Shale gas for Europe – main environmental and social considerations

The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of shale gas development in the USA and to assess the implications of findings with regard to the prospects for shale gas development in the EU by 2020-2030. Particular emphasis is placed on the environmental and social aspects of market-scale extraction of shale gas. Any purely technological, techno-economic and regulatory aspects of shale gas exploitation are beyond the scope of this study. Other European Commission services, such as DG for Energy (ENER), DG for the Environment (ENV), DG for Climate Action (CLIMA), and the Joint Research Centre itself have already performed or are currently undertaking in-depth analyses of those aspects of shale gas. The analysis is based on a critical review of a number of literature sources, complemented by the authors’ analysis.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

The European Commission Organisation Environmental Footprint method: comparison with other methods, and rationales for key requirements

PURPOSE: The European Commission (EC) is currently developing a reference methodology for organisation environmental footprinting (OEF) in support of improving the sustainability of production and consumption. This methodological development is guided by four core criteria. Specifically, the methodology will provide for a (1) multi-criteria, (2) life cycle-based approach that considers all organisational and related activities across the value chain, (3) provides for reproducibility and comparability over flexibility, and (4) ensures physically realistic modelling. METHODS: Here, we review a subset of existing organisation environmental footprinting methods. We identify key areas of convergence and divergence between these methods, and the extent to which the methodological specifications they provide satisfy the four aforementioned criteria for a harmonised EC OEF methodology. On this basis, we specify where the EC OEF method must necessarily diverge from and/or go beyond the reviewed methods. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: We specify recommended methodological norms for, among other things, definition of the unit of analysis (the organisation) and reference flow; organisation and analytical boundaries; cut-off criteria; impact categories and models; allocation solutions; and data quality management. We further provide a rationale for the recommended alternative requirements to be adopted for EC OEF compliant studies. CONCLUSIONS: The final EC OEF methodology is foreseen to be made public in 2013.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Bioeconomy and sustainability: a potential contribution to the Bioeconomy Observatory

In response to the need for further clarifications concerning the emerging concept of the “bio-economy”, the present study scrutinizes this concept in order to better delineate its analytical scope. It also describes methodologies of potential relevance to evaluation and monitoring of the bio-economy. Although not directly intended to prepare the ground for the future EU Bio-economy Observatory (BISO), the material presented herein may also meaningfully inform the design of monitoring activities which will be undertaken within the BISO framework. The introductory section sheds some light on the bio-economy’s multi-dimensional nature, scope, drivers, challenges and economic potential. In order to clearly distinguish between their specific features and coverage, a comparative description of eco-industries versus the bio-economy is included here. The current EU policy approach to the bio-economy is sketched in the second section of this report. With the purpose of defining the bio-economy’s scope and its internal flows, the third section advances an integrated analytical perspective on the EU bio-economy. This perspective builds upon descriptions provided in the related Commission documents. Its potential use in support of the future Bio-economy Observatory is elaborated, together with several associated methodological aspects. In the fourth section, the datasets, methods and models which could be used for measuring and monitoring the bio-economy’s drivers, development and impact are identified and grouped into five inter-related methodological modules. Further methodological clarification is provided as to i) the need for complementing a sectoral approach to the bio-economy with other perspectives, including the product-chain approach, and ii) the usefulness of inventory data from the European Commission’s life-cycle based resource efficiency indicators. Other relevant data sources are also described. In addition, in light of the limited availability of statistical data on new bio-based products and processes, the need for further disaggregated product-level statistics for bio-based products and company-level research is also discussed. Current standardization and research activities on issues such as harmonization of sustainability certification systems for biomass production, conversion systems and trade, sustainability assessment of technologies, and environmental performance of products are reviewed in the fifth section. Based on the observation that it would be impossible to obtain all required data for bio-economy monitoring from official statistical sources, we propose in the sixth section a general-purpose questionnaire which could serve as a basis for prospective surveys. It is intended to be further refined and adjusted, in collaboration with the sector-relevant European technology platforms and industry associations and other relevant stakeholders, according to the specific profile of each sector, product group or firm type to be included in any future surveys.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Final technical report: Certification of low carbon farming practices

In 2010, the European Parliament asked the European Commission to carry out a pilot project on the “certification of low-carbon farming practices in the European Union” to promote reductions of GHG emissions from farming. The overall aim of the project was to assess how efforts of European farmers to produce agricultural products with carbon-neutral or low-carbon-footprint farming practices might be incorporated into policy approaches (possibly via certification), so as to promote the reduction of GHG emissions from agriculture. The project included: i) a review of existing farm-level lifecycle-based climate-related certification and labelling schemes, ii) the development and testing of a user friendly open-source carbon calculator suitable for assessing the lifecycle GHG emissions from different types of farming systems across the whole EU, and iii) the design/assessment of policy options for promoting low-carbon farming practices.JRC.H.4-Monitoring Agricultural Resource

