Optimal path for sustainable development under the dual constraints based on endogenous growth algorithm

Constructing an economic growth model comprising dual resource and environmental constraints by introducing both environmental quality and non-renewable resources as endogenous factors also introducing the production and utility functions. This was used to systematically analyze the endogenous mechanism through factors such as non-renewable resource consumption, environmental pollution externalities, the accumulation of physical capital, human capital development, and endogenous technological advancement could influence long-term economic growth. The basic conclusion of the model suggests that under both resource and environmental constraints, it is investment in both human capital and research & innovation that is the main driving and determining factor for long-term sustainable economic growth. The optimal development strategy of economic sustainability can be achieved through supporting human capital accumulation and technological innovation activities, promoting the advancement of clean production technologies, and formulating stringent environmental standards, as well as strengthening the society’s awareness of the environment and sustainable development.     

相图法在区域农业经济系统能值研究中的运用

能值分析方法将不同的资源类型以统一的太阳能值来衡量,考虑了资源在生产过程中贡献力的差异,是研究和分析复杂能量系统资源代谢过程,评价过程的环境压力和发展可持续性的有效方法.运用能值方法对比分析了我国辽宁省两个经济与环境基础不同的农业生产系统,在发展过程中资源利用结构的变化,以及变化对当地环境和系统发展的影响,并运用相图分析方法更系统而全面地分析了系统的发展进程,现状和将来可能的发展方向.分析结果表明,同样的经济发展模式对自然环境条件相对脆弱的系统来说,所造成的环境压力和对系统可持续性的削弱程度更大.能值的相图分析法为能值方法的应用提供了一个有力的研究工具.     

Urban Mining's Potential to Relieve China's Coming Resource Crisis

China's mineral resource consumption has gone through multiple increases since 1980, resulting in the inadequacy of important strategic resources and a high level of external dependence. Some developed countries have already reduced primary resources consumption through urban mining. Can China also break through the bottleneck of the resource shortage and continue its economic and social development through strengthening of urban mining? This article selected copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), lead (Pb), and iron (Fe) as case studies and established predictive models for metal demand, recycling, and stock, based on stock analysis, material flow analysis, and a life distribution model, and then analyzed the metabolism of the four resources and compared the environmental effects of three scenarios. The study indicates that the urban mining potential of Cu, Fe, Al, and Pb will attain 8.1, 711.6, 37.0, and 12.1 million tonnes, respectively, in 2040. Compared with 2010, the substitution rate (secondary metals substituting primary metals) of Cu and Fe increase by 25.4% and 59.9%, whereas external dependence decreases by 30.8% and 25.7%. However, substitution is not obvious regarding Al and Pb. The low resource scenario decreases resources use, which will reduce external dependence in the short term, whereas the strengthened recovery scenario increases resource recovery and has a larger effect in reducing external dependence in the long term. So, in line with urban mining in the future, China should change its environment and resource strategy, further strengthen layout and construction of urban mining demonstration bases, and encourage the use of recyclable resources to provide a better foundation for urban mining.     

Plant phenological research enhances ecological restoration

While phenology data (the timing of recurring biological events) has been used to explain and predict patterns related to global change, and to address applied environmental issues, it has not been clearly identified as pertinent for restoration. This opinion article thus aims to raise awareness of the potential of phenology to enhance the quality of restoration projects and ecological restoration theory. We based our analysis on a systematic literature survey carried out in February 2014, searching the words “phenology” or “phenological” in books dealing with restoration, the term “phenolog*” in the journal Restoration Ecology, and the terms “restoration” and “phenolog*” in the database Web of Science until February 2014. We finally selected 149 studies relevant to our goals, and first classified them according to the context in which phenology was addressed. We then analyzed them within the framework of the five key steps of restoration projects: (1) the reference ecosystem; (2) biotic resources; (3) restoration methods; (4) monitoring; and (5) adaptive management. The literature survey showed that phenological information improved decision‐making in the few restoration projects in which it was incorporated. We thus advocate taking phenological data into account at all stages of restoration when appropriate: from the acquisition of baseline data on the reference ecosystem to treatment design, and from restoration action planning and timing to monitoring. Phenological data should at minimum be collected for sown, keystone, dominant, and/or rare species to improve restoration quality. Phenology studies and monitoring should be promoted in future restoration guidelines.     

