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This study evaluates the environmental impact of the cement production and its variations between different cement plants, using Life Cycle Impact Assessment. For that purpose, details of the cement production processes are investigated in order to show the respective part of raw materials preparation and clinker production using environmental impacts calculated with CML01 indicators. For the kiln emission data, a European pollutant emission register for French intensive industries is used to quantify the variability of indicators between cement plants. For the CML01 indicators that are controlled by kiln emissions, some of them (i.e. global warming, photochemical oxidation) show variations between cement plants...
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These data were compiled in support of the 'Predicting the next high-impact insect invasion: Elucidating traits and factors determining the risk of introduced herbivorous insects on North American native plants' project, supported by the U.S. Geological Survey John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis. The project working group compiled data for non-native insects herbivorous on three or fewer North American conifer families. Data were synthesized from existing resources for a variety of insect traits, traits of their North American conifer host trees, divergence time between the North American host trees and the host tree in the insects' native range, and native insects that feed on the same North American...
ABSTRACT: Most of us are aware, or feel we are aware, of the impacts of major water resources projects on our lives. “Dam-lovers” note the life-saving flood-risk reduction and recreational benefits of a proposed reservoir, while “dam-haters” bemoan the future drowning out of the wildlife habitat of its river valley, and the recreational disbenefits to stream (as opposed to lake) fishermen. Water supply projects can often be given such a revered status, assuming the “obvious” tenet that water, air, food, and shelter are basic requirements of decent living, that the economic viability of the project may not even be assessed. Water resources planners are supposed to impartially weigh the environmental and economic...
The analysis framework introduced in this paper utilizes the recognition that exergy is a form of environmental free energy to provide a fundamental basis for valuing environmental interactions independent from their secondary impacts (e.g., global warming, photochemical smog). In order to extend exergy to analyze environmental interactions, modifications are required to the traditional representation of the environment and definition of the dead state used in technical exergy analysis. These are accomplished through a combination of logical extensions and use of non-equilibrium thermodynamic principles. The framework is comprised of two separate components: (1) environmental exergy analysis and (2) anthropocentric...
This paper deals with a novel approach to study renewable energy options for buildings to make them more efficient, more cost effective, more environmentally benign, and more technologically attractive. To demonstrate the application of this study, four buildings are chosen as case studies with two from the residential sector, one commercial/institutional building, and one industrial building. A ground source heat pump for heating and cooling, a solar water heater for space heating and/or hot water, and a photovoltaic panel to generate electricity are designed for these case studies. Attempt is made to design projects under hybrid systems combined from two technologies are developed for the above-mentioned four...
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Razorback suckers (Xyrauchen texanus) and Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius) are two endangered species of cyprinids located in the San Juan River Basin. Numerous factors may be contributing to the decline of these fish populations including hydraulic alterations (impoundment; altered thermal and hydrological regimes), non-native species interactions and contaminants. An assessment of the physical (temperature, substrate, ultraviolet [UV] radiation), biological (macroinvertebrates), and chemical factors (metals, polycyclic hydrocarbons, other water quality factors) was conducted to determine whether these factors could be limiting populations at six sites within the San Juan River and at one site in Los...
The twenty-first century is likely to witness increased levels of weather-related disasters, droughts, epidemics, food shortages, habitat destruction, and resource conflicts. Those environmental and systemic problems will be mediated and exacerbated by potential economic dislocations, including job losses, financial crises, and commodity-price increases. As a result, the problem of resilience will increasingly permeate the politics and policies of sustainability transitions. Using a comparative analysis of two American households located at opposited ends of the income pyramid, this article explores the issue of how to think about the relationship between sustainable consumption and resilience. Although the two...
Forests are important in the global carbon cycle, forming a major sink for carbon. Deforestation is a significant source of carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere. There is some scope to enhance natural carbon sinks, and therefore reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases, through afforestation and conservation of existing forests. Such initiatives may be implemented to "offset" emissions of greenhouse gases from other sources. This may be undertaken by private companies, or by governments as part of bilateral agreements or multilateral arrangements. International carbon offsets may be cost effective in terms of reduction of carbon emissions achieved, and may also be one way to mobilise private capital to fund...
At the Biomass Research Centre - University of Perugia some LCA studies were carried out on different biomass chains, using a detailed software (Simapro 7.0) and the EcoIndicator 99 model in order to evaluate the global burden. Results showed that EcoIndicator 99 lacks some important features (e.g. freshwater consumption, nutrient emissions into water, soil erosion) that are necessary in evaluating the environmental load of energy crops. Therefore a new LCA methodology, tailored to biomass production, was developed, in which all resources used and emissions into environment were divided into the following impact categories: depletion of abiotic resources, freshwater consumption, climate change, land use, acidification,...
The benefits of gradually removing a dam (through multiple notches) are to reduce the total project cost and reduce possible environmental effects by allowing the impounded sediment to slowly move downstream, and a stable stream and revegetated floodplain to form upstream. Notching, in this study of a dam on Brewster Creek, near St. Charles, Illinois, involves cutting a given height (in five 12–18 inch notches over approximately a 9 month period) across the length (or some portion of the length) of the dam. Brewster Creek is a tributary of the Fox River in northeastern, Illinois. Sediment, dissolved oxygen, and geomorphic response are being monitored before, during, and after a gradual (notching) removal of the...
