The Potential Benefits of Introducing Informal Recyclers and Organic Waste Recovery to a Current Waste Management System: The Case Study of Santiago de Chile

Chile has experienced rapid economic growth in recent decades. However, this economic growth has been accompanied by a huge increase in waste generation. Although the country has historically put emphasis on appropriate final disposal of waste through landfill, the environmental problems generated by this activity have shown that it is necessary to improve the national solid waste management approach. Santiago, the capital of Chile, generates about 43% of the national solid waste. A study conducted by the Ministry of the Environment in 2011 found that 14% of the waste generated in the capital is recycled, mostly thanks to local campaigns and collection by the informal sector (scavengers). While in 2009 the government set a target to recycle 25% of municipal inorganic waste by 2020, there is no information on the implementation process to reach this target. Most importantly, the law has not established specific recycling rates for target materials, and, has not taken into consideration organic waste recovery, which accounts for 48% of the total waste stream. In order to meet the government target and at the same time promote organic waste recovery, this study proposes and evaluates the environmental impacts of different viable alternatives for municipal solid waste collection, treatment and recovery by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The proposed scenarios range from the current situation to the introduction of organic waste recovery and the inclusion of informal recyclers in the collection process. By considering the investment and treatment costs of each alternative, the study identifies the most effective scenario in terms of avoided pollutants per cost ratio. Finally, the study analyzes the feasibility of the implementation of the selected scenario by indicating benefits and challenges. The results of the scenario evaluation suggest that the scenario with the highest recovery of inorganic and organic materials, coupled with the participation of the informal collectors, will have a positive impact not only in terms of meeting and surpassing the government goal, but also in the reduction of CO2eq emissions. This scenario can reduce by approximately 3.5% the national CO2eq generated, with a cost of $14.1/ton. Moreover, the potential reductions of CH4 account for 8.5% of the national CH4 emissions and 24.5% of the national waste sector CH4 emissions

Comprehensive Evaluation of Environmental Policy for Water Pollutants and Greenhouse Gases Reduction in Jiaxing city, China

Recently, various environmental problems have been generated with the rapid economic development in China. That’s because China currently over-emphasized economic development beyond environmental issues; therefore, now it is important to enforce optimal environmental policies in order to achieve economic development as well as environmental improvement. In this study, we selected Jiaxing city as research area for that the environmental pollution problem has become prominent with economic high growth, and we constructed environmental system model and social economic model to establish the scenarios. Through computer simulation, we can evaluate the efficiency of the comprehensive environmental policies from both environmental preservation and social economic development aspects. While the social-economic model shows the socioeconomic activities which are vital events, fortune and service, such as production, finance and budget; the environmental system model shows the water pollutants and the greenhouse gas movement in the region. The dynamic optimization simulation is accomplished based on this environmental and socio-economic system model. In view of the restriction on water pollutants, greenhouse gas total exhausted amount, and economic activity in the catchment area, the simulation we practiced can provide concrete inner-generating optimal policies which can achieve the best economic and environment improvement with the consideration of policy, regional and timing choice in Jiaxing City, China.

Using Remote Sensing for Identifying Suitable Areas for Flood Shelter: A Case Study of Thatta, Sindh Pakistan

The most recurring type of disaster in the world these days is flood because of the spread and extent of its effect on people, among all-natural disasters of the world. Human activities have paved the way for many of these flood behavior to change as they used to be in the past. Pakistan experienced one of the most devastating natural disasters in its history all across the country in 2010, but Thatta district in southern part got severely affected during this flood. For the research, a simple yet efficient methodology Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) by using remote sensing images for identifying flood hazard areas was utilized. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) helps in finding shelter areas with a minimum effect of floods. It is essential to realize the importance of mapped results in consideration of manual flood management in future. The method used in this study is robust enough to explain the flood hazard for suggesting suitable shelter sites in case of flooding events. This would help disaster management bodies and other related agencies to formulate the development plans while keeping the hazard areas, which are unsuitable for development due to flood risk in the future

Evaluation of Integrated Air Pollution and Climate Change Policies: Case Study in the Thermal Power Sector in Chongqing City, China

The cost of environmental degradation has already had a dramatic impact on the Chinese economy. In order to curb these trends, the government of China has introduced stricter regulations. With this in mind, it is important to quantify the potential co-benefits of introducing air pollution and climate change mitigation policies. This study proposes relevant scenarios ranging from the current trends (baseline) to the introduction of different policies in the thermal power sector, including different carbon tax rates, technology innovation promotion, and technology cost reduction methods. We aim to comparatively evaluate the impact of the proposed policies within the thermal sector and within the entire socio-economic system. To this end, we used a dynamic input–output (I-O) model, into which high-efficiency technologies were incorporated as new thermal power industries in order to estimate policy impact during the time period 2010–2025. The results of this study demonstrated that the introduction of one or more of the following policies: carbon taxes, subsidies, technology innovation, and technology cost reduction, has no notable impact on the environment or the economy without the implementation of environment regulations. In contrast, the strong support of a government subsidy coupled with strict environmental regulations will promote technological innovation, for example through the natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) and the integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC). Our study also showed that the reduction of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions as well as energy consumption would curb economic development to a certain extent. Taking this into consideration, innovation must also be promoted in other economic sectors. This research provides a strong reference for policy-makers to identify effective polices under different types of environmental regulations

