Application of the rescue number to the evaluation of remediation technologies for contaminated ground

An improved rescue number, RN_SOIL, which is an indicator for evaluating remediation technologies for contaminated ground that is based on both the risk and the remediation cost, is proposed as a tool of risk communication. The risk posed by contaminated ground is indicated by the figure of treatment priority at time t, FTP(t), which represents the human health risk as the number of people affected by the contaminated ground at time t during the remediation process. The calculation of the value of FTP(t) is based on exposure to contaminants that have migrated through environmental media from the contaminated ground, and is estimated by using a CalTOX model and the Monte Carlo method. The integration of FTP(t) with time, which represents the cumulative number of people affected by the contaminated ground, is used to estimate the performance of individual remediation technologies in risk reduction. The figure of unprocessibility for waste (FUW), which represents difficulties in remediation, is expressed as the remediation cost. FUW is estimated by using actual costs per unit volume of remediated soil. As an overall performance value, the rescue number for each remediation technology for contaminated ground (RN_SOIL) is calculated by multiplication of the integral FTP(t) by FUW. Smaller values of RN_SOIL are judged to indicate a better technology. The rescue index (RI), calculated as the ratio of the reduction of the integral FTP(t) to FUW, indicates the cost-effectiveness of the remediation technologies. Successful estimation of the indices (FTP(t), integral FTP(t), FUW, RN_SOIL and RI) demonstrate the usefulness of these indices in risk communication.Part of this paper was presented at 13th meeting of Japan Society of Waste Management Experts (2002)     

The productivity assessment tool: computer-based cost benefit analysis model for the economic assessment of occupational health and safety interventions in the workplace

INTRODUCTION AND MEthod: This paper describes the concepts behind cost benefit analysis in occupational health and safety and introduces the Productivity Assessment Tool, a method by which an analysis may be performed relatively easily in a service or manufacturing workplace. The advantage of using such analyses is to show the important financial role that safe and efficient workplaces play in the workplace. RESULTS: By using analytical tools, the effectiveness of an intervention (workplace change) may be estimated prior to its introduction. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: This places occupational health and safety on the same financial footing as other proposed workplace changes and thus places occupational health and safety in a strong position to attract scarce resources.     

污染红利与污染集聚的机理与实证

文章用污染要素的替代效应与成本效应对污染集聚的形成机理进行了分析,研究结果说明污染红利会带来污染集聚.首先,污染替代效应会导致污染密集型产业成为主导产业;其次,污染成本效应一方面会导致单个企业排污加大,另一方面还会扩大污染密集型企业的数量;第三,污染替代效应和成本效应作为污染总效应的分支,二者的作用是累加的,不会互相抵消.为了检验该研究结论的正确性,本文用内蒙古工业规模效应、工业结构效应、工业科技效应指标对该省废气排放总量进行了回归分析,结果支持了上述研究结论.首先,有利于把污染当作红利使用的工业规模效应与工业科技效应均促进了废气排放的增加;其次,抑制把污染当作红利使用的工业结构效应则促进了废气排放的减少.因此,我国彻底治理环境污染是一项长期的任务,我们在加大产业结构调整的过程中,尤应加大对污染密集型产业的抑制.     

Valuation of Ecological Resources and Functions

/ Ecological resources are natural resources that provide certain necessary but overlooked system maintenance functions within ecosystems. Environmental economics is in search of an appropriate analysis framework to determine economic values of such resources. This paper presents a framework that estimates and compiles the components of value for a natural ecosystem. The framework begins with the ecological processes involved, which provide functions within the ecosystem and services valued by humans. We discuss the additive or competive nature of these values, and estimate these values through conventional and unconventional techniques. We apply the framework to ecological resources in a shrub-steppe dryland habitat being displaced by development. We first determine which functions and services are mutually exclusive (e.g., farming vs soil stabilization) and which are complementary or products of joint production (e.g., soil stabilization and maintenance of species). We then apply benefit transfer principles with contingent valuation methodology (CVM), travel cost methodology (TCM), and hedonic damage pricing (HDP). Finally, we derive upper-limit values for more difficult-to-value functions through the use of human analogs, which we argue are the most appropriate method of valuation under some circumstances. The highest values of natural shrub-steppe habitat appear to be derived from soil stabilization.KEY WORDS: Natural resource economics; Ecological economics; Ecological resources; Shrub-steppe; Environmental valuation; Cost; Benefit; Value     

广州市城市生活垃圾管理系统规划

运用最小费用规划模型,选取运输费用以及各处理设施（包括垃圾焚烧、制肥、回收利用、 填埋和中转处理）的处理费用为因子,同时把经济收入作为负的费用从中扣除,对选取的三个规划方案进行了计算,得出了广州市市区城市生活垃圾管理系统处理的最低费用,并给出了市属8个区的垃圾量相应的处理设置。     

