Vol. 1, No. 4 (2013): Regular Issue

Environmental protection is often considered as competing with human activities and economic development. On the contrary, more innovative guidelines recommend nature conservation to be achieved without banning human activities but, instead, developing appropriate management practices aimed at joint economic, social, and environmental sustainability. The suitability of such management schemes should be evaluated through integrated assessment frameworks overcoming mono-dimensional metrics and criteria. In this study, we integrated different environmental accounting methods with life cycle and ecosystem services assessment to investigate the interplay of human activities and nature conservation in the Bory Tucholskie National Park (Poland). Indicators of environmental costs and impacts due to the exploitation of forest ecosystem services in the study area were calculated. In addition, the economic and ecological value of the main forest ecosystem services was assessed to explore the benefits gained in preserving stocks of natural capital while exploiting flows of eco- system services.

Environmental protection is often considered as competing with human activities and economic development. On the contrary, more innovative guidelines recommend nature conservation to be achieved without banning human activities but, instead, developing appropriate management practices aimed at joint economic, social, and environmental sustainability. The suitability of such management schemes should be evaluated through integrated assessment frameworks overcoming mono-dimensional metrics and criteria. In this study, we integrated different environmental accounting methods with life cycle and ecosystem services assessment to investigate the interplay of human activities and nature conservation in the Bory Tucholskie National Park (Poland). Indicators of environmental costs and impacts due to the exploitation of forest ecosystem services in the study area were calculated. In addition, the economic and ecological value of the main forest ecosystem services was assessed to explore the benefits gained in preserving stocks of natural capital while exploiting flows of eco- system services.

Though encouraged by a series of policies and measures, the biomass direct-fired power generation industry in China has not achieved expected rapid development, like other renewable electricity industries such as small hydropower, photovoltaic power and wind power. In this paper, an emergy analysis was performed to evaluate the overall performance and relative environmental sustainability of biomass direct-fired power production systems, taking a plant in Inner Mongolia as an example. The evaluation results show that the solar transformity of biomass direct-fired electricity in 2011 is 1.14E+05 seJ/J, similar to that of typical renewable electricity technologies and much lower than that of fossil fuel power plants. The comparison between the emergy-based indicators with those of other electricity production systems also confirms the outstanding performance of the biomass direct-fired power system, indicating that biomass direct-fired power technology itself is relatively well established in China now. However, one of the key constraints to the healthy development of the biomass direct-fired power industry is the unstable supply of raw materials and the resulting increased collection radius, which have a large effect on the sustainability performance of biomass direct-fired power systems in terms of emergy indicators.

Though encouraged by a series of policies and measures, the biomass direct-fired power generation industry in China has not achieved expected rapid development, like other renewable electricity industries such as small hydropower, photovoltaic power and wind power. In this paper, an emergy analysis was performed to evaluate the overall performance and relative environmental sustainability of biomass direct-fired power production systems, taking a plant in Inner Mongolia as an example. The evaluation results show that the solar transformity of biomass direct-fired electricity in 2011 is 1.14E+05 seJ/J, similar to that of typical renewable electricity technologies and much lower than that of fossil fuel power plants. The comparison between the emergy-based indicators with those of other electricity production systems also confirms the outstanding performance of the biomass direct-fired power system, indicating that biomass direct-fired power technology itself is relatively well established in China now. However, one of the key constraints to the healthy development of the biomass direct-fired power industry is the unstable supply of raw materials and the resulting increased collection radius, which have a large effect on the sustainability performance of biomass direct-fired power systems in terms of emergy indicators.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has drawn worldwide attentions as a low-carbon technology alternative. Though China is deemed as a key player in the global context to slash CO2, the future of CCS in China is still highly uncertain. This study presents an overview for CCS development in China and gives detailed analyses on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and constraints (SWOC) on CCS. Taking oxy-fuel combustion CO2 capture system as a case in this study, much of the uncertainties rest in the lack of clarity about the technical mechanisms and high costs in air separation unit (ASU), given the fact that small-scale post-combustion and pre-combustion capture systems have been applied in industrial processes. Under such cir- cumstances, high costs, immature technologies, lack of regulatory framework, and insufficiency of international collaboration are identi-fied as the major factors affecting the development of CCS in China. Extensive attentions should be focused on these aspects, in particular the high costs and immature technologies coupled with CO2 capture.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has drawn worldwide attentions as a low-carbon technology alternative. Though China is deemed as a key player in the global context to slash CO2, the future of CCS in China is still highly uncertain. This study presents an overview for CCS development in China and gives detailed analyses on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and constraints (SWOC) on CCS. Taking oxy-fuel combustion CO2 capture system as a case in this study, much of the uncertainties rest in the lack of clarity about the technical mechanisms and high costs in air separation unit (ASU), given the fact that small-scale post-combustion and pre-combustion capture systems have been applied in industrial processes. Under such cir- cumstances, high costs, immature technologies, lack of regulatory framework, and insufficiency of international collaboration are identi-fied as the major factors affecting the development of CCS in China. Extensive attentions should be focused on these aspects, in particular the high costs and immature technologies coupled with CO2 capture.

