Smoke injection heights from fires in North America: analysis of 5 years of satellite observations

We analyze an extensive record of aerosol smoke plume heights derived from observations over North America for the fire seasons of 2002 and 2004–2007 made by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on board the NASA Earth Observing System Terra satellite. We characterize the magnitude and variability of smoke plume heights for various biomes, and assess the contribution of local atmospheric and fire conditions to this variability. Plume heights are highly variable, ranging from a few hundred meters up to 5000 m above the terrain at the Terra overpass time (11:00–14:00 local time). The largest plumes are found over the boreal region (median values of ~850 m height, 24 km length and 940 m thickness), whereas the smallest plumes are found over cropland and grassland fires in the contiguous US (median values of ~530 m height, 12 km length and 550–640 m thickness). The analysis of plume heights in combination with assimilated meteorological observations from the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System indicates that a significant fraction (4–12%) of plumes from fires are injected above the boundary layer (BL), consistent with earlier results for Alaska and the Yukon Territories during summer 2004. Most of the plumes located above the BL (>83%) are trapped within stable atmospheric layers. We find a correlation between plume height and the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) fire radiative power (FRP) thermal anomalies associated with each plume. Smoke plumes located in the free troposphere (FT) exhibit larger FRP values (1620–1640 MW) than those remaining within the BL (174–465 MW). Plumes located in the FT without a stable layer reach higher altitudes and are more spread-out vertically than those associated with distinct stable layers (2490 m height and 2790 m thickness versus 1880 m height and 1800 m thickness). The MISR plume climatology exhibits a well-defined seasonal cycle of plume heights in boreal and temperate biomes, with greater heights during June–July. MODIS FRP measurements indicate that larger summertime heights are the result of higher fire intensity, likely due to more severe fire weather during these months. This work demonstrates the significant effect of fire intensity and atmospheric structure on the ultimate rise of fire emissions, and underlines the importance of considering such physical processes in modeling smoke dispersion

Governing land: reflections from IFPRI research

"Land is still among the most important assets of the rural population in the developing world. Land resources are governed by a variety of tenure systems based on statutory, customary, or religious law. At the same time, many national, subnational, and local institutions administer the application and enforcement of these laws, relying on a wide variety of policies, rules, and regulations that promote different practices for using and managing land and land-based resources. IFPRI contributes to land policy debates by demonstrating the importance of land policy and its impact on rural people. This occurs across multiple dimensions, including people's livelihoods, the sustainability of the resource base, and the effectiveness of the institutions that govern land. This brief summarizes findings of relevant IFPRI research on land management and governance to promote strategies and policies targeted toward the achievement of gender equity, poverty reduction, and sustainable resource management." Author's SummaryGovernance, Poverty reduction, Sustainability, Gender equality, Gender, Environmental management, Devolution,

Heterodox environmental economics: theoretical strands in search of a paradigm

Heterodox environmental economics is mainly based on non-mainstream economic theories; more precisely it refers to institutional and Schumpeterian economics. Starting from these theoretical foundations, heterodox environmental economics radically differs from the mainstream approach to environmental economics and policy. Three basic concepts are at the hearth of such a different vision: resource regimes, as institutional structures established to manage natural resources; environmental appraisals, as “value articulating” institutions conditioned by the incommensurability of conflicting values; transitions, as dynamic processes that are needed to unlock existing “socio-technical” systems. But a stable community of researchers defining themselves as ‘evolutionary/institutional environmental economists’ still does not exist. Time will tell if existing connections between some research groups will generate the social core of a nascent paradigm.Environmental economics; Environmental policy; Institutional economics; Evolutionary theories of economic change

Promoting environmentally sustainable enterprises: some policy options

Governments around the world are taking an increasing interest in promoting environmentally-sustainable economic activity. They have developed a variety of policy approaches in an effort to address environmental issues that range from localised pollution incidents to global climate change. This chapter examines the kinds of intervention tools that are being used to improve the environmental performance of SMEs, and to guide entrepreneurial energies towards more environmentally-benign goals. The chapter aims to: (1) outline the main options available to policy-makers; (2) compare specific intervention tools, noting their strengths and limitations; and (3) discuss the case for adopting more holistic approaches to address the pervasive, complex and often deeply-rooted challenges of sustainable development. Key lessons are that policy makers need to select appropriate combinations of tools based on careful reviews of the evidence, and that well-integrated, context-sensitive policies are likely to prove the most effective

Ships passing in the night?: re-thinking the relationship between entrepreneurial agency and purposive transitions

In this paper, we examine the ways in which the phenomenon of entrepreneurial agency has been represented in the transitions literature with particular reference to purposive sustainability transitions. The aim of the paper is to encourage critical reflection on the relationship between transitions and entrepreneurship research. We present provisional findings from a content analysis conducted on sample publications, covering historical transitional and contemporary purposive transitions. We find that while entrepreneurial agency is clearly evident in both conceptual and empirical works, there are a number of limitations regarding: i) the role of context in relation to the dynamics of entrepreneurial agency; ii) differences in the types of entrepreneurs engaged in socio-technical transitions and the ways in which they interact with other key actors; iii) the predominantly individualistic interpretation accorded to entrepreneurship in the literature. We also review recent developments in entrepreneurship research, including work on: entrepreneurial opportunity, dynamic capabilities, networks and institutions, and indicate how these ideas might be integrated into transitions research, with reference to two sample studies. In the concluding remarks, we suggest ways in which a closer engagement with entrepreneurial agency might contribute to future transitions research and policy-making

WP 6: MODELLING STAKEHOLDER INTERPLAY AND POLICY SCENARIOS FOR BIOREFINERY AND BIODIESEL PRODUCTION. D 6.6: Detailed specification of the questionnaire to be delivered to various stakeholders

In this deliverable we first present a technical note on how to identify the key agro-energy stakeholders involved (or potentially involved) in the production of biodiesel in the province of Foggia (Capitanata). Subsequently, we present the questionnaire which will be distributed to these stakeholders.

Mobile transitions : exploring synergies for urban sustainability research

Urban sustainability approaches focusing on a wide range of topics such as infrastructure and mobility, green construction and neighbourhood planning, or urban nature and green amenities have attracted scholarly interest for over three decades. Recent debates on the role of cities in climate change mitigation have triggered new attempts to conceptually and methodologically grasp the cross-sectorial and cross-level interplay of enrolled actors. Within these debates, urban and economic geographers have increasingly adopted co-evolutionary approaches such as the social studies of technology (SST or ‘transition studies’). Their plea for more spatial sensitivity of the transition approach has led to promising proposals to adapt geographic perspectives to case studies on urban sustainability. This paper advocates engagement with recent work in urban studies, specifically policy mobility, to explore conceptual and methodological synergies. It emphasises four strengths of an integrated approach: (1) a broadened understanding of innovations that emphasises not only processes of knowledge generation but also of knowledge transfer through (2) processes of learning, adaptation and mutation, (3) a relational understanding of the origin and dissemination of innovations focused on the complex nature of cities and (4) the importance of individual actors as agents of change and analytical scale that highlights social processes of innovation. The notion of urban assemblages further allows the operationalisation of both the relational embeddedness of local policies as well as their cross-sectoral actor constellations