Analysis of the holistic impact of the hydrogen economy on the coal industry

As gas prices soar and energy demand continues to grow amidst increasingly stringent environmental regulations and an assortment of global pressures, implementing alternative energy sources while considering their linked economic, environmental and societal impacts becomes a more pressing matter. The Hydrogen Economy has been proposed as an answer to meeting the increasing energy demand for electric power generation and transportation in an environmentally benign way. Based on current hydrogen technology development, the most practical feedstock to fuel the Hydrogen Economy may prove to be coal via hydrogen production at FutureGen plants. The planned growth of the currently conceived Hydrogen Economy will cause dramatic impacts, some good and some bad, on the economy, the environment, and society, which are interlinked. The goal of this research is to provide tools to inform public policy makers in sorting out policy options related to coal and the Hydrogen Economy. This study examines the impact of a transition to a Hydrogen Economy on the coal industry by creating FutureGen penetration models, forecasting coal MFA\u27s which clearly provide the impact on coal production and associated environmental impacts, and finally formulating a goal programming model that seeks the maximum benefit to society while analyzing the trade-offs between environmental, social, and economical concerns related to coal and the Hydrogen Economy --Abstract, page iii

Mapping Land Use Around the San Francisco Bay: A Look at Environmental Justice through S. F. Bay Conservation and Development Commission’s Permitting History

Planning and regulatory environmental agency San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) plays an important role in the permitting of development around the San Francisco Bay. As the agency works to add an environmental justice amendment to its primary policy document, this research explores the S.F. Bay Area’s history of approved development project proposal permits, and the associated patterns of land use and environmental justice implications in order to support the proposed change in permitting policy. By classifying all major permits found within BCDC’s internal permit database into groups based on the type of land use associated with the permit project, i.e. Industrial, Flood Control, Ports, etc., it was possible to create maps showing the geographic distribution of each group of permits. To analyze potential environmental justice implications of the patterns of geographic distribution of development permits, each group of permit types was layered on top of spatial data representing areas around the SF Bay that have been identified as highly socially vulnerable. Based on the findings of this project, it appears that highly socially vulnerable communities around the San Francisco Bay bear a disproportionate amount of land-use related environmental burdens. Furthermore, it is crucial to recognize the limitations of geospatial analysis tools in conveying the magnitude of disproportionate environmental and community health impacts of land use on socially vulnerable communities in the San Francisco Bay Area

2013 Abstract Booklet

Complete Schedule of Events for the 15th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Ecological effects of offshore artificial structures at sea on macrobenthic and fish assemblages (NW Adriatic Sea)

