Developing a Unified Approach to Sustainable Consumption Behaviour: Opportunities for a New Environmental Paradigm

Politicians and national policy makers seek to encourage individuals to engage in a wide range of pro-environmental practices to address both discrete environmental problems and major global challenges such as climate change. Theoretically, the field of behavioural management in environmental consumption which seeks to change holarchic open human systems, is much contested. This paper proposes to develop a synthesized conceptual framework embracing a unified approach that addresses the systematic, structural, and institutional perspectives on how consumption, through public policy initiatives, can be developed and changed to reflect a deeper ecological foundation. This approach considers the debate regarding policy and behavioural change; as policies needed to enact large-scale change can often be seen as politically charged. The paper, in exploring the literature regarding the values that influence sustainable consumption behaviour in society, seeks to define the interplay of societal paradigms with regard to their influence on an individual‟s motivations. The aim of this paper is to add to the debate on political governance in the context of enhancing sustainability in complex adaptive social systems, and guiding the development of sustainable consumption policy towards a new environmental paradigm

The Challenge of Sustainable Consumption for Governance and Policy Development—A Systematic Review

The modern industry discourse on sustainability is the idea of ‘green growth’, which is described as the paradox of the continuation of increased economic growth, at the same time as increasing sustainability. Policy makers face the challenge of how to encourage and sustain appropriate levels of individual behavioural change to manage consumption in a changing environment. In addressing this challenge, this study seeks to move beyond discrete elements of human consumption behaviour and develop a better understand of the wider inputs including culture, societal norms, institutions and governance. The research methodology adopted uses a systematic literature review approach coupled with thematic analysis. The study presents a new understanding of the interrelatedness of consumption policy, social structures, and the boundary arrangements of governance. What emerges is a focus on the role of governance and societal context in influencing outcomes. A fundamental output of the study is the designation of 27 evidence-based principles of change. These principles represent a new framework: the Governance and Sustainable Policy Development (GSPD) framework or ‘Road Map’, designed to guide decision making and aid the understanding of what motivates individuals and institutions within a wider neo-liberal societal system to manage their consumption from a more sustainable policy and governance perspectiv

Vegetation Mapping of a Coastal Dune Complex Using Multispectral Imagery Acquired from an Unmanned Aerial System

Vegetation mapping, identifying the distribution of plant species, is important for analysing vegetation dynamics, quantifying spatial patterns of vegetation evolution, analysing the effects of environment changes on vegetation, and predicting spatial patterns of species diversity. Such analysis can contribute to the development of targeted land management actions that maintain biodiversity and ecological functions. This paper represents a methodology for 3D vegetation mapping of a coastal dune complex using a multispectral camera mounted on an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) with particular reference to the Buckroney dune complex in Co. Wicklow, Ireland. UAS, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s) or drones, have enabled high-resolution and high-accuracy ground-based data to be gathered quickly and easily on-site. The Sequoia multispectral camera used in this study has green, red, red-edge and near infrared wavebands, and a normal RGB camera, to capture both visible and NIR images of the land surface. The workflow of 3D vegetation mapping of the study site included establishing ground control points, planning the flight mission and camera parameters, acquiring the imagery, processing the image data and performing features classification. The data processing outcomes include an orthomosiac model, a 3D surface model and multispectral images of the study site, in the Irish Transverse Mercator coordinate system, with a planimetric resolution of 0.024m and a georeferenced Root-Mean-Square (RMS) error of 0.111m. There were 235 sample area (1m×1m) used for the accuracy assessment of the classification of the vegetation mapping. Feature classification was conducted using three different classification strategies to examine the efficiency of multispectral sensor data for vegetation mapping. Vegetation type classification accuracies ranged from 60% to 70%. This research illustrates the efficiency of data collection at Buckroney dune complex and the high-accuracy and high-resolution of the vegetation mapping of the site using a multispectral sensor mounted on UAS