Specific emergy of cement and concrete: An energy-based appraisal of building materials and their transport

Use and production of building materials, such as cement and concrete, is a major cause of global ecological problems with special reference to the overexploitation of non-renewable natural resources due to high temperature production processes, fossil fuels combustion, extraction of raw materials and non-recycling. In this paper, an environmental accounting method was applied to the production of cement and concrete in order to evaluate its dependence on natural resources even non-renewable and heavily relied on external inflows. The main steps of the production process (1) cement production, (2) transport of materials and (3) concrete mixing, were assessed by the emergy analysis (spelled with an “m”). This was performed to measure the amount of environmental resource use in terms of equivalent solar energy, extending the energy hierarchy principle to building materials. The resulting unit emergy values of cement and concrete were compared with previous emergy assessments in order to highlight how emergy analysis is sensitive to local context and reference system's boundaries. An Emergy Investment Ratio (EIR) was assessed and presented as a synthetic indicator of sustainability. Results showed a high dependence of cement and concrete production on external resource flows. Furthermore, the high value of EIR suggested a weak competitive capacity due to a high sensitivity to external instabilities.     

Energy budgeting and emergy synthesis of rainfed maize–wheat rotation system with different soil amendment applications

Soil is a non-renewable resource and its preservation is essential for food security, ecosystem services and our sustainable future. Simultaneously, it is a major challenge to substitute non-renewable fossil based resources with renewable resources to reduce environmental load. In order to check soil erosion vis-a-vis degradation of sloppy lands of rainfed maize–wheat rotation system, fertilization with organic manure supplemented with inorganic fertilizers is required. In order to address these issues, substitution of 50% NPK through four organic manures viz. farmyard manure (FYM), vermicompost (VC), poultry manure (PM) and in situ green manuring (GM) of sunnhemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) were evaluated against 100% NPK through inorganic fertilizers and through FYM for energy budgeting and emergy synthesis during 2009–2014. Integrated use of FYM along with 50% NPK fertilizers could maintain the highest energy ratio (7.3), human energy profitability (142.4), energy productivity (0.22 kg MJ⁻¹), and energy profitability (6.3 MJ ha⁻¹) over other treatments. However, GM and inorganic fertilizers on equal NPK basis maintained the highest energy intensiveness (24.61 MJ US $⁻¹) and exhibited higher emergy yield ratio (2.66) and lower emergy investment ratio (0.60) and environmental loading ratio (3.74) which resulted into higher environmental sustainability index (0.71) over other treatments. Fertilization with organic manure (FYM) alone could not compete with other fertilized options to energy budgeting and emergy synthesis except specific energy. The study demonstrated that innovative integrated nutrient management of chemical fertilizers and organic manures particularly FYM for energy budgeting and GM for emergy synthesis may be considered as feasible and environment-friendly options for soil conservation, thereby benefiting a 50% saving on costly chemical fertilizers in non-OPEC countries which import most of its phosphorus and potassium fertilizers.     

Wind Power Compensation is not for the Birds: An Opinion from an Environmental Economist

This article advocates for better implementation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) framework as applied to wind power development, with a particular focus on improving compensatory restoration scaling. If properly enforced, the environmental impacts hierarchy “avoid‐minimize‐compensate” provides the regulated community with incentives to prevent wildlife and habitat impacts in sensitive areas and, if necessary, compensate for residual impacts through restoration or conservation projects. Given the increase in legislation requiring resource‐based environmental compensation, methods for scaling an appropriate quantity and quality of resources are of increasing relevance. I argue that Equivalency Analysis (EA) represents a transparent and quantitative approach for scaling compensation in the case of wind power development. Herein, I identify the economic underpinnings of environmental compensation legislation and identify weaknesses in current scaling approaches within wind power development. I demonstrate how the recently completed REMEDE toolkit, which provides guidance on EA, can inform an improved scaling approach and summarize a case study involving raptor collisions with turbines that illustrates the EA approach. Finally, I stress the need for further contributions from the field of restoration ecology. The success of ex ante compensation in internalizing the environmental costs of wind development depends on the effective implementation of the environmental impacts hierarchy, which must effectively encourage avoidance and minimization over environmental restoration and repair.     

