Search results for "natural resource"
showing 10 items of 482 documents
Agricultural externalities and environmental regulation: evaluating good practice in citrus production
2006
Economic activity takes place in a scenario characterized by an increasing number of environmental regulations aimed at bringing under control the emission of contaminating wastes. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of transforming a code of good practice in nitrogen fertilization on Spanish citrus fruit farms into an environmental regulation of compulsory fulfilment. Using data envelopment techniques, we calculate unrestricted and environmentally regulated short-run maximum profits. Both profit values are then used to compute an index of the cost of regulation. Our results suggest that the cost of shifting from a merely recommended practice to a binding rule is low. On average, the loss…
Spanish Secondary School Students' Notions on the Causes and Consequences of Climate Change
2010
This paper is part of an extensive study of secondary school students' preconceived ideas about climate change. Here, we undertake a survey in the province of Valencia (Spain) to ascertain secondary school students' notions of the causes and consequences of climate change. Results show, among other things, that students clearly relate the misuse of motor vehicles and factory emissions to the problem. However, the obvious correlation with household energy use is not observed. The usual confusion with other environmental problems, such as the hole in the ozone layer, as described in previous studies, is also detected. Students know almost no greenhouse gases other than CO2, while the socio‐ec…
Forest biorefineries – A business opportunity for the Finnish forest cluster
2011
Abstract Bioenergy and biomass-based products offer the greatest new opportunities for diversifying business in the forest cluster. In particular, biorefineries, which can be integrated into the pulp and paper industry, seem to have immense future potential. This article aims to explore the biorefinery concept and related new products and business operations, as well as new business strategies and company models, which are part of the biorefinery value chain. These factors, which contribute to the establishment and success of forest biorefineries, were examined using internet survey responses and compared between Scandinavia, North America and South America. This article looks at the result…
Sustainability evaluation of Sicily's lemon and orange production: An energy, economic and environmental analysis
2013
The island of Sicily has a long standing tradition in citrus growing. We evaluated the sustainability of orange and lemon orchards, under organic and conventional farming, using an energy, environmental and economic analysis of the whole production cycle by using a life cycle assessment approach. These orchard systems differ only in terms of a few of the inputs used and the duration of the various agricultural operations. The quantity of energy consumption in the production cycle was calculated by multiplying the quantity of inputs used by the energy conversion factors drawn from the literature. The production costs were calculated considering all internal costs, including equipment, materi…
Municipal waste management in Sicily: practices and challenges.
2006
There are numerous problems yet to be solved in waste management and although efforts towards waste recovery and recycling have been made, landfills are still the most common method used in the EU and many other industrialised countries. Thermal disposal, particularly incineration, is a tested and viable alternative. In 2004, only 11% of the annual waste production of Italy was incinerated. Sicily, with over five million inhabitants, is the second largest region in Italy where waste management is now a critical problem. The use of landfills can no longer be considered a satisfactory environmental solution; therefore, new methods have to be chosen and waste-toenergy plants could provide an a…
The Desalination Process Driven by Wave Energy: A Challenge for the Future
2016
The correlation between water and energy is currently the focus of several investigations. In particular, desalination is a technological process characterized by high energy consumption; nevertheless, desalination represents the only practicable solution in several areas, where the availability of fresh water is limited but brackish water or seawater are present. These natural resources (energy and water) are essential for each other; energy system conversion needs water, and electrical energy is necessary for water treatment or transport. Several interesting aspects include the study of saline desalination as an answer to freshwater needs and the application of renewable energy (RE) devic…
<title>Tradeoff between environmental impacts and economic benefits?: A case study of the Finnish and British pulp and paper industries</tit…
2001
Due to the increased used paper collection rates in Western Europe, more recycled fibre will be used in the manufacture of paper. This will affect both the environmental and economic performance of the pulp and paper industry. The potential for the increase of the collection rate varies significantly in different countries in western Europe. In some countries the collection rate is already close to 70% (Austria, Germany) and in others it is around 45% (Italy, United Kingdom). With the increased demand for recycled fibre also the collection will increase. When the collection of waste paper is increased something has to be done with the collected paper. Different utilisation modes results in …
Clean and Sustainable Biodiesel Production
2015
To date, the majority of world's primary energy is derived from fossil fuels. However, the fossil fuel recourses are in an inevitable decline as energy demand continues to grow exponentially with population growth, urbanization, and improved standards of living. Crude oil prices have recently risen several times and their current annual volatility exceeds 30%. The potential scarcity of fossil fuels has prompted a global search for alternative energy resources. Biodiesel fulfills the major requirements for production of alternative fuels such as feedstock availability, technical feasibility, and economic competitiveness. Together with other renewable biofuels, the use of biodiesel as a subst…
An integrated and shared approach to sea of the regional town master plan of Sicily
2006
The work addresses one of the most important problems in contemporary environmental land planning. Already existing procedures, in fact, must now conform to the new requirements imposed by the recent national and international regulations and standards that call for a more conscious approach to the use of natural resources. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), for example, takes into account, the different effects of a plan in various fields such as the environment, the economy and the development. This obviously calls for global analysis tools that could help administrators, stakeholders and technicians in the decision-making process of such complex systems. SEA of the Town Master Pla…
Recent advances on intelligent packaging as tools to reduce food waste
2018
[EN] Food waste is one of the main issues for international organisms. It is not only an ethical and economic issue but it also depletes the environment of limited natural resources. Among strategies suitable for fighting such challenge, intelligent packaging is an interesting tool to reduce waste derived from households and retailers. A revision of 45 recent advances in the area of optical systems for freshness monitoring is reported herein. The study covers fruits, vegetables, fish products and meat since they are the most representative fields of application. Furthermore, a discussion about the main research challenges and opportunities that will be faced by intelligent packaging in the …