Renewable energy recovery potential towards sustainable cattle manure management in Buenos Aires Province: Site selection based on GIS spatial analysis and statistics

The rise in GHG emissions associated with the combustion of fossil fuels for electricity generation, coupled with energy security issues and the likely future scarcity of non-renewable resources, has called the attention to explore the potential of renewable and clean energy alternatives. Argentina has enjoyed a rapid economic growth after the 2002 financial crisis. However, this economic recovery has caused a huge increase in energy demand that already surpassed the domestic production capacity and pushed the country to import natural gas for electricity production. As a consequence, currently more than two thirds of electricity is generated from natural gas and other fossil fuels that are causing not only an increase in GHG emissions but other pollutants as well. Taking advantage of its stunning cattle sector, this research explores the potential of biogas production in Argentina using Buenos Aires province, the province with the largest inventory, as a case study. Through the use of GIS suitability analysis, the study first identifies the potential sites for the location of the biogas plants based on geographical, environmental and socio-economic criteria. The study couples these findings with the selection and identification of optimal sites through the use of spatial statistical analysis and taking into account cattle farm size and economically feasible transportation distances. In this step, the study proposes three different scenarios that range from onsite plants for large-scale farms to centralized biogas plants for small-scale and mid-scale farms. The results of the study suggest that by using only 1.5% of the manure produced in the province, it could be possible to meet not only the cattle farms electricity demand but also up to 2.06% of the demand in the province. These results open up a great opportunity for the country since it could be possible to not only address energy security issues with domestic resources, but at the same time to provide environmental benefits in a sustainable way

Comparative assessment of the co-evolution of environmental indicator systems in Japan and China

This paper analyzes the evolution of environmental policies and the related indicator systems that have been introduced in both Japan and China. The findings reveal that the lack of both natural resources and space for the final disposal of wastes, resulted in Japanese policy placing special emphasis on, initially, waste treatment technologies with high capacities such as incineration, and more recently, on integrated resource management. This trend is also reflected in the recycling targets for specific waste policies proposed in the 1990s and the introduction of comprehensive resource management indicators in the early 2000s. In China, the impressive economic growth of the last decades has relied both on coal as the primary energy source and mostly small scale industries for production. However, the environmental impacts and low energy efficiency associated with both coal-power plants and small-scale industry forced the government to introduce emission reduction targets followed by energy efficiency and macro energy intensity indicators. While the importance of indicator systems and policies has been demonstrated for specific cases, such policies are not yet comprehensive. This is reflected by the finding that while Japan has improved both its resource productivity and reduced total direct material inputs into the economy, overall CO2 emissions and waste generation have increased. China also suffered a setback when its overall energy intensity started to increase in 2000 after 20 years of improvement. This study argues that a comprehensive sustainability policy is necessary in order to overcome the problems associated with production and consumption patterns and their impact on the environment. In this sense it is important to consider the different comprehensive assessment methods proposed by the scientific community in the policy making process. Finally the paper proposes that the experience of Japan and China in dealing with environmental issues could be an important reference for policy development in Asia

Exploring the potential of introducing technology innovation and regulations in the energy sector in China: a regional dynamic evaluation model

The Chinese government has introduced stricter environmental regulations to address the rapid increase in Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and environmental deterioration associated with energy demand. In this research we analyze the potential environmental and socio-economic benefits of introducing such regulations coupled with the promotion of advanced technological innovation for power generation. We selected Chongqing city, one of the most polluted cities in China, as the case study. The study proposes 5 scenarios that range from baseline to technology promotion through the introduction of carbon tax and subsidy schemes and the implementation of regulations for regional air emissions reduction. We constructed a dynamic evaluation model based on an Input–Output (I/O) analysis for the period 2010–2025. The results show an overall benefit on the quality of the environment and energy conservation efforts. The study demonstrates that the introduction of regulations without promotion of technological innovation will dramatically affect economic growth. The results also show that innovations in the energy sector alone will reduce both air pollutants and energy intensity to a certain extent. In this regard the promotion of innovation in other economic sectors is necessary. Another important finding is the fact that the introduction of regulations will actually curb air emissions and energy consumption. This research provides a strong platform for policy makers to realize the urgency and importance of promoting technology innovation through environmental regulations