Life cycle assessment of printing and writing paper produced in Portugal

Goal, Scope and Background The environmental sustainability is one of the current priorities of the Portuguese pulp and paper industry. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was the methodology chosen to evaluate the sustainability of the printing and writing paper production activity. This paper grade represents about 60% of the total production of paper in Portugal and its production is expected to increase in the near future. The main goal of this study was to assess the potential environmental impacts associated with the entire life cycle of the printing and writing paper produced in Portugal from Eucalyptus globulus pulp and consumed in Germany, in order to identify the processes with the largest environmental impacts. Another goal of this study was to evaluate the effect on the potential environmental impacts of changing the market where the Portuguese printing and writing paper is consumed: German market vs. Portuguese market. Methods The main stages considered in this study were: forestry, pulp production, paper production, paper distribution, and paper final disposal. Transports and production of chemicals, fuels and energy in the grid were also included in these stages. Whenever possible and feasible, average or typical data from industry were collected. The remaining data were obtained from the literature and specialised databases. A quantitative impact assessment was performed for five impact categories: global warming over 100 years, acidification, eutrophication, non-renewable resource depletion and photochemical oxidant formation. Results In the German market scenario, the paper production stage was a remarkable hot spot for air emissions (non-renewable CO₂, NO_x and SO₂) and for non-renewable energy consumption, and, consequently, for the impact categories that consider these parameters: global warming, acidification and non-renewable resource depletion. These important environmental impacts are due to the energy requirements in the printing and writing paper production process, which are fulfilled by on-site fuel oil burning and consumption of electricity from the national grid, which is mostly based on the use of fossil fuels. The pulp production stage was identified as the largest contributor to water emissions (COD and AOX) and to eutrophication. Considering that energy consumed by the pulp production processes comes from renewable fuels, this stage was also the most contributing to renewable energy consumption. Discussion The paper distribution stage showed an important contribution to NO_x emissions, which, however, did not result in a major contribution to acidification or eutrophication. The final disposal stage was the main contributor to the photochemical oxidant formation potential due to CH₄ emissions from wastepaper landfilling. On the other hand, paper consumption in Portugal was environmentally more favourable than in Germany for the parameters/impact categories where the paper distribution stage has a significant contribution (non-renewable CO₂, NO_x, non-renewable energy consumption, acidification, eutrophication and non-renewable resource depletion) due to shorter distances needed to deliver paper to the consumers. For the remaining parameters/impact categories, the increase observed in the final disposal stage in the Portuguese market was preponderant, and resulted from the existence of significant differences in the final disposal alternatives in the analysed markets (recycling dominates in Germany, whereas landfilling dominates in Portugal). Conclusions The pulp and paper production stages were found to be of significance for almost all of the inventory parameters as well as for the impact assessment categories. The paper distribution and the final disposal stages were only of importance for some of the inventory parameters and some of the impact categories. The forestry stage played a minor role in the environmental impacts generated during the paper life cycle. The consumption of paper in Portugal led to a decrease in the environmental burdens of the paper distribution stage, but to an increase in the environmental burdens of the final disposal stage, when compared with the consumption of paper in Germany. Recommendations and Perspectives This study provides useful information that can assist the pulp and paper industry in the planning of future investments leading to an increase in its sustainability. The results of inventory analysis and impact assessment show the processes that play an important role in each impact category, which allow the industry to improve its environmental performance, making changes not only in the production process itself, but also in the treatment of flue gases and liquid effluents. Besides that concern regarding pollution prevention, other issues with relevance to the context of sustainability, such as the energy consumption, can also be dealt with.     

