Environmental Decision-making Processes Research Articles

Life Cycle Assessment of Sensible, Latent and Thermochemical Thermal Energy Storage Systems for Climate Change Mitigation – A Systematic Review

Renewable energy sources coupled with thermal energy storage (TES) systems offer a better hope in mitigating climate change. But, in order to integrate TES systems into the grid, it is important to understand their environmental performances. Life cycle assessment (LCA) serves as a leading methodological tool for environmental decision-making processes that allows one to identify the critical areas of improvement in a product life cycle, and hence can be used effectively in climate change mitigation strategies. Due to the scarcity of review articles that provide useful information on the LCAs of TES systems, a total of 23 papers were reviewed in this study. These were reviewed under three categories: sensible heat storage (SHS) systems, latent heat storage (LHS) systems, and thermochemical heat storage (THS) systems. Further, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arising from TES systems were evaluated, giving special attention on the global warming potential impact category. The production stage was found to be the major contributor to GWP in all three TES systems. Following this review study, it can be concluded that the environmental performance can be greatly enhanced through TES systems, due to significant reductions in GHG emissions. Keywords: LCA, thermal energy storage, sensible heat, latent heat, thermochemical heat, PCMs DOI: 10.7176/JETP/12-5-02 Publication date: November 30 th 2022

The Arduous Journey for Environmental Justice: Trinidad and Tobago a Mirror of the Challenges Confronting the Developing World

Environmental justice is a philosophy that has dominated environmental law since its emergence. The poor often seems to inherit the burden of poor environmental management practices. Thus, it is hardly surprising that environmental justice has emerged as a mechanism to represent the rights of the poor and vulnerable from environmental consequences of development-related decisions. In the developing world, the struggle to represent the interest of the poor and vulnerable in the environmental decision-making process primarily rests on the shoulders of Non-Governmental Organisations. Yet these organisations are often handicapped by several factors predominantly present in the developing world. This paper examines the journey of Trinidad and Tobago, a developing country, to achieve environmental justice as a microcosm of what obtains in the wider developing world.

Multi-output Spatio-temporal air pollution forecasting using neural network approach

Multi-step ahead pollution forecasting has an essential role in mitigating health risks. Multi-Input and Multi-Output (MIMO) multi-step forecasting is valuable, especially for long-term pollution forecasting. Multi-output pollution forecasting results help comprehend the overall idea of a particular location’s air quality level for a better environmental decision-making process. The traditional single output forecasting techniques include each step’s errors and ignore its prediction values for multi-step ahead forecasting. The proposed Multi-Output Long Short-Term Memory Auto-Encoder (M-LSTMA) with the MIMO approach accumulates each step prediction value to conduct multi-step forecasting in light of this challenge. In addition to that, the proposed model utilized a multiple imputation approach to handle the missing values of the dataset and employed both the climate and spatial attributes to improve forecasting results. Overall, the results demonstrate that the M-LSTMA model improves forecasting accuracy more significantly than the baseline models, proving its efficiency for long-term Spatio-temporal forecasting.

Plain Language as a Prerequisite for Environmental Justice

Background: Infrastructure, land use, zoning, and permitting decisions have long perpetuated patterns of environmental racism in the United States. These decisions and their underlying public participation processes often place undue demands on overburdened and historically excluded or disinvested communities who must repeatedly mobilize and engage to protect their well-being. Materials and Methods: In 2020, the Environmental Health Research-to-Action (EHRA) team joined with Literacy Work's Clear Language Lab (CLL) and staff at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to identify opportunities for increasing plain language in environmental decision-making processes. This entailed (1) CLL-led content review of sample documents (e.g., public notices), (2) EHRA-led focus groups with environmental justice leaders and legal advocates, and (3) CLL-led focus groups with adult English learners. Results: Themes from focus group analysis suggested that documents were perceived as intentionally biased, unnecessarily technical, and without clear directions on how and why to participate. The content review revealed opportunities for improving plain language in documents with regard to (1) audience and content, (2) organization and cohesion, (3) accessibility, (4) literacy, (5) language, and (6) process. Discussion: New versions of existing documents were generated. Many EGLE staff have worked toward plain language in public communications, providing models for colleagues and other agencies nationwide. Conclusion: Decades of grassroots mobilization has led to a recent increase in state- and federal-level resources and capacity to address environmental racism in the United States. Plain language can make decision-making processes transparent, and should be inherent in all agency-led public participation opportunities.