Spatially-resolved Assessment of Land and Water Use Scenarios for Shale Gas Development: Poland and Germany

The analysis presented in this report focuses specifically on two issues of potential concern with respect to shale gas development in EU member states using hydraulic fracturing technologies: pressure on freshwater resources, and land use competition. Potential alternative technologies, such as “dry fracking”, are not considered, because they are still at the research and development stage. We reviewed available literature in order to identify important variables that may influence the land and water requirements associated with shale gas development. We further derived a range of representative values spanning worst-, average- and best-case scenarios for each variable. We then coupled specific technology scenarios (incorporating these variables) regarding water and land use requirements for shale gas development from 2013-2028 with spatially-resolved water and land availability/demand modeling tools (i.e. using the European Land Use Modelling Platform (LUMP)). Scenario analyses (intended to represent worst-, average- and best-case assumptions) were subsequently implemented that incorporate a subset of the identified variables for shale gas development in the Lower Paleozoic Baltic-Podlasie-Lublin basin in Poland and for Germany as a whole from 2013-2028. In addition, we undertook a screening-level risk assessment of potential human and ecosystem health impacts attributable to accidental or operational release of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing of shale formations, as well as the average gaseous emissions (per active well) associated with shale gas development activities that might be anticipated within a shale play. Finally, we developed a qualitative discussion of necessary considerations to support future air quality impact assessments for shale gas development activities.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Temporal correlations among demographic parameters are ubiquitous but highly variable across species

Temporal correlations among demographic parameters can strongly influence population dynamics. Our empirical knowledge, however, is very limited regarding the direction and the magnitude of these correlations and how they vary among demographic parameters and species’ life histories. Here, we use long-term demographic data from 15 bird and mammal species with contrasting pace of life to quantify correlation patterns among five key demographic parameters: juvenile and adult survival, reproductive probability, reproductive success and productivity. Correlations among demographic parameters were ubiquitous, more frequently positive than negative, but strongly differed across species. Correlations did not markedly change along the slow-fast continuum of life histories, suggesting that they were more strongly driven by ecological than evolutionary factors. As positive temporal demographic correlations decrease the mean of the long-run population growth rate, the common practice of ignoring temporal correlations in population models could lead to the underestimation of extinction risks in most species

SNAPSHOT USA 2019 : a coordinated national camera trap survey of the United States

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.With the accelerating pace of global change, it is imperative that we obtain rapid inventories of the status and distribution of wildlife for ecological inferences and conservation planning. To address this challenge, we launched the SNAPSHOT USA project, a collaborative survey of terrestrial wildlife populations using camera traps across the United States. For our first annual survey, we compiled data across all 50 states during a 14-week period (17 August - 24 November of 2019). We sampled wildlife at 1509 camera trap sites from 110 camera trap arrays covering 12 different ecoregions across four development zones. This effort resulted in 166,036 unique detections of 83 species of mammals and 17 species of birds. All images were processed through the Smithsonian's eMammal camera trap data repository and included an expert review phase to ensure taxonomic accuracy of data, resulting in each picture being reviewed at least twice. The results represent a timely and standardized camera trap survey of the USA. All of the 2019 survey data are made available herein. We are currently repeating surveys in fall 2020, opening up the opportunity to other institutions and cooperators to expand coverage of all the urban-wild gradients and ecophysiographic regions of the country. Future data will be available as the database is updated at eMammal.si.edu/snapshot-usa, as well as future data paper submissions. These data will be useful for local and macroecological research including the examination of community assembly, effects of environmental and anthropogenic landscape variables, effects of fragmentation and extinction debt dynamics, as well as species-specific population dynamics and conservation action plans. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this paper when using the data for publication.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

SMALL-SCALE POWER EXTRACTION SYSTEM FOR COMPRESSED AIR ENERGY STORAGE

The goal of this thesis was to improve on the concept of using compressed air as an energy storage medium to generate electrical power. By using compressed air as energy storage, the cost to store power is significantly reduced. An air ejector was used to increase the airflow through a small turbine to maximize the power extraction from the compressed air. The turbine shaft rotation was coupled to a three-phase, permanent magnet generator, to produce three-phase alternating current (AC). A three-phase AC transformer bank was incorporated in one of three modes to optimize the turbine speed: step down, bypass, or step up. The AC was then rectified into direct current (DC) for storage in a super capacitor. Computational fluid dynamics simulation was used to explore entrainment scenarios and their effect on air flow into the turbine. With the obtained entrainment airflows, the internal energy of the expanded air was proven to rise before use by the turbine. This system, if fully developed, could use existing air storage infrastructure at many Department of Defense installations to harness the full potential of renewable energy and provide for more resilient and secure energy.http://archive.org/details/smallscalepowere1094561243Lieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited