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Increasing concerns over decreasing water quality and the state of coral reefs and seagrass meadows along the inshore and mid-shelf regions of the Great Barrier Reef has led to a large-scale government catchment sediment and nutri...
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Increasing concerns over decreasing water quality and the state of coral reefs and seagrass meadows along the inshore and mid-shelf regions of the Great Barrier Reef has led to a large-scale government catchment sediment and nutrient reduction program. However the mechanistic understanding of how fine sediments washed out of catchments and transported within flood plumes leads to ongoing increases in turbidity at locations far downstream from estuaries long after flood plumes have dissipated is poorly understood. Essential criteria which need to be met in order for catchment-derived sediments to play a major role in nearshore water quality are proposed. Preliminary estimates of these essential criteria suggest that it is dynamically possible for fine sediments washed out of catchments during floods to be preferentially re-mobilised at downstream locations following the dissipation of flood plumes. However the longer-term influence of catchment-derived material on water quality is dependent upon the rate of degradation of floc particles that fall out of flood plumes and the rate of background deposition; neither of which are well quantified. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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This article presents ideas on how to serve well the readers of an environmental impact document. It begins with a description of the characteristics and needs of an impact document's diverse potential readership. Then, given that...
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This article presents ideas on how to serve well the readers of an environmental impact document. It begins with a description of the characteristics and needs of an impact document's diverse potential readership. Then, given that readership, three topics are addressed: focus (what do you need to say); organization (where do you say it); and style (how do you say it).
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The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive first entered into force in the United States in 1969, and began to be implemented in many other countries by 1990. The first Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive in T...
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The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive first entered into force in the United States in 1969, and began to be implemented in many other countries by 1990. The first Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive in Turkey was published on February 7, 1993, under the Environmental Law No. 2872. The EIA Directive was revised seven times on June 23, 1997, June 6, 2002, December 16, 2003, July 17, 2008, October 3, 2013, and November 25, 2014. Several amendments were made during this process. The first EIA Directive dated 1993 was narrow in scope and its procedure was long, while the amendments in 2003, 2008, 2013, and 2014 widened the scope of the EIA, and shortened the EIA assessment procedures. In this study, the amendments to the Turkish EIA Directive were analysed, and their effect on the number of EIA decisions made was addressed. It was concluded that the uncertainties in EIA procedures were removed, procedures were shortened, and as a result, the number of EIA decisions increased thanks to the revisions made in line with harmonisation with European Union (EU) acquis. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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The effectiveness of impact assessment (IA) methods has been a neglected topic in procedural effectiveness research, which has placed higher relevance on the quality of Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) and the environment im...
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The effectiveness of impact assessment (IA) methods has been a neglected topic in procedural effectiveness research, which has placed higher relevance on the quality of Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) and the environment impact assessment (EIA) process in general. This study analysed the effectiveness of methods used in IA in Colombia to demonstrate that they have been used in compliance with the Terms of Reference (ToR) but did not analyse their effectiveness. A total of 131 EIS were analysed using a revised version of the Effectiveness Index for Environmental Impact Assessment Methods (EIM) proposed by Caro and Toro (2016). It is concluded that, even if the environmental authority has accepted the EIS as a requirement for obtaining an environmental license, most of the methods that have been used in these technical documents, obtained a medium or low degree of effectiveness. The parameters regulated for the law have a higher percentage of compliance. The analysis suggests that the guidelines provided for the law, related to the design and implementation of the methods, should be improved to develop an effective EIA.
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Environmental impacts of salmon cage aquaculture resulting from deposition of organic-rich particulate matter to the sea bottom have been thought to be a function of the local environmental conditions and management practices. How...
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Environmental impacts of salmon cage aquaculture resulting from deposition of organic-rich particulate matter to the sea bottom have been thought to be a function of the local environmental conditions and management practices. However, testing of these suppositions have been limited by (1) widely varying monitoring methods employed, and (2) lack of data comparability resulting from the absence of standardized national monitoring schemes.
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The evaluation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) systems is a highly recommended strategy for enhancing their effectiveness and quality. This paper describes an evaluation of EIA in Colombia, using the model and the control...