Trend of Community’s Participation in Environmental Decision-making Process Under EIA: A Study

The present study highlights the plight of public participation in the environmental decision-making process in the state of Gujarat as per the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006. The scope of the study is restricted to people’s participation in public hearing sessions as part of the public consultation process under the notification conducted at different places in Gujarat. The tools and techniques used for the empirical data collection include observation method, schedule, interview and focussed group discussions. The observations and recommendations are given based on the actual data collected from the field through visits to public hearing sessions, interactions with stakeholders and analysis of the minutes of the meeting of the public hearing sessions. Approximately 68 public hearings were held in the year 2020 in Gujarat, out of which 13 were visited covering various geographic locations in the State from February to December 2020.

How well do local stakeholders’ perceptions of environmental impacts of an invasive alien plant species relate to ecological data?

• Nested sampling helps to capture socio-ecological systems integrated information. • Integrated information enhances sound environmental decision-making processes. • Local perceptions on invasion effects did not correspond to Prosopis cover. • Socio-economic and socio-cultural factors determine stakeholders’ perceptions.

Occupancy and GHG emissions: thresholds for disruptive transportation modes and emerging technologies

This paper estimates the environmental impact of alternative and conventional transportation technologies across the dimensions of service mode and power source pathway. We simulate the Well-to-Wheel energy consumption and GHG emissions of eight transit buses and passenger car powertrains. Vehicles are simulated under three generalized North American operating contexts (450 operating scenarios) using Autonomie and the GREET database. All technologies are normalized by passenger-service-mode-trip-km-travelled GHG emissions to facilitate equivalent comparison. The results indicate that all simulated mobility solutions carry a large variability; however, the most environmentally competitive solutions are fuel cell electric car-share, battery electric car-share, and battery-electric bus, all powered by low-carbon intensity power sources at average occupancy (0.23–19.7 g CO2e passenger-service-mode-trip-km-travelled-1). Furthermore, transit bus technologies have the potential to reduce up to 2.3 times more GHG per passenger-trip than comparable ride-share technologies. Overall, this paper defines occupancy GHG emission thresholds for mobility solutions to inform environmental decision-making processes.

Ecofeminist Theology of Interdependence. A Constructive Theological Approach to Contemporary Environmental (in)Justice and Vulnerability

This article addresses the issue of social and environmental (in)justice through the lens of Christian ecofeminism and its ethic of interconnectedness and ecological responsibility for all of creation. Because ecofeminism connects the exploitation of women with the exploitation of creation (nature), I use the central research methodology of Christian ecofeminist hermeneutics to formulate a central research question: first, an analysis of Christian ecofeminism’s position on social and ecological (in)justice, then an analysis of the positive implications for Christian theology and for the pursuit of social and ecological justice. Although climate change disproportionately impacts female populations, in particular the reproductive health of poorer women, women are often excluded from environmental decision-making processes. Women around the world are already more affected by polluted air, limited access to clean water, and increased exposure to toxic chemicals, and climate change exacerbates these threats. Sensitivity to the impacts of climate change also provides women with a unique experiential knowledge that they can use to make an important contribution to efforts to increase climate resilience and sustainability, as well as to improve awareness and attitudes toward environmental issues and nature in the world’s religions. For ecofeminists, the environmental crisis is a reality, a threat, and a warning to modern humanity. Climate change, global warming, loss of biodiversity and other processes that are supposedly the result of pollution and long-term overuse and exploitation of natural resources are certainly a reflection and consequence of man’s global consumer-imperialist attitude towards nature.