Geothermal energy, carbon sequestration, and enhanced oil and gas recovery have a clear role in U.S. energy policy, both in securing cost-effective energy and reducing atmospheric CO2 accumulations. Recent publicity surrounding induced seismicity at several geothermal and oil and gas sites points out the need to develop improved standards and practices to avoid issues that may unduly inhibit or stop the above technologies from fulfilling their full potential. It is critical that policy makers and the general community be assured that EGS, CO2 sequestration, enhanced oil/gas recovery, and other technologies relying on fluid injections, will be designed to reduce induced seismicity to an acceptable level, and be developed...
Biomass is the first-ever fuel used by humankind and is also the fuel which was the mainstay of the global fuel economy till the middle of the 18th century. Then fossil fuels took over because fossil fuels were not only more abundant and denser in their energy content, but also generated less pollution when burnt, in comparison to biomass. In recent years there is a resurgence of interest in biomass energy because biomass is perceived as a carbon-neutral source of energy unlike net carbon-emitting fossil fuels of which copious use has led to global warming and ocean acidification. The paper takes stock of the various sources of biomass and the possible ways in which it can be utilized for generating energy. It then...
We attempted a complete review of the empirical literature on effects of roads and traffic on animal abundance and distribution. We found 79 studies, with results for 131 species and 30 species groups. Overall, the number of documented negative effects of roads on animal abundance outnumbered the number of positive effects by a factor of 5; 114 responses were negative, 22 were positive, and 56 showed no effect. Amphibians and reptiles tended to show negative effects. Birds showed mainly negative or no effects, with a few positive effects for some small birds and for vultures. Small mammals generally showed either positive effects or no effect, mid-sized mammals showed either negative effects or no effect, and large...
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These data were compiled in support of the 'Predicting the next high-impact insect invasion: Elucidating traits and factors determining the risk of introduced herbivorous insects on North American native plants' project, supported by the U.S. Geological Survey John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis. The project working group compiled data for non-native insects herbivorous on one North American hardwood (i.e., woody angiosperm) family. Data were synthesized from existing resources for a variety of insect traits, traits of their North American hardwood host plants, divergence time between the North American host species and the host species in the insects' native range, and native insects that feed...
Geothermal energy, carbon sequestration, and enhanced oil and gas recovery have a clear role in U.S. energy policy, both in securing cost-effective energy and reducing atmospheric CO2 accumulations. Recent publicity surrounding induced seismicity at several geothermal and oil and gas sites points out the need to develop improved standards and practices to avoid issues that may unduly inhibit or stop the above technologies from fulfilling their full potential. It is critical that policy makers and the general community be assured that EGS, CO2 sequestration, enhanced oil/gas recovery, and other technologies relying on fluid injections, will be designed to reduce induced seismicity to an acceptable level, and be developed...
The analysis framework introduced in this paper utilizes the recognition that exergy is a form of environmental free energy to provide a fundamental basis for valuing environmental interactions independent from their secondary impacts (e.g., global warming, photochemical smog). In order to extend exergy to analyze environmental interactions, modifications are required to the traditional representation of the environment and definition of the dead state used in technical exergy analysis. These are accomplished through a combination of logical extensions and use of non-equilibrium thermodynamic principles. The framework is comprised of two separate components: (1) environmental exergy analysis and (2) anthropocentric...
In February 1983, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) identified the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada as one of nine potentially acceptable sites for a mined geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The site is in the Great Basin, which is one of five distinct geohydrologic settings considered for the first repository. To determine their suitability, the Yucca Mountain site and the eight other potentially acceptable sites have been evaluated in accordance with the DOE'S General Guidelines for the Recommendation of Sites for the Nuclear Waste Repositories. These evaluations were reported in draft environmental assessments (EAs), which were issued for public review and comment. After...
Flow alterations related to hydroelectric development have affected both the fish stocks and the Cree Indian subsistence fishery in the lower LaGrande River, northern Quebec. Evaluated against several years of baseline data, thei nitial biologicali mpact of the project on fish populations, mostly whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and cisco (C. artedii), appeared to be relatively small. Nevertheless, fishing activity in the lower river and the estuary largely ceased from 1979 to 1981, due to physical modifications of traditional fishing areas and other social and economic effects related to the hydro project. Some fishermen modified their methods and continued harvesting in the affected area, but others abandoned...
We attempted a complete review of the empirical literature on effects of roads and traffic on animal abundance and distribution. We found 79 studies, with results for 131 species and 30 species groups. Overall, the number of documented negative effects of roads on animal abundance outnumbered the number of positive effects by a factor of 5; 114 responses were negative, 22 were positive, and 56 showed no effect. Amphibians and reptiles tended to show negative effects. Birds showed mainly negative or no effects, with a few positive effects for some small birds and for vultures. Small mammals generally showed either positive effects or no effect, mid-sized mammals showed either negative effects or no effect, and large...
The analysis framework introduced in this paper utilizes the recognition that exergy is a form of environmental free energy to provide a fundamental basis for valuing environmental interactions independent from their secondary impacts (e.g., global warming, photochemical smog). In order to extend exergy to analyze environmental interactions, modifications are required to the traditional representation of the environment and definition of the dead state used in technical exergy analysis. These are accomplished through a combination of logical extensions and use of non-equilibrium thermodynamic principles. The framework is comprised of two separate components: (1) environmental exergy analysis and (2) anthropocentric...
map background search result map search result map Effects of Environmental Perturbations on the Aquatic Community in the San Juan River Traits and Factors Catalog (TRAFAC): Conifer specialists of North America Traits and Factors Catalog (TRAFAC): Hardwood specialists of North America Effects of Environmental Perturbations on the Aquatic Community in the San Juan River Traits and Factors Catalog (TRAFAC): Conifer specialists of North America Traits and Factors Catalog (TRAFAC): Hardwood specialists of North America