Environmental impacts of residual Municipal Solid Waste incineration: A comparison of 110 French incinerators using a life cycle approach

Incineration is the main option for residual Municipal Solid Waste treatment in France. This study compares the environmental performances of 110 French incinerators (i.e. 85% of the total number of plants currently in activity in France) in a Life Cycle Assessment perspective, considering 5 non-toxic impact categories: climate change, photochemical oxidant formation, particulate matter formation, terrestrial acidification and marine eutrophication. Mean, median and lower/upper impact potentials are determined considering the incineration of 1 tonne of French residual Municipal Solid Waste. The results highlight the relatively large variability of the impact potentials as a function of the plant technical performances. In particular, the climate change impact potential of the incineration of 1 tonne of waste ranges from a benefit of ?58 kg CO₂-eq to a relatively large burden of 408 kg CO₂-eq, with 294 kg CO₂-eq as the average impact. Two main plant-specific parameters drive the impact potentials regarding the 5 non-toxic impact categories under study: the energy recovery and delivery rate and the NO_x process-specific emissions. The variability of the impact potentials as a function of incinerator characteristics therefore calls for the use of site-specific data when required by the LCA goal and scope definition phase, in particular when the study focuses on a specific incinerator or on a local waste management plan, and when these data are available.     

Environmental assessment of dehydrated alfalfa production in Spain

Alfalfa is the major forage crop produced in temperate regions worlwide. Although this crop is currently used mainly for producing high-value livestock feed, its application for bioenergy production is a recent focus of interest. Even though it is not mandatory, alfalfa is normally dried in order to improve the quality of the final product. In this study, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used to quantify the environmental impacts linked to alfalfa production in the major cultivation zone in Spain (Ebro Valley), including field activities, dehydration and transport to farms for livestock feeding. In addition, the identification of the most relevant processes contributing to the environmental impact and the potential improvements actions were also defined as objectives. Inventory data were obtained mainly from interviews with farmers complemented with published literature and comments from experts.LCA results were obtained for global warming, acidification, eutrophication, photochemical oxidant formation, land use, non-renewable cumulative energy demand and human, terrestrial and aquatic ecotoxicities. Within the life cycle of alfalfa, the dehydration process, production of phosphate fertilizer, application of nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides, water consumption and final transport to the consumer (by road and ship) were identified as hot spots. Based on these, some improvement measures were proposed and evaluated: (i) reduction of the moisture content of alfalfa and the use of a higher percentage of biomass for combustion in the dehydration process, (ii) no application of nitrogen fertilizer in maintenance years and (iii) use of more efficient trucks for transport. Their implementation would produce significant reduction of eutrophication, global warming, acidification, non-renewable cumulative energy demand and, to a lesser extent, photochemical oxidation formation and human toxicity impacts.     

A Cumulative Energy Demand indicator (CED), life cycle based,for industrial waste management decision making

Life cycle thinking is a good approach to be used for environmental decision-support, although the complexity of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies sometimes prevents their wide use. The purpose of this paper is to show how LCA methodology can be simplified to be more useful for certain applications.In order to improve waste management in Catalonia (Spain), a Cumulative Energy Demand indicator (LCA-based) has been used to obtain four mathematical models to help the government in the decision of preventing or allowing a specific waste from going out of the borders. The conceptual equations and all the subsequent developments and assumptions made to obtain the simplified models are presented.One of the four models is discussed in detail, presenting the final simplified equation to be subsequently used by the government in decision making.The resulting model has been found to be scientifically robust, simple to implement and, above all, fulfilling its purpose: the limitation of waste transport out of Catalonia unless the waste recovery operations are significantly better and justify this transport.     