Enhancing Access and Usage of Earth Observations in Environmental Decision-Making in Eastern and Southern Africa Through Capacity Building

Major strides have been made in the development of remote sensing, reanalysis, and model-based earth observations (EOs), which can be used for long-term climate variability mapping, as well as real-time environmental monitoring and forecasting. Such EOs are particularly valuable for environmental decision-making (e.g., for environmental resources management and disaster mitigation) in the Eastern and Southern Africa (E & SA) region, where ground-based EOs are sparse. Nonetheless, operational application of those EOs to inform decision-making in the region remains limited. This paper reports on a recently concluded (as of June 2019) NASA SERVIR-supported Applied Science Team project that contributed to the uptake of EO applications to inform decision-making in this region. This project was conducted in close collaboration with the Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD)—the NASA SERVIR regional hub in E & SA. The capacity-building efforts leveraged RCMRD's existing environmental service capacity, their long experience in capacity building in the region, and their extensive network of regional partners, with the goal of increasing RCMRD and their regional partners' ability to uptake EOs to enhance their environmental services and, hence, improve the environmental decision-making process. The project focused on: (1) Transfer of technology—Transition and implementation of web-based tools to RCMRD to allow easy processing and visualization of EOs and (2) Capacity training—training of representatives from regional and national environmental service agencies in EO application based on targeted case studies. Here, we describe these capacity-building efforts, provide specific examples to demonstrate the benefits of those efforts in terms of enhanced uptake of EOs, and provide recommendations for furthering the uptake of EOs in the region and beyond.

Bridging the gap: A strategic framework for implementing best practice guidelines in environmental modelling

Best practice for environmental modelling generally aims to increase the accuracy, utility and rigour of models when used as decision-support tools. Despite the wide-spread documentation of best practice, models are frequently and easily challenged during environmental decision-making processes, at least partly because of poor implementation of best practice guidance. We postulate that there is a two-sided gap of understanding between those tasked with making environmental decisions informed by model simulations (i.e., the end users), and modellers charged with generating and interpreting model outputs for environmental decision-making processes. This gap, or disconnect, can mean that best practice is not always implemented in modelling projects. Here we describe a strategic framework that aims to facilitate the implementation of appropriate best practice guidelines to improve the defensibility of the modelling and provide a structured approach to improving communication between modellers and end users. The framework incorporates four phases: 1) initial scoping and investigation, 2) planning, 3) model implementation and evaluation, and 4) model application. At the end of each phase is a hold point that asks a critical question, such as whether modelling is the appropriate tool, or whether the model is adequate for the intended purpose. There is an emphasis on communication between end users and modellers in each phase, and feedback loops to allow for commentary from end users or peer reviewers to be addressed. The framework can be applied to any environmental domain but is sufficiently prescriptive to ensure that best practice guidance for specific domains and model applications can be identified and implemented.

The ‘Rights’ Way to Democratize the Science–Policy Interface in International Environmental Law? A Reply to Anna-Maria Hubert

Abstract Science is widely regarded as being necessary for effective international environmental decision-making and risk assessment processes. However, it is equally well recognized that uncertainties or the complexity of phenomena under study mean that science may only offer partial knowledge for environmental problems in many circumstances. ‘Democratization’ of science is often proposed as a solution to this dilemma. This may involve incorporating a wider spectrum of expert views and public inputs in risk assessments of new technologies, public participation in science through so-called ‘citizen science’ initiatives or the application of the precautionary principle. This reply reviews these approaches and contrasts them with another tantalizing possibility offered by Anna-Maria Hubert’s article; a human rights-based approach drawing on the ‘oft-neglected’ right to science. It assesses the extent to which a rights-based approach, utilizing the right to science, offers a way to bridge the gap between science and democracy in contested international environmental legal decision-making processes. While it concludes that there are important potential benefits to the application of the right to science in international environmental law, it is far from clear that it provides a panacea given the limitations on the right expressed in the international human rights instruments in which it is found, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Instead, the right to science can be seen as placing another thumb on the scales – alongside the precautionary and participatory approaches – in favour of enabling broader, more democratically accountable decision-making in cases of uncertain science and contested environmental risks.