Increased industrialization has heightened the environmental pressure on complex ecosystems in industrial parks and even hindered sustainable development in some regions. Thus, we present an evaluation method for calculating the environmental carrying capacity of an industrial park, which provides a comprehensive evaluation index system for the environmental carrying capacity and environmental pressure. We used this method to conduct a dynamic evaluation of the coupling coordination for the environmental carrying capacity of Fushan Industrial Park in Zhuhai, China. We also simulated the environmental trends based on industrial park planning. The evaluation results showed that the coupling coordination degree exhibited a rapid upward trend from the early stage (2009-2015) of planning to the midstage of planning (2015-2020). In the mid-stage of the planning, the industrial park development was at the mid-level coordination degree. In the mid-late stage of industrial park planning, the coupling coordination degree exhibited a moderate decline, but it still remained at the intermediate coordinated development stage. The price scissors method was used to study the relative change between these stages and the results showed that the relative trend difference degree increased from 0.25 in the early stage of planning to 1.43 in the late stage of planning, which demonstrated that fluctuations occurred in the final stage of planning (2020-2030).

Increased industrialization has heightened the environmental pressure on complex ecosystems in industrial parks and even hindered sustainable development in some regions. Thus, we present an evaluation method for calculating the environmental carrying capacity of an industrial park, which provides a comprehensive evaluation index system for the environmental carrying capacity and environmental pressure. We used this method to conduct a dynamic evaluation of the coupling coordination for the environmental carrying capacity of Fushan Industrial Park in Zhuhai, China. We also simulated the environmental trends based on industrial park planning. The evaluation results showed that the coupling coordination degree exhibited a rapid upward trend from the early stage (2009-2015) of planning to the midstage of planning (2015-2020). In the mid-stage of the planning, the industrial park development was at the mid-level coordination degree. In the mid-late stage of industrial park planning, the coupling coordination degree exhibited a moderate decline, but it still remained at the intermediate coordinated development stage. The price scissors method was used to study the relative change between these stages and the results showed that the relative trend difference degree increased from 0.25 in the early stage of planning to 1.43 in the late stage of planning, which demonstrated that fluctuations occurred in the final stage of planning (2020-2030).

Modern societies and economies are highly dependent on fossil energy for their survival. Unfortunately fossil energy resources and minerals are non-renewable and represent finite stocks. Consequently, societies and economies (production, trade and consumption modes) should be reorganized according to the awareness of less resource availability in the future. “ Degrowth” and “prosperous way down patterns” have been suggested in order to avoid economic collapse and global societal turmoil and conflicts. This work assesses the dependence of a regional economy (Campania Region, Southern Italy) on non-renewable resources, by means of joint use of spatial modeling and Emergy Accounting. The Emergy method takes into account all the free environmental inputs (such as sunlight, wind, rain, geothermal heat) as well as the input flows of mineral and fossil energy resources, expressed in terms of their solar energy equivalents. Nonrenewable resources used within the regional economy were correlated to nighttime satellite images via GIS (Geographic Information System) methodology, to explore the load of human activities on land- scape and ecological communities and to define a human disturbance gradient throughout the Region. This gradient was expressed by means of an emergy-based indicator, the Landscape Development Intensity index (LDI). Results show a high dependence of Campania Region economy from imported resources (about 85% of the total emergy used, U) and a high concentration of non-renewable flows in Napoli and Caserta Provinces. These two regional areas have much higher LDI indices, 44 and 36 respectively, suggesting the need for appropriate land use management actions capable to lower the environmental pressure to more sustainable levels.