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The evaluation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) systems is a highly recommended strategy for enhancing their effectiveness and quality. This paper describes an evaluation of EIA in Colombia, using the model and the control mechanisms proposed and applied in other countries by Christopher Wood and Ortolano. The evaluation criteria used are based on Principles of Environmental Impact Assessment Best Practice, such as effectiveness and control features, and they were contrasted with the opinions of a panel of Colombian EIA experts as a means of validating the results of the study. The results found that EIA regulations in Colombia were ineffective because of limited scope, inadequate administrative support and the inexistence of effective control mechanisms and public participation. This analysis resulted in a series of recommendations regarding the further development of the EIA system in Colombia with a view to improving its quality and effectiveness.
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In environmental impact assessment, qualitative methods are used because they are versatile and easy to apply. This methodology is based on the evaluation of the strength of the impact by grading a series of qualitative attributes...
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In environmental impact assessment, qualitative methods are used because they are versatile and easy to apply. This methodology is based on the evaluation of the strength of the impact by grading a series of qualitative attributes that can be manipulated by the evaluator. The results thus obtained are not objective, and all too often impacts are eliminated that should be mitigated with corrective measures. However, qualitative methodology can be improved if the calculation of Impact Importance is based on the characteristics of environmental factors and project activities instead on indicators assessed by evaluators. In this sense, this paper proposes the inclusion of the vulnerability of environmental factors and the potential environmental impact of project activities. For this purpose, the study described in this paper defined Total Impact Importance and specified a quantification procedure. The results obtained in the case study of oil drilling in Colombia reflect greater objectivity in the evaluation of impacts as well as a positive correlation between impact values, the environmental characteristics at and near the project location, and the technical characteristics of project activities.
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Centre for Environmental Design of Renewable Energy (CEDREN) is a research centre focusing on hydropower production and environmental impacts of hydropower. The main objective of CEDREN is to develop and communicate design solutio...
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Centre for Environmental Design of Renewable Energy (CEDREN) is a research centre focusing on hydropower production and environmental impacts of hydropower. The main objective of CEDREN is to develop and communicate design solutions for renewable energy production that address environmental and societal challenges at local, regional, national and global levels. Environmental design means that planning, building and operation have to include technical, economic, environmental and socio-political aspects throughout the whole life-span of the project. Methods and tools to ensure environmental design are developed in CEDREN and applied to case studies in Norway and internationally. These methods and tools focus on finding physical and biological bottlenecks for affected species and ecosystems by mapping, modelling and analysis of both physical conditions and ecological status. CEDREN proposes different measures, tools and methods to improve the environmental conditions as well as how to maintain or increase the power production. In addition, a strong focus must be made on political governance to ensure more representative participation of relevant stakeholders in the process of finding the best technical, economic and political solutions for power production, the environment and the society.
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The use of lignocellulosic biomass for the production of biofuels will be unavoidable if liquid fossil fuels are to be replaced by renewable and sustainable alternatives. Ethanol accounts for the majority of biofuel use worldwide,...
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The use of lignocellulosic biomass for the production of biofuels will be unavoidable if liquid fossil fuels are to be replaced by renewable and sustainable alternatives. Ethanol accounts for the majority of biofuel use worldwide, and the prospect of its biological production from abundant lignocellulosic feedstocks is attractive. The recalcitrance of these raw materials still renders proposed processes complex and costly, but there are grounds for optimism. The application of new, engineered enzyme systems for cellulose hydrolysis, the construction of inhibitor-tolerant pentose-fermenting industrial yeast strains, combined with optimized process integration promise significant improvements. The opportunity to test these advances in pilot plants paves the way for large-scale units. This review summarizes recent progress in this field, including the validation at pilot scale, and the economic and environmental impacts of this production pathway.
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Only a very few developing countries have formally institutionalised EIA practices. This paper claims that the reasons for this slow rate for adopting formal EIA principles and practices are no longer those discussed in earlier li...
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Only a very few developing countries have formally institutionalised EIA practices. This paper claims that the reasons for this slow rate for adopting formal EIA principles and practices are no longer those discussed in earlier literature which include the absence of an enabling environment. Rather, developing countries require a system which is capable of demonstrating that environmental impact analyses are not difficult to undertake and that, had they been undertaken, some adverse effects of new projects could have been averted. For this purpose, the concept of an EIA study is introduced. It provides a method of evaluation whose application is not inevitably political. The scope, time and content of the study could be determined exclusively by a single researcher or an environmental agency with little or no political influence. Such studies can then be used to provide an objective assessment of the winners and losers from projects. Their results can be used as concrete evidence in developing countries regarding the merits of EIAs. EIA studies are differentiated from ex post evaluation of projects in the paper.
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