L’estrazione di gas rappresenta uno dei maggiori fattori di stress antropici presenti in Mar Adriatico, dove si trova un’alta concentrazione di piattaforme. Inoltre le strutture esistenti si stanno avvicinando alla fine della loro vita produttiva e nel corso dei prossimi anni la loro dismissione diventerà inevitabile. Per fornire approfondimenti sugli effetti delle piattaforme sull’ecosistema marino la tesi, che ha considerato un pozzo, una piattaforma a 4-gambe e una monopalo, è stata strutturata in quattro argomenti: - quantità e composizione biochimica della sostanza organica nel sedimento; - abbondanza e biodiversità delle comunità macrobentoniche; - abbondanza, biomassa e biodiversità del popolamento ittico; - dieta di Scorpaena notata e S. porcus. I contenuti sedimentari di clorofilla-a e i feopigmenti sono risultati maggiori all'aumentare della distanza dalla piattaforma, suggerendo che piattaforme con una struttura complessa possono riflettere il comportamento di ecosystem engineering dei coralli che vivono in sedimenti incoerenti. Inoltre è stato evidenziato l'effetto aggregazione delle strutture in esame sulla comunità ittica, registrando abbondanza e biomassa maggiori nei pressi delle strutture e indicando che l'entità dell’attrazione è legata a dimensione, volume e complessità delle strutture. Risultati simili sono emersi per le comunità bentoniche, evidenziando che dimensione e complessità delle strutture hanno diversi effetti sulle comunità bentoniche, influenzando i tempi necessari per raggiungere una nuova comunità diversificata. Infine, i risultati hanno mostrato che le strutture possono offrire rifugio e aumentare la disponibilità di prede per le specie presenti anche se, per le specie studiate, questo è stato dimostrato più chiaramente per S. notata che per S. porcus. Alla luce di questi risultati si suggerisce una valutazione caso per caso delle opzioni di dismissione in Mare Adriatico, per evitare effetti secondari sulla comunità ittica e bentonica.The extraction of natural gas represents one of the most relevant anthropogenic stressors affecting the Adriatic Sea, due to the high concentration of gas platforms. Moreover, the existing structures are approaching the end of their productive life and over the next years their decommissioning will be inevitable. To provide insights on the effects of offshore platforms on hosting ecosystems the thesis, taking into account a subsea well-site, a 4-leg platform and a 1-leg platform, has been built upon four main tasks: - quantity and biochemical composition of organic matter in the sediment; - abundance and biodiversity of macrobenthic communities; - abundance, biomass and biodiversity of fish assemblages; - diet of Scorpaena notata and S. porcus. The thesis showed higher chlorophyll-a and phaeopigment sedimentary contents at increasing distance from the 4-leg platform suggesting that structures with a complex architecture can mirror the ecosystem engineering behavior of branched corals living in incoherent sediments. Moreover, the results highlighted the aggregation effect of the artificial structures under scrutiny on fish assemblages, with higher abundance and biomass of fish close to the structures. The results evidenced also that the magnitude of the attraction is related to dimension, volume and design of the structures. Similar results emerged for macrobenthic communities, highlighting that dimension and complexity of structures have different effects on benthic communities, affecting amplitude and timing required to reach a new diversified community. Moreover, the results showed that the artificial structures can offer shelter and increase prey availability for the studied species, even if more clearly for S. notata than for S. porcus. In the light of these findings, a case-by-case evaluation of decommissioning options in the Adriatic Sea should be recommended to avoid any secondary effect on the established fish and benthic communities

Bayesian and Non-Bayesian Approaches to Scientific Modeling and Inference in Economics and Econometrics

After brief remarks on the history of modeling and inference techniques in economics and econometrics , attention is focused on the emergence of economic science in the 20th century. First, the broad objectives of science and the Pearson-Jeffreys' "unity of science" principle will be reviewed. Second, key Bayesian and non-Bayesian practical scientific inference and decision methods will be compared using applied examples from economics, econometrics and business. Third, issues and controversies on how to model the behavior of economic units and systems will be reviewed and the structural econometric modeling, time series analysis (SEMTSA) approach will be described and illustrated using a macro-economic modeling and forecasting problem involving analyses of data for 18 industrialized countries over the years since the 1950s. Point and turning point forecasting results will be summarized. Last, a few remarks will be made about the future of scientific inference and modeling techniques in economics and econometrics.

2016 Abstract Booklet

Complete Schedule of Events for the 18th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Winter 2010

https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_currents/1005/thumbnail.jp

Social-ecological soundscapes: examining aircraft-harvester-caribou conflict in Arctic Alaska