The global economic system and access and allocation in earth system governance

Ensuring sustainability of earth systems is intrinsically dependent on the incorporation of equity and fairness in the regimes and institutions that govern the global economy. Accordingly, to design effective and just earth system governance (ESG), it is crucial to understand how the global economic system affects access to and allocation of environmental benefits and burdens among people and countries around the world and what are the relevant causal mechanisms. By focusing on trade and investment as two predominant elements of today’s global economic system, this paper reviews the literature developed within the ESG project in 2008–2017 to explore the relationships between the global economic system and access to and allocation of environmental benefits and burdens. Our review shows that ESG scholarship has begun to highlight the dynamics of unfair access and allocation deriving from the global economic system, ranging from the direct impacts of trade and investment on environmental inequality and socioeconomic opportunities to the indirect equity implications of certification schemes, environmental decision-making processes and environmentally motivated restrictions in international trade and investment regimes. However, it also notes that critical questions about the identity of vulnerable groups and the potential pathways for more equitable sharing of benefits and burdens remain understudied by ESG scholars. Hence, we call for more critical analysis of the role of the global economic system in perpetuating unsustainable patterns of access and allocation in ESG, as well as research about the local impacts of the global economic system on environmental access and allocation.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as subjects guaranteeing and exercising the right of citizens of Ukraine to participate in the environmental decision-making process

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as subjects guaranteeing and exercising the right of citizens of Ukraine to participate in the environmental decision-making process

Advancing Sustainable Consumption in Korea and Japan—From Re-Orientation of Consumer Behavior to Civic Actions

With sustainability being one of the most common issues facing consumers and society today, this paper explores the status of sustainable consumption in Korea and Japan—societies expected to drive the changes pertaining to sustainable consumption in Asia. Although Korea and Japan have been implementing sustainability-related policies, there is still room for development of sustainability in terms of consumers’ participation. As sustainable consumption is defined as consumers’ environmental decision-making process, which requires cognitive efforts, it is necessary to understand individual’s sustainable consumption based on the conceptual model of behavior, in order to encourage the adoption of more sustainable consumer practices. Being grounded in the revised Theory of Reasoned Action, which adds consumers’ awareness, pro-environmental self-identity, and descriptive norm, this study contributes to a better empirical understanding of the factors that underlie sustainable consumption behaviors with respect to social-cognitive viewpoint. By involving a survey of Korean and Japanese respondents’ awareness, descriptive norm, practical behavior to 47 specific activities, as well as attitude and pro-environmental self-identity, the study works on two levels: on one level, it is a study of sustainability-related consumer activities and behaviors in Korea and Japan; on another level, it identifies key variables to explain sustainable consumption behavior through hierarchical regression analysis. The results show that among the numerous sectors requiring prioritized expansion of sustainable consumption, the area of consumer citizenship has received relatively little publicity. Another important finding is that the failure to practically engage in sustainability-related activities by consumers cannot simply be attributed to knowledge deficit, as consumers in both countries appropriately recognize sustainable consumption. Our results clearly illustrate that consumers perform sustainable consumption behavior based mostly on socially shared connotations—the descriptive norm—while the other key variables affecting sustainable consumption are awareness, and pro-environmental self-identity. However, we also observed that there is no significant effect on attitude, indicating that even a favorable attitude toward performing sustainability-related activities does not directly translate into actual behavior. This paper shows how consumer perceptions of the normality of environmentally friendly behaviors can be used for the design of strategies to promote sustainable consumption in Korean and Japanese societies. In addition, we provide practical guidelines for the expansion of sustainable consumption tailored for the characteristics of each society.

Explicating Environmental Patriarchy: An Examination Through Gender and Environment Perspectives

Much has been written about the relationship between women, nature and development, a relationship where women’s work, like nature, is often undervalued, in terms of acknowledging the interdependence of women and nature in preservation of environment to foster sustainable growth. Women are perceived as prominent actors in domestic chores as well as contributors to environmental rehabilitation and conservation. However, in comparison to men, their work and knowledge have often been undervalued in both environmental planning and domestic resource management. The existence of environmental patriarchy is, thereby, located at three dimensions; first, women’s exclusion from resource ownership and management; second, women’s exclusion from deliberation of indigenous knowledge; and third, gendered power relationship in society. This article explores the region-specific concerns of women built into theoretical feminist perspectives of the Western world in contrast to the Third World countries, dealt within a theoretical perspective of ecofeminism and feminist environmentalism. However, both the models leave some major theoretical questions unanswered, finally concluded in a perspective as proposed by feminist political ecology. The idea behind doing this is to take account of the various ways of conceptualizing feminist ecological theories so as to emphasize greater role of women in environmental planning and decision-making processes. By simultaneously analysing some environmental movements, it was found that women’s activism was not only sustainable but confronted other social issues and patriarchy in private domain.