Adjustment of parental effort to manipulated foraging ability in a pelagic seabird,the thin-billed prion Pachyptila belcheri

An experiment was designed to examine in a long-lived seabird, the thin-billed prion (Pachyptila belcheri), how adults adjust their food provisioning strategy when their foraging abilities are reduced and when the chick's needs are increased. To reduce the foraging abilities of adults we impaired their flying ability by removing some flight feathers (handicapped), and to increase the food needs of the chick one parent was retained (single). Birds made either short foraging trips lasting 1–3 days, or long trips lasting 5–9 days. Control birds alternated long and short trips whereas single birds or handicapped birds made several successive short trips and thereafter a long trip. In each treatment, food loads tended to be heavier after long trips than after short trips, and single birds tended to bring heavier loads than control or handicapped birds. Birds in the three treatments lost similar amounts of mass after short trips and gained similar amounts of mass after long trips. However, the mass of handicapped birds declined through the experiment, while that of control and single birds remained stable. Although the proportion of chicks that died during the experiment was similar among the three treatments, the chicks fledged by a single bird were lighter than those in control nests. The results of the experiment suggest that thin-billed prions adjust their breeding effort differently to decreased flying ability or increased food demand by the chick. Single birds increase foraging effort without allowing their condition to deteriorate. Conversely, handicapped birds are unable to maintain their body condition while sustaining the chick at the same rate as control birds. It is suggested that in this long-lived seabird, adults probably adjust their breeding effort so that they do not incur the risk of an increased mortality, this risk being monitored by the body condition.     

旅行费用法在旅游资源价值评估中的若干问题述评

旅行费用法(TCM)是一种基于观测资料评估旅游资源价值的显示偏好法。论文在文献梳理的基础上,对TCM研究过程中的偏差进行了述评,并指出了可能的解决方案;然后,讨论了TCM的有效性、适用性以及合法性,并提出进一步研究的重点和方向。文献综述表明:常见的TCM模型可以分为ZTCM、TCIA、GTCM、ITCM、HTCM和RUM六种类型,在研究中应根据实际情况选择合适的模型;旅行费用测度中的内生分层、抽样误差、时间的机会成本计算、多目的地之间的费用分成等问题,需求函数估算中的多重共线性、内生性、函数形式的选择等问题,均会导致评估结果出现偏差;TCM在发展中国家的有效性、适用性和合法性遭到了质疑,但仍不失为一种评估旅游资源价值的有效手段;今后的研究要加强TCM中的偏差分析及有效性检验,并着力于模型的修正和改进,加强TCM与CVM的结合,提高研究方法的有效性。     

灾害间接经济损失的计量

本文研究了三种灾害间接经济损失的计量，即间接停减产损失、中间投入积压增加损失和投资溢价损失。利用了城市投入──产出表所表达的产业关联关系估计了由于生产的联锁性造成灾害的进一步损失。并用上海市的实际数据对地震的间接经济损失作了预测计量。     

林火管理成本中几个基本要素的确定与相互关系

通过用经济学的观点分析了林火管理成本中基本要素的相互关系及这些要素的确定,研究了林火防治成本与森林火灾损失之间的关系,提出了林火管理经济学中防治可能性区域的判据。     

Environmental and economic aspects of production and utilization of RDF as alternative fuel in cement plants: A case study of Metro Vancouver Waste Management

Municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal and management is one of the most significant challenges faced by urban communities around the world. Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) over the years has utilized many sophisticated technologies and smart strategies. Municipalities worldwide have pursued numerous initiatives to reduce the environmental burden of the MSW treatment strategies. One of the most beneficial MSWM strategies is the thermal treatment or energy recovery to obtain cleaner renewable energy from waste. Among many waste-to-energy strategies, refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is a solid recovered fuel that can be used as a substitute for conventional fossil fuel. The scope of this study is to investigate the feasibility of RDF production with MSW generated in Metro Vancouver, for co-processing in two cement kilns in the region. This study investigates environmental impacts and benefits and economic costs and profits of RDF production. In addition, RDF utilization as an alternative fuel in cement kilns has been assessed. Cement manufacturing has been selected as one of the most environmentally challenged industries and as a potential destination for RDF to replace a portion of conventional fossil fuels with less energy-intensive fuel. A comprehensive environmental assessment is conducted using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. In addition, cost–benefit analysis (CBA) has been carried out to study the economic factors. This research confirmed that RDF production and use in cement kilns can be environmentally and economically viable solution for Metro Vancouver.