Urban pollution and ecosystem services

Urban pollutants can degrade and inhibit ecological functions and processes. Those natural processes provide vital benefits and services to humans. The ‘services’ range from food and water provision, to aesthetics, cultural benefits, health and recreation opportunities, and also climate regulation (including water and air quality regulation and flood regulation). These services are referred to collectively as ecosystem services (ES). To understand the impacts of urban pollution, and the opportunities for mitigating its effects, it is important to explore the relationship between pollution and ES. This can lead to better decision-making for urban infrastructure and spaces and can provide increased opportunities for gaining multiple ES from urban environments

Social Value of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas in England and Wales.

The U.K. government is committed to establishing a coherent network of marine protected areas by 2012 and the recentMarine and Coastal Access Act, 2009 will designate marine conservation zones and provide wider access rights to the coast. To fulfill these goals, this article argues the need for a clearer, shared understanding of the social value of protected areas in creating new designations and managing existing ones. Although marine and coastal environments attract many people and are vitally important in terms of realized and potential social value, the majority of the public in the United Kingdom lacks understanding and awareness regarding them. Combined with this, the social value of marine and coastal protected areas (MCPAs) have been largely ignored relative to conservation and economics, with the latter invariably taking precedence in environmental policymaking. Social value reflects the complex, individual responses that people experience in a given place. Many reasons determine why one area is valued above another, and this research investigates the social value of MCPAs from a practitioner’s perspective through a series of interviews. Understanding why we “socially” value MCPAs will ultimately equip managers with an informed understanding of these spaces, influence management decisions, and, potentially, policymaking. This article defines social value in the context of MCPAs in England and Wales from a practitioner perspective, explores key concepts, and suggests possible improvements in decision-making

Influence of storm surge on tidal range energy

The regular and predictable nature of the tide makes the generation of electricity with a tidal lagoon or barrage an attractive form of renewable energy, yet storm surges affect the total water-level. Here, we present the first assessment of the potential impact of storm surges on tidal-range power. Water-level data (2000–2012) at nine UK tide gauges, where tidal-range energy is suitable for development (e.g. Bristol Channel), was used to predict power. Storm surge affected annual resource estimates −5% to +3%, due to inter-annual variability, which is lower than other sources of uncertainty (e.g. lagoon design); therefore, annual resource estimation from astronomical tides alone appears sufficient. However, instantaneous power output was often significantly affected (Normalised Root Mean Squared Error: 3%–8%, Scatter Index: 15%–41%) and so a storm surge prediction system may be required for any future electricity generation scenario that includes large amounts of tidal-range generation. The storm surge influence to tidal-range power varied with the electricity generation strategy considered (flooding tide only, ebb-only or dual; both flood and ebb), but with some spatial and temporal variability. The flood-only strategy was most affected by storm surge, mostly likely because tide-surge interaction increases the chance of higher water-levels on the flooding tide

Consideration of hydromorphology and sediment in the implementation of the EU water framework and floods directives: a comparative analysis of selected EU member states

The EU Water Framework and Floods Directives represent important legislative instruments introduced in the water policy during the last two decades. Despite their holistic and complementary approaches, which should yield many benefits, the lack of importance given to the consideration of hydromorphology and sediments is a weakness. This will hinder the achievement of the Directives' goals, since hydrology and geomorphology of rivers and the character and dynamics of sediments are essential components of the aquatic habitat and ecosystem health. The entrainment, transport and deposition of sediments determine the interrelationships between river channel geometry and flow regime, which affect flood risk. The paper reports on the findings of a survey undertaken in 2015 as part of the HYTECH project, which questioned 20 EU Water Authorities about the importance they attached to hydromorphological quality elements and sediment transport during the implementation cycles of both Directives

Nuclear fusion and its large potential for the future world energy supply

An overview of the energy problem in the world is presented. The colossal task of ‘decarbonizing’ the current energy system, with ~85% of the primary energy produced from fossil sources is discussed. There are at the moment only two options that can contribute to a solution: renewable energy (sun, wind, hydro, etc.) or nuclear fission. Their contributions, ~2% for sun and wind, ~6% for hydro and ~5% for fission, will need to be enormously increased in a relatively short time, to meet the targets set by policy makers. The possible role and large potential for fusion to contribute to a solution in the future as a safe, nearly inexhaustible and environmentally compatible energy source is discussed. The principles of magnetic and inertial confinement are outlined, and the two main options for magnetic confinement, tokamak and stellarator, are explained. The status of magnetic fusion is summarized and the next steps in fusion research, ITER and DEMO, briefly presented

Optimisation of costs and carbon savings in relation to the economic dispatch problem as associated with power system operation

In this paper, the costs and carbon savings in the economic dispatch (ED) problem of the power system operation are optimised. Energy demands and generation are forecast and assimilated using ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF). Optimisation is performed using the ensemble-based closed-loop production optimisation scheme (EnOpt). The real energy parameters of thermal units with green generators (wind farm) are used to test the methodology. The ability of the EnKF to predict, and the robustness of the EnOpt to optimise costs and the resultant carbon emissions are demonstrated. The proposed approach addresses the complexity and diversity of the power system and may be implemented in operational conditions of energy suppliers

A framework for evaluating flood risk governance

Calls to strengthen flood risk governance are echoed across Europe amidst a growing consensus that floods will increase in the future. Accompanying the pursuit of societal resilience, other normative agendas relating legitimacy (e.g. accountability and public participation), and resource efficiency, have become attached to discussions concerning flood risk governance. Whilst these represent goals against which ‘success’ is socially and politically judged, lacking from the literature is a coherent framework to operationalise these concepts and evaluate the degree to which these are achieved. Drawing from cross-disciplinary and cross-country research conducted within the EU project STAR-FLOOD, this paper presents a framework for evaluating the extent to which flood risk governance arrangements support societal resilience, and demonstrate efficiency and legitimacy. Through empirical research in England, this paper critically reflects on the value of this approach in terms of identifying entry points to strengthen governance in the pursuit of these goals