Human rights and the moralities of property

PurposeResponding to the Supreme Court’s decision in R (on the application of Mott) v. Environment Agency, the purpose of this study is to explore the interface between property, environment and human rights. It examines the space within human rights jurisprudence for a richer notion of property that can accommodate social and environmental obligation and non-anthropocentric values.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a theoretical lens is applied to human rights doctrine. A central question is the extent to which there is room within the discourse on Article 1 of Protocol 1 (A1P1) to the European Convention on Human Rights for a more relational and ecocentric approach. The paper engages with the jurisprudence of the UK courts and that of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as the works of scholars such as Jennifer Nedelsky and Nicole Graham.FindingsIt is concluded that although the judgment in Mott demonstrates the potential for A1P1 to function as a means for rights-holders to obtain a voice in environmental decision-making processes, it highlights the tendency of property to preserve existing structures and arrangements. When assessing whether an individual is asked to bear an excessive burden, great weight was given in Mott to values associated with livelihood. What did not feature in the (brief) judgment was the consideration of the ecological context in which Mr Mott’s rights were embedded and the extent to which this context might have inherently restricted his ability to enjoy his property. The dispute demonstrates the limitations of existing property institutions and discourses in managing ecological conflict and fostering positive relationships and management practices.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the doctrinal literature on A1P1, providing a new perspective on the role of human rights jurisprudence in managing environmental conflict. It is original in its examination of human rights discourse in light of relational and ecocentric theories of property, providing a critique of existing values and paradigms. Evaluating the doctrinal reasoning in Mott with reference to this theoretical framework, it provides fresh insight into the limitations of the Supreme Court’s approach. It points to the need for more explicit incorporation of environmental values and contexts in human rights reasoning.

Rapid Health Impact Assessment of a Proposed Poultry Processing Plant in Millsboro, Delaware.

In 2013, Allen Harim Foods purchased the former site of a Vlasic Pickle plant in Millsboro, Delaware, and proposed to convert the site into a poultry processing plant that would process approximately two million birds weekly. This generated concerns about the proposed plant’s potential to impact health and quality of life among residents. We conducted a rapid health impact assessment (HIA) of the proposed plant to assess baseline environmental health issues in the host community and projected impacts. The scoping and baseline assessment revealed social, economic, and health disparities in the region. We also determined that residents in the area were already underserved and overburdened with pollution from multiple environmental hazards near the proposed plant including two sites contaminated with hazardous wastes, a power plant, and another poultry processing plant. The projected size and amount of poultry to be processed at the plant would likely cause increased levels of air, soil and water pollution, additional odor issues, and increased traffic and related pollution and safety issues. The information generated from the HIA formed the basis of a campaign to raise awareness about potential problems associated with the new facility and to foster more engagement of impacted residents in local decision-making about the proposed plant. In the end, the HIA helped concerned residents oppose the new poultry processing plant. This case study provides an example of how HIAs can be used as a tool to educate residents, raise awareness about environmental justice issues, and enhance meaningful engagement in local environmental decision-making processes.

Análise dos programas ambientais de saúde no licenciamento ambiental de hidrelétricas na Amazônia legal brasileira

Objetivo: Analisar de forma crítica no âmbito dos processos de licenciamentos ambientais em hidrelétricas no Brasil, referentes aos programas ambientais de saúde direcionados para as populações afetadas nos reservatórios hidrelétricos de Belo Monte, Estreito e Santo Antônio, localizados na Amazônia Legal brasileira. Métodos: Pesquisa documental descritiva qualitativa em 3 áreas na Amazônia Legal brasileira, duas na região norte; UHE Belo Monte, localizada no rio Xingu e UHE Santo Antônio, no rio Madeira e uma área na região nordeste do Brasil, UHE Estreito, no rio Tocantins. Público estimado em 772.061. Instrumento de pesquisa elaborado pelo método Delphi. Resultados: Das 3 áreas de estudo, 107 programas ambientais, apresentaram se descritos no estudo de impacto ambiental (EIA), dentre os quais (10) programas e projetos referentes a saúde da população afetada. A estruturação e sistematização, apresentam incipiência no padrão técnico científico, referente a temática do estudo e ressaltam apenas uma doença como potencial de risco, a Malária. Conclusão: Evidencia-se a necessidade de um balanço crítico do modelo que vem sendo usado para a construção dos programas ambientais de saúde. Medidas técnicas, científicas e epidemiológicas efetivas devem ser introduzidas, além das considerações ambientais no processo decisório do licenciamento ambiental.

