Direct Environmental Benefits Research Articles

Is the sharing economy a sustainable mode of consumption? An empirical case study of sharing of household goods and environmental rebound effects in a university context

The Sharing Economy has been suggested as a sustainable mode of consumption due to its potential to lower resource use and waste generation. A better understanding of sharing drivers, consumption dynamics, and their interlinkages is essential to suitably appraise the role that sharing practices can play in sustainable transitions. A survey of 654 participants from the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Switzerland) was carried out in order to investigate their household goods sharing practices. Among the participants, 328 people that borrowed household goods (takers) were identified and their responses were analysed to find motives and barriers for sharing household goods. Furthermore, Environmental Rebound Effects (EREs) were investigated with the consideration of psychological and economic factors that may influence them. The findings indicate that attitudes towards sharing household goods are most positively influenced by expected environmental impacts followed by enjoyment, economic savings, and social interactions. Negative influences include concerns about a potential loss of independence and lack of trust in people. However, it also turned out that EREs actually amounted to 102%, indicating that the motivating (direct) environmental benefits from sharing tend to be fully compensated for by the negative impacts derived from subsequent re-spending. The imperfect substitution of sharing and the moral licensing effect contributed to this result. Furthermore, consumers’ sharing rationale significantly influences the magnitude of EREs; either increased by economic motivations, or decreased by environmental motivations. Based on our results, we suggest that, to ensure the implementation of the Sharing Economy as a sustainable mode of consumption, it is necessary to increase awareness of the environmental rebound effects caused by re-spending. Consumers could thus be more motivated to share for environmental reasons, identify themselves with sustainability and decide to abstain from morally licensing themselves to re-spend their extra disposable income on Carbon Footprint intense activities.

Evaluating the Benefits and Potential of “Plastic Reduction”: A Case Study of College Students in Western China

The persistent increase in plastic consumption poses a formidable challenge to attaining climate objectives and mitigating plastic pollution, prompting a global movement towards “plastic reduction”. Given the large number and scale of colleges, it is crucial to analyze the potential for “plastic reduction” on campuses to integrate green and low-carbon practices. This study constructed a source–emission–grave (SEG) plastic waste evaluation framework, which chose Xi’an Shiyou University in Western China as the research object. Furthermore, a tailored plastic-reduction scheme is designed based on students’ daily consumption patterns. The evaluation effectively measures the university’s potential for reducing plastic usage and its direct environmental benefits. Results indicate that by promoting green consumption practices, there could be a potential 45% reduction in plastic usage among students in their daily routines, resulting in an annual per capita decrease of 4.4 kg of plastic consumption and utilization. The aforementioned leads to four environmental benefits, namely raw materials, savings in energy consumption, reduction in carbon emissions, and a decrease in plastic waste, resulting in a total value of CNY 45. If this program were implemented nationwide across colleges and universities, students could collectively reduce their annual plastic consumption by 162,000 tons within their daily lives while simultaneously generating direct economic benefits worth CNY 1.8 billion. These findings can serve as valuable references for other universities in devising effective initiatives to mitigate plastic consumption.

Small-Scale Farming: A Review of Challenges and Potential Opportunities Offered by Technological Advancements

Smallholder farmers play an important role in ensuring world food security. In addition to food security, small-scale farming also provides numerous other direct and indirect environmental, social, cultural, and economic benefits by improving crop diversification, job security, and self-sufficiency. However, small-scale agriculture faces several challenges which are further exacerbated by climate change, population increase, water scarcity, and soil degradation. Agriculture has seen a lot of technological advancements in the last few decades. However, access to these advancements has not always been economically viable for small or medium farm operations. This article aimed to review the major barriers to small-scale farming and to review the status and potential opportunities offered by advanced technologies that can benefit small-scale holders. Based on the review, we found that economics, marketing, climate change, lack of awareness, educational resources, infrastructure, information, and technology are the major challenges to small-scale farming. Technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the IoT (internet of things), irrigation automation, and the use of smartphones are already becoming mainstream in small-scale farming and other technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), yield monitoring, and food traceability have potential opportunities to solve the challenges that hamper the success of small-scale growers.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Urban Stream Restoration

The District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment (DC DOEE) and National Park Service (NPS) have worked in tandem on multiple stream restorations throughout the Washington DC area. Restored stream ecosystems provide a variety of direct and indirect environmental benefits, such as improved stormwater management, water quality, and recreational value.