Coastal Dune Vegetation Mapping Using a Multispectral Sensor Mounted on an UAS

Vegetation mapping, identifying the type and distribution of plant species, is important for analysing vegetation dynamics, quantifying spatial patterns of vegetation evolution, analysing the effectsof environmental changes and predicting spatial patterns of species diversity. Such analysis can contribute to the development of targeted land management actions that maintain biodiversity and ecological functions. This paper presents a methodology for 3D vegetation mapping of a coastal dune complex using a multispectral camera mounted on an unmanned aerial system with particular reference to the Buckroney dune complex in Co. Wicklow, Ireland. Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones, have enabled high-resolution and high-accuracy ground-based data to be gathered quickly and easily on-site. The Sequoia multispectral sensor used in this study has green, red, red edge and near-infrared wavebands, and a regular camer with red, green and blue wavebands (RGB camera), to capture both visible and near-infrared (NIR) imagery of the land surface. The workflow of 3D vegetation mapping of the study site included establishing coordinated ground control points, planning the flight mission and camera parameters, acquiring the imagery, processing the image data and performing features classification. The data processing outcomes included an orthomosaic model, a 3D surface model and multispectral imagery of the study site, in the Irish Transverse Mercator (ITM) coordinate system. The planimetric resolution of the RGB sensor-based outcomes was 0.024 m while multispectral sensor-based outcomes had a planimetric resolution of 0.096 m. High-resolution vegetation mapping was successfully generated from these data processing outcomes. There were 235 sample areas (1 m 1 m) used for the accuracy assessment of the classification of the vegetation mapping. Feature classification was conducted using nine diferent classification strategies to examine the efficiency of multispectral sensor data for vegetation and contiguous land cover mapping. The nine classification strategies included combinations of spectral bands and vegetation indices. Results show classification accuracies, based on the nine different classification strategies, ranging from 52% to 75%

UAV data for coastal dune mapping

High resolution topographic maps are critical for the development of rigorous and quantitative numerical simulation landscape models. These models can inform targeted land management actions that maintain biodiversity and ecological functions. Mapping functional vegetation communities to obtain accurate distribution and population estimates is an important element of landscape models and is a challenging task which requires a considerable investment in time and resources. A recent development in surveying technologies, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s), also known as drones, has enabled high resolution and high accuracy ground-based data to be gathered quickly and easily on-site. The application of UAV’s represents a new opportunity to survey relatively large areas in significantly less time compared to other on-site surveying methods, including GPS, robotic total stations and terrestrial laser scanners. The objective of this research is to use UAV technology to create topographical and vegetation mapping of coastal dune complexes with particular reference to the Brittas-Buckroney dune complex in Co. Wicklow. As the area of study site was about 60 hectares, it was divided into three sections, North, Centre and South. This paper presents the five steps to achieve the objective, setting ground control points, making an autonomous flight plan, flying the UAV for data collection, data processing and result analysis via ArcGIS. The final result, processed by specific software PIX4D, was a topographical map of the study site in the Irish Transverse Mercator coordinate system, with a resolution of 0.125 m and Root-Mean-Square (RMS) error 0.050 m. In conclusion, UAV technology provides new possibilities for mapping as it maximizes improvement of the data quality while reducing the investment in time and labour

Resolving the policy paradox: the case of biofuel production in Ireland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the status of policy design and policy implementation in the biofuel sector in Ireland. The focus of the work addresses the overarching operational context of the biofuel sector in Ireland and the role of different actors in shaping and resolving inconsistencies in policy outlook and practice. Design/methodology/approach – This study used a qualitative research approach involving a series of semi-structured interviews with members of the relevant sub-groups concerned. This study sought to address two questions – whether current or proposed policy is likely to affect consumption of indigenous biofuel feedstocks in the biofuel sector and what are the controlling factors in the demand for indigenous feedstocks for biofuel. Findings – Outcomes suggest that while Irish government policy recognises the need to support the development of renewable energy, it also operates under a number of parallel and potentially inconsistent paradigms in relation to biofuels as a renewable energy commodity. It is contended that the outcome of this position is a lack of coherent and coordinated policy in the area of biofuel production, including second generation biofuel using indigenous feedstocks. Originality/value – This paper provides a new cross sectoral perspective on the status of biofuel policy in Ireland with particular reference to second generation biofuel feedstocks. It focuses analysis on the nature of policy-operational inconsistencies and the need for a deeper ecological perspective in governance

