is not denied, the general risk of economic marginalization that many SIDS face in the context of globalization may not have received sufficient attention. The paper attempts to highlight what matters most in the consideration of the economic vulnerability of SIDS and in the debate to prevent their marginalization. It examines the main types of external shocks to which SIDS are vulnerable, and discusses the economic handicaps that are fundamental causes of this vulnerability. Economic specialization (with the predominance of international trade in services) is then a central notion in the analysis of island vulnerability: a better specialization, which may involve diversification and always implies greater international competitiveness, can reduce the exposure or vulnerability of SIDS to external shocks, and induce greater economic stability in these countries. Hence the importance of developing policies to circumvent the specific handicaps of islands and facilitate the realization of new trading opportunities through an emulative use of globalization forces.