Modern societies and economies are highly dependent on fossil energy for their survival. Unfortunately fossil energy resources and minerals are non-renewable and represent finite stocks. Consequently, societies and economies (production, trade and consumption modes) should be reorganized according to the awareness of less resource availability in the future. “ Degrowth” and “prosperous way down patterns” have been suggested in order to avoid economic collapse and global societal turmoil and conflicts. This work assesses the dependence of a regional economy (Campania Region, Southern Italy) on non-renewable resources, by means of joint use of spatial modeling and Emergy Accounting. The Emergy method takes into account all the free environmental inputs (such as sunlight, wind, rain, geothermal heat) as well as the input flows of mineral and fossil energy resources, expressed in terms of their solar energy equivalents. Nonrenewable resources used within the regional economy were correlated to nighttime satellite images via GIS (Geographic Information System) methodology, to explore the load of human activities on land- scape and ecological communities and to define a human disturbance gradient throughout the Region. This gradient was expressed by means of an emergy-based indicator, the Landscape Development Intensity index (LDI). Results show a high dependence of Campania Region economy from imported resources (about 85% of the total emergy used, U) and a high concentration of non-renewable flows in Napoli and Caserta Provinces. These two regional areas have much higher LDI indices, 44 and 36 respectively, suggesting the need for appropriate land use management actions capable to lower the environmental pressure to more sustainable levels.

Agricultural systems are a crucial interface between human societies and nature, in that they “amplify” the human-controlled investments by concentrating natural energies of sun, rain, and nutrients and make them converge to food production. Even if gross economic value, labor and energy expenditures associated to agriculture are unlikely to ever represent a large fraction of the total performance of a national developed economy, yet the role of such a sector goes much beyond the actual food production and calls for higher attention by concerned policy makers. The evaluation of the dynamics and performance of agricultural systems must be carefully investigated from different sus- tainability points of view (energy, material, economic, environmental, social) to point out how the system and its main driving forces are evolving over time and how can they support a national economy. In this study we compare the agricultural systems of Scotland and Italy over time, by means of an integrated analysis model, SUMMA (Sustainability Multimethod Multiscale Assessment) capable to take into account different dimensions of the investigated systems. The final goal is to understand what are the steps of the investigated processes that are characterized by the lowest performances as well as how the system can be made more robust and resilient in spite of the existing problems (among which increasing energy and resource prices, de- creasing land quality, and decreasing marginal productivity).

Agricultural systems are a crucial interface between human societies and nature, in that they “amplify” the human-controlled investments by concentrating natural energies of sun, rain, and nutrients and make them converge to food production. Even if gross economic value, labor and energy expenditures associated to agriculture are unlikely to ever represent a large fraction of the total performance of a national developed economy, yet the role of such a sector goes much beyond the actual food production and calls for higher attention by concerned policy makers. The evaluation of the dynamics and performance of agricultural systems must be carefully investigated from different sus- tainability points of view (energy, material, economic, environmental, social) to point out how the system and its main driving forces are evolving over time and how can they support a national economy. In this study we compare the agricultural systems of Scotland and Italy over time, by means of an integrated analysis model, SUMMA (Sustainability Multimethod Multiscale Assessment) capable to take into account different dimensions of the investigated systems. The final goal is to understand what are the steps of the investigated processes that are characterized by the lowest performances as well as how the system can be made more robust and resilient in spite of the existing problems (among which increasing energy and resource prices, de- creasing land quality, and decreasing marginal productivity).