Decolorization of Boron-Based Wood Preservatives by Ozonation for Recycling: Optimization of Process Parameters

Preservation of sawn timber from rubber trees with a water-soluble mixture of boric acid and borax generates a large quantity of colored wood preservative solutions and carries toxic metals, especially boron. To save costs, millers commonly reuse the colored mixtures in successive preservation cycles but regularly add boric acid and borax to maintain boron levels. However, this strategy affects both the color and the economic value of the treated wood. This paper presents a new strategy to treat the colored mixture of waterborne preservative solutions using ozonation for recycling purposes. At optimum conditions which are determined by response surface methodology, very high color removal (96 - 97 %) is achieved from ozone treatment of the wood preservatives with an initial COD concentration of 2,250 ± 40 mg/L and solution pH of 3.59 ± 0.02 for 65 min reaction time. The effluent can be reused in successive preservation cycles without degrading the wood quality in terms of the color of the processed timber and boron penetration in the end grain as well as the sides of the wood. Ozone treatment shows to be a promising color removal technology for sawn rubberwood industry, aimed at the reuse of waterborne preservatives, resulting in direct environmental and economic benefits. HIGHLIGHTS Application of ozone (O3) can be a clean technology to treat the color of aqueous solutions for in-process recycling in sawn rubberwood industry Box-Behnken design and Response Surface Methodology applied to find the optimum conditions for color removal from the mixture of boric acid and borax Recycling the mixture of boric acid and borax in a subsequent wood preservation operation gave very promising results The reusability of boron-based wood preservative solutions after ozonation minimizes the occurrence of industrial chemical waste GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Roles of diffusion patterns, technological progress, and environmental benefits in determining optimal renewable subsidies in the US

In this paper we develop an integrated model to identify optimal subsidy schedules for clean energy technologies that maximize social benefits less subsidy costs. The model uses historical cost, adoption, and emissions data and accounts for both environmental and technological progress benefits of the subsidy. An alternative analytical model is also presented to analyze key technological features affecting subsidy design. We focus on three important factors in determining the social benefits of subsidizing the use of clean energy technology: the price (or cost) sensitivity of adoption, induced cost reductions through learning, and environmental benefits. We quantify how distinct profiles of these three factors result in qualitatively different optimal subsidy plans for utility wind and residential solar power in 13 electricity grid regions in the US. Results show that optimal subsidy schedules for utility wind depend on the region, starting at $20–60/MWh, and are roughly constant over time. In contrast, optimal residential solar subsidies either decline over time (starting from $8–70/MWh) or are not desirable (subsidy of zero). The results imply that the optimal subsidy for utility wind is justified mainly through the direct environmental benefits, unlike residential solar PV in which the subsidy is primarily justified by indirect technological progress benefits.

Energy from livestock waste: Using circular economy and territorial intelligence to build sustainable businesses

Pig waste can be used to generate energy through biogas and has been gaining importance for being a renewable energy source. The resulting biogas can be used in many forms, such as to produce electricity and supply local networks using microgrids. This helps bring greater stability and energy security to local electricity supply networks. Under this light, this article aims to (i) report on socio-environmental impacts, (ii) present lessons learned (from a circular economy and territorial intelligence perspective), and (iii) point out future business opportunities of value recovery from waste in rural properties. To that end, a case study was carried out in a rural property in Paraná, Brazil. The authors conducted local visits and surveys, and consulted documents provided by the property owners about projects making use of biogas produced from pig waste and used to generate electricity. Different partnerships between the property and public and private bodies enable business opportunities arising from projects that range from the commercialization of carbon credits, decentralized energy generation, to sale of energy to the State's energy provider and establishing Microgrids. From those projects, direct and indirect environmental and social benefits are primarily related to the replacement of non-renewable energy with renewable energy from waste, and impacts avoided from the inadequate handling of pig waste. The results show that it is possible to explore the energy potential of rural properties, based on livestock waste, by developing partnerships with public and private actors, producing energy from biogas, from circular economy and territorial intelligence perspectives.