Exploring Millennials' Perception of Greening Hotels in Egypt

is a distinctive and dominant consumer group whose behavior, preferences and purchase decisions are broadly explored but not fully understood yet. Making up the largest market segment in the world, and in Egypt, they have the power to reinvent the hospitality industry and contribute to forming prospective demand for green hotels by showing willingness to adopting their environmental-friendly practices. The current study is one of the first contributions towards exploring the impact of Millennials on accepting greening hotels in Egypt. Relations among Millennials environment awareness, their acceptance of green practices and willingness to pay more were hypnotized. The study aims to enhance better understanding Millennials' perception of greening initiatives and to increase the prediction power of their intentions. Millennials' profile, their preferences and environmental decision-making process are brought under light to stimulate actions of hospitality decision-makers and hoteliers. The study questionnaire was composed of four sections and it was distributed to random Egyptian travelers' blogs and facebook groups, with approximately 8000 members. ANOVA test was used examine the study variables. The findings indicated that environmental awareness of Egyptian Millennials will not be a significant factor in their acceptance of hotel green practices, as well as, their willingness to pay more for them. However, Millennials' acceptance of hotel green practices level will have an impact on their willingness to pay more. Millennials were found to have noticeable level of environmental awareness but lack commitment to tolerating hotel green practices and their associated high prices.

Avaliação ambiental estratégica no setor elétrico brasileiro: um estudo de potencialidade

DestaquesA Avaliação Ambiental Estratégica (AAE) possibilita uma visão abrangente das implicações ambientais e sociais de propostas de Planos, Políticas e Programas (PPP) aplicadas a diversas atividades setoriais. No Brasil, é possível identificar gargalos associados ao planejamento do setor elétrico, principalmente em relação ao processo de licenciamento ambiental. Assim, há potencial significativo para aplicação de AAE neste contexto, desde que sejam consideradas as características brasileiras de desenvolvimento.ObjetivosO objetivo deste artigo é identificar e avaliar como ocorre a inclusão da variável ambiental no planejamento do setor elétrico brasileiro e, então, verificar a aplicabilidade da AAE no âmbito deste planejamento. MetodologiaPara o desenvolvimento deste trabalho, utilizou-se a metodologia de pesquisa bibliográfica de abordagem qualitativa. Especificamente, foram consultadas publicações existentes, como artigos científicos, monografias, dissertações, teses e publicações oficiais. Destaca-se a utilização do “Guia de boas práticas para Avaliação Ambiental Estratégica - orientações metodológicas” e o “Plano Decenal de Expansão de Energia 2024”.ResultadosO principal resultado alcançado por este trabalho foi o desenvolvimento de formas de adaptação da AAE no Brasil, a partir de considerações sobre as singularidades da realidade brasileira em cada estágio de desenvolvimento da AAE. Com base nesta adaptação, concluiu-se que a AAE pode contribuir significativamente para um processo decisório ambiental e sustentável no planejamento do setor elétrico brasileiro, inclusive sanando gargalos do licenciamento ambiental.Limitações da InvestigaçãoO principal limitante da pesquisa e seus resultados é a subjetividade dos processos políticos de planejamento no país, os quais impactam diretamente nos estágios de desenvolvimento da AAE.Implicações PráticasO estudo identifica real potencial de AAE no Brasil, e apresenta direcionamentos e recomendações para a criação de um modelo brasileiro de AAE no setor elétrico.Originalidade/ValorO artigo traz recomendações para adaptação de uma metodologia de AAE aplicável ao setor elétrico brasileiro, considerando suas singularidades.