Showing papers on "Non-renewable resource published in 2005"

Recycling revisited - life cycle comparisons of global warming impact and total energy use of waste management strategies

Abstract: Recycling of waste materials has been analysed from a life cycle perspective in a number of studies over the past 10-15 years Publications comparing the global warming impact and total energy use

Climate Policy and the Optimal Extraction of High- and Low-Carbon Fossil Fuels

Abstract: We study how restricting CO2 emissions affects resource prices and depletion over time. We use a Hotelling-style model with two nonrenewable fossil fuels that differ in their carbon content (e.g., coal and natural gas) and that are imperfect substitutes in final good production. We study both an unexpected constraint and an anticipated constraint. Both shocks induce intertemporal substitution of resource use. When emissions are unexpectedly restricted, it is cost-effective to use high-carbon resources relatively more (less) intensively on impact if this resource is relatively scarce (abundant). If the emission constraint is anticipated, it is cost-effective to use relatively more (less) of the low-carbon input before the constraint becomes binding, in order to conserve relatively more (less) of the high-carbon input for the period when climate policy is active in case the high-carbon resource is relatively scarce (abundant).

Essential Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

Abstract: I. FOUNDATIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 1. An introduction to environmental science 2. Environmental economics and environmental policy 3. Environmental systems: Chemistry, energy, and ecosystems 4. Evolution, biodiversity, and population ecology 5. Species interactions and community ecology II. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND THE SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS 6. Human population 7. Soils, agriculture, and the future of food 8. Biodiversity and conservation biology 9. Cities, forests, and parks: Land use and resource management 10. Environmental health and toxicology 11. Geology, minerals, and mining 12. Freshwater and marine systems and resources 13. The atmosphere and air pollution 14. Global climate change 15. Nonrenewable energy sources, their impacts, and energy conservation 16. Renewable energy alternatives 17. Waste management Epilogue: Sustainable Solutions

Energy balance of bioethanol: a synthesis

Abstract: While in recent years, the popularity of fuel bio-ethanol has increased significantly all over the World, energy policies aimed at promoting the use of biofuels are largely motivated by the will to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, preserve non renewable energy resources and improve energy security. Since the early 80’s, extensive research was aimed at evaluating the so-called net energy balance and CO2 balance of bio-ethanol through the life cycle assessment approach. Today, if there seems to be a general consensus about the energy balance of bio-ethanol, the utilization phase of the fuels is generally not taken into account in the evaluation of this indicator. Since the appropriate question should be ‘how much non renewable energy use (resp. CO2 emissions) can be avoided through the introduction of fuel bioethanol on the fuels market?’, the comparison between fuel bio-ethanol and conventional fuels should really be based on a given distance travelled and thereby integrate their respective performances in terms of fuel economy. In the light of the various observations, an alternative approach is proposed to assess the non renewable energy use and greenhouse gas emissions actually avoided, in relation with the introduction of biofuels on the market.

Renewable Energy Resources in Lebanon : Practical Applications

Abstract: Countries of the south generally have abundant renewable and nonrenewable energy resources. Lebanon is among the few countries that are not endowed with fossil fuels in the Middle East; accordingly, it is imperative that renewable energy (RE) be looked at as an alternative energy source. A review of the energy scene in Lebanon and available RE sources is presented. With the current status of technology and the available resources, the best renewable energy domain to focus on is the solar thermal water heating for residential houses.

Energy and sustainable development in Mexico

Abstract: The future of the oil and gas industry in Mexico affects both U.S. and world markets and, more importantly, the country's own economic development. Fossil fuels - oil, natural gas, and coal - account for 92 percent of all energy consumed in Mexico, creating two fundamental dilemmas for the country. How can it increase energy consumption at the same time it cleans up the air and water, and how can it sustain growth that is based on a nonrenewable resource? Since oil and natural gas are produced exclusively by Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), a government monopoly, economists John R. Moroney and Flory Dieck-Assad center their study of the Mexican oil and gas industry on the recent history of that company and its complex relationship with the Mexican Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Finance, and Congress. The result is the first detailed account of PEMEX's fiscal situation during the twenty-year period from 1979 to 2000, a period of declining oil and gas reserves. The authors cogently assess Mexico's goals of sustainability and the major policy changes that will be required to achieve them. This book will be of interest to readers concerned with Mexican economic development and its prospects for the future.