Let's Be Clear(er) about Substitution: A Reporting Framework to Account for Product Displacement in Life Cycle Assessment

The multifunctional character of resource recovery in waste management systems is commonly addressed through system expansion/substitution in life cycle assessment (LCA). Avoided burdens credited based on expected displacement of other product systems can dominate the overall results, making the underlying assumptions particularly important for the interpretation and recommendations. Substitution modeling, however, is often poorly motivated or inadequately described, which limits the utility and comparability of such LCA studies. The aim of this study is therefore to provide a structure for the systematic reporting of information and assumptions expected to contribute to the substitution potential in order to make substitution modeling and the results thereof more transparent and interpretable. We propose a reporting framework that can also support the systematic estimation of substitution potentials related to resource recovery. Key components of the framework include waste‐specific (physical) resource potential, recovery efficiency, and displacement rate. End‐use–specific displacement rates can be derived as the product of the relative functionality (substitutability) of the recovered resources compared to potentially displaced products and the expected change in consumption of competing products. Substitutability can be determined based on technical functionality and can include additional constraints. The case of anaerobic digestion of organic household waste illustrates its application. The proposed framework enables well‐motivated substitution potentials to be accounted for, regardless of the chosen approach, and improves the reproducibility of comparative LCA studies of resource recovery.     

The Influence of Agricultural Trade and Livestock Production on the Global Phosphorus Cycle

Trends of increasing agricultural trade, increased concentration of livestock production systems, and increased human consumption of livestock products influence the distribution of nutrients across the global landscape. Phosphorus (P) represents a unique management challenge as we are rapidly depleting mineable reserves of this essential and non-renewable resource. At the same time, its overuse can lead to pollution of aquatic ecosystems. We analyzed the relative contributions of food crop, feed crop, and livestock product trade to P flows through agricultural soils for 12 countries from 1961 to 2007. Due to the intensification of agricultural production, average soil surface P balances more than tripled from 6 to 21 kg P ha⁻¹ between 1961 and 2007 for the 12 study countries. Consequently, countries that are primarily agricultural exporters carried increased risks for water pollution or, for Argentina, reduced soil fertility due to soil P mining to support exports. In 2007, nations imported food and feed from regions with higher apparent P fertilizer use efficiencies than if those crops were produced domestically. However, this was largely because imports were sourced from regions depleting soil P resources to support export crop production. In addition, the pattern of regional specialization and intensification of production systems also reduced the potential to recycle P resources, with greater implications for livestock production than crop production. In a globalizing world, it will be increasingly important to integrate biophysical constraints of our natural resources and environmental impacts of agricultural systems into trade policy and agreements and to develop mechanisms that move us closer to more equitable management of non-renewable resources such as phosphorus.     

Developing a vision for improved monitoring and reporting of riparian restoration projects

Representatives from agencies involved in natural resource management in the Murray‐Darling Basin gathered for a workshop in November 2010 to develop a vision for improved monitoring and reporting of riparian restoration projects. The resounding message from this workshop was that the effectiveness of riparian restoration depends on having sound, documented and agreed evidence on the ecological responses to restoration efforts. Improving our capacity to manage and restore riparian ecosystems is constrained by (i) a lack of ecological evidence on the effects of restoration efforts, and (ii) short‐termism in commitment to restoration efforts, in funding of monitoring and in expected time spans for ecosystem recovery. Restoration at the effective spatial scope will invariably require a long‐term commitment by researchers, funding agencies, management agencies and landholders. To address the knowledge gaps that constrain riparian restoration in the Basin, participants endorsed four major fields for future research: the importance of landscape context to restoration outcomes; spatio‐temporal scaling of restoration outcomes; functional effects of restoration efforts; and developing informative and effective indicators of restoration. To improve the monitoring and restoration of riparian zones throughout the Basin, participants advocated an integrated approach: a hierarchical adaptive management framework that incorporates long‐term ecological research.     

A biological decontamination process for small, privately owned buildings

An urban wide-area recovery and restoration effort following a large-scale biological release will require extensive resources and tax the capabilities of government authorities. Further, the number of private decontamination contractors available may not be sufficient to respond to the needs. These resource limitations could create the need for decontamination by the building owner/occupant. This article provides owners/occupants with a simple method to decontaminate a building or area following a wide-area release of Bacillus anthracis using liquid sporicidal decontamination materials, such as pH-amended bleach or activated peroxide; simple application devices; and high-efficiency particulate air-filtered vacuums. Owner/occupant decontamination would be recommended only after those charged with overseeing decontamination-the Unified Command/Incident Command-identify buildings and areas appropriate for owner/occupant decontamination based on modeling and environmental sampling and conduct health and safety training for cleanup workers.     