The Environmental Impact Assessment of Sanitation Projects in Chile: Overview and Improvement Opportunities Focused on Follow-Ups.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a legal and administrative tool aimed to identify, predict, and interpret the impact of a project or activity on the environment and human health. The EIA also evaluates the accuracy of the predictions and audits the effectiveness of the established preventive measures. Regarding the sanitation sector, efficiency of wastewater treatments and sanitation networks determine the pollutant level of the discharged liquid effluents and the subsequent impact on the environment and human health. This problematic makes necessary to assess how proper the regulatory follow-ups of sanitation projects is. This paper evaluates the performance of the Chilean EIA System concerning to sanitation projects. Taking into account that the more restrictive Environmental Impact Study (EIS) and more permissive Environmental Impact Declaration (EID) are the ways for projects’ entry to the EIA System in Chile, 5336 sanitation projects submitted to EIA between 1994 and 2019 were complied. A representative sample of 76 projects (15 entered as EIS and 61 as EID) was analyzed by using a principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) through 14 selected performance indicators. Observed weaknesses have led to propose improvement opportunities of the EIA focused on the follow-ups after the environmental license is obtained, such as creation of a simplified sanctioning procedure, decentralization of decision-making, deadline establishment in each stage, and unified direct link for each project. These proposals seek to improve the effectiveness of monitoring and possible sanctions to early identify impacts of sanitation projects on the environment and human health. This paper introduces a robust methodology for evaluation criteria focused on the follow-ups analysis, which can be used in other countries that consider respectful sanitation projects have direct social and environmental benefits leading to long-term indirect cultural and economic values.

Potential of wastelands for carbon sequestration- A review

One of the most important issues of the 21st century in India is carbon (C) management through carbon sequestration and its long term storage. Enhancing carbon sequestration in degraded agricultural lands has direct environmental, economic, and social benefits for local people. The best practical method for sequestration of excess CO2 from atmosphere is by storing it into a biological system like plant biomass and finally into the soil. According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2000) one of the best reservoirs of carbon is soil. Soil plays a major role in global carbon cycle as it is an important pool of active carbon. Restoration of depleted soils can lead to a new SOC equilibrium over 25 to 50 years through adoption of Recommended Management Practices (RMP) (Lal et al., 1998) [15]. The average rate of carbon sequestration in uplands is 300-500 kg ha-1 (0.01- 0.02%) and in wet lands, 800-1000 kg ha-1 (0.04- 0.05%) (Lal et al., 2007) [20]. Soils with greatest potential for C accumulation are those that are severely C depleted but still retaining the requisites such as nutrients, structure and microbial population for primary production or can be suitably managed to increase the productivity in short term. Several approaches and tools are required to develop reliable estimates of changes in soil C at scales ranging from the individual experimental plot to whole regional and national inventories. Increasing the soil organic carbon pool is a long term process. Practice of combined land use system will serve the purpose. Knowledge of soils related to SOC pool sequestration and their sustainable management on priority basis is a must to increase the SOC levels for enhancing productivity and sustainability.