Natural Resource Abundance and Economic Growth in a Two Country World

Abstract: We investigate the dynamics of nonrenewable resource abundance on economic growth and welfare in a two-country world. One country is endowed with a nonrenewable-r esource, otherwise, countries are identical, except possibly for their initial endowments of capital. Unlike previous studies analyzing small open economies, we show that once interactions between resource-rich and resource-less economies are considered the effect of the nonrenewable resource on the resource rich economy's performance can be positive. We derive the necessary condition for the nonrenewable resource to have a positive (negative) effect on the growth rate of the resource-rich economy. The endowment of the nonrenewable resource has a positive effect on the growth rate of the resource-rich country provided the elasticity of the initial price of the resource with regard to the initial stock of the resource is greater than minus one. An analytical solution to the model confirms that this elasticity is greater than minus one, and numerical simulations with a very large range of parameter values confirm the same.

Using a Set of Strategic Indicator Systems as a Decision-making Support Implement for Establishing a Recycling-oriented Society

Abstract: Background, Scope and Aims To realize the vision of sustainable development (SD) originating from the 'only one earth' philosophy, and to integrate the conceptions of ecology and sustainability into the planning and decision-making criteria of urban growth management, the establishment of a recyclingoriented society (ROS) is essential However, before the above intention can be achieved, it is indispensable to develop a system of strategic indicators for supporting a radical reformation of the urban development plan Therefore, this study, based on the conception of the new urban development pattern ROS, attempted to carefully choose a sample city in Taiwan for launching a preliminary case study, and furthermore designed and proposed a concise and strategy-oriented assessment indicator system termed ROSAIS ROSAIS, on the one hand, can act as a compass for understanding resource using efficiency and recycling status during city development and, on the other hand, can serve as an implement supporting decision-making for ROS construction Methods According to the definition and spirit of ROS, the structure of ROSAIS should clearly represent the relationship between resources and environment in human activities The eco-efficiency indicator system (EEIS) and environmental symbiosis indicator system (ESIS) can be considered two key subindicator systems, and are the necessary components of ROSAIS EEIS chooses the dominant production sectors in urban economic activities to calculate their eco-efficiency (EE) Separately, for obtaining a consensus regarding the framework of ESIS, the questionnaire approaches and expert consultation, together with the research experience and foundation of current relevant studies and indicator systems, are applied when crucial resource and environmental issues and respective indicators are selected Results and Discussion The calculation results of EEIS in this case study indicated that among the three dominant production activities (agricultural, fishery, and animal husbandry sector) the fishery sector has the highest EE, which indicates that the fishery activities and resources significantly influence the sustainability of the economic-environmental system of the sample city Furthermore, according to a consensus achieved in ESIS, local green spaces, resource recovery, energy consumption pattern change, freshwater conservation and greenhouse effect abatement were considered as the five crucial issues influencing how the case study city can develop into an ES-city The rate of local green spaces, resource recycling, freshwater conservation and the rate of reduction of nonrenewable energy use as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were used to evaluate the above five issues

Specialization and Nonrenewable Resources: Ricardo meets Ricardo

Abstract: The one-demand Hotelling model fails to explain the observed specialization of nonrenewable resources. We develop a model with multiple demands and resources to show that specialization of resources according to demand is driven by Ricardian comparative advantage while the order of resource use over time is determined by Ricardian absolute advantage. An abundant resource with absolute advantage in all demands must be initially employed in all demands. When each resource has an absolute advantage in some demand, no resource may be used exclusively. The two-by-two model is characterized. Resource and demand-specific taxes are shown to have significant substitution effects.