Domestic or imported? An assessment of carbon footprints and sustainability of seafood consumed in Australia

The distance between where food is produced and consumed is increasing, and is often taken as evidence of an unsustainable global food system. Seafood is a highly traded commodity yet seafood sustainability assessments do not typically consider the impacts of the movement of products beyond the fishery or farm. Here we use life cycle assessment to examine the carbon footprint of the production and distribution of select seafood products that are consumed in Australia and determine differences in the sustainability of imports and their domestically produced counterparts. We found that the distance food is transported is not the main determinant of food sustainability. Despite the increased distance between production and consumption, carbon footprints of meals from imported seafood are similar to meals consisting of domestically produced seafood, and sometimes lower, depending on the seafood consumed. In combining LCA with existing seafood sustainability criteria the trade-offs between sustainability targets become more apparent. Carbon ‘footprinting’ is one metric that can be incorporated in assessments of sustainability, thereby demonstrating a broader perspective of the environmental cost of food production and consumption.     

Responses of plant, insect and spider biodiversity to local and landscape scale management intensity in cereal crops and grasslands

The aim of this study was to determine the relative effects of landscape scale management intensity, agroecosystem type, local management intensity and edges on diversity patterns of functional groups of plants, carabid beetles, spiders and grasshoppers. Nine landscapes were selected differing in percent intensively used agricultural area (IAA), each with a pair of organic and conventional winter wheat fields and a pair of organic and conventional mown meadows. Within fields, plants were surveyed in the edge and in the interior. Carabid beetles and spiders were captured by funnel traps, while grasshoppers were sweep-netted in the meadows. Diversity patterns of study organisms were affected both by local variables (local management, agroecosystem type and within-field position) and by landscape scale management intensity. Species richness of grasses, presumably because of sowing low-diversity mixtures, and hunting spiders decreased with percent cover of IAA. Meadows differed from wheat fields in that they had higher species richness of forbs and grasses, as well as higher densities of hunting spiders. In contrast, more carabid individuals, especially of non-carnivore species, were captured in wheat fields. In field edges with their reduced management intensity and increased immigration, species richness of plants, carabids and spiders was higher than in the interiors regardless of agroecosystem type and management. Organic management enhanced forb richness and cover in both agroecosystem types. Organic management also increased grass cover in wheat fields, but not in meadows, and promoted species richness of non-carnivore carabids and hunting spiders, but not grasshoppers. The results show that agri-environmental management needs to be targeted to the agroecosystem's field size, because higher edge area led to higher species richness. Organic management affected several functional groups positively (forbs, non-carnivore carabids, hunting spiders), while lower landscape scale management intensity only increased species richness of grasses and spiders. The great differences in responses of functional groups to local cereal and grassland as well as landscape management suggest implementing more scale and group specific targets for agri-environmental schemes to improve their efficiency.     

Holocene fire history from the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, New South Wales, Australia: the climate, humans and fire nexus

This study presents a reconstruction of the fire activity of the last ~14,200 cal. years BP (before AD 1950) from Gooches Crater Right, located on the Newnes Plateau, approximately 150 km to the west of Sydney (~33°27′S, 150°16′E) within the Blue Mountains National Park. Charcoal analysis and palynology were undertaken with the aim of untangling any inter-relationship between climate, humans and fire. A chronology of the site was provided by radiocarbon dating. The dominant control on fire in this environment during the Holocene appears to be climate. Periods of climate change, identified in previous studies, are associated with higher levels of fire activity. Fire was less ubiquitous between ~9,000 and 6,000 years BP, a period normally described as having a higher effective moisture in south-eastern Australia. The mid-Holocene fluctuations in charcoal may reflect anthropogenic fire, climate forcing or alternatively human responses to any climate change. Coeval changes in palaeoclimatic sequences elsewhere and palynology at the site support a climatic explanation or that Aboriginal people used fire within a climatic framework.     

Effective environmental management through life cycle assessment

Unplanned and unsustainable development (particularly rapid industrialisation) has placed great pressure in every dimension of the environment (air, water, soil, health, etc.). The resulting disturbance in the natural ecological balance is a serious concern. Sustainable development is the need of the hour; it can only be achieved through effective environmental management. Environmental management will become indispensable in the future as regulatory restrictions tighten and public expectations of environmental performance increase. The day is not far away when a customer will prefer to buy products produced by an environmentally committed organisation. In short, the environmental commitment of an organisation will become a market strategy.

