Quantifying Resource Use in Computations

It is currently not possible to quantify the resources needed to perform a computation. As a consequence, it is not possible to reliably evaluate the hardware resources needed for the application of algorithms or the running of programs. This is apparent in both computer science, for instance, in cryptanalysis, and in neuroscience, for instance, comparative neuro-anatomy. A System versus Environment game formalism is proposed based on Computability Logic that allows to define a computational work function that describes the theoretical and physical resources needed to perform any purely algorithmic computation. Within this formalism, the cost of a computation is defined as the sum of information storage over the steps of the computation. The size of the computational device, eg, the action table of a Universal Turing Machine, the number of transistors in silicon, or the number and complexity of synapses in a neural net, is explicitly included in the computational cost. The proposed cost function leads in a natural way to known computational trade-offs and can be used to estimate the computational capacity of real silicon hardware and neural nets. The theory is applied to a historical case of 56 bit DES key recovery, as an example of application to cryptanalysis. Furthermore, the relative computational capacities of human brain neurons and the C. elegans nervous system are estimated as an example of application to neural nets.Comment: 26 pages, no figure

Australia’s Resource Use Trajectories

Australia’s export oriented large natural resources sectors of agriculture and mining, the ways in which large scale services such as nutrition, water, housing, transport and mobility, and energy are organized, as well as the consumption patterns of Australia’s wealthy urban households, create a unique pattern of overall resource use in Australia. In an attempt to contribute to a new environmental information system compatible with economic accounts, we represent Australia’s resource use by employing standard biophysical indicators for resource use developed within the OECD context. We are looking at the last three decades of resource use and the economic, social and environmental implications. We also discuss scenarios of future resource use patterns based on a stocks and flows model of the Australian economy. We argue that current extractive economic patterns have contributed to the recent economic boom in Australia but will eventually lead to negative social and environmental outcomes. While there is currently little evidence of political support for changing the economic focus on export-oriented agriculture and mining industries, there is significant potential for improvements in socio-technological systems, and room for more sustainable household consumption.natural resources, resource use patterns and dynamics, physical accounting, resource productivity, social and environmental impacts of resource use, Australia

Evaluating Resource Use in Low Input Systems

Work package 5.1 aims at the evaluation of existing accreditation mechanisms and economic approaches related to low-input livestock farming systems and thus of sustainable development processes through a multi-criteria evaluation of the public goods delivered by different production systems, management techniques and breeding innovations. To this end, we are conducting a comparative analysis of approaches to low-input livestock production, based on the multi-criteria assessment of the performances of production schemes in the delivery of public goods

Indicator systems - resource use in organic systems

A balanced use of resources within organic farming systems is required to maintain sustainable systems. Hence, it is essential to have tools that can assess the use of resources within the farming system and their impact on the environment. The range of tools that have been developed include those assessing local farm-scale issues together with those that assess impacts at the global scale. At the global scale assessments are usually made on the basis of a unit of product whereas at the local scale assessments can also be made on an area basis. In addition, the tools also assess a variety of issues, e.g. biodiversity, pollution potential, energy and water use. The level of detail required for the different assessment tools differs substantially; nevertheless it is essential that the indicator systems developed are based on sound knowledge, are acceptable to the farmers and can guide their future actions

Intelligent Resource Use to Deliver Waste Valorisation and Process Resilience in Manufacturing Environments

© 2020 Johnson Matthey Circular economy (CE) thinking has emerged as a route to sustainable manufacture, with related cradle-to-cradle implications requiring implementation from the design stage. The challenge lies in moving manufacturing environments away from the traditional linear economy paradigm, where materials, energy and water have often been designed to move out of the system and into receivership of waste management bodies after use. Recent applications of industrial digital technologies (IDTs: for example internet of things, data-driven modelling, cyber-physical systems, cloud manufacturing, cognitive computing) to manufacturing may be instrumental in transforming manufacturing from linear to circular. However, although IDTs and CE have been the focus of intensive research, there is currently limited research exploring the relationship between IDTs and the CE and how the former may drive the implementation of CE. This article aims to close the knowledge gap by exploring how an IDT (data-driven modelling) may facilitate and advance CE principles within process manufacturing systems, specifically waste valorisation and process resilience. These applications are then demonstrated through two real-world manufacturing case studies: (a) minimising resource consumption of industrial cleaning processes and (b) transforming wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) into manufacturing centres

Putting wind resource atlases to use

An assessment of an area's wind resource and proper site selection are critical to the successful utilization of wind energy. How the twelve recently published wind energy resource atlases for the United States and its territories can be used to evaluate in the atlas on various geographic scales (regional, state and station) and time scales (annual, seasonal and diurnal) is discussed. In addition to techniques for extracting the magnitude of the wind resource, methods are presented for estimating the seasonal and diurnal variations of the wind resource for an area, the certainty with which the resource has been estimated and the fraction of land area with a given wind resource

Water-resource and land-use issues

Water resource managementWater useCase studiesCatchment areasLand useHydrologyModelsEvaporationSoil moistureDecision support toolsRunoffFlowForestryDeforestationErosionRain

Land Use Planning for Solar Energy: Resource Guide

This document was created to help New York State localities develop and adopt solar friendly policies and plans. It begins by presenting the local government’s role in land use planning and regulation and introduces common characteristics of “solar friendly” communities. The resource then describes how municipalities should begin a solar energy initiative through an official policy statement that provides support for solar energy and that authorizes a task force to shepherd the process, appropriate studies, training programs for staff and board members, inter-municipal partnerships, and outside funding sources. Next, the document explains how municipalities should engage the entire community in the solar energy initiative process to ensure support for the initiative and its implementation. Finally, the resource presents local planning best practices that communities can incorporate into their comprehensive plans, subarea plans, or other plans. Throughout, this document provides helpful resources and examples that communities can use to develop effective solar energy policies and plans