Impacts of the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program on the economy of California

The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program is an innovative financing approach to meeting environmental goals. PACE financing is structured as an assessment to the property and paid along with the property tax bill. In addition to the direct environmental benefits, it also yields co-benefits of enhanced economic output and employment. This paper estimates the economic impacts of PACE in California by one of its major financing companies. These impacts include direct spending on structural improvements, reduction in spending on centralized power and water services, reallocation of spending from energy and water bills savings, and solar investment tax credits, among others. It also includes general equilibrium effects of these various factors. Our results indicate PACE financing yields sizable economic benefits. At the same time, the increased economic activity results in increased energy and water use that partially offsets some of the direct environmental gains. Furthermore, PACE has been subject to criticism because it gives financing companies the first lien on mortgages and because of anecdotal examples of some customers being lured by unscrupulous contractors. The direct environmental benefits and economic co-benefits of PACE should be factored into the policy debate over whether the Program should be further expanded or regulated.

Electrolytic preparation and characterization of VCr alloys in molten salt from vanadium slag

Vanadium slag contains several critical elements like V, Ti, Cr, Fe and Mn. In our previous work, V and Cr have been enriched by selective chlorination, increasing from 10.05% to 14.95% and 5.84%–8.69% separately. V and Cr still maintain the trivalence state in molten salt. In the current work, the electrodeposition behaviors of V3+ and Cr3+ in NaCl–KCl molten salt at 800 °C were investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV) with a tungsten electrode. It was found that the reduction processes of V3+ and Cr3+ consist of two steps, M3+/M2+, M2+/M. The diffusion coefficients of V3+ and Cr3+ in NaCl–KCl molten salt were measured by CV. The effect of VCl3/CrCl3 mass ratio on VCr alloy was investigated by a two-electrode under constant voltage. Pure Cr can be obtained at 2.8 V in the NaCl–KCl molten salt, while VCr alloy (3.71 mass % V-94.28 mass% Cr-2.01 mass % O) was obtained when electrolysis voltage was controlled to 2.8 V at 800 °C. The composition of VCr alloy can be designed by changing the molten salt composition. This method can be applied for direct preparation of VCr alloy from vanadium slag, thus offering the use of low cost raw materials with direct environmental benefits.

Voluntary sustainability standards could significantly reduce detrimental impacts of global agriculture

Voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) are stakeholder-derived principles with measurable and enforceable criteria to promote sustainable production outcomes. While institutional commitments to use VSS to meet sustainable procurement policies have grown rapidly over the past decade, we still have relatively little understanding of the (i) direct environmental benefits of large-scale VSS adoption; (ii) potential perverse indirect impacts of adoption; and (iii) implementation pathways. Here, we illustrate and address these knowledge gaps using an ecosystem service modeling and scenario analysis of Bonsucro, the leading VSS for sugarcane. We find that global compliance with the Bonsucro environmental standards would reduce current sugarcane production area (-24%), net tonnage (-11%), irrigation water use (-65%), nutrient loading (-34%), and greenhouse gas emissions from cultivation (-51%). Under a scenario of doubled global sugarcane production, Bonsucro adoption would further limit water use and greenhouse gas emissions by preventing sugarcane expansion into water-stressed and high-carbon stock ecosystems. This outcome was achieved via expansion largely on existing agricultural lands. However, displacement of other crops could drive detrimental impacts from indirect land use. We find that over half of the potential direct environmental benefits of Bonsucro standards under the doubling scenario could be achieved by targeting adoption in just 10% of global sugarcane production areas. However, designing policy that generates the most environmentally beneficial Bonsucro adoption pathway requires a better understanding of the economic and social costs of VSS adoption. Finally, we suggest research directions to advance sustainable consumption and production.

Life-cycle assessment of biochar production systems in tropical rural areas: Comparing flame curtain kilns to other production methods