Environmental management is a set of actions based on a structured methodology to ensure that an organisation is committed to the environment and that the production process has minimal/no adverse affect on it. This article emphasises environmental management in the real engineering sense of the term, and discusses how to develop an effective environmental management system through life cycle assessment. It further demonstrates through a real life case study how an industry has achieved landmark success in managing its environment, production, as well as winning the good faith of society.     

Reconsideration on the effect of nitrogen on mixed culture polyhydroxyalkanoate production toward high organic loading enrichment history

Effect of nitrogen on mixed culture PHA production was reconsidered. Enrichment history of PHA accumulating culture was discussed. Higher PHA content and biomass growth were achieved in presence of nitrogen. Enrichment strategy toward higher PHA accumulation was investigated. Microbial community succession in PHA accumulation phase was investigated. In most of the operating strategies for mixed microbial cultures polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production, moderate organic loads and low nitrogen concentrations are used, however, the real waste streams contain variable concentrations of carbon and nitrogen. To evaluate the effect of enrichment history on PHA producer and production the various carbon and nitrogen levels were utilized during the accumulation phase. Different operating strategies were applied in three sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) subjected to aerobic dynamic feeding. The maximum PHA production of the enriched cultures under nutrient excess, limitation and starvation (Cmol/Nmol ratio of 8, 40 and ∞, respectively) was evaluated in batch assays. A higher PHA content and biomass growth were achieved in the nutrients presence in comparison to the nutrient starvation condition. The cultures from the SBR treated under short sludge retention time, high organic loading rate, short cycle length (SBR#3) and nutrient excess reached the maximum PHA content (54.9%) and biomass increase (38.9%). Under nutrient limitation, the negative biomass growth was observed under nutrient starvation because of the sampling loss. The succession of microbial communities in SBRs and batch assays was analyzed using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism. The SBR#3 had the best overall PHA production performance considering its high PHA content and productivity in all nutrient content, it indicates that nitrogen has a substantial impact on PHA yield especially when high organic loading rate enrichment history is involved.     

Patterns and biases of climate change threats in the IUCN Red List

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments rely on published data and expert inputs, and biases can be introduced where underlying definitions and concepts are ambiguous. Consideration of climate change threat is no exception, and recently numerous approaches to assessing the threat of climate change to species have been developed. We explored IUCN Red List assessments of amphibians and birds to determine whether species listed as threatened by climate change display distinct patterns in terms of habitat occupied and additional nonclimatic threats faced. We compared IUCN Red List data with a published data set of species’ biological and ecological traits believed to infer high vulnerability to climate change and determined whether distributions of climate change‐threatened species on the IUCN Red List concur with those of climate change‐threatened species identified with the trait‐based approach and whether species possessing these traits are more likely to have climate change listed as a threat on the IUCN Red List. Species in some ecosystems (e.g., grassland, shrubland) and subject to particular threats (e.g., invasive species) were more likely to have climate change as a listed threat. Geographical patterns of climate change‐threatened amphibians and birds on the IUCN Red List were incongruent with patterns of global species richness and patterns identified using trait‐based approaches. Certain traits were linked to increases or decreases in the likelihood of a species being threatened by climate change. Broad temperature tolerance of a species was consistently related to an increased likelihood of climate change threat, indicating counterintuitive relationships in IUCN assessments. To improve the robustness of species assessments of the vulnerability or extinction risk associated with climate change, we suggest IUCN adopt a more cohesive approach whereby specific traits highlighted by our results are considered in Red List assessments. To achieve this and to strengthen the climate change‐vulnerability assessments approach, it is necessary to identify and implement logical avenues for further research into traits that make species vulnerable to climate change (including population‐level threats).