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2017As human development expands across the Arctic, it is crucial to carefully assess the impacts to remote natural ecosystems and to indigenous communities that rely on wild resources for nutritional and cultural wellbeing. Because indigenous communities and wildlife populations are interdependent, assessing how human activities impact traditional harvest practices can advance our understanding of the human dimensions of wildlife management. Indigenous communities across Arctic Alaska have expressed concern over the last four decades that low-flying aircraft interfere with their traditional harvest practices. For example, communities often have testified that aircraft disturb caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and thereby reduce harvest opportunities. Despite this longstanding concern, little research exists on the extent of aircraft activity in Arctic Alaska and on how aircraft affect the behavior and perceptions of harvesters. Therefore, the overarching goal of my research was to highlight the importance of aircraft-harvester conflict in Arctic Alaska and begin to address the issue using a scientific and community-driven approach. In Chapter 1, I demonstrated that conflict between aircraft and indigenous harvesters in Arctic Alaska is a widespread, understudied, and complex issue. By conducting a meta-analysis of the available literature, I quantified the deficiency of scientific knowledge about the impacts of aircraft on rural communities and traditional harvest practices in the Arctic. My results indicated that no peer-reviewed literature has addressed the conflict between low-flying aircraft and traditional harvesters in Arctic Alaska. I speculated that the scale over which aircraft, rural communities, and wildlife interact limits scientists' ability to determine causal relationships and therefore detracts from their interest in researching the human dimension of this social-ecological system. Innovative research approaches like soundscape ecology could begin to quantify interactions and provide baseline data that may foster mitigation discourses among stakeholders. In Chapter 2, I employed a soundscape-ecology approach to address concerns about aircraft activity expressed by the Alaska Native community of Nuiqsut. Nuiqsut faces the greatest volume of aircraft activity of any community in Arctic Alaska because of its proximity to intensive oil and gas activity. However, information on when and where these aircraft are flying is unavailable to residents, managers, and researchers. I worked closely with Nuiqsut residents to deploy acoustic monitoring systems along important caribou harvest corridors during the peak of caribou harvest, from early June through late August 2016. This method successfully captured aircraft sound and the community embraced my science for addressing local priorities. I found aircraft activity levels near Nuiqsut and surrounding oil developments (12 daily events) to be approximately six times greater than in areas over 30 km from the village (two daily events). Aircraft sound disturbance was 26 times lower in undeveloped areas (Noise Free Interval =13 hrs) than near human development (NFI = 0.5 hrs). My study provided baseline data on aircraft activity and noise levels. My research could be used by stakeholders and managers to develop conflict avoidance agreements and minimize interference with traditional harvest practices. Soundscape methods could be adapted to rural regions across Alaska that may be experiencing conflict with aircraft or other sources of noise that disrupt human-wildlife interactions. By quantifying aircraft activity using a soundscape approach, I demonstrated a novel application of an emerging field in ecology and provided the first scientific data on one dimension of a larger social-ecological system. Future soundscape studies should be integrated with research on both harvester and caribou behaviors to understand how the components within this system are interacting over space and time. Understanding the long-term impacts to traditional harvest practices will require integrated, cross-disciplinary efforts that collaborate with communities and other relevant stakeholders. Finally, my research will likely spark efforts to monitor and mitigate aircraft impacts to wildlife populations and traditional harvest practices across Alaska, helping to inform a decision-making process currently hindered by an absence of objective data

Gulf Estuarine Research Society 2014 Meeting

Table of Contents: Thank You to Our Sponsors! (p. 3) -- About the Gulf Estuarine Research Society (p. 4) -- Student Travel Award winners (p. 5) -- Abbreviated Schedule (p. 7) -- 2014 Plenary Speaker – Dr. Michael Osland (p. 8) -- 2014 Plenary Speaker – Dr. Maggie Walser (p. 9) -- Full Schedule (p. 10) -- Poster Session Directory (p. 17) -- Oral Presentation Abstracts (p. 21) -- Poster Presentation Abstracts (p. 38) -- Things to Do in Port Aransas (p. 52) -- Greening the Meeting (p. 53) -- Map of University of Texas Marine Science Institute (p. 54)Coastal and Estuarine Research Foundation, Port Aransas, Gulf of Mexico Foundation, Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, Lotek Wireless Fish & Wildlife Monitoring, Sea Grant Mississippi-Alabama, Sea Grant Louisiana, Sea Grant Texas, The University of Austin Marine Science Institute, Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research ReserveMarine Scienc