Showing papers on "Environmental impact assessment published in 2011"
TL;DR: In this paper, a new and unique dataset based on the German Community Innovation Survey conducted in 2009 was used to test whether different types of eco-innovations (according to their environmental impacts) are driven by different factors.
Abstract: Empirical analyses of the determinants of environmental innovations were rarely able to distinguish between different areas of environmental impacts. The paper tries to close this gap by employing a new and unique dataset based on the German Community Innovation Survey conducted in 2009. The main purpose of the paper is to test whether different types of eco-innovations (according to their environmental impacts) are driven by different factors. Besides a complex set of different supply, firm specific and demand factors, the literature on the determinants of environmental innovations accentuates the important role of regulation, cost savings and customer benefits. We find that current and expected government regulation is particularly important for pushing firms to reduce air (e.g. CO2, SO2 or NOx) as well as water or noise emissions, avoid hazardous substances and increase recyclability of products. Cost savings are an important motivation for reducing energy and material use, pointing to the role of energy and raw materials prices as well as taxation as drivers for eco-innovation. Customer requirements are another important source for eco-innovations, particularly with regard to products with improved environmental performance and process innovations that increase material efficiency, reduce energy consumption and waste and the use of dangerous substances. Firms confirm a high importance of expected future regulations for all environmental product innovations.
979 citations
TL;DR: The environmental concern and development issues regarding packaging has for 20 years to a high extent been on packaging when it has become waste To reduce the environmentalimpact from the whole world as mentioned in this paper...
308 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the results of an energy and environmental assessment of a set of retrofit actions implemented in the framework of the EU Project BRITA in PuBs (Bringing Retrofit Innovation to Application in Public Buildings).
Abstract: The paper presents the results of an energy and environmental assessment of a set of retrofit actions implemented in the framework of the EU Project “BRITA in PuBs” (Bringing Retrofit Innovation to Application in Public Buildings – no: TREN/04/FP6EN/S07.31038/503135). Outcomes arise from a life cycle approach focused on the following issues: (i) construction materials and components used during retrofits; (ii) main components of conventional and renewable energy systems; (iii) impacts related to the building construction, for the different elements and the whole building. The results are presented according to the data format of the Environmental Product Declaration. Synthetic indices, as energy and GWP payback times, and energy return ratio, are defined to better describe the energy and environmental performances of the actions. The project highlights the role of the life cycle approach for selecting the most effective options during the design and implementation of retrofit actions.
222 citations
TL;DR: The wide-ranging impact on high-polluting and high energy-consuming industries, vague policy details unclear implementing standards, and lack of environmental information are the main problems in the implementation of the green credit policy in China.
215 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the link between attitude and action through an examination of the interrelationship between awareness of environmental impact, attitude towards environmental issues, and environmental practice adoption.
Abstract: Globally there is mounting pressure for firms to assess their impact on the environment, and to modify their behaviour accordingly. The small and medium enterprise (SME) sector is often described as ‘hard to reach’ and lagging behind in terms of ‘green business’ due to management and resourcing issues characteristic of SMEs (e.g. resource poverty and a lack of management capability). This absence of resource slack then translates into an unwillingness and/or inability to commit to environmental improvements in any systematic and ongoing fashion, if at all. However, a lack of action in the context of the firm does not always reflect the personal attitudes of the individual SME owner-managers. The link between attitude and action is explored in the paper through the examination of the inter-relationship between awareness of environmental impact, attitude towards environmental issues, and environmental practice adoption. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
207 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a framework for the assessment of European regions in terms of sustainability, and the identification of the impact that policy options might have on the sustainability of these regions.
197 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors studied the environmental aspects of tourism in developing nations and found that tourism can contribute to conservation by providing political and financial support for public protected area agencies and for conservation on private and communally owned lands.
Abstract: Tourism is a large, diffuse global industry. Environmental aspects are little studied, with ∼1,500 publications in total. Impacts range from global contributions to climate change and ocean pollution to localized effects on endangered plant and animal species in protected areas. Environmental management is limited more by lack of adoption than by lack of technology. Government regulation is more effective than industry-based ecocertification. In developing nations, tourism can contribute to conservation by providing political and financial support for public protected area agencies and for conservation on private and communally owned lands. This is important in building resilience to climate change. In developed nations, such effects are outweighed by the impacts of recreational use and by political pressures from tourism property developers. These interactions deserve research in both natural and social sciences. Research priorities include more sophisticated recreation ecology as well as legal and socia...
