西北地区水资源—生态可持续发展的若干问题探讨

基于对西北地区大开发的关键性难题与一些违背自然规律的不良倾向的讨论 ,认为大开发的实施需要在系统科学思维的基础上综合考虑资源—环境—经济的协调发展。近年来 ,许多科学家从各种角度揭示了我国西北乃至北半球中纬度地区持续干旱的发展规律 ,对干旱化趋势与水盐失衡的分析表明 ,西北地区气候干旱化将长期存在 ,生态将继续退化 ,这种趋势是人力不可抗拒的。人为活动尤其是水资源的开发利用 ,对土壤生态的影响是非常明显的 ,应该在严格控制水资源利用总量的前提下 ,调整用水格局 ,发展节水经济 ,科学确定社会经济用水和生态用水的比例 ,保证必须的生态用水 ,大力发展生态植被。指出在分析西北生态环境问题时过于强调人为活动而忽视自然因素作用的倾向 ,讨论了水库兴修、灌溉、土地利用与改良、深层水利用、水环境脆弱性等水资源—生态建设与可持续发展中的若干关键性问题     

页岩气开发对生态环境影响评价模型

针对页岩气特殊的开发方式及环评难度比常规气大的特点,运用"压力-状态-响应"框架模型,建立了页岩气开发对生态环境影响的评价指标体系。引入曲线投影的方式,并将投影寻踪方法和动态聚类方法相结合,提出了曲线投影寻踪动态聚类的定量评价方法;基于样本各指标的曲线投影和动态聚类方法寻找最佳投影方向,并建立相应的生态环境影响评价优化模型。结合全局最优经验指导和信息素交流,采用改进的蚁群算法对优化模型进行求解。该算法维持蚁群的多样性,且收敛性较好,同时也避免出现局部最优。对四川省威远页岩气区块进行了实例分析,结果表明:2010年、2011年和2014年的环评属于差类(4级),2012年和2013年的环评属于中类(3级),其中植被覆盖率、空气质量优良率、地表水质达标率、废水排放量、公众对环境的满意度、二氧化硫排放量和废水排放量达标率等指标对生态环境评价的影响较大。在页岩气开发初期,由于开发技术落后,再加上环保投资不高,环保意识不强,造成生态环境问题较为严重。随着学习借鉴美国的经验,及页岩气的开发技术进一步提高,加上国家对生态环境保护的重视,威远页岩气区块生态环境恶化得到有效的遏制。但开发时间越长,开采难度越大,将会产生更多更大的生态环境问题。分析结果与威远页岩气开发区域的实际情况相符,为页岩气气田生态环境影响评价奠定了科学基础。投影寻踪动态聚类方法具有无需设定参数、操作简单、客观等优点,是页岩气开发对生态环境影响评价的一种新方法。     

以多联产为支撑点的"合成气城市"规划 --煤炭城市的可持续发展

目前,中国煤炭城市普遍面临城市产业结构迫切需要转型、城市生态环境问题严重、城市人口就业形势严重等挑战。在低价高硫煤资源丰富、石油和天然气资源缺乏、经济发展水平适中、产业结构亟待调整的典型地区实施以多联产为支撑点的“合成气城市”规划,是这类煤炭城市实现经济、社会、环境、资源相互协调的可持续发展之路。本文初步探讨了“合成气城市”规划研究的内容,并以山东省济宁市是为例分析了实施“合成气城市规划”的收益。     

农业生态环境治理与可持续发展

我国是一个农业大国 ,由于长期的农业生产中忽视了对农业生态环境的保护 ,近年来 ,农业环境和农产品污染问题日趋严重 ,耕地环境质量不断下降 ,土地沙化形势十分严峻。农产品有毒有害物质残留问题突出 ,已成为制约农业和农村经济发展的重要因素。针对农业生态环境污染日益加剧的严峻形势 ,必须加大农业生态环境建设和保护力度 ,采取合理措施 ,在农业生产过程中降低化肥和农药的使用和环境造成的污染 ,推广清洁生产应当成为推动新世纪农业进步的发展新模式。与世界其它国家一样 ,合理利用资源和保护生态环境是农业可持续发展的基础。必须实施可持续发展战略 ,大力推广生态农业和生态农村建设 ,调整优化农业生产结构 ,从粗放型向集约型转变 ,以确保 2 1世纪我国农业的可持续发展。     