The Hartwick rule and the characterization of constant consumption paths in the presence of an exhaustible resource

Abstract: This paper deals with the interpretation of the Hartwick rule in the particular Dasgupta-Heal-Solow model with one capital good and one non-renewable resource. It is argued that the rule is more a descriptive property of constant consumption paths than a sustainability indicator. It is shown that investing the rents from the resource use into man-made capital is a necessary condition for an efficient resource depletion but it is not a sufficient condition for sustainability. A sustainable consumption indicator is described to characterize the sustainability of constant consumption paths.

A method for evaluating and selecting renewable and non-renewable energy technologies

Abstract: This paper offers a simple method of evaluating the existing renewable and non-renewable energy technologies. The evaluation method is based on the weights given to the importance of six selection criteria: the economic viability; the conversion efficiency; the present level of the technological development; the environmental impacts; the after-production clean-up cost; the renewability and abundance of the source. This paper also outlines the main shortcomings of the energy technologies, based on which they are rated. These ratings together with the weights assigned to the selection criteria produce normalised scores for each technology which are then used for comparison. The existing energy technologies are evaluated from five different points of view, in which the importance of (the weights given to) the economic viability and the environmental impacts of the technologies are varied. The results show that in a society that assigns the highest importance to the economics of the energy production technologies, the non-renewable sources are the most attractive, but become less desirable, when the environmental impacts of the technologies are given any weight. In particular, even with a moderate weight (of two out of a maximum weight of four) given to the environmental impacts, the renewable technologies, especially solar thermal concentrator has become the technology of choice.

A reform of car parking organisation as an instrument for creating sustainable urban regions

Abstract: Sustainability is one of today's major challenges. Numerous studies provide evidence that cities worldwide are not sustainable. Neither land use nor transport are organised in a sustainable manner. Indicators to measure sustainability include urban sprawl, air pollution and consumption of nonrenewable resources of energy. The transport and land use planning strategies of the last decades have not created sustainable cities and urban regions. Research results indicate that the instruments used, for example public transport investments, parking charges, road pricing, company transport plans or public awareness campaigns were not powerful enough. Empirical evidence shows that their ability to reverse unsustainable trends was limited. E.g. car use and hence fossil fuel consumption is still increasing worldwide. Recent research, making use of a dynamic integrated land use and transport model, shows that the approach "more of the same", i.e. more public transport, higher parking charges and road pricing etc., is hardly sufficient to achieve the objective of sustainability. Even if prices would be increased far beyond politically acceptable levels. As a conclusion the use of new, innovative instruments has to be taken into account. A detailed analysis of generalised costs of different modes of transport is used to detect the key elements which are determining transport user behaviour. These were found to be access and egress to public transport stops and parking places. Based on these findings a reform of car parking organisation is suggested as an alternative instrument to achieve sustainable cities and urban regions. The capability of this instrument is demonstrated using a simulation case study of the city Vienna. In this case study the performance of the proposed car parking organisation is compared with three more conventional strategies: “continue as before” and two different types of urban road charges.

Towards sustainability: Life cycle assessment of building products

Abstract: Introduction In building construction, sustainability may be defined as a constant search for planning processes, design, construction, exploration and reconstruction/replacement of buildings, minimizing environmental impact by limiting the consumption of non renewable fossil fuels and non renewable materials, minimizing pollutant emissions, and minimizing waste production. Buildings in general last longer in the ecosystem than any other product made by our society. Therefore sustainability might imply the consideration of a minimum lifetime of about 100 years so that renovation/replacement cycles underlying the concept of sustainability can be considered. Any assessment of a building’s sustainability has to take into account not only the construction phase but also the behaviour of the building over its service life and its final destination/disposal (demolition/recycling) including any change of its functionality that might happen during this period. Due to the necessity of assessing the life cycle of a building, particularly the issue of environmental impacts, specific methodologies are being developed the so-called Life-Cycle Assessment Methods. Life-cycle design of building products is a “cradle-to-grave” analysis, from the gathering of raw materials to their ultimate disposal, and each step is examined for its environmental impact. A building product’s life-cycle can be organized into three phases: pre-building, building and post-building:

Research and experimental characterization of alternative materials to reduce the environmental impact of some electrical distribution equipment

Abstract: In the electric system the aim of a sustainable politics is to reconcile the rational use of the energy with the environment protection for an improvement of the life quality. This objective can be reached optimising the functional, safety and environmental performances of the network components. This means to develop new products and new processes which, beyond to improve the quality of service to consumers or to anticipate the evolution in standards and the demands of the market, can also reduce energy and non renewable resources consumption, risks for human and ecosystem health and end-of-life waste. So a research project named MATEALT has started in CESI at the end of 2003 with a funding regulated by the Decree of the Italian Ministry for Industry and Trade dated 26 January 2000. The activity is in progress and will be concluded at the end of 2005.