191 citations
TL;DR: In the proposed methodology the criteria weights are generated by a fuzzy AHP procedure and a fuzzy outranking methodology, fuzzy ELECTRE is used to assess the environmental impact generated by the six different industrial districts which were predicted to shape the future industrial structure of Istanbul metropolitan area.
Abstract: Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the possible impact that a proposed plan or project may have on the environment, together consisting of the natural, social and economic aspects. The aim of this paper is to propose an environmental impact assessment methodology based on an integrated fuzzy AHP-ELECTRE approach in the context of urban industrial planning. In the proposed methodology the criteria weights are generated by a fuzzy AHP procedure. The fuzzy set theory is a perfect means for modeling uncertainty or imprecision arising from human mental phenomena. The usage of fuzzy sets in describing uncertainties and vagueness in different environmental factors simplifies the complex structure of EIA. A fuzzy outranking methodology, fuzzy ELECTRE is used to assess the environmental impact generated by the six different industrial districts which were predicted to shape the future industrial structure of Istanbul metropolitan area. Finally, a fuzzy dominance relation (FDR) methodology is used to rank the alternatives from the most risky to the least. A sensitivity analysis is also provided.
177 citations
TL;DR: An effort to record the aquaculture-environment and -human safety interactions with regard to the Mediterranean mariculture, is attempted heretofore focused on this geographical area due to its individualities in both the hydrological and physicochemical characteristics and the forms of aquac Culture.
172 citations
TL;DR: In environmental systems analysis tools like Life Cycle Assessment, strategic environmental assessment, cost benefit analysis, and environmental management systems, results need to be presented in a... as discussed by the authors, where the authors present results in a single document.
TL;DR: Clear evidence of the environmental benefits of waste prevention is provided and has specific relevance in climate change mitigation.
TL;DR: A spatial multi-criteria evaluation methodology is presented to assess land suitability for a plant siting and applied to Santiago Island of Cape Verde, incorporating the environmental impact assessment of the plant operation as a criterion in the decision-making process itself rather than as an a posteriori assessment.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a comparison between the cost-effectiveness analysis currently used for aviation environmental policy decision-making and an illustrative cost-benefit analysis, and show that different conclusions may be drawn about the same policy options depending on whether benefits and interdependencies are estimated in terms of health and welfare impacts versus changes in NOX emissions inventories.
TL;DR: In this article, a cross-sectional survey of 10,000 professionals from innovation driven companies in Spain was conducted to evaluate their perception and knowledge of eco-design and sustainability.
TL;DR: In this paper, the environmental impacts of an industrial ecosystem centered around a pulp and paper mill and operating as an industrial symbiosis are analyzed using life cycle assessment (LCA), and the system is compared with two hypothetical reference systems in which the actors would operate in isolation.
Abstract: Summary Studies of industrial symbiosis (IS) focus on the physical flows of materials and energy in local industrial systems. In an ideal IS, waste material and energy are shared or exchanged among the actors of the system, thereby reducing the consumption of virgin material and energy inputs, and likewise the generation of waste and emissions. In this study, the environmental impacts of an industrial ecosystem centered around a pulp and paper mill and operating as an IS are analyzed using life cycle assessment (LCA). The system is compared with two hypothetical reference systems in which the actors would operate in isolation. Moreover, the system is analyzed further in order to identify possibilities for additional links between the actors. The results show that of the total life cycle impacts of the system, upstream processes made the greatest overall contribution to the results. Comparison with stand-alone production shows that in the case studied, the industrial symbiosis results in modest improvements, 5% to 20% in most impact categories, in the overall environmental impacts of the system. Most of the benefits occur upstream through heat and electricity production for the local town. All in all it is recommended that when the environmental impacts of industrial symbiosis are assessed, the impacts occurring upstream should also be studied, not only the impacts within the ecosystem.
TL;DR: Landscape futures analysis is introduced as a method which combines linear programming optimisation with scenario analysis in quantifying the environmental, economic, and social impacts associated with achieving environmental targets, on a landscape scale.
