Will Limits of the Earth's Resources Control Human Numbers?

The current world population is 6 billion people. Even if we adopted a worldwide policy resulting in only 2.1 children born per couple, more than 60 years would pass before the world population stabilized at approximately 12 billion. The reason stabilization would take more than 60 years is the population momentum – the young age distribution – of the world population. Natural resources are already severely limited, and there is emerging evidence that natural forces already starting to control human population numbers through malnutrition and other severe diseases. At present, more than 3 billion people worldwide are malnourished; grain production per capita has been declining since 1983; irrigation per capita has declined 12% during the past decade; cropland per capita has declined 20% during the past decade; fish production per capita has declined 7% during the past decade; per capita fertilizer supplies essential for food production have declined 23% during the past decade; loss of food to pests has not decreased below 50% since 1990; and pollution of water, air, and land has increased, resulting in a rapid increase in the number of humans suffering from serious, pollution-related diseases. Clearly, human numbers cannot continue to increase.     

Sustainable Agriculture: New Paradigms and Old Practices? Increased Production with Management of Organic Inputs in Senegal

Farmers in Sahelian countries are confronted with a variety of soil fertility and management problems. During the last two decades, NGOs have worked with farmers and research institutions to develop and test practices that will increase food production, while at the same time enhance the natural resource base.Since 1987, The Rodale Institute (RI) has worked closely with farmers' associations and government institutions to promote regenerative agriculture-farming systems that prioritize the use of local resources while improving them as they are used to grow food, using agro-ecological methods. The Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute has collaborated in this program as a partner of RI. The Senegal Regenerative Agriculture Resource Center model has been applied as a new and viable approach that builds on traditional knowledge and farmer-to-farmer exchange.Research results on soil conservation and improvement have shown that fields spread with amended animal manure or compost yield greater harvests than fields farmed with traditional methods.     

Water Supply Planning Considering Uncertainties in Future Water Demand and Climate: A Case Study in an Illinois Watershed

Ensuring an adequate, reliable, clean, and affordable water supply for citizens and industries requires informed, long-range water supply planning, which is critically important for water security. A balance between water supply and demand must be considered for a long-term plan. However, water demand projections are often highly uncertain. Climate change could impact the hydrologic processes, and consequently, threaten water supply. Thus, understanding the uncertainties in future water demand and climate is critical for developing a sound water supply plan. In Illinois, regional water supply planning attempts to explore the impacts of future water demand and climate on water supply using scenario analyses and hydrologic modeling. This study is aimed at developing a water supply planning framework that considers both future water demand and climate change impacts. This framework is based on the Soil and Water Assessment Tool to simulate the watershed hydrology and conduct scenario analyses that consider the uncertainties in both future water demand and climate as well as their impacts on water supply. The framework was applied to water supply planning efforts in the Kankakee River watershed. The Kankakee River watershed model was calibrated and validated to observed streamflow records at four long-term United States Geological Survey streamflow gages. Because of the many model parameters involved, the calibration process was automated and was followed by a manual refinement, resulting in good model performance. Long-range water demand projections were prepared by the Illinois State Water Survey. Six future water demand scenarios were established based on a suite of assumptions. Climate scenarios were obtained from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Projection Phase 5 datasets. Three representative concentration pathways (RCPs), RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5, are used in the study. The scenario simulation results demonstrated that climate change appears to have a greater impact on water availability in the study area than water demand. The framework developed in this study can also be used to explore the impacts of uncertainties of water demand and climate on water supply and can be extended to other regions and watersheds.     