Optimal Exploitation of Nonrenewable Resource under Uncertainty

Abstract: This paper presented a general model for the optimal exploitation of a nonrenewable resources under the two kinds of uncertainties. One source of uncertainty was in the reserve level and the other was in the economic environment that affected resource supply and demand conditions. This paper showed that the Hotelling's rule still applied and the demand uncertainty didn't effect on the expected dynamics of market price, while reserve uncertainty shifted the expected rate of change of price only if extraction costs were nonlinear in reserves. The model was also extended to include exploration, first as a means of reducing uncertainty and second as a means of accumulating reserves, with uncertainty over the future response of discoveries to exploration effort.

Petroleum and the Environment: Teaching about Petroleum and the Future of Energy Resources.

Abstract: Your students live in a world that is powered by petroleum and other energy resources to an unsurpassed degree. But do they know where all the energy that they readily use on a daily basis comes from? Will they know where to find it tomorrow? The United States today consumes more than 24% of all the energy used in the world--and about 60% of this energy is provided by petroleum (oil and natural gas). The availability of abundant, inexpensive energy is the main reason that our nation's standard of living leads the world. Americans can travel just about anywhere anytime, run all types of appliances and electronic gadgets, and remain comfortable regardless of the weather outside. It's a lifestyle shared by relatively few of the world's inhabitants. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] But environmental issues and concerns accompany both the production and consumption of petroleum, as your students should understand. To help students explore this topic further, we have developed the poster insert in this issue of The Science Teacher. The poster is distributed with Petroleum and the Environment, part of the American Geological Institute's Environmental Awareness series of booklets covering major topics of environmental and societal concern and demonstrating the complexity and interconnection of natural systems (www.agiweb.org/environment/publications). Petroleum and the Environment provides an introduction to the major environmental concerns associated with petroleum exploration, production, transportation, and use. If today's students are to have a role in decisions to meet the energy demands of tomorrow, they must understand petroleum's importance, its sources, how it is processed and used, the policies and regulations designed to safeguard natural resources, and global energy needs. After all, the world's people demand more petroleum every day. Population continues to increase, and the economies of some highly populous countries are expanding. For example, China became the world's second-largest consumer of oil in early 2004, when this nation's demand passed six million barrels a day. China's increasing oil consumption is considered a major reason that oil prices (not corrected for inflation) recently reached all-time highs. From age to age Students should understand the history of energy resource use--and how one leading fuel historically has been replaced by another. The age of wood gave way to the age of coal, which in turn gave way to the age of oil. Around the world, the 20th century generally is considered the "Oil Age." How long will the Oil Age continue? The answer depends on when global oil production peaks and starts to decline. The decline occurs when a finite nonrenewable resource such as oil cannot be produced in the amounts needed to meet demand. There is just not enough of the resource left to continue producing the amounts that are needed. Estimates of the peak of global oil production range from periods as early as 2003 to sometime between 2010 and 2020. Regardless of which estimation is closest, you and your students are likely to live long past the end of the Oil Age. …

Economics of Global warming: How to Decentralize the Social Optimum in the Presence of an Oil Rent ? Preliminary version, please do not quote

Abstract: This paper studies the optimal climate policy in the presence of an oil rent. Several autors find that, in the long run, because of the Hotelling’s rent, the optimal tax must decrease. However, as the full depletion of the polluting non renewable resource may be suboptimal, it is an equilibrium condition for the resource market, if the price is strictly positive. In this situation, an optimal tax would imply the disappearance of the hotelling rent. Thus, the interaction between global warming and oil depletion can be broken, and the tax can be increasing.