Abstract: Environmental targets are often used in planning for sustainable agricultural landscapes but their impacts are rarely known. In this paper we introduce landscape futures analysis as a method which combines linear programming optimisation with scenario analysis in quantifying the environmental, economic, and social impacts associated with achieving environmental targets, on a landscape scale. We applied the technique in the Lower Murray in southern Australia. Landscape futures models were used to identify specific geographic locations in the landscape for six natural resource management (NRM) actions such that regional environmental targets are achieved. The six potential NRM actions that may be undertaken to achieve environmental targets include remnant vegetation management, ecological restoration, conservation farming, deep-rooted perennials, and the production of biomass and biofuels feedstock for renewable energy generation. We developed landscape futures under four alternative spatial prioritisation policy options and four future climate and commodity price scenarios. The impacts of each landscape future were calculated across a range of environmental, economic, and social indicators. The external drivers, climate change and commodity prices, and internal decisions such as policy options for spatially prioritising NRM actions, both have a strong influence on the costs and benefits of achieving environmental targets. Illustrative results for the cleared agricultural areas in the Mallee region indicate that whilst achieving targets can have substantial environmental benefits, it requires large areas of land use and land management change, and is likely to be costly (up to $348.5 M per year) with flow-on impacts on the regional economy and communities. Environmental targets can be achieved more cost-effectively through spatial planning. Costs can be further reduced if markets are established for carbon, biomass, and biofuels to enable landholders to generate income from undertaking NRM. Landscape futures analysis is an effective tool for supporting the strategic regional NRM policy and planning decisions of how best to set and achieve environmental targets.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors derived the environmental impact of industry classes from emission data, released by the European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER), and then aggregated and assessed using Eco-Indicator 99, a single-score life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) method.
TL;DR: In this paper, the main types of tomato production, heated, year-round production in plastic houses or glasshouses, and seasonal production under polytunnel, were compared with data from other temperate production regions.
Abstract: The environmental impact of greenhouse production in France is poorly documented. Environmental benefits versus drawbacks of greenhouse production are not well known. Assessments that intregrate pesticide toxicology and transfer of mass and energy are scarce. Here, we compared the main types of tomato production, heated, year-round production in plastic houses or glasshouses, and seasonal production under polytunnel. Environmental impacts where assessed by life cycle analysis. Analyses were performed after the construction of a database relating the integrality of matter and energy fluxes, regarding the structure of the system, the inputs for production, and the waste products. Results show that greenhouse heating had the highest environmental impacts, including toxicological impact. For instance, the mean environmental impact of heated crops under plastic or in glasshouses was 4.5 times higher than in tunnels. Furthermore, pesticides in tunnels had a 3- to 6-fold higher impact in terms of terrestrial or aquatic ecotoxicology or human toxicology. Our results were compared with data from other temperate production regions.
TL;DR: In this article, a restaurant and food service operations model was developed by grouping the operational activities into four subsystems: food procurement, food storage, food preparation and cooking, and service/support.
Abstract: There is no clear guidance for responsible food service operations to reduce their environmental footprint, so the efforts put forth by a restaurant may not have the environmental impact intended. As a result, Green Seal conducted life cycle assessment research on restaurants and food service operations to define priorities for environmental improvement. This information was then used to develop a sustainability standard and certification (i.e., ecolabel) program. The life cycle assessment study focused on the day-to-day activities of running a restaurant, including direct and indirect contributions. To do this, a restaurant and food service operations model was developed by grouping the operational activities into four subsystems: food procurement, food storage, food preparation and cooking, and service/support. Data was collected from a range of restaurants in the United States. The impact categories examined included respiratory inorganics, acidification/eutrophication, fossil fuels, ecotoxicity, carcinogens, land use, and climate change. Of all the subsystems, food procurement contributed hotspots in all impact categories examined. On the contrary, the food storage subsystem contributed no hotspot in any of the impact categories examined. Normalization of the results confirmed that food procurement was the largest source of environmental impacts. In addition, it was found that the impacts of food services were dominated by land use, respiratory inorganics, and fossil fuels. The impacts could be reduced with various preferable practices. As a result, a sustainability standard for restaurants and food services was developed to include these preferable practices, the Green Seal Standard for Food Services, GS-46. This study presents an overview of the main environmental impacts from the operation of a restaurant or food service. The results provided direction in the development of a sustainability standard and ecolabel program. This standard, the Green Seal Standard for Restaurants and Food Services, GS-46, is a comprehensive framework for operations to make meaningful reductions in their environmental impact. Further, operations that meet the requirements in the GS-46 standard have demonstrated significant reduction in their environmental impact. Finally, it was found that this environmental impact reduction can be done without added cost (e.g., cost neutral, with potential for financial gains).
TL;DR: This study discusses how to apply Data Environment Analysis (DEA) for environmental assessment and proposes two types of unification for DEA-based environmental assessment within a non-radial DEA framework.