Adding value to water resource management through biological assessment of rivers

Water resource management encompasses a variety of regulations and mandates relevant to water protection and restoration. Awareness of the value-added biological monitoring and assessment to water resource management is increasing worldwide, but especially in countries that have implemented proactive water law and regulatory frameworks for protection of surface waters. Biological communities provide an integrated response to pollutants and human disturbance within watersheds through their continuous exposure to the magnitude, duration, and frequency of stressors, and, thus, are important for assessing ecosystem health. The selection of proper bioindicators can provide additional benefits through their use in causal analysis of impaired waters and measurement of ecosystem recovery after restoration. A process for implementing biological indicators in a monitoring and assessment framework is outlined for managers and practitioners of water resource protection and restoration.     

海洋生境修复和生物资源养护原理与技术研究进展及展望

由于人类活动导致的海洋生境、生态系统以及生物资源的衰退已经引起了全球的高度重视。以生态修复的原理为基础,综述了海洋生境修复和生物资源养护的关键设施、关键技术、监测与效果评价以及综合管理的国内外研究进展,并对海洋生境修复与生物资源养护的研究热点和重点进行了展望,以期为我国海洋生境修复和生物资源养护提供参考。     

An overview of integrated hydro-ecological studies in the MELMARINA Project: monitoring and modelling coastal lagoons—making management tools for aquatic resources in North Africa

As landscape disturbance and climate conspire to accelerate global environmental change towards unprecedented levels in the twenty-first century, the populated coastal regions of many countries are facing major threats to sustainability. Coastal water resources are particularly vulnerable in dry regions. In view of the expected severity of future environmental change in the Southern Mediterranean Region, the European Commission supported an integrated multidisciplinary project, MELMARINA, on monitoring and modelling coastal lagoons in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. This is a region where water management for people and for agriculture has been intense particularly during the twentieth century, yet long-term environmental monitoring and management of wetland ecosystems are under developed. Not only are biodiversity aspects at risk in coastal lagoons and wetlands but the goods and services that affect human welfare are also generally in decline. Co-ordinated hydro-ecological monitoring at key wetland lagoons was begun in 2003 with a view to establishing environmental baselines and calibrating site-specified hydro-ecological models. This article introduces the project and its results that range from lagoon typification and hydro-ecology to the application of hydro-ecological models. Detailed results and evaluations are presented in a linked series of themed scientific articles within this special issue. The present condition of the lagoons investigated essentially results from various hydrological modifications combined with eutrophication problems, yet all still remain valuable aquatic ecosystems. Adequate monitoring data are an essential part of reliable predictive modelling and, despite several data gaps, nutrient load reduction scenarios were undertaken to help target restoration aims. Implementation of aspects of the EU Water Framework Directive for achieving good ecological status of transitional waters is advocated. Nevertheless, as the twenty-first century advances the effects of global climate change are expected to amplify current stresses making intervention restoration and adaptation management even more imperative. Long-term sustainability depends upon detecting and measuring environmental change (long-term water quality and ecological quality) and incorporating the results into appropriate hydro-ecological models to facilitate the development of appropriate management initiatives. Guest editors: J. R. Thompson & R. J. Flower Hydro-ecological Monitoring and Modelling of North African Coastal Lagoons     

