Search results for " impact assessment"
showing 10 items of 193 documents
Developing the RIAM method (rapid impact assessment matrix) in the context of impact significance assessment
2010
Abstract In this paper the applicability of the RIAM method (rapid impact assessment matrix) is evaluated in the context of impact significance assessment. The methodological issues considered in the study are: 1) to test the possibilities of enlarging the scoring system used in the method, and 2) to compare the significance classifications of RIAM and unaided decision-making to estimate the consistency between these methods. The data used consisted of projects for which funding had been applied for via the European Union's Regional Development Trust in the area of Central Finland. Cases were evaluated with respect to their environmental, social and economic impacts using an assessment pane…
Measuring the eco-efficiency of wastewater treatment plants under data uncertainty
2018
Abstract Eco-efficiency assessment is a useful tool for improving the sustainability of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, it is a complex task that requires the integration of several performance indicators into a single index. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is established as a highly effective methodology for achieving this as it permits the integration of the service value, resource consumption and environmental impact variables as the desirable outputs, inputs and undesirable outputs, respectively. However, traditional DEA models omit uncertainties in the data that are likely to result in biased conclusions. This study pioneers the assessment of the eco-efficiency of WWTPs w…
Macroalgae transplant to detect the occurrence of anthropogenic nutrients in seawater of highly tourist beaches in Mediterranean islands
2020
In the Mediterranean region, islands are among the most important tourist destinations, being sites of considerable naturalistic, historical and cultural importance. This is highly beneficial for local economies, but may also represent a threat for the environment, especially during the peak season (i.e. summer). Indeed, the sharp demographic increase concentrated in a relatively short period may negatively affect the quality of coastal marine systems and the provision of ecosystem services, producing in turn negative feedbacks on tourism industry. Nevertheless, the assessment of the environmental impact of tourism on coastal seawater has been seldom addressed. Here, we show the results of …
Functional trait-based layers - an aquaculture siting tool for the Mediterranean Sea
2021
Abstract Aquaculture, the current fastest-growing food sector, is one of the major opportunities that could be reaped to cope with the increased demand for proteins from the sea and simultaneously generate economic growth while ensuring sustainable use of natural resources. The number of tools and approaches suggested to promote the selection of suitable areas - focusing mostly on the management of potential conflicting uses at sea - is rapidly increasing. However, to date, there is a lack of information regarding spatial planning according to a trait-based approach encompassing the functional and biological data of farmed species; a gap that may lead to selecting unsuitable areas for farmi…
Towards a landscape scale management of pesticides: ERA using changes in modelled occupancy and abundance to assess long-term population impacts of p…
2015
Pesticides are regulated in Europe and this process includes an environmental risk assessment (ERA) for nontarget arthropods (NTA). Traditionally a non-spatial or field trial assessment is used. In this study we exemplify the introduction of a spatial context to the ERA as well as suggest a way in which the results of complex models, necessary for proper inclusion of spatial aspects in the ERA, can be presented and evaluated easily using abundance and occupancy ratios (AOR). We used an agent-based simulation system and an existing model for a wide-spread carabid beetle (Bembidion lampros), to evaluate the impact of a fictitious highly-toxic pesticide on population density and the distributi…
Developing a scuba trail vulnerability index (STVI): a case study from a Mediterranean MPA
2008
Scuba diving is now one of the major form of commercial use of marine protected areas (MPAs) around the world and the control of its potential impacts on the marine environment represents a fundamental key to manage this recreational activity in highly dived areas. A potential tool to tackle such issues has been thought to be the definition of a value of recreational carrying capacity of an area, but this approach has been rarely considered management-effective. Therefore, the first step for effectively managing scuba-diving should be ‘bottom-up’: characterizing the benthic communities potentially affected by diving and evaluating their vulnerability. Aim of this paper is to propose a tool …
Life cycle environmental assessment of retaining walls in unsaturated soils
2022
Abstract Retaining structures above groundwater level support soils that are usually in a state of partial saturation and subject to the actions of atmospheric agents. The current design approach considers the possible extremes of soil conditions – either totally dry or totally saturated – but it neglects matric suction’s contribution to soil shear strength. This work aims to describe how unsaturated-soil mechanics of can positively influence the sustainability of retaining structures through a holistic, multidisciplinary, geotechnical, and environmental analysis. The geotechnical analysis allows to estimate the lateral earth pressure of a geostructure in both unsaturated and extreme soil c…
Environmental assessment of 2030 electricity generation scenarios in Sicily: An integrated approach
2020
Abstract This paper deals with the environmental assessment of two electricity scenarios in Sicily, for 2030, characterized by a high exploitation of renewable energy sources in order to quantify the potential contribution of the local strategies in the achievement of the European climate policies and the potential improvement in the future electricity mix, compared to the current one (2014). In order to match these goals, authors integrate the Life Cycle Assessment with a scenario analysis. The future electricity mix scenarios, characterized by a share of renewables (57% for 2030-BS scenario and 51% for 2030-DS scenario) show a reduction of the greenhouse gases emissions per kWh of electri…
Passive components for reducing environmental impacts of buildings:analysis of an experimental green roof
2020
The reduction of the environmental impacts related to the building sector is a matter of outmost importance concerning the sustainable utilization of resources related to human activities. Such sector is in fact responsible for about 40% of both release of pollutants in the atmosphere and energy consumption. When trying to reduce buildings’ environmental impacts, as well as to limit their energy consumption, building envelope passive systems can be used. Amongst these, green roofs have been gaining global attention due to their benefits in terms of resilience and sustainability, in order to mitigate the unfavourable urbanization effects. Research on the green roof has been indeed increasing…
Seawater Desalination for Freshwater Production
2009
In the last decades more and more countries have experienced water scarcity problems, thus pointing at alternative non-conventional sources of fresh water. Seawater desalination has proven to be a reliable and economically sustainable water resource since the second half of the 20th Century. A number of well proven technologies already exist, with advantages and disadvantages making each of them more suitable in specific sites. Moreover, quite recently, coupling the use of renewable energy to the production of fresh water from seawater results in novel technologies, able to minimise the environmental impact that desalination processes can create due to their intense energy consumptions.