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Environmental Point (environmental + point)
Selected AbstractsGreen Energy or Organic Food?: A Life-Cycle Assessment Comparing Two Uses of Set-Aside LandJOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2001Richard van den Broek Summary Bioenergy has a large worldwide potential in future climate change abatement, although its application may become limited by demands for land for other functions. The aim of this study was to make an environmental assessment of the use of energy crops in the Netherlands in a context that incorporates scarcity of land. A base case system was defined, consisting of conventional winter wheat production, set-aside land (1 hectare, together), and the production of coal-based electricity. Using life-cycle assessment, we compared this system with (1) a green energy system in which willow is cultivated on the set-aside land to replace the coal-based electricity and (2) an organic agriculture system in which the full hectare produces wheat under the Dutch EKO organic agriculture standard. In this way, the functional unit and the amount of land used is the same in each system. The final system comparison was based on normalized scores per environmental theme. The green energy system scored the best with respect to acidification, climate change, and energy carrier depletion. The organic food system scored best on terrestrial eco-toxicity and slightly better on the mutually related themes of seawater and seawater sediment eco-toxicity. The base case system performed slightly better with regard to eutrophication. Preferences, from an environmental point of view, for one of the systems should be determined by environmental policy priorities and the severity of local environmental problems. The case studied here shows that when climate change, energy carrier depletion, and acidification are the main drivers behind environmental policy, one should focus not on the extensification of agriculture, but rather dedicate more land to energy crops. Extensification of agriculture would be the preferred system when toxicity from pesticides is considered the main problem. [source] Potential role of phosphate buffering capacity of soils in fertilizer management strategies fitted to environmental goals,JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION AND SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2003Phillip Ehlert Abstract Sorption behavior and buffering of phosphorus (P) are important, both from an agricultural and an environmental point of view. The objectives of this study were to investigate: (1) the kinetics of the transfer of P from soil to soil solution and assessing P buffering capacity of soils (PBC), as a function of soil solution P; (2) the effect of PBC on soil P status fitted to environmental targets for water quality; (3) the effect of PBC on crop response. PBC was derived from the non-linear Q-I curve describing the time-dependent relationship between plant-available reserve of soil P (Q) versus soil solution P (I). The Q-I curve was determined in soil suspension using sorption and isotopic dilution methods for soil samples from French, Swedish, and Dutch field trials. Soils with low PBC values were more sensitive to the loss of P to the environment, required higher critical value in soil solution P to comply with P demand of maize, and had higher change in soil solution P per unit of P budget. In different soils, both the critical soil solution P for maize and the change in soil solution P per unit of P balance varied inversely with PBC. It is concluded that (1) PBC plays a key role in determining the agronomic and environmental threshold levels of available P content in the soils, and (2) PBC is a prerequisite for the development of more environmentally oriented fertilization recommendation systems. Potenzielle Bedeutung der Phosphat-Pufferkapazität des Bodens für umweltgerechte Düngungsstategien Bindungsverhalten und Pufferkapazität des Phosphors (P) im Boden ist wichtig, sowohl aus Sicht der Landwirtschaft als auch des Umweltschutzes. In dieser Untersuchung sollten folgende Probleme untersucht werden: (1) Kinetik des P-Transfers von der Festphase in die Bodenlösung und Abschätzung der P-Pufferkapazität (PBC) als Funktion der P-Konzentration in der Bodenlösung; (2) die Wirkung der PBC auf den Boden-P-Status im Hinblick auf Qualitätsziele für Wasser; (3) Wirkung der PBC auf die P-Aufnahme der Pflanze. Die PBC wurde abgeleitet aus der nichtlinearen Q-I-Kurve, die die zeitabhängige Beziehung zwischen dem Gehalt an pflanzenverfügbarem Boden-P (Q) und der P-Konzentration in der Bodenlösung (I) beschreibt. Die Q-I-Kurve wurde in Bodensupensionen mit Sorptions- und Isotopen-Verdünnungsmethoden an Bodenproben aus Feldversuchen in Frankreich, Schweden und den Niederlanden bestimmt. Böden mit niedriger PBC waren sensitiver für P-Austräge in die Umwelt, erforderten höhere