Risk-based optimal operation of hybrid power system using multiobjective optimization

ABSTRACT

This paper solves an optimal generation scheduling problem of hybrid power system considering the risk factor due to uncertain/intermittent nature of renewable energy resources (RERs) and electric vehicles (EVs). The hybrid power system considered in this work includes thermal generating units, RERs such as wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) units, battery energy storage systems (BESSs) and electric vehicles (EVs). Here, the two objective functions are formulated, i.e., minimization of operating cost and system risk, to develop an optimum scheduling strategy of hybrid power system. The objective of proposed approach is to minimize operating cost and system risk levels simultaneously. The operating cost minimization objective consists of costs due to thermal generators, wind farms, solar PV units, EVs, BESSs, and adjustment cost due to uncertainties in RERs and EVs. In this work, Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) is considered as the risk index, and it is used to quantify the risk due to intermittent nature of RERs and EVs. The main contribution of this paper lies in its ability to determine the optimal generation schedules by optimizing operating cost and risk. These two objectives are solved by using a multiobjective-based nondominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II) algorithm, and it is used to develop a Pareto optimal front. A best-compromised solution is obtained by using fuzzy min-max approach. The proposed approach has been implemented on modified IEEE 30 bus and practical Indian 75 bus test systems. The obtained results show the best-compromised solution between operating cost and system risk level, and the suitability of CVaR for the management of risk associated with the uncertainties due to RERs and EVs.     

乡镇工业企业发展与环境,资源协调问题初探

我国乡镇工业企业的发展与环境、资源的协调问题已经成为我国发展与环境、资源关系方面的大问题。实行工农相对分离,组建乡村工业区,是提高乡镇工业企业素质、效益,强化乡镇工业企业优化组合、规模经营的有效途径;是保护环境,实现资源有效利用的基础工作之一;是提高农业劳动生产率,实现农业规模经营的基础工作之一。     

长江流域的鱼类资源及其保护对策

长江水系的鱼类约有300种,其中鲤科鱼类占半数以上,主要的经济鱼类多数属于鲤科。对不同江段的鱼类资源作了简介,并提出了相应的保护措施。上游江段以维护生物多样性,保护特有种为主,需要建立鱼类自然保护区;中游应保证主要经济鱼类的自然繁殖条件,加强珍稀鱼类的人工繁殖放流工作,同时对湖泊幼鱼资源进行保护;下游应注意保持江水质量,严格遵守工业废水排放标准;河口江段应规定幼鲟保护期,建议每年6月15日至7月31日停止一切损害幼鲟资源的渔捞作业。     

关于中国土地资源人口承载力问题的思考

土地资源的人口承载力问题也就是生存空间问题,它关系到人类未来的生存与发展问题,历来受学术界的注目。20世纪70年代联合国粮农组织(FAO)曾主持了一项大型的发展中地区土地资源人口承载力问题的研究,80年代后期,中国科学院—国家计委自然资源综合考察委员会也主持了一项大型的中国土地资源生产能力及人口承载量研究。相应地还有一系列有关中国未来的生存与发展和人口承载力问题的探讨。本文从中国人地关系变化的角度介入这一讨论,分析中国远期的土地资源是否超载的问题。     

我国矿产资源利用的环境问题及对策

矿产资源利用过程中靠成的环境问题是我国经济建设速发展所面临的一个现实问题本文全面地分析了矿产资源利用对环境影响的各个方面，分析了我国矿产资源环境问题的一些特点，提出了八个方面的对策建议。     

环境资源的量化模型及估算指标体系

本文依据区划环境标准，提出了环境资源的成本概念－环境成本。     

Material cycles in Asia: especially the recycling loop between Japan and China

In this article, we clarify the current status of Japanese exports and Chinese imports of secondary resources. A total of around 10 million metric tons (t) of secondary resources are exported annually from Japan to China, Hong Kong, and Korea. Hong Kong plays the role of a transshipment point, especially regarding the trade in plastic waste, and China imports much from the USA and Japan, often through Hong Kong. The secondary resources exported from Japan include both byproducts from manufacturing processes and end-of-life products or materials. The great demand in China, and the difference in prices between countries, drive this transboundary shipment, although Japan has enacted various recycling laws that were implicitly intended to promote domestic recycling. In China, the imported secondary resources are recycled, usually by means of primitive and low-cost hand labor. The greatest concern is whether there are still improper (illegal or polluting) recycling activities in China. International material cycles should prevent environmental pollution and ensure efficient resource utilization. To that end, the following measures are needed: cooperative control of the trade of secondary resources between countries, the alignment of domestic laws with the regulations in other countries based on the actual trade activities, and the realization of sound practices for global resources management.