中国西部能源及矿业开发与环境保护协调发展研究

中国西部地区自然环境脆弱且恶劣,但能源及矿产资源分布相对集中,能源及矿业开发已经成为其经济社会发展的支柱产业.本文力图从西部能源及矿业开发与环境保护协调发展、促进资源开发与生态保护的视角,综合辨析出西部地区能源及矿业开发引发的地质环境及生态环境恶化问题,主要包括土壤污染与土地破坏、水资源污染与短缺、矿区大气污染、噪声污染以及采矿诱发的各类地质灾害和生态环境破坏等.文章认为:西部地区矿产资源和能源开发等人为因素引发的地质环境及生态环境恶化问题日益突出,增强西部地区可持续发展能力,确保资源开发与环境保护的协调发展是西部地区提高能源资源保障能力的现实选择,也是转变发展方式、建设“两型”社会的必然要求.为此,本文对西部地区能矿资源开发与环境保护的协调发展提出了相关建议,主要包括:大力推行绿色发展,极开发绿色新能源;加强资源管理与污染控制,建立、健全矿产资源开发环境保护相关法律法规和体系,健全生态补偿机制;通过市场准入制度设立绿色门槛,继续整合小矿山;加强西部资源型城市与沿海地区的区域融合,减少资源开发的负外部性,破除“资源诅咒”;借鉴国际上“责任矿产开发倡议”,提高能源及矿产资源开发利益相关者的参与能力;统筹协调资源税费、地方发展基金,明确资源税的调节作用,健全利益分配机制,设立绿色发展基金;加强能矿资源开发全过程的第三方独立监管,在能源及矿产资源开发过程中实行有效透明的监管等.     

Infrastructure development through PPPs in India: criteria for sustainability assessment

Public private partnerships (PPPs) allow the Indian Government to leverage private capital for meeting the widening demand-supply gap in the provision of infrastructure services. The private sector, however, prefers to limit the participation to financially attractive projects only, thereby resulting in patterns of infrastructure creation impeding the progress towards sustainable development. In order to promote sustainable development, the PPP procurement process should focus on incentivising the private sector for sustainable infrastructure development rather than concentrating on ensuring financial sustainability only. This paper discusses the principles-based PPP-specific framework that has been developed to facilitate assessment of PPP projects' progress towards sustainable development. The framework development was based on a holistic approach to sustainability assessment and subsequently validated through questionnaire survey with key stakeholders in the Indian PPP programme. This framework will provide the decision makers with appropriate decision aid for integration of sustainable development principles in the PPP procurement process.     

Assessing local planning capacity to promote environmentally sustainable residential development

Smart growth and sustainability planning have, in recent years, become central issues in planning discourse. Scholars have argued that planning capacity at the local government level is critical for smart growth planning, and that planners have a fundamental role to play in advancing local and regional sustainability. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which local planning capacity enables communities to promote more sustainable, smart growth residential development. Based on a 2013 survey of 38 county and 53 municipal governments in the state of Wisconsin, USA, this study finds that the majority of the sample communities have permitted residential developments characterized as transit-oriented, New Urbanist, mixed use, infill developments, or conservation subdivisions as alternatives to low-density, automobile-dependent conventional developments. The study also finds that jurisdictions with higher planning capacities are more likely to overcome significant barriers to more sustainable residential development.     

Mitigating urban sprawl effects: a collaborative tree and shade intervention in Phoenix,Arizona, USA

Communities in Phoenix are confronted with numerous challenges that adversely affect human health and safety, with disproportionate impacts on low-income communities. While some challenges are being addressed at the city level, new alliances at the neighbourhood level are initiating community development programmes and projects. This article reports on an intervention study carried out in collaboration with community representatives, city staff, and non-profit organisations to mitigate adverse effects of urban sprawl in the Sky Harbour Neighbourhood in Phoenix. Participatory research was conducted to design and test a tree and shade intervention. Challenges associated with navigating community desires and broader principles of sustainable development are discussed. The study offers a replicable and adaptable intervention research design aimed at empowering communities to meet urban challenges.     

A panel study on the relationship between biofuels production and sustainable development

Biomass is one of the renewable energy sources on which policy makers are greatly dependent on since it is a flexible feedstock capable of conversion into electricity, transport liquid fuels and heat by chemical and biological processes on demand. Though numerous publications have examined the relationship of economic growth with renewable energy and other parameters, biomass energy has never been included in these studies. Then, this study examines the causal relationship within a multivariate panel cointegration/error correction framework which combines the cross-section and time series data while allowing for heterogeneity across different provinces. After employing panel data regression model ranging from 2003 through 2012 to examine the relationships of biofuels production with sustainable development in China, the paper concludes that the development of biofuel energy production integrated with the consideration of the improvement of income per capita, and the attraction of more capital investment, does make a significant contribution to economic growth. However, some negative side effects including the increase of greenhouse emissions and the decrease of marginal land still coexist with the economic development. Of course, the importance of these findings lies on their implications and their adoption on strategic policies.     

The green dividend of urban biking? Evidence of improved community and sustainable development

As the cost of car ownership has skyrocketed, urban biking has experienced the largest share increase of any transportation mode, rising by 40% between the years 2000 and 2014. Growing attention is being paid to the potential local economic development impacts of urban neighbourhoods becoming more bike-friendly. It is now a green economic development strategy in cities as diverse as Chicago, New York City, Portland, and San Francisco to increase bicycling as a transportation mode. This paper reports the results of a survey of 2032 responses from faculty, staff, and students of a car-dependent, downtown university. We use a mixed methods approach, including data from the American Community Survey, to support our arguments and to inform potential savings and economic benefit calculations that can be achieved from bicycle infrastructure investments and anticipated redistributed spending patterns. We argue that urban biking results in a green dividend that promotes local community development and more importantly results in zero carbon emissions.