TL;DR: Four environmental assessment methods which may be applied to assess fruit production systems are evaluated and four are identified as being better than the others: Life Cycle Assessment, Ecological Footprint Analysis, Emergy Analysis and Energy Balance.
TL;DR: Environmental Impact Assessment carried out as a case to address the environmental impact of sand mining from the instream and floodplain areas of three important rivers in the southwestern coast of India shows that the activities associated with mining and processing of sands have not only affected the health of the river ecosystems but also degraded its overbank areas to a large extent.
Abstract: In the past few decades, the demand for construction grade sand is increasing in many parts of the world due to rapid economic development and subsequent growth of building activities. This, in many of the occasions, has resulted in indiscriminate mining of sand from instream and floodplain areas leading to severe damages to the river basin environment. The case is rather alarming in the small catchment rivers like those draining the southwestern coast of India due to limited sand resources in their alluvial reaches. Moreover, lack of adequate information on the environmental impact of river sand mining is a major lacuna challenging regulatory efforts in many developing countries. Therefore, a scientific assessment is a pre-requisite in formulating management strategies in the sand mining-hit areas. In this context, a study has been made as a case to address the environmental impact of sand mining from the instream and floodplain areas of three important rivers in the southwestern coast of India namely the Chalakudy, Periyar and Muvattupuzha rivers, whose lowlands host one of the fast developing urban-cum-industrial centre, the Kochi city. The study reveals that an amount of 11.527 million ty−1 of sand (8.764 million ty−1 of instream sand and 2.763 million ty−1 of floodplain sand) is being mined from the midland and lowland reaches of these rivers for construction of buildings and other infrastructural facilities in Kochi city and its satellite townships. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) carried out as a part of this investigation shows that the activities associated with mining and processing of sands have not only affected the health of the river ecosystems but also degraded its overbank areas to a large extent. Considering the degree of degradation caused by sand mining from these rivers, no mining scenario may be opted in the deeper zones of the river channels. Also, a set of suggestions are made for the overall improvement of the rivers and its biophysical environment.
TL;DR: This paper describes some recent approaches to environmental discounting and applies them to the economic evaluation of a plant for the desalination of irrigation return water from intensive farming, aimed at halting the degradation of an area of great ecological value, the Mar Menor, in South Eastern Spain.
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: In Malaysia, an estimated 4.5 million ha of land have been converted to oil palm plantations in Malaysia with further expansion planned in Sarawak, an eastern state of Malaysian Borneo as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Crude palm oil (CPO) had become a highly valued product in the international market, resulting in its gradual increase in cost over the past twenty years. Malaysia and Indonesia alone produce over 80% of internationally traded CPO. Currently, an estimated 4.5 million ha of land have been converted to oil palm plantations in Malaysia with further expansion planned in Sarawak, an eastern state of Malaysian Borneo. Over 7.5 million ha of land are under oil palm plantations in Indonesia and provincial plans project an additional 20 million ha for oil palm development. 1
TL;DR: In this article, the authors surveyed pressing issues facing current and future social policies in the European Union (EU) at the juncture of social justice demands and environmental concerns, and addressed two contemporary dimensions of those challenges for EU social policies: vulnerability and exposure to environmental disaster and risk; and fairness in environmental taxation and the related issue of fuel poverty.
TL;DR: In the context of impact assessment (IA), "enhancement" refers to deliberate attempts taken in the design and subsequent phases of projects, programmes, plans and policies to ensure the success of a wider range of direct and indirect positive outcomes to communities and/or the biophysical environment as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In the context of impact assessment (IA), ‘enhancement’ refers to deliberate attempts taken in the design and subsequent phases of projects, programmes, plans and policies to ensure the success of a wider range of direct and indirect positive outcomes to communities and/or the biophysical environment. This can be in the form of opportunities for social and community development, improved health and wellbeing, improved biodiversity, restored ecosystems and landscape character, and protected and respected cultural heritage. This first ever special issue on enhancement advocates that all forms of IA should consider opportunities for enhancement. Specific reference is made to strategic environmental assessment (SEA), environmental impact assessment (EIA), social impact assessment (SIA) and health impact assessment (HIA). The paper presents views from IA practitioners regarding perceptions of the barriers to greater use of enhancement in IA and suggestions for possible solutions to those barriers. Investment i...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors assessed the perceptions of socio-economically heterogeneous forest users from eight community forests of Dhading district on environmental impacts of community forestry practice using group interviews and case studies.