Applying cumulative exergy demand (CExD) indicators to the ecoinvent database

Goal, Scope and Background Exergy has been put forward as an indicator for the energetic quality of resources. The exergy of a resource accounts for the minimal work necessary to form the resource or for the maximally obtainable amount of work when bringing the resource’s components to their most common state in the natural environment. Exergy measures are traditionally applied to assess energy efficiency, regarding the exergy losses in a process system. However, the measure can be utilised as an indicator of resource quality demand when considering the specific resources that contain the exergy. Such an exergy measure indicates the required resources and assesses the total exergy removal from nature in order to provide a product, process or service. In the current work, the exergy concept is combined with a large number of life cycle inventory datasets available with ecoinvent data v1.2. The goal was, first, to provide an additional impact category indicator to Life-Cycle Assessment practitioners. Second, this work aims at making a large source of exergy scores available to scientific communities that apply exergy as a primary indicator for energy efficiency and resource quality demand. Methods The indicator Cumulative Exergy Demand (CExD) is introduced to depict total exergy removal from nature to provide a product, summing up the exergy of all resources required. CExD assesses the quality of energy demand and includes the exergy of energy carriers as well as of non-energetic materials. In the current paper, the exergy concept was applied to the resources contained in the ecoinvent database, considering chemical, kinetic, hydro-potential, nuclear, solar-radiative and thermal exergies. The impact category indicator is grouped into the eight resource categories fossil, nuclear, hydropower, biomass, other renewables, water, minerals, and metals. Exergy characterization factors for 112 different resources were included in the calculations. Results CExD was calculated for 2630 ecoinvent product and process systems. The results are presented as average values and for 26 specific groups containing 1197 products, processes and infrastructure units. Depending on the process/product group considered, energetic resources make up between 9% and 100% of the total CExD, with an average contribution of 88%. The exergy of water contributes on the average to 8% the total exergy demand, but to more than 90% in specific process groups. The average contribution of minerals and metal ores is 4%, but shows an average value as high as 38% and 13%, in metallic products and in building materials, respectively. Looking at individual processes, the contribution of the resource categories varies substantially from these average product group values. In comparison to Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) and the abiotic-resource-depletion category of CML 2001 (CML’01), non-energetic resources tend to be weighted more strongly by the CExD method. Discussion Energy and matter used in a society are not destroyed but only transformed. What is consumed and eventually depleted is usable energy and usable matter. Exergy is a measure of such useful energy. Therefore, CExD is a suitable energy based indicator for the quality of resources that are removed from nature. Similar to CED, CExD assesses energy use, but regards the quality of the energy and incorporates non-energetic materials like minerals and metals. However, it can be observed for non-renewable energy-intensive products that CExD is very similar to CED. Since CExD considers energetic and non-energetic resources on the basis of exhaustible exergy, the measure is comparable to resource indicators like the resource use category of Eco-indicator 99 and the resource depletion category of CML 2001. An advantage of CExD in comparison to these methods is that exergy is an inherent property of the resource. Therefore less assumptions and subjective choices need to be made in setting up characterization factors. However, CExD does not coversocietal demand (distinguishing between basic demand and luxury), availability or scarcity of the resource. As a consequence of the different weighting approach, CExD may differ considerably from the resource category indicators in Eco-indicator 99 and CML 2001. Conclusions The current work shows that the exergy concept can be operationalised in product life cycle assessments. CExD is a suitable indicator to assess energy and resource demand. Due to the consideration of the quality of energy and the integration of non-energetic resources, CExD is a more comprehensive indicator than the widely used CED. All of the eight CExD categories proposed are significant contributors to Cumulative Exergy Demand in at least one of the product groups analysed. In product or service assessments and comparative assertions, a careful and concious selection of the appropriate CExD-categories is required based on the energy and resource quality demand concept to be expressed by CExD. Recommendations and Perspectives A differentiation between the exergy of fossil, nuclear, hydro-potential, biomass, other renewables, water and mineral/metal resources is recommended in order to obtain a more detailed picture of resource quality demand and to recognise trade-offs between resource use, for instance energetic and non-energetic raw materials, or nonrenewable and renewable energies. ESS-Submission Editor: Dr. Gerald Rebitzer (Gerald.Rebitzer@alcan.com)     

Urban habitat restoration provides a human health benefit through microbiome rewilding: the Microbiome Rewilding Hypothesis