Analysis of peat-based biochar as an additive to control greenhouse gas emissions in manure management systems

The agricultural sector accounts for 10-12% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Within the agricultural sector manure management causes almost 10% of these agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, making it an important target area for mitigation strategies. The role of biochar as a regulator of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soil has been well established, while its application in manure management holds promise considerable uncertainties remain regarding operational setting and efficacy. Traditional applications of biochar have used a wide variety of feedstock sources and production pathways which in turn determine the outputs of the resultant biochar as a GHG regulator. In this study slow pyrolysis, at temperatures of 450 - 750 °C with a heating rate of 7.5 °C min-1 and a residence time of 20 minutes, was used to produce biochar in a muffle furnace. Different temperatures were used to explore the unique characteristics of biochar and compare them throughout the temperature values in production. Even though the biochar production from many sources is well understood, there remains considerable uncertainty over the effectiveness of biochar production from defined peat sources and the ability to reliably replicate feedstock-production systems. This study attempts to explore the production and utilization of biochar produced from harvested peat in the Irish midlands relative to other feedstock sources to mediate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for manure management systems. To do so a detailed analysis of the feedstocks and biochars will be carried out in order to establish appropriate protocols for the optimal production and application of biochar in GHG-manure management. Results indicate that drying as a pre-treatment in production does not increase the peat-based biochar yield, if calculated on a dry matter basis, making the process less emission intensive. It was also observed that the thermal treatment increases the pH of the tested materials irrespective of whether they were fresh or pre-dried, making the biochars more alkaline than the original materials. At the same time, rising process temperatures have been noted to lead to a decrease in yield for all materials used. The yield reduction with increasing temperatures was found to be slightly lower for pre-dried materials than for fresh materials. When focusing on yield and costs for drying, these preliminary results indicate that biochars produced from untreated feedstocks at lower temperatures are more environmental and economically viable than biochars produced from pre-dried material at high temperatures

A Primer on Gas Phase CO2 Production and Transport in Peatland Soils

CO2 sequestered by peatlands is accounted for and offset against national emissions. Observational and modelling studies are used to estimate emission factors that dictate the rate of CO2 emissions or removals from peatlands accounted for within the Landuse and landuse change including forestry (LULUCF) sector and often use simple Tier 1 emission factors found in the IPCC (1996) guidebook. However, the current estimates are predominately based off peatland surface fluxes measured using either chamber methods or eddy covariance techniques. These methods do not focus on sub-surface conditions while this information may prove useful in understanding efflux rates and conditions that influence them. To help assess the potential significance of subsurface dynamics in overall CO2 efflux rates from peatlands this study proposes to review the literature dealing with subsurface conditions. The review found that the production of CO2 in the sub-surface layers was often uncoupled from emissions and that on short time-scales the storage of CO2 in soil pores and dissolved in soil water may account for this. The rate of production was found to be influenced by decomposition rate, vegetation type, nutrient availability and peat depth. The review also found that the mechanism of transport of CO2 within the sub-surface was important in accounting for efflux rates. While diffusion is often assumed the most significant form of transport, the quantification and dynamics of other non-diffusive transport methods were found to also be important and further research is required to ascertain the drivers of both diffusive and non-diffusive transport

Technology-aided participative methods in environmental assessment: An international perspective

Provisions for citizen involvement in the assessment of potential environmental effects of certain plans, programmes and projects are present in current legislation. An international survey revealed that public participation is common practice in European and some other countries worldwide. However, a number of issues are observed to affect public involvement in EIA/SEA processes and expert opinion differs when evaluating the effectiveness of existing participative methods. Results suggest that technology-aided methods can improve traditional participation processes. In particular, GIS has the potential to increase community knowledge and enhance involvement by communicating information more effectively. Variable accessibility to technology and data quality remain issues. Combining technology with more conventional ways of gathering, evaluating and presenting data are seen as offering a solution to the need to promote the integration of public perceptions in environmental assessment procedures. Recommendations to improve current public participation methods and measures for making GIS available to the general public are provided