Grenzkonzentrationen in der Bodenlösung zur Bedarfsdeckung bei Mais und zeigten größere Konzentrationsveränderungen in der Bodenlösung je Einheit der P-Bilanz. Die Grenzkonzentrationen in der Bodenlösung zur Bedarfsdeckung bei Mais und Konzentrationsveränderungen in der Bodenlösung je Einheit der P-Bilanz variierten in unterschiedlichen Böden invers mit Variation der PBC. Aus den Untersuchungen folgte, dass (1) die PBC ein Schlüssel-Parameter zur Bestimmung agronomischer und umweltrelevanter Grenzwerte der Gehalte an verfügbarem P im Boden ist und (2) somit eine Voraussetzung für die Entwicklung mehr umweltorientierter Systeme der Düngungsempfehlungen. [source] Application of life cycle assessment to improve the environmental performance of a ceramic tile packaging systemPACKAGING TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Issue 2 2006M. D. Bovea Abstract The overall goal of this study was to evaluate the environmental performance of the process currently used to package and palletize ceramic floor and wall tiles, and to propose and analyse improvements from an environmental point of view. After developing a life cycle inventory of the primary and tertiary packaging, the life cycle assessment was applied according to mandatory and optional elements of ISO 14042. The results are presented in three parts: the first quantifies the environmental behaviour of the current packaging system, the second examines strategies focused on minimizing the environmental burdens of such critical elements, and the third quantifies the environmental improvements, compared with the initial situation, that are obtained with the application of each improvement. The simultaneous incorporation of all the proposed improvements into the packaging system can reduce impact within the 18,45% range, depending on the impact method that is applied. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Degradation and effect of hydrogen peroxide in small-scale recirculation aquaculture system biofiltersAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 8 2010Martin Sune Møller Abstract From an environmental point of view, hydrogen peroxide (HP) has beneficial attributes compared with other disinfectants in terms of its ready degradation and neutral by-products. The rapid degradation of HP can, however, cause difficulties with regard to safe and efficient water treatment when applied in different systems. In this study, we investigated the degradation kinetics of HP in biofilters from water recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). The potential effect of HP on the nitrification process in the biofilters was also examined. Biofilter elements from two different pilot-scale RAS were exposed to various HP treatments in batch experiments, and the HP concentration was found to follow an exponential decay. The biofilter ammonia and nitrite oxidation processes showed quick recuperation after exposure to a single dose of HP up to 30 mg L,1. An average HP concentration of 10,13 mg L,1 maintained over 3 h had a moderate inhibitory effect on the biofilter elements from one of the RAS with relatively high organic loading, while the nitrification was severely inhibited in the pilot-scale biofilters from the other RAS with a relatively low organic loading. A pilot-scale RAS, equipped with two biofilter units, both a moving-bed (Biomedia) and a fixed-bed (BIO-BLOK®) biofilter, was subjected to an average HP concentration of ,12 mg L,1 for 3 h. The ammonium- and nitrite-degrading efficiencies of both the Biomedia and the BIO-BLOK® filters were drastically reduced. The filters had not reverted to pre-HP exposure efficiency after 24 h, suggesting a possible long-term impact on the biofilters. [source] Managing environmental risk in existing light industrial estatesBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 6 2001Michael Ross Jayne In order to optimize the role of light industrial estates in the environment, it is desirable to follow the principles of ecological modernization and factor the environmental considerations into the development process. This is not possible with existing estates, where a different approach must be taken. This paper examines research conducted at five light industrial estates and considers the role of the landlord in determining an alternative strategy. The results suggest that occupiers are still not taking all the reasonable steps available to them in order to mitigate their potential for environmental damage, nor are they fully exploiting the opportunities that exist for environmental improvements. Landlords of light industrial estates have long term interests in property and, consequently, have a role in ensuring that existing estates are better managed from an environmental point of view. As such landlords have the potential to contribute to the process of ecological modernization. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [source] | ||||||||||