Cost-Effective Mitigation of Diffuse Pollution: Setting Criteria for River Basin Management at Multiple Locations

A case study of the Yorkshire Derwent (UK) catchment is used to illustrate an integrated approach for assessing the viability of policy options for reducing diffuse nitrate losses to waterbodies. For a range of options, modeling methods for simulating river nitrate levels are combined with techniques for estimating the economic costs to agriculture of modifying those levels. By incorporating spatially explicit data and information on catchment residence times (which may span many decades particularly in areas of groundwater discharge) a method is developed for efficient spatial targeting of measures, for example, to the most at-risk freshwater environments. Combining hydrological and economic findings, the analysis reveals that, in terms of cost-effectiveness, the ranking of options is highly sensitive to both (i) whether or not specific stretches of river within a catchment are regarded as a priority for protection, and (ii) the criterion of nitrate concentration deemed most appropriate as an indicator of the health of the environment. Therefore, given the focus under European legislation upon ecological status of freshwaters, these conclusions highlight the need to improve understanding of mechanistic linkages between the chemical and biological dynamics of aquatic systems.     

A framework to guide the conservation of species hybrids based on ethical and ecological considerations

Species hybrids have long been undervalued in conservation and are often perceived as a threat to pure species. Recently, the conservation value of hybrids, especially those of natural origin, has gained recognition; however, hybrid conservation remains controversial. We reviewed hybrid management policies, including laws, regulations, and management protocols, from a variety of organizations, primarily in Canada and the United States. We found that many policies are based on limited ethical and ecological considerations and provide little opportunity for hybrid conservation. In most policies, hybrids are either unrepresented or considered a threat to conservation goals. This is problematic because our review of the hybrid conservation literature identified many ethical and ecological considerations relevant to determining the conservation value of a hybrid, all of which are management‐context specific. We also noted a lack of discussion of the ethical considerations regarding hybrid conservation. Based on these findings, we created a policy framework outlining situations in which hybrids could be eligible for conservation in Canada and the United States. The framework comprises a decision tree that helps users determine whether a hybrid should be eligible for conservation based on multiple ecological and ethical considerations. The framework may be applied to any hybrid and is flexible in that it accommodates context‐specific management by allowing different options if a hybrid is a threat to or could benefit conservation goals. The framework can inform policy makers and conservationists in decision‐making processes regarding hybrid conservation by providing a systematic set of decision criteria and guidance on additional criteria to be considered in cases of uncertainty, and it fills a policy gap that limits current hybrid management.     

No Sustainability without Technical,Fiscal and Social Innovation

Abstract

Migration process has become increasingly important in recent research on population and the environment. A majority of the existing migration and environment literature has focused on the environmental causes and determinants of migration. With the largest rural-to-urban migration flow in world history, and growing concerns about the environmental problems accompanying its fast economic development, China provides a particularly important case for migration and environment research. This paper reviews major migration theories and recent research on environmental effects on migration, with specific attention to the influences of environmental factors on rural-to-urban labor migration in China. A comprehensive multilevel conceptual framework is developed for studying the environmental causes of rural-to-urban migration in China. The effects of land resources on household labor migration decisions in rural China are explored to illustrate the application of this framework.     

An integrated framework of safety performance evaluation for oil and gas production plants: Application to a petroleum transportation station

Safety performance evaluation is a significant way to ensure the safety of oil and gas production plants. Various evaluation methods have been proposed to make safety evaluation more consistent and scientific. However, a major concern is that many existing safety evaluation measurements are still subjective and are not easy to obtain in a uniform way, which can be attributed to the challenges that process plants faced such as people having different knowledge levels, equipment with dispersed locations and management with many processes. This paper aims to display the impact of risk factors on system safety level in a succinct and visual way that may be expected to overcome subjective opinions from experts and provide a more pertinent and practical safety strategies. To this end, an integrated framework is developed, which considers crucial risk factors from pipeline, static equipment, dynamic equipment and management. First, Fault tree analysis (FTA) is used to explicitly determine the crucial r risk factors. Then, a novel fuzzy cognitive map cooperating with relative degree analysis model (FCM-RDA) is proposed to deal with the weigh distribution opinions. Finally, considering the oil and gas production process is a complex system, a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) is employed to calculate the overall safety level.     

美国应急管理合作对我国跨区域应急管理的启示

给出了跨区域应急管理内涵,从应急计划、援助合同、协调体系及信息保障4个方面剖析了美国应急合作模式的运行机制,借鉴美国应急管理合作的成功经验,结合我国跨区域应急管理框架不尽统一的局面,建议从区域管理、法律约束、跨区域应急预案、应急信息网络、应急管理人员队伍建设及跨区域应急物流中心网络建设6个方面初步构建跨区域应急管理的主...     