A life-cycle assessment (LCA) using end point methods was performed for the generation and sequestration of one kg biochar by various pyrolysis methods suitable for rural tropical conditions. Flame curtain kilns, a novel, simple and cost-effective technology of biochar generation, were compared to earth mound non-improved kilns, retort kilns with off-gases combustion, pyrolytic cook-stoves allowing the use of the gas flame for cooking purposes, and iv) gasifiers with electricity production. The impact categories of climate change, particulate matter emissions, land use effects, minerals and fossil fuels were combined to provide the overall impact of biochar generation.In the LCA ranking, earth mound kilns were shown to have negative potential environmental impacts because of their gas and aerosol emissions. Flame curtain kilns had slightly lower potential impact than retort kilns and much lower impact than earth-mound kilns because of the avoidance of start-up wood and low material use and gas emissions. Making biochar from flame curtain kilns was observed to be environmentally neutral in a life-cycle perspective, as the production emissions were compensated for by carbon sequestration. Pyrolytic cook-stoves and gasifiers showed the most positive potential environmental impact in the LCA due to avoided firewood consumption and emissions from electricity generation, respectively.The generation and sequestration of biochar per se by flame curtain kilns was not found to result in direct environmental benefits. Co-benefits in the form of rural applicability, cost-efficiency and agricultural effects due to soil improvement are needed to warrant biochar implementation by this method.

Environmental benefits from ridesharing: A case of Beijing

Emerging ridesharing travel could be an effective way in China to reduce travel demand by cars, which can further seek to shift personal transportation choices from an owned asset to a service used on demand and lessen the traffic jam and emissions. Drawing on the raw observed ridesharing trip data provided by DiDi Chuxing company, this study evaluated the direct environmental benefits of ridesharing resulted from the travel mode shift and the indirect environmental benefits resulted from the attitude change towards car purchase behavior. The megacity Beijing is taken as the empirical context given its more serious situation of traffic congestion and difficulties for car purchase. Estimation results show that direct annual energy savings made by ridesharing are approximately 26.6 thousand tce, and annual emission reductions of CO2 and NOx are approximately 46.2 thousand tons and 253.7tons, respectively. Besides, using ridesharing service will lead to substantial energy savings and emission reductions from the long-term perspective attributing to the weakening willingness on purchasing new cars. Promoting EVs among ridesharing vehicles and switching to clean electricity generation as well as improving vehicle efficiency can further enhance the environmental benefits of ridesharing, with maximum effects amounting to 67% of energy savings and 57% of CO2 emission reductions compared to 2016 level of the fuel-related energy consumption and emissions made by ridesharing.

The winding ways of development: A historical journey of a road in the Putumayo region of Colombia

Roads are by nature a contested subject. Although they represent vital infrastructure to enable the flow of people, goods and ideas, their potential detrimental effects for humans and the environment have been a constant source of debate and criticism. This is particularly true for natural resource-rich regions such as the Amazon, where the development of roads has been directly associated with rampant deforestation and resource extraction, uncontrolled colonization and dispossession of indigenous lands. Yet the impact of roads goes far beyond their direct social and environmental costs and benefits. In many places of the world, roads have a strong evocative power, as they represent spaces that materially and symbolically embody ideas such as „modernity,‟ „progress,‟ „backwardness‟ and „development.‟ Combining multi-sited ethnography and historical analysis, this photo essay attempts to document the past, present, and likely future of a road in Putumayo, a region of southwest Colombia that has been traditionally considered a marginal frontier, and which has also become internationally known for the production of cocaine and the violence that has come with it. The road, as I will try to show, invites reflection about the complexities inherent to the different meanings and realities of development. Author’s Note

Evaluating Market Benefits of Transportation Tunnels—The Carmel Tunnels as a Case Study

Since opening in 2010, The Carmel Tunnels have redirected some of the traffic from within the City of Haifa in Israel. This paper studies the direct and indirect financial and environmental benefits of the Carmel Tunnels compared to alternative routes. Di-rect benefits for drivers include financial savings thanks to savings on time and gas. Indirect benefits for drivers and for the public include reduced air pollution, green-house gas emissions and noise. Results show significant positive benefits from using the Carmel Tunnels compared to various alternative routes (i.e., reference scenarios). During peak hours (8 am and 4 pm), when there is heavy traffic on the alternative routes, the total benefits increase by about 25% - 47%. Using tunnels for transportation allows, among other benefits, efficient use of underground land, redirecting traffic congestion from town centers, decreasing landscape damage due to major roads passing through open spaces, and reducing air pollution in residential areas.