Restoration aims to return ecosystem services, including the human health benefits of exposure to green space. The loss of such exposure with urbanization and industrialization has arguably contributed to an increase in human immune dysregulation. The Biodiversity and Old Friends hypotheses have described the possible mechanisms of this relationship, and suggest that reduced exposure to diverse, beneficial microorganisms can result in negative health consequences. However, it is unclear whether restoration of biodiverse habitat can reverse this effect, and what role the environmental microbiome might have in such recovery. Here, we propose the Microbiome Rewilding Hypothesis, which specifically outlines that restoring biodiverse habitats in urban green spaces can rewild the environmental microbiome to a state that enhances primary prevention of human disease. We support our hypothesis with examples from allied fields, including a case study of active restoration that reversed the degradation of the soil bacterial microbiome of a former pasture. This case study used high‐throughput amplicon sequencing of environmental DNA to assess the quality of a restoration intervention in restoring the soil bacterial microbiome. The method is rapid, scalable, and standardizable, and has great potential as a monitoring tool to assess functional outcomes of green‐space restoration. Evidence for the Microbiome Rewilding Hypothesis will help motivate health professionals, urban planners, and restoration practitioners to collaborate and achieve co‐benefits. Co‐benefits include improved human health outcomes and investment opportunities for biodiversity conservation and restoration.     

Characterisation and Normalisation Factors for Life Cycle Impact Assessment Mined Abiotic Resources Categories in South Africa: The manufacturing of catalytic converter exhaust systems as a case study (10 pp)

Goal and Background Current Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) procedures have demonstrated certain limitations in the South African manufacturing industry. The aim of this paper is to propose new characterisation and normalisation factors for classified mined abiotic resource depletion categories in the South African context. These factors should reflect the importance of mined resources as they relate to region-specific resource depletion. The method can also be applied to determine global factors. Methods The reserve base (as in 2001) of the most commonly produced minerals in South Africa is used as basis to determine characterisation factors for a non-renewable mineral resources category. The average production of these minerals from 1991 to 2000 is compared to economically Demonstrated and Demonstrated Marginal Reserves (and not ultimate reserves) to obtain the characterisation factors in equivalence units, with platinum as the reference mineral. Similarly, for a non-renewable energy resources category, coal is used in South Africa as equivalent unit as it is the most important fossil fuel for the country. Crude oil and natural gas resources are currently obtained from reserves elsewhere in the world and characterisation factors are therefore determined using global resources and production levels. The normalisation factors are based on the total economic reserves of key South African minerals and world non-renewable energy resources respectively. A case study of the manufacturing of an exhaust system for a standard sedan is used to compare LCIA results for mined abiotic resource categories that are based on current LCIA factors and the new South African factors. Results and Discussion The South African LCIA procedure differs from current methods in that it shows the importance of other mined resources, i.e. iron ore and crude oil, relative to PGMs and coal for the manufacturing life cycle of the exhaust system. With respect to PGMs, the current characterisation factors are based on the concentrations of the metals in the ores and the ultimate reserves, which are erroneous with respect to the actual availability of the mineral resources and the depletion burden placed on these minerals is consequently too high. Conclusions The South African LCIA procedure for mined abiotic resources depletion shows the significance of choosing a method, which is inline with the current situation in the mining industry and its limitations. Recommendations and Outlook It is proposed to similarly investigate the impacts of the use of other natural resource groups. Water, specifically, must receive attention in the characterisation phase of LCIAs in South African LCAs.     

Industrial bioconversion of renewable resources as an alternative to conventional chemistry

There are numerous possibilities for replacing chemical techniques with biotechnological methods based on renewable resources. The potential of biotechnology (products, technologies, metabolic pathways) is for the most part well known. Often the costs are still the problem. Biotechnological advances have the best chances for replacing some fine chemicals. While the raw material costs are less of a consideration here, the environmental benefit is huge, as chemical-technical processes often produce a wide range of undesirable/harmful by-products or waste. In the case of bulk chemicals (<US $1/kg) the product price is affected mainly by raw material costs. As long as fossil raw materials are still relatively inexpensive, alternatives based on renewable resources cannot establish themselves. Residues and waste, which are available even at no cost in some cases, are an exception. The introduction of new technologies for the efficient use of such raw materials is currently being promoted. The utilisation of residual wood, plant parts, waste fat, and crude glycerol, for example, provides great potential. For industrial chemicals (US $2–4/kg), process and recovery costs play a greater role. Here, innovative production technologies and product recovery techniques (e.g. on-line product separation) can increase competitiveness.