Search results for " impact assessment"
showing 10 items of 193 documents
Data from: Ecological impact assessments of alien species in Norway
2020
Due to globalisation, trade and transport, the spread of alien species is increasing dramatically. Some alien species become ecologically harmful by threatening native biota. This can lead to irreversible changes in local biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and, ultimately, to biotic homogenisation. We risk-assessed all alien plants, animals, fungi and algae, within certain delimitations, that are known to reproduce in Norway. Mainland Norway and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard plus Jan Mayen were treated as separate assessment areas. Assessments followed the Generic Ecological Impact Assessment of Alien Species (GEIAA) protocol, which uses a fully quantitative set of criteria. A tot…
Life Cycle Environmental Assessment of Energy Valorization of the Residual Agro-Food Industry
2021
This study assesses the potential environmental impacts related to the energy valorization of agro-food industry waste thought the Life Cycle Assessment methodology (ISO 14040). The system examined consists of a real anaerobic digester coupled with a combined anaerobic digester and heat and power plant (AD-CHP) operating in Sicily. The analysis accounts for all the impacts occurring from the delivery of the biomass to the AD-CHP plant up to the electricity generation in the CHP. The main outcomes of the study include the eco-profile of the energy system providing electricity and the assessment of the contribution of each life cycle phase aimed at identifying the potential improvement area. …
Inverse Malthusianism and Recycling Economics: The Case of the Textile Industry
2020
The current use of natural resources in the textile industry leads us to introduce a new economic concept called inverse Malthusianism describing a context in which population grows linearly and resource consumption grows exponentially. Inverse Malthusianism implies an exponential increase in environmental impact that recycling may contribute to reduce. Our main goal is to extend the analysis of materials selection under the principle of equimarginality proposed by Jevons. As a first result, we show the particular circumstances under which policies excluding recycled supplies are never optimal. We also aim to overcome the difficulties of reducing environmental aspects to monetary units. To …
Smart vs conventional motorways: environmental impact assessment under realistic traffic conditions
2020
Abstract This research aims at assessing the environmental impacts exerted by a smart motorway compared to those of a traditional motorway. The study has global policy implications: it takes into account the impacts due to the construction and maintenance of the infrastructure and the environmental effects produced by the traffic emissions, taking into account smart technologies and truck platooning regulation. Through a classical LCA approach, 1 km-long smart motorway with 2 m-high embankment was assumed as the functional unit for the analysis. A realistic traffic condition has been considered. A comparison between environmental effects produced by the use of virgin material and by Reclaim…
The green factor in European manufacturing: a case study of the Spanish ceramic tile industry
2014
This paper analyses how environmental issues have affected and are continuing to affect the evolution of European manufacturing industries based on the example of the Spanish Ceramic Tile Industry (SCTI).1 The Ceramic Tile Industry (CTI)2 in Europe became very competitive and innovative in the early 1990s, with the Italian and the Spanish sectors, which are cluster-based, becoming world leaders. However, since 2008, this leadership position is being eroded. We provide an in depth analysis of the SCTI focusing on the influence of new European environmental regulations. The CTI has a major impact on the environment and has been the focus of environmental regulations. We also consider the inno…
Energy and environmental assessment of residual bio-wastes management strategies
2021
Abstract This paper assesses the potential energy and environmental impacts of an anaerobic digester coupled with a combined heat and power plant powered with bio-wastes from the agri-food sector. The analysis is carried out through the Life Cycle Assessment methodology following a “cradle-to-grave” approach and is based mostly on primary data. The anaerobic digester - combined heat and power plant is analysed considering a twofold perspective: one more energy – oriented where the main function of the system is to generate renewable electricity and a waste – oriented one in which the main function is treating bio-wastes. In addition, the environmental indirect effects related to potential c…
A Tool for Energy Management and Cost Assessment of Pumps in Waste Water Treatment Plants
2017
Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs) are generally considered energy intensive. Substantial energy saving potentials have been identified by several authors. Pumps consume around 12% of the overall WWTP energy consumption. In this paper we propose a methodology that uses the sensors commonly installed in WWTPs, such as volume and energy sensors, to perform energy benchmarking on pumps. The relationship between energy efficiency and flow rate is used to detect specific problems, and potential solutions are proposed, taking into consideration economical and environmental criteria (cost of externalities in energy production). The methodology integrates energy benchmarking, data-mining, and eco…
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Wave Energy Converter (WEC)
2015
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is an environmental management instrument implemented worldwide. In the last years the development of Wave Energy Converter (WEC) influenced environmental research to quantify impacts on marine life. In this paper we present a case study of EIA: a real application and study of device installed in Tirren Sea (near Castellammare — Sicily).
Land use functions — a multifunctionality approach to assess the impact of land use changes on land use sustainability
2008
Part 5. Regional and local evaluation - 17; International audience; The dramatic changes in land use observed in Europe in the last fifty years have generally resulted in improvement of human welfare and economic development. On the other hand, they have caused serious environmental problems. There is therefore a need for approaches that help to understand in an integrative way the economic, environmental and societal impacts that land use changes have on sustainability. Sustainability Impact Assessment(SIA), which assesses the impact of policies on sustainability, addresses this challenge. SIA partly builds on the concept of the multifunctionality of land which helps to deal with the compl…
Il prezzo del consenso. Le compensazioni amministrative nel governo dell'ambiente e del territorio
2020
Nel governo dell’ambiente e del territorio le pubbliche amministrazioni si avvalgono spesso di misure compensative. Quando una attività economica, un piano amministrativo, un programma di sviluppo o il progetto di una infrastruttura pubblica o privata mettono a rischio il paesaggio, l’ambiente o il territorio, l’eventuale conflitto tra interessi pubblici e privati divergenti può essere composto mediante compensazioni reali o monetarie corrisposte attraverso meccanismi di scambio complessi e spesso multipolari. Tuttavia, ci si può chiedere se esse costituiscano una categoria giuridica unitaria. Inoltre, in presenza di una pluralità di semplici frammenti normativi, bisogna verificare i fondam…