Application Of Nanotechnology In Agriculture And Food Industry, Its Prospects And Risks

Abstract Nanoagrochemicals, such as nanopesticides, nanofertilizers or plant growth stimulating nanosystems, were primarily designed to increase solubility, enhance bioavailability, targeted delivery, controlled release and/or protection against degradation resulting in the reduced amount of applied active ingredients and finally in a decrease of dose-dependent toxicity/burden. This paper is a comprehensive up-to-date review related to the preparation and the biological activity of nanoformulations enabling gradual release of active ingredient into weeds and the body of pests and controlled release of nutrients to plants. The attention is also devoted to the decrease of direct environmental burden and economic benefits due to application of nanoformulations, where less amount of active ingredient is needed to achieve the same biological effect in comparison with bulk. The application of nanotechnology in the areas such as food packaging, food security, encapsulation of nutrients and development of new functional products is analysed. The use of nanoparticles in biosensors for detection of pathogens and contaminants as well as in DNA and gene delivery is discussed as well. Benefits and health risks of nanoagrochemicals are highlighted, and special attention is given to nanoecotoxicology and guidelines and regulatory documents related to the use of nanoformulations in agriculture and food industry.

European policy approaches to promote servicizing

Servicizing is a business model that holds the potential to support a shift towards more sustainable production and consumption by selling to the consumer the product's function, rather than the material product itself. This can offer direct environmental benefits by reducing the material and energy intensity of market transactions. Servicizing based business offers are starting emerging on the market, but public policy support could accelerate this process. This article is a review of the state of the art in the field and of relevant policy initiatives addressing servicizing conducted for that project. It aims to explore where and how public policy supports or steers markets toward servicizing solutions. The article examines the development of the servicizing concept and identifies where and when policy support for servicizing is merited. It also reviews several existing policy instruments to support servicizing on European, national and local (municipal) levels. Policy initiatives include R&D support, energy efficiency obligation schemes, chemicals, waste and transportation policies. The conclusions focus on the possibilities and limits of public policy support and promotion of servicizing.

Forest biomass resources and utilization in China

Under the context of climate change, persistent high oil prices and rapidly growing dependence on imported oil prompt China to pay much more attention to biofuels that provide environmental benefits besides fuel. China has rich biodiversity with 30 thousand high plant species and 154 kinds of energy trees could produce seeds containing more than 40% of oil, with total production of the seeds totaling 5 million t, and 200 x10 9 t of biomass production per year, which is equal to 2 x 10 9 t of petroleum. There are over 2000 types of wild and cultivated firewood plants in the country. So far there is 4 million ha raising oil-bearing trees planted on some land in different regions. Another 57 million ha of waste land are available and suitable for planting trees for the production of forest bioenergy. On part of these lands, the central government plans to cultivate a total of 13 million ha of high-grade bioenergy forests by 2020. This will yield 6 million tons of diesel that would be enough to fuel power plants with a combined capacity of 11 GW each year. Moreover, forest biomass plantations potentially offer many direct and indirect environmental benefits. In view of climate change their globally significant environmental benefits may result from using forest biomass for energy rather than fossil fuels. Key words : Biomass energy, China, forest biomass resources.

Management of mangroves in Brisbane Water, Gosford, New South Wales

The management of mangroves in Brisbane Water is currently being given high priority by Gosford City Council. Mangroves have often been regarded as wastelands fit only for reclamation, drainage and development. However, they are not being recognised as vital components of estuary and wetland ecology with both direct and indirect environmental benefits to humans. Mangroves are threatened by processes which can be controlled and regulated via informed and effective management. Currently two processes are being used to plan for the management of mangroves within Brisbane Water. One is an overall policy based approached using a Plan of Management for the total estuary. The second approach is specific management of mangroves and other coastal wetlands within Brisbane through the implementation of the Brisbane Water Wetland Management Study. Both of these planning and management approaches are supported by Council and are being undertaken by two committees with broad membership from Council, government departments and the local community.