Reasonableness of a proposed System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) validation framework: An interview study

Since its inception, the STPA technique has gained increasing popularity among researchers and industry practitioners. Nevertheless, the validity of its application has not yet received much scientific attention. Although some informal validation approaches have been used by STPA users, no formalized validation framework has been elaborated for practical use. This paper investigates the reasonableness of the recently proposed STPA validation framework, which includes 15 validation tests, each focusing on a specific step of an STPA analysis. To do so, STPA experts in both academia and industry were interviewed. First, it is investigated what approaches they have been using for validating an STPA analysis, the findings of which were categorized and mapped with the proposed validation framework. This aims to investigate the similarities and dissimilarities between the theory-based validation framework and the informal methods applied by experts in current practice. Then, the proposed framework was presented to the interviewees to seek their judgments about its reasonableness. Feedback from practitioners indicated that the proposed STPA validation framework has certain strengths, while several opportunities exist for further improvement. In particular, the findings indicate that most of the proposed theory-based tests have been already used by STPA experts in an unstructured manner. The experts appreciated the framework in that it provides clear guidance on how to validate each step of an STPA analysis systematically, and found some additional theory-based tests interesting for consideration in practice. The results also suggest that further research is needed to develop systematic techniques for performing each test to facilitate its application by STPA experts.     

防灾减灾信息化顶层设计研究

为解决目前我国防灾减灾信息化建设中出现各自为政、低水平重复建设、信息资源整合共享不足等全局性问题和提高防灾减灾综合业务能力,研究防灾减灾信息化顶层设计问题。总结现有防灾减灾功能业务,用自上而下的顶层设计原则和自下而上的实施步骤,将信息化顶层设计内容划分为信息资源规划、信息技术规划、环境保障规划。最后,建立防灾减灾信息系统的总体目标架构。各防灾减灾相关部门可在此基础上根据业务横向整合的原则,划分防灾减灾信息系统的各个子系统。     

生态文明背景下自然资源治理体系的框架设计

长期相对滞后的自然资源治理体系,是造成我国资源环境问题的主要原因之一。目前生态文明建设再次对我国自然资源治理体系提出了新的要求。本文按照生态文明的规范内涵,揭示了生态文明建设与自然资源治理体系建设间的内在联系和对治理体系的现实需要。在对已有自然资源治理体系的相关研究进行梳理的基础上,揭示了我国现行自然资源治理体系中存在的主要问题。本文旨在通过设计资源治理的框架设计填补这些现实需要与主要问题。按照将自然资源系统嵌入动态社会经济-生态系统并纳入相互影响与关联的思路,本文从自然系统与社会经济系统互动、科学的评估体系与信息传递,多主体参与和多中心治理途径以及制度保障等方面设计了有机自然资源治理体系框架的核心内容与结构。     

Capture of carbon dioxide from flue gas on TEPA-grafted metal-organic framework Mg2(dobdc)

Carbon dioxide （CO2） adsorption on a standard metal-organic framework Mg2（dobdc） （Mg/DOBDC or Mg-MOF-74） and a tetraethylenepentamine （TEPA） modified Mgz（dobdc） （TEPA-Mg/DOBDC） were investigated and compared. The structural information, surface chemistry and thermal behavior of the adsorbent samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction （XRD）, infrared spectroscopy （IR）, thermogravimetric analysis （TGA） and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherm analysis. CO2 adsorption capacity was measured by dynamic adsorption experiments with N2-CO2 mixed gases at 60℃. Results showed that the CO2 adsorption capacity of Mg/DOBDC was significantly improved after amine modification, with an increase from 2.67 to 6.06 mmol CO2/g adsorbent. Moreover, CO2 adsorption on the TEPA-Mg/DOBDC adsorbent was promoted by water vapor, and the adsorption capacity was enhanced to 8.31 mmol CO2/g absorbent. The adsorption capacity of the TEPA-Mg/DOBDC adsorbent dropped only 3% after 5 consecutive adsorption]desorption cycles. Therefore, this kind of adsorbent can be considered as a promising material for the capture of CO2 from flue gas.     

面向国土空间安全的工业园区风险监测评估系统设计思路

随着城市化的推进,城市的脆弱性不断加剧。近年来频发的生产安全事故,凸显了传统风险治理范式的局限性。源头防控、多元参与、数据驱动是当下生产安全风险治理的重要议题,而多元主体风险和系统性风险是治理的焦点。以整体性思维为指引,建构“三生”空间相互作用下的“双环模型”,为安全多维及时空多维视角下生产安全风险的治理提供理论基础和总体思路。挖掘信息技术对国土空间动态监测、风险认知积累和风险防控能力成长的积极作用,提出“扁平化”的风险监测评估框架体系并探讨信息平台的需求与架构。以风险交织的化工行业为例,重点关注工业园区主导下的生产安全风险多元防控范式和基础框架,为不同行业的多类型风险防控提供思路借鉴。