Eco-industrial park initiatives in the USA and the Netherlands: first lessons

Since the introduction of the industrial ecology concept by Frosch and Gallopoulos in 1989, and the apparent success of the Kalundborg Industrial Symbiosis project, attention to planned eco-industrial park (EIP) development projects has grown all over the world. This article includes data from six of these EIP development projects. Three of the projects discussed are located in the Netherlands and three in the US. This article compares the differences in project approach and results on a national level. The approach suggested is derived from the available EIP development literature.Initial research indicates that the Dutch EIP projects are more successful than their US counterparts. This difference in success can be, mostly, attributed to the fact that the US projects are initiated by local and regional governments that see the project as a way to improve the local/regional economy with access to substantial government funds. Because of this heavy government involvement, US companies are, in general, not interested in the project. The more successful Dutch projects, on the other hand, are mostly initiated by the companies themselves with financial and advisory support from the local and regional government.     

厌氧水解-活性污泥法的生命周期能耗分析

运用生命周期分析技术可从全过程的视角识别和比较不同城市污水处理工艺在其生命周期各个阶段的能耗 ,并在此基础上提出改善其能效的措施。本文运用LCA方法对厌氧水解 -活性污泥法处理系统从其原材料开采和加工开始直至污水厂施工建设、处理运行以及废弃拆除的LC全过程能耗进行了识别和量化分析 ,并与普通活性污泥法进行了平行对照。研究结果表明 ,在微孔和穿孔管两种曝气条件下与普通活性污泥法相比 ,厌氧水解法的LC能耗分别节省 14.0 %和 17.6%。由于污泥产量较低 ,厌氧水解法的比能耗大幅度提高 67.7%～ 77.7%。     

Caste allocation in litter Pheidole: lessons from plant defense theory

The allocation to growth, defense and reproduction varies in social insects within a species' life cycle and between species. A life cycle model (Oster and Wilson 1978) generally failed to predict caste allocation in small litter-nesting colonies of Neotropical Pheidole. Two of its assumptions were often invalid: food was unlikely to be limiting in four of five populations, and sexual biomass production accelerated, not decelerated, with colony size in three of five populations. One of five Pheidole populations studied had higher caste ratios (soldiers /workers) in reproductive colonies as predicted, and in no species did caste functions conform to predictions. We also adapted three models from plant defense theory to study between-species patterns of caste allocation. Among 12 litter Pheidole the amount of sterile biomass devoted to soldiers varied from 18 to 62%. Queen size, growth rate, and soldier investment positively covaried. Only one model, the cost of replacement hypothesis (McKey 1979), correctly predicted that species with costly female alates invest more in defense. The two hypotheses linking apparency to defense may also be valid if fast-growing colonies are more likely to attract the attention of predators.     

Intermittent breeding as a cost of site fidelity

Intermittent breeding (skipping a breeding season) can be the result of an adaptive decision by a focal individual, trading current reproductive success in favour of future reproductive success (residual reproductive value hypothesis). In contrast, an individual can also be forced by conspecifics to abandon the familiar breeding site and refrain from breeding due to lack of suitable alternative breeding sites or mates (competition hypothesis). I studied intermittent breeding in the territorial and site-faithful Eurasian oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus, using a dataset covering 20 years. Intermittent breeding (in total 86 cases) occurred among breeders that formerly bred in high- as well as low-quality territories. The main factor associated with intermittent breeding in high-quality sites was death of a mate, while in low quality sites divorce was the most prominent factor. In 93% of the cases birds were forced to cease breeding due to pressure from conspecifics consistent with the competition hypothesis. There was no association between intermittent breeding and promotion to a territory of better quality. Instead, oystercatchers returned to breeding habitat of similar quality and at a very close distance (median distance 128 m) from the previous breeding location. Breeding absences lasted on average 2.4 years, with a maximum of 9 years, and the quality of the territory obtained after the absence varied with the duration of it. Birds who re-bred in a high-quality territory acquired this on average faster than those that re-bred in a low-quality territory, indicating that birds in high-quality sites are better competitors.     

Risk-taking by female ducks: intra- and interspecific tests of nest defense theory

We tested several predictions of nest defense theory by observing variation in flushing distance and probability of nest abandonment within and between six species of waterfowl. In these species, only the females incubate eggs and attend offspring. First, we examined whether flushing distance by females varied in relation to clutch size, stage of incubation, and time of season, after controlling for the number of visits made to nests by observers. Revisits by observers appeared to affect flushing distance by females for reasons unrelated to the relative value of the current clutch. We found that as incubation progressed, females allowed observers to approach more closely before flushing from the nest. In some species, females with larger clutches allowed closer approaches to nests before flushing which was also consistent with nest defense theory. In contrast, time of season (Julian date) did not relate to flushing distance for any species. When species were compared, we found that species with moderate to high yearly mortality and high reproductive output per breeding attempt (e.g., northern shoveler and blue-winged teal) were less likely to abandon nesting attempts and exhibited riskier behavior (remained at nests when approached closely by observers) than species that had lower yearly mortality (e.g., mallard). Our results show that flushing distance and patterns of nest abandonment by female ducks conform to several predictions of nest defense theory.Correspondence to: M.R.L. Forbes     

建设项目环评中的清洁生产分析与评价

对清洁生产分析在建设项目环境影响评价中的作用进行评论述，提出七项清洁生产分析的内容、清洁生产评价的指标体系和定量评价方法。     

Assessing environmental performance by combining life cycle assessment, multi-criteria analysis and environmental performance indicators

We present a new analytical tool, called COMPLIMENT, which can be used to provide detailed information on the overall environmental impact of a business. COMPLIMENT integrates parts of tools such as life cycle assessment, multi-criteria analysis and environmental performance indicators. It avoids disadvantages and combines complementary aspects of these three tools. The methodology is based on environmental performance indicators, expanding the scope of data collection towards a life cycle approach and including a weighting and aggregation step. A case study on the Thai pulp industry illustrates the usefulness of COMPLIMENT.     

节能灯、白炽灯和卤钨灯全生命周期评估对比

采用全生命周期分析(LCA)的评估研究方法,全面、科学地对比分析了节能灯、白炽灯以及卤钨灯全生命周期过程中所造成的环境、资源影响,评估结果表明节能灯相对于白炽灯和卤钨灯显著降低了对环境的生态毒性影响,由于照明产品自身环境影响的特点,节能灯其突出的节电效果将显著降低白炽灯和卤钨灯对环境的各种影响。     

Life cycle assessment and environmental improvement of residential and drinking water supply systems in Hanoi,Vietnam

In many Asian cities the public water supply is characterised by low pressure, frequent interruptions and occasional contamination. Hence, private households have to store water and increase pressure individually to ensure an uninterrupted supply at sufficient pressure and water for drinking has to be boiled or supplied separately in bottles. In this study the present water supply system in Hanoi and a number of modification options were analysed from an environmental point of view through life cycle assessment (LCA) in order to identify the most sustainable solutions for future water supply. It was found that the boiling of water for drinking was the largest source of impacts in the present system. Impacts could be reduced significantly if the public supply network was improved and private pumping and storage could be avoided and if the water could be used directly for drinking. It was also found that impacts could be reduced if consumers used bottled water for drinking instead of boiling tap water. Finally, it was demonstrated that even if drinking water cannot be supplied directly through the public network, a reliable public water supply at high pressure is environmentally advantageous. Sensitivity analyses revealed that the conclusions of this study are likely to be applicable to other cities with similar water supply systems.